The Regional Tournament

The Masked man grunted and said, "Now, Shout will boost King of Swords' attack!" He checked his drive trigger, revealing a Gold Rutile unit. "I hope you didn't think you could escape taking damage this turn!"

Nova crossed his arms as he was watching the battle. His mind thought to ignore Zeiro, but he blinked and said, "I'm not needed. This match is over depending on the next turn..."

"N-No guard...." She takes the damage, revealing a stand trigger as she draws. "C-Counterblast." she counterblast one and retires Conroe, looking into her deck and pulling out a Bahr, calling it with a Nehalem in front. "Tejas attacks your vanguard for a total of 16k."

"I wouldn't be too sure...at least it won't end so quickly." Zeiro said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I might be wrong...but I'm assuming that deck only has Yaksha as a vanguard. At least...that's what I'm thinking so far if this is your friend's doing."

"Wall Boy, guard!" he called out as he was defended by a heal trigger. He grinned as he placed the card in the drop zone.

"Power isn't everything..." Nova said simply as he watched the battle continue.

"T-Then...Y-Yaksha!" She rests the vanguard, Twin driving a Critical and a grade 1. "All effects to vanguard!"

"That's the problem...Yaksha's at 9k. If that's her only grade 3, she'll Have to use the power from rear units to make up the loss of ability that other Kagero g3s would have...Not only that, her opponent only needs 14k to attack her, so she'll have to guar more." Zeiro said, crossingn his arms.

The masked male took two damage, glaring as he realized that he already had a lot of damage, especially compared to her. He drew his card and called out, "Time to end this... I ride, Gold Rutile!" The unit came down as he grinned. "Call, Dragonic Overlord, Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!" the two firey units appeared as the male flipped three of his damage. "Dragon Overlord... COUNTERBLAST!"

"That would be true, if his opponent was more skilled," Nova said simply. "Like I said... its over..."

Sera's eyes widen as he calls Dragonic Overlord, backing away slightly. "D-Dragonic...Overlord...?" Her eyes refuse to move away from the dragon, glowing lightly before she starts shaking her head, holding it in fear. "N-No!"

"Bah. You're a prick." Zeiro scoffs, getting a bit irritated from Nova.

"Bahr will boost, Dragonic Overlord, attack Tejas!" he called out as the beast roared out and let lose a mighty flame at the dragon.

"Like I said..." Nova said as he looked down at Sera. "I'm not needed..." Forte's eyes were glued to Sera. "Nee-chan..." he said lightly, wondering why she seemed so afraid.

"B-Barri!" She throws down the perfect g1, discarding a Yaksha before putting it in the drop zone. "H-Hah..."

"I still say you're a prick." Zeiro repeats, glaring at him slightly before returning to Sera.

The masked man grinned as he rested his Storm. "Storm, attack the Vanguard!"

"That aside, all she needs is to survive... Judging by her opponent's playstyle, he won't have the defense to survive another blow. That's the reason he's trying to take out the rear guards with Overlord."

"I-Intercept!" She panics, moving Tejas into the guardian circle to block the attack. She discards the card, looking up at the man with terrified eyes.

"Yeah...Either way, it looks ilke that little brat got what he wanted from this fight." Zeiro simply states, shrugging his shoulders as he sits down, putting up his legs on top of a chair and crossing them with his hands behindh is head. "You know...if you don't hurry up and find that kid, he'll just leave."

The masked man grinned as he rested his Vanguard along with the unit behind it. "Shout will boost Gold Rutile's attack!" He flipped his two cards. One was a Grade 3. The other started to glow as the masked male grinned. "Got it... Stand Trigger... All effects to Dragonic Overlord!"

Nova shook his head lightly as he said, "He's not here. From what I can gather, he never was. I realized it when I talked to Team Cray. He has no interest in coming here on his own. Because of that, the only way to reach him is to win this tournament."

"N-No....W-Wait waht?!" Her eyes widen even further at the stand trigger, taking the damage to reveal a Yaksha. "N-No...No no no!!!" She shakes her head, holding it in fear as she slumps to her knees. Tears started falling down her eyes as her mind flash backs through her memories in a blinding amount of speed.

"Well. he's probably gonna have a kick out of this...If he isn't here, why did you think he was in the stands in teh first place?" Zeiro glances over at nova, more curious than taunting.

The crowd was stunned at her display. She was on the ground, crying when the match wasn't even over. Even the masked male hesitated to attack beyond this point, but Durbin only grinned and said, "Put her out of her misery... finish this!"

"Shin has a way of seeing what's happening," Nova said as he glared down at Sera's display. "There's be no point in bringing her here if he didn't. I thought that, if I couldn't find him here, I'd find his informant, but I'm not even seeing any signs of that..."

The masked man rested Dragonic Overlord, pointing it at her Vanguard as he readied his attack. At the stands, Forte rushed in front of Zora and called out, "Sera-nee chan! Don't give up! You can win!!"

"Ahhh...But tat doesn't answer my question, Nova Raizer." He crosses his arms in front of him. "I asked why you came up in the stands if you know he isn't here...didn't someone tell you or something?"

Zora looks at Sera with a sorrowful expression, clenching her hand into a fist. She was about to run in there when she hears Forte running and shouting. "W-What?! Where the hell have you been, you shrimp! Midget!" she shouts.

Sera felt her mind slipping into unconsciousness as she continues to cry, seeing all of the horrible memories of Shinra in her sight. Suddenly, she snaps back into reality as she hears Forte shouting, looking up at him with wide eyes. "F-for...te?"

He closed his eyes for a moment in thought, then simply said, "They wanted me away from them so she'd have to fight. I already knew that, but like I said, I'm not needed..."

"Its not over, Sera nee-chan!" Forte called out to her, yelling quite loud actually. "That kid doesn't know what he's talking about," the masked male said with a grin to Sera. "This is over and you know it. He's just a weakling with a weak deck, and your no better. Its better if you accept that we're winning this."

"Oh? That doens't sound like them at all..then again, it's not ilke I know any of them." Zeiro grunts before sitting up normally, grinning. "Ah well...the match is over anyways so no point in me staying."

Sera looks at Forte with tearful eyes, sniffing as she tries to dry up her tears. The moment she goes to wipe her eyes, she freezes at the man's words. "You....What...did you just say?"

Nova closed his eyes in thought. He had his point. He didn't know the kind of people in Foo Fighters, but if he was sent up there, there had to be a reason. He decided it was time for him to look for that reason.

"We're winning this because you're weak," the masked male said with a smirk. "We saw your last match and you've only got two good members. Problem is that one of them isn't even here, so you weaklings will be crushed by the CWF. That's what happens to weak fighters after all."

"Winning?! I JUST BEAT YOUR ASSES!!" Zora shouts, pointing at the masked man with a glare. "You're nothing but a bunch of cowards!!!"

"...Forte..." She grints her teeth, jumping back on her feet and slamming her hands on the table before glaring at the man with a glare Sera would never give off. "Forte is NOT weak! I'M the only weak one here!" she spats, throwing down a heal trigger and intercepting before drawing.

"Don't you DARE Call any of my friensd weak!" She calls a beserk dragon, flipping damage to activate his skill and destroy Storm while calling a Berger in the other empty Rearguard Circle and Aermo behidn Yaksha. "Yaksha attacks for 15k at your vanguard!"

"Nee-chan..." Forte muttered, surprised at Sera's new mood. He'd never seen her angry before now. The Masked man threw down his stand trigger and looked at the other cards in his hand. If he guarded more, then he'd have nothing for the next attack. "A... That's all," he said, his mood instantly changing as he knew there was something to this girl he hadn't seen before.

"All effects go to vanguard!" Her eyes started to glow brightly as she twin drives, revealing two criticals to break through his guard. "That's three damage!"

"W-What?!" Zora's eyes widen at her prediction of the triggers.

"What kinda power...?!" Durbin said from the stands as the Masked male took two damage. One of them was a heal trigger, but it didn't matter as the final damage was the end of the battle. "H...How did I lose... to someone like you?" he said. Durbin seemed to be the first to grasp the situation. He gave a small grin and said, "Alright, you beat us fair and square. Maybe you can take on Cray with power like that... Maybe." He turned, moving towards the door. "You're stronger than you look, Sera Mizuna. That was your name, right? I'll have to see that power of yours for myself sometime."

The referee raised his hand and called out, "Winner, Team DS!"

Sera panted, glaring as the masked man walks off. She takes a step back to turn around, only for an intense pain to jolt through her head, causing her to hold it lightly as she falls to her knees. "O-Ow..."

"Oi!!!" Zora rushes over to her side, helping her up as she looks at the painfilled girl with worried eyes.

"Oh? I didn't expect this." Zeiro grins, seeling Sera's power as it started to fade away. "Looks like she's maturing quite nicely, wouldn't you say, NovaRaizeR?"

Forte rushed to Sera's side, looking at her with concern and guilt. "Nee-chan... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't here...." he said with teary eyes.

Nova wasn't in the stands. He was with the already at the arena floor, looking to Sera. The manager walked up to them all and said, "Sera-chan should go to the infirmary to rest. That fight must have put her through a lot."

Sera moved her head up to see Forte, smiling weakly. "I-It's not your fault, Forte...It's mine..for being weak..." She then passes out, causing Zora to catch her as she nods to the Manager.

Zeiro blinks, realizing Nova wasn't next to him anymore. "Bah...he's a ninja!" He grunts before grinning and standing up. "Well then...I better go see how our Cray people are doign~" With that said, he takes his leave of the stands.

As the team moved Sera to the Infirmary, a boy with light blue eyes looked at them as they were leaving from the stands. "Team DS... The ones Shinra told us about..." he said lightly, almost under his breath. "I thought coming down here to see it would be lame, but guess I was wrong."

Inside the Infirmary, Sera was in a bed. The manager had set her there while the other fights were going on. Forte stayed at her side, worried and still feeling at fault. Nova was there as well, completely silent and staring at her.