Like I said last chapter I didn't want to put a review goal on my story. I just wanted to know if more than one person was reading it. I'm not going to put a review goal on this chapter, but I hope you will review after you've read. BTW thanx Adelianna for mentioning my story in your author's notes.

Adelianna has an awesome story called Desert Rose that I'm totally hooked on, so read it if you have a chance : )

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

Chapter Five: Surprise Challenge

"Kaiba?" Yugi asked in shock.

Kaiba turned around and glared at Yugi, before speaking in a cold voice. Anzu tapped my shoulder, and we started to skirt past the two boys. Suddenly Kaiba's cold ocean eyes turned on Anzu and me, causing both of us to freeze. Kaiba stared straight at me and said something in the same cold voice. Yugi started to say something, but Kaiba turned and glared at him. Then Kaiba shifted his gaze back to me and repeated what he said.

Anzu said something in Japanese, causing Kaiba to look at her. His blue eyes narrowed and he snorted. His gaze came back to me, resting on my right hand. I had forgotten to put my deck back into my pocket when we climbed off of the bus. Kaiba held out his hand and said something. Anzu told me that he wanted to see my cards. I looked at my cards and then handed them to Kaiba.

He flipped through them, nodding every now and then. He flipped over my Monster Reborn and raised an eyebrow. Anzu said the card's name in Japanese, causing Kaiba to shake his head and laugh. It was the same reaction Yugi had given me when I told him what the card was. Kaiba handed back my deck and said something. Anzu and Yugi stared at Kaiba in shock and then looked at me.

"What did he say?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He wants to duel you, right now at Kaiba Land." Anzu answered.

"I'll duel him." I said firmly, "I never turn down a challenger."

Anzu translated for me, and Kaiba smirked and cocked his head to the front door. Before I moved, I made sure that Yugi and Anzu could come with me. Kaiba reluctantly agreed, and Yugi grabbed our shopping bags and ran upstairs. He came back down, stating that his grandfather knew where we were going. The three of us followed Kaiba to his limousine. Kaiba had me climb in first, followed by Yugi and then Anzu. Then Kaiba climbed in.

I didn't care much for the sitting arrangements, but knew it would be a short ride. I had Yugi sitting across from me, and Anzu was beside him. Lucky me, I had to sit next to Kaiba. He seemed to enjoy how nervous he was making me and smirked. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the duel I had ahead of myself. Then, I started to shuffle my deck rapidly, letting the sound of the cards soothe my mind.

"Crystal, we're here." Yugi said, snapping me back into reality, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just nervous." I replied, before climbing out of the limo.

As we headed inside Kaiba Land, Yugi explained that Kaiba wanted to duel by Battle City rules. Then Yugi explained the rules to me and had me repeat them back to him. There a few differences that made my usual tactics fall through like a ton of bricks. This duel was going to be harder than I thought it would be, but then again some of the rules made other tactics I've wanted to use possible.

"Your Light deck is a really good one." Yugi said, "If you play it right you could beat Kaiba."

"I'm not going to count on it though." I replied, "Even though it is possible, I'd have to get really lucky."

"You'll do fine, Crystal." Anzu said, "Don't let him get to you."

I nodded and climbed into the red dueling station. This was going to be an amazing duel, no matter what the outcome. Since Kaiba challenged me, I got to go first. I drew Silver Bow and Arrow, Polymerization, Ceremonial Bell, Rogue Doll, Monster Reborn, and Wingweaver. I summoned my Rogue Doll and placed Silver Bow and Arrow on it (1600/1300). Now it was Kaiba's turn, and he put out Lord of Dragon (1200/1100) and played two Flutes of Summoning Dragon. My face paled as three Blue Eyes (3000/2500) and a Koumori Dragon (1500/1200) appeared on the field.

Then Kaiba played Polymerization and combined his three Blue Eyes into the Blue Eyes Ultimate (4500/3800). He smirked, knowing that I probably had no way to defend. I drew my next card, an Elf's Light. I placed my Ceremonial Bell (0/1850) in facedown defense mode and switched my Rogue Doll to defense mode. At least I knew I could save my Life Points, for now. Kaiba didn't look too happy about my move, until he drew his next card, that is.

Kaiba played Battle Ox equipped with Mystical Moon (2000/1300). Now I knew I was going to lose, but I didn't let Kaiba see it in my face. Kaiba attacked my Bell with his Battle Ox and my Rogue Doll with his Koumori Dragon. I watched as my only defenses shattered. I saw Kaiba's smirk grow wider as he looked at me over the heads of his Ultimate Dragon. He knew I had no defenses left to protect me from his dragon.

The Blue Eyes Ultimate reared its head and charged its Neutron Blast. I felt my heart pounding rapidly as I saw the blast come at me in slow motion. I gripped the dueling station in terror, unable to close my eyes. The holographic simulator made me fly back against the back of my dueling station. When my dueling station lowered, I was shaking with fear and gasping.

Anzu was at my side in an instant, trying to calm me back down. Yugi, on the other hand, was glaring at Kaiba as Kaiba made his way over to us. Yugi snapped at Kaiba in Japanese, while Anzu helped me gather my deck. Kaiba stared at me with an almost apologetic look in his eyes. Anzu translated that Yugi had said I had never dueled with the holographic systems, and that Kaiba shouldn't have been so ruthless.

"Yugi, it's okay." I said shakily, "You don't need to scold him. I knew what I was getting into, just not completely prepared for how real it was going to seem."

"You dueled honorably." Kaiba said coolly, "I'm surprised you even accepted."

"I was wondering when you were going to talk to me." I said, causing Kaiba to raise an eyebrow.

"You're a business man." I said, "I knew you had to know English."

"Are you satisfied Kaiba?" Yugi asked, still glaring at Kaiba.

"Quite, but she was just as much of a challenge as the mutt." Kaiba said with a cold laugh.

"Don't call Jonouchi that." I snapped, before shoving my deck in my back pocket and leaving the room at a furious pace.

I should have expected Kaiba to make a snide remark about Jonouchi. I stormed out of Kaiba Land, not knowing where I was going. I heard Anzu and Yami shouting at me to stop running, but I only stopped when I was out of breath. I was leaning against the side of a building, gasping for breath when Anzu and Yami caught up to me. Yami said he could understand why I had snapped, but I shouldn't have run like I did.

"He is such a jerk." I said, "I should have know he would make a comment about Jonouchi like that."

"You should have stayed and seen the look on his face." Anzu giggled, "I don't think he knew that you would know who he was talking about."

"If I stayed, I would have tried to slug him." I said, shaking my head.

"That probably wouldn't have been a good idea either." Yami said, "According to Yugi, he is a good fighter."

"Why don't we head back to the game shop?" Anzu suggested, "I think Crystal's had enough excitement for one day."

"That is a good idea." Yami said, "Come on, Crystal, Anzu. We can walk back. It's not really that far away."

I nodded mutely as Anzu gave me a comforting smile. She and Yami walked on either side of me, giving me a shield of comfort and protection. As we made our way to the game shop, Yami told me that he was impressed that I had accepted to duel against Kaiba, even though I knew what I was up against. I shrugged slightly; stating that I knew Kaiba wouldn't let me live it down. He had seen my deck and knew that it could beat him, if I had been able to play it right.

Once we arrived at the game shop, Anzu headed home and Yami reverted back to Yugi. Once we got inside, Yugi told me that he wanted me to take his bedroom, but I refused stating that I didn't want to kick him out of his room after all he's done for me. After Yugi begged me (and used his puppy eyes), I finally gave up and chose to sleep in Yugi's bed, while he took the foldout couch. It was about eight o'clock, so Yugi and I ate a small dinner and I got ready for bed. Yugi was sitting on the couch when I came out of the bathroom.

"You use those puppy eyes to get anything you want, don't you?" I asked.

"They seemed to work on you." Yugi giggled.

"Okay, okay, but I'm going to go to bed." I said with a yawn, "I don't think I could stay up much longer."

"Good night, Crystal." Yugi said.

"Night, Yugi, Yami." I said with a tired smile.

I slowly walked into Yugi's room and lay down on the bed. I was so tired that I hadn't even pulled the covers over me. As soon as I fell asleep, I found myself face to face with a Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. It roared fiercely, causing me to fly back into something solid, a wall. I felt something clamped shut around my wrist and looked to see shackles encircling them. I tried to break free, but the chains were too strong.

"Do you honestly think you can escape the fury of my Blue Eyes Ultimate?" Kaiba's voice laughed coldly.

"Let me go, Kaiba." I growled into the shadows.

"I don't think so." Kaiba's voice replied, "Neutron Blast."

"No! Not again!" I cried out in fear, as I was engulfed by the blue blast.

"Crystal, wake up." Yugi's voice begged, "Please, wake up."

I bolted up, accidentally shoving Yugi off the bed. I was gasping for air rapidly, as the image of the Ultimate Dragon faded from my mind. Then I remembered knocking Yugi away from me and off the bed. When I looked over at him, Yugi looked very relieved that I was awake. He told me that I had been screaming in my sleep and he woke me up.

"Those holograms were so real." I said, "I thought I was going to be killed when that blast came at me."

"You don't duel like that back home, do you?" Yugi asked.

"We duel the way you did before Kaiba made the dueling stations." I replied, "I've only seen them on TV as a cartoon."

"Now that you're awake, we should get ready for the day." Yugi explained, "It's Saturday and we were planning to go to the park. Do you want to come?"

"That would be a great idea." I said, "I think fresh air would be a good idea."

I took a shower and got dressed in the bathroom, while Yugi got dressed in his room. I pulled my shoulder length brown hair back into a ponytail, and chose to wear my lavender t-shirt and one of my new pair of blue jean shorts. Yugi nodded in approval at the outfit, saying that it brought out the blue in my eyes. I thanked the shorter teen and walked into the kitchen, where Mr. Mutou was making breakfast. The meal was delicious and Yugi and I headed out to the park after we ate.

I suck at writing duels, but I think I did an okay job on the one between Crystal and Kaiba. I meant for him to win quickly, because it shows how Crystal compares to him. Crystal is a bit better than Joey, but not by much. The next chapter will be Crystal's deck, which my friends and I had a blast building. I haven't made a side deck and we were building it by the show's rules, which put a 40-card limit on decks.

Read and review. Negative comments are as welcome as positive ones. It's that blue button in the bottom left hand side of the screen.