Surprise, Surprise!

"Ladies and gentlemen, I know we're all reeling from that incredible second match, but it's almost time for our third!" The MC announced as the holographic display showed the images of two certain competitors."It's Yusei vs Shira!


Meanwhile, inside a garage built in the stadium structure, Yusei was working on his duel runner, with Tanner helping him out. "So what do you know about this Shira?" Yusei asked.

"A couple of fellas I know had some run-ins with the guy a few years back, in the underground duels." Tanner explained. "According to them, he wasn't exactly a fan of playing nice. Back then, he was calling himself the Shadow Reaper. Apparently, he never takes off those creepy robes of his."

Yusei got his dueling deck ready.

"You planning on using Stardust Dragon?"

"I'm saving Stardust for my duel against Jack. And when I face him, he's gonna wish he never gave it back to me."


Meanwhile, Cody met up with Jeremy and the others in the stands. "Are you guys alright?" He asked, concerned.

"Yeah, peachy." Kai replied dryly.

"Which is more than I can say about that Randsborg guy." Jeremy added. "That Akiza beat him up real bad."

Cody then noticed Mimi trembling. "Is Mimi okay?"

"She's rather shaken for what happened during that duel." Sonia explained.

"I see." He frowned as he moved to take a seat right next to the poor girl. He then placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Mimi. Everything's fine. I'll stay here and watch with you. At least until it's my turn to duel. Sound good?"

That seemed to calm her down a bit before she nodded to him. "Okay."

"Are you sure you don't have to get your new duel runner ready, Master Cody?" Sonia asked.

Cody smiled to her. "Don't worry, Jeremy and I have prepared it well enough already, with some help from Gasper."

"Master Cody?" Leo blinked before he turned around, to see Cody's gang sitting behind his group. "Cody, is that you? Actually, scratch that. What's with the 'Master' thing?"

"Oh, hi Leo." Cody greeted.

"Guess you didn't know about his maid." Kai commented with a smirk.

"What?! You have a maid?" Leo asked before glancing at Sonia. "That's so cool!"

"It's not that big of a deal." Cody waved off.

Leo then noticed Mimi sitting right next to Cody. Her shoulder-length pink hair, and the green eyes that had an innocent look. He couldn't help but blush a bit. 'Whoa! She's cute.'

"Um, are you going to stare like that the rest of the tournament, Leo?" Luna asked, making her brother almost jump.

"What? No, of course not." He replied before sitting, trying to act normal.

Chris raised an eyebrow at Leo's behavior.


"Jack Atlas..." Meanwhile, outside the stadium, there was a man sitting on his duel runner that was in the style of a chopper, wearing sunglasses, even with a skull theme helmet on this head. This was none other than Hunter Pace, the former turbo duel champion. "I can't believe you didn't invite me to your little party. Then again, it's gonna be fun crashing it." With that, he revved his duel runner and sped off, going through a crowd of panicked people. "Coming through!"

"We got trouble. Halt!" One of the Security officers said as they tried to block the entrance. "Stop right there!"

"Not!" Hunter smirked as he sped up.

"Pull over immedi..." But despite the officers' efforts, Hunter made his runner jump right over them before getting inside. "After him!"

Hunter came inside the building, surprising nearby people before skidding into a corridor.

"This way!" The officers chased after him. After running a distance, they ran into another officer.

"We got this corridor blocked off! Get over to the east side!" He ordered.

"You heard the man!" They headed to the direction he pointed to.

But once they were gone, the officer laughed. Because this officer... was actually Hunter Pace in disguise. He was about to move on, before he noticed someone coming towards him, so he quickly went into a dark side corridor.

There were two people that came to his position. Lazar and Shira. "We need you to get Yusei as worked up as possible so his mark appears." The former explained as the two of them passed by. "But don't expect this to be easy. That Satellite knows what he's doing. In an off-the-record duel, he defeated Jack Atlas."

"Someone defeated Jack in a duel?" Hunter said in shock.

Shira seemed to hear him and tossed a card into the dark corridor. Right after that, a rat came out running. "You've got rats." He commented dryly.

Getting over his shock over Shira's action, Lazar cleared his throat as they kept walking. "As I was saying, this boy's skills should not be taken lightly..."

"Hahaha! So Yusei defeated Jack." Hunter laughed... not caring about the card that got stuck on the Sector Security helmet he used.


A little time passed while the crowd waited eagerly for the next match to start.

"Let's go get some cotton candy or something." Leo suggested.

"The duel is about to start." Dexter pointed out.

"I can't wait to see Yusei turbo duel!" Yanagi said, excited.

"Hm." Tanner looked up, eyeing on the tower where Goodwin was. 'I wonder what Goodwin wants with Yusei. First he lets him out of the Facility. Then he invites him to this tournament. Just seems fishy.'

"Alright everybody, are you ready? It's time for the Fortune Cup's first turbo duel!" The MC announced as the crowd cheered. "He's the spunky punk trying to get from third to first class. He's the little Satellite who could... dueling fans, I give you, Yusei!" A plume of smoke exploded from one of the tunnels leading onto the track, and Yusei's red duel runner raced from it until he stopped at the starting line.

Although, the crowd started to boo at him. "He's no good!"

"Go back to the Satellite, loser!"

"You're out of your league, slacker!"


But at least Yusei's friends were on his side. "You go, Yusei!" Leo cheered.

"Go get him!" Jeremy added.


From the tower, Jack watched the event that was about to be unfold. 'Let's see if you can even make it past your first duel.'


Meanwhile, Cindy was walking through a corridor. She heard the announcement on the way. "Sounds like Yusei's duel's about to start."

"He seems banged up."

She then stopped when she noticed a group of Sector Security officers gathered together in a nearby area. "What's going on here?" She then rushed over to the group. And when she arrived, she gasped at whatever she saw.


"Dueling him is the always mysterious Shadow Reaper himself, Shira!" A plume of smoke exploded from another tunnel, from which Shira emerged, driving his own duel runner. While he stopped at the starting line, right next to Yusei, the crowd was cheering.

"Don't let us down, Shira! Show that punk he's not welcome here!"

"Yeah, put him in his place!"


Leo frowned at their words. "I don't get it. Why are these jerks putting down Yusei? They don't even know him."

"Just ignore them, Leo." Cody told him. "It doesn't matter what they think of him."


"Okay, let's see what you're made of, Satellite." Zigzix said eagerly, having his D-tector ready.


"With both duelists at the starting line, there's just one thing left to do. Gents, start your runners!"

At that, both duelists activated Speed World. "Duel Mode engaged. Autopilot standing by." And the arena turned purple.

"This is the point of no return! Both duelists have activated their Speed World field spell! Now the only spells they can use are Speed Spells!"

Shira smirked as he revved his duel runner.


"Huh?" Jack suddenly had a strange feeling about him.


"Turbo duelists, countdown initiated." A holographic screen appeared, preparing to give them the signal. "Ready. Set. Duel." The screen gave them the green light and they took off.

When they did, Shira's robes came off, surprising everyone in the arena when Shira's true identity was revealed.

"Hahahahaha! Surprise, Surprise!" Hunter laughed. "Didn't expect to see me out here, did ya?"

"This is the mother of all surprises! That's not Shira, that's the former champion! The Mad Biker, the Phantom of Fire, it's... it's Hunter Pace!"


"What happened to Shira?" Tanner asked, surprised.

"Yeah, how come Hunter is here in his place?" Kai wondered.


As Goodwin watched this scene from his private booth, Lazar approached him with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm afraid we have a bit of a situation." He reported.


The situation Lazar was referring to, was a bruised and battered man that was found by Security officers. He had blue hair and was wearing nothing more than his underwear and duel disk. There were some tracks marking his body and the floor and cards scattered everywhere.

"He just snuck up behind me." He groaned.

"Hmm." Cindy narrowed her eyes and turned her gaze to a certain direction.


"Are you gonna accept my challenge, or are you gonna back down in front of all these excited people?" Hunter laughed at Yusei. "So what do you think, Yusei? You game to duel Hunter Pace? Trust me, you didn't want to duel Shira. That guy's a real bore.

Yusei smiled. "Let's do this!"

"Alright!"


The MC looked really concerned. "Uh... I'm not sure if this is, uh... I well, uh..." He then noticed Goodwin appear on a screen.

"If you're waiting for my approval, well then..." The director nodded with a smile.

"Haha! Goodwin has green-lit Hunter's challenge! We are a-go! The duel is on!"

The crowd cheered as Yusei and Hunter rode around the track.

Yusei: 4000 SC: 0

Hunter: 4000 SC: 0

"First move's mine! I draw!" Hunter began his turn. "And from my hand I summon Burning Skull Head in attack mode!" A skull on fire appeared. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 800 LV: 3) "Then I end my turn by placing three cards facedown!" Three cards appeared right in front of his duel runner.

"I'm up then." Yusei began his turn.

Yusei: 4000 SC: 0-1

Hunter: 4000 SC: 0-1

"And I summon Speed Warrior in attack mode!" The grey-suited warrior emerged from a blue portal. (ATK: 900 DEF: 400 LV: 2)

"Looks like Yusei's not gonna waste any time getting on the offensive! Speed Warrior's attack points double during the battle phase, so I bet my pompadour that we're about to see an attack!"

Speed Warrior glowed with a blue aura. (ATK: 900-1800) "Speed Warrior, strike him with Hypersonic Slash!" The warrior rushed toward the fiery skull.

"Sorry, but my Zero Guard trap card's putting the brakes on your Speed Warrior!" One of Hunter's facedown cards was revealed as Burning Skull Head became weaker. (ATK: 1000-0) "See, by taking away all my Burning Skull Head's attack points, I can make it invulnerable to attacks, so you can't destroy it in battle!" Speed Warrior spun upside-down and landed a kick. And even though the skull wasn't destroyed, the kick made it bump into Hunter's duel runner.

Hunter: 4000-2200

"Whoa! Talk about a turn of events! He saved his monster, but Hunter's been slammed with 1800 points of damage!


"Why would he willingly take such a big hit?" Yanagi wondered.

"He must have some sort of reason for wanting that monster around." Dexter replied.

"After taking that much damage at once, his Speed Counters should drop, right?" Leo said as he turned to a screen that showed the duelists' amount of life points and Speed Counters. "So, uh... how come they haven't gone down?"


"I give you the Doom Accelerator trap!" Hunter revealed another facedown card. "And thanks to this puppy, I'll be gaining one Speed Counter for every 500 points of damage I take in battle, starting right now!"

Hunter: 2200 SC: 1-4


"So that's what he was aiming for." Cody realized. "He planned a combo that would let him speed up."

"And that's bad news for Yusei." Jeremy replied

"Oh wow! What a move!" Someone in the audience said.

"Unbelievable!"


"Oh yeah!" Hunter shouted. "That's your first taste of a new Speed Acceleration deck, custom engineered by yours truly!"

"Hey Hunter, I never stopped being your fan!" One of his fans called out.

"Not a bad play, Hunter. But it'll take more than that to shake me. For now, I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Yusei concluded as two cards appeared near his duel runner.

"My turn then." Hunter replied, beginning his turn.

Yusei: 4000 SC: 1-2

Hunter: 2200 SC: 4-5

"I draw! I'm cranking this duel up a notch with the Summon Speeder spell!" A speed spell appeared. "And since I have over 4 Speed Counters, I can use Summon Speeder to bust out a new monster. So say hello to Skull Base!" A strange creature appeared. A skeleton in a black and golden vase filled with water. (ATK: 800 DEF: 600 LV: 3) "Next, by kicking Skull Base and Burning Skull Head to the curb, I can advance summon Skull Flame!" Hunter's two monsters joined together and became a bluish orb of light before releasing the fiery skeleton dressed in witch doctor robes. (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2000 LV: 8)


"That monster looks powerful." Chris commented.

"You got that right, kid." Kai replied. "And since Hunter sacrificed Skull Base for an advance summon, he gets to draw an extra card."


"Sorry kid, but I'm here to duel Jack Atlas again and regain my title." Hunter drew his extra card. "And well, Yusei, you're blocking my way! So you gotta fall! Skull Flame, burn up his life points!" Skull Flame rushed over to Yusei and struck Speed Warrior, shattering him into pixels.

Yusei: 4000-2300 SC: 2-1

"Yusei may have kickstarted this duel with a powerful attack, but the former turbo champion has just unleashed a blistering combo, and instantly almost evened up the score!"

"Man, Hunter's on fire!" A member of the crowd commented as they cheered for him.

"And I'm just getting warmed up! Prepare for the real heat as I activate the Speed Booster trap card!" Hunter's final facedown card was now revealed.


"Uh oh! Now Yusei's in trouble." Kai said. "With that trap card in play, Hunter can cause him damage equal to the difference between their Speed Counters multiplied by 100."

"And at the moment, the difference is 4." Sonia noted.

"That's not good." Jeremy frowned.

As they watched this, a pair of rocket launchers appeared on the back of Hunter's duel runner, causing it to go faster.

"Man, this guy's quick." Leo commented.


"Welcome to the real world of turbo dueling, kid! If you can't keep up, you're gonna get left behind!" Hunter laughed. "I came here to burn rubber and take names, Yusei, and no one's gonna stop me from winning the chance to reclaim my title! See, when I was the number 1 ranked turbo duelist in the world, I learned to defend my title by repeatedly deflecting attacks from all directions, just like my monster. But I also learned that to stay at the top, you gotta dish out damage hard and fast, so get ready to feel the heat!"


"Talks a lot, doesn't he?" Yanagi said.

"Unfortunately, he's able to put his money where his mouth is in this case, cuz he's earned a big advantage." Tanner replied.


Despite his disadvantage, Yusei smiled.


"Did Yusei just crack a smile?" Leo asked.

"I didn't see that." Yanagi replied. "Is he smiling? Did you see him smile? Why would Yusei smile?" He asked Tanner. The only response he received was a smile. "Why are you smiling?"

"I'll tell you why." Cody said, smiling as well. "Because Yusei has a plan."

"He does?" Chris asked.


"And now to turn up the heat, Satellite, I initiate Speed Booster's special attack!" The rocket launchers fired a bunch of missiles that exploded around Yusei's duel runner.

Yusei: 2300-1900 SC: 1

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a whole new Hunter Pace we're seeing! He's totally reinvented himself!"

"I'm on the fast track to glory! No one can stop me! Don't blink, or you'll miss me!" Hunter boasted as he placed a facedown card on the field. "I'm bringing a whole new intensity to turbo dueling. I'm gonna leave the entire world in my dust! I'm gonna... huh?"

"You're gonna what?" Yusei asked as he somehow caught up with him while starting his turn.

"How are you keeping up with me?" Hunter looked at the screen on his console and found the reason of this. "Huh? Slip Stream?! Oh man, you gotta be kidding me!"


"Is that why he was smiling?" Yanagi asked.

"Sure is." Tanner replied. "And with this card in play, Yusei might be smiling all the way to the finish line. You see, Yanagi, since Hunter played a speed spell last round, and Yusei had fewer Speed Counters than him, Yusei's counters now catch up to where Hunter's are."

Yusei: 1900 SC: 1-6

Hunter: 2200 SC: 5-6

"Yusei rules!" Leo cheered.

"Let's just hope he makes use of this position." Dexter said.

"Knowing Yusei, I'm sure he will." Cody replied.


"You must think you're slicker than slick, don't ya?" Hunter said as he realized how this happened.


Flachback

"I draw! I'm cranking this duel up a notch with the Summon Speeder spell!" The named spell card appeared.

"Not so fast!" Yusei said as his facedown card was revealed. "I play Slip Stream!"

Flashback end


"Ya know, I heard some people saying you were good, Yusei. But I'm afraid you're just not good enough to keep up with me. I activate Acceleration Zone!" As soon as Hunter's facedown card was revealed, a sparkling silvery road was made in his path. "Just try to catch me now!" Hunter drove down the path, causing him to speed up greatly. "YEEEAAAH!"

"Incredible! Hunter Pace's Speed Counters have rocketed all the way to 11!"

Hunter: 2200 SC: 6-11

"You may think you outsmarted me by slipping in your Slip Stream last round, but my deck is so fast that no matter what card you play or move you make, you'll always be a step behind. But that's something you Satellites have to come to expect, isn't it?"

"Well I wonder if you expected me to play this! The Summon Speeder spell card!" Yusei played the named spell card.

"Whoa! Yusei met Hunter Pace's challenge with a direct counter!"

"Now with the power of Summon Speeder, I summon Quilbolt Hedgehog in defense mode," The hedgehog with bolts appeared. (ATK: 800 DEF: 800 LV: 2) "and Junk Synchron in attack mode!" The orange metallic figure appeared. (ATK: 1300 DEF: 500 LV: 3) "And thanks to my Junk Synchron's special ability, I can summon another monster from my graveyard. So I'm bringing back Speed Warrior!" The grey-suited warrior appeared again. (ATK: 900 DEF: 400 LV: 2) "And now I tune my Junk synchron with my Quilbolt Hedgehog to synchro summon Junk Warrior!" Junk Synchron turned into 3 rings of light. Quilbolt Hedgehog flew through them and turned transparent, revealing 2 stars that created a beam of light. "Let's rev it up!" The light died down and revealed the purple warrior with his oversized right fist. (ATK: 2300 DEF: 1300 LV: 5)


"Alright!" Luna, Leo, Dexter and Chris cheered.

"I guess you could say he's keeping pace with Hunter!" Yanagi cracked.

"Ha! Good one!" Kai laughed.


"But before I attack, since the Speed Warrior on my field is a level 2, Junk Warrior can absorb his attack points." Speed Warrior glowed with energy that was absorbed by Junk Warrior. (ATK: 2300-3200) "It's go time!" Junk Warrior charged forward.

"Heh! Forget my Speed Booster trap already?" Hunter laughed as Junk Warrior swung his right fist. But the attack was blocked by a barrier.


"Oh dear!" Yanagi widened his eyes.

"No way!" Jeremy muttered in shock.

"How did he stop Junk Warrior's attack like that?" Leo wondered.

"Remember, with that Speed Booster trap card, Hunter can block with the same number of attacks as their difference in Speed Counters." Tanner replied.

"Oh right, so, since Hunter's at 11, and Yusei's at 6, then... Hunter's able to deflect 5 of Yusei's attacks?"

"That sure sounds like it." Cody replied.


"I gotta find a way to push through this." Yusei muttered before inserting a card into his console. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I draw!" Hunter drew.

Yusei: 1900 SC: 6-7

Hunter: 2200 SC: 11-12

"Hunter is totally maxed out! It doesn't get any faster than 12 Speed Counters, people!"

"After Jack took my title and I failed to snatch it back, I went into hiding to undergo some serious retraining and I realized that if I was gonna again rule the turbo duels, I had to put speed first." Hunter told Yusei. "You're as good as done in a turbo duel if you can't fearlessly harness the awesome power of true speed. It's not what you do, it's how fast you do it. Which I will now demonstrate by activating the Accelerate Draw speed spell!" A speed spell appeared. "This lets me draw two more cards from my deck." Hunter drew his extra cards and laughed when he saw what he got. "Oh yeah! It's in my hand! The End of Storm spell card!"


"What?" Jack widened his eyes in shock.


"He has the spell card End of Storm?" Yusei exclaimed.

"You should have stayed indoors, Yusei! Your local forecast calls for some hardcore schooling and a whole lot of letdown, with a slight chance of annihilation! But it's too late for ya now! I activate End of Storm!" Hunter's speed spell appeared, creating a raging tempest. "From what I understand, you and Jack Atlas have some history, so I'm sure you know what this means. The storm destroys every monster on the field and then we both take 300 points of damage for every monster we had!" All the monsters got zapped before they shattered into pixels.

Yusei: 1900-1300 SC: 7

Hunter: 2200-1900 SC: 12

"Wow! Hunter Pace has managed to nail Yusei for 600 points damage! But in doing so, he had to obliterate his own monster. He can't attack now. What's he gonna do?"

"Ha, now that the storm is blown over, I'll remove one Skull Flame in my graveyard from play. By doing so, I can summon the incredible Supersonic Skull Flame to the field in attack mode! 2600 attack points and all!" A blue portal opened besides Hunter, releasing a pillar of flames, from which a new monster emerged. It was a centaur-like creature with the upper body of Skull Flame, and the lower body being of a skeletal horse, clad in black and golden armor with a plume of flames for a tail. (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2000 LV: 10)

"Oh no!" Yusei exclaimed.


"Another monster with 2600 attack points?" Kai widened his eyes.

"Unbelievable!" Cody said in shock while Mimi clutched his arm in fear.


"Not only did Hunter destroy every monster on the field and deal damage to Yusei, but he's managed to summon an incredibly powerful new monster! What a stupendous string of moves! This could be the end of the duel right here! Hunter Pace may be moving on in the tournament, and Jack Atlas may be getting a little scared right about now!"


Jack narrowed his eyes.


"This duel is over Yusei, cuz Supersonic Skull Flame is gonna attack you directly!" The skeletal centaur turned around and spat out a torrent of flames.

"Well, my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow should extinguish its attack!" One of Yusei's facedown cards was revealed, releasing the scarecrow made of scrap metal, blocking the flames.

"Yusei has shielded himself from Hunter's Skull Flame!"

"Let's see what you do when I activate Speed Booster!" Hunter's booster fired another barrage of boosters at Yusei.

Yusei: 1300-0800 SC: 7


"Oh no!" Dexter exclaimed.

"Oh dear!" Sonia gasped.

"Stay strong, Yusei!" Leo called out.


"And now I activate Supersonic Skull Flame's special ability!" Hunter continued as Burning Skull Head suddenly appeared. "So for every Burning Skull Head in my graveyard, you take 400 points of damage!" The fiery skull tackled Yusei and exploded into an intense inferno.

Yusei: 0800-0400 SC: 7

"Yusei is barely holding on with a measly 400 life points. Can he survive?"


'Come on, Yusei. Show me your Mark of the Dragon.' Goodwin thought.

"If we confirm that Yusei's a Signer, shall I have him brought to you, Director?" Lazar asked.

Jack glared with a presuming look on his face.


"It's my turn!" Yusei drew.

Yusei: 0400 SC: 7-8

Hunter: 1900 SC: 12

"First I'm gonna slow this duel down a little bit, with Shift Down!" As soon as he played his speed spell, his duel runner started to slow down.

Yusei: 0400 SC: 8-2

"In a questionable move, Yusei has intentionally decreased his Speed Counters! What could he be thinking?"


"Maybe he isn't thinking." Yanagi frowned.

"He must be begging on his deck." Tanner assumed.

"Begging on his deck?" Dexter repeated.

"That's right." Cody replied. "Shift Down may forcibly lower your Speed Counters by 6, but by doing so, it lets you draw 2 extra cards."

"I get it." Leo said with a smile. "He's hoping he can bust out a game changer!"

"Exactly." Tanner nodded. "Our friend Yusei never stops believing in his cards."


"Now that my speed is decreased, I can draw two more cards!" Yusei drew his extra cards. "And next I summon Nitro Synchron!" The nitrogen tank with limbs appeared. (ATK: 300 DEF: 100 LV: 2) "Now that I've got a tuner monster on my field, I can bring Quilbolt Hedgehog back from my graveyard!" The hedgehog appeared again. (ATK: 800 DEF: 800 LV: 2) "With that done, I'm activating the Give and Take trap card!" Yusei's other facedown card was revealed.


"That could work!" Cody said.

"How come?" Chris asked.

"Simple." Jeremy replied. "That trap card lets Yusei summon a monster from his graveyard to the opponent's field in defense mode. And then, that monster's level is added to one of his own monsters."

"Sweet." Kai smirked.


"So now I'm going to give your defense a little boost and take advantage of the power that beast possesses!" Yusei declared.

"You're doing what?!" Hunter questioned as Junk Synchron appeared on his field. (ATK: 1300 DEF 500 LV: 3)

"You may have been at the top of the ranks back in the day, Hunter, but that's only cuz you never faced beasts with abilities like these!" Quilbolt Hedgehog glowed. (LV: 2-5)


"So with Quilbolt Hedgehog bumped up to level 5, and Nitro Synchron already at level 2, then he-" Dexter said before he was interrupted by a very excited Leo.

"Can synchro summon a level 7 monster!"


"Now I tune my Nitro Synchron with my Quilbolt Hedgehog to synchro summon Nitro Warrior!" Nitro Synchron turned into two rings of light, which Quillbolt Hedgehog flew through and turned transparent before being replaced by 5 stars that lined up and created a beam of light. "Let's rev it up one more time!" The light died down and revealed the green warrior with rocket booster. (ATK: 2800 DEF: 1800 LV: 7)

"Pretty cool monster, but I can deflect your attack with Speed Booster, so there was no point in summoning that thing!" Hunter stated.


"I wonder if Hunter knows that synchro summoning Nitro Warrior has enabled Yusei to draw another card from the top of his deck." Tanner said.

"Is that why Yusei summoned it?" Leo asked.

"You got it. He's trying to get to a certain card."

"And it better be something that can help him get through Hunter's defense." Cody added.


Hunter was so much faster than Yusei that he was now getting behind him. "Check it out, Yusei! I'm so much faster I'm about to out-lap you!"

'I can do this.' Yusei thought as he closed his eyes and reached for his deck. And after pausing for a moment, focusing all his energy into this, he drew his extra card. And the card he just drew... made him smile. "Just what I needed. I'm activating the speed spell, Gap Storm!" A strong hurricane erupted on the track.

"What is this?" Hunter questioned.

"I can only activate Gap Storm when the difference in our Speed Counters is 10 or more. That's why I slowed down. Now I can destroy every trap and spell card on the field!" While explaining this, Yusei's Scrap-Iron Scarecrow shattered into pixels.

"Oh no!" Hunter exclaimed. "So that means...!"

"Say goodbye to your Speed Booster!" Hunter's booster shattered into pixels as well.


"Wow! Talk about a big-time risk actually paying off." Leo commented.

"How ironic." Dexter added. "He might manage to win a game of speed by slowing down."

"As they would say, 'Slow and steady wins the race.'" Sonia said.


"This ain't over!" Hunter said cockily.

"It will be once Nitro's special ability kicks in! And because I activated a spell card on my own turn, my Nitro Warrior gets hooked up with 1000 attack points!" The green warrior roared as his power increased. (ATK: 2800-3800)

Hunter shouted in shock.

"Nitro, attack with Dynamite Crunch!" Nitro Warrior took flight and charged towards Supersonic Skull Flame with energy expanded from his fists, taking the form of bigger ones. The skeletal centaur counterattacked with a torrent of flames, but the warrior pushed through and crushed it.

Hunter: 1900-0700 SC: 12-11

"I'm still ahead!" Hunter persisted.

"Not for long. You see, Hunter, even though you had the lead for most of the duel, your life points are about to run out of gas! And it's all because of my Nitro Warrior's special ability!"

"Wait, so my Junk Synchron switched to attack mode?! But that means it can't protect me!" Junk Synchron switched its battle position.

"Nitro, attack!" Nitro Warrior got ready to strike.

"Yusei's about to pull off a major come-from-behind victory!"

Nitro Warrior charged toward Junk Synchron and delivered a right hook. "Can't we be friends?!" But despite Hunter's pleading, Junk Synchron got hit and exploded.

Hunter: 0700-0000

"It's over! There's just no love for the one-time champion these days! His dream goes up in smoke again!"

And to emphasize the MC's words, lots of smoke was released from Hunter's duel runner as it came to a forced stop.


"Yusei did it! I just knew he could do it!" Leo said, excited.

"That was incredible!" Yanagi added.

"Nice one, Yusei!" Cody cheered.


Hunter found himself down on the ground, right next to his duel runner.

Yusei brought his own duel runner to a halt and took off his helmet and approached the former champion.

Despite his loss... Hunter was laughing loudly. "Oh yeah!"

"That was a really great duel, Hunter." Yusei said.

"Don't think I'll take this loss sitting down, Yusei." Hunter warned him... before he realized his position. "Uh, I probably should have stood up before I said that. Man, I thought I had ya!" He then kept laughing. He actually ended up laughing so hard it made him cough a little.


Standing near one of the entrances leading to the stands, Cindy smiled at this. "Well, that was a good finishing move. Nice one, Yusei."


'Oh, nothing!' Zigzix thought in utter disappointment as his D-tector never reacted at all.


"Hunter was too weak to bring out Yusei's sign." Goodwin said.

"His next opponent should try breaking him instead of bending him." Lazar laughed ominously.

Jack suddenly stood up. "This tournament isn't just about winning the chance to duel me, is it?" He demanded. "What's really going on here? What do you need Yusei to help you do anyway?"

"All in due time, Jack." Goodwin said mysteriously. "All in due time."


And that's that! A new year and a new chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time.