A loud roar of cheering met my ears as I walked with the other duelists out and into the dueling stadium. The stadium was packed, everyone here to see the visiting duelists. Suddenly I felt a sinking feeling in my chest. Probably no one was here to see me, besides Sara. Who would want to see the girl they've known for years over some exciting new people that have never visited before? This was Adelfell's first chance in forever. . .

"Hey, are you alright?" I heard one of the duelists say as we stood in a line while the announcer introduced us all to the crowd. Everyone cheered at each name.

Thinking it wasn't for me, I ignored it. They're probably asking one of their friends, I thought as I tried to pay attention to the announcer.

"Yugi Muto," came the voice over the speakers. A very loud exclamation of cheers and clapping followed.

"Excuse me." I heard the voice again and a small tap on my shoulder.

I looked up at the tall boy standing next to me. He looked rather intimidating, especially with his dark eyes and the strange tattoo that scarred his cheek, though his smile softened his features.

"Need something?" I asked.

"Are you okay?" He repeated his question. "You don't look too happy to be here."

Panic gripped me quickly before disappearing as I answered calmly with a smile. "I'm fine, thanks! Just nervous. This is my first tournament after all," I said, hoping he would buy my act.

Technically it's not a lie. . .

The boy nodded sympathetically. "That's understandable. But trust me, if you believe in yourself and in your deck, you'll do just fine."

I smiled back at him. "Thank you."

"I'm Yusei, by the way. It's nice to meet you," he added, realizing he didn't introduce himself.

I gave him a nod, mentally noting his name. "I'm (Y/n). Nice to meet you too."

The announcer's booming voice returned once more. "The first duel will be between Yuya Sakaki and Yusei Fudo."

Yusei looked up for a moment. "That'll be me," he said with a small smile.

"Good luck!" I replied.

The other duelists and I walked over to the seats that were saved for us on the other side of the stadium. Yusei and a shorter boy with red and green hair wearing an orange shirt who I could assume was Yuya, both stood in the middle of the stadium. Activating their duel disks, they both took their stances.

The referee stood between them, and looked over at Yusei. "Heads or tails?" he asked.

"Tails," Yusei answered.

"Heads for me then!" Yuya chirped up.

The referee nodded and flipped a coin in the air. "Heads," he reported after looking at which side was face up. "Yuya wins the coin toss. Do you want to go first or second?" He then asked the boy.

"I'm going first!" Yuya grinned. "Gotta make a great entrance performance for the duel!"

The referee stood back and Yusei and Yuya both drew five cards for their starting hands.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen," Yuya said in an announcer's voice. "To a duel like no other!" He looked at his cards. "I'll start off with this! Swing, pendulums of action! I set the pendulum scale with Timegazer Magician and Wisdom Eye Magician!"

On both sides of Yuya, two holograms appeared. One was a tall edgy looking man in black clothes with something that looked like a gold duel disk. A red bandana hid his mouth. The other one had white hair, wearing a black cloak and in his hands he carried a long staff with a pendulum swinging down from a chain.

"Now since I have another Magician in my pendulum scale," Yuya continued. "Wisdom Eye activates his effect. He can replace himself with a different Magician pendulum monster from my deck."

The white haired man vanished with a bright flash of light. In his place was a purple haired warrior. "Meet Xiangke Magician!" Yuya smiled. "This makes my pendulum scale levels 3 through 8. Now I'll activate the spell card Duelist Alliance! Because I have a monster in my pendulum zone, I can add either a 'Pendulum' monster or magic card from my deck to my hand. I'm choosing my ace card! Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon, and I pendulum summon him straight to the field!"

The large red dragon roared as it materialized. It shook its head, waving its horns around and glared at Yusei with small orange eyes.

"Summoning a powerful monster like that on the first turn! That's awesome!" I heard Jaden pipe up excitedly.

"He definitely has an advantage in this duel," another voice spoke softly from right next to me. I looked at the kid sitting next to me in surprise. For someone who was short and with a cute face, he was dressed in pretty edgy clothing. The most notable thing about him was the gold pyramid that hung down from a thick chain around his neck. Looking at the strange necklace gave me an uneasy feeling, so I looked away from it, my eyes desperately searching for something else to focus on.

"Y-yeah," I agreed with the boy. "Hopefully Yusei's deck can put up a fight." My gaze wandered to the tall boy. He was watching Yuya intently. The dragon didn't seem to faze him, but then again, I was too far away to see his face properly.

"You think he'll be okay?" Though I just met Yusei, I wanted him to win the duel.

"It's just the start of the duel," the boy said. "A lot can happen before the end. It's hard to tell right now."

I could only nod silently in agreement.

Yuya continued his move. "I normal summon Performapal Uni and I'll activate her special ability. She allows me to special summon her sister, Performapal Corn, from my hand."

Two cute girls appeared next to the dragon. One had long, blonde hair while the other sported blue hair. Both had white horns sticking up from their heads.

"Now Corn's effect activates. I target Performapal Uni, and both her and Corn get switched to defense mode. Now I get to add an Odd Eyes monster from my deck to my hand. I'll choose my second Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon! And here he comes!"

The second dragon was just as formidable as the first. "Now, I'll create the overlay network! XYZ summon, Odd Eyes Absolute Dragon!"

The two dragons disappeared, leaving blue crystals littered on the ground in their wake. The shattered gems rose up, merging together to form a new dragon. A single red crystal adorned the dragon's forehead.

"I'll end my turn here!" Yuya declared.

Anxiously, I turned to look at Yusei again. Come on Yusei! I believe in you!