Dueling Trigger Finger

by draconichero21

Worlds collide as a twisted tale interlocking the fates of both universes begins with the retelling of Battle City, but will cover the wide expanse of the plot of both series. Rated M due to profanity, Junko, sexual themes, Junko, murder, Junko, nightmarish imagery, and did I mention Junko?

56. Chaos in the Colosseum

(A/N: Welp, here we go, my attempt at being funny. I'm probably not as funny as I think I am. Oh well. I needed a break from the actual duel planning anyway. Time to take a look at how the so-called pros did it. Fun fact: I've done duels longer than this showdown between Yugi and Kaiba, turn wise, and somehow this took up SIX! FUCKING! EPISODES! Seriously, go back and read Chiaki Vs Kaiba, or Makoto Vs Yugi or Celeste Vs Joey and let me know if the reading takes you TWO OR THREE FULL HOURS to finish. Hell, let me know if THIS chapter even takes that long. (sigh) Anime gonna anime. Making fun of it should be a blast.

Side note: For those of you that have never watched the dub of Yu-gi-oh and are only familiar with the subs, well, here's your prime chance to see how goofy it is, since I'll be ripping most of Kaiba and Yugi's dialogue directly from there. Additionally, almost all of Kaiba and Yugi's internal monologues have been cut since this chapter is more about observing their actions through the eyes of the spectators than reliving some old nostalgia purely for its own sake. Here we go!)

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Kaiba spent most of his hour in preparation for his duel with Yugi standing on the dueling arena with only Roland for company. He had already set his deck to take Yugi down during the Battle Royale. Modification wasn't necessary. Yugi, who had intended on dueling Marik now had to reconstruct his deck slightly in order to duel Kaiba.

Little by little though, the spectators began to arrive. First it was Hajime, Chiaki and all of the other students from Hope's Peak. And were those…lawn…chairs?

"What are you dweebs doing?" Kaiba asked them.

"Well since we're in a stationary stadium rather than on a moving blimp, I thought we could sit down. And since there Hajime said there weren't any seats up here, we got our own from the supply closet on the blimp."

Chiaki then unzipped her kitty bag and got out popcorn, candy corn, caramel corn, licorice, chips, cola, mochi, chocolate covered nuts, pretty much an entire assortment of snacks one would normally engorge on at a movie theater.

"I'd better not see any crumbs!" Kaiba exclaimed, even though he had every intention of blowing up the island once the tournament was over.

Chiaki gave Kaiba her puffy face as she opened a bag of Doritos. "I'll clean up."

Makoto and Komaru took their own seats on the opposite side of the stadium. Even though some of the snacks they'd shared with Chiaki's group, they still wanted to be at the center of the action and Chiaki and the others had already taken the best spots on one side of the colosseum.

Byakuya showed up next, leaning against the guard rail on Chiaki's group's side, but having no intention of getting cushy with any of them.

Celeste stood closer to the elevator. No doubt Yugi and his friends, when they showed up, would stand nearby to cheer them on. And she had lost that bet with Yugi during their duel, so here she was, forced to take sides.

Espa Roba and his brothers showed up next, standing near Makoto and Komaru. "Oh, we should've thought to bring seats up here."

"Oh, do one of your little brothers want mine, Espa?" Makoto offered, standing up.

"No, that's okay, Makoto. It's fine, really. I couldn't sit down for this duel even if I wanted to. The cosmic energy flowing through me, it's all too powerful. I can feel it, it's overflowing! Don't you understand?!"

"Uh…not really…" Makoto said, taking a step back and sitting back down.

Yugi and his friends all showed up next, with Joey rubbing Yami's shoulders like he was about to engage in a boxing match, not a duel.

"You got dis, Yug. Take 'em down!" Joey exclaimed, pumping a fist as Yami walked up to face Kaiba.

"We all believe in you, Yugi," Téa said to him.

"If you don't win, well YouTube will certainly have fun raining on your sorry state of affairs," Celeste chuckled.

"Frenchy, could you just not?" Joey asked.

"Joey!" Ibuki waved from her seat.

Joey waved back at Ibuki, but said nothing. He figured it was best she sat with her friends.

"I hope it's all right that I'm cheering for Yugi, you guys," Ibuki said, with a bucket of popcorn in her lap. She stuffed a handful into her face. "I mean," she said, talking with her mouth full, "Ibuki's rin rapporting Joey all ris time and Raiba hates Joey so—"

"We get it, Ibuki," Mahiru said. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

Ibuki nodded and swallowed all the popcorn as she took a swig of water. "Ahhhh!" she breathed as the cool, crisp liquid went down her throat. "Meooooooow!"

"You got this, man! Take Kaiba down!" Tristan exclaimed.

Yami stepped up to stare down Kaiba. The two said nothing to each other at first. After all, no words needed to be exchanged.

"Who are you rooting for?" Chiaki asked Hajime.

"Huh?" He was surprised by the question.

"You're still competing so I guess I can't just ask you to root for Kaiba with me. He's still your competition after all. Of course," Chiaki said, looking glum, "It only matters if you beat Marik, so…"

Hajime pat her on the head. "Don't worry about it so much," Hajime said with a kind smile, but it was so forced it was cringeworthy. "Because I plan, through this duel, to discover a glaring weakness in the Egyptian God Cards and use it to beat Marik."

Now it was Mahiru's turn to be depressed. "Are you sure about your decision, Hajime?"

Hajime's gaze became stern and confident. "Chiaki's out of the tournament so she can't help Sonia and Gundham. I have to do what she can't because that's what she would do if it were her still in the tournament instead of me."

"Hajime…" his words touched Chiaki's heart deeply.

"You really think there's a weakness to the Egyptian God Cards?" Nagito inquired.

"Well, weakness might be putting it a bit strongly. Let's call it an imperfection. I think there's a way to overcome them in a way that my deck can hopefully exploit."

"You just said the magic word," Nagito said with a smile. "I've got full confidence in you, Hajime."

Hajime was going to open his mouth to speak to Nagito about why he was being so nice all of a sudden, but Kaiba and Yugi had started their showdown and Hajime knew it was time to just shut up and watch.

"So, are you going to give me the same tired speech you gave Makoto?" Kaiba asked, holding back a chuckle with his smile. "Going to ask me to back down so you can go and play hero with Marik?"

"Kaiba, you fail to understand the gravity of the danger Marik possesses. If he wins this tournament, the whole world could be at risk!"

"The only one at risk here is you, Yugi. For once I win, you won't be number one."

"Kaiba!" Yami shot back. "It's not always about being number one! It's about dueling with bravery, honor, and respect! And most importantly putting the needs of others ahead of your own! Gundham Tanaka understood that, which is why he tried so desperately to take on Marik and defeat him! He did it to try and awake Sonia from her soulless coma! Something you've allowed to take place because you're too stubborn to realize the truth!"

"The only truth here is that Tanaka got a slap to the face from Ra, and unless he pulls out a miracle, Hinata is going to join him! Those two can do whatever they want for whatever reason they want, but I'm only in this tournament for one reason!" Kaiba exclaimed, fanning out an arm behind him, "To be recognized as the greatest duelist in the world!" He then put a hand over the duel monster card shaped locket that held Mokuba's picture, dangling from his neck, "So why don't you save your girl scout speech for someone who actually cares?"

Ouch, Makoto thought. Kaiba was ever the master of creative insults.

And he wasn't done with his speech. "Yugi, I know exactly the kind of danger brought about by the god cards. That's why I'm going to collect them all and seal them away where no one can use them ever again!"

Yami closed his eyes. "I see. So you've come to understand at least that much."

"But that changes nothing about our duel," Kaiba said and pointed his index finger at Yugi. "Yugi, this is where your reign of King of Games comes to an end!"

Taking a deep breath, Yami raised his duel disk.

This is it, Yugi thought, I have to win this duel! For the sake of the entire world, I can't let Marik win this tournament!

Every duel I've fought in this tournament has led up to this moment, Kaiba thought, arms crossed, smug smirk across his face, the moment I finally take down Yugi Mutoh and regain my top dueling status!

Roland then walked in between Yugi and Kaiba, arm raised, fingers together as though his arm was a large knife. "The first semi-final duel will now begin! I repeat, this duel will begin the semi-finals!"

"All right!" Kaiba exclaimed, drawing his hand as both his and Yugi's duel disks became activated. "Get ready, Yugi! We're about to find out which one of our Egyptian God Cards reigns supreme! So let the epic battle begin!"

"You know for someone who wants to lock these cards away, he sure is gung ho about using them right now," Mahiru pointed out.

"Well, Yugi has one and Kaiba has one," Chiaki stated. "It must mean something to him as part of their rivalry."

"Ohhhh, I'm getting goosebumps," Nagito said, hugging himself.

Mahiru and Ibuki, being on either side of Nagito, shifted their chairs away from him ever so slightly.

"The winner of this duel," Roland declared, "Will advance to the championship round for a chance to be crowned the Battle City champion!"

Kaiba opened the duel…with more trash talk. "You're about to lose your Egyptian God Card and your reputation!" Kaiba said to Yugi. "And a duel this momentous deserves an appropriate setting. Wouldn't you agree, Yugi?"

"A field spell?" Makoto wondered aloud.

"Ha! I don't need a field spell to make things cinematic. Observe, all of you, the latest in holographic technology!"

The hologram projectors began to move and bend.

"I think you'll find this environment quite fitting," Kaiba said with a smug smirk.

As rainbow colors warped around the spectator seats, Joey's only comment was, "Uh, epilepsy warning much?"

"Explain!" Yugi exclaimed.

Kaiba still kept up that same self-satisfied smirk, "I just want to take you down in style, Yugi. So, observe." The rainbow lights died down, revealing a holographic colosseum, complete with cheering spectators.

"Whoa, check it out!" Makoto was certainly impressed.

"Welcome to Duelist Colosseum!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"That actually sounds like a good name for a duel monsters video game," Hajime mused.

"…I'd buy it," Chiaki stated.

As the crowd began cheering "Go, Kaiba!" over and over again, Byakuya was decisively unamused.

"Does your ego seriously need that much stroking?" Byakuya asked.

"Oh I'm sorry, do you have a fully functioning hologram system of roman-style spectators to cheer your name?"

"You're not exactly disproving my point here," Byakuya said, turning his head away from his business rival.

"Yugi," Kaiba said to him, "In ancient times Roman gladiators would battle to their doom in order to prove who was the strongest. Now, it's our turn to see which one of us deserves to call themselves the greatest in the world."

"I think you might be on to something with that ego stroking, Byakuya," Celeste said.

"Seriously," Mai huffed. "Oh wait, I forgot. This entire tournament was bought, sold, promoted, and presented by Kaiba's Di—"

"Achoo!" Ibuki suddenly sneezed.

"Bless you!" Practically everyone went, making Ibuki feel all embarrassed.

Kaiba was decisively unamused. "Yugi! Draw your first card and let the battle begin!"

"With pleasure, Kaiba!" Yami exclaimed, plucking the top card from his deck.

Everything is riding on this duel, Yugi thought. I've got to stay focused and win this!

"Here we go!" Yami glared.

"All right, Let's Duel!" Kaiba shouted.

"I summon, this!" Yami shouted, slapping a card sideways and face-up on the duel reader. "Queen's Knight, in defense mode!" The hologram of the blonde, red armored knight appeared. "Next, I'll place one card face-down," Yami declared, carefully inserting it into the spell/trap zone. "And that's all."

"Is it just me or is the Pharaoh's voice so deep and manly, you could close your eyes and have babies with it?" Celeste questioned. Everyone near her looked at her like she had two heads. "What? I'm the only one?"

"Yes!" Téa exclaimed. She must never know.

"Yeah, whatever," Kaiba said, ignoring the comments of the peanut gallery and focusing on the duel. He drew the top card of his deck. The smirk on his face said it all.

"Welp, Kaiba just drew Obelisk. You can see it on his face," Chiaki said.

"I mean, it could be a Blue-Eyes," Hajime tried to rationalize.

"No, his eyes would be lit up and he wouldn't be staring at it so intently. I've seen Kaiba handle his Blue-Eyes," Chiaki said.

"Phrasing!" Ibuki shouted.

Mahiru snapped up a photo.

After a moment's hesitation clearly necessary for both duelists to formulate their own strategies and guess what the other was thinking, Kaiba declared, "And now, I summon my X-Head Cannon, in attack mode!" The X-shaped cannon mounted robot appeared with 1800 attack points, more than enough to blast holes in Yugi's Queen's Knight. "Next, I'll activate a magic card! Does it look familiar?" Kaiba asked with strangely unneeded hostility.

"It's spell sanctuary," Yami stated.

"Yes, and it both lets us move one magic card from our deck to our hand," Kaiba said. "So it looks like you were wrong when you said I never help out anyone but myself, Yugi."

Celeste yawned.

"Don't tell me you're tired already, Frenchy," Joey said to her.

"No, no, just finding Kaiba's attempt at humor to be boring."

"It's better than your jokes!" Ibuki called out, hands on her cheeks. Hajime grinned and slapped her five.

Joey pointed and laughed only to get lumped on the head by Téa for being rude.

"Now," Kaiba said to Yugi, "Choose the magic card that I was nice enough to let you have so I can move on!"

Yugi took out his whole deck and sifted through it for Change of Heart, his favorite magic card.

"Isn't that a bit arrogant?" Komaru asked Makoto.

Makoto was going to answer, but Byakuya answered instead, "Arrogance and Kaiba go along like water and sewage. You can't have one without the other."

"Doesn't that depend on the water?"

"Does Kaiba look clear and wholesome to you?" Byakuya asked.

"Oof. I felt that one," Komaru stated.

"I'll now place one card face-down," Kaiba said. "And end my turn."

Kaiba's holographic crowd started cheering for him loudly.

"Kaiba, if you wanted a cheering section, all you had to do was ask," Chiaki said.

Kaiba looked at her sternly.

"Just saying."

"Now, Kaiba! My move!" Yami declared, drawing the top card of his deck.

"Huh? Wait a sec. X-Head Cannon is stronger than Queen's Knight and Kaiba went first. Why didn't he attack?" Makoto pointed out.

"That's…huh…" Komaru couldn't think of a reason.

"I'm sure Yugi must have some idea," Kaiba said smugly as if he had this all planned.

However, it seemed Yugi did not intend to give Kaiba the satisfaction of an answer. "I summon Alpha, the Magnet Warrior, in defense mode!" He declared, playing yet another monster weaker than X-Head Cannon. "And then, I'll play one more card, face-down," Yugi said, setting another spell or possibly a trap.

"That's the difference between Yugi and Kaiba for you, strategy over strength," Chiaki stated.

"But it looks like Kaiba's pulling for a strategy of its own," Hajime pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm not quite sure myself what it is. Wait, could it be…?" Chiaki looked like she just had an epiphany.

"Did you figure something out Chiaki?" Nagito asked.

Chiaki nodded. "Yeah, but I probably shouldn't say anything. It would be unsportsmanlike if Yugi heard me."

Well that's just great. Chiaki's already figured out Kaiba's strategy and I'm still in the dark. As expected of the Ultimate Gamer though.

"Your move, Kaiba," Yami said to him.

"I really don't like the look of that smile on Kaiba's face, for Yugi's sake," Mahiru said as Kaiba began his turn.

"Now! Observe!" Kaiba shouted as he drew his next card in an overly dramatic fashion.

"First off, I'll activate this magic card," Kaiba said, "Soul Exchange!"

"That's why you spared my queen!" Yami exclaimed, the gears in his head turning in the same motion and rhythm as Chiaki's.

"Very perceptive!" Kaiba exclaimed as his magic card went to posses the souls of Yugi's monsters. "Thanks to my Soul Exchange magic card, both of your monsters now belong to me, Yugi! So come forth, my monsters!" Kaiba's magic card dragged Yugi's monsters to his side of the field. "Now I can sacrifice them along with my monster to summon my great beast!"

"Told you he drew Obelisk," Chiaki said.

I am so fortunate I did not wager money on that, Hajime thought.

"I'm afraid not, Kaiba!" Yami roared. "Reveal my face-down card, Change of Heart!"

"No!" Kaiba exclaimed, his plan ruined.

"Yes! I'm afraid so, Kaiba," Yami said, rather pleased with himself. "Thanks to my Change of Heart's effect. You no longer have three monsters to sacrifice!"

X-Head Cannon floated over to Yugi's side of the field and about face.

"Now your X-Head Cannon belongs to me for one turn. Kaiba!" Yami declared, pointing at him. "You won't summon Obelisk that easily! Now, go!"

Kaiba looked surprised, only to smirk. "Heh. So you've prevented one move. I've got plenty more planned."

"It wouldn't be a proper showdown between you and Yugi otherwise," Nagito said.

Hajime reached into Chiaki's popcorn bucket and popped a few pieces into his mouth. Chiaki did the same from the bucket and they chewed in unison.

"Observe!" Kaiba exclaimed, "Reveal face-down card, Enemy Controller!"

"What?" Yami gasped.

"For the price of 1,000 life points," Kaiba declared, "This control pad lets me take control of one of your monsters. Enemy Controller, activate! Left! Right! A! B!"

"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B, start!" Ibuki cheered.

"The Konami code, right?" Chiaki asked, smiling. "Somehow it always finds its way into everything."

Ibuki giggled.

"And now!" Kaiba declared, "Bring my X-Head Cannon back to my side of the field so that I have three monsters to sacrifice once again!"

Kaiba's monster flew back to its original position, pointing its cannons at Yami.

"My strategy was fool proof!" Kaiba exclaimed.

Yami lurched back a little. He hadn't expected this.

"I sacrifice Alpha, Queen's Knight, and X-Head Cannon!" Kaiba exclaimed. "And now! Obelisk the Tormentor, come forth!"

"So soon?" Nagito seemed disappointed.

"Hold on, Kaiba!" Yami shouted. "Go, Lightforce Sword!"

Nagito went from depressed to giddy instantly.

Yugi's trap card pierced Kaiba's Obelisk right out of his hand. "Oh no!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"Oh yes!" Yami replied. "Now your Obelisk the Tormentor is completely useless to you for three turns, Kaiba, thanks to my Lightforce Sword. What's your rush? This duel is just getting interesting, Kaiba. Why try to end it so soon?" The shit eating grin on Yami's face was simply a delight for those supporting him.

"I couldn't agree more!" Nagito exclaimed.

"Okay, if he explodes, I am not cleaning it up," Hajime said. Chiaki only nodded with him in agreement and then stole an M&M out of the bag Hajime was holding and popped it into her mouth.

"Um, how exactly did the card just grow like that?" Celeste asked, looking at the face-down, pierced Obelisk hologram. "It hadn't been played. It's not in the hologram system. Where did it go? Is it on the ground under the hologram?"

"Why is that your big question?" Joey asked. "Just enjoy the duel and the fact that Yugi totally smoked Kaiba's plan."

"Sorry, but no, I expect full, one-hundred percent logic around here."

"Then you're in the wrong professional circuit," Mai said to her.

Kaiba actually smirked. He had to admit, Yugi had a point. But, that didn't mean jack in the long run. "So you may have bought yourself a little time," he said pointing at Yami and then swung his arm down at his side, "You'll have to face down Obelisk sooner or later!"

As Kaiba's turn ended, Yami declared, "Your Soul Exchange card is no longer in effect, which means you're not able to sacrifice my monsters because you don't control them anymore and Obelisk will have to wait!"

Yami's monsters returned to his side of the field.

Kaiba glanced back at Obelisk apprehensively. He then pointed at Yugi again. "My turn may be over now, but you're not safe yet!"

"All right, my move!" Yami turned his body halfway just to turn it back and pull the top card out of his deck.

"Is this now a contest of who can make the flashiest card draws?" Celeste questioned. "Honestly."

"Hey, at least they're not doin' backflips," Tristan said.

"I'd pay money to see that," Mai stated.

"I wouldn't. It sounds idiotic," Byakuya said.

"Yeah? Well no one asked you, Togami," Joey stated.

"Would you all be quiet, I'm trying to watch Yugi," Téa complained.

Ugh, if it wasn't for that duel, I'd walk over to Kaiba's side of the arena, Celeste thought.

Yugi contemplated the cards in his and Yami's hand before the two worked as one to make a move. "I'll play one card face-down," Yami said. "Then, I'll leave both my monsters in defense mode and end my turn."

"Ouch, Yugi's hand must be terrible," Makoto stated.

"Hmm," Espa pondered. "I believe his patience will bear fruit soon enough. Pipipi, yes it's clear to me now, I predict that Osiris will enter the field of battle before Obelisk."

"On what basis do you make that claim?" Byakuya asked.

"ESP," Espa said.

Byakuya rolled his eyes. He wasn't even going to dignify that with a response.

"Hmph," Kaiba smirked. "I expected more of a challenge from the top ranked duelist," he said mockingly.

Yugi could only grimace and growl briefly back at Kaiba, lowering his shoulders and head into a defensive stance.

Kaiba's grin only grew wider.

"My! Move!" Kaiba shouted, drawing the top card of his deck.

"Heh heh heh heh," The voice of Marik echoed through the stadium. "This duel should be amusing. I wonder which of these fools will summon their Egyptian God Card first."

Frightened by his mere presence, Mahiru picked up her chair and went on the opposite side of Hajime at the far end of her little group.

"Hey! Don't leave me here all alone next to that freak!" Ibuki exclaimed, rushing over to sit next to Mahiru.

"Oh look, musical chairs," Celeste chuckled, trying to keep her own fear of Marik abated with humor.

"I don't think you're supposed to bring the chair with you when you move," Serenity said, missing the point.

"I don't remember anyone inviting you, you freak!" Joey exclaimed.

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought this was open invite," Marik shrugged. "So I invited myself. And besides," he said with a demonic grin, "I'm a notorious party crasher. Not that this duel really matters of course. Ha! Before long, they'll both belong to me! And the winner will confront me in the most treacherous shadow duel ever played! And then when the shadow engulf my opponent, I shall reign supreme! Hahahahaha."

"Not if I stop you first!" Hajime exclaimed, bolting from his seat, pointing at Marik.

"Hajime Hinata," Marik grinned. "You're a fool if you think you can defeat me, Hajime Hinata. You're not connected to the scriptures of Ancient Egypt, nor do you possess one of the three Egyptian God cards."

"I suppose it takes a fool to know a fool," Hajime said.

"Oooooooh, you got buuuuuuurned," Ibuki cooed.

"If the peanut gallery would be quiet. We're trying to duel up here!" Kaiba shouted at the group.

Hajime sat back down, shot Marik a dirty look and faced forward back at Kaiba and Yugi's duel.

"Ready, Yugi?" Kaiba asked, drawing the top card of his deck. "I play this! Go! Y-Dragon Head!" A red machine with its body shaped like a dragon appeared. It had 1500 attack points and 1600 defense points. "Notice anything similar about my two monsters?" Kaiba asked Yugi. "Think about it, Yugi. This isn't a tough question. One is X-Head Cannon and the other is Y-Dragon Head."

Yami gasped.

"You didn't even wait to hear his answer. Do you love the sound of your own voice that much?" Celeste asked.

"I am so glad you lost in the first round," Kaiba commented and then focused back on Yugi.

"Hold on," Yami said. "Are these two monsters able to combine together?"

"That's right!" Kaiba exclaimed, pumping a fist. "Any two of the XYZ monsters can merge together to form a new, more powerful beast. Now, my monsters, join!"

Lightning sparked between X-Head Cannon and Y-Dragon Head. There was a bright flash of light as the two monsters merged together with X-Head Cannon sitting on top of Y-Dragon head.

"Behold! XY Dragon Cannon!" The monster had 2200 attack points.

Mahiru, of course, snapped up a photograph.

"What are you going to do with all of those pictures anyway?" Chiaki asked. "A scrapbook?"

"Nuh uh, I'm gonna use them for my practical. It's not every day you can take pictures of a big name tournament. I'm going to host them in a gallery for the staff to witness."

"That's so nice of you to share your hope with everyone else, Mahiru," Nagito said.

Mahiru laughed and smiled happily.

Yami, however, recoiled at the sight of Kaiba's mighty beast.

"Once I summon my Z monster, my dragon cannon will get even stronger!" Kaiba declared.

Yami started to sweat. Things did not look good for him.

"Now, my XY Dragon Cannon," Kaiba said, pointing at Yugi's monsters, "Attack his Magnet Warrior!"

The cannons on Kaiba's monster took aim at Alpha and fired two powerful laser beams at the rock monster, obliterating it on impact.

"Yugi! Say goodbye!"

Yami braced himself and closed one eye as dust and shards of holographic light flew at his face. Fortunately, since Alpha was in defense mode, his life points were untouched. The Pharaoh grimaced.

Kaiba chuckled. "You look so worried. Afraid of losing in shame, are we? Once a duelist starts thinking about defeat, they've already lost."

"Enough!" Yami roared.

"Perhaps it's time you surrendered your Egyptian God Card to me!"

"Psychological warfare. Ruthless, but effective," Chiaki mused.

Hajime took another fistful of popcorn out of the bucket. Ibuki then reached over him and Mahiru into Chiaki's bucket to take some for herself. "Thank you!"

"…I could've passed it to you, you know," Hajime stated.

Ibuki giggled as she munched down on the salty treat.

"Interesting," Marik grinned. "Kaiba seems to be in control. I'll enjoy seeing the Pharaoh squirm."

"Squirm or not, Yugi will win," Téa said. "He always wins!"

"Oh really? He seemed to have a rough time of it in the Battle Royale. Perhaps little Makoto took every ounce of effort the Pharaoh had left."

"Yugi's not scared of you, Marik!" Makoto shouted, bolting to his feet, his cage rattled. "No matter who faces you, they face you because they're not scared of you! Got it?"

"E-easy, Makoto. You don't want to get sent to the Shadow Realm," Komaru whimpered.

Makoto plopped back down into his seat, glaring at Marik and growling under his breath.

"You really don't like it when Kaiba and Yugi are slighted by anyone other than each other, do you?" Byakuya asked. Makoto shook his head fiercely. "You truly are the very definition of a fanboy." Byakuya chuckled.

"Yeah, well what's wrong with that? You spend so much time at the top, I bet you have nothing left to aspire to."

"Untrue. I have an idealized version of myself that I aspire to," Byakuya stated.

"That isn't anywhere close to the same thing and you know it," Komaru shot back. She then stuck her tongue at him and pulled down her eye.

"How childish," Byakuya said and went to walk on the opposite side of the Roba brothers.

Even though he had attacked, it was still Kaiba's turn. "Now, I activate Lullaby of Obedience!"

Yami gasped. That card meant very bad things for him.

"This magic card allows me to take a high-powered monster from your deck and add it to my hand. And I have a feeling you have an idea which monster I have my eye on, Yugi."

Yami growled.

"It's your Egyptian God Card!" Kaiba shouted, loud enough that even the mentally challenged could understand. "Osiris the Sky Dragon."

"Man, Kaiba is just ruthless this duel. Now he's gone on to steal Yugi's best card," Komaru stated.

"Yugi will get it back. I've studied both his and Kaiba's careers too long to think that the tide will be turned that easily."

Against his better judgment, Hajime said, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but what do you think, Nagito?"

"Huh? You're asking for my opinion."

"Yeah…" Hajime sweated. "I guess I am."

"Well…to be frank, all of this is just warm up to me," Nagito mused and then smiled. "The true spectacle will be when both Obelisk and Osiris are on the field at the exact same time?"

"Oh! That would be so cool!" Mahiru exclaimed. She definitely wanted a photo of that.

"Are you sure that's plausible though?" Chiaki asked. "Statistically speaking—"

"Ah, who cares about statistics?" Nagito asked rhetorically. "Yugi and Kaiba will make it happen. I have faith in both of them to make this a spectacular duel!"

"Well, you're not wrong," Chiaki said, turning back to face Yugi and Kaiba.

Kaiba marched over to Yami to take Osiris from his deck. "You can't be trusted with power like Osiris. Only I can use the power of the gods before I permanently seal them away. Don't think ill of me for it. I'm just trying to make this as painless as possible for you."

Kaiba's holographic fanbase continued to cheer as he and Yugi met in the middle so that Kaiba could pluck Osiris out of Yugi's deck.

"This card will return to me," Yami grumbled.

"I doubt it," Kaiba scoffed.

Yami handed the card over and Kaiba snatched it from his hands with the smuggest of smirks on his face. He was like a high school bully stealing lunch money from a grade schooler.

"I wouldn't feel so bad if I were you," Kaiba said, turning his body slightly as he prepared to walk back to his proper position. "Osiris was buried so deep in your deck, you never would've drawn it anyway. Hahahahaha!"

"Ha! It appears Seto Kaiba outwitted the Pharaoh," Marik grinned.

"Don't let it get to you, Yugi! We're right behind you, pal!" Joey called to his best friend.

Yami looked back at Joey and nodded. After all, he had just the face-down card to fix this mess. The smuggest of smirks now appeared on Yami's face. "Kaiba, I must truly thank you."

"What for?" Kaiba glared.

"Knowing how greedy you are Kaiba, I suspected you might try to take my sky dragon, so I was ready. Reveal magic card, Exchange!"

"What?!" Kaiba exclaimed, sweating, "Oh no! Now he can take a card from my hand!"

"Man, talk about crazy prepared," Makoto stated.

"I know right! Isn't this so exciting?" Komaru asked.

Yami stood there for over half a minute seemingly lost in thought.

"Any time now, Pharaoh!" Celeste called. "You might be immortal, but the rest of us have lives."

Yami shook off his trip down memory lane. "I believe you owe me a card, Kaiba," he said to his opponent. "So give Osiris back to me."

Kaiba frowned and walked back to Yugi to give him his god card back. Yami graciously accepted it and held up his hand to Kaiba.

"Now you pick one, so we can get on with our duel."

Kaiba eyed Yugi's hand carefully and then plucked the trap card Life Shaver from the Pharaoh's hand, walking away with it with a spiteful gnashing of his teeth.

"I appreciate your help," Yami said as he walked back to his original position. He turned around to face Kaiba. "Osiris is in my hand, thanks to you."

Kaiba only growled and glared.

And then, something strange happened, Kaiba's holographic audience started cheering for Yugi.

"Ouch. That must sting. Kaiba's pre-programmed audience cheering for his rival?" Celeste spoke so sardonically. "Tch. Brings a tear to your eye."

"Haha! Yeah! Atta boy, Yug! Stick it to 'em!" Joey cheered.

Kaiba and Yugi exchanged cool glances and Kaiba ever so smugly placed the Life Shaver card he got from Yugi into his hand.

Makoto, as he, along with the rest of the audience, had no idea what Kaiba was holding, could only say, "Kaiba must've taken something pretty useful from Yugi if he's making that face."

"You sound worried. I thought you liked Kaiba more than Yugi," Komaru said.

"Huh? Er, I mean, I guess I relate to Kaiba a bit more, but…"

"But what?"

"I mean…I dunno, I guess I'm just as eager to see Yugi defend his title as eager as I am to see Kaiba prove that he was always the best duelist. Is…that weird?"

"Nah," Komaru said. "I'd say that's part of being a fan. When your favorites clash, you don't care who wins, you just want it to be awesome."

Makoto only smiled.

Kaiba, having had enough of the stalling, shouted, "Yugi, are you going to stand there contemplating your next move all day? I'm getting bored, and so are my fans."

"Yeah, come to think of it, does this duel feel slower to you guys than the others?" Mahiru asked.

"Must be your imagination," Ibuki replied.

Yami, sharing Kaiba's sentiment, bellowed, "All right, here goes!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I summon Big Shield Gardna, in defense mode!" The massive shield bearing warrior squatted on the ground at 2600 defense points strong. "Then I shall place one card face-down," Yugi said, putting it in the spell/trap slot. "That ends my turn."

"That move seemed pretty desperate to me, Yugi!" Kaiba exclaimed. "All the defensive monsters in the world can't save you now!"

Yeah, especially if Kaiba summons Z-Metal Tank. Yugi's running out of options fast, Chiaki thought.

"Looks like I've got you backed into a corner!" Kaiba exclaimed as his fans went back to cheering for him.

"Looks can be deceiving. Now make your move!" Yami shot back.

"What's your hurry? Anxious to lose?" Kaiba taunted.

"Yugi won't lose to you!" Téa shouted.

"Hmm, I wonder that myself," Celeste said, twirling her ringlet in her hair.

"What the heck, Frenchy?" Joey was flabbergasted by Celeste's attitude.

"Kaiba spent years since Duel Monsters came into being perfecting his craft and winning the World Championship, even marketing his entire company around it. He's defeated hundreds of opponents and developed almost as many strategies. And Yugi came from where? A small card shop, defeated Kaiba once in a heated battle over his grandfather and suddenly he's a renown champion? Granted, he did defeat Pegasus, but what if that was all just blind faith and luck? He hasn't the renown or the skill, Kaiba has, just faith."

"If you've got something to say, say it," Duke said sharply.

"I'm saying, perhaps Yugi's victories have simply come down to luck of the draw. Perhaps his defeat is inevitable. Perhaps, in the end, Kaiba is simply better."

"Hear that? Sounds like one of your little friends is turning on you," Kaiba smirked.

Yami glanced back at Celeste apprehensively.

I know Celeste isn't being as crooked as she's trying to make herself sound. She's doubting my ability because she's worried, worried for my sake.

"Celeste! I will win this duel!" Yami shouted at her.

"Then you'd better make a big play soon. At this rate, the only thing you're going to beat Kaiba at is who can have the most outlandish hairstyle."

"Leave my hair out of this!" Yami exclaimed.

Celeste merely yawned.

Kaiba laughed. "Leaving the matter of Yugi's ridiculous hair aside, it's my turn now. And I have a good feeling I'll just keep the field advantage and crush you to dust." Kaiba said, plucking the top card of his deck and holding it up sideways." He grinned, showing teeth.

"Oh that is a bad smile for Yugi," Chiaki said, looking worried.

"Z-Metal Tank?"

"Yup."

"Man, Kaiba keeps getting all kinds of good draws!" Ibuki exclaimed.

"Perhaps. Although…" Nagito said, studying the field.

"Something on your mind?" Hajime asked.

"Heh. Well, if my faith in Yugi's hope is even half as accurate as the truth, these next couple of turns might just be interesting."

"Mind not being cryptic?" Hajime asked.

"Aw, c'mon, where's the point of a good spectacle if someone like me can figure it out?"

Hajime just sighed and rolled his eyes, biting into a piece of licorice as he watched the duel.

"I place one card face-down," Kaiba stated.

Yami stared at Kaiba intently. He thought it was Life Shaver, but he was wrong. Dead wrong.

"And the worst part comes now. The worst part for you that is." Kaiba placed his just drawn monster face-up in attack position. "I place Z-Metal Tank in attack mode. That's the final creature I needed to complete my ultimate machine monster!" Kaiba declared. "Now my beast will be unstoppable!"

As unstoppable as 2,800 attack points will get you anyway, Chiaki thought.

As lightning sparked from the already combined XY Dragon Cannon and the new Z-Metal Tank, Kaiba smirked and said, "Just watch."

Rather than the bright flash of light as before, Y-Dragon Head's legs, head and wings retracted as Z-Metal Tank opened a compartment above its back as the whole robot fused together into one deadly machine.

"Behold! My XYX Dragon Cannon!" Kaiba exclaimed as both guns from X-Head Cannon pointed at Yugi. "Say farewell to your Big Shield Gardna! Now, XYZ Dragon Cannon, attack his monster!"

With a roar from Y-Dragon Head, the fused machine fired no less than 5 lasers at Yugi's poor Big Shield Gardna. It didn't stand a chance.

"And that's why you never bring a steel shield held together with plywood to a laser battle," Joey commented.

"Man, poor Yugi," Tristan sighed.

Come on, Yugi, I know you can do this, Téa thought, holding her hands together in prayer.

Heh, prayer is exactly what Yugi needs right now, Byakuya thought. He adjusted his glasses along the right side rim. Although, if my understanding of the Heart of the Cards is where it should be, Yugi should be able to make a big play on his turn. More than that, chances are high that he'll actually win the duel.

"That's one monster down and one to go," Kaiba said as his holographic crowd cheered. "Then I can use my Dragon Cannon to unleash the fury of my Egyptian God Card."

However, in spite of losing his bulkiest defender, Yami didn't seem upset. Was he…smirking?

"Thank you," Yami said. "Destroying one of my defensive monsters is exactly what I was hoping you would do, Kaiba."

"Why's that?" Kaiba demanded to know.

"Because you allowed me to play this!" Yami exclaimed. "Behold! I reveal my face-down card, Soul Rope!"

"Ah!" Kaiba gasped, disbelieving what he'd walked straight into.

"At a cost of 1000 of my life points," Yami said, "This card allows me to summon any four-star monster directly to the field whenever one of my creatures is destroyed." Yami fanned out his deck, looking at all of the cards. He was looking for only one card in particular. "And I choose, King's Knight!"

Well, how about that? He didn't even have to wait until next turn, Byakuya thought.

"Is anyone else besides me noticing that the only life point loss in this entire duel is self-inflicted?" Celeste asked.

"Just goes to show the skill level between Yugi and Kaiba and the rest of us," Duke stated.

"Observe, Kaiba," Yugi said, raising his duel disk. "Now I have both King's and Queen's Knight."

"It's not possible! Both cards?!" Kaiba sounded gravely upset, likely because he knew what was coming next and he did not like it one bit.

"That's right," Yami said smugly, "Which means I can now summon Jack's Knight to the field."

"Then you'll have three monsters!" Kaiba exclaimed irritably.

"I see you're paying attention, Kaiba," Yami said, holding up the card.

"Is Kaiba all right?" Hajime asked Chiaki. "He seems…a bit shaken up."

"He'll be fine," Chiaki said, only to add, "Probably."

"I'll soon have exactly what I need to summon my Egyptian God Card," Yami said, "Jack's Knight come forth!" Yami now had all three of the thematic knight monsters on his field. "Thanks to you I now have three monsters to sacrifice!"

"You can't play your Egyptian God Card before I play mine!" Kaiba exclaimed, his pride wounded. "I've been in control of this duel from the start!"

"Oh get over yourself, drama queen," Celeste said.

"Oh yeah, say it nice and quiet, Celeste," Joey said sarcastically. "Pretty sure he heard ya. Real brave."

"Not anymore!" Yami smirked at Kaiba. He then drew the top card of his deck. "And now, I sacrifice all three of my monsters. Begone, now!"

Jack's, King's, and Queen's Knight all disappeared as Yami channeled spiritual energy through his body to summon none other than Osiris the Sky Dragon. The energy was so powerful, it ripped through the clouds.

"Told you Yugi would make it interesting," Nagito smirked.

Hajime sipped a bottle of soda he'd put a straw into.

"And next!" Yami shouted, "I SUMMON MY EGYPTIAN GOD CARD, OSIRIS THE SKY DRAGON!"

Kaiba looked nervous and scared as reddish lightning danced all around the battlefield and the sky above darkened.

Komaru took out a poncho in a pouch.

"I don't think you're going to need that," Makoto said. "It hasn't rained any other time."

"Better safe then sorry. Besides, I'm cold. We're really high up." She pulled the gray poncho around her.

And then, from the darkened storm clouds, a beam of red light on wings descended to Yami's side of the field and then, Osiris appeared, wrapping its huge body around the entire colosseum and almost across Makoto's seat.

"Gyah!" Makoto nearly fell backwards and sent food everywhere.

Espa's brothers huddled closer to him. The big dragon had appeared before, but its body had never come so close.

"Jeez, it's not even facing you this time, get a grip Makoto."

"Y-yeah," Makoto said, gulping.

As Osiris roared at Kaiba, Celeste could only be thankful she wasn't the one staring down the business end of Osiris' fangs. First Yugi, then me, then Makoto, and now Kaiba. I wonder if it will be Marik or Hajime next to face the mighty fangs of Osiris the Sky Dragon.

"Stare into the face of defeat, Kaiba!" Yami exclaimed.

"Whoa! Check it out!"

Hajime had to turn his head to realize Ibuki was not in her seat.

"Ibuki, if you're looking at wildlife at a time like this…" Mahiru sighed.

"No, really, look!" Ibuki exclaimed, pointing over the guard rails outside the confines of the stadium and the holographic colosseum.

Nodding to each other, Hajime, Chiaki, Nagito and Mahiru all got up to look. Sure enough, Ibuki wasn't fixated on some weird bird or another, but rather the fact that Osiris' body was coiled partially down the tower that the stadium rested atop.

"Whoa!" Hajime exclaimed. "Was Osiris always so huge?"

"I think it might just be taking advantage of the current facility. The hologram projectors are a lot more powerful here than on the blimp," Chiaki suggested.

"No way! That looks too real!" Ibuki exclaimed.

Mahiru quickly snapped up a photo and then took a series of rapid fire shots to try and connect Osiris' elongated body to its massive head and jaws currently staring down Kaiba like a snack.

"All right!" Joey cheered. "Yugi got his god card out first! Now he's sure to win!"

"Don't jinx it," Duke sighed.

"How unexpected," Marik stated, "The Pharaoh summoned Osiris before Kaiba summoned Obelisk."

Kaiba, true to form however, played it cool, despite freaking out a mere moment ago. "I'm not impressed, Yugi."

"And why not?" Yami asked sincerely. "I managed to summon one of Duel Monsters' most powerful creatures."

"Hmmm," Kaiba said with a smooth grin on his face, "That may be, but it does have its weaknesses. For instance, Osiris the Sky Dragon's attack points are equal to the 1000 times the number of cards you're holding in your hand, Yugi."

Yugi rolled his eyes as if to say, Yeah, I know. That's how I got it in the first place.

"And I count three!" Kaiba exclaimed, holding up his thumb, index and middle finger of his right hand. "Giving your Egyptian God Card only three thousand points."

"That's right!" Yami declared, glaring, pointing at Kaiba. "Which makes it 200 points stronger than your XYZ Dragon Cannon! So I can eliminate your cannon right now! Leaving you without a single monster," Yami said, lowering his arm as a self-satisfied smirk appeared on his face. "And preventing you from summoning your god card."

"Atta boy, Yug! Waste that pile a' scrap heap!" Joey cheered.

"I don't think it's going to be quite that easy," Mai stated.

"Huh? Why not? It's simple math, ain't it?" Joey asked, counting on his fingers.

"It's not about the math, it's about the field," Celeste said. "Kaiba has one card face-down still and it could be anything. He, unlike the rest of us, knows full well the power of the gods and does not underestimate them. Yugi would be wise to exercise caution."

"Yugi…" Téa looked at him longingly, continuing to pray for his victory.

Kaiba could only chuckle, making Celeste and Mai's hunch all the more likely, "If you're so sure, then attack."

"Oh, that has bait written all over it," Celeste said, turning her head to the side.

"But Yugi's gotta attack. If he doesn't, Kaiba will summon Obelisk," Tristan pointed out.

"What will you do, Yugi?" Nagito wondered aloud, his voice low and stoic. "Show me the depth of your hope."

Kaiba decided to take advantage of Yami's hesitance. "Don't you realize you're going to lose whether you attack me or not, Yugi?" Yami continued to hesitate. "What's wrong, Yugi? Is the pressure getting to you? I told you, it doesn't matter if you attack me or not! Either way, I've got you beat, thanks to my face-down card! So go ahead and make your move!"

"Man, could you imagine if Yugi just broke out a Twin Twisters or a Mystic Space Typhoon right now?" Komaru asked.

Makoto laughed. "Oh, that was tick Kaiba off, so much."

Kaiba looked at the Naegi siblings. Both gulped, realizing he'd heard them. He then looked back at Yami.

After much debilitating, Yami decided to go for it. "Osiris! Attack his monster now!"

Osiris' lower mouth charged an attack, ready to rain down its unmatched power on Kaiba's XYZ Dragon Cannon. The lightning blast finished charging and surged forth.

Kaiba, as predicted, was well-prepared. "Not so fast, Yugi, take a look at my face-down card!"

Yami was surprised. "That's not Life Shaver, but what is it?"

"It's called Interdimensional Matter Transporter!" Kaiba exclaimed. "Just watch what it can do!"

Kaiba laughed as his monster disappeared thanks to his trap card, even as Osiris' beam continued onward, creating holographic dust and tearing up holographic ground, the beam coming dangerously close to Kaiba's body. The beam sailed on up into the sky and then rained down lightning onto the slag heap below at the base of the tower.

Mikan, one of the few people still on the blimp, and having no idea what was going on, briefly hid under a hospital bed at the sight of lightning. She then slowly got out from underneath the bed and looked at her four patients: Odion, Bakura, Sonia, and Gundham. Each of them were victims of Marik in some form or another. Mikan could only pray and pray that there would not be a fifth patient administered to her ward. She didn't know if her caring heart could take it to see so many people suffering at the same time as a result of the same person.

Hajime…Chiaki…Kaiba…everyone…please be all right, she prayed.

"What happened to your cannon, Kaiba!" Yami shouted, as though Kaiba had cheated him out of a poker game or something. "Tell me!"

Kaiba laughed maniacally as he declared, "My trap card was able to take it out of play for one turn." XYZ Dragon Cannon then instantly reappeared, growing to normal size from a spec in practically an instant.

Yami could only admire his rival's tenacity. "Very clever. It seems your plan to save your monster from my attack, worked." Yami plucked a card out of his hand. "Well, I've also got a plan. So, I'll place this face-down. Now go ahead and make your move, if you dare!" Yami exclaimed.

The look on Kaiba's face was absolutely priceless. It was the type of expression that Mahiru should've taken a picture of, but opted not to out of fear of Kaiba leaping off the stage and grabbing her camera to make sure the photo never saw the light of day, possibly by chucking the camera off the tower.

"What's wrong, Kaiba?" Yami asked, as Osiris' attack points fell from 3,000 to 2,000. "Did I confuse you?"

"Oh, that is so cool," Makoto gaped.

"I think ballsy is the word you're looking for! Man, Yugi's got guts!" Komaru exclaimed.

Yami, realizing he'd completely turned the psychological warfare to his favor, started dishing out to Kaiba what Kaiba had been doing to him all duel. "Well, what are you waiting for? It sounds like your adoring fans are eagerly waiting for you to make a decision, Kaiba. Osiris is weaker than your monster now." Yami smirked and then chuckled smugly.

"What's your point?" Kaiba barked at him, mid-laugh.

"I'm wide open. You can attack me with your cannon, right Kaiba?" Yami asked. The grin on his face said it all. "Unless…you're afraid to attack."

I don't think balls of steel quite covers what's going on right now, Hajime thought. That was seriously some taunt.

"Ha!" Kaiba scoffed. "Your scare tactics won't work, cause I know what I have to do!" Kaiba drew the top card of his deck. "The time has come!" Lightforce Sword started to fade. "And your time's up! Your lightforce sword is no longer in effect so my Egyptian God Card is free now!"

Everyone was now so focused on Kaiba, they missed Yami's smirk.

"I think you know what's next," Kaiba said with a grin, holding up a card. "Now, I sacrifice my XYZ Dragon Cannon!" Kaiba declared as a red, blue, and yellow light shot forth into the stormy sky as his monster disappeared into blue light particles. "So I can summon this!" Kaiba exclaimed, holding Obelisk high above his head for everyone to see. "Come forth, now! Obelisk the Tormentor!" Blue lightning sparked all around the island in preparation for the coming Obelisk. "Use your infinite power to bring me victory!" Kaiba exclaimed. "It's over, Yugi! Hahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHA!"

When the lightning stopped and Obelisk did not immediately appear, Yami asked, "Where is it?"

Kaiba's response was only a smartass, "Look closely," followed by a chuckle. Obelisk's shadow then descended down from the heavens as the massive monster slammed onto the stadium behind Kaiba, accompanied by a brilliant blast of blue light. It then stood behind Kaiba with its massive frame, eyes glowing red. Kaiba could not be happier. "MY ULTIMATE MIGHTY EGYPTIAN GOD CARD IS HERE AT LAST!"

"The battle of the gods has begun!" Marik exclaimed, smiling. "Hahahahahahaha. But which one will prevail?"

Yami could only gaze on in awe at the mighty presence of Obelisk. Although it was his third time seeing it this tournament, he had yet to face it down himself.

"Yugi," Kaiba called to him, "The Egyptian Gods are about to clash! But only one monster will remain standing! Now it's time to find out, which one! Hahahahaha! AHAHA! AHAHA! AHAHAHAHA!"

"Well…Kaiba seems…enthusiastic…" Mahiru said, trying to make it sound like she didn't think Kaiba suddenly belonged in a mental asylum.

"Um, Nagito, do you want to undo a button or two?" Chiaki asked him. "You're sweating…a lot."

"No…I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine," Nagito said, gazing in magnificent glory at Osiris and Obelisk staring each other down. This was it. This was the grandiose clash of hopes he had always dreamed. The only way it could have been better is if Nagito himself had helped facilitate it. Yugi Vs Kaiba. This showdown was everything Nagito ever wanted out of a duel like this.

Seeing how he was looking, Ibuki placed a dry, small towel over Nagito's lap. "I think you're going to need that," she said as she then sat back down.

"Still not cleaning up the mess," Hajime remarked.

"Your Egyptian God Card is no match for mine, Yugi," Kaiba said.

As if responding to the taunt, Osiris roared, as if telling Kaiba rightfully to fuck off.

"We'll see about that, Kaiba," Yami responded. "Your Obelisk may be more powerful than my Osiris right now, but that can all change."

Kaiba only chuckled. "Please, Yugi. Once your monster crosses paths with the mighty fist of Obelisk the Tormentor, it's history."

"Ancient History, right? Eh? Eh?" Ibuki cooed, looking for anyone to acknowledge her addition to the joke. No one reacted. She sat back down, cheeks puffed and rightfully disappointed.

"Hey, guys, have I missed the good stuff yet?" Mokuba asked, running onto the scene.

"Oh, hey, Mokuba," Makoto said. "Nope. Not yet. Both god cards just hit the field." He offered Mokuba the bag of trail mix he was eating out of. "Want some?"

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah, why not?" Komaru asked rhetorically. "We got plenty. Sorry that we don't have an extra chair though."

"Ha, it's cool," Mokuba said, taking a handful of trail mix and munching away. "I couldn't sit down right now if I wanted to."

"Where have you been exactly?" Makoto asked.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid that's Kaiba Corp. Classified Information," Mokuba said.

"Ah, say no more," Makoto said. He then reached into his snack back and got out some baked snack crackers. "Go ahead and take the bag if you want it."

"Really? Sweet!" Mokuba said and stood next to Makoto to watch the action.

"Man, I hope Yug's got a plan," Joey said. "Obelisk's attack points are double Osiris'."

"He usually has one," Celeste said. "Why should now be any different."

Over in a corner by himself, Marik chuckled. "Let the chaos and destruction commence."

"It's time for me to send Osiris the Sky Dragon to the graveyard, Yugi," Kaiba said. "Last I checked, you were only holding two cards, which means Osiris only has 2,000 attack points, half of what Obelisk has. Your so-called Egyptian God Card is powerless against mine."

Once again, Osiris growled at Kaiba, like it was some kind of guard dog feeling insulted.

Yami, of course, was far from worried. "Hmph. You seemed to have overlooked Osiris the Sky Dragon's special ability. Now watch, as my Egyptian God Card weakens yours with the incredible power of its second mouth."

Makoto snapped his fingers. "I got it!" he exclaimed.

"Huh? Got what?" Mokuba asked.

"Huh? Oh right. You just showed up. Last turn, Yugi played a face-down and taunted Kaiba really thoroughly. I think he was egging Kaiba on to summon Obelisk, knowing that Osiris' second mouth attack would weaken it the moment it hit the field."

"What? Really?" Komaru asked.

Makoto nodded. "Kaiba was sidetracked. If he had kept his monster in play, he could've just attacked. But, if he hadn't," Makoto looked at Yami's field, "I'll bet that's what that face-down card is for."

"Will the second mouth attack work?" Hajime wondered.

"Why do you say that?" Chiaki asked him.

"The god cards are all powerful, aren't they? Can they even affect each other?" Hajime wondered.

"Guess we're about to find out," Mahiru said.

"OSIRIS! ACTIVATE YOUR SPECIAL ABILITY NOW!" Osiris' upper mouth, launched a blue ball of lightning at Obelisk's stomach, the ball of which slammed into it. "Next time, you'll think twice about summoning a monster in Osiris' presence!"

The residual energy of the attack affected Kaiba as he was blinded by the holographic blast and Obelisk's attack points hit 2,000, making them even with Osiris'.

"Now what was that you were saying about your Egyptian God Card being stronger than mine? Take a close look, Kaiba."

Osiris roared at Kaiba again, but the way its jaw was moving, it was like it was laughing in a mocking fashion at the business owner.

"It worked!" Hajime exclaimed. "They lowered!" He swiftly put down the snacks and got out his notebook, jotting down information. This could work. If the god cards' attack and defense points can be affected, even by each other, then I might have just the strategy to deal with Ra. Hajime put his pen in his shirt pocket and returned the notebook to his pants pocket, picking up his snacks again.

"Think of something?" Chiaki asked.

"It's just a theory right now," Hajime said, glaring at the field. "I sure hope I'm given a chance to restructure my deck before the duel. I'm going to need because…I think I have a plan."

"Too bad your monster's effect is only temporary, Yugi," Kaiba pointed out. "Once this turn is over, Obelisk will have all of his power back."

Yeah, just like with Wicked Dreadroot. Kaiba's dealt with this before, Hajime thought. But…that's interesting that the god cards can have their attack powers modified. You would think such powerful cards would be omnipotent, unable to be affected by anything. A thought struck Hajime. Wait a sec! No! That makes perfect sense! Osiris and Ra's attack and defense points are both affected by outside forces. Obelisk's attack points may be a flat 4,000, but I bet it has an ability to modify attack and defense values as well. Even if they're all powerful, they're still just Pegasus' interpretations of their power, meaning that he needed to make them mighty, but fair. They aren't affected by any other spell, trap or monster effects, especially destruction effects. Thinking about it that way…I might be able to take Ra down.

As the gears in Hajime's head continued to turn, Yami stated to Kaiba, "Perhaps, but I've still prevented you from attacking me this turn, Kaiba."

Kaiba sneered. "Stalling for time is a sign of weakness, Yugi! You're obviously desperate!"

"Actually, it's more like sound strategy," Celeste said.

"No one asked you, Ludenburg!" Kaiba shouted at her.

"Oh. That ya let him hear," Joey remarked.

Now it's still my move, so stand back! I play two cards!" Kaiba exclaimed, slapping them into the spell/trap zone. "Both face-down! That ends my turn."

"Very well, it's my move," Yami stated, pulling the top card out of his deck to the point that his hand was above his shoulder. "Sorry, Kaiba, but since I'm now holding three cards, Osiris' attack points rise to 3,000."

Kaiba only grinned. "But now that your turn has begun, Obelisk regains its full strength, so your monster is weaker again!"

"Not quite, Kaiba!" Yami roared. "Observe my face-down card: Pot! Of! Greed!"

"He played that face-down!" Makoto exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"Huh. That's actually cleverer than anyone would normally give Yugi credit for under the circumstances," Chiaki stated.

"Thanks to the effect of this magic card, I can now draw two more cards from my deck. And you know what that means," Yami stated. Osiris roared. It did too. "Osiris' attack points now rise to 5,000, more than enough to take down your Obelisk, and wipe out half of your life points, Kaiba."

Kaiba growled.

"Now, my dragon!" Yami exclaimed. "ATTACK!"

Osiris began charging a large blast of golden lightning to strike down Obelisk with.

Kaiba smirked and declared, "Hold on, Yugi! Now, I activate, Command Silencer!" A large totem appeared and began blasting sonic frequencies from its speakers.

Yami clutched his head and groaned. He remembered the card from Joey's duel with Kaiba, but that didn't make the noise any less annoying.

"Hmph, even if your god card is untargetable, I can still prevent attacks," Kaiba said, pointing at Yami. "After all, a weapon is only as powerful as its wielder and it looks like Osiris can't hear you well enough this turn to attack. Nice try, Yugi." Command Silencer then vanished from the field. "Next, I get to draw one card from my deck. So, finish your move so I can end this."

"My Egyptian God Card is still more powerful than yours," Yami said with a smile.

"That may be the case," Kaiba stated. "But you're forgetting one thing. I have a card face-down on the field." And then, after Yami stood there in silence for a good few seconds, Kaiba said, "Obelisk is losing his patience, Yugi, so hurry up and finish your move."

"All right!" Yami declared. "I'll place two cards face-down onto the field and end my turn."

Osiris' attack points then went back to being 3,000.

"Now, feel free to attack me, Kaiba," Yami taunted.

Kaiba didn't look like he was going to be made a fool twice. And yet, he couldn't help but contemplate Yugi's strategy.

Yugi decided to go for the low hanging taunt fruit. "What's wrong, Kaiba? Are you afraid of my two face-down cards?"

"It's my move," Kaiba said and started to draw.

"Hold on, Kaiba," Yami said. "I activate my magic card, Card Destruction! Now we must both discard every card in our hand. But that's not all. Next, we must replenish our hands," Yami said as he drew three cards, "With the same number of cards."

"Fine!" Kaiba snapped.

"I can't tell if Yugi's taking a page out of our duel or if he had a greater plan in mind and that's worrying," Celeste said.

"Why is that worrying?" Serenity asked.

"When I pulled that stunt, it was simply to create confusion and misdirect Yugi's mind and strategy and it worked at first. But I don't think Kaiba is an opponent that one should use such petty tricks against."

"Yugi's definitely got a plan," Joey said.

"I sure hope so," Celeste said. "I am not getting him a gift for his pity party if he loses."

"Next," Yami stated, "I'll activate my trap card. Disgraceful Charity! Go!" A winged creature with green skin appeared and zapped both Kaiba and Yami's graveyards. "Kaiba!" Yami barked. "Now we must redraw the cards we just threw out, giving me a grand total of six cards in my hand."

"Ah, I see. I simply spoke too soon," Celeste stated.

"Told ya he had a plan," Joey said, smirking.

"Oh no! This can't be!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"I think you know what happens now," Yami said, "My Osiris gains 3,000 points for a total of 6,000."

"Impressive move, Yugi," Kaiba said to him. "But you'll have to do better than that to defeat me. Because that little stunt you pulled with your face-down cards helped me out as well."

"Ever he be wary that gives his foe options in battle," Byakuya stated aloud, but quiet enough that only he could hear it.

"You've given me just the cards I needed to win this duel," Kaiba said to Yami.

"Explain!" The Pharaoh demanded.

"Well thanks to you, I was able to draw this magic card," Kaiba said, holding it out, "Thirst for Compensation! It lets me summons two monsters from my hand directly to the field! Observe!" Kaiba exclaimed, slapping two monsters onto the field in defense mode. "I play Sword of Souls and Blade Knight!"

"You're wasting your time!" Yami exclaimed. "Those monsters are too weak to survive. Osiris automatically strikes every monster you summon. Now, Osiris, ATTACK!" Yami bellowed as a blue ball of lightning was blasted at the two monsters Kaiba just summoned.

"I'm afraid that won't work!" Kaiba declared with glee, "I activate Card Guard!"

A duel monster card themed shield appeared in front of Kaiba's monsters.

"NO!" Yami shouted.

"Yes!" Kaiba exclaimed, if for no other reason than to annoy Yami. "Now, I can discard two cards from my hand, which means Card Guard protects them both!"

The lightning blast from Osiris was offset by Kaiba's spell card.

I see, so you can interfere with the effects of a god card, just not their attacks, Hajime thought. I wonder if I could use that to exploit Ra's Phoenix Mode if given the chance.

"I'm not impressed," Yami stated as Card Guard shattered. "They're still too weak to be useful."

"That's what you think," Kaiba stated, as Obelisk reached down to grab both monsters. "Yugi, have you forgotten that Obelisk has a special ability as well? And just as soon as I activate it, you're finished!"

Chiaki gulped. Up to this point, no one in the finals had seen Obelisk's special ability. And, being the only person to take a direct hit from that behemoth present on top of the tower, she worried for Yugi's safety.

"Just try it!" Yami goaded.

"Very well," Kaiba said as Sword of Souls and Blade Knight's energy was sapped from their bodies and into Obelisk. "I sacrifice my two monsters to trigger the special ability of my Egyptian God Card!" Kaiba exclaimed as Obelisk's arms grew stronger and thicker. "Are you aware of what happens now? Allow me to explain, you fool."

"If you're going to ask a question, wait until—"

Joey covered Celeste's mouth before she could finish, "Frenchy, just let it go."

"These two sacrifices allow Obelisk to storm the field, dealing 4,000 points of damage to everything in its path! And when I say everything, Yugi, that includes your life points. So prepare to be wiped out!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"This can't be!" Yami exclaimed.

"I can't look!" Téa exclaimed, hiding her face in her hands.

"Way to go, Seto!" Mokuba cheered.

Obelisk pulled back his fist and prepared to strike as Kaiba shouted, "Obelisk the Tormentor, deplete his life points right now!"

With a fist imbued with purple energy, Obelisk struck towards Yami with all his might.

"Hold on!" Yami exclaimed as he discarded a card from his hand to the graveyard as suddenly Kuribohs upon Kuribohs stormed the field with cute little cries. "My wall of Kuribohs will protect me!"

Kuriboh? Hajime thought.

"Kuriboh can stop any damage resulting from an attack," Chiaki pointed out. "Looks like Yugi caught a lucky break."

So even monster effects work on stopping the effects of the god cards, Hajime thought. Yes, he was truly starting to formulate a plan on how to take down Marik.

"Nothing can stop the wrath of Obelisk!" Kaiba shouted as Obelisk's fist made contact with all the little floating furballs. "Finally," Kaiba declared, "Yugi lost to me."

"Oh really?" Yami barked back as the dust settled and gave Kaiba a defiant glare.

"Yugi, but how?" Kaiba growled.

"What's wrong, Kaiba?" Yami asked. "Were you expecting me to go somewhere? Don't you know that discarding Kuriboh from my hand protects my life points?"

Considering Kaiba's usual strategies, that probably took him by complete surprise, Makoto thought.

"Man, note to self," Komaru said, "Don't underestimate the power of the Kuriboh."

"Do da la la la la la la la la!" Ibuki sang.

"What are you doing?" Chiaki asked.

"What? It's the Kuriboh song," Ibuki said. "Haven't you heard it before?"

"They have a song?" Chiaki asked.

"Yeah! Of course they do! I'll show it to you later. It's cute!"

"Kuriboh," Yami said, looking down at his graveyard, "I would've lost this duel without you."

Kaiba was furious! "You mock me?" Kaiba shouted, fist trembling with rage, "How dare you defy the might of Obelisk with that puny Kuriboh! This is not over, Yugi!"

"Sheesh, what's Kaiba got against Kuriboh?" Komaru asked. "It's so cute."

Kaiba gave Komaru a very icy glare. She quickly pulled her poncho hood far up over her face and yelped in fright.

"It will be over soon enough," Yugi said, in response to Kaiba's statement.

Kaiba growled and declared, "I place one card face-down on the field. And that ends my turn."

"Very well!" Yami shouted and drew the top card of his deck. "My move! Sorry, Kaiba, but since I've drawn a card, Osiris' attack points increase to 6,000. Now, Osiris! Destroy his Obelisk!"

Rather than blast a beam of lightning at Obelisk, Osiris opted instead to coil around the massive monster like some kind of red dragon snake.

"Oh no! Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"Kaiba's life points are gone," Marik grinned.

"Now! End this!" Yami exclaimed as Osiris continued to try and crush Obelisk to death with its body.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Yugi," Kaiba said with a grin.

"Huh?"

"You triggered my trap card, Power Balance!" The trap card on Kaiba's right flipped face-up.

Obelisk suddenly broke free of Osiris' grip and started strangling the dragon, hand gripped around its throat.

"What's that?" Yami barked, "Kaiba, what's going on?"

"Ha! Thanks to my Power Balance trap, you have to discard half of the cards in your hand!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"Oh no!" Yami exclaimed.

"I'm afraid so. And since you lose three cards, Osiris' attack points reduce by 3,000. So let's go, I don't have all day! Throw out your three cards!"

Yami looked over his hand and decided on his three cards very quickly. "Very well, Kaiba," Yami said, discarding them all to the graveyard.

"As a secondary effect," Kaiba said. "I get to draw three cards." Kaiba drew the cards from his deck with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "So it looks like my Obelisk is stronger than your Osiris once again, Yugi. Time to return the favor. Now then, go Obelisk. Show Yugi some real power!"

"Hold on, Kaiba!" Yami exclaimed, "Osiris is not going anywhere! I happen to have a magic card that will turn things around! Now I activate my Necromancy card! Observe!"

Yami slapped the card into the card spell/trap zone as Osiris' attack points lowered to 2,000.

"Kaiba, you may want to keep a close eye on your duel disk!" Yugi declared as a blast of purple energy hit Kaiba's duel disk.

"Argh! What's this?" Kaiba shouted. Then, four purple beams of light shot out of it and scattered onto the field. "Ah, Blade Knight!" Kaiba exclaimed, noticing the card go to the field in defense mode. "Sword of Soul!" Kaiser Seahorse, which Kaiba had discarded with Card Guard, also appeared, alongside a defense mode X-Head Cannon. "What's going on? Why are all of my monsters returning to the field?"

Yami was quick with the explanation, "Necromancy restores four monsters from your graveyard, Kaiba. And they each return to the field in defense mode!"

"Yugi, why would you waste your time giving me more monsters to attack you with?" Kaiba asked.

"I'm glad that you asked, Kaiba," Yami said with a devilishly charming grin on his face. "My card has an unfortunate side effect, too."

Kaiba did not sound happy about that.

"If any of these monsters are destroyed, my necromancy will weaken your remaining beasts by 600 points, Kaiba!"

Oh that did not sound good. Kaiba had run the numbers in his head instantly. Obelisk was about to become weaker than Osiris.

"And since monsters have been played on your side of the field," Yami bellowed, "My Osiris' special effect has been triggered! Activate Second Mouth attack!"

The lightning blast from Osiris attacked and engulfed all of Kaiba's monsters, destroying all of the ones brought back by Necromancy.

"What have you done?" Kaiba snapped.

"Since Osiris destroyed your four new monsters, my Necromancy magic card weakens your one remaining monster so Obelisk loses 2,400 attack points!"

"Yugi," Kaiba glared. "I never thought you'd take such a cheap shot at my Egyptian God Card."

Obelisk's attack power fell down to 1,600, too weak to retaliate against Osiris.

"The tables have turned once again," Yami said, "And your monsters' strength pales in comparison to mine. Osiris! Destroy Obelisk now!"

"Not quite, Yugi!" Kaiba exclaimed as Obelisk suddenly gained 1,000 attack points for a total of 2,600.

"What have you done, Kaiba?" Yami demanded to know.

Kaiba never looked so smug. "Who me? It has nothing to do with what I've done. It's what you've done by using your Egyptian God Card to destroy my Sword of Soul, which allows me to add 1,000 attack points to any monster I choose and I choose my Obelisk! Thanks to you, I was able to increase Obelisk's attack points."

"It's a good thing Yugi didn't target one of Kaiba's other XYZ machine monsters with Necromancy or it would be Kaiba on the ropes right about now," Makoto said.

"I wonder why he didn't," Komaru pondered.

"Now, Obelisk, destroy his Osiris!" Kaiba shouted, raising his arm to the sky.

Obelisk let out a roar of his own and reared back his fist at his hip and then punched forward towards the red dragon.

"It's over!" Kaiba shouted. As Obelisk came in contact with Osiris, a gigantic lightning ball appeared several meters in front of his fist. "Your Egyptian God Card is ancient history!" However, in the next instant, the lightning ball pushed Obelisk away from Osiris and the red dragon of the sky was completely fine. "What? Your Osiris should've been destroyed!" Kaiba shouted.

"Well, it would've been had I not stopped Obelisk from attacking, Kaiba," Yami stated.

"What?" Kaiba snapped.

"And I have you to thank for giving me the ability to protect my Egyptian God Card from yours. For that task was only possible thanks to a trap card that you played."

Kaiba stared menacingly at Yami, silently demanding an explanation.

"When you played your Power Balance card, I had to place three cards in my graveyard." One such card emerged from Yami's graveyard, requiring him to now banish it from the game. "Including this." Yami held up the card, showing a metal turtle with the north and south magnet symbols on it. "Recognize it? It's a useful monster card known as Electromagnetic Turtle and it has quite a unique special ability. When this card is sent to the graveyard, it allows me to end any battle once during the duel if the card was sent to the graveyard this turn."

"So it allowed you to stop the battle before Osiris was destroyed by Obelisk," Kaiba said, coming to terms with the situation.

"Well, I see you did your homework, Kaiba," Yami stated. "Now I place this card face-down and end my turn." Yami now only had 1 card in his hand, meaning Osiris' attack points were only 1,000.

"Man, the taunting in this duel is something else," Hajime said.

"Agreed…you're not just talking about the verbal abuse, right?" Chiaki asked.

Hajime shook his head. "Yeah. Kaiba and Yugi are both making exceptionally daring plays. Guess that's why they're the best." I just hope Marik is easier, he thought. He recalled Gundham's duel with Marik. Marik almost lost if not for his own Shadow Game. I know it's easier said and done to power through a shadow game, but…I can't let Chiaki down. I have to do this!

As Kaiba's turn began, Osiris and Obelisk growled at each other. The world renown duelist also then began laughing. He held up a fist as it trembled, but it wasn't out of anger. It was out of excitement. This was it, the duel he'd been waiting for, a proper duel to truly crush Yugi Mutoh once and for all.

"All right, Yugi," Kaiba declared, "My move! You ready?" he asked rhetorically as he drew the top card of his deck. "Now then, you only have one card in your hand. That means Osiris' attack points are 1,000. So let's see you escape now." Yami could only glare and growl back at Kaiba. "It's time to show the world that I'm superior to you!" Kaiba shouted.

Chiaki sighed and pulled her hood up over her head. Kaiba…can't you just let it go? She gripped a fist by her chest. If you keep going down this path…you'll go back to how you were. Before we met, I'd heard some terrible things about you, Kaiba. Financial shakedowns of rival companies, blackmail to shut down smaller businesses, assassinations, public humiliations in dangerous, high stakes games. And if the Von Schroder family is to be believed, you completely ruined their family. Kaiba, I know, even now, you've always dismissed those rumors, but…

Chiaki was jarred from her thoughts by Kaiba shouting, "Obelisk! Attack his Osiris with your fist of fate!"

As Obelisk roared, Chiaki's memory then played out the culmination of the darkness in Kaiba's heart: Death-T.

I remember it so vividly, the games you made Yugi and his friends play, the local broadcast you made just to fuel your own pride and ego. The internet went wild with your defeat. And yet, it seemed to have a positive effect on you. When we met, you were a much kinder, reasonable person than all those rumors I'd heard about. You even paid out for all the damages you'd done.

Kaiba, Chiaki stared at him, I've never seen yours and Yugi's rivalry first hand until now. And what I see…scares me. You need to stop being so obsessed with beating Yugi. If you don't stop…then…

Chiaki became haunted by her own past experiences. People who had sworn to beat her and tried their hardest to take her down at their favorite game, be it a fighting game, a board game, or even a card game like Duel Monsters. She'd won every time.

To this day, I'm still undefeated, except to you at Duel Monsters, Kaiba. But I don't care if and when I'm defeated. I've never become obsessed with my win-loss record. It's not important. What's important is having fun. And I don't understand why people think winning is all there is to having fun.

"Guess again!" Yami roared at Kaiba. "Reveal the magic card, spell textbook!"

Yami's facedown card flipped face-up.

"Now I must discard every card in my hand. And in exchange, I can draw one new card. I can then play the card immediately, but only if I draw a magic card."

Kaiba, I want to root for you, I want you to put your rivalry with Yugi to rest. But I don't like seeing you like this either. Sometimes, people are just better than you at other things. Why can't you just accept that?

Chiaki remembered how several of her high level opponents had quit the fighting game community and other games all together after several, repeated losses at her hands. But she was still terrible at things other than games. P.E was always her downfall and while she was smart, she wasn't exactly a straight A student, either.

Yami sent the only card in his hand to the graveyard and drew the top card of his deck.

"Now that Osiris' attack points are zero, you'll lose the duel. Obelisk! Wipe out his life points!"

As Yami drew upon his faith in his deck, Chiaki took a longer trip down memory lane.

Why can't more people be more like Eliza? Chiaki wondered. No matter how many times we faced off, no matter how many times I beat her at anything, she always used it as a learning experienced. Sure, she challenged me often and she always said "I'll get you next time", but she never seemed to let that affect her behavior. Challenging me was a hobby, not her lifeblood. She had other responsibilities and she still made time to dedicate to Duel Monsters. I've battled Eliza at multiple games and despite my victories, we respect each other, not just as rivals, but as people. Why can't you and Yugi be the same, Kaiba? Why does it have to be like this? Chiaki almost felt herself getting choked up.

Hajime jarred her from her sad thoughts with comforting shoulder rub.

Chiaki sniffed. "Sorry," she apologized, pulling down her hood. "I got lost in thought."

Hajime smiled and then offered Chiaki a six-pack of Mochi. Chiaki went to town, an adorable little smile replacing the sorrow on her face that had been there for the past few minutes. Mochi and Rice balls were her favorite snack treats after all. They always seemed to brighten her up.

Chiaki's spirits lifted simultaneously with the top card of Yami's deck as he pulled it to his hand. "I activate this magic card! Card of Sanctity! It requires us to draw until each one of us is holding six cards!"

"Whoa! Talk about a turn around!" Ibuki exclaimed.

Rainbow lights ascended to the sky and then descended down onto Yami's deck as he began to pull six cards from his deck.

"Oh no! That means his Egyptian God Card increases in strength!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"That's right!" Yami exclaimed, "And that means Osiris now has 6,000 attack points. You're about to lose this duel, Kaiba!"

"Has anyone else noticed how much stating the obvious is going on in this duel?" Celeste asked. "Sometimes, this feels less like an epic showdown and more a Saturday morning cartoon for children."

"Oh good, it's not just me," Mai said.

Obelisk came in and began to swing at Osiris with his glowing purple fist as Osiris charged a glowing yellow blast of lightning.

"Hold on!" Kaiba exclaimed. "I activate my final trap card! Life Shaver! Now you have to discard two cards from your hand and that means your Egyptian God Card gets 2,000 points shaved off of its power!"

"A draw?" Ibuki exclaimed.

Mahiru began rapidly clicking her camera. She was not missing a minute of this.

"If Yugi doesn't play a card from his hand to stop Osiris now, this clash is going to end in a draw and the duel will keep going. Yes! More!" Nagito exclaimed.

"This is awesome!" Komaru exclaimed.

Obelisk's fist collided with Osiris' lightning blast as both monsters were pushed back. A huge explosion caused both monsters to be destroyed by each other's attack. And then, a blinding white light covered the whole stadium.

This hope…it's so beautiful, Nagito cooed inwardly.

"What's going on?" Téa exclaimed.

"I can't see a thing!" Tristan exclaimed.

"Joey!" Serenity latched onto her big brother.

"Serenity!" Joey exclaimed, hugging her. "Don't worry. I got you!"

"Really…" Celeste said, trying to keep at least one eye open, teeth gnashed, arm raised to block the light, "Talk about overdoing things."

Mai turned her head away, whining at the strain the light was putting on her eyes.

Chiaki and Hajime both pulled out sunglasses from who knew where and then reached into the popcorn bucket and had a fistful each.

"It's a Super Flare!" Ibuki shouted.

The lens on Mahiru's camera cracked. "Ah! My camera!" Quickly, she opened her bag and switched the memory card in her current camera for her other one. A good photographer always brought a spare camera. I wonder if Kaiba will reimburse me for the lens to be replaced.

Makoto and Komaru pulled their hoods up over their eyes to protect them from the blinding light. Espa's brothers all crowded around him. And Byakuya just stood there with his arm raised, wincing, doing his best to see without closing even one eye.

"Seto!" Mokuba shouted at Kaiba. "Are you okay?"

Marik, among all of the spectators, suddenly had a different priority to worry about. His Millennium Rod glowed, but not by his own power. "Huh?" He looked at the golden artifact, wondering why its power was activating without his consent.

As the light died down, Kaiba and Yami just stood there, blankly. Everything was silent, including the holographic audience.

"They're standing there, why are they just standing there?" Chiaki wondered, taking off her sunglasses.

"I don't know. Should we…help them?"

"Kaiba! Yugi! Are you all right?" Makoto shouted.

"Hey! You're supposed to referee this duel!" Mahiru exclaimed at Roland. "Do something!"

"I can't…if they're both standing and able to duel, the duel is just locked in stalemate.

"Then give it the usual five minute rule or something," Mai said. "They might be blinded or suffered some kind of brain damage from an overexcited hologram!"

"Brain damage from a hologram? Really?" Byakuya asked.

Mai pointed at Yami and Kaiba. "You want to stand there and argue with me that any of that is normal?" Mai asked.

Byakuya folded his arms. No, he had to agree. This was definitely not normal.

"Huh? Hey, everyone check out Marik!" Ibuki pointed out. "His rod thingy is glowing!"

The group all looked at Marik's Millennium Rod.

"You scumbag!" Tristan shouted. "What did you do to them?"

"Hard as it may be for you fools to believe, I'm not responsible for this!"

"Oh yeah, prove it?" Joey shouted. "You probably jacked their minds while they were distracted by Obelisk and Osiris."

"Easy there, Perry Mason, I don't think Marik has anything to do with what's happening," Celeste stated.

"Who the hell is Perry Mason?" Joey asked, scratching his head.

Celeste grumbled, rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean, Celeste?" Téa asked.

"If Marik was up to something, he'd be gloating about it. He's an insane psychopath, but he's a straightforward insane psychopath."

"Yeah, I have to give Celeste that," Makoto said, standing up slowly. "Which makes me all the more worried of what's really going on."

After nearly five minutes of uncomfortable silence and a loud tone from Marik's Millennium Rod, Kaiba and Yami both sounded like they were just gasping for air and each one dropped to their knees panting.

"Yugi! Are you all right?" Téa called out in worry.

"Seto! Are you okay?" Mokuba shouted.

"Kaiba, are you all right?" Yami asked him.

"I'm fine," Kaiba grumbled. "What just happened?"

"I'm going to go get Mikan," Chiaki said. "We might want to put this duel on hold."

There was no need. The blimp was parked rather close to the base of the tower and the elevator was quite fast. In short, Mikan Tsumiki was now running out onto the stadium all of her own accord.

"Yugi! Kaiba! Are you both okay?" Neither responded. They remained kneeling, panting.

"We were shown the origins of our destiny," Yami said, though it was so faint, only Kaiba heard him. "Now do you believe in your connection to the past?"

"What's going on here?" Marik grumbled, looking at his Millennium Rod.

Mikan, ignoring all of this, rushed over to Chiaki. "Can I borrow this?" she asked, referring to Chiaki's chair.

"Uh, sure, but…"

"Thank you!" Mikan blurted out and shoved it near the dueling platform, using it as a step stool to get up there.

"Young lady! What are you—"

Mahiru cut Roland off, "She's checking on Kaiba and Yugi's well-being. Let her do her job! If either contestant collapsed. It would look really bad."

Back home, all the viewers in the world could see Mikan on TV. She stumbled onto the stage, unaware that her actions were being seen by pretty much the whole world. But she was in full nurse mode. She wasn't going to be a klutz right now.

Briefly, she examined Kaiba and Yugi's breathing patterns and the amount of sweat on both their faces. Between the two, she deduced that Kaiba needed the more immediate help, even if only by so much. Though she was normally afraid of the tall corporate business owner, that didn't mean a thing when she was using her talent.

"Kaiba, are you okay?" Mikan asked, putting a supportive arm around his back and taking his left hand in hers. "Here we go," she said, supporting him to help him stand. "Nice and easy."

Kaiba's breathing regulated. "Tsu…miki?"

"Good, you recognize me? Can you stand on your own?"

"Ugh," Kaiba said, rubbing his forehead and closing his eyes. "I think so. I just…my head hurts."

Mikan pulled out a 4 ounce bottle of water and two pain relief pills. "Here, take these. They're non-drowsy."

Kaiba, without thinking, or even trying to be tough, took what was being offered, as well as the water. He wiped his mouth of the excess liquid and Mikan stuffed the empty bottle in her apron. She then trotted over to Yami, who seemed to be getting up just fine on his own.

"Yugi, are you all right?" She asked, hands clasped together in prayer.

"I'm…I'm all right," Yami said, still panting a little.

Mikan walked over to Yami and gestured for him to take a couple steps towards her. She put her hands on his cheeks and put her forehead to his. "No. No fever. Does your head hurt too?" she asked, backing away.

Yami shook his head. "No. I'm all right. Thank you, Mikan. You are a credit to your title as a nurse."

Mikan brightened up immediately. "Eheheh! Thank you very much."

Yami looked at Kaiba. "Do you understand the significance of this duel?" he asked him.

"I understand that I need to win, Yugi!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"If they're feeling well enough to insult each other, they must be back to normal," Chiaki said, relieved.

"Man, that was scary," Komaru said.

"Leave it to Mikan to just jump into things when someone's not feeling well. She really is the Ultimate Nurse," Nagito said with a smile.

"Mikan, do you need help getting down?" Hajime asked her.

It was only now that Kaiba's brain really registered that Mikan was on the stage. "Huh? Tsumiki? What are you doing up here, especially on the dueling platform?"

"Eek! Sh-should I not have come here! You two were just staring off into space for several minutes, so I thought something was wrong and raced over here!"

"Kaiba and I were—"

Kaiba cut Yami off. "No," he said with a smug smirk. "I really must thank you. You helped me put that little fiasco of a hallucination to bed."

"Hallucinations?" Mikan asked, curious, as though she were trying to discern Kaiba's ailment from the symptom.

"Kaiba! Do you still deny what we both saw?" Yami shouted.

"Yugi. Don't be a fool. That was nothing more than an illusion!"

"A shared illusion?" Chiaki asked.

"U-um! Y-you both should come see me a-at some point wh-when your duel is over," Mikan stuttered. "Sh-shared illusions aren't exactly common. I should try and discern the root cause and—"

"That's enough! It was not an illusion! It was a vision of our ancient past!" Yami exclaimed.

"Lies! Lies and fairytales!" Kaiba shouted back at him. "You can play with your ancient Egyptian nonsense all you like, but I'll say it again! Leave me out of it!" He then looked at Mikan. "Tsumiki, I think I'll be by later after I crush Yugi. I'll need something for these," he chuckled, "hallucinations."

"Kaiba," Yami growled.

"Just hold on a moment, Yugi," Kaiba said with a smug grin. "I'll be back to crushing you as soon as our thoughtful nurse has been properly escorted off the stage from her two minutes of fame."

Kaiba made a gesture of his fingers wiping along his neck to tell Roland to cut for an emergency commercial break. He then walked to the edge of the stadium and jumped down and gestured for Mikan to come closer so he could properly escort her down. Carefully, she put one leg down on the chair and Kaiba offered her his hand so that he could help her keep steady footing.

Unfortunately, now that she had done her job, Mikan's "nurse mode" had ended and she was back to being one of the most accident-prone people on the planet. As she brought her other leg down, she slipped as the chair pushed out from under her and she nearly fell six feet straight down onto her backside.

"Wah!" She yelped.

Kaiba, however, since he was standing right there, quickly aided the falling nurse. His free arm swept up under her legs and he put his other hand along her back and quickly helped Mikan get her feet firmly on the ground. For about a blink's worth of time though, both of Kaiba's arms had been used to support Mikan. A moment of which felt like a full minute to the young, self-unknowingly nubile teen.

"Th-thank you," Mikan blurted out. Her heart racing. Kaiba, however, was already climbing back up onto the platform.

"Kaiba, you…" Chiaki began as she trailed off. Despite his constant berating of Yugi, Kaiba had shown genuine human kindness to Mikan. It was a human trait Chiaki thought was too deeply buried for Kaiba to show in front of a crowd.

"If you have something to say to me, Nanami, save it for after I crush Yugi," Kaiba said walking back to his proper spot on the platform.

Chiaki sighed. Nope. Same old Kaiba. He'd probably only helped Mikan to return the favor of helping him and probably just remembered she could be a bit clumsy.

"Here, Mikan," Hajime said, getting up and standing behind Chiaki as he put her chair back where it belonged. "Take my seat."

"What? Really? N-no, I-I need to be getting back to the others and—"

"What do you mean? Stay here and snack and spectate with us!" Ibuki exclaimed. "It's not like Sonia and Gundham are going anywhere and Ishizu's still on the blimp. Plus, Marik's right here so he won't try anything funny. Come on, stick around."

"R-really? It's…okay?"

Chiaki smiled. "You should stay, Mikan. After all, it's not like Sonia, Gundham, Bakura or Odion could get worse. But what if something happened to Kaiba or Yugi, wouldn't you want to be here for that?"

"W-well…" Mikan mulled it over in her head. "I suppose…that's not inaccurate. And it is pretty quick to go back and forth."

Hajime rummaged through the snack bag. "What's your favorite type of snack Mikan? We've got plenty to go around."

"Um, I like anything covered in chocolate," Mikan said. "A-and I don't have any allergies, s-so…"

Hajime handed her a cardboard box of Pocky. "It's the crunchy almond variety."

Mikan graciously accepted the box. "Th-thank you very much. Eheheh." She sat down where Hajime had just been sitting and ate her snack as she and everyone else watched the duel resume between Yugi and Kaiba.

Kaiba looked at Roland who was looking at his watch and touching an earpiece he was wearing. Roland nodded three times and then said to Kaiba, "We're live, sir."

Kaiba smirked. "Sorry for the delay, Yugi. I'm ready to crush you now." Kaiba pointed at him rudely. "And when I do, all I have to do is win one more duel and then nobody will ever dispute again that I am the best duelist in the world."

"Kaiba," Yami growled. "I'm dueling for so much more than a mere tournament victory! Is that clear? I joined this to help save mankind and nothing will stand in my way! That includes you, Kaiba!"

"You're wasting your breath," Celeste said. "Just beat him and let's get on with this. Ugh, where's a British meme video when you need it?"

Kaiba ignored Yugi and said, "Believe whatever you want, Yugi, this will all be over soon!"

"Last I checked, it was still your move, Kaiba," Yami told him.

Kaiba pumped his fist. "Now you're starting to make some sense. Let's move on, so I can end this and claim the victory I deserve."

"Poor Kaiba," Mikan said.

"Poor Kaiba? What do you mean, poor Kaiba?" Mahiru asked.

"It's just…he seems so…angry. I saw his face earlier. I don't know if he got enough sleep from the night before. I wonder if what happened to Sonia was bothering him."

"If Kaiba showed that much concern, that would be the real miracle," Chiaki stated.

"Yeah, if he was losing sleep over anything, it was probably how to beat Yugi," Hajime noted.

Chiaki could only sigh in agreement. Oh Kaiba. I don't know if I should want for you to win or to lose. Either way, it's not good for your health.

Kaiba pointed directly at Yugi. "I hope you're ready."

Yami nodded in confirmation.

"All right," Kaiba said, plucking a card from his hand. "I'll place one card face-down on the field." The face-down hologram appeared. "I don't need an Egyptian God Card to defeat you."

"It's my move, Kaiba!" Yugi exclaimed and drew the top card of his deck. He looked disappointed with his draw. However, he had a plan, as he always did. "All right, I summon Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts, in defense mode!"

"What? Why defense mode?" Makoto gaped. "Kaiba's wide-open aside from a face-down card. Sure, he won't be able to wipe Kaiba out, but 500 life points are easier to demolish than 2,000."

"Maybe the risk wasn't worth it. Maybe it's the only monster in Yugi's hand right now," Komaru said.

"Yeah, maybe. And if Kaiba's got a Blue-Eyes waiting in the wings, it might be a good idea for Yugi to play defensively. Still, I would've attacked if it were me."

"And that's why you're sitting here and not up there," Byakuya said with the smuggest of smirks.

"Oh yeah? Then what's your excuse?" Komaru snapped.

Byakuya gave her no response.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Komaru said.

Kaiba started laughing. "If that's all you've got, you're done," Kaiba said, revealing his face-down card. "Behold, my trap!" Kaiba's trap card was revealed and then morphed into a replica of Yami's Gazelle.

"What?" Yami gasped. "But that's…"

"Yes! My Cloning trap card has made an exact duplicate of your King of Mythical Beasts, Yugi. Too bad, looks like we're tied again."

"Guess I've got a lot to learn myself," Makoto said, taking notes.

On the other side of the dueling platform, Chiaki noticed Hajime get out the notebook again. "Thinking of something?"

"I don't know if it's possible, but could you duplicate a god in play?"

"No, I don't think so," Nagito said. "Remember my duel? The counterfeit Ra glitched out."

"But that was a counterfeit, not a token. It's still something to keep in mind. I don't think I can take advantage of it, but…I need every bit of information I can get my hands on," Hajime said, jotting down notes.

"I shall place one card face-down now!" Yami exclaimed, playing it in the spell/trap zone. "That ends my turn."

"Sorry, Yugi," Kaiba said. "But you've just made your final move! For the monster I now hold in my hand is the key to your ultimate demise."

Mikan's eyes fluttered towards Kaiba with interest. She wasn't very good at duel monsters, but she was more than willing to pay ample attention to Kaiba's big plays.

Yami's eyes trembled in fear. No! It couldn't be!

"All I need is the Gazelle I got from you, and I can summon it to the field," Kaiba stated. "So prepare to feel the wrath of my Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Yami seemed shocked. "Blue-Eyes, but how? You need to sacrifice two monsters for that!"

"Is that so?" Kaiba said with a smug smirk. "You should know that things aren't always what they seem."

"Enough talk, Kaiba," Yami growled. "Just make your move so we can end this duel."

"Yes, please! Enough, talking! We've had so much of that, I could likely write fifty pages of your banter alone and publish it as a manuscript!" Celeste exclaimed.

"Jeez, who pissed in your tea this morning, Frenchy?" Joey asked.

Celeste just turned away and pouted.

Ignoring Celeste, again, Kaiba declared, "Yes! Ending this duel is exactly what I'm about to do thanks to this magic card!" Kaiba smirked and then looked directly at Yugi. "Yugi, you were correct. Summoning Blue-Eyes usually requires two sacrifices. However, thanks to my magic card. That rule no longer holds true now. This card is the key to unlocking my great beast and wiping you out! Behold! My Cost Down magic card!"

Yami gasped. Yup. That'd do it.

"Now my Blue-Eyes is immediately reduced from an 8-star monster to a 6-star monster!"

"Good thing Yugi's Gazelle is in defense mode," Makoto said.

"See? Now imagine if it was you up there," Byakuya said. "You'd be losing 1,500 life points right about now."

"You don't have to be so rude about being right," Komaru said to him.

"The time has come!" Kaiba shouted. "And mark my words, this is no illusion you fool! First, I sacrifice my Gazelle clone! And now! I summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

The mighty, rather large dragon appeared behind Kaiba with its signature cry.

"Blue-Eyes…White Dragon…"

"Something the matter, Mikan?" Chiaki asked.

"Blue…Eyes…" Mikan stared holes at the dragon. She'd seen Blue-Eyes up close before during Kaiba's duel with Chiaki. Yet, somehow, this time, its familiar visage felt…nostalgic in a way. Maybe it was because there was only one dragon here, or maybe Mikan's heart was still racing because of her physical contact with Kaiba earlier, but either way she felt…connected to the dragon somehow.

She rapidly shook her head. What was she saying? Connected to a trading card. No, that was nothing more than her girlish fantasy to be connected to Kaiba. Her face turned red as she remembered Kaiba rescuing her. She seriously wanted to just shrink down and crawl into a hole out of embarrassment and buried her blushing face in her hands.

Chiaki, having no idea what was going on, just pat Mikan on the shoulder.

"All right," Kaiba said, continuing with the proceedings, "It's time for me to finally put an end to this feud right now! Blue-Eyes, attack his Gazelle with White Lightning!"

Blue-Eyes roared and unleashed a deadly blast of destructive energy at Gazelle, destroying it utterly and completely as the shards of light making up its hologram blew past Yami in at least a dozen directions.

Kaiba laughed. "You may as well throw in the towel, Yugi. Your only monster is gone! And unless you can summon something with over 3,000 attack points, this duel's over!"

Yami took a deep breath and then began his turn. "Stand back, Kaiba!" He smirked at the card in his hand. "Behold, the TRUTH! I know you saw the same visions that I did and I'm about to prove it, Kaiba. You and I battled each other 5,000 years ago and now destiny has brought us together once again."

"So…does Yugi actually think the hallucination he suffered was real, or…?" Mikan was a bit confused.

"It must have something to do with the Millennium Puzzle," Hajime said. "You remember, right? Bakura was telling us about it on the way to the finals, about shadow games and the like."

"Uwaaah! Is this a shadow game right now?" Mikan freaked out.

Chiaki shook her head. "No. Only evil doers like Marik and Bakura seem to be willing to use Duel Monsters as a platform for their twisted shadow games. Although Yugi holds the power of the shadows, he seems to know not to use them to hurt others. That's why he's a hero who beat Pegasus."

Kaiba made a face at Chiaki.

"What? It's true. He did win."

Kaiba went back to looking at Yugi.

"It's true, Kaiba! Look! I use Monster Reborn to bring back a monster from my graveyard, the servant of the Ancient Pharaoh, the Dark Magician!"

Kaiba gasped as his eyes shrunk in and his jaw dropped.

"Now, Dark Magician, come forth!"

Yami and Yugi's signature monster hit the field, scepter grasped, arms folded and 2,500 attack points strong.

"All right! This is as classic as it gets!" Makoto cheered, raising a fist to the air.

"A real, live showdown between the Dark Magician and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Oh man, our friends at school are going to be so jealous!" Komaru exclaimed. "And we get to see it first hand because you're such an awesome duelist that you made it to the finals."

Makoto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Wait, hold on a sec. When did that go to the graveyard?" Tristan wondered, scratching his head.

"When Kaiba played Life Shaver, Yugi had to discard two cards," Mai said. "One of them must've been his Dark Magician."

Click! Went Mahiru's camera.

Kaiba, however, in spite of the Dark Magician, was not buying into the whole Ancient Egyptian Prophecy shtick. "Yugi! Your move doesn't prove a thing!" he shouted.

"Kaiba, how can you continue to deny your ancient past?" Yami shouted. "Just look at the field. Blue-Eyes White Dragon faces the Dark Magician. The time has come to accept your destiny, Kaiba! Fate has led us to battle again!"

"To be fair," Byakuya said. "You're asking him to believe in an ancient prophecy that he's supposed to be the reincarnation of your greatest adversary from when you, Pharaoh were alive. This is in spite of not having a Millennium Item of his own and has surrounded himself with modern technology since he was adopted by the worst stepfather in history. Even I'd find that a tough sell under the circumstances."

"See? Togami gets it."

"Byakuya is not you, Kaiba. He is not the reincarnation of an Ancient Egyptian Wizard. This is our prophecy, not his," Yami stated.

"Real duelists make their own destiny!" Kaiba exclaimed. "And a perfect example of that is right over there!"

Chiaki followed the tip of Kaiba's finger and realized he was pointing at Hajime.

"Eh?" Hajime was surprised.

"Hinata fought his way through here despite being at a serious disadvantage! He didn't rely on an ancient fairytale or the heart of the cards to stand in the semi-finals! He dug in his heels, gripped at his skill and just played the game! He's even set to completely invalidate your so-called prophecy by taking down Marik in the next duel. So I'd say take your Ancient Egyptian fairytale and bury it back in the deepest tomb you can find! Understand me?"

"So, we're just ignoring what Makoto did in his duel with Ishizu then, yeah?" Ibuki asked.

Kaiba laughed. "No. Not at all. Hinata's still around, so he was a better example to use, but thank you for proving my point, Mioda."

"No problemo!" Ibuki exclaimed.

"Mioda's absolutely right," Kaiba said with a self-satisfied grin. "Ishizu talked all about destiny just like you are, Yugi and where did it get her? A one-way ticket out of my tournament courtesy of Naegi who proved that her talk of destiny was nothing more than a big joke! So spare me your fairytales and your speeches and let's settle this like professionals! Is that clear to you?"

I'm starting to see that Kaiba's hatred of Yugi goes a bit beyond simple rivalry, Chiaki thought.

"Very well," Yami said, sounding defeated. "But sooner or later, you will have to accept what I say as truth. I shall place one card face-down. After contemplating his strategy and making sure everything was in place, Yami said, "Go, Kaiba."

"You disappoint me, Yugi," Kaiba said. "You're willing to put all of your faith in some old folk story. How pathetic. Who knew you'd take it this far?"

"I'm pretty sure every single one of his friends besides Mai and I did," Celeste said.

"Why are you excluding me?" Mai asked.

"Because you don't hang around Yugi indefinitely like the rest of these commoners do," Celeste said.

"Hey! Who are you calling a commoner?" Joey snapped.

"Fair point," Mai said, agreeing with Celeste.

"Hey!" Joey exclaimed, getting more aggravated.

Kaiba continued to glare at Yugi. "Someone shows you some chicken scratch on an old rock and you use it to dictate your life? I expected more from you! Trust me you're no Pharaoh," Kaiba said and chuckled at the childish notion, "So stop playing make believe."

Yami did not look amused.

"You're caught up in the past when you should be concentrating on what's happening right now and that will be your downfall."

"We shall see," Yami stated.

"Yes, as soon as you're knocked out of the tournament. Then, I'll move on to the final round and reclaim my number one dueling status."

Hajime swallowed. "Yeah, truth be told, I think I'd rather go up against Yugi than Kaiba."

"Why's that?" Chiaki asked.

"Well, if I defeat Marik, they'll be nothing at stake for Yugi. I don't know, I just get the feeling that that might make some kind of difference than going up against a ruthless Kaiba," Hajime said.

"I seriously doubt Yugi would go easy on you," Nagito said.

"That's not what I'm saying," Hajime said. "I just…I don't know. Forget I said anything."

No. It's not nothing, Kaiba thought, smirking at Hajime. My computers don't lie. Of all the finalists, if you went up against Yugi, you stood the best chance of taking him out. But that's not going to happen because I'm going to take Yugi out myself! "Now, let's move on! First, I'll place one card face-down on the field," Kaiba stated as he drew the top card of his deck. "Then, I'll activate my Card of Demise! This magic card allows me to draw until I'm holding five cards as long as I discard my entire hand after five turns have passed."

"Kaiba must be desperate to play that now," Makoto said. "He already had three cards in his hand."

Now it was Komaru's turn to think. "You don't think he's trying to summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate to the field, do you?"

"Huh? Hey, yeah, that does sound plausible," Makoto said.

"If Kaiba were to play that monster, Yugi's chances of victory go significantly down," Espa said. "And the cosmic energy is telling me that that will happen."

"Your cosmic energy has about as much truth to it as Yugi's talk of Egyptian prophecies," Byakuya said.

"Hmph, then I'm sure I'm right because I believe Yugi when he talks about things of that nature," Espa said. "The cosmic energy says so itself. Not to mention, if it wasn't true, then what happened to Gundham couldn't have happened."

"I'm not denying the part about the shadow games," Byakuya said. "You'd have to be an idiot to try and discredit those at this point in the tournament. I'm saying that the fact that Kaiba is the reincarnation of some dead pharaoh's old rival is just ridiculous."

"Ridiculous or not, it's what's partially driving this duel," Makoto pointed out.

"Come on, Yugi!" Téa cheered. "You can do it!"

"Is that all you've got?" Yami taunted Kaiba.

"Sorry Yugi," He replied. "But this little strategy of yours is no secret to me, so I'm afraid it's not going to work. You're planning to take me down with your two face-down cards."

"I mean, yeah, unless he's bluffing that's usually how these things go," Celeste said.

"Well guess what? I've got a plan too," Kaiba said. "Behold this!" He held up Lord of Dragons, "A monster that will seal your fate!"

"Oh no!" Yami gasped.

"I summon Lord of Dragons!" Kaiba exclaimed. "As long as it's on the field, my Blue-Eyes is safe from all magic and trap cards!"

"That may be so, Kaiba!" Yami responded. "But my Dark Magician is more powerful than your Lord of Dragons."

"Then go ahead and attack it, Yugi," Kaiba said with the most shit-eating smirk on his face he could muster.

Before beginning his next move, Yami contemplated what in the world Kaiba could be up to, only to decide to throw caution to the wind. "All right!" Yami declared. "My move! I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior, in defense mode!"

Out came the second of the three magnet warriors as it floated over its own card frame with 1,600 defense points.

"Dark Magician!" Yami declared, pointing, "Attack his Lord of Dragons now!"

"Hahaha," Kaiba laughed, "Too bad, Yugi! I reveal my trap card, Magical Trick Mirror! Now I can take one magic card from your graveyard and use it as my own for one turn! And I know exactly which one of your old cards I need to get my hands on, Monster Reborn!"

Yami's heart started to race for all kinds of bad reasons. "And why's that?" he asked, his voice trembling.

Kaiba laughed. "Now I can bring back an old friend. Behold! The rebirth of my Egyptian God Card!"

Obelisk began to rise up from the ground, bathed in blue light and fire.

Yami gasped. "It's Obelisk!"

"Very observant, Yugi," Kaiba said with a smirk.

"But Egyptian God Cards can only be revived for one turn."

"True, but one turn is all I need to block your Dark Magician's attack!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"One turn?" That was news to Hajime. He jotted it down. Up until now, none of the god cards had been on the field for more than a turn, barring when Gundham rushed at Ra, but that had been a normal summon.

"Hold on!" Yami exclaimed at his Dark Magician.

"Too late!" Kaiba shouted. "It's time for Obelisk to absorb your attack!"

"This can't be!" Yami exclaimed.

"Say goodbye to 1,500 life points!" Kaiba declared.

"Finally!" Celeste exasperated. Finally there was some damage in this match that wasn't self-inflicted. Okay, running into your opponent's monster counted as self-inflicted to a degree, but that wasn't what she meant.

Obelisk used its mighty hand to bounce back Yami's attack at him, dropping his life points to 1,500 from 3,000. Yami took a knee.

"I don't get it, why didn't he play it in attack mode?" Ibuki asked. "He could've destroyed the Dark Magician, right?"

"Not likely. You can't just forcibly intercept an attack like that. Maybe Obelisk had to be played in defense mode in order to take the attack for Lord of Dragons. That's the best explanation I can come up with."

"Man, these god cards can do whatever they want, seriously. It's so stupid," Mahiru remarked.

"They're gods," Hajime said, taking notes. "I don't think they particularly care about breaking all the conventional rules of Duel Monsters."

"It looks to me like you're out of options," Kaiba taunted. "It's over!"

"Oh no!" Mikan ran towards Yami. "Yugi, are you okay? Say something! How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked as she held up three fingers.

"Don't get so worked up, Tsumiki. Yugi's fine. He's just bowing his head in submission as he realizes how pointless this duel is because I am completely superior!" Kaiba exclaimed and then laughed loudly.

"Guess again!" Yami exclaimed and staggered to his feet. "I'm fine, Mikan," he said with a smile, "Thank you for worrying. Go back to your seat."

Mikan got a good look at Yami's face. Yeah. He looked fine. No pale skin or profuse sweating. "O-okay," she nodded and returned to her seat.

"Your Egyptian God Card won't be around for long, Kaiba!" Yami exclaimed.

"That doesn't matter! Obelisk has served his purpose already," Kaiba replied. "I won't be needing his services to finish you off."

"Very well then," Yami said, placing a card face-down. "I'll place one card face-down and end my turn. Your move, Kaiba."

"Well," Kaiba said, arms folded, "As you've already pointed out, it's time for Obelisk to return to the graveyard. Now, my Egyptian God Card, begone!"

Obelisk obediently sank into the ground and disappeared.

"And good riddance," Joey said. "Seriously."

"The wrath of Obelisk may be over," Kaiba said. "But the worst part is yet to come."

"You said that before and that was turns ago," Celeste stated.

"I suggest you start living in the moment," Kaiba declared, "And forget all that nonsense about the past!" Kaiba had a laughing fit and then stated seriously, "But then again, there's nothing you can do to save yourself at this point. As soon as I make my next move, you're history."

"Go ahead and make your move, Kaiba," Yami told him.

"This duel has become tiresome. The outcome is of no consequence to me as long as a winner is declared soon. No matter who wins this, I will be the ultimate victor," Marik stated.

Hajime had no intention of repeating his defiance against Marik so he just glared at him from across the stadium. Marik, of course, didn't notice.

When Kaiba saw what he drew, he seemed pleased. "All right!" he declared. "Now it's time to bury the past and move on! If you want to believe that we dueled 5,000 years ago, be my guest! But don't waste your time trying to convince me that it's true! I believe in only one thing and that's my supreme dueling skills, Yugi! Everything else is meaningless!"

Chiaki winced. It was statements like that that made her worry for Kaiba's mental health.

"Now then, let's get on with this duel, so I can finally claim what I rightfully deserve!" Kaiba exclaimed. He pointed at Yugi, "The title that you stole from me, Yugi."

Chiaki winced harder.

"I will be known as the world's greatest duelist! I'm afraid this is the final turn," Kaiba said. "It's over. I switch Lord of Dragons to defense mode! Then I activate the magic card, the Flute of Summoning Dragon!"

Yami looked tense. "This can mean only one thing."

"I take it you're familiar with my strategy," Kaiba stated. "As soon as my Lord of Dragons plays this flute, two more dragons will be summoned to the field!"

Yami gasped. "You're planning to call forth two more Blue-Eyes White Dragons, aren't you?"

"That's precisely what I'm doing, Yugi!" Kaiba declared, holding two cards high above his head, which he then played onto the field, bringing out his ultimate trio.

Yami gasped. "How can I fight off three Blue-Eyes?" he wondered aloud.

"This does not look good," Joey gulped.

"Come on, Yugi! You got this!" Téa exclaimed.

"If by this, you mean White Lightning to the face, then yes, he's got this," Celeste said dryly.

Téa growled at you. "Why did Yugi want you to be friends with us again?"

"I've been asking myself that same question since last night," Celeste stated.

"Hey, finish the squabble later. Yugi needs our support!" Tristan stated.

"Cheer all you want," Kaiba said. "It'd be hilarious if Yugi summoned you, then I could wipe out his life points and his pride with my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons!"

"Kaiba, that's uncalled for!" Chiaki could take no more. "Your rivalry is with Yugi! Leave his friends out of this just because you don't have anyone you call such."

"Stay out of this, Nanami! This doesn't concern you!" Kaiba exclaimed.

Chiaki just stood there, cheeks puffed and face pouty. Kaiba, please. I don't want to see someone like you go down the path I've seen so many people. You can be better than this.

"Hmph. Well, it doesn't really matter. I'm winning so thoroughly right now that even if Yugi's friends mobbed the field, it wouldn't change the thing. I've got four monsters, three of which are Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and Yugi, all he has is his Dark Magician and his pathetic magnet warrior. So I'm free to wipe out his monsters and wipe out his life points along with them!"

Kaiba's Blue-Eyes monsters roared hungrily.

"Yugi," Kaiba said. "Just give up now. This is where it all ends, Yugi. There's no way you can escape the devastation of my three Blue-Eyes! The moment I've been waiting for is finally here!" Kaiba then took a moment to laugh out loud. "Now, my three Blue-Eyes attack!" Kaiba exclaimed. "Finish him off and end this duel!"

Yami stared defiantly at the incoming onslaught of three White Lightnings. "Once my dragons attack, this duel is over, Yugi!"

"Yugi, snap out of it!" Joey shouted.

"Joey?"

"Do you remember what happened when I was about to lose a duel to Fuyuhiko. I have faith in you and your deck, pal! So buck up all that heart of the cards stuff and turn this right back in Kaiba's face, ya hear me?"

"Oh for the love of," Celeste sighed shaking her head, palming her forehead. "Yugi! You have three face-downs! Are none of them useful?"

Celeste and Joey's support snapped Yugi and Yami to attention. Celeste and Joey are right, Yugi thought, There's still hope!

"Nice try, Yugi!" Kaiba exclaimed. "But you're no longer the top ranked duelist! I'm going to wipe out all of your monsters, starting with Dark Magician!" A white lightning blast was launched at Dark Magician.

"Not so fast, Kaiba!" Yugi declared. "Activate trap!"

Kaiba saw the card artwork and he was not happy. "Magician's Selection? That protects your Dark Magician from my attack, which means you and your monster will escape unharmed!"

"That's right, Kaiba! But my trap also sends your weakest monster to the card graveyard!" Yami declared.

"Ah! Without Lord of Dragons, Yugi's other traps can affect Kaiba's dragons!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Not important!" Kaiba proclaimed. "Attack, my dragons!" Another White Lightning blast completely destroyed Beta the Magnet Warrior. "Beta the Magnet Warrior is gone, and your Dark Magician is next! Say goodbye to your favorite monster!"

"That's what you think, Kaiba! Reveal face-down card!" Yami launched his Spellbinding Circle at Kaiba's remaining Blue-Eyes, trapping it, stopping its attack and lowering its attack points to 2,300. "My Spellbinding Circle card puts an end to your Blue-Eyes attack and lowers its strength by 700! Nice try, Kaiba! Time for my Dark Magician to fight back! Destroy his Blue-Eyes White Dragon with Dark Magic Attack!"

Everything went photo negative as Kaiba's Blue-Eyes was destroyed, bringing Kaiba down to a total of 1,800 life points.

"All right," Kaiba said as his life points ticked down, "You may have saved yourself for now, but this duel's far from done!"

Yami took a deep breath. "Joey, Celeste. Thank you."

"A'course! I've always got your back, pal!" Joey exclaimed.

"Whatever," Celeste sighed.

Téa smiled warmly at Celeste. I see. That's why Yugi wants her as a friend. Celeste may not always admit it, but she does care. I guess sarcastic quips and dry wit are just her way of motivating Yugi.

Despite losing a Blue-Eyes, Kaiba seemed more intrigued and excited than mad, especially compared to his duels with Chiaki and Joey. "Sorry, Yugi, but you're still at a huge disadvantage in this duel."

"Really?" Yami replied disbelievingly. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, even if I am outnumbered two to one."

"Please, my two Blue-Eyes are more powerful than your Dark Magician could ever hope to be!" Kaiba exclaimed. "Now, I'll place two cards face-down. Your move, Yugi."

"We've got a long way to go, Kaiba," Yami stated as he drew the top card of his deck. "I'll place this face-down," he stated, creating the face-down hologram.

"Play all the cards you want. Allow me to activate this card," Kaiba said, revealing one of his face-downs.

"No! Not that trap!" Yami gasped.

Kaiba laughed. "My final attack orders keeps all monsters in attack position for the remainder of the duel. And, now we each choose any three cards from our decks and make a new deck out of them. The rest," he chuckled, "go to the card graveyard."

"Our whole deck?" Yami gaped. Was Kaiba serious?

"That means this duel is going to end in only three turns!" Komaru exclaimed.

"Kaiba, you magnificent strategist! I can't wait to see how this all ends!" Nagito proclaimed excitedly.

Kaiba already knew which cards to pick to make his deck. "Now then, you may as well give up and accept defeat now, Yugi," Kaiba said to him. "Because my strategy is unstoppable."

"In yer dreams, rich boy! Yugi doesn't know the meaning of the word defeat, right buddy?"

"Right, Joey," Yami nodded. However, it was easier said than done. Yami had a lot of good cards, but could only pick three of them and he needed to pick the ones that were specifically useful for whatever kind of strategy Kaiba had conceived.

"What do you think they'll each pick?" Komaru asked Makoto.

"Knowing Kaiba, he probably has his strategy centered around Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. As for Yugi…well…I don't know his deck as well, so I don't know if he has anything that can counter that. It all depends on Yugi's skill versus Kaiba's overwhelming power."

"I see," Byakuya said. "I wonder if that's how it was back then."

"Back then?" Makoto asked him.

"While I still think that Kaiba being a reincarnation of a dead Egyptian is ridiculous, there's no denying that the fateful battle between the Pharaoh and an ancient wizard happened. I wonder if this was the type of situation he had to undergo as well, the Pharaoh I mean. Faced with overwhelming power, the hero of any good folktale almost always has to think critically to fight back and stand a chance." Byakuya chuckled. "I'm uncertain how the championship against Ra will be more exciting than this."

"How do you know it'll be against Ra?" Makoto asked.

"It is Marik's best card," Byakuya said. "Win or lose, Ra will be in the hand's of the opponent of the winner of this duel. Both Hajime and Marik are talented duelists, but are they more talented and poetically matched than Yugi and Kaiba. Well, that remains to be seen."

"Who do you want to win?" Komaru asked.

"Yugi," Byakuya said. "For starters, Kaiba could do with a lesson in humility. And second, I need Yugi to win to reinforce my thesis about the Heart of the Cards so that I can become a perfect duelist superior to both him and Kaiba."

Yeesh, and I thought Kaiba's ego was enormous, Komaru thought.

After much debilitating, Yami sent all but three cards from his deck to his graveyard and set those three cards as his deck.

"It's your move, Kaiba," Yami said, given that there was very little else he could do at the moment.

"It took you long enough!" Kaiba exclaimed. "Don't you realize that it doesn't matter what cards you're holding? This duel belongs to me! Now stand back," Kaiba plucked the top card from his deck. "Ready?" Kaiba smiled when he saw Monster Reborn in his hand. "Cause it's time for the fun part. Enjoy. I play the magic card Monster Reborn!"

Yami got into a defensive stance.

"I take it you know which monster I plan to bring back from my card graveyard." A light shone as sure enough, Kaiba was as predictable as the sun rising in the morning. "My Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" he declared as the monster returned to the field with a roar. "Now I have three!" Kaiba exclaimed as dark clouds rolled in overhead.

Komaru swallowed, fortunate she was wearing a poncho. It looked like it would rain any second.

"Next," Kaiba said, "I'll activate this!" His other face-down was revealed to be Polymerization, startling Yugi from the mother of all fake-outs. "Now I shall fuse my three dragons together!" Kaiba exclaimed.

Dry lightning struck the battlefield and Mokuba looked excited as Kaiba's dragons all fused together. "Say hello to my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Kaiba shouted. "Nothing you do can stop my three-headed beast!"

Yami leaned back in fright, trying to think of a way out of this mess.

Kaiba took the opportunity to taunt. "Look closely," he said, "For this is the creature that will strip you of everything you have once and for all! I have exactly where I want you, trembling in fear before my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Yugi, I've played out this exact moment in my mind over and over and over again!"

"4,000 yen says Kaiba keeps a dart board with Yugi's face on it in his office," Ibuki cooed.

"Shush," Mahiru said to her.

Kaiba, no, Chiaki thought.

"And now, here we are at the top of my duel tower face to face," Kaiba declared, "And all you have to hang onto is some rock from five thousand years ago." Kaiba's smirk grew smugger and smugger with each passing second. "But you're right, this duel is about the past."

"That's true."

"I know. But it's not about some ancient battle you think we fought in another life because you saw a picture on a stone. When I say this duel is about the past, I say it's about burying the past for good!" Kaiba exclaimed.

Chiaki swallowed. Now, more than she had at the start of the duel, she wanted Kaiba to win. Yes, if he could beat Yugi, in spite of the odds, he could put his problems to rest. But, with the way he was acting, Chiaki knew she had to be prepared for the biggest disappointment of Kaiba's life.

"Yugi, once I defeat you and go on to win this tournament, I'll be number one, not you."

And then you can stop obsessing over it, Chiaki thought.

"I've heard," Yami said, having heard Kaiba proclaim such just as much as he'd proclaimed speeches about the heart of the cards and destiny.

"Yes, but there's more," Kaiba said. "I'll also be closing the book on my past so I can concentrate on my future."

Chiaki's eyes quivered. His future? Chiaki didn't even know Kaiba even thought about the future, about after Yugi. She smiled brightly. No, now it didn't matter. Kaiba wouldn't become like the rest. He could see past Yugi. He was just like Eliza. Even if Kaiba refused to admit it, this was a friendly rivalry, a sporting event, a challenge, a desire to keep trying to beat the unbeatable. Chiaki knew it well with her videogames.

And I'll be there if you lose, Kaiba. I'll support you in your time of pain because that's what friends do, Chiaki thought with a smile.

Kaiba then began to exposit about his past to Yugi. "You see, ever since I was dropped off at the orphanage as a child, I've had to fend for myself. I had to toughen up to protect Mokuba. Then, we were adopted by a tyrant known as Gozaboro Kaiba. He taught me to crush my enemies and trust no one. But nothing I ever did satisfied him! So, using the ruthless business techniques he taught me, I outsmarted him and took over his company! Now, KaibaCorp belongs to me, and my stepfather's consciousness is dead and buried along with the rest of that virtual hellscape at the bottom of the deep, dark ocean! But that's still not good enough for me! There's one conquest I need to fulfill and that's where you come in, Yugi! So listen, I'm the best at everything that I do, but when it comes to being the best at Duel Monsters, you are in my way! So once I beat you, I can forget the past for good!" Kaiba exclaimed. "That's why I'm here!"

Kaiba, Chiaki thought, You and I are somewhat alike in that regard. I've wasted hours upon hours becoming good at games, conquering every RPG I can get my hands on to its completion. As long as you hang onto your sights on the future, on your desires past Yugi, you'll always be Seto Kaiba. She smiled wider. I'm glad I don't have to worry about losing a friend like you.

As Chiaki felt better, Makoto felt concern, for Mokuba. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked the younger of the Kaiba brothers.

"I…I never knew Seto felt so strongly," Mokuba said. "Things weren't the best at the orphanage, but we always had each other. I guess that wasn't good enough for him. He wants to forget everything from back then, even who he used to be. I actually liked Seto back then. He actually used to smile."

"I don't think it's like that," Makoto said. "It sounds to me like Gozaboro is the problem."

"Yeah, if Kaiba didn't have you around, he'd be so much more of a jerk," Komaru said. "He can hold his head up high with pride because he's got you to watch out for."

"How do you two…" Mokuba started to say. "Oh," he smiled, "I guess you must know what it's like. You guys are siblings after all. Heh heh."

"Come on, Kaiba! You can do it!" Komaru cheered.

Makoto remained silent however. "It's not that simple," Makoto said. "I want Kaiba to win too, but not like this. His rivalry with Yugi is eating away at him. Being the best doesn't have to mean being miserable."

"I agree," Mokuba said.

"But even so, I still want to see Kaiba pull through," Makoto said, fire lit in his eyes. "You can do it, Kaiba! Komaru and I are rooting for you!"

"Heh, well would you listen to that?" Kaiba smirked. "Even the non-holographic crowd is starting to get on my side. Face it, Yugi, your reign is over!"

"You never cease to amaze me," Yami chuckled.

"Why? Are you astounded by my superior dueling skills, Yugi?" Kaiba asked.

"Not quite," Yami responded. "It's your complete stubbornness and your lust for power that I find so puzzling, Kaiba!"

"Why's that?" Kaiba asked.

"It holds you back, that's why!" Yami declared, fist clenched up and in front of him. "You'll never defeat me with a heart full of hatred and mistrust!"

"No, but he will defeat you with a gigantic dragon you have no hopes of stopping," Byakuya stated.

"HA! I agree with Togami," Kaiba said. "You're just trying to distract me because you're scared of losing. You're so scared you tried to convince Makoto to drop out of the tournament! And that duel almost cost you victory! Face it, Yugi! Your time is up! Marik was right when he said all of your effort got sucked out of you!"

"Well then, why don't I let my actions speak for me?" Yami asked both rhetorically and calmly. He held his hand out over the field. "Reveal face-down card, my Double Spell magic card!"

"Oh no! Not Double Spell!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"That's right! This card duplicates the effect of every magic card you used in your last turn, Kaiba!" Yami exclaimed. "That includes Monster Reborn and Polymerization! So first I'll bring Buster Blader back from the graveyard!"

"Anyone get the feeling Pegasus made that card to specifically irritate Kaiba and his love for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" Celeste asked.

"Shush," Téa shushed her.

"What? It's a legitimate question," Celeste stated.

"Now, I'll use Polymerization!" Yami exclaimed, "Fusing my Dark Magician with my Buster Blader." The two monsters converted into pale balls of light that merged together.

"Fuse whatever you want!" Kaiba exclaimed. "My ultimate dragon is still stronger!" Kaiba declared. "Your magic card didn't help you at all!"

"Your wrong Kaiba," Yami said, "For my new monster carries with it every one of Buster Blader's special abilities! That means its attack strength increases by 500 points for every dragon on the field, including ones controlled by my opponent such as your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Now behold the power of Dark Paladin, the Ultimate Magical Swordsman!"

"Hey, Ibuki, I'm embarrassed to ask, but…do you have another towel?" Nagito asked.

"Ew," Ibuki said.

Hajime walked all the way to the corner, away from everyone, even Chiaki.

Yami's most anti-Kaiba fusion monster hit the table, beefing up to 3,400 attack points thanks to Blue-Eyes Ultimate being on the field.

"Heh," Kaiba scoffed. "Good move, Yugi, but not good enough. Sorry. Look closer."

"What's your point, Kaiba?"

"Your monster may be powerful, but it's still 1,100 attack points weaker than mine!"

"We shall see!" Yami exclaimed. "My move!" Since Kaiba didn't play a quick attack spell card, Yami was free to act. He drew the top card of his deck. He took a deep breath and looked at what he had drawn. It was all or nothing now. "I'll place one card face-down and end my turn," Yami said.

"This is where it all ends, Yugi," Kaiba said, drawing the top card of his deck. He began laughing. "Now then, it's time to put an end to my past for good, and as soon as I win this, I can finally move on!"

"How foolish!" Yami exclaimed. "It's our past that makes us who we are today."

"Whatever," Kaiba grumbled.

"You must remember what happened before," Yami said, "So you can learn from your past. You can't ignore where you came from, don't you know? It's our history that shapes our future, Kaiba!"

"Save it, Yugi!" Kaiba shot back. "It's time to move on, not look back! The past is over! And nothing you say will change my mind, Yugi! I need to take you down now! Only then will I attain true greatness!" Kaiba exclaimed, making a fist. A thunderclap echoed across the sky.

"Your duel tower stands here surrounded by rubble and destruction," Yami said. "And to me it represents your heart, a strong object surrounded by anger and hatred. And as long as you're fueled by hate you can never defeat me, Kaiba!"

I think most of that is just targeted at you, Yugi, Chiaki thought. I've known Kaiba better. He's normally not like this. Once this duel is over, win or lose, I'm going to prove it to him.

"Don't you realize my inner rage pushes me forward?" Kaiba asked, rhetorically as he had this entire duel. "And that's what I'll use to crush you!"

"If that's the case then go ahead and direct all of your hatred towards me," Yami said. "And strike me down with your rage."

Kaiba was more than willing to oblige. "Very well," he replied. "But I assure you that you will live to regret those words, Yugi. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, prepare for attack!" Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon charged up a blast of energy in each of its mouths. "Now, my dragon, attack!" Kaiba shouted. The three energy blasts were fired and they all merged into one.

"Now I activate the face-down card Magic Formula!" Yami exclaimed.

"How pathetic," Kaiba stated. "I activate Absorb Spell! This magic card will absorb the power of Magic Formula. Therefore, the attack points you just added to your Dark Paladin will be transferred to my dragon!" Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon now had 5,000 attack points even, more than enough to vaporize Yami's Dark Paladin, along with the rest of Yami's life points. Upon seeing the look of terror on Yami's face, Kaiba laughed. "Now you're history along with Dark Paladin the Ultimate Magical Swordsman! Farewell!"

However, as the attack neared, it was suddenly stopped by a strange series of waves.

"Yugi!" Téa exclaimed.

"This doesn't look good!" Tristan declared.

"Do both of you need your eyes checked? Kaiba's attack is dead in its tracks," Celeste pointed out.

Kaiba, unable to see this from his angle, declared, "I win."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. Remember, I still have one face-down card left," Yami stated. "Kaiba," he said, pointing at him, "You're done."

"You lie!" Kaiba growled. "My Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon cannot be stopped, Yugi!"

"No battle protection, no targeting protection, pretty sure it can be stopped," Celeste said.

"Celeste is absolutely right," Yami said. "And that makes you dead wrong. But I'll let my card speak for itself! So, I play this! My De-fusion card!"

Kaiba was so enraged, the blood vessels in his eyes started to expand.

"I think Kaiba's rage broke, Chiaki," Ibuki said.

"This magic card splits up your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon into the three original dragons used to form it!" Yami exclaimed. "Thus stopping your attack!"

Kaiba's unstoppable dragon was split into three normal Blue-Eyes as its neutron blast simply dissipated.

"Now, Kaiba," Yami said, "You have three dragons on the field instead of one. And since my Dark Paladin receives 500 attack points for every dragon on the field, he's now the strongest monster in play." Dark Paladin now had a grand total of 4,400 attack points. "Now it's time for my final move."

"Just go," Kaiba snarled.

"With pleasure, Kaiba," Yami said, picking the top card off of his two-card deck. "All right, the card in my hand will conquer the darkness that now surrounds your heart. So I play my final magic card, Diffusion Wave Motion! You're finished! All I have to do is give up 1,000 life points and this magic card and this magic card will enhance the attacking capabilities of my Dark Paladin! Now my Dark Paladin can attack all three of your Blue-Eyes White Dragons at once! This duel is over!" Yami shouted as his life points became 500.

Dark Paladin raised his scepter and began to attack.

Kaiba was not happy in the slightest. He was boiling with rage, almost frothing at the mouth. And all his rage and anger came bubbling up to form one defiant sentence, "YUGI! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED AT MY OWN TOURNAMENT!"

"Kaiba, you're too late," Yami told him. "Dark Paladin attack!"

With the effects of Diffusion Wave Motion, Dark Paladin unleashed multiple light blue shockwaves that ripped through the battlefield and destroyed all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. The total damage was 4,200, more than enough to completely vaporize Kaiba's life points, which is precisely what the attack did.

"You lose, Kaiba! I told you your hatred and your lust for power would never prevail."

Mokuba dropped to his knees, tears in his eyes. It was sad to see his brother lose. Now he'd never stop chasing after Yugi.

"But…I had the perfect strategy!" Kaiba shouted.

"My Dark Paladin would disagree, Kaiba," Yami said. "For thanks to his attack, you've lost."

"No! There must be some mistake!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"That was amazing," Nagito cooed. "Well then, if you'll excuse me," Nagito then walked away, slipping through the holographic colosseum and heading down the elevator.

No one noticed him leave though. Chiaki in particular was focused on Kaiba.

"Now…it's over. I'm nothing."

She gasped. No…was I wrong? Kaiba, no!

"And the winner is, Yugi Mutoh," Roland declared calmly, raising an arm. "He will advance to the championship round for the Battle City crown."

The duel platform lowered and Yugi's friends instantly ran over to Yami to congratulate him on a duel well won. Yes, even Celeste it seemed was willing to praise Yugi…in her own special way of course.

"Seto's out of the tournament now," Mokuba said depressingly. "He's done. It's all over, but he came so far."

Komaru put a comforting hand on Mokuba's shoulder. "You okay, Mokuba?"

"I'll…be fine," he said. "I think Seto's taking it harder."

"I don't get it," Kaiba growled, "My deck was unbeatable. Where did I go wrong? I executed my strategy perfectly, carefully playing each card exactly as I planned."

Chiaki thought to approach Kaiba, but Yami beat her to it and he didn't appear to want to rub it in Kaiba's face. "That was the most challenging duel I ever fought, Kaiba," he said.

Kaiba, however, didn't sound like he wanted to be sporting, which only worried Chiaki more. "Just save it," he grumbled.

"It's true," Yami said. "Destiny may have chosen me to be the victor, Kaiba, but you fought well."

That…might not have been the best choice of words, Chiaki thought.

Kaiba went from being in shock to full blown anger. "I don't need the pep talk, Yugi!" He shouted.

"It's quite obvious to me that you haven't learned anything from our duel today," Yami said to him crossly. "And I'd say that's a shame. You can never truly be a success, until you can learn to conquer the monsters within your heart, Kaiba."

"All right," Kaiba growled. "I've heard enough out of you."

"Deny the truth and it will destroy you!" Yami exclaimed. "You were doomed from the start. Fueled by your anger, your hate, your jealousy, your rage, and lastly, the denial of your past. I on the other hand was fueled by faith, faith in destiny and faith in my friends. That's how I won."

Okay maybe Yugi was going to rub it in.

"Stop it! That's enough!" Chiaki shouted, running out onto the platform, throwing her arms out in front of Kaiba, tears in her eyes. "Can't you see it? Can't you see the kind of pain Kaiba's in? I was okay with letting you say he was a worthy adversary, but don't start stuffing your destiny talk down his throat when he's on the verge of a darker path!"

"Ch-Chiaki…" Yami was at a loss for words.

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Nanami! I can handle myself!" Kaiba shouted. "I don't need anyone's help ever!"

"Open your eyes, Kaiba. Chiaki is only trying to help you because she's concerned about you!" Yami exclaimed.

"I never asked for her concern!"

"You don't have to. She's concerned because you're her friend. Even if you refuse to admit it, you consider Chiaki a friend as well. Remember your duel with her, you hesitated to attack her directly with Obelisk. Even if you deny it with your words, your actions speak for you, just as my cards spoke for me!" Yami shouted.

"FRIENDSHIP IS FOR FOOLS!" Kaiba roared. "Depending on others is for the weak!"

Chiaki turned to face Kaiba. "Kaiba, please! This isn't like you. Come on," she smiled sweetly, holding back tears. "Can't you take a deep breath? Smile. If not for me than for Mokuba. Let the loss roll off you like Joey did."

"SHUT! UP!" Kaiba shouted. "I don't need your friendship, Nanami! I never asked for it! I don't need you, or Naegi, or anyone! I only ever look out for number one! I'm Seto Kaiba, head of KaibaCorp! I duel alone and always alone!" Kaiba did then take a deep breath though. "However, the time has come for me to accept my defeat like a man. Since I duel alone, I have no one else to blame." He ejected Obelisk from his graveyard and whipped it at Yugi. "Here! Take it!" He then stormed off, deliberately, bumping his arm into Chiaki's shoulder. "Let's go, Mokuba."

"Hey, wait up, Seto."

Kaiba… Chiaki watched him walk away in anger.

As Kaiba headed down the elevator with his little brother, Yami turned to Chiaki. "Chiaki, I hate to impose, but…"

"What is it?" she asked.

"Perhaps you can get through to Kaiba where I've failed. Even if Kaiba refuses to admit it, you and I both know he considers you a friend."

Chiaki smiled. "It's not a favor. I was already going to talk to Kaiba anyway because that's what friends do. You should actually let Mikan take a look at you though, make sure your okay from those visions."

Yami smiled. "Chiaki. I look forward to the day we can duel. You seem like you would be a welcome opponent."

"To duel you would be an honor Yugi, but now is not the time," she said, shaking her head.

"I agreed. I must prepared for the finals," Yami said and then turned to look at Hajime. "And…Hajime…"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck," Yami nodded at him.

Hajime gave the Pharaoh a thumb's up. "Thanks."

---

After returning to the blimp, Kaiba spent the next few minutes tearing up his office, including several stacks of paper work and knocking his duel disk on the ground. He then gripped at his hair, elbows on the desk, seething with rage. He'd lost again. He'd let Yugi beat him again. And then both he and Chiaki had the nerve to preach to him about friendship.

I've had it with these dweebs and their stupid speeches! Kaiba exclaimed inwardly, pounding his fist on the desk. He then sat at his desk, staring at it in despair. "But that's it. It's over. There's nothing more to be done."

Suddenly the door opened and Chiaki stood in the doorway.

Kaiba glared at her. "What do you want, Nanami? How did you even get in here? This is a restricted area!"

Chiaki held up a key card. "Mokuba let me borrow his access card," she said. "I wanted to talk to you, Kaiba. I wasn't finished up there on the tower."

"Leave me alone. I don't need you to preach to me."

"I'm not here to preach," Chiaki said. "I'm here to listen to everything you have to say. I'll hear it all, your anger, your hate. Just vent, Kaiba. Yell at me. I'll take the abuse."

"Shut up!" Kaiba shouted, flinging his deck at Chiaki, missing her by inches as his cards smacked against the wall and then scattered all over the floor.

Chiaki began scooping them up without a word.

"What are you doing?" Kaiba growled.

Chiaki smiled as she scooped up Kaiba's deck. "I've seen a lot of people go down dark paths because of defeats at my hands. I saw in you with Yugi, what I've seen in others with me. But…I've never been a sociable person. The right things to do, the right things to say…I've never been good at that with strangers."

She picked up all of Kaiba's cards and placed them on a table and started rotating them so that they were all facing the same direction in a proper, neat pile, "But…I've never felt close to anyone before the way I feel close to you. You're not a stranger to me Kaiba. Even if you don't think us friends, Kaiba, I still feel as if I understand you." Chiaki's smile faded. "I know what it's like to be alone too."

"What are we supposed to do, Leiko? Tell her we don't have fun playing with her anymore because she's so much better than us? I won't do that to her!"

"Did you know my parents stopped caring about me after a while? I had to learn to look out for myself," Chiaki said as she re-organized Kaiba's deck. "I've been isolated and alone for years until I met you and Hajime. I'll safely bet that my parents don't even know I'm at Hope's Peak."

"Tell your sob story to someone who cares," Kaiba practically hissed.

"That is what I'm doing," Chiaki said as she finished gathering Kaiba's cards. "There. Good as new." She placed the deck on his desk and just stared at Kaiba.

"Why are you doing this?" Kaiba asked, his voice almost a whisper. "Go join Wheeler and the rest of Yugi's dweeb friends praising him for his victory or go help Hajime prepare for his duel with Marik. Just leave me alone."

"Yugi has enough friends to make him feel triumphant. I don't need to do that. And Hajime is better off preparing without me distracting him. And lastly, no, I can't leave you alone. I won't watch you destroy yourself. You said a lot of things atop that tower that I know you don't mean. You're not alone, Kaiba. At the very least, you have Mokuba."

Kaiba slapped the desk, stood up and yelled, "Save your lecture for someone who cares! I'm done, Chiaki! I lost! I don't even care about the tournament anymore! If you want to regulate it, go ahead and be my guest! Watch as Hajime or Marik make their way to duel Yugi and for him to become number one again! I DON'T! CARE!"

Chiaki then did something she never thought herself capable of in a million years. She slapped Kaiba across the face. She did it harshly, complete with stinging pain and leaving a big red mark on Kaiba's left cheek. Kaiba did not retaliate. He was just too shocked for word or deed. He then saw the tears forming at the corner of Chiaki's eyes as he heard her breathing heavily.

"You do care," Chiaki said. "You were so nice to me when we met. Well, nice might be stretching it, but you weren't like this. Whenever Yugi gets involved you lose sight of who you are. I get it! Being the best is important to you! But that's not what defines you! Yugi was right about one thing. The past defines who you are. Before you met Yugi, did he dictate all the technology you made for Duel Monsters? Did he incite your desire to crush the competition and become the number one duelist in the world?"

"Of course not. That was my stepfather who taught me to crush everything."

"You hate Gozaboro, so why are you still listening to him?" Chiaki started to get red with anger in the face. "Gozaboro is DEAD!" she shouted, tears dripping. "You sank him to the bottom of the ocean yourself! So why are you still acting as though he has any sort of hold over you?"

For some reason, Chiaki's words cut deep. They cut where Yugi's words couldn't reach. He had been right; she did know how to reach Kaiba.

Chiaki saw it when Kaiba's glare faltered and he just looked depressed.

"It's okay to have a rival. Eliza and I are rivals, but I could still see myself going out to lunch with her or listening to her go on and on about the student council at my old high school. Hajime's lost to me at countless videogames, but he never lets that bother him at all. I understand being the best is important to you, but that's not everything you are! I heard about the time you spent with Makoto in Noah's virtual world. You say you don't need anyone, but you sure seem to spend some time showing care and concern for others. You have a good heart, Kaiba," Chiaki said, putting a hand on her heart. "Don't let Yugi's talk of destiny turn it into a black hole. You still run a successful company. You're still Hope's Peak Academy's Ultimate Duelist. You're putting together a theme park from what I hear. Are you going to let your loss to Yugi just strip that away? Are you going to let your anger destroy every ounce of your pride until you're standing in underground casinos, dueling with a shock collar just to feel alive and victorious?"

"That sounds ridiculous," Kaiba said.

"I've seen it happen!" Chiaki shouted. "You only spend time on Duel Monsters, so you may not know about other professional circuits. I've sent many up and coming gamers to their insurmountable despair because they couldn't stand losing to me, even though all I was doing was playing to have fun! Forget Yugi's fairytales as you call them. Forget all that stuff about destiny and the heart of the cards. Just think about who you are for a bit. Yugi's dueling skills do not control your life…right?"

Kaiba had no words.

Chiaki continued to talk. "You're upset that you lost. I get it. But you're still an amazing duelist. Instead of acting like it's the end of the world, why don't you use your defeat to propel you forward, to become better than you already are. Could you even say you're a perfect duelist?"

Kaiba closed his eyes and let Chiaki's words sink in.

"I know this isn't you, Kaiba," Chiaki said to him, sniffing. "That's because depending on who you're interacting with, there's just a different side to you. There's Seto Kaiba the businessman, Seto Kaiba the rival, Seto Kaiba the duelist, Seto Kaiba the big brother…and…" Chiaki sniffed again and gave Kaiba her most touching smile as tears quivered at the edges of her eyes, "Seto Kaiba…the friend."

"We're not friends, Chiaki," Kaiba snapped at her.

"Right," Chiaki giggled. "My mistake."

Kaiba took a deep breath. "But thank you. You're…you're right. There's more to me than my rivalry with Yugi." He took another deep breath and leaned back in his chair, gazing up at the ceiling. "Do you think Yugi would just hand the god cards back once he's collected all three?"

"Huh?"

"I don't want to leave the god cards in anyone's hands, they're too dangerous," Kaiba said. "They belong in a vault never to be played again."

"I'm sure if you brought Yugi to the vault he'd put them in there," Chiaki said. "Yugi seems to have a sensible enough head on his shoulders.

Kaiba smirked. "Heh. I suppose he does."

The door to Kaiba's office opened again. This time it was Mikan in the doorway. "Ah! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nope. Not at all," Chiaki said. "I was just leaving, right Kaiba?"

"Yes. Now beat it," Kaiba said.

Chiaki chuckled and shuffled past Mikan out of the room.

Kaiba took a deep breath. "What is it, Tsumiki?"

"Er, I brought you those anti-hallucination pills," Mikan said. She handed them to Kaiba along with a bottle of water.

Kaiba sighed. "Thank you, Tsumiki." He put the pills on his tongue and then swallowed them with the water, putting the empty bottle on his desk. He then went back to staring at the ceiling. "Say, Tsumiki. What if I'm wrong?"

"Wrong about what?" Mikan asked.

"About them being hallucinations. What if Yugi's right? It's absurd, but what if he is? I've spent my entire life building up the person I am. I refuse to accept that I'm someone else!"

"Being a reincarnation doesn't mean you're any different than who you are. Past lives don't have any bearing on your current life. They only aid in judging you for your next one, at least that's what's taught in Buddhism. You'd still be Seto Kaiba."

"But this whole fairytale keeps eating away at me. What if it overtakes me? What if I forget who I am?"

"Kaiba."

"Yes?"

Kaiba was not expecting what happened next. Mikan took his head and pulled it into her bosom. Kaiba thought to resist. He would not be treated in this manner. However, he just sort of went with it. The soft, warm sensation of Mikan's bosom being used as a pillow was not a sensation he was used to feeling. No, come to think of it, he'd never felt this before, not once. It was…nice.

"Ts-Tsumiki…"

Mikan's only response was to hold Kaiba to her bosom tighter. She said nothing. He said nothing. Eventually he just gave him, letting his forehead and the bridge of his nose press into her softness. It was…calming, like he was resting on a cloud.

"Thank you for helping me earlier," Mikan said.

"That was only because you helped me," Kaiba said.

He remained with his face in Mikan's chest for a few more minutes before Mikan pulled away. "I promise not to tell everyone about what you said if you don't tell anyone about where your face was," she giggled.

"Heh, it's a deal," Kaiba smirked. "Now scram. I have some papers to pick up."

"Oh, do you…want some help?" Mikan asked.

Kaiba was going to say "No, get out!" but he hesitated. Chiaki's words had really gotten to him and now that he wasn't staring down that ridiculous hair cut and defiant purple eyes of Yugi's, he was feeling a lot calmer and generous than usual. "I don't need any help," he said, "But if you want to help, I won't throw you out."

And thus, Mikan helped Kaiba pick up his paperwork and put it and his duel disk back on his desk.

---

After a full hour went by since Kaiba's duel with Yugi concluded, it was finally time for Hajime to take the stage. He stared down at his deck on the table and loaded it into his duel disk. He…was ready.

Opening the door to his room and letting it automatically close behind him, he marched down the hall and then out of the blimp and towards Kaiba's Duel Tower. Chiaki saw him and instantly began walking behind him.

"You ready?"

"Yup," Hajime said with no hesitation, strong conviction in his voice.

The two rode up the elevator together. Marik, Kaiba and most of the other spectators were already waiting. Marik in particular had already taken his spot on the stadium at the far side of the arena. He laughed at Hajime. "So, you actually decided to show."

"I'm not scared of you, Marik," Hajime said as he marched onto the dueling platform. "Win or lose, I'll take whatever you can throw at me. This is for Chiaki, Gundham, Sonia, and everyone else you've hurt!"

"Heh heh heh," Marik chuckled. "Don't worry if you can't survive for very long. I'm not expecting a challenge, just a nice little warm up before I crush the Pharaoh in the final round. But that doesn't mean I'll be going easy on you at all."

"I don't expect you to. And I'm not giving you an inch either, Marik," Hajime said with a stern gaze.

"Hajime."

Hajime looked to where Yami, still in control of Yugi's body was gazing at him. He gazed back.

"I won't hold it against you if you defeat Marik. Your heart is strong. I know you will give Marik a fight he will never forget. If you fail, I promise I will finish Marik off and your sacrifice and determination will not be in vain or forgotten! And if you win, then I shall see you in the championship."

"Thank you, Yugi," Hajime said and then gazed back at Marik, standing the proper distance from the Ancient Egyptian maniac.

"The second semi-final match is about to begin!" Roland exclaimed. "Marik Ishtar versus Hajime Hinata! The winner of this duel will advance to the final round to face Yugi Mutoh for the championship! Duelists, prepare your decks."

"Already loaded," Hajime said, activating his duel disk.

Marik sneered and did the same.

The hologram projectors fired up and the duel platform raised six feet in the air. Isolated, somewhat, from his friends and allies, Hajime felt confident, strong and full of determination. As everything was put into motion, he let out a signal to let Marik know he was ready for action and meant business.

"Let's Duel!"

---

(A/N: FINALLY! DONE! GOD DAMN! Okay, maybe this did take three hours. It certainly took me more than that to type all this out. This is the longest chapter in the god damn fanfiction. Christ! Okay, if I don't see Pass the Popcorn and Spoofed With Their Own Words somewhere on tvtropes, I'll be disappointed in all of you.

Please leave your review if you think my riffing on this duel was funny. Constructive criticism is helpful in case something like this pops up again in this or any story I work on. And I'd also like feedback on the Chiaki and Mikan scenes at the end if you don't mind of course.

But the real focus is next time. Hajime Vs Marik. I can say right now that, while this won't be one of the longest duels in the fanfiction, not by a longshot, I plan for you, the reader to feel every turn that's made.

Also, please do not start yapping at me for this chapter in particular of "That's not how that works". I spend the last 36 hours—not consecutive mind you, but still—rewatching every single god damn episode of Yugi and Kaiba's duel. That's how the anime did it! I am just transcribing what I saw, word for word, card for card. With ONE exception. Joey's Red-Eyes did jack and fucking SQUAT during that duel. All it seemed to add to the duel was Yugi's message of friendship at the end. And since Joey's not in a coma here, I really did not need to cram that down Kaiba's throat when it would've made even less sense than in the source material. And speaking of not making sense, how it got on the field didn't make any sense AT ALL, which is another reason why I was happy to change canon and cut it out of the duel. I hope you do not find my edit infuriating for you "canon purists" out there.

Anyway, I already know that a few of you are dying to see next time to see if Hajime makes it out of this duel intact or not. I'd actually like to poll you guys if you don't mind about next chapter. While the outcome is already pre-determined, I would like to know:

Do you want Hajime to win or not? And do you think Hajime will win or not?

Like I said, I'm not changing the story to meet the expectations of my fans, but I would like to know where you guys stand so I can get to know my fanbase better.

Anyway, that's all for now folks. Until next time, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)