A/N: Part 2 of Kyle vs. Monica! Gotta love it.

Wolf: Aw, c'mon, you can't expect me to write a duel this big and not make it span more than one chapter! That's too short. Besides which, you're getting loads of action and comparative little talk, a far cry from the series. And on top of all that, that last chapter was twice as long as my usual ones. So is this one. Enjoy them!

Skraku: Well, what do YOU think? Here's your new chappie, in any event.

Eusine: Hey, it looks like the suspense is doing its job! More people should follow your example and get into this story. Yes, Matt is an arrogant egotist. As opposed to the Elegant Egotist. Matt isn't one of those. Right.

Monica: Well, thank you. I'm glad you have such a high opinion of my written duels. I must admit, it's quite difficult, but it's also quite fun, and reader reaction like yours makes the effort even more worthwhile.

Mira: Augh! I've been threatened with non-reviewing! I get that from Ankhutenshi all the time. Since you insist, here's your chappie!

-------

Kyle's LP - 1250

Monica's LP - 2400

--

Whoa. It looks awesome as a hologram.

Theoris sent waves of amusement. You do not feel the slightest bit worried about the monster that just appeared, Kyle?

Of course I'm worried. Last thing I need is for my defenses to crumble to that thing. But still... even you would have to say it looks amazing.

It does, at that. And beautiful, in its own strange way. But yet dangerous.

Monica was laughing aloud. "This is so cool! I'll have to thank our hosts for making the card database in this platform so complete."

"They're probably recording the plays we make," Kyle blandly replied. "Now they know you have a Blue-Eyes."

"If I didn't feel ready to reveal it, I wouldn't have played it," she answered. "The real shame is that because of Soul Exchange, I can't attack this turn, otherwise I'd take this duel in a heartbeat. So I'll end my turn there."

"How very kind of you," Kyle snorted, drawing. This monster should give me a few new options. But first I need to stash this card. "I place one magic/trap face-down and one monster in defense mode, then end my turn."

She drew her next card, then raised an eyebrow. "Well. I need something new anyway. So I play Card Destruction."

Kyle snorted. Ironic... that card makes us discard our hands and then draw the same number of cards we lost. I hope I don't draw anything good just yet. Luckily I only have one card in my hand to begin with.

As does Monica. Your strategy may work more wonders for her than it will for you.

That's a risk I'll have to take. "I lose my Crass Clown," he said.

"And I've got to get rid of my Flute of Summoning Dragon," she responded.

Both players drew a single new card. She beamed at hers. "Hope you got something good. This card's killer. So I'm placing this magic/trap face-down. Now that that's out of the way... Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack the monster he just placed!"

In response, the massive dragon's maw opened wide, and a stream of white energy boiled from it. The raw energy washed over Kyle's face-down and obliterated it.

But not before it flipped over and revealed a brownish pot containing a glowing red eye and a devilish grin. It laughed maniacally as it was destroyed.

Kyle smirked. "You've destroyed my Morphing Jar (700/600), which gives me exactly what I need – more cards."

"Not just you, me too," she said. "Lucky for me, I don't have a hand to discard. I just get to draw five new cards. Hope you're not losing anything special."

"My Mystical Elf would have been destroyed anyway," he said, nonchalantly discarding it before likewise drawing five new cards.

"True, that. I'm surprised," she noted. "Morphing Jar's pretty rare. You're actually fighting back with hard-to-find cards now?"

"It doesn't matter to me what rarity they are, as long as they help me win."

"Hnh. Well, I don't have anything new I want to offer at this point, so I'll end my turn there."

Kyle drew his next card in silence, then glanced at his field. Okay. It's now or never. He reached out to the m/t he'd placed during his previous turn and flipped it over. "I'm full of surprises today. I had to be ready for Morphing Jar's effect, so I put this down beforehand. Now I'm itching to use it. I play Monster Reborn to revive your Black Skull Dragon!"

But just as the magic of Monster Reborn began to swirl about on the field, Monica smirked and flipped over the card she'd placed last turn. "What, you didn't think I had the same idea? But trap cards are so much faster than Monster Reborn, and this one is particularly effective. Activate Call of the Haunted, which allows me to revive one of my own monsters. Since I don't particularly feel like relinquishing my Black Skull Dragon to you, I'll grab it myself."

With that, the magic of her Call of the Haunted card swept across the field faster than Kyle's Monster Reborn could spread its own, and her Black Skull Dragon emerged from a column of smoke next to her Blue-Eyes.

He frowned. Damn, I really could have used that, too... I don't have any other revival cards in my deck, and I'm fresh out of ways to get that one back.

Then you will have to, as you say, "make do with what you have".

Thanks for the support. "In that case," he said, "I place one magic/trap face-down, and then play Dream Clown (1200/900) in attack mode."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're goading me into attacking."

"Far as I'm concerned, you don't have much of a choice if you don't want me using his effect next turn. End turn."

She glared as she drew her next card. That face-down he played has got to be a trap to keep me from attacking, otherwise he wouldn't risk his Life Points like that. He isn't that stupid. But he's right, if I don't at least try to attack him... "I place one magic/trap face-down," she announced, "and then play Spear Dragon (1900/0) in attack mode."

Alongside Black Skull Dragon there appeared a blue-skinned dragon whose head would have suited a swordfish perfectly.

"Black Skull Dragon, attack Dream Clown!"

But the incoming fireballs were deflected by a cadre of spellcasters that rose up in defense of Kyle's monster and took the hit for it. Kyle smirked. "Activate Waboku. Reduces all battle damage I take this turn to zero."

She fumed. He's probably going to destroy Black Skull Dragon! "End turn."

Kyle didn't pay much attention to his next card. "I shift Dream Clown to defense mode."

The crudely-dressed creature on Kyle's field knelt down, using one hand for support. The other hand loosed a stream of dark energy that wreathed Black Skull Dragon, confirming Monica's suspicions.

"I'm sending Black Skull Dragon back to your graveyard," said Kyle.

"Lucky me," she muttered. "Not only that, you got rid of my Call of the Haunted card."

"That I did. And my turn's finished here."

She drew her next card, then grinned. "Ha. I play Heavy Storm to destroy all magic/trap cards currently on the field."

Blasts of lightning shot from the high-mounted holoprojectors and crackled across both m/t fields. Kyle's Reinforcements and Michizure trap cards were revealed shortly before being blown away, which gave Monica cause to frown as her own Trap Hole and Widespread Ruin traps. He's got some seriously good cards going over there. Almost getting me worried. But I've got the advantage with monsters, and even more of one with magic/trap cards, now. "I place two magic/traps face-down to follow up. Now, Blue-Eyes, destroy his Dream Clown!"

Again Blue-Eyes' mouth craned open and let loose a flood of white lightning. Dream Clown screeched for a moment before disintegrating in the onslaught.

"Spear Dragon, attack his defensive monster on the right!"

Her Spear Dragon bolted across the arena with a ll the speed of a well-nocked arrow and struck the designated face-down – only to be repelled just before it actually ran the card through.

"Luckily my Spirit of the Harp (800/2000) can stand up to that monster," said Kyle.

Monica glowered as her Life Points descended to 2300. "Spear Dragon goes to defense mode because it attacked an opposing monster," she said. "And I'll have to end my turn."

Kyle drew, and when he spied the card, he fought down a grin. This is exactly what I need. "I place two magic/trap cards face-down," he announced, "and then flip my Wall of Illusion (1000/1850) to attack mode."

His face-down monster card flipped up and a wall composed of bone and flesh, adorned with a grayish face in the middle, appeared next to his Spirit of the Harp.

Monica frowned. "What use is putting your Wall in attack mode? You trying to get me to attack again?"

"Didn't you notice? Your Spear Dragon is in defense mode and doesn't have any defense points. Either of my monsters could attack it and destroy it."

"Your Spirit's face-up. You wouldn't have to risk a Trap Hole with it."

"Trap Hole was exactly what I was checking for," he responded. "Because if you had one, you'd have used it in order to clear my field of yet another irritating monster."

"Not necessarily. If I attacked your Wall with Blue-Eyes now, you'd lose all of your Life Points, which makes Wall's effect rather insignificant. I could care less about Spear Dragon if it means I can get the win from a clumsy move you make."

"You'd prefer to decimate all of my monsters. And this move's anything but clumsy," he answered. "Wall of Illusion, attack Spear Dragon!"

The face on Kyle's Wall suddenly "came to life", and its mouth opened wide. Its eyes and mouth glowed neon blue for a moment, then released a surge of dark energy which wrapped about Spear Dragon and obliterated it.

He raised an eyebrow when the smoke cleared to reveal Monica had activated a trap card. "Well, well, what have we got here?"

"I've activated my Reckless Greed trap," she answered, "which lets me draw two cards. The only drawback is that I have to skip drawing for my next two turns."

Sounds like she's getting almost desperate over there. And she hasn't even seen what I've really got in store. "Fair enough. But I'm not nearly done with my turn yet."

"Then keep going already."

He smirked. "Okay. Just remember, you asked for it. With my Battle Phase overwith, I sacrifice my Spirit of the Harp and Wall of Illusion in order to play Sanga of the Thunder (2600/2200) in attack mode!"

Seeing his Labyrinth Brother appear on the holographic field brought him a rather strong sense of deja vu. Last time I saw this hologram, it was opposing me and scaring me worse than Monica's Blue-Eyes ever would have. And now it's on my side, ready to defend to the last.

The expression on Monica's face was well-worth the risk of summoning Sanga. Her jaw dropped as the red-and-gold creature overtook Kyle's monster field and crackled with yellow static. "You have a Labyrinth Brother?!"

"I do, indeed," he grinned. "What was that you were saying about a deck full of commons?"

She seemed rather speechless, which prompted Theoris to lightly admonish Kyle. You need not feel such satisfaction at her expression. She obviously has knowledge of the Labyrinth Brothers, which means the battle is still undecided. Her expression should be the least of your concerns now.

Yeah, yeah... but this is the first time she's even caught wind that I had one, much less seen it on a dueling platform. "I end my turn there."

Monica attempted to regain her composure, and was moderately successful in the endeavor. She refrained from drawing as per her Reckless Greed card, but that apparently didn't stop her from drawing at all. "I play Pot of Greed to draw another two cards." After she'd done just that, she frowned at her hand. You pick the most inconvenient time to become unhelpful. Fine... "I play the magic card Nightmare Steelcage."

Upon activation of her card, a semicircular cage with thick bars festooned with long spikes stretched around Sanga and trapped it. Kyle raised an eyebrow. "What's this supposed to do, exactly?"

"It stops either of us from attacking for two of your following turns. Gives us both time to wise up. Obviously brute force isn't going to cut it anymore on my part. I may never have encountered a Labyrinth Brother in battle but I know full well how dangerous they can be, so I'm not going to bother with attacking it. Instead, I place one monster face-down and end my turn."

"Hm." Kyle drew his next card. "Looks like I'll be doing likewise." A defensive card appeared next to Sanga; because of its non-threatening nature, it didn't fall under the Steelcage hologram, though Kyle had no doubt it would be inside if it were in attack mode. "End turn."

Monica once again had to forego drawing. "I place another monster face-down and end my turn."

Hm. At this rate we won't be getting anywhere. I should try to draw her out.

And how do you intend to do that?

He drew his next card. I'll show you. "I place another monster face-down, then switch Sanga to defense mode and end my turn."

Sanga's stance on the field – if it could be said to have a stance, devoid as it was of legs – became more docile, the electric field around it more protective than offensive.

What good will come of Sanga becoming defensive? Its effect would operate whether in attack or defense mode.

Exactly, and Monica's Life Points are higher than Sanga's defense points. She's the type who'd be willing to throw caution to the wind and attack even a Labyrinth Brother if she thought she could survive the effect. In defense mode, Sanga won't counterattack, so if Blue-Eyes goes after it, Monica would only lose 2200 Life Points, and not her monster. She'd still be in the duel after Sanga's effect.

Or so you would have her believe.

That's the idea.

The Nightmare Steelcage around Sanga vanished as Monica was finally allowed to draw her next card. She smirked. "Here we go. I play Monster Reborn."

Oh, great, she's going to revive one of her other dragons...

"On Lord of Dragons (1200/1100) in defense mode!"

Kyle blinked and frowned. What? But his ears had not misheard, because Monica's Lord of Dragons appeared next to her latest face-down monster, knee bent in a defensive stance.

"And now," she continued, "I sacrifice my defending Warrior Dai Grepher (1700/1600) in order to bring out Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400) in attack mode!"

In place of the monster card her Lord of Dragons had taken up residence next to, there appeared a huge dragon whose skin shone emerald and looked about as hard as that material, as well.

Was wondering when that one would come out, Kyle thought, recalling the first and only holographic duel he'd ever seen her participate in. She had used that same monster then.

"And finally, I flip my Zombyra the Dark (2100/500) to attack mode," she announced. Between Blue-Eyes and Luster Dragon, an armored warrior wearing a long red cape shimmered into existence.

That's a suitable attack force, but why did she play Monster Reborn to bring back a monster as weak as Lord of Dragons?

Because of its special effect, which you have been a victim of many times before in previous duels with her. While Lord of Dragons is on the field, her dragons cannot be targets for magic, traps, or the special effects of any monster.

How does that apply here?

I submit that she has seen through your strategy of drawing out an attack. She does intend to attack your defensive Sanga... but with a dragon, so that Sanga's effect cannot apply to its attacker.

In which case, it's a good thing Sanga's in defense mode.

"Blue-Eyes, attack Sanga of the Thunder!"

"Not so fast," Kyle responded, and he flipped over one of his face-down cards. "Activate The Reliable Guardian, which increases Sanga's defense power by 700."

A large silver shield insinuated itself between Sanga and the incoming burst of lightning. Monica smirked. "Not all that good at math, are you, Kyle? That only takes Sanga's defense to 2900. Last time I checked, Blue-Eyes' attack was 3000."

"You're not countering the activation," Kyle said, "so I'm going to take the opportunity to activate my other face-down card, Castle Walls."

Now a set of four turrets posted themselves in a square around Sanga, and a collection of brick walls built up around both Sanga and the large shield hovering in front of it.

"That takes Sanga's defense up another 500 points, which means he's safe by a good 400."

The Castle Walls crumbled under the assault, and the shield developed a large crack down the middle – but it held.

Monica glowered as her Life Points dropped to 1900, closer now to Kyle's 1250. "You had this planned all along, didn't you?"

"Mostly," Kyle admitted. "Except for the Lord of Dragons, wasn't expecting him. I wanted to use Sanga's effect, but I guess that'll wait a while, now."

"Yeah, guess it will," she snapped. "But I'm not going to waste this chance to get rid of your other monsters. Luster Dragon, attack the monster he played last turn!"

A burst of green flame emanated from Luster Dragon's maw and washed over Kyle's second face-down, which revealed a woman in dark robes.

"Deja vu, huh?" Kyle asked, grinning. "You've destroyed my Witch of the Black Forest, thus making me privy to her effect." He picked through his deck for an appropriate monster.

Monica ground her teeth. "Zombyra, attack his remaining face-down!"

Without further ado, the warrior leaped forward and brought a heavy blow down upon Kyle's last hidden monster, a defending Aqua Madoor (1200/2000).

"At least that one had no hidden effects," she muttered.

"No, but your Zombyra does, if I'm not too much mistaken," Kyle responded, "because it looks like he just lost attack points."

"Yeah," she mumbled, "he did. Two hundred to be exact, but don't get your hopes up, he's still good for another high-powered hit."

"Not if I destroy him first."

She glared. "End turn."

Kyle drew. "I place one magic/trap card and one monster face-down," he announced, "and then shift Sanga back into attack mode."

The static around Sanga began to crackle a little more loudly and occur more frequently.

"Sanga, attack Lord of Dragons!"

Sanga brought its clawed hands close together, and between them there appeared a glowing yellow orb of electrical energy. It was from that orb that the attack came, a devastating bolt of golden lightning. Lord of Dragons was incinerated on the spot.

"And that ends my turn," said Kyle.

Monica drew her next card, but from the look on her face, it wasn't an especially pleasing card. "I'm sending Luster Dragon and Zombyra to defense mode. Blue-Eyes, attack his face-down monster!"

"Not so fat," said Kyle. "Activate Raigeki Break!"

Her brow furrowed. "A Raigeki card?"

"A version of it. You're familiar with the more powerful magic card Raigeki, but Raigeki Break is a trap that's much more precise... it allows me to destroy any one card in play, magic/trap or monster, by discarding one card from my hand. I'm discarding my Reverse Trap to activate its effect, and the target I'm choosing is your Blue-Eyes."

Her eyes widened. "No!"

But there was nothing she could do. A streak of lightning seared from the holographic trap card that had materialized on Kyle's field, and blasted right through the powerful dragon. When the light receded, there was nothing left but a smoldering field plate where the dragon had stood moments before, leaving only her defensive Luster Dragon and Zombyra.

If looks could kill, Monica's glare would have had Kyle six feet under. "I'll have to end my turn, then."

Kyle drew his next card, then looked back up at Monica. "It's been an awesome duel," he said. "And a privilege to duel you like this."

"And don't you think otherwise."

"Never have. Never will." He reached out to his pedestal and turned over his face-down monster. "I flip Hane-Hane (450/500) into attack mode. His effect allows me to send one monster back to its owner's hand... so I'm sending your Luster Dragon back to you."

The Luster Dragon hologram vanished from the field as Monica silently complied.

"And now, I sacrifice Hane-Hane for Millennium Golem (2000/2200) in attack mode."

The Hane-Hane hologram also vanished, to be replaced by the construct of brick and mortar that Kyle had come to know from his previous duel with Zack.

"Millennium Golem, attack Zombyra the Dark!"

Instantly, Kyle's monster was upon Zombyra; it brought a crushing blow down upon the defending monster with its massive brick fists. Zombyra shattered in a hail of holographic glass.

And now the path is wide open. "Sanga, attack her Life Points directly!"

Sanga's orb of lightning was its weapon of choice this time, and it hurled the orb straight at Monica's dueling pedestal. Its impact caused it to burst "open", and the light was blinding – Kyle threw up an arm and turned away from the flash. Monica's platform actually bucked to simulate the hit. She yelled in surprise and grabbed the railing to steady herself.

When the light faded, Kyle turned back to the field, and his gaze landed on her Life Point counter.

0.

He let out a breath he didn't even know had built up within his chest. Whoa. I beat her. I actually beat her.

Monica silently gathered her cards together and incorporated them back into her deck. Kyle did the same, but he suddenly found he had a very hard time even looking at her. And she was most definitely not looking at him. She was expecting to win. She wanted Blue-Eyes to come through for her where no other monster did. Not even Hyozanryu, by far her favorite.

A few moments later, the PA system in the cavernous arena activated. "Congratulations, Mr. McCraine," came the voice of Abigail Madison. "You will be conducted to the final dueling arena shortly. Ms. Zocallos, congratulations are also in order for you, for making it as far as you have. You will be escorted to a waiting area, where you may view the final duel, if you wish to do so."

Neither duelist responded to the voice. They didn't need to.

The platforms lowered to the deck a few moments after the last echoes of Madison's voice faded.

The door behind Kyle slid open. For a moment he stood there, not passing through it. He wanted to go to Monica, to at least shake hands and say what a tough opponent she'd been for him, but there was no way to navigate around the dueling arena. The elevated holographic plates spanned the entire room. Really, the only way to even get into the room was to get aboard the elevator platform.

He sighed, then turned and exited the room. He was greeted by another burly guard who inclined his head once to Kyle, and then turned and walked up the hallway. Kyle followed, and found himself getting quite lost in the maze as they took right and left turns that seemed to span the entire ship.

Finally, there was a wide stairway at the end of the last hallway, and the man stopped just at the foot of that stairway, gesturing for Kyle to go on up. He did so, and when he reached the top, he found himself in a room that almost looked like the bridge of the ship. It looked like a hollowed-out control room, right down to the windows that gave an excellent view of the front of the ship – except that there was a red dueling pedestal front and center. This matched the carpeting of the room, which was a royal red.

He frowned and looked out the middle viewport, to see that there was an opposing room of the same size and elevation perhaps twenty yards away. Between the two control booths was a pattern of twenty gigantic holographic field plates in a configuration for a dueling field even larger than the one he'd just been on. It spanned the deck from one side of the ship to the other – and that was a considerable distance. Posted at each corner of the square, there was a huge photon augmentation array. All four appeared to be online and ready to use. Furthermore, the square was lined on either side with huge strobe lights shining in all directions, particularly illuminating the field in the absence of sunlight – that absence being common at 10 p.m.

That other booth probably has a blue color scheme, he thought. This has got to be our dueling arena. Way cool. He looked around the room he was in, trying to take in all the detail he could. In the ceiling was another speaker for the PA system, which seemed standard issue enough... but his eyes narrowed when he spied the two video cameras hanging from either forward corner. More accurately, he spotted the semi-globular one-way mirrors that protected the cameras from sight, but he had no doubt there were cameras there.

"Comfortable, Mr. McCraine?"

He frowned up at the speaker in the ceiling.

"There are microphones stationed all over your booth, I can hear you quite clearly. Comfortable, Mr. McCraine?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I suppose. Might I ask who my opponent is, Ms. Madison?"

"Your opponent is entering the opposing booth now."

He looked out the viewport and squinted, trying to get a good look at the opponent – a difficult task when two sheets of glass and sixty feet separated them.

But then he spotted a swatch of blue that was moving around in the booth.

And he only knew of one other person present for the tournament who'd been clad in all blue. He frowned. "You? You're the other finalist?"

Madison laughed. "I'm glad you finally figured it out. So now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, are you ready to duel?"

His frown deepened. "I don't get it. Why participate in your own tournament?"

"Why not? I'm as good a duelist as any other who entered... obviously better than most of them... and ten thousand dollars, plus sixty-four rare cards of my choice, are nothing to turn one's nose up at." Kyle could just make out Madison gesturing out the window. "Smile, Mr. McCraine, you're on a series of candid cameras."

He blinked and looked out the viewports. A pair of helicopters were approaching the ship from either direction, and as he watched, they began to circle above the dueling field.

"Of course, there was no way you'd be aware of it before now, Mr. McCraine," she said, "but I've arranged for this final duel of my tournament to be televised on local cable channels, starting at 10:00 this evening, which is just about now. Considering this is Los Angeles, I would imagine several thousand people are tuning in right now to watch us."

His eyes narrowed. "So you're looking to embarrass the loser even further?"

"Not embarrass the loser so much as glorify the winner. After all, the winner will have earned it. Your defeat of Ms. Zocallos qualifies you as someone to be watched, Mr. McCraine, as she tends to be a favorite in tournaments. So whether you lose or win, people will know you now."

He wasn't quite sure how to respond to this. So now what? Do I reveal to the public that I have a Labyrinth Brother? That's just what people like Jade are waiting for.

For the purposes of this battle, I think you should not care what is revealed to the public. You have made it this far... now all that is left to you is to give her a fight to be remembered.

Kyle thought for a moment, then nodded. Yeah... you're right. Screw what everyone else wants. He stepped up to the pedestal and looked across the distance at his new adversary. He took out his deck and calmly placed it on the pedestal's field. "Fine, then. It's time to duel."

-------

And indeed it is! Coming up next, the final duel of the Madison Enterprises tournament! Kyle's ready to put his deck to the ultimate test, but Madison's deck is full of monsters that may be tougher than even Sanga of the Thunder can handle... stay tuned for the thrills of Chapter 36! But while you're waiting... shamelessly begs for reviews Lemme know how you like it! Or hate it! Or hate me! Whatever you want!