Glorious Numbers: Part 1

"Sorry that we had to bother you with all of this Ruri-san. I know that this took a lot to set up."

She turned and looked back towards the smaller purple haired girl, and gave her a warm smile. "Oh it wasn't a problem at all! And I've already told you to just call me Ruri you know?" She reminded the girl as she continued to lead them to the center of the Heartland Dueling School.

And in return, Mei shook her head at the girl who shared the same face as Serena. "Still, it must've taken you a lot of time to set this up. What with needing to get us passes to even enter the school grounds and everything."

"At least it wasn't as annoying as getting off of the Academia." Serena grumbled out under her breath, just low enough for her to hear it, and received an elbow to her gut from the smaller girl by her side.

Though it didn't seem to deter the ponytailed girl too much from the look of it as she kept walking. She gave her smaller friend a glance at that, one that was returned by a glare from the smaller girl.

Serena, the girl that for reasons unknown to her shares the same face as herself, rolls her eyes as she keeps herself silent. And Mei huffed as she glanced back towards her, and offered an apologetic look.

"Again. Sorry about all of this." The purple hat wearing girl apologized again. She then proceeded to take a glance at the surroundings around them. "Though there doesn't seem to be as much as there was the last time we were here." She pointed out,

That got a giggle out of her. "Well of course! The last time you were here was basically a festival after all!" She said, reminding herself of the tournament that took place on school grounds, the exhibition matches.

"And well, since its close to the World Duel Carnival, people have been taking some leave of the classes." She said with a humm as she reminded herself of her own classmates that had taken those kinds of 'training trips'.

That earned the questioning gaze of the ponytailed girl. "And they let them do those? The teachers I mean." Serena asked, and to that she nodded.

"Yes." She said, and further elaborated as she raised a finger. "Well, truthfully the whole school is excused for taking leave. The entirety of the World Duel Carnival is basically a full holiday, and the school gives a week off for students to prepare for them. Though the school still does give out supplementary classes for those who want to attend them"

And Mei nodded at that. "Right, to prepare for the World Duel Carnival. And that's the classes that you're taking us to right?" The purple haired girl asked, righting the cap that was on her head as she said her question.

To which she nods. "Yes. You wanted to see Sakaki-sensei after all, right? He's one of the teachers that's supposed to hold a lecture today. Although I'm sorry that it had to take a while to even set this all up." She said apologetically.

"No no! If anything it's our fault!" Mei said as she waved her hands. "This girl here," She started as she glanced at the taller girl beside her. "Really wanted to meet the new teacher. Apparently his form of dueling interested her."

The statement that the purple haired girl gave made her raise an eyebrow. "Sakaki-sensei's form of dueling?" She asked aloud, tilting her head before her eyes widened and she snapped a finger towards the girl.

"Ah! You mean his entertainment dueling right?" She asked, to which the purple hat wearing girl nodded her head to confirm her answer. "It's such an endearing form of dueling! Quite honestly I've never seen anything like it before!"

And why would she? The mere thought of riding atop of the monsters that are given mass with the use of solid vision, of flying on the sky and performing tricks all while doing so, was certainly something that had never crossed the mind of anyone in Heartland City, maybe even the whole world.

She guessed that that was the reason why Sakaki-sensei got his spot in a teaching role at the Heartland Dueling School a mere month before the World Duel Carnival. With how eye-catching and, well, entertaining his entertainment duel is, there was no doubt that that would be something that the principal wanted to teach to the students.

If the students of the Heartland Dueling School were to manage to learn Sakaki-sensei's form of entertainment dueling, then there was no doubt that Heartland City's spot as the world's main center of dueling would never be moved.

And it certainly helped that the man's own philosophy of giving people smiles was quite endearing. A sentiment that she believed was shared by most of his students.

Although that does beg a question. "But where did you hear about Sakaki-sensei?" She asked, tilting her head as she looked towards the smaller purple haired girl that trailed behind her. "Although I'm quite sure that the fact that the school was hiring a new teacher isn't a secret, I don't think that most people would know about Sakaki-sensei's entertainment dueling."

"We met someone that's his disciple." The one to answer her question was Serena, who huffed as she turned to look at the buildings around them. "Called himself an entertainment duelist and everything. He was pretty strong, I guess. And he said that he was taught by this Yusho Sakaki person, so we came here." She answered bluntly.

"Sakaki-sense's disciple?" She murmured, a hand on her chin as she absorbed the words that the indigo haired girl had just said. "I didn't know that he had one."

"Ah, apparently he's an unofficial one." Mei interjected, adding onto the information that Serena had given. "From what he said he just learned from watching this Sakaki-san from his performances. That, and he apparently got a few advice from him. He apparently does street performances too."

"Oh! That sounds quite lovely!" She said with a smile. "I would love to meet him. Though probably not anytime soon with the World Duel Carnival just a week away. Everyone is busy with preparing for the preliminaries after all."

"And does that include you?" Serena asked, an eyebrow raised. And she gave her a wry smile as she nodded once more.

"Yes! I'm also joining in of course! But… well. I don't think that I'm going to go far… especially with it being a worldwide event, I doubt that I could even get past the qualifiers." She said with a sad smile, knowing that with her level of dueling, she wouldn't be getting into even the main part of the tournament considering the opponent's that she could possibly be facing.

The downtrodden look didn't stay for long however as she shook her head and held it high as she smiled. "But I'm still going to do my best!" She said, looking at her two friends with determination.

"I might not be as much of a duelist like Onii-sama or Yuto, but I still have my pride as a duelist! So I'm going to give my all!" She said as she raised a hand upwards towards the sky, promising to herself that she would do her best at the upcoming tournament.

"Heh, that's good!" The ponytailed girl said with a hearty grin. "If you won't give it your all in that World Duel Carnival thingy then I would probably be angry at you. Nope, I would definitely be angry at you." She said as she nodded to herself.

And that made the smile that she had waver ever so slightly, and laughed awkwardly. "I-is that so…" She trailed off as she turned slowly to look away from the ponytailed girl, and from the corner of her eye she saw Mei elbowing her once again, much to her dismay.

"Again, sorry for this one's antics." Mei said as she lowered her head apologetically, and getting a scandalous look from the girl in question. She simply giggled and waved off her concerns.

"No, no, it's all fine." She said, and then noticed the buildings that were around them, and slowed her pace ever so slightly. "Ah! We're already here." She said as she gestured towards the building ahead of them.

Unlike most classes which were taken in classrooms, one with a holographic board and rows of seats for students to seat in, the 'classroom' that Sakaki-sensei has chosen to teach in was one of the school's gymnasium. Specifically the Clover Branch gymnasium, the same branch that Sakaki-sensei teaches, though his classes are always open for everyone, regardless of their branch.

Like every other building in Heartland City, and of course the Heartland Dueling School, the dome-like futuristic building that she had taken the two purple haired girls to was a classroom. One that is supposed to be occupied by Sakaki-sensei and the students that he teached on a daily basis.

She gestured for the two behind her to follow, and she opened the gymnasium's double doors to meet the teacher that her friends had wanted to meet.

And she saw a figure in a red coat and black top hat swinging through the air, flying as he was carried hand in hand by his very own signature Ace Monster, and her ears were filled with the cheers of children and students alike.

The solid holographic projection then lets go of the man's hand, and he sailed in the air for several seconds, going through the two golden rings thrown by another one of his monsters, and once more grasping the hands of the Sky Magician that flew alongside him.

And the three of them simply stood there, in front of the open doors. Transfixed to the performance, or rather the entertainment dueling that Sakaki Yusho was performing, before the man snapped his fingers and brought them out of their trance.

"Now, it seems that it is the time for the highlight. Go! Performapal Sky Magician! Sky Magic!" And with the order given, the man lets go of his hand from the flying winged Spellcaster and performing a flip before landing safely on the platform below him, and the flying monster sends out the golden rings in its hands flying towards the blade wielding monster that his opponent had on her field.

"Kyaa!" The girl shouted aloud as she received the damage from the battle, the attack both destroying her monster, and apparently draining her of all of her remaining Life Points as her Life Points went to zero.

Joushi Kousen: 0LP

And with that, the duel ended. The crowd cheered and clapped as Sakaki-sensei took off his top hat and bowed, followed suit by his monsters. And as his monsters slowly disappeared, he walked towards the downed girl, and offered a hand.

"That was some fine dueling. But you were too hasty in using your cards." Sakaki-sensei said to the girl. "It's quite the old philosophy, or rather way of thinking, but you should always think of how to use your cards economically. Card economy is a theory that I've already taught you, haven't I? You might want to read them over again."

And as the girl stared at the top hat wearing man with rapt attention, Sakaki-sensei showed her a glowing smile. "And of course! Don't forget to smile!"

"He… flew." She heard someone next to her say, and she turned and saw Mei muttering in amazement with wide eyes. "That's- he's using solid vision holograms to fly! To actually fly by using the holograms with mass as an anchor to stand on! And he even did tricks while on the air!"

And the purple haired girl grew more animated as she continued, moving her hands erratically as she kept her mouth moving unknowingly. "But that in itself needs high athleticism. Not to mention the precision and knowledge that's needed to virtually command the hologram, all while improvising and doing it all in a real time duel!"

"Amazing." Serena muttered aloud, her own eyes were as wide as dinner plates, having the exact same expression that she herself had when she had first seen Sakaki-sensei's way of dueling.

Looking at the two starstruck girls next to her, she couldn't help but put a hand near her mouth to hide the giggle that came. "It truly is amazing isn't it?" She said aloud, loud enough to snap the two girls out of their stupor.

Mei's face took on a blinding shade of red as she realised that she had been muttering aloud this entire time and tried to hide her features under her purple hat, while Serena simply shrugged it off and took on a feral smile.

And though she had only known her apparent doppelganger for a measly few weeks, she could already tell what the ponytailed girl intended to do. And thus she stopped Serena from rushing in and challenging Sakaki-sensei by grasping her hand, stopping the ribbon wearing girl's rush and almost tripping her in the process.

Regaining her balance in an instance, the indigo haired girl turned and glared at her. But before she could open her mouth and say anything, she motioned a finger on her mouth as she glanced towards Skaki-sensei who was still teaching his students.

"If you go there right now, you'll be intruding in Sakaki-sensei's lesson." She chided her friend. "You're both here to join the lesson and not interrupt it, remember?" She reminded the girl, who still held a scowl towards her.

"And besides." She said, once more glancing towards the students, or rather the large group of children that was encircling the Heartland Dueling School instructor. The children that the man himself had let in to the school grounds in order to spread his way of Entertainment Dueling even wider in Heartland City. "I doubt that those children will take it well if you just suddenly barge in and challenge Sakaki-sensei to a duel."

Serena opened her mouth and raised a finger to argue back, but a glance towards the children clamoring around Sakaki-sensei, and hesitated. The ponytailed girl then lets out a grumble as she lowered her hand, turning her head to look away from her. "Fine. Lets just go." She grumbled out as she started to walk slowly towards the center of the gymnasium.

She let out the giggle that she had tried to hold as she saw the indigo haired girl slowly trail off towards Sakaki-sensei, and she turned to see Mei shaking her head in exasperation. "We should follow her before she makes any more trouble." The smaller girl said, the tiredness clear from her tone of voice.

She simply nodded, and soon the three of them made towards the crowd gathered at the center of the gymnasium turned classroom. And as they neared closer, they could hear Sakaki-sensei's voice loud and clear.

"Now then, why don't we take what we've learned and test them? Each of you find a partner and duel against one another. Try to implement what you've learned earlier and find a way to use your cards to their fullest potential!" The man said with a large smile on his face.

"And of course!" She said loudly, raising a singular finger to catch the attention of everyone that he was teaching. "Don't forget to have fun! The purpose of dueling is to bring smiles and for it to be enjoyed by both duelists, and the audience! As long as you can manage to get a smile out of someone with a duel, then it doesn't matter whether you won or lost!"

With that last bit of advice said, the top hat wearing man spreads both of his arms wide, the wide smile that was on his face mirrored by all of his students who were eager to duel one another. "Now everyone, have fun and duel to your heart's content!"

And with his final words, the group of children scattered, taking places in available dueling spaces of the giant gymnasium and turning their duel disks on. Immediately starting to duel one another just as the teacher had told them to, large smiles and grins on their faces.

And now with Sakaki-sensei no longer being crowded by a swarm of his students, she raised a hand and called out to the teacher. "Sakaki-sensei!" She said aloud, waving her arm as the three of them walked closer to the top hat wearing man.

Hearing his name being called out by what was no doubt a familiar voice, the red coat wearing teacher turned around towards the sound of her voice, and their eyes soon met. The smile on the man's face didn't move as he saw her, if anything it went ever so slightly wider.

"Ruri-kun!" The man called out her name in return. "I am glad that you made it today! I was quite worried that you couldn't make it as you had not shown up earlier." The man said, noticing her late entrance to the class.

She gave the man an apologetic smile, and said her excuse. "I'm sorry about that Sakaki-sensei. I had to go and escort my friends here who said that they wanted to attend your classes earlier." She said, gesturing to the two girls next to her.

"Your friends I see. Well then, allow me to introduce myself. I am-" And as he turned to face her two friends, the man seemed to stop for the briefest of moments, his eyes stuck on the figure of none other than Serena.

And seeing that, she couldn't help but giggle at the man's response of being stunned into silence. She giggled aloud, waving her hand down as she snapped the teacher out of his stupor. "Yes Sakaki-sensei, these are the friends that I mentioned."

She glanced at the ponytailed wearing girl who seemed to take her time in staring back at the Heartland Dueling School's newest teacher, and motioned towards her. "This is Serena. And that's quite honestly the same response that everyone had when we first met really."

"I-I see…" The man seemed to trail off, his eyes moving from herself and her ponytailed friend, no doubt seeing the resemblances that the two of them had, his body seeming tense. "That is… quite the coincidence. For you two to be so… awfully similar."

"She's really the only reason that we're here." The shortest among them said, garnering all their attention as they all turned to the purple cap wearing girl. "I'm Mei, this one's friend." She said, once again elbowing the taller girl in the stomach, and receiving a glare.

That elected a small chuckle from the man, slowly loosening his guard down as he regarded them with a warm smile. "I see. So you're the one who wanted to meet me? Serena-kun was it?"

"Hmph. Yeah, that's my name. I don't need to be introduced by someone else, thank you very much." The indigo haired girl said, sending a glare towards her, and she simply smiled back in response.

"Haha! Quite the feisty one aren't you?" Sakaki-sensei laughed good naturedly, and seemingly ignored the scowl that grew on Serena's face as he then turned his body and spread his right arm outwards gesturing towards the students that he's taken under dueling against one another, while his left hand still holds his trusty cane.

"Well then, we're currently doing 'free training' as I would call it. Where everyone is free to duel each other to essentially test the lesson that they've learned for the day." The man said, and his wide smile turned a bit wry. "Though quite honestly, it's really just the part of the class where I let everyone have fun and just duel."

"Heh, that sounds interesting." Serena said, a wild grin starting to take form on her face. "So since it's the time where we can duel anyone, that means that I can duel against you right?" She declared aloud, cracking her knuckles as she said so.

Receiving the challenge to a duel, Sakaki-sensei merely raised an eyebrow before laughing aloud. "Haha! You really are different from her aren't you?" The man said with a smile, and shook his head.

"You've got quite the spirit Serena-kun!" He said loudly, playfully throwing his cane upwards slightly before catching it with his other hand, and performing a bow. He then raised his head slightly to look at the indigo haired girl in the eye. "Then if it's alright with you, I shall accept your challenge for a duel."

"That's the whole reason we came here!" Serena shouted aloud, placing her duel disk on her left hand and rushing into one of the empty spaces left where they could duel, all while Mei let out a long tired sigh as she followed her to make sure her friend isn't causing anymore trouble, and a laugh escaped from Sakaki-sensei.

She simply giggled at her doppelganger's enthusiasm for dueling. Shaking her head at the girl's antics before taking a long glance at the students doing their best on their duels.

"Hm?" She let out as she blinked several times to make sure that she was not seeing wrong, and did another once over of the gymnasium to assure her suspicion.

"Sakaki-sensei." She called out to the top hat wearing teacher, and he turned and gave her his attention. She took another glance around the room, to ascertain her suspicion and asked her question.

"Is Kaito-san not here today?" She asked, noticing the lack of presence of the older blond haired teen. It was strange not to find him, especially with how he would almost always attend the new teacher's classes, especially with how diligent he is.

The man blinked several times before a small sad smile graced his features. "Ah, Kaito-kun is it?" He started, caressing his goatee. "He contacted me earlier today. It seems that he won't be able to make it for any of the extra classes coming forth due to family matters, something about lending a hand in the preparations for the Heartland Festival."

"Ah, is that so?" She said disheartened at the fact that the upperclassman wouldn't be able to attend more of these classes. "That's a shame. The children really liked to have him to teach them."

"Ruri-kun… that quite hurts to hear as a teacher." The top hat wearing man said with a wry smile, and her eyes widened as she had unintendedly insulted him. She turned to hurriedly give an apology, but the man laughed and waved it off. "It was a joke, Ruri-kun, a joke."

Shaking his head, the teacher then turned and said. "Well then, I'll leave you to your devices then Ruri-kun. I do still have a duel that I need to attend to after all." And with that said, the man started walking to where Serena was waiting, with Mei at her side.

"Well, I do hope that I get to meet the others soon." She muttered under her breath, before shaking her head and trailing behind Sakaki-sensei. Intending to watch the upcoming duel between the teacher and her friend.

-

"Huff… So. Had enough yet?" She said between harsh breaths, holding her hands on her knees, the energy that she had seeping through her body as exhaustion crept through her body.

She lost the number of times that she had dueled against Anna at this point, both of them trading wins and losses every now and then, all depending on the dice roll and their respective starting hand, along with of course the line of play that they decided to go on.

Certainly doesn't help that both of their decks were both opposing kinds, with her Utopia deck essentially being a deck that makes a board, a go-first control deck that makes negates as one would say, while Anna's was a blind going second deck, one capable of easily making a high attack monster that would dismantle her board.

It certainly didn't make it easier that Anna's deck was basically a constructed level modern train deck, only missing several cards here and there, but otherwise it was a fully modern deck.

Said missing cards were the XYZ Monster that was Number 81: Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Super Dora, and Double Headed Anger Knuckle, other cards that she could possibly run would change her deck from that or Train to pile that was Earth Machine.

Other than that? With the addition of juggernaut Liebe into the pool of cards that the cherry haired girl had to her Extra Deck, her ability to go second had increased exponentially. And it was no wonder that she managed to get several wins under her belt.

Coupled with how her own Utopia deck wasn't exactly constructed quality, what with her best end board being only a Pegasus Twin Saber equipped Leo Utopia Ray, which essentially only meant that she had on field negations.

And though Leo Utopia Ray's spot monster negation that halves an opponent's monster's attack had helped her in some occasion to stop Anna from OTK-ing her in some occasion, and Twin Pegasus Saber's negation being able to negate on resolution meant that it couldn't exactly be responded to, certainly helped in various situation, she had no way of outing one card in Anna's deck, that being none other than Derricrane.

She does of course have something that could technically protect her from that, that being surprisingly Ultimate Dragonic Utopia Ray who can equip a ZW monster from the deck when it is targeted for a card effect, equipping it with something like ZW - Lighting Blade to prevent its destruction once.

In a fully modernized and constructed version of a Utopia deck, there would be a line that would summon ZS - Utopic Sage first in a high roll build, one that could possibly end in what was essentially a 4 material Utopia Dragonar, a card that would cost her entire livestock that she would have if Anna hadn't made her lose them, along with possibly Utopic Draco Future.

But even in a non high roll hand, a fully modern and constructed Utopia deck was capable of making a four material Number 99: Utopia Dragonar along with a ZS - Utopic Sage, an essential playmaker that was essentially full combo if one managed to put three Level 4 monsters on the field.

ZS - Utopic Sage being a generic Rank 4 XYZ Monster who could detach 2 materials from itself to special summon one 'ZW' or 'ZS' monster from the deck, while locking you to only declaring attacks with 'Number' monsters, and locking you to only summon XYZ Monsters from the Extra Deck.

It was essentially a way to get ZS - Ascended Sage onto the field with any two Level 4 monsters, essentially allowing you to use it as a material to summon a Utopia XYZ Monster, and freely search any Rank-Up-Magic from the deck, the preferable target being Hyper Rank-Up-Magic Utopiforce.

But an important tidbit of the card was that ZS - Utopic Sage can protect a 'Utopia' or a 'Utopic' XYZ Monster whose original Attribute is Light from destruction via battle or card effect by banishing the card from the field or graveyard, essentially being an added protection that you can get in your regular combo to getting ZS - Ascended Sage to search for a Rank-Up-Magic.

It was an important card for the combo, one that she would have gotten if a certain someone hadn't gone and slapped all the DP that she needed to buy the card from the Shop out of her hand with a blind going second OTK deck.

Done with her long muse she glanced down tiredly to the cherry haired girl who laid down on her back, she too was breathing harshly out of her mouth. "Darn… it…" Anna said between bated breaths. "I couldn't… get a clean win… streak going…"

"So you wanted to get a win streak…" She said with a bead of sweat going down her head as she stared at the cannon carrying girl, though the girl's cannon was left on the side in its handbag form to not bother them from dueling, sitting right next to her school bag.

"Isn't it fine as it is? You managed to get several wins after all." She said as she sat down on the concrete below, letting out a sigh as she stared at her friend, who merely raised her fist upwards and shouted.

"I wanted to get a win streak darn it! You managed to get a five win streak on me so I wanted to do the same dang it!" She shouted loudly, swinging her raised fist wildy all while she did so.

And once more she gave her friend a deadpan stare as she heard her incredibly childish reason as to have challenged her into what was more or less a marathon of dueling.

She hung her head up as she emptilly stared at the sky above, an incredibly long sigh escaping her mouth. And as she looked towards the setting sun and the orange sky, she soon realized the time that the both of them had spent.

"Ah, it's already really late isn't it?" She said aloud, they certainly had lost time with how they had dueled for who knows how many times, who knows how long.

"Wait seriously?" Anna said as she launched herself from the ground to sit up straight, looking at the duel disk in her left hand to check the time. And immediately her face went pale as the blood seemed to drain from her face.

"AH CRAP! It's this late already?! Mom's gonna kill me!" She shouted loudly, both of her hands clasping her head with a look of terror on her face. Frantically going for her handbag and her school bag, slinging one and the other on her shoulder.

She couldn't stop the amused smile that crept on her face as she saw her friend's actions. Certainly this was a look that she's never seen from Anna, the cherry haired girl was usually wild and uncontrollable after all, to see that she of all people being scared of missing curfew of all things because of her mom of all people was certainly something.

The image that she got of the Kozuki family was certainly something. She couldn't imagine what exactly Anna and Allen's mother was like if she was able to make Anna of all people fear her.

She shook her head as she stood up, dusting off any dust that clung to her clothes as she did so. "I'll keep you company until the station." She said as she stood up straight, tilting her head as she looked at her cherry haired companion. "I need to go there anyway, since my apartment's not that far from there."

"Ah, thanks Yuuna!" She said, clicking a button on the mechanical miracle that was her handbag, and it expanded and turned into the flying marvel that was her hover-bike-cannon hybrid.

And she blinked, a few times, at seeing her pull that. Shakily pointing towards it with a hand. "Eh? Wait? We're not just, walking there? I-it's not that far you know?" She said with a hint of hesitation on her voice.

"Well yeah. But this way is faster!" Anna yelled aloud, taking her by the scruff of her jacket and pulling her onto the hover bike with a loud yelp. "I honestly would've just rode on this back home, but the airspace that I need to take to go there is especially for the train, and taking the slow route would take too long, so we're going with this!" The cherry haired girl shouted aloud.

"Now let's go!" Anna once more shouted, raising her right fist towards the air as she pumped the gas pedal on the hover bike with her draped on what was essentially the 'backseat' of the vehicle that was supposed to be ridden by a single person.

And they took off to the sunset, with her screaming and holding on for her life all the while.

-

Even after all their duels finished against the trio of Heartland Dueling School dropouts, the three of them still had their guards raised as they encountered the figure that they certainly hadn't thought of seeing today. That of course being none other than the infamous delinquent, Heartland Dueling School's very own Shark.

She's heard rumors about him of course, though she's never seen the teen in person until today as they were in different branches of the school, but the ones that she hears already paints quite the picture.

Shark was one of the strongest duelists in the Heartland Dueling School, basically rivaling that of Anna-san in terms of ferociousness, Kaito-san in terms of tactics, and Yuto-san in terms of dueling skill.

The only reason why it wasn't him who dueled in the platform when their school did their exhibition matches was because he was a no show, doing who knows what instead of actually showing up to do the tournament.

"I guess I should thank you, for beating these idiots and making it easy for me to get my cards back." The dark blue haired teen spoke, glancing towards the three of them with disinterest in his eyes.

She gulped, hearing the words that came from one of the scariest duelists in Heartland City. But at the very least he was amicable, if they can go away from this without a confrontation then that would probably be the best outcome.

But of course, Allen had to just open his big mouth. "You think we're just gonna let you get away with those cards!" He shouted, his hand forming a fist as he glared at the dark blue eyed teen.

Shark stared at the brown haired boy, and his mouth moved ever so slightly upwards, clearly amused by the statement that Allen had just said. "Really?" He said, hiding a chuckle. "And who's going to stop me?"

The teen then proceeded to point towards the third member of their trio, and said with a grin. "You and that girl who's already on her last legs?"

And right as he finished saying so, she saw Sayaka's legs go limp. The glasses wearing girl loses all the strength to stand and falls to her knees.

"Sayaka!?"

"Sayaka!"

Both she and Allen cried out as they saw the lilac haired girl fell, and both immediately attended to their friend, all the while Allen kept sending glares that would bore through steel towards Shark.

"I-I'm fine." The girl said, trying to assure her friends with a strained smile on her face, and sending a wary glance back towards Shark who still held his smirk. "I-I'm just tired. That's all."

She glanced at her brown haired companion, and saw how he was clearly conflicted. He could either let Shark go away with taking cards that were rightfully his and let him continue doing whatever it is that he does and attend to Sayaka, or confront the dark blue haired teen and leave their glasses wearing friend alone.

She knew what Sayaka said was no doubt true. It wasn't like she was hurt or anything of the sort, in fact she had finished her duel with her Life Points still pristine, not even letting a single hit landing on her during the previous duel, if anything she was simply just mentally exhausted.

And that was no doubt, their own fault. After all, they had spent the entire morning in school attending their classes in their respective branches, and kept going and dueled for who knows how many times to test out the new cards that Yuuna-san had given to them.

All of that, combined with the last duel where she had to face a former classmate of hers, ones who somehow had their eerily similar but different Number cards that Yuuna-san also has, no doubt stressed the kind glasses wearing girl, especially seeing how the ones that they had defeated lay unconscious on the ground after they had lost their duel. As if the backlash from the attacks of the solid vision was far more real than they should be.

"Allen." Sayaka called out, catching their attention back towards her. And she gave her a bright smile, one that was no doubt sent to simply assure them that she was fine. "I'm fine. Go do what you think is right."

And Allen's face scrunched even more, his eyes repeatedly moving back and forth from the teen that had stolen back his cards from the unconscious bodies of his former subordinates, and the lilac haired girl that was on her knees right next to him.

"Tch. How boring." They heard Shark say, his head turned away from them, as if he was refusing to see Sayaka in her moment of weakness. "I already did what I needed to do anyway. I'll let you all off for today."

Then the dark blue haired teen turned and started walking away, his ominous threat of 'letting them all off for today' hang in the air as they merely stared at his retreating back.

And she thought that that would be the end of their encounter with the infamous Shark. With them defeating his lackeys who went against him, and with him leaving them free to their devices. In a way, it was a win-win for both sides.

But then Allen just had to stand up and one again, open his mouth.

"Stop right there!" He shouted loudly, standing straight with his eyes burning with determination, glaring right at the back of Shark.

And as she stared dumbly at the brown haired boy whose actions she could not believe with her own two eyes as he activated his duel disk, a clear challenge for a duel, the dark blue haired teen stopped his feet as he turned and sent a scowl towards Allen's way.

"Even after that, you still want to duel me?" He said with an abyssal scowl, one that sent a shiver down her spine. "Fine. Have it your way. I'll show you just what exactly it was that you're messing with." He said ominously, stretching his left arm and activating his duel disk.

"Heh, that's exactly what I wanted!" Allen shouted back, though she saw a bead of sweat roll down his face. Clearly, though he was brave enough to stand up to the infamous delinquent, he still had his doubts of defeating him.

And that was clear, though they had certainly gotten stronger and more knowledgeable about the game thanks to the tutoring of Yuuna and the cards that she had given to them, it was still a fact that Shark was still stronger than them. Such was clear by the fact that they themselves had never managed to defeat Anna-san, a duelist equal on Shark's level.

Though some could argue that too was because of her own training and the new cards that she had obtained, the same could be said for the dark blue haired teen in front of them, as he himself had gotten his hands on those Number cards that were similar to Yuuna-san's own.

There was no way that Allen could defeat him, especially not alone.

So she sent an apologetic glance towards Sayaka, who merely responded back with a kind smile, the lilac haired girl taking her hand into her own for a brief moment. "Good luck." She said as she sent her off.

It took her a moment, but she kept her smile as she nodded back to Sayaka. And without further ado, she then stood up and walked beside her idiotic buffoon that she calls her friend, and activated her own duel disk.

"Myu!? What are you-"

"Oh shut up Allen." She cut him off before he could say anything. "You're the one to pull us into this mess, so make sure that you get us out of it you idiot." And she saw how he sent a glance back towards Sayaka, who was now sitting on the side with a hand on her head, watching over them worriedly.

"She's fine." She said, snapping him back to focus. "Like she said, she's just exhausted. So just focus on winning so that we can all go back home safe and sound." And though that declaration made the scowl on Shark's face twitch and go down even more, she still kept steady and glared back at the dark blue haired teen.

The brown haired boy seemed to stare at her in astonishment, before the grin that he was more known to have returned on his face. "Yeah!" He shouted, his usual high level of confidence returning to him.

"A two on one then huh?" Shark muttered aloud, and proceeded to scoff, the scowl never leaving his features. "It doesn't matter if you two worked together. There's no way that you chumps would beat me!"

And the duel then began.

""DUEL!!""

Allen Kozuki & Myu Chiyoda: 8000LP

Ryoga Kamishiro: 8000LP

"I'll go first!" Allen roared, taking the initiative as he chose to go first out of the three of them, the brown haired boy only glancing at the cards that he had on his hand before immediately deciding on the plays that he would be doing for his turn.

"I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Heavy Forward!" Allen declared, slamming the card onto his duel disk's duel blade, and the holographic projection of the card appeared on his side of their field, shining as it was activated.

"When Heavy Forward's activated, I get to add an Infinitrack from my deck to my hand!" The poncho wearing boy explained as he took out a monster card straight from his deck, revealing it for them all to see. "I'll be adding Infinitrack Harvester from my deck straight to my hand!"

The action elected a frown from their dark blue haired opponent, as he saw how Allen added what might as well be a starter for his plays straight from his deck with a card activation. She would be too, if he wasn't on her side. The amount of 'consistency' as Yuuna calls it that Allen's deck has is quite enviable. One that her own deck doesn't have with the amount of 'bricks' that she has to run to facilitate her strategy.

He then immediately slammed the card onto his duel blade. "And I'll normal summon it!" And with the card placed on the duel blade, the monster's holographic projection appeared, taking the form of a futuristic combine harvester, one with a bright golden colour with blue accents, and enlarged to a degree.

Infinitrack Harvester - Earth/Machine/Level 2/Effect: 0/2100

"And now Harvester's effect!" Allen declared out loud. "If it's summoned I get to add one other 'Infinitrack' monster from my deck except a copy of itself! I'll add Infinitrack Brutal Dozer from my deck to my hand!"

And saying so, the brown haired boy revealed another card that he will be adding from his deck to his hand, and then proceeded to shuffle it with the other four cards that he has in his hand.

Shark was now frowning. Seeing the high level of consistency that the poncho wearing Earth Machine deck user had made the dark blue haired boy unconsciously raise his guard ever so slightly, no longer taking the boy as a mere obstacle, but as a proper opponent. Watching his plays carefully.

"And now I'll activate the effect of Infinitrack Brutal Dozer!" Allen declared loudly, revealing the card that he had just searched with the on summon effect of Harvester. "I can tribute one Earth Machine monster, and special summon this card from my hand in defence position!"

Motioning towards the one monster on their side of the field, Allen declared the name of the monster that he would tribute for the cost of summoning the monster in his hand. "I'll tribute Infinitrack Harvester on my field, and summon Infinitrack Brutal Dozer!"

With practiced ease, the brown haired boy took the monster card on his field and sent it to his duel disk's graveyard, and he then slammed the monster card on his hand to the duel blade. And the gigantic metallic grey dozer appeared on their side of the field, its colour accented by the shining light purple colours that decorated the Machine Monster.

Infinitrack Brutal Dozer - Earth/Machine/Level 5/Effect: 1900/2100

"Then Brutal Dozer's effect!" Allen declared with a grin, continuing off with his combo line. "If this guy's special summoned from my hand, I can special summon an 'Infinitrack' monster from my deck in defence position!"

Shark's eyes went wide ever so slightly, and even she who had test dueled against the new iteration of Allen's deck still felt her eyes twitch at the monster's effect. Though it doesn't summon two monsters from the deck like her Rescue Rabbit, it allowed him to essentially get any monster from his deck onto the field, and not run Normal Monsters in his deck unlike her.

The brown haired boy then took out a card from his deck with one swift motion, and revealed it for their opponent to see. "I'll special summon Infinitrack Trencher from my deck in defence position!"

And he then placed the card onto his duel blade, and the gigantic saw carrying mechanical trencher appeared on his side of the field beside the giant dozer. Coloured bright green with lime accent, the gigantic saw spun as the monster appeared on the field.

Infinitrack Trencher - Earth/Machine/Level 5/Effect: 500/2400

"Two Level 5 monsters." Shark muttered lowly, his eyes narrowing and composure slowly regained as he saw Allen managed to assemble two Level 5 monsters on his side of the field. "And XYZ, and only from one card…"

"Since it's summon with Brutal Dozer's effect, its effects are negated. And I can't special summon other than Earth Machines." Allen added, explaining the restriction that was put on the newly summoned monster, along with his 'summon lock' as Yuuna refers to it as.

"But that doesn't matter!" The poncho wearing boy shouted aloud, waving his right arm forward towards the two monsters on his field. "Cuz I'll overlay the Level 5 Infinitrack Brutal Dozer and the Level 5 Infinitrack Trencher!"

And with his rams raised, the two gigantic machine monstrosities on Allen's field turned into glowing brown motes of lights. The two crisscrossed one another as they entered the galactical whirlpool that appeared in the middle of the field.

"With these two monsters, I'll make an overlay network! XYZ Summon!" With the brown haired boy's declaration, the galactical whirlpool exploded into a bright pillar of light, and soon dissipated to reveal the form of Allen's newly acquired XYZ Monster.

"Run them over! Infinitrack River Stromer!" The poncho wearing heavy machinery duelist declared as he summoned his new Boss Monster of choice, and the tri cannoned red and black metal grey futuristic machinery appeared on their field. Two brown orbs of lights orbiting around the monster acting as its overlay material.

Infinitrack River Stormer - Earth/XYZ/Machine/Rank 5/Effect: 2500/500 OV: 2

"Now I'll activate River Stormer's effect!" Allen immediately declared, activating the effect of the monster that he had just summoned. "I'll detach an overlay material, to take an Earth Machine monster, and either add it to my hand or send it to the graveyard!"

Explaining the XYZ Monster's effect of even more consistency boosting, essentially acting as both the archetype's Extra Deck version of Reinforcement of the Army and Foolish Burial in one card, the gigantic futuristic machine used one of its two overlay materials.

Infinitrack River Stormer - Earth/XYZ/Machine/Rank 5/Effect: 2500/500 OV: 1

And with the cost of the monster's effect paid, the brown haired boy declared his target for the XYZ Monster's effect. "I'll take Infinintrack Drag Shovel, and send it to the grave!" He declared.

With that said and done, Allen revealed a monster that fits the category listed on River Stormer, and proceeded to send it from his deck to the graveyard. But that was of course not the end of his turn. "Then Infinitrack Trencher's effect!"

"Trencher?" Shark muttered the card's name, and narrowed his eyes as he saw the XYZ Monster with a missing overlay material. "So the one detached was-"

"You got that right! It was Trencher!" The poncho wearing boy said with a grin. "I can banish Trencher from the grave to target a Level 5 or lower 'infinitrack' monster in my grave except another copy of it, and special summon it in defence position!"

Done with explaining the monster's graveyard effect, Allen proceeded to banish it to pay for its cost, and then declared the target that he would summon from the graveyard with said effect. "I'll target Infinitrack Drag Shovel, and summon it!"

Receiving no form of resistance or interruption from their shared opponent, Allen then proceeded to summon the monster onto their side of the field, the gigantic futuristic shoveler appearing in defence position.

Infinitrack Drag Shovel - Earth/Machine/Level 5/Effect: 1500/2100

"Drag Shovel's effect!" The boy continued on with his long line of combo, waving his right hand forward towards the mechanical gigantic shovel in front of him. "I can banish a Machine monster from my grave to add one 'Spin Turn' from my deck to my hand!"

And though their opponent mouthed the name of the card that Allen would specifically be adding from his deck to his hand, the poncho wearing duelist ignored him and proceeded to take the card out from his deck and reveal it.

"I'll banish Harvester, to add the Trap, Spin Turn to my hand!" And then proceeded to add the card to his hand, shuffling it along with the other four cards that still remained in his hand after all that line of play.

"Then I'll set two cards face-down, and end my turn." And after all of that, Allen then proceeded to end his turn. Ending with an XYZ Monster and another of his Machine monsters on the field, along with two set cards, and three cards still remaining in his hand.

"All of that just from a single card…" Shark muttered with narrowed eyes as he stared at the board that Allen had managed to construct. "Everything other than one of those trap cards comes from a single card… there's no wonder that those idiots couldn't beat you."

"Heh, you got that right!" Her brown haired partner shouted loudly with a grin. But the playful look that the boy had then turned into a serious one. "And don't think that we can just do that! We'll beat you too! You'll see!" He said, pointing towards their dark blue haired opponent.

In response to Allen's bold and brazen declaration, Shark simply snorted, holding a hand ip to cover his mouth as he started shaking. "Pfft, you seriously think that?" The older duelist said, not even trying to hold his laugh.

Then he shook his head as he regained his composure, an assured smile still on his face as he raised his left hand up. "Then you better entertain me. My turn! Draw!" And with that declaration, their opponent drew their card for turn, starting off with six cards in his hand.

"I'll start off by normal summoning Saber Shark!" And saying so, the older duelist placed a card onto his own duel blade, and appearing on his side of the field was a purple shark with a giant blade sticking out of the front of its head, the monster swimming in the air as if it was water.

Saber Shark - Water/Fish/Level 4/Effect: 1600/1200

"And since I control a Water Monster, I can special summon Silent Anglerfrom my hand!" Shark said aloud, revealing another monster card in his hand and then special summoning it as its effect resolves.

And beside the saber headed shark emerged another Fish monster summoned straight from Shark's hand, taking the form of a monstrous sea angler, one with jaws decorated with vicious sharp marine blue teeth. With no other downside coming from special summoning the monster from the hand.

Silent Angler - Water/Fish/Level 4/Effect: 800/1400

"Two Level 4 monsters already!" Allen said through gritted teeth as he saw Shark easily assemble two monsters onto the field. "So you're planning to make a Rank 4 monster!"

And Shark snorted at seeing her partner's reaction. "You really think that?" He asked condescendingly, and then waved his hand forwards to the saber headed shark in front of him. "Saber Shark's effect!" He declared.

"I can target one Fish Monster on the field and either reduce or increase its Level by one! But for the rest of this turn, I can't special summon any monster but Water Monsters." Shark explained the monster effect, revealing that his deck was focused on Water monsters as his namesake implied, and then chose the target for its effect.

"I'll target Saber Shark, and reduce its Level by one!" And with that declaration, the saber headed shark roared, and its Level then dropped by a single star, reducing it from four to three.

Saber Shark - Water/Fish/Level 3/Effect: 1600/1200

The move confused the both of them of course, as now Shark does not have two monsters with the same Level that he could use for an XYZ Summon. Instead he has a Level 3 and a Level 4 monster respectively. "Why did he-"

"And I'll activate its effect again!" The dark blue haired duelist said with a wide grin, not letting her finish her sentence. "This time, I'll target Silent Angler and reduce its Level by one!"

And they saw with wide eyes as the saber headed shark let out another roar, and used its Level modulation effect of the other Water monster that was on Shark's side of the field. And turned both of their Levels to 3.

Silent Angler - Water/Fish/Level 3/Effect: 800/1400

"Wha-! That effect isn't a once per turn!" Allen shouted with wide eyes in alarm.

"Two Level 3 monsters!" She hissed, glancing back at Allen as they saw Shark managing to gather up two monsters of the same Level thanks to the level modulation gimmick of Saber Shark, but the brown haired boy shook his head, signalling that he wouldn't be activating Spin Turn just yet.

She frowned, but gave her partner a nod back. Knowing that from this line of thought, Allen must probably be waiting for him to summon the XYZ Monster, or something of the sort, most likely thinking that Shark must still have some way of summoning whatever XYZ he has on his Extra Deck if he was to simply just pop one of the two monsters currently on his field.

"Hmph, not activating whatever those set cards are huh. Well it won't matter anyway." Shark mused, that self confident grin still on his face. "I'll take the now Level 3 Saber Shark, and the Level 3 Silent Angler, and overlay them!

The two Water monsters on their opponent's side of the field then let out their respective roars, turning into two motes of dark blue light and crisscrossing with one another. "I'll take these two monsters, and make an overlay network with them!"

And with that declaration, a galactical spiral of black and gold appeared once more on the middle of the field, and the two glowing dark blue orbs entered it as it appeared. "XYZ Summon!"

Shark raised his right hand upwards towards the sky, and the vortex then exploded into a glowing light. And a strange mark then glowed on the back of the dark blue haired then glowed ominously as he grinned.

"Come! Number 17!" He shouted as he XYZ Summoned a monster, and a strange heart shaped blue monster appeared, and it started to uncoil itself at Shark's behest. "Leviathan Dragon!"

And the now revealed serpentine dragon appeared, uncurling its six wings and letting out an ear ripping scream as the monster was summoned by its proper owner, staring at the both of them menacingly as the mark on its right horn shone.

Number 17: Leviathan Dragon - Water/XYZ/Dragon/Rank 3/Effect: 2000/0 OV: 2

She was left staring at the newly summoned XYZ Monster that was on Shark's side of the field, a shiver of fear going down her spine as she saw the monster glare down and her, and snapped her head towards her partner.

And saw that he was glaring back, with a bead of sweat running down the side of his head. The brown haired boy caught her glance and thought for a split second, before shaking his head once more.

"That Number monster, it's the one that that guy used against Sayaka." Allen muttered, loud enough for her to hear his explanation. "That thing can't be destroyed by battle by anything but a Number monster, yeah?" He said, staring towards their opponent.

"Hmph, so you already know huh." Shark said with a grin on his face. "It's expected, you did already win against one after all. But don't expect that this will end the same way."

She could only nod back slowly, knowing where the poncho wearing duelist was coming from. After all, the set card that he had searched through the line of his combo, Spin Turn, did have its downsides.

It was, barring the other set card that Allen had set, his one searchable form of interaction. And essentially the main core of the strategy that he head built for himself should he go first in a duel. Something that he came up with earlier through their test duels along with input from the others, even if the boy did want to just learn how to play the deck just by himself.

Spin Turn was a trap that allowed him to target an Earth Machine XYZ Monster that he controls in attack position along with a monster that the opponent controls, and change the XYZ Monster to defence in order to destroy the other target.

And having dueled against the boy to test out this exact strategy, she knew that the boy would patiently wait until some sort of opening could be seen from the plays that Shark would perform. Most likely intending on firing the trap as soon as he goes into the Battle Phase.

"Now I'll use the effect of XYZ Remora in my hand!" The dark blue haired duelist declared aloud, revealing another card in his hand whose effect he would be activating. Showing the card that seemed to depict a green hammer headed shark of some sorts.

"I can special summon this card from my hand by detaching two materials from monsters that I control!" He declared aloud, and then waved his right arm towards the only XYZ Monster that he controlled.

"I'll detach the two overlay units that Number 17: Leviathan Dragon has, and summon XYZ Remora from my hand!" Shouting so, the serpentine dragon on Shark's side of the field lets out a roar, the two dark blue orbs of energy that orbited the dragon disappearing as they were paid as cost for the summon of the monster.

Number 17: Leviathan Dragon - Water/XYZ/Dragon/Rank 3/Effect: 2000/0 OV: 0

"You're detaching all of your XYZ Monster's overlay units to summon a single monster?!" She said in aghast as she saw the play that their upperclassman was performing, quite honestly confused at why he would do so.

"Heh, you'll see!" Shark said with a grin as he then placed the monster card on his duel blade, and the dark green fish that seemed to resemble more of a hammerhead shark rather than a remora then appeared onto the field, swimming in the air as if it was water.

XYZ Remora - Water/Fish/Level 4/Effect: 800/800

"And now XYZ Remora's effect!" The teen said with a vicious grin. "When summoned this way, I can target 2 Level 4 Fish monsters in my graveyard, and special summon them in defence position!"

With his right arm raised, the Shark based duelist shouted his targets loudly. "Return! Saber Shark! Silent Angler!" And with their names called, and the green hammer headed shark swirling in the air, the two detached materials of the XYZ Monster were returned onto the field.

Saber Shark - Water/Fish/Level 4/Effect: 1600/1200

Silent Angler - Water/Fish/Level 4/Effect: 800/1400

They could only watch wide eyes as Shark managed to assemble three Level 4 monsters, and she saw Allen scowling at the move that Shark had done, quite possibly regretting not immediately using Spin Turn the very moment he had summoned Leviathan Dragon.

"And with Saber Shark back he can just modulate his monsters Level-!"

"Hmph, I'll just tell you that I can't do that." The dark blue haired duelist said with a huff at her remark. "The monsters summoned with the effect of XYZ Remora have their effects negated, and can't attack or change their battle positions. And they can only be used as materials for the XYZ Summon of a Water Monster."

And the grin on his face soon returned. "Which is what I'm going to do now!" He said with a wide grin, once again raising his right arm high towards the sky. "I'll overlay the Level 4 XYZ Remora, the Level 4 Saber Shark, and the Level 4 Silent Angler!"

The two of them watched as Shark took all three Level 4 monsters that he had on his field, and Overlaid them all. All three of them turned into dark blue motes of lights that criss-crossed one another as they entered the black and golden galactical vortex that, for the third time, appeared in the center of the field.

"I'll make another overlay network with all three of these monsters! XYZ Summon!" And with that declaration as the three motes of lights completely entered the galactical vortex, it erupted into a blinding golden explosion of light.

"Deep sea emperor who holds the greatest power! Bite everything into pieces with your fangs!" The teen shouted out his chant, and brought down his raised hand as he then completed said chant.

"Come forth, Number 32!" Shark shouted once again, and a different marking shone on the back of his right hand, one similar to that of the number 32. "Marine Biting Dragon - Shark Drake!"

And from the depths of the galactical black and golden vortex came a new XYZ Monster, one taking the form of a monstrous bipedal sea creature with giant wing-like fins on its back, and sharp long claws. The number 32 shone on the monster's left chest as its maw opened to let out a ground shaking roar.

Number 32: Shark Drake - Water/XYZ/Sea Serpent/Rank 4/Effect: 2800/2100 OV: 3

"Another Number! And one that we haven't even seen before!" Allen noted, remembering the two Number monsters that they had fought against those three former followers of the teen in front of them. Could this be the one Number's monster that her opponent hadn't managed to summon?

"To think that I would even need to summon this one… I intended to save this monster until the Heartland Festival, but I didn't expect to use it against someone just like you." Shark then muttered aloud, all but disapproving her theory before she could even say it aloud.

"Then I won't even let you have the chance to use it!" Allen shouted aloud, with his fist raised to his chest. And then he waved his arm outwards. "I'll flip up my set card! Spin Turn!" The brown haired boy declared loudly.

And the first card that he had set for his turn was then flipped up, revealing it to be the Trap card that he had searched over the long line of his combo. "So you're finally using it huh!" Shark shouted back with a grin, eager, yet wary of the card that the brown haired boy was using during his turn.

"You bet I am! Spin Turn can let me target an Earth Machine XYZ Monster I have in attack position and one monster you control, and change my monster's battle position to destroy yours!" Allen shouted aloud as he waved his right arm out, and declared the targets for the Trap card's effect.

"I'll target my Infinitrack River Stromer that's in attack position, and change it to defence, to target and destroy your Number 32: Shark Drake!" And with a wave of his right arm accompanying his shout, the one XYZ Monster on their side of their field was turned into defence position, and from its three cannons it shot its salvo towards the red skinned winged Sea Serpent monster.

Shark Drake lets out a roar as its form slowly dissipates into motes of light, a cloud of dust filling the space where the monster once stood after its body was hit with the effect of Spin Turn and was destroyed. "Shark Drake!" Shark shouted in surprise.

"Alright!" Her partner cheered as he pumped a fist, a grin on his face as he managed to destroy the monster that Shark had used three monsters for its XYZ Summon, leaving him with only an XYZ Monster without any overlay materials on it.

But as she saw their dark blue haired opponent, she saw the rage and anger that filtered through the teen's eyes. One that was shown on his face by the large scowl that he now holds.

"You-! Tch! How annoying." Shark said with a click of his tongue, anger clearly seen as his reaction to how his newly summoned XYZ Monster managed to be outed right just as it was summoned. "Fine then." He said with narrowed eyes.

And the dark haired boy then waved his arm towards the side, and opened his mouth to speak once more. "I'll take the Rank 3 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, and overlay it!" He shouted aloud, and the giant dragonic serpent roared as its body glowed and turned back to its inert state.

"Wha-! Another XYZ Summon?!" She shouted in alarm as she saw Shark one again used his XYZ monster as an overlay material, not even knowing what kind of monster that the teen would summon.

"I'll reconstruct the overlay network using Leviathan Dragon!" He shouted aloud as the dark blue orb that was Leviathan Dragon once again re-entered the vortex of black and gold, and exploded into a pillar of light.

"Full Armor XYZ! Dress for battle! Full Armored Black Ray Lancer!" And with a raised hand and a shout, a whole new monster appeared from the galactical vortex. Taking the form of a black armor clad monster with large wing-like pauldrons, the monster stood proudly in front of its master.

Full Armored Black Ray Lancer - Water/XYZ/Beast-Warrior/Rank 4/Effect: 2100/600 OV: 1

"Full Armor XYZ…" She muttered as she stared amazed at the monster that Shark had summoned onto his field. "It's just like a Rank Up without needing even a Spell! Just like Yuuna's Chaos XYZ Change!"

"But that's a Rank 4!" Allen shouted loudly, angrily pointing at the monster that Shark had just summoned onto his field. "You can't just summon it on top of a Rank 3 monster!"

"Hmph. Full Armored Black Ray Lancer can be XYZ Summoned using a Rank 3 Water XYZ Monster that I control that has no XYZ Material." The dark blue haired teen said, explaining the XYZ Monster's alternate summoning condition.

"And since he used XYZ Remora on Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, it could fulfil that summoning condition." She muttered with wide eyes, quite honestly impressed at the amount of forethought that the older teen had put for his plays.