Old School Vs New School

by RoyalKnight

Set a while after season 2, the plot revolves around some of the old characters resurfacing and challenging the new characters, for those who like dueling. Post which duels you would like to see. First duel: Kaiba vs Zane.

Hi everyone, pretty much, this is a straight dueling fic...just to entertain the fantasy match up of Zane versus Kaiba.

Note: Kaiba's character in this story is closer to his character in 'Summer Vacation', which is different than the show in the sense that he's more 3D and has a nice side.

Enjoy.

Old School Vs New School - Duel 1

Chapter 1:

"There it is, everyone! It's over! Truesdale wins, Truesdale wins, TRUESDALE WINS! Yet another victory, ladies and gentlemen, in the finals of the prestigious Pro League Holiday tournament, no less, for the man in black! Well, Howard, this is simply amazing! I've completely lost track of how many wins Truesdale's accumulated in the past year, and I had my Major in Mathematics!" roared the excited annoucer named Paul, vigorously informing everyone of the talent of the duelist they were watching. Zane Truesdale, black-clad and all, had won a string of impressive victories, going undefeated in the last year, winning two hundred and seven duels in a row. To cap off his amazing year, Zane had now won the second most prestigious tournament of the year, next to the actual World Championship held in the spring.

Howard, the other annoucer, whose feelings were deeply mutual with that of his fellow annoucer, Paul, and the rest the entire stadium, who were chanting Zane's name. "You're not kidding, Paul! It seems like just yesterday, Zane Truesdale was wearing white and blue, and losing to everything that moved; heck, my five-year old baby daughter could have beat him in a duel! But this year, he's back in black, and the juggernaut that that is the 'Hell Kaiser' is a well-oiled machine, destroying everything in his path! Now, the question is asked, can anybody beat Zane Truesdale?"

"Hell Kaiser! Over here! How do you feel about your win today?"

"Zane-y, I love you! How'd ya feel about taking me out to dinner?"

"You're nothing, Truesdale, I could duel circles around you easily! How'd you like to get your connections up in Pro League to sign me and I'll whip you!"

"Mister Truesdale, how do you feel about possibly endorsing our product?"

Paparazzi, fangirls, haters, corporate pigs, thought Zane. Seems as though the entire world is divided into these four groups, and everyone was after him. Whether it be his opinion, his heart, his severed head, or his loyalty. When will you insects learn to just get out of my way, he thought angrily. "I got two words for you people; buzz off. None of you are worth my time."

"Please, Mister Truesdale-"

Zane growled angrily at the short, pimpled reporter. "Deep down, I feel sorry for intolerable rats like you, who never go anywhere in life other than being moochers. So I think I'll give you a break, maybe your career will actually go somewhere and you'll move out of your mother's basement. God forbid, you might even get a girlfriend!" Zane snarled angrily at the diminuitive reporter, and snatched his tape recorder.

"Listen up, my challengers, you can quote me on this; Anyone who'd like a shot at beating the hottest duelist in the world can contact my agent, and hand in your dueling resume. Every challenger will be assessed, and will face me at the KaibaDome tommorow at one p.m., and I'll give the winner anything they want out of my possession! Whether it be-"

Zane reached into his deck pocket and fished out his best cards. "-my best cards, a Pro League contract, or number one contendership to the World Title! I'll crush anyone, anytime, anywhere, but tommorow, it's gonna go down at the KaibaDome!"

Meanwhile, the next day, at Duel Academy, in the Obelisk Blue dorm with high definition cable TV, Jaden Yuki, Alexis and Atticus Rhodes, Veillian Crowler, Chancellor Sheppard, Tyranno Hassleberry, Bastion Misawa, Chazz Princeton, and Zane's brother, Syrus, all had their eyes glued to the screen as they saw the news report air the news for the umpteenth time. It was 11 p.m. and the news of Zane's opponent would be announced soon, and even non-dueling newscasters were either reporting about Zane's winning streak or Zane's challenge. The screen suddenly moved to a blonde man with a frilly pink collar. "Crowler?" Sheppard stared in disbelief at the screen, then at Crowler himself.

"Ooh, this is my part!" cried Crowler.

"Yes, as the Head of the Obelisk Blue dorm, and Zane's premier teacher at Duel Academy, one would not be incorrect in say that much of Zane's success could be attributed to me, though I say with great humility. I always knew Zane had the potential to become one of the best duelists in the world-"

While Crowler grinned stupidly from ear to ear, everyone shook their heads.

"I don't know about you guys, but definitely applied for that duel!" crowed the always excited Slifer Red, Jaden. "Alexis, Atti, Bastion...anyone doin' it other than me?"

"Well," said Atticus rather sadly. "Seeing as how Zane already beat Chancellor Sheppard and I, I don't think either of us applied...right?"

"If anyone could do it, it would be you, Jaden," agreed Chancellor Sheppard. "Zane's winning streak is fueled by hatred, and the fear of loss, I'm afraid. When he does lose...trust me, he's gonna fall of his high horse even harder than he did when he lost to Aster Phoenix."

"Why, I'm honored someone would be mentioning my name," came a smooth and cool voice from the doorway.

Sheppard, along with everyone else, turned around. "Sam Hill! It's Private Phoenix!" mused a surprised Hassleberry.

"Destiny brings me back to this Academy once again," said the grey-clad boy in his singsong voice, while Bastion, a firm believer in science and nothing of the arcane, rolled his eyes. "I could not help but overhear the overexuberance of idiocy coming from Jaden, especially the part about him saying he wanted to face Zane. Well, I don't really think you're as qualified as someone who's actually beaten Zane before," said Aster proudly.

"He's got a point," said Syrus. "Jay, you're good, and you've even beaten Destiny-boy here-"

"Oh spit it out Syrus," said Chazz. "Jaden is a nobody until he beats Zane,"

"On the other hand, Chazz," said Alexis. "You've never beaten Jaden, Aster, or Zane. Or even Syrus, really."

"Yeah, not even me!"

"He beat you, sis," Atticus winked at Alexis, who quickly whipped his head around and scowled at him.

"Alright kids, I didn't give the motion for the maturity level to be thrown out the window," Sheppard rolled his eyes.

"It's in, folks!" A short, pimpled news reporter was on the television with a small document in his hand, with a group of rabid duelists behind him, sealed by a fence, trying to reach out to the paper. "Ouch, please, everyone, stop crowding me! In my hand-everybody, please stop! Ahem! It's the moment of truth as arrived as to Zane's opponent today!" The pimpled news reporter's glasses nearly fell off as he gasped from reading the paper, when he opened the envelope. "M-my-my god! Holy sh-! I don't believe it ladies and gentlemen! The duelist facing Zane Truesdale today is not a Pro League member, or even a duelist from any preparatory dueling institutions!"

"No!" cried Aster and Jaden, disappointed at themselves being eliminated already.

"Instead, we have a special guest duelist today! A man who's hasn't dueled in years, and is now part of the board of directors of the Pro League! You all know him! The one, the only, SETO KAIBA!"

Silence filled the room, until Jaden smelled something. "Hey Chazz, did you just soil yourself?"

Everyone stared blankly at the screen. Then, everyone in the room began scrambling around, Jaden cheering, Syrus falling over in shock, Aster griping, Hassleberry clanking a pot pan with a wooden spoon and making war noises, Bastion getting a calculator to calculate the odds, Crowler fainting, Chazz going to the bathroom, Sheppard going to make announcements, Atticus recording materials, and Alexis getting popcorn and soda.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The duel of the year is going down! It's Zane vs Kaiba here at the KaibaDome! Howard, one might think Kaiba has homefield advantage here, but I would beg to differ, because Zane's won two hundred and seven duels here this year! Tonight, he could win not one more, but TWO more! That's right, folks, this match is a best two out of three! All duels are 4000 Life Points and Battle City rules!"

"No question, Paul! We all know how freakin' good Kaiba and Zane are, and what they've done, but we know Kaiba was at one point a World Champion, and Zane's never been, but Zane's career is still young, while Kaiba's over, or so we thought! If you'd ever asked me who was a match for Seto Kaiba other than Yugi Mutou, I would have had two answers: Aster Phoenix and Zane Truesdale, and here we are today!"

"The audience can't get any crazier, can it, Howard?"

"Well, Paul, let's just wait. If Cyber End Dragon AND Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon are summoned to the field in head to head combat, this place is gonna blow, literally! The only question is, where's Kaiba?"

Amidst the raucous yelling and cheering, Zane tapped his black, leather wrapped foot on the ground as he waited impatiently to the man he'd been compared to for so long by the press.

"This is my first duel in years, and I don't think I've ever seen a more worthy opponent than this guy, other than Yugi. He's got powerful cards, a will to win, and a killer strategy. It's time to dust off the deck and show the world Seto Kaiba is for real," said a nervous Seto Kaiba, standing in the ramp which would lead to the entrance to the arena. Suddenly, clicking was heard. Footsteps.

"Hello there, Kaiba," came a childish, yet somewhat mature voice from the corridor.

"Hey dere, ol' buddy," came another, more childish, and not mature at all voice.

Kaiba turned his head, and was somewhat surprised. "Yugi and Wheeler," said Kaiba, somewhat disgusted. "I didn't think you'd come watch."

"You kidding? I wouldn't miss this for anything! Look, I know you've never wanted help from anyone, and you probably spent hours getting your deck ready, but here, I've got a a card here-"

"We wanted to come for da sake o' helpin' ya," said Joey. "Zane Truesdale's tough, and you haven't dueled in a while, so-"

"Do you guys know me at all?" Kaiba was very offended. "I can't believe you guys!"

"I don't know," said Yugi. "Do I? This card knows you pretty well. I mean, it's trounced most of your strategies before. You don't ever have to use it, of course. I thought you might feel a little more secure that it's in your deck rather than your opponents, for once."

"It's more of a symbol, than anything," said Joey. "You don't have to use my card either, but I want it to feel like I'm duelin' this guy. I mean, I applied too, but you got picked, so my card in your deck, ya know, if I happen to help ya win, it might be on me," Joey winked.

Kaiba grunted and swiped the cards. "If I have to use these cards, somehow, I'll throw up in the arena,"

"Alright, Truesdale," called Kaiba. "Let's do this,"

"Back to you! Game on!"

"Let's Duel!"

The annoucers were already impressed. "Wow, getta load of that! Kaiba goes old school with the 'Let's Duel' catchphrase!"

"Doesn't he know that the thing that's 'in' now is 'Game on', Paul?"

"It's a full house tonight, Howard! Looking around, we can already see the famous guests that have arrived, including many celebrities, who rushed to Domino City as soon as they found out it was Zane vs Kaiba! Pegasus, most of Duel Academy's staff and students, the Pro League Commision, even old-timers like Rex Raptor, Weevil Underwood, Joey Wheeler, Mai Valentine-oh look, Wheeler's got a giant Kaiba bobblehead balloon! I can't tell if that is insulting or supportive. Speaking of Wheeler, we've heard from some reliable sources that the King of Games, Yugi Mutou is in the house! As of of now, I can't seem to find him...lastly, we see many other Pro League powerhouses...including this man, the Pro League Champ, Aster Phoenix! Aster will be joining us for commentary, and also, probably scouting out Truesdale, or even Kaiba, if Kaiba wins and decides to come out of retirement! Great to have you here, Aster!"

"My pleasure, Paul," Aster said as he pulled on a headphone and shook Howard's hand.

"So, Aster, what are your predictions tonight?" asked Howard.

"Well, Howard, Zane's on a huge roll lately, but I'm betting Seto Kaiba didn't just throw his name in the hat without preparing! Knowing Kaiba, he's been preparing for this duel for quite a while, knowing someday he would challenge Zane, who, I might add, I was the first to defeat-"

"Alright," Paul. "Looks like the duelists are picking up their first cards..."

"I've been studying you closely, Truesdale," said Kaiba. "I would say that you are indirectly my student. I employed Sheppard, even after I beat him in a duel, and Sheppard trained you at Cyber dojo and Duel Academy...you're no doubt the best student we ever had in ten years, and I like your style,"

Zane said nothing. Two years ago he would have been flattered out of respect for his opponent. But that Zane was gone. "Good to know," he muttered.

"You remind me of when I was World Champion," said Kaiba. "Then Yugi beat me, and I through the years, I realized being a cold freak sometimes doesn't cut it. Everyonce in a while, Truesdale, you gotta open up. It's all about balance between the cold side of you and the bubbly side of you."

"What are you even saying," scoffed Zane. "If you're not gonna go first, I'll have to. I play my Graceful Charity, drawing three cards, and ditching two. I'll play two cards face-down, and end my turn."

"No monster?" cried all the announcers in disbelief. Kaiba seemed to be thinking the same thing too. "You're trying to see if I can take you out in one move," he said. "I can try, if you wish. I play White Dragon Ritual, sacrificing Vorse Raider in my hand to summon Paladin of White Dragon in attack mode (1900)! Now, Paladin, attack him directly!"

"I activate a trap card, Damage Polarizer, allowing me to negate the damage, and both of us, as a side effect, draw one card," said Zane. "Just what I needed. Since I have no monsters on the field, I can summon my Cyber Dragon (2100) in attack mode without a tribute. Now, Cyber Dragon, attack his Paladin of White Dragon!" (Kaiba LP: 3800)

"I think we just saw, dare I say, an amateur move by Seto Kaiba! Instead of using his Paladin's effect right away and summoning his all-powerful Blue-Eyes, he wanted to inflict damage first!" said Aster observingly. "It, of course, cost him a chance to summon his signature monster!"

"Obviously that was a mistake. I'll now play

, and resummon my Paladin, but I'll quickly sacrifice him this time to summon my all-powerful, Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000)!" declared Kaiba.

"Woot, I think you spoke too soon there, Aster! Don't look now, but Kaiba's got the dragon of all dragons on the field now! Blue-Eyes' in the house!"

In the front row section where the Duel Academy members were situated, Jaden was raving about the power of Blue-Eyes, as he had faced the power of a Blue-Eyes, and lived to tell the tale. "Jaden, don't forget, because Blue-Eyes was summoned through the effect of Paladin of White Dragon, he can't attack this turn," said Bastion, like a true smartass.

"Since I summoned Blue-Eyes through the power of Paladin, he can't attack," said Kaiba. "Which essentially means he's useless this turn. So I guess I'll just have to summon another! I play my own personal visage, Kaibaman (200), and sacrifice him to summon another Blue-Eyes!"

"Ladies and gents, we're sure lucky today! Two Blue-Eyes for the price of one turn!" cried Howard. "You watching this, Aster?"

Aster looked nervously. "So this is how good he is," he muttered.

"What?"

"I said, I could have stopped that real good,"

"Now, Blue-Eyes, attack his Cyber Dragon!" Zane was completely unfazed, at least on the outside, as the stream of white lightning ripped through the metal serpent. (Zane LP: 3100). "I'll set this for later,"

"No problem," said Zane coolly. "Cyber Dragons' are a dime in a dozen in my deck. I'll play my own Monster Reborn, allowing me to bring back my Cyber Dragon, then, I'll summon Proto-Cyber Dragon (1100). Like your Kaibaman, he's completely useless by himself, which means I'll have to sacrifice him. I play Photon Generator Unit, to sacrifice both of these guys to summon Cyber Laser Dragon (2400) in attack mode! I'm sure you know of his special ability. I'm going to have to destroy one of your Blue-Eyes, Kaiba."

Kaiba growled as one of his Blue-Eyes was shot down by Cyber Laser Dragon's sniper-like laser. "I'm not done yet, Kaiba. I activate my other face-down, Metalmorph, giving my Cyber Laser Dragon 300 extra attack points (2700), then allowing him to gain half of your monsters' attack points when it attacks! Go, Cyber Laser Dragon, attack his Blue-Eyes!" (Kaiba LP: 2600)

"Wow, Kaiba went through all that work of summoning both his dragons and Zane impressively erases the effort with three cards!" said an impressed Atticus.

"I activate my trap, Flat LV 4, and now we summon a level 4 monster in attack mode. So show yourself, Kaiser Seahorse (1700)!"

"Fine, Cyber Phoenix (1200), take the field!"

"Time to stop playing sloppy," Kaiba picked up another card. "I still haven't given up on my Blue-Eyes, so I'll sacirifce Kaiser Seahorse to summon my third! I'll also special summon Clone Dragon to the field, and he copies the attack of my Blue-Eyes! I know the pesky effect of your Cyber Phoenix, so I think I'll pay 1000 Life Points to have my Clone Dragon crush it!" (Kaiba LP: 1600), (Zane LP: 1300)

"Now, my other Blue-Eyes, time to crush his Cyber Laser Dragon! Metalmorph can't work if I'm the attacker!" (Zane LP: 1000).

"These guys are incredible," marveled Hasselberry.

"This is the Zane I know," said a nodding, and approving Sheppard. "I've seen this. When Zane meets someone his equal he severely raises his game, and we all saw it when he faced Jaden...but this is what it's really all about. Zane matches up so well with Kaiba, it's a huge power struggle, two guys trying to summon more powerful monsters with more devastating effects than the other...this is dueling, my friends."

Back at the annoucers booth, Howard and Paul were amazed. Aster was the only one actually calling anything. "What makes Zane and Kaiba so similar, folks, and such great duelists, is their ability to summon powerful monsters, fast. No other duelist could summon two monsters with 3000 ATK, two turns in a row, no less!"

"My move! I activate the power of Card of Sanctity, allowing us to draw until we hold six cards each. Next, I'll play Different Dimension Capsule, allowing me to place any card in my deck into the capsule, and in two turns, I can add the card to my hand. Then, I'll summon Cyber Kirin (800) in defense and place two face-downs, and I'm done." Zane guestered for Kaiba to move.

"That was a rather disappointing move after your Cyber Laser Dragon parade, Zane," said Kaiba, shaking his head. "I'll now set two cards face-down. Now, Clone Dragon-"

"Hold on, Kaiba," said Zane, holding up his hand. "I activate the a trap, Sakutresu Armor, so your Clone Dragon is gone!"

"That's fine! Blue-Eyes, annihilate Kirin!"

The crowd was eating the duel up and absolutely going crazy. Joey Wheeler was now selling his homemade Kaiba-head bobbles, which Jaden had bought three of. "Two mindless idiots interested in the same mindless things," muttered Chazz.

"I've not seen a duel like this since Kaiba and Yugi at Battle City!" cried Paul. "I ask you once again, Aster-"

"I could duel circles around both of these guys," said Aster cockily. "I'm not afraid of Seto Kaiba, not matter how big of a legend he is, and I've already beaten Zane, so I would have to say the best duelist in the building isn't even dueling right now, contrary to what you guys think. The point is that I'm the Pro League Champ, and Pro League has the best duelists in the world signed on, and I'm the best of them, therefore, I'm the best in the world, and there's nothing that can dissuade that fact!"

What Aster Phoenix did not realize, was that Yugi Mutou and Joey Wheeler were both standing behind a wall leading to the commentator box. Yugi grinned. "Maybe I should pull a Kaiba and randomly challenge someone. Aster Phoenix...I'll remember that name,"

Zane drew another card. "One more turn till Different Dimension Capsule reveals my secret weapon! I play Polymerization to fuse my two Cyber Dragons to form the powerful Cyber Twin Dragon (2800)! Then, I activate my Rare Metalmorph, giving Cyber Twin Dragon a 500 point boost, giving it 300 more than your Blue-Eyes! So now, Cyber Twin Dragon, attack Blue-Eyes!"

After the first Double Strident Blast blasted Kaiba's last Blue-Eyes to bits, Zane was about to order Cyber Twin Dragon for another attack, but Kaiba would have none of it. "I activate my Clone trap card, allowing me to summon a perfect double of your card with the same stats! I'll use the Clone token to destroy your Twin Dragon, go, Clone Token!"

In a large flash of light, both the token and the Twin Dragon were destroyed. "Zane's Life Points are wide open!" cried Syrus.

"Ready to lose round one, Zane?" asked Kaiba. "I activate the power of Soul Release to remove five of my cards from play! Then, I pay half of my Life Points (Kaiba LP: 800) to play Return from the Different Dimension to bring back five monsters: my three Blue-Eyes, Paladin of White Dragon, and Clone Dragon-"

"Hold it! Before you can even think of attacking, I activate Zero Gravity, changing all of your monsters to defense position!" cried Zane, showing emotion other than being calm for the first time in the duel.

"Look at that, ladies and gentlemen! Zane's got the look!" cried Howard. "That signals when he's gonna finish off his opponent! And with Kaiba's monsters in defense..."

"That can only mean one thing!" said Aster. "That Different Dimension Capsule has got Power Bond in it!"

"It's Power Bond!" cried Jaden.

Most of the crowd began to realize what was happening. They would not have to wait long for a verification of their theory on what was coming next. "Too bad, Kaiba, but this first round round can and will only be mine! Now, remember Different Dimension Capsule? Well, the card in it is coming back to me, and I'll activate right away, so I activate Power Bond, in combination with Cybernetic Fusion support!"

"Not that card..." growled Kaiba.

"With Power Bond I summon the Cyber End Dragon (4000) in attack mode! And with Power Bond, he's got a little boost coming, (Cyber End Dragon ATK: 8000). "Now, Cyber End Dragon, attack!"

The target of Super Strident Blast was irrelevant, as Kaiba's monsters' defense points were much weaker than 8000, and the great power of Cyber End Dragon had won Zane the first duel. Kaiba looked on in shock as his signature Blue-Eyes was ripped to shreds. The crowd went crazy. "Zane-a-mania is running wild here at the Kaiba Dome!" cried Howard.

"He did it! I don't believe it! Zane beat Kaiba!" Alexis was trembling from shock. "I think I'm going to faint..."

"Into Jadens' arms!" said Atticus.

"Shut up!"

Jaden was seemingly oblivious to the Rhodes at the moment, as he was trying to absorb what had just happened. Zane's signature combo had defeated one of Kaiba's. "Wow...does this mean-"

"Remember guys, this is best two out of three," said Bastion. "Zane's only won thirty-three point three repeating percent of the battle, or fifty, if he can guarantee victory in the next duel!"

"This is remarkable, ladies and gentlemen!" cried Paul. "The great Seto Kaiba has his back to the wall! No one's taken Kaiba's Life Points completely other than Yugi!"

Just around the corner, Yugi smiled. "Good thing the duel with Dartz was broadcast on live television,"

"We've seen that combo a million times," said a bored Aster, as he stood up. "Let's see something new, Zane-y!" he yelled at Zane through the racous crowd.

"I hear you, Aster Phoenix. The next duel will be a little more...brutal, so to speak," he whispered to himself.

"I can't believe I lost," muttered Kaiba. He fumbled through his deck. Was he simply rusty? He needed to stop doubting himself. Doubting himself cost him countless duels against Yugi. Suddenly, Kaiba had an epiphany. His eyes lit up, as he dropped most of his deck on the floor. "It all makes sense...the fear of defeat, is stopping me from winning," he thought aloud. "If I can teach myself to not fear losing...maybe I'll be able to beat Yugi someday. For twelve years, I haven't been able to do it. Maybe beating this Zane kid will be the first step,"

"Hey, you gonna stop muttering to yourself and duel?" growled Zane. "So this is the great Seto Kaiba? Pathetic. You're an impostor. Then again, so I was I. The Zane that lived most of my life...the respectful and weak Zane was my impostor. But this is the real me...only one thing matters, and it's victory. And I'm that much closer, and you're just another obstacle, whether your name is Seto Kaiba or Johnny No-one, I'm gonna crush you."

"As I said before, I was that way once. But I guess I'm the exact opposite of you, Zane. I turned from an arrogant and victory-hungry freak to a calm, collected and cunning strategist, and you obviously started with the former and became the latter. I guess that's one difference we have, no matter how similar our dueling games are. Enough talking, let's duel! My turn first! I'll begin by playing my Familiar Knight in defense mode (1400), and set two cards down,"

"Not a very strong opening move," said Zane gently, yet his voice was now full of malice. "I took it easy on you in the first duel, Kaiba. I think I'll now torture you a little bit with some darker strategies, if you will. I'll summon my Infernal Dragon (2000) in attack mode! And I'll have it thrash your Familiar Knight!"

"That's fine, because we both now summon a LV 4 Monster from our hands, and mine's quite powerful one; Rare Metal Dragon (2400)!" Kaiba smiled and guestured for Zane to summon his LV 4 Monster.

"Fine, then I'll summon my Cyberdark Edge (800) in attack mode."

Excitement was once again stirring the crowd. "Look, guys, Zane's going back to his Cyberdarks! The Underworld Deck of dragons!" cried Syrus, who knew all too well about the power of the Cyberdarks.

"It was perfectly humane and civilized to watch Zane duel with his light mechanisms, the Cyber Dragons. It was a beautiful thing to see him manipulate the good in the universe for him to win...but the dark power of the Cyberdarks...that deck was sealed away for a reason," lamented Sheppard.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the living mechanisms of torture, serving only the Zane-juggernaut have arrived!" said Paul.

"Why would you switch strategies when you know that the one you used earlier was perfectly capable of beating me?" asked Kaiba. "Why play new monsters? I was planning on finding a way to crush your Cyber Dragons first!"

Zane laughed. "Don't you understand, Kaiba? The reason I wanted this to be a best two out of three duel was that if I could beat you two straight, I would try to show that there are two decks better than yours! The perfect victory, I call it!"

"The perfect victory?" Kaiba remembered all too well what happened the last time he wanted a perfect victory, back when he was using the Pyramid of Light. "A victory's a victory. I thought a person like you would appreciate that."

"Enough with the philosophical bullshit! Let's duel! I play Creature Swap to exchange my Infernal Dragon for your Rare Metal Dragon, then, I'll play Kaiser Glider in attack mode (2400) by tributing your monster, and now, I'll equip Cyberdark Edge with a LV 4 or lower monster in the grave-your Rare Metal Dragon! And it gains every last attack point your Dragon had, so my monster now has a total of 3200,"

What? He's already summoned a monster stronger than my Blue-Eyes? "Nice try, Zane, but you giving me your Infernal Dragon helps me out, too! I'll now activate the trap card, Burst Breath! By sacrificing my Dragon-type monster on the field, I can destroy every monster on your field that has a higher ATK than my monster's DEF, meaning your Glider and your Cyberdark-freak is gone!"

"That's fine," said Zane icily. "I play one card face-down, and I'm done,"

"Time for me to move on the offensive," said Kaiba. "I'll summon Lord of Dragons in attack mode (1200) and give him the Flute of Summoning Dragons, so I can bring out Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000) and Dragonic Knight (2800)! So now I think I'll finish this duel; my Dragons, attack him directly, and may the Lord of Dragons protect them both from any trap or spells!"

"Lord of Dragons doesn't cancel out cards that do not target your dragons, though! I activate my trap, Negate Attack!" declared Zane. "My turn, and the real fun begins now. I summon my Cyberdark Keel (800) in attack mode, and I equip him, once again, with Rare Metal Dragon! So now he's stronger than both your dragons! But first, I think that Lord of Dragons needs to go - Cyber Dark Keel, attack!"

"Reveal Attack Guidance Armor," said Kaiba. "I'll now redirect your attack, but I'd really not rather have one of my Dragons destroyed. Hmm, you know, I think I'll reveal my De-Fusion card, as well, separating your Cyberdark Keel from your Rare Metal Dragon! Then, I'll redirect your attack of 3200 points at your Rare Metal Dragon!" (Zane LP: 3200)

"Good move!" crowed Bastion. "That's vintage Seto Kaiba, chaps!"

"I end my turn with a face-down," muttered Zane.

"Wow, it looks like the story has totally changed in this duel!" said Aster. "Before, it was Kaiba bringing out his big guns and falling right into Zane's traps! But now, Kaiba's the one setting traps and burning Zane! Guess Zane shouldn't have tried to fix the unbroken by switching to his Cyberdarks!"

"Hm, a monster with 800 ATK points, and one face-down," sneered Kaiba. "And I've got three monsters with a total ATK of 7000 and still one more monster to summon; I think there's a disparity here! But it won't be for long, since I'm gonna tie things up at one apiece, so now, I play another face-down, then I think my Dragons are gonna have their lunch! Blue-Eyes, trash his Cyberdark-"

"I'll have none of that! I activate my spell, Battle Fusion! This lets my monster gain ATK equal to your monsters', so my Keel's ATK goes to 3800!"

"I haven't seen Zane play that card since the Grad Duel!" chirped Syrus. "He really busted out the tough customers for this duel,"

"Well it is Seto Kaiba..." said Chazz.

"Cyberdark Keel, counterattack," ordered Zane in a brutal voice, pointing a gnarled finger at Blue-Eyes. "Crush that Dragon,"

"The utter inhumanity of Zane's monsters..." said Paul dramatically. "This annoucer's gotten used to it, but really, those Cyberdarks, if they were real machines, I would simply leave the continent!"

Kaiba growled in a strained voice (Kaiba LP: 3200) as his favorite monster was once again beaten. Zane smiled evilly. "My Cyberdark Keel's special effect allows him to inflict an extra 300 points of damage each time he destroys. (Kaiba LP :3200) As you said before, Kaiba. 'Time for me to move on the offensive', and this case, I'm going to! First, I place a card face-down, then I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three cards, then discarding two. Then, I play Future Fusion, removing some monsters from my Deck to the grave, so in two turns, I'll have an extremely powerful monster! Finally, I'll activate an old favorite, Time Fusion, so by removing a card from my hand from the game, I can pick one Fusion monster in my deck, and so in one turn, I can summon another extremely powerful monster!"

"Boy, there's another Grad Duel card!" said Jaden, observantly, for once in his life. "I remember when he used it summon Cyber End Dragon against me, but I guess that's not his plan this time, is it?"

"Theoretically, he could, since Time Fusion says you can ignore any previous summoning requirements," said Alexis. "But I'm pretty sure the way this duel's going, summoning Cyber End Dragon's not the theme of the duel for him,"

"Don't mention that card's name," said a traumatized Syrus.

"But now, I think, I'll have switch Cyberdark Keel to defense mode, since he can't absorb anymore monsters, so I'll summon my Cyberdark Horn in attack mode, absorbing Rare Metal Dragon (Cyberdark Horn ATK: 3200). I'll pick up where I left off, so now, Cyberdark Horn, attack his Dragonic Knight!"

"Reveal trap: Tyrant Wing! I can now add 400 points to my Dragonic Knight, giving him the equal amount of strength as your Cyberdark Horn!" declared Kaiba. "No harm done to our life points, but the goal of your Cyberdark Horn leaving the field is accomplished!"

"The crowd is lovin' it, ladies and gents!" said Howard. "Where has Seto Kaiba been? Holy crap, I'd say his form, strategy, and timing is as good, if not better than his glory days! I'd sure love to see Yugi Mutou come out and see who he'd be facing now!"

Cyberdark Horn and Dragonic Knight, with equal attack points, clashed and destroyed each other, without so much as scratching their owner's life points. "You're going to summon either your Cyber End Dragon or your Cyber Dark Dragon soon, so I think I'd better bring out my bigger guns! First, I activate Card of Demise, letting me draw until I have five cards. Of course, in five turns, I have to discard them. I'll also activate Polymerization and fuse togetheer Versago the Destroyer with two of my Blue-Eyes to summon the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500)!"

The crowd erupted in cheers of 'Kaiba' as furiously waved their bobbleheads. "Great Scott! It's Kaiba's ultimate monster, pun intended!" cried Bastion.

"I then activate my face-down, Dragon's Rage, letting my Blue-Eyes deal damage to your life points when I attack a defense position monster, it'll count as damage! So 4500 minus 800 of your Cyberdark Keel's defense points is 3200, exactly the amount of Life Points you have!"

"I activate Emergency Provisions!" declared Zane. "I have no choice but to destroy Future Fusion and gain 1000 life points, saving me the duel!" (Zane LP: 1000).

"Damn, that Future Fusion could have summoned Cyber End Dragon!" moaned Jaden.

"What a sacrifice!" said Aster. "Zane usually reserves Future Fusion for his Cyber End Dragon, and although Zane's been playing with a dark theme, the three headed dragon could've really helped, especially against Kaiba's three headed dragon! But with no Future Fusion on the field, there goes Cyber End Dragon,"

Zane grinned. "I would have lost the duel had it not been for Future Fusion. It is correct that I was planning to use it to summon Cyber End Dragon, yes. However, Time Fusion gives me a safety net, as I can now summon the Fusion monster I set aside before; say hello to Cyber Dark Dragon (1000)!"

"I surmised as much," growled Kaiba. "Though that Dragon is nothing in comparision to my Ultimate Dragon's 4500 ATK!"

"I think I'll use one of your tricks to even things up," said Zane, smirking. "When Cyber Dark Dragon is summoned, I get to pick one Dragon from either of our graveyards and use it to fuel my Cyber Dark Dragon, and I choose Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"This is simply unbelieveable, ladies and gentlemen!" cried Howard, falling out of his chair. "We NEVER thought Zane would go there! If anyone knows Seto Kaiba, they know that he tolerates NO ONE else using his Blue-Eyes, and he means NO ONE!"

"There's more," sneered Zane. "For every monster in my grave, Cyber Dark Dragon gains 100 ATK, so with all three Cyber Darks, three Cyber Dragons that I used with Future Fusion, and Infernal Dragon, that's an extra 700 points, giving him 4700!"

"That's more than my Blue-Eyes' 4500," muttered Kaiba bitterly.

"Correct! Now, Cyber Dark Dragon, crush his Ultimate Dragon!" growled Zane in a harsh, fiery voice. (Kaiba LP: 3000).

Kaiba smirked as he drew a card, almost completely unfazed by Zane's summoning of such a powerful monster. "Nice try, Zane. But even without Ultimate Dragon, this duel is still mine! Time for me to show you what a perfect victory really is!"

"What?" protested Zane. "You don't have a monster in your deck stronger than your Ultimate Dragon!"

"I don't at the moment, anyway," said Kaiba coolly. "But that doesn't mean I can't still summon one that can beat you. I now activate Card of Sanctity, allowing me to draw until I have six cards, and you as well. So watch, Zane. I play Trap Booster, allowing me, for now, to play traps from my hand. But before I do that, I'll play Soul Release, so I can remove your three Cyber Dragons from the game!"

"What are you planning to do with that?" demanded Zane, worried.

"Zane, I couldn't have helped noticed the icing on the cake when you totally ditched your old strategy. When you activated Graceful Charity, you discarded the very card that beat me in the last round: Power Bond. I'm about to show you to never, ever ditch strategies that WORK. First, thanks to Trap Booster, I can play my Return from the Different Dimension Trap card, paying half my Life Points (Kaiba LP: 1500), and letting me summon as many monsters removed from play as possible, so I choose your three Cyber Dragons!"

Back in the announcers' booth's corner, Yugi was incredibly intrigued by Kaiba's move. Is he doing what I think he's doing...?, thought Yugi.

"I don't get the it," growled Zane. "You can't-"

"But I can," said Kaiba. "Again, with Trap Booster, I play Magical Trick Mirror, allowing me to copy your spell card in the Graveyard, so I choose to copy POWER BOND!" declared Kaiba.

Everyone in the arena watched in suspense and disbelief as Kaiba removed all three Cyber Dragons from the field in order to summon Zane's once only sidekick, the Cyber End Dragon. "And with Power Bond, you know exactly how many points my dragon's got," Kaiba grinned. "Cyber End Dragon, turn Cyber Dark Dragon into scrap metal!"

"NO!" growled Zane, his eyes just about popping out of his head as he saw his precious Cyber Dark Dragon get demolished by his other best monster's attack.

"Simply unbelieveable, ladies and gentlemen! Kaiba's turned Zane's signature strategy against him! This match is all tied up, and we're goin' the the third!" cried Howard.

"That, was a perfect victory, kid," laughed Kaiba manically. "Are you ready for the third match?"

Zane scoffed. "You know, Kaiba, you taking such a cheap shot at my deck, and stealing one of my best monsters; that's low. But I also see that as the ultimate payment of respect, meaning you trusted my combination more than your own!"

"You're heavily misguided, kid. If anything, it shows my skill I was able to make your strategy work, unlike you,"

"There wasn't one bit of truth in that statement; I beat you in the first match with that very same strategy!" protested Zane, with a voice of pure venom.

"Whatever, let's duel!" said Kaiba. "I'll start this off by discarding one Thunder Dragon from my hand to add two more to my hand. Then, I'll summon X-Head Cannon (1800), then, I'll activate Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three, and lose two. One card face-down, and that's all for now,"

"I play Proto-Cyber Dragon (1100) in attack mode," declared Zane. "I then activate Future Fusion, and I'm sure you know what that does! I'll end by placing one card face-down,"

"That's weird, why would Zane play such a weak monster?" inquired Jaden. "I mean, even if that face-down is really strong, I seriously doubt Kaiba of all people would fall for it,"

"Oh, I think it's a win-win for Zane anyway," said Sheppard. "If I'm correct about his strategy, I know exactly what he's planning,"

"My turn, and I play my Spell Sanctuary card, so now, Zane, we both get to pick one spell from our Deck and add it to our hands. Then, for the remainder of the duel, Spell Cards that can normally only be activated during your turn, can now be used against your opponent during their turn, so they can take on characteristics of a trap! But now, I activate Flat LV 4, allowing us both, once again, to summon LV 4 monsters to the field - I choose my Y-Dragon Head (1500)!"

"Fine, then I choose Cyber Phoenix (1200)!"

"No matter what monster you pick, they won't stop mine," said Kaiba. "I now reveal the card I picked, and it's called Double Fusion. For 500 LP, (Kaiba LP: 500). I send X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank in my hand to the graveyard to summon XYZ - Dragon Cannon (2800)!"

"Not that one!" groaned Zane.

"So you figured out my Dragon Cannon can destroy cards on the field? Good, 'cause either it was Cyber End Dragon or Cyber Dark Dragon, they're not showing up as soon as you'd think! XYZ - Dragon Cannon, destroy his Future Fusion card! Now, you should also know, Zane, my Double Fusion card lets me use it's effect twice per turn, so I give up another 500 LP (Kaiba LP: 3000), so I can remove both my Thunder Dragons from the game and summon my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon (2800) for some extra fire power!"

"Aw man, my head hurts," groaned Syrus.

"You're pathetic," said Chazz.

"And I'm assuming you can keep up with all of this?" asked Atticus testily.

"Sure I could've!" said Chazz unconvincingly. "In fact, I should teach Kaiba some lessons on how to use those machine union monsters!"

"Now, Dragon Cannon, attack his Proto-Cyber Dragon!" ordered Kaiba.

"Shit..." muttered Zane.

"And Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, attack his Cyber Phoenix!"

"Looks like Zane's plan didn't work," said Jaden.

"Not a good round for me, but it's now my turn. I'll play another face-down, and summon Cyber Dragon in defense (1600). Then I'll add another face-down,"

Kaiba drew to indicate the beginning of his turn, and then realized he had drawn Yugi's Kuriboh. "Nice move, but that's not good enough, 'cause I use my Dragon Cannon's ability to destroy another card on your side of the field, and I choose Cyber Dragon! So now I can sick both of my Dragons on your life points!"

"You really didn't think I'd know you were gonna do that?" asked Zane, laughing. "I reveal my face-down, Monster Reborn, to bring back Cyber Dragon. Next, I activate De-Fusion, removing both of your monsters, and bringing all five of their components on the field!"

"Damn it," muttered Kaiba. "No attack, then. I activate Pot of Greed, now letting me draw two cards, and that's all."

Zane drew, and laughed. "My god, Kaiba, do you know of the power of the card I have just drawn? It's by far the most lethal spell in my deck, much more dangerous than Power Bond, Future Fusion, Time Fusion..."

"What, is it a card that can triple your monster's attack strength?"

"No..." said Zane, still laughing excitedly to himself. "I get jittery every time I draw this card, for it let's me summon a monster you've likely never seen before...the hidden pride of my deck that usually reserve for the most special of duels, most never get to see this card...I play Overload Fusion, so by removing monsters from my side of the field and or Graveyard to summon a new Fusion monster! Now, Kaiba, prepare to face the strongest monster you've faced since the Egyptian Gods! I summon the Chimeratech Over Dragon!"

"Chimeratech Over Dragon?" said everyone in the Duel Acamdemy row in unison.

As the Hydra-like machine with six large rearing dragonic, metal heads appeared on the field, Kaiba looked on in horror, feeling the dark energy emitting from it. "What...is that thing..."

"My Over Dragon is the perfect cybernetic destruction machine...let me explain. For every monster I used to fuse it, namely, Cyber Dragon and every machine monster I removed from the game, it gets 800 ATK, which means a total of six monsters; Cyber Dragon, Cyber Dark Horn, Cyber Dark Keel, Cyber Dark Edge, Cyber Phoenix, and Proto-Cyber Dragon, equals a punishing total of 4800 ATK!"

"I have a feeling that's not the worst part," said an almost sick Kaiba.

"You're certainly right. My Over Dragon's other special ability allows it to attack your monsters as many times as the number of fusion monsters I used, so my Over Dragon has the ability to attack a total of six times!"

"You have got to be joking me!" cried Aster Phoenix from the announcer booth. "There's no way you can have a card THAT powerful!" Paul and Howard looked at him awkwardly, surprised that his demeanor had changed from cocky to scared. "I mean..." Aster couldn't hide it. That Chimeratech Over Dragon was by far the strongest monster he'd seen up until now that was active in a deck of a Pro Duelist. The question was why did Zane hide his beast all this time. Covering his microphone, he muttered in a whisper to himself, "I'm not sure I could have beaten him if he had summoned that monster,"

"My god, and I thought the Cyber Dark Dragon and the Cyber End Dragon were beasts," said a scared Syrus. "This is Zane's utmost released dueling anger manifested in one card..."

"I remember after I gave Zane the Cyber End Dragon, and he used it to perfection, I offered him the Chimeratech Over Dragon because even I couldn't control it's raging power..." said Sheppard. "Zane had a hard time controlling it with his passive, good natured heart...he hated using that card, and most of the time, stuck with the already adept power of the Cyber End Dragon. But in Zane's fits of rage, he would unleash the Over Dragon on his opponents, and I only saw him do that twice to two kids at the Cyber Dojo...they were comatose after."

"Now, my Overdragon, open your six mouths, and attack his monsters!" cried Zane with destruction intended in his voice. Five shots of lightning blasts were struck at all of Kaiba's fusion material monsters, and the next thing everyone saw was a massive explosion of dust.

Minutes later, when the smoke cleared, everyone was absolutely in shock to see Kaiba still standing, mostly Zane, who looked horrified that his Over Dragon didn't beat him. "I had help from a friend," muttered Kaiba. He held up Yugi's Kuriboh card. "Kuriboh saves me from all damage,"

Zane thrust down three face-downs on the field in anger. "GO," he said with anger and malice.

""Cause that's a good way to play, you know," said a calm Kaiba. "I activate Card Destruction, and I'm sure you know what that does. I really don't like the fact that you showed me up by summoning a really powerful monster of yours, Zane...which is why I'm gonna have to do the same. I activate Dragon's Mirror, which, is largely the same card as Overload Fusion, except for Dragons rather than DARK Machine-types! So I remove all three of my Blue-Eyes that I discarded, in order to summon my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500)!"

"Powerful, but not powerful enough for the Over Dragon!" said Zane, satisfied.

"Who said it was my Ultimate Dragon who was gonna beat you?" said Kaiba.

"What?"

"You're not the only one who hides their strongest monster till the last match," Kaiba winked. "I always though Cyber End Dragon was your strongest card, and you always though Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was my strongest card. But now...I think I'll introduce you to my Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (3000)!"

Zane gasped, but tried not to look too impressed. "That dragon's even weaker than the first one!"

"Not for long, as he gains 300 points for every dragon in the grave! So, three Thunder Dragons, three Blue-Eyes, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, Spear Dragon, Kaiser Glider (both discarded through XYZ - Dragon Cannon's effect), - why, that's ten, which means an extra 3000, for a punishing grand total of 6000! No matter how many times your Over Dragon can attack, it's useless if i can't win the first time! Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, Shining Neutron Blast!"

"Nice move, Kaiba, and would have won you the duel, had you not factored in my face-down, Interdimensional Matter Transporter, meaning I can remove my Over Dragon from play until the End Phase, so your Blue Eyes Shining Dragon has no target!" declared Zane. "And with then of your turn comes mine! It's the end of you, Kaiba, for I activate my other face-down, Double Fusion! That's right, I have one too, so I pay a total of 1000 Life Points to summon Cyber End Dragon (4000) AND Cyber Dark Dragon (1000)! I'll also activate the special effect of Cyber Dark Dragon, allowing him to absorb a dragon, and I choose your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! (Cyber Dark Dragon: 5500)."

"Who's the one who complained about using other people's monsters," muttered Kaiba.

Paul and Howard had completely forgotten about commentary and just watched in disbelief. The entire crowd had seen amazing play after amazing play that it had just been so crazy. "Zane's the man, wow," said Atticus. "So is Kaiba. This is more intense than any duel I've ever seen! Three monsters with 4000, 4800, and 5500 ATK strength!"

"What I think you're missing, Atticus, is that Kaiba's monster has got 5700..." said Bastion.

"I'm not done yet! I now activate Limiter Removal, doubling all of my Dragon's attack power! (Cyber Dark Dragon ATK: 11 000), (Cyber End Dragon ATK: 8000), (Chimeratech Over Dragon 9 600).":

"Oh shit," said Jaden. "Game over,"

"Not so! I activate my DNA Surgery Trap, allowing me to change your monster's types to another type, namely, Dragon, meaning you no longer get Limiter Removal's boost, nor are your dragons destroyed!" declared Kaiba. "But they'll all be crushed, thanks to the power of my Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!"

"Oh really? Then I'll activate my Trap, Samsara Dogma, allowing me to change the type of every monster in our graveyards, and I choose, Machine, so your Shining Dragon now gets no boost whatsoever!"

Kaiba smirked and revealed one more face-down, "It's my Silent Doom, and I use to bring back XYZ - Dragon Cannon, and I think you know why I brought it back; for it's special ability of being able to destroy one card on the field in exchange for one in my hand, so I can destroy Samsara Dogma now!"

"No!" cried Zane. He had no more moves to play this turn, and ended sullenly.

"Time to end this duel!" declared Kaiba determinedly. He drew a card. Wheeler's card, he thought, placing a face-down card. He knew it could come in handy, even if he hated Joey. "The card I discarded for Dragon Cannon's effect to work was Pitch-Dark dragon, so my Shining Dragon's attack reboosts up to 6000! Now, Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, destroy his Chimeratech Over Dragon with Shining Neutron Blast!" (Zane LP: 2800).

Zane growled. "My turn. I'll play Re-Fusion, paying 800 LP (Zane LP: 2000) to re-summon Chimeratech Over Dragon (4800)!"

"When your Re-Fusion card leaves the field, so does your Over Dragon, so I don't even have to bother using Shining Dragon's attack to wipe it out, because I can simply use the effect of XYZ - Dragon Cannon-"

"Your Dragon Cannon isn't gonna be on the field much longer; thanks to my Cyber End Dragon (4000)! Did you forget about his ability to inflict damage, even if your monster's in defense? Cyber End Dragon, Super Strident Blast!" (Kaiba LP: 1600). "I'll finish with this card, face-down,"

"You're gonna need it, 'cause I play Megamorph, doubling my Dragon's original power, plus the 3000 point boost, giving it a total of 9000!" said Kaiba. "This is the end, Zane, Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, now, target his Cyber Dark Dragon!"

A blaze of blue lightning zapped Zane's dark dragon, leaving yet another cloud of dust. Most people in the building expected Zane to come out with a face-down card, and they were right. "I activated Power Wall at the last minute. I sent 26 cards out of 28 in my deck to the grave, reducing the Battle Damage by 2600, so I only took 1900, meaning I've got 100 Life Points left!"

Chants of 'Unbelieveable' filled the building, as the announcing crew had left their station and joined Pegasus at ringside. "The fact that I survived this round means I win the duel, because I now summon Proto-Cyber Dragon (1100) to the field, and use Spell Reproduction to discard two to gain one, so I regain my Overload Fusion card!"

Kaiba looked on in horror. "Don't tell me you've got ANOTHER Cybernetic brute? Pegasus, come on-"

"No, he's nothing new," said a smiling Zane. "You see, my Power Wall works in two ways; it's sent basically every monster in my deck to the grave, and Overload fusion uses monsters on the field and the grave, so I activate Overload Fusion, removing every monster from the grave and fusing every monster in my deck...to form a cornucopia of Cybernetic Fusion goodness! By fusing twenty monsters, I can summon another Chimeratech Over Dragon, this time with 16 000 ATK, and able to attack twenty times, if you had twenty monsters on the field! Now, my new Over Dragon, attack his-"

"That's disgusting," said Chazz. "16 000 ATK? You're really kidding me, right?" Everybody else was too in awe to answer at all.

"No way! I activate the Graverobber trap card! I can now take a card in your Graveyard and use it. And since pretty much your entire deck except for one card's in your grave, I only need to say the card's name, and it'll be there, unless it's somehow the top card on your deck! I choose, Battle Fusion!" Sure enough, the image of Battle Fusion appeared on Kaiba's side of the field as the hologram. "Yes! With the power of your own card, I grant my Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon every attack point your Over Dragon has! Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, counter with Shining Neutron Blast!"

The entire crowd held their breath as they waited for Zane to play a face-down card, but no such luck would come for the future-generationer. "No...this cannot be!" cried a shocked Zane, as his Life Points reached zero.

"Wow...that's it," said Jaden. "Zane lost the match.."

"He was so close..." murmured Syrus.

"I fear for his sanity," sighed Sheppard.

Kaiba stared down at his fallen opponent. Zane's black trenchcoat draped over his knees as he bent down in shame, his cards spilled all over the floor beneath him. The sadistic side of Kaiba wanted to take Chimeratech Over Dragon and rip it up and make sure no one ever used it against him, but he was far past those days. "I have never fought a duel quite like that," said Kaiba quietly.

"Save it," growled Zane. "We all know your best matches were with Yugi Mutou and I'm just another bottom of the barrel joke. It was that way when Aster beat me-"

"I don't know why it's like this nowadays, Zane, but I'm pretty sure losing one duel doesn't make you a loser. I lost many times against Yugi, and I'm STILL a legend. One loss doesn't erase the two hundred something wins you've accumulated, Zane. Look, my duels with Yugi were duels of strategy and counter cards. This duel was a duel of power, and we match up well, and I'll always say that. I've never actually had guys beat my Dragons by overpowering them. You're something, Zane." Kaiba reached out his hands for Zane to shake.

Zane looked up and paused for a good thirty seconds. Then, he picked up his cards and stood up. Quickly shaking Kaiba's hand, he sauntered away, hanging his head.

Aster Phoenix sauntered down the hallway, grumbling. His prescence in the arena tonight had meant nothing, as he had planned to steal the show. But Zane and Kaiba's duel...they were on another level. He was severely dreading the flak he would get from the media about this; all the junk about how Zane's six-headed dragons would eat Aster alive.

'Fuck them," he muttered. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man, absent-minded as him, walking towards him, or in the same direction as him. His body language screamed 'I'm trying to get away from someone'. Aster didn't give it a second thought, and let his silver hair go in his face again as the two walked closer and closer together.

The other man moved slightly out of the way, but Aster bumped straight into his shoulder. Being in the bad mood he was, he growled at him for not moving more. "Watch it, buddy," A couple of cards spilled on the floor. Aster had the feeling of wanting to just walk all over them and kick the guy, but then again, he imagined the crap he'd get from the media. Sighing, he bent over to pick up a card for him, muttering 'sorry'. He picked up a card, and immediately noticed it's familiar design. Never in his life had he faced one of these cards. Not particularly threatening with 2500 ATK, 2100 DEF, and no effect...

Aster suddenly realized what was going on, and pulled the card down from the view of his face and stared straight ahead. "Yugi Mutou?"

"Some would address me as such," said the spiky haired, no-longer teen, now in his mid twenties. "And you are Aster Phoenix, are you not?"

"I am," said Aster humbly, perhaps for the first time in his life. "Look, I'm really sorry, I was in a bad mood and I wasn't really-"

"It's okay," said Yugi as he picked up his cards. "Aster Phoenix, hm. I've heard about you a little. I hear you're pretty tough. And you talk a sweet game, naming yourself the best duelist in the building-"

Aster was literally eating his words right now as he felt himself almost choking on his spit. "Uh, I-"

"I've even heard you're Pro League Champ, which basically means you're the best in the world..." said Yugi, still intrigued. "I was pretty good back in my day, myself."

"No kidding," said Aster sarcastically. "You're younger than most guys in the Pro League, though, so why did you retire?"

"I had no purpose of dueling," said Yugi simply. "I couldn't deal with all the papparazzi, and I just wanted to live the quiet life, just me, my grandfather, and my friends. I see you and Zane getting nearly mobbed everytime you walk down the streets...it must be terrible. I don't mind it because it diverts away the attention from me," Yugi smiled and winked. "Then again, seeing that match reminded me so much of the old days..."

Aster and Yugi looked at each other. Both knew what was going through the other's head. "You don't miss dueling, do you?"

"I do think about it sometimes," said Yugi, deepingly downplaying the truth.

"Then why not help a fellow World Champ out some," said Aster. "Some people are beginning to think I'm not worthy of the title because they think I can't keep up with the dueling pace those two powerhouses just showed out there. Well what better way for me to reassert my dominance than for me to beat the King of Games?"

"You're obviously not suggesting that I throw the duel," said Yugi, chuckling. "It would be a pleasure for me to finally pass the torch, since I never technically lost. I suppose, for such an honorable champion like yourself, you winning of your own accord would be the best prize?"

"Nothing would please me more than my monsters taking all of your life points," Aster's voice turned sadistic.

Just around the corner, a petite cameraman had been secretly recording the seemingly private conversation for a live feed to the stadium. "Man...they're gonna pay me the big bucks for this..."