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Peter didn’t quite hear what Coach Clara had said besides “You’re up next, Peter,” but he inferred that given Hana got up and off him, he had Clara to thank for that as well. He didn’t get up right away, though, even after that had happened, instead mentally bracing himself for the duel ahead. It did probably mean he looked a little silly to both his teammates and his upcoming opponent, but his mind was elsewhere. He remembered back when he was younger and significantly more naive, playing against his mother on the dining room table, and he had just asked how it felt playing on a professional field. It was a question he’d asked before, it had to have been loads of times at that point, and the standard answer had always been “You're too young to worry about that,” or “Let’s focus on getting you there first, hm?” But this time, for whatever reason, his mother instead set down her cards and started looking a little contemplative. “It can be a little lonely,” she said. “There are cameras and the crowd, and even the opponent, yes, so it’s not like there isn’t anyone around -- it’s not that sort of loneliness. But it can feel like it’s you against the world sometimes. All those eyes, they’ll never give you an inch, you think. But you’ll get used to it. You have to. Despite the pressure they bring, you don’t want those eyes looking somewhere else. Then they forget you exist.” He was up next. It was time! The mother in his head was saying different things now, like “Stay focused,” and “Remember your fundamentals.” Peter pushed himself off the ground and returned to his bag where his deck and duel disk awaited him. They fit into place just like they always did. Laurie was his opponent? That didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered right now was him. That didn’t stop him from shaking hands with her at the middle of the field, of course. He wasn’t that far gone. “Here’s to a fun match,” Laurie even said, which Peter reciprocated before producing a coin. “Call it,” Peter said. “Tails.” Peter gave the coin a flip and watched it spin in the air a few times before snatching it and slamming it on his wrist. “Looks like I’m going first,” he said, adding, “Good luck again,” before walking back to his side of the field. "It's time to duel!" His hand was… it was fine. His father was already lecturing in his ear about how he should be playing the hand he drew instead of wishing for something else, though, and that started to bother him more than the cards themselves did. He did have a few plays, though. “I’ll start with the card Cards of Consonance,” he said. “Pretty simple, I can discard a Dragon Tuner to draw two cards. My dragon tuner of choice is The White Stone of Ancients.” He flashed both cards before slipping them into his graveyard. “I’ll set a card too, but at the end of my turn, White Stone effect activates. Because it went to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a Blue-Eyes monster. “Blue-Eyes White Dragon!” Peter called out, and the named card flew out of the deck slot in his disk and right into his hand, which in turn went in a fluid motion right into the slot. Right on cue, the dragon itself appeared in the middle of the battlefield. The acoustics of its roar were significantly different than back at Horizon’s gym, the sound had an echo to it that lingered for so much longer. “Like I said, that happened during my End Phase, so it’s your turn now.” “I’ll draw,” Laurie declared as she did just that. She frowned as she looked between her hand and the monster on the field, mumbling, “It just had to be something that big.” Looking back to her hand, the girl finally nodded to herself. “Not much to do here myself either. I’ll set one monster face down, and set two cards face down.” With a smile, the girl gestured back to Peter saying, “that’s it for my turn.” Alright, well, Peter was the one with a monster in Attack position, which meant he was on the offensive, right in his comfort zone. He was, of course, suspicious of Laurie’s face-downs -- he didn’t even know what Laurie’s deck was yet! -- but he wasn’t about to let her reveal her secrets on her own terms. “Draw,” Peter said, and immediately the line of play appeared before him. “So first thing’s first, I’m going to Summon Priestess with Eyes of Blue,” Peter said as the holy woman appeared on the field. “But it’s not going to be here for long. I also had a Sage in hand, so by discarding it, I can get another Blue-Eyes onto the battlefield. But not only that,” -- he remembered this time -- “because I targeted Priestess, I can get two more to my hand. “Blue-Eyes White Dragon! I summon another!” The dragon’s roar was no less imposing the second time. “Plus, I found my third with Priestess and Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon. Here, I’ll even show you it again,” he said, flashing the cards to all onlookers. “By doing this, Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon can be Special Summoned as well.” Summoning a bunch of monsters in one turn felt like it was supposed to be against the rules. But there they were, and Laurie hadn’t done anything to stop him just yet. Well, now was the time to figure out if she could. “Battle!” Peter said. “Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon, let’s start by attacking that face-down.” Laurie took a cautious step back as she was suddenly facing off against three dragons, not doing anything as the alt dragon attacked her face down. Flipping over, it revealed to be a small black dragon with red eyes, which didn’t stick around long as it was instantly destroyed. Clearing her throat, stepping forward with a smile now on her face she said, “well, what was just destroyed was Red-Eyes Baby Dragon. And when he goes to the graveyard I can summon a Red-Eyes monster from my deck. And so, I’m going to summon Gearfried, The Red-Eyes Iron Knight in defense mode!” As she called this out, a man with bladed arms in black and red armor showed up with Red-Eyes Baby hopping onto his back. “Red-Eyes baby also attaches itself to the monster it summons as an equip card, but when Gearfried has an equip card attached to him he can send it to the grave and one spell or trap of yours. So,” as she pointed towards Peter’s facedown, the dragon turned into a black and red flame that ran across Gearfried’s blade. With a swing of it, the flames overtook Peter’s facedown -- Majesty with Eyes of Blue -- and destroyed it. The knight returned to his defensive stance, with Laurie continuing, “also, when Baby is sent to the graveyard as an equipped card, I can add a level 1 dragon to my hand, that being this guy.” The girl pulled The Black Stone of Legend from her deck, adding it to her hand before stating, “but, that’s all from that. Still your battle phase though.” “Right,” Peter said. Red-Eyes! Of course! He felt like there was a god up there with a sense of humor, pitting him up against a counterpart archetype like this. The parents in his head were chastising him for even thinking about those circumstances, but he couldn’t help it. Still, like they’d both said, he was on the offensive. “I’ll send one of my Blue-Eyes after your Gearfried, then.” Laurie didn’t seem to be too bothered as the attack struck the knight, instead saying, “Sorry for the interrupt again, but, when a Red-Eyes monster I control is destroyed, I can Special Summon this guy from my hand: Red-Eyes Retro Dragon. And when he’s summoned, he also brings back the destroyed monster.” As she finished her explanation, out from the ground Gearfried rose again, taking his defensive posture once more as a black and red dragon of similar stature flew down next to him. “Again, still your battle phase.” Maybe it was because Laurie still had gas in the tank, maybe it was because, again, of course he knew it was still his turn to attack, whatever the reason, Peter couldn’t help but let out an annoyed tsk. “Alright, I still have one more Blue-Eyes to attack with. Let’s get rid of your Retro Dragon, then. Anything you have to say to that?” Laurie waved her hand saying, “Go ahead,” and both Peter and she watched on as the Blue-Eyes’ beam of light obliterated the Red-Eyes. There wasn’t really any following that, at least on his end, Peter decided. “Well, that’s my turn, then,” Peter said. “Your go.”