EXTRA III

"Hey! I think she's waking up!"

"Huh?" Rebecca opened her eyes but everything was out of focus. She touched the top of her head and sat up from the grassy ground. Was this a park? "What happened?"

"Are you okay?" "Of course she is. She just flew into a chair pretty hard." "Why don't we give her some space?" A few boys talking were standing a few feet away.

Rebecca's vision started clearing, so she sat up, adjusted her glasses and looked around, her body too sore to stand. From the voices, she assumed they were Leon, Mokuba, and Sam.

Mokuba grinned and walked over. "I just knew you couldn't beat my big brother. Wanna see the attack that finished you off again?"

"Uh, thanks, but no."

"That's too bad, because that duel was broadcast worldwide. I'm sure you'll get to see it whether or not your want to. But hey, considering how you stole his Blue-Eyes, you probably left an impression on him. That's more than most people can claim."

"I think maybe you should give her some more space, Mokuba," said Leon. Today he wore a latte-colored vest sweater with a light-blue collared shirt underneath and blue short pants. "I thought it was a good duel. She managed to hold her own, after all."

Sam, dressed in a dark-blue t-shirt and jeans, put a hand on Leon's shoulder and grinned. "Well, she represented America pretty well, even managing to drive Kaiba into a corner."

"Thanks." Rebecca smiled and blushed. If nothing else, the KC World Grand Prix was great for making friends.

"By the way," said Mokuba, "How did the last attack feel?"

She let herself fall back to the ground. "Don't remind me."

"The medics said you'd be all right and wake up soon, so we just asked them to leave you out here instead of taking you to a hospital."

"How does it work, anyway?" asked Sam.

"Trade secret," said Mokuba.

Sam asked the tech girl. "Any ideas?"

"I could hazard a few guesses," she said, "but I probably couldn't confirm anything unless I somehow get the tools necessary to reverse engineer it.

He turned to Leon. "And you?"

"If you don't know, why would I?"

"Well then," said Mokuba, "we might as well go back and watch the last batch of duels."

"By the way, where are we?" asked Rebecca."I can't see the stadium."

"If you turn past that restaurant, it should be just in front of you," said Leon.

"Wish it was open," said Sam. "I'm a bit hungry."

"I'm sure there's a dozen others open," said Mokuba.

Leon shuffled his feet. "Actually, you guys go on ahead. I'll just come back when it's my turn to duel again."

"Why?"

"It's just...I don't know, nerves?"

"Isn't Siegfried from Germany?" asked Sam. "Leon is the European Duel Monsters Champion, so maybe you two have some sort of feud?"

"Yeah, um, I guess you could say that."

At that moment, Rebecca smelled something like heavy smoke.

"Haw haw...bet I could fill in a #$%# detail or two!"

From behind the restaurant, Keith emerged, wearing a Duel Disk. He looked just like Rebecca remembered him a couple years ago, except he also had on a blue studded vest, wore shades, and was in need of a shave.

"Keith!" said Rebecca. She forced herself to stand, not wanting him to see any weakness. "You're here?"

"Of course. But for SOME reason, I'm not participating." He glared at Mokuba. "How the #$%# do you call this a tournament for the world's greatest duelists and not invite the #1?"

"Well, nobody was able to contact you, and someone filled your spot." Mokuba pointed to Sam.

"Sam would've lost without that hippie's help." Keith sneered before jerking a thumb to Rebecca. "And I mean, #$%#, some kid I snuffed just takes my place?"

That comment ignited Rebecca's rage engine.

Sam held up his Duel Disk. "At least I'm good enough to be here."

Keith guffawed. "Good enough to be knocked down in the first round, you got that right. Done in by a #$%# European to boot. EUROPE. "

"But Leon is the-"

"Losing to a European is like losing to an old lady. It's downright embarrassing."

Sam grunted and folded his arms while Leon bowed his head. Rebecca laid a hand on their shoulders.

"Just ignore him," she said.

"And #$%# you too!" Keith spat in her direction. "What the hell happened to my country after I left that we started sucking #$%#!? There's not even an American in the top five anymore!"

Rebecca stomped the ground. "That doesn't mean Americans became pushovers!"

"BS, I just watched Kaiba kick you in the #$%# too. I'm ashamed to see someone from my country blow such an easy win."

"Why don't you just go away?"

"Hey Miss Einstein, why do you think I'm here in the first place?"

"Huh?"

"I didn't plan on staying here long. I was eager to see how low the Americans have fallen. Or does the little girl wanna take a nap instead of fighting the big bad ex-Champ?"

"I can take you on any time, any place!"

"I'll fight you too," said Sam. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Keith snarled. "You couldn't even get past the first round. I don't deal with rank trash. Stay out of it!"

Flabbergasted, Sam said to Rebecca, "beat this guy for me."

"Yeah, I will."

"I'm not sure that's necessary," said Mokuba. "Keith, I heard a rumor that you were involved with the Card Professors at the time they were occupying our headquarters. That's some serious trespassing. In fact, I'd like to haul you in for questioning."

"I'd like to see you try," said Keith

"Card Professors?" asked Rebecca.

"You're an American, right?" replied Mokuba. "Surely you've heard of them?"

"Sure, but…"

"Funny," said Keith, "how none of them made it here. And although I don't #$%# care about them, it ruined my day to see them absent. So guess what? Before this duel gets underway, I'm gonna #$%# someone else's day."

"Still the same old bastard," said Rebecca.

"Don't worry; I'll clean you too." Keith sneered and jerked a thumb to Leon. "But first, I think there's something you ought to know about this Kid Europe. The moment I saw him beat an American, even if the guy he beat was just a piece of #$%#, I felt like venting."

"Wait," said Leon, "what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you might still be in this Grand Prix, but with all the #$%# you've been pulling for a while, the world should be thanking me to screw you over. Why don't I start with that castle 'card' you got from a certain someone?"

Leon paled.

"Can't you just knock it off and go away?" asked Rebecca. "You're such a nuisance."

"Believe me; I wouldn't approach a group of snotty kids just to chat. But just look at him! It ought to be #$%# obvious he's hiding something dangerous. It's about time someone put him in his place!"

"Why don't we make a deal?" Rebecca asked. "I get that you want to duel me. But if you continue to harass my friend, then I'm suddenly not interested in a rematch. How about this? If I win, you go away. If I lose, then you can say whatever you want."

"Works for me."

"Wait, Rebecca," said Leon, "you only just recovered from the last duel! And you shouldn't have to burden yourself with my problem!"

"I don't plan on losing," she said. "And I certainly won't miss a chance to pay back Keith for humiliating me on that duel way back. Just trust me with this."

"Leon!" said Sam. "We're all friends. What kind of friend would she be to ignore you?"

"But..." Leon sighed. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hiding something."

"Don't worry about it. We all have secrets, right?"

"Leon," said Mokuba, "even if Keith does end up talking, I'll limit any damage he wants to inflict on you."

"You guys..." Leon smiled. "Well, okay. Thanks, everyone."

DUEL 18: vs. Keith II

After they drew their starting hands, Rebecca said, "Ladies fir-"

"Screw you, #$%#!" shouted Keith. He drew a card. "I'm taking the first turn! And I summon Motor Shell, defense mode. I'll pass with that."

A plain motor with equipped with a shield materialized.

"You couldn't wait a turn just to summon a monster?" asked Rebecca. She drew a card.

"Hey Rebecca!" said Mokuba, "Now that you two are into it, keep this guy dueling as long as you can. I'm calling security to see if they can arrest Keith."

"Damn brat!" said Keith. His face maddened red. "The hell is your problem?"

"Didn't I tell you? You're suspected of trespassed on KC property with the Card Professors." Mokuba folded his arms and smiled. "Of course, if that's a problem, you can always just surrender this duel and run away."

"You think I'll back down from some kid's threat!?"

Rebecca smiled. "I'll be sure to keep him entertained, Mokuba."

Keith growled.

"I activate Graceful Charity to exchange my hand. The two cards I'm discarding are monsters with the 'light' attribute, so I'll Banish them out of play to summon Soul of Purity and Light, attack mode. I'll also summon Shining Angel, attack mode."

A couple of winged humanoids angels materialized. Shining Angel looked like a young blonde man in a white tunic, and the Soul, a lovely translucent woman.

"You can be rude all you like, but you're not walking out of this unscathed. The Soul attacks the Shell, and the Angel can then make a direct attack!"

The Soul attacked by flying through the Shell, causing his machine to short-circuit.

"When the Shell dies, it leaves behind a Motor Parts Token," said Keith.

"Yeah, but with 0ATK, it won't do much. I'M the one setting the pace today!"

The Angel gestured to the sky, and a column of light enveloped the Token. When the column vanished, so too had the Token, the attack dealing 1400LP damage to Keith.

"I end my turn," said Rebecca. She she let her arms dangle, exhausted from the previous duel.

Keith drew a card. "Ready for a bit of nostalgia? Here comes the Pillager!"

"Ugh." Rebecca revealed her hand: Tribute to the Doomed, The Forgiving Maiden, Fire Princess, and Polarizing Prism.

He guffawed. "Trash cards, but I'll take Tribute to the Doomed. Not like it's useful against my machines anyway, right? Now get over here and hand me your #$%# card."

"Hmph." Rebecca smelled his smoke again and wondered where he spent his time hiding. He had to make money somewhere to feed himself, right? "Been gambling?"

"Duel Monsters isn't the only game of cards where I can steal everyone's money." With her magic card in hand, he said, "but I don't really care about money anymore."

"Huh?"

"Anyhow, now that I have your card, might as well activate it."

Still standing next to Keith, she apun to see the bandages entangle the Soul.

"I set one card and summon another Motor Shell, defense mode, I pass."

Rebecca walked back to her side of the field and drew a card. "I sacrifice Shining Angel to summon Airknight Parshath."

Once Parshath materialized, Rebecca called for an attack. Parshath galloped forward and cleaved the Shell. It broke apart to reveal another Token.

"Parshath Pierces, so you take 100LP damage. And since I dealt damage in battle, I get to draw a card." She drew Guardian Angel Joan.

"I'm activating my trap: Scrap Garage. I'm gonna summon every Motor monster from my Graveyard in attack mode."

The two Motor Shells materialized, including one more that looked like a cyborg with guns for its hands. While materializing, she realized they had 0ATK. What a shame for her to be lacking another to monster for an attack!

"Wait, what's that cyborg?" asked Rebecca.

"Moron, it's the card I discarded from Tribute to the Doomed: Motor Violence."

"Fine. I set a card and end my turn."

Keith drew a card. "Since that's obviously Polarizing Prism, I'll activate Card Hexative to seal it. And I'm sacrificing Violence and the Token to summon Barrel Dragon, attack mode."

She swallowed. As chains covered Rebecca's card, a metal dragon with chambers from a revolver as its three cannons materialized. Keith grinned.

"Since in expert rules we now make direct attacks and my Dragon makes three attacks per turn in one shot, I'll explain how it works. Like before, I'll name how many attacks I want to make and on whom, so in this case, it's two on the monster and one on you. First, we check to see if I make a successful attack on the monster. If I do, and you're out of monsters, then we check the result of the attack on you. If you still have a monster after my two attacks, then I can't even fire the third chamber."

Rebecca crossed her fingers.

"Go! Russian Roulette!" The chambers started spinning. "Now trash that #$%#! Gun Cannon Shot!"

Of the two cannons, one fired. The one headshot later, Parshath was dead.

A malicious grin grew on his face. "Hope you're ready!"

Rebecca tried to brace herself with her tired body, but her arms refused to move.

BANG!

"Goddamn." Rebecca gasped and fell to the ground on her side, clutching her stomach. Panting, she hoped to never get shot for real.

"Rebecca!" Leon, Mokuba, and Sam ran to her aid.

"Don't worry...I'm fine..."

"But we're just concerned." "Who leaves a girl lying on the ground?" They lifted her by the arm back onto her feet and then stepped back. "You don't have to be so stubborn, you know."

Rebecca looked at the ground as her face reddened. "Thanks."

"If you wimps are done cuddling, I'm gonna finish up. I switch the two Shells into defense mode and set one card, ending my turn."

Rebecca drew a card and curled her lip: the Card of Sanctity. This would refill their hand to six cards, and in this case, since Keith had no cards in his hands, he would get a massive benefit. However, he also had a 2600ATK monster capable of making three attacks. In her hand, there was nothing Keith would have trouble killing, and with her 700LP, she could not afford another direct hit.

She sighed. "I activate Card of Sanctity!"

Dumbfounded at first, Keith hawed. "The Devil's bargain! I'm interested. Let's see what you can pull out of your #$%# this time!"

They drew their cards. "I'll set this and summon the Forgiving Maiden, defense mode. I can take back Soul of Purity and Light since it died on the field. With that, I pass."

Keith drew a card as Rebecca's old nun materialized. "Time I put your donation to good use. I sacrifice the two Shells to summon Zoa, attack mode. Zoa attacks the Maiden!"

The spiky blue demon Zoa materialized and scampered forward to attack. Rebecca forced herself to point at her set card.

"So long as this is on the field, Gravity Bind will prevent high-level monsters' attacks."

"Cheap. Then I end my turn."

Rebecca drew and activated her next card. "Refracting Prism can split my Maiden into as many copies as you have monsters. And then I'll sacrifice these two monsters to summon Guardian Angel Joan, attack mode."

Despite the boys' audible support behind Rebecca, the boys, Keith sniggered as the blonde short-haired woman clad in white materialized and took to the air with her majestic wings. "Too bad you can't attack thanks to your own Gravity Bind."

"I set a card and pass."

"Looks like you went through a lot of effort to summon that powerful monster," said Keith. He drew a card. "Why don't I summon something to kill it?"

"There's no low-level monster strong enough to do that!"

"#$%# wrong!" A red bomb with metal pincers materialized and clamped itself to Joan. "I summon Blast Sphere and 'equip' it to your monster."

"You stupid cheat."

A red sphere materialized and clamped itself to her monster.

"I think I'll set one card and end my turn."

She had nothing that could save Joan. Bitter that Keith's trickery undid her hard work in summoning, Rebecca switched Joan to defense mode. He laughed as the Blast Sphere detonated, leaving nothing but dust and dealing to her100LP damage. The boys encouraged her not to worry, but their voices betrayed concern.

"I activate the card I set on the field," said Rebecca. "Monster Reborn! I'll revive Guardian Angel Joan!"

"Nice try, but I'm activating my own set card: De-Spell cancels the summoning."

"Urgh! Then before anything resolves, I can still play Emergency Provisions to discard all my magic and traps on the field: Monster Reborn, Gravity Bind, and my trap your Hex sealed. Since I get 1000LP for each card discarded, I get 3000LP."

Keith pointed to Barrel Dragon as Gravity Bind vanished. "Are you dumb or what?"

"Next, I Banish the Forgiving Maiden and Airknight Parshath from the Grave to summon Soul of Purity of and Light, attack mode." Once the Soul materialized, she continued, "The Soul attacks Zoa! And since this is light magic vs. demon, the Soul gets the x1.5 multiplier, making her stat shoot up to 3000ATK!"

The Soul's luminosity increased, so bright that Rebecca had to shut her eyes. When she opened them a few seconds later, however, a mechanical demon remained of what was once Zoa.

"No way!"

"I've been sitting on this card for a while: Metalmorph changes Zoa into a machine, and that removes your type match-up bonus. Not only that, my new monster gets a little power boost. Metalzoa, counterattack!"

The machine stepped forward and grabbed the still-luminescent Soul. One crush and the Soul's light died, dealing Rebecca 1000LP damage.

"Looks like you're #$%#," said Keith. "Next turn, I'll riddle you dead with bullets."

"Damn it. I summon Dunames Dark Witch, defense mode, set a card, and end my turn."

A red-clothed witch with purple hair and white wings materialized.

Keith guffawed as he drew a card. "No cards in your hand? Looks like you need another Card of Sanctity. Well, tough #$%#! Time to die. Metalzoa attacks!"

"Mirror Force deflects your attack!"

"That card was a #$%# Mirror Force!?"

As Metalzoa swung its claw at her Dunames Witch, the barrier materialized. There was an explosion, and when the dust settled, Keith's monsters were gone, costing him 400LP.

"#$%#! I set a card and activate Two-for-One Repair Job. I can summon any Motor after Banishing all the other Motors in my Graveyard." Motor Violence materialized, poised and ready. "I end my turn."

"Alright!" exclaimed Mokuba. "Thanks for holding down the fort, Rebecca. The men I called for showed up."

Said Rebecca and Keith: "Huh?" They looked around to see a couple dozen men in suits walking towards them.

"You don't have to continue dueling," said Mokuba. "Keith can either stand there and get arrested by my men, or forfeit the duel and get a head start escaping."

Keith, of course, swore.

"Wait!" said Rebecca.

Replied Mokuba and Keith: "Huh?"

"I want to crush Keith, but I don't want to win because he surrendered. I want an honest victory."

"Kid," said Keith, "get a clue. Didn't your battles in America teach you anything? You'll never win playing fairly against ME. A win's a win, no matter how it's done."

"Mokuba, you can do whatever you want with Keith after we finish dueling. But please don't take my chance away."

Mokuba sighed and folded his arms. "Fine. I guess he's not going anywhere once you finish anyway."

She smiled. "Thanks, Mokuba." She turned back to a sniggering Keith, and drew a card.

That draw lit her eyes. "Magician of Faith, defense mode! She lets me take a magic card that I previously discarded. So I'll take Monster Reborn and activate it to summon Guardian Angel Joan!"

"#$%#!"

"I also switch the Dunames Witch to attack mode." Keith had one card set, but if Rebecca could force the attacks through, she would win! Guardian Angel Joan out-leveled Motor Violence and thus could make a successful attack, damaging his life points. Then, Dunames Witch could finish him off with a direct attack. "Guardian Angel Joan attacks Motor Violence!"

Her victory spirits elated when the metal on Violence warped and crumpled as a pillar of light engulfed his monster. As the light faded, nothing there remained. Was her victory here at last?

"I guess it doesn't matter, but Guardian Angel Joan also lets me collect life points based on the monster's attack. Wait, what's that?"

A black chamber materialized, and its door opened to reveal Motor Violence.

"Time Machine travels back in time to retrieve my monster before the battle happened. So while you destroyed my monster, it didn't truly die, so I won't lose any life points."

"But since I still destroyed Violence, I can collect life points for beating it."

Two Tokens appeared.

"Huh?"

"Of course, by that same reasoning, since you technically did manage to destroy the machine, its special ability kicks in and summons two Motor Parts Tokens."

"That's fine with me! They're in attack mode, so my Dunames Witch can attack to inflict serious damage!"

A jet of sparkling black magic blasted one of the Tokens into nothing.

"Wipe that smug look off your #$%# face!" said Keith.

"Make me! You only have 400LP, and I have 4700LP. And since you can't switch your Token to defense mode, all I have to do next turn is attack and win. I end my turn."

The boys cheered.

"You don't think déjà vu can happen? It's the same story with Kaiba." Keith drew a card as Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "I'll teach you not to #$%# with me; I'll have you know that I was waiting for you to kill Violence the first time. I sacrifice Violence and the Token to summon Fiendish Engine Omega, attack mode."

A towering red metal robot materialized with axes bigger than Rebecca attached to its gauntlets.

"And I'm activating Engine Tuner. I can pick a monster and convert half its defense points into attack points; add it up and you get 3800ATK." Keith pointed to the Dunames Witch as the boys groaned. "Trash it."

His Engine stampeded forward and slashed. And slashed and slashed and slashed, costing Rebecca 2000LP.

Keith laughed. "The horrified look on you and your dweeb friends' faces suits you all perfectly! I may only have 400LP, but no way in Hell will you be able to topple over this machine! I end my turn."

Rebecca drew a card: Fire Princess. However, she found no point summoning her new card if Keith still had that monstrosity. "I switch Joan to defense mode and pass."

Keith drew a card. "I set one card and summon Mechanicalchaser, attack mode. Now clear the rest of the #$%# off this field!"

As his bat-like green machine materialized, she closed her eyes, and covered her ears, not wanting to see or hear the carnage. After a few moments passed, Rebecca opened them again to see nothing but two machines poised.

"I end my turn."

Rebecca drew a card. Could this be the light of a comeback?

"I activate Swords of Revealing Light," she said. "For three turns you can't attack."

"Huh? Did I hear something?" Keith grinned and pointed to his set card. "Say that again. Magic Drain forces you to discard a magic card if you still want to play your #$%# Swords."

The only card in her hand was Fire Princess.

Fatigue befell Rebecca. "Then there's nothing I can do. I pass."

"Just like back in the day." Keith grinned, ignored his draw, and shot Rebecca with his hand. "Fiendish Engine Omega, cut her dead!"

She stood there like a training dummy as the Engine rushed forward. Paralyzed and scared, the only thing she could think of was all that slashing; the only thing she could hear, the commotion from the boys; the only thing she could feel, her sore body.

Someone pushed her to the ground from behind, out of harm's way. Whoever he was, Rebecca had no idea, but although she was grateful to skip the hit, her body continued to ache.

"With you, I guess America isn't completely screwed. Don't #$%# our reputation." That voice was Keith's, but did he say that? Did she imagine it, or was her fainting body playing mind games?

Rebecca looked up to see Keith running into the restaurant, several guards pursuing and shouting. The guards must have given chase the moment the duel was over. So when did he have time to say that?

A bunch of hands lifted Rebecca to her feet in the same way as before, by the same boys.

"Impossible!" shouted Mokuba. "That restaurant was supposed to be closed! So why was it unlocked?"

She heard one of the men say, "Sir, we have the restaurant surrounded, and we have multiple men investigating inside.

"Good. Don't lose him."

"Sir."

The boys started asking if Rebecca was okay, to which she replied, "Of course! Thanks."

Mokuba thanked Rebecca for keeping Keith occupied.

"No problem, I guess," she said. "Thanks for letting me finish the duel."

"No problem."

"By the way, did you hear him say anything after the duel?"

"Huh? No, he started running before the attack even landed. Why?"

"Nothing." She asked the other two boys, "Did you guys hear anything?"

They shook their heads.

"Forget I said anything, then." She sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry, Leon. I lost."

"Please don't worry about it," said Leon. "More importantly, you need to rest."

"And I doubt Keith has time to say anything if he's hiding in the restaurant," said Sam. "Besides, you were up against, well, Keith. Nobody can blame you for losing to him, especially with the shape you were in."

Rebecca offered a weak smile. "Thanks."

"But seeing you fight Keith to the bitter end," said Leon, "I'm feeling a little more courageous. Mokuba, would you mind if I spoke to you in private for a few minutes? It's probably better that I confess this sooner than later."

"Uh, sure," said Mokuba. The boys released Rebecca.

One of the men returned. "Sir!"

"What?"

He hesitated. "We lost him. The only thing he left behind was a Duel Disk, probably because he didn't want us tracking him."

"What! Aren't you guys supposed to be the best security money can buy? Forget about how he got in here, how could you lose him so easily?"

"I don't get it either. We literally combed every inch of the restaurant, but we couldn't find him inside. None of our guys on the outside saw him emerge from anywhere. Is there a secret tunnel or something in there?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Look, Keith can't just turn into a ghost!"

Tapping on Rebecca's shoulder drew her attention to Sam.

"What did you hear, anyway?" Sam whispered. "Did Keith say something?"

"Yeah, something like, 'you don't completely suck.'"

"That's almost just like him. But I thought it would be one last parting taunt."

"Coming from Keith, it's a rare acknowledgement. If he really said that, I'd be pretty happy."