Chapter 5 – Tag Team

On the fourth day of the first phase of the tournament, on a cliffside on Round Mountain there was four horses crudely attached to the end of a large rock, with duel disk equipment and supplies thrown together beside. Hanging of the cliffside edge was a Caucasian, lean teenage man with short blonde hair looking across the desert with binoculars, scanning the dry, empty land. Wearing a simple red sports shirt and denim blue jeans, his appearance didn't suggest much, though he was wearing a black deck box across his belt. Lips dry, without turning his head, in an English voice he yelled.

"Carter! Get me some water!"

No response.

"CARTER! GET ME SOME DARN WATER OR WE'RE SWITCHING EARLY!"

No response.

"THAT'S IT, YOU'VE GOT LOOKOUT NOW!"

"Fine, fine! I'll get you your stupid water!" Another English voice finally answered back.

Carter, another Caucasian teenage man, though slightly chubbier and shorter, with brown, greasy hair, pushed a steel flask of water into the other's arm, signalling to take it.

"Thank you" he said condescendingly.

"Greg, what even is the point of this? We're just too hot on this stupid mountain, I've nearly run out of sunscreen and we're getting nowhere!" Carter moaned.

"Why don't you ask him?" Greg babbled as he slurped his precious water.

Carter turned around to only tree on the mountain, a man in black sports shirt and jogging bottoms under its shade, lounging on folding chair with armrests, shuffling a deck of Duel Monsters cards to keep himself entertained. Another younger boy in a grey jacket over a full green and yellow football kit sat on the ground reading a sports magazine, basking in the shade.

"No thanks"

"Then stop complaining!" Greg returned to his binoculars.

With a sigh, Carter marched twenty feet over to the tree.

"AJ, why are we-"

"I heard you already" The man in the chair spoke, pausing his shuffling and glaring at him from the shade. "We're on lookout for duelists".

"But we're on lookout, when we could-"

"Is there a problem with that? Or do I need to make a call?" AJ raised his voice.

Carter did not respond, but rather stared at him.

"I'll take that as a no" AJ continued. "There's a good chance weaker duelists haven't made it this far in the journey yet, so we're just biding our time to get more wins. We've picked off a fair few already, we'll rejoin with the rest when we're done".

"AJ?"

"What now?"

"Me and Greg haven't got to duel anyone yet..."

"Is this some sort of joke? We're nearly at Battle Mountain and you haven't bothered to duel anyone!?"

"Carter, you grass!" Greg yelled, focusing his attention behind him.

"I-I-I was waiting for us to find more people, you know, thought you'd throw us a bone and give us a chance!" shuddered Carter.

"We're Claim Raiders for crying out loud! When we want something, we take it! Not dawdlin' about hoping someone's gonna give it to us!" AJ stood out into the sun directly to Carter, faces so close they were nearly touching.

"I'm sorry, mate, it sort of-"

"TWO GUYS! TWO GUYS, BY THE TREES!"

Everyone looked over to Greg, eyes glued to his binoculars. He turned around to make sure he had everyone's attention.

"Well, well, well. It looks like some idiots just got saved by the bell" AJ turned back to sit his chair and sat down, returning to his more eloquent speech. "Greg, how do they look?"

"Mostly tired, they're taking a break in the shade".

"Tired and weak, sounds like they'll be no problem even for you numbskulls. Now jump to it, the both of you, for your own sakes" AJ watched them reluctantly grab their disks and untie their horses. "Come on, movement! Or I'll duel them myself!"

Both men made their way down a path down the mountain, keeping sight on AJ and their new targets. When AJ was out of earshot, Greg spoke, keeping his voice to a minimum.

"Carter, I've got a plan, just don't snitch this time".

"Whatever, what bright strategy have you got in mind?"

"Not the duel stupid, to get out of this mess!"

"Really?"

"I didn't tell AJ when I saw them, but I'm dead certain sure one of those guys is the one with a 50k hit for his elimination! If we keep tailing and duelling these guys until they're out of the tournament, we split the cash, leave the Claim Raiders and get on with our lives! We don't need to have a guy like AJ or the boss on our backs anymore!"

"What about the other guy?"

"I don't know why he's got a plus one, but probably another pushover. Just focus on duelling like your bloody livelihood depends on it".

"Alright, let's do it! Payday, here we come!"

Finally pausing from his magazine, the boy beside AJ watched as Carter and Greg departed the mountain, looking rather pleased with themselves.

"AJ, you do think they're reliable right?"

"As reliable as chairs made from paper, Denny. If they mess up, it's their problem. Boss may act like we're using this group to win, but at the end of the day, it's still everyone for themselves, just like on the streets. Don't forget that".

"OK..."

Yudan and Zahir sat leaning on a tree and drank water from their own flasks, Zahir watching his horse Mint, a cream-shaded steed with a blonde mane, lying on its back.

"I don't blame Mint, if I was a horse, I'd never get back up, it's just too hot..." Zahir fanned the collar of his shirt.

"Then why are you still wearing that helmet?" Yudan savoured the taste his water as he asked.

"Sentimental value, Dad gave it to me" Zahir adjusted his helmet straight as if on cue. "Why are you asking now instead of when we met?"

"I don't know, it just felt ridiculous to ask, just don't let the sentimentality give you heatstroke".

"Speaking of heatstroke, am I seeing things or is there something moving over there?"

Yudan focused his eyes to where Zahir was pointing, eyes squinting as he saw what two people on horses riding to their direction. Instinctively, he picked himself up from the ground and grabbed his belongings.

"Duelists, we need to bail!" Yudan grabbing Zahir's arm to get up.

"Hold on, if they are, it doesn't they mean that they know you! They might just want a duel!"

"I suppose you're right. But any funny business and we're leaving".

Many possibilities stirred in Yudan's head. It could be that friends of Hernando had found them and we're ready to attack. It could be that they wanted to steal their belongings, since there were no one else in sight. Or it could be, just as Zahir said, that they were just trying to find competitors in the tournament, and just wanted a friendly match. After all, he and Zahir still needed two more victories each to advance to Battle Mountain, so it would seem foolish to decline. As the blurs on horseback became visible and their faces clear to the eye, they halted their steeds and marched forward. Yudan and Zahir attached their duel disks to their arms.

"How many Ws have you got!?" The one in the red shirt yelled.

"Ws?" Zahir thought they were talking about the alphabet, though he stilled yelled back. "Sorry, what do you mean W?"

"Wins! Victories! Duels won!" The one in the black shirt yelled back.

"We've got one each" Yudan answered back, finding hope in the fact that they didn't immediately name him.

"Well, I'm Greg and this is Carter" Greg noted, slipping his deck into his Odyssey duel disk. "The thing is, me and my mate Carter have had a bad spot of luck, can't find any duelists to beat, ya see. But I think our luck is about to change. We just want to duel... Yudan".

"Of course, you know me!" Yudan jumped to take cover behind Maroon, but Carter fired the duel disk laser onto his, landing directly and activating his disk before he landed on the ground. As Zahir was looking at Yudan fall, Greg shot his laser at Zahir's.

"This isn't a request!" Carter boasted, proud of his lucky shot. "Pick yourself of the dirt, because while we're here, let's make this a tag duel!"

"A tag duel, between the four of us? I don't even know how that works!" Zahir exclaimed.

Yudan quickly picked himself off the ground.

"Me and you will take turns to duel, so will they" Yudan explained, getting closer to Zahir as both Carter and Greg smugly walked away to make space to duel. "For the tournament, each team gets 4000 LP, we're allowed to tribute each other's monsters, just not attack with them or change their position. No one can attack on the first turn, except the last player. Just stick with me, and we'll get through this".

"Ok... I'll get into position!"

"Carter, everything's going smooth, the other guy's an easy target, just listen to me and the money's ours!" Greg commanded.

"Don't get too big for your boots..." Carter muttered.

"This isn't going to be easy, especially since Zahir doesn't know how to play in a duel like this. But I'll win, I must, despite him".

Everyone's duel disk was prepared, each organized into 2 teams with their names beside each other. The red team read had the names Yudan Raines and Zahir Sharma, the blue team read Greg Osprey and Carter Mcgillicuddy. The disks then randomized the turn order; Yudan, then Carter, then Zahir, then Greg, then back to Yudan. Each player drew 5 cards and stood their ground.

"Duel!"

"Yikes..." Zahir looked at his hand to see that it consisted almost entirely of monster cards. "Um, have you got a good hand, Yudan?"

"You're not allowed to tell each other 'bout your hand, helmet head!" Carter yelled.

"I go first, draw!" Yudan chose to ignore the others. "I set a card face-down and summon Revmetal Swordsman!"

The scrap-armoured monster with 1800 ATK appeared.

"I pass the turn!"

"Then time to get rolling!" Carter drew a card. "I summon Crash Gear Swarmcycle!"

A brown humanoid wolf monster in biker clothes rode a motorcycle as it entered the field. It had 1600 ATK and 1200 DEF.

"Swarmcycle's ability lets me summon out as many Swarmcycles as possible from my hand, and I will!"

Another Crash Gear Swarmcycle appeared, revving the throttle on its motorcycle with its counterpart.

"I set a card, and the floor's yours, helmet boy!"

Zahir drew his card for turn and gulped. Another monster card. "I should probably just set something down for defence, I think" he thought.

"I set a monster and end my turn!"

"You got to be havin' a laugh! Draw!" Greg took his new card and chuckled. "Well, it's over before it's even begun! I summon Crash Gear Swarmcycle!"

"You're kidding! Another one!?" Zahir asked.

"Too right! And I'll use its effect to summon another Swarmcycle!"

As four Swarmcycles stood in a row, Yudan pondered to himself. "They wanted a tag duel from the start! They're playing the same cards to synergise with each other!"

"And to push it even further, I activate the continuous spell, Crash Gear Raiding! A Crash Gear monster gains 300 ATK for each other Crash Gear on the field! So, with four Crash Gear monsters out, all the SwarmCycles gain 900 ATK!"

Each cycle revved louder as each monster's ATK boosted to 2500.

"Now since I'm the last player in turn order, I'm free to attack! Swarmcycle attack!"

"Not yet, I activate my face-down, Negate Attack!" Yudan pressed the button and Negate Attack flipped up. A forcefield generated, ricocheting one of the Swarmcycles off it as it accelerated at Revmetal Swordsman.

"Fine, I end my turn!"

"I draw!" Yudan looked at his hand and analysed the field. "They would have played something to remove Negate Attack if they had it, so it's safer to expand the field, plus..." He looked at Zahir. "I don't think he can support me for the time being".

"I switch Revmetal Swordsman to defence mode, then I set a monster and three face-downs, turn end!"

"Draw! I'm addin' to the mix Crash Gear Rotaryblade!" Carter summoned another humanoid wolf like the Swarmcycles, but instead of the motorcycles it was wearing post-apocalyptic gear and carried a large steel fan blade. Its ATK was 1800 but rocketed up to 3000 due to Crash Gear Raiding. The Swarmcycles jumped up further to 2800.

"My turn to battle, Swarmcycle attack!"

"Trap card, open! Magical Arm Shield!" Yudan activated his trap, Revmetal Swordsman, acquiring a white and pink shield that opened out two cymbals that grabbed another Swarmcycle. "I'm switching your attack target to this! Since they have the same amount of attack power, they'll destroy each other!""

Revmetal Swordsman swung the shield, forcing the Swarmcycle grabbed to smack into the attacking one, destroying each other and exploding on contact. Crash Gear Rotaryblade and the other swarmcycles had their ATK dropped to 2400 and 2200 respectively.

"Fine, Rotaryblade still attacks!" Carter kept forward unrelenting, though Yudan pressed another button on his disk.

"Now I'll activate Revmetal Barrier! It negates an attack involving a Revmetal monster and I draw a card!" Yudan drew a card as Carter and Greg grew increasingly annoyed.

"Bloody fine, I end my turn!"

"Then here I go..." Zahir drew a card, getting excited when he didn't draw a monster card. "I summon Big Insect in attack mode!" The giant black ant entered with its 1200 ATK and 1500 DEF.

"Now I can play this, Quick Shield and Sword! It flips every monster's attack with its defence!"

Big Insect increased to 1500 ATK, on the other hand, the Swarmcycles went to 1200, Revmetal Swordsman went to 1800 DEF, but most importantly for Zahir, Rotaryblade's ATK decreased to 1000.

"Now, Big Insect, attack Crash Gear Rotaryblade!"

"Don't get yourself all excited, now! I activate the trap Shadow Spell! It stops ya stupid insect and decreases its ATK by 700!" Carter explained as chains shot out from the ground and ensnared Big Insect, its ATK to 800.

Zahir panicked. Not only did he had no way to defend the monsters, but he worried this mistake could cost Yudan the duel. "I-I-I end my turn!"

All the monsters' points went back to normal, though Big Insect dropped further to 500.

"As I thought, this kid is the reason we're gonna win. You could consider it a lucky charm" Greg thought to himself smugly as he drew for his turn. "I draw! Time to bring out the big guns, I tribute the other two Swarmcycles for Crash Gear Spiketread!"

The last of the Swarmcycles made way for a large tank-like vehicle with 2800 ATK. It wheels were equipped with rusty spikes and its steel armour shun in the sweltering heat. Its ATK rose to 3100 due to Raiding and Rotaryblade's went 2100.

"Now I activate Crash Gear Overcharge! Now Crash Gear Spiketread attacks twice! Now get to it, run over that insect!"

Zahir closed his eyes as he braced for impact but reopened them when he heard a face-down card activate.

"I activate Draining Shield! It negates the attack, and we gain LP equal to your monster's attack points!" Yudan explained as Spiketread was halted by a light green forcefield, his and Zahir's LP boosted to a healthy 7100.

"Typical! But Overcharge's gonna let me attack again!"

Crash Gear Spiketread ploughed through the chained insect, not stopping as its hologram hit Zahir, dropping their LP to 4500.

"Spiketread deals 500 damage whenever it destroys one of your depressing monsters, so have at that!"

The LP dropped back to 4000.

Guilt began weigh to weigh on Zahir's conscious, blaming himself for the turn of events in the duel. He turned to Yudan, expecting his face riddled with disappointment, but to his surprise, Yudan was as focused and composed as he was before. When Yudan saw that Zahir was looking at him, he let out a smile.

"Don't worry, this duels not over, not by a long shot. We need to work together as good as they are, OK?" He saw that Zahir nodded back positively and faced back to his opponents. "End your turn, or are you just going to stand there twiddling your thumbs?"

"Fine, fine, go" Greg waved his hand dismissively.

"Then let's rock, draw!" Yudan drew his card and immediately put it in his spell and trap card zone. "I activate Polymerization! I'm going to fuse my Revmetal Swordsman and my face down Revmetal Blocker!"

A blue swirling vortex materialized above the field, with Revmetal Swordsman and a flipped up Revmetal Blocker making a giant leap inside, creating a shining red light.

"Fusion Summon! Level six, Revmetal Knightfire!"

From out of the vortex, a reptilian knight with shining crimson red armour, much to the contrast of Swordsman and Blocker's worn armour, appeared sporting a flaming sword in one hand and sturdy round shield. A royal crimson mask concealed its face and displayed on the duel disk screen its 2300 ATK and DEF.

"Yes! This will turn the duel around!" Zahir declared.

"It doesn't matter that you fusion summoned that thing, it can't even beat Spiketread!" Greg assumed.

"It will with this, the spell card Block Attack! I'll switch your Crash Gear Spiketread to defence mode, and as Zahir demonstrated, your defence is not only weaker but unaffected by Crash Gear Raiding! Now attack Spiketread, Crimson Vanquish!" Yudan pointed his arms at the tank monster as Knightfire lunged forward, splitting it in half. With one less monster, Rotaryblade's ATK went to 1800.

"Revmetal Knightfire's effect activates! The turn it's summoned and destroys a monster, it attacks twice! Now attack Rotaryblade!"

Knightfire then struck the wolf monster with its sword, reducing Carter and Greg's LP to 3500.

"Now I end my turn!" Yudan declared as Knightfire returned his side of the field.

"Great, now their field is clear!" Zahir announced.

"Not for long, draw!" Carter drew his card and immediately set it in his monster zone. "I set a monster and end my turn!"

Eager to draw, Zahir slashed the top card of his deck and into his hand. "Looks like it's my turn to fusion summon! I activate Polymerization, fusing my face-down Basic Insect and the Cannon Caterpillar in my hand to fusion summon Insect Bio-Cannon!"

The swirling vortex returned with Basic Insect and a green caterpillar with a purple cannon strapped to it jumping inside. What appeared from the fusion was a larger form of Basic Insect with purple armour and a large cannon attached to its back. The monster had 2200 ATK and 1500 DEF.

"Now to battle phase, Insect Bio-Cannon, attack!"

As Insect Bio-Cannon charged up an attack from its weapon, Carter's set monster flipped up to reveal a snarling large bug with teeth.

"Man-Eater Bug's effect! When it's flipped, it destroys a monster, and I'll get rid of that Revmetal Knightfire!" Carter pointed at Yudan's monster, and as instructed, the bug spang forward with incredible speed, biting on Knightfire and sending it to the graveyard. By the time Knightfire fell, Insect Bio-Cannon had finished charging its attack and fired out a blast of bright green energy, destroying Man-Eater Bug.

"That bug just wiped Yudan's monster out with no problem at all..." Zahir said, eyes wide in amazement.

"Obviously, it's Man-Eater Bug, you should know that because you play an insect deck!" Greg lectured, head steaming. "You gonna sit there with your jaw loose or are you passing your turn!?"

"I-I set a card and end my turn!"

"Then I draw! I'm gonna mash your bug into paste with this, Hammer Shot! It destroys the monster on the field with the highest ATK!"

A large hammer materialized on the field, then smashed Zahir's Bio-Cannon so fast the impact wasn't seen, only leftover shards of holographic light. Zahir glanced at his duel disk, only to notice Insect Bio-Cannon's card was flashing on screen.

"Oh, I nearly forgot! When Insect Bio-Cannon is destroyed, I draw a card!"

"But now you got no monster on your field to protect yourself, so to clean your clogs I summon Crash Gear Bruiser!"

Greg placed onto the field a large red-haired wolf with 2000 ATK and 1500 DEF. It wore iron chest plate armour and large gold knuckledusters on it claws.

"Bruiser, attack the player directly!"

Crash Gear Bruiser leapt forward and delivered a gut punch to Zahir, LP sent to 2000.

"After Bruiser attacks, if there's no other Crash Gear monsters out, it goes to defence, but that's not a problem". Bruiser knelt as Zahir recouped from the direct attack. "I end my turn".

"Then my turn, draw!" Yudan drew his card, visibly unshaken that his fusion monster was destroyed. "Since we control no monsters, I can special summon Revmetal Scout!"

Yudan's monster was a yellow bipedal feline monster wearing goggles and red metal boots that were a bit big for it, whilst carrying a bag over its back. It was displayed to have 1000 ATK and 800 DEF.

"Since I don't control any other cards apart from Scout when I summon him, I draw two more cards!" Yudan took the top two cards of his deck and placed a card in his spell and trap card zone. "I'm now going to equip him with Revmetal Launcher, which will boost his attack power by 800!"

A rocket launcher made from the Revmetal armour appeared and was given to Revmetal Scout, which it was very pleased to have. Its ATK increased to 1800.

"Revmetal Scout, attack Crash Gear Bruiser!"

Scout's weapon released a blast of fire from its muzzle, engulfing Bruiser in flames and destroying it.

"I end my turn!" Yudan declared, then looked to the screen on his disk. "As long as we can keep advantage on monsters on the field, we should be fine. Our opponents only utilise attack power, but they can combo with each other to a good effect. How can I do that with you Zahir?" He thought.

Carter drew his card and grinned ear to ear "Everything seems to be in the Claim Raiders' favour!"

"Claim Raiders?" Yudan wondered.

"I activate the equip spell, Premature Burial! By paying 800 points, I equip this card to a monster in our grave and summon it! I'm obviously gonna bring back Crash Gear Spiketread!"

The spiked tank resurrected, Carter and Greg's LP changed to 2700.

"And guess what?" Carter flipped his card over to reveal Crash Gear Overcharge. "Spiketread get two attacks!"

"Oh no..." Yudan said as Zahir shuddered, for he had no answer to this. They were going to lose the duel.

"Spiketread, crush the kitten!"

"Revmetal Launcher's effect activates! When the equipped monster would be destroyed, Launcher gets destroyed in its place and no damage is dealt!"

Scout used its Revmetal Launcher as a shield as Spiketread collided, destroying the equip spell and reverting its ATK back to 1000.

"It doesn't matter, because this is the end of the line! Spiketread gonna end this with the battle damage AND its effect! Go!"

As Spiketread made a swift turn to regain its momentum for the attack and both Carter and Greg cheered wildly, dust being flung into the air almost in celebration, Yudan prepared to say sorry to his tag partner, even though he felt he couldn't have played better, he felt responsibility for their fate. Though this time, Zahir was the one with a counter.

"Activating face-down card! My Mystic Wok!"

Scout had faded away before Spiketread could mow the monster down.

"WHAT!? IT WAS RIGHT THERE!" Carter yelled, enraged.

"Mystic Wok tributes a monster on our field, and we gain life points equal to its attack or defence, and I choose attack power!" Zahir proudly explained as their LP went to 3000. "See, Yudan? The cards made sure I got your back!"

"Yeah... We get another turn! Yes!" Yudan celebrated, but then remembered what he thought of Zahir before, to win the duel he had to help Zahir as a teammate rather than dismissing him as a problem to be solved. He then went back to facing his opponents. "Now come on, anything else you want to throw at us!?"

"No! I'm done!" Carter yelled sulkily.

"Then, come on, deck, an answer, please!" Zahir drew his card and put it straight in his disk. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw me two cards!"

He increased his hand, then pressed a button on his disk to eject Basic Insect from the GY and into the banish zone.

"By banishing an insect monster from my graveyard, I special summon this, Aztekipede, the Worm Warrior!"

The green centipede monster appeared from burrowing to the surface of the ground, displaying its 1900 ATK stat.

"To remove Crash Gear Spiketread from the field, I activate the spell card Soul Taker!" Zahir placed the card in his disk and Spiketread disappeared from the field. "It may give you 1000 LP, but your field is free to attack! Aztekipede, direct attack!"

Their LP changed to 3700, but after Aztekipede lunged forward and pounced on Carter, it went back down to 1800.

"Aztekipede also makes you send the top card of deck to the grave, but I'm not sure that's going to matter" Zahir moved to his Main Phase 2. "I set a card and end my turn!"

Greg drew his card and looked at Carter. "Well, looks like we're using the big guns today! I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Spiketread again! But it gets worse, I activate the ritual spell, Crash Gear Engineering!"

"It did matter, it did!" Zahir shouted with regret towards Yudan. "Wait, how does ritual summoning work for the tournament again?"

"Listen up and I'll explain!" Greg seeked Zahir's attention as Spiketread was split into eights spheres of blue flame. "First, I tribute the appropriate monster or monsters for the summon, being the eight levels that Crash Gear Spiketread has, though for the new rules the monster must be on my field rather than including my hand. Then I summon my monster, now from the Extra Deck! Ritual summon, level eight Crash Gear Titan!"

Now towering over the field was a gigantic mech, prised of gears and scrap metal to make it appear like a giant. It had 2800 ATK and DEF.

"Now attack Titan!"

Crash Gear Titan's gears sped up as its arms pulled back and prepared a punch.

"It can attack, just not Aztekipede! I activate my trap card, Colony Defence! I summon a Colony Token in defence and changes your attack to it instead!"

"Well, that's fine by me, 'cause Titan's effect gives it piercing damage!"

Before Zahir could react, Crash Gear Titan landed a punch down to the token, pushing its body forward at Zahir, damaging his LP heavily by sending it to 700.

"Then I'll set a card, and finish pummelling you next turn!"

On Round Mountain, Denny had grown bored of his magazine, so yawning, he whipped out a pair of binoculars from the bag beside him and marched over to the edge of the cliffside. Though he saw he had no need to use his binoculars to see the large Titan hologram in the distance.

"They've got the Titan out, looks they're winning!"

"'Bout bloody time... Who are those chumps duelling anyway?" AJ asked.

Denny placed his eyes on his binoculars, noticing behind Aztekipede, a boy in a helmet, and another person he felt he'd seen before.

"One of them is that guy! Y'know, the guy, the guy..." Denny began clicking his fingers to refresh his memory.

"Jesus, spit it out!"

"That guy with the crazy coloured hair... the... um... Raines! Yudan Raines! The guy from the bounty thing online!

Jumping out of his chair, AJ dashed to Denny and snatched the binoculars from his hands and peered through, seeing Yudan's face in frustration visible from the lens. AJ put the pieces together in his head.

"And they kept quiet about it, they didn't want us to know!" AJ shoved the binoculars into Denny's hands and began packing up his chair. "C'mon Denny! Even if they if they win this duel, those punks are gonna deal with me!"

"Are you finished spacing out or what, Yudan!?" Greg yelled. "Haven't got all day!"

Yudan quelled his fear and drew his card. If Zahir could save them both, he had to return the favour.

"I activate Graceful Charity, so I draw three cards as long as I discard two afterwards" Yudan knew exactly which cards he wanted to discard, though his eyes lingered on one card. "Is this something I can use to support Zahir?" He thought. "Anyway..."

"Zahir, I need to use your monster".

"If it gets us out of this mess, go ahead!"

"I now activate the effect of Amarylease, the monster I just discarded! By banishing it from my graveyard, I summon a monster for one less tribute!" He placed Amarylease from the GY to his banish zone. "Surge forth! I tribute Aztekipede for Outlaw Jetstar!"

The red warrior monster appeared and readied its orange blades.

"Next the spell card, Blustering Winds! I increase Jetstar's attack power by 1000!" A miniature tornado wrapped itself around Jetstar's figure, ATK rising to 3500.

"Battle Phase! Outlaw Jetstar, attack! Sunrise Splitter!"

"That thing's not splittin' anything! Activate trap, Zero Gravity!" A wave of energy spread across the battlefield, forcing Jetstar and Titan to defence. "All monster's swap positions!"

"Thank goodness".

"What do you mean 'Thank goodness' posh boy!?" Greg jeered.

"I thought you had a card that destroyed Jetstar. The Goddess of Fate is in our favour, I set a card and end my turn!"

Carter drew his card, another Crash Gear Engineering.

"If you've got nothin' Carter, pass the turn!" Greg commanded.

"I got something all right, Crash Gear Engineering, I'll tribute Greg's Titan to summon another one!"

"Wha- Carter, you-"

"Shut your trap, bossy boots! I can't attack with your Titan this turn, but MY one can! Attack Outlaw Jetstar, Titan!"

As the fists of Crash Gear Titan push forward at Outlaw Jetstar, it came to a stop when it made contact with the skeleton of a pig that materialized out of nowhere, vanishing into dust as quickly as it came.

"It didn't connect!" Carter cried.

"It's because of the other monster that I discarded along with Amarylease, Bacon Saver! I banish it from my grave to negate the attack!" Yudan's card was ejected from the graveyard and inserted it into the banish zone.

"Fine, it only delays you chumps! I end my turn!"

Zahir drew his card and placed it with the other two, noticing what he could do with all three as he put them together in his hand.

"With this Double Summon card, with Flipping Grub and Growth Gold I can summon my Golden Flipper Beetle!" Zahir thought to himself happily, but his face sank when he looked at the field. "Even if I summon the beetle, it's not strong enough to beat Crash Gear Titan even if it's face-down! The only opportunity we have to beat that thing and it's not enough!"

"Zahir".

"Wha... Yudan, I can't do it, I can't beat that Titan!"

"If you have a strategy in mind, do it. I'll support you. Trust me".

Zahir thought to retort, but something about the look on Yudan's face gave him confidence he could somehow succeed.

"You playing the game or what, helmet boy?" Carter teased.

"OK, here goes something! I summon Flipping Grub in attack mode!" Zahir's grub monster flopped around on the field.

"That's just disgusting, you want us to forfeit the duel by giving us indigestion?" Greg sneered.

"Not necessarily, because check this out! I activate Double Summon, which lets me bring out another monster, my Growth Gold! When these two are out, I Fusion Summon, no Polymerization needed! Come out, Golden Flipper Beetle!"

Growth Gold wrapped around Flipping Grub, and with a blast of light, Golden Flipper Beetle appeared.

"And when my Beetle is summoned, Titan's about to go face down!"

Golden Flipper Beetle proceeded to scuttle towards the large mech monster, flipping it over with its horn despite the obvious size difference. Crash Gear Titan fell hard onto the ground with sounds of metal clanging, the hologram fading and switching to a face-down card. Carter looked concerned, but Greg just chuckled.

"That was a nice show, but it's all for naught! Titan still has 2800 points to get past, your overpriced beetle's only 2700!"

"He's right..."

"You're all quick to presume that's it".

Everyone turned to face Yudan, who was smiling ear to ear.

"Now, to activate my final trap, Ambush Shield! By tributing a monster, I add that monster's ATK or DEF to another!"

"But you haven't got... ah..." Greg was shaken as he remembered Outlaw Jetstar, who was kneeling, out of mind from Yudan's opponents.

"I'll add Outlaw Jetstar's ATK to Golden Flipper Beetle!" Outlaw Jetstar's form turned into energy, which flew into the body of Zahir's beetle, ATK rising to 5200 as it was emanating with a gold flowing aura.

"All right! Golden Flipper Beetle, super-powered piercing attack!"

"Wait, piercing!?" Carter screamed.

Zahir pointed at the face-down Titan, and Golden Flipper Beetle leapt forward, piercing straight through the card. There was a second of silence, then the card detonated, blowing back dust at Carter and Greg their LP taking 2400 damage, ending the duel with only 1800 between them, faces torn with grief as they watched the LP on their disk screens plummet to 0.

"We did it! Oh man, I forgot to say it was piercing damage, my bad!" Zahir rubbed the back of his head as the dust settled.

"Zahir, this means we got 2 wins each, only one more to go!" Yudan went to Zahir, picking up the holographic projector he used for the duel and reattaching it to his duel disk.

Before he could properly celebrate, Yudan turned to face what was making the sound of horses galloping, and saw what was two other duelists, one in a football kit and the other dressed in casual black. They didn't look like they wanted to celebrate.

"Zahir, we need to bail, NOW!"

Both duelists ran to grab their things, fumbling as they unattached their horses from the tree, and urged them to begin galloping as fast as they could when they managed to jump on.

Slightly dazed, Carter and Greg realised AJ was there, coming to a complete stop as Denny followed.

"You scum! Did you really think you bozos were that clever!? Save it!" AJ saw that Carter was beginning to formulate an excuse but wasn't given the time. "Grab your horses and get a move on! I'm not going to let 50K slip through my fingers!"

Yudan and Zahir kept galloping by the mountain, panicking as they both saw that the pursuers had much better rested horses and were relentlessly advancing on their position, AJ and Denny were right behind them and as AJ had instructed, Carter and Greg were flanking on Yudan and Zahir's position in a pincer attack, eager to knock them off their horses. As they sped around the edge of the trees planted beside the mountain, Yudan noticed a wide crevice in between the trees, a road signalling a pathway through the mountain.

"Zahir, go through there!" Yudan yelled behind him, close enough to Zahir to speak as they were making a desperate escape.

Yudan shifted his body weight to the left, urging Maroon to make a left turn. Luckily, the horse managed to make the shift and began following the road. Zahir looked to do the same but couldn't get Mint to turn. Instead, Zahir kept following straight forward, missing the opportunity to follow Yudan and kept riding beside the mountain. Picking up on this, AJ cupped his hands to his mouth.

"Get Yudan Raines! He's the one we want, the other guy's dead weight!"

Each horse of the Claim Raiders individually went through the crevice, following in an organized line. Zahir kept looking back in panic, unable to get Mint to turn back, instead choosing to press on in the hopes of rejoining Yudan somewhere later from the other side of the mountain. Yudan did his best to dodge the Claim Raiders, looking for an opportunity to diverge back to Zahir, another crevice to sneak through and away from his pursuers, but no such opportunity came. He kept galloping into the centre of the mountain's vast trees as he and Zahir were split for the first time in their journey, and potentially the last.

END OF CHAPTER