Now that Sabaro has joined the Black Ace for whatever reason, his skill and talent is now theirs to use as Diego pleases. In fact, he's about to get his first assignment as he walked into Diego's office and Henry was there as well
"You wanted to see me?" Sabaro said.
"I did. Now that you joined the Black Ace, I need to get some work out of you." Diego said. 'Until I know more about who he really is and what he really wants, I need to keep a close eye on him. If he's sincere, I need to make use of his skills.' He thought as he believed he could use Sabaro either way. "I want you to do a little spying. While we do want strong duelists in our tournament, there are those who could be an obstacle to us."
"You mean Yukina Osama and her friends." Sabaro said.
"Exactly." Diego said. "Here are Yukina and her friends." He said as he showed images of Yukina and the others.
"Look at that. Those are the same guys I faced back on the island." Henry said.
"They are exceptional duelists." Diego said. "However, they do choose to oppose us and our goals. We need to constantly observe their progress and movements. That's where I want you to come in. Find them and test them."
"Understood." Sabaro said.
"Good, and I want you to take Henry with you." Diego said.
"Henry? I don't need his help. I can handle this without him." Sabaro said.
"What?! That's my line! Let me remind you that I nearly had you beat when we dueled, and I wasn't even using my full power!" Henry claimed. "If Diego hadn't called off the match, I would have beaten you!"
"Really? Looks like I had you pinned just before that moment." Sabaro said with Henry getting irritated.
"Knock it off. You're both going. Keep in mind that this is for the good of Raika." Diego said.
"Well, I guess I'll do it for Raika. Just make sure you don't get in my way, you piece of rock." Henry warned.
"Back at you." Sabaro said.
...
The News
"Welcome, everyone!" The M.C. of the tournament announced as he was doing a broadcast about the tournament. "We're coming to you live with updates about the Duel Battlers tournament! It's coming closer and closer, and many duelists are making much progress to get in the tournament. There seems to be a lot of promising young duelists out there. Speaking of which, we've got a special guest with us today. It's the fan favorite and a rising star in this tournament. It's none other than Yukina!" He announced as a light shined down, but there was no sign of her. "Huh? Yukina?!"
"Hey!" Yukina called as she jumped right in front of the camera. "Hey, Cindy!" She called with Cindy watching from a diner and felt embarrassed. "Felix! Kent! Everyone, can you see me?!" She called as the M.C. and others tried to pull her away from the camera.
"Yukina, please! You're being unprofessional!" The M.C. said.
"You guys are no fun." Yukina said.
"Well, we're pressed for time! I'll just ask the big question. What is the secret towards your great skills as a duelist?" The M.C. asked.
"Food!" Yukina said. "I eat some great food that helps give me the energy I need to keep going. My friend Felix is quite a cook."
"I'm being serious! You know what, never mind." The M.C. said as he and his crew were able to pull her away from the camera.
...
Cindy
"Oh boy. That was a little embarrassing." Cindy said as she tried to enjoy her lunch at the diner.
"Now, I'm about to give the latest updates about the qualifying tournaments." The M.C. claimed with Cindy listening to that. "There are two tournaments happening at the same time at the same location. It's taking place at Greenwood Forest. You can choose to take the matches in lush field surrounded by nature or near the majestic waterfall. The winners of both tournaments will earn a total of 3000DP. That means we'll have two lucky winners for this one."
"Greenwood Forest... That's not far from where I am now. Time for me to get in the duel." Cindy said as she saw an opportunity to get some points. She grabbed her bag and was heading out.
...
The Tournaments
"Please select which field you like to compete in. Neither arena has a special feature and the points are the same for both, but you can only compete in one." A decent amount of duelists were coming for both. They just needed to pick the one they like.
"In the end, it doesn't really matter which field to duel on." Cindy said as she was trying to decide. "If that's the case, I think maybe I'll go with..." Cindy was walking by until she walked into someone. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention."
"Cindy!" Cindy looked and saw she walked right into Hana.
"Hana! You're competing here too?!" Cindy said.
"Yeah. I was near the area and saw a chance to get some points, but I didn't know you were going to be here." Hana said. "So, which one are you going to compete in?"
"It doesn't sound like it matters which one to compete in, so I think I'm just going to compete in the field surrounded by the trees." Cindy said. "I think my deck will really shine there."
"In that case, I'll duel by the waterfall." Hana said.
"Huh? But wouldn't it be more fun to compete against each other?" Cindy questioned.
"Maybe, but if we both compete in the other tournament, we both have a better chance of winning." Hana said.
"I suppose you're right." Cindy said as it would be better if they both win rather than going against each other.
"Let's both do our best." Hana said as she offered a friendly handshake with Cindy gladly taking it and both of them setting out to win both tournaments.
...
Sabaro and Henry
What neither of the girls knew was that trouble was coming their way. Sabaro and Henry were too late to enter either competitions, but that wasn't going to stop either of them. They arrived at the entry desk and saw on the monitors what was going on.
"Seasonal Spring Enchantress, attack him directly!"
"Gottoms, strike now!" Both of them saw Hana and Cindy were doing rather well in their duels.
"Looks like we've got great duels going on in both events! So far, Hana and Cindy are both breezing through the competition in both the field and the waterfall!" M.C. announced as he did the play-by-play from his station.
"Lucky us. There's one for each of us." Henry said.
"Yes. We can kill two birds with one stone with things set like this, and we won't get in each other's way." Sabaro claimed. "Which one do you want?"
"I already dueled against Cindy, so I think I'll take on the one named Hana." Henry claimed.
"Very well. I'll take on Cindy." Sabaro said as the two of them headed straight for their targets.
"Excuse me, but registration for the tournament is now closed." The lady said, but that didn't stop them.
"I know." Sabaro said.
"Don't worry about it." Henry said as they just strolled right into it.
...
The Waterfall
"Hana has made splendid work in this tournament as she has already advanced to the final round." M.C. announced as Hana awaited for her final opponent to be decided. "With only one battle left to go until she can claim victory, she sure seems to be keeping her cool." Hana seemed confident she'll win her next duel and win those points.
"In that case, why wait around? Duel me!"
"Huh? Who said that?" Hana questioned as she looked around.
"Right here!" They all looked up at the waterfall and saw Henry dive right down and landed on a rock in the middle. "Tada!"
"You!" Hana said as she recognized him.
"This is a surprise! Henry, the one who started the Duel Battlers tournament, has made a surprise appearance!" M.C. announced.
"That's right, and I'm here for some action." Henry claimed.
"What gives? You can't just interrupt a tournament you haven't even entered in!"
"Yeah! You're ruining our duel! Get lost!"
"You're the ones that need to get lost. My business is with her." Henry said as he pointed right at Hana. "You sure are tough, but I want to see how tough you really are."
"But that's against the rules." Hana said.
"So what? If we're not dueling in the tournament, I can duel you anytime anywhere." Henry said. "You probably have more fun dueling me than with any of these guys. What do you say?" Hana thought it over for a moment. This guy might have started the tournament, but he is one of the Black Ace's top duelists.
"Fine. I'll take you on. Your little interruption has stopped the tournament, and I can tell it won't start again until something is done about you." Hana said as she accepted his challenge. "You're a member of the Black Ace. That alone makes you an enemy of mine and that means that you need to be stopped."
"A wise choice." Henry said as the two of them readied themselves for a showdown.
"This is unprecedented! An unofficial duel is happening right in the middle of the tournament! Hopefully, the field is being more civil than this." M.C. announced.
...
Cindy
Cindy finished up another duel. She made quick work of her opponent and appeared to be advancing to the finals of that part of the tournament.
"It looks like Cindy is heading straight to the finals. At least this one has no interruption." M.C. said as it seemed like things were still in order, but that didn't last too long.
"Cindy, I challenge you!"
"What's this?!" Up in the trees, everyone spotted Sabaro as he made himself known. "There's a trespasser there as well?!"
"Give me some credit. I didn't want to be rude, so I waited until the duel was over." Sabaro claimed. "Now that it is, I can get down to business. Cindy, your next opponent is going to be me!" He challenged as he jumped down from the tree.
"What's going on?! Who are you?!" Cindy said as he landed down across from her.
"My name is Sabaro. You might be interested to know that I'm actually with the Black Ace organization." Sabaro said with Cindy gasping in surprise that one of them came after her. "I came a long way to challenge you, but I can see the fear in your eyes. Are you going to accept my challenge or are you going to run with your tail between your legs?"
"N... No way! I'm not afraid of you!" Cindy said as she tried to bring out all the courage she could to stand against a member of the Black Ace. "I accept your challenge!" It was on now. Two duels against two members of the Black Ace was about to begin.
...
Diego
"It seems that they've taken the bait." Diego said as he enjoyed a nice drink and watched both battles unfold. "Hana and Cindy... I wonder how strong they are. Either way, I highly doubt their a match for both of the boys." Diego was awfully confident that his men will win in the end, and he might be right. Those two are not ones you want to take lightly.
...
The Tournaments
"If you are just tuning in, we have two unscheduled duels happening at both the field and the waterfall!" M.C. announced. "Hana is going against Henry while Cindy is dueling against Sabaro! We'll see if these two lovely ladies can actually take on these two intruders who are skilled duelists!" Both duels were happening with the girls trying their best to hold their own. With Hana and Henry, Hana had 2000LP left with Henry having 3200. He also had Moltrock Driller and Moltrock Burrower with them both having 2000atk points. One attack from either of them and Hana is finished.
"I was expecting this to be more fun, but one attack from either of my monsters and you're done for." Henry said.
"Don't be so sure. It's my turn now!" Hana said as she drew her next card with it being Fulhelmknight. "Perfect! I'm brining out my tuner monster: XX-Saber Fulhelmknight to the field!" She summoned out her tuner monster as it emerged with it having 1300atk points.
"A tuner? How is that going to help when you don't have any monsters to tune it with?" Henry mocked.
"Just wait and see. I'm activating my Call of the Haunted trap! With this trap, I can resurrect a monster from my graveyard! I'll be bringing back X-Saber Galahad!" Hana said as she brought back her Galahad with it having 1800atk points. "Now, I tune my level three Fulhelmknight with level four Galahad!" She started the synchro process as her knight turned into a circle and came around Galahad. Galahad was digitized and that one circle turned into seven with a beam shooting through. "I synchro summon XX-Saber Souza!" Souza emerged on the field with him having 2500atk points.
"Amazing! Hana pulled off a synchro summoning that's stronger than either of Henry's monsters!" M.C. announced.
"Souza, attack his Moltrock Burrower!" Hana ordered. Souza went on the attack as it slashed straight down on Henry's monster and destroyed it with Henry's life points dropping to 2700.
"Hana managed to beat one of Henry's monsters, but Henry still has the lead with life points. This duel could go either way." M.C. announced. Hana looked down at her Draining Shield trap in her hand and knows it will help.
'I know he's probably planning to weaken my life points. That's his strategy, summon as many monsters as he can and deal damage.' Hana thought. 'If he attacks, Draining Shield will be a big help. It might buy me some time until I can figure out a way to beat him.' "I place one face-down and end my turn!"
"Not bad, but you'll have to do a lot better than that if you want to beat me." Henry claimed.
...
Cindy
"It looks like Cindy isn't doing much better. Sabaro has managed to bring out two powerful fusion monsters." M.C. announced as Sabaro had 3700LP with Gem-Knight Zirconia at 2900atk points and Gem-Knight Topaz with 1800atk points. Cindy was barely holding on with her only having 800LP.
"Is this really the best you can do? I guess that means you're the weak link of your group." Sabaro said.
"I'm not beaten yet, and it's my turn now!" Cindy said as she drew her next card and it ended up being her flower. "Perfect! I'm summoning my Seasonal Spring Flower!" She said as her flower bloomed on the field with 800atk points. "Thanks to its special ability, I can also summon my Seasonal Summer Butterfly!" Her butterfly flew out on the field with 1300atk points. "With this, I build the overlay network!" A large X appeared right on the field and both of her monsters dived into the center with a pillar of light shooting to the sky. "I xyz summon Seasonal Spring Enchantress!" Cindy's enchantress emerged on the field with it's 2000atk points.
"Cindy has brought out an xyz monster, but what is she planning to do with it against such powerful monsters?!" M.C. announced.
"I activate my Xyz Unit equip spell! This will give her an extra 200atk points for each rank!" Cindy said as her enchantress' power increased to 2600. "What's more is that I use one overlay unit to give her another 500atk points!" She said as one of the units entered her monster's scepter and gave her even more power to 3100. "Time to battle! Attack his Gem-Knight Zirconia with Spring's Magic!" Her enchantress unleashed an intense blast of light and destroyed Zirconia with Sabaro's life points dropping to 3500.
"You managed to destroy one of my strongest monsters. That's good, but I'm afraid that doesn't mean this duel is over." Sabaro claimed as he was getting serious himself.
...
Hana's Duel
"It's my turn!" Henry said as he drew his next card. "Sweet! Just the card I wanted! I activate Molten Forgery! By returning to Moltrocks that are in my graveyard, I can bust out a level five or higher Moltrock from my hand!"
"Here it comes." Hana said as she knew what was going to come.
"I'll return Driller and Burrower so that I can bust out Moltrock Excavator!" Henry said as he summoned out his ace monster with it emerging on the field and having 2500atk points. "There's more! I'm activating Moltrock Magma! This spell card gives a Moltrock an extra 800atk points!" His excavator's power increased to 3300, but Hana got her trap ready. "One more thing. When he attacks, you can't use any of your face-downs against him."
"I can't?!" Hana said as that means her trap is useless.
"Moltrock Excavator, attack her Souza with Blazing Reaction!" Henry said. His Moltrock Excavator unleashed a powerful beam of heat and completely destroyed Souza with Hana's life points dropping to 1200. "One more thing! I've got four Moltrocks in my graveyard. Thanks to Excavator's ability, I can deal you even more damage!" His Moltrock Excavator unleashed even more of it's power and blasted Hana with all of her life points dropping to zero.
"Oh my! Hana has been defeated!" M.C. announced. "That be bad if it was part of the tournament, but it wasn't. Let's check with Cindy's duel."
...
Cindy's Duel
"My turn!" Sabaro said as he took his turn. "I'll start by playing Fusion Recovery! Since I used Garnet to summon Zirconia, both it and Polymerization return to my hand." He said as he took both cards from his graveyard. "Next, I activate Polymerization and fuse together Gem-Knight Garnet and Sapphire!" He said as he took both monsters in his hand and began to fuse them together. "I fusion summon Gem-Knight Ruby!" He said as a ruby-designed knight appeared with 2500atk points.
"But my monster is still stronger." Cindy said, but a little worried on what he might do.
"Not after I use Ruby's ability! By tributing Topaz, Ruby gains his attack points!" Sabaro said as Topaz vanished and all of it's power was given to Ruby with it now having 4300atk points. Cindy can't stop that. "Attack now! Finish this duel!" His knight jumped in the air and got its spear ready. It came straight down and slashed against Cindy's monster with it destroyed and off Cindy's life points dropping to zero.
"It looks like Cindy lost as well. Good thing for both of them that these duels weren't part of the tournament." M.C. announced. Despite that, they still lost to two members of the Black Ace. All going just as Diego wants.
...
Later
"We may have both won, but it feels like we lost." Cindy said. They both won their respective challenges, but they both still felt rather lousy because they couldn't beat the Black Ace duelists.
"Both of us were attacked by the Black Ace and couldn't beat them. It only makes sense we feel the way we do." Hana said.
"What do you think that was all about?" Cindy questioned.
"I'm not sure, but the Black Ace is getting stronger. We need to get stronger too." Hana said. She's right. The Black Ace are getting strong duelists and the duels are only going to get tougher from here. Yukina and her friends need to get stronger if they're going to win against them.