(A/N: I think I owe it to some of you to explain myself in the previous chapter regarding Mikan's…outburst. You have two options: skip to the chapter and miss a boring lecture about bullying, or strap in. This is a long one.

Ahem! Soooooo, in American schooling and society, when students are bullied, students usually blame the bully. However, in Japanese schooling, students blame themselves, believing that because they're weak, they're being picked on, hence Mikan's extremely meek personality and Chihiro's decision to dress in drag. Additionally, in America, bullies and their victims are from different social groups. When we are bullied, we often turn towards our friends to aid us in our time of need.

However, Japan, unfortunately, is all about social grouping. If you don't belong to a social group and are an outcast, people generally think there's something wrong with you. It's one of the reason Mikan starves for attention. She'd rather have recognition from someone than be alone. It's one of the reasons Mikan doesn't fight back when she's bullied. And it also explains why Mahiru doesn't intervene. She considers both Hiyoko and Mikan as her friends and in a Japanese society, Hiyoko verbally abusing Mikan isn't anything necessarily inherently wrong. Mahiru, who sticks traditional cultural values like a duct tape, would naturally abide by these norms, given her intention that boys and girls should stick to their inherent gender roles. And this is in spite of the fact that she herself is a tomboy…sort of. Of course. But this is why Mahiru defended Hiyoko in chapter 2, but not Mikan from Hiyoko. Additionally, as many of us, including myself, forget, when Fuyuhiko threatens to sell Mikan to a whorehouse in chapter 1, Mahiru berates him for threatening her. Additionally, given Mahiru's own problems with Fuyuhiko's sister, Mahiru may have more trouble standing up against girl on girl bullying as opposed to guy on girl bullying.

So what does all mean? Well, in chapter 3 of SDGR2, Mikan is inflicted by the despair disease. Many of us seem to misremember the fact that the despair disease did NOT alter Mikan's personality. All that raging about not wanting to be the victim anymore? That's all actual repressed anger. That didn't happen as a result of being a despair. And it shows in Japanese society. Although Japanese culture requires bullying victims to repress their emotions and just "deal with it" compare to American cultures and schools that offer various outlets—counseling, telling the teacher, etc.—that doesn't make it healthy. Mikan clearly hates being the victim, but feels as though she has no choice, but to be so as evidenced by some choice dialogue in her Free Time Events, especially the last one. And as many of us may have forgotten, by the time Yukizome becomes the teacher of Chiaki's class, they've already been classmates for two whole months. Add Hiyoko's vicious bullying to the fact that Mikan has only just started to get along with her class and well…now we're adding even MORE stress.

Marik has already delivered a crippling blow to Mikan's confidence: a situation in which her nursing talent is completely useless. She can't save Sonia no matter how hard she tries. The one thing that's supposed to make Mikan stand out and it's not working. Add to this the fact that Mikan has already been made useful, because of Battle City, to both Bakura and Chiaki, and Mikan is now desperate to keep being needed and to keep being desired. Since Mahiru is already her friend, and this is the first time they've had ANY interaction without Hiyoko, and Mahiru just admitted that even she can find Hiyoko exhausting, Mikan feels like she can let her guard down. However, instead of just letting her guard down, all the mounted stress comes pouring out like a broken dam wall and Mikan goes full crazy pants on Mahiru.

Too subtle? Probably. But I hope now that I've explained it, those of you that took issue with the scene can accept this as an explanation and move on. And as for Gundham, he only heard the screaming. He didn't know Mikan had had a weapon in hand until it was far too late to act.

Now then, I have wasted over 700 words of this chapter on just author's notes. Never make me do this again. We now return to your regularly scheduled chapter. Please be advised that while the first part of this chapter summarizes Kaiba's duel with Noah, if you wish to watch the actual duel, has all the episodes in the dub. NOW LET'S COMMENCE THE AWESOME!)

After a stumbling through a few doors and taking a rather garish—at least according to Byakuya—train shaped like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Makoto, Yugi and the others all arrived in a volcanic area just in time to see Kaiba and Noah squaring off in a duel.

"Oh, neat! Kaiba's dueling Noah! This ought to be awesome!"

"Finally, some real entertainment," Byakuya said, intrigued.

"Oh, here, here," Celeste said, agreeing with him.

"Looks like everyone has arrived to witness your last duel, Seto, and my rebirth into the real world as the new lead of KaibaCorp," Noah said smugly.

Well, here goes, Makoto thought taking a deep breath as he put the sides of his hands along his cheeks. "Noah! It doesn't have to be this way!"

"Stay out of this, Naegi!" Kaiba snapped, turning only so much to address Makoto.

"But…" Makoto stammered.

Noah chuckled. "Why not hear what he has to say? Aren't you two friends?"

"I have no friends!" Kaiba shouted.

In spite of Kaiba's hurtful words, Makoto rolled with the blunt force trauma he just felt aimed at his gut. "Noah. I figured out why you want to get out and why you hate Kaiba so much. But it doesn't have to be like this. Can't you two work together? You're family!"

"Hmph. I don't need family. The only thing I need is to take over KaibaCorp!" Noah exclaimed.

At this point, Miho stepped in, shouting, "Please, Noah! Please stop this! Please stop all of this!"

Noah actually looked surprised to see Miho as Miho, rather than as Dunames Dark Witch. "Miho? You've...returned to your original form?" He sounded surprised too.

"Who's that? Your girlfriend?" Kaiba questioned in a mocking manner.

"Miho, surely you know that this has always been my dream, to escape," Noah said to her, ignoring Kaiba.

"Yes, but this isn't right. Miho can escape, and so can you. Miho's sure of it," Miho stated, looking hopeful and cheerful, fists pumped up by her shoulders as Komaru often did.

"You don't get it, do you?" Noah said, closing his eyes, casting his head down slightly and shaking his head. "Do you even know what you are anymore?" He raised his head and looked at Miho seriously. "You're not even human. Both of our minds have been completely rewritten as digital data. There is no escape to the real world without someone else's body!"

The words struck Miho like a lightning bolt through the heart. There was no leaving? Even if Sayaka paid the money she couldn't go home. No. That wasn't true. It couldn't be true. "No! That's a lie!" Miho shouted, dropping to her knees. She shook like a leaf, palms on her temples, fingertips too shaken to grip her hair. "That's a lie! That's a lie! That's a lie! That's a lie! That's a lie!" Miho began repeating the phrase over and over again, clearly falling into madness. Tristan crouched down and rubbed her back, trying to get her to calm down.

"Deny it all you want, but it's the truth," Noah said harshly. "I didn't actually realize your friend Sayaka could raise so much money so fast. The reason I've been increasing the payments is because you can't come back. Our bodies have already been thrown away. There's no returning to the real world for us. This world is the only home we will ever know without someone else's body."

Komaru, Ibuki, Mai, and Joey looked more shocked and horrified by this revelation than the rest.

"No…Miho's gotta come back!" Joey shouted. "She's our friend!"

"I'm sorry, Miho," Noah said, his voice carrying the utmost sincerity. "I really did want to spare you from the harshness of reality, but that's the state of things."

However, Makoto was quick with a rebuttal. "There's no way staying here or stealing someone else's body are the only options! Do you know for certain that your bodies were thrown away? Hope's Peak has surgeons, doctors, people capable of restoring any injury as long as the body isn't a corpse!"

Noah now only looked indignant and irritated. "If that were possible then why did my father not use any of it? He had the money to teach me and to train me, so where was the money to save me?"

As if on cue, Kaiba broke out into a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Noah snapped.

"You want to know where it all went, Noah?" Kaiba bent his elbow and pressed his thumb to his chest. "It went to educating me." He then extended his arm forward, index finger pointing at Noah. "It looks like you got things backwards. When you had your little accident, Gozaboro pushed you out of the way and completely forgot about you so he could teach me instead. But that's just the sort of scumbag my stepfather was."

"That's a lie! Father would never—"

Kaiba had no time for Noah's bullshit. "Open your eyes, Noah! It seems to me like you're the one unable to accept the truth!"

Noah just started to chuckle calmly and his laughter became creepier and creepier with every second until he was full blown laughing his head off. He adjusted the posture of his right foot ever so slightly, standing smugly with his hands in his pockets. "All right, Seto. Have your little fantasy your way. Either way, when I win this duel, I'll get your body and escape to the real world."

"That's not gonna happen," Makoto said fervently. "Kaiba's gonna beat you. He's gonna get Mokuba back and we're all going to go home safely and I mean all of us."

Noah jerked his head to one side. "Spare me your sympathies, Makoto Naegi. A piece of gutter trash like you isn't fit to tell me anything."

"Leave Naegi's social status out of this."
"Leave Makoto's social status out of this."

Kaiba turned his head and his eyes met Byakuya's for a brief moment.

"That was weird," Kaiba stated.

"Indeed," Byakuya replied having no intention of commenting further, or explaining himself.

"Did I miss something?" Joey asked, head pivoting back and forth like he was following an intense game of tennis. "Why are Togami and Kaiba sticking up for Makoto?"

Celeste chuckled mischievously. "Who knows?" she asked despite damn well knowing why.

"Let's continue," Noah said, eager to continue the duel.

The other victims of the virtual world watched Noah and Kaiba's duel, all of them on Kaiba's side. Some made rude comments, others watched with baited breath.

However, it wasn't until they all watched Giant Rex maul a defense mode spear dragon that Byakuya decided to end the innocuous banter from the spectators area.

"How utterly sad," Byakuya said, directing his comment right at Noah.

"Excuse you?" Noah snarled.

"You heard me," Byakuya said stoically. "You were raised on the stage, set to perform and you fell. Now you just expect it back with no questions asked. The world turns whether you like it or not. You were trained, it's true, but your accident, how avoidable do you think it was?"

"What do you mean avoidable?" Noah asked.

"Let's suppose, as I am, that it was some sort of vehicular hit and run," Byakuya stated. "Perhaps it was a drunk driver. Perhaps you didn't look both ways. Or perhaps, and this is just a theory, perhaps Gozaboro is the type of man to slaughter his own son in favor of a replacement."

Everyone, including Kaiba, looked at Byakuya like that was the most savage, inhumane thing they'd ever heard.

"Think about it and everything we've deduced about Gozaboro Kaiba," Byakuya stated. "He pushed the Kaiba we know over the edge into what he is today, turned a child into a cybernetic organism and enlisted corporate officials like the Big Five. You're telling me a man like that doesn't have it in him to dispose of things he no longer needs.

"Whether it's in him or not, only a monster would murder their own kid," Mai said to him.

"I actually think Togami's words have merit," Kaiba stated.

"WHAT?!" Mai shouted as loud as she could.

"Because Gozaboro was that type of man. Anything he didn't agree with, he threw away. Employees, clients, and even whole buildings. He did whatever was necessary just to make money. Open your eyes, Noah. Your father barely cared about you enough as it was."

"That can't be true! I know it's not true! He just...he just..." Unwilling to accept the possibility, Noah growled and just went on with the duel.

Try as he might to run from the truth, Kaiba thought. It won't go away. "Noah, don't you get it? Gozaboro didn't throw you away because of your virtual state. He knew that no matter how much knowledge you gained, you'd always be a spoiled brat; expecting to get ahead in the world without any effort at all. As despicable as your father was, he knew the value of hard work. It was his own determination for power that got him where he was after all. And as much as it may have pained him to admit it, I think Gozaboro knew that I was the best man for the job as KaibaCorp President. And as for you Noah, his real son, you were better off isolated in your computer world," he pointed at the floating technological sphere in the sky. "Out of everyone's way!" Kaiba shouted, straining his voice.

"Seto that could possibly be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my entire life. Come on now, my father wanting you to be president?"

"Why do you think he created that digital dump for you? You were in the way," Kaiba smirked.

"Makoto, do you think Kaiba's right? Or do you think Noah's right?" Komaru was completely confused.

"I don't know actually," Makoto said. "It's like...like..." There they went, the final pieces to the puzzle falling into place. Everything started to make sense if Makoto thought about it like that. If that were true, this whole scenario took on a much more sinister meaning.

"Like what, Makoto?" Byakuya asked smugly, as if already knowing the end result.

After coming to grips with his perception of reality, Makoto shouted, "Kaiba! You have to win this duel no matter what!"

"What are you shouting about now, Naegi?

"I just figured something out, but Noah's only going to listen if you beat him, got it?" Makoto shouted.

"I didn't need you to tell me that. Let's go, Noah. You're going down," Kaiba told him.

As the duel continued, Makoto and Komaru cheered their little hearts out. They were Kaiba's biggest supporters. As Kaiba summoned Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon and activated both Quick Attack and Dragon's Rage, it looked like Kaiba had the duel all wrapped up.

"He's gonna win!" Komaru exclaimed, she and Makoto hugging each other. "We're going home safe."

"Home stretch, Kaiba! Let him have it!" Mai shouted.

Different Dimension Dragon attacked first, laying waste to Noah's Giant Rex. With barely any life points left, Kaiba's next attack would end the duel.

But then, Noah played dirty.

"Don't do it," Mokuba's voice echoed as he suddenly appeared from a portal above Noah's little platform.

"What's going on? Mokuba!" Kaiba shouted.

"Hey, you can't summon anything!" Ibuki exclaimed indignantly. "It isn't your turn!" Mai bopped her lightly on the head. Now was not the time for jokes.

As Mokuba looked at Kaiba with empty, dull eyes, Kaiba exclaimed, "What have you done to him, Noah?" Noah didn't answer and Kaiba just stared at his brother. "Mokuba…"

"Whoever you are," Mokuba said as though in a trance. He then held up his arms so that his body resembled a T shape. "If you want to attack my brother Noah, you'll have to go through me."

"Cutthroat," Byakuya commented.

"Oh don't act all high and mighty. You would do it too if given the opportunity," Celeste said.

"What? Cheat by using someone's family member as a hypnotized hostage? You think too little of me, Celestia Ludenburg."

"Can we talk about the finer points of morality, later? Mokuba's in trouble!" Mai shouted.

"Mokuba! Snap out of it!" Kaiba shouted. It was the first time Makoto had ever seen Kaiba sound so vulnerable and exposed.

"He's been brainwashed!" Joey exclaimed.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Byakuya remarked.

"That's right Mokuba, protect me," Noah said smugly as he pointed to Kaiba. "Fom him! He's the stranger that's trying to break you and I apart."

"Stranger," Mokuba repeated.

"You absolute snake! Mokuba's just a kid!" Mai chastised.

"Technically so is Noah. But I get your point," Byakuya stated. He looked at Makoto sternly. "Still think Noah is worth saving?"

Byakuya, nor anyone was prepared to hear Makoto actually growling.

"Makoto?" For as long as his sister had known him, Makoto had always been a gentle soul. He was damn near impossible to anger. In fact, as she thought about it, Komaru couldn't think of a single time, Makoto had ever gotten angry or yelled. Even if he was disappointed, even if he was upset, it was always tears first and apologies second or "I'll do better next time".

So with that said, Komaru had to take half a step back when Makoto shouted, "Noah! How dare you!"

The shout was enough to get Kaiba's attention as he saw Makoto pretty much glaring at Noah.

"A sibling bond is precious," Makoto said, fist tensing. His voice sounded like he was trying not to cry. "It's one of the most precious relationships some people get to have. You want to be part of the Kaiba family? Fine. But don't destroy Kaiba and Mokuba's cherished relationship to get in!"

"Be part of the Kaiba family? I am the Kaiba family!" Noah shouted.

"No you aren't!" Makoto shouted. "As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you don't even exist!"

"But you're nobody. The world doesn't care about you, Noah Kaiba. As far as the world is concerned you don't exist."

The green-haired girl's words from before rang through Noah's head, sending a chill up his spine.

"Release Mokuba right now!" Makoto shouted.

"Get a hold of yourself, Naegi. This doesn't concern you," Kaiba said in his usual gruff manner.

That was all it took for some of the adrenaline in Makoto's veins to stop churning fiercely. "But…" Makoto stammered.

"I'm handling it," Kaiba said, turning to face Noah. "Got it?"

"Y-yeah…okay," Makoto said, backing down entirely. I just want to help. I know how much Kaiba cares about Mokuba. He's not even my brother…so Kaiba must feel even worse. I got so emotional. I guess that just shows how long the road is for me to grow up.

"Mokuba has chosen his side of his own free will!" Noah exclaimed.

Like a switch being flipped, Makoto was back to yelling. "I don't believe that for a second. Noah! You're...you're so...you're so full of SHIT!"

"Language, there are ladies present," Joey said.

"Naegi, I'm not going to tell you again," Kaiba scolded. "I'm the one dueling and I can save my own family. Just stand there and watch."

"I'll ask again," Byakuya said. "Still think he can be saved?"

Makoto nodded, much to Byakuya's surprise. "I do, but…" he looked at Noah, still angry. "It's going to be a lot harder now."

"Are you all right, Makoto?" Komaru asked with the most worried look on her face.

Makoto reached out and stroked his sister's head gently. He smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine. I just..." He trailed off and looked at the ground and then back at Kaiba.

"I didn't know you could get that mad, Makoto," Yugi said.

Makoto now looked embarrassed. "Heh, uh…neither did I."

"This is a no-brainer though. Kaiba has to attack or we all lose."

"No...he can't," Makoto said. "Kaiba could never...He could never hurt his little brother." Tears almost started to form in Makoto's eyes. "That's not the sort of man Seto Kaiba is!"

"Naegi's right," Kaiba growled at Noah. "I end my turn."

From there, the stakes were even higher and hearts pounded in the chests of the spectators like a symphony. Makoto, though still wanting to help Noah, could do nothing but loath him for the dirty trick he pulled.

As Kaiba struggled to break Mokuba free, Yugi hatched onto an idea. "Kaiba!" he shouted. "Listen to me!"

"No thanks," Kaiba said offhandedly, though he at least looked at Yugi to dismiss him.

"But I can help you, Kaiba, because I've been through this before," Yugi said sternly. "Remember when Joey was brainwashed by Marik and he turned against me?"

"He was? I don't remember that!" Ibuki exclaimed.

"Um, you showed up late with Byakuya and some of your friends."

"Oh right," Ibuki said.

Kaiba, however, remembered the incident clear as day. "Maybe you can get through to Mokuba the same way I got through to Joey! The answer may be in your deck!"

Kaiba's face said it all. That wasn't a bad idea at all. In fact, he had an idea just what card he needed to fix this mess.

"Let's go. You have a duel to lose," Noah taunted.

"Guess again, kid," Kaiba said, glaring at him. "Not only am I planning to win this duel, I'll also win back my brother. So watch this," Kaiba said as he drew the top card of his deck.

"Kaiba must be desperate if he's willing to legitimately heed Yugi's council," Byakuya commented.

"In this situation, I don't think he has much choice," Mai said.

Kaiba however was unable to draw what he needed and therefore had no choice, but to switch Different Dimension Dragon to defense mode and end his turn.

From there, the duel was a painful, slow trial of patience and determination. Said trial seemed to end as Kaiba landed on his back as a result of Different Dimension Dragon getting blown up by Gradius' Cyclon laser.

"Look at the mighty Seto Kaiba now," Noah taunted.

"This isn't over yet," Kaiba groaned, trying to sit up, one eye closed. That was virtual duels for you, the hologram damage could feel very real.

"Snap out of it, Mokuba," Kaiba pleaded. "I need you in order to beat him."

"What's the matter, Seto?" Noah continued to taunt, "Feeling down."

"Hey! Leave the crappy puns to me!" Ibuki exclaimed.

"That's what bothers you?" Mai asked her. Ibuki only giggled.

"You're one attack away from total annihilation!" Noah exclaimed triumphantly.

"Get up, Kaiba! You can do it!" Makoto cheered.

"Stop cheering, Naegi. Please," Kaiba growled.

Makoto gulped. Okay. He got it. Mouth shut.

Kaiba did manage to stand though and he did manage to summon his Blue-Eyes White Dragon. When Mokuba saw Blue-Eyes, he managed to snap out of Noah's mind control and let Kaiba lay waste to Noah's monster. It looked like everything was going to be fine.

But then Noah played dirty again. His boat was destroyed, revealing Shinato, King of a Higher Plane. With Last Turn activated and Noah's monster having 300 more attack points than Blue-Eyes, Kaiba lost the duel.

However, Kaiba wasn't concerned about the duel or his company. All he wanted was to be properly reunited with Mokuba. But Noah stomped on that as well.

As Mokuba ran towards his big brother, who was down on one knee, Noah, now merged with Shinato, blasted a beam out of his hands and turned both brothers into stone statues.

Makoto's jaw went slack. He could only stand there, shivering, sweat dripping down. It felt as cold as death itself.

Even Celeste and Byakuya were horrified by this turn of events. They stood where Makoto stood as Yugi, his friends, including Miho, as well as Ibuki, Mai and even Komaru all ran towards the Kaiba brothers to check on them.

Makoto was drowning out Noah's smug insults, his mind only able to focus on his hero and Mokuba turned into stone statues. However, he snapped out of it momentarily as he heard a loud, "YUGIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

"Noah!" Yugi's alter ego snapped at him. "You think this proves you're the best? All this proves to your father is that you're a coward."

Makoto's thumping heart felt relieved to hear Yugi stepping up to the plate. And yet, part of him felt hollow.

"What are you talking about, Yugi? I defeated Seto in this duel fair and square."

Ah. There it was again. That boiling anger. Makoto's fists tensed, nails digging into his palms, tears threatening to form, teeth clenched in hate.

"Guess again, Noah! You think kidnapping Mokuba and using him as a shield is fair?"

"You think I cheated?"

There was no question about it. Noah did cheat.

"I think so! Kaiba could've defeated you easily, Noah, but he chose the safety of his little brother over his victory! And that makes Kaiba, a stronger person than you will ever be!"

Yugi was right. And the fact that he was right only seemed to well something in Makoto, something he couldn't quite describe. It was a passion, a deeply seated desire to do something about all of this. Makoto, normally scared and passive Makoto, found it difficult to stand on the sidelines and just watched anymore. He stepped towards the statues of the Kaiba brothers, barely registering Yugi and Noah's voices.

"All you've proven here today," Yugi scolded Noah, "Is that you're a weak little boy who needs to cheat to get his way. And as far as I'm concerned you didn't win this duel. But I have a proposition for you."

Makoto stood in front of the statues of the Kaiba brothers with tears in his eyes as Yugi proposed picking up where Kaiba left off. His 400 life points to Noah's 7400.

Kaiba…Mokuba…

Makoto could only shed tears for the pair. Kaiba was his hero. He'd done the right thing. He'd protected his little brother. And did Noah care? No! He couldn't watch. He couldn't be just another spectator. This had! To! END!

After hearing Yugi's proposition, Noah said smugly, "I'd be crazy not to—"

He never got to finished speaking, for a loud, angry yell roared up from the tiny body of one Makoto Naegi, "NOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Makoto?" Even Yami was surprised to hear the normally cheerful and passive young teen yelling angrily at the top of his lungs.

Makoto pushed his way up to Yugi and snatched the deck out of Yugi's hands. He immediately began shuffling it, altering the deck's composition to contain a deck more suitable to his playstyle.

"Makoto. What are you doing?" Yami exclaimed.

"Noah," Makoto said, glaring. "I've stood here and listened to you and Kaiba go back and forth about Gozaboro this and Gozaboro that. I don't care which one of you really is the head of Kaiba Corp, but Mokuba had nothing to do with that!" Makoto shouted, tears clearly in his eyes. And he was pissed. "What you did just now pisses me off!"

"Excuse me, but I don't think anyone asked for your opinion," Noah said dismissively.

"Too bad!" Makoto fired back sharply. "Let me tell you something Noah. Seto Kaiba is my personal hero," Makoto slapped his chest. "and I've come to understand him a lot more after traveling with him for a while. Even if he doesn't think so, I still look at Kaiba now like a friend! And I'm going to save my friend!"

"Save him?" Noah chuckled, grinning in amusement. "What can you do?"

"Beat you," Makoto said bluntly. "You. Me. A duel. Right here. Right now. Yugi's right. Kaiba is the bigger man. You brainwashed Mokuba into being your little brother and then you used him against Kaiba. That's not how a big brother is supposed to act!" Makoto pointed at Noah rudely. "What you did was selfish! And I can see now why Gozaboro never wanted you anywhere near KaibaCorp!"

"Yeah, you tell him, Makoto!" Joey exclaimed, also glaring. He too had had just about enough of Noah's bullshit.

"Yugi, I know you want to duel, but let me do this, okay?" Makoto requested.

"Makoto, are you sure?" Yugi asked.

"Much as I don't like him and what he's done, I still think Noah can be reasoned with." He frowned. "But if you beat him, it'd be like an honor to be defeated by the king of games. "If I beat him, that'll prove that anyone with a deck and a strong will and a heart can take his lying, cheating face DOWN!"

Byakuya snickered and then laughed out loud for the first time in what felt like years to laugh that much. He then composed himself and gave his usual calm and composed glare…at Noah. "Hear that, Noah? You're about to know the humiliation of being beaten by the 99%."

"I won't lose," Noah growled.

"Prove it," Makoto said, holding up the deck. "I've got Kaiba's best cards mixed with my own deck. 100% pure dragons. Kaiba would want it that way." He then realized how that sounded and looked at Yugi. "Er, sorry Yugi."

The Pharaoh smiled at him. "It's fine, Makoto. I know how much Kaiba inspires you. As long as you trust in your deck and believe in the heart of the cards, I know you can prevail over Noah."

"Thanks, Yugi. Oh, I mean, Pharaoh."

"Please, call me Yami," The Pharaoh said.

"Oh, uh, okay. Thanks, Yami."

"Well then, if the challenge has been decided, up we go," Noah said as the ground beneath Makoto's feat began to rise up. He and Noah now stood a good 100 feet in the air at least as the rest of the group looked up at him. He got a little vertigo from being up so high, but it faded quickly. This was no different from the duel with Ishizu. In fact, he'd been even higher up back then. But the rest of the circumstances were different. This wasn't a casual, normal, fun-time duel. This was a battle that Makoto had to win.

Makoto's determination was so solid, Nagito seemed to feel it with his sixth sense despite being in another part of the virtual world.

"What's wrong?" Chiaki asked him.

"I just…I feel like I'm missing a truly inspiring hope right now," Nagito said.

"Must be your imagination," Chiaki said, pushing open the door to the next security level. "Come on. We've only got a few more floors to clear."

Nagito nodded and followed her into the door.

Back in the part of the virtual world where Noah was, the spoiled little game master said to Makoto, "Given any consideration to your deck master, Makoto?"

"Yes. And it's my all-time favorite." He held the card to the sky. "I pick Alexandrite Dragon!"

The 2000 attack point, gem-encrusted monster appeared next to Makoto, standing tall.

"To make things fair, I'll let you go first," Noah said.

"Fine by me," Makoto said and drew the top card of his deck. "And I play Hunter Dragon!" The gray, thin, orange horned dragon appeared with 1700 attack points. "And next, I'll activate Alexandrite Dragon's deck master ability. By giving up 400 attack points, he gives any dragon type monster 400 attack points."

Gems on Alexandrite Dragon's body detached and encased themselves around Hunter Dragon. The gray dragon increased in power to 2100 attack points while the off field Alexandrite Dragon fell to 1600.

"Isn't that like Flame Swordsman, but for dragons?" Celeste asked.

"I dunno, the way Makoto makes it sound, it always has to be a 400-point tradeoff," Joey said. "Flame Swordsman could do any multiples of 100."

"A flat rate versus one you choose. There are pros and cons to both," Byakuya stated.

"I end my turn," Makoto said.

"This duel is such a farce," Noah said. "First, I activate the spell card Spring of Rebirth. Now, whenever a monster returns to a player's hand, I gain 500 life points. And next, I summon this monster, Fushi no Tori!" A monster coated in flames that looked like the bastard child of a Phoenix and a Peacock took to the field. It had 1200 attack points and 0 defense points.

"That thing isn't anywhere near strong enough to fight Makoto's Hunter Dragon," Tristan pointed out.

Yami looked at the battlefield intensely and then suddenly gasped. "Oh no!"

"What's the matter?" Joey asked.

"Makoto! Be careful!" Yami warned. He already knew what Noah's next move was, as did everyone else when Shinato itself floated onto the battlefield. With 3300 attack points to its name, that only meant bad things for Makoto.

"Your Hunter Dragon is as good as gone," Noah chuckled, "Watch as I waste it!"

With a finger beam, Shinato destroyed Hunter Dragon, dealing 1200 damage to Makoto's life points, bringing him down to 2800.

Noah chuckled. "And the fun's only beginning. For you see, whenever I damage my opponent, Shinato's deck master special ability kicks in. This allows me to gain life points equal to the damage my opponent just took.

Noah's life points grew to 5200.

"And that's not all, Fushi no Tori now attacks you directly."

The flaming bird charged into Makoto, knocking him over onto his back. Makoto hit the hard rock underneath him. He grunted as he rubbed his neck and his life points fell even further to 1600.

"And that's not all," Noah said. "Since Fushi no Tori dealt damage, I gain life points. And then I gain even more life points from Shinato's deck master ability."

Noah's life points jumped all the way up to 7600.

"And now, I place one card face-down onto the field. And, as I end my turn, Fushi no Tori returns to my hand. That means I gain even more life points." Noah's life points spurted up to 8100.

"But why? Monsters don't just return to the hand like that," Makoto stated.

"How shallow our knowledge seems to be," Noah chuckled. "And you call yourself a duelist. But since your mind is so feeble, I'll explain. When Maximillian Pegasus was designing the game of duel monsters, his travels brought him to the mystical orient. Here he learned of the legendary spirit monsters, beings with otherworldly powers. So, he based a series of cards on these beasts, giving them the ability to return to their owner's hand at the end of every turn."

"But that means he's getting 500 life points and all Makoto can do is stare down Shinato! This sucks!" Tristan exclaimed, throwing his head back and grabbing his hair.

"It's a cunning strategy to be sure, but there's a fatal flaw in it," Byakuya said.

"Huh? Fatal flaw?" Tristan asked.

Byakuya sighed. "Noah's deck master is in play," he pointed out. "All Makoto has to do is destroy it and it won't matter what Noah's life points are."

"Easier said than done," Joey said. "That thing has over 3300 attack points."

"Not exactly invincible," Celeste said, her pupils shrunk in to fill her eyes with her red irises. It made her look rather creepy. "Remember Noah's duel with Kaiba? There are ways to destroy a monster other than battle. How did you last this long in this tournament if you didn't consider that possibility?"

"I just…don't judge me!" Joey shot back.

Celeste only chuckled in amusement.

"Let's just hope Makoto has the right magic or trap card to win this," Mai said.

"I believe in Makoto," Yami said. "He won't give up that easily."

"Please! Spare me your thoughts of confidence. Makoto isn't fit to stand on this stage. You got all hyped up thinking you could fill Kaiba's shoes, but look where it's gotten you. Simply pathetic."

Komaru wasn't going to let Noah insult her big brother like that. It was time for her to show off their sibling bond. "Chin up, Makoto! You got this!" she cheered.

Noah found her words, but wind. "Please. I have more than 6000 more life points than him and it's only the second turn. The chances for a comeback are slim. You should just give up now."

"Sorry, but I don't give up. Not now, not ever. I draw!" Makoto pulled the top card off his deck. His hand trembled, but not because of fear. Awesome! He exclaimed. It's one of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes. Makoto could barely believe his eyes that the rare, over sought and completely unobtainable was currently in his hand. He shook off his fanboying to concentrate. I can't play it right now, Makoto thought, placing it in his hand. He looked at everything he had and finally hatched on an idea. Oh! Maybe!

"I set two cards face-down onto the field and one monster in defense mode," Makoto said as the three face-down holograms appeared.

"A decent move, and in response, I'll reveal my trap card, Solemn Wishes. For the remainder of the duel, whenever I draw a card, I gain 500 life points."

"Aw, come on!" Tristan shouted. "Like he needs any more life points."

"Calm down," Byakuya said. "Do you see Makoto getting upset?"

"No."

"Then cease your yammering and be quiet," Byakuya told him.

"My turn is over," Makoto said and looked at the field he'd set up. I sure hope this works.

"My move then," Noah said as he drew. "Since I've drawn a card, I gain 500 life points." His life points increased to 8600. "Not that it matters, as I'm afraid this duel is already over. I summon to the field the mighty Yaksha!" A blue, horned oni wielding two, magenta scimitars and with long black hair appeared. It had 1900 attack points and 1500 defense points. "And thanks to him, I get to return one spell or trap card on your side of the field back to your hand, even if it's face-down. Yaksha! Use your spirit breath and return the card on my right back to Makoto's hand."

Yaksha blew the card off the battlefield and Makoto took the card out of the spell/trap reader and put it in his hand.

"Now you have one less line of defense to protect you. Not that it will matter because I attack with Shinato!" Noah exclaimed. He blasted a finger beam at Makoto's hidden monster.

"Not so fast!" Makoto exclaimed. "I play a trap and it's one of Kaiba's favorites: Negate Attack!"

Shinato's finger beam went into a swirling vortex distorting the dimension.

"That means the battle phase is over and Yaksha returns to your hand at the end of your turn."

"Fine," Noah sighed, putting it back in his hand. "But this is only delaying the inevitable." Spring of Rebirth activated and Noah's life points ascended to 9100.

"My turn," Makoto said and drew the top card of his deck. He gasped when he saw what he drew. All right! I don't even have to summon Blue-Eyes! I can end the duel right now! "I activate the magic card, Fissure!" Makoto exclaimed as a giant crevice appeared on the ground where Makoto and Noah were dueling and started to suck Shinato in with tremendous force."

"What? No!"

"Game over, Noah!" Makoto exclaimed. "Your deck master is finished!"

"No! Not…yet!" Noah exclaimed. "Rrrrr, I activate Shinato's other deck master special ability." Noah suddenly separate from Shinato, who returned to the back lines of Noah's duel platform as Noah fell to the ground on his hands and knees, dirtying the right hand cuff of his shirt.

"Uh, what just happened?" Joey blinked.

Noah stood up. He smiled. "So close yet so far, Makoto. Once per duel, Shinato can return itself from the field to the deck master zone, at the cost that it can't be summoned again for the remainder of the duel."

"Aw, man! I thought he had that!" Tristan exclaimed.

"It's okay," Miho said. "Miho believes in Makoto."

"Indeed," Byakuya said, arms folded. "If Makoto couldn't accomplish even this much, I wouldn't have let him take Yugi's place to start with. And also, even I knew it couldn't be that easy."

"Oh good, it wasn't just me," Celeste said.

"But now that Shinato and Noah are separated, that means Makoto will probably have an easier time reasoning with him," Ibuki declared.

"Hey, yeah! Ibuki's right! Keep it going, Makoto! He's on your level now!" Komaru cheered.

"On his level?" Noah repeated in an interrogative tone with a smug smirk. "There are still more than 7000 life points separating us, just as the weak are separated from the strong."

However, Makoto had a cocky ass grin on his face, which annoyed Noah to no end.

"What? What are you smiling about?" Noah glared.

"You just pulled back your last line of defense. Looks like my bad luck of not being able to win the duel, just opened the door to your inevitable downfall. If Shinato can't be summoned again, then I'm about to put you in the same position you've had me in for the last two turns!"

"Huh? Hey, yeah! Noah doesn't have any monsters!"

"I said that Noah's strategy had a fatal flaw, didn't I?" Byakuya asked rhetorically. "Spirit monsters, though powerful must return to their owner's hand at the end of every turn. Noah's life points may be vast, but if he can't summon stronger monsters because they all keep going back to his hand."

"Ah, then he'll lose the duel!" Komaru exclaimed excitedly.

"Don't get too excited," Celeste said. "Noah probably knows that and wouldn't have devised this deck without a proper strategy in mind."

"Well then, let's see if he can keep it interesting," Byakuya said.

"My move!" Makoto exclaimed, drawing the top card of his deck. "I now reveal my face-down monster, Kaiser Seahorse!"

"Huh? But you said you were only going to use dragons," Noah said.

"I did say that, but every good deck needs the right support cards. And since I'm using Kaiba's deck, Kaiser Seahorse is a must, same with Lord of Dragons."

"But that means you lied," Noah said.

"I don't want to hear that from you!" Makoto yelled angrily, pointing at Noah, causing Noah to actually shrink back. "So I'm not using just dragons. Who cares? At least I'm not cheating and using other people's siblings as human shields!"

"Wh-whatever? Do you have a move to make?"

"As a matter of fact, I do!" Makoto exclaimed. "I sacrifice Kaiser Seahorse and use its special ability. If I'm sacrificing it to summon a monster with a light attribute with 7 stars or more, Kaiser Seahorse by itself can function as both sacrifices. This let's me summon Kaiba's best monster." Makoto took a deep breath. He was really going to say this. "I summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Blue-Eyes roared as it was summoned, flying high above Makoto's head. Makoto looked up momentarily in awe. He'd really done it. He'd really summoned the famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

He cleared his throat. "And since Blue-Eyes is a dragon, I can activate Alexandrite Dragon's deck master ability, making it even stronger."

Blue-Eyes gained some of Alexandrite Dragon's gemstone scales, increasing its attack power to 3400 and reducing Alexandrite Dragon to 1200, who was starting to look a little plain.

"Noah," Makoto spoke with grave calmness. "You have no monsters on the field and no cards face-down." He raised his arm slowly and pointed it at Noah forcefully. "That means I can attack you directly."

Noah gulped. This was gonna suck.

"Blue-Eyes! Attack Noah directly!"

"WHITE LIGHTNING!" Makoto and Komaru shouted together.

"H-hey, I'm the one dueling," Makoto stuttered, looking down at Komaru. She giggled.

Blue-Eyes obeyed his temporary master's command and charged a blast of energy in its mouth, unleashing it with extreme prejudice on Noah.

Noah screamed as his life points plummeted from 9100 down to only 5700. The impact was so tremendous, it actually tossed him off the dueling platform and towards the ground below.

"Ah! Noah!" Makoto exclaimed.

However, before Noah could make a really gross groundside pizza with extra blood and entrails, Shinato scooped him up and put him back on the dueling platform. Noah sighed with relief as Makoto wiped his brow.

"You okay?" Makoto asked.

"Hmph, no thanks to you," Noah glared.

With Blue-Eyes on the field and Noah having only Spring of Rebirth on his side of the field, the duel now stood 5700 for Noah to 1600 for Makoto.

"Atta boy, Makoto! That'll show 'em!" Komaru exclaimed.

"Yeah! Show that poser who's boss!" Ibuki cheered.

Yami looked up at Noah, lecturing him. "Noah, now do you see? By lording your strength over others, you underestimate their own strength. And for that reason, you will lose!" He exclaimed, pointing at Noah.

Noah snickered to himself, but it soon exploded into a full-blown cackle. "Save your speeches, Yugi. But, fine," Noah said, smiling in great amusement. He spoke unnervingly cheerfully and calmly. "You're all convinced this nobody in a green hoodie can beat me? ME!" he shouted. He glared. "Very well, then for every one of his turns that Makoto can't defeat me, I'll turn one of you to STONE. Starting now!"

Shinato blasted a beam of energy down.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ibuki exclaimed, getting hit directly. Her body turned to stone from the legs upward.

"Ibuki!" Komaru exclaimed. She turned to Noah, tears in her eyes. She too was now angry. "Change her back!" she sobbed. "Change her back right now!" she demanded.

"Ibuki!" Mai shook her stone shoulders. "Ibuki!"

Noah laughed. "Don't worry, Mai. Soon you'll all be joining her."

Despite this inhumane display of barbarism, Makoto didn't lose heart. "No. They won't," he said. "Because I'm going to end this duel before it gets that bad. Count on it!" He shouted, pointing at Noah, reaffirming his intentions. "I'm going to save everyone!"

"Makoto," Komaru sniffed.

Makoto looked down at the others. "Just place your hopes on me, everyone. I can beat him." He put on a serious look. "I'm not going to let him get away with this!" Makoto turned to face Noah and declared, "I place two cards face-down on the field and end my turn."

"Blah blah blah. My turn," Noah said and drew the top card of his deck. "And since I've drawn, Solemn Wishes activates." His life points increased to 6200. "Next, I activate the spell card Next World. Now I get to pick one of your monsters and if I have a monster in my hand that's the same level as it, I can automatically summon it without having to worry about sacrifices or summoning conditions. So now, feast your eyes on this monster: Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi!"

A dark-skinned man with his hair on fire and 2800 attack points hit the table.

"Heh," Joey smirked, thumbing his nose. "Looks like somebody didn't do their math homework."

"Joey, please don't jinx things," Celeste sighed.

"I now activate the spell card spiritual pressure! This boosts the attack points of all spirit monsters in play by half of their defense points. And since Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi has 2900 defense points, its attack is now 4250."

Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi's arms and shoulders became encased in fire as its attack points shot up to 4250, more than enough to destroy Blue-Eyes.

"Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi, attack! Fist of Flame!" Noah exclaimed. The spirit monster rushed towards Blue-Eyes and punched it in the throat, causing it to crash near Makoto and explode into shards of light. Makoto's life points dropped all the way to 750. Then, as a result of Shinato's deck master ability, Noah's life points increased by the same amount, giving him a grand total of 7050 once more.

"And now that it's the end of my turn," Noah stated. "Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi returns to my hand. And you know what that means. More life points, please!" Spring of Rebirth increased Noah's life points to 7550. Noah chuckled. "No matter how much damage you do to me, I'll find some way to repair it, while you sit there and squander with only a chunk of your life points remaining."

"My move," Makoto said, not letting Noah's taunts get to him. He looked at what was left of his hand. "I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode!" Makoto declared as he summoned the crystalline dragon with 1900 attack points and 1500 defense points. "And next, I activate Alexandrite Dragon's special ability one more time, increasing my monster's attack power to 2300."

Alexandrite dragon now only had 800 attack points left and was looking pretty yellow now that most of its gemstones were gone.

"And now, I attack directly. Luster Dragon, attack with Crystal Flame!"

Luster dragon unleashed a blueish white flame from its throat and burned Noah good for 2300 points of damage. Noah's life total was now 5250.

"Hmph, I still have plenty of life points," Noah said with a sigh. "And since your turn is now over, that means one of your friends down there gets turned to stone. And I'm feeling generous right now, so I'll let you pick."

"What?" Makoto gasped.

"You heard me. Pick someone to condemn to a life of being a statue."

"But I…" Makoto looked down at everyone. He couldn't possibly pick someone to turn to stone. No. He absolutely could not do it. It just wasn't in him to single someone out like that and condemn them to such a horrific fate. Noah grinned at this, enjoying the look of suffering on Makoto's face as he tried to figure out what to do.

"If Makoto won't choose, I volunteer!" Joey exclaimed.

"Joey, no!" Mai exclaimed, looking worried and terrified.

"Joey, don't!" Yami shouted.

"Joey, please!" Téa pleaded.

"No. It's fine," Joey said, looking up at Makoto. "Makoto ain't running away and I know he'll win. Makoto, choose me! I'm puttin' my life on the line for you to win."

Joey's own selflessness gave Makoto the courage he needed to break out of his suffering and distraught behavior. "You heard Joey, Noah. Turn him to stone."

"Grr, fine," Noah said and aimed at Joey. "Shinato, have at it."

Shinato rained down a bolt of lighting onto Joey to turn him to stone, but as the bolt drew near, Joey was suddenly pushed to the ground by someone else.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGH!"

Joey got up to see who had shoved him aside. He was horrified by the answer. "Mai, no!"

"Joey…" Mai said hoarsely as her whole body became petrified and turned to solid stone.

"Mai…" Joey's jaw hung open. However, he then shed a few tears, scrambled to his feet and shouted angrily. "Yo! Makoto! Waste that freak! He's gonna pay for that!" Tears started to fall from Joey's face. "It shouda be me." He shouted at the sky, chest out, fists clenched, eyes shut, "It shoulda been MEEEEEE!"

Celeste gazed at this turn of events, unsure how to process it. Her expression was completely blank devoid of both sorrow and joy. And yet, there was a part of her, buried deep that wouldn't shut up with an opinion. And that opinion was envy. Joey and Mai's close relationship, they'd had all of Duelist Kingdom to form it. If Celeste had pushed Joey out of the way…would he have shed those same tears for her.

Celeste, realizing where this line of thought was taking her, slapped her cheeks. Wh-what do I care? I don't care!

She cared immensely.

Back up on the dueling platforms, Noah had some smug words for Mai's sacrifice. "Ha! How noble. But a waste. You're all going to be stone eventually. Mai only delayed your inevitable—"

"Shut up, Noah!" Makoto shouted. "I've just about had it with your disregard for other people! Play the game and keep your opinions to yourself! And when I beat you, you're going to owe everyone a big fat apology."

"Hmph, the only apology will be from you, begging for my mercy when you lose," Noah said and drew the top card of his deck. Solemn Wishes activated and brought his life points up to 5750. "Ah, perfect." He slapped a card onto the card reader. "I summon Inaba White Rabbit!" A rabbit holding a strange rocket-powered device appeared. It had 700 attack points.

"A weak monster, but why?" Duke wondered aloud.

"It must have some kind of ability that means bad news for Makoto," Tristan said.

"All too true," Noah stated. "For you see, Inaba White Rabbit can attack directly!"

Shocked faces went all around the spectators. Even Byakuya sucked in a breath.

"Go, my white rabbit! Attack!"

Inaba White Rabbit pumped the stick it was holding into the base of the device and then zoomed all around before finally striking Makoto right in the back and knocking him to the ground, face first.

Makoto pushed up off the ground, coughing the dirt out of his teeth as his life points fell to only 50.

"And since that's the end of my turn," Noah said. "Inaba White Rabbit returns to my hand. That means, next turn, you lose. But for now, I'll take those life points from Shinato and Spring of Rebirth."

Noah's life points readjusted to 6950.

Makoto got up off his knees. He staggered, but he remained standing.

Noah gave Makoto a big, creepy, triumphant grin. "You should give up now. You have only one card in your hand and only a mere 50 life points. I, meanwhile, have all the cards I need to defeat you."

Makoto panted and then looked at Noah with a serious look. "All the cards needed to defeat me? Is that right? Then I suppose now's a perfect time to play this. Reveal face-down card!"

All this time, one of Makoto's face-down cards had been a bluff. It was revealed to be the spell card Card Destruction. "Now we have to discard out whole hands and draw the same number of cards," Makoto said.

"What? No! My monsters!" Noah exclaimed.

"I figured if I kept my bluff up long enough, you'd eventually be holding a lot of good cards with the way spirit monsters work, so I found a way to take them all out in one fell swoop!" Makoto declared.

Noah sent his full hand of six cards to the graveyard and then drew six more. It was nowhere near as useful as the cards he'd previously had.

"Of course, since you drew more cards, that means your life points increase again."

Noah's life points were now 7450.

"But they won't be that high for long! I summon the card I just drew. Go, Spear Dragon!"

Makoto summoned another 1900 attack point dragon.

"And I'll activate Alexandrite Dragon's special ability yet again, boosting its attack power even further."

Now, only Alexandrite dragon's head and neck had gems on them and the rest of its body was just a shabby yellow. It also only had 400 attack points remaining. But thanks to that, Spear Dragon had 2300 attack points, same as Luster Dragon.

"I hope this hurts!" Makoto exclaimed. "Spear Dragon! Luster Dragon! Attack Noah's life points directly!"

Spear Dragon's wind blast combined itself with Luster Dragon's crystal flame and the two attacks combined in a spiral twister of crystal wind on fire that blasted towards the disgruntled son of Gozaboro. Noah's life points took a nose dive as he fell to the ground from the blast. He slid on the ground, his head tipping over the side of the platform. However, he was able to get back up no problem. He held his shoulder as his life points were reduced all the way down to 2850.

"Yeah! Way to go Makoto! You've practically got him!" Komaru cheered.

"I've heard just enough out of you, little girl," Noah growled, fed up with Komaru's cheering.

Makoto watched in horror as the next person to be turned to stone was his own little sister. The world seemed to fall silent, as the only thing Makoto could see and hear was his little sister reaching up towards him. "Ma…koto…" arms raised, Komaru's body turned to stone, eyes reflecting her last seconds of fear.

"KOMARU!" Makoto shouted and just stared at the statue that was now his sister. His promise to his parents flashed into his mind. He'd failed. He was charged to protect Komaru and he failed.

"Awwww, what's the matter?" Noah asked, finding all of this highly amusing. "Maybe if you were a better duelist, you'd still have a sister right now."

"You…" Makoto growled, fists clenched, "You…BASTARD!" Makoto was now the angriest and least forgiving he'd ever been in his entire life. "Sibling bonds really mean nothing to you, do they? All that talk about Mokuba being your brother. You don't care about anyone, but yourself, do you? He was just a pawn for your head games with Kaiba. "Komaru..." he choked up and then shouted through the tears. "Komaru's my precious little sister!" Makoto shouted, tears of rage falling. "And how dare you do that to her!"

"Hmph, shout all you want. Her fate has already come to pass and it's my turn now. If you want to blame anyone, blame yourself for being such a worthless big brother."

If Makoto could, he would've run over to Noah and punched him in the face. But, given there was 25 feet across and a 100 foot drop between him and his opponent, he restrained himself.

As a result of attacking, Spear Dragon was now in defense mode and that was just the kind of situation Noah needed to be prepared for a deadly counterattack. First, he drew, raising his life points to 3350 "I summon to the field, the spirit monster Tsukuyomi!" A blue-haired, tattooed, mirror carrying spellcaster with 1100 attack points. "And when she's summoned to the field, I can switch any monster on the field to face-down defense position. And I choose Luster Dragon!" Noah declared, pointing to it. Luster Dragon was replaced with a face-down hologram.

"That's not good," Tristan gulped.

"Next, I remove Yaksha from my graveyard in order to summon this powerful monster: Yamato-no-Kami!" A monster with pinkish skin, bulky arms, wild and crazy black hair spiking upwards like a paintbrush, and six, thick bone-like spines growing out of its back appeared.

"Two monsters?" Joey gulped, taking half a step back.

"Relax, they gotta go back to Noah's hand, remember?" Tristan asked. "Makoto will turn this around with a big power attack next turn, I just know it."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Noah said, "But I'm activating the equip spell Mirror of Yata onto Yamato-no-Okami. That way, Tsukuyomi will return to my hand and he will not."

"Thanks for jinxing it, Tristan," Joey said.

"Hey, screw you, man!"

"Will both of you shut up? Makoto has enough to worry about without you two morons panicking."

"My sentiments exactly," Byakuya said, rolling his eyes at Tristan and Joey's behavior.

"And now, my monsters attack!" Noah shouted. Tsukuyomi darted towards the 0 defense point Spear Dragon, annihilating it. And then Yamato-no-Okami attacked Makoto's other monster. And then, its spines shot out and destroyed Makoto's remaining face-down.

"No, my face-down!" Makoto exclaimed.

"HmmHmmHmm," Noah chuckled, "Whenever Yamato-no-Okami destroys a monster, it can destroy one spell or trap card on the field." He laughed in celebration of his practically guaranteed victory. "And here we are back at square one with me, as Yugi put it, lording my strength over you. Face it, you may have Seto Kaiba's deck, but you don't have anywhere close to his skill." Noah sighed in content. "You couldn't beat me and you never will. You have no cards in your hand and nothing on the field. I'd say it's game over. Now, Tsukuyomi returns to my hand and my turn is over." Noah's life points increased to 4350. "Take your last pathetic turn, Makoto. I'm eager to finish our little game."

Makoto took a deep breath. He couldn't come at Noah angry. He had lost sight of his goal. Although he hated Noah, loathed him with every fiber of his being, he still wanted to help him. That fact hadn't changed. As his anger cooled off, Makoto said, "Well, you're right about one thing. I don't have Kaiba's skill. However," Makoto reached for his deck, "I don't need even half his skill, to beat someone like you. Not as long as I've got faith in the heart of the cards!"

With one determined draw, Makoto ripped the top card off of his deck and looked at it. This should do it! "I activate Card of Sanctity! Now we both have to draw cards until we're holding six cards!"

"Hmph, very well. That means I get 500 more life points." Noah's life points increased to 4850.

Makoto looked at the cards in his hand. Yup. This would do it. "First, I activate Monster Reborn. This lets me bring back the Blue Eyes White Dragon you destroyed."

"Oh? That's a powerful monster, Makoto. Are you going to attack with it? Even if you do, you still won't win the duel, and I'll turn someone else to stone. Oh, I know. How about Tristan?"

"Noah, no!" Miho exclaimed, standing in front of him. "Anyone, but Tristan!"

"This doesn't concern you, Miho," Noah stated. "This is the price Makoto pays for thinking he could ever beat me."

Miho could see the darkness in Noah's eyes. He'd changed. He wasn't the friendly, happy-go-lucky Noah she'd met when she'd arrived here. She started to cry.

Tristan put a hand on her shoulder. "It's gonna be all right, Miho. I know Makoto's gonna keep fighting even if I turn to stone."

"Nobody's turning anybody to stone! This duel is over!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Over? Your monster only has 3000 attack points. You can't defeat me with it alone."

Makoto held up the other 5 cards in his hand. "I'm far from done, Noah." He took a deep breath and shouted. "I activate Polymerization!"

Noah's blood ran cold. Polymerization with a Blue-Eyes already on the field. Oh this could not end well.

Makoto slapped the others two Blue-Eyes onto the field. "By combining the Blue-Eyes on my field, with the two in my hand, I can summon one of the most powerful monsters in all of duel monsters. I call on Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

All three Blue-Eyes White Dragons combined into a swirling dimensional distortion and what emerged was a gigantic three-headed monstrosity of insurmountable power. It had 4500 attack points and 3800 defense points. It roared loudly and proudly.

"Big deal. Even if it could attack this turn, you would only damage me for 2300 life points, which isn't even half of what you need to defeat me."

"Noah," Makoto said, holding up the last two cards in his hand, "I'm still holding two more cards. First, I activate Quick Attack. So this turn, Blue-Eyes CAN attack. Next, I'm activating Alexandrite Dragon's deck master special ability, but when it gives up its last 400 attack points, my monster actually gains 2000 attack points at the cost that that monster becomes my new deck master."

Alexandrite dragon disappeared and coated Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in a coating of Alexandrite gemstones. If Kaiba could see his mighty monster now, he would've been pleased rather than offended. After all, who wouldn't want to see Blue-Eyes decked out in armor? Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon now had 6,500 attack points.

"All right, it still doesn't matter. You're only going to deal 4300 points of damage. I can still take it."

"Oh yeah, can you take this?" Makoto asked, flipping around the last card in his hand: Megamorph.

Noah's eyes trembled. Makoto had only fifty life points. "N-no. Th-there must be something I can do! It can't end like this!"

"Nobody messes with my sister," Makoto spoke with spiteful calmness as he activated the spell card. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon then grew to kaiju-level size as its attack points surged all the way up to 13,000 points.

"This duel," Makoto said, drawing his arm back, "Is over! Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Neutron Blast!"

Blue-Eyes Roared as lightning crackled in each of its mouths.

"No. No! No! No! Shinato! Help!"

It didn't matter. Even if Shinato took the field, even if it combined its attack power with Yamato-no-Kami, Makoto had more than enough attack power to wipe them both out and then some.

BOOM!

The thunderous blast of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's attack shook the entire battlefield, shattering Noah's platform in a pillar of destructive lightning, causing him to freefall head first towards the ground.

His life points fell along with his altitude all the way to 0.

"Noah!" Makoto exclaimed. He signaled Blue-Eyes forward and leapt off his own platform, grabbing onto Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's tail and flying forward on it like a rope ladder so fast that he was able to scoop Noah out of the air midfall.

Blue-Eyes roared as it helped Makoto to the ground and Makoto put Noah down. With one last, proud roar, Blue-Eyes shot a blast of lightning into the sky and rained down a purifying light.

As it began to disappear, Noah's victims began to become human again. And, as Kaiba came to his senses, the first thing he saw was a kaiju-sized Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon fading out of existence. And, when it disappeared, what remained behind it was a smiling Makoto Naegi with a duel disk on his arm and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon still on the card reader. Noah lay on the ground behind him, out cold. Words need not be said. He understood.

Huh. Well this is a new feeling, pride in someone else, Kaiba thought.

"Seto!" Kaiba barely registered that Mokuba was giving him a hug. "Is it over?" Mokuba asked.

"You bet it's over!" Joey exclaimed. "Makoto just smoked Noah like salmon over a campfire!"

"So I noticed," Kaiba said, standing up and ruffled Mokuba's hair. He went to go talk to Makoto, but the younger teen was mentally preoccupied as Komaru ceased being a statue.

"Komaru!" Makoto ran over to his sister and threw his arms around her. "I'm so sorry!"

"It…it's okay, Makoto," Komaru said, hugging him back. "I'm fine. You won and I'm fine. That's what matters."

The two siblings stood there, basking in the relief of their reunion. And while they did, Joey had a reunion of his own.

"Mai, you all right?" Joey asked as she stumbled, his arm bracing her stomach.

"Ungh," Mai groaned.

"Mai, speak to me!" Joey exclaimed.

"Joey?" Mai groaned. "What happened?"

"Makoto won. Noah's toast," Joey said.

"He did. All right, Makoto. Way to—" Mai turned to give Makoto a big huge congratulation as she saw him hugging Komaru. "Did she…?"

"It was rather horrific. I'd never seen Makoto get so mad," Celeste informed her.

"He's got a helluva hidden temper," Joey said. "Oh, and Mai."

"Hmm?"

"Don't do that again. I don't need ya ta sacrifice yourself for me like that. When a man says he's gonna do somethin', he means it. You mean too much to me to have me worrying about you like that, okay?"

Mai smiled touched. "Okay, Joey. I get it."

Joey smiled back. There was a weird feeling in the air, but it was quickly cut short by Ibuki.

"Joey!" She exclaimed, jumping on his back.

"Gah! Ibuki! Get down!"

"But I don't wanna!" She exclaimed as Joey danced around, trying to fling her off. "Come oooooon! Ibuki wants to know what happened."

As Ibuki hung onto Joey like some sort of punk rocker monkey, Kaiba approached Makoto, finding the mood to have settled on his and Komaru's reunion. When he drew close, Komaru gasped. Makoto, hearing her, picked his head up and turned around. He gasped too, surprised by Kaiba's presence. He didn't even hear the world champion approach.

"So, you used my deck to defeat, Noah," Kaiba said.

Makoto sweated, stuttering, "It...it was really difficult, but I managed to pull it off in the end."

"He almost lost," Celeste said. "But, thanks to the luck of the draw and Card of Sanctity, he was able to put Noah in his place."

"Won by the skin of your teeth, hmm?" Kaiba asked.

"Um, well…" Makoto sweated.

However, he, Komaru, and especially Yugi's friends where surprised when Kaiba reached down ruffled Makoto's hair. "Good job, Naegi. It takes a true duelist to summon Blue-Eyes like that in a pinch." He then turned away from the now internally squealing, eyes wide with cheer Makoto, towards the fallen Noah, who was slowly starting to come to. "Noah!" He barked. "Naegi beat you fair and square, now let us out of here!"

Kaiba's words shook Makoto from his fanboying as he remembered he still had a job to do. He'd beaten Noah in a duel. Now he had to save him from himself. Makoto approached Noah.

"This isn't how it was supposed to happen at all," Noah whimpered.

"Noah," Makoto said. "It's okay. I get it. You've been all alone for six years. Anyone would go insane. Miho's only been here for two and it hurt her mind as well.

He's right, Noah thought. I have been stuck in this digital wasteland for too long. Maybe the reason I despise Yugi, Makoto and their friends so much is because they share a bond that I never experienced. So I tried to eliminate their friendship to show them what it's like to be me. But they'll never understand. "No one will," he spoke aloud. "My life was stolen." After the accident, my brain was digitized into one of my father's super computers, only to be forgotten about. He promised me everything and left me with nothing. "It's not fair!" Noah whined. "I deserve to be the president of Kaiba Corp and I would be if Seto hadn't robbed me of my life! And I want it back!"

"Noah, enough already!" Makoto exclaimed. "Please, it really doesn't have to be this way. Instead of lashing out, let us help you. And Miho's your friend, isn't she?"

Noah calmed down and went back to staring at the ground. "Miho."

"Noah, please let Makoto help you."

"What's the point? There's no way we can escape to the real world like this. We're just minds trapped here."

"That doesn't matter! It doesn't matter if you're just a cybernetic mind or a human or something else! Friendship means more than that!"

Hearing something so sickeningly sweet, part of Kaiba regretted giving Makoto that head pat.

"You don't have to be alone, Noah. You can have friends." He got down on one knee. "Come on, take my hand."

"Really, Makoto?" Noah asked.

"Yes, really," Makoto said with a smile.

"You…" Noah looked touched by Makoto's gesture, only for a creepy grin to cover his face as he exclaimed, "You fool!" Noah darted towards Makoto and tried to enter his body chest first. However, before he could even get his hands in through the second knuckle, a stinging pain ran through his cheek and he was sent tumbling to the ground. Noah did his best to sit up to see Kaiba standing by Makoto, fist still clenched.

"Pull that again and I'll hit you even harder, Noah!" Kaiba shouted. "Naegi doesn't have to show you the kindness he is. As far as I'm concerned, you should just rot here along with your mind. KaibaCorp is mine and nothing is going to change that, you got me?" He asked, pointing at Noah.

"Noah, please. Let us out of here. We all want to go home. We have a tournament to finish too."

However, even with a swollen cheek, Noah continued to laugh from the ground. "Let you out of here? Do you even know where you are?"

"In a virtual world," Makoto said. "Wait! You mean…"

"Exactly!" Noah exclaimed. "You aren't here in reality at all. You're just connected to highly advanced virtualization pods that make your minds and your senses feel and experience everything your virtual bodies are. It's a level of technology practically unheard of until recently."

"That would explain how the Big Five are able to take the forms of monsters," Byakuya said. "You simply alter the programming of the avatar you're using. And since we're all connected, all you would have to do is delete the data of one avatar and switch it with another."

"That's messed up," Joey said.

"No wonder everything seems so real!" Ibuki exclaimed. "Our minds are being tricked into feeling and seeing things that aren't really there. But wait! That means Terry exist! Noooooooooo!"

Even Noah had no reaction to Ibuki's strange tangents.

However, someone had a reaction to the situation. Thick, smoky, purple clouds rolled in as a voice echoed, "You have failed me for the last time, Noah!"

Ibuki yelped. "Is that God?"

Kaiba, however, knew exactly what that voice was and he was not happy. "That voice! It can't be!"

Everyone looked up at the sky as Noah stood up, proclaiming, "Father, no! Give me another chance!"

"Too late for that!" Gozaboro's voice echoed.

"What's going on?" Yami wondered.

He was answered by the image of Gozaboro Kaiba floating amidst the purple clouds.

"Gozaboro!" Mokuba shouted.

"Wait! Not yet!" Noah shouted. "Father! I need time!"

"More time?!" Gozaboro shouted, growling. "You've had more than enough time to prove yourself! It's time for me to finish things off now! And that's why I digitized my own mind when Seto disgraced me by taking over my company. I wanted revenge! Now the time has come!"

"Sooooo, that's not god?" Ibuki asked. Joey bopped her on the head. "Ow," she said, rubbing it.

"Gozaboro Kaiba," Byakuya stated. "It has been too long."

"Hmm, and who are you? I feel like we've met."

"Just once," Byakuya said. "You probably don't remember me at all. Back then, I was nobody, but today, I stand before you as the heir to the Togami family. My name is Byakuya Togami."

"I see. So a new Togami has been chosen. How interesting, when I escape to the real world, I'll be sure to be in touch."

"Don't you mean if you can escape," Byakuya said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gozaboro asked.

"You want to take on Kaiba, right?" Byakuya asked. "Good luck with that. Noah only beat him by cheating and Makoto just defeated him in only six turns. What makes you think you stand a chance against an elite duelist?"

"Togami's got a point. You've got as much chance at beating me as you did when I took over the company."

"Duel Seto? Take over his body?" Gozaboro laughed.

"Sorry, I missed the joke," Kaiba said sarcastically.

"I have no interest in your body anymore, Seto. Observe."

Gozaboro made the oval image of a satellite in space appear.

"What is that?" Komaru asked.

"This is one of the many satellites KaibaCorp put into orbit when I was still in charge," Gozaboro explained.

"And what're ya gonna do with dat?" Joey asked.

Gozaboro laughed menacingly. "These satellites can beam signals to every computer system on Earth and connect them back to the underwater base that holds my super computer. No one on Earth will escape me. I'll have access to every home on the planet." He laughed once more.

"Please!" Noah scoffed. "That has to be the most ridiculous plan I've ever heard."

Gozaboro glanced at him. "I'm surprised you feel that way, Noah. After all, the idea came from you. Don't you remember, my son?"

Noah quickly realized that he had once suggested this very idea to his father to increase the power of this virtual world. "No!" He exclaimed, realizing that Gozaboro was about to use his idea for a power grab.

"And so, Seto, as you can see I'm no longer interested in taking control of your body in order to regain KaibaCorp. I've set my sights on bigger things," Gozaboro said.

"Lunatic," Kaiba said, furrowing his brow.

"You can believe whatever you want about me, Seto. Once my plan works, I'll be the most powerful being on the planet once again. And no one on Earth will be able to stop me this time! Seto! Noah! This is about so much more than acquiring one company. For when I'm finished, everyone on Earth will become virtual. I plan to digitize the entire world and I will reign as the cyber ruler of the new planet Earth."

"It seems Noah and Miho are not the only ones who have gone insane from their isolation. The old Gozaboro Kaiba would've never dreamt up a plan so ludicrous."

"Oh? You have something to say, Togami boy?"

"No. Merely a question. You keep calling what happened to Noah an accident, but be honest, was it really an accident?"

"Byakuya!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Are you insinuating I had Noah suffer a tragic injury on purpose just to put all of my concentration on allowing Seto to succeed me as head of KaibaCorp."

"That's precisely what I'm suggesting," Byakuya said calmly.

"That's disgusting," Gozaboro stated. "Noah was my son. Even if he was a spoiled brat unworthy of KaibaCorp, I never wanted to actually get rid of him. I will say that the accident was convenient. I got one troublemaker out of my head and brought in a worthy heir to the company."

"Troublemaker?" Noah's heart sank.

"Look, pops," Kaiba said, disrespecting the hell out of his stepfather. "I don't care what your scheming. You're going to let us out of here or I'm going to make you!"

"Seto, you cannot possibly stop me now. And now, I bid you and everyone else adieu. When I see you again, it will be as the dictator of a new, virtual planet Earth." The purple clouds rescinded as Gozaboro's laughter cackled in the distance.

"Get back here!" Kaiba shouted, but Gozaboro was retreating fast. He then simply growled and gnashed his teeth.

"What do we do now?" Komaru whimpered.

"We stop him, that's what!" Mai exclaimed.

"Easier said than done. The only way to stop him now would be from outside the virtual world."

"Noah, please help us escape," Makoto said.

"And why would I do that?" Noah asked.

Makoto approached Noah and put a hand on his shoulder. "Because this is a chance to prove that you're still a good person. I know everything you did isn't your fault. It was all Gozaboro. Please, Noah. I believe there's still good in you."

"Miho does too. Please, Noah. Please help," Miho pleaded.

"Miho," Noah was once again reminded of the only human contact he'd had until the Big Five and Gozaboro showed up. "All right," Noah said with determined eyes. "Follow me. I'll get all of us out of here."

"Oh, thank you, Noah!" Miho exclaimed, hugging him.

"H-hey, there, easy! I still don't trust that little freak," Tristan said, grabbing Miho's shoulder.

It's time we got out of here and back to Battle City, Yugi thought. I'm worried about what Marik's been up to as well. I hope our friends on the blimp are still okay.

Noah led Yugi, Kaiba, Makoto and the others to a remote console to try and have them all exit the program. As he messed around in the system, Gundham, Chihiro, Serenity and Mahiru were all on the move to hunt down Marik, who had begun battling a series of self-defense robots, created by Noah and Gozaboro to protect the base.

But, most importantly, far away from the other virtual group, Chiaki and Nagito were just about finished with their ascension up the tower to rescue Hajime. As they stood in front of a door with a big 50 on it, Chiaki stood hunched over, panting.

"You all right?" Nagito asked her.

Chiaki held up her hand with a single finger extended. This was more exercise in one day than she sometimes got in a week. With a deep breath, she stood upright. "I'm good now."

"Well, get ready," Nagito said and looked at the door in front of them. "This is the top floor. Hajime, if he's still rescuable, is right behind this door."

"We'll rescue him!" Chiaki exclaimed. She refused to accept otherwise.

Nagito sighed. "Okay then." He swiped the key card the pair had gotten from the previous floor's challenge. They entered to find Hajime inside some kind of pod with a transparent glass roof. The room was only as large as four classrooms put together and Hajime was at the far end. Several wires and pipes were laid across the floor, all connecting to the pod Hajime was in. The room was dark blue and the lightning was only just enough to not be irritating on the eyes.

"Hajime!" Chiaki ran towards her friend at top speed.

Nagito gasped. "Chiaki, hold on a second!"

Too late, Chiaki tripped a security alarm that made all the lights in the room turn red. A solid glass screen then slammed down, separating Chiaki from Nagito room-wide. In front of Chiaki, a new, virtual being appeared. It took the form of a humanoid robot with a dulled claw for one hand and a duel disk for another.

"Intruder detected," It spoke in an automated, but feminine voice. "Initiating duel monsters self-defense protocols. Please choose a deck and a deck master. Desynchronization will initiate when opponent is defeated."

"Desynchronization?" Nagito asked.

"I think it means if I lose, we'll both be ejected from the virtual world. But, I won't lose," Chiaki said, activating her duel disk and readying her deck. "Hajime needs me, and I won't let him down!"

Simultaneously, as Chiaki geared up to duel the last line of defense between her and Hajime's body, Gundham's group came to an intersecting hallway. It was shaped like a plus. There were four directions to go in, three new ones and the one that they had just come from.

"What do we do?" Serenity asked.

"We have no choice," Gundham said. "We must split our party. Though we separate our physical forms, our astral bonds will see us through to the day's end. Let us each take a path and one of us will guard the way we came." Gundham growled. "I shall take Fell Dragon's head! Should you encounter him, scream and run!"

"I hope we can find our friends," Chihiro said.

"They've got to be around here somewhere," Mahiru said, holding up her camera. "I'm going to photograph my path for anything that looks interesting."

"You do that," Gundham stated. "Now then, let us initiate Plus Formation Spread Strike!" His companions looked at him oddly. Gundham sighed. "Split up," he said calmly.

Chihiro went straight ahead, Mahiru went left, Gundham went right and Serenity returned to the entrance. As Gundham dashed through the halls, he felt a great power nearby. Following his instincts, he came face to face with none other than Marik himself, the fiendish wielder of the Millennium Rod, grinning and laughing at him.

"So, you couldn't stand to stay still either," Marik said.

"Marik! Since the Master of Ceremony is not here to stop me, I shall defeat you here and now under my own rules!"

Marik laughed at Gundham. "And what can you do to the wielder of a Millennium Item like me? I'm far more powerful than anything you could possibly imagine."

Gundham released his battle aura, his scarf flapping above his head. "I shall release my full power to take you down, Fell Dragon! Today, you face the wrath of GUNDHAM TANAKA! SUPREME OVERLORD OF ICE!"

Marik stuck out his tongue, laughing maniacally. "You do so amuse me, shall we play a game, Gundham?"

"You're challenging me to a shadow game?" Gundham asked. "I hope you know that in the shadows are where a hellspawn like me thrives."

"Your delusions are as entertaining as your bravado. But seeing as how we're already fated to battle, I am certainly intrigued by the challenge you will provide."

In the hall, the world around Gundham and Marik started to distort, bringing them to the shadow realm.

"We shall battle using only the magic we can conjure," Marik said. "But," he chuckled. "You seem to be un-equipped. Let's see how long you'll last," Marik said, holding up the Millennium Rod, its eye flashing as a warning.

"That's where you're wrong," Gundham said with a self-satisfied smirk. "For I am always equipped for battle. I do not fight with spells. I merely know a bit of alchemy. But as far as my astral power is concerned, there is no greater demon summoner than I! Now, come my Four Dark Devas of Destruction! San-D! Jum-P! Maga-Z! Cham-P! I summon thee now!"

In an instant there was a flash of silver, gold, crimson and black flashed from Gundham's cape, emerging and growing out as big as Gundham. Marik expected four hamsters to be crouched on the ground failing to look fierce, but instead was greeted by four hellspawn creatures he could not begin to recognize.

"Where are you hamsters?" Marik asked.

"For all your power, you fail to pay attention, Fell Dragon! Do you not recognize the four dark devas of destruction? Ah, but of course. You have only ever seen them in their sleeping state. This is their TRUE FORM!"

On all fours, as big as a wolf, a pure-silver, nine-tailed, sharp furred, a fox stood growling all the way to Gundham's right and Marik's left. It had nothing, but fangs for teeth and its eyes were adorned with tattoos shaped like the sun. "This is the Supernova Silver Fox, San-D! Her fangs are as deadly as the great flame she spews!"

To San-D's left flapped a large, demonic looking golden bird. It had horns like a demon atop its head and glowing red eyes. Its feathers all had white tips and its beak was crooked like an eagle's. "Mirage Golden Hawk Jum-P can pick up and throw whole cars with his mighty talons and he can fade from sight like a river in the desert."

Next to Jum-P was a red elephant, half the size of a normal one, encased in metal body armor with spikes protruding everywhere. It trumpeting sounded like an elephant's trumpet had been put through an autotuner, translated into German sounding gibberish and autotuned again. "Meet once more Crimson Steel Elephant, Maga-Z! He is a territorial soul with a violent temper! I believe the thoughtful one refers to him as a…tank to my summons."

And finally, on all fours next to Maga-Z was a dragon resembling the duel monster Blackland Fire Dragon, but it was all black, just with orange claws, purple wings and purple spine frills. "And finally, the greatest of all the Dark Devas of Destruction: INVADING BLACK DRAGON CHAM-P! Together with my astral abilities, the four of us shall lay waste to you, Fell Dragon! Prepare to taste the wrath of GUNDHAM TANAKA! For the heart of the Dark Queen, I SHALL NOT FAIL!"

Marik laughed, amused at first, but maniacally soon after. "Well, well, well, this will be entertaining indeed. Crushing you will truly be a good time."

"A good time? Nay, Fell Dragon. With my rage at its peak and the Four Dark Devas of Destruction's true forms released," Gundham said as his astral power made the room tremble, "You're about to have a bad time!" He exclaimed with glee.

As Chiaki stood against the duel robot to save Hajime and Gundham stood against Marik, squaring off in a shadow game like no one had ever played before, all four exclaimed the same thing at the exact same time.

"LET'S DUEL!"

(A/N: HYYYYYYYYYYYPE! Oh, like I could've really ended this chapter any other way. Also, holy crap, I started this chapter at 11am, it is now 7pm. Jesus Christ. (deep breath) I'm gonna be honest, I really didn't know how to end this chapter after Makoto beat Noah, so I just kept extending it until I found a proper spot to stop.

And before anyone wonders: NO! Chiaki's duel against the duel computer is not the last duel we will get this arc. There are still two more chapters left to conclude this arc. And no, Marik Vs Gundham in a shadow game isn't the climax either. As we near the end of this arc, I can only say this: get ready for a wild ride!

On the subject of Makoto Vs Noah. Holy crap, overkill much, Makoto? Then again, Noah did hurt his sister. Still, Beware the Nice Ones, much? Also, show of hands, who really thought it was cute when Kaiba gave Makoto that head pat?

When next we return, The Supreme Overlord of Ice and the Fell Dragon square off and Chiaki will fight the most important duel of her life. Oh…and I guess other stuff happens too…heh…

But! Until then, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)