~Chapter Nine~

Shaina's P.O.V

I step on the dueling arena, and draw my cards. Kaiba does so as well. "So I trust that you know the rules?" he asks, sneering. I decide to make a smart remark. "Yeah. I also know that this whole stadium is a virtual prototype, and that we have to play with 2000 life points and that if we hit 0 we lose." I say fastly.

He stops sneering, and stares at me, surprised. "Haha, you sure got him Shaina!" Joey shouts. Kaiba scowls. "I see. I will do the honors of going first." He scans his cards. And of course, I know what he'll put down. "I summon Hitotsu-Me Giant in attack mode!" He puts down the card, and it appears to me, lifelike, realistic.

"Whoa! It's super realistic!" Tea comments. "Surprised?" Kaiba asks, smirking. I yawn. "Nope, seen better." He stares at me more, with puzzlement. I smirk. I glance down at my cards. Great! I have some pieces of Exodia! I think I'll follow Atem's strategy. I can afford to lose some life points.

"I summon Winged Dragon, Guardian of The Fortress, in attack mode!" I put it down. "And you know what happens next! Attack Hitotsu-Me Giant, with fireball!" I order. The monster quickly destroys it. Kaiba's life points drop to 1800. "Keep it going Shaina!" Miho yells. My friends and sister cheer.

Kaiba sneers. "Not bad…for a girl." I glare at him. "Let's see how you stand against this! I summon Saggi the Dark Clown, in attack mode!" The clown appears on the field. "Pfft, I think rich boy is losing his head! His clown only has 600 attack points!" Tristan points out.

"I shake my head. That doesn't matter. You're going to use a Magic Card, aren't you Kaiba?" I ask smugly. He looks at me with bewilderment. "You know an awful lot for somebody like you." he growls. I smile. "Go on."

Still looking at me with suspicion, Kaiba combines the Negative Energy Generator with Saggi, and the attack points triple. "Go, attack with dark light!" Kaiba shouts. The clown destroys my monster. My life points go down to 1600. I stare at Kaiba, unfazed. "My move." I say calmly.

I draw a card. Excellent! It's the right leg of Exodia! I scan over to the rest of my cards. I smile to myself. I decide to change up Atem's strategy. I don't think I've seen this card before, but it's a trap card! I read 'Dimension Portal.' A/N: I kind of made up my own card here. But hey, fanfic!

"I set down a card, and end my turn!" I say. "Seems like a desperate move to me." Kaiba says, drawing a card. "Saggi, attack her face down card!" As Saggi attacks it, the card faces up. "What is this?" Kaiba demands.

I give a smug smile. "Think first before you attack. It's a trap card, so when your monster attacks it, a portal opens…letting the attack coming back at your life points." I explain. As I said, Kaiba's life points lower down to 1400. He scowls, and clenches his teeth. I smile even more.

"Shaina, you're doing great! Remember that we're here!" Tea shouts, encouragingly. I smile at her. Okay, enough damage for now. What I really want to do is to beat him with the power of Exodia! I can't wait to see the look on his face! I tell myself. So I put a monster face down in defense mode. As the turns go on, I know that Kaiba is going to draw The Blue Eyes White Dragon.

And he finally does. "How do you have that card?" Joey asks, accusingly. Kaiba replies, "I'm not the only one who doesn't own it. Now I summon it in attack mode! Now attack!" Then my life points lower to 900. But I keep on a poker face. "Wow, your sister there really knows how to keep it cool!" Miho comments.

"Yeah she does!" Shana says proudly. I smile at her. "How can you still be smiling? You're going to lose!" Kaiba says, seething. I look at him in the eye. "Kaiba, I don't care whether I would lose or not. In fact, this is pretty fun. It is because I will learn and experience from it." I say.

Kaiba looks at me, more confused then ever. He snaps back. "Fun? You think this is fun? This is so much more." I shrug, carelessly. "I put down another monster in defense mode. Kaiba takes out more of my monsters. "You're just stalling! Besides, you just gave me enough time to draw, another Blue Eyes!" he summons it, and now I have two of them before me.

"Tell me Shaina, what fun are you having now? It's hopeless!" Kaiba says with triumph. "Don't give up!" Shana shouts. I smile to myself. "I play, Swords of Revealing Light!" I shout. The shining daggers surround Kaiba. "Please, what good will three turns will do? It's another desperate move as far as I can see." I smile dauntingly at him. "Really? Believe me, it'll be enough."

I draw another card. As I expected, it's the right arm of Exodia. "You can draw whatever card you want, but there's nothing in your deck that can defeat me! Try as you might, it's the end of the line!" I roll my eyes. "Can it Kaiba." I say flatly.

He looks at me, this time with amazement. "Are you just going to stand there or duel?" I ask sweetly. He growls, and draws another card. Then Kaiba summons Judge Man, taking out my Rude Kaiser.

I draw a card. Sweet, The Dark Magician! "I summon The Dark Magician in attack mode! Attack Judge Man!" I yell. It destroys Kaiba's monster, dropping his life points to 1000. He simply laughs. "That's a sacrifice I can afford." "Yeah, yeah, go on with your turn." I say impatiently. He squints at me, and draws a card.

He smiles. "All chances of winning are lost. Why two when there are…three!" Kaiba then summons a third Blue Eyes Dragon. "Wow! I hate to break it, but Shaina might lose!" Joey says. "Don't say that!" Shana scolds. "Joey's right. Shaina just has to believe in herself and the heart of the cards." Yugi says.

Man, don't tell me! When I watch the Yu-Gi-Oh dub, I always thought that 'The Heart of The Card' is, let's be honest, a load of crap. But I might have to believe in it…I can't get too cocky. Next turn, all of Kaiba's monsters will blast me to bits.

I stare at the deck. Believe. Shaina, you can do this. A familiar deep voice said. And it sounds like…Atem! Okay…I slowly draw the card. I smile in relief. The final card to Exodia! I look up to Kaiba.

"Kaiba. You may think that there's no more hope…but you're absolutely wrong. Prepared to be duped!" "Don't waste your breath, and show me this pathetic card." Kaiba says in annoyance. I smile. "I summon…Exodia the Forbidden One!" It then appears on the field. Kaiba recoils.

"That's impossible! Nobody has ever been able to summon that card! How can something of your pathetic deck have that?!" he says in shock. "The impossible is the possible! Now Exodia! Obliterate!" It completely destroys all of the monsters on the field.

Kaiba is sweating. "H-how can somebody like you beat me?" I shrug. "Hmm. Don't know." Then a bright glow shines from behind me. Atem! "Shaina, I'll take it from here." He steps in front of me. "Kaiba, you only play for power, and that's why you lost. If you put your heart into it-or play for fun," he smiles, looking over to me.

"There is nothing you can't do." Kaiba looks at us, shakily. I've never seen him like this. Before Atem could do Mind Crush, I stopped him. "Wait there for a moment." I step up to Kaiba, and kneel down to him. "Kaiba. Look at me." I say sternly. He looks up to me. I grab hold of his shoulders.

In his eyes I see…vulnerability. "Don't be bent on the past. What happened today, doesn't matter to me. It may matter to other people, since you're supposed to be some champion or something. And it's your damned pride and dignity or something. But move on. You don't need to do it. Just try." I say wisely.

Kaiba stares at me wordlessly, with new respect in his eyes. I step away. "Mind Crush!' Atem shouts. Kaiba then falls to the floor. I look away to find Shana. We're both quiet for a moment. "Let's go home." She says finally.