(Third Person PoV)

Scene set!

Setting was a dueling arena that was crowded with people. Waiting for the upcoming duel between the Champion and his challenger who is the daughter of the previous Action Duel Champion plus the world's famous Dueltainer.

"Are you all ready to see the duel!?" Nico shouted and the crowd roared with excitement.

"We will be using Action Duel Rules so the Field Spell will be chosen at random. Let's do this! This will be the duel to end all duels!" Nico then snapped his fingers and a random field spell got chosen.

"Oh a good one! The Field Spell, Castle of Chaos been chosen!" He shouted and the scene shifted.

It was now an open forest with a large castle that looms over the trees.

"Look how realistic this is! With the newest technology of Solid Vision, you can actually touch the leaves on the trees and even throw your mother in law in the dungeon...hehe just kidding on that last part," Nico quipped.

"And look! There he is now! Give it up for your champion, The Sledgehammer!" He added on.

A large man with purple spiked hair appeared from the shadows of the castle and people cheered for him.

"And now, his challenger! Everyone give it up to the upcoming Dueltainer, Yuya Sakaki!" Nico shouted.

"Yeah, Yuya!" Syuzo cheered and started to clap before stopping after realizing that Yuya didn't come out when her name was called.

In fact, everyone was confused.

"Huh? Where's Yuya now?" Yuichi asked.

"Dunno. We just saw her earlier," Gongenzaka added on.

"Ok what is this? I did not use up all my allowance money to buy the tickets to see this duel only to see that the challenger is a coward like her father," someone from the crowd said.

"Yeah, I bet she ran, tail between her legs, just like her father," another agreed.

"The hell did they just say?" Yuichi made a fist.

"Calm down Yuichi. Yuya isn't the type to run away from a duel," Gongenzaka assured him.

Back at the duel, The Sledgehammer was feeling impatient.

"Looks like cowardice runs in the family," he said, not realizing that there was someone behind him.

The crowd, however, did notice.

"Huh, what's that?" A woman asked.

"Looks like a clown," another woman answered her.

There was indeed a clown behind the Sledgehammer and that clown was making funny faces behind his back.

Some kids in the crowd began to giggle at this. Especially a young blue haired boy who seemed to be with his mother or guardian. Who knows.

Yuichi however, groaned at this.

"I think I know who that is," he said.

"Huh? Who?" Syuzo asked.

"Yuya," Yuichi and Gongenzaka said at the same time.

Some people in the crowd began to shout at the Sledgehammer to look behind him.

He turned around to see the clown blow a raspberry at him.

"Did the circus come to town? No wait, you're Yusho Sakaki's brat aren't you?" He asked, somewhat pissed.

"I am flattered that the great champion recognized me! Let's have a great duel," Yuya did a mocking bow before grinning cheekily at him behind her mask.

"You dare to make a mockery of me?" The Sledgehammer asked.

Yuya took off her clown mask and winked. "Maaaaybe?"

"Well then, looks like Yuya hasn't run away after all meaning that we can get this duel started! Release the Action Cards!" Nico exclaimed and snapped his fingers.

"Action Cards, displayed." An automated voice said and a bunch of cards with a large A on the back shattered all over the field.

"Let's Duel!"

Yuya - 4000 LPS

V.S.

The Sledgehammer - 4000 LPS

"I'll take the first turn!" Yuya exclaimed and hopped on the balcony.

"Fine by me. You can't draw on the first turn though," The Sledgehammer pointed out.

"Hmm! Let's see how great of a duelist you really are!" Yuya hopped off the balcony before shouting, "I summon Performapal Hip Hippo (ATK: 800. DF: 800)!"

The same pink hippo with the top hat appeared and Yuya landed on the hippo before they both rode away.

"She's running away? Already?" Someone in the crowd asked.

"What's Yuya planning?" Yuichi asked.

"I end my turn so show me what you got!" Yuya waved her hand at The Sledgehammer, her bracelet shining in the sun.

"I will so prepare to have the clown beaten out of you. I draw!" The Sledgehammer looked at his drawn card and smiled widely.

He drew the card that he needed.

"I first activate the spell card, Feast of the Wild Lv5! I can special summon 2 level 5 warrior type monster from my hand or graveyard. I special summon Lava Battleguard (ATK: 1500. DF: 1800) and also Swamp Battleguard (ATK: 1800. DF: 1500)!" He shouted.

Two monsters, one red and one green, appeared by his side.

"But they're not going to stay here very long for I tribute them to Advance Summon! Bow down to their ruler, Battleguard King! (ATK: 3000. DF: 1100)" The Sledgehammer shouted.

"What? That monster has enough attack points to wipe out my Hippo!" Yuya cried.

"And now we battle! Battleguard King, slam that hippo of hers to oblivion!" The Sledgehammer yelled.

Yuya panicked for a moment before looking around quickly. She then spotted something and smiled.

I got it! She thought.

Battleguard King raised his weapon and slammed it down on Hip Hippo.

The crowd went quiet as the dust from the attack settled down. And then...

"I activate the Action Spell card, Evasion! Your monster's attack is negated meaning my monster is safe!" Yuya shouted at the last second.

Her monster escaped, unscathed and Yuya no longer had the clown clothes on. She had her regular outfit.

"She's safe," Yuichi sighed in relief.

"For now," Gongenzaka added on.

"So she wasn't running away," Syuzo sighed as well.

"That was only a distraction to get her real goal," a voice said from behind them.

A woman with yellow hair appeared and she seemed to be smiling at Yuya with warm pride in her eyes.

"Yoko," Syuzo said. Yoko is Yuya's mother.

"What do you mean by her real goal?" Yuichi asked.

"You saw how she got the Action card right away. Just wait and see what else she does," Yoko explained.

Well she did get that Action card rather quickly...ah I see! Yuichi thought.

"You might have gotten lucky that time but you won't get lucky again. Battleguard King's effect now activates. If he was summoned by tributing a Warrior type monster, then he can attack again!" The Sledgehammer shouted.

"Aww man, not again!" Yuya cried.

Battleguard King raised up his weapon up to slam Hip Hippo and take out Yuya's life points.

"Not so fast!" Yuya snatched something out of a bush and held it up.

"I activate the Action card, Miracle! Not only is my Hip Hippo not destroyed but any damage that I take gets halved!" She shouted.

While the attack did went through, it didn't do a whole lot than expected.

4000 —> 2900 LPS

"Whoa, look how she used that Action card," someone in the crowd said.

"I got to get one of them hippo cards," another said.

"Why you-...I set one card down and end my turn," the Sledgehammer said.

"Alright then! It's time," Yuya's Hip Hippo came to a stop and she hopped off of it.

"Time for Hip Hippo's own monster effect! Show of hands, how many of you know what Hip Hippo's effect is?" Yuya asked, addressing the crowd.

Some people in the crowd looked at each other, confused.

Some raised their hands confidently while others were more hesitant. And some didn't even raise their hands at all.

"Well that's one way to get the audience's attention," Yuichi shrugged.

"Wow so many of you. Now can someone tell me what the effect is? Hint, it has to do with tributing," Yuya asked.

"Ah I know! That hippo can tribute a copy of itself!" Someone shouted.

Yuya made an X with her arms.

"Oh I-I think I know," the little blue haired boy got out of his seat with his hand raised so Yuya can see him.

"Care to share what it is?" Yuya asked.

"Hip Hippo can count as two monsters meaning that you can summon a level 7 or higher monster," the boy explained.

"Ding ding! We have a winner!" Yuya made an O with her arms.

"And now I will do exactly that! I tribute my Hip Hippo to Advance summon my Ace! Everyone give a warm welcome to the star of the show, Odd Eyes Dragon (ATK: 2500. DF: 2000)!" Yuya shouted.

A large red dragon with no wings and two different eye colors appeared and roared.

Yuya climbed up and perched herself on Odd Eye's head.

"Bah! That monster doesn't have nearly enough attack points to beat my monster," The Sledgehammer said.

"Maybe but that doesn't mean that I can't weaken your monster," Yuya said.

"I activate the Continuous Spell, Wonder Balloons! I can send any number of cards in my hand to place a Balloon Counter on this card for each of the cards that were sent from my hand to the Graveyard. And then for every Balloon Counter, your monster loses 300 attack points!" She explained.

"How are you going to get that many cards?" The Sledgehammer asked.

Yuya snapped her fingers.

"Odd Eyes, let's go!" She exclaimed.

Odd Eyes ran around and she snatched something from a tree.

It was another Action Card.

"I send this Action card to the Graveyard to weak your monster by 300 points!" Yuya exclaimed.

3000 —> 2700 ATK

"Huh but that still isn't enough to take down the Sledgehammer's monster," someone in the crowd stated.

"Now just a moment. If I'm right, then things were going to get worse for The Sledgehammer," Yuichi said, grinning.

Yuya, again, reached out for another Action card and then for another.

One by one, she was sending cards to the Graveyard to weaken Battleguard King.

At long last, The Sledgehammer's monster couldn't move due to it being trapped in balloons.

2700 —> 0 ATK

"So that's why Yuya was running around! She was trying to find Action Cards for Wonder Balloons," Syuzo gasped.

"That's what you were talking about," Yuichi turned to Yoko, who nodded.

"How were you able to find that many Action cards?" The Sledgehammer asked.

"Heh, I have a knack for finding things," Yuya winked at this.

"And now I will attack you! Odd Eyes, spiral flame!" She shouted.

Odd Eyes shot out a fire beam at Battleguard King, which at first glance, seemed to destroy him.

"Yuya did it!" Yuichi cheered but he celebrated too quickly.

Battleguard King was unscathed and was back at 3000 attack points.

"What the-?" Yuya asked but got cut off by the Sledgehammer.

"You're not the only one who can use Action cards. I used the Action card, Miracle. My monster isn't destroyed and the damage that I would have taken is halved," The Sledgehammer explained.

4000 —> 2700 LPS

Damn it! If he didn't use that Action card, then I would have sent his monster to the Graveyard to activate Odd Eyes' effect to inflict half of Battleguard King's original attack points and win this duel. I lost that opportunity, Yuya thought.

"...I end my turn then," she said.

The Sledgehammer then drew a card and said, "This duel will be finished soon and the victor will be me."

"Why is he saying that?" Yuichi asked and Gongenzaka shrugged.

"I now activate my trap, Battleguard Rage. I target a Warrior monster on my field and it gains 1000 attack points!" The Sledgehammer yelled.

3000 —> 4000 ATK

"What?" Yuya asked.

"Battle! Battleguard King, destroy that dragon!" The Sledgehammer shouted.

Battleguard King then swung his weapon and hit Odd Eyes, destroying the dragon.

Yuya went flying off and landed on the ground, rather rough.

2900 —> 400 LPS

"Yuya!" Yuichi, Gongenzaka, Syuzo and Yoko cried.

"Nngh...ow," Yuya winced.

"Due to Battleguard Rages' effect, any monster that gets destroyed is sent to the hand instead of the Graveyard," The Sledgehammer explained.

Yuya placed Odd Eyes' card back in her hand and sighed angrily.

"I then activate the Quick Spell, Battleguard Magic. When a monster is returned to the hand, I gain life points half to its attack points," The Sledgehammer explained.

2700 —> 4000 LPS

"Oh no, he's back to 4000," Yuichi said.

"This is bad. Yuya is going to lose and humiliated herself. And worst of all, we'll never get that new Solid Vision to replace the broken one!" Syuzo cried.

*SMACK*

Yuichi, once again, hit his dad with the paper fan that materializes out of nowhere for some reason.

"I end my turn then. Go ahead and draw, it may be your last card," The Sledgehammer told Yuya.

Yuya looked at her hand, worriedly.

I don't have a single card that could turn the tides of this duel. My one hope is to draw but...what if I don't draw the right card? She thought.

As her hand hovered over the top of her deck, Yuya noticed her bracelet and the pendulum swinging around.

She remembered what her dad said about duels swinging from one way to another.

"Alright pendulum, you swung his way and now you better swing MY WAY!" Yuya shouted and drew a card.

The pendulum on her bracelet began to glow like crazy and Yuya looked at three cards in her hand.

They looked very much different from the last time that she saw them.

Even her Ace.

Words formed as she opened her mouth and spoke.

"I set scale 1 Stargazer Magician (ATK: 1200. DF: 2400) and scale 8 Timegazer Magician (ATK: 1200. DF:600) to set the Pendulum Scale! Things are looking up my way!" Yuya shouted.

She set her cards on the right and left side of her Duel Disk. In the middle of the set cards, the words PENDULUM appeared and flashed rainbow.

Two spellcaster monsters appeared and were beamed up in pillars of light. A pendulum appeared as well and began to swing.

"I'm able to summon monsters from level 2 to 7! Swing far, pendulum! Carve the arc of victory!" Yuya shouted.

"My monsters are ready to swing into action!" Yuya pumped her fist in the air, her Pendulum was still glowing and three monsters appeared on her field.

"Let's swing it, Performapal Whipsnake (ATK: 1700. DF: 900)!"

A purple snake with a bow tie and a top hat appeared.

"Slice and dice, Performapal Sword Fish (ATK: 600. DF: 600)!"

A blue swordfish with sunglasses and an Elvis haircut appeared.

"And last but not least, the star of the show with a new fresh coat of paint, Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

Yuya's Ace appeared but now seemed to have two head ornaments instead of one and had two large side ornaments.

"We'll swing into victory!" Yuya exclaimed.

A/N: whoa we're getting into so cool action!

How was this chapter? Good? Hopefully it was good.

Cya in the next one -Flare