Chapter 5

Let's get ready to DUEL! As the second part of the tournament begins.

Yugi was panting heavily as he and Tea headed towards Duelist Kingdom Castle before stopping in front of the guards at the front of the castle.

"Ah, Yugi Moto. You settled a bet for me." The guard said as he checked the Star Chips and matches to see if they were legit before nodding after checking them out. "Excellent work, and congratulations on being the final two contestants to make it this far."

"Final Two? But I thought four spots were remaining?" Tea asked before the guard chuckled at her.

"You'll see soon enough. Good luck," the guard said as Yugi and Tea walked into the castle. They were amazed by the interior design until a voice called out to them.

"Hey! Look who showed up." The voice said as both Tea and Yugi looked to see Fenris and Keith look at them. Yugi gasped as he looked around to see Issei, Vivian Wong, Sona Sitri, Ishizu Ishtar, Mai Valentine, Rebecca Hawkins, Bandit Keith, Fenris, Weevil Underwood, Rex Raptor, Seto Kaiba, Duke Develin, and Maximillion Pegasus.

"Woah. This is everyone? And even Kaiba is here?" Yugi asked in surprise before Kaiba walked towards Yugi and held out a hand.

"My deck. You've been holding on to it for me, right?" Kaiba asked before Yugi nodded and handed Kaiba's deck to him.

"Of course. I've been holding on to it for you as you recovered," Yugi said before Kaiba thanked him in his way.

"You'll be compensated for your troubles," Kaiba said, leaving Yugi with Tea before Pegasus welcomed them to the castle.

"And I wish to welcome both Yugi Moto and Tea Gardner, the last two members of the tournament's second round," Pegasus said before the group followed Pegasus to the main dining hall, where they each sat in one of the many chairs around the table before Pegasus pulled out a remote and began to explain the rules of the second round of the tournament as a massive TV screen appeared behind the Creator of Duel Monsters.

"Now, for the second round, I do wish to explain that I'll be taking part in two battles, and should I lose in both, then I am out of the tournament and will enjoy the entertainment of watching the rest of you duel," Pegasus said that the other duelists were either nervous or excited about facing the Creator of Duel Monsters, especially Issei since he thought that the rumored deck of Pegasus's deck would be a fun one to battle against.

"And now, we'll begin the second round with our sixteen matches. The victors of the sixteen will move to the Top Eight, then the Top Four victors, and finally, the Top Two." Pegasus explained all of their pictures, and two of Pegasus appeared in the group before Pegasus explained the pairings.

"The device will randomly select who will battle who based on your skills and performance in the first round, so let's find out who'll face who," Pegasus said, tapping the button on the remote, watching the many pictures swirl around each other like a roulette wheel before the screen began to show who would face who in the second round.

Second Round Matches:

Maximillion Pegasus Vs Seto Kaiba.

Issei Hyoudou Vs Mai Valentine

Vivian Wong Vs. Sona Sitri

Ishizu Ishtar Vs. Duke Develin

Maximillion Pegasus Vs. Bandit Keith

Fenris Vs. Tea Gardner

Weevil Underwood vs Rebecca Hawkins

Rex Raptor vs Yugi Moto

The group was shocked and amazed by the matches that they were given before Bandit. Keith looked at Pegasus and saw this as his chance to get back at him for humiliating him the day before Keith gave up dueling.

Fenris looked around to see Tea nervous about her battle before tapping her shoulder. This caused the girl to let out a little 'eep' until Fenris calmed her down.

"Look, there's no issue with dropping out of the tournament. No one would judge you for giving up since I know you're in a room with many champion-level duelists and Pegasus, too." Fenris said, trying to help the girl save herself from a beating, but Tea clenched her fists and replied.

"I do appreciate the help, but I want to battle here," Tea said confidently while Fenris scanned her face and body language to see how nervous she was hiding. She still wished to duel against him.

"Alright then, but I won't go easy on you just because you are a girl."

"Thank you. I don't need you to." Tea said as she sighed in relief that she was holding in before seeing Yugi Moto chatting with Rex Raptor, who looked excited to be facing him again even after losing against Yugi the last time they dueled in the Meadow Field.

'Yugi's always been confident in battling his opponents, and yet even against that person who said they were the avatar of that Divine Beast that Yugi gained when defeating him, here I am, nervous as a scared kitten. How can I even call myself a duelist if I can't even face my fears and fight with the same confidence that Yugi has when fighting?' Tea asked herself before clenching a fist as she readied herself for her match.

Fenris saw the girl hype herself up and couldn't help but smirk since it reminded him of when he was a rookie and looked at Pegasus before asking.

"So, will these be the matches in that order?" Fenris asked before Pegasus laughed a bit before responding to the Norse Factions Champion.

"Of course not. These are just the matches that we'll be playing in, but the randomizer chooses who will battle first," Pegasus said before tapping the button on the remote once more. The matches were then shuffled into a playing card deck, and two massive gloved hands shuffled the stack before laying out the cards and then selecting two from the group.

[The first match of the second round will be Tea Gardner Vs Fenris.]

The randomizer selected Tea as she then became stone, afraid of her life and cursing her bad luck before Yugi calmed her down.

"Don't worry, Tea. I'm sure you'll be able to do great against Fenris."

"But Yugi, I'm not you! I can't face someone who's a champion, but I also don't want to drop out of the tournament because I want to support you ." Tea said as she and Fenris were led to the arena where they were situated on both sides.

Pegasus smiled as he then explained the rules.

"Now for the rules of the duel: Both sides will have 4000 life points. Also, whoever goes first will be decided by a coin toss," Pegasus explained before a bodyguard came out and before speaking to the two duelists.

"Call it in the air." The guard said, flipping the coin in the air.

"Heads!"

"Tails!"

Tea and Fenris called out as the guard, who then caught the coin before looking at the results of the toss.

"Tails! Which means Mr. Fenris makes the first move." The guard declared with Fenris thanking him as he then looked at Tea, who was nervous but curious about Fenris's play style.

'Maybe I can also give Yugi a chance to figure out his strategy.' Tea said in her mind before the two readied their decks on the stand in front of them before the two duelists drew their first five cards.

"Now then, the first match of the Duelist Kingdom's second round shall now begin!" Pegasus declared that four thousand life points appeared on both sides.

"Alright, let's duel!" Fenris/Tea said.

"For my first move, I'll play Double Summon to let me use Normal Summon twice this turn, and then use Pot of Greed to draw two more cards," Fenris said as he played both cards and had six cards in his hand once more before his next move.

"Then I'll summon one monster in defense mode and Dragon Zombie in attack mode!" Fenris declared as one monster was placed in defense mode while the massive undead dragon emerged and roared at Tea, scaring her a bit as she was intimidated by its massive size.

Dragon Zombie

Attribute: Dark

Type: Zombie/Effect

Level: 3

ATK: 1600

DEF: 0

Effect:

If this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the GY, you can target the monster that destroyed it; destroy that target. If a Spell or Trap Card is in the same column as the monster that destroyed this card, destroy that Spell or Trap Card.

"Then I'll place two cards facedown and end my turn," Fenris said, with Tea scared as she looked at her hand.

'I don't have any monsters in my hand strong enough to attack him, but I can stall him until I get a polymerization spell or fusion summon.' Tea said in her head, calculating her next move before playing her turn as she drew her sixth card.

"I'll play one monster in defense mode and put two cards facedown. I'll end my turn there," Tea said, letting out a sigh she didn't know she was holding in her body.

'The cards I put down are Mirror Force and Michizure. With these two, I should be able to buy myself some time,' Tea said as Fenris began his next turn.

Fenris then looked at his new hand before checking Tea's side of the field.

'Those two are definitely some traps she laid out for me so that I can attack her. I'll show her just who she's playing against.' Fenris said as he looked at his four cards before playing one.

"I play the continuous spell card: Necrotic Ward! Thanks to this spell card, my zombies are now immune to all spells and traps from the opponent's side." Fenris explained, and Tea was scared as the Dragon Zombie groaned, its eyes glowing a bit green.

Necrotic Ward

Continuous Spell

While this card is face-up on the field, all Zombie-Type monsters on the field are unaffected by Spell and Trap cards from the opponent's side.

"Next up, I'll summon another Dragon Zombie in attack mode on the field; then, I'll have my first Dragon Zombie attack your defense monster first." Fenris declared as the dragon on the left released a miasma-like breath, forcing Tea's only monster to be flipped to reveal that it was the Green Phantom King.

The attack and defense points of both monsters were the same, so neither destroyed the other, but it didn't matter to Fenris as he made his next move.

"Now then, I'll have my facedown monster attack your life points directly," Fenris said with a shocked Tea, seeing a shadow of sorts appear from the facedown monster and losing a small number of her life points.

Tea Gardner: 4000-150=3850

"W-What was that?!"

"That was my facedown monster, Spirit Reaper. It's a special monster that is useful in dealing quick damage to my opponents and weakening their forces. Like so," Fenris said as Tea saw her Green Phantom King yell as if he was in pain before a mark appeared on the Green Phantom King's cloak, which seemed to weaken his defense points.

Green Phantom King

ATK: 500

DEF: 1600-800=800

"And that was Spirit Reaper's second ability. When he deals damage to my opponent, I can weaken one of their monsters by 800 attack or defense points," Fenris said as Spirit Reaper cackled in its hiding place.

Spirit Reaper

Dark

Zombie/Effect

Level 3

ATK: 300

DEF: 200

Effect:

It cannot be destroyed by battle while in Defense Position.

This card can attack your opponent directly while in a facedown or face-up Defense Position. If it does, any battle damage your opponent takes from battles involving this card is halved.

Once per turn, during either player's turn, if this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent, You can target one monster your opponent controls; that monster loses 800 ATK or DEF (your choice), depending on its battle position.

"And now that your Phantom King is weakened, my second Dragon Zombie will finish you off," Fenris said as the second Dragon Zombie blew the same miasma-like breath that burned the Green Phantom King, shattering him to nothing.

"And then I'll play my favorite ritual spell, Awakened Death Pillar!" Fenris declared that he had placed a special spell card.

Awakened Death Nine Pillar

Continuous Ritual Spell

This card can only be used to Ritual Summon "Hel, Goddess of Death" from your hand, deck, or Graveyard. To activate this card's effect, you must first destroy the opponent's monsters in battle and collect their souls as Light Counters on this card (max. 9).

If a Fusion Monster is destroyed, both it and its materials are used as Light Counters.

Once this card has 9 Light Counters, its effect is activated: Banish Light Counters the Ritual Summon of "Hel, Goddess of Death.

"And as for your Green Phantom King, I'm afraid that instead of the grave, he is a sacrifice for the Ritual," Fenris said as the Green Phantom King left Tea's Graveyard and went towards the spell as a green ball of light before Fenris chuckled at her expression.

"One down and eight to go."

"You said it was a ritual spell, but why haven't you activated it yet?"

"No spoilers," Fenris said, much to Tea's annoyance, before she heard Fenris continue talking.

"And then I'll play Foolish Burial and send one card from my deck to the graveyard, and then I'll end my turn," Fenris said as he smiled at the card in the Graveyard.

Card Name: Gravekeeper's Ward

Card Type: Normal Spell

Effect: While this card is in your Graveyard, the "Awakened Death Nine Pillar" and "Hel, Goddess of Death" you control cannot be targeted or destroyed by your opponent's Spell/Trap effects or monster effects. You can banish this card from your Graveyard by adding 1 "Awakened Death Nine Pillar" or 1 "Hel, Goddess of Death" from your Graveyard to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Gravekeeper's Ward" once per turn.

"Although I doubt I even need Hel for this since this girl doesn't seem to have any actual skills, " Fenris said as Tea tapped her thumb while looking at her four cards in hand.

'This isn't good. As long as that trap is in effect, my traps are worthless. If only I had Mystical Space Typhoon, then I could destroy it. I can only delay them, and this card can help!' Tea shouted in her mind as she began her move.

"I'll play Polymerization and fuse both Beautiful Headhuntress and Sonic Maid to bring out the Warrior of Tradition!" Tea shouted as the portal opened up on her side, and her two monsters fused and became powerful warriors.

Fenris wasn't intimidated by it since he knew what Tea would try before nodding at her to continue. This made Tea smile as she looked at her last card and decided to play it.

"I also equip her with the Equip Spell: Malevolent Nuzzler! Increasing her power by 700!"

"Not bad," Fenris said.

Warrior of Tradition

ATK: 1900-700=2600

DEF: 1700

"Now attack Dragon Zombie on the right!" Tea declared as the warrior yelled while slicing the dragon in half with its cleaver, causing the dragon to roar in pain as it died before Fenris didn't mind his life points dropping.

Fenris: 4000-1000=3000

"Not bad. A good comeback, but sadly, that won't be enough since Dragon Zombie has a little trick up its sleeve for those who destroyed him." Fenris said as a portal from the Graveyard appeared. Dragon Zombie opened its massive jaw and let its tongue wrap around the warrior, who tried to force the tongue to release her. Still, the miasma was burning her body, making her grow weaker and weaker until the dragon pulled her into the portal, ending her life.

"B-But...how?"

"Simple. When Dragon Zombie is defeated, his ability activates, forcing the monster that destroyed Dragon Zombie to enter the Graveyard as well. But it doesn't end there. Since your monster had a Spell or Trap Card behind it when she was summoned, that means the facedown card is gone, too." Fenris said in joy as miasma began to destroy Tea's trap, which scared her since it was her Michizuru trap that was destroyed.

"Oh no." Tea muttered before seeing her Fusion Monster and the other monsters used to summon Warrior of Tradition become Light Counters for the ritual, which seemed to glow in anticipation of what was to come.

"I end my turn," Tea said in defeat, and Fenris smiled at her defeated expression before beginning his turn.

"I draw," Fenris said, smiling at his only card before playing it. I'll summon another Dragon Zombie."

The dragon roared as another one appeared once again until Fenris began his attack. "First, Spirit Reaper will attack you, and then a double attack from Dragon Zombies!" Fenris shouted as all three attacked and dealt massive damage to Tea's life points.

Tea Gardner: 3850-3200=650-150=500.

"And then my turn is over. Last move and I'm not even going to need my strongest monster," Fenris said to himself, with the three monsters ready. Tea started her turn and looked at the card she had just drawn before crying inside.

'Shining Friendship. In a way, it represents the friendships between Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and myself, but even I don't think that'll be enough.' Tea said in her mind before seeing Yugi nod her way to show his support.

This made Tea smile as she realized something. 'Still, the fact I made it this far was not bad for a beginner like me, so whether I win or lose, I'll still give it my all.'

Tea just put her monster in defense mode, ending her turn and calling for Fenris to give it his all and not hold back. Fenris smiled at her before nodding her way.

"Alright then." Fenris then played his final Dragon Zombie, which destroyed Tea's final monster before the last two dragons ended the match.

Tea didn't back down or flinch, but she accepted it as her power ended before smiling. Her eyes opened to see the group clap for not just Fenris but also Tea for making an effort.

"The winner of the first match is Fenris."

"Hey Tea!" Fenris called out as Tea looked at him before he smiled at her. "You did good. You may not have beaten me, but you showed a lot of courage and strength in facing the odds. Well done."

Tea smiled as the two shook hands, Then walked back towards Yugi with a solemn expression.

"Don't worry, Yugi. I'm fine. I'm hurt but fine," Tea said before Yugi hugged her, making Tea smile back at her friend.

Fenris walked back to Bandit Keith, who congratulated the guy.

"Nice job Fenris! Though it sucks, I didn't get to see your ritual spell activate."

"Ah, don't worry. I'm sure you'll see her later in the match-ups. Though I do wonder who is next since the matches appear to be random," Fenris said with interest in his tone before the guard declared the next battle.

"I'm glad you asked, and I'm sure the next match will be more interesting since the next battle will be between Issei Hyoudou and Mai Valentine." The guard said. Vivian was excited about this match-up, and Rebecca cheered on her partner.

"Knock 'Em dead, Issei!"

"Show him no mercy, Mai!"

Fenris chuckled at their enthusiasm for the match since he'd seen Issei show that he definitely deserved his spot, while Mai was a deadly opponent with her harpy deck and deadly traps.

Mai and Issei stood then across from each other, staring at each other for a while until Mai spoke to him.

"It's been a while, huh Issei? The last time we met was when you made your debut in the circuit." Mai said, making Issei smile a bit before replying to her.

"Heh. Indeed. It has been a while since we've last met or even battled against each other." Issei said in response as he recalled meeting Mai.

Flashback

Issei was just a rookie, starting as a duelist in the big leagues, and he was shocked to see Mai Valentine, a skilled duelist who was not to be underestimated in any of her matches.

Issei made it to the finals, where the two faced off against each other. Mai had the upper hand because her Harpies Pet Dragon was getting a power boost from her other harpies on the field, but Issei was able to turn the tides in his favor by using his Number Monsters to defeat her and win the duel.

Mai walked over to Issei and smiled at him before congratulating him on the victory until she gave him a victory prize that consisted of a kiss on the lips, which made many of the guys and girls wolf whistles at the affectionate kiss before the kiss ended with the tournament ending. Issei is in shock from the kiss.

From then on, Issei promised that if he ever met Mai Valentine again, he would claim her heart and ask her out on a date.

End Flashback.

"As much as I want to continue reminiscing, I think we should entertain our audience, wouldn't you say?"

"Indeed."

Issei and Mai said as they readied their decks for their duel. They then placed their decks on their sides of the field before the guard acknowledged that they were ready.

"The second match-up shall now begin!"

Issei and Mai smiled as their duel began.

"Let's duel!"

Scene!

I do apologize for this being a bit short. When I made the match-ups, I wanted Tea and Fenris to go first since the latter would be able to show how good he was that he didn't even need one of his ace monsters for the duel.

And prepare for the next one as The Dark Duelist battles the Harpy Mistress.