(A/N: So many of you guessed what this is going to be already. No sense in hiding it. Get ready for Byakuya Togami Vs Seto Kaiba…with a short duel to give a sneak peek at the type of deck Byakuya runs before we jump right in. Enjoy!)
Pausing from his brisk walk through Domino City, Chihiro Fujisaki let out a big sigh. He had fought several duels already, but he had not managed to obtain 6 locator cards. His highest held was 4, but now he was back all the way down to 1. And he was starting to understand why.
Chihiro had made the AI that helped get dozens of people into Battle City. As a result, he knew its priorities and algorithms that would help him influence his own dueling strategy and build his deck with what cards he had lying around accordingly. Unfortunately, this backfired when it came to facing live people. A programmed AI would make the same mistakes every time. After all, machines only did what you told them to do. However, humans did not behave according to priority checks and absolute algorithms. Hesitating to attack, using spell or trap cards more effectively than an AI reasonably could, baiting Chihiro by using monsters that could use their special effects while in his opponent's hand. While Chihiro was no stranger to these effects, the AI he programmed didn't use them quite so cleverly. But, then again, he hadn't competed against it at the highest level. That wasn't a requirement to get into the tournament.
Chihiro's AI had been made with 10 different difficulty levels and an assessment score was handed out according to the flow of the duel. Anything played on a difficulty level 4 or lower was not recorded and was only meant to ease people into the AI's difficulty curve. It also provided deck assessment after reading a player's whole deck and would offer a suggestion on which level to compete against in order to have the best odds of getting into Battle City. After all, by Kaiba's rules, a duelist was only allowed to duel once per photo ID against any dueling level
The only way to have been granted access to Battle City on levels 5 or 6 would've had to have been either winning without taking damage or making an amazing comeback with a 2000 LP or greater difference. Level 7 was the level Chihiro competed at. To get into Battle City, one needed to have at least 1000 life points left at the end of the duel or have pulled off certain combos if the player's life point total was lower.
The access granted to duelists that competed on levels 8, 9, and 10 were all based on the flow of the duel directly. Even if you lost, it was still possible to get in depending on whether or not your deck assessment and the flow of the duel could've gotten you through the requirements of levels 5, 6, or 7. Most duelists still in the tournament had competed at the 7 or 8 level. Anyone that competed against levels 9 or 10 had done so only for the bragging rights. Before engaging anyone in a duel, Chihiro always asked his opponent if they had gotten an invitation from Kaiba or if they'd competed against his AI. It helped to know how challenging the duel he was going to be in for was.
And yet, while Chihiro was able to beat duelists that competed against levels 5 or 6. 7s and 8s seemed to trip him up. But, then again, there was something else Chihiro was starting to find disheartening after the constant dueling throughout the tournament: a bad starting hand. It had been the bane of at least two of his duels. Chihiro's only small comfort in those duels was the notion that it happened to even the best duelists every now and again. However, if Chihiro knew that Kaiba, in his own words, "was at a level where a bad hand was nonexistent" or claimed to be "such a good drawer that he would never wind up having a bad hand", it would've crushed what little pride he had.
On the subject of Kaiba, Chihiro quite liked his boss. Despite his gruff, intimidating exterior, Chihiro looked up to Kaiba. In fact, he kind of thought of Kaiba as a role model. Kaiba was strong, stalwart, full of confidence, and didn't take sass from anyone. He took charge of any situation he was in, no matter how bad, and always seemed to keep his cool under pressure. Chihiro had the utmost respect for Kaiba, despite what some people said about his poor people skills and cold exterior.
Taking a juice box out of his travel bag to rehydrate himself, Chihiro thought a bit about his current standing with his boss. Kaiba seemed to appreciate the work Chihiro did for KaibaCorp, though he still didn't treat Chihiro with anywhere near the same amount of trust and serenity that he did Roland, but then again, Roland had worked for Kaiba for a very long time so that might've had something to do with it. If nothing else, Chihiro hoped that he and Kaiba could reach a level of trust that they could be friendly to each other even off hours.
Why? Well, that related to a piece of information that Kaiba didn't know about Chihiro. He had no idea that Chihiro was a boy, not a girl, despite dressing like the latter. It was a personal issue, hardly something to mention in the workplace. Chihiro's dad had even lied to Kaiba on Chihiro's behalf. And it seemed to work out so far, Kaiba seeming to prefer skill over personal status as an employer. Sure, he'd fired one of the female HR directors a few months back, but they'd been butting heads for a while, or so the media stated. Chihiro chuckled as he realized the total lack of bad press Kaiba tended to get.
Finishing his juice and looking around for a trash can, Chihiro sighed, wanting to be able to tell Kaiba about his issue. Not because he wanted to trust Kaiba with his secret…well okay that was part of it, but because Kaiba was everything Chihiro desired to be as a man. Chihiro wanted Kaiba to kind of be a life coach were it possible, help him become more manly. Then, maybe one day, he could ditch the dress, come clean to his fans and wear a cool suit just like Kaiba. Chihiro pictured himself in that awesome white long coat Kaiba sported. It really did look fashionable. He wondered if Kaiba could get him one in his size, considering Kaiba towered over him.
After throwing away his trash, Chihiro was called out to by a smug, calm voice. "Excuse me, you there."
Chihiro turned around to see a young, blue-eyed blond man with a pair of spectacles on his face and wearing a black suit with a snazzy dark blue tie.
Gulping, Chihiro stuttered, "Y-yes?"
"You're Chihiro Fujisaki, correct?" the young man asked.
"Yes, that's me," Chihiro said.
"Good, that makes this easy. According to reliable information you're an intern at KaibaCorp, correct? You also programmed the AI many used to get into this tournament if I understand it."
"Th-that's correct," Chihiro stuttered.
"Excellent, then," the young man said and armed his duel disk with his deck. "I request a duel, Miss Fujisaki. My name is Byakuya Togami, of the Togami corporation and let's just say that your defeat will send a message to your boss that, at his own tournament I plan to take Seto Kaiba down."
"You will be representing KaibaCorp, so I won't tolerate any behavioral misconduct."
Kaiba's statement to Chihiro echoed in his head. "U-um…I-I don't plan on losing quite so easily. M-Mr. Kaiba is very busy and even if you beat me, y-you don't stand a chance against him!" Chihiro exclaimed.
"We'll see about that," Byakuya said, "Considering you are the only employee of KaibaCorp competing in this tournament, if I defeat you, it should tell me a little bit more about the standard by which Kaiba holds his employees."
"U-um…I-I know the Togami Corporation and the Kaiba Corporation are bitter rivals, but…you don't have to be enemies."
"We're not, we're rivals in business and I intend to prove which of us is superior," Byakuya said.
"B-but the Kaiba Corporation and the Togami Corporation are financial successes in different business pursuits!" Chihiro exclaimed.
"This has nothing to do with our business pursuits. This is a personal endeavor," Byakuya said and pointed declaratively at Chihiro. "I aim to show Seto Kaiba that I deserve to be Duel Monsters Champion. I will completely crush his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon," Byakuya declared calmly and then folded his arms, tilting his head back to look down on Chihiro. "Kaiba personally invited me to this tournament of his and it will be the biggest regret he ever made. But first, I need a little warm-up exercise. So, get out your deck and let's duel. Or do you not have the courage to face a Togami?"
Chihiro gulped. Byakuya Togami was considered an international dueling pro. He had picked up the game after Yugi's defeat over Pegasus and took the world by storm, competing in several high-level tournaments around the globe and winning every single one of them. He was considered, now, far more of a legend than Bandit Keith ever had been. Against someone like this, Chihiro knew his chances of victory were basically nothing. However, a challenge had been issued, to run away would reflect badly on the Kaiba Corporation and if Chihiro was any sort of man, he'd pick up the gauntlet that'd been thrown and stand his ground. At the very least, he'd get a real understanding of someone of Kaiba's caliber. He'd get a taste of what it meant to stand at the top.
"V-very well," Chihiro said, holding up his duel disk. "I accept your challenge. I'll wager my last locator card."
"Perfect. Once I eliminate you from the tournament, I'll go right for your boss. I hope you will at least provide with some mild entertainment, Chihiro Fujisaki."
Chihiro nodded and tried to give Byakuya a tough look, marginally succeeding.
"Let's duel!" He and Byakuya declared simultaneously.
"A gentleman always lets a lady have the first move, so you can start, Chihiro," Byakuya said.
"Um, sure," Chihiro said. Even though I'm not really a lady. "I draw." Chihiro looked at his hand. Oh good, I've got a good hand this time. Chihiro slapped a monster onto the card reader. "I play Caninetaur in attack mode!" Chihiro declared, as a dog-like creature with a centaur's build, covered in body armor with a sword and shield appeared. It had 1500 attack points and 200 defense points. "I'll also place one card face-down onto the field," Chihiro said, carefully placing the card into the appropriate slot on the duel disk. "It's your turn, Mr. Togami."
"Very well," Byakuya said. "I draw." Byakuya looked at his hand. Perfect. He thought. "I play the spell card Fissure, destroying the monster on your side of the field with the lowest attack, but since you only have one, well, it's gone." A hole opened up in the ground and swallowed Chihiro's monster before quickly closing back up. "And next, I play my Gene Warped Warwolf in attack mode!" A beastly looking white werewolf appeared on the battlefield. It wore battle armor on its lower body and it had four arms. It also had 2000 attack points. "And now, I attack your life points directly!" Byakuya declared. His monster charged forward and struck Chihiro in the stomach with an underhand blow, knocking him back and causing him to slide along the ground on his dress and blouse. Chihiro's life points fell to 2000. "That concludes my first turn," Byakuya said.
Chihiro managed to get up without feeling too much in pain. "I-it's my draw," he stuttered. He looked at what was in his hand. Gene Warped Warwolf might be tough, but I've got a monster that can protect me. "I place a monster in defense position!" Chihiro declared, slapping the monster face-down onto the field. "My turn is over."
"How unfortunate," Byakuya said. "This duel is already over. Drawing this card will only be a formality."
I don't like the sound of that, Chihiro thought, looking worried.
"I play my Chainsaw Insect," Byakuya declared, placing a 4-star monster onto the battlefield with 2400 attack points. Chihiro gasped.
"And now, Chainsaw Insect, attack Chihiro's face-down monster."
The giant chainsaw bladed bug skittered forward and ripped its jaws straight through Chihiro's monster, which had 2000 defense points. "As I suspected," Byakuya stated. "It was either an effect monster or something with high defense. And there was only one way I was going to be able to determine its identity. And now, I'm ending this duel. Gene Warped Warwolf, attack!"
Byakuya's supped up beast-warrior charged forward and dealt a knockout punch to the young programmer, hitting Chihiro in the face and bringing his life points down to zero as he collapsed onto the ground. "How disappointing," Byakuya said as he adjusted his glasses.
Chihiro sat up and sighed. "I totally lost."
"Naturally," Byakuya said. "You were up against the epitome of genetic superiority. There's no way I could've lost a duel of this caliber. Now if you would be so kind as to hand over your locator card and rarest card so that I might be on my way."
Chihiro did as Byakuya requested in accordance with the Battle City rules. He got up off the ground and handed over his locator card and his deck's rarest card. Byakuya tucked Chihiro's rare card into his right inside jacket pocket and the locator card into the inside left.
"Aren't you going to see what it is?" Chihiro asked Byakuya.
"There's no need. My deck is already perfect so increasing its power with mediocre rare cards won't be necessary until I reach the finals, if at all. After all, the simplest way to reach the finals is to defeat peons like you and then prepare myself for the real competition."
"O-oh," Chihiro said, sounding sad. He had really liked the card he'd given Byakuya, Magna-Slash Dragon.
"Now then, if you'll excuse me, I have business to discuss with your boss," Byakuya said and walked away. "I bid you farewell." His leather shoes clacked along the street loudly.
Sighing again, Chihiro pulled out his cell phone and called the KaibaCorp office, dialing his dad's extension. "KaibaCorp, this is Taichi Fujisaki, how can I help you?"
"Hi, dad," Chihiro said with a smile as he began walking towards the clock fountain.
"Oh, Chihiro. How are you? Enjoying Battle City."
"Well, I was," Chihiro said, "I just got eliminated."
"I see, that's too bad. Well, at least you held out for a while, right?"
"Yeah," Chihiro said with a nod. Then, without missing a beat, asked, "Do you mind if I come by the office? I know Mr. Kaiba gave me the day off, but…"
"Sure, if you want to. I'm sure Mr. Irvine or I could find something for you to do. Mr. Kaiba's got us sweeping duel records looking for two special, one-of-a-kind duel monster cards. I'll call the transport offices, have them pick you up. They'll track you via your duel disk."
"That's great," Chihiro said. "I'm on my way to the clock fountain in the middle of the city. They can pick me up there."
"Good, see you soon, Chihiro," Taichi said.
"Bye, dad," Chihiro said and hung up the phone. He then smiled as he walked with a spring in his step. Make lemonade out of lemons, that's what he intended to do with this situation. Who knew? Maybe if he went back to work, Kaiba would let him watch the finals up close and personal and, if nothing else, he could watch the duel between Kaiba and Byakuya from the comfort of the office. That'd certainly be a spectacle Chihiro wanted to see. After all, what better way to get closer to his idealized state of being like Seto Kaiba, then watching him duel and seeing the difference between them with his very own eyes.
In the midst of her hunt for Joey Wheeler, Celestia Ludenburg was once again approached by Marik's mind slave. "Oh, hello Marik," Celeste said, conditioned to accept being approached by brainwashed men that looked like they missed their train stop at the My Chemical Romance concert.
"Hello to you too, Celeste. I've come to inform you that I do not believe I will be requiring your services after all."
"Oh?" Celeste asked. "And why is that?"
"I've already sent a Rare Hunter of mine after Yugi Mutoh and he has one of the most powerful cards in all of Duel Monsters. You're welcome to get a front row view of the destruction of a foe whose caliber far exceeds the one you lost to. You asked if I could do better and I shall. I shall defeat Yugi Mutoh where you couldn't defeat Chiaki Nanami."
Celeste, however, looked highly skeptical, fist closed in front of her mouth. "Defeat Yugi, you say? This I simply must see."
"Go to the bridge that overlooks the river that splits Domino City," Marik's mind slave instructed. "I promise it will be quite the show." Then with a mad cackle, Marik ceased control of his mind slave.
The Rare Hunter grasped his head. "Whoa, the hell was that?"
Celeste just sort of rolled her eyes and proceeded to the bridge she was asked to go to, Marik's crony following close behind.
It was about 45 minutes when Chihiro got back to the Kaiba Corp offices. Scott Irvine, KaibaCorp's programming director, politely welcomed Chihiro into the office. "Take a seat at get to work, Chihiro," he told him. "I already spoke with your dad. We're currently looking for two specific cards in the KaibaCorp database: Osiris the Sky Dragon and the Winged Dragon of Ra."
Chihio looked contemplative. "I take it Mr. Kaiba wants those cards in his deck."
"You'd assume right," Scott said. "So, get right on it. We're all working hard to help Mr. Kaiba. If you need help, just ask me or your father. But, given it's you, you probably won't need it."
"Yes, sir!" Chihiro exclaimed, giving Scott a bright smile.
Chihiro sat at his station and logged into the KaibaCorp network using his credentials. After logging into the appropriate program, Chihiro quickly searched for Osiris the Sky Dragon and the Winged Dragon of Ra. He got only the results for the card descriptions as plugged into the KaibaCorp database. Unfortunately, they were placeholder entries, only the cards images were available, likely taken from the Industrial Illusions database. Their effects remained unknown.
Hmm, Chihiro thought for a moment. He executed a program to run deck analysis of all the duel disks that were handed out. Again, 0 hits. That meant that the person with either card had to be invited by Kaiba personally out of respect for their skill. Hmmm, Chihiro thought. He then hatched on an idea. Oh! If the card hadn't shown up yet, this late into the tournament, maybe the person who had it hadn't dueled yet. KaibaCorp had a running list of photo ID and duel disk serial numbers for all their participants. All Chihiro had to do was find a duelist with only 1 locator card and no dueling record in the tournament.
Quickly executing the program, Chihiro was welcomed with only a short list of duelists. Now all he had to do was monitor the activity of these duelists and run deck analysis and one of them would have to have one of the two cards by process of elimination.
That wait did not take long as one of the duelists, listed as Strings, became listed as active and Chihiro fired up a direct link to observe him and his dueling opponent: Yugi Mutoh.
Kaiba was taken off-guard when his collar began beeping, indicating headquarters wanted a word with him. "This is Kaiba," he said.
"M-Mr. Kaiba, I have urgent news."
"Chihiro?" Kaiba responded, confused. "I thought I gave you the day off."
"I lost all my locator cards so I decided to go back to the office," Chihiro said. "Good thing too, I found the duelist that has one of the two cards Mr. Irvine told me you were looking for: Osiris the Sky Dragon. Mr. Irvine has already sent a chopper to pick you up and take you on site."
"Excellent," Kaiba said. "Good work, Chihiro. You never cease to amaze me."
"There's more," Chihiro said. "I ran deck analysis. The owner of said card started with Osiris in his hand and could play it any minute."
"So I'll be able to bear witness to the summoning of an Egyptian god card? I can't wait. You do this company proud, Chihiro. If I'd left things to Scott he would've called me in a frenzied panic after the card had been played. Thanks to you, I'll get a front row seat. Anything else?"
"Y-yes, um, I lost my last locator card to Byakuya Togami of the Togami corporation, he seemed interested in dueling you."
"Togami, huh? Heh, tell him to get in line," Kaiba said as he looked up to see the helicopter lowering down to pick him up. "I have more important things to do, like claiming the other two Egyptian god cards."
"Just be careful," Chihiro told him. "He's running Gene Warped Warwolf."
"Heh, I can certainly see why you lost then," Kaiba chuckled. "Tune in when I duel him, I'll be sure to show you the difference between us."
"I already planned to," Chihiro said as Kaiba ascended into the helicopter and sat down. "Oh, and one more thing?"
"Yes?"
"The duelist that has Osiris the Sky Dragon, they're in a duel with Yugi Mutoh."
"What?!" Kaiba snapped.
Chihiro couldn't help but yelp.
"Next time, lead with that sort of information!" Kaiba snapped. "Instead of wasting my time on someone like Byakuya Togami."
"Y-yes, sir," Chihiro said.
"But other than that, good work," Kaiba said as the helicopter flew him towards Yugi's duel. "Kaiba out."
Byakuya had seen it when KaibaCorp's helicopter flew overhead, managing to spot Seto Kaiba in the passenger's seat through the open door. He had used binoculars to accomplish this, though even if he hadn't Seto Kaiba stood out pretty well.
However, on foot, by the time Byakuya caught up with Kaiba, Yugi's duel with Strings was pretty much over. Although, while he would miss Yugi's amazing strategy of using Brain Control to make Slifer the Sky Dragon destroy itself, Celeste had, thanks to Marik's meddling been able to view the entire duel up close and personal, watching in amusement as Strings slumped to his knees, Marik taking control of his pawn that had accompanied her to the bridge.
"You're right, Marik," Celeste said with the most amused of grins. "That really was a show."
"Silence, Witch!" Marik shouted at her. "This is but a minor inconvenience. I possess another powerful card, even stronger than Osiris, the Winged Dragon of Ra! The fact that the Pharaoh won makes no difference to me."
Celeste rubbed a lock of her hair with her fingers, turning her head away from Marik's puppet. "This would not have happened if you had told me of this plan and given Osiris to me instead. The very idea to increase Osiris' attack points exponentially was flawed from the start. No monster in Duel Monsters exceeds 5000 attack points and the greatest threat to Osiris, based on its abilities, in Yugi's deck would be the very Buster Blader he used. With the trap cards in my deck, I could've neutralized Buster Blader and sent Yugi reeling."
"And how would I have known you would not have just run away with the card instead of using it to duel The Pharaoh?"
"Better I have it than your mortal enemy, no?" Celeste asked. "After all, I have stated that I wish to work with you, I just don't want to negotiate until we meet in person." Celeste gave Marik a stern look. "The only question that remains is, do you still want my help?"
"Yes," Marik said.
Celeste smiled sweetly. "Then I shall make my best efforts to locate Joey Wheeler." She switched to a contemplative look as she then said, "Yugi's skill and Kaiba's power might be a bit much for me as I currently stand. I will require your resources to build a more powerful deck once I have dueled Joey Wheeler. Oh, that reminds me." Celeste gazed at Marik's puppet intently, fist closed in front of her mouth. "Twice just now you referred to Yugi as "The Pharaoh", what did you mean?"
"Yugi Mutoh harnesses an ancient power known as the Millennium Puzzle."
"Ah, the thing he keeps around his neck. Yes, it certainly didn't appear to be some ordinary tourist trinket."
"How dare you compare the untold power of the Millennium Items with something you buy at the local market!"
Celeste laughed. "Did I strike a nerve?"
Marik stewed from the other end of his mind control, but he didn't let Celeste hear his aggravation.
"So, Yugi's harnessing the power of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, hmm? Interesting."
"You make it sound as though you plan to do something with this information," Marik said.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," Celeste chuckled. "I'll see you later, Marik. As they say in France, au revoir." Celeste then spun on her heel and walked away. Marik then released his minion from her mind control. When Celeste heard the young man groan, she stopped walking. "Mr. Rare Hunter, what is your name?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm Takashi."
"Takashi, hmm?" Celeste said, without turning around, though she began playing with her hair again as she began to think critically. "Tell me, Takashi, what do you think of your boss, Marik?"
"Master Marik? He's the greatest thing to ever happen to me. He has an abundance of resources to scour the world for rare cards. I get free room and board, plus free travel expenses between Egypt and Japan."
"And? Marik's price for failure seems quite steep. I found one of your cohorts dead on the floor after he lost to me."
"Please, as if I'd fail Master Marik."
"Always a possibility," Celeste said.
"Yeah, well I took an oath," Takashi declared proudly. "I'll obey any order I'm given."
"And allow yourself to be susceptible to telepathic mind control."
"I'd be in the same position if I worked for a big corporation," Takashi said.
Celeste chuckled at the political commentary. "Touché. Well then, Takashi, I bid you farewell."
"Hold up, Master Marik told me to keep an eye on you," the black, spikey haired rare hunter said.
"Fine, shadow me if it will placate your master, but don't walk too close. I have a reputation to uphold."
"Was already planning on it," Takashi said. "Just don't ditch me if you know what's good for you."
"Message received," Celeste said calmly and then began to walk away.
As Celeste returned to her pursuit of Joey, Marik was busy taking over Strings to exposit to Yugi about what he planned to do with his friends, prompting Yugi, with the Pharaoh in control of his body, to leg it in the opposite direction.
"Where do you think you're going?" Kaiba shouted. "I've already issued a challenge."
"Kaiba," Yugi said, glancing back at him. "Our duel will have to wait. My friends are in grave danger and that, to me, is more important than anything."
"Let him run," a new voice said, piercing the air from above. Kaiba and Yugi both looked up and to the left to see Byakuya Togami standing atop the slopping hill Kaiba had previously been standing on.
"Togami," Kaiba said softly, recognizing him.
"Why push someone into a duel when their head's clearly not in the game." Byakuya pointed at Kaiba. "Your next challenge is right here."
"Whoa, it's a triangular challenge," Mokuba said. "What are you going to do, Seto?"
There was a brief silence before Kaiba said, "Yugi, do you promise to duel me right after you find your little friends? Because I will have my satellite track your duel disk and we will have our duel once you do."
"You have my word," Yugi said. "And my word is my bond."
"Heh," Kaiba chuckled briefly with a smirk. "Well then," he gave Byakuya his signature icy cold stare. "Pull up your big boy pants, Togami because you're about to get your wish."
"Kaiba, thank you," Yugi said and then took off.
Kaiba then promptly walked up the stairs and met Togami's gaze, their eyes completely level with each other as both stood at a staggering 6' 1". Kaiba then walked a few paces back and stood the recommended distance from Byakuya. "Togami," he said. "I heard what happened with Chihiro."
"Oh, so my message was received," Byakuya chuckled. "Good." Byakuya tilted his head back as though he was looking down on Kaiba. "Then you know why I want to duel you."
"I couldn't care less about your superiority complex," Kaiba said. "If you were half the duelist I was, you would've made World Champion before I did."
"That's because I had no interest in a children's card game. But between your company, Maximillian Pegasus, and your duel with Yugi Mutoh, Duel Monsters has become a worldwide phenomenon. How could I, the chosen one, pass up the latest trend. And, as your own personal invite indicates, you recognize my skill."
"What I recognize," Kaiba said, emphasizing the word, "Is that you're not a second-rate chump with a second-rate deck," Kaiba said. "If you think for one second that you can beat me, then that's one second too many."
"Why don't we cut the pre-dueling banter here?" Byakuya suggested. "I can't prove myself your dueling superior just by talking about it."
Kaiba chuckled. "Oh but this little chat is my way of showing mercy. After all," he glared at Byakuya, "You're about to get crushed, both your deck and your pride."
"Let's see if you can keep up that bravado once you see what I have in store for you," Byakuya said and armed his duel disk.
"By all means, keep talking big. It'll make it that much more painful when I show you the difference between us."
"Let's Duel!" Both of them shouted at the same time.
"I'll start things off!" Kaiba declared. "And I summon my Vorse Raider in attack mode!" The powerful, gremlin-like monster appeared with its twin-bladed weapon. "Next, I discard Thunder Dragon from my hand in order to pull two more Thunder Dragons to my hand," Kaiba stated. "Next, I fuse my two new Thunder Dragons with Polymerization, allowing me to summon Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!" The massive, two-headed behemoth with 2800 attack points appeared on the battlefield. "Now I'll place one card face-down and end my turn," Kaiba stated.
"Then it's my turn," Byakuya said and drew the top card off of his deck. "And I'll start by using this magic card, Hammer Shot. This magic card automatically destroys the monster on the battlefield with the highest attack power and that's currently your Twin Headed Thunder Dragon."
A big huge hammer appeared and crushed Kaiba's monster, destroying it and sending it to the graveyard. Byakuya chuckled.
"Not bad," Kaiba said calmly. "But then again, if you couldn't accomplish that much, you wouldn't be worth dueling."
"I wonder if you'll be able to stay calm after I do this: Gene Warped Warwolf in attack mode," Byakuya declared and played the 2000 attack point monster. "And now, my beast, attack, destroy Vorse Raider!"
With a flurry of rapid punches, Gene Warped Warwolf beat down on Vorse Raider before delivering one firm uppercut and destroyed it, bringing Kaiba's life points down to 3900. "Looks like first blood is mine, Kaiba," Byakuya state smugly, "Tell me, how does it feel to be losing at your own game?"
Kaiba drew the top card of his deck and calmly placed it in his hand, smirking just as smugly as the condescending look on Byakuya's face. "I think that tie must be choking the circulation to your brain if you think you're going to keep that advantage. I play Kaiser Sea Horse in attack position!" The blue and purple bipedal sea serpent monster appeared. "And next I'll activate the spell-card Shrink!" Kaiba stated, activating the quick-play magic card. Gene Warped Warwolf was shrunk to half its normal size. "Cutting your monster's attack points in half! Now, Kaiser Sea Horse, attack!"
With its mighty spear, Kaiser Sea Horse impaled the miniature Gene Warped Warwolf and destroyed it. Byakuya's life points fell to 3300.
"Hmph. Don't underestimate me. Like you, I'm only getting started," Byakuya said, reaching for his deck.
"Hold on," Kaiba said, "I play one card face-down." The appropriate hologram appeared. "Now I end my turn."
Byakuya drew the top card of his deck without a word. Nodding to himself, he then said. "I play Insect Knight in attack mode." The bipedal bug warrior appeared. It had 1900 attack points, 1500 defense points and had the body of a mantis-like insect. Byakuya began placing cards into the spell/trap zone. "And next, I'll place two cards face-down onto the field."
"Now! Insect Knight, attack!" Byakuya declared.
"Not so fast," Kaiba declared defiantly. "I activate my face-down card: Magical Trick Mirror! Thanks to this, I can activate a spell card from your graveyard and I choose Hammer Shot."
Byakuya did little more than widen his eyes in shock. He watched as his Insect Knight charged in only for a giant mallet to come crashing down and splatter it, getting bug guts all over the underside of the hammer. Kaiba folded his arms. "I just crushed your little bug like the pathetic creature it is." Kaiba smirked. "Although I suppose that reflects well on its master. So, how's it feel, knowing you're wide open for an attack?"
Byakuya let neither Kaiba's insults or boasting get to him. "If that's what you think then go right ahead."
Kaiba wordlessly drew the top card of his deck. "I summon Battle Ox in attack mode!" The bull beast appeared with its powerful axe blade in its powerful grip. "And now, Battle Ox attacks your life points directly!"
Byakuya chuckled. "Here's a trick I'm sure you're familiar with. I activate Negate Attack, cancelling your attack and ending the turn."
"Heh, not a bad move. I must admit, this is turning into quite the interesting duel," Kaiba said, seeming amused, only to glare. "However, you could hold out for fifteen or even twenty turns and the result will be exactly the same!"
"You're right, because I'll win," Byakuya said, turning Kaiba's insult against him and drew the top card off of his deck. "I play Mad Dog of Darkness in attack position!" A growling, big, golden brown dog with horns appeared. It had 1900 attack points. "Mad Dog of Darkness, attack Kaiser Sea Horse."
Byakuya's monster charged and destroyed Kaiba's monster with a powerful swipe of its foreclaws. Kaiba's life points were reduced to 3700. Kaiba sneered.
"You look worried Kaiba, things not going your way?" Byakuya asked, feeling the balance in the duel shifting to his favor, despite having fewer life points.
However, Kaiba rebounded quickly. "Hmph, if you think you can break me by talking then you'd be better of sassing a brick wall."
"Remain collected all you want, but you have no cards in your hand, one monster on the field and I have one card face-down still," Byakuya reminded him.
"Then why don't I show you why I'm the World Champion and you're nothing!" Kaiba declared loudly and drew the top card of his deck. "I sacrifice my Battle Ox to play Luster Dragon #2!" A big, jewel encrusted, green dragon appeared. It had 2400 attack points. "Luster Dragon!" Kaiba declared. "Attack! Destroy Mad Dog of Darkness! Emerald Flame attack!"
Byakuya's dog was incinerated by a burst of green fire. Byakuya's life points fell to 2800.
"So much for all your talk of things not going my way," Kaiba said smugly. "It's your move."
"And what a turn it shall be. I draw," Byakuya said, picking the top card off his deck. "I play Maha Vailo in attack mode!" Byakuya declared, as a dark-skinned blue-robed monster appeared. It had 1550 attack points.
"Let me guess, you've got some special equip card ready for its special ability."
"Indeed I do and one of best for this monster. I activate the card, Metalmorph!" Byakuya declared, revealing his trap card.
"Ugh!" Kaiba grunted, grinding his teeth and looking distraught.. Of all the rotten combos…
Maha Vailo's attack power went up to 1850 and then to 2350 because of its special ability. "And now, Maha Vailo," Byakuya declared, "Destroy Luster Dragon #2!"
Maha Vailo called down lightning to her hands as her attack power rose to 3550 thanks to Metalmorph. She zapped Luster Dragon #2 fiercely and destroyed it, causing Kaiba's life points to fall all the way to 2550, giving Byakuya the lead.
Byakuya looked positively pleased as punch. "A Togami is perfect in every way. Duel Monsters is no exception."
"There are exceptions to every rule and I'm about to make an example of you. Just watch!" Kaiba declared, drawing the top card off his deck in an unnecessarily over the top fashion. He was satisfied with the card he'd drawn. "I play Card of Demise. This lets me draw until I'm holding 5 cards, as long as I discard my whole hand five turns later."
"As expected of the World Champion to draw himself out of a tight spot, but face it, you'd need a monster with more than 2350 attack points on your turn to destroy Maha Vailo and the only way you're going to do that is with—"
"My Blue Eyes White Dragon. Thank you for stating my strategy for me," Kaiba said with a smug grin.
"What?" Byakuya snapped, looking pale. Kaiba had to be bluffing. With no monsters on the field?
"I activate the spell card Silent Doom to bring back Kaiser Seahorse from the graveyard in defense position!" Kaiba declared, causing a crouched Kaiser Seahorse to reemerge onto the battlefield. "And now I'll sacrifice it to play my ultimate beast: Blue Eyes White Dragon!" The mighty Blue Eyes appeared with loud roar, flapping next to Kaiba like a subservient partner and trusted ally.
"Blue-Eyes! Lay waste to your enemy!" Kaiba shouted. "White Lightning!"
With a roar, Blue-Eyes' attack flew from its mouth, destroying Maha Vailo, rather disintegrating her.
Byakuya's life points fell to 2150.
"Next, I'll place two cards face-down and end my turn," Kaiba stated.
"Very well, I had hoped your Blue-Eyes would make an appearance this duel," Byakuya said as he placed his hand on top of his deck to draw, "Now watch as I slay it!" Byakuya drew the top card off of his deck. "I'll start by activating Pot of Greed, letting me draw two cards." Byakuya drew the cards from his deck. "Next, I place one card face-down. And now, I activate Smashing Ground! This spell card destroys a monster with the lowest defense points on the field, but since only your Blue-Eyes exists, it'll just have to go straight to the pits of hell."
"You…" If looks could kill, Byakuya would be dead on the floor. Kaiba watched in emotional agony as Byakuya's spell card creating a massive explosion of blue light that destroyed Kaiba's Blue-Eyes.
"Now, I play my Lion Alligator in attack position," Byakuya stated, as a maned alligator appeared. It had 1900 attack points. "And now, my beast, attack Kaiba's life points directly!"
"Activate the card Command Silencer!" Kaiba shouted as a totem pole appeared and let out a horrible screeching noise, disabling Byakuya's attack. "Your attack is negated because your monster couldn't hear your declaration. Do you plan to do anything else this turn Togami? Or can I have the opportunity to turn your lizard into a fine leather briefcase and a pair of boots?"
"Fine, make your move," Byakuya said.
Kaiba drew the top card of his deck. "I place my Blade Knight in defense mode." The shiny knight appeared, crouched and with its shield raised. "I end my turn," Kaiba stated.
"How unfortunate for you," Byakuya chuckled. "My turn." He chuckled. "Ah good. Sorry, Kaiba, but if you think having a monster in defense mode will save you, your sadly mistaken. Behold, I play another Lion Alligator in attack mode!" A monster identical to the creature on Byakuya's field appeared. "And when I have more than one reptile type monster and Lion Alligator on the field, even if its another Lion Alligator, any time a reptile monster battles a monster in defense position, you take damage equal to the difference in my monster's attack points and your monster's defense points."
Kaiba said nothing, giving Byakuya a cold stare.
"I can see my strategy has left you silent with grief. Don't worry, I'll make your end painless. Lion Alligator, attack!"
"I don't think so! You said your familiar with this technique of mine so you should've seen it coming! I activate Negate Attack! Now it's your turn to have your turn ended!"
Byakuya chuckled. "Stalling for time, are we Kaiba? I suppose that's all you can do against the power of my deck," Byakuya said, gazing at Kaiba with a condescending look. "You claim to have the most powerful cards in Duel Monsters, but if you were truly skilled, then why don't you have some of the cards I have?"
Kaiba seemed both unimpressed and unamused by Byakuya's statement. "So you just threw a bunch of random, high-powered monsters in your deck and think you can beat me? Let me show you the flawed thinking in that logic. I draw!" Kaiba drew the top card of his deck. "And since we're repeating tricks you've played this duel, I think I'll activate Pot of Greed," Kaiba said as he drew cards from the top of his deck. "And draw two cards." He placed the cards in his hand. "Next, I'll place Saggi the Dark Clown in defense position and place one card face-down on the field, concluding my turn." Kaiba had a smug, satisfied look on his face as Byakuya drew the top card of his deck.
"Your poker face needs work," Byakuya said. "I'm well aware of a certain strategy of yours. Thank you for telegraphing it. I activate Mystic Space-Typhoon and destroy the face-down card you just played."
"Exactly what I thought you'd do!"
"What?" Byakuya gasped as Kaiba's face-down was revealed to decisively not be his Crush Card Virus.
"I activate Card Guard!" Kaiba declared. "By discarding one card from my hand, monsters I control can't be destroyed by battle this turn!" Kaiba sent the card in his hand to the graveyard.
"You…" Byakuya gasped, sweating a little.
Kaiba laughed. "You thought it was crush card, so you decided to play it smart and destroy it first." Kaiba held his palm to the sky and then clenched his hand into a fist. "Too bad for you I'm one step ahead of you!"
"Hmph, it makes no difference," Byakuya said, recovering quickly. "I'll continue my turn by playing Archfiend Soldier." A purplish, demonic hellspawn creature in a green cape and silver crooked horns appeared. It had 1900 attack points. "Now then," Byakuya declared, raising his index finger. "Even if your monsters cannot be destroyed, you can still take battle damage and the power of my Lion Alligator is still in effect. "First, I'll attack Saggi the Dark Clown!" One of Byakuya's gators charged forward and clamped down towards Saggi, but Card Guard's shield appeared and blocked the attack, though it had a big bite taken out of it. Kaiba's life points were reduced to 2150.
"Next, I attack Blade Knight!" Byakuya declared. The other alligator charged forward as the damaged card guard shifted to guard Blade Knight and was destroyed. Kaiba's life points fell even further to 1250. Byakuya now had the lead 2150 to 1250.
The heir to the Togami family chuckled. "The lead is mine again and it's your turn. I do so look forward to crushing you on my next turn."
"We'll see about that!" Kaiba declared defiantly. "I draw! Grrr, I end my turn," Kaiba said, disgruntled as he played a card face-down onto the field.
"How sad for you Kaiba to be in such a sorry position. Your only means of defense are a clown unfit for the royal court and a knight doomed to fail his duty. It's poetic really. And like all poems, it must come to an end." Byakuya drew the top card of his deck. He seemed pretty cocksure of himself as he prepared to make his next move. "The time has come, Kaiba for you to witness a one-of-a-kind card like no other. Behold! I sacrifice my 3 monsters to play a wicked terror the likes of which no one could ever hope to control. Come forth: Wicked Dreadroot!"
A massive green fiend appeared on the field in place of Byakuya's monsters. It had bony armor running down its body and a pair of bony wings. However, Kaiba was the least concerned with its appearance and more on its stats: 4000 attack and defense points each.
"Nice pet, Togami," Kaiba said, trying not to seem intimidated. "Is it house trained?"
"Make all the jokes you'd like, but what's not a joke is my monster's special ability. Wicked Dreadroot," Byakuya said with a smug smirk. "Show him."
A pitch black aura emanated from Wicked Dreadroot and Kaiba watched the stats of his monsters change dramatically.
"M-my monsters! Their attack and defense have been cut in half!" Kaiba exclaimed.
"Heh," Byakuya chuckled. "Do you see now the power of the Togami corporation and how its power eclipses that of your silly company?" Byakuya tilted his head back. "Truth be told there are actually two more Wicked monsters in existence, but I was only able to procure the one even with my vast resources. Still, it will be more than enough," Byakuya said as he pointed defiantly at the battlefield and calmly stated, "Not even your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon can save you now. Go! Wicked Dreadroot! Destroy Saggi the Dark Clown!"
Byakuya's massive fiend swung its fist down and destroyed Saggi, causing the clown to scream as it disappeared. "And that is just a taste of the might only a Togami like me can wield," Byakuya said as Wicked Dreadroot pulled back its fist. He adjusted his glasses along the rim of its frame. "The pride of my blood triumphs over all."
Kaiba glared. "What would you know about pride?" he snapped. "You were guaranteed success the second you were born! That's why I'll always be better than you! You could never comprehend the hard work and sacrifices I had to make to get where I am!"
"Now hang on just a second!" Byakuya shouted, looking rather irate, index finger extended. "From the second I was born!" Byakuya clenched a fist, face turning red with rage. "You couldn't begin to understand the battles I've fought and the wars I've waged to get where I am."
"Oh yeah?" Kaiba asked, mockingly. "What'd you have to do? Learn how to wear a suit correctly?"
"Says the man wearing a custom fit long coat," Byakuya retorted.
"What can I say? White is really my color," Kaiba joked.
Byakuya growled for a bit, but quickly pulled himself back together, regaining his composure. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Once I wipe out all of your life points next turn, you will know my words as truth. You will see the outcome of a man chosen by skill and determination! In one fell swoop I'll bring down the Kaiba Corporation and end this duel!" Byakuya declared, throwing his arm out wide.
There was a slight pause before Kaiba said, "You done?"
"Yes."
"Good, then it's my turn," Kaiba said and drew the top card off of his deck, taking the wind out of Byakuya's sails by not being fazed by his comments. Kaiba looked at the two cards in his hand. "I play the spell card Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards as long as I discard two."
As Kaiba performed the appropriate actions, Byakuya watched Kaiba carefully trying to discern, from the vast difference between the two men what cards he sent to the graveyard. However, he was about to find out.
"Now I play Dragon's Mirror! This magic card allows me to fusion summon a dragon-type monster using monsters on my field or in my graveyard as long as they're removed from the duel. Now, by removing three Blue-Eyes white dragons from my graveyard, I call upon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
The massive monster appeared on the battlefield, equaling Wicked Dreadroot in size and preparing for a face-off.
"Not a bad move, but there's one thing your forgetting Kaiba, my monster's effect cuts Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's attack power in half.
Kaiba watched his Blue-eyes' attack points come down to 2750.
"How futile," Byakuya said, tilting his head back, "All that effort for zero gain. You disappoint me Kaiba."
"Do I, Togami?" Kaiba asked as he activated his face-down card. "Still going to say that after I show you this? I activate my trap card: Breakthrough Skill! This card lets me target one of my opponent's monsters and negate its special abilities until the end of this turn. And I choose, of course," Kaiba said, pointing at Byakuya's monster: Wicked Dreadroot!" The black aura that had been emanating from the massive monster ceased to exist.
Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon then roared triumphantly. "Looks like my Blue-Eyes is hungry," Kaiba said. "And your monster's on the menu. But first, I'm switching Blade Knight back into attack position. And since I have one or fewer cards in my hand, he gets an extra 400 attack points. Next turn?" Kaiba asked. "Heh," he smirked, arms folded, "There isn't going to be a next turn. Go!" Kaiba shouted, fanning his arm out in front of him, palm facing down, "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack! Neutron Blast!"
A blast of energy blasted out of each of Blue-Eyes' three mouths and utterly annihilated Wicked Dreadroot, reducing Byakuya's life points down to 1650.
"And now that Wicked Dreadroot is gone, Blade Knight can attack directly and finish you off!"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but this duel isn't over yet!" Byakuya declared. "Go! Numinous healer!" Byakuya revealed his face-down card with a picture of a nurse on it. "Thanks to this, I can raise my life points by 1000 since I took battle damage this turn and as a result, I will survive your attack."
Byakuya's life points climbed to 2650 and then he took a direct slash from Blade Knight's sword, buckling slightly from the impact of the hard light hologram against his chest. His life points fell to 650.
Kaiba face beheld a most amused of smiles. "What was it you said earlier, Togami: Not even your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon can save you now?" He glared at Byakuya. "Don't underestimate the power of my Blue-Eyes or the power of my deck! So come on, let's hear it? Where's that Togami pride you had so much faith in? I'll tell you where it is, beneath the Kaiba Corporation and all of its glory!"
"Glory? Pride? You talk as if these things you earned," Byakuya said with contempt. "You clung to Gozaburo's fiscal stability and then you got rid of him when you saw fit." Byakuya folded his arms and gave Kaiba disapproving look. "Then you transformed KaibaCorp into what it is now. A once proud company turned into a gaming empire. It's disgusting. You even fired the very people who helped you get the glory you claim to belong to you alone and you ceased all military operations. Face it, the Kaiba Corporation is a sham of its former self because of you!"
"You shut your mouth!"
Both Kaiba and Byakuya looked to the side to see Mokuba now yelling at the Togami heir.
"Mokuba…" Kaiba hadn't expected Mokuba to speak at all during his duel, let alone yell.
"Just because our stepfather made the Kaiba Corporation mean one thing doesn't mean we can't make it mean another!" Mokuba shouted, throwing his arm out. "Look all around you at the people participating in this tournament! We don't measure our success by the money we have or the power we wield. We measure our success by the lives we've touched and the people we've helped." Mokuba shook his fists up and down in front of him. "So you can take your money, your snobby attitude and your fancy suit and shut up, you big jerk!"
"He's right, Togami," Kaiba said. "I don't believe that what I've done with KaibaCorp is a waste of time or even a waste of money. Sure, I've fired people over things other companies might give second chances for. I've spent thousands all for the sake of an amusement park and hologram technology. But you know what, it's worth it because this is the life I choose and the life I want. And no third-rate conglomerate with a bowl cut is going to tell me otherwise! You don't know a thing about me! You don't know the hell I went through, the schemes I had to conjure up, the risks I had to take just to get where I am now! So don't you tell me..." Kaiba grinded his teeth. "Don't you tell me that I don't deserve to talk about pride or glory because that's all I've sought since the day my parents died!"
"It's the same with me," Byakuya shot back. "I fought my way tooth and nail to get where I am, rolled over at least a dozen corpses in the name of claiming the family inheritance. How dare you insinuate, for even a moment, that I don't deserve to talk about pride!"
Byakuya and Kaiba stared each other down now, but there was something different in their gazes. Mokuba could tell. I guess Seto and I had Byakuya all wrong and…he had us wrong too. We've both come from poor beginnings and only through hard work have we gotten to where we are now. Byakuya and Seto probably both realize that. I guess Seto and Byakuya are pretty similar when it comes down to it. Mokuba folded his arms and grinned with his own sense of pride, pride in his big brother. But still…Seto's gonna win this duel. Because the one major difference between Byakuya and my big bro is that my big bro is the best duelist around!
"I place one card face-down," Kaiba said, "That ends my turn."
"That's fine with me," Byakuya said. "I draw." He smirked. "Kaiba, I said what I meant before. Your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon can't save you."
"Prove it," Kaiba said.
"Gladly," Byakuya said, "I activate the spell card Dark Hole!"
"No! Not Dark Hole!" Kaiba exclaimed.
"That look on your face is precisely what I want to see. Bid farewell to your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon as my spell card takes effect!"
The swirling black hole appeared on the battlefield and destroyed Kaiba's Blade Knight and dragon.
"Ugh," Kaiba winced, holding up his arms to protect himself from the shards of light flying at his face. He then threw his arm out wide. "I activate my face-down card: Wish of Final Effort. This lets me gain life points equal to the attack of a monster I control that was destroyed and I pick my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
"They'll be vanishing soon enough. I activate my other spell card, Unexpected Dai! This allows me to summon a monster to the battlefield directly from my deck and I choose my Megalosmasher X!" A large, cybernetically enhanced plesiosaur appeared on the battlefield with a jaw most monsters would tremble in fear before. Worse, it had 2000 attack points.
"Megalosmasher X, attack," Byakuya said, pointing at Kaiba. "Take a big bite out of Kaiba's life points."
The gigantic dinosaur swam through the air and bit Kaiba in the shoulder, bringing his life points down to 3750. "I believe that's all I can do this turn."
"Hmph, is that the best you've got?" Kaiba snapped. "I draw!"
"Aren't we forgetting something?" Byakuya asked as Kaiba pulled the top card of his deck to his hand. "The effect of your Card of Demise kicks in this turn." Byakuya pointed at Kaiba firmly. "That card goes straight to the graveyard."
"Ungh," Kaiba groaned. He'd been keeping track, but to have it pointed out to him was just irritating. Never before in my dueling career has a duel dragged on to the point that Card of Demise's effect has backfired like this.
"Since you have no cards in your hand or on the field, I assume it's safe to go?" Byakuya asked. He chuckled. "What am I saying? Of course it is. I draw." He drew the top card of his deck. "And I'll play one card face-down. And now, I'll attack directly with Megalosmasher X." The dinosaur swam towards Kaiba and this time rammed him in the chest with its skull and cut his life points down to 1550. "You don't look so good, Kaiba," Byakuya said as his monster swam back to his side. "Feel like giving up? After all, the situation is clearly not in your favor. One more direct attack your life points will be at 0. I have plenty of monsters that I can draw so even if you try to defend yourself, I can still annihilate you next turn." Byakuya craned his neck back a little to gaze down at Kaiba. "As I said before, your Blue-Eyes has failed you Kaiba. No matter what card you draw, you will meet your end. Just feel free to admit it. We might be similar, you and I, but I'm better than you, Seto Kaiba."
Mokuba thought Kaiba was going to fly into a hysteric rage, or at the very least growl loudly. However, Kaiba did neither of these things. The first thing he did was crack the widest of smiles. And then, he just laughed.
"What's so funny?" Byakuya asked calmly, though a bit disturbed by Kaiba's behavior.
"You are, Togami! You think that just because I have no monsters on the field and no cards in my hand means I'm defeated? I'm Seto Kaiba! And nothing, not an empty hand nor an empty field will keep me from my victory! I DRAW!" Kaiba shouted and practically tore the top card off of his deck, sweeping his arm out in wide arc. Kaiba then glanced at it. And, after seeing what it was, folded his arms, card pressed against his shoulder with a look of smug superiority on his face.
"What?" Byakuya snapped. "What are you looking like that for? What could you have possibly drawn that will help you make any kind of come back?" Byakuya had the whole field locked down far as he was concerned, Megalosmasher X in attack mode and Bottomless Trap Hole face-down on the field, there wasn't a card in Kaiba's deck that could turn a surefire defeat into a win for the ages.
"I play Monster Reborn!" Kaiba declared.
Monster Reborn? Byakuya thought and then paused. It's true there are two cards in his graveyard I'm not familiar with. He sent four cards to the graveyard of his own volition, but two of those were two of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons. But what could he… Byakuya smirked. Heh, what am I worried about? There isn't a card in his deck that could save him from Bottomless Trap Hole.
"Togami, you said you bought the best cards your money could buy, which is why you're about to lose. You said your Wicked Dreadroot was a one-of-a-kind card, then feast your eyes on this! OBELISK THE TORMENTOR!"
From behind Kaiba, a giant blue behemoth rose from the ground. It towered over the skyscrapers nearby, standing tall over the battlefield. Thunderclouds rolled in overhead to accent the arrival of one of history's greatest destroyers.
"Togami, say hello to my Egyptian God Card, the almighty Obelisk the Tormentor!" Kaiba declared.
"Hello," Byakuya said calmly. "And goodbye. Activate trap card, Bottomless Trap Hole!"
The ground suddenly opened beneath Obelisk and swallowed him into it as Obelisk fell not to be seen.
Byakuya laughed in amusement. "I don't know what that was, but I told you that not a single card would—"
Byakuya was cut off by a giant blue claw reaching out from under the ground and grasping the surface. Its nails dug into the pavement as it burst forth from the ground anew. Obelisk the Tormentor began to rise once more.
"WHAT?!" Byakuya shouted in alarm.
Kaiba folded his arms, smirked and laughed. "I'm sorry, what were you saying? I couldn't hear you over the sound of my victory."
Turning pale, sweat forming on his face, his glasses slipping down, Byakuya declared, "Kaiba, you cheater! Where did that card come from?"
"It was a gift from a very generous benefactor. It's my new prized possession, one of the three Egyptian Gods!" Kaiba declared, pointing at the sky.
Byakuya backed up, his knuckles turning white. "So the legends are true…Duel Monsters really does harken its inspiration back to the days of Ancient Egypt."
Kaiba returned to folding his arms and continued to talk with an air of smugness about him, enjoying watching Byakuya squirm. "I had a feeling your face-down card was meant to rid any card I threw on the field, that's why I picked Obelisk over Blue-eyes. Whoever would have guessed that the very card I was forced to discard by the effect of Card of Demise would save me in the end." He took a deep breath and then shouted. And now! Obelisk the Tormentor! Attack! Destroy Megalosmasher X and the rest of Togami's life points!" Kaiba pointed at Byakuya with a fire lit in his blue eyes. "FIST! OF! FURY!"
Obelisk's fist began to come down like a falling meteor towards Byakuya's monster. There's nothing I can do, he trembled. "This must be some mistake. Impossible! It has to be! I…the great Byakuya Togami…beaten?" Obelisk's fist curved inwards and slammed into Byakuya's monster, destroying it and igniting the whole area in an orangish flame on contact. "Nnnnnnooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Byakuya screamed as his life points hit 0, clutching at his head with his hands, fingers spread out.
All the while, until the holograms vanished, Byakuya could hear Kaiba's maniacal, giddy laughter echoing through the street.
"All right, Seto! You won!" Mokuba declared.
"This...isn't...over," Byakuya growled, dropping to one knee.
"Your life points hit zero, Togami. That's about as over as it gets," Kaiba told him.
"I meant between us," Byakuya said standing up. He had resumed his calm, stoic demeanor once more. "I still have four locator cards left, even if you take my 5th. And mark my words, like a great phoenix, I will rise from these ashes and annihilate you."
"Thanks," Kaiba said, folding his arms and smirking, "But I don't need it or your Wicked Dreadroot."
"Excuse you?" Byakuya asked, sounding irritated.
"Keep it," Kaiba said, tilting his head back, arms folded. Now it was his turn to look down on Togami. He fanned out six locator cards in front of his shoulder.
"What?" Byakuya asked flatly.
"Did you honestly think that I, the head of KaibaCorp, wouldn't be ready to participate in the finals by now? I took you on for my own amusement Togami. Tournament rules might state that I have to take your cards," Kaiba chuckled. "But since I make the rules, I'm going to bend them just this once."
"What? But Seto, why? That card would be amazing in your deck!" Mokuba declared.
"He's right you know," Byakuya said. "I lost fair and square. As victor, you have the right to your spoils of war. If you're worried about my sentimental attachment to this card, it's of no consequence. I'll win with or without this card in my deck."
"And I'm saying it'll make a poor excuse of a rematch if the deck is stacked too much in my favor," Kaiba said smugly.
Byakuya chuckled. "You are an insane man, Seto Kaiba. Never in my life would I think you would show mercy to a fallen foe. If I were Yugi Mutoh, you'd be holding my Dark Magician so high above my head and begging me to jump for it."
"While that is an amusing picture, there's a problem with it in execution. You're not Yugi. And, I have to admit when I'm wrong too. Your deck is well put together and I want a proper rematch between us in the finals. You said there were two other Wicked monsters in duel monsters. Well, see if you can find the other two. I'll add them to my collection when I beat you a second time. Now get lost, your pride is plenty wounded and I have more important things to focus on, like catching up with Yugi. Now go and acquire another locator card and challenge me again in the finals." Kaiba turned his back on Byakuya and then glanced over his shoulder. "The results will be the same."
"Then I shall," Byakuya said and pointed at Kaiba's back. "And mark my words Kaiba, you will come to regret the mercy you showed me today."
"Somehow I doubt that because while you run around searching for these other two Wicked monsters, I have my head set on a much bigger prize."
"Let me guess, the other two of the three Egyptian Gods that Obelisk represents," Byakuya said.
"Precisely that," Kaiba said, smirking faintly.
"Then it appears I have quite the treasure hunt laid out for me," Byakuya chuckled. "We'll part ways for now Kaiba, but I'll see you in the finals and when I beat you there, I'll be taking Obelisk the Tormentor for my deck."
"Togami, you're a good duelist, but the day you wield an Egyptian God Card will be the day you pry it from my cold, dead fingertips."
"We'll just see about that," Byakuya said and turned to leave. "When next we meet, not only will I defeat you, but I'll go one step further and do the one thing you could only dream of: and defeat Yugi Mutoh."
"Please," Kaiba scoffed. "There's only one duelist talented enough in the world to defeat Yugi, and that's me! Got that?"
"I'll remind you of those words when I claim this tournament's crown for myself," Byakuya said and then proceeded to walk away.
Kaiba's gaze intensified towards Byakuya for a moment longer. Then he turned completely and waved Mokuba towards him. "Let's go, Mokuba. We need to find out where Yugi went. Fire up the KaibaCorp mainframe and use it to locate Yugi's duel disk."
"You got it, big bro!" Mokuba declared and pulled out Kaiba's laptop as Kaiba sauntered down the street in the opposite direction of Byakuya. Mokuba, with one hand holding the laptop steady and carrying Kaiba's briefcase, used the other hand to try and locate Yugi. Well, until Kaiba alleviated some of the burden to carry his own briefcase.
Yugi, Kaiba thought. I gave you plenty of time to check up on those dweebs you call friends. So when I find you, you'd best be prepared to give me an even better show than Togami just now. After all, though he was a worthy adversary, you're the only adversary I have that's worthy of being called my eternal rival.
(A/N: Gaaaaaaaaaaay! I kid of course. That's the dub for you though. Man oh man Kaiba, you cut that too close. Oh wait, I wrote it that way XD.
In case you didn't notice, the story is starting to come together more rather than what we had for these first 14 chapters of: scene, duel, end chapter. And don't expect that trend to disappear any time soon. Now that we've caught up with the train that is canon, I intend to stay on these tracks as far as basic plot goes. Of course, with the Danganronpa cast around, you can expect new and interesting things to happen, like this subplot with Celeste I have going on.
Next time though, it's time for something completely different. It'll be a short chapter and there will be no duel. Instead, for all you season 0 fans out there, it's Game Time! Until then though, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)