Tournament Speedrun

Something that she realised was another annoying tidbit in this world that runs on card games, was the tournament system. The first annoying tidbit was of course, the method that they choose who goes first or second.

The system which her original world goes for, is either a coin flip or good old rock paper scissors, methods that are equally fair for both duelists.

In this world, that thing does exist, and while the challenger usually goes first, something like that can also be ignored if someone just straight up says that they're the one going first. It's infuriating, it isn't fair, and since it isn't she's going to abuse the absolute heck out of it.

She was using a control variation of Ancient Gear Machina after all, what with having Floodgate Trap Hole and Drowning Mirror Force, the latter was a card that she rarely used since she would mostly face Ancient Gear mirror matches, and most of their usable monsters kaes battle traps unusable.

But they're probably going to actually see play in this tournament, thankfully. Since the contestants aren't only children in Academy Island but also other aspiring duelists from all over the world.

Academia, disregarding how bad of an education system it has, was a world renowned school after all. And the island itself was a tourism spot too, where did you expect they got their money from? The answer was tourism and donations from graduates, that's where.

But back to the crappy tournament system, it's all just a round with a single duel.

It's. Just. A. Single. Round.

It's incredibly unlike the best out of three that she would usually play in tournaments. So basically there's no way someone can use their side deck unless they prepared for the opponent's deck beforehand. Which means that information is key, something that she has on spades and also does not have.

She says that because she knows what most decks can do unless they run a spicy tech card, but she also does not know who would be using them. Which means that specific counter cards like Ancient Gear Inspection wouldn't really be useful, much to her dismay, since her prediction was that the duelist that she'll find in the tournament will not mostly be Ancient Gear brickfest mirror matches.

Which made her quite giddy really. The only chances for her to actually duel against non Ancient Gears was when she's Free Dueling because in that place the decks were randomized, albeit locking to non meta decks.

That and she can duel some specific decks too if she uses Gate, something that she hadn't done a lot because she had to farm to actually use it. She did farm against Roid decks though, because it was super easy and it was one of the ways for her to get Limiter Removal.

And she got one! It's still only a one off since she only has one copy, but it was nice that she at least has one!

Speaking of her deck, she did think of playing Monarchs, but she had opted out of it since she still doesn't have full powered Monarchs. She still only has two Stormforth and Pantheism, not to mention that by getting those she doesn't have enough DP to buy the second Domain.

And she still only has one copy each of Edea and Eidos! It was annoying! Her Perk makes it so that she should at least start without a brick in her hand, but she can still draw bricks!

So she went with her Ancient Gears Machina, she forgone some of the cards that would only work in mirror matches like Inspection and maybe even remove Double Imitation, probably not though it was a useful recursion. She had put on other generic good stuff though after farming against many opponents on Free Duel, and that being Twin Twisters that she had finally gotten by destroying enough backrow with Kuraz who was sadly her only backrow removal, and another battle trap, Storming Mirror Force.

She would like to say that she was ready for the coming tournament, and with sister Claire's blessing, she and Mei enlisted in the Junior League Competition. They ended up in totally different brackets too, something that she was glad for and something that Mei was also happy for.

"Yuuna!" the violet haired girl called out to her. She tilted her head and hummed in a questioning tone, curious as to what she was "I'll definitely go to the finals! So I'll be dueling you then okay!" the girl said with a determined look. "I'll show you how much I have learned! And then, we'll enter Academia and show Yuuna's greatness!"

The small girl declared so in front of so many people in the stadium's entrance that it made her incredibly nervous and embarrassed. As quickly as she could she picked up Mei, who did not complain and instead seemingly glowed in her arms, and left the venue as fast as she could.

She did answer the violet haired girl's determined declaration with a smile of her own. "I'll be waiting for you then." she said and the smile of the girl in her arms glowed even brighter.

She ignored the outrage that they had made at the entrance of the enormous stadium, and simply went back to the orphanage that was their home.

-

They got scolded. They got scolded hard.

Sister Claire was quite angry that Mei caused quite a ruckus, and she also scolded her for not doing anything to stop her from doing so. They had to sit in seiza as sister Claire preached on and on about why they shouldn't make a mess in a public space.

The night before the tournament, she had forgone farming in Free Duel, and instead opted to simply have a good night's sleep so that she wouldn't be sleep deprived to the point that she would make misplays after misplays.

Soon enough morning came, and she took her time eating and made her way out to the stadium where the competition will be held with Mei in tow, only to meet sister Claire on the gate out of the orphanage.

"Mei, Yuuna." the blonde woman said as she beckoned them to come near. She glanced at Mei who also looked at her in confusion before making their way towards the nun. Sister Claire took her time looking at both of them, before giving them two small boxes. "Open them." she told them, and they did just that.

To their surprise inside of her box lies a red jacket that was quite large for her current size, and in Mei's was a matching one albeit in a purple color. They looked towards their caretaker who gestured for them to put it on, and they did so.

It wasn't quite a fit considering that she was still merely an eight year old, but the material that the jacket was made out of felt comfortable and seemed that it would last for quite a long time.

"It's the most that I could give you two, considering what you two are aspiring to become." the blonde woman said before kneeling and hugging them both, something that they both reciprocated. "No matter what happens, just know that I will always be proud of you two. The children and I will be watching through the television and cheering you on."

The nun then let go, and took one more good look at them before smiling. "Come back safely alright? I'll prepare a good meal for dinner." and with that being said, the nun waved them goodbye as they went their separate ways to the stadium.

"Welp. This is it." Before them was the gigantic gate of the stadium, though they wouldn't be going through there since the actual entrance for the duelists of different brackets were on different sides of the building. She glanced at the violet haired girl on her side who had a determined look and ruffled her head with a smile. "I'll see you at finals then."

She heard a cry of confirmation from behind her, and she simply responded by waving a hand without looking back.

As she went her way to the waiting room where the duelists of her bracket was going to wait on, she saw a certain someone on her way to the waiting room. Talking with the man, whose name if she remembered correctly was Joe, was Haru, who immediately frowned when she came into view.

"I'm going." the black haired boy said to the man, and left before he could even respond. He went past her, completely disregarding her, and leaving her alone with the man in the hallway.

"Well that was quite rude of him. Honestly even after all that I have done for him he still holds no respect for him." the man scoffed as he neared her. As he neared her, his scowl turned into that fake smile of his and he started to talk. "Well I must say, it is quite the surprise to meet you here little miss Yuuna. Why, I had thought that sister Claire had all but banned the orphanage children from entering the tournament!" He ended as he let out a chuckle.

"She basically has really." she said, garnering the man's interest. "Also, don't call me little." she already has enough for being belittled for her height in her last life thank you.

"Oh? How so?" he asked intrigued, ignoring her last comment.

"She would let only the children that have beaten her in a duel to join in, that's all." she said as she started walking. "Well then, I would say that it has been nice meeting you, but I doubt that this will be our last meeting so I'll hold off saying something like that." she narrowed her eyes at the ever smiling man before her.

At her comment the man let out a hearty laugh. "Kahahaha! Interesting! Then I too, shall hold my judgement on how our future meetings shall hold, little miss Yuuna." With that said, the two started walking in different directions.

-

She soon made her way to the waiting room for her bracket, one which was filled with young children around her age. Most of them look extremely giddy, though there was one or two that looked extremely serious as they looked at their deck.

She was also one of those children that was extremely giddy, though she kept that energy inside her as she simply made herself comfortable and sat down in one of the sofas that was available.

There were a few people that tried to approach her to talk about general topics, things like where she came from, what she's going to do after the competition, and some even tried to pry what her deck was. Good try but maybe try not to be so blatant next time.

It wasn't long before the monitor in the room blipped to existence. "Welcome aspiring duelists!" The voice that was the proctor came from the monitor. It was a… man? She thinks that the person projected by the monitor was a man by the tone of his voice, though the look of his face was too packed with make-up and his clothes were strange to the point that it was quite indiscernible. "My name is Cronos de Medici, and I shall be the proctor and commentator for the duration of the competition."

The screen soon changed into a bracket, and her name was listed in one of the many boxes of course. "The list before you is the formation of the bracket that you are in, you all shall make your way to the assigned posts and duel the opponent that is assigned to you. Good luck."

With the message being received, a door on the other side of the room opened leading to what was presumably the middle of the stadium. She re-read the list one more time to make sure that she got the place and her opponent correctly and made her way out as did many others.

She had to shield her eyes when they actually made it out, as she was immediately hit by a ray of sunlight on her way out of the waiting room. As soon as her eyes got used to the level of brightness, she looked at her surroundings and saw that there were many other proctors, adults wearing prim proper suits holding signs with names near some platforms, and finding her name, made her way to the platform that was assigned to her.

She saw that her opponent was already there waiting for her while looking quite smug. The boy didn't look like anyone that she had seen, which wasn't saying much if she was being honest.

"You might as well give up girl! You're not going to be able to beat the deck that my Papa bought for me!" he declared as he activated his duel disk, and she couldn't help but stare at him befuddled at his statement.

She finally met a spoiled brat archetype! She never thought that she'll actually meet someone like that, but then again this was a tournament that was incredibly famous to the point that everyone all over the world is joining so she was bound to meet one or two children that she thinks are strange.

She said nothing as she activated her duel disk. And the two began their duel.

""DUEL!""

Yuuna: 4000LP

Kane Ivai: 4000LP

"I'll go first okay?" she said unenthusiastically. She took a look at the cards on her hand and set up her play. "Well first off I'll set two cards face down. Then I'll summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound." The monster she played let out a mechanical growl as the mechanical hunting dog appeared in all its mechanical glory.

Ancient Gear Hunting Hound - Earth/Machine/Level 3/Effect: 1000/1000

"Since Hunting Hound was normal summoned, I get to deal 600 damage." The mechanical hound let out a bark and pounced at her opponent to deliver a light bite.

The kid put his arms up, as if such a thing would be able to block the attack of a holographic projection. "Gah!" he let out a scream as the monster attacked him.

Kane Ivai: 3400LP

"I'll be activating Hunting Hound's other effect then. I can use it as a replacement for a fusion card. I'll fuse my Hunting Hound that I have on field and Ancient Gear Box on my hand." The mechanical box with arms and legs appeared briefly as the hound let out a howl and the two monsters deconstructed into gears and parts to fuse into one singular being.

"Fusion summon! Come, Ancient Gear Howitzer!" The machine with a pair of wings and cannons for hands made its way to her field, its weapon clicking as it loaded its ammo ready to fire at her behest.

Ancient Gear Howitzer - Earth/Machine/Level 8/Fusion/Effect: 1000/1800

"Howitzer is unaffected by other cards' effects just so you know. I'll activate its effect, once per turn, I can inflict 1000 damage to you. Howitzer Fire!" The winged machine shot out its salvo making her opponent scream in fear once more as he put his arms to guard.

Kane Ivai: 2400LP

"Well I'll end my turn then. Good luck." she said as she eyed the now panicking boy.

"I-I don't need luck! My Papa's deck is going to trounce you! I'll draw!" The boy then drew a card. "I'll activate Polymerization! I'll fuse my Aquarian Alessa and Magical Reflect Slime!" The two monsters briefly appeared on the field, one was a lady with short blue hair with a white yukata holding a white flower on hand and the other was a mass of blue slime, the two soon merged in a spiral forming one monster.

"Fusion summon! Appear, Superalloy Beast Raptinus!" The monster that appeared on the boy's field was a winged dragon of varying colors, what with its body parts being a mess of other dragonic monsters that had nothing in common. But geminis huh? Can't say that she'll have any trouble winning this then.

Superalloy Beast Raptinus - Light/Dragon/Level 8/Fusion/Effect: 2200/2200

"With Raptinus on the field, all gemini monsters are treated as effect monsters! You know about them right? Well, I doubt that someone like you know about them, so I'll explain-"

She cut the boy's explanation off by stating. "I know what geminis and their gimmick are, thank you. Do continue with your turn." the boy scowled, annoyed that she had cut off his explanation, but obliged nonetheless.

"Well then since you do know, I'll proceed! I'll summon Shadow Delver!" The monster that the boy played was a cloaked figure whose shadow enlarged into the form of a malicious fiend thrice his size.

Shadow Delver - Dark/Fiend/Level 4/Gemini/Effect: 1500/500

"Shadow Delver's gemini effect activates since I have Superalloy Beast Raptinus on the field! I can select one level 4 or lower Dark monster I control and it can attack you directly! I'll choose itself and go to the battle phase!" The boy looked giddy as he moved to the battle phase.

"Well, I'll activate my trap then. Machina Overdrive. I can select one machine monster on my field and summon one 'Machina' monster with a different name from my hand or deck, and then destroy the target. I'll target Howitzer and summon Machina Citadel from my deck." The mechanica tank that was Citadel made its way to her field, its firearm brimming with power and the chainsaw already spinning.

Machina Citadel - Earth/Machine/Level 10/Effect: 3000/2500

"Since Howitzer is unaffected by card effects however, it's not destroyed." Neat ruling on overdrive, you don't have to actually destroy your target to summon whatever Machina that you want to summon.

"Guh! Well, I'll attack you directly with Shadow Delver." The fiend raised its claws, ready to attack. Should she trigger Citadel? If she does then she might possibly win without losing LP.

Well it's worth a shot. "I'll activate Citadel's effect. I can target one machine that I control and destroy it to destroy your monsters with attack that is less than or equal to it. I'll target Citadel and clear your field." The giant machine then proceeded to self-destruct, destroying the monster of her opponent's field as well.

Left with no other cards on his field, the boy could only stare at her slack jawed. "Whu- You!" he glowered towards her, and did not do anything else as he silently ended his turn.

"Well, my turn then. I'll draw." She took a glance at the card that she drew. There's a chance that the boy is playing hand traps like Battle Fader, no matter how small that chance is, but she'll take it to go for lethal.

"I'll activate Howitzer's effect again. Howitzer Fire!" the boy let out another scream as the winged machinery dired its salvo for the second time of the duel.

Kane Ivai: 1400LP

"And I'll summon Ancient Gear Wyvern, and with its effect I'll add one Ancient Gear Reborn from my deck to my hand. I'll also change the position for Howitzer to attack." the other winged machine descended to her field with a screech. A familiar sight to her at this point, the wyvern took point as it hovered in front of her.

Ancient Gear Wyvern - Earth/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1700/1200

"Battle. Finish it." With her command, the two machines let out their attacks. The gear themed mechanical wyvern let out a scratch as it pounced toward her opponent while Howitzer fired a salvo towards her opponent.

With a final scream, the rich boy suffered an overwhelming defeat by her hands.

Kane Ivai: 0LP

"Well then, thanks for the game." she said as she deactivated her duel disk and walked closer and extended her hand to the boy to shake his hand. Seeing this, the boy slapped her hand away, and stormed off to leave the venue.

"Wow, rude." she mumbled as she turned and watched the other competitors, only to see that most of them had fallen into a grind game against one another. Even though from the looks of it, none of their decks were built for the grind battle, that one kid has a Buster Blader deck for goodness sake!

-

She ended up just leaning on a wall looking over the other duels, there wasn't really much of a meta deck to be found sadly, even in the context of the GX era. Seriously, much of the duelist just relied on fusioning a fusion monster and passing, even though the monster doesn't interact with the opponent.

Some even play Fusion Weapon unironically! Which is a nice tech card now that she thinks about it, Ojama Knight with a Fusion Weapon when Ojama Country was set was hilarious to see being pulled off.

The round ended soon enough, and the second round of the preliminaries of her bracket started.

She faced her opponent, who funnily enough was the kid that unironically played Ojama. "Well, let's begin then. Good luck." she said with a smile as she wished good luck to her, something that was not reciprocated by her opponent sadly. So many of these kids are rude.

""DUEL!""

Yuuna: 4000LP

Masaomi Margot: 4000LP

"I'll go first!" the boy declared. "I'll activate Unexpected Dai! Since I control no monster, I can special summon one level 4 normal monster from my deck! I'll special summon X-Head Cannon in attack mode!" a white sphere of energy appeared on the boy's side of the field, and when it receded it revealed a blue and yellow machine with a mighty cannon barrel with two arms, though instead of a lower half it had a giant spiked ball.

X-Head Cannon - Light/Machine/Level 4/Normal: 1800/1500

So this time her opponents use unions huh? Though sadly not the good union monsters, and if she wasn't wrong ABC-Dragon Buster was already out during pendulum format. So she really was confused as to why the kid wasn't using it. Probably because of the cost. Yeah, good cards in this world are either extremely limited or have the price of a car.

She wasn't kidding about that last part, Five Headed Dragon of all things costs around a million!

"Then I'll use the spell card Ojama Ride! A spell that allows me to send one each of 'Ojama Yellow', 'Ojama Black' and 'Ojama Green' from my hand to the graveyard to special summon up to 3 level 4 or lower machine-type union monsters from my deck in defence position!"

Alright, that's strong, incredibly strong. Anime only cards are broken like that huh? She really should get one of those cards, then again, meta decks would probably be more consistent in comparison.

"I'll send one each of 'Ojama Yellow', 'Ojama Black' and 'Ojama Green' from my hand to the graveyard to special summon W-Wing Catapult, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank from my deck in defence position!" The boy discarded three cards from his hand, and said action resulted in three monsters materializing on his side of the field.

The first one was a light blue flying machine, with thrusters and a pair of wings. The second was a metallic red dragon, one that was shooting lightning from its mouth the moment it appeared. And the last monster to appear was a yellow caterpillar-like tank with a mono eye on the front.

W-Wing Catapult - Light/Machine/Level 4/Union/Effect: 1300/1500

Y-Dragon Head - Light/Machine/Level 4/Union/Effect: 1500/1600

Z-Metal Tank - Light/Machine/Level 4/Union/Effect: 1500/1300

The boy still continued with his turn, continuing his combo. "Last but not least, I'll normal summon V-Tiger Jet!" With a roar the mechanical tiger-jet machine hybrid appeared on the boy's field, as it flew up into the sky and settled next to its brethren.

V-Tiger Jet - Light/Machine/Level 4/Normal: 1600/1800

She was actually giddy looking at the grinning boy's field. She didn't think that she would see VWXYZ turbo in her second match, and it certainly was easier to summon with that card that he used. Ojama Ride was it? The only way that she could think of turboing such a monster was probably by running Ojama Blue into things and then using Ojamatching and Ojamassimilation.

"I'll now banish the X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank that I control, to special summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon from my extra deck!" The three monsters that he had called then began emitting electricity, the metallic tank opened a hatch in its tracks revealing cannons and compacted itself, the metallic dragon folded its wings and tail to combine with the tank below it, and the cannon shouldered cannon simply combined on top of the dragon.

XYZ-Dragon Cannon - Light/Machine/Level 8/Fusion/Effect: 2800/2600

"Now I'll banish V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult to special summon VW-Tiger Catapult!" The same occurrence happened to the mechanical tiger and winged catapult, as electricity surged between them and the two combined to one mechanical machine.

VW-Tiger Catapult - Light/Machine/Level 6/Fusion/Effect: 2000/2100

The boy was grinning from ear to ear as he continued to finish his combo. "Now, I'll banish both VW-Tiger Catapult and XYZ-Dragon Cannon, to special summon VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon from my extra deck in attack position!" The two combined machinery then dismantled, and started forming one mechanical giant.

The winged catapult formed the legs, the tanks tracks formed the hands, the winged dragon and head cannon became the giant robot's torso, and the mechanical tiger formed the head. Its red machine wings unruffled from its back and the cannons on its chest became pointed towards her.

VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon - Light/Machine/Level 8/Fusion/Effect: 3000/2800

That's an incredibly big beater that doesn't interact on her turn. Just a big wall for all things considered. But stil, she couldn't help but marvel at the monster before her as it towered over the boy, standing in front of him protectively.

"With that, I'll end my turn! I like to see you try getting over my monster!" the boy smugly declared, seemingly already convinced of his victory after performing a mass minus for a monster that doesn't even float.

She smiled at the boy, and simply nodded. "I'll do my best to do so." and she will indeed do so if the cards in her hand have anything to say about it. "I'll draw." looking at the card that she has drawn, she could certainly do it.

"I'll activate the continuous spell, Ancient Gear Castle. And then activate the spell Ancient Gear Catapult targeting the castle, to special summon one Ancient Gear Golem directly from my deck ignoring its summoning condition." with the sounds of grinding gears, the titular golem of the Ancient Gear archetype made its way onto her field.

Ancient Gear Golem - Earth/Machine/Level 8/Effect: 3000/3000

She saw the boy gasp as she easily summoned a monster that rivals his with a simple two card combo, but she still continued to perform her OTK. "To continue, I'll normal summon Ancient Gear Frame. And activate its effect to discard one card to add one card that specifically lists 'Ancient Gear Golem'. I'll be discarding one Machina Citadel to add one Ancient Gear Fusion to my hand." The skeletal frame of the golem appeared on her field, and with its appearance she added the archetypal fusion spell to her hand.

Ancient Gear Frame - Earth/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1600/500

"Now I'll activate Ancient Gear Fusion! And since I control an Ancient Gear Golem on my side of the field, I can send the necessary fusion materials from my deck to the graveyard! I'll fuse the Ancient Gear Golem that I control with an Ancient Gear Golem from my deck and an Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!"

The three monsters that she listed appeared in her field, two identical mechanical giants and one mechanical hunting dog. The three soon broke down into mechanical parts and gears, combining into one mechanical giant.

"Fusion summon! Come, Ancient Gear Megaton Golem!" The monster that appeared on her field was a mechanical monstrosity. A four legged machine with three pairs of arms emitting electricity as it stood slightly taller than the combined machine that was VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon.

Ancient Gear Megaton Golem - Earth/Machine/Level 9/FusionEffect: 3300/3300

"Alright, let's go to battle! I'll attack your VWXYZ with my Megaton Golem! Megaton Pound!" The machine processed her order, using its six arms to deliver blows to the combined machine that was the VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon, and dismantling it entirely.

"I-Impossible! My monster!" the boy shouted as his monster was decimated and he received a small amount of damage.

Masaomi Margot: 3700LP

"B-but you still won't beat me! I'll go into my next turn, and then-"

"Sadly for you." she interrupted him. "There won't be a next turn. Ancient Gear Megaton Golem can attack up to the number of Ancient Gear Golems that were used as its fusion materials, and since I used two for his fusion-" she saw the boy's eyes widen in realization, and she grinned. "It can attack one more time! Megaton Golem! Frame! Finish it!"

The two machines complied, and finished the match by delivering their respective attacks directly towards her opponent. "GAAH!" Her opponent screamed as the holographic projection attacked him.

Masaomi Margot: 0LP

With the match done, she turned off her duel disk and approached the boy with an outstretched hand, intending for a hand shake. "That was a good duel, I'd love to duel you again sometime." she said with a smile, and surprisingly the boy was smiling as well and he shook her hand.

"You too! That was amazing! Well, I have to go now, good luck on your next match!" he said before going off the platform and leaving the venue. What a good sport, if only more children were like him and not stock up asses that think Hunting Hound burn pass was a legitimate strategy.

-

Just like last time, she waited for the other matches around her to finish. And soon enough the matches ended. She was called into one of the platforms by one of the proctors, and faced her opponent, who was a girl this time.

"Good luck then." she said as she smiled at her opponent, who merely nodded in response and activated their duel disk.

""DUEL!""

Yuuna: 4000LP

Aria Kiryu: 4000LP

The girl gestured to her to go first, so she simply nodded and started her turn. "I'll go first it seems. I'll start by activating Machina Reformation! Discarding the Machina Citadel in my hand in order to add one copy of Machina Overdrive and Machina Fortress to my hand."

She added the two cards to her hand, and proceeded to set the now obviously Overdrive "I'll be setting three cards face down now." Three cards facing face down appeared on her field. "And now I'll be summoning Ancient Gear Wyvern." with a screech, the mechanical wyvern made its way onto her side.

Ancient Gear Wyvern - Earth/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1700/1200

"I'll activate Wyvern's effect. Since it's normal summoned, I can add one 'Ancient Gear' card from my deck to my hand. I'll be adding Ancient Gear Box, and when Box is added I can add an earth machine with 500 attack or defence. I'll be adding Ancient Gear Frame to my hand. With that, I'll end my turn." shuffling the cards on her hand she ended her turn and passed the control to her opponent.

"My turn! I'll draw!" The girl drew her card with vigor. "I'll activate the field spell, Harpie's Hunting Ground!" the floor of their platform shifted into flat ground, a card that was quite bad since she has three face down backrow.

She didn't activate her Overdrive though, since she can chain it to the activation of Hunting Ground anyway.

"I'll then activate the continuous spell, Hysteric Sign! And add one Elegant Egoist from my deck to my hand." The girl added the Harpie's signature spell card, and continued her play. "Now I'll normal summon Harpie Queen!" In accordance with her command, the green haired queen of harpies appeared on her field, proudly revealing her white feathered wings.

Harpie Queen - Wind/Winged Beast/Level 4/Effect: 1900/1200

"Since I summoned a Harpie monster, Harpie's Hunting Ground activates! I'll destroy your middle face-down!"

That activates Elegant Egoist and eats a normal summon, so she'll chain her face down to that. "I'll activate the trap, Floodgate Trap Hole! When you summon a monster, or monsters,, I can change them to face down defence position! Monsters changed to face down defence positions by this effect can't change their battle positions!"

Since the girl targeted the middle face down, she'll chain it too. "I'll also chain the trap card, Machina Overdrive! I can target one machine monster I control and special summon one 'Machina' monster with a different name from my hand or deck and then destroy the targeted card! I'll target Wyvern to special summon Machina Citadel from my deck, of course Wyvern is then destroyed."

The girl before her could not chain anything to the card's activation, and so her wyvern was destroyed, and in its place was the gigantic machine that was Citadel.

Machina Citadel - Earth/Machine/Level 10/Effect: 3000/2500

"Since a face up earth machine monster was destroyed by a card effect while Citadel is in the graveyard, I can special summon it!" with a wave of her hand, a second perfect copy of Citadel made its way onto her field.

Machina Citadel - Earth/Machine/Level 10/Effect: 3000/2500

The girl clicked her tongue, seeing that her play had been interrupted. "I'll set one card face down, and end my turn.'' The girl ended her turn with two face down on her field. Since she's running a Harpie deck, it's possibly Icarus Attack, which can make it so that she'll lose her entire field.

"Alright then, I'll draw." She checked the card that she had just drawn and the other cards on her hand. She basically already showed her hand basically, what with most of it being cards that she added last turn. Now the only problem that she has was how to get lethal while going through that set card that was probably Icarus Attack.

"I'll activate the continuous spell, Ancient Gear Fortress. And I'll normal summon Ancient Gear Frame!" The skeletal frame of the titular Ancient Gear Golem appeared onto her field.

Ancient Gear Frame - Earth/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1600/500

"I'll activate my trap card, Icarus Attack!" the girl declared. Internally, she screamed 'called it!', but let the girl continue. "This card lets me tribute one winged beast monster to destroy two cards on the field! I'll tribute my Harpie Queen to destroy your two Citadels!" with a blinding light illuminating from the card that was Harpie Queen, her two Citadels were now removed from the field.

Maybe she should have just put in regular Trap Hole instead of Floodgate Trap Hole, Bottomless would be a good one since she has a few copies of it, so maybe she'll change that later.

But she can still reach lethal from here. "I'll activate the effect of Machina Fortress from my hand! I can discard machine monsters whose total levels equal 8 or more to special summon this card from my hand or graveyard! I'll pitch Fortress itself and Box from my hand to special summon it from the graveyard!" as she discarded the required cards, the tank-like machine appeared on her field, it's cannon ready and pointed towards her opponent.

Machina Fortress -Earth/Machine/Level 7/Effect: 2500/1600

"Well, now let's move to the battle phase! Attack directly, Fortress! Frame!" with the two monsters attacking directly for lethal, her opponent could do nothing but sigh as she accepted the attacks.

Aria Kiryu: 0LP

The girl turned her duel disk off and approached her opponent to be a good sport once more, and to her delight her opponent did the same thing. They shook hands and traded pleasantries, even added one another on Dueling Book, the social media platform, and eventually went their respective paths.

-

She was kind of sad not being able to see the Harpie deck pop off, but then again she already promised the girl that they'll duel if they ever meet again so hopefully that promise would be fulfilled one day.

This time she didn't even have to wait, as the only other match had just ended as well. The proctors once more led her to the platform where she would duel, and facing her was none other than a glasses wearing boy who stood in the way of her entering the top 8.

"Well then." she said as she activated her duel disk and faced her opponent and smiled. "Let's begin shall we?"

"Indeed." the boy said looking serious in contrast to her lighthearted and carefree look. "I'll end this soon enough"

""DUEL!""

Yuuna: 4000LP

Lloyd Nagare: 4000LP

Once again the opponent gestured for her to go first, and she simply sighed and complied. She was a good sport like that after all. "I'll go first then." She said as she looked at the cards on her hand.

It wasn't a bad hand, she'll go with that play then. "First off, I'll set one card face down." As per usual, a face down card appeared on her field. "Now I'll normal summon Gold Gadget." The golden counterpart to Silver Gadget made its way onto her field, its entire exterior was plated in shining gold as the machine's center shone brightly.

Gold Gadget - Light/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1700/800

"When Gold Gadget is normal or special summoned, I can special summon one Level 4 machine type monster from my hand. I'll special summon Ancient Gear Frame from my hand in attack position." The mechanical skeleton of an Ancient Gear Golem made its way on her side of the field, as it appeared from the light that the golden gadget emitted from its core.

Ancient Gear Frame - Earth/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1600/500

"I'll activate Frame's effect! I can discard one card to add one card that specifically lists 'Ancient Gear Golem' in the card text. I'll discard Machina Citadel and add Ancient Gear Fusion and activate it! Fusing the Ancient Gear Frame that I control and Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon from my hand." The mechanical dragon briefly appeared on her field, letting out a loud roar as it and the skeletal frame were scrapped into parts and gears and fused into one.

"Fusion summon! Come, Ancient Gear Howitzer!" with a screech, the winged machine with cannons for arms made its appearance. Aiming its cannons at the ready towards her opponent.

Ancient Gear Howitzer - Earth/Machine/Level 8/Fusion/Effect: 1000/1800

"Hoiwtzer's effect! Once per turn I can inflict 1000 points of damage! Howitzer Fire!" said machine then fired off its multiple cannons towards her opponent, dealing a quarter of their Life Points as damage.

Lloyd Nagare: 3000LP

"And with that, I end my turn."

"It's my turn then. I'll draw." the glasses wearing boy said as he drew a card. "I'll first activate Pre-Preparation of Rites! This card lets me add a ritual spell from my deck to my hand, and also add one ritual monster from my deck or graveyard whose name is listed on that ritual spell! I'll add the ritual spell, End of the World and also add one Ruin, Queen of Oblivion to my hand!"

She had to blink several times in order to process the information that she had just received. She was facing Ruin? As in, the ritual deck Ruin, Queen of Oblivion? The boy with a Ruin, Queen of Oblivion deck almost made it past the preliminaries?

Wow, she really needs to rethink the standard of this world. She had beaten a few competent duelists to get this far, but to think that someone piloting what seems to be Demise and Ruin was her last opponent in the preliminaries…

And wasn't this a ritual deck without Impcantations? How did the kid manage to get this far?!

Unknowingly causing internal panic to the girl that he was facing, the boy continued his turn. "I'll now activate Advanced Ritual Art! This card can be used to ritual summon any ritual monster by sending normal monsters from the deck to the graveyard whose Levels equal to the Level of the ritual monster!" After the declaration, a stonehenge-like structure appeared on the field before him. The boy then showed her two cards from his deck.

"I'll send two copies of Alexandrite Dragon from my deck to the graveyard, in order to ritual summon the Demise, King of Armageddon!" And just as he said, the monsters that he had presented, a pair of gem covered dragons, were engulfed in a bright green light. And as the light disappeared, the one who stood in the platform was none other than the axe wielding giant King of Armageddon known as Demise.

Demise, King of Armageddon - Dark/Fiend/Level 8/Ritual/Effect: 2400/2000

She simply stood there awed at the appearance of the giant axe wielding fied, as her opponent still continued his turn. "I'll activate the effect of Demise! By paying 2000 Life Points, I can destroy all other cards on the field! Go! Armageddon Strike!" With his command, the axe wielding fiend released a burst of blue fire that engulfed the whole field, destroying her Gold Gadget.

Lloyd Nagare: 1000LP

"What!?" the boy let out a surprised noise as he saw that the defence position Howitzer had still stayed on her field.

"Oh yeah." she said, garnering the boy's attention. "Howitzer's immune to other card effects, sorry that I forgot about that. I thought that it was common knowledge at this point." she said as she rubbed the back of her head and said 'sorry, sorry.' to her opponent.

"And since Gold Gadget was destroyed by your card effect, I can special summon one Silver Gadget directly from my deck. Come, Silver Gadget!" As she commanded, the silver counterpart to her recently destroyed monster made its appearance on her field, guarding in defence position.

Silver Gadget - Light/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1500/1000

"Since Silver Gadget was special summoned, I can special summon one Level 4 machine monster from my hand. I'll special summon Ancient Gear Wyvern from my hand in defence position!" A screech was heard as the mechanical wyvern made its way onto the field, standing in front of her with its wings folded protectively.

Ancient Gear Wyvern - Earth/Machine/Level 4/Effect: 1700/1200

"Since Wyvern was summoned, I can add one 'Ancient Gear' card from my deck to my hand. I'll be adding Ancient Gear Box, and with Box's effect, I'll add Ancient Gear Frame." she said, finishing the chain of activation and letting her opponent continue.

He merely fixed the position of his glasses and glared at her. "No matter, you'll fall down all the same. Now I'll be using the ritual spell, End of the World to ritual summon once more! This time, I'll tribute Cyber Angel Benten and Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended from my hand to ritual summon Ruin, Queen of Oblivion!"

This time, instead of a stonehenge-like appearing, the ground beneath them began to crack and shine alight with blue light. The two monsters used as tribute, a fan holding black haired fairy and a blue and white ancient dragon were eaten by bright blue flames. And the flames soon revealed the form of a beautiful white haired woman holding a long staff, this was of course none other than the Queen of Oblivion, Ruin.

Ruin, Queen of Oblivion - Light/Fairy/Level 8/Ritual/Effect: 2300/2000

"The effect of Benten activates! I can add one light fairy monster from my deck to my hand! I'll be adding another copy of Ruin, Queen of Oblivion." The glasses wearing boy then added another copy of the Queen of Oblivion, and proceeded to continue onto the battle phase.

"Battle! I'll attack your pesky Howitzer with my Ruin!" With a wave of her staff, the staff wielding ritual monster summoned bright blue flames that devoured her winged mechanical monster. "And when Ruin destroys a monster, she can attack again!" he declared as the fairy readied another strike.

"Well now, I guess a new chain is activated then." she said. "First off, since Howitzer was destroyed by battle, I can special summon one 'Ancient Gear' monster ignoring its summoning condition. I'll be summoning the titular golem in attack position."

"I'll activate the effect of Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended from my graveyard! When you would special summon a monster, I can return this card to the hand to negate the special summon and banish the monster!" Said dragon was added back to the hand and the summon of her golem was negated and the card ended up being banished.

"Shoot, well, since an earth machine was destroyed by battle, I can special summon the Machina Citadel in my graveyard, I'll also be summoning him in attack position." Now on her side of the field stood a gigantic machine that was Machina Citadel whose side dwarfed Demise ever so slightly.

Machina Citadel - Earth/Machine/Level 10/Effect: 3000/2500

The boy stumbled even more, and he was sweating a lot too by the looks of it. But he simply fixed the position of his glasses and stood firm. "N-no matter! I can still win this duel! I'll attack your puny Wyvern with Ruin!" as the Queen of Oblivion was about to send a wave of flames once again, she stopped it by activating Citadel's effect.

"I'll be chaining Citadel's effect! I'll tribute it to destroy all monsters you control whose attack is lower than it!" The light blue machine then self-destructed, engulfing the boy's field with a cloud of explosion that also took out his entire field of monsters.

"Kuh!" He growled as he ended his turn.

"Alright, my turn then. I'll draw." She drew a card, but paid no attention to it as she already has lethal. "I'll switch all my monsters to attack position now. Battle! I'll finish with Silver Gadget!" The silvery machine charged towards her opponent, delivering the finishing blow.

"KUHAA!" the boy screamed as he received the attack of the chrome robot directly.

Lloyd Nagare: 0LP

"N-no way..." The boy let out as he fell to his knees and head held low as he stared at the floor of the platform and his glasses clattering onto the marble floor. "To think that I could have lost..." She approached the boy to see if he was fine and extended a hand to help him up.

"Hey, uhh. You okay?" she asked in a worried tone, checking on the boy's condition. The boy stared at the extended hand, and took it, though as soon as he stood up and took his glasses, he turned and silently walked away.

She felt bad for the boy as she watched him walk away silently. But eventually sighed and followed the proctor who congratulated her and led her to a room where there sat the proctor whom she had seen through the monitor from the waiting room, Cronos something or whatever.

"Ah, good! It seems that you have arrived quite earlier than expected, Signora Yuuna." The blonde man said as he stood up from his seat and walked closer towards her. Now that she looks closely, the proctor seems like a person that she knows from somewhere. The palette of his clothes and him being a proctor means that he was an official Academia staff, so does that make him the Obelisk Blue Professor?

Hold on a minute, a ponytailed blonde, Obelisk Blue Professor, a man that looks like a girl. Isn't that-

"I am Cronos de Medici. And I must say, I am quite impressed as to how you play your deck. Although, if you do not mind of me asking." the Professor of Obelisk Blue, the same professor that was on the series of GX and NOT Arc-V, narrowed his eyes on her.

"Where did you get those cards of your's, Signora Yuuna?"