EDIT(1/21/16): Edited the Dueling; replace a card with another card, and changed one monster's effect.

EDIT(1/29/16): Edited the chapter for correction and also changed one monster's Defense Point.

-Chapter 15-

New Challenges Part 1

After a night of celebration, Yusuke for the first time in a while woke up early. He packed up all the things he needs. He will be "living" elsewhere for his training at Ms. Akako's place, her agency HQ. He was very excited or better term, he IS VERY excited.

"I can't wait! I can't wait! I can't wait!" He squealed. He carried a big, overfilled backpack as he walked out his room, but due to its size, he got stuck. "Come on! Pull through!"

"Yusuke, Ms. Akako has arrived to pick you up!" His mother called to him.

"Coming!" He replied. He tried to budge through the door. I just rolled my eyes, and magically pushed him from behind, causing him to get through, but tripped and crashed as he tumbled down the star.

"AH!" He yelled. The heavy backpack pummeled him down on the floor. "Oooo-ho-ho-oooooohh…"

"Are you OK, Yusuke?" Haruka asked, who was also here to say goodbye to him.

"Yeah, I am fine!" Yusuke got up, undazed from his accident. "And, what's up Haruka! You're here to say goodbye?"

Haruka just sighed and pouted with her hands on her hips. "Of course I am!"

Yusuke showed usual goofy smile. "Thank you, Haruka!"

He slowly walked out door, passing by the kitchen, and eventually through the door.

"You are fully packed." Ms. Akako joked.

"Heehee! I have everything ready." He chuckled.

"Do you seriously need to bring whatever you have in that bag of yours?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah! I have my cards, sleeping bags, binocular, first aid kit, extra underwears…"

"Uu! OK, you can stop there!" Haruka waved around her arm, gesturing to him to stop what he was saying as her face flushed in red.

"What's wrong, Haruka? Why are you blushing?" Yusuke asked.

"Nothing!" She replied.

"Well Yusuke, I have to say, my grandson. You are growing up to be a fine man. I wish you a lot of good luck." His grandpa said.

"Thanks, Grandpa!" Yusuke smiled to him.

"Yusuke, just…be good and careful, OK." His mother said, looking a bit worried.

"Don't worry, Mom. I will write letter every night." Yusuke assured her.

"Hey…big brother." Yumi spoke. "I…I just want to say...you did well on your exams. I guess all those tutoring with you paid you well."

"Heehee! Yeah and thank you for all the help, sis!" Yusuke patted his younger sister's shoulders. "Now that I am leaving temporary, you keep an eye on Mom and Dad, OK?"

She gently smiled. "Of course. Good luck, Yusuke." For the first time in a while, she gave him a lovely sibling hug. Yusuke hugged her, too.

"Yusuke…" Haruka looked at him as he looked at her. "I…I wish you good luck, too."

"Thanks, Haruka. When I come back, I will be stronger than ever in Dueling!" He said determinedly, giving her a thumb up.

Haruka smiled warmly. "I know you will, Yusuke."

"So, where is Dad?" He asked.

"Oh you know your father, wakes up early and preparing in the kitchen." His mother informed.

"Oh, I see. I won't bother him." Yusuke nodded. "Well, Mom, sis, Grandpa, and Haruka, see you all later and wish me luck!"

Yusuke hopped on the car, which was the type of a car where the roof can be opened and closed. Ms. Akako was already in the driver seat, wearing a cool dark shade.

"See you guys later!" He said before they drove away. His family and his childhood friend waved goodbye at him. At the last second, his father came out and waved at him, too.

"Yusuke!" Haruka yelled. "…Good luuuuuuuuccck!"

"Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnkks!" He yelled back.

As they drove, Yusuke felt very excited and good. Not because that he can just relax and didn't have to think about school because he was now in summer break, but now he will train to become a real Pro Duelist, so he can fulfill his dream and have a rematch against Atsushi Kai someday soon.

For some hours later, they didn't speak until he decided to break the silence. "So, where are we going exactly, Ms. Akako?"

"Oh, somewhere really special and place I work. You will see!" She assured him as they continued to drive on the road. Eventually, she exited the highway and entered Tokyo. As she drove through the forests of skyscraper on the road, they came into a small road off from the main street. She drove through for almost an hour, which Yusuke noticed that they were in a small, quieter side of Tokyo metro area. Eventually, he started to see trees and eventually they stopped at a gate with long, tall stairway.

"Woah, where are we?" He asked.

"This is the place! The headquarter of the Rising Star Agency!" She stated. "Come on, let's go."

She started walking up the stairway. "Wait, I have to walk up this stairway!?"

"Well, obviously. What did you think?" She asked half-jokingly.

He moaned at the height of the stairway, which to him looked a lot longer. Without complaining, he started to walk up the stair with his heavy backpack. He took one step at a time, which lasted for 1 minute to just make one step.

He eventually arrived at the top in about an hour or so. He sat down with his backpack.

"Phew! Finally made it!" He wiped the sweats on his forehead as he panted. "So…is this the place?"

He looked at the place, which he thought it will be some kind of fancy building, but it was not. It looked more like a dojo with big gate that has a wooden sign on the side that says "Rising Star Agency" with a little drawing of a star with cool shade below the letter "y".

"That's right! Welcome to the agency. Let's go inside. I bet everyone is waiting for us, including the boss." She said.

"OK!" He got up, fully recovered already.

"You recover quickly." She thought aloud.

They walked through the gate and when they did, they heard some sounds of explosion. Yusuke's D-Ring was vibrating, which could only mean one thing.

"A Duel is going on!" He exclaimed. "I got to check it out NOW!" He ran off to where the Duel was taking place.

"Hey, wait!" Akako yelled at him, but he was already gone. "Dang, that kid is very…uncontrollable when it comes to Dueling."

Yusuke went all the way to the backyard, and stopped to see the Duel. He saw two people, fully focusing in the Duel. They were facing against each other.

One on the left, where he was watching from was a girl with red hair with mix of pink color, all curved upward like animal horns at the ending tip of the strand on each side of her head. Her eyes were crimson red, and her complexion was a bit on the tanner side. She looked 15 years old, but for a 15-year old, she had a body that looked a bit…attractive for unwanted people, especially her chest area and her buttock. Although, she looked physically strong while she wore finger-less black glove with flaming design, dark red shirt and pant, and black shoes with red streak along each side for both shoes. She had one monster that looked like a boxer, and her Duel Disk was crimson color, matching her appearance.

Her opponent was a boy, around his and her age. He was a bit taller than the girl, and had bluish-green hair that had crescent shape on the right side of his head, with few strands that curved to the side as it zagged to his left. His eye color was silver while his complexion was pale white. He wore a white jacket with streak of blue, purple, silver, black, and blue-green color that goes vertical-like line across each side. He also wore black belt, and matching color pant while wearing dark blue shoes. His Duel Disk was silver white while his side of the field was empty

"Battle! I declare my Inferno Battlin' Boxer Forward to attack you directly!" The girl declared as her said monster forwarded with a charging punch attack.

The boy just smirked. "You really fall so easily, Aiko! Trap card, activate! Explosive Counter!" The said card flipped up, revealing a hug explosion while there were random other monsters, such as Winged Kuriboh, Gaia the Fierce Knight, Gogogo Golem, and Baby Dragon blown away by the explosion with different facial expression.

"What!?" She gasped.

"When my opponent declares an attack, that attacking monster is destroyed and you take damage equals to its ATK!" He exclaimed as her said monster just literally exploded itself.

"Noooooooooooooooo!" She cried as her Life Points drained down to zero. She fell on her butt. "Oh, dang it! You are too good as always, Sasuke."

"You're getting little bit better, but you really should look over the Spell and Trap Card zone before you attempts to attack." He suggested.

"Yeah." She rubbed the back of her head until she noticed Yusuke standing behind her. "Hey! What are you looking at!?"

"Huh? Me?" Yusuke asked while he was pointing at himself. She stomped over to him as she glared at him and cracked her knuckles.

"What are you want from here!? Are you an intruder!?" She interrogated him as she pulled him over to her face by his sleeve.

"What? Nonononono!" Yusuke flustered with his hands waving. "I just heard a Duel was going on, so I checked around and saw you guys dueling, and I got to say it was just awesome!"

"Oh." She let go of him, allowing him to breath normally. "Why didn't you say so?"

"He was about to until you were going to beat him up." Sasuke stated while his arms crossed. "Anyway, who exactly are you?"

"Me? My name is Yusuke Kagami, a new Duelist who will become the next King of Duelists! And I'm also going to be trained here!"

"Wait…so, you're the new recruit we heard all about from Ms. Akako!" Aiko realized.

"Yep! That's me!" He nodded.

"Exactly what he said, he is going to be sticking with us." They turned to the source of the voice, revealing to be Ms. Akako walking alongside an elderly man.

He had a saggy white gray beard, and for an old guy, he had a body of a body builder; muscular and physically fit. He wore one eye patch over his left eye while his right eye was uncovered. He wore sleeveless dark green shirt with light-colored trouser.

"Sensai!" Sasuke stated as he and Aiko lined up, side by side. Yusuke just shrugged and mimicked their pose.

"This boy is him, boss." Akako walked over to Yusuke and pat on his right shoulder. "This is Yusuke Kagami, the kid I told you about who Dueled Atsushi Kai and the one who can do the Mirror Summon."

"Mirror Summon." Sasuke mumbled.

The old man looked at the boy with intimidating expression, which spooks Yusuke a bit. "I see. Well, it is pleasure to meet you, Yusuke. My name is Katsuo, but you may refer to me as Katsuo-sensai or just Sensai. Either way is fine."

"Well, nice to meet you, Katsuo-sensai! I'm Yusuke!" He greeted plainly. Sasuke and Aiko gasped at the boy's chill nature.

"Hmmm, you are interesting person, Yusuke." He said. "But, before you actually become my student, I want to see your Dueling skill…in person."

"Really? You want to Duel me!?" He asked excitedly.

Aiko and Sasuke looked shock at him again. "Not exactly that." He stated, causing Yusuke to just look "ooooh" at him. "What I mean is I want you to Duel my student, one by one."

"If I may speak, Sensai." Sasuke spoke. "Are you sure about that, Sensai?"

"Yes, I am positive, Sasuke. Now then…how about you go first, Aiko?"

"Really!?" She asked with sudden interest in her eyes, but then went back to being more serious. "I mean, yes sir!"

Next thing they knew, the other three people watched as Yusuke and Aiko stood far part from each while facing each other.

"Sweet! This is going to be fun!" Yusuke exclaimed before he turned to the master. "You will see how good I am, Katsuo-sensai!"

"How could that boy be talking like that if it is normal!? How rude of him!" Sasuke thought.

Aiko just smirked. "Alright, Yusuke. The name is Aiko by the way and I will show you what the Rising Star Agency is all about!"

"Nice to meet you, Aiko and I will show you what I am made of, too." Yusuke said. "Let's do this thing!"

He activated his D-Ring, materializing into his Duel Disk while Aiko did with her D-Ring.

"Fining Duelist, standing by…Duelist found! Activating Duel Wave Field!" Both Duel Disks said as both emitted waves, creating the proper field. "D-Wave Field is completed! Initiate Duel."

"DUEL!" They both yelled as their Duel began.

Yusuke vs. Aiko: 4000 LPs.

"The challenger goes first." Katsuo-sensai stated.

"Alright!" Yusuke exclaimed. "I will go first! First off, I summon Iron Chestnut in Defense position!"

The little, cute chestnut made of iron appeared in front of the said owner.

"Wait a second! You can't do that!" Aiko yelled.

"Via its card effect, Iron Chestnut can be Normal Summon in face-up Defense position." Yusuke explained with Aiko awed in response. "I set a card, and then end my turn."

"Starting the first turn with a defense I see." Sasuke analyzed.

Akako and Katsuo watched silently as the Duel commences.

Aiko just smirked and giggled a bit as she punched into her palm. "Alright then, I'll show you what I am made of! My turn, I draw!"

She drew her card excitedly and strongly, revealing thick muscles pumped through her arm. "I Normal Summon my monster, Inferno Battlin' Boxer Forward in Attack mode!"

The same monster that appeared in the previous duel has appeared again. This monster was a humanoid, wearing red boxing gloves and other accessories that a boxer wears. Its eyes were glowing yellow. It performed some quick jabs to show off its speed and power before it posed in the traditional boxer pose.

Inferno Battlin' Boxer Forward-Level 4, FIRE, Warrior/Effect, 1400 ATK, 700 DEF.

"It's time to hit the ring! I declare my monster to attack! Go, Forward! Strike with Fiery Straight!" Aiko declared as her monster lunched itself with a straight punch while its gloved fist went on fire.

"Wait a sec! Won't you take damage if you do that!? My Iron Chestnut's defense point is higher than your monster's attack point!" Yusuke informed her.

Aiko just smirked. "My monster's effect activates! During the Battle Phase, Inferno Battlin' Boxer Forward can direct attack my opponent, but with its ATK cut in half."

Her monster's ATK decreased by half before it disappeared when it approached near Iron Chestnut, surprising it with its eye widened and then reappeared in front of Yusuke, giving it a straight punch into his face.

"Ooooof!" He got hit as he flied until he hit on the wall. "Ouch!"

Yusuke's LP: 3300

Her monster reappeared back to her side of the field. "Yeah! Now that was a good punch! I set two cards and end my turn! At this point, Forward's ATK is returned to normal."

Yusuke slowly got up, and surprisingly to her, and everyone else except for Akako, he laughed giddily.

"Hey, what's so funny!?" Aiko asked.

"It's just that this Duel is fun, and I have a feeling it is going to get even more fun! Man, I can't wait to be part of the team!"

"Team? You're…weird!" Aiko mocked.

"Maybe I am." Yusuke responded. "Anyway, it is now my turn, so I draw!"

He looked at each card he has in his hand. "I summon Battle Gargoyle to the field!"

One of his classic monsters appeared. Iron Chestnut gestured to its friend and Gargoyle nodded in response.

"A monster with 1600 ATK…" Aiko thought aloud.

"Then, I play the Equip Spell, Passionate Spirit!" The Spell card depicted a knight burning in fiery aura, ready to strike for an attack while a strange creature of a humanoid lion figure looming over the knight.

"I equip this Spell to Battle Gargoyle, and it gains 500 boosts in ATK!" Yusuke declared as his said monster's ATK increased. The same fiery aura emanated around B.G's body.

"He has increased his monster's ATK. He is definitely going for an attack." Sasuke said.

"Battle! Battle Gargoyle will attack your Inferno Battlin' Boxer Forward! And, via its card effect, it gains 500 more ATK until the end of this Battle Phase!" His monster roared as the fiery aura increased in size.

"No way!" Aiko gasped. "But, I activate my Trap card, Negate Attack!"

"Trap card, Trap Jammer is activated!" Yusuke interrupted. "Your Negate Attack is destroyed!"

"Nooo!" Aiko cried. Battle Gargoyle struck down with its metal claws at her monster, causing it to explode in fiery blitz. "Gaaaaahhh!"

Aiko's LP: 2800

Sasuke had his mouth opened a bit for being surprised. "This boy….he is not half-bad. Could he have predicted Aiko would use a Trap card to negate his attack before she used it?"

"Heh." Aiko chuckled. "You're not bad, Yusuke."

"Heehee! You are not bad, too, Aiko." Yusuke smiled. "I end my turn here, and with that Battle Gargoyle's ATK is returned to normal."

"OK, my turn, I draw!" Aiko drew her card ambitiously. Her eyes flared up for a moment. Sasuke noticed and knew what she will do now.

"I play the Spell card, Battlin' Boxer Comeback!" The Spell card she placed on the field revealed a boxer rising up slowly as a bigger, more muscular boxer looming over him with piercing red eyes. "When this card is activated, I can resurrect one Battlin' Boxer or Inferno Battlin' Boxer to the field as a result from destruction by battle. I bring back Inferno Battlin' Boxer Forward!"

Her monster returned from the Graveyard as it showed off some punching before it posed in its boxer pose.

"Next up, I summon Inferno Battlin' Boxer Sweep Jabber!" Next to forward, a new monster appeared. It had glowing yellow eyes like Forward, except that the gloves it wore was blue color compared to Forward's red gloves. It showed off with some jabbing move, both upward and downward directions.

Inferno Battlin' Boxer Sweep Jabber-Level 4, FIRE, Warrior/Effect, 1300 ATK, 500 DEF.

Aiko smirked with a malicious intent. "Alright, my knockout victory is set!"

"Huh, what do you mean?" Yusuke asked.

"You will see!" Aiko replied. "Now, I overlay my Sweet Jabber and Forward to construct the Overlay Network!" Her said monsters jumped into mid-air as they transformed into a ray of red lights, jumping into the spiral galaxy portal and then huge energy burst out of the portal.

"Ladies and gentlemen, on my side, I present you the heavyweight champion of boxer in the ring of Dueling! Watch out for this monster's fist, or you will see stars if you let your own face get hit by his punch! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Inferno Battlin' Boxer Star Cetus Diphda!"

Out of the portal rose a tall monster. Its body was composed of orange and blue colors. Its eyes were glowing red, and its head had this Mohawk-like hairstyle that makes up its helmet. It also had a huge wing-liked shield on each shoulder, and a red orb implanted in the middle of its chest. More or less, it looked more like a knight than a boxer, but the arms and hands looked muscular and strong. Three red comets orbited around its body.

Inferno Battlin' Boxer Star Cetus Diphda-Rank 4, FIRE, Warrior/Xyz/Effect, 2400 ATK, 1800 DEF.

OMG, it is a copy monster of Number 105!

"Hey, my ace monster is not a copy monster! It is completely different monster unlike what you mention!" Aiko yelled at me.

"Aiko, stay focus!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"Oops, sorry about that." She apologized.

"Woah, that monster looks cool!" Yusuke awed in admiration.

"Oh, it is not just cool, but it's hot! I activate Star Cetus Diphda's effect! By detaching one overlay unit…" She said as it absorbed one of its comets into the orb in its chest. "…this monster can attack for each Inferno Battlin' Boxer monster I used for the Xyz Materials to summon this card itself!"

"What!?" Yusuke gasped shockingly.

"Battle! Star Cetus Diphda will attack with its first, Fire Punch!" Her monster threw its first punch on fire at Battle Gargoyle!"

"During this Battle Phase, Battle Gargoyle's ATK is increased by 500!" Yusuke exclaimed as his monster increased its ATK thanks to its equipped spell. "Phew! It looks like I am saved!"

Aiko just smirked. "Oh, you think so? Too bad that won't work! When Star Cetus Diphda attacks a monster with higher ATK, it cannot be destroyed by that battle with its target!"

Her said monster punched Battle Gargoyle as it countered with its punch, but it didn't hurt the Xyz monster. "And as a bonus, any Battle Damage I should take is dealt to you instead!"

"Say what!?" Yusuke gasped. The impact of the punch by their monster released a spark of fire that hit on Yusuke, damaging his Life Points.

"Grgh!" He gritted.

Yusuke's LP: 3100

"Don't forget, I still have to one more punch to go! Go, Star Cetus Diphda, hit with your second punch!" Aiko declared as her monster to be ready with its fist.

"One more time!" Her monster threw another punch, which this time hitting Battle Gargoyle, causing him to be thrown at Yusuke.

Yusuke's LP: 2900

Battle Gargoyle slowly got up and looked around to see its master flat with dizzy eyes. It offered a hand to help him.

"Thanks, Battle Gargoyle." Yusuke accepted his hand. He got up back, fully recovered.

"I got to admit. You have some strong backbone just enough to get back up from my ace monster's Attack." Aiko informed.

"Well, I, um, I'm tougher than I look!" Yusuke said determinedly.

"However, my attack is not over yet and I will win this turn!" Aiko stated. "I activate my set card, the Quick Play Spell, Rank-Up Magic Inferno Power Force!

The card flipped up, depicting a boxer roaring in the ring as several images of itself growing in size for each image.

"Rank-up!?" Yusuke gasped. He never had or heard Rank-Up Spell card before.

"It looks like this is over." Sasuke commented.

"We'll see, Sasuke." He looked at his teacher with surprised look. "We'll see."

"When this card is activated, I target one Inferno Battlin' Boxer Xyz monster on my side of the field and use it to construct the Overlay Network!" Aiko explained. Her Xyz transformed into a red light, jumping into the spiral galaxy portal.

"Anyone who dares to challenge this monster in the ring shall taste true fear! It will bow up anyone's face, even from a single punch by this monster's awesome power! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Arise! Rank 5, Inferno Battlin' Boxer Comet Cetus Halley!

This monster looked like Number C105, except the color of its body is dark blue, replacing the purple parts that the original Number C105 has. It fist-pumped strongly.

Inferno Battlin' Boxer Comet Cetus Halley-Rank 5, FIRE, Warrior/Xyz/Effect, 2800 ATK, 2000 DEF.

"This monster looks so…so…AWESOME!" Yusuke cried with sparkles in his eyes.

New Cards Cheat Sheet

Inferno Battlin' Boxer Forward-Level 4, FIRE, Warrior/Effect, 1400 ATK, 700 DEF. Effect: During your Battle Phase only, this card can direct attack your opponent,, by cutting its ATK by half, if he/she controls a monster(s).

Passionate Spirit-Type: Equip Spell Effect: The equipped monster gains 500 ATK. When the equipped monster is targeted for an attack by your opponent's monster, sent this card to your Graveyard and negate the equipped monster's destruction for that battle.

Battlin' Boxer Comeback-Type: Normal Spell Effect: Special Summon 1 Battlin' Boxer or Inferno Battlin' Boxer that was destroyed by battle from your Graveyard.

Inferno Battlin' Boxer Sweep Jabber-Level 4, FIRE, Warrior/Effect, 1300 ATK, 500 DEF. Effect: During your opponent's Battle Phase, if this card is targeted for an attack; negate that attack and inflicts 500 points of damage to your opponent.

Inferno Battlin' Boxer Star Cetus Diphda-Rank 4, FIRE, Warrior/Xyz/Effect, 2400 ATK, 1800 DEF. Effect: 2 Level 4 monsters. Detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; This card can attack multiple time for each Inferno Battlin' Boxer monster you used for its Xyz Materials to summon this card. When this card attacks on a monster with higher ATK; the Battle Damage you take from that battle is dealt to your opponent instead.

Rank-Up Magic Inferno Power Force-Type: Quick-Play Spell Effect: During your turn, target 1 "Inferno Battlin' Boxer" Xyz monster you control; Special Summon from your Extra Deck, 1 "Inferno Battlin' Boxer" monster that is 1 Rank higher than that target, by using that target as the Xyz Material.

Inferno Battlin' Boxer Comet Cetus Halley-Rank 5, FIRE, Warrior/Xyz/Effect, 2800 ATK, 2000 DEF. Effect: 3 Level 5 monsters. Unknown

Woohoo! I worked over two hours on this, but I enjoyed it. While my last semester at college began this week, it starts off easy. One of my night classes got cancel tomorrow, and I only have to go to one class in the afternoon, so meaning I can go home early, which is good. So far, the semester is going well for me while job position seeking and networking are going good, too, if you know what I mean. I will be busier in the next couples of week since this is my last semester, and I do want (and need) to get a job position to support myself and my parents.

How are you school going? Other than that, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. This chapter is start of the new story arc, "Training for Duel City Arc"! We start off with introducing new characters and new Archtype, the "Inferno Battlin' Boxer". Basically, it is a new Archtype based on the original Battlin' Boxer used by Alito from Zexal series. It is inspired by the Assault Blackwing used by Crow from the Arc-V anime series, more or less. I hope you all like the new Archtype.

Well, that is that. I hope to see you guys soon with another new chapter. See you guys in the NEXT CHAPTER!