WRGP First Round! Duel of Spirits?

Jack had nothing he could do, not because he had no cards left to play, but the shock of the Dark Magician's attack actually stunned his body to the point where he could do nothing but take the blow. He was struck and his Duel Runner was sent flying backwards in a spin until it hit the ground, causing Jack to fly out of it and spin in the air before hitting the ground.

"What... was that...?" Darren said, looking in shock at the blow and what happened to Jack Atlus afterwards.

Seiki gives off a cold grin as she stops in front of Jack. "Ok then, send out the next member...oh thta's right!" She places her fist into the palm of her other hand. "You're not able to go unless Jack returns to your pit stop. It doesn't look like he'll get up any time soon."

"...What just happened, Mujo...?" Yuki couldbarely say, looking with wide eyes.

"I... I don't know..." Darren said as he looked down to Jack. "Come on Jack... get up... You've got more in you then that..."

Jack's almost lifeless body started to shake. He started to stand slowly as he said, "D...Don't... Don't underestimate Jack Atlus!" He rose to his feet, holding the Runner with his bloodied body. He started to walk to the pit, slowly of course as he attempted to reach his teammates.

"Well I'll be....." Shane nodded in approval to the dedication of Atlus.

"Harley" Seth didn't look to his apprentice, but his words carried enough weight to be directed. "Did you spot any weakness?"

Harley could only shake his eyes, eyes darting between sheer disgust and utter astonishment. Words escaped him, as he had never had difficulty tracking another's weaknesses.

"I see", Seth lowered his eyes. He then said something no one could have predicted. "Neither did I."

"How is he up...no...how is he alive?!" Yuki stares in shock at Jack's determination.

"Oh? So you're still alive...but do you really think your body will hold up?" Seiki shrugs, shaking her head. "We're halfway around the course. If you're so determined, I'll just head off raking up speed counters then." With that said, she sped off.

Jack walked in struggle and strife to reach his teammates, knowing that Seiki was gaining Speed counters all the while. What was worse, he only had 1 Speed counter due to Overboost, but she did as well. If she ran 12 laps around the course before he could reach them, they would lose. Jack roared out as he ran to the goal, almost killing himself in the process of it.

"Aki, you should get ready..." Yusei said, believing that his partner could make it in time. Aki got on her Runner, glaring at Seiki who was still running laps as though it were practice as Jack fought for his team's life, even if it meant at the cost of his own.

Seiki grins as he passes him yet again. "I hope that he drops dead for your sake." she says to Team DS through monitor. "And if not...I hope you'll give a better duel than last time, Aki-chan...Try to survive more than one turn this time."

Aki clenched her hands as she had a very annoyed look to her face. Jack reached the pit, handing the 5Ds marker to Aki without time to give her anything else, even Red Nova Dragon. Aki raced off, moving to the line with Seiki having 10 Speed Counters. (Yes, It took that long) Aki drew as she would have the next turn. "You might've thought you had the edge, but you're wrong! I summon Twilight Rose Knight! And due to its ability, I can summon a Plant monster from my hand! Come forth, Lord Poison!" The two creatures appeared in front of Aki, who was behind Seiki at this point be glaring at her deeply. "I think you know what comes next... and when it does, your little Marshmallow is going to become your biggest weakness!"

"Go ahead and summon your pride and joy this time...However, I won't let you activate its abilty to switch Marshmallon's position." In her hand, she had Effect Veiler, which can negate Black Rose Dragon's abilities for the turn and prevent it from dealing 2400 damage to Seiki. "So? Come on, step it up."

"Cocky little punk" Shane scoffed, gritting his teeth just slightly. "Wish I could just go take care of this myself!" He pounded the arm rest to his chair, the steel denting down a tad.

"It's not for you to act on" Seth chimed in, as much as he did agree. If the original academy duelists would've been able to take care of this themselves, he was certain they would succeed. Being stuck in a corner was not to his liking.

Harley's head tilted slightly, eyes narrowing to the screen. There was no downside in his strategy from what he could examine, however, her persona was quite fragile. That was a long shot, but it could help.

Aki gave a small glare, knowing her confidence had to mean something. If she had a counter for her card, it would be all but over. But what if she used a different card? She moved her hand to a card within her hand and called out, "Now, by returning Lord Poison to my hand, I can summon another monster! Come forth, Fallen Angel of Roses!" From the insides of the demonic root a silver haired female appeared on the field, looking down at Seiki and her monsters. (LV7 Atk:2400) "I'll set two cards and that ends my turn!"

"She has a monster like that that's not a Synchro?!" Darren said in shock. "At any rate, her playing that is actually a big deal, since Seiki had to have expected her to Synchro Summon."

"Draw!" Seiki draws a card while her speed counters max out. "Activate Speed spell - Accelerator Draw! Since I have 12 speed counters, I can draw two cards." She draws, grinning. "I'll special summon another Spell striker by remoing brain control this time as well as summon A Man with Wdjat!" Next to the cartoonish mage was a robed man. "When I normal summon him, I can select a set card on your field and look at it. How about the one on the left?"

The card flipped up, revealing Rose Shield. With the card, she could inflict 300 points of damage to Seiki for each card in Aki's own hand and equip it to her Fallen Angel. If it were to be destroyed in battle after that, the card would be destroyed instead.

"Oh? What a nice little face down...too bad it'll be useless. Activate Speed Spell, Double Summon! I can summon a nother monster this turn and I'll do just that! Reese, the Ice Mistress!" Next to Wdjat was a female warrior. "Now I tune my level 2 Reese with my Level 4 Wdjat and Level 3 Spell Striker! Synchro Summon, Mist Wurm!!!" The three monsters disappeared as a purple worm appears on the field.

"Activate his ability! He returns 3 cards to your hand...so return your facedowns and angel!"

"No! When my Angel leaves the field, its removed from the game!" Aki said as her cards were returned to the hand. The other card was a Wall of Thorn. It would have been a good way to clear Seiki's field, if it had worked.

Seiki grins. "I told you not to let me win in one turn like last time...shame it didn't work." She points at Seiki. "Dark Magician, Mist Wurm, attack her directly!" Both her purple monsters rushed at Aki to deliver a painful blow.

"I wasn't prepared to..." Aki said as she took a card from her hand and discarded it. "By discarding Hedge Guard, my Twilight Rose Knight will lose half of its attack points, but it won't be destroyed this turn!" As she said that, her monster's power was reduced to a mere 500 points and was forced to face down 2 2500 attack point beasts. "Even if I can't defeat you, Yusei will..." Before she could finish, she was struck. A powerful explosion echoed through the arena as Aki's Duel Runner was completely destroyed and Aki was on the ground.

"Nice try, but no dice at all." Seiki said, stopping her runner as she looks down at the fallen Aki. "You guys had no chance...no one has a chance of beating me, Aki. Not even those kids."

Harley's eyes snapped wide-open at the explosion, Shane cringing and Seth bowing his head.

"I hope you can come up with somethin', kid." Shane said in a low, melancholic tone, "You're going to need everything you got."

The E.M.T.s came down to help Aki. She was in bad shape. Yusei clenched his fist, banging the table as he turned, walking to Aki to see to her. The MC and the crowd were all stunned. But the MC finally shook his head and called out, "Winner, Seiki and Team Security!"

Darren stood up and quietly said, "I think that's all we can see right now... Let's check on Shuho and Zeiya..." In truth, seeing his former Team Satisfaction teammates in so much pain was heartbreaking, but he knew the true about what had happened. No one among them were at Seiki's level as of yet.

Seth could read Darren's emotion like an open book, but kept that book's contents to himself. He silently followed, Shane in tow after slipping his hands into his back pockets, trying hard to look at the devastation.

Harley stood hawk-eyed looking to the scene, recording the image into his memory. He wouldn't forget what he had seen, and he wouldn't allow it to happen to his friends. He had to crack Seiki's dueling style, but he had nothing to show yet.

He reluctantly followed.

Seiki made her way to her Team's pit stop, stopping her runner and takng off her helmet. She turns to Team 5Ds, grinning and waving as she leaves the arena.

"Great...how are they suppose to deal with a girl ilke her?" Yuki grunts, scratching her head. "Don't tell me we have more work to do..."

"Not you..." a voice said as the male from the first round was standing in front of all of them. "As those three are... they won't defeat Seiki or Takuro... Shirei should be with Zeiya and Shuho at this time. I need Harley to come with me."

Darren jumped to Harley's front, defensive after what he had seen. "What are you doing here?! Aren't you suppose to be IN this tournament?" Darren asked, remembering this was Zeiya's opponent not long ago.

"I no longer need to duel to change the outcome of events," he simply replied. "The only way the fallen can rest in peace is to stop them all as soon as possible!"

Seth eyed the man, emotionless in his stare but always as calculated. "He's not lying" he stepped to Darren, never taking his eyes off of the man.

Harley initially took a step back at the voice, but the approval from Seth eased him a bit. He nodded, pushing through the 'protectors' to meet the man one on one. "If you can help me beat Seiki and keepmy friends safe....." he looked back to the academy duelists, then back to the man in an expression of firey ambition, "I'm yours."

At the garage, Shuho's body started to stir lightly. His eyes shook slightly before opening. He rose to a sitting position, trying to look around as his eyesight was somewhat blurred. "Ah... what happened..." Shuho said.

Darren turned to Seth and then to Harley, finally nodding as he asked the man, "Just what is this about?" The man turned and said, "In order to win this battle, the three of them need to improve their dueling skills as well as their connections to their spirits and their own natural abilities. All of that must be trained and quickly. I have the means to do this."