A/N: Part 2 of Kyle vs. Peter, the first of the three duelists "assigned" to face off against Kyle in the hopes of obtaining the Millennium Shield.

Mira: Suspense is what I like to think I do best at. In the meantime, glad you're enjoying the duel, and have fun with this second part. (That goes for everyone else, too!)

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Kyle's LP – 2400

Peter's LP – 1900

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Kyle looked from his hand to the field, and back. I'd better least try to draw him out a little. "I place one monster face-down and switch Witch of the Black Forest to defense mode, and end my turn there."

Peter drew his Pharaoh's Treasure trap card, and by Kyle's Eye of Truth trap, his Life Points rose to 2900. He grinned. "Watch closely, McCraine." He placed the card in his graveyard, then selected another card from the graveyard and put it in his hand.

"The Eye Of Truth demands I know what it is," Kyle commented.

"That it does. And the card I selected is Magic Cylinder."

Kyle closed his eyes and emitted a small sigh. Not what I needed.

"To follow that up, I'll place one magic/trap face-down and end my turn."

It's Magic Cylinder he put face-down. Now I can't afford to attack. I'm just going to have to wait for something to turn the tide. Kyle drew his next card. This might be good for later on. For now... "I flip Penguin Soldier (750/500) to again return both it and your face-down monster to our hands."

"That's getting on my nerves," Peter noted, as he retrieved his card from the field.

"It's meant to. Then I place one monster face-down and end my turn."

Peter drew and revealed his Masked Sorcerer to Kyle as his Life Points once more increased, this time to 3900. "I'm not going to let you keep using that Soldier's effect. So I'll play Masked Sorcerer (900/1400) in attack mode."

An image of a pink-robed magician wearing a metal mask appeared on the field. It stared at the opposing field intently through the single eye hole of his mask.

"Masked Sorcerer, attack the face-down monster on the right!"

Masked Sorcerer's way of attacking was to swing a small pendulum between his fingers; a streak of energy boiled from the pendulum's iris and washed over the face-down card. The card revealed itself to be Penguin Soldier, and it shattered under the attack.

"Shame," Kyle said. "Masked Sorcerer returns to your hand."

"An acceptable loss. End turn."

Kyle drew. Gonna have to face the music sooner or later. "I play Crass Clown (1350/1400) in attack mode and switch Witch of the Black Forest back to attack mode."

Both of the announced Duel Monsters looked more than ready for battle.

"Witch of the Black Forest, attack his Life Points!"

Peter snorted as the black lightning cascaded down on him, making his Life Points 2800. "I don't care about that... it's just gonna come back to me next turn."

"Not all of it."

"A hundred Life Points? Big deal."

"Sometimes a hundred points is all the difference. Crass Clown, attack his Life Points!"

"Ah-ah. Activate Magic Cylinder."

Crass Clown's attack was a hurling of its scythe, but when Magic Cylinder activated, the scythe shot into the cylinder on the left and came out the one on the right. It struck Kyle and forced him to stumble back. His Life Points descended to 1050.

Peter waved a scolding finger. "That's what you get for being too hasty. You're barely even hanging on to a thousand."

"On the other hand, you've got nothing to protect your Life Points now. Protecting my LP wasn't the point; taking out your protection was."

"Protection of my LP is virtually guaranteed with that thing on the field." Peter pointed at The Eye Of Truth. "Hack away all you like, you're the one who's giving me the LP in the first place. Stroke of genius."

"Whatever. End turn."

Peter chuckled as he drew his next card, and his LP jumped to 3800. "So belligerent."

"I learn from the best."

"Indeed." Peter revealed the card he'd just drawn; Banisher of the Light, a decent monster with a nasty effect when used properly. "I place one monster face-down, and then play Soul Release in order to remove five cards in your graveyard from the game."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. Finally. I was getting tired of him hanging onto it.

"Remove all monsters in your graveyard except Unhappy Maiden from the game."

Kyle obeyed.

"And then, I activate the trap card Graverobber's Retribution."

Kyle's eyes widened. He knew what that card did. For every monster I've got removed from the game, Graverobber's Retribution deals 100 direct damage to my LP! "That's spiteful. You can't win by beatdown, so you're going to wear my LP down by other means?"

"You've got it. And hey, it works, right?"

"Only when your next turn comes. I'll take it out before you can destroy my LP."

"Yeah, right. I'll end my turn there and watch the sparks fly."

"You want to see sparks? I'll give you sparks." Kyle drew. Damn. I'd been hoping to save this one... but if I do, I can't save myself. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Graverobber's Retribution."

Peter glared. "Trying to ruin my fun, are you?"

"No, just trying to win. And to that end, I'll switch Crass Clown to defense mode, and end my turn." His face-down is Banisher of the Light, and Banisher has a stronger defense than any attack power I've got right now, but when Crass Clown switches from defense to attack, it sends one monster back to its owner's hand. I can use that to my advantage and try to get the lead back, as long as he doesn't draw any new magic cards.

Peter scowled as he drew his next card. "I know what you're thinking, McCraine. Trust me, it's not going to work. And let me show you why... I just drew Cyber Jar." He showed the card to Kyle from across the field, and Kyle's contact-enhanced eyes saw that it was, indeed, what he said it was.

Oh, great, he thought. That's just the card he needs to turn everything to his advantage, as far as the monster field's concerned. And if he's got another Retribution in his deck – something I wouldn't doubt – I may get screwed over.

That is not your only concern, Kyle. Project into future turns. Your Crass Clown cannot return a monster to his hand every one turn – only once every two. Eventually, he will use the effect of his Cyber Jar, whether you wish him to or not. If he turns Banisher of the Light face-up before turning Cyber Jar, the effect of Banisher will apply to every monster on the field and your monsters will be removed from the game... allowing for more targets in his strategy, should it arise again.

Not only that, but I'll lose Witch's effect; I can't use it if she's RFG'ed from the field. Somehow he doesn't strike me as the type to give up on a strategy so easily, even when it's not going his way. You may very well be right.

"For the moment," Peter continued, "I think I'll place one monster face-down and end my turn."

I need to get rid of the threat of Banisher's effect. Kyle drew. Eh, I need this one to stick around. No playing you to the field this turn. But I need something to go out. "I place one magic/trap face-down, and then I switch Crass Clown to attack mode."

Peter smirked. "So what? Even if Cyber Jar goes back to my hand–"

"Not aiming for Cyber Jar. My target is your first face-down."

Peter blinked, but returned the other face-down to his hand. "What're you driving at?"

"Watch and learn. Crass Clown," Kyle ordered, "attack his face-down monster!"

Crass Clown's scythe hacked into the face-down card, and above the card appeared the infamous shape of the mechanical Cyber Jar (900/900). It grinned eerily at Kyle and his monsters before disappearing in a shower of sparks.

"And now comes the effect we all know and hate," Kyle said, as he discarded his three monsters – Crass Clown, Witch of the Black Forest, and his face-down Kiseitai (300/800) – to the graveyard. He transferred his hand's cards to his left hand, then pulled the next five cards from the top of his deck with his right. He looked up at Peter and announced his "prizes", as was required by Cyber Jar. "Vorse Raider (1900/1200), which'll go in attack mode; Spirit of the Harp (800/2000), which'll go to defense; Millennium Golem; Mystical Elf (800/2000), also to defense; and Negate Attack."

Peter then announced his own cards: "Fiend Comedian; Earthbound Spirit (500/2000), which goes to defense; Minor Goblin Official; Different Dimension Capsule; and Reasoning."

Eh. His Earthbound Spirit's gonna keep his LP safe, for the moment, and Minor Goblin Official will eventually screw me over if I don't do something about it. Damn his LP beatdown traps. Hope I draw something good in the next couple turns. "I also get Witch of the Black Forest's effect." Kyle picked through his deck and made his selection. "Then I'll end my turn, and I'll discard Negate Attack and Aqua Madoor to maintain the 6-card hand limit."

"Eh, that's a bit too flashy for my tastes, announcing it like that," Peter drawled, as he drew. "Just say you're discarding Negate Attack and Aqua Madoor and get it overwith. I can see from here how many cards you've got."

"Good for you," Kyle retorted. "It's your move."

"Yep, sure is. And I just drew Monster Reborn." Peter narrowed his eyes at Kyle and smirked as his LP again jumped, this time to 4800. "Shame your Eye Of Truth doesn't give me a thousand LP for each magic card in my hand... but then again, a thousand per turn is a nice healthy bonus."

"Bah."

Peter made his move. "I'll sacrifice my face-down Earthbound Spirit in order to play Lesser Fiend (2100/1000)."

Kyle had no choice. "Activate Trap Hole."

The scene was almost identical to the one that had already played out; the four-armed beast fell into a holographic chasm that sealed as soon as the monster was gone.

Peter allowed a small grin. "Come on, McCraine, I told you I had Monster Reborn. Now I'm going to put it to use. Activate Monster Reborn on Lesser Fiend!"

The creature that had just a moment before been destroyed emerged from the face of the blown-up card on the field, and glared at Kyle's field. Kyle fantasized that perhaps Lesser Fiend was irritated for not being able to have its chance before.

"Just looking to clear your hand of magic cards... and make things difficult for you," Kyle answered. "That's the whole point."

"Want my hand clear of magic cards? Well, here's a good place to start." Peter placed another of his magic cards in his duel disk and pressed in to activate it. "Activate Reasoning."

Kyle chewed on the inside of his cheek. Hm. Okay. He's been playing Fiend-type monsters this entire time... and most Fiend-types I've seen are either level 2 or level 4. Makes me wonder why he's even got that card in his deck, unless he was looking to use it for Dark Ruler or Lesser Fiend and didn't get the chance. Still, it behooves me to get this right...

"Level 4," Kyle announced.

Peter began to pull cards off the top of his deck, revealing each as he went. "Needle Wall... goes to the graveyard... Fiend Comedian, also to the graveyard..."

At the third one, a grin spread across his face. A grin that Kyle didn't like at all.

"Want to know what they gave me?" Peter asked. He flicked the card lightly with his finger. "This is it. Used to be my father's. Until Seto Kaiba took it away from him."

Kyle's eyes widened. Seto Kaiba? That means–

"I see the look in your eyes, McCraine," Peter chuckled. "You know what this is, I can tell. So I may as well just get rid of the suspense. The monster is level 8, so here it comes; I play Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) in attack mode!"

The hologram that Kyle had come to know and hate appeared on the field... the monster was larger on this field than it had been on the dueling platforms of previous days. Meant to be intimidating.

Kyle's nostrils flared in anger. "That card was stolen."

"Perhaps. But as you know, finders keepers."

"Not for long. There can't be any card in your deck rarer than that one."

"That's true, there isn't, and it's the card I've put up for grabs. More by Battle City rules than anything else, but at this point, I'd put it up even if there weren't any additional stakes involved."

"You wouldn't have earlier. And by the end of this duel, you'll regret the rule."

"I'm sure," Peter snorted. "After I beat you, I'll start down my true path. And this is the monster that'll bring me the victory I need."

"If it's victory you want, a Blue-Eyes White Dragon isn't going to be what guarantees it, I can tell you that right now. And using it to take revenge on someone won't make the pain go away."

Peter scowled. "You said that already. It's getting tiresome. So's my wait to do what I have to. Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack his Vorse Raider and win the duel for me!"

With only 1050 Life Points, Blue-Eyes's attack would destroy me along with Vorse Raider. But that's not about to happen. Kyle pushed in on one of his m/t's and allowed a grim smile. "Activate Mirror Force."

Peter's eyes widened. "No way!"

Blue-Eyes's mouth yawned open even as the trap card on Kyle's field activated, and from that mouth boiled a stream of white energy. The energy struck the trap and bounced straight back at Blue-Eyes, as well as Lesser Fiend.

Kyle stared resolutely as Blue-Eyes and Lesser Fiend were both destroyed. His voice was firm when the dust settled. "Not even Blue-Eyes can stand up to Mirror Force. I told you it won't guarantee you victory. Why did you even go along with these people? Do you realize how twisted they are?"

Peter stared at the ground and mumbled, "What should I care? I told you, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. It gave my life meaning."

"You don't need meaning from a Duel Monsters card. Not even one as powerful or as rare as Blue-Eyes."

Peter snorted softly. "You still don't understand. This isn't a game, it's a matter of life and death."

Kyle's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare tell me I don't understand that."

"Look, I don't care what value that metal slab on your arm has, I just want to get to the light at the end of the tunnel."

"And if you don't?"

"I'll... I'll find another way," he said, though his voice lost some of its power. "Blue-Eyes was my best bet at finding it... but if I fail, my life won't have meaning anymore."

Kyle scoffed. "What possible difference can one Duel Monster – even Blue-Eyes – make in determining what meaning your life has?"

Peter sneered. "I don't care about the card itself. But if I can lure someone by letting them know I have it..."

He's hiding something.

Indeed.

"You're not going to have Blue-Eyes long enough for your quarry to find out," Kyle challenged.

"So... you figured it out, then?" Peter's tone was more of annoyance than anger.

"Figured what out? Who you're looking for? No, and quite honestly, I don't care who it is, either. It's got nothing to do with me." Kyle sighed. "Are you even trying to find another way out of this hole you've dug for yourself?"

"It's too late to find anything else worth living for, outside of this."

"Yet you said it yourself – if you fail, your life won't have meaning anymore anyway. You're caught between a rock and a hard place, but only because you're forcing yourself to be."

"Forcing?" Peter growled. "What would you know about it? Look at you, with all your friends and dueling buddies, friendly competition and all that. What about people like me? Who had everything and lost it because of something so... so idiotic as a card game?"

Kyle scowled. "I've been where you are. I got out. But as to 'people like you'... what the hell are you talking about?"

"Look, my father was a great man once. He supported me since I was five years old. He dabbled a little bit in the game, only as a hobby. Then he got fired. He got depressed and tried to find another job. Eventually he did, but he got obsessive over his cards, to the point of disturbing. It worried me, but I was in college at the time, so there wasn't much I could do about it. While I was there, I met the perfect woman. We fell in love almost at first sight... got engaged.

"Almost as soon as my father had the chance to meet her, he quit the new job, which made me rather curious, but I didn't ask. We were at a sidewalk café when it happened... she was also into the game somewhat, so they were playing a friendly duel. There I was, watching as the two most important people in my life bonded... then there was a bang, like someone had taken a sledgehammer to a brick. Once, then twice." Peter's eyes grew distant, and Kyle saw that he was becoming lost in the memory. He let the man continue.

"I can't remember a lot. Don't know if I want to. But what I can't forget is seeing my fiancée, bleeding to death quite literally in my arms." His eyes snapped back to reality, and a tear dripped down his cheek. "The woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, McCraine. Can you understand that? Do you have any idea how hard it is to watch that?"

No... I don't, Kyle thought.

I do. We watched it many times in the military, our comrades dying all around us. We could not attach ourselves to them for fear of being emotionally hurt time and time again.

Smart.

"I pray you never have to find out," Peter snapped, apparently not interested in waiting for a response. "I pray you get your friend back. Me, I never had a chance. There was a third shot; it was meant for me, but it missed. I guess the guy thought I was dead. Only caught a glimpse of him, but I'll never forget his face. I know he's a Rare Hunter, and I'm going to find him and make him pay for what he did. First, I'm going to win this duel. And I don't need Blue-Eyes, I can win without it."

"Good for you," Kyle remarked, semi-seriously. "It's still your turn."

"Yeah." Peter turned back to the cards in his hand and snorted. "Some radical alterations on the field this turn... I place one magic/trap face-down and finish out my turn."

"Hnh." Kyle drew his next card, and he idly chewed on the inside of his cheek. He's at 4800 LP right now. It's almost strong enough, but I don't know if I should risk it. He'll still have one more turn to defend himself.

Better go for it. "I sacrifice my face-downs, Mystical Elf (800/2000) and Spirit of the Harp (800/2000), to play Tri-Horned Dragon (2850/2350) in attack mode."

"Giving me the opportunity to activate the trap card I just played," Peter sneered. Kyle already knew what it was, but that didn't make him hate it any less. "Minor Goblin Official."

Now every Standby Phase I have, I'll lose 500 Life Points. I've only got two Battle Phases left to win after this one, and he's got at least one more coming to him. This might be even closer than I thought.

Kyle wasn't going to be stopped by that, though. "Vorse Raider, attack his Life Points!"

The beast-warrior charged forth with its brutal axe and hacked at Peter. Peter stumbled back from the hit and glowered at Vorse Raider as his LP fell to 2900. "No worries."

"Now's a good time to start. Tri-Horned Dragon, attack!"

Tri-Horned stalked forward and slashed at Peter with its massive, swiping claws. Peter was thrown back and to the ground. He growled as he got to his feet. "Nah, still no worries."

"My Eye Of Truth isn't doing much favors for you now," Kyle noted. "Not with these monsters."

"I don't even need it."

"With 50 Life Points left, I'd say you should appreciate all you can get. End turn."

"Doesn't matter, you'll be as low as I am in a couple turns." He drew his next card – because he had a magic card already in his hand, his LP jumped up to 1050 – and grinned. "Or this turn." He turned the card around, as per Eye Of Truth's effect, and revealed it to Kyle.

Kyle's eyes widened. "Damn!"

Peter laughed. "You got that right. And I'll put it to use right now. Activate Dark Hole!"

A great, sweeping cloud of darkness overtook the field, and Kyle's Vorse Raider and Tri-Horned Dragon were pulled into the center of it, where they disappeared.

"You won't get the chance to enact any retribution on me before your next turn, either," said Peter, "because I replay Masked Sorcerer (900/1400) in attack mode. I assume you recall him."

"Vividly," Kyle answered. "But if you insist on getting eager, I'll have to put the last of my resources at my disposal..." He pushed the button for the one remaining m/t he had face-down. "...and activate Ultimate Offering."

Peter snorted. "You're giving up another 500 Life Points? You actually think you can afford that?"

"Sure do. I've got 1050, right? Gives me one more Battle Phase to work with." Kyle selected a card from his hand. "I'll place this face-down. And I can guarantee you Masked Sorcerer can't punch through it."

Peter cocked his head. "Hm. Interesting challenge you're proposing. But I'll concede that Masked Sorcerer probably wouldn't be able to hold his own... so..." He grinned. "I'll put Ultimate Offering to use, as its effect applies to either player. And I'll sacrifice 500 Life Points, as well as Masked Sorcerer, to bring out Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600) in attack mode."

The now-infamous acid-sipping creature reappeared on the field and sneered disdainfully at Kyle's face-down card, as Peter's Life Points became equal with Kyle's at 550.

"I may be taking a big chance here, but on the other hand, I've got nothing else to lose," Peter said. "Dark Ruler Ha Des, attack his monster!"

Dark Ruler's wine glass contents splashed across the face-down, to reveal Kyle's Muka Muka (600/300) chittering angrily just before shattering.

Five cards in my hand translates to only 1500 additional defense points for Muka Muka... Masked Sorcerer couldn't do it, but Dark Ruler could.

And did.

Thank you for noticing.

"That'll end my turn," Peter declared. "You'd best make the most of yours, because it's the last one you've got."

Kyle breathed deeply. This looks pretty hopeless. As soon as I draw, I'll lose another 500 Life Points because of that damn Goblin Official. 50 Life Points is skin-of-the-teeth.

You still have a chance to win, Kyle. He told you to make the most of your turn, and if your opponent tells you that, then you know that is your only option remaining. Draw your next card and make the most of it.

Kyle sighed and pulled the next card from the top of his deck.

He barely even noticed his Life Points dropping; he simply stared at the card for several moments.

"What?" Peter grunted. "I don't have all day, you know."

Kyle's eyes flicked back up to his opponent.

An evil smirk passed across his face.

"This duel wasn't even close," he said.

Peter's eyes narrowed. "What're you talking about?"

"See for yourself," Kyle responded. He slipped the card he'd just drawn into one of his open m/t spaces, to reveal–

"Monster Reborn!" Peter gasped. "How could you possibly have gotten that when the duel's so close?"

"I've got a lucky deck," the younger duelist answered, his grin spreading. "And the monster I'm reviving is Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Peter paled. "And it's just strong enough to take out Dark Ruler and my Life Points..."

"Bingo." Kyle stared resolutely into the eyes of his opponent as the monstrous dragon emerged from the Monster Reborn card on the field. "Poetic justice. The card isn't even mine, yet because I'm going to use it, I'm going to win it."

"Don't do it, McCraine," Peter uttered. "I'll die if you do."

"You'll die if I don't," Kyle snapped. "And it'll be a far worse death. If you murder your father's killer, you won't see your father or your fiancée. You'll burn. The killer will get his just desserts when his time comes. But this is neither the time nor the place."

Peter bowed his head. The tone of Kyle's voice brooked no argument; he was defeated, and they both knew it.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack!"

The dragon's mouth stretched open and loosed a streak of energy at Dark Ruler Ha Des. The fiend crumbled under the attack... as did Peter's Life Points.

Peter let out a heavy sigh, slumped to one knee in defeat, and punched the ground once in frustration. "Damn..."

Kyle retrieved his holoprojectors and then approached Peter. "C'mon. To your feet, man. You got up once before."

"Don't know if I can do it again," Peter muttered. "I don't want to live this way, losing everything just as soon as things begin to work out for me. That's no way to live."

"No, it isn't," Kyle agreed. "But there's got to be something you'd find worth living for."

Peter shrugged dismally, but nevertheless stood back up.

"What's your field of study?" Kyle asked.

His opponent blinked in surprise at the question. "Law, actually."

"So use it. Become a lawyer. Make sure scumbags like these get punished for what they do. Go through channels. Do it the right way... don't take matters into your own hands out of personal vengeance." Kyle crossed his arms. "Represent the vengeance of all those who feel the same pain you do. Because sure enough, there's plenty of those people out there, wanting someone to do just that for them."

"Like you?"

"The jury's out on that, if you'll pardon the expression. I haven't lost anyone yet. I might, but I haven't yet."

"Then I'd best leave you to make sure your friend stays safe," replied Peter. "And you'd better take these along with you."

Kyle raised an eyebrow at what Peter was offering – his outstretched palm held two locator cards, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and a Reasoning magic card. "What's with the Reasoning?"

"You might need it. I know you're familiar with its effect but just in case you don't have easy access to one..." Peter shrugged. "It can't hurt. And it just might make a duel go your way when you've got nothing left."

Take it, Kyle, we both know you do not have one in your deck.

Kyle reached out and took the four offered cards. "Thank you," he said.

Peter nodded once, and then he collected his holoprojectors and slipped into the sidewalk traffic.

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Important Note: Peter Ward is the property of my good friend Star Wolf333, who created him for the purposes of this story. Wolf will be continuing Peter's adventures (and misadventures) in his spinoff fic, Justice's Sword, slated to come out soon after the posting of this chapter. Thanks to Wolf for creating a great character to borrow, and good luck to him in his future writings on Peter.