(A/N: Special thanks to Pokémon Sword having just the right music to make this duel possible. It's the epic rematch between Joey and Celeste. I hope it fits the hype it's worth to all of you. Now on with the chapter! Do note though, this chapter also includes the aftermath of the nationals, and there's going to be quite a bit of it. And I'm excited for next chapter since…well…you'll see).

The turn selector randomizer finally ground to a halt and it was decided that Joey would be going first.

"Awrite!" Joey exclaimed, clenching a fist. "Let's do this thing! Here we go! I draw!" Joey pulled the top card of his deck to his hand. He smirked. "I summon Swordsman of Landstar!" Joey exclaimed. The pink, cartoonish swordsman appeared on his side of the battlefield with its trusty sword and shield in hand. It had 500 attack points and 1,200 defense points. "Next, I'm settin' two cards face-down onto the field!" Joey exclaimed, sliding the cards into the proper slot as the holograms appeared with a familiar hum. "And now, I end my turn."

Celeste yawned. "Come now, Joey. Is this really the best you can do? I watched all of your duels during Battle City." She closed her fist in front of her mouth and looked at him sternly. "How you made it all the way to the finals with such blatant, obvious traps is beyond me."

"If it's so obvious, then why don't you disarm it, Frenchy?" Joey asked, grinning.

"Putting up a good poker face won't get you anywhere," Celeste stated, going for the top card of her deck. "They don't call me the Queen of Liars for nothing!" She drew the top card of her deck and placed it elegantly into her hand. "I activate Cost Down!" Celeste declared, showing the magic card depicting two swords striking a monster's level stars. "Now, by discarding one card from my hand," she said, placing a card into her graveyard, "I can reduce the level of all monsters in my hand by two. So say hello to Vampire Scarlet Scourge!"

"A vampire?" Joey exclaimed, watching as a coffin opened to reveal Celeste's favorite pretty boy vampire in all his 2,200-attack point glory.

"Contestant Celestia Ludenburg has just pulled out her self-proclaimed favorite monster and it's only the first turn! This duel is heating up fast!" the announcer declared, followed by a roar from the crowd.

"What happened to all your birds?" Joey asked Celeste.

"I upgraded my deck of course," she replied. "Is that not something you learned as a true duelist? If you want to make it in this sort of career, you must always be upgrading your deck to keep up with the current meta."

"Yeah, but we're talking less an upgrade and more a full metamorphosis," Joey said.

Celeste chuckled, threading her fingers together, smiling. "I guess you could say, I've more heart in this deck than my last one." She glanced to one side. "I always wanted a deck that only used vampires and vampire cards, but there weren't enough of them to be competitively viable." She tilted her head to one side. "Now there is. And thanks to them, you will lose."

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" Joey shouted.

"I was about to before you opened your mouth without thinking," Celeste said admonishingly. "Vampire Scarlet Scourge! Activate your special ability! Allied Resurrection!"

Vampire Scarlet Scourge's staff glowed as it aimed the orb at the ground.

"By giving up 1,000 life points," Celeste said as her life points fell to 3,000, "I can target any vampire monster in my graveyard and summon it in defense position, though that monster can't attack this turn." She smiled. "Luckily, I just sent one there this turn. I summon Vampire Familiar in defense mode!"

A black bat creature appeared with its tail coiled around its body. It had 0 defense points. "And now, I can give up 500 more life points to add any vampire monster card from my deck to my hand thanks to the way I summoned Vampire Familiar."

"Gimme a break," Joey groaned. "More vampires? Is your turn done yet?"

Celeste smirked. "Not quite. For now, I attack your Swordsman of Landstar with Vampire Scarlet Scourge to destroy Swordsman of Landstar! Tough break, Joey!"

"Yeah, for you," Joey said. "I activate my trap card: Silver Dollar!"

A trap card bearing a literal silver dollar as the card artwork flipped face up as a vibratory barrier blocked off Vampire Scarlet Scourge's attack.

A battle negation trap? Celeste thought, eyes going wide with surprise.

"Don't think you got me all figured out just cause you studied me, Celeste," Joey said. "I don't care if you completely changed your deck, I'll figure out a way to counter it and beat it."

Celeste smiled. "I'd like to see you try." She pulled a card from her hand. "One card face-down," she said as the hologram appeared. "That ends my turn."

In the stands, Mai wiped the sweat from her brow. She was cheering Joey on amidst the noise of the crowd, watching him with her arms folded, sitting quietly in her seat. You're one of the best duelists I know, Joey, she thought. If anyone can beat Celeste's vampires, you can.

"Okay then, I draw!" Joey exclaimed, pulling the top card of his deck to his hand. He grinned.

Celeste raised an eyebrow in interest, but said nothing.

"First, I sacrifice Swordsman of Landstar to call out an old buddy of mine. Say hello to Flame Swordsman!"

Joey's favorite monster stormed the field brandishing a big orange sword and bearing 1,800 attack points.

"Oh, and what do you plan to do with that?" Celeste inquired, intrigued.

"I plan on doing this. Reveal face-down card: Star Blaster!" Joey's face-down magic card flipped face up.

It's not a trap? Celeste gasped internally, eyes shaking.

Joey laughed. "Told ya I still had a few surprises left in store."

"Oh, I remember that card from your duel with Kaiba," Celeste said, smiling. "You roll a die and add the result to your monster's level. Then you can sacrifice that monster and get a new monster equal to that level from your hand."

"Yeah!" Joey exclaimed. "…why do you sound so happy about it?"

"Oh, Joey," Celeste sighed, smiling. "Even when you're unpredictable, you play right into my hands." She pointed at him across the battlefield. "Activate trap: Vampire Domination!"

Celeste's trap card flipped face up, showing a blond vampire surrounded by bats. "As long as I control a vampire monster, activating this card automatically negates the effect of any trap, spell or monster effect, destroying it. Sorry, but it looks like luck isn't on your side today, Joey."

Joey's spell card dissipated into dust.

Celeste chuckled, tilting her head to one side, head resting on her chin. "And since you already summoned for the turn, you are wide open for my monster to attack you next turn."

Joey smirked. "Heh, not quite," Joey said with a smile.

"Hmm?"

"It's true, you kinda screwed up my plans with Star Blaster, but Joey Wheeler's always got a backup plan. Go, Salamandra!"

Celeste smiled. Joey knew just what to do to keep this duel from getting boring. The magic card equipped to Flame Swordsman, bringing his attack power all the way up to 2,500, just high enough to smite Celeste's vampire.

"Flame Swordsman, burn that thing at the stake with Flaming Sword of Battle!"

Joey's monster's attack struck home, incinerating Celeste's vampire, reducing her life points to 2,200.

"Impressive," Celeste stated.

"You're move, Celeste," Joey said, two cards remaining in his hand. "Make it count."

That's it, Joey. Keep it up, Mai thought. You can do this.

"I always do," Celeste said, drawing the top card of her deck. "I'll start by offering up my Vampire Familiar to the graveyard, allowing me to summon Vampire Red Baron in its place!"

Celeste's steed mounted vampire emerged onto the battlefield as the horse reared back and whinnied. Her monster had 2,400 attack points.

"Next, I activate Masquerade Mask, gifting my monster 200 attack points for each of its level stars!" The white mask appeared over Red Baron, raising its attack power to 3,600. "And now, Vampire Red Baron, destroy Flame Swordsman!"

Celeste's galloping gallant knight skewered Joey's swordsman with its jousting lance, destroying it and dropping Joey's life points all the way to 2,900, almost even with hers.

"Now, before my turn is over, I activate Vampire Red Baron's special ability."

A coffin emerged from the ground, pulled by a chain as Joey's Flame Swordsman stood on Celeste's side of the battlefield.

"What the heck?" Joey exclaimed.

"Surprised?" Celeste chuckled. "He may be brutish and stupid, but he will serve me well."

Joey grit his teeth, growling in frustration.

"I suppose that'll end my turn," Celeste said, smiling. "For now."

"All right then. Here goes," Joey said. "I draw!" He pulled the top card of his deck to his hand. He now had three cards. Man, Celeste really put me in a bind with that last move, and she's got my swordsman. What do I do now? Joey looked at his hand. Hey now. This might work. Celeste wants to use vampires? Fine, but she ain't taking any more of my monsters. This might cost me some life points, but Joey Wheeler's gotta do what Joey Wheeler's gotta do. "I activate Polymerization, fusing together my Tiger Axe and Battle Warrior in order to create First of the Dragons!"

The huge, purple-scaled red-eyed dragon emerged on the battlefield, 2,700 attack points strong.

"First of the Dragons, attack!" Joey declared. "And I can't believe I'm about to say this…destroy Flame Swordsman!"

With a mighty roar of pure dominance, First of the Dragons shattered Flame Swordsman's hologram, dropping Celeste's life points all the way down to 1,400.

"Awrite, everything's comin' up Joey Wheeler! How's that Celeste?"

"Yawn," Celeste, not yawning, but rather saying the word yawn in a bored manner. She twirled one of her curls. "Are you done? Yes, you must be done. Your hand is empty."

"Hey! I just made a good move and that's all you have to say?" Joey asked.

"It's a good move for you," Celeste said. "But you've made a huge blunder. Your monster may not be able to be destroyed by battle, but with only 2,700 attack points, it's just a big target." She drew the top card of her deck and smiled. "And as luck would have it, it's perfect for this magic card. I activate the continuous spell card, Vampire's Domain!" The continuous spell appeared behind Celeste's Red Baron, showing Grimson's silhouette atop a castle. "Now, not only can I summon an additional vampire per turn, but whenever you take damage, I can gain that many life points. Thank you, Joey," said, smiling in a fashion as to mock him, "For your contribution to vampire society. Red Baron, attack!"

Red Baron didn't destroy First of the Dragons as much as it did put it in a lot of pain by poking it with a big stick. The attack dropped Joey's life points to an even 2,000 as Celeste's life points jumped to 2,300, putting her in the lead.

The fans cheered. "Contestant Celestia Ludenburg puts a reversal on Joey Wheeler! After being down 1,500 life points self-inflicted since the start of the duel, now she has the lead!" The announcer declared. "How is Joey Wheeler gonna get out of this."

"Since I didn't destroy your monster," Celeste said. "I can't gain control of it." She smiled. "I end my turn."

"Awrite then," Joey said and went for the top card of his deck, "I draw!" Joey was stunned silent a moment when he saw what he drew only to shout. "All right!"

"Hmm?"

"I activate Sword and Shield!" Joey shouted. "This will reverse the attack and defense points of all of our monsters!"

"Y-you idiot!" Celeste exclaimed, losing her composure, but she quickly regained. "Er, I mean oooh, ah…so terrible," she said rather blasé.

Mai chuckled to herself. Don't try to hide it. He caught you off guard.

Joey snickered. "Just the luck of the draw, right Celeste?" Joey asked, rubbing a finger under his nose. "Kind of reminds me of our first duel when we were literally drawing ta win."

Celeste smiled. "Oh how could I forget? That was the most fun I'd had in a while. And I'm counting on you to top it today, Joey. Of course, unlike last time. I will win."

"Yeah, sure you will," Joey said dismissively as he placed his magic card in the spell slot. "Let's see you come back from this!"

After activating his magic card, Joey's dragon had 2,000 attack and 2,700 defense points and Celeste's Red Baron had only 1,000 attack and 3,600 defense points.

"First of the Dragons!" Joey shouted. "Attack!"

Celeste's monster was blown away to the tune of 1,000 points of damage as the gust of wind almost knocked her off the raised pedestal she was standing on. Celeste stood her ground with considerable effort, remaining standing as her life points dropped to 1,300.

"And just like that, Joey Wheeler takes back the lead! This duel could really go either way it seems!"

The crowd cheered.

Celeste's usual cocky demeanor lessened somewhat. It was like a mask had been yanked away and she was now truly trying to focus. Last time didn't matter. Last time, I underestimated him, Celeste thought. This time, I know how skilled and how lucky he is. And I cannot afford to slip up. I aim to win, not for any monetary gain, she said as she pulled the top card from her deck. But to show that when it comes to luck, she drew the card out of the duel disk and placed it gracefully in her hand, I will not be beaten.

Celeste looked at the two cards in her hand that she now held. First of the Dragons presented a considerable problem. None of her monsters in her deck could actually destroy First of the Dragons. But, as she looked at the card she just drew, she smirked. But I don't necessarily have to destroy it in battle. "I activate the magic card: Card of Sanctity! Now we must both keep drawing until we are holding six cards!" Celeste declared.

"Phew, fine by me," Joey said. "I could use a new hand."

"I'm sure you could," Celeste said. "But let's see if you can make use of it before I drain what's left of your life points." She drew five new cards to her hand, having already had one. She looked at her new hand of six. Yes. This would do nicely.

"I summon to the field my Vampire Lady!" Celeste declared, placing the elegant, blue-skinned vamp on the field.

"But," Celeste said, raising a card up above her head, "She will not be staying on the battlefield for long. I activate the effect of Vampire's Domain! By paying 500 life points," Celeste said as her life points fell to just 800, "I can summon another Vampire to the field. Behold the original and most iconic, Vampire Lord!"

Vampire Lady vanished and, in her place, a coffin emerged from the ground, releasing the original generation of all vampire monsters: the purple skinned, leather bound, green haired 2,000 attack point terror of the night.

"Big deal," Joey remarked. "He's only got 2,000 attack points."

"Maybe, but even he's not staying on the field for long," Celeste smirked.

"Say, what? You already used your extra summon with Vampire's Domain," Joey said.

"I know, but that's just Vampire's Domain," Celeste said as her smirk turned to a grin. "There's always another way to summon a vampire." She scooped Vampire Lord from the field. "And this one is the strongest of all. Say hello to Vampire Genesis!"

Dark energy burst out of Celeste's duel disk and all around the battlefield as a hulking purple behemoth emerged from a portal, ripping chains off its body as it broke free from some kind of imprisonment. It then flexed its whole body, revealing its massive 3,000 attack points.

"Uh oh," Joey remarked.

"And there's more where that came from," Celeste said. "I activate the field spell Vampire Kingdom!"

A massive castle erected behind Celeste, complete with a blood red moon. A thick night sky became the new "ceiling" for the duel and wilting grass grew around the battlefield.

"Thanks to this new battlefield, all zombie monsters gain 500 attack points during battle only. And now, Vampire Genesis will attack First of the Dragons! Fist of Darkness!"

Vampire Genesis rammed its massive fist into First of the Dragons' face, sending it flying back towards the stands, causing a few people to abandon their seats to the aisles to avoid its tail smacking them.

Thanks to its special effect, First of the Dragons wasn't destroyed, but Joey's life points felt that, lowering all the way to 1,200 as the blond started to sweat.

"And thanks to the effects of Vampire's Domain, I now gain 800 life points." Celeste's life points increased to 1,600, putting her in the lead once again. "Lastly, just to give you something else to think about, I'm setting one card face-down and ending my turn," Celeste stated.

"All right then," Joey said. "My turn. I draw!"

With seven cards in hand, thanks to the effect of Celeste's Card of Sanctity, Joey scanned his hand for a way to counter her Vampire Genesis. And it seemed like he had just the cards in his hand to get him out of this mess.

With a smirk, Joey clasped a card between his index and middle finger. "I summon to the field my Rocket Warrior!"

Joey's rocket shaped swordsman appeared with 1,500 attack points and 1,200 defense points.

"So what? Even if you lower Vampire Genesis' attack points, Vampire Kingdom will still make it stronger than First of the Dragons."

"Sure, right now that's the case," Joey said plainly.

"What do you mean "right now"?" Celeste asked.

Joey held up a spell card. "Cause I'm activating my handy Dragon Nails magic card to boost First of the Dragons' attack power by 600 points!" First of the Dragons roared as its eyes glowed more intensely and its attack power increased to 3,300.

"Yeah, that's it, Joey!" Mai cheered from the stands. "End this duel!"

"Rocket Warrior, transform into Invincible Mode! Invincible Attack!"

Rocket Warrior compressed itself into its rocket shape and slammed into Vampire Genesis, reducing its attack power to 2,500.

"And now, First of the Dragons, attack Vampire Genesis!"

"Stop right there!" Celeste declared defiantly with her arms folded. "I activate my face-down card: Mirror Force!"

"What?!" Joey gasped.

Mai gasped too from the stands, but said nothing.

Fist of the Dragons' attack was stopped by a glowing barrier that absorbed its attack before blasting it back at both of Joey's monsters, destroying them and leaving Joey wide open to attack.

"Whoa! Celeste just destroyed Joey Wheeler's entire field. Could this duel be over?" The announcer declared.

"I don't think so!" Joey exclaimed. "I activate Scapegoat!"

Joey's four colored lambs appeared on the field.

Celeste chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Joey asked.

"Just remembering the old South American legend of the Chupacabra and how they would kidnap and eat livestock from farms, especially sheep." She smiled sweetly and clasped her fingers together. "It's like you put up lambs to the slaughter."

Joey growled.

"Don't let her psyche you out, Joey!" Mai declared. "You can still win!"

"I end my turn," Joey frowned. There was nothing else he could do. He'd used up his summon for the turn. From his hand of seven, he'd gone down to 4 and had nothing to show for it, except his back to the wall.

"My move," Celeste said. "I draw!"

As Celeste contemplated her move, Byakuya made his way into the aisle and sat down next to Mai.

"Where have you been?" Mai asked.

"Phone call," Byakuya answered. "How's it look?"

"See for yourself," Mai told him.

Byakuya observed the field and the life point count. "Who's turn is it?"

"It's Celeste's," Mai said.

"Turn count?" Byakuya asked.

"Celeste's starting the tenth turn," Mai said to him.

"Heh, so the duel hasn't even reached its climax then. Good," Byakuya stated.

"Good?" Mai questioned.

"If Joseph is every bit the duelist I think he is, he couldn't have lost early, and if the duel is only five turns apiece, then he's far from finished."

Mai blinked, pausing a moment before saying, "Togami…you believe in Joey, don't you?"

"Belief? No. I'd never put my stock in such emotional trite. No, it's simple logic. Joseph can't lose. The heart of the cards will see to that."

"I sure hope you're right," Mai said, sitting with white knuckles.

"Of course I'm right. I'm Byakuya Togami," Byakuya said with a smug smirk.

Back on the field, Celeste had finally finished figuring out what to do about the current board state. With three cards in hand and four monsters on Joey's field, the answer is simple, she held up a card in her hand. Whittle down the board. "I activate the special ability of Vampire Genesis!" She slid Vampire Vamp into the graveyard. "By discarding a zombie-type monster from my hand, I can return any monster from my graveyard that's a lower level than the discarded monster. Since I discarded a level 7 monster, I can bring back any monster with 6 or fewer level stars. And I choose my favorite Vampire: Vampire Scarlet Scourge!"

Back from the dead, Scarlet Scourge appeared and presented his master with a rose, which Celeste took, putting one hand on her cheek, forcing a blush as Scarlet Scourge stood next to the big boss himself, Vampire Genesis.

"Next, I give up 1,000 life points," Celeste said as her life points fell to just 600. "This will allow me to activate Scarlet Scourge's special ability and bring any monster back from my graveyard to the field as long as it's a Vampire. And I'll bring back my Vampire Vamp that I just discarded to my graveyard."

Not good, Joey thought, sweating. If Celeste summons one more monster, she'll destroy all my Scapegoats.

Unfortunately, it seemed Celeste had that exact idea in mind as she plucked another card from her hand. "I now summon Vampire Sorcerer!" A blue skinned vampire with a witch's hat, a staff and wearing a magician's robe appeared on the field with 1,500 attack points.

"Aw, no," Joey groaned.

"Oh yes," Celeste smirked. "Go, my minions! Destroy all of Joey's scapegoats!"

Like lambs to the slaughter indeed. Celeste's vampires utterly decimated Joey's field, leaving it barren.

"And just to drive the point home of how utterly defeated you are, I activate the last card in my hand: Supremacy Berry!" A dove with a branch in its beak was the card artwork for this card. "Since my life points are lower than yours, I gain 2,000 of them."

Joey grimaced, but said nothing, watching as green, sparkling, healing light generated upward around Celeste, putting her life points back at 2,600, giving her an even greater lead than she'd started the turn with.

"It's your move, Joey," Celeste said with her annoyingly sweet smile. "Make it count."

Joey grit his teeth. What do I do now? Celeste has four monsters on the field and I don't have even a face-down card. How the heck do I get out of this?

"If you don't think you can win, save yourself the embarrassment and give up," Celeste said, her figure standing between the wing of Vampire Vamp and the arm of Vampire Genesis, barely avoiding being obstructed by either one. "You can duel your way past Mai and Byakuya," she said. "But like with your relationship with Kaiba, there will always be someone better than you. It's true I may have lost our first duel, but I got better. I tempered my strategy and doubled down on my knowledge. You, however, continue to be the same sad, disappointing loser you've always been." To think I even considered promoting him to C-rank. What was I thinking?

Celeste's barbed insults caused Joey to drop to his knees.

"Whoa! Contestant Joey Wheeler doesn't look too hot folks. We'll set the clock to three minutes. If he doesn't get up and start his turn, we'll consider it a concession from the duel by default."

However, while the crowd chatted among themselves, Byakuya didn't seem the least bit fazed. Excellent. Celeste has broken Joey's spirit and put him in a corner. Next, Mai will…

"Don't let her psyche you out, Joey!" Mai shouted from the stands.

Byakuya smirked. "Heh."

Joey looked up to see Mai standing up and making herself stand out from the crowd. "Eh?"

"Are you just going to give up on your dreams? Is this how your first adventure towards being a professional duelist is going to end? With you sniveling on the ground in front of her?"

Joey briefly looked at Celeste.

"Maybe Yugi and your other little friends aren't here to pat you on the back and hold your hand, but I'm here, Joey!" Mai exclaimed, one hand on her chest, the other thrown out above her shoulder, palm open, facing the stadium. "I'll cheer you on if no one else will!"

"M-Mai…" Joey was touched.

"Get your butt up off the ground and draw! This duel isn't over yet! This isn't how the Joey Wheeler I know duels! The Joey Wheeler I know doesn't know the meaning of the words "give up". He stands tall and pushes back, standing defiantly until the very end! All these people came here for an amazing championship! Look at this crowd! It's almost packed! You even have people here with banners with your name on it! They didn't come here to see Yugi or Kaiba, they're here to see you! Not me, not Byakuya, or even Celeste! You! Isn't this what you always dreamed of? Isn't this the kind of recognition you always wanted?"

Joey balled his fist. She's right. This is what I always wanted. A tournament to stand up on my own. A tournament to show just what Joey Wheeler is all about.

"Joey! Joey! Joey! Joey! Joey!" His fans cheered.

"If you don't get up, you'll disappoint all of these people!" Mai shouted. "Get up! And show this country just what Joey Wheeler is really made of!"

"Yeah," Joey said. "You're right! I'm not giving up!" He began to get to his feet, dusting off his knee. He gave Celeste his toughest look, showing her his determined grit. "If I gave up, I'd never be able to face my friends! Win or lose, Joey Wheeler ain't a quitter! You hear that, Celeste? I don't care if you do embarrass me!" he shouted, pointing at her. "I'm gonna stand here and I'm gonna duel! Now let's do this thing!"

Cheers came from the crowd. The duel was back on.

And, Heart of the Cards clearly guiding him, so obviously that even Byakuya, Celeste and Mai seemed to notice, Joey drew the top card of his deck. He looked at the card he'd drawn: Release Restraint. And, thanks to Celeste, he already had Gearfried the Iron Knight in his hand. This was exactly what he needed.

"I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!" Joey shouted, bringing the 1,800 equip-spell immune knight to the field. "And now, I activate the magic card Release Restraint! This will allow me to release Gearfried's true power! So say hello to Gearfried the Swordmaster!"

Joey's monster stood solidly on the field with a powerful 2,600 attack points.

"Next, I activate the magic card Legendary Sword, increasing Gearfried's attack points!"

Gearfried now had a magnificent looking sword in his hand, holding it with both hands, swinging it down and causing energy to surge upward from below him. His attack was now 2,900 attack points strong.

"And thanks to Gearfried's special ability, since he was equipped with a magic card, I can destroy any monster on the field, and I choose Vampire Genesis!" Joey shouted.

Celeste didn't seem to emote as a black, silver and white wind blew into Genesis from Gearfried's sword, utterly destroying it.

"And next, Gearfried, go on and attack! Destroy Vampire Scarlet Scourge!"

Even with the boost from Vampire Kingdom, Gearfried had more than enough attack points to scratch Celeste's life points, bringing her down to 2,400 points, her favorite monster gone.

"And next, I'm settin' these two little babies face-down on the field," Joey stated, emptying his hand. "Your move, Celeste."

Celeste seethed with inward rage. Not because Joey had turned the duel around. Oh no, she'd expected that. After all, she found a weird fascination with Joey's "never give up" attitude. However, what was like a big giant spike hemorrhaging and causing an aneurysm to form in her brain was how he got back up on his feet. Mai had been the one to build him back up, after Celeste had crudely pushed him down.

He should've gotten back up on his own, she thought, almost shaking with anger. I wanted to be the one to see him get up. I wanted to be the one to inspire him. Celeste's red eyes were now green with envy. How dare you steal my spotlight, Mai. This is between me and him.

"Celeste?" Joey called out to her, her silence unsettling. "Celeste?" he repeated. "You okay? Frenchy?"

Celeste could barely hear him though. His voice was blurry. Her mind was elsewhere. No matter what I do…life is truly boring, isn't it?

5 Years Ago

Gray. For one Taeko Yasuhiro, everything was gray. From her school uniform to the walls, to the streets, to the sky, to the paint on the school building. Her life was simply gray. Gray…and boring.

She walked to her boring walk to school, learned from her boring teachers, in her boring classroom, and ate her boring lunch. Then she walked to her boring home, ate her boring dinner, listened to her boring parents talk about their boring jobs and fall asleep in her boring bed. Every day was the same. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

And Taeko hated it. The only splash of color in her life seemed to come from fiction. In fiction, the characters were always larger than life. They had exciting run ins with the law. They could fly through space. They could even do things that were physically impossible, but exciting.

Whether it was live action or animated, a book, a movie or even a videogame, Taeko found herself fascinated with fiction.

But this was to be her greatest shame.

In an attempt for all parts of her life to be a bit more colorful, Taeko began bringing collectibles to school and lining her desk with them. She did it for her own self-satisfaction. She did it without caring what others would think.

But the world was not kind to outsiders. Damage. Destruction. Isolation.

Taeko found many of her figurines stolen or otherwise broken when she left the room to go buy lunch. Tears welled up from her eyes as she bolted from the room.

Pain.

While drawing something with a stick on the playground one day, someone pelted a rock at the back of her head just for a cheap laugh.

From then on, Taeko just sat on the swing, alone. Bored. Crying on the inside.

And, eventually, she could not take the boredom anymore.

Leaving her swing, Taeko saw a group of her peers huddled around a chalk drawn circle. They were playing with marbles. It appeared that each student would fling a marble he or she had into a central group of marbles and any marbles that rolled outside the circle were collected by that student.

Very meekly, Taeko spoke up. "Can…can I play?" she asked.

She was ignored at first, but one of the students said condescendingly, "Who'd let a weirdo freak like you play? Go play pretend with your silly figurines."

"Well, I…"

The students began to chat among themselves, debating if they should let Taeko play with them or not.

Taking a deep breath, getting hussy, Taeko declared, "If you let me play, if I lose, I'll give everyone my lunch money for an entire week!"

Desperation.

In order to free herself from boredom, she made a bold declaration. Her very first gamble.

Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, the other students let Taeko play. And she won all of the marbles. Was it luck? Was it skill? She never knew. What she did know was that it wasn't boring. And she wanted more.

Taeko's taste of victory only boldened her desires. Hop scotch. Jump rope. Freeze tag. King of the Mountain. Taeko gambled on them all and came out victorious. And, before she knew it, the school year was ending.

Her life was now a little less gray.

Inspiration. Curiosity. Pride.

Consuming more and more media, Taeko found herself forming a kinship with these otherwise fictional characters. She was a nobody, but she was now a somebody. And as her victories, and her wealth, grew, Taeko knew she could no longer consider herself plain and ordinary anymore. Life was no longer gray.

And as she stood in front of her middle school for the first time, ringlets in her hair, a gothic Lolita dress defying the school's uniforms, a silver finger brace upon painted fingernails, she was no longer ordinary.

I'm not a nobody, she thought as she marched into the school. I'm a somebody.

Gone from elementary school, with a new, fresh start in a middle school where no one knew her, her legend truly began.

Called up to the board to introduce herself on the first day, she grabbed the chalk and carved her destiny onto the chalkboard.

"My name is…" she said as she scrawled the letters on the chalkboard. The name had been chosen carefully over the course of the previous year. But to see it suddenly on a board for everyone to see, the rush she felt, that was an entirely different feeling.

"Celestia Ludenberg," Celeste said quietly, coming out of her trip down memory lane.

"Huh?" Joey had barely heard her speak over the roar of the crowd.

"My name is Celestia Ludenberg!" Celeste shouted. "I am the Queen of Liars! I am the Red-Eyed Gambler!" She stomped her ruby red heel on the ground. "And you, Joey Wheeler, you will be crushed under my heel!" She spoke sharply, not showing an ounce of weakness or loss of composure in her face.

"Ludenberg! Ludenberg! Ludenberg!"

"Celeste! Celeste! Celeste!"

Joey, it seemed, wasn't the only one with fans in the crowd.

"This duel is not over yet," Celeste said as her hand flowed towards her duel disk like water. This duel is so much more than money, Celeste thought. I have to win. I won't let things be boring. Joey wants to be a top duelist, then he'd best be prepared for me to stand in his way at every bend and turn! And what I want, Celeste said as she drew the top card from her deck, a tingling sensation going through her whole body, is to always have an opponent to push me to my limits, so that no matter what, she thought as she drew the card to her face, whether it's the taste of victory or defeat, I can be the best me that I can be.

Celeste looked at the card she drew, stunned. Of all the cards in her deck, she'd drawn the exact card she needed to turn this duel back in her favor. She could chalk it up to luck, but her luck was rarely this good.

Could this be…? Celeste thought, only to shake her head slightly. No, I'll have plenty of time to contemplate that later. Right now, "I sacrifice Vampire Sorcerer in order to summon Vampire Grimson!" A scythe wielding vampire, as portrayed by Celeste's Vampire's Domain spell, appeared on the battlefield with 2,000 attack points and 1,400 defense points.

"And since I summoned a Vampire this turn by tributing a monster, I can activate the special ability of my Vampire Vamp: Soul Steal!"

"Say what now?" Joey asked, only to watch Vampire Vamp dart towards Gearfried the Swordmaster and rip his soul right out of his chest. "Gearfried!"

"He's mine now," Celeste stated as Vampire Vamp swallowed Gearfried's soul as her wings grew much larger and her hair cascaded almost all the way to the back of her knees. Her attack power surged, rising all the way up to 4,600 points. Gearfried's soul was shown imprisoned, floating behind Vampire Vamp's body as Gearfried's body withered into a brown husk and vanished into dust.

"This duel is over!" Celeste shouted. "Vampire Vamp, attack Joey directly and end this duel!"

"I don't think so. I activate Graverobber! This little guy will steal any card from your graveyard and let me use it immediately! And I choose your very own Vampire Red Baron!"

Celeste's vampiric cavalier was resurrected to Joey's side of the field with 2,400 attack points strong.

"It won't be enough!" Celeste declared loudly. "You lose!"

"Not quite, I activate my other trap card: Kunai with Chain!"

Vampire Red Baron suddenly had an axe blade on a chain equipped to it as Vampire Vamp was ensnared by it. Hissing, Celeste's monster was instantly switched into defense mode, leaving it with only 2,000 defense points.

"And thanks to my trap card, Red Baron gains an extra 500 attack points, bringing him up to 2,900 points. And since Grimson isn't strong enough to destroy me, that means your turn is over!" Joey declared.

Celeste wanted to get mad. She wanted to get furious, but she couldn't. Joey played his hand well. And she was just going to have to deal with it. She smiled. "Well played, Joey. It's your turn."

"Dang right it is. All right, here we go!" Joey declared, drawing the top card of his deck. "First, I set one card face-down," Joey said. "And next, I'm gonna destroy Grimson with the Red Baron I took from you!" Joey declared. "Red Baron, attack!"

Joey's stolen monster charged forward and hit Celeste's square on with a rear kick from its horse. As Celeste's Vampire Kingdom powered up zombies regardless of the side of the field they were on, the damage still came out to 900 points, bringing Celeste's life total down to 1,500.

The score was now 1,500 to 1,200 in Celeste's favor.

"And now, since Red Baron destroyed one of your monsters, I get to have it for my side of the field," Joey said as Grimson suddenly appeared on Joey's side of the field. "And with that I end my turn."

If I could free Vampire Vamp, this duel would be over right now, Celeste thought. Let's hope my luck… she smiled. No, it's not about luck. Not this duel. If I want to win, and I need to win, I need to ascend to your playing field, don't I?

"What's the matter?" Celeste asked. "Do the heart of the cards not cry out for your victory enough?"

This set Yugi off. "You dare mock the heart of the cards?" he glared.

Celeste chuckled with a smirk. "Of course not, I've seen it firsthand thanks to Joey." Her smile faded. "I'm simply testing if it's all it's cracked up to be." Celeste's eyes turned scary as her pupils seemed to become nonexistent, her red irises widening like some kind of demon. "A true duelist relies solely upon his or her skill and luck to get the job done, not some philosophical faith. Of course," she said as her eyes returned to normal as she held her fist in front of her mouth. "Every skilled card shark in the world has his or her superstitions so I can't fault you for having something you stand by." Celeste smiled, but the expression seemed to be in mockery of her opponent. "Joey performed splendidly, Yugi, but what about you? Was my loss to him just a spot of bad luck, or is there truth to your philosophy?" Celeste instantly became serious. "I must know."

And I know now, Celeste thought, reflecting on her duel with Yugi, that it is. She looked at her duel disk. My deck…I built it with my very own hands. Its creation…a reflection of my desired future. Celeste envisioned her Transylvanian castle of vampire butlers. That dream will be reality. Celeste closed her eyes.

Joey smiled, seeing Celeste calmly go for her deck like she was in a trance. He knew what was going on with her. I'm proud of you, Frenchy. Show me what you got.

Byakuya, of course, was clueless. He couldn't comprehend that Celeste had access to the power she was about to draw on.

Heart of my cards, Celeste thought, the power resonating within her as her eyes flung open, a light flashing inside her right iris as she went for the top card of her deck, guide me! "I DRAW!" Celeste shouted. The top card of her deck could not be sweeter.

"I activate Remove Trap!" Celeste shouted. "This will allow me to remove your Kunai with Chain from the field, freeing my Vampire Vamp!"

Vampire Vamp broke free of the shackles binding it via Kunai with Chain as the card was destroyed.

"Vampire Vamp! Attack Vampire Grimson and end this duel!" Celeste declared as Vampire Vamp's attack power increased to 5,100 and Grimson's upped to 2,500.

"Hold on a sec!" Joey shouted. "I still have one trap card to play! Go! Skull Dice!"

Celeste smiled. How fitting that our duel would be decided by a roll of the dice.

"Come on baby! Joey needs a three or higher! Come on!"

Unfortunately, the dice did not favor Joey this time. A two landed face-up and cutting Vamp's attack points in half was not enough to keep it from destroying Grimson. Vamp still had 2,550 attack points, just enough to send Grimson back to Celeste's graveyard.

Joey's life points dropped to 1,150. And, thanks to the effect of Vampire's Domain, Celeste's life points increased to 1,550.

"A good show, Joey," Celeste said. "But ultimately pointless. For on my next turn," she said as Vamp's attack power returned to its current maximum value of 4,600, "I will destroy the other monster you stole from me and obliterate the last of your life points!"

"Frenchy, let me tell you something. I'm proud of you for figuring out how to use the Heart of the Cards, but that doesn't mean you're gonna beat me. Cause I'm gonna win this duel, not just for my career, but for my pride as a duelist and my little sister Serenity! Cause that's what Joey Wheeler's all about! I draw!"

Byakuya was rather perturbed. What? How did she figure out the Heart of the Cards before me? No. Ridiculous. E-even if that's true. Joseph will still win. Her…her understanding must be at my level. And a novice could never defeat a veteran! Byakuya exclaimed, sweating a little. That had to be true. If Joey lost this duel…nothing would make sense.

Joey drew the top card of his deck and declared, "I'm activatin' Heavy Storm, destroying all the magic and trap cards on the field!" Joey shouted.

"What?" Celeste gasped. Not only did this mean she would lose Domain and her Kingdom, but she would also lose the soul of Gearfried within Vamp.

"I figured Gearfried was being used like an equip spell, which means that Vampire Vamp loses all the power she had so far!"

Gearfried's soul was freed amidst the tumultuous storm that destroyed Celeste's Vampire's Domain and reduced her Vampire Kingdom to rubble.

Vampire Vamp, stripped of her power, only had 2,000 attack points, lower than Joey's stolen Vampire Red Baron.

"Vampire Red Baron, attack! Destroy Celeste's Vampire Vamp!"

Vampire Red Baron charged into Celeste's monster and destroyed it, reducing her life points to 1,150, putting the game at a tie.

"It's an even game, folks!" the announcer declared as the crowd got fired up. "With the way these two are playing, this duel could still go either way!"

"Hmph, how true," Celeste said. She didn't even have to hope and pray that she would draw what she needed. She knew. She smiled. "How nostalgic, Joey, don't you think. Both of us drawing from the top of our decks to win, running out of cards to play, letting luck decide everything."

"You know," Joey said, "I was thinking the same thing. It's your move, Celeste."

"Agreed, and I'll start by activating this magic card: Dark Hole, destroying all monsters on the field!"

A singularity appeared above Joey and Celeste's duel and sucked in Joey's stolen monsters, ridding them from the field. "There," she said, glancing sideways, fiddling with her finger brace. "Now you can't use monsters you stole from me to win the duel."

"Man, you ain't makin' this easy," Joey said. He smiled. "It's fun dueling you, Celeste, even if you're annoying."

Celeste got pouty, doing her best not to blush. She could've done without the annoying part. "Go," she said. "It's your turn."

"You got it!" Joey shouted. "Here comes a Joey Wheeler special! I draw!" Joey looked at the card he'd drawn. "Heh heh, perfect! I summon Panther Warrior in attack mode!"

Joey's 2,000-point beat stick hit the field with a growl.

"He may not be able to attack this turn, but he doesn't have to. Not only is he going to protect my life points, but he'll finish you off no matter which monster you summon!"

"A good plan, Joey," Celeste said and drew the top card of her deck. "Too bad it's a faulty one. I banish Vampire Sorcerer from my graveyard!" Celeste said as the spirit of Vampirer Sorcerer appeared over her head and vanished. "This allows me to summon any vampire monster I want in my hand even if it normally requires a tribute to summon and that means I can summon this monster: Vampire Dragon!"

A big, fanged, legless, one-eyed dragon took to the field with 2,400 attack points and 0 defense points.

"Vampire Dragon, destroy Panther Warrior!"

Vampire Dragon swooped towards Panther Warrior and cut it down with its claws, leaving Joey with only 750 life points, putting Celeste back in the lead.

"Your move, Joey. Make it count."

"You betcha," Joey said and drew. "All right! Here we go! I'll play Copycat and play it as Card of Sanctity! That means we can both draw until we're each holding six cards!"

Celeste and Joey each drew six cards, replenishing their hands. "All right, there we go! I summon Axe Raider!"

Axe Raider took to the field 1,700 attack points strong. "And next, I'm activatin' this magic card: Lightning Blade, letting me raise Axe Raider's attack points all the way up to 2,500, making him stronger than your Vampire Dragon. And now, I attack!"

The lightning blade cleaved straight through Celeste's monster, reducing her life points to 1,050.

"Next, I'm setting two cards face-down," Joey said. "Can you beat that, Frenchy?"

"I can and I will," Celeste said and drew the top card of her deck. She smiled, sighing. "It's so sad."

"What's sad?" Joey asked.

"I had hoped this duel would go on for a little while longer. A little back and forth, a little more down to the wire, but the game has gone on for long enough. Time to end it."

"What do you mean?" Joey asked. "It ain't over till it's over."

"No. It's over," Celeste said. "Let me show you. I will start with this magic card: Monster Reborn! Bring back to life Vampire Vamp!"

Celeste's magnificent vixen of the night emerged from her grave to the battlefield.

"And next, I shall summon to the field my Vampire Familiar!" A little winged bat creature with 500 attack points and 0 defense points emerged on the field.

"What's that supposed to do?" Joey asked.

"On its own, nothing, but since I summoned a monster with Vampire Vamp in play while you have a monster with higher attack on your side of the field. Well, I'm sure you remember what happened to Gearfried."

Vampire Vamp charged towards Axe Raider and promptly sucked out its soul, equipping it and raising the vampire's own attack points to 3,700.

"And before you think your face-down cards can save you, I activate Heavy Storm, destroying them! So sorry."

"Then I'm activating them right here, right now!" Joey declared. "First, I activate Hyper Refresh! Since your monsters' attack points are higher than my life points, I can double my life points!" Joey's life points shot up to 1,500. "And my other card is Take One Chance! This will let me activate any card at all in my graveyard at random."

"Good luck with that when there's only one card in your entire graveyard that can save you," Celeste pointed out.

"And I'm gonna activate it! Cause I'm Joey Wheeler! I'm practically made of luck!"

Joey's trap card Take One Chance resolved first, revealing Joey's Skull Dice.

"All right, Skull Dice! Let's do this one more time!" Joey declared.

This time, the roll was much more successful, leaving Joey with a 5 as the result.

"All right! That divides both of your monster's attack points by five."

Celeste smirked. "You never cease to make things interesting, Joey."

She watched Vampire Vamp's attack power go all the way down to 740 and Vampire Familiar's attack points were only 100. With their combined attack's Joey's increased life points fell to 660. It was a net loss of 90 life points.

"I'll set two cards face-down," Celeste said. "And end my turn. And now, my monsters are back at full power." Vampire Vamp and Vampire Familiar now had all of their attack points back.

"Fine by me. Cause I'm gonna win!" Joey declared.

You'd better, Byakuya thought.

Joey drew the top card from his deck. "I summon Alligator Sword to the field!" Joey shouted.

The gangly 1,500 attack point monster stood upon the field.

"And I'll use him to destroy your Vampire Familiar!" Joey shouted.

Alligator Sword darted forward and cut down Celeste's feebly weak monster, dealing 1,000 points of damage and leaving her with only 50.

"Next, I'll set one card face-down," Joey said. "That ends my turn."

Heh, Celeste thought. Oldest trick in the book. But it ends here! "I draw!" she shouted. She looked at the cards on her field and the cards in her hand and took into consideration what Joey could have lying face-down. There was only one clear path to victory. No, not a clear path. Celeste eyed Joey's face-down card. I've got a hunch, and I'm going to act on it. And if I'm right, Celeste went for the top card of her deck and drew it. I'll win. She put the card in her hand. An all or nothing gamble, She mused. When was the last time I had to resort to such a thing?

Celeste looked at the remaining cards in her hand. "I'll start by discarding one vampire monster from my hand in order to activate Vampire Familiar's effect, allowing me to special summon it to my side of the field."

Vampire Familiar emerged with its tail wrapped around its body in defense mode.

Gotcha, Joey thought. "I activate Celebration of Creation! Since you special summoned a monster, that means I get to end your turn instantly!"

Walked right into it. "I activate my face-down card: Trap Stun!"

Byakuya scoffed. No! Impossible! Then…then that means…

"This trap card negates the effects of all other trap cards this turn," Celeste stated. "Quite a shame I didn't get to face your Red-Eyes now that you have it back, but such is life."

Joey did not need to be passing Algebra to see the end result here. Celeste had a 3,700-attack point monster and Joey's monster only had 1,500. Joey only had 660 life points left. The resulting blow would wipe them all out.

Joey looked down at the ground, his bangs and haircut shielding his eyes from Celeste's view. "J-Joey?"

In the next instant though, Joey took in an audible deep breath. He lifted his head and clenched his fist. And, though specks of tears stained the corners of his eyes, he was doing his best to smile. "It's cool! Go for it, Celeste! And thanks for the great duel!"

Celeste could see it, though saddened by his loss, Joey was taking it like a man and didn't want her to hold back.

You really are worthy of C-rank, Celeste said, putting her fingers in front of her mouth to hide the faintest of smiles. She then turned her body and pointed at Joey's monster. "Vampire Vamp! Destroy Alligator Sword and END! THIS! DUEL!"

Vampire Vamp flew across the battlefield straight for Joey's life points, tearing through Alligator Sword and slamming through Joey causing him to stumble off the platform, but he remained standing. He then put his hands in his pockets and let out a deep sigh, tears gone, smiling. "What a rush, huh? Thanks, Celeste. If I had to lose today, I'm glad it was to you. We should do this again sometime." Joey said as he raised his arms above his head, his smirk turning into a goofy grin.

Celeste sighed. "Idiot."

The big screen showed Celeste's image as the winner as confetti rained down.

"This tournament is over, folks! The winner of the Canadian Nationals is none other than the Red-Eyed Gambler: Celestia Ludenburg!"

"LUDENBERG! LUDENBERG! LUDENBERG!" the crowd cheered.

Celeste basked in her glory briefly before approaching Joey who was still smiling and waving to the folks in the stadium that still had poster boards to cheer for him. He'd given it his all. He had nothing to be ashamed about. But this was only the beginning. He'd compete in more tournaments. He'd get better.

That's what being a true duelist is all about. Ain't it, Yug? It's not just about heart, but also knowin that ya can't just rest on where yer at, you always gotta be lookin' forward. Joey looked at Celeste eating up the publicity by blowing kisses and making poses. And yer always lookin' forward. Ain't ya, Frenchy?

"Joseph! Wheeler!"

Byakuya stormed the stadium, face red with anger.

"Oh hello, Byakuya. Come for an autograph?" Celeste asked playfully.

Byakuya ignored her. "What the hell was that?" He snapped at Joey. "You just stood there and took it! What happened to not giving up?"

"What the heck was I supposed to do? I had nothing at that point."

"Impossible! You should've won! I-I demand a rematch! A do-over! A look at the shuffling methods! This match can't be valid!"

"Are you insinuating I cheated?" Celeste asked, scratching her cheek. "My, my, how unsophisticated." She stared Byakuya seriously in the face. "I would never stoop to cheating. That's just savage and uncouth. I take my losses the way I make my victories, fair and square."

Byakuya growled. "Then…then Joseph had to throw the duel! That's the only thing that makes sense!"

"I didn't throw the duel. Look at my hand!" Joey showed Byakuya what was left in his hand. He had no useful spells or traps he could've played on his turn and the rest were normal monsters with less than 1,300 attack points. "I gave it my all and Frenchy did the same." He gave Celeste a friendly, but not overexaggerated smile. "Right, Frenchy?"

"Absolutely. I daresay if I hadn't you would've won turns ago," Celeste admitted, re-running the duel in her head.

Joey shrugged. "Frenchy just outplayed me. It happens. I ain't the best duelist out there. Just because I have heart doesn't make me invincible."

This only served to needle Byakuya further. "Don't be absurd! I'm an amazing Duelist! If the Heart of the Cards doesn't improve your dueling ability, what allowed you to beat me, but not Celeste?"

At this, Celeste just gave a mischievous smile. "Perhaps I simply had more of a reason to fight today," she chuckled. She then turned around and walked away into the shadows of the entrance to the stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to the Canadian Nationals. We hope to see you again next year."

The same announcement was then played in French.

Joey sat on a lounge chair in the hotel lobby with a soda and his runners-up check in his pocket to the tune of the equivalent of 150 million yen. He was sitting with his suitcase next to him, waiting for Mai and Byakuya. The latter had kind of stormed off after what happened in the stadium center and remarked that he just wanted to be left alone for a while.

"Rest assured, I will not hold today against you. You are a skilled duelist. Skilled enough to beat me, but swear to you, I will become the best duelist ever and no heart of the cards is going to stop me."

As Joey sat there, he saw a familiar head of black hair passing him by towards the front door. "Yo! Frenchy! Wait up!"

Joey exclaimed, chasing after Celeste. He met her right in front of the hotel entrance doors.

"What?" Celeste responded impatiently. "I need to be making my way home for a bath."

"I…I just wanted to say," Joey said. "That I uh…" He stared at Celeste who looked about as impatient as she claimed. "I uh…" he pulled himself together. "I may have lost today, but I ain't gonna take it lyin' down. Next time we duel, I'm gonna crush you!"

Celeste, in response, smiled. "Admittedly, I too look forward to the day when we'll duel again. Au revoir, Joey." She then chuckled, spun on her heel and walked out of the doors, departing from Joey's life until next they met. And when that would be, he had no idea.

Still, even though Celeste was now clearly out of earshot, Joey clenched his fist and smiled. "I'm looking forward to it too, Frenchy."

Joey slept practically the entire flight back to Japan, snoring so loud, a jackhammer would've been quieter. When he, Mai, and Byakuya returned to Japan, the latter was all too much in a hurry to get in his limo and get away from the other two.

"Hey, Mai, mind if I borrow your phone so I can call for a ride?" Joey asked. "Miss Yukizome said she'd come by with Mahiru and my little sis."

"You don't have a phone?" Mai asked.

"Can't, uh…really afford one," Joey said.

Mai stared at him. "You're kidding."

"I spent all my Duelist Kingdom money on Serenity. I'm broke," he told her showing his practically empty pants pockets. His check was in his jacket.

Mai sighed, rolling her eyes. "Walk with me, Joey," she said to him.

The two walked all the way to her convertible. "Get in, Joey."

"Huh?"

Mai twirled her keys. "I'll drive you home."

"For real? You sure?"

Mai blushed. "Friends…do this sort of thing…right?"

Joey smiled. "Yeah. Hey! Think maybe we could stop for food on the way back?"

Mai sighed, trying not to laugh. Same old Joey Wheeler. "Sure, Joey."

Mai sat with Joey at a pizzeria, watching him shovel away a deep dish pizza like clothes hastily packed into a suitcase.

"I'm not performing CPR if you choke," Mai chided.

Joey spoke incoherently with his mouth full only to wash it down with his 64 ounce soda. "Sorry. I'm just really hungry. That tournament took a lot outta me."

"So I see. You really should be careful though," she said. Suddenly her cell phone rang.

"Who's got your number?" Joey asked.

"It's Ibuki apparently," Mai asked. She answered the phone. "Hello? Ohhhhh! Hi, Serenity!" She listened to Serenity talk.

"Huh? Sis?"

"Ohhhhh, I see. You borrowed Ibuki's phone. You should get one of your own. If you want, I'll buy one for you. Nooooo, stop it! I'd be happy to. I'll get you and your brother matching cell phones in glitzy hot pink."

"What the…hey!" Joey snapped.

Mai laughed a bit before saying. "Here you go, kid. I'll put Mr. Silver Medal on the phone for you."

Joey took Mai's cell phone from her and put it to his ear. "Hey, sis."

"I saw the whole thing. You were amazing big brother," Serenity said in her usual upbeat fashion.

"Sorry I didn't win, sis," Joey said. "I tried my best though."

"That's all right. I'm sure you'll win the next tournament," Serenity said. "Everyone loses sometimes. No one's perfect."

Joey smiled, rubbing his finger under his nose. "So, you're with Ibuki right now?"

"And Mahiru, and Mikan, and all the other girls from Hope's Peak. We're having a party. Miss Yukizome's going to drive me to the game shop soon though. Yugi, Tristan and Tea said they wanted to hear all about it."

"Great, I'll have Mai drive me over there then," Joey said with a smile.

"So, the reason I wanted to call was because I got my test results back!" Serenity exclaimed.

"Oh, how'd it go?" Joey asked her.

"I passed in the 75th percentile!" Serenity exclaimed. "So I'm as smart as a high schooler. That means I can transfer into the same grade as you at Domino High this coming year, big brother!"

"No way! That's awesome! Way to go, Serenity! That's my little sis! Here," he said, handing the phone back to Mai, "Tell Mai the good news."

Joey ate his pizza while Mai chatted more with Serenity on the phone. Hearing his little sister and hearing her so excited made Joey feel like second place wasn't so bad. Because it didn't matter. Even if he never won a tournament, he'd keep trying. He was a true duelist now, or so he believed. He had fans. He had his morals, and, most importantly, as he felt the check in his coat pocket, he had his little sister's future to secure.

A future, huh? Joey thought. He thought about what could give Serenity the best shot at her future. She was a smart girl. She was an 8th grader that would be jumping to the 11th grade next year. Having Serenity in his class at Domino High would be great. But…it's not the future she needs. Reputation was everything and Joey knew that while he struggled and fought his way through tournaments to scrap for cash like he did today, Serenity deserved better. Way better. Joey rubbed the back of his head, looking down and away from the table. Guess I got a few phone calls to make startin' tomorrow, Joey thought. He leaned back in his chair and daydreamed for a bit, picturing Serenity in a snazzy business suit, shouting out orders, calling out shots, leading a huge corporation of her choosing. That was the future he wanted for his little sis. That was the future that she deserved.

Dinner ended before Joey even noticed the pizza was gone and then Mai drove him all the way to the Game Shop.

"You sure you don't want to go home first?" Mai asked him.

"My dad's kind of an alcoholic sleazebag. Just lookin' out for ya, Mai," Joey said to her.

Mai blushed, staring at Joey, smiling. She'd been around drunks. It was so sweet of Joey to put her before himself, but that was just the kind of guy he was. She smiled. "Joey, you are one unique guy," she said, rolling up to the front door of the Muto Game Shop, stopping the car. "Now get out," she said in the nicest way possible.

Joey climbed out and got his suitcase. Deep in her heart, Mai kind of wanted him to lean back into the car and kiss her, but there was no way she could ask that of him. Even as her thoughts slammed at the back of her brain to do it, she couldn't bring herself to. Maybe it was because she felt like she would be putting Joey on the spot. Maybe it was because she didn't want to ruin their friendship. Or maybe it was because Celeste was doing a victory dance in her brain and how happy Joey looked when they dueled. Would he look that way when they next dueled? Would he even care?

Joey slamming the trunk of Mai's car jarred her from her thoughts.

"All right, I think I'm good," he said. "Thanks Mai," he said, waving to ya. "See ya."

Mai blinked rapidly, mind demanding that she say something. Anything! "Joey!" she called out to him.

Joey turned back towards her. "Hmm? What's up?"

Mai had his attention. Now she just had to say it, or at least something to keep things from being awkward. However, she just flipped her hair, moving some strands behind her ear and smiled, leaning back in the driver's seat. "See you this weekend for band practice."

Joey smiled. "Right!"

The two stood there in silence before Joey headed towards the lit up storefront door. Mai then turned on her car and drove off. I've got some things to work through, she thought. Joey, she thought, you handsome devil. Don't you change for anyone. Cause one of these days, I might just reach out and snatch you up. As she drove alone, Mai imagined Joey's goofy smile holding up a V for victory in the moonlight. She chuckled to herself. "Mai, you're in love with a teenager. How are you going to live with yourself?" Mai answered her own question pretty quick. "I guess…one day at a time."

With Mai long gone, Joey headed into the Muto game shop where Tristan almost immediately put him in a headlock.

"So, Mr. I'm gonna be the best thing Canada's ever seen since Tim Horton's, heard you got the silver medal."

"Hey! What the hell gives, Tristan? Let go-a me!" Joey exclaimed trying to lift Tristan's arm off from around his neck. "Did you ever wash this coat?"

Téa laughed. "We didn't get to watch the tournament, but we saw the results online."

Tristan let Joey go as he looked at the setup of Yugi and Téa on the couch with a spot for him and Tristan in some fancy fabric covered chairs. Even Yugi's grandpa seemed eager to hear how it all went. There were snacks and soda set up on the coffee table.

"Tell us all about it, Joey," Yugi said with an earnest tone and expression.

"Yeah, this was your first real tournament without any of us around. What was it like?" Téa asked.

Joey grinned. He took his seat and then began to dramatize the whole thing from the moment he touched down in Canada. Eventually Serenity joined the group and the night seemed to smile fondly on the Wheeler siblings. Their fates seemed to reach for the moon and, if either of them failed, they knew that, together, they would fall among the stars.

(A/N: And that'll just about do it for the Canadian Nationals. And before you start ranting to me, I have my reasons for making Joey lose. Joey is, without the title actually meaning anything, the Ultimate Underdog. Additionally, if he won, that would give Byakuya the answers he's been seeking and who the hell wants Byakuya to be happy? XD. Jokes aside, this also allows for further character development for Byakuya and I just love giving him subtle narrative jabs. Lastly, while I was wrapping up the aftermath of the duel, I realized how much this mirrored Goku's loss to Roshi. This was Joey's first real foray into professional dueling. He already knew that Yugi and Kaiba were better than him, but he gets to learn the important lesson that winning a tournament when they're not around to stop him is not a guarantee. Joey has to continue working hard to become the best and he won't always win. I feel it humbles Joey's character a little and makes him a better person.

Additionally, Celeste's victory furthers her character development as well. I hope you liked her backstory in this. I was against putting it in here at first—mind you I winged the whole thing—because I didn't want to dive deep into her psyche and pretty much make it seem like she's the character to be rooting for and therefore she was the one who was set to win and make this seem like her arc. However, when I wrote Joey breaking down and Mai building him back up, I figured it was a good chance to even the score, to show that this arc really didn't have an antagonist to it at all. You were all so goddamned worried that the Canadian equivalent of Dartz, Marik, or Pegasus would muck things up, but your paranoia got the better of you. Things are fine. Joey and Celeste are fine. Semi-official rivals even. The foe yay is strong with these two XD.

We are however, now returning to the Hope's Peak crew as a focus, starting back up in the month of November. Approximately two whole months since the Orichalcos arc concluded. I'm happy to work on it since it means I get a break from dueling—mostly—until we reach the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix. That means chapters should come out faster since character development and interactions are easier to write than duels. My god was this one hard as balls to get juuuuust right and even then I think it could've improved if I had managed to let Joey somehow summon his kaiju and/or Red-Eyes. We didn't even get to see him use Time Wizard. But hey, like Joey would say it "can't win 'em all." And don't worry, Joey will be back in another tournament without Yugi or Kaiba participating because, as we all know, a duel with Yugi was the prize to be earned for winning the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix, and Kaiba himself did not participate. But that's a bit far from now XD.

So until then, and until next time, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)