"What do I do?" thought Alexis "If I duel Paulina and win I'll be safe, but if I do then she'll be sent to the Shadow Realm."

Alexis didn't know what to do. Then it hit her, it might sound selfish at first, but down in her heart she knew it was right. There was no way Paulina could face The Card Master. Paulina was an okay Pro Duelist, but she usually knew in advance what she would be up against in her duels. They didn't know anything about The Card Master, who he was or what kind of cards he would use. Only one person could stand up to whatever madness the Card Master was capable of and walk away from it. And Alexis knew exactly what she had to do.

"Paulina, if we refuse to duel then both of us are going to end up in the Shadow Realm."

"You're right… Neither of us wants to do this… and neither one of us will just give up for the sake of someone else… but it's pointless for both of us to go when one of us can be saved… May the better duelist win."

"Game on!"

"I'll start things off! I'll summon a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Now it's my turn! I summon Cyber Petit Angel!"

(ATK: 300 DEF: 200)

"When this monster is summoned I can bring one Machine Angel Ritual from my deck and add it to my hand. Now I'm going to use it and sacrifice both my Cyber Petit Angel and the Blade Skater in my hand to summon Cyber Angel Benten!"

(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1500)

(I know Alexis' Cyber Angels were never made into real cards, but when I saw how many of her cards where real I didn't have much to work with)

"Now I'll have her attack your face down monster!"

Benten pounded Paulina's face down monster, but then there was a loud howling noise.

"What is that?"

"That's the effect of my monster Howling Insect! Whenever it's destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard it calls on an insect monster with 1500 attack points or less from my deck to take its place. And I choose Atomic Firefly!"

(ATK: 100 DEF: 200)

"But don't forget the effect of my Cyber Angel, now you lose life points equal to your destroyed monster's defense points!"

(Paulina: 2700)

"Very well. It's my turn! I summon a monster in defense mode and switch my Atomic Firefly into defense mode."

"Okay then… I summon Etoile Cyber!"

(ATK: 1200 DEF: 1600)

"Next I'll have Cyber Angel Benten attack your face down monster!"

Benten destroyed Paulina's face down monster, but then needles flew from the place where it had been and struck her deck.

"What is this?!"

"It's part of my Needle Worm's effect. When it's flipped face up you have to discard the top five cards of your deck to the graveyard."

"Darn… But don't forget, thanks to Benten's effect you lose life points equal to Needle Worm's defense points!"

(Paulina: 2100)

"Now I'll have Etoile Cyber destroy your Atomic Firefly!"

Etoile Cyber didn't have any trouble destroying Paulina's card, but when it was destroyed a burst of energy flew from it and struck Alexis.

"What was that?!"

"That was Atomic Firefly's effect. Whenever it's destroyed in battle the player who destroyed it takes 1000 points of direct damage."

(Alexis: 3000)

"Paulina before we continue this duel there's something I want to know… When I first heard about you I didn't think you were the kind of girl who would use insect cards… So why do you use them?"

Paulina hesitated before answering.

"It's because I'm afraid of bugs…"

"Wait… you use them because your afraid of bugs? That doesn't make any sense."

"It happened many years ago… My mother was the most famous dancer in all of Tahiti… She was everyone's idol… Then she married my father and had me… She gave up her career as a dancer so she could raise me properly… Then one day when I was two years old… Someone who had been stalking my mom snuck into our house in the middle of the night and kidnapped me… He tied me up and threw me into a cave… saying that I ruined my mother's life… saying that I robbed her of her potential… that I had to be done away with because my mother shouldn't be anything less then what she was… The cave was filled with bugs… I could feel them crawling all over me… I couldn't do anything about it because I was all tied up… I couldn't scream for help because the man had taped my mouth shut… I was completely helpless… I thought those bug were going to eat me alive… It was about noon the next day before anyone found me… I had been in that cave for over twelve hours with insects all over me… My mother ran up and hugged me and smothered me with kisses… I helped them identify the man who kidnapped me and he was sentenced to life… Later I asked her if I did ruin her life… she said no… she said she willingly gave up her career so she could raise me… because she loved me.

Even after the man who kidnapped me was captured and sentenced to life, I still had a paralyzing fear of insects… But after many years of therapy I was able to over come my fear. That's why I use insect cards… It's a symbol of the fear I've conquered… I knew that if I could conquer my fear I could conquer anything… my fear became my power… And I'm going to use that power to win this duel!"

(She's like a female Batman, and with bugs instead of bats)

Paulina drew her card.

"I place two cards face down on the field. Now I'll send them both to the graveyard so I can summon Anteatereatingant!"

(ATK: 2000 DEF: 500)

Suddenly Alexis' life points dropped to 2000.

"What the… What just happened?!"

"The cards I sent to the graveyard where two copies of the equip spell Black Pendant. Whenever it's sent from my field to the graveyard it inflicts 500 points of direct damage, and since I sent two to my graveyard you just lost 1000 life points. Now Anteatereatingant attack and destroy her Cyber Angel Benten!"

(Alexis: 1800)

Alexis looked at the cards in her hand. She knew that once per turn Paulina's Anteatereatingant could destroy one spell or trap card on her side of the field.

"I place two cards face down and switch my Etoile Cyber to defense mode!"

"Good, now I think I'll go ahead and end this duel. I remove three insects in my graveyard from play so I can special summon Aztekipede the Worm Warrior and Doom Dozer!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 400)

(ATK: 2800 DEF: 2600)

"Now I activate the special effect of my Anteatereatingant! By giving up his chance to attack you this turn I can destroy one spell or trap card on your side of the field!"

Paulina's Anteatereatingant started to charge at Alexis' cards.

"If she picks the right card I'm finished!"

The Anteatereatingant ate one of Alexis' face down cards.

"Now my Worm Warrior will destroy your Etoile Cyber!"

Etoile Cyber was devoured.

"Now I'll attack you directly with Doom Dozer!"

Doom Dozer slithered over and bit Alexis, but she didn't lose any life points.

"What?!"

"Sorry Paulina but before your insect attacked I activated my face down Hallowed Life Barrier, in exchange for discarding one card from my hand I reduced any damage I took from you this turn to zero."

"Very well… But next turn you won't be so lucky."

Alexis drew her card.

"Sorry Paulina but for you there is no next turn."

"What?!"

"I activate the spell card Raigeki!"

"Raigeki?! That's one of the rarest cards in the game!"

"With good reason, because now that I've played it all the monsters on your side of the field are destroyed!"

Lightening rained down from the sky and struck every one of Paulina's monsters.

"Now I activate the spell card Fulfillment of the Contract! By paying 800 of my life points I can special summon a ritual monster from my graveyard, and I choose Cyber Angel Dakini!"

(ATK: 2700 DEF: 2400)

"She wasn't in your graveyard!"

"Think again. Remember when you used Needle Worm's effect?"

"Oh yeah…"

"Paulina… I'm sorry… But I have to do this… There's only one person who can beat the Card Master… But I promise you… you and the others will be saved."

"Okay…"

"Cyber Angel Dakini end this!"

Dakini attacked and Paulina's life points went down to zero. Paulina started to glow and then disappeared.

"Thank God, Alexis won!" thought Jaden "Wait… that means… I have to duel her next!!!"

"Yes you will Jaden…" thought the Card Master "And now the moment we've all been waiting for…"