(A/N: It's the start of a new year and after playing a visual novel that tore down and rebuilt my soul—Root Double for those curious—I am back with better BGMs and more duels. Chiaki vs Bianca. Let's heckin go!)

Chiaki drew her first card and looked at what she had to start with. Not the best hand out there, but she'd make do. At least she could get a good board going, she felt.

Without hesitating, she declared, "I summon Mahunder, in attack mode!" A living energy being wreathed in sparks appeared on the battlefield. She had 1,400 attack points and 700 defense points and was wearing red body armor. "And when Mahunder is summoned to the field, I can summon an additional level light-attribute Thunder monster from my hand as long as it has 4 level stars. So I'm also summoning Brohunder to the field, also in attack mode!" A small child made of lightning wearing a yellow shirt and shorts with turquoise boots appeared. He had 900 attack points and 400 defense points. "And now, thanks to this card, I can add any monster from my deck to my hand as long as it's a level 4 light-attribute thunder type monster."

Chiaki knew exactly which card to fetch. She knew her deck in and out. It took her no time at all to find the right card.

"Next, I'll discard Thunder Sea Horse in order to fetch two more thunder-type light-attribute monsters from my deck with the same name and add them to my hand." Chiaki now held five cards in her hand. 2 of which were level 4 monster cards. A competitive gaze reached across the battlefield as she had one eye on her hand and one eye on her opponent.

"That girl's name is Chiaki?" Solomon asked, stroking his beard.

"Yeah, she's in the class ahead of Yugi," Téa told him.

Solomon nodded. "That girl's going to get far in this tournament."

"What makes you say that?" Miho asked.

"I can tell just by looking at her the strength of her heart. Pay attention, all of you. This will be a good lesson."

Plucking one more card from her hand, Chiaki declared, "One card face-down onto the battlefield. That ends my turn."

"Not bad, gamer girl. Not bad. Was starting to wonder when it'd get to be my turn. Gotta say, your thunder cards are impressive." Bianca drew the top card of her deck and looked at it. "But I prefer something with a little more fire power! I summon to the field Twin-Barrel Dragon in attack mode!"

A familiar monster to all machine-card enthusiasts took to the field.

"Impressive. I didn't take you for a gambler," Chiaki said with a smile.

"Pssht, gambler nothing. In response to Twin-Barrel Dragon's effect going off, I activate this Quick-play spell: Automatic-Crosshairs!" A magic card flipped face up with a monster caught in the sights of a sniper scope. "This nifty little spell card allows me to choose a machine-type monster whose ability involves flipping a coin or rolling a die that can result in the destruction of my opponent's monsters if I get the correct result. This magic card ensures I get the correct result."

"Oh, like aim-hacking," Chiaki said, rather impressed.

"Yeah, kinda like that," Bianca responded, "Except I'm not hacking. It's just an upgrade! Now then, Twin-Barrel Dragon, take aim and fire!" Bianca shouted, pointing her index finger at Mahunder.

Twin-Barrel Dragon charged up and fired its shots at Chiaki's monster, destroying it wholesale.

"And next, Twin-Barrel Dragon, attack Brohunder. Let's see some life point damage!" Bianca exclaimed.

Twin-Barrel Dragon fired and took aim at Chiaki's monster, blasting it off the arena and causing the hologram to shatter against the wall of the stadium, resulting in Chiaki losing 800 life points, leaving her with 3200.

Bianca rubbed her finger under her nose. "Heh heh. First blood is mine."

Chiaki smiled. "Impressive. I can see why you're an International pro-duelist."

"Berlin Bianca, that's what they call me!" Bianca said, patting her chest with her fist. "But come on, I didn't come all this way to win easy duels! Show me what an ultimate can do!" Bianca's grin would've been more at home on a serial killer than someone having an enjoyable time playing a children's card game. "I set one card face-down onto the field. It's your move!"

"Well then, here goes," Chiaki said and drew the top card of her deck, bringing her back up to five. "I start by activating my face-down card: Cost-Down! Now, by discarding a card from my hand, I can summon monsters with 6 level stars or lower from my hand to the battlefield without needing to sacrifice a monster. First though, I'll play Pahunder in attack mode!"

A monster garbed in green that was the male counterpart to Mahunder, surged onto the battlefield. It had 1,300 attack points and 600 defense points appeared.

"And, just like Mahunder, with Pahunder, I can summon a thunder-type light-attribute monster with 4 level starts in addition to summoning him to the field. And since I just lowered all the levels of the monsters in my hand—"

"You can summon a 6-star monster at no cost. Clever," Bianca finished.

Chiaki nodded. "So now, behold as I summon to the field Thunder Dragonroar!"

With a clap of thunder, blue lightning sparked over the battlefield as a monster that looked like a whiskered dragon fused with a tiger stormed onto the battlefield. It had 2,400 attack points, but 0 defense points.

"And now, I attack with Thunder Dragonroar!" Chiaki declared. Her monster growled loudly and charged towards Bianca's monster."

"And right into my trap!" Bianca exclaimed. "Return to sender! Let's go Magic Cylinder!"

Chiaki gasped. Oh she was not prepared for that at all right now.

Her monster was absorbed by the cylinder as it spun around and then fired her own monster right back at her, zapping her with the hard light hologram particles.

"Chiaki, are you okay?" Mahiru called from the audience. Izuru was crying.

"Nngh, I'm fine," Chiaki said, clutching her forehead. "It's just a bit numbing. Phew, been a while since I got hit that hard." Her life points plummeted to 800 points.

"You're awfully calm for someone that's got less than a thousand life points left," Bianca said with a wry grin.

"Well yeah, it's just a game. I'd actually be happy to be beaten by a non-Ultimate."

"…Excuse you?" Bianca responded, dumbfounded.

"Too much pressure is put on the Ultimates at my school. A special elevation is put on all of us that makes us seem better than we are to the general populace. I…resent it. I'm just an avid gamer. I don't care if that makes me special. I don't even care if I'm good at this game. I just want to have fun."

"Uh…huh," Bianca really didn't know what to say to that.

Chiaki waved her outspread hand in front of her. "Don't mistake me though. I'm still not going to just hand you a victory to prove a point. My son is watching me duel and Hajime is waiting for me back in the break room. So, if you think I'm done just because I'm low on life points, you're wrong."

"Jeez, sure is expanded universe Padme in here," Bianca said, scratching underneath her favorite hat. "You're super cute, so I just assumed you're just a nice girl," Bianca grinned, almost chuckling. "But man, you sure got some bite to ya. I respect that."

"Well, I've done all I can do this turn," Chiaki said. "If you win this turn, no hard feelings. I messed up."

Kaiba glared down from his suite. How dare Chiaki find fun in losing. She still had one card in her hand but the low attack points on Pahunder meant that all Bianca needed was a monster with greater than 2100 attack points and the duel was basically over. He wasn't mad, just disappointed.

Bianca drew the top card of her deck. Her hand now hard four cards in it. Let's see, what magnificent ways do I have of burning 800 life points? She glanced at her hand. Man, times like this I wish I was hipster enough to run Poison of the Old Man. Oh well, at least I have this. "By sacrificing Twin-Barrel Dragon, I summon to the field Cyber-Tech Alligator!"

In place of her gun headed bi-ped, The beefy 2500 attack point behemoth raged onto the battlefield. Its red cybernetic implants amplified its reptilian roar.

"All or nothing! Game over!" Bianca exclaimed. "Cyber-Tech Alligator, attack Pahunder and end this duel!"

"Chiaki!" Mahiru, Hiyoko and Ibuki called out in alarm.

Cyber-Tech Alligator punched Pahunder right in the torso and sent it flying, destroying it. However, as Chiaki's life points descended, they stopped firmly at 100.

"Wh-what? What is this? Some kind of glitch? I won!"

"Correction," Chiaki said, ejecting a card from her graveyard, "But thanks to this card, I barely escaped with my life."

Chiaki held up a card that depicted what looked like some kind of sparking energy core. It had 0 attack points and 2000 defense points. "This monster is called Thunder Dragonmatrix. At any time, I can discard it to increase the attack power of any Thunder-type monster on the battlefield by 500 points. This duel's not over yet."

"Yeah, well good luck trying to win when I have the most powerful monster on the field," Bianca said, giving Chiaki a thumb's down. "One mistake and you're toast! I haven't even lost a single life point."

Chiaki nodded. "That is true, but I don't think my loss is guaranteed…probably."

Bianca sweated. How the hell could Chiaki stay so calm even at a time like this. "Y-yeah, okay, w-well, one card face-down onto the field. How do you like that, huh?"

Chiaki nodded. "Is that all?"

"Act more surprised, dammit!" Bianca exclaimed incredulously.

Chiaki was silent a moment. She stared at Bianca oddly before realizing the meaning behind the young woman's outburst. "Oh. I see. You think you've raised my death flag so you think I should be panicking. Well, sorry, but if there's anything I learned from Battle City, it's that a duel is never over," she said as she drew the top card of her deck, "Until the last card is played!"

The wind whipped at Chiaki's sleeves, coat and skirt as lightning sparked beneath her feet. An intense gaze appeared on her face. In her mind, this duel was far far from over.

"I activate the magic card Thunder Dragon Fusion! Now I can shuffle the appropriate monsters from my field, graveyard or even monsters that have been banished back into the deck in order to summon to the field Thunder Dragon Colossus!" Chiaki shouted. She selected Thunder Dragonmatrix and Mahunder and sent them back into the deck as thunder clouds roared overhead. But rather than a lightning bolt, a big, purple, serpentine dragon descended from the clouds and dropped down to the battlefield. It fanned out its wings and roared at Bianca's monster.

Thunder Dragon Colossus had 2,600 attack points and 2,400 defense points. With it and Thunder Dragonroar, Chiaki had the power to cripple Bianca's life points.

"Atta girl, Chiaki!" Kotomi called from the crowd, feeling fired up. "Show no fear!"

"Woohoo! Ibuki's all electrified. Go, Chiaki! Go!" Ibuki shouted from the stands.

"Heh," Kaiba remarked, closing his eyes, smirking. Now that was the Chiaki Nanami he knew and respected.

"Thunder Dragon Colossus, attack!" Chiaki exclaimed.

"All show and no action. Hate to cancel your laser light show, but that's not gonna be good enough! Go, Mirror Force!"

"Sorry, but that's not going to work, at least on Colossus," Chiaki said calmly. "By removing Thunder Sea Horse from my graveyard, and banishing it from the duel, I can negate any destruction effects of battle or card effects against Thunder Dragon Colossus. I am going to lose Thunder Dragonroar, but I can't say the same for your Cyber-Tech Alligator."

Shit, Bianca recoiled.

A rainbow colored aura surrounded Thunder Dragon Colossus and then dissipated, blocking it from the return fire of Mirror Force. Thunder Dragonroar was not so lucky, but the bolt from Thunder Dragon Colossus' mouth pierced through Mirror Force's shielding and tore a hole in the chest of Cyber-Tech Alligator, destroying it.

Bianca took her first bit of damage, bringing her life points down to 3,900.

"Keh, not bad," she smirked as the dust blew past her and towards the wall.

"That ends my turn," Chiaki stated. In one swift move, the girl had put the battlefield in her favor, but how long would it last?

"Gotta admit," Bianca said. "Not a whole lotta duelists would bother to keep fighting in the position you're in. You're something else."

"I think this is the part where I brag, but that's just not my style."

Bianca threw her head back and laughed. "You are just precious, you know that? Whatever. My turn. Let's roll!"

Bianca drew the top card of her deck and added it to her hand. She laughed out loud and then grinned manically. Oh, my favorite. "I'm setting a monster and ending my turn," Bianca stated.

"Bout all you can do sometimes," Chiaki responded.

"Oh trust me, in a moment, you're gonna wish I'd done something else," Bianca said, trying to hold back her enthusiasm.

"We'll see about that," Chiaki said and drew the top card of her deck. "All right then, I attack your face-down monster with Thunder Dragon Colossus!"

Gotcha, Bianca thought, her smile turning into a sneer.

The face-down monster was revealed to be the infamous Cyber Jar.

"Activating Thunder Dragon Colossus' special ability!" Chiaki exclaimed.

"Go ahead, that's not the point!" Bianca exclaimed as she pulled five cards to her hand. "The point is that you attacked with your one and only monster this turn and I get to set three monsters of my own!" Three face-down holograms appeared. "And what did you get? Wait, don't tell me, I'll guess. Nothing, right?"

"Well, you're not wrong," Chiaki said with a sigh.

"Of course I'm not wrong. You're running Thunder Dragons. Aside from Cost Down, which you blew, most of the cards you'd be running are higher level than four. Me, meanwhile, I've got plenty of monsters just for such an occasion to utterly lay waste to your side of the field and with how many life points you have left, a stiff breeze could knock you over!"

"Maybe, but you forgot one key detail," Chiaki stated.

"And what's that?"

"You just put five cards in my hand," Chiaki said. "And I'm about to use them."

Ahhhhh, shit. Walked right into that one. Bianca thought, her enthusiasm dwindling.

"I'll start by activating Thunder Dragonhawk's special ability in my hand in order to special summon Thunder Dragonroar from my graveyard back to the battlefield!"

Chiaki's mighty monster returned to the battlefield 2,400 attack points strong.

"Next, I'm setting two cards face-down onto the field," Chiaki stated. "Your move."

"Impressive," Bianca said, as she drew the top card of her deck and added it to her hand. "Unfortunately not quite good enough. Cause I'm summoning to the field a monster far more powerful than anything that crawled out of that cheater Bandit Keith's butt. Here comes my ace: Desperado Barrel Dragon!"

A silver, power-cell battery enhanced version of the classic Revolver Dragon appeared on the battlefield. Its rail cannons whirred with energy and its 2,800 attack points were nothing to sneeze at.

"I could activate its effect, but when I'm so close to victory, sometimes you just gotta go YOLO and hope for the best. Desperado Barrel Dragon, attack Thunder Dragon Colossus! Even if you activate the protection effect, Chiaki! You'll still take the damage!"

"I activate a trap!"

Bianca looked at the Monster Reborn in her hand. Nothing to worry about,

"The card I activate is called Thunder Dragons' Hundred Thunders!" The card artwork depicted nearly a dozen Thunder Dragonmatrix's raining down from the sky. "This allows me to summon any Thunder monster in my graveyard and special summon it, as well as any monsters that share a name with it, so now I'll revive both of my Pahunders in defense mode!"

"Not sure what that's going to do for you, you're finished!" Bianca shouted as her monster charged up its attack to destroy Thunder Dragon Colossus.

"I activate my other trap card: Judgment of Thunder. When I summon a thunder monster, I can destroy any card you control and that means I'll be blasting away Desperado Barrel Dragon."

Bianca flinched. Chiaki's trap rained down powerful lightning down onto the monster, destroying it and sending it right to the graveyard.

Bianca flipped the right side of her hair away from her eyes and threw it behind her with casual indifference. "Not bad, but not quite good enough. Because I'm activating Monster Reborn!"

Chiaki gasped.

"I might not be able to attack this turn, but since you destroyed my monster I get to activate its special ability the same turn I summoned it. Oh, and look what I just so happen to have a second copy of!"

Chiaki flinched at the sight of Bianca's second copy of Automatic Crosshairs.

"All right Desperado Barrel Dragon, I want you to blast away every single freaking one of Chiaki's monsters that isn't her Thunder Dragon Colossus!"

Desperado Barrel Dragon laid waste to practically Chiaki's entire field.

"And since I'm three for three, I get to draw an extra card," Bianca said. "Not that it matters," she said as her monster took aim at Thunder Dragon Colossus. "Because on my next turn, this duel is over! Your field is cleared and my monster has 200 more attack points. I admire your fighting spirit, but I won't blame you if you decide to bow out gracefully."

"Why would I do that?" Chiaki asked. "When you just handed me the key to victory."

Bianca blinked. "I'm sorry, I misheard you because it sounded like you just said my actions just made you Kenshiro me."

"Yup, you're already dead," Chiaki said, playing into the joke.

Bianca flinched momentarily, only to chuckle. "Oh, I get it. You're bluffing. That's so cute!" Her composure fractured. No way in hell was she going to lose when she was literally a tap on the head from victory. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light, freezing all of your monsters in place for three turns! And even if you somehow had the power to bypass it and attack, I'm also activating Burden of the Mighty! All of your monsters will lose 100 attack points for each of their level stars!"

Thunder Dragon Colossus' attack power dropped to 1,800.

"And even if somehow you got through both of those, I'm setting one card face-down on the field leaving me with," Bianca said as she flicked the card in her hand with her thumb. "One card. So come on! Let's see you get past my impenetrable defenses! I dare you! I freaking dare you!" Bianca glared, almost foaming at the mouth.

"Shall I take that to mean your turn is over?"

"Yes, my turn is over! God! Just go already!" Bianca shouted.

"All right then," Chiaki said calmly and drew the top card of her deck, then she held up a card in her hand that was already there. "Heavy storm."

Bianca resisted the urge to scream the F word at the top of her lungs. The spell card tore through her defensive line, leaving her with one monster and no fall back.

"Next, I banish Thunder Dragonhawk and Thunder Dragonroar from my graveyard in order to special summon, from my hand, Thunder Dragonduo!"

A two-headed purple and green, four legged, two-winged dragon-like creature slammed down onto the ground from thunder clouds that were forming above. It had 2,800 attack points and 0 defense points.

"And now, I'll activate the special ability of Thunder Dragon in my hand in order to bring two more Thunder Dragons to my hand," Chiaki stated, adding the required monsters to her hand. "And since I did that, Thunder Dragonduo gains 300 attack points." Chiaki's monster now had 3,100 attack points, just enough to overpower Desperado Barrel Dragon in a direct confrontation and survive.

Bianca did quick math in her head. "Okay, bit of a problem with your plan there, short stuff, I'm still going to have some life points left."

"Oh, actually I just drew Thunder Dragon this turn," Chiaki said and showed the last card in her hand: a copy of Mahunder. "2,600 plus 1,400 is 4,000. Even if I hadn't damaged you earlier and didn't deal damage now with Thunder Dragonduo, this duel would already be over. When you suddenly decided to put Thunder Dragonroar back into my graveyard, you gave me the exact tool I needed to summon Thunder Dragonduo. Thanks for that."

"You played me…like a damn fiddle!" Bianca exclaimed incredulously, eyes going wide, breaking out into a furious sweat.

"This is why I said, the duel isn't over until the last card is played," Chiaki said calmly. "Thunder Dragonduo, attack Desperado Barrel Dragon."

It was over in a flash. Thunder Dragonduo's twin lightning breath vaporized Bianca's monster, reducing her life points to 3,600. Thunder Dragon Colossus attacked next with a powerful bolt of lightning in a fierce direct attack, knocking the German duelist over and dropping her down to her last 1,000 life points. Then, Mahunder darted forward just as Bianca stood up, only to knock her back down again, finishing the duel.

After spending the majority of the duel clinging to her last 100 life points, Chiaki came back in the swiftest, most brutal comeback the tournament had seen so far.

"And that is the real Game Over," Chiaki said, speaking in English rather than Japanese for the Game Over.

Bianca got up, curled her lip and then balled her fists before shouting "GOD DAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" at the top of her lungs to the sky. She then hunched over and let out the most frustrated sigh she could.

Drama Queen, Miaka and Matsuda thought at the exact same time.

However, Classes 77-A and B were a little startled when Bianca marched over to Chiaki, eyes hidden by the shadow cast on them by the light of the sun against her hat.

Chiaki was worried Bianca was going to scream at her or something worse. She was worried that she'd inadvertently caused a bad habit of hers to break skilled gamers just because she was that good.

She flinched right until Bianca slapped her hand onto Chiaki's shoulder, albeit pretty hard. Forcing a smile, she said. "As humiliating as that was, I gotta be honest, that was the most fun ass duel I've had in a while. Good game, Chiaki Nanami. Well played."

Chiaki broke out into a smile, cooing before shutting her eyes and smiling wider. "Thanks."

"Man, coming from behind by the skin of your teeth, guess that's why you're the Ultimate Gamer." She ruffled Chiaki's hair. "Good luck out there, okay? I'll be rootin' for ya." She sighed. "Fuck me, I need a hot dog." She then marched away and headed out of the stadium towards the street vendors. However, on her way out, someone was waiting for her: Byakuya Togami.

"If you've come to rub salt in my wounds, I hope you're prepared to go pound it yourself," she said with a glazed look.

"No, nothing of the sort," Byakuya said, averting his gaze from Bianca.

"…Who are you and what have you done with my half-sibling?" Bianca blinked. "Also, aren't you going to get disqualified for watching the duel?"

"I wasn't watching, but given who you were up against, I figured you were bound to lose."

"Gee, thanks!" Bianca exclaimed. "What next? Gonna call me a disgrace to the Togami name." She flipped him off. "Well here's how much I give a flying fuck about the Togami name, you pretty boy asshole!"

"I told you I have no intention of doing that. I had a few questions I wanted to ask you."

Bianca spoke sarcastically. "Oh, should I be oh so grateful for the world renown Byakuya Togami's time. Do you want a pat on the butt and congratulations just for being born? Maybe I should rub your feet and call you Your Majesty."

Byakuya sighed. "If you're going to be like that, I'm just going to leave."

"Again, who are you and what have you done with Byakuya?"

"Let's just say I've had time for some self-reflection," Byakuya said.

"You? Self-reflection?" Bianca said, the corners of her lips turning upward, only to burst out laughing. She saw the look on Byakuya's face. "Oh wait, you're serious. Let me laugh even harder." She did precisely that.

Byakuya growled.

Bianca wiped a tear away from her eye. "Fine, whatever. What do you want?"

"Did you notice Shinobu in the audience while we were dueling?"

Bianca blinked. "Shinobu's here? Why?"

"Apparently she's taken up journalism as a hobby."

"Huh, neat," Bianca said. "And why do you care?"

"…"

"You beat us. You said so yourself. Shinobu, me, Gina and the others. You told us we were dead to you and we should be fortunate enough to go scurrying off to our worthless lives and not going six feet under. So tell me why the flying fuck I owe you any kind of time of day what so fucking ever, huh?"

"When you need guidance, sometimes the dead are all you can talk to."

Bianca folded her arms. "Oh please, that's a load of shit."

"Call it what you will, but…I am on a journey of growth. And I realize that you might not be a Togami anymore, but you still have your own merits, even as an inferior to myself."

"If this is your idea of asking me to like work for the family or something, you can keep your money to yourself. I'm forging my own future and I'm going to do so without your help or your fancy suit pants." Bianca marched past him and ordered herself a hot dog. She then turned back to Byakuya. "But hey, I'm not in a hurry to get back to Germany," she said, putting her hands behind her head. She sighed with a groan. "Against my better judgment, I'll ask, do you want me to and do you even care if I root for you from the crowd."

"What you do is your business," Byakuya said, turning away from her.

Bianca rolled her eyes with another groaning sigh.

"But…" Byakuya said. "I can think of bigger wastes of time for one such as yourself. I think there was a seat open next to Shinobu."

"Yeah, yeah. Fuck you too. You're welcome."

Bianca took her hot dog and then walked past Byakuya, punching him in the arm gently. "You know, one day, if you bothered to take your head out of your ass, you might end up better than that man." She took a bite of her meaty treat. She swallowed before speaking again. "I mean you are the "chosen one" after all." She said, making air quotes with one hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to say hi to my sister."

"Do what you will," Byakuya said and watched Bianca walk away. He sighed. What the hell am I doing? I don't even know if that had any merit to it whatsoever. He put the image of him and Chiaki facing off, as was inevitable now, at the forefront of his mind. Guess I'll find out. He then walked away back to the break room.

After a brief commercial break, the next duel was called. It was a showdown between Zigfried Lloyd and Takimichi Yukimaru. The minute he heard that, Mondo couldn't shut up for the life of him.

"YEAH, LET'S GO, TAKIMICHI! SHOW THIS FRILLY BASTARD WHAT THE PRIDE OF THE CRAZY DIAMONDS IS ALL ABOUT!"

Zigfried chuckled as he held a silver rose by his mouth. "My, my, Herr Takimichi, do you know zat barbarian?"

"That barbarian happens to be my best friend, asshole," Takimichi said calmly with stiff coldness. "You got a problem with cheering?"

"No, no, not vith cheering, not at all," Zigfried said as he tossed the silver rose out into the audience as it landed in a random girl's lap. "It's just a shame your best friend came all zis way to cheer for you only to vatch you lose."

"Listen here, Ruffles," Takimichi said with cold-eyed determination. "I don't care if you're some German bigshot or wherever the fuck it is you're from." Takimichi cracked his knuckles and then cracked his neck. "I'm going to kick your ass, plain and simple." He then activated his duel disk.

"Such determination is to be admired, Herr Takimichi, but I'm afraid ze goddess of victory smiles on me today. You and no one else in zis tournament has a chance of beating me, least of all the King of Games himself."

"Listen douchebag," Takimichi said. "You can say whatever you want about my skill, but you're a hundred years too early to challenge Yugi. I'll prove it myself."

"Hmm, the more you talk, the more you come across like a Shiba Inu bouncing as it barks. But I am a German Shephard, Herr Takimichi and my bite is var worse." He activated his own duel disk. "Allow me to show you."

The screen flashed up above both duelist and it was determined that Takimichi would go first between the two of them.

"Let's duel!" Takimichi shouted.
"Let us duel," Zigfried calmly proclaimed.

The 15th match of the first round of the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix was about to begin!

(A/N: Did Chiaki win? Yes. Is anyone surprised? No. I hope at the very least I made it entertaining to showcase a slight bit of power of the Ultimate Gamer to hang onto the duel by a goddamn thread and still keep powering through. And now you all get to look forward to her dueling Byakuya in Round 2. Bet that's some hype.

As for the upcoming matchups: Zigfried Vs Takmichi and Junko Vs Vivian—by default—if you are part of the discord server, feel free to place your bets on either or both as you see fit.

Also, if you're wondering why Bianca is also one of Togami's siblings...it's kind of an inside joke between me and a best friend of mine that I feel works to help further Byakuya's character development so fuck it, I'm taking advantage of it.

The plot picks up from here for this arc, 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!)