Team Mystic was on their way to Italy for their next match against a team known as Team Rosebud. On their way, they weren't aware they already met the team. However, Team Rosebud was spying on them and tried to sabotage Team Mystic to aid in their chances of winning. What was originally meant for Yukina ended up having Marcus separated from the others. Now that they know who Team Rosebud really is, they have to be cautious.
"Oh man... Still no word about where Marcus could be." Cindy said.
"We don't know where he ended up. He could be anywhere." Felix said. "The match is set to start in a few hours."
"What are we going to do if he doesn't make it?" Yukina questioned.
"Isn't that obvious? I'll just simply step in, or Cindy could." Kent said. "Really, do we have any other choice?"
"True, but we need to make sure we make the right choice." Felix said. "We have to be real careful with this Team Rosebud. I don't trust them."
"So they didn't tell us they were the team we were going up against. I'm sure there's a good reason." Cindy said as she wanted to believe in the best of Nicholas and the others.
"Cindy, I know you think Nicholas is cute or whatever, but don't let that cloud your judgement." Felix said. "They looked like they were caught with their hands in the cookie car when we learned they were Team Rosebud, if you know what I mean."
"I hate to say it, but I think Felix might be right." Yukina said. "I'm sorry, Cindy. The way Nicholas acted after we learned was rather suspicious." Cindy didn't want to believe Nicholas was a bad guy, but it's not really looking for for him and his friends.
...
Marcus
"What is this?! Where the heck am I?!" Marcus questioned. He ended up in a small town, but has no clue where he is. "Where's my team?! Where's the arena?! This can't be right!"
"Excuse me, but is there a problem?" A local officer said as he came over. "I got a call saying that you're disturbing the peace."
"Disturbing the peace?!" Marcus questioned. "What's being disturbed is me not being in my match for the Worldwide Supreme Tournament! I need to get to where I have to be fast, but I don't have any money! You've got to help me! It's your duty as a police officer!" Marcus was trying to get some help, but it wasn't looking good. Marcus was being too energetic that he practically looked crazy.
"I might need some back-up here."
...
The Arena
Without Marcus, the team had no choice. They had to go without him. People were gathering in the Italian stadium as it was now time to begin the match.
"Benvenuto, everyone!" The Italian M.C. announced. "We are live for the match between Team Mystic and Italy's very own Team Rosebud!" The two teams stood facing each other with the resolve that they must win this match. "We are all set to go. We just need to know who is going first."
"Now what do we do? Marcus isn't here, and we don't have our battle order." Cindy said.
"We've got no choice. We'll go on without him." Yukina said. "I'll go out for the first match because we're really going to need a win now." The others all agreed to that. Yukina went on ahead and was ready for a duel.
"Yukina is going out for the first duel? She's there best duelist!" Emily said. "What do we do? We already selected Mario as our first duelist as our official order because you said Yukina wasn't going to be here."
"I know, but nothing can be done about it now. Besides, Mario still has some powerful combos." Nicholas said. "Mario, make sure you win this. We've studied some of her combos, but she hasn't seen you at your best."
"Right." Mario said as he went for his match.
"It looks like the first match is set to be between Mario and Yukina!" M.C. announced.
"I don't know what's going on with you guys, but I don't like that you guys deceived us the way you did! You could have told us who you were from the start!" Yukina said.
"Nothing personal, Yukina. It's just that we have to win this." Mario said as he got out his duel disk and was ready to go. "It doesn't matter how strong you are. I'm not holding anything back."
"I won't either." Yukina said as she was ready.
"Let's duel!" They both said as they were starting this duel with 4000LP each.
"And off they go! The second round match between Team Rosebud and Team Mystic is underway!"
"I'm going first!" Mario said as he made the first move. "I'll start by summoning Armored Core!" Mario started by summoning a ship that had a powerful core in it and had 1300atk points. "I'm also going to activate my Boss Rush spell! After that, I'm activating Acid Rain! This spell destroys all machines!" Rain started to pour down and destroyed his own monster.
"Why would you destroy your own monster on your first turn?" Yukina questioned.
"You'll see since it's the end of my turn. Since Armored Core was destroyed, Boss Rush activates!" Mario claimed. "I'm now allowed to summon Big Core straight from my deck!" He summoned out a stronger ship with it having 2300atk points. "And I'll be able to do that again and again thanks to Boss Rush! What's more is that when Big Core is summoned, it gains three counters!" Counters were placed on it and was being used like shields for it's core.
"Mario is starting out big and strong for offense and defense!"
"Why's that?" Cindy questioned.
"As long as Big Core has a counter, it can't be destroyed in battle." Felix said.
"Seriously?! It can't!" Kent said as that's a problem for Felix.
"However, every time it engages in battle, it will lose a counter. Once it battles without one, it will be destroyed." Felix said. "Let's just hope Yukina can hold on until then."
"My move!" Yukina said as she drew her card. "You might like machines, but I prefer the call of the wild. I summon Wild Ally Hawk!" She summoned out her hawk with it flying out with 1600atk points. "Thanks to my hawk's ability, I'm also free to summon Wild Ally Skunk!" Her skunk jumped out on the field and had 1200atk points. "I activate Wild Ally Skunk's ability! You lose 200LP for every Wild Ally I have on the field!" Her skunk took a stance and fired a blasts of stink. They hit Mario and his life points dropped to 3600. "Now, Wild Ally Hawk, attack his Big Core!"
"What's this?! Yukina is attacking with a weaker monster!" Her hawk flew straight up to the ship and was heading right for the core.
"I'm activating Back-Up Lancer! When I have two monsters during the battle phase, one of them gains 1000atk points!" Yukina said with her hawk's power rising to 2600. It smashed right into one of the shields and caused a discharge that blasted against Mario and caused his life points dropped to 3300. "I know I can't destroy your Big Core right now, but I can still deal some damage. Now that I attacked, your Big Core has one less counter to use like a shield." She claimed as the shield was destroyed. "I'll end my turn there." Since it's the end of her turn, her hawk's power returned to normal.
"Yukina might have dealt a little damage, but Mario still has his big strong Big Core!"
"And I'll use it!" Mario said as he drew his next card. "Attack, Big Core! Blast that skunk of hers!" That ship was fully loaded as it took aim and fired away. It blasted Yukina's field with her skunk destroyed with her life points dropping down to 2900.
"You might have destroyed my skunk, but now your Big Core is going to have one less shield to protect itself." Yukina claimed as Big Core lost another shield.
"That's fine. That's because I got something else." Mario said as he played another spell card.
"Another Acid Rain?!" Yukina said.
"That's right, so I'm destroying my Big Core!" Mario said. His ship had acid rain down on it and it was destroyed. "You know what that means once my turn ends."
"I get it now." Felix said. "Since his core had only one shield left, he's trading it for something else. Possibly something even more powerful than Big Core!"
"I end my turn, Yukina. Since it's end of my turn, I'm bringing out the big guns thanks to my Boss Rush! Come out, B.E.S. Blaster Cannon Core!" Mario called as he summoned out a stronger ship with it now having 2500atk points. "When Blaster Cannon Core is summoned, it gains three counters just like Big Core!" His monster gained three counters, and now had three shields.
"It looks like Mario's strategy revolves around summoning powerful monsters that are greatly protected." Cindy said.
"His monsters are powerful, but there's one major flaw with his strategy. Let's just hope that Yukina can figure out a way to use it." Felix claimed.
"My turn!" Yukina said as she drew her next card. "You might have some big bad battleships, but I got some pretty tough animals. You won't find any tougher than this one. I summon Wild Ally Badger to the field!" She summoned out a badger with it having 1900atk points. "Just as I said, the badger is one tough animal. Even a lion wouldn't mess with this guy. When my badger attacks, he can't be destroyed and you're the one that takes all the damage!" Mario certainly didn't like the sound of that. "Wild Ally Badger, attack his Blaster Cannon Core!" She ordered with her badger jumping up and charging straight at the monster. It was the same as when she attacked with her hawk. It smashed into a shield and caused a discharge that zapped Mario with his life points dropping to 2700.
"Who would have thought that using weaker monsters to attack stronger monsters would pay off?! Yukina's attacks are still causing Mario to take all the damage!"
"No! Mario's losing out there!" Emily said.
"Just calm down. While it might be true Blaster Cannon Core loses a counter after that attack, it still has two more keeping it safe." Nicholas said. "Yukina can't keep up these kinds of attacks. As long as Mario keeps adding the pressure, he can pull off a win." Yukina might be doing good, but if she can't figure out how to bring those ships down, she might not be able to win. Hopefully, she can pull out something.
"I'll switch my hawk to defense mode and end my turn." Yukina said as he her hawk switched modes with it having 1200def points.
"My turn!" Mario said as he refuses to be defeated. "No matter what it takes, I have to win this! I'm not going to lose! Your badger might have inflicted damage to me, but that only works when it's the one attacking. Blaster Cannon Core, unleash your wrath on her badger!" His monster took aim with all its cannons and fired a barrage of blasts. Her badger got caught in it and was destroyed with Yukina's life points dropping down 2300.
"Mario is certainly not holding anything back." Cindy said.
"Yeah, but it's attack has it lose another counter. Once it loses it's last one, it will be destroyed after another battle." Kent said.
"True, but Boss Rush will just activate again." Felix said. "Besides, it doesn't look like Mario is willing to lose that monster just yet."
"I activate Shield Recovery!" Mario said. "Thanks to this spell, Blaster Cannon Core gains three counters! That means it has four now!" His machine gained more shields now, more than when it started. "There's no way you can bring this thing down, Yukina."
"Is that so? I wouldn't be so sure." Yukina said as it sounds like she has a trick up her sleeve. "My turn!" She drew her next card and was ready to put her plan into action. "I'll tribute my Wild Ally Hawk to summon out my Wild Ally Shark!" Yukina traded away her hawk as a shark emerged out with it having 2300atk points. "And now, it's time for my shark to get a little step in evolution. I activate Branch Species to transform my shark into Wild Ally Bull Shark!" Her shark transformed as it was bigger and broader and still had 2300atk points. "Next, I activate my shark's ability! I send one card in my hand to the graveyard to have your monster lose 1000atk points!" She claimed as she discarded her card. Her shark unleashed a sonic blast that caused the ship's power to drop to 1500. "With that done, my Wild Ally Bull Shark is taking down your ship!" Her shark charged right at the ship and smashed against it with Mario's life points dropping again to 1900.
"It's no good! It still won't be destroyed!" Mario said.
"Maybe, but my shark has another ability." Yukina said. "After it attacks a monster, it goes back to your deck!"
"My deck?!" Mario said as he didn't expect that. That's just what happened as his ship was transported and was now back in his deck.
"And since it wasn't destroyed, Boss Rush can't activate!" Yukina said. "With that, I end my turn."
"What's this?! Yukina has left Mario without a way to summon another battleship to help him fight!"
"I'm not beaten yet!" Mario said as he drew his next card, but all his cards were monsters. "Oh no! I can't play anything!"
"Why can't he?" Cindy questioned.
"Boss Rush!" Felix claimed. "As long as that spell is active, he can't normal summon any monsters!"
"Sorry, but this is the end, Mario!" Yukina said as she drew her next card. "Wild Ally Bull Shark, attack him directly and end this!" Her shark charged right at Mario and took a bite out of him with his life points dropping all the way to zero.
"It's over! Yukina claims the first win!"
"No!" Mario called as he dropped to his knees.
"Mario!" Nicholas and Emily called as they hurried over to him.
"I'm sorry. I let you down." Mario said.
"It's okay. We knew beating her wasn't going to be easy." Nicholas said. "We just have to win this next round." It's now one to nothing for Team Mystic in the lead. With the first match done, where could Marcus be?
...
Marcus
"Please! Let me out! I didn't do anything!" Marcus complained. He was causing so much of a ruckus that he actually got himself locked up. "I have to get to a very important match!"
"This kid is driving me crazy. Doesn't he ever shut up?" A security officer wondered as he was getting really annoyed.
"Hey, take a look at this." An officer said as he pulled up an article about Team Mystic and how people are looking for Marcus. They saw a photo of him on it and saw that he was right there.
"You've got to let me out! I need to get to Italy for my match or else my team could lose!" Marcus pleaded. Oh Marcus...