Good Day Readers! I only own Kylie and Katherine Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also this was originally written in dubbed so some chapters may have some dubbed dialogue remaining because I like it. Also italics symbolise another language not Japanese, I'm follow the Manga's timeline year speaking because it's easier for me.

I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy

Chapter 21: - A True Friend

We had returned to the gateway with Yugi having pulled out of Kylie's grip on the way down but now he was kneeling completely unresponsive in front of the gate way even as the others tried calling out to him however none of their words were reaching through to him and I was beginning to get seriously worried about Yugi, this wasn't like the normal happy boy I had met.

'Maybe I should do… the only thing I can.' I thought. With my mind made up I walked over towards Yugi, feeling everyone's eyes on me as I moved given that I had been quiet throughout their talking but I ignored them and crouched down beside Yugi and held out my Duel Glove for him.

"Yugi take my star chips," I offered. Shocked gasps erupted from everyone and the next thing I knew Jounouchi was in front of me on the other side of Yugi looking at me with an disbelieving expression etched onto his face.

"You mean that Katherine?" Jounouchi asked. He knelt down so that we were nearly at eye level however I didn't remove my brown-black eyes from Yugi's prone form as he hadn't even responded to me so I hoped that my response to Jounouchi would get something out of Yugi.

"Of course. Yugi needs to save his grandfather and you need to save your sister, Kylie's a better duelist than me and she'll help all she can so it makes sense for me to give up my chips," I explained. Jounouchi nodded understanding my reasoning and so he encouraged Yugi to take them yet the poor boy still didn't respond to anything.

"Oi! Yugi. Don't just sit there… that least say something!" Jounouchi yelled. He then seized Yugi by the collar and hauled him up so that his feet were slightly off of the floor causing me to bolt to my own feet out of sheer surprise. "Don't you care about gramps?!" Jounouchi yelled. Kylie, Honda and Bakura had rushed over to calm Jounouchi down when he hauled Yugi up.

"What are you all doing out here?" Mai's voice cut through. All of us turned to face the blonde woman with Jounouchi setting Yugi back onto solid ground. "Huh? Jounouchi… you collected ten star chips?" Mai asked. She appeared to be genuinely surprised by the blonde boy having done just that, whether because she still doubted his abilities or something else but she was still surprised especially when Jounouchi explained the situation to her.

"Yugi lost?! Don't screw around with me! How can you be defeated without entering the castle?! I won't accept this!" Mai angrily yelled. We all knew that the woman wanted to face off against Yugi and my sister but there wasn't anything we could do to snap Yugi out of his stupor at the moment but then Mai surprised all of us when she held out her hand in a fist but then turned it over and opened her fist to reveal that enclosed within was five star chips.

We also learned that Mai already had ten star chips of her own thus by handing over these five chips, she would still be able to get inside and so Jounouchi encouraged Yugi to accept them but he still remained as frozen as a statue which caused Mai to retract her offer after a bit as she got annoyed with him and told Yugi she had overrated him because of his attitude after he lost, she then challenged him to a duel for the star chips but Yugi didn't even flinch making it known he wasn't responding to this challenge.

"I'll duel you," I spoke up. Everyone whipped their heads to my location and so I lifted my glove to show Mai the ten star chips I had. "I've got ten chips so why would you decline unless you're afraid of losing to a kid," I baited. I practically heard my sister's jaw hitting the floor in shock as I rarely ever did this kind of thing, Mai blinked her eyes before letting out a laugh at my words.

"You've got guts Katherine-chan but I want to be sure. Do you really want to duel me?" Mai asked. I nodded my head to show her that I did and so Mai accepted with her pointing out that there was a duel arena at the bottom of the steps that we could use to host the duel.

"What do you think?" I heard Honda ask. Mai turned and began heading down as she asked Anzu about the ice pack she had pressed against her face with Anzu shooting a glare in Kylie's direction which only caused Mai to raise an inquisitive eyebrow but as Kylie's back was turned with her focused on me, she didn't see it.

"We've never see Katherine duel," Jounouchi responded. I knew why he was unsure but I wasn't about to lose to Mai since Yugi needed those star chips and I was going to do everything I could to make sure that that I won this duel, for the sake of my new friend.

"She'll be fine don't worry, Yugi's in good hands," Kylie spoke up. The boys then began to shuffle Yugi down so that he could watch the duel whilst I took a breath to calm my racing heart, Kylie knelt down so that she could see me although I sent her a smile to reassure her that I was alright so with that out of the way the two of us headed down the steps with Kylie joining the others and me walking over to the blue podium.

Katherine – LP: 2000

Mai – LP: 2000

"I'll go first and I summon out Bird of Victory, Nike in attack mode," I called out. The falcon was projected onto the field with its' large tanned wings stretched out and its' golden talons glinted as they waited to pierce into something and destroy it.

Bird of Victory, Nike – Attribute: Wind, Type: Winged-Beast, Level: 2, ATK/1000, DEF/700

The others remained quiet as we waited for Mai to make her move and she did so by summoning out her Harpie Lady in attack mode which was hardly a surprise since, as I learned from Jounouchi's duel, that was the only monster that was in her entire deck but the numerous equip cards would make it a difficult monster to defeat.

Harpie Lady – Attribute: Wind, Type: Winged Beast, Level: 4, ATK/1300, DEF/1400

'But I have something that might be able to deal with that nasty piece of work.' I thought. My eyes focused on my deck as the image of the card that I would need appeared in my mind, I just hoped that I would be able to draw it in time and with that done I turned my attention back to the current predicament at hand.

"And I'll lay this too, face down. Attack!" Mai commanded. She had slid a card into the Spell and Trap zone but I would focus on that later as I watched the two winged creature dance in the sky as they battled although as she had the lower attack points, my Nike was eventually destroyed by Harpie Lady.

Katherine – LP: 2000 – LP: 1700

"You know kid, you may have ten star chips but that doesn't mean you can beat me," Mai taunted. I wasn't going to let any of the words she say rattle me not when there was so much riding on this one duel that the option of losing wasn't really available for me.

"Want to bet?! You've never seen me duel Mai so how could you know I can't beat you, unless you really are scared of me," I shot back. Gasps echoed from down below as Mai's eyes widened and she blinked like someone had just unveiled some great universe shaking secret to her that she hadn't been ready to hear.

"What the- is that really Katherine?!" Honda exclaimed confused. Kylie began to laugh and so everyone turned to look at my sister who had a smile on her face before turning to the others who wore the exact same look of confusion except for Yugi who didn't even seem to be responding to anything that was happening around him.

"Yeah, don't ask why but when she duels, Katherine gets so focused that her normal shyness drains away and you get to glimpse the real Katherine Hope," Kylie responded. Everyone still looked confused but I turned my attention back to the duel as I looked at the card I had drawn, I looked at Mai's face down as I gently pressed my teeth against my bottom lip, it was risky but I needed to take the risk no matter what might happen.

"I summon Child of Wine, Dionysus," I spoke up. The being was projected onto the field, he had pale skin and a slightly dazed look in his mahogany eyes, he wore a simply toga with no shoes on his feet, around his head was a wreath of grapevines with curly brown hair resting underneath the vines.

Child of Wine, Dionysus – Attribute: Earth, Type: Fairy, Level: 3, ATK/1400, DEF/1500

I commanded Dionysus to attack with his Madness Curse attack and this caused the dazed look in his eyes to vanish as they became focused then dark violet energy streams shot out from his fingers and began to wrap around Harpie Lady forming a ball however it soon turned out that Mai's face down had been the Spell card Rose Whip which gave Harpie Lady a boost of three hundred attack and defence points.

Harpie Lady – ATK/1300 – ATK/1600, DEF/1400 – DEF/1700

With this new attack power, Mai's Harpie Lady was easily capable of destroying my Dionysus which resulted in the damage taking a few more points off of my Life Points.

Katherine – LP: 1700 – LP: 1500

"Clever move. Mai tricked Katherine into attacking by making her think that her Dionysus had the most points but what Mai didn't reveal until after Katherine attacked was that she had a Spell card waiting to power up her Harpie Lady. Another mistake like that and it's all over," Bakura explained to the others. However a scoff was heard and I knew that it was Kylie without even looking since she was the only person who had seen me play before more than once.

"It was no mistake. My sister has a style of play that you guys wouldn't understand and neither would Mai, in the end my sister will win," Kylie informed. Everyone made a confused sound at my sister's declaration but they soon turned their attention back to the duel although Yugi was still being mute about this whole thing

'Alright that's one card but I'm going to need Mai to increase her Spells some more before I'm able to defeat her so for now the only thing I can do is wait.' I thought. Mai made her move by playing another face down in the Spell and Trap zone which was probably another equip spell of some type which meant that Mai was following my plan perfectly and she didn't even know it.

With that over I reached out and drew a card from my deck seeing that it was a Trap card, known as Chaos Void which would definitely come in handy later on, with that I looked at the cards in my hand as I tried to plan out which monster I should send out to fend off the Harpie Lady for now.

"You can do it Katherine," I heard Jounouchi voice. I looked down and the others cheered me on was well with Kylie giving me a reassuring smile however Yugi was still lost in his own mind and I was beginning to worry that nothing would break him out of the stupor that he had been shocked into ever since his loss to Seto.

"And you Yugi? Are you with me?" I asked. My voice was gentle and almost inaudible yet I saw Yugi's eyes twitch and his head raise slightly which gave me a spark of hope and so I turned back to face Mai and plucked a card from my hand. "First I'll lay a card face down and then I summon out my Lady of Love Aphrodite," I called out.

A dazzling woman appeared with the richest red hair and soul seeing pure amber eyes, she was dressed in a radiant reddish-pink Grecian dress with golden jewellery around her wrists, fingers and neck which highlighted just how pretty this holographic projection truly was.

Lady of Love, Aphrodite – Attribute: Light, Type; Fairy, Level: 5, ATK/1300, DEF/3000

Everyone was gob smacked and I swear Honda and Jounouchi looked like they might be drooling whilst Bakura commented that she seemed too beautiful to be a simple projection, Mai's eyebrows had raised as she looked over my creature before allowing a smirk to rest on her face

"Hun, that gal doesn't stand a chance against my Harpie Lady, Whip Lash attack," Mai pointed out. Harpie Lady charged forward however at the last second I activated my Chaos Void which reduced all of the battle damage to zero although Aphrodite was destroyed by Harpie Lady however I allowed a smile to rest on my lips.

"Tell me Mai do you know Greek Mythology?" I asked. Mai's eyes widened at my sudden question but I could tell from the look in her eyes that she had no clue what I was talking about meaning that I would have to explain this to her and probably the others as well.

"In the beginning only Ouranos, God of the Sky and Gaia, Goddess of Earth existed, they had children but Ouranos despised the first batch and cast them into Tartarus so in revenge Gaia had her youngest son Cronus kill Ouranos and his corpse was tossed into the sea. Despite this betrayal Ouranos still love Gaia and from his love arose Aphrodite the first Olympian God," I explained.

"What does that have to do with this duel?" Mai asked. It seemed that she obviously hadn't caught on to what I was implying despite the fact that it should have been rather obvious considering the last part of my explanation.

"My deck is based on the Gods and do really think something born from pure love will be destroyed so easily," I shot back. Mai's eyes widened and as they did rose petals flooded the grounds and from them came back Aphrodite and then she glowed pink as she crossed her arms and bowed her head. "Lady of Love, Aphrodite is indestructible in battle and after being attacked automatically switches to defence mode," I explained to Mai.

I felt something stirring in my chest from deep within my heart and I knew it was to do with Yugi's current predicament, it was strange how after such a short time I become so attached to these unusual and interesting people especially the sweet and gentle young boy whom seemed to be their leader, I felt like I needed to get this feeling off of my chest before it overwhelmed me.

"I'm going to win Mai. No matter what cards you play or what combos you attempt, I'm going to win. That's because I have a reason to, someone needs me in this duel and I'm not about to let him down. Like how Kylie stood up for you, I'm standing up for Yugi because he's my friend and right here, right now he needs me so I don't have the luxury to lose," I declared.

Mai blinked and her eyes softened as she recalled the night the Player Killer had attacked her, I looked at my sister who had a beaming smile on her face with everyone else being shocked but also wearing a bright smile on their own faces, even Anzu despite the pain it must have been causing her, my eyes eventually focused on Yugi and I felt a smile break across my face as Yugi meet my gaze head on.

"Great speech Katherine but aren't you being a bit cocky after all the only thing you've done so far in this duel is lose Life Points, your Gods aren't exactly helping you out," Mai mocked. I didn't say anything back and after drawing a card I simply passed my turn since Mai didn't have nearly enough cards out on the field yet for me to set my plan in motion and the card I needed wasn't here yet.

Mai threw down another card which was Cyber Bondage meaning at the very least there were two Spell cards out on the field which meant that I would have to make my move next turn if I had any chance of defeating Mai in this duel, thanks to Cyber Bondage's effect Harpie Lady gained another boost in attack power but thankfully not enough to break through Aphrodite's defences.

Harpie Lady – ATK/1600 – ATK/2100, DEF/1700 – DEF/2200

"That's not good. Luckily Aphrodite's got one hell of a defence power," Honda commented. The others agreed with him although Yugi didn't make a sound but since he had looked at me I didn't need to hear any words from him, since I had no other monsters out Mai was forced to end her turn and so I reached out and placed my hand on my deck.

'Please, answer me.' I prayed. I then drew the card at the top and flicked it over to see the card I had been waiting for this and this caused an excited smile to spread across my face as it seemed that my deck had listened to the request that I had made.

"Oh little lady, is it time to unleash my magic?" A voice echoed in my mind. It was familiar and comforting, so I looked at Mai who had a confused expression on her face as she waited for me to make my move but little did she know that this was the last move of the duel.

"This will be hard for you to believe Mai but you've lost. Come forth Mistress of Magic, Hecate," I declared. Roaring fires erupted in a swirling vortex as my monster was summoned out onto the field, the fires soon subsided to reveal a woman standing in them, curled brown hair was pulled back into a bun whilst sharp violet eyes gazed at Mai, her white Grecian dress was etched with paired torches, as a serpent coiled around the bottom of her dress whilst a dagger and ring of keys hung from the golden cord around her waist.

Mistress of Magic, Hecate – Attribute: Light, Type: Spellcaster, Level: 7, ATK/2500, DEF/2400

"I'm activating one of Hecate's Special Effects, by removing a card from play I can destroy every Spell on your side of the field," I explained. Mai's face immediately paled at this announcement, I withdrew a card from my hand and placed it into my pouch to signify its' removal from the game. "Hecate go, Magic Mastery," I called out.

Hecate began to chant in Ancient Greek preventing us from understanding a word she was saying but her hands began to crackle with magical energies as they reached and wrapped around Cyber Shield, Rose Whip and the face down that Mai had yet to play, proving that it had been a Spell card all along, and they were ripped over to my side.

Harpie Lady – ATK/2100 – ATK/1300

I saw that the other card had been Harpie's Feather Duster which would have caused a serious problem if Mai had activated it when I played Chaos Void since it had the power to destroy all the Traps and Spells on the opponent's field, Hecate's magic then proceeded to crush the spells however the fragments didn't disappear.

"By the way for every Spell card that's destroyed, you lose three hundred Life Points," I added on. Mai's face only got worse whilst everyone let out cheers of excitement as the fragments of Mai's spells transformed into three burning torches which then flew straight towards Mai smashing against her and depleting nine hundred from her Life Points.

Mai – LP: 2000 – LP: 1100

"Since that was a Special Effect, I can still attack with Hecate and with your Harpie back to her original attack power and my Hecate wielding two thousand and five hundred points, well you do the math Mai. Go Ancient Magic!" I declared. Mai realised exactly what this attack meant and she allowed a small smile to spread across her face even as her Harpie was engulfed in the same magical energies.

Mai – LP: 1100 – LP: 0

"That was impressive Katherine, you lead me through this duel and I didn't even know it until you brought out Hecate but whatever Yugi is dealing with he has to do it alone," Mai spoke up. Everyone quietened down as Mai spoke and I had to admit that she was right, only Yugi could sort out whatever had messed with him during the duel with Seto which I'm sure had something to do with his other side.

"I know that Mai but Yugi also needs see we're here to support him, he may have to deal with his problems himself but never alone," I responded. Mai smiled and then the two of us got down from the podiums and we headed back over to everyone else and Mai gave me the star chips so I walked over to Yugi who looked at me and I held them out to him.

"Thank you Katherine for everything you did and especially what you said," Yugi spoke. He then took the stars and put them in his duel glove although he then raised his head to look at me with a questioning gaze. "I wasn't so out of it to miss all the duel so how did you get so good?" Yugi questioned.

"Well I'm the Duel Monster British Isles Regional Champion," I responded. Everyone was shocked by this causing Kylie to laugh and then we all began to rush over to the castle since we could all now enter, I just hoped whatever problems Yugi was having he would be able to sort them out before the final stage of the tournament began.