A/N: Happy holidays to the States. Three-day weekends are awesome, though that means many are traveling, which in turn means not as many are R/R'ing this story. Oh, well, I'll post more to it anyway. So here's Chapter 8 – and along with it, a Duel Monsters match Zack had been hoping to avoid. But since it can't be escaped, he'll either have to plow through or knuckle under. Which do you think will happen?

Mira: Kyle was more concerned with making sure no one found out the truth; probably the last thing he wanted was Monica demanding to know what happened. Nevertheless, you have a valid point. As for Jade... you never know.

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Jade's LP - 4000

Zack's LP - 4000

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Jade smiled coldly. "My turn first." She drew six cards, paused, and then slipped one into a back slot of her disk. "I activate the magic card Graceful Charity." Pulling an additional three cards from the top of her deck, Jade made no hesitation in her next move. "I'll discard White Magical Hat and Dark Elf, and then I'll play two cards face-down and summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) in attack mode."

He raised an eyebrow at the opposing monster, a black-robed spellcaster bearing a long wand. "All right. Anything else?"

"No. End of my turn."

He drew his sixth card, then chose four of the six. "I place three magic/trap cards face-down, and one monster in defense mode." The cards appeared as holograms about ten times larger than life at his feet – three in vertical position in the back, one positioned horizontally in front. "And that finishes my turn."

Jade drew, then pointed to the face-down in front of Zack. "Skilled Dark Magician, attack his monster."

The pulse of dark energy that emitted from her monster's wand snaked across the field – and was halted in its tracks as Zack's monster was revealed. "Sorry to disappoint you, but my Spirit of the Harp (800/2000) is stronger than she looks," Zack responded.

Her Life Points scrolled to 3900. "Only for the moment," Jade countered. "I activate my Solemn Wishes trap card, and set a second monster, this one face-down. That ends my turn."

"Fair enough." He drew. "Now I play Shining Angel (1400/800) in attack mode." His monster manifested itself next to Spirit, a winged being wrapped in a white toga. "He may look unassuming at first, but he's about to get a bit tougher. I play Mage Power, and equip it to Shining Angel; since it powers up by 500 for every magic and trap card on my field, including itself, it increases his attack and defense by 2000."

Jade's eyes were following the movement of the Mage Power card eagerly. The other face-down cards on Zack's field moved in order to make room for Mage Power, which manifested directly behind Shining Angel. The card then emitted three energy beams, one toward each magic/trap card on Zack's field, and seemed to draw strength from them. An even stronger beam of light was cast upon Shining Angel, whose bright aura became exponentially brighter.

"Shining Angel, attack Skilled Dark Magician."

An orb of light manifested in front of Skilled Dark Magician – a spell counter, Jade realized belatedly – just before Shining Angel's attack, a streak of light from the sky, blew the dark spellcaster away.

"My turn's done," Zack announced.

Jade observed her Life Point display, now down to 1400. "Very well, I draw, and gain 500 LP from Solemn Wishes. Next, I'll play one card face-down, and summon my Gemini Elves (1900/900) in attack mode. End of my turn."

As he drew, Zack raised an eyebrow at the monster(s) that she'd just brought out. "Fine. I place another magic/trap card face-down."

Another energy beam streamed from Mage Power and connected with the face-down. Shining Angel's aura brightened even more... it was almost blinding now. "That brings Shining Angel's attack power up to 3900, which should be enough to take out your Elves and LP in one attack. Shining Angel, do the honors."

"Not quite!" Jade announced. "Activate Mirror Wall."

Her trap card caused a thick wall of mirrored material to appear between the two monsters involved in battle. Shining Angel struck his own reflection, and then broke through and struck her monsters.

"That takes Shining Angel's attack power to 1950," Zack noted. "But it's still enough to make the cut."

Jade conceded wordlessly by removing the Elves from the field. Her Life Points dropped to 1850.

"Your turn."

"I'm allowing Mirror Wall to expire," she said, slipping the card into the graveyard slot of her disk. "And I'll play one monster face-down. End turn."

He drew his next card, noting the modest LP gain she'd received from Solemn Wishes. "If that's all you've got to keep your Life Points above zero, it's a wonder I didn't want to duel you before."

Jade's already cold smile turned icy. "Having regrets, Zack?"

"I suppose," he admitted. "I wish I hadn't brought Kyle into it. But it's a bit late for that now."

"Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you'd gotten so scared out of your wits..." she trailed off.

"So scared out of my wits," he supplemented, "that I handed it over to a duelist who's better than either of us."

"That," she said loftily, "has yet to be proven."

"No, it hasn't. It was proven once, for each of us. And if need be, I'm sure he'll do it again." He selected his next card. "But for now, let's see just how well I can do without a Labyrinth Brother. I summon Thunder Nyan-Nyan (1900/800) in attack mode."

"Activate Trap Hole." The feline-woman rose up only to disappear into a black hole just as quickly.

He narrowed his eyes at the play, but then turned to his other monsters. "Shining Angel, attack the monster she just played."

"My Apprentice Magician (400/800) is destroyed." The petite, staff-wielding sorcerer disappeared. "Are you aware of her effect?"

"It's my business to know Duel Monsters," he remarked. "Since she was destroyed in battle, you get to special summon another spellcaster face-down, provided it's level 2 or lower."

"Just making sure. You wouldn't believe the number of duelists I've seen studying their effect cards like they're never seen them before," Jade mumbled, searching through her deck. After a moment, she placed a monster face-down, causing the corresponding hologram to appear.

His face contorted into an expression of disgust. "If they don't know their own cards, why do they even play?"

"Why else? All the material reasons, money, fame, the like."

"None of which they'll acquire if they can't figure out how their own cards work." He smirked. "It's not our talent that gets us to the top of the totem pole. It's the lack of talent in most others. For the moment, my turn's finished."

Jade drew. "That's good. I think you'll like this one. I flip The Stern Mystic (1500/1200) face up, letting me get a good look at all the hidden goodies on the field."

The cards on Zack's field flipped up obediently, revealing two Numinous Healer traps, a Magic Cylinder trap, an Enchanted Javelin trap, and his defensive Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (1400/1000).

"Hm. Taking a few pages out of my book, are you?" Jade asked, even as her own face-down Old Vindictive Magician (450/600) was revealed.

Zack noted the reference to the traps meant for Life Point gain. "Is that a complaint?"

"An amused observation. I flip my Old Vindictive Magician face-up, and use its effect to destroy your Shining Angel."

A spear of black energy launched from her minuscule magician and caught Shining Angel in the pit of his stomach. He groaned and then shattered – along with him, the Mage Power equipment card.

"I'll play one card face-down, and then I sacrifice Stern Mystic and Vindictive Magician for Kazejin (2400/2200) in attack mode!"

Zack kept his lips pursed as he watched the Labyrinth Brother take form on Jade's field. Like Sanga, Kazejin had the same basic form – it appeared to be a torso equipped with arms. Unlike Sanga, this one didn't crackle with lightning around its form, but instead seemed to be distorted by the simulated winds whipping around it. Its color, a bright green, matched the color of its owner's eyes. The golden highlights glinted in the warm sunlight.

"That ends my turn," Jade declared.

Zack smirked as he drew his next card. "What, afraid of my Magic Cylinder? You shouldn't worry, its bite is only as bad as you make it."

"Your Magic Cylinder is no worse than my Kazejin. We'll see who's the one bitten soon enough."

"Then I'll go ahead and usher that future in. I'll refrain from playing anything this turn."

Jade was pressing one of her magic/trap activations even before he was finished speaking. "Doesn't matter, I can activate on your Draw Phase. Activate Solemn Wishes!"

Zack frowned as Jade's trap card flipped up and revealed an identical twin to the Solemn Wishes already on her field. "Fine. End turn."

"I draw, and gain–" The holographic women raised their hands and from them tumbled a shower of white sparkles. "–1000 Life Points," Jade said, "before playing another card face-down. You know, these holograms are quite pretty."

"And deadly," he noted, drawing as he spoke. "A distinction I'm sure has been made in reference to their owner, as well. Once again, I end my turn without playing anything."

"Now Zack," Jade smirked with false concern, "this isn't like you. Where's your usual playing confidence?" She pulled another card from her deck, and her Life Points gained another 1000 points, stopping at 4850. "I'll summon Aqua Madoor (1200/2000) in attack mode."

Zack crossed his arms. "I hope you don't mean for that monster to scare me."

"Him? Oh, no. Certainly not. Aqua Madoor, attack his face-down monster, if you would."

He shrugged as Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands was drowned under her aquatic spellcaster's tsunami attack. "Small potatoes."

Jade couldn't help but laugh. "Now that's a phrase from home. Can't see anyone from Japan saying that. End turn."

He drew his next card and also smirked. "It wouldn't be much of a distinction to say 'small rice grain'." He turned back to his hand. "All right... I place one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Jade drew, and the air lit up again with holographic sparkles. "Here we are. I'll play Change of Heart on your face-down monster."

As Zack's face-down monster card floated across the field and came to rest on Jade's field, he rolled his eyes. "What, can't you take me out on your own merit?"

"Actually, there's something very satisfying about eliminating you with your own monster. Poetic justice and all that. Come out, whatever you are..."

Zack accordingly manipulated the monster card on his duel disk by flipping it upside-down to signify its current controller. Then he turned it over; in response, a hologram of a beautiful, white-winged, black-haired woman with glasses and a large tome clutched to her chest appeared. "You're revealing my Hysteric Fairy (1800/500)," he announced.

Jade spared a glance at her Life Point counter – 5850 – and nodded to herself. "Well, she probably feels out of place on my field, not being a spellcaster. So, I'll send her to your graveyard by sacrificing her for my Magical Marionette (2000/1000) in attack mode."

He discarded his monster as Jade's considerably more imposing monster appeared. "Still not enough to take on Spirit of the Harp. Lucky for me."

"Doesn't need to be. Kazejin, attack his Spirit of the Harp!"

"Tsk, tsk." He pressed one of his m/t activation buttons. "Activate Magic Cylinder. Hope you can take as much of your own medicine as you dish out."

A pair of royal purple cylinders appeared on either side of Spirit; the wind-based attack streaked into one, and then came straight back out the other.

"You'll forgive me if I'm not surprised by that move." The wind-based blast struck her side of the field, making her two Solemn Wishes wail unhappily as her Life Points dropped to 3450. Still, Jade looked unperturbed. "Your defense is gone. And my trap cards are replacing my Life Points while you're scrambling to take them out!"

"I've got plenty of defenses left," he responded. "Anything else?"

"Not this turn."

"Fine." He drew his next card. "I place one monster in defense mode. That finishes my turn."

"I'll draw, and then have Magical Marionette attack the monster you just played."

The menacing puppeteer's attack flashed across the field and struck Zack's face-down monster – a red-haired girl who looked distinctly annoyed that she'd been attacked. She vanished without a whimper, however.

"You've destroyed my Otohime (0/100)," Zack grinned. "And that means I get to shift one of your monsters' battle positions. Otohime, send Kazejin to defense position."

A beam of light wrapped about Kazejin as Otohime dissolved. The green Brother crossed its arms, its presence becoming distinctly less imposing. Jade rolled her eyes. "End of my turn."

"Whoops, I made her mad." He scoffed and drew his next card. "Well. This should even the scores considerably. I play Raigeki to clear your monster field!"

"Counter with Magic Jammer, Zack!" Jade's voice was full of satisfaction as she activated her magic-disabling trap. "I discard Dark Hole to pay the cost and keep my monsters right where they are. If you were relying on that to save you, I think you just lost this duel!"

"Oh, please," he sniffed. "It might have been nice, but I'll deal without it. I can adapt. So I place another monster in defense and finish my turn there."

"Very well. I draw–" Her Life Points soared to 5450. "–and then I'll have Kazejin once more attack your Spirit of the Harp. No Magic Cylinder to hide behind this time."

"Maybe not, but I do have Enchanted Javelin. Hello, Life Points." Zack's jewel-encrusted spear bolted through Kazejin as its attack swept Spirit of the Harp away; his Life Points shot up to 6400. He glanced at his LP counter, then raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. You haven't laid a finger on my Life Points yet."

"Small potatoes."

"I don't do anything small," he said matter-of-factly.

She chose not to respond to the flippant remark and instead pointed at his other face-down monster. "Magical Marionette, attack!"

Zack's Neo the Magic Swordsman (1700/1000) gave a defiant bellow as he was obliterated.

"And I'll have Aqua Madoor attack your Life Points directly."

Even as another tidal wave came crushing in on Zack, he responded with, "Activate Numinous Healer!" In reaction, the tidal wave dealt him 1200 Life Points of damage, but his trap just as quickly reduced that damage to 200.

"End turn."

"In that case, I play Graceful Charity," he replied. He drew three new cards, then announced, "I'm discarding Cost Down and Shining Abyss. Next, I place one monster and one magic/trap face-down. That ends my turn."

Jade drew her next card – her Life Points elevated to 6450. "Since you've played two magic cards, Raigeki and Graceful Charity, my Magical Marionette has gained two spell counters. Not only does that increase its attack by 200 points apiece, but it allows for a special effect. By removing these counters, I can destroy one monster on the field. So, I choose your face-down." Jade pointed at the holographic card on his field.

Magical Marionette's effect was an impressive display of dark energy beams extending down to the puppet in its control, which raced across the field and wiped out Zack's monster with a single swipe of its tiny claws – his blue-skinned Mystical Elf (800/2000) uttered only an unintelligible word or two before vanishing into nothingness.

"Which leaves your field open to attack – something that seems to be happening frequently – and since Marionette did such a fine job, it may as well have first slice at your Life Points as well."

"Unfortunately, it won't be able to touch those quite as easily. Activate Negate Attack." A protective vortex appeared in front of Zack to absorb Marionette's attack.

Jade frowned. "Aren't you getting a little tired of always hiding behind trap cards? It's becoming irritating."

"Sorry, are you back there? I can't see you, your Solemn Wishes holograms are in my way."

Jade started to scowl, but it dissolved into a wry laugh. "Maybe. But you can't say I don't take any hits. I have yet to see the same skill from you. End turn."

"There's no skill involved in pulling a card off the top of your deck," he scoffed. "Any half-wit with two Solemn Wishes cards on his field could even the odds to at least 50/50 just as long as he knew how to do that." He drew. "One monster in defense mode, and end turn."

"I don't think you quite understand that I'm going to win this duel, Zack."

"What I understand is that you're living in a future that doesn't exist yet. And if I don't win against you, Kyle will."

"It's nice to know you have faith in someone," Jade said sarcastically as she drew her card, bringing her Life Points to 7450, "since the way you're playing says you're fresh out for yourself. I have Aqua Madoor attack your monster."

"Even a single card can turn the tide," he said, as his Skelengel (900/400) was revealed and destroyed. "Case in point: the monster you just took out, whose flip effect lets me increase my chances." He drew another card to accommodate Skelengel's effect.

"And Magical Marionette will attack you directly."

Marionette's attack washed over Jade's opponent, but once again he announced, "Activate Numinous Healer. And since I've got one in my graveyard, I gain 1500 instead of just 1000." The 2000 points of damage he took was reduced to 500.

"Followed," Jade continued as though she hadn't heard him, "by Kazejin's direct attack."

This time, Kazejin's burst of wind wasn't countered, and Zack's Life Points dropped to 3300.

"Now there's progress. End turn."

"Uh-huh. You want progress?" He drew his next card. "I'll show you progress. First, I remove my destroyed Skelengel and Spirit of the Harp from the game in order to special summon Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800) in attack mode."

A hail of blue sparkles gave way to a bright, angelic figure with translucent wings, smiling cordially at Jade's side of the field.

"And she's got company. Next, I'll remove my destroyed Thunder Nyan-Nyan and Shining Angel from the game to summon another one, also in attack mode." Where there had been one transparent angel, now there were two, both of them offering Jade's monsters easy smiles.

Jade appeared to take stock. "Well, they make cute bookends."

"And your Kazejin makes a lovely paperweight." He picked up the two monster cards he'd just placed on his duel disk. "Despite their effects, you've got a point in that they're still not quite strong enough to take your monsters on, so I'm sacrificing both of them to summon Wingweaver (2750/2400) in attack mode."

His angels vanished and gave way to a huge, six-winged fairy wrapped in yellow robes and bearing a serene expression.

"Now, with that overwith... Wingweaver, attack her Aqua Madoor."

His monster's attack was a prayer, followed by a beam of cohesive light emanating from between her folded hands. The water-inclined spellcaster's face was hidden behind it's mask, but it shattered and disappeared without a word. In the process, Jade's Life Points lowered to 5900.

"That'll do nicely. End turn," Zack said.

"I draw, and then switch my Magical Marionette to defense position," Jade said, as her Life Points once again elevated by 1000. She glanced at her hand and then stated, "End turn."

Zack drew his next card. "I place one magic/trap card face-down. Wingweaver, attack her Magical Marionette."

Like Jade's previous monster, this one disappeared under Wingweaver's attack.
"And that ends my turn."

Jade drew again, barely paying attention to the Solemn Wishes as they raised her LP again, this time to 7900. "I'll summon Breaker, the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) in attack mode. The summon grants him a spell counter by his effect, raising his attack power to 1900. Also, I equip my Kazejin with a Malevolent Nuzzler, to make it stronger than Wingweaver."

Typically, the green-skinned Malevolent Nuzzler tended to hang off the more humanoid Duel Monsters in a suggestive manner. Apparently unable to do this with the oddly shaped Kazejin, she settled for perching on the Brother's right shoulder and leering at Zack.

"That makes Kazejin's attack 3100, and I use it to attack Wingweaver!"

"Activate Enchanted Javelin!" Again, a spear went through Kazejin as its cutting wind attack blasted yet another of Zack's monsters into oblivion – first his Life Points ascended to 6400 by the attack, but upon Wingweaver's destruction, fell to 6050.

"I still get a hit on your LP this turn. Breaker, attack Zack directly!"

Breaker's attack was swift, as was the deduction to Zack's Life Points – Zack had an urge to flinch as Breaker brought its holographic sword to bear on its human opponent.

"End turn," Jade said confidently, once Breaker had returned to her side of the field.

Zack drew his next card. The expression on his face was one of stoicism – he wasn't happy about the card he'd drawn but he wasn't going to let on about it. "I place one monster in defense mode, and end my turn here."

"I'll draw, and then summon my Maha Vailo (1550/1400) in attack mode, to destroy the monster you've just played," she announced, setting the card onto the disk.

At that, his face split into a grin. "Nice try." His Arsenal Summoner (1600/1600) flipped face-up; the monster was a spellcaster kneeling in a defensive posture, and provided enough cover to block Jade's attack. "And now I get to collect a card with Guardian in its name to my hand."

"It doesn't matter." Jade shook her head. "You'll never get the chance to use it. I'm finishing this duel. Breaker, attack and destroy his Arsenal Summoner."

This time, Arsenal Summoner dissolved under Breaker's blow.

"And with no protection, Kazejin can attack you directly," Jade finished, as the holographic winds swirled up.

The cutting winds, simulated though they were, still bit at Zack and deducted 3100 Life Points from his score, taking him down to 1050.

"End turn," Jade said, her green eyes glittering.

He drew his next card, then looked back up at Jade. "Actually... you don't need to finish this duel. Allow me."

And then he put the drawn card back on top of his deck and placed his right hand over the deck slot.

Jade's expression twisted into anger a split second after she realized what he was doing. "You're surrendering," she accused.

"You've got it." He pressed the red thumb stud on the duel disk's handgrip, causing the device to deactivate and return to idle mode. His holoprojectors winked out, causing the holograms on Jade's field to distort slightly.

Her mouth opened, then closed, then she snapped, "But you don't surrender!"

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I just did."

With a sound of disgust, Jade turned off her own duel disk; her holograms flicked and vanished as well, leaving the space between them empty.

He rolled his eyes as he fished out the prize cards he'd put up for grabs for this tournament. "Oh, now what? First you whine that I'm not giving you a challenge, and then when I decide to stop wasting your precious time, you get pissed off? Did I miss something here?"

"Yes!" Jade barked, looking just shy of stomping her foot. "You surrendered. You just gave up. It's frustrating!"

"Hey, if I'm going to lose, I'm going to make sure I do it with dignity. I'm not going to walk away from this tournament with my tail between my legs."

"Fine. I won." She held out her hand expectantly.

"Hold on. Somehow, I get the impression that these aren't what you're looking for." He flipped the two cards in his hand around: Novox's Prayer and Skull Guardian, a pair of matching ritual cards.

Jade's face fell as she saw the cards.

"They're what I wagered for the tournament, but they don't fit your style." He scanned her expression for a moment, then pulled his deck out of his duel disk and thumbed through it. "I think I've got something that would fit you." He held out another card. "Will this do?" The card glittered up at both of them: Copycat, an extremely rare Spellcaster-Type monster.

Jade blinked in surprise. "I didn't know you had a Copycat card," she said.

"I have two, actually. It's not as rare as Skull Guardian, but it's still hard to come by, and it has a decent effect that can pull you out of a tough spot. If I'd drawn it that last turn, we'd still be dueling now."

"True," Jade murmured. "You've wagered this card?"

"Under these circumstances, I'll let it be the wager. Either that, or you go home with a pair of cards you're never going to use."

Jade nodded, showing that she'd accept the offer. "And the locator card."

"I've got three. Since you said 'the', I'll assume you have one." He offered a single locator card – a device used in conjunction with five others to find where the final rounds of the tournament were taking place, and an effective gambling token. Every duelist here had been issued a single locator along with their duel disk.

Jade took the transparent card and the Copycat card.

"Now... with that, I'd say our business is concluded. So have a good day." Zack turned and collected his holoprojectors, then continued up the street without affording Jade another glance.

But before he had even moved two blocks away from the battle he'd just lost, he could feel another pair of eyes watching him.

A pair of eyes that hadn't seen him for months.

He glanced up. "Hello, Kyle."