"Don't look down on dinosaurs," Riley shouted, looking over her hand and the situation on the field. Now was the time to draw, of course, and what does she draw? Evo-Instant; a trap card that she had no chance of using this turn. Nothing much to do. Setting her Evoltile Najasho face-down on the field, Riley said "I set one monster face-down. I also set one card face-down in my backrow. Your move."

Akio drew his card, and said: "Well, now I activate the effect of the Iron Core in my graveyard. This way, I can recover it by discarding a monster, Powerhand in this case. A small price to pay, in order to gain back such an important asset. Then, I activate the card I just drew, which is Core Transport Unit! This way, I can discard one card to immediately add another Iron Core from my deck to my hand. And I discard the Iron Core I just recovered!"

The move got him an odd look by Riley and some of the students, but most among the audience had already figured out why he did so.
"Then", he continued, "I summon the Urnight I recovered the last turn. And I immediately use its power to Special Summon from my deck another monster. This time, I choose Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak!"

The holographic monster that materialized on the field resembled an extremely muscular, but featurless man, wielding two swords and sporting the glowing Koa'ki Meiru emblem on its empty face.

"Ok, Bergzak. Attack her face-down monster!"

"Not so fast! I activate my trap card, Evo-Instant! By tributing my face-down monster, I can summon an Evolsaur from my deck!" The face-down card vanished, and in its place, a burst of flames rose up and faded to reveal a large, black-and-green, red-winged dinosaur. After the beast let loose with a vicious roar, Riley excitedly exclaimed "My strongest monster, Evolsaur Terias! 2400 plus the 500 from my field spell lends this monstrosity of a dino a devastating 2900 attack points! Are you sure you want to attack that?"

Akio snorted: "...Ok, I pause the attack. I set one face-down card, and end my turn. To keep my monsters on the field, I reveal Crusader and another Bergzak in my hand. Go on..."

"I draw!" Riley looked at her newfound draw; Evoltile Odonto. "I normal summon Evoltile Odonto! At a total of 1000 attack points, he may not be much, but this guy lets me summon a dino from my hand! And I choose Evolsaur Elias, in defense mode!" Next to the little orange lizard, the hologram of a yellow long-necked dino appeared, crouched and in a defensive stance. "And since Elias was summoned by evolution like this, I can summon ANOTHER Evolsaur from my hand, and I choose a second Terias!" There were now two copies of Terias, and one each of Elias and Odonto.

"This is how evolution works! It's all about survival of the fittest and natural selection, and nature chose my deck! Terias duo, make short work of those Beast-Warrior Koa'ki Meirus!" The duo of black dinosaurs marched up to Akio's Urnight and Crusader, and made short work of the beasts. Over the Terias duo, a -900 and -1000 appeared. Akio's Life Points now totalled in at 5500, while Riley remained at 7200. "Come on...it's your turn," Riley smirked, clearly mimicking what her opponent had done just moments before.

Akio mentally cursed his deck. [i]Of course. This is what happens when you try to take a tournament with an incomplete deck. Sigh... I guess that I have to rely on luck, now. Oh well... at least I have a good assessment of this deck's capabilities.[/i]

Akio drew his card. It was Core Compression, again. Maybe...? Well, he just had to see."I activate Core Compression from my hand. So, I discard Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak in order to draw two cards!"
He was quite skeptical about his possibilities: after all, there was currently only one card in his deck that could save him, and that card was... "Rooklord?".
He literally couldn't believe the gigantic stroke of luck he had: drawing Rooklord this very moment gave him the possibility to completely turn the tables. And he even drew another Core Overclock.
So, he started laughing. He did notice the weird looks people were giving him, but they were already accustomed to his quirks. And besides, almost everyone tended to chew the scenery when duelling, so no one paid that outburst too much mind.

Of course, the annoying dinosaur fanatic had to interrupt his cinematic moment: "What, did you realize you're utterly screwed and just lost your nutter?"

Akio grinned a 24-carat grin and just replied: "I activate another Core Overclock, then... I tribute my Bergzak to bring out the heavy artillery. Say hello to Koa'ki Meiru Rooklord!"

Bergzak was substituted by a gigantic monster, tall enough to reach halfway to the arena ceiling, looking like a typical humanoid mecha with armored shoulder pads, sporting the Koa'ki Meiru symbol, and two cylindrical arms, both of which also had the emblem impressed upon their ending. The ATK tag showed the number 3800.

Of course, Riley just had to comment that too: "Not bad, "prof". But you can't hope to win against all my monsters. And I have just enough time to draw something that'll let me beat your ugly monster black and blue!"

"You know, you should really keep your mouth shut when you don't know what you're talking about. Let me show you why. I activate Rooklord's effect! I banish one Bergzak from my graveyard, so Rooklord can destroy two of your cards! And I choose your field spell and one of your Terias!" The endings of Rooklord's arms opened, revealing that they were actually cannons. The giant shot, disintegrating one of the two dinosaurs and the field spell. "Then, I attack your Odonto! Go, Rooklord! Turn that prehistoric reject into mincemeat!"

As ordered, Rooklord disintegrated Odonto, inflicting 2800 damage to Riley in the process.
"There, I hope you're satisfied. I send the Iron Core in my hand to the graveyard to keep Rooklord on the field. Your turn... if you're still interested in the duel, I mean."

Riley looked puzzled. Hell, a close look and one could almost see gears turning in her head, trying to put together a way to topple this big blue brain-bashing battler. "2400...plus sixteen, but that'd take too long. Nothing in the hand, either." Firmly setting both of her hands down, Riley said "I can't defeat that monster! There's no way! I am forced to forfeit this duel to you! But I'll get you back for this sometime, don't you forget it!"

Akio was surprised by how quickly his opponent had forfeited the duel. Well, that means less time lost. [i]What a child, though. Whatever. I got the test I wanted. This deck works, even if it needs a LOT of adjusting.[/i] He stepped out of the arena without making a sound, and quietly sat down on the sideline chairs reserved for the participants.

As Riley followed suit, the voice of Student Council President Kim Black rang out over the intercom system. "And the winner is Akio Muzuki-Franklin! For our next duel, can we please have Michelle Kine and Aislin MacBeth arrive on the stage?"