Disclaimer: I only own the characters that I made up for this story. Everything else is property of its respective owner and I take no credit for it. I do own a few of the cards and those will be marked with a (*).

A/N: Since it was brought to my attention that Mystical Knight of Jackal's effect was overlooked, I made a small edit to the part of the duel in which it activates. No true change in the duel's outcome, but it had to be fixed. Also, let me explain a few things.

First, this is a sequel of my previous story, YGO 5D's: Warriors of the Sky.

Second, the Card Album only shows the cards that I have created and am using in this story.

Third, when dueling, you'll see the Life Points of the duelists shown like this: (Story character-Opponent). The Life Points of the opponent shall always go second, even if the opponent starts off the duel.

Theme Song: Dedicated by Linkin Park

Chapter 1: Getting Started...

In the streets of Central Neo Domino, was a young girl walking around. She was around 19 years of age, dressed in a bright red shirt, blue jeans, a pair of yellow-green sneakers, and a black leather jacket. She had her long black hair tied in a ponytail, and she wore a locket with the japanese symbol for 'Life' on the front of it. It was her most prized possession, and she always took extreme care of it, making sure nothing bad happened to it.

As she walked through the streets of Central Neo Domino, she kept looking around for the cafe that she was going to, though she seemed lost in thought. Fortunately, she managed to snap out of it and walked into the cafe before she missed it.

As she walked in, she noticed just how busy it could get at this time of day. She move about through the crowd until she got to a couch that was in a lounging area near the far-left corner of the store. She sat down and looked at the people around her. One of the people that was in front of her got up and left. She guessed that he was in a hurry to get back to work. Now, there were only three others around her.

One was sitting in a chair a few feet away from her. He was busy listening to the music in his headphones, and since he had his eyes closed, he was cut off from the rest of the world.

The other was sitting on the couch in front of her, lying down on it as if it were a bed. His spiky silver hair, his dark clothes, and Gothic accessories made him stand out, but people still seemed to ignore him.

The last one was sitting on the other side of the couch she was on. He had short black hair, which seemed to have been cut recently, wore a white shirt with a grey sweater over it, and some dark blue jeans. Both he and the silver haired man across from her looked at her.

"About time you got here." said the one next to her. "We've been waiting almost an hour."

"Sorry," she replied. "I got held up a bit."

"Well, you shouldn't have." said the one across from her. "You know that we need to get ready for the World Riding Grand Prix. You may know how to turbo duel, but these duels will get intense, and I'm still not sure if you can handle it."

"Of course I can handle it, Zeke!" replied Casey. Truth was that she was already nervous about this, and their criticism wasn't helping her feel better.

"Yes, but we can't afford any injuries. You know that with only us three, if something goes wrong, we'll be disqualified. Especially since we wouldn't be able to get our hands on a back-up duelist. After all, we've being trying to get a fourth member for a few months now, and so far, we've had no luck." said Akira.

Even though she hated it, she had to agree with him.

"Alright, so what are we going to do?" she asked them.

"Well, we've already signed up for the World Cup, and we've got a team. All we need to do now is try and recruit some another member. Although I doubt today will be better than any other day..." said Zeke.

"I'm a bit nervous, though." she said. "I mean, have you seen all the people that will be competing? Are you guys sure we can do this?"

"Of course we can." they said.

She signed, still nervous about all of this. The competition was in less than two weeks, and they weren't fully prepared. Whenever she got nervous, she'd always play with her locket with her hands. At the end, she'd always feel a bit better about things.

The three of them got up and left the cafe, each one going to deal with the things that needed to be done. Akira went back to their apartment to do research on the other teams and keep up with the current events. Zeke went to the town and pick up a few supplies, from groceries, to tools, to dueling equipment that they would need. Casey, however, was stuck having to look for a fourth member.

It was almost five in the afternoon, and Casey hadn't found anyone who would be a good addition to her team. She had been dueling many people for hours now, and she was getting tired. She was about to give up, when she saw someone in a duel not too far from her. Despite not being able to follow them on the highway, she slowed down on the side of the highway, so she could better observe the duel.

It was a duel between two rivals. One was named 'Twist', due to his confusing dueling style. The other duelist was one named Blake Anderson.

(Twist: 2400-Blake: 3700)

The two duelists were on the verge of finishing this duel.

On Twist's field, there was:

-Ghost Knight of Jackal (1700/1600) in attack mode

-Mystical Knight of Jackal (2700/1200) in attack mode

-Manticore of Darkness (2300/1000) in attack mode

-Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode

-Two spell and/or trap cards

On Blake's field, there was:

-Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) in defense mode, equipped with the equip spell, Horn of Light. (800/2800)

-Snipe Hunter (1500/600) in defense mode

-Roc from the valley of Haze (2400/1400) in attack mode

-The continuous spell, The Dark Door, activated

-The continuous spell, Banner of Courage, activated

-The trap card, Torrential Tribute, face-down

-The continuous spell, Guardian Treasure, activated

At the moment, it was Blake's turn. Though he had the most life points, Twist's field would quickly tear him to shreds if he didn't do something this turn. He drew his next card and looked at his hand. He only held Fissure, Return from Different Dimension, Chaos End, and Inferno Tempest.

"I'll start by placing one card face-down. Next, I'll have my Roc attack your Manticore of Darkness!" Due to the effect of Banner of Courage, Roc's attack points rose by 200 points. The large bird spewed out a purple fog of corrosive breath that surrounded Manticore and reduced him to nothing.

"Next, I'll use Snipe Hunter's effect! I get to choose a card on your field and roll a dice. If the result is not a 1 or a 6, then that card is destroyed." He pointed at Vorse Raider, and rolled a dice. The plan was to stop the Manticore from being special summoned so easily. The holographic dice spun around multiple times, before landing on a 1.

Though this part of the plan didn't work, he was satisfied with the way the duel was going. "I'll end my turn now."

Indeed, Blake was at a loss. His defenses were good, but how long would they last?

"Thanks to Manticore's effect, I get to sacrifice my Ghost Knight of Jackal to special summon him back to the field." Manticore appeared with a loud and mighty roar, as it took Ghost Knight of Jackal's spot on the field.

(2100-3700)

"Now that's it my turn..." said Twist. "I will activate the spell, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Dark Door!" The powerful tornado ripped apart his spell, leaving him down to only one defensive move away from defeat.

"Next, I'll activate my very own Banner of Courage! Thanks to this, you are as good as dead! Attack his monsters!" His Banner of Courage lifted itself up and revealed itself. Manticore followed his orders gladly, jumping up and grabbing onto Roc's wing, only to pull him down and crush him.

Mystical Knight of Jackal also attacked, impaling Clayman with his spear, and breaking through Blake's defenses.

Vorse Raider also did this, crushing Snipe Hunter with his sword.

"Also, remember Mystical Knight of Jackal's effect. When it destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard, I can send that monster to the top of your deck. Anyway, that's it for this turn. Your move."

(2100-3600)

Blake drew his next two cards, one of which was his Clayman. 'Good thing I activated that Guardian Treasure card a few turns ago. Though it may have cost me five cards, letting me draw two cards at the start of my draw phase has definitely been a plus!' he thought.

His defenses were down, and he was low on plans. His only choice was to get Twist to attack him. Sure, it was a long shot, but if everything worked, then he would win this duel.

"I'll set a card face-down, and end my turn." he said, knowing full well that there wasn't much else he could do. His Draining Shield appeared on the field, concealed from the two duelists.

(2100-3600)

With a laugh, Twist drew his card. "This is funny. Seems you've already given up. I guess that's too bad. First, I'll activate the spell card, H-Heated Heart! Thanks to this, I can give my Mystical Knight an extra 500 attack points for this turn! Now, attack him directly!"

Vorse Raider attacked first, cutting across Blake's chest with his sword. The phantom pain hit, and though it wasn't too painful, it did hurt.

Next came Manticore, charging at him and trying to tear him to shreds. Only, he had failed. As soon as he tried to crush Blake, his trap card, Draining Shield, activated and absorbed the attack.

(2100-4000)

"Grr... Damn you... You realize that this doesn't matter, right? You'll be finished on my next turn. Mystical Knight, attack him directly!"

The powerful beast-warrior impaled Blake with his spear, causing his life points to drop dramatically.

Twist's victory was short-lived as he saw the card that Blake had just activated. It was the quick-play spell known as Inferno Tempest. "Thanks to this card... All the monsters in our graveyards and decks are removed from play!"

Twist and Blake did as the card had instructed, with Twist becoming more suspicious by the moment. "What are you up to? You just rid yourself of any chance of beating me! You've got no monsters that can beat mine, and you have an empty field!"

"Do you finish your turn?" asked Blake.

Twist took a step back in surprise as he heard this, but kept his anger suppressed. "Yes, I do."

(2100-600)

Blake drew another card and smiled. "I'll show you why I did all that. I activate the spell card, Chaos End! When I've got at least 7 cards removed from play, I can use this card to destroy all monsters on the field."

The sky above them became dark and lightning shot out in large numbers, eradicating all the monsters on the field.

Twist was about to ask why he had done this, but his questions was answered when Blake's face-down card revealed itself. It was the trap card, Return from Different Dimension.

(2100-300)

"Thanks to this, I get to special summon as many of my monsters that were removed from play for this turn!"

From a rip in the sky came five different monsters, all just as deadly as each other. There was:

-Launcher Spider (2200/2500)

-Summoned Skull (2500/1400)

-Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400)

-The Earl of Demise (2000/700)

-Slot Machine (2000/2300)

Twist knew what was coming. He heard Blake command them to attack, and braced himself for the relentless impact that soon followed. His life points dropped to zero and the duel was over.

Casey sped up down the highway, looking for an exit to try and catch the guy. Within minutes, she found one, and ignored all the speed laws in an attempt to get to Blake before it was too late. Based on what she saw, she knew he was perfect to join their team, but she had to find him first. Finally, she got to the spot where Blake and Twist were dueling.

Yup. She got there. Too late... It seemed as though both duelists had left the area, and she was left only with disappointment.

With a sigh, she drove back to her apartment. Or rather, her team's apartment. It was true that she lived there, and it was true that she paid her share of the rent, but with those two there, she never felt like it was her home. As a matter of fact, she didn't feel like she was part of the group either.

As she rode down the street, she played with her locket with her hand. 'I miss you...' she thought.

By 7 pm, she had arrived at her apartment. She left her Duel Runner in the garage, and proceeded up the stairs to the apartment.

"So, how did things go?" asked Zeke as she walked in.

"Depends. Do you want the good news or bad news first?"

"Good news first." he replied.

"I found someone. I saw him duel, and he definitely had some talent. The only problem was that I was driving on the highway when I saw him. By the time I managed to get off it and to where he was, he was already gone."

"Really...? Do you at least know what his name is?"

"Hm... I think it was Blake. Blake...Anderson. Why?"

"Because, now it'll be easier to track him down. We'll have to start tomorrow, though. Its too late to do anything right now." he said.

"Dinner's ready." called out Akira.

Zeke and Casey walked into the kitchen and sat down to eat. There, on the table, were three plates with rice, some fried chicken, and a special homemade sauce that Akira made. Lately, due to everyone being so busy, Akira had decided to expand on his cooking skills to make sure that his friends came home to a delicious dinner.

Everyone ate, though dinner was pretty quiet. Everyone was thinking about the same thing, but they couldn't mention anything without something going wrong.

As soon as she was done eating, she put her plates and utensils in the dishwasher and went to her room, locking the door behind her. There she remained for the rest of the night.

The following day, they all got up and began on their daily routine. Mostly, they all worked in the garage on the Duel Runners, except on the days in which they needed to work or run errands. Even then, they all took turns when it came to running errands.

Today, there were all down in the garage, working on their Duel Runners.

Akira was the true mechanic here. His skills at being able to fix a Duel Runner with such ease was astonishing. Zeke was one who managed to help him out, despite the fact that he probably knew less than half of what Akira did.

Casey didn't know much of this, however. Though she occasionally managed to help out here and there with the mechanics, she was the one who would always test it out. Her Duel Runner was always the first one to be experimented on. It wasn't because they didn't care if something went wrong, but it was because she didn't have enough experience when it came to Turbo Dueling, so Akira and Zeke wanted to make sure she got the help she needed for the WRGP.

Today was a slow day when it came to upgrading the Duel Runners, so Casey just sat on the couch and watched the different Turbo Duels that were occurring.

"Hm... The new system is coming along slowly, but if we manage to do it right, then we'll be able to improve our Turbo Dueling skills." said Akira.

"Yeah," replied Zeke. "Actually, I think we are doing pretty well. I mean, a month ago, we wouldn't think we'd get this far, but just look at this!" he said with excitement in his voice. Truly they found this to be kind of fun, but it was a lot of hard work that was to be done.

Casey was tuned into the tv, completely ignoring what they were saying. Every duel she saw, every strategy... It was all making her go crazy. The things she would be able to do in the WRGP! The possibilities were endless, and she was thinking each one through in her head.

It wasn't long before Zeke noticed this, and he had an idea.

"Kira, think you can handle things here for a while? I think I'll go and help Casey practice her Turbo Dueling." he whispered to him.

"Sure. Go right ahead. She needs to practice if we ever want to win this."

"Yo Casey, want to Turbo Duel?"

She looked at him quizzically, her mind still running many of the various dueling tactics that she had just seen. "Why?"

"I feel like practicing. You up for it?"

Sure." she said, shrugging as she got up. They mounted their Duel runners and quickly left, leaving Akira alone to work on this.

Two Duel Runners raced down the highway at high speeds. The first one, a dark green with white stripes, belonged to Casey. The second one, a silver one with black streaks running from the front to the back, was Zeke's.

"So, you ready Casey? Remember that the WRGP is not going to be easy. To win it, we must rely on both strategy, and teamwork."

"I know!"

"Well in that case, let's duel! You can have the first turn." he said as they both activated the Speed World 2 field spell.

(4000-4000) [0:0]

Casey drew, starting both the duel and her first turn. She took a quick look at her hand. She held Mysterious Puppeteer, Snatch Steal, Bad Reaction to Simochi, Educated Student Lv.3*, Command Knight, and Giant Soldier of Stone.

"I'll start by placing one card face-down, and then summoning Mysterious Puppeteer (1500/1000) in defense mode!" Her Bad Reaction to Simochi appeared concealed on the field, and the disguised puppeteer appeared before it, kneeling down and holding the puppet up as if it were a shield.

"Your turn."

(4000-4000) [1:1]

Zeke drew, thinking about what to do. He scanned the cards in his hand, and then looked at her field.

'Hm... Seems like she's put up a good field. However, if I know her, then I know that she makes some mistakes, which is why she needs to practice. Let's see what we can do to help her with that...'

"I'll set two cards face-down, and then I'll summon Firebird (1000/800) in attack mode!" The two set cards appeared concealed on his field, and in a burst of flames appeared Firebird, a miniature phoenix from the looks of it.

A green glow appeared around Casey as her Puppeteer's effect activated and gave her an extra 500 life points. She smirked at this, despite knowing that Zeke wouldn't do something like this without reason.

"Your move."

(4500-4000) [2:2]

Casey was curious, this was true, but she couldn't let her guard down. That would cause many problems. She looked at the card she had just drawn. It was Rallis the Star Bird.

"I'll summon Rallis the Star Bird (800/800) in attack mode!" A small bird of golden colors appeared on her field, and Casey glowed again as her life points went up once more.

"Attack his Firebird!" she ordered.

Normally, an opponent would laugh at how she attacked his Firebird with a monster that was weaker. However, Zeke knew what this monster could do. He watched at the bird shone greatly and its attack points went up to 1600. The bright light shattered Firebird into pieces, and Rallis disappeared from the field.

"As you know, the effect of Rallis causes it to be removed from play until my next battle phase if it attacks. Anyways, its your turn."

(5000-3400) [3:3]

Zeke examined the card he drew, and then looked at the field.

"I'll set one card face-down, and summon Birdface (1600/1600) in attack mode!" The slightly humanoid bird appeared on the field, looking for a prey.

Casey glowed once more, and her life points rose again.

"Birdface, attack her Puppeteer!" The bird flew at her Puppeteer, and crushed it with its sharp talons.

"Your turn."

(5500-3400) [4:4]

Casey drew again. Fortunately, her life points were in good shape, she had a good amount of speed counters, and she had just drawn Chainsaw Insect.

"I'll start my turn by summoning Chainsaw Insect (2400/0) in attack mode." The small insect with the large metal jaws appeared on the field, and soon after it made its appearance, Rallis did the same.

"Rallis, attack his Birdface!" The small golden bird flew at Birdface, shining as its attack points went up again. The two collided and crushed each other, causing Zeke to lose his last monster. However, his monster's effect allowed him to add one monster with 'Harpie Lady' from his deck to his hand.

"Chainsaw Insect, attack him directly!" The small bug did as ordered, but was stopped by an invisible barrier that appeared when one of his face-down cards revealed itself to be Negate Attack.

Unable to continue with her turn, she ended it, waiting to see what Zeke was planning.

(5500-3400) [5:5]

Zeke drew a card, and smiled when he saw it. "I'll summon Harpie Lady 3 (1300/1400) in defense mode, and end my turn." The harpy appeared on the field, a wicked smile as she used her wings to shield herself from attacks.

(5500-3400) [6:6]

Casey drew another card as her speed counters rose up even more. 'He's planning something... But what could it be? Either way, I have to make sure that he doesn't get a chance to summon anything strong.'

"I'll summon Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000) in defense mode!" The large warrior appeared on the field, standing with his sword in a defensive position, yet looking like an actual wall had appeared on the field. She wanted to summon the monster she had just drawn, Neo Aqua Madoor, but she couldn't sacrifice her only offensive monster. She'd have to wait another turn before she did anything.

"Chainsaw Insect, attack his Harpie Lady!" The insect did as commanded, shattering the harpy into pieces.

"Its your turn."

(5500-3400) [7:7]

Zeke looked at the two cards he had drawn, one of which was done through the effect of Chainsaw Insect.

"First, I'll begin my turn by setting one card on the field, and summoning Shining Eagle (2200/1900) in attack mode!" The large eagle appeared on the field, emitting a ray of light that blinded them temporarily. "Now, attack her Soldier of Stone!"

The eagle flew at the rock warrior, and crushed it with its mighty and powerful talons.

"Its your turn now."

(5500-3400) [8:8]

She drew. Her speed counters were slowly getting to the max, and she was without a good plan of attack.

She looked at the card she had just drawn, which was Marauding Captain. That's when she noticed a very important detail that she had forgotten. She held Command Knight in her hand! However, she wasn't sure of what to do right now.

"Don't hesitate!' yelled Zeke. "The more you hesitate, the more time you give your opponent to counterattack. Remember this!"

She gulped, and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Alright! I'll summon Marauding Captain (1200/400) in defense mode!" The young warrior appeared on the field, weapon and shield raised in a defensive pose. "Thanks to his effect, I get to special summon another warrior to my field. I summon Educated Student Lv.3* (1500/100) in attack mode!" The small boy, wearing a standard school uniform and glasses, appeared on the field. He held his small book tightly in his hands.

"Now, Chainsaw Insect, attack his Shining Eagle*!" she commanded, but the bug did not move.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that when Harpie Lady 3 is destroyed, the monster that battled her cannot attack again for 2 turns?" he said teasingly.

"Damn... I'll end my turn now."

(5500-3400) [9:9]

"I guess I'll go." He looked at the card he had drawn. It seemed as if he finally got what he was looking for. "I'll start by activating the speed spell, Summon Speeder! Thanks to this, I get to special summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand! I'm summoning Harpie's Brother (1800/600) in attack mode!" The young humanoid bird appeared on the field, sharing a few similarities in appearance with Harpie Lady, but still being a different monster altogether.

"Don't worry, though. He won't be here long. I'll sacrifice my monsters to summon Magician's Necromancer* (2600/2500) in attack mode." The two monsters shattered, and from the shattered remains rose a powerful mage dressed in dark robes and foul-looking clothes. It held a staff made of decaying wood, and at the top of it, was a crystal orb with a swirling dark fog inside.

"Attack her Marauding Captain!" The mage raised his staff, releasing the dark fog and swallowing up Marauding Captain.

Casey sure was glad that she had summoned that monster. It protected the other two for another turn. Not only that, but she could turn things around with this. "I'll activate my Educated Student Lv.3's* monster effect! During either player's Battle Phase, I get to send him to the graveyard to special summon my Educated Student Lv.5* (2200/1500) in attack mode!" With a flash, the small school kid was gone, and in its a place was an older version of him, carrying a different version of the book that the previous monster was holding.

"Its your turn." said Zeke.

(5500-3400) [10:10]

Casey looked as her speed counters went up again. She was now able to use almost any speed spell available in the game. She looked at her hand. The stage was set. She could defeat that monster and Zeke, too.

"First, I'll summon Command Knight (1200/1900) in defense mode! This monster increases the attack of all Warrior-Type monsters by 400 points!" The old style renaissance knight appeared next to Chainsaw Insect, his sword up in a defensive pose.

"Next, I'll activate my Educated Student's* effect, allowing me to send him to the graveyard to special summon Educated Student Lv. 7* (2800/2000) in attack mode!" Once again, the teenage warrior disappeared, replaced by an older version of himself. This one had an even more updated version of the spell-book that his previous self held.

"Sadly, due to this effect, I'm not allowed to attack on the turn he was summoned. Anyways, I think I'll activate the equip spell, Snatch Steal! Now, I get to take control of your monster!" She placed the card on the duel disk, and a glow surrounded Magician's Necromancer* as he jumped over to her side of the field.

"Your turn." she said with a smirk.

(5500-3400) [11:11]

Zeke started his turn, noticing that his speed counters had almost reached the max.

Just as the effect of Snatch Steal was about to activate, one of her face-down cards revealed itself. It was Bad Reaction to Simochi. Instead of raising his life points, it merely decreased it by 1000 points. "I'll set a monster, and I'll end my turn."

The concealed card appeared on the field, hiding something very sinister.

(5500-2400) [12:12]

"My turn!" she said, their speed counters reaching its max. They were now going as fast as possible, and Casey was struggling to keep her balance. She wasn't playing with her Duel Runner on autopilot, since this wasn't allowed in the competition, and she needed to practice how to do this. Her Duel Runner began to tip side to side, and she kept moving in an effort to regain her balance.

"Be careful!" said Zeke. "You need to get used to dueling at these speeds, but you can't risk getting hurt!"

She already knew this, but knowing it didn't mean she could do it. She continued with her turn, knowing that she had to be extremely careful.

"I'll start by attacking with Chainsaw Insect!"

The large-jawed bug jumped at the face-down monster, only to be blocked by the barrier created by Draining Shield.

"Thanks for the extra life points." he teased.

"Grr... Magician's Necromancer*, attack his monster!" The monster did as commanded, but once again, a barrier protected the monster. This time, it was caused by Negate Attack.

"Damn you... Your move."

(5500-5800) [12:12]

Zeke grinned, knowing that things were going according to plan, despite the fact that he was losing life points every turn from the effect of her Bad Reaction to Simochi trap card. "I'll start by activating the trap card, Call of the Haunted!" The trap revealed itself, and in a burst of light appeared Shining Eagle* (2200/1900) on the field.

"Next, I'll equip him with the equip spell, Attract*! This forces you to chose him as an attack target until the monster is destroyed."

'Damn it...' she thought. 'All I can do now is keep attacking him until I reduce his life points to nothing...'

"I'll flip summon my set monster, Jigen Bakudan (200/1000) to defense mode!" The little monster, which looked more like a small red bomb with a clock and two legs, appeared on his field, crouching to protect himself from attacks.

"Your turn."

(5500-4800) [12:12]

Casey drew her next card and looked at it. She wasn't sure of what to do, but thought that her current approach was the best. Still, there was one thing that bothered her. It was the monster that he had flip summoned.

'Its weak... And he hasn't activated it's effect yet. This doesn't make any sense... Why would he go through so much trouble to protect such a weak monster? Something must be up...'

Yes, she was getting worried. She had never seen the monster before, and it seemed to be deadlier than it looks.

Still, she had to do something. "Attack!"

The monsters did as ordered, assaulting Shining Eagle* and slowly making Zeke's life points drop.

"I end my turn..."

(5500-2200) [12:12]

Zeke drew another card. His plan was working perfectly.

"Casey... I think you should know a little detail. Most people like to go straight to summoning their ace monster and ending the duel quickly. There's a reason why I haven't yet. You need practice. This is why I made sure that the duel lasted this long, so you could get used to dueling at such extreme speeds. However, You should know how to keep your balance when losing life points." he told her.

"I activate the equip spell, Megamorph, and equip it to my Shining Eagle*! Due to having lower life points than you, this card allows me to double his attack points!" Shining Eagle screeched as its attack points went all the way up to 4400.

"Im not done yet, though. I'll also equip him with Amulet of Ambition! This card allows him to gain 500 extra attack points per difference in level when he fights a monster with a higher level. Now, attack her Magician's Necromancer*!" The flying beast shone again as it attack points went up to 5900 points. It rushed towards Necromancer and tore it to shreds with its powerful talons.

Then, flapped its wings back, the powerful gust hitting Casey as she lost life points. She began to tip to the sides like before, though this time it was even harder to regain her balance. After a minute or two, she finally regained her balance and continued the duel.

"Its your turn."

(3300-2200) [12:12]

She drew again, this time holding five cards in her hand. Neo Aqua Madoor, Half or Nothing, Turret Warrior, Silent Swordsman Lv.5, and Nitro Synchron.

"I'll set a card, and sacrifice my Educated Student Lv.7* to special summon Turret Warrior (1200/2000) from my hand in attack mode!" The towering mechanical warrior appeared where Educated Student Lv.7* once stood, and when the phantom image of the monster hovered over him, his attack points rose to 4000, and then to 4400 from Command Knight's effect.

"Since that was a special summon, I still have my normal summon. So I'll sacrifice Chainsaw Insect and summon Neo Aqua Madoor (1200/3000) in defense mode!" The powerful spell-caster appeared on the field, sitting on an icy throne as a strong wall of ice rose up before him.

"I end my turn."

(3300-2200) [12:12]

Zeke drew and looked at her. "Sorry, but its getting late, so I'll end this duel now." he said. "I'll activate the speed spell, Speed Storm! Thanks to this, you lose 1000 life points!"

(2300-2200) [12:12]

"Next, I'll activate the effect of Speed World 2! By giving up 4 speed counters, I get to inflict 800 points of damage to your life points! I only have one, but at the cost of all my speed counters, I get to inflict 2400 points of damage to your life points!"

Casey's eyes widened as she heard this. She was doomed. Nothing she had on the field or in her hand could possibly stop this. She felt the phantom pain from this attack hit, and watched her life points drop to zero.

(0-2200) [12:0]

She came to a sudden halt, and took a deep breath. She had lost. Though she knew that she had to keep working on her dueling skills, she did feel this was good practice. Zeke came slowed to a stop as he caught up to her.

"Nice duel." he said.

She sighed, and agreed. "Thanks."

"You know, you shouldn't be so sad. You put up a good fight. You just need practice. Anyways I think we should get back to the apartment. Seems we stayed out here for too long." She nodded, and followed him back to the apartment.

On the way back, Zeke thought about the duel. 'Hmm... Educated Student Lv.7*... That was her ace monster. That may have been a good duel, but she really needs to get the rest of the 'Educated' card series. Maybe I should try and find a few for her...'

End of Chapter 1.

The WRGP is less than two weeks away, and our heroes are getting ready for it every single day. However, this will bring in more surprises than they could imagine. Strong teams are emerging at every moment, in the next chapter, you'll witness the birth of our heroes' strongest rival. Keep your eyes open for: Criminal Intent!

A/N: Monsters that were in the previous story will not be included in the card album. Also, the 'Educated' monster series are of my own creation. You'll be seeing more of them later on.

-CARD ALBUM-

Educated Student Lv.3 - Monster Card

Type: Warrior

Attribute: Earth

Level: 3

ATK: 1500

DEF: 100

Effect: During you or your opponent's battle phase, send this card to the graveyard to summon from your hand or deck Educated Student Lv.5.

Educated Student Lv.5 - Monster Card

Type: Warrior

Attribute: Earth

Level: 5

ATK: 2200

DEF: 1500

Effect: During your turn, remove this card from play to summon, from your hand or deck, 'Educated Student Lv.7'.

Educated Student Lv.7 - Monster Card

Type: Warrior

Attribute: Earth

Level: 7

ATK: 2800

DEF: 2000

Effect: This card can only be special summoned by the effect of 'Educated Student Lv.5'. This card cannot attack during the turn it was special summoned through 'Educated Student Lv.5's effect. This card can attack once for each monster on your field. If you do this, you can't activate any spell or trap cards on your turn, or attack directly. Remove this card from play to special summon, from your deck or hand, to your side of the field 'Educated Master'.

Attract - Spell Card

Type: Equip

Effect: Your opponent cannot target any of your monsters except for the one equipped with this card.