(A/N: A big hearty thanks to those of you that let me know your shipping preferences. It'll come in handy down the line when we start getting closer and closer to DGR1's continuity. Keep me posted if your ships change at any time. It's nice to see a progress chart XD. Anyway, since I don't want to give anything away. Let's jump right into this).

Because there was no need for a delay this time, the time between the conclusion of Gundham and Mai's duel and the beginning of the next one was set for 30 minutes. However, since it was getting late, both Makoto and Komaru decided that now would be the best time to take a quick nap.

They had argued back and forth on which one of them should rest a little, ultimately both of them falling asleep and being startled by the announcement for all duelists to report to the main hall.

"Come on, Makoto," Komaru said, jogging in place, "Hurry it up. Do you want to be disqualified because you're not on time?"

"I'm coming! I'm coming, I bolted out of the room without my duel disk," Makoto said, running behind her only to once again trip over his shoe laces, landing on the ground hard on his ribs.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Komaru gasped, she went over to Makoto to help him up. "Do you need an ice pack? Should we go to medical?"

"N-no, I'm fine," Makoto said. "Come on, let's go."

Fortunately, despite feeling like they were in a rush, Makoto and Komaru made it on time, Makoto taking the opportunity to hide in the back and have a burger to fuel his stomach in case he was chosen for the duel.

Most notably to all of the duelists, a duelist none of them had seen before had appeared. She was wearing a cream colored outfit complete with veil and headdress with a golden necklace around her neck.

Mahiru immediately snapped a photo of her. The woman didn't even bat an eyelash.

"She must be the 16th duelist," Espa said.

"Where has she been all this time?" Komaru wondered.

"Finally deciding to join us, Ishizu?" Kaiba asked.

"Ishizu?" Téa said, puzzled, recognizing the name.

"Destiny has decided that I shall be chosen next. I could've just headed straight for the deck to wait for you all, but I figured I should be here as a formality."

"Take the veil off," Kaiba said with a glazed look. "You look ridiculous."

Ishizu did precisely that, revealing to Yugi and Téa the woman they met at the museum.

"Why did you only decide to show up now, Ishizu?" Celeste inquired.

Ishizu placed her hands near her collarbone. "My Millennium Necklace has foretold each and every duel that would transpire so far, as well as the inevitable outcomes."

"You claim to be some sort of prophet?" Gundham asked her.

"She has a millennium item just like Bakura," Hajime said. "So it would seem so."

Mahiru took another photo.

Ishizu looked at Kaiba. "My Millennium Necklace has already foretold the outcome of this duel. And you, Kaiba, will have no alternative but to accept the ancient powers of Egypt as reality."

"What I understand is that I need to work harder to ensure the safety of my company because people like you brought dangerous cards into my tournament."

"I suppose that is a step better than wishing to collect them all for your deck. Still..."

Did Kaiba just... Yugi began

Yes, Yami responded. He has understood the power of the gods and seems to understand their danger.

Do you think that means we could rely on Kaiba's help? Yugi wondered.

Doubtful, Yami responded. Although he has taken a step in the right direction, Kaiba does not fully grasp the situation. We must remain vigilant, Yugi. The fate of the world depends on it.

Everyone watched silently as the balls rolls around in the lottery until finally Roland plucked one out, doing his best to hide his surprise as he declared, "The next duelist to duel shall be Duelist Number 16: Ishizu Ishtar!"

"Ishtar?" Makoto gasped. "Then that would make Ishizu..."

"Marik's sister?" A good chunk of the people in the room queried at the same time.

"It is...as you say," Ishizu admitted reluctantly. "I entered this tournament with the intention of saving Marik from himself. To that end, I shall prevail."

"Save him from himself?" Komaru asked.

"The Marik you know, the Marik you've all come to know, has been corrupted by the power of the Millennium Rod. He was not always like this and I intend to set him free."

"You're saying you can rid the despair from Marik's heart?" Nagito asked.

"Indeed."

"That's incredible," Nagito stated. "Good luck, Ishizu."

"Luck will have nothing to do with it," she said solemnly.

"The next duelist is about to be announced. Please stand by," Roland said.

The duelists and spectators watched and waited. However, just as it looked like a ball was about to be selected, all the lights went out and all the systems shut down. The only lights in the room were from the electric flames heating all of the buffet dishes. And from the hallway. It seemed that only that particular room had lost power.

"Roland, what the hell is going on?" Kaiba demanded to know.

"Er, it's a power failure, sir," Roland sweated.

"A power failure?" Kaiba snapped. "This is state of the art KaibaCorp technology. Find the electrician for this aircraft and tell him he's fired. And then get that machine back up and running."

"Yes, sir," Roland gulped.

"In the meantime," Kaiba said and, through the darkness, pointed at Ishizu, "You and I will do battle."

"Er, Mr. Kaiba?" Roland felt that was a bit presumptuous of Kaiba to declare himself Ishizu's opponent.

"Ishizu has been going on and on about how much she's prophecized that she and I will duel and I'll give Obelisk back to her." Kaiba pulled back his arm and made a fist. "Well I intend to prove her wrong. We've been hampered enough by medical delays and technical difficulties. As long as the power failure is limited to this room then let's have at it. I can operate the elevator myself as head of Kaiba Corp."

"But…Mr. Kaiba," Roland passively protested.

"Go ahead and get the power back up and meet me on deck 0," Kaiba ordered. "Hold the selection if you please, but you'll see that I'm right."

"Er, yes sir," Roland responded.

Ishizu followed Kaiba to the main elevator and Kaiba swiped his ID card to make it operate to take them to the top of the blimp.

As the elevator rode upwards, Ishizu said to Kaiba, "I am proud of you for attempting to seal the god cards Kaiba, but your desires will be in vain. When this duel is over, Obelisk the Tormentor will return to me where it belongs."

Kaiba chuckled, hands in his pockets, "Ishizu, you've made no less than two mistakes, egging me on to challenge you. The first was giving me such a powerful card as Obelisk the Tormentor so that I would start this tournament." Kaiba didn't turn to face Ishizu, but stopped smirking and glared at the closed elevator doors. "The second was expecting it back."

The elevator opened and Kaiba and Ishizu stepped out onto the platform as it rose up and guard rails appeared to pseudo-lock them in. Ishizu stayed on the side near the elevator and Kaiba walked to the far side, watching the sky above and the city below fade beneath him. As he did, the city faded out from below, replaced by the ocean. Stars now lit up the sky.

"Good, looks like we're proceeding right on schedule." Kaiba then noticed the other finalists and the spectators all arriving. "And here come the spectators."

"May as well get the proceedings out of the way," Kaiba said and began shuffling his deck and slamming it into the duel disk. He then waited for Roland to show. After all, he was the impartial ref in all of this, even if Kaiba was in charge.

"There is no cause for delay, Kaiba. The future is clear to me. We shall duel and you…shall lose."

"Wrong!" Kaiba shouted, pointing at her. "There's only one champion here, Ishizu and that's me! This is my tournament and I don't intend to lose."

Roland then arrived. "Mr. Kaiba, sir!"

"Ah, there you are Roland," Kaiba said. "Are you ready to have us begin?"

"Mr. Kaiba," Roland said, though with great hesitance in his voice. "I'm going to need you to get off the arena, sir."

"Excuse me?" Kaiba asked blankly.

"The duelist selected to duel Miss Ishtar, er, it isn't you…sir."

"What?" Kaiba gasped.

If Kaiba was surprised, then Ishizu was full-blown panicking. Her eyes trembled with fear. This can't be! My Millennium Necklace tells all and I am supposed to be dueling Kaiba.

Ishizu's Millennium Necklace was wrong? Marik thought. Well now, this ought to be interesting.

Ishizu channeled her power and tapped into the Millennium Necklace. Yes, there she was dueling Kaiba, but there was something…different about it now. She could see herself standing amidst rubble, the wide open daylit sky above. She was extending an arm of accusation towards Kaiba, having just played a face-down and Kaiba was drawing a card. A large spire was erected off to her left.

Wait! I see it now! This is the wrong battleground. We shall duel on some sort of island. Ishizu stopped channeling and looked around. But then...who is my opponent now?

"I assume then, Roland, that you already know who is supposed to be Ishizu's true opponent," Kaiba said.

"Yes, sir," Roland answered, "The sixth duel of the first round of the Battle City finals will be between Duelist Number 16: Ishizu Ishtar and Duelist Number 12: Makoto Naegi!"

"Huh? M-me?" Makoto stuttered.

Ishizu's eyes fluttered in shock. This boy…is my opponent?

Kaiba began snickering. "Oh this should be amusing. You thought you'd be dueling me, Ishizu," Kaiba pointed at Makoto, "But it was actually Naegi all along." He smirked and folded his arms. "Looks like your powers to see the future have failed you."

"Not in the slightest," Ishizu said, unfazed. "I am destined to win this duel and you and I are destined to duel in the next round. That is what the future holds for me."

"We'll see about that," Kaiba said rudely and pressed a button on his collar to have the arena lowered and the guard rails recede. Looking at Makoto, he nodded at him and walked towards him, the younger teen stepping towards Kaiba nervously. When they stood parallel to each other, Kaiba said to Makoto, "Take her down and show no mercy. I want to see with my own eyes exactly what you're capable of, Naegi."

"Y-yeah..." Makoto stuttered. Great. That was a lot of pressure Kaiba had just heaped on his shoulders.

Makoto Vs Ishizu, huh? Byakuya thought. Based on what I already know, Ishizu has the heart in this duel, so the victory should be hers no matter what Makoto tries if my thesis is absolute. But Makoto has also proven himself an expert duelist, Byakuya then glanced at Komaru. And then there's his little sister into the equation. He folded his arms and looked up at the now rising arena with interest. This will be great data for my working thesis. Ishizu. Makoto. Show me what you can do as duelists.

While Kaiba's blimp was headed east and away from Domino City, another plane was also over the ocean at the same crusing altitude. It was a private jet owned by a sponsor to one Junko Enoshima. The model was busy reading a fashion magazine as her sister, Mukuro was carefully watching the KaibaCorp livestream for Battle City. Because only so many duelists interested Junko, she made Mukuro watch the whole thing and tell her if something exciting happened. And yes, Sonia's summoning of Ra and subsequent defeat counted as exciting, as well as despair.

"Hmm," Mukuro said, watching as the livestream began with Makoto already in place to duel Ishizu. Kaiba's standoff with her had not been broadcast. "Junko, that boy we dueled is currently dueling in the finals."

"Oh? Is he now?" Junko asked in disinterest as she turned the page. "I'd already forgotten about him really. I'm surprised you hadn't."

Mukuro blushed, but not because of Junko's insult. She remembered Makoto even now because of the warm feeling in her hand whenever she thought about him. Clenching her affected hand over the thumb of the other hand that was cupping it, she swallowed.

Junko briefly glanced at the screen. "So, Kaiba's not dueling this time either, huh?" she asked. She tossed her magazine up into the air, bending the pages she was on as it clattered to the ground. "Well, this is boring. Wake me up when he does." Junko waltzed towards the connecting room. "Staying up for 16 hours with no one but you for company is so boring. I forgot how boring you were." Junko then entered the other room and lay down on the cozy bed in it take a nap, shutting the door behind her.

With Junko now not in the room, Mukuro turned up the volume a little and stood up. She grabbed her chair and moved it forward, securing it to the floor about a foot closer to the TV. She then went into the cubby holders above and got out a few granola bars, some salami sticks and miniature cheese blocks: her favorite snacks. She also grabbed two Blue Rams from the fridge and cracked open the can on one, taking a sip. She then sat down, brought up the tray from the side of the chair and placed her snacks and the unopened blue ram on it.

As she watched Makoto and Ishizu approach each other to shuffle each other's decks, she found herself surprised when a smile curled around her lips. However, rather than force the smile into a frown, Mukuro let it stay. And she sat there smiling and finding joy in watching the only male in the world to give her a warm and fuzzy feeling in her otherwise emotionless heart.

Mukuro, of course, was not the only person interested in seeing Makoto duel. Sayaka and her band had just finished up their late-night concert as a farewell to the non-finalists of the Battle City Finals, as part of their contract with Kaiba. In their dressing room, Sayaka was freshening up as one of her band mates called out: "Sayaka! Your boyfriend's on TV."

Sayaka rushed out into the lounge. "He's not my boyfriend!" she exclaimed, completely red in the face. All of her bandmates laughed. Chiemi then handed her a plate of mall pizza, a soft pretzel and a hot dog. Not the most refreshing or healthy snack for an up and coming pop idol, but with all the crappy brand foods she was used to promote, it was nice to eat a little bit of comfort food once in a while.

As Sayaka sat down in the center of her couch, the band sitting on it in the formation they always appeared on stage, Sayaka turned the volume up, getting really excited after taking a bite of her hot dog, smiling, despite the mustard now on her upper lip.

She took one look at Ishizu and the determined, strong look on Makoto's face and thought, Go get her, Makoto! I want to watch you win! It's my turn…to root for you for once.

When it came to ordinary families, no family was more ordinary than the family of four of Rei, Jo, Makoto and Komaru Naegi. As workaday, full-time employed parents, Rei and Jo had gone to bed early, despite their son being in the Battle City finals. Makoto was a responsible boy. If he wasn't home yet, they could trust him to come home tomorrow. Rei had already told the school Makoto wouldn't be in tomorrow anyway, same for Komaru. They were average students, they could make up the work.

What neither expected was their phone to go off. Fortunately, Rei happened to recognize Komaru's cell phone number on the Caller ID.

"Komaru, sweetie, do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked, yawning and rubbing her eye.

"Yeah, I know, way past my bed time," Komaru said. "But that's not important! Turn on the TV right now, Makoto's dueling, you've gotta see this!"

That woke Rei up. "Makoto's dueling now?" she asked, excited.

"Yeah, now!" Komaru shouted.

"Jo!" She exclaimed, rubbing her husband. "Jo, wake up!"

"Hrrrn, no Mrs. Kabuki, I don't want any more salad!"

Rei picked her slipper from off the floor and whacked Jo on the shoulder with it.

"Ow!" Jo woke up, yawning. "Rei, what's going on?"

"Makoto's dueling. Turn on the TV."

"What, for real?" Jo asked, reaching for his glasses. He normally wore contacts day to day.

He fiddled with the TV and began flipping through channels. He remembered hearing about the channel at work about how to tune into the Battle City tournament. Soon, he and Rei saw their little boy standing on top of a blimp, a starry sky racing overhead. He was faced off against an older woman. His duel disk was out and he looked determined. "Think he'll win?" Jo asked Rei as the two sat up, leaning against their bed post.

"If he does, I'm cooking his favorite meal when he gets home, whether or not he wins the next round too."

"I'll be sure to tell him that," Komaru said, still on the line, having heard that.

Rei embarrassingly hung up, figuring it was rude to be distracting her daughter from watching her son duel and Komaru was likely annoying the people around her.

"Still, a blimp though," Jo said, adjusting his glasses. "Seto Kaiba sure knows how to throw a tournament."

"Makoto will be fine," Rei said. "I hope."

"Kaiba put up guard rails, not like he'll fall off."

"He'd better not, or he'll be hearing from me," Rei said with a smirk. "Sometimes it pays when your mother was college roommates with a private investigator."

Jo pat his wife on the shoulder. "Oh, Kaiba should be quaking in his boots," he said, mostly jokingly. He fully believed Makoto would be just fine win or lose.

And with that, the two parents sat in silence and watched their son duel.

Back on the blimp, Makoto stood ready, hand drawn, staring down Ishizu, "You cannot win this duel, young Makoto," Ishizu told him. "My Millennium Necklace has already foreseen the outcome. Knowing that, do you still wish to duel?"

"You keep talking as if the future is set in stone, but" Makoto said, pointing at Ishizu accusatorily, "I haven't seen this future you proclaim to have seen for myself." He put that arm on his chest. "Not to mention you were wrong about dueling Kaiba this round." He dug his foot into the ground. "So, until that future actually comes to pass, there's still a chance I can defeat you. Let's duel, Ishizu!" He shouted with pride. "I've got so many people that want to see me duel and win or lose, I'm going to give it my all!"

Nagito almost wept a tear of joy. "He has hope and a lot of it. He may even have more of it than me."

"Very well. I suppose if words will not dissuade you, my cards will," Ishizu said.

"Let's duel!" Makoto and Ishizu declared simultaneously.

"I'll go first!" Makoto declared. "I draw!" He tore the top card off of his deck. He quickly scanned his hand, a rush of information going to his head and being sorted just as fast. He already knew the best course of action. "I play Mystical Elf in defense mode," he declared, "I also place one card face-down on the field, ending my turn."

"My turn," Ishizu said. "I draw." She drew the top card of her deck. "I summon to the field, Bountiful Artemis." A white colored, strange looking angelic being with a spinning top for a lower body and oddly shaped wings appeared. It had 1600 attack and 1700 defense. "And with it, I shall attack your Mystical Elf."

"Huh?" Makoto sounded confused.

Ishizu's lost it! Her monster doesn't have enough attack power to destroy the Mystical Elf! Kaiba thought.

"I discard from my hand, the monster Honest," Ishizu declared, revealing the monster and sending it to the graveyard. "This allows me to boost any light monster battling one of your monsters by the attack of the monster its attacking, allowing me to destroy your Mystical Elf with Bountiful Artemis."

Bountiful Artemis' attack power rose up to 2400, allowing it to obliterate mystical elf with a powerful blast of light, leaving nothing behind of the blue-skinned spellcaster.

"I end my turn with one card face-down," Ishizu said.

Makoto nodded and drew. "I summon to the field, Gemini Elf."

"And with it, my trap card, Muko, activates," Ishizu said, revealing her face-down card. "Since you summoned Gemini Elf from your hand, its summon is negated." A blast wave of binding blue energy shot forth from Ishizu's trap card, zapping Gemini Elf and making them vanish into the ether.

"Oh no! Makoto's wide open!" Komaru exclaimed in alarm.

"Not quite," Kaiba said. "He still has that face-down. Question is, will it save him?"

Nodding to himself, Makoto stated, "I set another card face-down and end my turn." His heart began to go a mile a minute. This was nothing like dueling Rex, Sayaka or even Mukuro or Junko. This was a true test of skill, an opponent that was ripping him apart from the word go. And yet, all Makoto could feel was excitement. This would be a duel, win or lose, he'd tell during lunch hour for days to come.

"My turn," Ishizu said and drew the top card of her deck. "I summon to the field, Kelbek." A strange, gold and gray mono-eyed fairy appeared on the field with 1500 attack points and 1800 defense points.

"Sorry, but I activate my trap card, Trap Hole!" Makoto declared, revealing the most basic of all traps. "Since your monster has more than 1000 attack points, it goes straight to the graveyard."

Ishizu did so with merely a closure of her eyes. Everything was still proceeding just as she envisioned it. Next would be, "I attack directly with Bountiful Artemis."

"And like that, my next trap card activates: Spellbinding Circle! This trap card stops your monster dead in its tracks and lowers its attack power by 700 points."

The magic circle ensnared Bountiful Artemis and dropped its attack power down to 900.

"I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn," Ishizu said.

Makoto drew the top card of his deck and was ecstatic. All right! Alexandrite Dragon!

"You have drawn your favorite monster, yes? Alexandrite Dragon?" Ishizu questioned.

Makoto gasped. "How do you...?"

"I told you, I have seen all thanks to the power of my Millennium Necklace," Ishizu said.

"Th-then I play Hunter Dragon instead!" Makoto declared, desperate to change the future.

"A waste of effort, for I activate my face-down card Muko once more!"

"Again?!" Komaru complained.

"Whoa, talk about cutthroat," Ibuki gasped.

"And this time he doesn't have any face-downs to protect himself," Celeste pointed out.

No one noticed the cool, interested gaze from Byakuya Togami.

Though everyone heard and noticed Mahiru taking another photograph.

At this same time, Kaiba also received a weather alert from his phone: increased wind gusts would hamper progression of the blimp's travel. However, the alert from his blimp's flight crew indicated that there would be no threat to the passengers. Kaiba considered the alert a waste of his time.

"It's my turn," Ishizu said as she drew the top card of her deck. "I play Zolga in attack mode." The cloaked fairy appeared, easily recognizable by Gundham for its staple in Sonia's deck at 1700 attack points strong. "And with it, I attack you directly."

Zolga rushed forward and slammed into Makoto, making a U-turn and floating back to Ishizu, making a FOOMP kind of noise as it remained fluttering over the ground.

Makoto's life points descended down to 2300.

"Chin up, Makoto," Komaru said. "You've still got Alexandrite Dragon, right?"

"Right," Makoto nodded. "I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I summon Alexandrite Dragon to the field!" Makoto's whopping powerhouse of 2000 attack points strong hit the metaphorical table. "Alexandrite Dragon!" Makoto shouted.

"Swoop and attack!" He and Komaru declared together with excitement.

Alexandrite Dragon charged down Ishizu's bound Bountiful Artemis, dealing her 1100 points of damage. Her life total was now at 2900, much closer to Makoto's than before.

"That's all I'm going to do this turn," Makoto said.

"My turn then," Ishizu said and drew the top card of her deck. "I set a monster on the field and switch Zolga to defense mode. That ends my turn."

Her Millennium Necklace then reacted. It's all clear to me now. Makoto will play another monster and I will summon Mudora next turn and with its special ability, I will have enough attack power to destroy Makoto's Alexandrite Dragon.

"I summon to the field, Maiden of Macabre!" Makoto declared, slapping the defenseless, 1700 attack point, scythe wielding spellcaster to the field. "And with her and Alexandrite Dragon, I destroy both of your monsters!"

Ishizu's monsters were obliterated, allowing Maiden of Macabre's special ability to activate, raising its attack points by 200 for a total of 1900 attack points.

"It's my turn," Ishizu said. "And I play Mudora in attack mode!" A golden masked, scimitar wielding fairy appeared with 1500 attack points. "Do not be fooled by its lackluster appearance, for Mudora communes with the spirits of the dead, gaining 200 attack points for every fairy-type monster in my graveyard." Mudora's scimitar glowed an off blue as its attack power began to rise. "And thanks to you, I have four."

With the 800 point boost, Mudora's attack points were now 2300, more than enough to deal with Alexandrite Dragon. "Go, Mudora, attack. Destroy Alexandrite Dragon."

With a swipe of its scimitar, Mudora cut Makoto's favorite monster down to size, reducing his life points to 2000.

"My turn is complete," Ishizu said.

Makoto gulped, realizing he was really in a bind now. "I switch Maiden of Macabre to defense mode and place another monster face-down." Makoto was hoping his luck would hold that he could keep one monster on the field and go for a tribute summon.

However, Ishizu would not allow that. "I draw," she said. "And on my turn, I summon Hecatrice to the field!" A golden icon looking monster with 1500 attack points and 1100 defense points appeared. "And with it, I shall destroy Maiden of Macabre. And with Mudora, I shall attack your face-down monster."

Makoto's face-down was revealed to be Aqua Madoor and, as a result of this onslaught, Maiden of Macabre was blasted by a golden eye beam and Aqua Madoor was cut down to size. His field was now barren.

Makoto felt tense. He was really in a tight spot. But like with a lot of duels, whenever he was backed into a corner, he could feel like he was just getting started. As a result of his determination, he pulled Graceful Charity from the top of his deck.

"I play Graceful Charity," Makoto said. "Allowing me to draw three cards," he said, drawing them, "provided I discard two."

As expected, the cards he will discard are Neo Aqua Madoor and Fog King, then he will cast Swords of Revealing Light to safeguard himself from me. Ishizu looked at her hand. But with De-spell in my hand, I will nullify those swords and end this duel.

Makoto was thinking the exact same thing Ishizu had predicted. Okay, so I'll just discard Neo Aqua Madoor and Fog King and cast Swords of Revealing Light. Then I'll place Wall of Illusion face-down, which should buy me enough time to think up a strategy.

It was then that a fierce wind blew at Makoto's back, pushing the hood of his easily recognizable hoodie up over his head, blinding him. The force was enough to make Ishizu shield her eyes from the incoming dust as Makoto, caught in a blind panic, attempted to try and get his hood off him so he could see again. However, as he tried to get off his hood, he tripped over his poorly tied shoelaces yet again, tumbling to the ground.

"Oof!" Makoto grunted.

"Makoto, are you okay?" Komaru asked in alarm.

"That was…unfortunate," Celeste said. She and everybody else just had sheer dumbfounded reactions on their faces, sans Marik who was trying not to laugh.

As Makoto got back up to his feet, without thinking, he discarded two cards from his hand and then went to check his hand for Swords of Revealing Light, only to find his hand missing the card. He counted the cards in his hand. There were four and he definitely knew he felt two cards in his hand when he sent them to the graveyard.

A cold sweat broke out on Makoto's face. He had discarded Swords of Revealing Light from his hand. "Ack!" He exclaimed. "I discarded the wrong card!"

"He did…what?" Ishizu felt it then, the future distorting and shifting around her. And in an instant, her vision of hers and Kaiba's duel went black. Not only that, she couldn't even see the turn by turn situation between her and Makoto. I...I can't see the future. What's...going on?

"What's wrong, Naegi?" Kaiba asked.

"I, um, this is embarrassing," Makoto said, rubbing his cheek. "I sent the wrong card to the graveyard when I fell."

"You…did what?" Kaiba asked, dumbfouned.

Surrounding the TV, Sayaka and her band shouted in unison. "HE DID WHAT?!"

Mukuro promptly dropped the snack she was holding and a cold shiver went up her spine. This almost prompted Junko to wake up from the other room from the stench of fresh despair.

Rei slapped her eye and sighed.

"That boy and his bad luck," Jo commented.

"Man, talk about bad luck," Joey said, knowing Kaiba wouldn't let Makoto do that over.

"...bad luck?" Nagito said as though he wasn't too sure of that.

"Well then," Makoto said, "If all of my defenses are blocked, then I'll just have to take to the offense. I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman!" The androgynous, long haired magic swordsman with 1700 attack points appeared.

"And that's not all," Makoto stated, "I'm also increasing its power with One-shot Wand by 800 points."

Neo's attack increased to 2500.

"Neo the Magic Swordsman attack! Wand Sword combo strike! Destroy Mudora!" Makoto declared.

Ishizu gasped and watched as Makoto took down Mudora, dropping her life points to 2700.

"My turn is over," Makoto said.

Ishizu did her best to tense the muscles below her neck, trying to get some sort of react from her Millennium Necklace, but it was still not responding. I cannot see the future. What is going on? This boy…he does not have a millennium item. He isn't connected or even mentioned in the ancient scriptures. Just who is he? How can he simply change the future?

Kaiba took one look at Ishizu's face and found it the most amusing thing in the world at the moment. "What's wrong Ishizu? Have you started to realize that you can't rely on tricks and prophecies to win duels for you? Destiny? What a joke." He pointed at the arena. "The only destiny I see is that Makoto's got you pinned to the back of the arena in a corner that you can't get yourself out of! Seems to me like YOU should be the one surrendering!"

"Yeah, you tell her, Kaiba!" Komaru said, getting pent up.

"Mmmrph, this duel is far from over!" Ishizu declared. "I draw!"

"I sacrifice Hecatrice in order to summon Airknight Parshath!" A blond monster with fur adorning its armor appeared. It had 1900 attack points and 1400 defense points. "And next I shall activate De-spell to destroy your One-shot Wand."

De-spell? Makoto thought. Wow, sure glad I didn't play Swords of Revealing Light all of a sudden, I would've lost. It then hit him. I would've…lost? That freak windstorm and all the bungles leading up to this turn. Did that bad luck just save him from defeat?

"Interesting," Nagito mumbled, putting the pieces together of what had happened up to this point. Makoto…are you…like me?

"With your spell card destroyed, Airknight Parshath now has enough power to destroy Neo the Magic Swordsman. Now go, attack with Airknight lance!"

With Neo the Magic Swordsman destroyed, Makoto's life points fell to 1800.

"Airknight Parshath's effect activates. Since I inflicted battle damage," she said as she placed her hand on top of her deck. "I draw a card." She drew the card and placed it in her hand. "That concludes my turn."

Makoto felt nervous. He had nothing to combat Ishizu with and next turn she would have 4 cards in her hand, like another monster and with only 1800 life points left, if he was unlucky again, one direct attack could spell doom for him. He needed a miracle right now.

Wait a second, a miracle? "Hey, Yugi," Makoto said calmly, but with a determined expression, "When you say you believe in the heart of the cards, that's when you're all out of options and you have to draw to victory, right?"

Yami smiled. "That tends to be the situation, but I always believe in the heart of the cards, Makoto. The Heart of the Cards is not a cheap trick, but a feeling, a feeling to have faith in your deck and in yourself. It is the greatest weapon for someone with the soul of a true duelist."

"Well then," Makoto said, as he put his hand on his deck, "I do too. My deck has never let me down before and I don't intend for that to change now. I draw!"

Like he was in a trance, Makoto pulled the top card off his deck. Perhaps it was a trick from Kaiba's lighting fixture, but a shimmering blue light seemed to glow off the card as Makoto drew it. He nodded to himself when he saw what he drew. This is exactly what he needed. "I activate Monster Reborn, letting me bring Neo Aqua Madoor back from the graveyard in defense mode!" A brown robed, white-masked spellcaster appeared, arms crossed over his body, defense 3000 points and attack points 1200. "And next, I'll set one more monster face-down. My turn is over."

Ishizu trembled as the ball fell into her court. She had spent so much of her dueling career relying on the Millennium Necklace that her duelists instincts were dulled and she felt them unreliable and untrustworthy. Looking at her hand, her only choice was to take a risk and hope it would pay off. "I-I summon Light Effigy in attack mode!" Ishizu said, summoning a pure nuclear molecule shaped being of golden colored. "And next, I activate the special ability of Neo-Partshath the Sky Paladin in my hand. With it, I tribute Airknight Parshath to summon Neo-Parshath the Sky Paladin!" A white mask imposed upon a green and gold metal body, surrounded by an incomplete 8 of light with two wings extending off the side of the creature appeared. It had 2300 attack points and 2000 defense points.

"And now, Neo-Parshath shall attack your face-down monster."

Makoto's face-down monster turned out to be Wall of Illusion. And when it was destroyed by a blast of celestial light from Ishizu's monster, Makoto still took damage. His life points fell to 1350.

"Wh-what?"

"Neo-Parshath's celestial energy is so powerful that its attacks cannot be contained even by defense position monsters. Therefore, though your monster was in defense position, you took damage equal to the difference between my monster's attack and your monster's defense.

However, Ishizu then noticed her Neo-Parshath not looking so well and then warped out of existence.

"What?"

"My monster was Wall of Illusion," Makoto said, glaring with determination. "Any monster that attacks it automatically returns to its owner's hand."

Ishizu swiped her Neo-Parshath off the duel disk. "Be that as it may, since Neo-Parshath dealt Battle Damage to your monster, I get to draw another card." With that draw, Ishizu now had 5 cards in her hand, practically a full hand.

Makoto took a deep breath. With Neo-Aqua Madoor as his only means of defense, he'd have to once more draw to make a turn around."

With a deep breath, Makoto put his hand on his deck and declared, "Heart of the Cards, guide me!" he shouted the last two words as he drew.

"Heh," Yami smirked.

"…seriously?" Kaiba asked with a glazed look.

The draw was exactly what Makoto needed right now to turn this duel around. "I summon to the field Horus the Black Flame Dragon, level 4!" A dark brown bird-like creature appeared with 1600 attack points and 1000 defense. "Horus, attack Light Effigy!" Makoto declared. "Black Flare Breath!"

Horus unleashed black flame from its mouth, destroying Light Effigy and reducing Ishizu's life points to 2600. "And since Horus destroyed a monster by battle," Makoto stated, "It increases in power from a level 4 to a level 6." Horus morphed as the hawk-beaked dragon's wings sprouted and the dragon grew in size. Its stats changed to. It now had 2300 attack points and 1600 defense points. It also now had a bright and shiny orange aura around it. "It's your move, Ishizu!" Makoto told her. "Oh and just so you know, Horus, at level 6, can't be affected by spell effects."

This can't be happening, Ishizu thought, eyes shrinking inward with fear, I feel like I've lost complete control of this duel. What is happening? Still, I cannot give up. Even if the light is fading, I must remain vigilant. "I draw!" Ishizu declared.

Uncertain of her moves, Ishizu declared, "I place Spirit of the Harp in defense mode and then activate Swords of Revealing Light as well."

The swords rained down onto Makoto's side of the field, trapping his monsters. However, Makoto didn't seem worried. "Swords of Revealing Light is a powerful card, but unfortunately I looked up this exact scenario when Komaru and I had a dispute over it. And according to the official Industrial Illusions card rulings, Horus level 6 is unaffected by all spell effects, even effects that technically target me, meaning it's still able to attack!"

Kaiba laughed out loud. Makoto's knowledge of the game truly was a sight to behold. "Looks like your plan failed, Ishizu. Naegi's got you on the ropes."

"Horus, attack, take out Spirit of the Harp with Black Flare Burn!"

Horus unleashed a stream of black fire from its mouth and annihilated Ishizu's monster. "And since Horus destroyed your monster, it upgrades one final time from a level 6 to a level 8!" Makoto declared as Horus grew in size once more, its wings growing sharper, its face now sporting a crest and its tail growing out a little as well. It now boded a fearsome 3000 attack points, even with Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon and also sported 1800 defense. "Your move, Ishizu," Makoto told her.

"Then I shall draw," Ishizu said and drew the top card of her deck. Excellent, I've drawn my most powerful trap card: Blast Held By a Tribute. But…it will be difficult to force Makoto to feel its effects. His Horus the Black Flame Dragon is not a tribute summoned monster. I must act carefully. Ishizu gulped. "I set a card face-down on the field and then set Nova Summoner to the field in defense position." A hollowed out sun with a green ribbon with wings and eyes wrapped around it appeared on the battlefield. Now, even if Makoto could attack twice, he would be unable to get to my life points. I'm safe…for now.

Makoto drew the top card of his deck. Because Horus level 8 wasn't personally unaffected by spell cards the way horus level 6 was—it just nullified all further activated cards—it couldn't attack. Fortunately Makoto's new card was De-Spell so the point was moot. "I activate De-Spell, destroying Swords of Revealing Light!" Ishizu's own foretold strategy had come back to haunt her under Makoto's execution. "And now that Horus can attack, I'll use him to annihilate your Nova Summoner! Black Flare Stream!"

Horus' full-powered attack roasted Nova Summoner into nothing.

"Nova Summoner's ability activates!" Ishizu cried out. "When its destroyed I can summon one light attribute, fairy type monster from my deck with 1500 attack points or less and I choose another Light Effigy!" The shining nuclear molecule shaped energy being appeared.

"My turn is over," Makoto said.

"And mine is just beginning," Ishizu said. I hope. She swallowed. All she had in her hand was Neo Airknight Parshath, a couple of equip cards and one weak monster. If she did not draw a decent monster now, Makoto was sure to wipe her out next turn.

I must have faith, she thought, calming her mind, I must have faith for the future. Marik…Odion...guide my hand! Ishizu drew the top card from her deck and whipped it around to face her. She gasped at what she drew. It was the exact type of card she needed to turn this duel around. "By activating the special ability of Light Effigy, I summon to the field Angel 07!"

In the sky above, clouds rolled in and a shaft of light shot at the ground as a being descended from the heavens. It had an all white body with arms like an airplane and no legs to speak of, instead just a collection of wispy white strands. It looked more like a ghost than an angel, especially with how its head resembled something that came waltzing out of a dystopian church. It had 2500 attack points and 1500 defense points.

"Since Angel 07 was summoned to the field by tributing a monster, no other monsters on the field can activate the effects, that means your Horus the Black Flame Dragon cannot negate any spell cards I activate."

Uh…oh, Makoto thought.

"So with that, I activate Cestus of Dagla! This equip spell increases Angel 07's attack power by 500 points, making it a match for Horus in attack power!"

Angel 07's blue gem around where a human's collarbone should be shined with energy as its attack power increased up to 3000.

"Next, I activate the continuous spell card, Angelic Superiority! Now, whenever a fairy-type monster with Angel in its name battles a monster in attack position, the other monster loses 200 attack points."

Makoto swallowed and looked scared. This was going to suck.

"Angel 07 attack, Brilliant Beam!"

Energy gathered in Angel 07's gem as it then fired directly at Horus, obliterating Makoto's monster. Makoto's life points fell down to 1150.

"And thanks to Cestus of Dagla, I gain life points equal to the battle damage I inflicted to you." Ishizu's life points increased to 2800. "It's now your turn."

Makoto felt nervous. He needed a way to turn this around and he needed it fast. Swallowing, he drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the spell card Pot of Greed, so I can draw two cards. The cards in Makoto's hand would definitely come in handy. "I set one card face-down on the field," Makoto said. "That ends my turn." The other card in Makoto's hand, besides a monster, was Mage Power. With it, he could increase any monster's attack power by 500 for every spell and trap card he controlled, but right now that wouldn't help Neo Aqua Madoor take down Angel 07. Regrettably, this was all he could do.

"I end my turn," Makoto said with a sigh.

"My turn," Ishizu said. She drew the top card of her deck and glanced at the battlefield. Makoto had one card face-down and a monster with 3000 defense points. It was unfortunate that Angel Superiority did not help her with defense position monsters. She'd just have to hope for the best. "I end my turn."

Now it was Makoto's turn once more. He drew the top card of his deck. The card in his hand was a multicolored, wingless dragon with 2300 attack points. It was known as Kabuki Dragon.

2300…Makoto thought. Ah, that's it! If he attacked with this, he could win the duel, maybe. No, wait, Ishizu's trap card. He could get completely blindsided if he wasn't careful. Should he take the risk? If Ishizu had a spell or trap destroyer on the field, that would be it. He'd take 900 points of damage and all she had to do was use another equip spell on her Angel 07 to win the duel. Hell, at that point burn damage would be an effective means of taking him out.

But… Makoto thought, looking at Komaru and her tense expression. I can't give up now. I know I can keep going. I can't just get scared because of one crummy face-down. I've got to try. I've got to… Makoto thought as he reached for Kabuki Dragon in his hand, Have hope!

"I sacrifice my Neo Aqua Madoor in order to play, Kabuki Dragon!" Makoto declared, much to the shock of everyone around him. The Chinese looking, wingless red dragon with 2300 attack points and 2100 defense points appeared.

"Someone's impatient," Tristan thought.

"Given his only defense could be wiped out if Ishizu powers up her monster just a little more, it's probably for the best. He doesn't have very many life points left," Celeste pointed out.

"Come on, Makoto," Komaru whispered.

"And next, I activate the spell card, Mage Power!" Makoto said, slamming the card into the duel disk. "This card increases any monster equipped with it by the number of spell and trap cards I have on my side of the field, including itself!"

Everyone watched as Kabuki Dragon was coated with a green aura that boosted its attack points to 3300 points.

"That should be more than enough to take out your Angel 07. Go, Kabuki Dragon! Kabuki Body Twister!" Makoto's dragon began twisting itself into a furious red spiral.

"You did exactly as I hoped," Ishizu said. "Reveal face-down card: Blast Held By a Tribute."

"NO!" Komaru shouted.

Makoto watched as his Kabuki Dragon stopped short in slow motion as though it were having a heart attack and then exploded, blowing Makoto back. It threw him against the railing, bringing his life points all the way down to a mere 150.

"Oh well, guess Naegi's not as good as I thought," Kaiba mused.

"It seems that even though you diverted destiny, we have arrived at the same conclusion. Though you changed the road to the future, even your blunder could not change the outcome of this duel. It is my turn, Makoto. Truly it was an honor. Ishizu said. "I shall end this duel. I draw." She drew her card and activated her Millennium Necklace, but the path forward was still blocked. I…do not understand. He has no monsters. My monster has 3000 attack points. Why can I not see the future? Ishizu then noticed as Makoto got to his feet that he had a face-down card left. His face-down? Could setting it off change the outcome of this duel? Ishizu stood still, trembling. Never before had she felt so…uncertain.

"What's the matter?" Makoto asked. "Afraid to take a little risk?" He stood on his feet, hand against his chest. He stared at Ishizu with the utmost determination. "I'm never giving up!" he told her. "You say the future is set in stone, but if you're so certain of your victory then go ahead and attack!"

"Kid's got guts to be yelling that at someone with a monster as strong as his Blue-Eyes," Tristan said.

"I'd call it heart, actually," Yami said.

"Kind of reminds me of you, actually," Téa said.

"What do you mean?" Yami replied.

"Well, I mean, when we normally interact with him, Makoto acts like a nice guy that couldn't hurt a fly, but look at him right now. He's standing up there with fierce determination and defiance. You kind of do the same thing when you duel, honestly."

"That's my brother for you," Komaru chuckled happily. "When he duels," she said, holding her fists up by her shoulders, "It's like he turns into a completely different person. He becomes really cool." She laughed. "Which is weird cause he's usually such a dork."

"Well, Ishizu, are you going to attack? No matter what you do, whether I win or lose, it was an honor to duel you."

Ishizu stood there, not quite sure what to do. Should she attack? Should she play another monster? Should she defend? With no Millennium Necklace able to guide her and her duelist instincts dulled, Ishizu felt she had only one course of action.

"Angel 07, attack!" she shouted.

"Makoto!" Komaru shouted.

Angel 07 gathered energy in its gem and then let loose a blast of energy from it directly aimed down at Makoto.

Ishizu's heart thumped in her chest. Was this it? Was Makoto just bluffing?

"Last turn," Makoto said, "I walked into your trap, but this turn," he said, activating his face-down, "you walked straight into mine. Activate the trap card, Magic Cylinder!"

"What?"

The cylinder appeared, absorbing all of Ishizu's monster's attack and then began spinning rapidly.

"And now," Makoto said, "All this power gets redirected at you as direct damage!"

The cylinder stopped spinning and fired Ishizu's own attack back at her. When he said it was an honor to duel me…I should've noticed it then…the fire in his eyes. Makoto…I know not your place of origin or your background, but hope like yours, unbreakable hope that cannot die can easily, Ishizu smiled kindly, can change our dark future.

And like that, Ishizu got blasted with Angel 07's redirected attack for 3000 points of damage, bringing her life points all the way to 0.

"Well, I stand corrected," Kaiba said with a satisfied smirk.

"Holy crap, did he just win by the seat of his pants?" Ibuki shouted.

"Looks like it," Nagito said.

Sayaka, who had had her eyes closed, fingers crossed, open one eye. She saw Makoto's image and WINNER plastered across the screen. "He won?" she asked uncertain.

"HE WON!" Chiemi and Satomi shouted, jumping into the air, getting popcorn everywhere.

"He won!" Komaru shouted, jumping into the air. "YAHOO! Go, Makoto!" She pumped her fist down at her side.

On the private plane to Egypt, Mukuro couldn't stop smiling. From the inside of her coat, she pulled out a pen and notepad. It was a memo pad. She wrote on it in legible Japanese: Congratulate Makoto Naegi on his Battle City Finals victory.

Marik too was also enthused by this, if only because Ishizu had been defeated. Well now, that boy certainly possesses some sort of unique power if he was able to overturn the power of the Millennium Necklace. Too bad for Ishizu though. He chuckled to himself and then walked away back to his room.

As Makoto started to reel from the rush of adrenaline, barely able to register that he actually pulled that off. His cell phone rang. It was his mom. "Hello?" he asked as he answered the phone. As he did the arena began to lower and the guard rails retracted.

"I'm so proud of you! AHAHAHA!" Makoto's mom exclaimed in delight.

"You were really awesome up there, son," His dad told him.

Makoto rubbed the back of his head, turning red. "Oh…well…ahaha."

"Makoto!" Komaru tackled him to the ground, Makoto almost losing grip on his cell phone. However, his poor shoe fell off from the impact. Hajime caught it before it went sailing off the blimp.

With Makoto on the ground almost knocked out from the impact, Komaru picked up his phone. "Makoto was so cool!" She exclaimed. "I wish you guys could've been here to see it!"

Interesting, so he's even more skillful and resourceful than I gave him credit for. I never imagined that you could have a concept of the Heart of the Cards without being taught it. He looked at Ishizu who was still in a bit of a daze. She panicked the moment things failed to go her way and that is why she lost. Hmph, he frowned. Being here bores me now. He then headed back to his suite down the elevator. Although, I might just ask Makoto to join me in my little…experiment next month.

With a heavy heart, Ishizu traipsed over to Yugi, removing her Millennium Necklace and presenting it to him. "Pharaoh, I believe this is yours."

"But…why?" Yami blinked.

"I can no longer see the future with this necklace. Clearly it has chosen a different path than for me to safeguard it any longer. It belongs in the hands of someone that will treat it well. I can think of no greater person than you."

Yami clamped his hand over the trinket, pocketing it in his coat. "Thank you, Ishizu."

"My senses as a duelist suffered because I was so reliant upon my necklace. In the future, I shall take great care to hone my skills as a real duelist."

"I'd like to see that," Joey said. "Even when your little magicky whatsahoosits stopped working, you still had Makoto on the run."

"Indeed, you're not a bad duelist, Ishizu," Celeste commented. "Don't sell yourself short."

"Those are very kind works coming from you Miss Celeste. And…I also must thank you…for trying to help my brother in your own way," Ishizu said with a bright smile.

"Yes…well…" Celeste turned her head away from Ishizu, curling her hair around her finger. She blushed. "Y-you're welcome."

"Aw, Celeste, you look so cute when you're embarrassed," Téa chuckled.

"Be silent," Celeste said harshly. "I haven't a clue what you're talking about."

Téa just laughed.

Ishizu then approached Kaiba. "What?" he grumbled.

"Kaiba, should you win the tournament, now that the only thing in your way is the Pharaoh himself, I would ask that you return all of the Egyptian God Cards to me. I know of a place I can lock them away forever, a place known only to the tomb keepers."

"You have my word," Kaiba responded. "But your Ancient Egyptian Burial Ground might benefit from some KaibaCorp grade security systems."

Ishizu smiled. "That would be most helpful."

"Then there is no more reason for my staying up here. I'll be retiring to my room now. Excuse me."

However, as she moved past Kaiba, he grabbed her arm quite firmly.

"Not so fast, you owe Naegi a rare card, or have you forgotten the rules of Battle City?"

Ishizu sighed with a smile. "Indeed I do." She walked back towards Makoto as Kaiba let go of her arm.

Makoto Naegi, huh? Nagito thought. Something tells me his hope shines brighter than even mine. But...what does this mean? Does he have a latent talent? He is too young to be at Hope's Peak. He smiled. Oh well, guess there's no point in speculating. But, he looked over at how Komaru and Hajime were practically showering Makoto with praise. He's a good kid, regardless.

"Makoto," Ishizu said when she was within speaking range. She held up 2 cards: Angel 07 and Blast Held by a Tribute. "These are two of my most powerful cards. Take whichever you wish."

Makoto plucked the trap card from Ishizu, surprising her. Angel 07 was not an easy monster to come by and was one of the few monsters completely capable of shutting down the gods with its effect.

"Angel 07 is a powerful monster to be sure," Makoto thought. "But I want my deck to just be Spellcasters and Dragons." He smiled. "Like my heroes Seto Kaiba and Yugi Mutoh."

Kaiba scoffs and smirked at the notion, having heard Makoto. He was trying to act tough, but Mokuba could tell Kaiba was rather appreciative of Makoto's healthy dose of Hero Worship.

"Then, if you'll excuse me," Ishizu said and walked away.

"Man, that's a neat trap card, Makoto," Komaru said.

"Yeah, and it's definitely going to come in handy." He thought about his potential opponents in the next round: Nagito, Yugi, Joey, Gundham and Marik. This trap card could easily blow their defenses wide open with the right set up. "I just have to use it correctly, like I do all my cards." Makoto slipped the trap into his deck.

However, as Ishizu walked away, Makoto then noticed Kaiba approaching.

"Impressive work out there, Naegi," Kaiba told him. "I could have only done a better job myself."

"Oh, um, thanks," Makoto said, finding it once more surreal that Kaiba was complimenting him.

"With Ishizu out of the tournament, that's one less Ancient Egyptian spewing nutjob to worry about. You have a small token of my gratitude," Kaiba told him.

"Um, your welcome, I suppose," Makoto said, part of him wondering if Kaiba was going to slip him a rare card as a "small token of his gratitude", though that part was mostly told to keep quiet.

"Good luck in the next round," Kaiba said. "Something tells me you'll need it." He then turned around and walked away.

"Um, thanks and, um, good luck in your first duel, Kaiba, whether you need it or not."

"Heh, the remaining duelists in this round are Hinata, Roba and Nanami. And as far as I'm concerned none of them stand a chance against me." He glanced over his shoulder where he could see Hajime within his field of vision. "Although, between the three, two of them have my interest." Kaiba then made his exit.

Espa knew for a fact he was the odd one out, feeling a trite miffed that Kaiba didn't consider him "worth his time". But, Espa knew he was likely not a match for Kaiba. But, wherever fate was going to take him, he'd take on any opponent with everything he had. He'd come this far rebuilt as a new young man, he wasn't about to back down even if victory seemed impossible.

At Kaiba's comment, Hajime took a deep breath. The fact that he had Kaiba's interest did not sit well with him. Not to mention he had to duel the renown psychic duelist Espa Roba, Seto Kaiba himself, or his best friend, Chiaki Nanami, in the next round. No matter who he faced, victory did not seem easy, practically impossible if he was up against Kaiba he felt. Ugh, why couldn't I have been able to duel Makoto? He wondered.

Still, Hajime steeled himself for the next round. No matter what, like Espa, he was ready to fight with everything he had. Regardless of what fate had in store, Hajime Hinata was ready to take center stage and show the world, and especially Hope's Peak, just what he was made of.

(A/N: Aaaaaand, we're done! Yeah, shorter chapter than usual, but that's just cause I didn't waste so much time on pre-duel scenes. Show of hands, how many of you actually thought Makoto was going to pull this off? Gotta love that good luck disguised as bad luck, eh? Anyway, I may as well spoil the next two duels since, well, given Chiaki's choice of opponents and given the development I've given Hajime, it's hardly fair to make him fight Kaiba.

So, chapter 36: Hajime Hinata Vs Espa Roba

AND

For our arc finale of Battle City Part 1—since I will be doing the Noah Kaiba arc—we will have Chiaki Nanami Vs Seto Kaiba. The hype is real.

Oh, and we had a custom made card this time around: Angel Superiority. If I have Ishizu duel again, I plan to have Angels 00 through 06, possibly up through 09 or higher.

And speaking of numbers, in the game of Duel Monsters, there exists Jinzo and Jinzo #7. What happened to 2 through 6? You'll see what my creative brain brings to the table on that front next time.

As always, special shout out to my patrons: Dark Jade and Goshinzilla and, as always, from all of me to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)