The Portal Master of Zero

by cmbasher7

During Louise’s familiar summoning ritual, she accidentally fuses a Skylander fan from 2014 with his Portal of Power turning him into a Portal Master and capable of summoning Skylanders by saying their names. Let’s see where this goes.

3. The Duel

Hey guys and gals, CMBasher7 here, back with another chapter in The Portal Master of Zero.

There isn't much that I want to talk about, so let's get right into the story.

As you all know, I don't own Skylanders or Familiar of Zero. The only thing I own is my own creations that I create.

---

Last We Left Off...

"HEY, YOU! Just what do you think you're doing!? Do you have any idea what you've caused!?" Louise shouted, her loud voice booming throughout the school yard making her displeasure known to all within earshot.

"If I didn't I certainly wouldn't ask you about it. Besides, I don't see how it's your problem. I'm the one Dueling him, remember?" Yu said with a roll of his eyes, not that Louise noticed as he kept his back to the noble and didn't bother to even face her.

Louise's teeth grit tightly at his response. How could this fool make a joke at a time like this? Was he just trying to mock her or something? Noting that he was walking away Louise quickly followed after him, with Siesta doing the same beside her.

Both girls were still trying to wrap their heads around the insanity of what happened. Louise continued searching for her commoner servant. Yet it still seemed like luck wasn't on her side today as there was still no sign of the boy anywhere. To say she had gotten furious was beyond an understatement, as those in the courtyard were witness to her quiet and angry mutterings, as well as a few times where she just lashed out and yelled to herself in frustration.

That was how Siesta found her. Usually when a student acted in such a way it was either out of anxiety or anger, so the servants always made sure to keep their distance whenever possible to avoid getting themselves caught in the crossfire.

It went doubly so for Louise's case due to her hot-headed temper and ability to make anything explode, which based on her reactions today was a very likely scenario to happen. Even so, the raven-haired maiden couldn't bring herself to ignore the "Zero" of the school when she looked so distressed, especially given the noble's connection to Yu-san. So ignoring her own fears Siesta went over to help the poor girl.

Louise, of course, was too frustrated to care or accept the help and had been about to wave the maid away until she was struck by a revelation. The servants were always around the school, their eyes and ears constantly watching out and listening to everything going on. So wouldn't it make sense if one of them had seen her familiar? Louise had nearly smacked herself for not realizing such a simple idea sooner, but it knocked enough sense into her to try and ask if Siesta had seen her familiar.

This discovery on Louise's part didn't have the same effect for Siesta. She knew full well about Hiro-san's feelings towards the nobles and how he refused to accept it as that, so when Miss Valliere asked about his location, the maid was rather hesitant to answer. Logically, the correct thing to do would be to tell Miss Valliere the truth, but there was no telling what the noble had in mind for Siesta's new friend, though even she could tell it wouldn't be good. At the same time she couldn't just lie about it either less she be found out and punished for it later, putting the raven-haired beauty in the middle of a crossroad on what to do.

It was at that moment of hesitation that both girls became aware of a large commotion happening around them, as they noticed students and servants alike were racing off to another part of the courtyard and gathering into a large crowd. Curious themselves, the two went to investigate and see what was going on.

This led to them finding Yu and witnessing his agreement to a duel with Guiche.

A fact that made the youngest of the Valliere family absolutely livid.

A duel!?

A duel for Founder's sake!?

And with Guiche of all people too! While the blonde-haired moron may be a womanizing idiot, he was still a dot-class mage with decent control and skill in Earth magic, something that even Louise would bitterly admit and would be an issue for a Portal Master like Yu. For any other noble, it may not seem like much of a threat as he was still a student and thus didn't have much in terms of experience or power. But for a commoner like her familiar, it was the equivalent of an ant facing off against a dragon.

There was no comparison in that!

"That's the point!" Louise continued to argue with her Portal Master familiar. "What do you think you're doing accepting a duel with a noble!? Don't you realize the situation you've gotten yourself into!?"

"She's right, Hiro-san," Siesta spoke up, her own concerns and fears expressed openly on her face. "You promised me you wouldn't cause any trouble. But this...this is beyond that. If you truly challenge a noble like this, you'll be-"

"Beaten, Hurt? Yeah, I've kinda had to deal with that back in high school with my bullies, it is nothing new to me," He said sternly. Siesta flinched at his tone, the sight making Yu's gaze soften a little as his eyes turned from a burning red to a grassy green. "Look, I'm sorry I broke the promise, Siesta, I really am. But I have no intention of backing down from a Duel or losing to some playboy."

"Stop acting like an idiot already!" Louise screamed. "This is serious! Someone like you can't beat a noble in battle!"

Yu's eyes honed in on the pink-eyed girl. "And who made up that rule, huh? Commoner this, noble that. All I've seen and heard since coming to this land is that you nobles have all the power and act like you're on top while those less fortunate have to serve you without question." He waved his hand to the side in anger. "Who is to decide such a thing? Just because you have some magic crap in you and Siesta doesn't that suddenly makes you better than her? That suddenly means she isn't to be treated like a regular person? Do not screw with me."

"H-Hiro-San?" Siesta uttered in surprise. Never in her life had she heard someone, noble or commoner alike, speak so open and defiantly about the ruling classes and how they worked.

She, of course, knew the injustice that all commoners faced, as well as personally experienced it many times herself, and wished to stand against it just as much as anyone else. Yet never had she been defended by someone so fiercely before. And for it to come from someone who she had only met the previous night, not only left her completely stunned, but for some reason made her heart skip a beat.

And she wasn't the only one surprised though, as Louise looked to be in disbelief by what she was hearing. Magic was a gift of the Founder, and only those who were blessed, were born with it. That was the rule of the world. It wasn't her fault that those less fortunate were of the lower class. It was just how things had always been, and there wasn't any way to change it.

Sure, she would like to admit that at times it was unjust at how the commoners were treated, and that there were some nobles, who weren't exactly pleasant people and who abused their power, but they weren't all like that! Her own family treated them with a neutral stance, and all their servants were taken well care of. It wasn't fair to judge every noble just because of the actions of a few, even if deep down she knew she partially caused some of that judgment.

Shaking her head Louise tried to center back on the real problem. "J-Just what are you saying? This has nothing to do with that! Whatever you may think of nobles and commoners, it doesn't have anything to do with what's going on now!"

"I'd argue it actually has a decent involvement with this," Yu huffed.

"That doesn't matter! We have to stop this whole thing! If you just go to Guiche and apologize for-"

"I refuse."

The blunt statement took Louise aback. "W-What?"

Yu's brow narrowed. "Why should I apologize to some playboy brat who can't learn to keep it in his pants? Frankly I'll be doing this world a service by teaching him a lesson."

"Hiro-san!" Siesta gasped.

"Y-You idiot! You just don't get it do you!?" Louise shouted, her frustration reaching its peak. "You can't win against Guiche! You'll lose! You'll lose and be hurt really badly if you go out there! You'll be lucky to even come back with just injuries alone!"

"Why do you care?"

Louise blinked. "Eh?"

Yu's gaze hardened and snapped directly onto Louise, making her flinch from the sight. "Why do you care, huh? Just what does it matter to someone like you what happens to me?"

A strange flicker of emotion emitted in Louise's chest but she ignored it. "W-What do you mean why do I care? Of course I care! I can't just let you go out there and get yourself killed, after all you're-"

"I'm just your familiar, right?" Yu had cut her off, his eyes becoming icy cold as they turned ocean blue. "That's really all I am in your mind aren't I? You don't even consider me human do you? To you I'm just some object or animal you want in your possession."

Another flicker, this time stronger.

"W-What? N-No! That's not even the point okay! I just-"

"Oh, Don't even try to talk your way out of this! Truth is you could care less what happens to me! From what I've seen of your kind your pride is the most important thing to you! You wield power others don't and because of that you think it gives you some kind of special privilege! That you can just command and control people all while putting them down whenever you please! But when someone actually takes a stand, when that pride of yours is damaged, you suddenly become defensive and try to pin blame on others rather than take responsibility! You're even willing to hurt those who you think can't defend themselves!"

"T-That's not true!" Louise defended back, the feeling growing even worse. "We're not like that! I'm not like that!"

"Oh really? So you're saying yesterday never happened, or did you forget your own actions?" Yu growled, his eyes now burning red hot like fire.

"What are you-?"

" How does 'It's your duty to serve and obey me, so why should I consider you anything else?' sound?" Yu repeated what Louise said to him after breakfast.

Louise flinched. She did recall such words. Her pride as a noble felt insulted, and in her anger, she had lashed out and said those things in order to gain control of the argument and make the Portal Master before her realize the situation he was in. Never did she expect her own words to be turned against her in such a manner, or that they would serve as proof of her familiar's accusation on noble pride. It brought an uneasy feeling of guilt in her chest.

Especially when hearing how she sounded.

'I wasn't actually that cruel...was I?'

"That's what I thought," Yu said coldly after getting nothing from the pinkette. His eyes soon returned to their color-shifting pattern.

The Portal Master soon stormed down courtyard of the school, having nothing else more to say to noble girl, never once bothering to look back at her.

Siesta, who had been stunned silent since Hiro-san's yelling, broke from her stupor and looked back and forth between him and Miss Valliere, uncertain of what to do. After a moment of hesitation she gave a quiet apology to the pink-haired girl before racing off in the same direction as the boy.

"H-Hiro-san, wait!"

Leaving Louise to stand in the courtyard in solitude.

---

With Yu and Siesta...

After leaving Louise behind, Yu Hiro and Siesta headed to the Vestri Court. Yu began making preparations for his Duel, the last thing anyone like him would want is to be unprepared for whatever challenges you'll have to face, like he was about to face soon.

While Yu was boxing his shadow, Siesta stood just a little away watching. While part of her was curious about the strange boy she had met, she didn't want to pry into his backgrounds. Instead her mind was preoccupied on what happened just a few minutes prior with Miss Vallière.

Neither of them had said a word since they left the pinkette alone in the halls. Siesta was growing more worried than before because of it. She could feel the tense atmosphere permeating from the younger boy in front of her, but was hesitant to say anything out of fear he'd snap at her too. Yet she knew she couldn't not say anything either, and her duty as a maid refused to allow her to not try and assist in some way. She just hoped she didn't cause things to become worse.

"H-Hiro-San, are you...alright?" Siesta finally broke the silence, giving off a very worried and scared expression.

Yu paused in his training for a second before resuming. "I'm fine. No need to worry about me, Siesta. I don't plan on losing to that two-timer." He responded back while keeping his focus on his punches.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

A tick of annoyance escaped the Portal Master's mouth. He knew what she meant. He just didn't want to talk about it. Yet, it seemed Siesta did as she continued.

"I...I can understand why you were so angry. I might have been just as upset had I been put into a similar circumstance against my will. But what happened back there with Miss Valliere…"

"What about it?"

"Don't...don't you think that might have been a little much? That you might have been a little too harsh on her?"

"Not harsh enough." Yu muttered. The statement saddened Siesta and made her hang her head.

Unknown to her, despite the coldness in his words the hidden eyes of young boy told an entirely different story. Truth was, Yu knew he had been over the top. He hadn't meant to come off so vicious and cruel, but with everything that had happened to him; being brought here, the nobles and their actions, the Duel, along with the memory of his first meeting with the girl still fresh in his mind, he wasn't exactly in the best of moods. Especially when it came to the pink chibi.

Guiche had been the starting outlet for what he was feeling. He was fully intending to take all his stress out on the idiot, and nobody could complain about it since he was the one who was being challenged and not the other way around. But once Louise stepped in and started yelling at him, saying he would lose and should apologize of all things, he couldn't contain it anymore.

She pushed every button. Every single issue he was having. Just her being there was enough of a reason. He'd made sure to keep watch for her while he was working during the bonding event because he didn't want to have to confront her again after what nearly happened.

At least that was what she hoped.

"Miss Vallière is… She is not treated as well here as you may believe." Siesta said softly. Noting Hiro-san's raised brow she knew she had his attention, and after a moment went on to explain.

"As you already learned, commoners cannot use magic because we are not born with it. It is what separates us from the noble class and why they are treated with such higher respect and worth, as well as the reason why we are treated as second-class. In that way we are separated by a thin line of society that is impossible to cross. Yet as I understand it, despite being born with magic like any other noble, Miss Vallière is unable to use it at all."

That had caught Hiro's attention as he turned his head to face her. "What?"

Siesta nodded. "It's true. I've heard the whispers and even seen the explosions around the academy. From what I know they are caused by Miss Vallière because she is unable to cast a single spell correctly. No matter how simple or complicated it is, they always seem to result in large explosions that destroy everything around them. In fact it was a surprise to everyone that she managed to succeeded in summoning you here at all, Hiro-san, especially since I heard the ritual ended in an explosion anyways." Siesta paused and looked down again, her eyes filled with what Yu could only assume was sympathy.

"And yet, it doesn't change the fact that Miss Vallière is constantly mistreated and mocked by her classmates. I always see them laughing at or ridiculing her whenever given a chance, and as far as I know she doesn't have a single friend throughout the entire school. It is also because of her failures that the students have given her the rather cruel nicknames like 'Louise the Zero' or 'Zero Louise.' Because according to them, no matter how hard she tries, she will always fail at everything she does and will never become a true mage."

She turned her gaze back to Hiro-san to judge his reaction, only to see his eyes hidden by the shadows of his hair, though his expression retained the same neutral look as always.

"I…I'm sorry, Hiro-san. I didn't mean to push these thoughts onto you or question your feelings on the matter, especially with your own worries to deal with." Siesta held her hands over her heart. "This duel… I know I can't stop you from backing out of it. Even if I begged, I have a feeling that you'd say no, and as terrified as I am for your life, I will be there to support you and stand by your side even if no one else will. I just thought you should know that despite everything that has happened, Miss Vallière is not as cruel as she seems, and has suffered just as much as any of us commoners, myself included. If you ask me, I believe the only reason she acts as she does is out of fear and loneliness. Because all she has ever had to rely on or trust in is herself. And because…" Siesta's hands tightened. "Because I know I would have done the same were I in her shoes…"

Silence filled the room once more, with neither Portal Master nor maid looking at each other. It was then swiftly broken by a loud clicking sound.

"Siesta."

The maid nearly jumped at the boy's voice and looked up to him again. "Y-Yes?"

"Which way is the Vestri Court?"

---

Headmaster's Office, Central Tower...

We soon cut to the tower at the center of the academy, this place is the Headmaster's office, inside we see Jean Colbert with a book in hand and sitting on a chair in front of a wooden desk is an older man.

The older man has a long, white, Gandalf-like beard and hair style (basically his hair reached his beard). He also has a pair of thick white eyebrows. He wears a fully black robe. He has a pair of scarlet pink eyes.

This is Osmond, the Headmaster of Tristain Academy.

"Hmm, no previous case exists of a peasant familiar." Osmond said with a hum as Louise's summoning ritual had no record of existence happening before.

"That is not the immediate problem at hand." Colbert said as he was not worried about that issue at the moment.

"Hmm?"

"I didn't recognize the rune that appeared on the familiar's hand during the ceremony and so I went and looked it up." Colbert said as he soon opened the book he had with him and began to turn to a certain page. He then presented the page he had read last night to the Headmaster. "And it was strikingly similar to this."

Before either of the two men could think of an answer, there was a sudden knock on the doors to the Headmaster's office.

"Who is it?" Osmond called out to whoever had knocked on the door.

"It's me, Old Osmond." A female voice came from behind the doors.

"Come in."

The door soon opened and standing behind it, was a female woman who looked to be in her early 20's, she is seen wears a pair of glasses and has green hair and hazel eyes. She is seen wearing a scarlet mantle around her shoulders and a Tristain's Academy teacher's uniform (aka similar to what Colbert is wearing), but she instead wore a short skirt. Her hair is stylized into a pony tail with a gold band. Her name is Matilda Longueville, the Headmaster's secretary.

"Sorry to interrupt your meeting, but there appears to be trouble out in the courtyard." Longueville announced to the Headmaster.

Osmond sighed. "If it's not one thing, it's another. What is it?"

"It seems there are some students dueling at Vestri Court. It's causing quite a commotion. A few teachers have gone there to try and stop it, but their attempts are being impeded by the sheer number of students and servants alike."

"The servants as well?" Colbert said, very much surprised.

Osmond rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly annoyed. "For heaven's sake, there's nothing worse than nobles with too much free time in their hands," he grumbled. "So, who's involved?"

"One of them is Guiche de Gramont, sir." Longueville informed Osmond.

"Ah, that idiot son of Gramont. Skirt-chasing must run in the family, considering his father's even more of a womanizer. I wouldn't be surprised if the boy knows every girl in school."

Longueville gave a silent glare to the headmaster at the "skirt-chasing" part. She restrained from pointing out his own actions of using his familiar to peek up her skirt.

"And his opponent is?" Osmond asked.

"...Well, it's not a mage. I've been told... it's Miss Valliere's familiar."

Osmond and Colbert's eyes both widened.

"What!?"

The united shout from both men surprised Longueville but she continued. "The teachers are requesting to use the Bell of Slumber to stop the duel."

Colbert turned to the headmaster in alarm. "Old Osmond, this is...!"

The headmaster seemed to think. After a minute, his eyes glinted like a hawk's. "Ridiculous. There's no need to use such an important artifact just to stop a children's fight. Leave them be."

"Understood." Longueville said before leaving the room, her footsteps disappearing down the hallway.

Colbert swallowed audibly. "Old Osmond..."

The older mage nodded. He grabbed his staff and waved it towards a big mirror set in the wall, the Mirror of Far-Seeing. The artifact glowed and reflected a scene of the Vestri Court, allowing the two men to watch the situation unfold.

---

Vestri Court...

The Vestri Court was the central garden situated between the Wind and Fire elemental towers. Being located to the west, the court didn't receive much sunshine even during the middle of the day. But because of its spacious environment it was the perfect place for nobles to settle petty arguments through private duels.

Right now, the court was filled to the brim with students and servants, all of whom had gathered together to watch the event and formed a large circle in the middle of the court.

"My, my, such a large crowd we have here. That familiar sure knows how to make things entertaining," Kirche commented. She was leaning against the large outer wall of the school and watching the crowd gathered around. Of all the things she could have anticipated happening, this would be at the bottom of her list. "I wonder what'll happen. Any opinions, Tabitha?"

Beside Kirche stood another girl. She had short blue hair that seemed to reach just past her face and matching colored eyes that were focused on the book in her hands. She wore a pair of reading glasses, and behind her was a large wooden curved stave that leaned against the wall. Outside of that she wore a school uniform and black cape just like Kirche, signifying her as a second-year.

The girl, Tabitha as she was addressed, didn't respond to Kirche's question however as she merely turned a page in her book.

"Well, you always did like to play the odds." Kirche joked. The sound of cheers and excitement quickly caught her attention causing her to look at the crowd and smile at the sight. "Ah, and there is the man of the hour now."

The circle of nobles opened up a path at one end of the ring, allowing Yu to walk forward with his fist gripped close and eyes aimed front. The circle quickly closed behind him, blocking off Siesta and forcing her to take a spot behind several of the students as she watched worriedly with her hands held together in prayer.

"Hiro-San..."

From another side of the ring a certain first-year also watched the event unfold. Katie had been crying her eyes out from the betrayal that was revealed until she caught wind that Sir Gu-…that Guiche, had challenged the Yu boy to a duel. She couldn't believe it herself and came to see if the rumors were true. Yet now that she was seeing Yu step forward, the brunette started wishing the rumors hadn't been true.

As much as she wanted to blame the boy for his involvement in her broken heart, she knew he was only exposing the truth to her about Si- Guiche's actions. There was no way of knowing how long she would have been toyed with had he not brought it to light. Plus, he helped her out earlier by escorting her to the table and had been very kind and enjoyable in conversing with, proving that he wasn't a bad person. So she was terrified of the fact he was now going to get hurt in this fight that she had helped caused.

"Mister Yu..."

Yu finally stopped near the center of the man-made ring, his eyes gluing themselves to the form of Guiche, who stood at the other end with his arms crossed, a rose in one hand and an arrogant smirk etched on his face.

"You showed up after all. I at least compliment you for not running away when you had the chance." Guiche spoke, having now regained his confidence and pride that he once had before.

He admittedly had been caught off guard earlier by the commoner's reaction and response to his challenge, but had quickly gotten over it and prepared himself. He wasn't going to let this fool get off easy for insulting him, oh no. After all he had an audience watching, so he needed to put on a show.

A show they would never forget.

Yu's brow furrowed but he remained calm. "I'd never back down from a Duel. And I would never run away from someone like you."

Guiche chuckled. "So I see." He raised his rose up to the sky. "Gentlemen! Ladies! It's a duel!"

A roaring cheer was elicited from the crowd. Ryoga ignored the cheers while Guiche waved his arms to acknowledge the crowd. The noble then spun and pointed his rose wand at his opponent.

"I, Guiche, am going to duel! My opponent is Louise's commoner!" The blonde said as if being a announcer. Another cheer broke out.

"I do have a name you know," Yu said through the noise. "Not that it'd probably matter to you. Now are we going to do this or what?"

"Straight to the point, huh? I can understand that." Guiche smirked. "In that case let's not waste any time and-"

"WAIT!"

The two boys broke their stare-down as everyone's gazes were drawn towards the sudden shout. From a corner of the crowd all eyes watched as a figure moved through the pack of nobles, pushing and shoving aside everyone as it did. After a few seconds the figure finally entered the open ring, turning Yu's expression from confused to surprised.

"You?"

The figure was Louise, who ignored Yu and focused her attention on Guiche. "Guiche, you have to stop this now! You know duels are prohibited in this school!"

Guiche snapped out of his own surprise and shrugged. "What is forbidden are duels between nobles. He is merely a commoner so there is no problem here."

"T-That's only because we've never had anything like this happen before though." Louise shook her head and replied. She glanced over at Yu, who simply stood in silence watching her, his face unreadable.

"Hmm, could it be?" Guiche spoke with a curious tone. "Louise, did you actually have your heart moved by this commoner?"

Louise gaped at the question. Her cheeks burned beat red before she snapped angrily. "W-WHO WOULD HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPEN!? Don't be ridiculous! I just don't want to see my familiar spirit get beaten up is all!"

Yu's eyebrow twitched a little bit and was the only bit of reaction from him.

"Whether you say to stop or not that commoner has already accepted my challenge. There is no stopping this fight." Guiche declared with a shake of his head. He then paused as a thought entered his mind. "Unless…"

Louise frowned. "Unless what?"

Guiche grinned and pointed his rose wand towards Yu. "How about this. If you and that commoner both bow down and apologize to me, I may just be willing to forget this little incident."

Yu scoffed while Louise looked at Guiche, taken aback by this request. "Wha-why should I do that!? I could understand him as he may have started this, but why should I have to bow down to you as well!?"

"Is it not the fault of the master as well if the familiar does something wrong?" Guiche said mockingly as he brushed aside his hair. "You are just as responsible for this mess for having such a disobedient familiar. As such, it is only right that you both apologize to me and admit your mistakes, is it not?"

Louise clenched her jaw tightly, because what Guiche spoke of, was the absolute truth. As the actions of a familiar reflected off the master. Because of this Guiche had a point in saying that she was at as much fault for this event, except what he was asking was too much.

"So what shall it be, 'Louise the Zero'?" Guiche asked with a smirk. "It is rather simple after all. All you both have to do is get on your knees, bow your heads, and say 'I'm sorry Sir Guiche'. Do this, and I shall forget this whole thing ever happened."

Louise bit her lip. She wasn't sure what to do. To accept and throw away her pride as a noble, or refuse and watch the person she summoned be crushed? She could feel the stares and whispers of the crowd, and felt herself shaking with uncertainty and fear.

Strangely enough, this caused the pinkette to move her attention towards the one person she feared the reaction of most. Perhaps in some small hope that she would somehow know the answer then.

However, when Louise's pink eyes met Yu's color-shifting eyes, she noticed that they had turned to a burning red color, the young noble found herself frozen once more.

But this time it felt different.

As she stared into the sea of the Portal Master's gaze, Louise didn't feel the anger or hatred from earlier. She didn't experience the level of disgust or loathing that had struck at her heart at this moment. She didn't feel the cold chilling gaze that froze her solid and made her feel fearful and weak.

No, there was none of that. This time something different was swimming in those eyes of the boy she summoned. Something she didn't recognize or understand, but for some reason seemed to calm her heart and lessen her fear.

'Why?' Louise thought confused as the two of them continued to look at nothing else save each other. 'He was so angry with me earlier. He hated me, despised me even, and had wanted nothing to do with me before. So why? Why are his eyes so different right now? Why isn't he glaring at me like before? Why don't I feel afraid anymore? Why do I…'

Louise's heart seemed to pulse again, though not from pain this time as she rested a hand above it.

'Why do I-?'

"Well? Are you going to apologize already or not? What is your answer, 'Louise the Zero'?" Guiche's voice called out, having lost some of his patience.

Louise broke from her thoughts and looked over to the blonde noble and his irritated face. Glancing back once more at Yu, the pink haired girl's mind came to a resolution. Her fear and uncertainty evaporated, and was replaced by something else entirely. Taking a deep breath she gathered herself and stood firmly before speaking in a firm and clear voice.

"I... refuse."

The entire crowd gasped. Guiche himself flinched back, feeling his pride be struck. "I-I'm sorry? Could you repeat that?"

If you'd look closely Yu's face could be seen with a small smirk.

"Do you have that much earwax stuck in that brain of yours that you've gone deaf? I thought I made myself clear." Louise spoke, turning fully to Guiche and declaring herself once again. "I refuse. I will not bow to you. Not now, not ever. Nor shall my familiar for that matter of fact."

Guiche's expression swiftly shifted to anger. "What?"

"Who do you think you are, Guiche de Gramont, to order me around?" Louise questioned with a brush of her pink hair and loud huff. "I am Louise de la Vallière, of the Vallière family! Do you really think I would ever bow to someone like you just because you got caught chasing skirts? Have you no sense in taking responsibility for your own actions? Clearly you have spent too much time putting on makeup and perfume and have poisoned that poor brain of yours from repeated exposure. Not that there was that much already."

Laughter broke through the courtyard as Guiche's grip tightened on his rose.

"You dare!"

Louise didn't stop as she pointed at him. "Listen well, Guiche! My familiar may have spoken out wrongly. He may have been disobedient. And he may be a rude, stupid, callous and stubborn commoner."

Louise paused and turned to Yu, her expression softening when her pink eyes met his color shifting eyes, which were now a grass green color.

"But he is MY familiar!" She said gently, her eyes showing emotions that she just couldn't express or say right now. Instead, she rounded back to Guiche with confidence and pride. "And whether he has done something wrong or not, I have complete faith in him! Just as I have complete faith in myself! And as such, just as I will not bow to you, neither shall he! So do your best, Guiche de Gramont, because by the end of this duel it will be my familiar spirit who stands on top, and you who will be apologizing to me!"

A loud roar of cheers erupted from the crowd of nobles and servants. The sheer display alone from Louise had riled up their blood and excited them! This was going to make the fight all the better now that the Zero herself had called Guiche out and said her familiar would win.

Against the wall Kirche chuckled amused. "Well, well, never knew Louise had that much bite to her. I'm actually impressed."

Tabitha just simply turned another page in her book.

In the crowds Siesta looked stunned by the declaration, but also happy. Katie meanwhile stared in amazement and awe at Louise's declaration.

"Hey, Siesta!"

Siesta jumped at being suddenly called out before making her way through the crowd to Yu and Louise. "Y-Yes, Hiro-san?"

"Take care of her would you? I have a Duel to get to," Yu said before turning back towards Guiche. Siesta nodded and knelt beside Louise, both girls watching the young Portal Master approach the noble.

"Damn you, Zero!" Guiche shouted as he glared at the retreating Louise. "How dare you mock me! Do you have any-!"

"Shut up."

Guiche, as well as every other noble in the crowd, stiffened fearfully at the tone emitting from the commoner's mouth.

"I can't stand this world's way of thinking. And I can't stand you nobles. Hell, the whole time I've been here, I've only met two people in which I can safely say I enjoyed my time with. One being a maid who defines what being a true noble is more than any of you. And the other a noble herself, but one who was kind and sweet and wasn't anything like the rest. Only to have her heart broken because of a bastard like you. Someone like her doesn't deserve to be labeled in the same category as you!"

Katie brought a hand to her chest as she watched Yu with warm eyes.

"So yeah, I really don't like you nobles. And I really, really don't like how this world works." Yu paused and closed his eyes. "But you know... there's one thing I actually hate more than you idiot nobles."

Guiche growled and clenched his rose tightly. "Oh? And what's that, commoner?"

Yu growled as he was reminded of all the taunts, all the jeers, all the hatred he had gotten back home on Earth, he had had enough of people like them that he had grown to despise and hate anyone like Guiche.

"What I hate most of all…" Yu quickly head snapped down, eyes opened to reveal absolute fury and seemed to be burning like a raging inferno. "ARE FUCKING BULLIES LIKE YOU!"

Yu soon got into a combination of a Martial Arts and a Boxing stance, eyes glaring hard at his opponent before him.

Shaking out of his stutter the blonde playboy growled and held up his rose. "No more words then. Very well. It's time then for you to be taught a lesson in respect, commoner!"

"The only lesson being taught today, will be what happens when you piss me off!" Yu declared fiercely.

Near the edge of the ring Louise's eyes widened. She watched as the boy and familiar she had summoned just yesterday, stand up with such confidence and strength. Strength she never considered him to have.

As the crowd of students cheered on in excitement and anticipation, Yu Hiro shouted the one word he had been waiting to say since this whole thing started, never noticing his familiar markings glow.

"LET'S DUEL!" Yu shouted.

"If you think that little speech of yours be enough to defeat me, you're wrong!" Guiche declared. He then waved the rose in hand letting a single petal fall from it.

The moment the rose petal had touched the ground a bright light in the form of a circle appeared from it and spread across the grassy surface. From the light, what looked to be a sort of copper-green armor-clad metal golem emerged out of the ground. Its armor and size put it slightly taller than Guiche, with its body being femininely shaped. A pair of decorative wings attached to the helm, while held in its right hand was a spear nearly the size of its body.

"I guess I forgot to mention earlier. My runic name is 'The Bronze.' Guiche the Bronze. Accordingly, my bronze valkyrie shall be your opponent!" Guiche announced.

But Yu didn't seem to back down as he rushed the Valkyrie, he didn't seem to notice as both of his arms were coated by the Symbol of the Earth Element as both his fists were covered in rocks and diamonds.

Yu then pulled his fist back before jabbing it towards the valkyrie, causing it to make some small sents and holes into the metal a bit, and also destroying the rocks off of it, before striking it with his other arm, making another small dent and holes, as it did the same. He soon regenerated the rock armor and continued to do this until nearly the entire Valkyrie was nearly covered in dents.

Yu was internally thankful that he had taken all those Martial Arts classes all those years ago. He soon huffed before he smirked as he began to think that this fight would be easy and that he wouldn't need to summon a Skyla-

Yu's eyes widened as his body instinctively lunged to the left, just barely moving out of the way as a large metallic fist appeared in the spot he was just standing in.

"HIRO!" Siesta cried out fearfully for the Portal Master.

"Oh? So you managed to dodge that, huh?" Guiche mocked Yu. He was certainly surprised by the quick reflex his opponent had, not expecting the commoner to dodge his valkyrie, but he didn't let it show or get to him. Instead he found it amusing and waved his rose some more. "Let's see how well you can dance then."

Yu silently let out a curse as the valkyrie charged again. Keeping his attention on the sentinel, he jumped back and dodged another punch. However the valkyrie kept up the momentum and continued to send a series of punches at the Portal Master, forcing him to back away and keep dodging the attacks. As he kept being pushed back Yu noticed he was running out of room due the surrounding crowd and stopped in place. The valkyrie charged once more, but this time Yu took a chance and let his body fall to the ground, rolling underneath the bronze golem's attack before pushing himself up and slamming a powerful kick on the side of the valkyrie's body, sending it hurtling to the ground.

'Crap!' Yu winced in pain as he pushed back the stinging in his foot. The damn valkyrie was pretty tough. Sure, Guiche called himself "The Bronze" but he thought that was a joke or something. That didn't look to be the case though.

While this was going on, the crowd of noble students cheered excitedly as they watched the fight. They had never seen a commoner move this way before, let alone be able to dodge attacks from a magic construct. Most would just stumble around like a drunk chicken or be knocked out on the ground already. That didn't seem to be the case regarding Louise's familiar though. It seemed this fight was going to turn out better than they anticipated.

Yu ignored the noise of the crowd as the valkyrie turned to face him again. The Portal Master stayed firm and raised his fist in preparation. He had already seen the speed in which the golem moved and had an idea. He just needed-

The golem once again flew towards him, left hand at the ready.

'There!' Yu smirked and charged forward as well.

"Hmm? What is he doing?" Guiche wondered at the reckless move.

As the valkyrie's left arm lunged forward for another punch, Yu lifted his own left arm to place his rock-armored fist in the path of the attack. The punch collided with the rocky armor, tearing all the rock off as it did, as the fist skidded across the arm. Yu grit his teeth from the impact but held his ground.

The second the valkyrie stopped moving, Yu acted.

Pushing forward with a battle cry, Yu slammed his fist into the valkyrie's chest, knocking the bronze sentinel back from the sudden strike. Using the opening Yu brought his fists up again before slamming the solid plate as hard as he could against the valkyrie's right hand, the blow shattering the metallic fingers and causing the spear to be released from its grasp.

Yu didn't think, he just moved. His right hand swung forward towards the weapon just as the left fist of his opponent closed and lunged forward. The sound of metal hitting flesh was heard as Yu was sent hurling into the air before crashing back down onto the hard ground.

"Hiro-san!" Siesta screamed while Louise gasped beside her.

"What, over already?" Guiche chuckled at the scene and brushed a strand of hair out of his face. "You see? Even a commoner like yourself cannot hope to defeat a noble. Valkyrie, be a dear and make sure to engrave that into his mind."

The bronze valkyrie, as if understanding the words of its master, dashed forward to teach the lesson its master wished. Because of this, it never noticed the smirk on Yu's face. Just as the valkyrie was in reach of the Duelist he spun off the ground and faced the puppet, and at the same time a sharp metal blade pierced through the construct's face and exited out the back of its helm.

"W-What!?" Guiche yelped while the crowd gasped in shock.

Yu simply continued to smirk as he held the spear dropped from the valkyrie firmly in his hands. "Looks like your little toy isn't as tough as you thought it was."

Yanking the spear out of his opponent's head, Yu watched the metal body shake for a moment before collapsing onto the ground with a loud thud, its pieces falling apart like dominoes. The display snapped the crowd from their stupor and earned a roar of cheers and excitement from them. Yu had paid them no mind and took the moment to catch his breath.

That had been a bit reckless he admitted, but it worked. He was rather surprised though by how his fist held up like it did. Looking down at them, he was amazed to see that it didn't seem to have any sort of damage to them, not even a tiny scratch. He did however take notice of a green disk shining over his hands when he accidentally cut himself when he picked up the spear. Just what the hell is going on with his body?

Yu shook his head. Such questions didn't matter for now, especially since whatever it was helped him take down his opponent and arm him with a weapon. It had been an on-the-spot idea, but seeing how Guiche just kept sending the valkyrie to punch his lights out rather than use the spear in hand, he had taken the gamble that the noble just wanted to intimidate him and make him suffer rather than actually try to kill him.

Feeling a smirk form on his face, Yu spun the spear in his right hand before pointing the tip towards Guiche, his gaze seeming to glow in the light of the sun. "So then, what was that about a commoner not winning?"

All around, the nobles cheered loudly at his words and display. The commoner was actually putting up a fight, and while some were still annoyed by his words from earlier the excitement of combat helped to counteract those thoughts.

Against the wall, Kirche let out a whistle of respect along with a sultry smile. "Not bad for a commoner. A bit reckless and crude, but that just adds to the charm I suppose."

Tabitha didn't respond to the comment as she merely turned another page in her book. If one watched carefully however they would have seen her eyes flick up towards the purple-haired boy.

"Hiro-san." Siesta whispered in awe. She had been so terrified when the fight began that she nearly closed her eyes to prevent herself from seeing her new friend get hurt. Yet the maid couldn't find it in herself to look away from the event, and was just as shocked as everyone to witness Hiro-san destroy the magic valkyrie. Something she hadn't thought was possible!

Louise's own thoughts were similar to Siesta's. She knew full well that Guiche's valkyrie's were too much for an average commoner to handle. He constantly displayed their skills many times over, more than likely to impress the female populace. While it wasn't anything for another student to get excited or worry over, it was clear those valkyries would be a threat to anyone that didn't possess magic. So it caught her completely by surprise when Yu not only managed to keep up with his opponent, but actually disarm and defeat it. He even acted like it wasn't a big deal.

"So then..." Yu called out as he straightened himself and pointed the spear at Guiche, shaking slightly as he did. "Got anything else for me? I'm getting a bit bored here."

Guiche's jaw clenched angrily as he listened to the crowd cheer. The commoner was mocking him again! And what's worse, the fool was standing there as if he, a Gramont, was nothing to him! Nothing! The blonde noble grew furious at the insult and felt himself ready to snap at fool!

Luckily he was able to keep himself calm, closing his eyes and giving a smirk.

"Is that so, commoner? Then, I believe it's time we ended this charade wouldn't you say?" Guiche declared. He started channeling his magic, though it was difficult as he felt his body nearly buckle under the strain. He managed to keep upright however and summon four more valkyries. He then pointed his wand to the ground and began subtly flowing his magic through it, while watching the commoner darkly.

Despite his own exhaustion, Yu still held onto his smirk and got ready as the four sentinels charged with spears at the ready. The first two slashed horizontally with their weapons, which Yu quickly ducked underneath. The third and fourth used this opportunity to try and impale his shoulder, but the Portal Master brought his rock-layered arms up once more and deflected the attacks aside before jumping back when the bronze sentinel tried to punch him.

However, as he moved through the air, Yu suddenly felt something grab at his ankle, halting his movement and pulling him downwards.

"What the-!?" Yu didn't get to finish as he was slammed onto his back, crying out from the jolt that erupted in his back.

"Hiro-san!" Siesta yelled out while Louise and Katie gasped in horror.

Yu soon felt his body screaming but ignored it and looked up to see what happened. To his shock the arm of one of the destroyed sentinels had moved and grabbed hold of his leg in a tight grip. Snapping his gaze to Guiche he caught the smirk on the noble's face. He almost cursed at himself for being careless but wasn't given the chance, as the valkyrie from before charged at his downed position with a clenched fist to take advantage of the opening.

Knowing the danger he was in, the Portal Master kicked at the hand with his other leg. He broke it off and rolled to his feet while positioning his arms into the path of the punch. However, his downed position didn't give him the proper brace, as the heavy blow impacted the device and knocked the arm to the side, giving the valkyrie an opening. It immediately swung its other fist right into Yu's chest, making his color-shifting eyes bulge open as the air left his lungs, while his body recoiled in pain and a piercing agony ripped through all his other injuries.

Before he could even process what happened the valkyrie suddenly jumped out of the way and its three other siblings reappeared in the Yu's vision, thrusting their spears forward.

"Shit!"

"Too late!" Guiche yelled.

SHINK!

The sound of flesh being torn reverberated throughout the courtyard. Silence filled the air until the body of the black-haired teen slammed into the ground, a loud cry escaping his lips. Siesta and Katie both screamed in horror.

"Hiro-san!"

"Mister Yu!"

Yu's teeth grinded fiercely together as his body wracked with burning discomfort. Looking down he spotted blood flowing freely from his left shoulder, courtesy of being pierced by one of the spears and forming a nice hole in his flesh and clothing. He could also see a dark red stain forming on his shirt from where the other spears had sliced clean against the right side of his torso. Yu could barely take notice of a disk with green leaves and a gentle green aura surrounding his body.

Turning himself on his hands and knees Yu felt his body shake from both exhaustion and pain. He berated himself for being in such a state due to his carelessness and not finishing the fight sooner. Another spike of pain shot through him, making him wince and clutch at his wounded shoulder, trying to ease the stinging and stop the flow of blood that just seemed to continuously pour out.

"Had enough?"

Yu's eyes filled with ferocity as they turned on Guiche. The blonde smiled despite his own exhaustion as he waved his hands to Yu in delight.

"Look at you, on your hands and knees like you should have been in the first place. You were warned you know. A commoner can never hope to defeat a noble." Guiche boasted as his three valkyries lined up before him.

"Mister Yu." Katie whispered as she stared at the downed boy who helped her. He had landed near her position with that last attack, and seeing him so close and injured made the first-year fear for his life.

"I'll give you one last chance." the Gramont continued, aiming at the commoner with his rose. "Apologize now and I will show you mercy. You have more than proven your skill and determination in this fight. Everyone here can acclaim to that. There is no need for you to suffer any further."

"Hiro-san, please," Siesta begged. Her hands clutched together tightly over her heart as she prayed to Brimir. She couldn't take it anymore. Hiro-san was strong, incredibly so, but he was now in the state she had feared for since the beginning

He had to stop! He's already done enough, hasn't he? She didn't want to see him lose, but she didn't want to see him be hurt anymore either!

She didn't want to watch him die!

The crowd of nobles watched in silent anticipation as Yu remained on his knees and hands. Guiche grinned at the sight despite how he was feeling. "What will it be then? If you keep going I cannot guarantee your life. So what will you do, commoner?"

Yu did nothing at first. He simply kneeled on the ground with his back to his opponent. But then, his free hand dug into the dirt as his shaking stopped.

"Who…"

"Hmm?" Guiche tilted his head.

"Who...would ever…" Yu spoke as he pushed his body off the ground, his feet locking in place as he stood back up, his stance tall and solid before turning around with determined and defiance. "...apologize to someone like you!?"

Everybody was stunned by the declaration, but soon loud cheers broke out at the boy's commitment and continuation of the fight. Siesta and Katie however felt their hearts drop in horror.

"My, my." Kirche said impressed. "He really doesn't know when to quit, does he? Is he really going to keep going till he drops?" She questioned mostly to herself, knowing she probably wouldn't get an answer from her quiet friend.

"Strong."

Kirche blinked. Did she just hear what she thought she did? Surprised by the unexpected voice of her companion the redhead turned to see if she misheard, only to double take at what she saw.

Tabitha's book was closed. The bluenette bookworm had tucked her book underneath her arm and had her gaze completely focused on the duel before her. More specifically on the wounded boy.

"He's strong." Tabitha said, though it was so quiet it might as well have been a whisper. Kirche was shocked by her friend's action and comment but then smiled and nodded.

"Indeed. For a commoner anyways."

As the crowd of nobles eagerly awaited the next move to occur Guiche's grip on his wand tightened while he glared furiously at the commoner. The fool just couldn't take a damn hint! How much more punishment did he need to deliver? What did he have to do to break that spirit of his like he did the Zero? He couldn't understand it! How this boy just wouldn't stay down and surrender!

The remaining rational thoughts of the Gramont were eliminated as his pride and anger finally took over, desiring nothing more now than to simply crush this commoner beneath his boot.

"Fine then. I commend you for your determination at least. But from here on out, no more games!" Guiche shouted furiously. "Valkyries!"

The bronze soldiers leaned forward and raised their weapons for battle. Yu's eyes narrowed on them as he moved to defend himself. But when he went to take a step though, he felt his right knee buckle and another spike of pain bore into him. The boy cursed aloud and grasped his shoulder once more, the action making Guiche laugh.

"You can barely stand and yet you still choose to fight? You really are the familiar of Louise aren't you?" The playboy mocked, his ego swelling. "Well I suppose it would be a bit uncivilized to have you completely slaughtered by all my beautiful soldiers at once while in such a state. So to end this, I'll just use one!"

The middle valkyrie curled its body before charging forward at high speeds, its left fist pulled back for attack.

"Mister Yu!"

"Hiro-san!"

Yu growled and pushed forward, bringing his fists up just as the valkyrie swung down at his face.

SMACK!

Only for it to collide with not the metal plating, but a soft cheek, as a tiny figure was sent hurtling from the punch and onto the ground beside Yu, who followed the body's flight and collision with shock.

Dead silence filled the courtyard as everyone's voices left them, their eyes fixed on what just transpired. The silence was soon broken by Siesta, who screamed in fear at what happened.

"MISS VALLÈRE!"

Yu stared down at the fallen and unconscious form of Louise, his own voice and thoughts silent as Siesta rushed past him and knelt down to check the young noble.

"Miss Vallière, are you alright!? Miss Vallière!?" The maid called out as she shook the girl worriedly.

"Z-Zero?" Guiche stuttered, his rage evaporating as he stepped back dumbfounded. He hadn't even seen the pink-haired girl move at all. When had she gotten that close? Why was she even that close?

"Louise!" Kirche called out as she looked at her unconscious rival with concern. Even Tabitha looked a little surprised behind her glasses.

Katie covered her mouth to hold herself back from screaming at what occurred in front of her. Everyone else in the crowd just watched on stunned, not one of them daring to move an inch.

"Miss Vallière, please! Say something! Miss Vallière!" Siesta shouted at the pink-haired girl desperately, her fear increasing by the second. After a moment through a moan escaped from the noble's mouth and her eyes flickered open. "Miss Vallière, oh thank Brimir!"

Louise blinked and looked around confused. "W-What? What hap-" She stopped as her eyes immediately widened and her body shot upright, hands snapping to her right cheek. "Ahhh, it hurts! Brimir it hurts! What was I thinking!?"

"Ah, hang on, Miss Vallière! I'll help with that!" Siesta reassured as she reached into her apron to grab some healing ointment while Louise sat there holding back tears of pain. Both girls ceased their actions when they felt a large shadow hover over them.

"You..."

Louise and Siesta both looked up to see Yu, who was now glaring at Louise with utter fury.

"You idiot! Why did you do something so stupid!?" The boy snapped at Louise, making her and nearly everyone else around flinch from his tone of voice.

"W-What?"

"What were you thinking just now!? What if that had been a spear, huh!? Did you even consider that you could have gotten killed!? Why did you go and do something so reckless and stupid!?"

Louise felt her own temper rise and forgot the pain in her cheek as she stood up and faced with her familiar eye-to-eye. "Me!? You're the one who still insist on fighting! Look at you! You can barely stand as it is! Who are you trying to fool, huh!?"

"That's my concern, not yours! I'm the one out here getting smacked around, so it's my life to do with as I wish! Besides I don't care about being your familiar remember, what I do to myself shouldn't matter to-"

"Of course it matters!" Louise cuts Yu off, her eyes beginning to water as she glared at him. "You think just because you don't act like my familiar that it doesn't matter to me!? Idiot! Moron! You stupid dog!"

The Portal Master was quickly taken aback by the sight of tears. "O-Oy, what are you-?"

"Isn't it enough already?" Louise asked, her voice breaking a little as she spoke. "You've already proven to everyone you're not a common familiar. That you won't bow down to anyone. Isn't that enough for you? Do you really intend to keep going until you die? Don't you understand what that means!?"

Yu's expression turned solemn. "Of course I do. But that's my choice."

"Why?" Louise questioned, her own expression showing confusion alongside concern.

"Because I'm the one fighting." Yu said as he glanced back over to the valkyries and Guiche, who simply remained in place waiting. "Nobles, commoners, magic, to me those things can always be handled later. But when it comes to a jerks like him, I won't let anyone stop me from winning. Not him, not God, nobody. I'll keep fighting. Even if my body breaks and my soul is shattered, I will never back down!"

The complete seriousness of his voice caught Louise off guard. The way he spoke and sounded; it was as if he had been in several duels before. But that wasn't possible. He was a commoner, right? Even with his skills a duel was restricted between two nobles and commoners weren't ever involve

So how could he sound so serious about such a thing?

"Besides, since when did you care so much about me?" Yu asked, interrupting Louise's thoughts.

The Vallière bit her lips and glanced down, as if mentally debating something. After a moment she hesitantly spoke again. "D-Do you remember what I said earlier? That I had complete faith in you? That if I didn't bow than neither would you? It may have just seemed like I was showing off at the time, but I was telling the truth." Her fingers curled together at her sides. "You aren't my familiar by contract, so of course it would make sense for me to not care, but I just can't do that alright? I'm not like Guiche! I won't just ignore the fact that I'm partly responsible for what's happened to you, or that I brought you into this place. Just because I have my own issues and frustrations about the situation doesn't mean I don't care!"

"Miss Vallière..." Siesta whispered.

Yu's face softened. "You-" He stopped and winced as he grasped his shoulder again.

Louise quickly moved forward to help hold him up. "Don't you see? You can't keep fighting like this! You can barely hold yourself up! At this rate it won't be about winning or proving anything anymore! If you keep going like this you won't just walk away from this fight with injuries, because you won't walk away at all! And despite everything that's occurred between us I don't want to see that happen!"

Yu remained silent as his color-shifting orbs stared into Louise's pink ones. The girl held the stare for a moment, a light shade of red forming on her cheeks before she lowered her head nervously.

"I-I know you hate me, alright? I know you hate the nobles and how things work." Louise stepped back. "But...but that doesn't mean I don't care what happens to you! So please just stop already! I don't want to watch you get hurt anymore! I don't want to watch you fall again and again! I don't-"

Louise felt herself freeze up.

"I don't..."

Again, she froze, her voice seeming to abandon her. Almost as if she was afraid to say the words. However, she refused to be stopped now. Gathering her courage and swallowing her pride, Louise closed her eyes and forced the words out of her mouth.

"I don't… I DON'T WANT TO WATCH YOU DIE, YU HIRO!"

Silence filled the air. The only sound being Louise's heavy panting.

The pinkette stood still, her body shaking heavily. She said it. It had taken all of her pride and strength, but she said it. Keeping her eyes closed the girl struggled to collect her breath and emotions as she waited for a reaction.

After a few tense seconds she heard a heavy sigh.

"Honestly. That's the first time you've called me by my name rather than something like 'familiar', and you decide to do it now of all times? Here I was thinking you'd forgotten all about it. You really are a pain."

Louise's head snapped up towards Yu, only to see his back as he faced the valkyries. "H-Hey, what are you doing!?" She stuttered. "I told you if you keep going like this you'll-!"

"You said you had faith in me didn't you?"

"Eh?" Louise was taken aback by the words. "Y-Yes, but-"

"Then keep believing in that faith..." Yu said as he turned his head slightly, letting his eye show off complete confidence. "...so that I won't lose this Duel."

Louise felt her heart skip a beat as the boy's words filled her with an emotion she didn't recognize. On the ground, Siesta also felt the same way, while in the crowd Katie found herself amazed by Yu's strength.

With those words spoken, Yu rounded back towards Guiche. The noble finally snapped out of his stupor as he put on another smile.

"You're still planning on continuing then?" He asked.

"Yeah." Yu nodded.

Guiche chuckled and shook his head. "Good grief. You really are the Zero's familiar, aren't you?" Guiche said with a half-hearted chuckle.

"Do not call her that."

Guiche blinked. "Pardon?"

"Do not... call her a Zero." Yu ordered with a stern glare.

Louise's eyes widened while Guiche let out a laugh, as did several of the nobles in the crowd. "And why not? It's the truth after all. All she ever does is fail. She can't use magic. She can't cast one spell correctly. She couldn't even train you as a proper familiar! All she can ever hope to do is-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

The laughter ceased as everyone flinched back fearfully from the sheer volume of Yu's voice.

"I've put up with a lot of crap these past twenty-four hours. Nobles, commoners, magic. I've had more bullshit than I can handle right now!" Yu shouted out. "Now I could care less what you call me. I could care less about being labeled a commoner. But don't expect me to just stand here and just let you insult someone in front of me!"

"Yu..." Louise uttered as she watched the boy.

Guiche shook away his bewilderment and glared back. "And what will you do if I don't stop, huh? You're barely on your feet as it is, and I still have my valkyries! You can't possibly hope to win!"

Yu smirked. "I wonder about that?"

Guiche was taken aback by the response. "W-What?"

"You think I'm scared of your little puppet show? Don't flatter yourself." Yu mocked Guiche. "You have no idea what I've been through. You have no concept on what kind of things I've seen. The shit I've had to deal with all my life."

Guiche's jaw tighten. "You...!"

"But even so, I won't let you get away with trying to hurt someone." Yu released the grip on his shoulder and stood tall. "Doesn't matter how many times you try and knock me down, I'll keep coming back. Over, and over, and over again. I'll just keep returning and hunt you down every single time. Doesn't matter where you run or hide, because I will always find you."

Yu then closed his eyes.

"And when I finally find you, someone who would dare to destroy a person's future! Their dreams! Their hope!"

Yu's eyes snapped opened with absolution his eyes now completely and terrifying black, with only his pupils giving any sign of life.

"I'LL SEND YOU TO THE DEPTHS OF THE UNDERWORLD MYSELF!"

A sudden force had soon echoed throughout the arena, it felt as forceful as the wind, yet carried the heat of fire, the coolness of water, and rocked the earth beneath them.

"W-What was-?"

"Oy, Guiche!" Yu called out to the blonde, a smile fully displayed across his face. "Sorry to say, but this duel of ours is over."

Everyone gawked at the boy. Just what was he saying?

Guiche took it the worst as his face contorted with anger. "Excuse me!?"

"You heard me." Yu continued to smile. "It's been fun, but it's over now."

Guiche shook and became furious. That was it! It didn't matter what was happening anymore, he had had enough of this!

"I don't know what trick you pulled or what game you're trying to play, commoner! But you're right about one thing. This duel is over! And I am the winner! VALKYRIES!"

Guiche's shout caused the bronze sentinels to charge forward at Yu, their spears aimed directly at the boy's chest, making Katie, Siesta, and Louise cry out.

"Mister Yu!"

"Hiro-san!"

"YU!"

Yu didn't move though, he simply just reached up for his aviator goggles that were resting on his head and moved them down over his eyes, a grin plastered on his face as he did so all the way through.

"Everyone here seem to have forgotten one thing about me. I am no ordinary commoner. Eruptor, Come to my Aid!" Yu shouted as the goggles glasses were filled with a burning red light as his shirt changed from pure white to burning red.

Soon, appearing in front of the Portal Master, was a red disk with the symbol for a red ball of fire. Flames spewed out in all directions of the disk before it exploded in a firey explosion.

"What!?" Guiche screamed, jumping back from the sight of the Fire Disk. "Impossible! T-That's... fire magic!?"

All around everyone's jaws fell agape. Yu Hiro had just used magic. A commoner just used magic! Magic! That shouldn't be possible and yet it was happening right before their very eyes.

But that wasn't the end of it.

Once the firey smoke dissipated, standing where the red disk once was, was a bipedal stout creature covered in burning hot and cracking red rocks. Three spikes filled with lava jutted out from the top of his head and the other two on his shoulders. His toeless feet glowed with lava. For hands, he didn't have any as his entire hands ended in fingerless bulbs that glowed with red hot lava inside. He had purely yellow eyes with orange iris. His teeth where sharp and yellow.

"Born to Burn!" The Lava Monster Skylander announced his battle cry as he let out a growl and took a step forward to the on-coming Valkyries.

"I-Impossible." Guiche muttered, his confidence shattered as he took several steps back. "A…a familiar? That can't be! How... how can a commoner have a familiar!?"

The mind of everyone in the the courtyard shut down as they took in the creature. The boy had summoned a familiar. He had used magic and had now summoned a familiar! Even though he himself was summoned to be a familiar for the Zero! Did that mean the boy before them wasn't a commoner at all?

But a noble!?

Kirche found herself in awe. Tabitha watched with actual interest on her face. Katie looked at the Lava Monster with fear but at Yu in amazement. Siesta found herself completely bewildered and confused as to how this was possible. And Louise…

Louise was speechless once again.

"Take them down, Eruptor!" Yu said with a grin as he pointed at the four valkyries coming straight for them.

"You got it, Boss!" Eruptor said as he charged towards the battlefield towards the fast approaching valkyries.

"Oh, and while we're on the subject of bringing in more than one, Guiche. I'd like you to meet some of Eruptor's friends, say hello to Terrafin, Lightning Rod, and Gill Grunt!" Yu said as his shirt and eyes behind his goggles glasses glowed and shifted to three different colors. The first was an earthly brown, then it was a sky azure, before finally becoming an ocean blue.

Soon, appearing right next to Eruptor was the Earth disk, which was bursting with rocks surrounding the disk before it exploding into a large cloud of dirt and crystal.

'E-Earth Magic!' Guiche thought with a panic at the appearance of the Earth Disk.

Once the dusty cloud filled with dirt and crystals disappeared, standing where the Earth disk once stood, was a bipedal shark-creature with darkish grey skin and a dirty beige underbelly, orange bumps ran down alongside his back as his dorsal fin sat atop his spine and the top of his head. His forearms, knuckles, and his lower legs were coated in hard rock-like scales, giving him some protection and making it look like he had arm and leg bracers. He had sharp dirty beige claws for fingers and toes. He had sharp, dagger eyes.

"It's Feeding Time!" The Dirt Shark Skylander announced his battle cry as he turned around and chomped down as he did so.

The Earth Skylander soon noticed the on-coming valkyries and Eruptor as he soon burrowed his way under ground and made his way to the battle with Eruptor, swimming through the dirt like... well, like the shark that he is humming what sounded like Lady Gaga's Bad Romace theme as he did so.

Appearing next to Terrafin, was an sky azure disk with the symbol of an sky azure colored swirl as swirling winds blew around the azure disk before it exploded in a stormy smoke.

Tabitha's attention was caught by the appearance that she looked up from her book with intrigue.

'Air Magic?' Tabitha thought with curiosity through the appearance of the Air Disk.

Once the stormy smoke dissipated, standing where the azure disk stood was a sky blue humanoid being with a buff muscular body build and four digit-fingers on each hand. On each of his wrists was a golden bracelets he had a head full of wild, wavy brownish orange locks as well as a wild, wavy brownish orange mustache and beard. He had thick eyebrows and a pair of sky green eyes. For legs, well that was the thing, he didn't have any legs... his entire lower half was just a thick ball of clouds.

"One Strike and You're Out!" The Storm Titan Skylander announced his battle cry as sparks of lightning shot through his fingers, he then noticed the valkyries, chuckled for a bit, before racing towards the battlefield.

Then appearing next to Lightning Rod, was the Water disk. There was also a multitude of water splashing out of the Water disk as it soon exploded in a splashy explosion.

'Water Magic?' Katie thought in surprise by the appearance of the Water Disk.

Once the watery smoke had dissipated, standing where the Water disk stood was a bipedal humanoid-like fish creature with light blue scales covering it's entire body. It has yellow eyes with orange iris. It has a bit of an underbite as two fangs jutted out from his lower jaw. He wore a pair of deep sea green fingerless gloves with silver buckles and belt and above his webbed feet, was the exact same thing on his lower legs. Over his body, he wore a sleeveless deep sea green leotard with a black belt and a silver buckle strapped around his waist. On his back he wore two sea light blue wooden barrels filled with water. In his webbed hands, was a large black harpoon gun with a silver harpoon inside.

"Fear the Fish!" Gill Grunt shouted his battle cry as he lifted up his harpoon and looked at the approaching valkyries with a grin before he raced off to join the others by flying over there with his Water Jetpack ability.

"GAH?!" Guiche shouted in shock that this commoner just summoned, not one but FOUR familiars, each a different element than the last.

"D-Did that peasant boy just summon multiple familiars, at the same time?!"

"Y-Yeah, he did?"

"What kind of familiar did Louise summon!?"

"I guess Louise was right when she said that she didn't summon a normal commoner." Kirche said with wide eyes of shock at seeing the Skylanders.

Tabitha, while not externally shocked like her friend, was internally surprised at seeing the multiple Skylanders haven been summoned.

Soon, the Skylanders and the valkyries clashed with one another and began to fight. Eruptor began to launch Lava Lobs at the valkyries he was facing against, before he was quickly surrounded by all four valkyries, he then used his Eruption ability, but three of the four valkyries flew away from the lava, but the last one couldn't and soon melted into the lava.

Meanwhile, whilst the valkyries where high up in the air, Terrafin had soon popped out of the ground and belly flopped onto one of the valkyries into the ground. Once back down on the ground, Terrafin closed the distance and began to punch the valkyrie with his toughened-scaled fist, he soon began to tear the valkyrie's limbs off with a bit and a jab and before long, Terrafin spat out the busted up head of what remained of the valkyrie he fought.

Lightning Rod threw a lightning bolt at another bronze valkyrie that was still airborne as it was soon stunned in electrocution and fell to the ground. Lightning Rod then used his Grand Lightning Summon ability to call forth a beam of lightning which he soon controlled to stand directly over the valkyrie, the electricity soon became to much for it and it fell to pieces.

And finally, Gill Grunt launched a harpoon in the last valkyrie's wing, bringing it down to the ground. The valkyrie soon turned in Gill's direction before charging straight towards him, but Gill continued to fire harpoons after harpoons into the valkyrie before he used his Power Hose ability once it had gotten close and tore off all the bronze that made up it's body.

Guiche soon began to panic and sent out four more rose petals, summoning four more valkyries, this time they seemed to have changed stance and were intent on striking Yu down. But Yu was quick to notice the change in stance.

"Looks like I'm gonna need to switch out my Skylanders. Eruptor, Terrafin, Lightning Rod, Gill Grunt, Return." Yu announced as the four Skylanders of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water returned as he continued to race towards Guiche to take him down.

Guiche was quick to notice Yu returning what he thought was the Portal Master's familiars, he smirked as he began to think that this commoner had just given up.

"Heh, Finally giving up?" Guiche questioned with a pant and a winning smirk, thinking that he had won.

"Not even close, Guiche the Douche. I'm just changing up my party members. Come forth and appear, Trigger Happy, Stealth Elf, Chop Chop, and Spyro!" Yu shouted as the glasses of his goggles changed colors once again, this time changing from mechanical orange to grassy green to rotting grey to finally mystical purple.

Soon, appearing where Eruptor stood, was the Tech Disk, mechanical gears seemed to burst out of the disk. The Tech Disk soon exploded into a large smoke of mechanical gears.

Standing where the Tech disk had exploded, was a short, furry, gremlin creature with orange fur and a beige furry belly. He wore a toothy grin as his long tongue hanged out of his smile and his eyes were completely yellow and there was an orange band running between his eyes like a mask of sorts. He had a pair of long ears that's stood straight up and a pair of short stubby legs. He has three-digit fingers on each hand, and speaking of his hands, in both hands he had a pair of golden pistols that when fired upon shot out gold coins.

"Ha Ha Ha! No Gold, No Glory!" The Gremlin with gilded guns maniacally cackled his battle cry as he aimed his left Gold Gun at the bronze Valkyrie.

Appearing next to the gun happy gremlin was a green disk with the symbol of green leaves inside, a bunch of leaves seemed to burst out of the disk before it exploded into a leafy explosion.

After the leaves-filled explosion disappeared standing where the green disk with leaves was, was a humanoid-like figure that had long ears and clothes that consisted of a brown, cropped tank top that reveals her bare green skin, matching gloves with two gold buckles on each wrist, mask, tights, skirt, and boots with the same buckles. Her blue hair is seen styled into a long braid with bangs covering her forehead. In her hands was a pair of Dragonfang daggers.

"Silent, but Deadly." The Elven Ninja announced her battle cry as she had her back turned before turning her upper half revealing that she had no pupils and purely white eyes.

Next to appear next to Stealth Elf, was the Undead disk, which was radiating ghastly spirits around the disk before exploding into ghostly smoke.

Once the ghostly smoke disappeared, standing where the Undead disk once stood, was a bone-white humanoid skeleton wearing armor. The armor it wore was entirely a metallic navy blue color with a gilded bronze outline. The skeleton wore boots, a chest-plate, shoulder guards, and gloves, and a helmet. The helmet was designed like a Spartan helmet. At the front of the helmet was a fighting visage of 3 yellow dots where it's eyes and mouth would be with a fourth yellow dot at the forehead, giving the skeleton a ghastly image. In it's right hand, was a spartan-like sword, but the tip of the sword hooked inwards, allowing the skeleton to capability to disarm it's foes. And in it's left hand, was a circular shield with navy blue straps and the shield's face had the exact same color palette as the rest of it's armor.

"Slice and Dice." The Undead Arkyean Warrior announced his battle cry as he slashed his hooked sword twice before taking a knightly stance.

Then, appearing next to Chop Chop, was the Magic disk, which the disk was emanating a purple cloud filled with sparkling white stars before it exploded into a purple cloud with sparkling stars.

And as soon as the purple cloud dissipated from the area, appearing next to the skeleton knight, was Spyro the Dragon who was flying in mid-air and coming in for a landing.

"Don't Dare the Dragon!" Spyro announced his battle cry as he gave a flap of his wing before landing with a confident smirk on his face.

The summoning of more familiars shocked and surprised everyone present and/or watching even more so than before.

"D-Did he just summon more familiars?!"

"What kind of magic was that?!"

"You're right! T-That's even more impossible!"

"Is that a living skeleton and... an elf?!"

"Forget about the elf, this commoner just summoned a DRAGON!"

Yu was grinning like crazy internally at the shock and surprise of the other students surrounding him from his reveal of the Tech, Life, Undead and Magic Skylanders. He then looked at Guiche, confidence radiating off of his smile as he did so. But Yu soon felt a sharp pain strike him in his brain as he put a hand on his head and winced. Once the pain was gone, she shook his head and refocused on the battle before him.

"Skylanders, Attack!" Yu announced as Spyro, Trigger Happy, Stealth Elf and Chop Chop charged towards the four newly summoned valkyries.

And once the second wave of Skylanders and Valkyries collided, the battle commenced.

Trigger Happy shot at his own bronze valkyries with coins from his Golden Pistols, he then combined his pistols, forming a mini-gatling gun made of gold from the two and fired repeating gold coins upon the bronze valkyrie all while laughing like a maniac, before he finally finished it off by summoning a Pot O' Gold above his pistols and tossed it at the valkyrie.

Chop Chop blocked a valkyrie's spear with his durable Arkyean shield before he shoved his shield, knocking the valkyrie off balance before slicing the valkyrie he was facing into two.

A valkyrie charged at a standing Stealth Elf, it's spear had soon pierced her green skin, but the Stealth Elf the bronze valkyrie had struck had soon turned into a Sturdy Scarecrow meant to look like the elven ninja. Stealth Elf soon reappeared behind the Valkyrie and plunged her daggers into it before tearing the Valkyrie apart.

Spyro, meanwhile, had used his Head Slam ability on the last bronze valkyrie, knocking it down to the ground, before landed right in front of the downed valkyrie and used his Horn Charge attack to tear the valkyrie's leg off just when he had landed. He then spewed out two fireballs, one at the head and the other in the chest.

The purple dragon known as Spyro let out a victorious roar as the gremlin known as Trigger Happy let out a crazed maniacal laugh, only the elf and the skeleton turned to look at Guiche with vicious glares.

"S-Stay away!" Guiche shrieked as he waved his wand and used what magic he had left to summon several more valkyries. However, the two known as Stealth Elf and Chop Chop quickly dispatched them easily with a few slashes from their sharp daggers and sword.

Guiche panicked and waved his rose desperately. Roses and lights danced all around as more valkyries were summoned, but because of his exhaustion and lack of magic they were barley workable and were nothing more than cannon-fodder as they were cut down, shot at, and melted down. With each of his guardians that fell apart, Guiche found his will and courage fading rapidly.

Only after had the the elf and the skeleton knight had finished slaughtering the last construct did they turn their eyes back onto him. Screaming in fear, Guiche turned to flee from the monsters, only for a tight fist to ram straight into his nose and send the noble hurling into the ground. Coughing from the impact and holding his face with his hand, Guiche looked up to see Yu standing over him.

He found himself unable to move as the eyes of the Duelist bore into his own, completely cold and dangerous, as if waiting for him to try anything so he could be ripped apart. Like that of a predator having cornered its prey.

Standing before Guiche, was Yu Hiro with a confident grin on his face as he lifted his aviator goggles off of his eyes and placed them on top of his head. Victory shone in his color-changing eyes and when his four familiars stood behind their master.

Guiche had finally lost any will to keep going.

"I…" The noble whimpered and hung his head in defeat. "I surrender."

A quiet atmosphere had quickly taken over the courtyard. Not one word was spoken as everyone tried to process what just happened. After a minute the quiet was swiftly broken, but not with angry rants or screaming.

But by a loud and rowdy amount of cheers and applause.

"AMAZING! THAT WAS AMAZING!"

"DID YOU SEE THAT!? THAT WAS AWESOME!"

"OH MAN! GUICHE TOTALLY LOST!"

"THAT GUY IS LOUISE'S FAMILIAR!? SO COOL!"

And with that, Yu walked away, leaving Guiche to stare at the ground ashamed. As the Portal Master walked off, he soon heard the sounds of rapid feet approaching towards him and he looked up to see Louise and Siesta.

"Hiro-san!"

"Yu!"

Both girls shouted as they soon stopped in front of him. Louise was the first to speak as she started looking over the boy worriedly, checking for any injuries. "A-Are you alright?"

Yu was a bit surprised by the concern, but gave a reassuring smirk. "I'm fine. I told you I'd win, didn't I?"

"Hiro-san, what about you're injuries from before? Are you sure you're not hurt or need help?" Siesta asked as she also looked him over.

"Stop worrying, Siesta. I'm fine." Yu told the maid, who soon calmed down after he calmly told her to. "Now then, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to pass out now." Yu said before he face planted to the ground.

---

Headmaster's Office...

Osmond and Colbert finished watching the entire event via the Mirror of Far-Seeing. They both exchanged a look with one another. The two of them in awe at the abilities that young Yu Hiro had displayed.

"Well now, that was certainly informative, wouldn't you say?" Osmond said while rubbing his beard.

"I believe that statement is most unfitting for what we just witnessed, headmaster." Colbert responded back as he looked at mirror, seeing a scene of the maid and Miss Vallière panicking over the fallen form of Yu. "That boy... he won."

"Yes."

"Guiche is only a first level dot-class mage...but still..."

"Yes."

"And Mister Yu summoned familiar... multiple in fact. And his familiar tunes glowed when he picked up that spear."

"Indeed."

"And each one had a different element than the last." Colbert's brow furrowed. "Old Osmond... that boy is…"

Osmond nodded. Things had suddenly become much more interesting.

Unbeknownst to the two men however, the door to the office was cracked open. From behind it, Miss Longueville stood in silence. Having been curious to why the headmaster and professor reacted oddly to her explanation of the Valliere girl's familiar fighting, she decided to secretly watch and find out the reason.

Now, having witnessed the events on the mirror herself, her eyes now held a calculating look to them.

---

And that's the end of the chapter, what do you think of this chapter. Leave your thoughts about this chapter in the comments and I'll try to respond to any questions you may have.

Anyways, with all that out of the way, this is CMBasher7, signing out.