The duel concludes in possibly the longest chapter yet! I'm not even going to begin with all of the card technicalities in the manga, so I'm just gonna agree with them. It hurts my heart a little though… XD Anyways! Kaiba POV, GO!

Yugi's quick reaction had ultimately saved my life. I was sore to admit it, but I was still in this match because of him. Not only that, I had picked up on the little push he gave to Ami to cry out my first name without shame. In a way, I was indebted to him…twice in one move.

And it fucking sucked.

I snarled at the fact. If I was going to get out of this with my pride still intact, I was going to have to repay him in this duel twice. Admittedly, I had the faintest clue on how to accomplish that, but I had to figure out something.

I had been pushed so far, that I was now considering on working together with Yugi, just to save my own skin. The truth was still bitter on my tongue.

With a growl, I declared the beginning of my turn. I drew a new card and glanced at it, only to be stared at by a Blue-Eyes. At this point - thanks to their Mask of Restrict - it was useless. Stashing it in my hand, I selected two other cards.

"I'll place one card facedown and summon Gadget Soldier in defense mode!"

Gadget Soldier DEF: 2000

"My turn is done!"

With the hand I had, I was praying that Yugi had a Card Destruction.

The Mask of Darkness laughed at my feeble play. "Well, Kaiba! Looks like you're having trouble just defending yourself! Not so tough now, are you?"

"So…you threaten my life, threaten Ami's life, and now you have the balls to judge how I play? Oh…revenge will be sweet once I obliterate you off the face of this planet."

It was now Lumis's turn. He drew a card and laughed. "Aww, don't you two want to come out and play with us? These little scruff balls are no way to enjoy this game!" He held up his new card with that malicious grin appearing again. "But this card will clean them right up! Go, Mask of Dispel!"

A purple mask of agony covered Yugi's Multiply, causing all but one Kuriboh to disintegrate into smoke.

"With this mask, I can stop your Multiply cold! Not only that, you'll take an additional 300 points of damage during each of your turns! You're running out of options, Yugi!"

These bastards were completely shutting us out! Every move we would make, they had a fucking answer to it! To make matters worse, Ami fought them both by herself and we were two people. How many people would it take to put these Ghouls in their place?

The answer: one God Card, at least. But not even that could help now.

"I'm not done yet! I summon Grand Tiki Elder to attack your Kuriboh!"

Grand Tiki Elder ATK: 1500 Kuriboh DEF: 200

The puff ball could not stand a chance.

Lumis ended his turn to force Yugi to take 800 points of damage.

Yami LP: 3500 - 800 = 2700

From the look on his face, Yugi's new card did not give him any hope for a turnaround. However, it was easy to tell that he had a plan, for he kept staring at his hand for the longest time. When he moved, it was to look at me and my field, but mostly to the cards in my hand. The look was quickly taken away; he discarded his plan without qualm.

He had a fucking Card Destruction all along! I could see it in his eyes! If we were going to come out of this hole, he had to play it now! …perhaps he needed a little push, like he gave to Ami.

"What's wrong, Yugi?" I taunted. "You don't mean to tell me you have nothing but monsters with five stars or more, do you? I'm sure you know you're defenseless if you don't play a monster this turn."

Yugi looked to be a bit appalled at my response. He needed a little more of a hint, apparently.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped if you only have high-level monsters. We're not in Duelist Kingdom anymore, Yugi. A monster that requires a sacrifice is more than useless now." I closed my eyes with a smirk. "Maybe it should just go to the graveyard…"

That did it. Yugi's eyes lit up with realization. Thank God for that; any more hints and the Ghouls would have caught on to the plan.

Lumis guffawed. "Hah! Look at them at each other's throats, Umbra! I guess it's every man for himself!"

"Some 'team' they are!" Umbra agreed.

"Yugi…I hope you didn't misunderstand me."

Yugi pulled a card from his hand. "I'll set one card facedown and end my turn!"

That was Umbra's cue to go. Yugi was defenseless now, and Umbra knew that if he could just summon another monster, the duel would practically be over. The look in his eyes made it obvious that that was his intention.

"I activate a Ritual card: Curse of the Masked Beast! With this, I offer Shining Abyss and my partner's Grand Tiki Elder to summon a greater monster!"

The two monsters were whisked away into a ceremonial pot. The pot went ablaze with flames of blue and formed a grotesque man-beast with - you guessed it - a mask covering its face and distorted faces decorating its lower body and tail. It groaned threateningly at Yugi and I.

"Behold: The Masked Beast of Hell!"

The Masked Beast ATK: 3200

"3200?! That thing is stronger than my Blue-Eyes!"

Umbra pointed at Yugi. "Yugi has no monsters! I move to a direct attack!"

No one was going to get the chance to kick Yugi's ass but me!

I ordered my Gadget Soldier to defend Yugi, getting it caught in the crossfire. The mechanized soldier blew sky high with just a whack from the beast's staff. Thanks to its sacrifice, Yugi did not take any damage. As an added bonus, I had just paid off the life debt!

Then it occurred to me: why should I be indebted to him for pulling Ami out of the dark a little bit? I had done most of the work, if not all! Yugi just wanted to stick his nose in my business again; he just wanted to make us "friends" again. You know what? I was not about to give him that satisfaction. The debt was now nothing more than meddling.

Consider the "debt" revoked.

"Thank you, Kaiba," Yugi breathed in relief.

I huffed. "Now we're even," I sternly reminded him.

The two Ghouls started chuckling to themselves. "They're defenseless!" or "Our monster can kill either one on our next turn!" seemed to have been their favorite things to say. They were so sure that they would win.

Heh…we would see about that.

"Facedown card reveal! Card Destruction!"

Yugi and I were undoubtedly in sync. His card forced all the players to discard their current hands and draw the same amount of cards they had from their decks to act as their new hands. My hand full of high-level monsters went to the grave, making it easier for me to summon one.

"You know," I began, "to summon a high-level monster requires a sacrifice. But for the more advanced players, there are other ways to bring them to the field."

Lumis and Umbra's stances became hunched. They were cringing with uncertainty at my calm demeanor in response to losing my hand. They had every right to be.

"Allow me to show you one! Facedown card reveal! Monster Reborn!"

In a blast of light, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon descended onto the battlefield with a piercing cry.

"Sometimes the grave is just a stop on the way to the battlefield!"

BEWD ATK: 3000

Thanks to me and Yugi's "cooperation", we now had a fighting chance. Using Yugi was the only way to get the upper hand in this duel. Like the perfect tool, he had done his job well.

I chuckled. "Thanks to you, I now know the key element in winning a tag-team, Yugi."

Again came that hopeful face. Was I a man so cruel as to crush all of someone's hopes? If it was Yugi, oh yes.

The smirk I gave him was so dark, everyone on that rooftop had visible chills. "It's how well you use your partner!" I declared. "I anticipated that you would use Card Destruction, so I had my Monster Reborn ready for when you did!

"It's just logic. And thanks to you playing your part, I now owe you nothing! Yugi, the next time you attack, don't expect my Blue-Eyes to help you!"

Was that hate I saw flashing in Yugi's eyes? Perhaps he was finally realizing that I was his rival, not one of his lackeys. About damn time.

Now was my battle phase. Or it would have been, if their Masked Beast was at least 300 points weaker. Even though Blue-Eyes was on our side, it was still no match for their hideous beast.

"All that…for nothing."

"Well, Kaiba? What are you waiting for? Attack!"

I turned to Yugi in shock. Attack?! Had he finally lost it?! "What did you say?!"

Now he had to smirk. "If you attack now, Blue-Eyes can kill their Masked Beast! You can either choose to trust me, or let Blue-Eyes go straight back to the grave."

Yugi's blasphemous words were a riddle to me. Attack now with Blue-Eyes? If I did that, we had no chance! Maybe this was his way of getting revenge; psychologically putting me off my game. In other words, mind-fucking with me.

"Show your courage, Kaiba!"

…I was seeing red.

"Fine! I don't care if it's a taunt! I won't back down from you!" I waved out my hand. "Blue-Eyes! Strike them with Burst Stream of Destruction!"

My dragon charged forth with a blinding light growing within its jaws. We all watched with anticipation as the dragon fired its attack at The Masked Beast. The beast was prepared to intercept, but the hellish creature failed to dodge, thus was corroded to nothing in one blow.

Mask of Darkness LP: 4000 - 300 = 3700

"The Masked Beast died?!" Umbra exclaimed. "How is that possible?!"

There was a pause to allow everyone to stand in awe. It was short-lived when I realized that Yugi was still smiling.

"Don't tell me…"

Yugi's grin grew. "You Ghouls are aware that Card Destruction forced me to discard my hand as well, right? Unfortunately for the both of you, one of the cards in my possession was The Archfiend of Gilfer. As soon as the demon sets foot in the Graveyard, one of your monsters loses 500 attack points!"

Umbra began to sputter. "N-no way…then that means Masked Beast was…"

The Masked Beast ATK: 3200 - 500 = 2700

"Too weak to stand up to Blue-Eyes," Yugi finished.

So in reality, it was Yugi who killed their monster. It was Yugi who anticipated the Blue-Eyes to go to the Graveyard. More importantly, it was Yugi who regained control of this match.

"Kaiba…this is the power of unity."

…We killed the monster? That was true, was it not? It may have been my dragon, but it was his support that helped it along.

Could we have been a formidable team under different circumstances? Without a rivalry getting in the way? Perhaps, but we had to keep up appearances for now.

I crossed my arms with a huff. "I end my turn…"

Lumis did not do much with his turn. He summoned a Melchid the Four-Faced Beast in defense mode.

Melchid DEF: 1200

But it was the facedown he placed on the field with it that made us both cautious. It was Yugi's turn again. His Life Points were slowly trickling away.

Yami LP: 2700 - 800 = 1900

It did not seem to faze him. His new hand must have been a little more promising for him to ignore his rotting Life Points. He placed a card facedown and summoned Alpha the Magnet Warrior to attack the Melchid.

Alpha the Magnet Warrior ATK: 1400 Melchid DEF: 1200

There was no response from Lumis. The facedown card was still a threat and I already had that sinking feeling that it was meant for me. Whatever the case, if we could just hold off until Yugi got his third "piece", there would be no chance of the Ghouls making a comeback.

As Umbra fumbled with his cards to come up with a strategy, I stole a glance back at Ami. The goons handling her were gripping her arms tight, but she did not seem worried about them anymore. No…she was still worried about me. That close call from earlier must have scared her silly. I offered a nod to reassure her that I would be fine; she nodded back slowly, still reluctant to be put at ease.

"Don't worry, Ami. We're almost finished. You won't have to worry much longer."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Kaiba!" Umbra yelled to get my attention. I begrudgingly gave it to him, but not without a sneer. "I now summon Nuvia the Wicked!"

Nuvia the Wicked ATK: 2000

These guys must have fallen off their rockers! "You must be joking!" I managed to say through my laughter. "Nuvia has absolutely no chance against Blue-Eyes! I hope you have a follow-up, because this is just sad."

"How's this for a follow-up? Nuvia, attack Blue-Eyes!"

…What the fuck? They were throwing in a suicide attack? The only things they would get out of this were one less monster and a thousand Life Points being thrown to the wind. However, I was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I welcomed their attack with open arms and a Blue-Eyes's open jaws.

Nuvia ATK: 2000 BEWD ATK: 3000

We were all quick to realize that the gift horse was from the Trojans.

"My partner declared an attack!" Lumis reminded. "I can activate this: my Mask of Weakness!"

Yet another mask appeared, attaching itself to the torso of my dragon. It shrieked as the mask enveloped them both in a dark purple haze. My dragon slumped slightly, its vigor drained.

"Mask of Weakness takes away half of your dragon's attack points, Kaiba! Your dragon's looking a little paler than usual!"

BEWD ATK: 3000 / 2 = 1500

"Especially since it's now going to get blasted by Nuvia!"

Nuvia's attack came at Blue-Eyes with confidence. It was going to take a Light Beam Gun to the face and I was going to take a blow to my pride for letting it happen. Well, unless Yugi had anything to say about it.

And of course he did.

"Not going to happen, Lumis!" he barked. "Facedown reveal! Mystical Rift Panel! Try wearing one of your own masks for once!"

Leave it to Yugi to have Nuvia go from a mediocre monster to just plain trash using his opponent's card against them. And getting Blue-Eyes back to normal. And dealing a shit-ton of damage in the process. And saving my ass again. AND leaving me dumbfounded, flabbergasted, and just plain speechless.

BEWD ATK: 3000 Nuvia ATK: 2000 / 2 = 1000

Mask of Darkness LP: 3700 - 2000 = 1700

Umbra was taken aback at the sudden turnaround. He and his partner's strategy fell flat fast and he was the one to get the blunt end of the stick. The repercussion was so massive, he turned an accusing glare towards Lumis.

"Look what you did, you little shit!" came the bellow. "I'm halfway dead because of you!"

Thanks to his mask, Lumis's shocked face was barely noticeable. "Because of me?! If anything, you should've been more careful, you big lummox!"

As the two blundering "partners" exchanged a few choice words at each other, I delved back to Yugi's selfless acts. Each time was not to gain a single favor, nor to use me in some cruel way as I did to him. No matter what I did to him, he still helped me when I could not save myself. It was…befuddling.

All my life, I had always believed that a person had to make power his alone. Through his own wits and made by his own hands, power was his reward to control. It was a victory that he could love himself for achieving.

So…was it possible to still feel accomplishment if someone helped that man? This new power…the power of "unity". It may have been possible that it was much stronger than the power of being alone.

I…will have to rely on this power. No matter how much I put it off, it is possibly the only way I will be able to save Ami. It was time to show Yugi that I was no one-trick pony.

Umbra snarled. "I'll place a card facedown and end! Go, Kaiba! No more fooling around!"

As I drew my card, I heard Ami snort. "Thank God for that. I was starting to wonder when you guys were gonna take this game seriously. I mean, that 'pale Blue-Eyes' joke was just so god-awful, my brother wouldn't wipe his ass with that! I'm surprised Umbra there let you tell that joke in public!"

"What the fuck would you know?!" Lumis screamed. "I thought it was great!"

"Bitch, that's what you think! I bet you right now that Umbra is dying inside because you did it! Not only that, but Seto here's gonna kick your ass for saying it!"

Ami had no idea how right she was. Thanks to her little spat, the goons holding her started to snicker. Hell, even Yugi held his mouth to hide his grin.

"That's it! You guys know what to do!"

The humor died quick as Ami started to struggle for freedom once again after one of the goons pulled her jacket back to expose a bare shoulder. The taser was flipped on and pressed to the flesh. The ear-splitting screech she let out crushed my heart to dust as I watched the horrifying scene.

"STOP IT!"she wailed. "IT BURNS!"

"LUMIS!"I roared. "Leave her be!"

Lumis waited a little bit before signaling them to stop. Tears were visible in her eyes now, as well as the fidgets of her body and the burned flesh. The red I had seen before was now the deepest crimson ever imaginable. Some of it may even had been directed towards Ami's ludicrous behavior.

"If she knew that would happen, why did she speak out of turn like that?! What could she have gotten out of that other than that nice burn mark on her shoulder?!" I raged for a little longer. Until… "Was it…was it to drive those two further apart? To destroy their trust?"

I looked to our opponents and took note of Umbra's facedown. At this point, it had to bea card to protect from an attack. If I were to attack and he used it…

"I hope Ami's right!" I strengthened my stance. "Blue-Eyes! Now is the time to take revenge! Attack Umbra with Burst Stream of Destruction!"

Blue-Eyes launched its attack. If it connected, this duel would be closer to being done. I knew better than that, though. Umbra was going to protect himself.

"I activate Mask of Impregnability to shield me from your attack!"

See?

"Too bad, Kaiba. Looks like your attack was wasted."

There was a short silence before I chuckled toward Lumis. "You got away with your life, shrimp!"

"Wh-wha-?! Shrimp?!"

My smirk grew. "You were lucky this time. My Blue-Eyes could've attacked either one of you…and I would have chosen you, if you weren't such a small target and your partner wasn't as dead as he is. Which was, again, because of you.

"If I had aimed at you…would that big moron - your partner - have used his card to protect you?" My eyes narrowed. "No…I doubt he would have…"

Their reactions were priceless. Umbra tried to convince his "partner" that he would have used it, but I could already see the mistrust on Lumis's face. Ami's dueling instincts were razor-sharp, even if it caused her pain.

"This is the final stretch, Ami. Just deal with the pain for just a little bit."

"I-it's my turn, got it?!" said a distrustful shrimp. "Draw!"

The pause he made had a touch of suspense. The card he drew must have been one that could turn the duel to them again, but he seemed a bit reluctant to play it. However, his hesitation did not stop him from using it anyways.

"Look at what I got! Chosen One!"

Chosen One?! The chances of that working for them were slim at best! Three cards were chosen and placed facedown on the field, and in the middle of their makeshift circle was a masked top. The top spun to determine which card would spell doom to which players. One monster, two spells. If a spell was chosen, all of the cards would go to the Graveyard. But if the monster was chosen, it would be summoned automatically no problem!

"The top is slowing down…"

Slowly, ever so slowly, the top stopped at one card. In a flash of light, the chosen card took shape and became…

"Yes! It chose it! It chose Masked Beast of Guardius!"

Guardius ATK: 3300

This new three-headed, triple-masked, hell beast boasted an attack value higher than Blue-Eyes and even higher than the first beast!

"Way to go, Lumis!" Umbra praised. "I knew you could do it, partner!"

And it rekindled their partnership! What the fuck were Yugi and I supposed to do now?!

In reality, I already knew what we could do…but it was going to take a lot of luck, a lot of convincing, and a shit-ton of recovering after pulling it off.

Lumis was already dead-set on Yugi's Alpha the Magnet Warrior. The attack would cause 1900 damage and that was exactly what Yugi had left. Umbra warned Lumis of my Blue-Eyes, but it was disregarded. Here came the hurt…

"So now that he has a decent monster, the shrimp thinks he's a big man. Seems reasonable to attack Yugi and finish him off…but I could just power up my dragon and kill your beast on my next turn. It would seem rather pointless to leave an obvious threat like that on the field, don't you think? Or don't you trust your partner's judgment still?"

…the little bastard attacked and killed my Blue-Eyes.

Seto Kaiba LP: 2100 - 300 = 1800

"Blue-Eyes…forgive me!" I glared at Yugi. "Now, Yugi! Draw your card!"

"Yes, Kaiba! Thanks to you, I can now call upon a stronger monster!"

Umbra pointed at us. "You lie! Mask of Restrict stops you from sacrificing your monsters!"

"Who said I was? Just as Kaiba said before, there are other ways to summon greater monsters without tributes!" He drew his card. "I now summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior!"

Gamma the Magnet Warrior ATK: 1500

"Now that Alpha, Beta, and Gamma are together on the field, they will now merge into a new form!"

The three warriors broke apart into pieces similar to a "build-a-robot" set. A few part were selected and were put together to make a more impressive robot with Gamma's wings and Alpha's body and sword. Arguably, I did not see much of Beta in the new robot.

"I call forth Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!"

Valkyrion ATK: 3500

Now we had a weapon to strike back! Something to avenge my dragon, who gave its life to bring out Yugi's monster! It was finally time to make these ingrates pay for their actions!

"Now, Yugi!" I ordered. "Attack them with your monster! Crush the beast that destroyed my Blue-Eyes!"

I hissed. "Your teamwork may be all well and good from time to time, Yugi…but only blood will make up for the sacrifice - the wrath - of my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Yugi closed his eyes as if to ignore me and set a card facedown.

"What the fuck are you waiting for?! Attack them! They have nothing to stop you with! It should be a no-brainer!"

"Kaiba, I'll attack…if you get rid of that burning vengeance in your heart."

"What?!"

"At times, emotions like anger and revenge can through off a duelist's judgment. If you're not thinking rationally, you might expose your weakness and play into the enemy's hand! Is that really something you would do, Kaiba?"

"I didn't ask to be lectured! I asked for you to attack, you dumbass!"

I set my anger to simmer as I examined my hand. What could I have been missing? Was there something I just was not seeing? Undoubtedly not, for I could plainly see the Obelisk card in my hand and the Mask of Restrict still on the field. Granted, I also had Soul Exchange, but I still had to tribute monsters in order to-

"Wait…what was the full text of Mask of Restrict? Let's see…" I closed my eyes to wrack my inner library for the memory. "Mask of Restrict says 'Your opponent cannot sacrifice any of his/her monsters for a Tribute Summon.'"

Oh God…oh my fucking God. There was a way to summon the God!

I breathed calmly. "Yugi. Attack."

Accepting my new attitude, Yugi did just that. "Valkyrion! Attack with Magnet Saber!"

Valkyrion ATK: 3500 Guardius ATK: 3300

The electrocuted beast shrieked in pain as it blasted into multiple parts. But the shrimp Lumis did not seem to worried about it at all. Even if he took his first points of damage.

Mask of Light LP: 4000 - 200 = 3800

"Hah! Suckers! You fell into another trap! You see, when Guardius gets killed, it leaves a piece of itself behind. This piece is a mask filled with all of its vengeance, and it's called Mask of Possession!"

Oh my God…

"Now your Valkyrion is ours!"

Oh my God.

"Umbra! Attack Yugi with his own monster!"

"You got it! Go, Valkyrion! Strike your old master with your Magnet Saber of Vengeance!"

Oh my God!

"We'll see about that. If you learn one thing from this, remember that the reason you lost was anger and vengeance! This is my facedown card: De-Fusion!"

OH MY GOD! HOW THE FUCK DID HE KNOW?!

Thanks to Yugi's insight (which was beyond my comprehension), Valkyrion became three warriors again on Lumis and Umbra's side of the field. Three warriors…three pieces…three beautiful sacrifices. Now was time for my part.

"Lumis…Umbra…it's time I show you two my God Card…"

"H-hold on! You can't do that! You still have to sacrifice a monster to-!"

I pointed at his card with a malicious grin. "Read the fine print. It says I can't offer my monsters…so I'll just have to use yours! I activate Soul Exchange! Your monsters become my offerings to the god of destruction that lies in my hand!"

They could only watch in fear as The God of the Obelisk descended from the heavens. I was not going to waste any time with him. There was only the matter of choosing a helpless victim…why not the big moron who insulted my skills?

"Die, you pathetic worms! God Hand Crusher!"

Obelisk's mighty fist came crashing down on Umbra's head like five tons of bricks. Umbra fumbled to the ground to try to escape…but we all knew he could not.

Mask of Darkness LP: 0

I laughed triumphantly. "One touch from Obelisk was enough to kill you! Now you get to die from the bomb you planted yourself! Goodbye!"

KABOOM!

Umbra's pane of glass exploded, sending the big moron to his death. At least, it would have been a bloody splatter on the ground floor if he did not have a parachute hidden in his cloak. How monumentally unsatisfying…

You are probably wondering why I left Lumis alive. Well, that has a simple answer. I wanted to kill the little bastard myself. He destroyed my Blue-Eyes, put shackles on my Duel Disk, and hurt Ami. Oh…he deserved death from me personally.

Yugi declared us the victors, but I stopped him. "No, Yugi. In order to win a tag-team, you must crush both opponents. I won't be satisfied until I show that little shit Hell!"

Yugi was about to protest, but he actually stopped himself. "I understand your feelings, Kaiba. But, wouldn't you rather direct your anger towards the men who have Ami?"

…again, he was right. I turned to the other goons and they instantly paled at the sight of me and my rising malice. With no argument, they dropped the taser, released Ami, and bolted for the stairs. Ami staggered a little before I rushed to her side and helped balance her. She patted my chest to tell me she was okay.

"I'm fine…I can stand." I watched her compose herself before she stomped over to Lumis. "But after I'm done with this fucker, he won't be able to!"

Lumis panicked right before Ami nailed him in the visible portion of his face. He fell like a sack of potatoes, allowing her sit on him and started fucking thrashing on him in a crazed rhythm of punches and scratches. She even yanked off his mask and chucked it over the building to start working on the other side.

Not going to lie…I thought that was hot.

Ami stopped for a moment before she huffed, searched the shrimp's robes, and got up to walk over to us. In her hands were five cards: two puzzle cards and three Duel Monsters. She held out the puzzle cards to us along with one of the Duel Monster cards.

"I could only find these two puzzle cards on him," she said. "They might actually be the ones I had. You guys won them fair and square, so you can take them. Better you guys than me. And I found his Masked Beast of Guardius too. That could be the ante." She laughed sheepishly. "I uh…I'm going to take these two other cards back, though. If you guys don't mind. Kind of important, you know?"

Ami motioned the cards to Yugi - who inaudibly flinched when she turned to him - and he took just a puzzle card. She then handed me the other puzzle card and the ante. With a satisfied sigh, she moved to put her cards back in her deck box.

"What cards did they take from you?" Yugi asked.

I put my free hand on my hip. "I'm guessing Gogiga was one?"

Ami nodded. "Yup. He sure was. And just a Gagagigo."

Yugi made a grin. "Ah, a Gagagigo deck. I actually enjoy the story behind him. Not many cards have a story, and that one is one of my favorites."

Ami's eyes lit up. "I know, right?! It's so good! And really?! That's awesome!"

"But…I know the story too…"

She started to jump up and down excitedly. "Oh my God! I can't believe this! I can't wait to tell my friend Yume!" She paused. "Then again, she might get a little jealous." She continued to jump. "Aw, who cares?! I'll still tell her! I said I'd tell her how the tournament was going anyways!"

I was having just about enough of this. Time to remind her who was caring about her and her safety. "Ami, be careful. You shouldn't be jumping up and down like that after getting tased."

Ami finally stopped before she hurt my feelings a little more. "Oh right…sorry." She looked up at me. "Thank you for saving me and not dying. Seriously, you did me a solid favor there. So thanks…Seto."

I smirked. "Of course, Ami. And thank you for giving me that little hint on driving them apart. That really helped."

There was a blink. "That's what I did? I just thought that joke seriously sucked."

That was it? Just an opinion on a terrible joke? Well, it was good enough to burn the ties they had. Speaking of burn…

"How's…your shoulder?"

Ami's face was solemn as pulled her jacket back to inspect her shoulder. "It still stings…but it should be okay. I don't know if it'll stay there. Hopefully not. My brother would flip some serious shit on that."

"Brother?"

"I'll tell you about him later. Oh wait! Do you have enough puzzle cards now?"

I pulled out the five other cards to show her. "I do. We can now find out where the finals are." I began to set the cards in the slots of the Duel Disk to reveal the location of the finals. "Of which you are going to attend, Ami."

"But I-!"

I eyed her. "No exceptions. You'll be a plus one along with Mokuba. Besides, Yugi here is probably going to have at least a group of three."

Ami opened her mouth, but slowly shut it. "I know there's no arguing with you…"

"Damn straight. So you'll be going."

"Psh…fine."

"Good. Now let's find out where you'll be going, shall we?"

Now was Yugi's turn to protest, but on a completely different matter. "Kaiba! You said we would find Jonouchi before that! I have to save my friends from the Ghouls! From Marik!"

I sighed. Yugi still was unaware that other people could get in the way. I already admitted to myself that teamwork was what won us that duel, but I still wanted to revert back to myself. Walking alone…that had always been my way of life.

But then…to fight to protect what was important to you. That was something I could actually see myself doing. That was something I could get behind.

Then, at that moment, a question came to me as a holographic map of the city appeared before us. A single ray of light could be seen pointing a spot. That one spot was where the finals were.

"I see…so that's where it is."

The hologram disappeared and I turned to Yugi with stern eyes. "I have a question for you. Let's see if you can answer it."

Yugi braced himself.

"If the friends you protect turn against you…if the only way you can move forward is by beating them - with life and death at stake…could you trample your friends, on the way to your destiny?"

Apparently the brace was not good enough to prepare him for that. He was still shocked at the dark question. The paused silence was awkwardly long. Yugi then stared at me confidently.

"I don't know…," he admitted. "But I know where I'll find the answer!"

"Heh…this I'd like to see!"

The sound of whipping blades approached us as one of my choppers hovered above us. A ladder was kicked down and Mokuba popped out of the open door with a grin.

"Hey, nii-sama!" he shouted. "We've got Jonouchi pegged in section F, area 5362! If he doesn't move, we can catch him!"

I nodded in approval, but suddenly dreaded the quick sly smile he made as soon as he saw Ami.

"Hi, Ami-chan! You should come with us! We'd love to have ya!"

As I debated whether or not to flip off my own little brother, Ami called back, "I-in that? I don't know. I don't think I'll feel comfortable in that thing."

Mokuba waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, you'll be fine! I'm sure nii-sama won't mind comforting you on the way!"

Ami tilted her head. I clenched my teeth and fists. But I knew I could not beat my brother in this fight. So…

"Please come with us."

"Huh? Are you crazy? I don't like heights!"

"I…I'll be there if you need me…"

Oh God…it was too bad I did not have a gun. Because it felt like I just shot myself in the foot.

"…okay. If you'll help…"

Or I would have shot bullets to the sky in celebration.

"Alright then. Besides, I wasn't going to let you walk to the finals all by yourself. You were going on the helicopter eventually either way. Even if I had to force you."

Ami smacked my shoulder repeatedly before I climbed the ladder. And continued on my leg as I climbed. Let me tell you, it fucking stung.

But…I still thought the way she got mad was hot either way.

Almost three months. Thank you for being patient! For your reward, you get an extra long chapter! I think I'm going to abstain from duels for a couple chapters. And I am most likely going to skip the duel with Jonouchi and Yugi. Mostly because it's not going to be any different from the actual story.

Leave a reply! Tell me what you think and what you liked! See ya! :D