"You mean he! You been hanging around those dancers a lot Aoi" Aka sighed.

"Yeah, I guess so." Aoi said stretching. "Ow!" She rubbed her shoulder as it stung.

---

Yusei smirked at Yugi's comment. "You still don't get it, do you? I am Yusei."

"No, you're not." Yugi replied as the two men strode to opposite ends of the arena. "DUEL!" They both shouted in unison.

"I'll go first!" Yugi said. "I set one monster in face-down defense mode and one card face-down. I end." Two Duel Monsters cards appeared on the field in front of him.

"Your wounds are still healing so i suggest that you refrain from most physical activity for a bit, and that does include streaching" Aka said, "but I hope that Yugi defeats that thing so Yusei can begin to break free."

Aoi's eyes bulged. "But, the Olympics!" She protested. She looked up at the monitor as well. "Yeah, so do I." But the Olympics are in two months!

---

"My turn then." Yusei said, drawing his card. "I summon Justice Bringer in attack mode. I'll also play two cards face-down and end my turn."

"I know about the Olympics. Look, go and ask Atem to heal your wounds properly. I don't think that two months will give it time to heal" Aka suggested.

Aoi nodded. "Right," She replied.

---

Yugi drew. "I summon Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts in attack mode!" he said. "I also play Polymerization, fusing my Gazelle with my Berfomet in my hand. Come forth, Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast! I play another face-down card and end."

Aka sat down, watching the screen.
"But we need to find out first if Yugi wins or not" she said.

Aoi nodded in agreement. I hope you win Yugi. I hate to think about what would happen if you lost.

---

"No attack? Pathetic." Yusei said as he drew. "I summon Max Warrior in attack mode, and I'll have it attack your Chimera!"

"But it's weaker. What are you getting at?" Yugi asked.

"Right now it's weaker, but when Max Warrior attacks he gains 400 attack points!" Yusei replied as his warrior's attack power went up.

"I acitvate Mirror Force!" Yugi countered. "Say goodbye to your monsters!"

"Wrong! I activate Space Jump! The effect of your Mirror force is negated, and you lose Life Points equal to my Max Warrior's attack power." Yusei replied. (Yugi LP: 1800) "Now that the battle phase is over, Max Warrior's attack is halved. I switch him to defense mode and end my turn."

Dark Ashleigh and Kaimiri was watching the duel through a Crystal Ball.
"That idiot! he's not listening again" Dark Ashleigh said, "Unless he's setting Yugi up for his own defeat."

---

"No! Yugi has to win! Aka exclamed as Melhana walked in.

"What's--" Melhana started asking when she saw the player stats on the screen. "Damn it..."

---

Yugi drew. I'm surprised he didn't go after my Marshmellon. He probably already knows its effect. He thought. Either way, this should help me take a chunk out of his Life Points. "I summon the Silent Swordsman in attack mode! I'll have him attack your Justice Bringer."

"You idiot! There's a 700 point difference!" Yusei pointed out. "Are you trying to lose?!"

"No, I'm not." Yugi said, "I activate Turn Jump! This moves the turn count ahead three turns. Thanks to my Silent Swordsman's effect, he gains a level and 500 attack points for every turn that passes!" The warrior, now a young adult with 2500 attack points, sliced through Yusei's Justice Bringer. (Yusei LP: 3200) "I'll also have Chimera attack your Max Warrior!"

"Trap open, Scrap Iron Scarecrow!" Yusei countered. "Your attack is negated. Plus, I get to set this card face-down again." He smirked. "Nice try."

"I play two face-downs and end my turn." Yugi said.

"Yugi must win this duel or he will be stuck in a penalty game" Aka said.

"I know," Melhana said. She noticed the fear in Aoi's eyes. "Aoi? What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid for Yugi." Aoi replied. "I saw what happened to Johan and Judai. I don't want to see that happen to Yugi as well."

I know what you mean. If Yugi loses this duel, then we lose a great deal of strength. Melhana thought. Yugi, you better not lose.

---

Yusei drew and grinned. "I summon Debris Dragon in Attack Mode." He said, one of his signature monsters appearing on the field. "Now that he's on the field, I can special summon one monster from my Graveyard. Return, Gauntlet Warrior!" The monster that had been previously sacrificed returne to the field. "And since my Debris Dragon is a Tuner, I can Special Summon Boost Warrior as well! Now, I tune my Debris Dragon to my Gauntlet Warrior and Boost Warrior! Come forth from the depths of hell, Black Hole Hell Dragon!" The demonic dragon that had defeated Judai appeared in place of the three monsters and roared, one that sent chills down Yugi's spine.

"Black Hole Hell Dragon's effects activate. First, all Spell and Trap cards are destroyed." He said. Yusei's Scrap Iron Scarecrow and Yugi's two face-down cards were destroyed. "Second, its attack power goes up by the combined amount of the monsters I used to Synchro Summon it."

That means it's only got 1700 attack points. That's not enough to take out either of my monsters. What is Yusei planning? Yugi thought.

"I switch my Max Warrior into Attack mode and activate the spell card Synchro Gift." Yusei said. "I decrease my dragon's attack to zero in order to increast my Max Warrior's attack power by that same amount." Max Warrior's attack power went up to 3500. "Now, I'll have him attack your Silent Swordsman!" The warrior charged at Yugi's swordsman, its attack power going up by 400. Max Warrior tore through Yugi's Silent Swordsman, taking out another chunk of his Life Points. (Yugi LP: 400) "I'll also finish off that face-down monster of yours with Justice Bringer!"

Yusei got a nasty surprise when the monster was revealed. "Heh. The monster you attacked was my Marshmellon. It can't be destroyed by battle, and now that you've attacked it you lose 1000 Life Points." Yugi said.

Yusei scowled. "I place one card face-down and switch Max Warrior to defense mode. I end." He said. (Yusei LP: 2200)

Yugi, you have to win or not only we have lost Ashleigh, we also will loose you also Aka thought.

Yugi drew. This must be his new ace, he thought as he drew his card. He grinned. "I play Dark Magic Curtain, which lets me pay half of my Life Points to Special Summon a Spellcaster. I chose my Dark Magician!" He announced, the famous monster appearing on the field. "I also activate Card Destruction, which forces us to discard our hands and draw new ones." He discarded his remaining three cards, one of which was Buster Blader.

Yugi smiled when he looked at his new hand. "I play Monster Reborn! Come forth, Buster Blader!"

"When did that get in your Graveyard?!" Yusei asked.

"Just now, when I played Card Destruction." Yugi replied. The dragon-slaying warrior appeared on the field. "I'll follow up with Aria from Beyond, which allows me to take out of play one magic card and copy its effect. I remove Polymerization to activate its effect! I fuse together my Dark Magician and Buster Blader to summon Dark Paladin!" The mage and warrior was combined, replaced by a new mage with a dark green outfit similar to Dark Magician's, with a staff that ended in a blade--a halberd.

Yusei stared down the new mage. "You done?" he asked.

"Not yet. My Dark Paladin's effect activates; for every dragon either of us have on the field and in the Graveyard, he gains 500 attack points. Last I checked, you've got a dragon in your grave and on the field." Dark Paladin's attack rose to 3900. "Now, Chimera! Attack his Justice Bringer!" The beast attacked, tearing through Yusei's warrior. (Yusei LP: 1800) "Now, Finish this Dark Paladin! Attack his Black Hole Hell Dragon!" The mage jumped into the air, ready to destroy the dragon.

"Face-down card open! Block Attack!" Yusei countered.

"Wrong! I activate Dark Paladin's second effect!" Yugi replied. "I can discard one spell from my hand to negate any spell card you activate!" Yusei's card was destroyed, and Dark Paladin's attack went through. He came down on the dragon, slicing through its head with his halberd. (Yusei LP: 0)

The crowd cheered as the referee announced the winner. Yusei, are you in there? Are you back? Yugi thought, ignoring the cheers.

---

Yusei was glaring at Yugi from the other side of the field. Like Yugi, he was ignoring the cheers. Inside, a piece of the crystal prison cracked, but he easily repaired it, keeping his light half imprisoned. "I won't forget this." He said. "And the next time we meet will be your undoing." With that, he strode off of the field.

I can't believe I lost to that runt! Yusei thought as he strode to the competitor's lounge. I lost! Damn it. His eyes narrowed in anger. The next time I face Yugi Mutou, he won't only lose; he'll be dead.

---

Melhana breathed a sigh of relief as Yugi won the duel. "Thank goodness," She said.

"You tell me" Aka said.

---

"I can't believe he forgot about that order!" Dark Ashleigh said, taking one more sip of coffee, "and he was the one who thought that I was a traitor."

"I'm just glad he won." Melhana said as Yugi entered the lounge.

"You're telling me," he said as he flopped down on the couch. "Argh...that duel was a nightmare. I can't imagine what it would have been like if Yusei had used that field spell."

---

Kaimiri put a hand on Dark Ashleigh's shoulder. "Calm down, the most important thing is that he didn't win." He said.

Dark Ashleigh looked up and saw comapssion in Kaimiri's eyes. She never seen him act this way before/
"You ok?" she asked.

---

"That means that the finals will be normal" Aka said as she got up to go to the dressing room, "I got to get ready for the concert. The Yang Concert."

"I'm fine." Kaimiri said, masking his emotions again. He couldn't believe he'd let anyone see his emotions.

---

"'Kay," Yugi and Melhana said in unison. Melhana sat down on the sofa next to him.

"How's Sakura doing?" She asked.

"Good, she's up and about again." Yugi replied. He had a hand over his eyes, as if he had a headache.

---

Yusei was striding down the corridor, looking for someone. He found her, leaning up against a wall, apparently having been crying. He stepped in front of her. "Akiza, do you want to see the Yusei you know?" He asked. "If you do, I can show him to you."

"Why should I listen to you? When I find the person behind this, I will lay my hands on him or her, maybe both for what they did" Akiza said, not meeting Yusei's eyes.

"How did you know that I'm in love with him?" Aki asked, with tears springing in her eyes, "And I know he's not dead." Aki's mark started to glow, making two cracks in the crystal in two different places.

Aki pushed him away.
"I'm not going to. We know what you have done to Yusei and we will free him somehow" Aki said, "No matter what state I'm in."

"I did mean that I don't want to see him, but I want you know what you did to Yusei" Aki said, as this time about 4 cracks appeared, one of the cracks, a piece of crystal (where his arm was), broke off.