Ichika, Senshi, and his friends have arrived in the finals of Conner's tournament with this taking to the sky. The eight have all been accounted for and it's all about to go down soon. Just before they begin the next round, everyone was helped to a buffet.
"This food is incredible." Rin said as they all helped themselves. "Conner might be a grade A jerk, but he sure knows how to give people the good stuff."
"You can say that again." Hector said as everyone was enjoying themselves.
"Oui. Michael, you must try this." Charlotte insisted as they all believe Meldrick was named Michael.
"Uh... Sure." Meldrick said.
"It's important to keep up our strength." Houki said as she was using the food as fuel. As she was eating, she looked to the side and spotted Oberin, but everyone believes he is really Meldrick. 'That's Meldrick, the creep that tried to destroy Ichika by using me. I'm going to enjoy taking him down the most.' Houki kept her eyes on Oberin, but she didn't really watch where she was going and bumped into Ryu. "Sorry about that, Ryu."
"It's fine." Ryu said.
"Ryu, are you sure you're okay?" Houki asked. "You looked like you were hurt pretty badly. Shouldn't you be in the hospital?"
"You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine." Ryu claimed.
"Okay, but how did you get all the points to qualify for the finals so quickly?" Houki questioned. "You never said anything about competing in this tournament before."
"Well, the truth is that I wanted to join in the fun with the rest of you, so I managed to win all the points in one duel." Ryu claimed.
"In one duel?! That must have been one heck of a duel!" Houki said as she thinks she's been underestimating Ryu. Senshi overheard the conversation, but he knows better than to believe that being the real Ryu standing before them.
"Okay, listen up." Conner said as he got everyone's attention and stood in front of a machine. "The time has come to announce who will be dueling and who will move to the final four of this tournament. You all remember your numbers, do you?" All those who were dueling were given an assigned number. Conner is one, Houki is two, Ichika is three, Hector is four, Meldrick is five, Ryu is six, Oberin is seven, and the mysterious duelist that the others haven't met yet is eight. "This machine will choose the numbers at random. The two that popped up will be who duels. Mila, start the machine."
"Right." Mila said as she started it. The balls inside the machine started flying around with everyone anxious on who is going to get picked. Soon, two of them got caught and fell outside. "The first one is...number six: Ryu!"
"Me? I'm dueling first? How unexpected." Ryu claimed.
"Ryu, are you sure you're well enough to duel?" Charlotte asked.
"I keep telling you all that I'm fine." Ryu claimed.
"You were in the hospital just recently. You should be resting and taking it easy." Cecilia said, but Ryu kept insisting that he's well.
"His opponent will be...number three: Ichika!" Mila announced.
"How about that? I'm going against Ichika of all people. I might be in trouble with this one." Ryu claimed, acting all innocent, but Senshi knew better than to believe anything he says.
"We now have the first two duelists going against each other. Tate, you take them to the arena. Anyone who wants to watch can follow." Conner claimed.
"Follow me." One of Conner's employees said as he showed the way with Ryu and Senshi following and everyone else going on. The only ones who aren't watching are Oberin and the mystery duelist. As they all made their way up to the dueling field, Senshi and Ichika both agreed that it's not Ryu standing before them. It must be the evil spirit that is within the Mystic Pendent. That means this duel could be more dangerous than everyone thinks. Everyone made their way to the top of the blimp for a spot for them to duel. The two duelists are set to stand on the ends while everyone else watches from the side.
"Okay, we all want to get this started, so let me say this." Conner said. "The cold air and high altitude is meant to be another challenge. A real duelist pursues through anything. If you can't handle things up here, you don't belong here. The winner advances, the loser is out."
"Leave it to Conner to go to the extreme." Houki complained.
"Now, the first duel is about to begin!" Tate said as he acted like a referee. "The first duel will be between Ryu and Ichika Orimura! You may begin whenever you are ready."
"Before we begin, how about you drop the façade and reveal your true self." Senshi said. He's had enough of the games. and so was that evil spirit. His pendent revealed itself with Evil Ryu showing his true face. "I knew it! It's you!"
"Yes, Ichika. Did you think I was gone for good?" Evil Ryu taunted. Now that he's revealing his true face, the girls were all shocked at what they were seeing.
"Look what's around Ryu's neck!" Charlotte said.
"Oh no! It's that crazy pendent of his!" Houki said.
"But how?! I got rid of that thing?!" Rin said.
"You're right. He must have somehow recovered it." Laura said as they all now know of the danger.
"So what's all the fuss about?" Meldrick asked as he was acting like he didn't know anything.
"Yeah. Why are you all freaking out?" Hector asked as he really didn't know.
"Well, it's hard to explain." Houki said. "Basically, both Ichika and Ryu have these special items. Ichika's is good, but Ryu's is evil. It's like there's something possessing him, and that thing around his neck is the cause of it."
"What is the meaning of this? What is the likes of you doing here?" Senshi questioned.
"The same as before. I'm here for the Mystic Artifacts, such as yours." Evil Ryu claimed. "Oh my dear Ichika... There is so much you do not know. Forces the likes of which you couldn't imagine are at work and you won't even see them coming." Senshi didn't like the sound of that. "But enough talk. We're here to duel." He activated his duel disk and was ready to go.
"So be it! I'll rid this tournament and the real Ryu of you!" Senshi claimed as he was ready to go himself.
"Let's duel!" They both said as the first duel was about to begin.
"I think I'll start this duel." Evil Ryu said as he reached for his first card. "I'll start by playing my continuous spell: The Dark Door! I'm sure you remember that." He said as he played the card. "With this spell, we can only attack with one monster."
"That is until I can figure out how to knock that door down." Senshi claimed.
"We'll see about that." Evil Ryu taunted. "For right now, I'll summon my Cloaked Fiend to the field!" He summoned out his fiend as it came out with 1500atk points. "I end my turn."
'That's it?' Senshi thought as he didn't buy that was all he was planning. 'He's up to something. I better be careful.' "It's my turn now!" He said as he drew his first card. "First, I'll start by summoning Infinite Stratos Ushigane Nishiki to the field!" He summoned out his monster as she came flying out with 2400atk points. "Ushigane Nishiki, attack now!" His monster attacked as it unleashed a barrage of missiles right at Evil Ryu's Cloaked Fiend and annihilated it with Evil Ryu's life points dropping to 3100. "Sadly, after Ushigane Nishiki attacks, she has to lose 800atk points." He claimed with his monster loosing power and she now had 1600atk points. "With that, I place one card facedown to end my turn!"
"My turn!" Evil Ryu said as he drew his next card. "I'll summon Fiend Rider to the field!" He summoned out another fiend with it riding on black horse with ominous red eyes, but it only had 1400atk points. "I end my turn."
"That's it? That monster is weaker than Ichika's. It doesn't even have any special abilities." Houki said. "What is he up to? Why would he summon a monster like that?"
"Maybe he's getting sloppy." Rin claimed.
"No. Houki's right. That guy is clearly up to something. It's almost like he wants to take damage." Hector claimed. Senshi might be winning, but they don't like where this might be going.
'I might not know what he's up to, but I better do something and end this fast.' Senshi thought. "It's my turn now!" He drew his next card, but he doesn't have anything that will allow him to end this right now. "First, I activate my trap card: I.S. Data Transfer! If I sacrifice on Infinite Stratos on my field, I can summon another one from my hand that has far more attack points! That is why I release Ushigane Nishiki to summon Infinite Stratos Mysterious Lady!" He released his only monster and summoned out Mysterious Lady with her having 2300atk points. "The downside to using this trap is that Mysterious Lady can no longer use any of her special abilities, and she'll be banished when she does leave the field. However, that doesn't matter at this point. Attack his Fiend Rider!" Mysterious Lady took her lance and flew straight at his monster, striking Fiend Rider and destroying it with Evil Ryu's life points dropping to 2200. "For extra reinforcements, I'm also going to summon Jetstream Gamma to the field!" Senshi summoned out his mechanical warrior with its 1500atk points. "I end my turn."
"Why would Ichika summon a monster later?" Cecilia questioned.
"I say he's trying to bait his opponent to see what he is up to." Laura said.
"Well, Ryu better think of something soon. He's not going to last much longer at this rate." Hector said.
"It's my turn now!" Evil Ryu claimed as he drew his next card. "I summon Souls of the Forgotten to the field!" He summoned out an even weaker monster as a stream of dark souls emerged with it only having 900atk points.
"That monster is even weaker! What are you up to?!" Senshi questioned.
"You're about to see. Attack his Mysterious Lady!" Evil Ryu ordered. His monster went on the attack, but all his Mysterious Lady did was thrust her lance and destroyed it with Evil Ryu's life points dropping to 1000, but he didn't seem worried.
"That guy really messed up. Ichika is going to win this easily." Mila claimed, but Conner thought differently.
"He attacked with such a weak monster. Why would he do that... Unless he wants his life points to be so low!" Conner claimed as he figured it out.
"You're right, Conner." Evil Ryu admitted. "You see, I have a card in my hand that's a little tricky. I must have 1000LP or less in order to use this one."
"So... You wanted me to attack to lower your life points?!" Senshi claimed.
"That's right. The Dark Door was just some extra insurance, and now the time has come for me to play it." Evil Ryu said as he grabbed a card. "I play the field spell known as Realm of the Insidious!" When he played that spell, the entire field began to change. The whole field was covered in a darkness with evil eyes everywhere. Standing behind Ryu was a dark castle. Everything about the card he just played was ominous, like a place dark spirits roam so they can attack and feed on their victims.
"What is the meaning of all of this?!" Senshi said as he didn't like the look of this at all.
"You'll find out. For now, I end my turn." Evil Ryu claimed.
"Booyeah! He left himself wide open!" Rin cheered. "All Ichika has to do is attack and win!"
"That is why you would make a lousy duelist, Rin. Ryu risked losing all his life points so he could play that card." Houki said. "Why do you think he would do something like that?"
"Houki's right. It must do something bad for Ichika." Hector said as none of the girls like this while Meldrick took pleasure in it.
"It's my turn now!" Senshi said as he drew his next card. 'I don't know what this field spell does, but I need to take the chance to end this!' "Mysterious Lady, attack and end this!" Mysterious Lady charged straight at Evil Ryu to finish this. However, just as she attacked, a dark aura formed around her. "What's happening?!"
"The instrument of your demise!" Evil Ryu declared. That was when a specter shot out from Mysterious Lady and blasted Senshi with his life points dropping down to 2850. All of them were shocked that his own attack was used against him.
"What have you done?!" Senshi called.
"You mean you don't understand that you just attacked yourself?" Evil Ryu taunted. "I'm afraid it's all over for you. This realm will cause you to lose your mind as well as this game!" He declared with him laughing methodically. Senshi has played right into his hands, and if he doesn't figure out a way out of this, the world could be doomed.
To Be Continued...