In the dining room, the first hints of morning light filtered in through the windows and the drapes, giving the room and its occupants a mild orange highlight. Said occupants sat around the table, quietly munching their breakfast of eggs cooked in various styles, bacon, and french toast. Tatsumaki, the leader, had gotten up extra early to prepare everything, and sounded an actual bell to wake the others once it was finished.

There was no conversation. Nothing else needed to be said. Not after last night. Tatsumaki, Manda, Emi, and Yoroi had all gotten as much practice in as they could handle. They had prepared as much as they could for this day, and there was nothing left except to go out and apply their skills and training in tournament brackets.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, they (again, wordlessly) cleaned up the kitchen and dining rooms, gathered their decks and Duel Disks, and proceeded to the door. Tatsumaki stopped at the door, and turned around to face his crew.

"Since this is our debut at official tournaments, I feel like I should do a speech, so, here goes." He cleared his throat, and did his best to project his voice in a way that sounded 'leaderlike'. "Breakers, I won't sugarcoat it; yesterday was a bit of a mess. With Kiri injured, we have one less member able to compete today. But, that's all the more reason to Duel as though our very lives depend on it today. Not just for us, but for our comrade. While he rests and recovers, we must Duel as though our very lives depend on it today! And as for the people who hurt him, I have something special in store for them tomorrow. But, we can't let Kiri's condition bog us down; we must instead stay focused on the here and now. We shall rise from this setback and show both our opponents today, and the Chaos Kings, that we are not to be trifled with! Today, we deal with local tournaments and rival gangs, but tomorrow, we take our place as world-class Duelists! Now, go and fight! Fight for our friend, and fight for our dream!"

Emi, Yoroi, and Manda gave him a small applause.

"As far as speeches go, you could've done a lot worse, I guess." said Yoroi with the barest hint of a grin tugging at his lips.

"Yeah, that was pretty good," agreed Emi. "Now, let's go win some tournaments!"

WIth that, the Breakers excited the house and split off into three groups. Tatsumaki and Manda each went by themselves to their respective destinations, and Emi and Yoroi headed to Little Akihabara.

Manda was the first to arrive at his destination, Duelists of the Lost Ark, roughly half an hour after departure. Check-in was a fairly straightforward process; he simply gave his name at the desk and they marked him as present in the computer. He was informed the first round would begin at ten o'clock, which gave him twenty minutes to relax.

Emi and Yoroi made it to Little Akihabara about thirty five minutes after leaving. They checked in without any issue and took seats across from each other at one of the tables while they waited to begin.

"So, what do you think about our chances?" asked Emi absentmindedly.

"For the most part, it looks like this place is full of weaklings," replied Yoroi as he surveyed the room. "But there is one guy whose face I recognize. Right behind you, bleach blonde hair, tattoo on his left forearm. That's Bora the Blaze."

"I take it you've met him before?" asked Emi, resisting the urge to turn and look.

"No, but I know him by reputation. Domino City has its own independent ranking system of Duelists based on tournament placements. Last I remember, Bora was ranked number three, right behind Gouken Getsu and Kyoka Suguru. He'll definitely be a tough nut to crack if we run into him."

"Well, there's only three rounds of Swiss, so chances are good we won't run into him until top cut."

"Even so, his presence here is concerning. We'll have to be on our 'A' game if we want to beat him."

"Attention, Duelists!" called the man behind the counter. "Everyone competing in this Qualifier Tournament today is all registered and marked as present earlier than expected, so we'll be getting started shortly! If you'll please direct your attention to the screen on the rear wall, your pairings for the first round will be posted there! Once you know your opponent, please exit to the courtyard behind the shop via the exit next to the screen and take your places!"

Everyone in the room immediately made their way towards the large screen at the back of the shop, including Emi and Yoroi. Their eyes scanned the screen, and when they found their names, both their mouths hung open in surprise. There, displayed on the screen in black and white, their names appeared in the last place they expected it to.

Duel Field 12: Emi Suzuhara vs. Yoroi Watsuki.

Tatsumaki's check in was slightly more eventful.

"There he is!" called a familiar voice from behind him as he finished checking in. "That's the guy I was telling you about, sis! He's the one who beat me the other day!"

"Oh, yeah?" replied another voice, presumably belonging to the sister in question. "He must be pretty good to have beaten your Doriado combo!"

Tatsumaki smiled. "Good to see you again, Eiji," he said without turning around.

"Hey, Tatsumaki! Glad you made it! I wanna introduce you to my sister!"

Tatsumaki turned around and was immediately shocked. Eiji was a natural blonde and had brown eyes, and thus the teenager had expected the kid's sister to share those traits, but the figure standing next to Eiji sported a head of long, copper hair and bright green eyes. She wore a simple dark blue sleeveless blouse and black leggings, which only served to contrast her hair and eyes and make them pop even more. On her feet were a pair of well-worn black high-top Chuck Taylors, and on her left arm she sported her standard-issue Duel Disk.

"So you must be Eiji's sister," said Tatsumaki, offering a handshake. "Your little brother told me a lot about you, including that you're apparently gonna beat me today."

"Did he, now?" replied the girl, accepting the hand. "I keep telling him he shouldn't brag about me like that."

"Oh, yeah. I believe his exact words were something like, 'Big sis is an insanely strong Duelist! If you have to Duel her in the tournament, you're definitely gonna lose'. Am I remembering right, Eiji?"

"Yeah, that's about right," said Eiji sheepishly. "But I only said it 'cause it's true! You'll see!"

"Eiji, that's enough!" laughed the girl. "Anyways, my name is Kyoka Suguru. It's nice to meet you!"

"I'm Tatsumaki Adachi. It's nice to meet you, too."

"You know, Eiji told me about how strong you are, too. He said he was totally in control of the Duel, and then you managed to turn the tables on him and win in just one turn."

"Something like that," replied Tatsumaki. "Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan is one helluva card, and his ability to constantly recycle it definitely kept me off balance for a bit."

"But you still got through it and won," said Kyoka. "Eiji beats all his friends when they Duel, and they're no slouches themselves. When I heard some random guy at the shop managed to pull out a win on him, I got a little excited."

"Well, he seems convinced you're stronger than me, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited, too."

Kyoka smiled deviously. "I look forward to Dueling you, Tatsumaki Adachi," she said, turning and walking away. "Good luck in your qualifying rounds."

"Good luck to you, too, Kyoka Suguru." said Tatsumaki. Something about Kyoka's smile made him nervous. Her smile radiated a supreme confidence he'd only ever seen from world-class Professional Duelists. While the jury was still out on which one of them was the superior Duelist, there was no doubt she was dangerously skilled. He'd have to give it his all in order to win. He looked down at his deck, neatly packed into its proper slot in his Duel Disk.

"Be with me, mom. I'm gonna need your strength for this one."

"Now, I attack with Arsenal Bug to end this Duel!" declared Manda. His first opponent of the tournament had been a total cakewalk. As his opponent's Life Points reached zero, he smiled. If everyone at this tournament was this weak, he'd sweep the competition for sure, which, he had to admit, was a much needed ego boost. The previous night's practice had mostly consisted of him getting his ass kicked. He, Tatsumaki, Yoroi, and Emi had all taken turns Dueling each other, Round Robin style, for two rotations, meaning each person Dueled a total of six times. Of those six Duels, Manda had lost every single one. No matter how he tried, the three teenagers just seemed to be on a level he couldn't reach, and although he wouldn't admit it aloud, getting thrashed six times in a row definitely took a toll on his confidence. An easy win for his first round was just what he needed to get his spirits up.

He looked around at the other Duels happening around him on the street in front of Lost Ark. Some of them had already wrapped up before his, while many more were still ongoing.

"Well, I guess I'll have to wait a bit before my next round," he said to himself with a shrug.

After a few minutes of wrapping up and reporting Duel results, the next round started. Manda found his opponent's name in the listings, as well as his placement in Duel Field 7. After making his way to the appropriate Field, he saw his opponent standing across from him.

"You're Nathan, right?" asked Manda.

"Yeah, and I guess that means you must be Manda. Nice to meet you," replied Nathan.

"Likewise. Gotta say, we don't get a lot of Americans around here. What brings you all the way to Japan?"

"I moved here with my wife a couple years ago. She's originally from here and she got an offer to come back and teach English. It was a bit of a culture shock at first, but I've gotten used to it."

"Your Japanese is pretty good, I'll admit. You almost sound like a native."

"Thanks! I appreciate it. Now then, shall we get on with it?"

"Sounds like a plan! Let's Duel!"

Both Duelists engaged their Duel Disks and drew five cards.

"I'll start us off!" declared Manda, drawing a card. "First, I Summon Sangan and activate the Spell Card, Last Will! If a monster on my field goes to the graveyard this turn, Last Will lets me Special Summon a monster from my deck with 1500 or less ATK! Now, I activate the Spell, Insect Imitation! By Tributing my Level 3 Sangan, I Special Summon a Insect monster from my deck that's one Level higher! Say hello to my Level 4 Insect Knight! Now, Last Will's effect activates, as well as Sangan's! With Last Will, I Special Summon Swarm of Scarabs from my deck! With Sangan, I add Howling Insect from my deck to my hand! Now, I activate the effect of Swarm of Scarabs to flip itself face down! Now, I Set two cards and end my turn."

"Not a bad combo," said Nathan. "Let's see what I can do to beat that. Draw! First, I activate Level Limit - Area B!"

"No way!" declared Manda. "A friend of mine has used that card on me too much for me to not have a plan for it! Trap Card, open! Dust Tornado! This will destroy Level Limit before it can force my monsters into Defense mode!"

"Alright, then. In that case, I activate Nobleman of Crossout! This will remove your Set monster from play, and since it's a Flip Effect monster, we both have to do the same with all copies of it in our decks!"

"Damn. So much for using Scarabs's effect to destroy your monsters."

"Now, I'll Set a monster and Set two cards. My turn's over."

"My turn! Draw! I Summon Arsenal Bug [Level 3/EARTH/Insect/ATK2000/DEF2000]!"

"2000 ATK and DEF on a Level 3 monster?!" exclaimed Nathan. "That's insane!"

"Yeah, Arsenal Bug is strong, but only while I have another Insect on the field," explained Manda. "If I don't, Arsenal Bug's ATK and DEF become 1000."
"I see. Power at a price."

"Something like that. At any rate, it's time to put that power to use! Arsenal Bug, attack his Set monster!"

"I activate the Continuous Trap, Mirror Wall! For every 1000 Life Points I pay, your monsters with equal or lesser ATK can't attack as long as Mirror Wall remains on the field!"

"Damn. I guess that means I'm not putting that power to use. I end my turn.

Manda: 8000 Life Points.

Nathan: 6000 Life Points.

"My turn! Draw! I Flip up my monster, Des Lacooda! When Lacooda is Flip Summoned, I draw a card! Now, I activate Lacooda's effect, which puts it back face down! I'll Set another monster, as well as two more cards, and end my turn."

Manda grimaced. It seemed like Nathan's deck preferred a defensive strategy over an offensive one. This was going to be a long Duel.

At Little Akihabara on Duel Field 12, Emi and Yoroi took their places and engaged their Duel Disks.

"Well, this kinda sucks," said Yoroi. "First round and one of us already has to lose? Talk about bad luck."

"If it didn't happen now, it would have happened in Top 8," replied Emi. "But, yeah, the timing is less than ideal.

"Well, let's just get this over with. Draw!" Yoroi checked his opening six cards, and quickly decided on his opening move. "I Summon Zombyra the Dark, then I Set three cards and end my turn!"

"Alright! Draw!" Emi sighed. She knew her friend's deck well enough by now to see the next move coming.

"I activate Trap Dustshoot!"

"Yep, you get to look at my hand and shuffle away a monster to my deck." She fanned out her cards to show her opponent. "Well, have a look. The only monster in my hand is Sangan, so it's gotta go back."

"Seems that way," said Yoroi, memorizing her cards. "Continue."

"Alright, I'll Set three cards of my own and activate Level Limit - Area B, forcing all Level 4 and higher monsters to Defense mode, including Zombyra! That's it for my turn."

"My turn! Draw! I Summon Breaker the Magical Warrior, and by removing the Spell Counter he gets when he's Summoned, I'll destroy Level Limit!"

"Trap Card, open! Ojama Trio gives you three Ojama Tokens!"

"Fine by me. I'll switch Zombyra back to Attack mode, but since he can't attack directly, I'll end my turn."

"Draw! I'll Set a card and end my turn."

"Draw! Now, I switch Breaker to Attack mode and attack you directly! Next, I'll Set a card and end my turn."

Yoroi: 8000 Life Points.

Emi: 6400 Life Points.

"Draw! I activate Pot of Greed to draw two new cards!"

Emi smiled. Her fresh cards were just what she needed to put a stop to Yoroi's offensive pressure. "Now, I Summon the monster known as Lava Golem [Level 8/FIRE/Fiend/ATK3000/DEF2500] to your field by Tributing your Zombyra and Breaker!"

Yoroi frowned. This wasn't a card he was familiar with. It must be a new one she'd received from Tatsumaki the night before the showdown with the Dustshoot Gang.

"You're giving me a 3000 ATK monster? What's the catch?"

"The catch is that during each of your turns, Lava Golem deals its controller 1000 points of damage!"

Most people would hear math like that and realize that 1000 damage per turn is a small price to pay for the ability to attack for 3000 damage. Yoroi was not most people. On top of having more basic tactical awareness than to think his opponent would deliberately make a bad trade like that, he also knew Emi and the way she liked to play. She would undoubtedly have some way to ensure that this Golem couldn't land an attack.

"Anyway," continued Emi. "I Set two cards and end my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" Yoroi hated to admit it, but he was in a difficult position. All of his Monster Zones were used up, thanks to the Ojama Trio. Emi had given him a 3000 ATK monster, but she had also Set two cards, and between those and the other three Set cards on her field, there was no doubt in his mind that at least one of them would be some kind of Trap to prevent said monster from attacking. Most likely it was one of the cards she had Set the previous turn, and his Set Dust Tornado could deal with one, but not both. The safest bet was to attack with Lava Golem to force her to reveal which one it was and respond accordingly.

"I'll take 1000 damage from the effect of Lava Golem! Now, I Summon Blade Knight and Set one card! Now that I only have one card in my hand, Blade Knight's ATK becomes 2000! Now, Blade Knight attacks you directly!"

Despite the pressure he was putting on, Emi seemed unbothered. A thought occurred to Yoroi at that moment. What if both of the cards she had Set last turn would stifle Laval Golem's attack? If that were the case, his Dust Tornado wouldn't matter. Not that it mattered. Doing nothing would let Emi execute her game plan anyway.

"Trap Card, open!" cried Emi. "The Continuous Trap, Nightmare Wheel, attaches to Lava Golem! Now it can't attack and during each of my turns, you'll take 500 damage!"

"Sorry, but I was ready for something like that! Trap Card, open! Dust Tornado will destroy Nightmare Wheel! Now, Lava Golem, attack Emi directly!"

"I don't think so! Trap Card, open! Magic Cylinder negates your attack and deals damage back to you equal to Lava Golem's ATK!"

"I was right, you had a backup plan! Well, so do I! I activate my Set Quick-Play Spell, Book of Moon! This will flip Lava Golem face down, negating his attack before your Magic Cylinder can do it!"

"Not bad, Yoroi, but I have one more Trap! Secret Barrel deals you 200 damage for every card on your field and in your hand! I count nine, so that's gonna be 1800 damage!"

"I'd rather take than the 3000 damage that Magic Cylinder would have dealt. I end my turn."

Yoroi: 5200 Life Points.

Emi: 4400 Life Points.

"Draw! I Set one card and end my turn."

"My turn! Draw! I'll go straight to Battle, and attack you directly with Blade Knight!"

"I reveal the Continuous Trap, Gravity Bind! As long as it's around, only Level 3 or lower monsters can attack!"

"You're such a pain in the ass to Duel, you know that? But that's what makes you a good practice partner."

"Seems like a bit of a backhanded compliment, but, thanks?"

"I end my turn."

"Draw! Finally, it's here! I Summon Gyaku-Gire Panda! Since you have five monsters on your field, Panda's ATK shoots all the way up to 3300! Now, Gyaku-Gire Panda will attack an Ojama Token!"

"And here I thought I'd never get to use this against you! Trap Card, open! Mirror Force!"

"In that case, I activate my Set MST to destroy your final remaining Set card! I'll end my turn."

"Draw! I'll Set one card and end my turn!"

"Draw! I'll Set a monster and end my turn!"

"Draw! I activate my Trap, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast! I discard the card I just drew to return one card on the field to the top of the deck, and I choose an Ojama Token! Since it wasn't destroyed, I won't take any damage! Now, I finally have enough room on my field to Summon Tribe-Infecting Virus! Now, by discarding another card, I declare the Beast type, and all monsters on the field of that type are destroyed!"

"So you got rid of all the Ojama Tokens," said Emi. "Not bad, but you'll take 300 damage for each of those two destroyed Tokens."

"A small price to pay to open my field back up. I still can't attack, though, so, for now, I'll end my turn."

Yoroi: 4600 Life Points.

Emi: 4400 Life Points.

"Draw! I'll Set one card. Now, I flip open my Morphing Jar, forcing us both to discard our entire hands and draw five new cards!"

"Since your hand was empty, you just draw five for free," noted Yoroi. " What a pain."

Emi didn't answer, instead checking her newly refreshed hand of cards. "I'll Set two cards and end my turn."

"My turn! Draw! I activate the Spell, Graceful Charity! I'll draw three cards, then discard Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke and Snatch Steal! Now, I remove Sasuke and Breaker the Magical Warrior from my graveyard to Special Summon Chaos Sorcerer! Then, I Summon Mataza the Zapper and activate my own MST to destroy Gravity Bind! Even though you have four other Set cards, I have to try for a win here, so now, I'll go to Battle!"

"Trap Card, open! Just Desserts deals 500 damage to you for each monster you control, for a total of 2500! Next, I activate the Trap, Ring of Destruction! I destroy one monster on the field and deal us both damage equal to its ATK! I target Chaos Sorcerer!"

"Damn. I guess that's it, then. Good game."

Yoroi: 0 Life Points.

Emi: 2100 Life Points.

"It's not over yet," said Emi. "That was only the opening round of the tournament. There's still two rounds left. All you have to do is win your next two Duels and you'll still have a shot at the top cut bracket. And I have to win both of my next rounds to have a guaranteed place."

"True," agreed Yoroi. "And at least now there's no chance I'll have to Duel Bora until top cut. I have no doubt he'll go undefeated."

"If he's in the top three ranked Duelists in the city, I'm inclined to believe you."

"Yeah. Bad luck that we got paired against each other in the first round, but there are a few upsides. I just hope Tatsumaki and Manda had better luck than us."

"Now, with your last Trap Card dealt with, I Flip Summon my Stealth Bird, activating its effect! Stealth Bird deals you 1000 points of damage! That's game!"

Manda: 0 Life Points.

Nathan: 400 Life Points.

Manda sighed. He'd already been knocked into the Loser's bracket in just the second round. But, at least that twenty two turn slog of a Duel was finally over. It had been absolutely exhausting.

"Good game, Nathan. Though, I wish if you were gonna beat me, you would have done it faster. Everyone else is already done. They're just waiting on us!"

"Sorry, but you were just so damn stubborn! I wanted to end the Duel way sooner than that!"

"Oh, well. Good luck in your next round. I hope I don't see you down in the Loser's bracket with me."

"Good luck to you, too, Manda! I hope so, too!"

Manda put on a cheerful face, but that had been a heartbreaker of a Duel to lose. He had gotten so close, but it had simply been too difficult to break through Nathan's defenses.

"I hope everyone else's tournament runs are going better than mine," he said to himself sulkily, once Nathan was out of earshot.