Kanade and Chris entered the East wing of the hospital, keeping as quiet as possible. They kept their Duel Disks at the ready, in case anything happened.

"You holding up fine?" Kanade asked Chris.

"Y-Yeah. Not scared at all." Chris said. "I'll send the FIS packing."

"What if the FIS were ghosts?" Kanade teased.

"They're not! We've seen them!" Chris whispered back.

"What if they were non-see through ghosts?" Kanade asked.

"Th-That's a thing?" Chris shivered.

The wide grin on Kanade's face told Chris that she was messing with her. Pouting, Chris lightly hit her senpai duelist on the arm.

"You're just annoying as the dummy." Chris grumbled.

"Oh come on." Kanade said, acting insulted. "I'm not that bad, right?"

Chris rolled her eyes, as she entered the abandoned kitchen of the east wing, before stopping in her tracks.

"...am I really that bad?" Kanade asked as she ran up, actually wondering this time.

"No, it's not that." Chris said. "I just sensed something."

"You sensed a hero. That's what."

Walking into view was Dr. Ver, a smirk on his face, along with a Duel Disk on his arm.

"Dr. Ver?" Chris said. "The hell are you doing…"

The realization dawned on Chris' face.

"Oh, so this is the reason Solomon's Duel Disk disappeared, huh?" Kanade said. "This fucko."

"Bingo!" Ver said with a clap. "That saves me from having to explain everything to you!"

"Alright, we skipped the whole villain monologue shit. Got it." Kanade said. "Now you're gonna prevent us from passing, yeah?"

"Correct again." Ver said, activating his Duel Disk. "So which one of you wants to fall to the hero?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kanade said. "But I'll take you on-"

Chris held out an arm. "Hey, mind if I take this one?"

"You sure?"

"I'm partly responsible for losing Solomon's Duel Disk." Chris said. "So I gotta clean up this mess."

Kanade smiled and stepped back. "Alright. Kick his ass, Chris."

Chris activated her Duel Disk, and put on her D-Gazer..

"D-Gazer, set!" She called.

Chris and Ver drew 5 cards each.

"DUEL!"

"I'll go first." Chris said. "And I'll start by summoning Photon Sabre Tiger in attack mode."

A glowing tiger pounced at Chris's side with 2000 attack points.

"He loses 800 attack points because he's the only Photon Sabre Tiger on the field, but summoning him lets me add another Photon Sabre Tiger to my hand."

Photon Sabre Tiger's attack points dropped to 1200, but Chris added another copy into her hand.

"And since I control a Photon monster, I can special summon Photon Advancer from my hand!"

A white and blue warrior landed next to the tiger with 1000 attack points.

"Because there's another Photon monster, he gains 1000 attack points." Chris explained.

Photon Advancer's attack points jumped to 2000.

"And I'll end my turn by setting a card." Chris finished, placing a face down.

Kanade watched the duel unfold. She knew Chris wouldn't want her to backseat duel for her, so she kept her mouth shut. She had the utmost confidence in her friend though.

"It's my turn now, I draw!" Ver declared, dramatically drawing. "I'll activate the field spell, Skyscraper!"

Several tall buildings rose from around the ground around them, changing the battlefield. Kanade looked around at the tall buildings around them in surprise.

"Skyscraper…?" Chris said. "Then that means…"

"And now, I summon Elemental HERO Stratos!" Ver shouted.

Flying to his side was a blue hero with a pair of cyclone wings and 1800 attack points.

"Elemental HEROs!" Chris realized. "So you really were the culprit!"

"I thought that was blatantly obvious at this point." Ver shrugged. "And now, I'll use Stratos's effect to add Elemental HERO Avian to my hand!"

He pulled the card from his deck.

"And now I activate the spell card, Double Summon! This lets me normal summon another monster, and I choose Elemental HERO Captain Gold!"

A hero armored in gold with a red cape landed atop a skyscraper lightning rod, arms crossed. His cape billowed, showing off 2100 attack points.

"How dare you sully the name of Judai Yuuki?!" Kanade shouted.

"You should worry more about your friend!" Ver shouted. "Battle!"

Shit, his monsters are stronger. Kanade thought. But Chris seems calm. She probably has it under control.

"Captain Gold will attack Photon Sabre Tiger!" Ver shouted with a point.

Captain Gold dove from the skyscraper with a charge.

"I activate my trap card!" Chris shouted. "Lumenize! When your monster attacks, I can target it and negate the attack, and boost one of my light element monsters by the attack points of the negated monster!"

Captain Gold flipped back onto the skyscraper, as Photon Sabre Tiger's attack points were boosted to 3300.

"Then Elemental HERO Stratos will attack Photon Advancer!" Ver shouted. "Its attack points will be boosted by 1000 thanks to Skyscraper!"

Stratos's attack points jumped up to 2800, as it delivered a karate chop on the armored monster, shattering it. Chris winced as her life points fell to 7200.

"First blood goes to me!" Ver laughed. "I'll set a card face down and end my turn!"

Ver set a card, as the turn went back to Chris.

"My turn. Draw." Chris said, pulling a card from her deck. She smiled, seeing what it was. Thanks for getting me this one, Dummy! "I'll summon my second copy of Photon Sabre Tiger. And with that, the first copy regains its attack points, and I add the third copy to my hand!"

As Chris added the card to her hand, a second glowing tiger flanked her side, as the first's attack points returned to 2000.

"Then I'll activate the spell card, Photon Sanctuary!" Chris declared. "This lets me summon two Photon Tokens in defense mode!"

Two orbs of photon joined the tigers, with 2000 attack points and 0 defense points.

"Hmph, what's the point of that?" Ver asked. "Those tokens cannot even fathom harming me-"

"I'll tribute the two Photon Tokens, to special summon my Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"

The two Photon Tokens went up in a zap, forming a red crest. Chris tossed the crest skyward as it shone brightly. When it faded, one of Chris's ace cards descended with its mighty 3000 attack points and a roar.

"Now, I'll attack Captain Gold with the first Photon Sabre Tiger!" Chris shouted. "Go!"

"I activate my trap, Hero Barrier!" Ver shouted.

A spinning blade appeared in front of the gold hero, blocking the pounce from the tiger.

"This trap negates 1 attack as long as there is an Elemental HERO monster on my field." Ver explained.

"Whatever." Chris scoffed. "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy-Eyes unleashed the blast of energy from its mouth, obliterating Captain Gold. Ver held up his arm as his life points fell to 7100.

"And then the second Photon Sabre Tiger will take out Stratos!"

The tiger pounced on Stratos, shattering the hero as Ver's life points fell further to 6900.

"I'll set a card and end my turn." Chris finished. "The first Photon Sabre Tiger's attack points return to 2000."

Good going, Chris. You got him on the ropes. Kanade thought.

"Impudent brat!" Ver shouted. "How dare you treat a hero like this?!"

"What hero?" Chris snarked.

"I won't be made a fool of!" Ver declared. "I draw! And I'll activate the spell card, Polymerization!"

A fusion summon? Kanade thought.

"I'll fuse the Elemental HERO Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand, to fusion summon, Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!"

Appearing in a burst of flame was a mostly green hero with a single white wing. His right arm was red, with a dragon head. Raising its arm, it boasted 2100 attack points, before it perched atop one of the skyscrapers.

"One of the signature cards of Judai Yuki, huh?" Chris said, looking up.

"Go, Flame Wingman! Attack Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon with Skyscraper Shoot!"

Flame Wingman dove towards Galaxy-Eyes, enveloped in flames.

"And thanks to Skyscraper, Flame Wingman gains 1000 attack points to 3000! Now, begone-!"

Chris snapped her fingers, and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon glew. In a flash, both it and Flame Wingman disappeared from the battlefield.

"What?!" Ver shouted.

"When Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon battles, he can banish himself and the monster he's battling until the end of the battle phase." Chris explained. "Should've attacked the Photon Sabre Tigers, idiot."

Ver snarled as the two monsters returned. "I end my turn."

Does this guy even know how to duel? Kanade wondered.

"I draw." Chris said. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards."

She slid the two out of her deck, looking at the cards. She smirked.

"I summon my Photon Thrasher!"

The photon swordsman slashed onto the field with 2000 attack points.

"Then I activate my facedown card, Star Changer! I can change the level of one monsters by one. And I choose the second Photon Sabre Tiger to make it level 4!"

A star was zapped out of the card and into the tiger.

"And with the second Photon Sabre Tiger with Photon Thrasher, I build the overlay network!" Chris shouted.

The two monsters entered a swirling portal, as the first Photon Sabre Tiger's attack points dropped to 1200.

"Xyz Summon! Come forth! Rank 4! Number 39: Utopia!"

The hope warrior of gold and white jumped out, drawing his swords and brandishing 2500 attack points.

"Go, attack Flame Wingman with Hope Sword Slash!"

Utopia dove at the hero, who fired a stream of flames. The Number pushed through the flames, slashing the hero in two, going up in an explosion. Ver grit his teeth as his life points dropped to 6500.

"And now, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Photon Sabre Tiger will attack you directly!" Chris declared.

The two Photon monsters attacked Ver, as he screamed in pain. His life points dramatically dropped to 2300, and he fell to a knee.

"Turn end." Chris said.

"You think you can do that to me?!" Ver screamed. "Draw! I activate Fifth Hope, returning Stratos, Captain Gold, Avian, Burstinatrix and Flame Wingman to my deck, then draw three cards since I have no other cards on my field!"

He shuffled the cards back into his deck, and drew 3 cards. He grinned at what he had drawn.

"Now, feast your eyes on a true hero! I activate Polymerization to fuse Elemental HERO Clayman and Elemental HERO Bubbleman!"

A bulky hero of clay and a water hero of blue swirled into the portal.

Wait, Clayman and Bubbleman? Kanade raised a brow. But that makes-

"Behold! Elemental HERO Mudballman!"

Landing on the field was a massive hero that resembled Clayman, but with Bubbleman's face. It had… 1900 attack points.

"The hero that is the face of your defeat!" Ver declared. "Thanks to Skyscraper, it gains 1000 attack points when attacking your monsters, and I choose Utopia!"

"Moon Barrier." Chris said, almost bored.

Utopia stopped Mudballman before he could even move.

"Damn brat, you should've let the hero win!" Ver shouted.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Chris asked. "I think it's clear to me you're not a duelist, and just an idiot. I draw."

She looked at the card she drew, smirking.

"I summon the third Photon Sabre Tiger."

The third copy landed, as both of their attack points jumped to 2000 again.

"Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon attacks Mudballman! Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy-Eyes blasted away Mudballman with no issue, as Ver's life points fell to a measly 1200. Utopia turned around to look at Chris. Kanade spoke up as well. "Yo, Chris. Gonna style on his ass so we can get this over with?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna enjoy this." Chris confirmed. "And now Utopia attacks, and I negate it with his ability, and then I activate the spell card, Double or Nothing! This lets Utopia attack again, with double the attack points!"

Utopia clanged both his swords as his attack points jumped to 5000.

"Hope Sword Mars Slash!" Chris shouted.

Ver screamed as Utopia slashed outward, knocking him straight into a wall and knocking him out as his life points dropped to zero.

"Well, that was something." Chris said. "Pretty boring too."

"Yeah, nothing much happened." Kanade agreed. "But still, why did he confront us if he's such a crappy duelist? Unless it was…"

An explosion went off in the distance.

"...a diversion."

A/N: Aaand we are back. Sorry for the folks that have been waiting, but all my other fics have taken a bit of a higher priority here. It's taken my co-writer and I a bit of time to get back into the swing of things, especially since we have two other fics in progress as well.

Feel free to leave a review. See you all next time.