The following takes place during Duel Identity.

It's finally morning! I couldn't sleep last night, I'm too hyped! I take my Deck and go out of the room.

I meet with Mai in the same room Seto dueled Pegasus and she says: "Good morning..."

"Morning!" I answer happily.

"So, Richard. The time to decide who's the strongest in this island has come!"

"Not quite" I answer "We have to wait for Yugi and Joey first"

Speaking of the devil, they enter the room two seconds later.

"Welcome, proud Duelists!" Pegasus announces after being appeared from nowhere "Welcome to this holy place sanctified by our duels!"

God, and they say I am theatrical.

"The championship tournament will begin now!" the Duel Monsters creator continues "The one who survives the tournament will be given the prize of champions! Let me give you a preview!"

Two of Pegasus's henchman bring out a chest containing... "A prize of $200,000!"

"Holy-" I say in amazement.

"Hold on!" one of the henchman says "You don't get this prize just by beating the other three finalists! You have to beat Mr. Pegasus, the ruler of Duelist Kingdom!"

"I wonder who will defeat me?" Pegasus says chuckling "I'm looking forward to it!"

"Thr first round fight is..." Croquet announces "Richard Tsunami VS. Mai Valentine!"

Both of us approach the Dueling Arena.

"Before we begin, please show me your cards proving your right to duel"

We both look at Croquet and show our copies of The Glory of the King's Hand and The Glory of the King's Opposite.

"Very good" he says.

"Are you ready, Richard?" Mai asks.

"I was born ready!" I answer.

"LET'S DUEL!"

LP Richard 2000

LP Mai 2000

"I go first!" Mai says drawing "I Summon Harpie Lady!"

Her harpy appears on the field with grace (ATK: 1300).

"Harpie Lady, as usual" I think "I thought she would have changed her strategy... Let's see what she does next..."

"I'm not done yet" she says picking up a card from her hand "I'm playing a card face-down!"

I glance at the last card on the left in my hand, which is Turtle Bird. "My card is Turtle Bird!"

My monster appears as a turtle with bat-like wings (ATK: 1900).

"Attack Harpie Lady!"

My monster starts to charge towards Harpie Lady, but I see a reaction in Mai's face as she says: "Silly kid... I play the Trap Card Mirror Wall!"

All of a sudden a huge mirror-like barrier appears between Harpie Lady and Turtle Bird.

"As soon as you attack, this shimmering mirror blocks your monster" Mai explains.

I then see that Turtle Bird gets reflected in the mirror.

"And as a result, Turtle Bird's attack points are cut in half!" Mai continues.

My monster stops as its attack power goes down to 950.

"Now it's my turn" Mai says drawing a card "I'm playing an Equip Magic Card on my Harpie! Cyber Shield!"

Harpie Lady gets sorrounded by a white aura as a golden armor appears covering her torso, her attack points increasing to 1800. She then went towards Turtle Bird and destroyed it.

LP Richard 1150

LP Mai 2000

"So much for your Turtle Bird!" Mai mocks me "When Harpie Lady wears the Cyber Shield, she's stronger than ever. Add that to Mirror Wall cutting Turtle Bird's attack power in half... and you're no match for my trap! Looks like you underestimated me!"

I actually didn't. I knew she had a Trap Card up on her sleeves: I was just curious to see her improvements. The real match starts now.

"It's your turn!" she says "Don't waste it!"

I silently draw my card, which is Giga Gagagigo. "I'll play one card face-down" I declare "And then I play this! Giga Gagagigo!"

A reptilian monster with a silver armor appears on the field (ATK: 2450).

"Attack the Harpie Lady!"

"You fell for it again!" Mai says holding up Mirror Wall.

All of a sudden the giant mirror appears on the field, reducing my monster's attack power to 1225. But she didn't placed any card face-down last turn. Unless... Mirror Wall is a Continuous Trap Card!

"It's my turn, then" Mai says drawing another card "Instead of attacking... I'm going to play this card! Harpie's Feather Duster!"

My face-down card, which is Shadow Spell, gets destroyed by Mai's card.

"That was a good read" I admit placing the card in the Graveyard.

"I'm a cautious player" she answers chuckling.

"It's my turn, now!" I declare drawing "As long as Mirror Wall is on the field, I can't attack. I'll switch Giga Gagagigo to Defense Mode!"

My monstr kneeled down (DEF: 1500).

"Then I play Misairuzame in Defense Mode!"

A green shark with a torpedo on its belly appears on my field (DEF: 1600).

"Is there any way for you to win without attacking? I wonder..." she mocks me "Now back to me... I play another Equip Magic Card on my Harpie Lady! Electro Whip!"

Her Harpie Lady grabs a spiked whip as her attack goes up to 2100.

"I get it now! She'll power up her Harpie Lady using Mirror Wall as a shield!" I think.

"Punish that Misairuzame, Harpie Lady!"

Her monster hits mine with her new whip and destroys it. Fortunately it was in Defense Mode, so I don't take any damage.

"I play Tongyo in Defense Mode!"

A blue weird fish with its tongue stucked out appears on the field (DEF: 800).

"Unless I eliminate her Trap Card, she'll win by attrition!" I think.

"My turn again!" she says as she draws her new card "With this card, my Harpie Combo is 70% complete. It's not at full power but it looks like it's enough to defeat you! Here goes! Harpie's Pet Dragon!"

A giant red dragon appears on her field (ATK: 2000), its attack quickly jumping to 2300 because of the fact that there's a Harpie Lady on the field.

"No! Not that!" I think.

"Go, Dragon! Destroy Giga Gagagigo!"

Harpie's Pet Dragon spits out from his mouth a fireball and hits my Giga Gagagigo, destroying it.

I silently draw my card, which is Levia-Dragon – Daedalus. It can easily beat that Harpie's Pet Dragon, but there's Mirror Wall still on the field. I glance at the fist card on the right in my hand, which is Malevolent Catastrophe, a Trap Card that instantly destroys every monster Mai controls the moment it attacks.

"I'll play a Trap for a Trap!" I'll think as I place Malevolent Catastrophe face-down "I Summon Levia-Dragon – Daedalus in Defense Mode!"

My ace monster appears on the field (DEF: 1500).

"It's my turn!" Mai declares drawing her card "For my next card... I play Shadow of Eyes!"

Shadow of Eyes? What kind of card is that?

"If you want to know what it does, just look at your Daedalus" Mai says.

I see in horror that my monster has switched to Attack Mode (ATK: 2600). The worst part is that its attacking Harpie Lady!

"Of course attacking activates Mirror Wall!" she reminds me as my monster's attack went down to 1300 "And now I'll play this card again! Harpie's Feather Duster! I don't like the look of that face-down card, so I'm destroying it"

Malevolent Catastrophe gets destroyed in front of my eyes.

"Now, Pet Dragon, attack once more! Fearsome Fireblast!"

My ace monster gets destroyed like it was nothing.

LP Richard 150

LP Mai 2000

"So, what do you think of my Harpie Combo?" Mai asks.

I've got more problems to resolve that praising Mai's combo: I'm down to my last chunk of Life Points and she still has all of hers. What can I do?

I close my eyes as I draw my new card. As I see it a smile appears on my face. "First I Summon Island Turtle!"

A giant turtle whose shell is full of trees appears on my field (ATK: 1100).

I then take the card I drew at the start of my turn. "I now activate the Magic Card Allegro Toile!"

"Allegro Toile?" Mai parrots.

"Yes" I answer "It's a handy Magic Card that destroys a Magic or a Trap card once I Summon a monster from my hand. So say goodbye to your Mirror Wall!"

A winged dagger appears on my field. Said dagger then charges to Mirror Wall and destroys it.

"I then follow up with the Magic Card Order to Charge!" I continue "By sacrificing the Normal Monster Island Turtle I can destroy Harpie's Pet Dragon! So, Tongyo, charge!"

My monster charges towards Harpie's Pet Dragon and explodes at the contact, destroying both of them in the process.

Mai seems a little bit frightened but still draws her card. "I won't attack this turn" she says "I still have the advantage even if I don't attack this round. Instead, I'll play Elegant Egotist!"

All of a sudden two more Harpie Ladies appear on the field (ATK: 2100).

"Harpie Lady Sisters!"

"On my turn I play a Magic Card" I say "Monster Recovery! I shuffle my hand along with the monsters on my field into the Deck and draw 5 new cards"

I glance at my new hand, which contains Steel Shell, Water of Life, Zarigun, Turtle Tiger and Fairy of the Fountain. "None of these cards can defeat the Harpie Lady Sisters!" I think "What do I do?"

"My Harpies together hold a record of 6300 attack points" Mai explains "Plus, my Shadow of Eyes forces your monsters to Attack Mode. You lost!"

Hold on a second! Of course! "Mai, I'll play this card! Fairy of the Fountain in Defense Mode!"

A green skinned woman holding a jar appears on my field (DEF: 1100).

"No way! How can it be in Defense Mode?" Mai asks "Shadow of Eyes should... Wait a minute!"

"That's right!" I say smirking "Shadow of Eyes unleashes pheromones, which are chemicals that attract the opposite sex. It cannot attract women, like my Fairy of the Fountain! My turn is over!"

"You're tenacious!" Mai states as she draws a card "But your struggle will end! On my turn I play Reborn the Monster to bring back Harpie's Pet Dragon!"

The red dragon appears once again, this time with 2900 attack points.

"Now for my Harpie Ladies' attack, I'll play Triangle Ecstasty Spark!" she continues "Burn that Fairy to ashes!"

All three Harpies unleash a triangle-like beam that destroys my Fairy of the Fountain.

"Now it's your last turn! Get ready!" Mai says.

Everything lies on the card I'll draw. Please be a good card!

"I better think of a way to spend the prize money!" Mai says "First I'll take a trip around the Mediterrain, and then..."

But her thoughts are stopped by the little monster appeared on my field: Gora Turtle (ATK: 1100).

"Mai, because of this monster, all monsters with 1900 or more attack can no longer attack!" I explain.

"I can't do anything then, for now" she answers "I'll pass my turn"

I glance at my hand. "I need to draw those cards. It's the only way! It's my turn!" I say as I draw my card, which is Polymerization "No! This isn't the one! I play Water of Life to bring back Turtle Bird!"

The weird turtle monster appears on my field again.

"My turn!" Mai says drawing and passing.

I silently draw my card and I place it face-down on the field. "I Summon Zarigun!"

A bipedal crawfish appears on my field (ATK: 600).

Mai draws her card and passes again.

I draw my card and, as I see it, I smirk. "With this card I gathered all the pieces for my victory!" I declare "Activate face-down card Turtle Oath!"

A giant green shell appears on the field as Gora Turtle, Zarigun and Turtle Shell enters inside it. All of a sudden a red and purple crab-like body starts to form inside the shell as my new monster appears on the field (ATK: 2550).

"Crab Turtle!" I declare "Now I'm ready! I use Steel Shell, to increase its attack by 400 more points, then I'll attack Harpie's Pet Dragon!"

Crab Turtle charged towards Mai's dragon and crushed it.

LP Richard 150

LP Mai 1950

"My Harpie's Pet Dragon..." Mai says in horror.

I then see her sadly place her hand on her deck: she's giving up! "I don't want to see my Harpies injured" she explains.

"Mai... thank you for the great duel"

She winks at me as she leaves.

Aaaaaand it's over! Hope you liked it! It was very fun to write this, and I did it in only 1 hour and 40 minutes, which is less than my usual time in writing chapters. Also, I want to thank Cloud4012 for reviewing my last chapter. Next is Yugi VS. Joey. Until then, hasta la vista!