Trading Game (Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V SI)

"So you've finally come huh Yuuna! This time I'll definitely defeat you!" her black haired self-proclaimed rival boldly declared while grinning smugly, readying and activating his own duel disk making the holographic projection of a sword appear on his left arm.

She merely let out a sigh, holding back Mei from approaching the black haired duelist to prevent more problems from actually happening. It does boggle her how Mei turned to be incredibly confrontational and more prone to challenging people to duel ever since she got her duel disk, but that was a conversation and a matter that she'll talk about at a later date.

"Mei, stay, stay." she said, holding the girl back. "It's just Haru, Mei. He challenges me everyday, so what got you so worked up today?"

"He bothered mine and Yuuna's sleep!" the small girl declared while glaring angrily at the boy who was oblivious to her anger. "I'll have to punish him! To dare interrupt my sleep with Yuuna!"

"W-well…since he challenged me to a duel, I won't let you take him on, you know? " she said to the violet haired girl with a serene smile. The girl looked at her for a few seconds, before letting out a sigh and released herself from her grasp to pout and cross her arms.

"Fine! But you have to beat him quickly alright Yuuna!" the small girl declared and went to stand under the shade of the tree while still glaring at her opponent. She scratched her cheek while lightly giggling at Mei's behavior, before turning her focus towards her most devout challenger.

Like, seriously, the kid would challenge her every opportunity he get's. Be it after breakfast, after he finished doing his chores, after dinner, and even before heading to bed he would loudly knock to the girls room so that he could challenge her.

Well, he stopped doing the last one late at night because sister Claire threatened him to not do it anymore, so at least her sleep and preparation for it wouldn't be interrupted.

Sister Claire did, however, allow him to actually knock loudly at the girl's door in the morning to challenge her. At this point, everyone in the orphanage even treats him like a sort of alarm clock.

She saw that behind him, his two cronies whose names she never bothered to remember were still behind him, grinning as smugly as their leader and hyping him up as usual by throwing compliments like, 'you'll get her this time!' or 'your deck is super strong now!'

Man, they really are his hype-men huh? She's not jealous or anything. She has the cute Mei to cheer for her that also acts as a living bolster whenever they sleep so it's fine.

She let out a yawn, and raised her left arm towards him. "Alright~ let's get started then." and with her duel disk armed and ready, the two duelists proceeded to battle, cheered by the many orphans that came to watch their daily duel.

DUEL!

Yuuna: 4000LP

Haru: 4000LP

"Well, since you're the challenger you can go first." she said as she gave the first turn to her opponent. Hearing this, Haru simply grinned and proceeded with his turn.

"Ha! You're going down Yuuna!" he declared. "I'll start my turn by summoning Ancient Gear Wyvern!" placing his card on his duel disk, the robotic screech of the mechanical wyvern can be heard as he glided down to his side of the field.

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

"Now Wyvern's effect activates! I can add an 'Ancient Gear' card from my deck! I'll add Ancient Gear and special summon it!" beside the mechanical wyvern, there now lies a small robot. A gear based monster with a wheel as its main mode of movements and two prongs as arms.

Ancient Gear - Earth/Machine/Level 2/Effect: 100/800

"Ancient Gear can be special summoned if I control an Ancient Gear monster! Now I bet you didn't see this one coming, I'll be special summoning another Ancient Gear!" an exact copy of the mechanical marvel that was Ancient Gear appeared on Haru's field, each flanking the mechanical Wyvern on his side of the field.

"I'll be activating Double Summon! A card that lets me normal summon another monster in addition to my first normal summon!" the black haired boy then grinned towards her, staring into her eyes smugly as if he had already won the duel. "With this my setup is complete! I'll be tributing both Ancient Gear to tribute summon Ancient Gear Golem!"

The two gear monster on Haru's field disappeared, and in their place, the mechanical marvel that was a gigantic golem of metal and gears slowly rose from the ground. It's gigantic and imposing figure drew gasps from the watchers.

She herself could only stare slack jawed at the reality that she was facing, and the monster that was right in front of her.

"Hahaha! With this card I'll be unbeatable! Go do your pathetic turn Yuuna!" Haru said, that smug grin never leaving his face. She had to blink twice, and then had to massage her eyes. She saw that Haru was still grinning, assured that he had won now that he had the monster that was only useful on his turn on the field.

She did what any sane person would do in her situation.

She sighed.

"Alright." she said as she massaged her temple. "My turn. I'll draw." she said blankly, ignoring Haru and his cronies' jeer at her reaction as she checked the cards that she had on her hand.

She feels bad. She really, really feels bad at what she's going to do again't the black haired boy she's facing. She resolved herself to win, so she'll continue with the play that she has in mind.

She sighed and shook her head. "Alright. I'll be activating Ancient Gear Inspection, returning your Ancient Gear Golem and drawing one card." As she said that, the metallic giant that was on Haru's side of the field disappeared back into his hand as she added another card to her hand.

"Wha-!" she tuned out the black haired boy's outrage as she instead continued her play. "Next up I'll be activating the effect of Machina Fortress, I can special summon it by discarding monsters from my hand whose total Levels equal 8. I'll be sending itself and Ancient Gear Frame to the graveyard to special summon it from the grave."

A giant machine appeared on her side of the field. A light blue tank with arms equipped with a gigantic cannon on its left hand side along with two mechanical arms. Its head with a single mono-eye directly looked towards the only monster on Haru's field, as if it was preparing to fire it's salvo at the mechanical wyvern.

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

She heard the gasp and the awe of the audience but ignored them as she continued to play her turn. "I'll normal summon Silver Gadget, and activate its effect." On her field now lies a luminous silver robot, a machine with chrome casing and a round body whose core shone a bright blue as it stood beside Machina Fortress.

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

"When Silver Gadget is normal or special summoned, I can special summon a level 4 Machine monster from my hand. I'll be summoning an Ancient Gear Wyvern from my hand." The sound of grinding gears could be heard from the round silver machine that was Silver Gadget, as its bright light blue core shone bright and released a beam of light.

As the beam of light receded, a similar mechanical screech could be heard once more, as the mechanical wyvern that was Ancient Gear Wyvern appeared on her side of the field.

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

"Wyvern's effect, I'll be adding one Ancient Gear card from my deck to my hand. The target will be Ancient Gear Inspection, and I'll activate Inspection once more to return your Wyvern and draw a card." Wyvern's searching was incredibly strong, being able to add any Ancient Gear card, and Inspection isn't a hard once per turn since it's an anime only.

With a screech the gear machine that was Haru's Ancient Gear Wyvern returned from his side of the field to the hand, and she drew one more card, though she certainly does not need it.

"Battle. Finish it." with her commands sent, the machines on her field proceeded to end the game. Fortress charged it's plasma cannon and shot it, Wyvern flew towards her opponent and struck with a mechanical screech, and Silver Gadget shot a beam of light from its core.

"GAAAH!"

Haru: 0LP

"Alright~" she said jovially as she turned off her duel disk and turned around. "Don't forget that you're going to help sistec Claire for dinner kay? And you really shouldn't summon Golem by tributing, you're better off summoning him ignoring his special condition." she said as she waved without looking back and headed to where sister Claire was.

She heard a lot of noises from the open field that she had just left. But she ignored it, she needs to do her chores after all.

-

"Kuh! I lost again!"

With his piece of frustration let out in words, the black haired boy known as Haru slammed his hand at the table, rattling and even throwing the many cards that were on there. "How!" the boy raged out at no one in particular.

"C-calm down Haru! She's gotta be cheatin'! There's no other way aroun' it!" his messy green haired friend assured him looking as outraged as he was as he tried to comfort him.

"Yeah! Yeah! There's no way that red haired girl can beat Haru in dueling in one turn every time they duel! She's got to be cheating or something!" his other ash grey haired friend chimed in, his face looking as angry as the other two.

The source of the group's anger was of course none other than the red haired duelist of the only orphanage of Academy Island, Yuuna, no last name. Of course, every child of the orphanage had no last name, that was simply how the Academia made it so after all.

Yuuna was a strange girl, and that's saying something considering the many personalities of people that one can find in Academy Island. She wasn't an eccentric person like one of the many Academia students, she wasn't a person that would scare someone into submission like those duelists that they glimpsed from the Underground, and she certainly wasn't someone that would gloat over their victory and superiority over someone.

No, the one thing that made Yuuna so different from the other duelists of Academy Island was that she was simply… strange. No, strange wasn't a word that cut it, she was downright unnerving to almost every duelist in Academy Island.

The way she talks, the way she walks, the way she composes herself and the way that she would look at others, even her attitude towards the fearsome Academia students, and looking at them like they were children was something that unnerved him and his friends.

She would always act like she was some sort of big shot, acting like she was a protector of justice or something whenever they tried to have fun with the others. They were annoyed of course, of how she would always ruin their fun, and they were also annoyed at how she treated them like they were children.

There were of course other kids in the orphanage that tried to act like what she was doing, act like an adult, but none of them would ever unnerve them as much as how Yuuna would act.

The way she acts, talks, and composes herself, it was unnerving. It was something that they, as kids, knew that was something that was wrong with how she acts.

Even the students of the Academia could tell that something was wrong with her, they called her creepy and strange and whatnot whenever she, or that violet haired little girl that she always had with her, were out of sight.

But the thing that made Yuuna unnerving was the way that she thinks. The way that she would stare at someone dueling and words would spill out from her mouth how the way that they had played their cards were ineffective or how they weren't living up to their full potential of their cards.

It was the tone of her voice that wasn't rubbing in their mistakes but was genuinely being helpful was something that irked and frustrated him. They knew that she was being helpful, giving them all advice and all, but it still felt that it was as if she was looking down at them. At him. It was as if something was wrong with her head.

She was just unnatural, and he hated that the unnatural her could beat HIM easily.

He won't have it.

He'll beat her, and prove that he's better than her.

He's the one who was supposed to be the winner. He was the one who was the strongest, the best.

Because if he wins and keeps winning then his father would accept him back, he won't look at him and sees disappointment, he won't look at him with a look of disgust. He wouldn't throw him into this disgusting orphanage, he would accept him. HIM.

If the cards that he got after beating those rich Academia students wouldn't do it, then he'll get better cards. Stronger cards. Useful cards unlike the garbage that he has now.

Some would praise her, calling her a genius or some sort. All because she was better at dueling than the others. Better at dueling than him. Even though he was the one that managed to beat everyone else at the orphanage, he would never get praises, he would never be called a genius. It was always about Yuuna, always about her!

And it infuriated him.

She just got lucky! She was just lucky that she got the exact cards that she needed to beat him, that's all! There's no way that she could have beaten his new cards, there was no way!

Maybe Yuan was right! No, he's definitely right! There's no way that a card as strong as his Ancient Gear Golem could be defeated so easily! She must have cheated! There's no other explanation!

"That Yuuna!" he growled her name as he gritted his teeth. He'll get better cards, and then he'll beat her. Then prove that she was cheating all this time!

"Well, well, well. I didn't think that I'd find anyone around here of all places."

The three of them snapped their heads to the source of the sound, and were equally surprised to find someone in their secret base of all places. The reason as to why they were surprised was because the place that they had chosen for their secret base was an abandoned house near the junkyard, a place that they cleaned out as best as they could for themselves.

It was a place that was rarely visited, no one cared about this place after all so why bother? It was a place that was not only abandoned but also a place that was near the dump, a place that was near the Underground where most people would avoid. So the fact that someone would be here of all places surprised him.

He took a good look at the person that had just barged into their secret base, and his eyes couldn't help but widen even more.

"Hey! Who the heck are you to suddenly barge-" he stopped Rata from whatever rude thing he was about to say by putting out a hand in front of his ashen haired goon. "Wha-"

"Why are you here." he cut off his lackey as he all but growled at the newcomer.

The newcomer smiled, looking pleased at his reaction, and looked around the place that was basically their second home with a smile. "Well, here I was just wandering around the place just patrolling like I would, only to hear loud noises come out of an abandoned house of all things! Imagine my surprise when I found three children who acted like they own the place looking angry at something, why I thought that it was a ghost at first!"

The man before him grumbled with a frown, just quiet enough that he could her. "Honestly, sending me to this dump of all places… does that man have no class?" The frizzy haired man then shook his head and his smile was once more on his face as if that frown was all but a imagination.

Haru narrowed his eyes at the figure before him. The man before him looked… rich was the only word that fits him if he was being honest. The man looked prim and proper, he looked sophisticated even. He certainly doesn't look like someone who would be out and about near the junkyard of all places.

"Who are you?" This time Yuan was the one who asked the man. In response, the man's smile grew wider. The rich looking man then extended his hand towards them. "My name," he said as he looked directly at him, "Is Joe, Harule Joe."

"Alright then Joe." he growled his name, refusing the extended hand by slapping it away and did not lessen the intensity of his glare at the larger man. "Why are you here." he demanded answers once more from the man.

The man's smile never wavered, he simply lowered his hand and crossed them behind him as he took a glance at the abandoned house that they were in. "Well you see," he began as he started to walk around the room. "There's a certain rumour you know? About a certain duelist in a certain orphanage."

He couldn't help but stiffen at the indirect mention of the girl that was the source of his problems. He could feel his frustration start to burn once more as he was being watched under the scrutiny of the only adult in the room.

"It's all the people talk about lately. That one duelist." the black haired adult said as he took and looked at one of the cards that had fallen onto the floor because of his earlier outburst. "But you know? I'm more interested in the duelist that kept dueling against her, you see."

That was something that made him stop, and he could hear his own head snap towards the direction of the source of the words that he had just heard. He saw that the man was looking at him specifically, smiling at him like he knew something that he didn't.

But that doesn't matter to him, he saw HIM, not HER.

The man smiled at HIM. HIM. And he opened his mouth to speak once more and once again he extended his hand towards him. "How would you like to be able to beat her once and for all?"

He turned out his friends, they were just followers that followed him because they were weak, because he was strong. But she beat him, he was strong, he was supposed to be the strongest, so he was supposed to be the one who wins.

So he'll win, he'll definitely win against her.

So this time, he didn't refuse the extended hand.

He extended his own, and shook the man's hand, and unbeknownst to him, the man's smile became sinister.

-

The realization came into her incredibly suddenly that she… doesn't really have friends other than Mei.

And she treats Mei like her little sister too! That's basically like saying that she only has her sister as her friend! Which is sad. Reall, really sad now that she thinks about it.

So it came as a surprise for her when Mei asked her a single question that was supposedly common knowledge. "Yuuna, are you going to join the Junior League Competition?"

She couldn't help but dumbly blink twice and look confused as she looked at the violet haired girl. "The what now?" she asked the girl who could do nothing but looked confused at her too.

"The Junior League Competition, didn't you know about it Yuuna? It's the competition where the duelists that rank high can get a recommendation to Academia's Junior Division." the violet haired girl said matter of factly as she sat next to her on the side of the bed.

"How come I haven't heard about this?" Yuuna muttered under her breath.

She's lived in this world for around eight years, and now that she thinks about it the amount of people that she's actually close to can be counted by hand. She's extremely close to Mei, that one was a no brainer because the violet haired girl keeps clinging to her. The second person that she's personally close to would actually be sister Claire, mostly because she always helped her whenever she can.

Then there's Haru, who the system declared was her rival, and while he's mostly annoying at most, he's recently started being more confrontational. Like how he kept banging on her door, and how he kept confronting her for duels whenever he could. It's starting to get annoying if she's being honest.

And as for others… guess she's really not that close to anyone else now that she thinks about it.

"I wonder... '' Mei grumbled as she glared at the door. She then shook her head and focused back on her once more. "Well, that doesn't matter. So, is Yuuna going to be joining the tournament? I know for sure that if Yuuna does join then you can definitely win it!" the violet haired girl declared with a blinding smile.

"Hmmm..." she hummed. "I don't really know." she says much to the surprise of the smaller girl.

"Huh?" Mei says in surprise. "But if you join then you can definitely win it! I know that for sure! Because Yuuna's dueling is definitely better than the competitors!" the violet haired girl argued.

"Hmmm..." she hummed once more, this time looking more conflicted as she crossed her arms. "I don't know. That sounds more like bullying if anything." she said.

"B-but the tournament! And the recommendation to go to the Academia Junior Division!" she argued loudly once more, only to slowly become mellow and quiet. "It's the only way for children like us to go to Academia." she said ever so quietly.

Going to the prestigious school of Academia was something like a goal that almost every child in the orphanage here has. Yuuna herself was probably the only exception because she is still conflicted on whether or not she should join because she knew that it wasn't a place like sunshine and rainbows like the brochures that she read, and that most of their dueling knowledge is something that she would never need.

Not like she's going to respect a teacher that approves Hunting Hound burn pass. She feels her IQ dropping every time she hears someone praise that kind of play.

It was at that point that she actually noticed that she might actually have some problems in the long run. Her plan was, simply put, to travel the different dimensions and if possible stop the massacre that was the XYZ Dimension invasion. She thought that she could possibly do that if she did something like sabotaging or something similar.

The most possible way for her to actually do something like that, would be something like leaving an explosive or something similar as she used whatever travel device that Academia has.

But then comes the problem of how she's actually going to enter said Academia to actually do something like that. She can't really do ninja stuff, she's fit but not fit enough to do crazy ninja and spy stuff. The most logical thing that she did think about was about joining the Academia in the legal way and then betraying them, but she never really thought about the how.

She did think about going at it the normal way, but then that would require a lot, and by that she means A LOT of DP to spend. She did hear that they would regularly recruit some orphans to join the Academia for free, but when she thought about that way of entering the school, she couldn't help but think that that method was extremely fishy.

If she wasn't wrong, the Academia had some weird underground training grounds that was almost like slavery or something.

She only saw clips on that one, she was curious as to where the Gladiator Beast support came from after all.

She doesn't understand the nuances and all, all that she did know was that the Normal Dimension has a city that's name is suspiciously the same as Miami, the XYZ Dimension was Heartland where there's Kaito, the Synchro Dimension was basically like the one in 5Ds but instead of Satellite CIty, it's basically Slums and Tops, though she doesn't really remember much about that dimension, all that she knew was that there was Crow and Jack, and Fusion Dimension is Academy Island.

But even after living in this world for eight years, she still doesn't really know much about this place. She might have to start exploring this place more. She really should do that now that she thinks about it.

But then again, she had been quite detached to this place and its people. Most of them aren't really people that she thinks are important after all, so she paid them no mind. And the place itself, even if it was a whole different universe from where she actually came from, doesn't really interest her.

She had seen countless universes after all, this one while quite bizarre with the universes being ruled by the rules of a card game, but it wasn't the wildest or the strangest universes that she had seen while she was stuck in the void of beginning and the end.

"I still don't know Mei." she said as she patted the violet haired girl and pushed those strange thoughts away from her mind. "There's a lot of things that I do want to do." like farming more on her Free Duel so that her Monarch deck can consistently summon Ehther and Erebus. "So I don't really know about joining the tournament." she said much to the smaller girl's chagrin.

"But." she cut off before the violet haired girl could say anything. "If you really want to join the tournament, then I'll be supporting you with all my might." she said with a caring smile. The violet haired girl looked conflicted, she opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but closed it before any words could come out.

She felt bad, it felt like she was disappointing Mei and all that. She couldn't help but let out a sigh as she comforted the violet haired girl by patting her head. She is contemplating on joining the tournament, it was a tournament after all, so there might be other prizes other than the recommendation to the Academia Junior Division. It was a tournament after all, so there might be DP prizes or maybe a rare card or two.

But if there's an entrance fee then that might be a problem, she still hasn't recovered financially from her shopping spree. Which also meant that she would need to farm DP, which means that she needs to go to Free Duels, because dueling children doesn't give that much DP and Academia students don't grow on trees.

She might join the tournament if the prize also included a useful card, if it was some Ancient Gear Hunting Hound fusion card then she won't enter probably.

Mei eventually slept under her care, and she laid her down on her bed and ventured out of the girls bedroom. She was glad that the other girls usually aren't in the room whenever she and Mei usually have their talks or take their naps. Privacy was quite important to her after all.

She needed to know about the oncoming competition. It was apparently a well known event, one that she apparently doesn't know about. But then again, most of her time has been spent helping sister Claire or playing with Mei and watching duels, most of her brain power was also spent thinking of deck compositions and going through strategies to duel in Free Duels.

She really isn't connected to this dimension at all now that she thinks about it. Not that she really cares about it.

She walked through the orphanage, looking for a certain person and soon enough she found the person that she was looking for taking care of the young childrens in a certain room. She saw sister Claire put a finger in front of her mouth, signaling her to keep quiet as she put the child that was sleeping on her arm back to their beds and then she slowly and quietly closed the door.

With a quiet click, the door closed. And the blonde sister turned towards her with a smile. "Yuuna. What a surprise to see that you're looking for me. Is there something that you need?" the green eyed nun asked her as she led her away from the room full of sleeping children.

"Ah, yes. I wanted to ask Claire nee-san something. If that's fine with you." she asked and she looked up to the blonde nun. "I'm not interrupting you from doing anything right?" she asked once again, and the green eyed nun kept her smile as she talked and walked with her.

"Of course, I'll answer to the best of my abilities." she said to the red haired girl. She fidgeted under sister Claire's gaze, knowing that this question was apparently a common topic and knowledge and that she was the strange one for not knowing about it.

"Ah, umm. I wanted to ask about the Junior League Competition. What does Claire nee-san know about it?" she asked as she fiddled with her hair shyly. Geez, she felt bad. Taking sister Claire's time to ask for a topic that was well known, maybe she should just drop it and go back and ask Mei again when she woke up.

Wait, she could have just searched about it on the internet! There should be a lot of information regarding the competition on the web, so there wasn't a need to bother sister Claire with this! Gah, she felt like she was a kid again, bothering adults and all. She should apologize to sister Claire and let her go do whatever business she was going to do before she interrupted her.

But before she could apologize for taking sister Claire's time, she saw that the blonde woman had stopped walking and was standing still on the halfway of the orphanage.

"Claire nee-san?" She called her name but received no response. She glanced to the adult's eye and saw that a flurry of emotions was going through her all at once. Pain, sadness, loneliness. Those were the emotions that she saw flash through sister Claire's eyes.

"Claire nee-san!" she said as she clasped the woman's hands, snapping her out of whatever memories she was locked in. She looked towards the only other person that she had bonded with in this life with worry, and the blonde nun shook her head and smiled a strained smile to her.

"Ah, forgive me Yuuna. I was just lost in my thoughts." the nun said unconvincingly and she couldn't help but frown. "You were asking about the... Junior League Competition right?"

Seeing that the blonde nun was still reeling after whatever bad memories had flashed when she brought up the mention of the tournament, she shook her head and smiled at the woman. "Ah! It's fine Claire nee-san. I'll just look it up myself so you can go back to-"

"NO!" the blonde woman shouted, much to her shock.

The nun looked incredibly frazzled and was as shocked as she was at the loud voice that she raised. "I-" the blonde sputtered out, and she stopped her from saying anything to end the conversation and return to her room, sister Claire took her hand and stopped her from going anywhere looking terrified.

That in itself put Yuuna on quite the loop if she was being honest.

Sister Claire wasn't one to be so touchy feely like this. She's usually calm and composed, and as far as she knows the only topic that would make her lose her composure was talks about Academi-

"Ah." she let out as it finally clicked in her small tiny brain.

Crap, she might have stepped on a landmine. Sister Claire is always on guard regarding the topic of Academia, so of course she would be pretty troubled about the topic of a competition where the children that she raised can join the Academia.

The nun held her quite tightly, enough to make her wince even. And seeing her reaction, sister Claire widened her eyes and quickly let her go and backed off of her a few steps. "Why are you asking that?" the blonde asked her in a whisper.

"Umm, Mei asked me if I was going to join the competition and what not..." she trailed off under the scrutiny of the blonde woman that was basically her mother in this world.

"And are you going to join?" the woman asked once again, her voice tinted with a feeling of desperation. Sensing such a tone, the red haired girl looked at the blonde woman and saw that she looked incredibly troubled.

"I-I don't know." she said truthfully, avoiding the nun's gaze. "I-I don't really know if I want to join the competition or not, but Mei looked like she wants me to join so-"

"You won't join in. I won't allow you to."

Suffice to say, she was surprised by the response that was given by sister Claire. "Huh?" she let out as she saw the determined look that sister Claire has. "W-what do you mean Claire nee-san?"

"I said, I won't let you join in. I won't let you go anywhere near the Junior League Competition." the nun declared blankly, sounding determined.

Seeing that, she narrowed her eyes and locked eye contact with sister Claire. "So that means that you won't be letting Mei go too then." she said matter of factly.

"I shouldn't have let those Academia students give you a deck at all. I should have known that it would make you all want to join that da- that school!" The blonde nun looked angered and troubled as she massaged her temples.

"I knew that you of all people were smarter than the others Yuuna. But I didn't think that you would be this good at dueling- you've already gotten the eyes of Academia on you, if you go to that tournament then-" the nun cut off as she glared at her once again. "I-I won't let you enter that tournament Yuuna. You, Mei, or anyone in the orphanage. For your own sake."

With her piece said, the blonde nun then turned around and left. Leaving behind her a befuddled eight year old red haired girl.

It took her a bit of time to process all the events that had just unfolded before her, but she eventually was able to do so, and even come to a conclusion. She simply thought that whatever happened during sister Claire's time as a student of the Academia made her dislike the institution, but it seemed that it was far deeper than that.

It was to the point where she at first didn't want them, the children of the orphanage, to even do duels. She even indirectly said that she opposed the Academia's decision to give all the children decks.

If what Mei said was correct and that the Junior League Competition was the only way for children like them to join Academia, or at least get a recommendation so that they don't spend their life savings on it, then sister Claire banning her from joining the tournament meant that it was a problem for her and Mei.

Mei seemed to want her to join the tournament, and presumably since this is a world ruled by the laws of card games, then the system that big G had given her would probably also give her a quest of some sort to actually enter said tournament.

As soon as the thought passed her head, she saw that there was a red notification mark on the corner of her vision. She enlarged it, and she wasn't surprised that she had found that her system had given her a new quest.

-

Mission

[Fusion Junior League Competition]

Enter and Place On the Top Three of the Junior League Competition

Rewards: 100000DP, Reputation (Fusion Dimension) Up, Prize Depending On Placement

1st Place: Super Polymerization x1, ABC-Dragon Buster x1, 2nd and 3rd Place Prize

2nd Place: A-Assault Core x1, B-Buster Drake x1, C-Crush Wyvern x1, 3rd Place Price

3rd Place: Union Hangar x1, Union Scramble x1

-

She let out a sigh after seeing the notification, not entirely surprised that the system would make her join the tournament. Though she was quite confused as to why it threw Union Monsters at her so suddenly, sure ABC-Dragon Buster is nice and all, but she has Domain and Monarchs at her disposal.

Most of the cards were basically useless unless she wanted to make a dedicated deck, but the single copy of Super Poly on the other hand will definitely prove useful. Mudragon of the Swamp wasn't something that she can buy through the shop, since the unlocking condition was to perform a certain number of fusion summons, something that she apparently hasn't done at all in the Fusion Dimension, but it was at a number where she can unlock it if she goes to the Free Duel and went for Ancient Gear Howitzer.

Well, Mei wanted her to enter the competition, but sister Claire doesn't want her too, and for great reasons as well.

From what she gleaned of the bits and pieces that she knew of the anime that she did watch,the Academia instructors are quite bad at their job. If the existence of a class system that discriminates one's dueling ability wasn't already a big sign, then the fact that there's an underground training site where they pit students against each other would be a good reason to not want anyone to go there.

Not to mention the blatant brain washing, there's a literal card whose name is literally Fusion Parasite which was an actual brain washing plot point if she's not wrong.

She knows that because it was the part that gave birth to Independent Nightingale, a card that made Supreme King Starving Venom and The Tyrant Neptune banned.

She did her research, it was an OTK strategy at one point after all.

But joining Academia might be her only way into the other dimensions. Because she doesn't know if the system that big G gave her allows her to travel by herself. She knew that both her and Mei could possibly win the tournament, but will she really do it?

It wasn't that joining a school where people would be mind controlled and are normalized to think that destroying an entire dimension and carding people is fun was scary for her. It was the fact that she would have to relive school all over again, and this time she would have to listen to professors who 'excel' at dueling.

Perhaps there was something wrong with her if that was the part that scared her the most.

She does wonder how sister Claire is going to prevent them from actually going to go join the tournament, can't she just join in anyway?

She decided that she'll confront sister Claire later, for now she'll have to research more on the rulings and terms of the tournament first before she does that. With that said, she returned back to the girl's room to contemplate her next move.

-

It wasn't long after she returned to her room when she figured out what sister Claire meant by not allowing them to join the tournament.

Apparently to join the tournament, or any tournament for that matter, in this Academy Island you would need your guardian's approval. Which means that the only people that she could actually go to so that she could enter the tournament was to either ask for permission from the orphanage head or somehow convince sister Claire.

She doesn't know if the orphanage head would let her enter too, since she mostly refers to sister Claire for decisions that don't refer to monetary decisions or anything that doesn't relate to paper work in general.

Which means that she'll have to somehow convince sister Claire to let her and Mei enter the competition.

With her plan made and conviction strengthened, she proceeded to make her way to sister Claire, knowing that at this point of time she was probably at the back hanging laundry. With that knowledge, she made her way to the backyard, where she was surprised to hear the loud voice of sister Claire.

She quickly went to the backyard where the sound originated, her slow walk turned into a jog and she watched sister Claire confront someone with black hair and behind him was seemingly Haru, she says seemingly because she couldn't see him too clearly because the man was blocking her view. From behind one of the pillars that the orphanage has, she peeked and saw the two interact.

"You-! What are you planning to do!" sister Claire screamed in outrage to the man who simply smiled in response to the loud and high voice that sister Claire let out.

"What are you talking about Claire?" the man said in a friendly tone. "I'm merely extending my goodwill. What's wrong with that?" the man said innocently with that smile of his never leaving his face. She could tell that the smile was fake, she's dealt with enough people from HR in her last life to know that.

It was surprising to see sister Claire looking absolutely livid, this week has been filled with her seeing a lot of emotions that she has never seen sister Claire show. Just yesterday she saw the look of terror on her face, but now she's seen the look of absolute anger on her face.

"What are you planning, Joe." she nun said as she narrowed her eyes at the smiling man. The man in return took a step back and feigned hurt as he closed his eyes and put both of his hands on his chest. It would have been believable if it wasn't for that smile on his face.

"Why, Claire! It's as if you don't trust me!" he said. "How could you not trust your former classmate! Even after all the things that we went through together." the man said, still smiling at the frowning nun.

Oh so that's their relationship, no wonder sister Claire doesn't seem to like him.

In response the blonde scoffed. "Isn't it obvious, I don't trust you! You're planning to kidnap one of my children!" she said loudly as she angrily gestured to the black haired boy behind the smiling man.

The smiling man however, seemed to brighten as the nun pointed that out and began talking once more. "Ah! You're speaking of young Haru, yes? Well, I can assure you that I didn't do anything that you accuse me of." the man said, waving the accusation away. "In fact, young Haru has already accepted my support on his own accord!" he said brightly smiling.

Shock befell sister Claire's features. And her head snapped to the black haired boy behind her former classmate. "Wha-! Haru come here and step away from that man!" the nun ordered as she glared at the smiling man.

"No." was the red eyed boy's blank response much to the blonde nun's surprise.

"Haru you don't understand, this man-"

"I won't listen to you. Not anymore." the black haired boy said blankly as he glared at the shocked nun. "You only care about her, I won't listen to anyone that only cares about her." He then proceeded to walk to the man's side to be able to directly see the nun, and to finally be in her sights.

Much to her shock, the black haired boy looked better than ever. His disheveled black hair was now combed back, and instead of his usual plain colored shirt, he wore a red jacket that was similar to the jacket that one would wear for the students of Osiris Red. She saw a look of shock and terror flash through the nun.

"I'm going to join the Junior League Competition, and I'm going with Joe-san after I win.'" the boy said blankly.

"As you can see." the man said smiling smugly to the shocked nun as he put his hand on the boy's shoulders. "Young Haru has accepted my offer, and is soon going to be enrolling in Academia's Junior Division~. And not only that! He'll make his debut in the Junior League Competition! I'm sure that he's going to place at the top of the competition!"

It was at this moment that the man put on a thoughtful look. "You know… there has been some interesting rumour that I've heard regarding this orphanage now that I think about it." he tapped his chinn multiple times as his gaze fell upon her. She felt a shiver go through her spine as the man smiled ominously and turned his gaze back on sister Claire.

"I'm not opposed to giving out more free recommendations you see? I've heard that there are other talented individuals in your orphanage after all. Well, not as talented as young Haru here of course." the man said, still smiling, and his statement made sister Claire freeze in place.

Soon enough the look of anger returned to sister Claire's face and she growled as she glared at the man. "You aren't touching my children!" the nun shouted, but the man's smile never wavered a bit.

"Ah well, worth a shot I guess." the man said, shrugging his shoulders. "But you should really think of my offer Claire, we don't want children to start disappearing after all." With that blatant threat said, the man turned around and walked out of the orphanage. And despite sister Claire's hopeful look and her cries, Haru travels behind him.

She saw that sister Claire fell to her knees. And she bolted from her hiding spot to comfort the shaking blonde woman. "Sister Claire?" She called her name, and the blonde nun looked towards her and hugged her tightly.

The woman then started sobbing, making the situation more awkward for her to unload the topic of her joining the tournament.

-

Sister Claire soon calmed down. The jade eyed nun still looked extremely tired, and it was quite a chore to take the woman back to her room without attracting attention from the other children.

Thankfully not many children pay attention to her in the first place, something that sounded quite sad now that she pondered about it as she sat next to sister Claire's bed.

The last few events have been quite a roller coaster. Knowing that Haru was going to enter the competition wasn't that much of a shock since she could tell he was the kind of kid who would want to duel others, but for him of all people had left the orphanage to go join Academia's Junior Division was… also in character now that she thinks about it.

He was always the kind of kid who wants to prove himself after all. It was one of the reasons why he kept bullying other children, especially the smaller Mei, to give himself attention. She knows that he had always been antagonistic towards her, what with her always stopping his bullying attempts and beating him in dueling.

Wait, did he join the man because he thought that if he joined the Academia he can be a better duelist? A school that approves Ancient Gear Double Hunting Hound pass?

She hopes that he doesn't get brainwashed and fall into mediocrity like that, he was quite a nice challenge for her to actually duel against. Even his Ancient Gear Golem pass, no matter how underwhelming, crappy, and bad resource management in general that it was, was quite an achievement in this dimension.

If that wasn't sad she doesn't know what is.

The only other challenge that she could find in the orphanage was Mei, who also played Machina Ancient Gear because she gave her some copies of the cards that she had. Mei's focuses more on Machina however, unlike her's that uses Machina as tech choices for Fortress and Citadel.

She heard a groan, and she looked up to see that sister Claire had woken up. Immediately she offered her a glass of water, something that the blonde nun graciously accepted and drank it.

It took quite a few times, but sister Claire eventually fully drank the glass of water. And soon after turned towards her. "I-I'm sorry that you have to see me like that Yuuna." the nun said quietly, not locking eye contact with her.

"No, no, it's fine Claire nee-san." she reassured the resting nun. "But… there's something that I would like to ask." she asks nervously to the resting woman. The resting nun raised her eyebrows and frowned as she gestured to her to continue.

"I want your permission for me and Mei to join the tournament." she said as she closed her eyes, avoiding eye contact from the nun. She could hear a strange noise coming from the resting woman, and she opened her eyes to see that the nun was looking outwards to the window.

From her seat, she could see that a multitude of emotions flashed on sister Claire's face, anger, disappointment, fear, and finally resignation. The nun let out a sigh, refusing to look her in the eyes and stepped out from the covers and gestured to her to follow her.

She followed the nun who went to the warehouse silently, not making a sound as the nun took out something and gestured to her to follow her once again. They eventually made their way to the yard, the field was empty as the other children were in the mess hall accompanied by the orphanage head who had taken sister Claire's place due to her sudden rest.

Before she could ask sister Claire what they were doing here, the nun then whizzed around and snapped what apparently was a duel disk on her forearm, and activated it. "If you're really willing to enter the tournament." The nun then took a deep breath and stared deep into her soul. "Then you'll have to prove that you have what it takes to win it."

Even though this was supposed to be a tense, important, serious moment, a moment that she should be as stoic as she could and be as serious as she can be, Yuuna could not help but smile giddily looking at the duel disk at sister Claire's hand. Since when did she become a duel junkie? She wondered, maybe wasting her eight years thinking only of the card game made her basically addicted to it.

That probably isn't healthy, metally at least.

But regardless, she readied her own duel disk and bared it at the blonde nun, and they soon began their duel.

""DUEL!""

Sister Claire: 4000LP

Yuuna: 4000LP

"I'll let you go first." the nun said calmly as she glanced at the cards in her hand. "Show me what you can do, Yuuna."

"If I must." she said, quite miffed. She sees the cards in her hands, and determines that it would have been better if she went second instead of first. Then again, this was Ancient Gears Machina, it was a go second deck and at most the go first option that she had was Overdrive to Citadel or Howitzer burn pass, no matter how that last one triggers her.

But with the cards in her hand, she'll be able to do both. "First off, I'll set a card." a floating fade down card appeared on her field. "And with that done, I'll be summoning Ancient Gear Wyvern and activate its effect."

The mechanical wyvern that she had now grown familiar with made its entrance with a mechanical screech. Flapping it's metallic wings to fly to her side and it simply floated there, watching the nun closely.

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

"I'll be adding Ancient Gear Box, and with Box's effect, I'll be adding one Ancient Gear Frame." she said as she added two cards to her hand.

"Frame?" the nun asked, furrowing her brows. "I haven't heard of that card before." at this she couldn't help but gulp and put on what was probably a shaky smile.

"I-it's a card that I won! Claire nee-san probably doesn't know it because you rarely duel these days. In fact, I'm quite surprised that you're willing to duel me to decide whether or not Mei and myself can enter the competition." she tried to divert the conversation to not focus on her suddenly having a card that no one else probably has.

Carp, she forgot about that tidbit. If her memories were correct, Ancient Gear Frame was released after Arc-V ended too. Hopefully no one notices that.

Thankfully, she was successful in diverting the topic of conversation. "If possible, I didn't want to use this ever again." the nun said with a grim smile and she could sense hesitation on her tone. She then took a deep breath and her determined look returned. "But, I know that I can't stop you. I couldn't even stop Haru from leaving. The least that I can do is to test you so that I know you can go through what is going to come."

Geez, that wasn't ominous at all. If she didn't know that this was a world about card games then she might have been scared. "I see..." she said and shook her own head to get back in the game. "I'll now activate Ancient Gear Fusion! With this I'll fusion the Ancient Gear Frame and Ancient Gear Box in my hand!"

The two machine monsters briefly made their appearance on the field. One was what was basically the mechanical skeleton of the infamous Ancient Gear Golem, and the other was a metal box with hands and legs filled with mechanical gears. The two cards then split into mechanical parts, mostly gears of course, and fused into one machine.

She waited for something to happen, only for sister Claire to look at her and gesture for her to continue. "Wait, I'm supposed to actually do a fusion chant?!" she asked befuddled, and after sister Claire gave her a strange look, she reluctantly continued. "Uhh, Fusion! Or something like that, ahh! Just come Ancient Gear Howitzer!"

With that said, a winged mechanical creature with cannons for arms made its appearance on her field. There were loud mechanical sounds of clinking gears as the machine shifted its cannons and became battle ready. Or more correctly, defend ready or something like that, because the monster was summoned in defence position.

For a monster with such a good effect, it has some crappy stats.

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

"God that was embarrassing..." she grumbled, but shook her head and continued. "I'll be activating Howitzer's effect now, "once per turn, I can inflict 1000 points of damage. go , Howitzer Cannon!" With her command given, the mechanical creature pointed it's cannons at the blonde nun and fired its salvo.

Sister Claire took the damage silently, not even wincing when the holographic salvo and the blast of air hit her.

Sister Claire: 3000LP

"Well, I'll pass then." she said with two cards in hand and passing the turn to the jade eyed nun.

"My turn then." sister Claire said as she put her hand on her duel disk to draw a card. "I'll draw. I'll activate the continuous spell Spellbook star Hall and I'll normal summon Spellbook Magician of Prophecy." as she placed her card on the duel disk's holographic sword, the monster in question appeared in sister Claire's field. It was a young man in blue robes and hat, holding a spellbook in one hand.

Spellbook Magician of Prophecy - Water/Spellcaster/Level 2/Effect: 500/400

Spellbooks? So sister Claire plays that kind of deck huh, she does have the feel of someone that would play a control deck. She pondered whether or not she should use Overdrive, and decided that she'll chain it to Prophecy's activation.

"I'll activate Spellbook Magician of Prophecy's effect!" the nun declared, and the magician opened his trademark book of spells. "If he is normal summoned or flipped face-up, I can add one 'Spellbook' spell from my deck to my hand. I'll add one Spellbook of Secrets to my hand."

"I'll be chaining my trap card, Machina Overdrive to Prophecy's activation!" she declared as the face down card was flipped to reveal an image of two robots facing one another, one was the card she was about to summon, and the other was a mechanical silhouette shrouded in darkness.

"When this card is activated, I target one machine monster that I control and special summon one 'Machina' monster with a different name from my hand or deck, and then destroy the targeted monster. I'll target my Wyvern to special summon Machina Citadel from my deck in attack position."

With a screech the gear themed wyvern on her field was destroyed, and in its place was a mechanical giant. And though it's size does not rival the infamous Ancient Gear Golem at first glance, the card was by far superior in regards to its effect. The machine revved up it's engine as the tank tracks that it calls legs and the chainsaw on its right arm began to spin along with charging its left hand that was a twin barreled firearm.

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

Sister Claire narrowed her eyes at her monster, but did nothing as she added the card to her hand. "I'll activate Spellbook of Secrets. Which allows me to add another 'Spellbook' card from my deck to my hand other than Secrets. I'll add Spellbook of Power from my deck." with that said, sister Claire then added the card.

"Since I activated a 'Spellbook' spell card, Spellbook Star Hall gains a counter, raising the attack of all spellcasters on my field by 100." The book on Spellbook Magician of Prophecy's hand glowed, and his attack increases, by an incredibly small amount mind you.

Spellbook Magician of Prophecy - Water/Spellcaster/Level 2/Effect: 600/400

"I'll then activate Spellbook of Power targeting my Spellbook Magician of Prophecy. Raising his attack by 1000 points. And with Spellbook Star Hall gaining another counter, it increases by another 100." the nun said as the magician's attack rises even more.

Spellbook Magician of Prophecy - Water/Spellcaster/Level 2/Effect: 1700/400

"I'll continue by activating Spellbook of the Master. If I control a spellcaster type monster, I can reveal one other 'Spellbook' card in my hand to target one 'Spellbook' normal spell card in my graveyard except Master, and this card's effect becomes that target's effect. I'll target Spellbook of Power, targeting Spellbook Magician of Prophecy, increasing his attack by another 1000, and with that Star Hall gains another counter as well."

Spellbook Magician of Prophecy - Water/Spellcaster/Level 2/Effect: 2800/400

She couldn't help but be quite astounded by the play that sister Claire had done. It was quite impressive to see a monster like Spellbook Magician of Prophecy and see that its attack was nearing 3000, if sister Claire had started with Spellbook of Judgement then she would really be worried.

But as it was, she currently was not. She has Citadel on her field after all, it was a quick-play Raigeki for goodness sake.

"Battle! I'll be attacking your Ancient Gear Howitzer with my Spellbook Magician of Prophecy!" sister Claire declared as she pointed to the mechanical beast. The young magician then began chanting, as the pages of his spellbook began flipping from one to another. Then as his chant was finished, a huge strea, of water was fired from a magic circle, decimating her Howitzer, leaving behind a cloud of vapor.

She received no damage as it was in defence position, but removing Howitzer was a boon for her as its effect activated. "I'll be activating Howitzer effect then. Since it was destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon one Ancient Gear Monster from my deck ignoring its summoning condition! Come, Ancient Gear Golem - Ultimate Pound!"

The cloud where Howitzer had once stood dispersed, revealing the alternate version of the infamous golem of the Ancient Gear archetype. The gears monster kept spinning, and it's eyes glowed red with hostility as it already raised its right arm to perform its signature attack.

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

"Ultimate Pound?!" her opponent exclaimed, the look of surprise on her face. "But- that card was supposed to only be in the hand of Obelisk Blues! Now that I mentioned it, so was Ancient Gear Howitzer!" the nun exclaimed as she snapped her head towards her.

Crap it was? It was a free one off in the Structure Deck that she kept buying by selling the contents to some Academia students for profit. She sold it for quite the profit too, but she kept the amount she sold wasn't that many of course, she doesn't want to flood the market so that the price would lower.

She couldn't help but sweat under the blonde woman's gaze and began saying her excuse. "It's a card that I found on the market! I didn't know it was something like that was an incredibly rare card!" she said her excuse and surprisingly, the woman believed her.

"I guess that's true. Lately there's been a surplus of rare cards on the market. I guess it was bound to get onto your hands of all people." the nun said as she glared at the gigantic golem on her field. "I'll move on to the second Main Phase then, I'll activate Spellbook of Knowledge! Which allows me to send to the graveyard either one spellcaster that I control or one 'Spellbook' card from my hand or face-up on the field except Spellbook of Knowledge to draw two cards. I will be sending my Spellbook Star Hall to the graveyard to draw two cards." With that, sister Claire then drew two more cards to her hand.

Sadly since it wasn't destroyed by card effects, Spellbook Star Hall does not trigger its floating effect. It would have been nice to see what monster thar sister Claire would have summoned since she would have been able to summon a level 3 or lower spellcaster. Sister Claire saw the cards that she had just drawn, and frowned.

"I will activate Polymerization! I will fuse both the Dark Magician Girl and the Baby Dragon in my hand!" With the fusion spell activated, both of the fusion materials appeared on the field ever so briefly. One was an infamous card, a blonde female magician wearing a dark blue garb and pointy hat who was the apprentice of the legendary Dark Magician, while the other was a small orange baby dragon who had breathed out a small puff of fire.

"O apprentice of dark magic! Display your incredible magical prowess together with your noble steed!" sister Claire chanted as the two monsters were absorbed into a whirl of colors. "Fusion summon! Appear, Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight!"

The roar of an incredible dragon could be heard in the courtyard, as a dark green enormous dragon descended from the sky. And riding said giant dragon was none other than the Dark Magician Girl, who had forgone both her mage attire and her wand and replaced them with a silver knight's armor and a silver longsword.

Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight - Dark/Dragon/Level 7/Effect: 2600/1700

She couldn't help but blink at the appearance of the dragon and it's rider. She thought that sister Claire was running pure Spellbooks! But to think that she was only using them for an engine. Which was fair, it was a nice spellcaster engine after all.

But now there's a choice that sister Claire has to make. Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight can pop one face-up monster on the field at the cost of discarding one card from the hand. With sister Claire having only one card on hand, she has to either choose my Golem or Citadel.

She really hopes that the nun would choose her Citadel, then she can clear the field with it's effects after all.

The blonde woman looked quite conflicted as she checked the cards that she had on hand, but eventually decided to activate the dragon's effect "I'll use the effect of Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight! Once per turn, as a quick effect, I can discard one card from my hand to destroy one face-up monster on the field! I'll destroy your Machina Citadel!"

With her orders given, the dragon knight began charging their attack. With the rider pointing her sword at the target and the giant dragon preparing a breath of destruction aimed at her monster.

"Jackpot!" she exclaimed while grinning. "I'll activate Citadel's effect! It's quick effect lets me target one machine monster I control and destroy it! I'll of course target Citadel!" with that said, the mechanical marvel self-destructed, avoiding the dragon knight's blast of power.

Sister Claire narrowed her eyes at that. "What does that resolve then?" she asked curiously for her to finish explaining, not like many other duelist around who would mock her for blowing up what was basically her second Ace Monster.

She nodded then smirked as she continued explaining "I can then destroy all monsters that you control with attack that is less than or equal to it! Since Citadel's attack was 3000-"

"That means that all monsters on my field are destroyed then." sister Claire said as she closed her eyes and her field went up in flames from Citadel's effect. "I see, so this was what you were planning from the start then." the blonde woman said and she nodded.

It was the basic and simple plan of the deck after all. Overdrive to Citadel that blows itself so that she can get a quick-play Raigeki for all monsters that has 3000 or less attack.

"I'll set one card face down. And I'll end my turn." with one card on the field, sister Claire passed the turn control to her.

"Alright then. I'll draw." her eye twitched as she looked at the card that she drew. It was none other than Ancient Gear Inspection, a card that would have been useful had this been a mirror match, but with this duel being what it was, it was a brick. But she can still work it, the only problem would be sister Claire's set card, she'll have to play through that.

"I'll activate Ancient Gear Fortress, and then normal summon Ancient Gear Frame!" the monster in question made its appearance on her field. The mechanical skeleton of an Ancient Gear Golem whirred to life as it stood next to it's completed form.

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

"Since Ancient Gear Fortress is on the field, you can't target my ancient Gear monsters with card effect and they can;t be destroyed with card effect the turn they were summoned, and you can't respond to the activation of their effects." she declared earning a nod from the blonde to continue.

"I'll then activate Frame's effect! I can discard one card from my hand to add one Ancient Gear Golem or one spell or trap that specifically lists it in its text, I'll discard Ancient Gear Inspection to add Ancient Gear Fusion from my deck to my Hand and activate it!" she once more activated the fusion card.

"Since I control Ancient gear Golem - Ultimate Pound, I can use cards from my deck as fusion material! I'll fuse Ultimate Pound with an Ancient Gear Hunting Hound and one Ancient Gear Golem!" the three fusion materials appeared on her field, two gargantuan machine that towered the orphanage and a single mechanical hound. The three soon were deconstructed into a mass of parts and gears, combining into one singular monster.

"Fusion summon! Come, Ultimate Ancient gear Golem!" The mechanical monster that was the fusion of an Ancient Gear Golem and two other Ancient Gear monsters appeared in her field. It's menacing centaur like body was sparking with electricity as the gears on its body whirred to life, letting out a loud roar that made sister Claire shield herself from the wind pressure.

Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem - Earth/Machine/Level 10/Effect: 4400/3400

Dang, he sure is one big boy. He's even taller than Golem, and that's saying something.

Sister Claire let out a sigh, though she was smiling as she looked at her. "WIth Ancient Gear Fortress on the field, the monster becomes untargetable and immune to destruction, which means that my Shadow Spell won't even be activeable."

"Ah so it was something like that! Whew, I'm glad I actually prepared a precaution for that." she said with a smile that mirrored sister Claire's. "Let's finish this shall we, battle! I'll attack you directly with Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem! Penultimate Pound!"

The monster's eyes shone red, and it raised it's fist to deliver the finishing blow of the duel. Sister Claire took the blow like a true champ, she did wince, but she was not moved from her spot nor was she blown away unlike many others that got OTK-ed.

Sister Claire: 0LP

With the duel finished. She turned off her duel disk and approached sister Claire. "Umm." she started as she neared her. "Does this mean that Mei and I can now enter the Junior League competition?" she asked.

The nun looked quite miffed at her defeat and her bringing up the matter, but sighed and gave her a smile. "Of course." she said as she ruffled her hair much to her dismay. "As much as I don't want any of you children to enter, there's a limit to how much I can take care of you all. Just promise me one thing, Yuuna."

"Of course. Anything. Well, not really anything- but just anything that I can do that's actually plausible!" she said, earning a giggle from the nun.

"I want you to take care of Mei and Haru alright? I know that you all are planning to enroll at… that school. So I want you to take care of them alright?" the nun asked her worriedly.

She blinked, but nodded. She had guessed that her wish would be something along the lines, that was just how sister Claire rolls after all. "Well, I was already planning on looking after Mei anyway, I don't know if I can do the second part, but I'll do my best." she promised the nun.

Sister Claire beamed at her in response. And the atmosphere around them was all nice now, and sister Claire wasn't feeling gloomy anymore. It was at this point that a wave of children surrounded them, at the front was none other than Mei.

"Yuuna!" the violet haired girl exclaimed. "So Yuuna is going to enter the competition right? Right?!" she asked excitedly as she clung to her.

"Yes, yes, calm down Mei." she said as she held the smaller girl to stop her from suffocating her. "I talked about it with sister Claire, and she's allowing us to enter." she said with a smile.

The violet haired girl beamed at her answer and turned to the blonde woman and swarmed her along with the other children. "Thank you Claire nee-san! You're the best!"

"Now, now, children. Settle down." the nun said, smiling as she handled the children surrounding her. "Yes, it's true. I'm allowing anyone here to enter the Junior League Competition."

Cheers began to rifle through the swarm of children, all were excited to join the competition that could allow them a chance to join the Academia.

"However." sister Claire's voice drowned out the cheer of all the children as their attention shifted to her. "The condition is that you will have to beat me in a duel first~ so good luck!"

She couldn't help but smile as she saw the swarm of children begin to challenge the blonde adult. She was sure that Mei was going to win their duel, if she gets lucky and start with the right hand that is, her deck was quite bricky even after they brainstormed way for it to not do so.

She couldn't help but be excited for the tournament that was about to come.