Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh. Nor do I own the characters in this story.

Author's Notes:

Ok, I've said before that this story was based on a rival of mine. Well, she beat the pants off of me yesterday in a tournament, ruining my chance to a win Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

I say that because my feelings of loathing towards her might leak into the story, which I really don't want to happen.

Anyway, this chapter took me a while to write, so I hope you like it. It's a lot longer then the last few I've been putting out, especially in this fanfic.

Enjoy.

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Chapter 6: Dueling as One

I was very nervous about the tournament. Despite my feelings about being in a girl's body, I did not want to find out what the mad man would come up with as an alternative.

Tiffany was also beside herself. Ironically, it wasn't Maximus that was frightening her, or even the display of magic she had seen. She almost seemed to accept those readily.

No, her worry was about the Millennium Puzzle. She knew now that it had powers, and she had begun to suspect my presence. Now, she was afraid of losing something so precious.

"After all, if it really does have magic, maybe it will bring me a friend after all," she kept thinking to herself.

The tournament came, and Tiffany entered. I still had not come out and introduced myself. It was my hope that Tiffany would think of me as a different side of herself, as the real Yugi had at one point.

Still, I was determined to use all my powers to help Tiffany win. Somewhere along the way, I had developed a sense of caring for her.

The room where everyone would be competing was a large gym with tables set up. It wasn't the most elaborate setting for duels. The people running it had not had enough money to rent the huge holographic dueling machines.

Still, there were lots of other participants. I could pick out quite a few skilled duelists from the way they carried themselves and their deck. Most everyone looked like they were excited about the upcoming games. Unfortunately, Tiffany didn't recognize any of the other players.

"And one of them was sent by Maximus." I reminded myself and Tiffany.

She paused for a brief moment, trying to decide where the thought had come from. Then she brushed it aside and resumed reading the instruction sheet for this particular tournament.

"I have to beat five opponents in order to advance to the final rounds. After I lose two games, I'm out," she summed up. Putting the sheet of paper in her pocket, she looked around for someone to duel.

"Excuse me," said a boy behind her. "I haven't seen you before. Do you duel here often?"

Tiffany turned to see him, and when she did she smiled a little and blushed. The boy was her age and very handsome (in her eyes). He had blonde wavy hair and hazel eyes. He was dressed in a pair of light jeans and a plain grey T-shirt.

"I...uh...no," she stuttered while staring at the floor. "I usually duel at The Snake Eyes. I'm top duelist there."

"That's very impressive," he said with a smile, causing her to blush even more. "You should come by here and play, too. We hold little tournaments like this every week."

Tiffany frowned at that. "Oh, so there's nothing special about this tournament?"

"Well, the prize this week is a little special," the boy said with another big grin. "The winner gets a chance to play in this world-wide tournament in Europe. It's like a free vacation."

"Wow," Tiffany looked back up with a smile on her face. "That sounds great. Maybe this won't be so bad after all."

"Come on, let's duel. I want to see how good you are."

She followed him to a table in the corner and sat down. "I'm Tiffany, by the way."

"My name is Stephen, but everyone calls me Bakura." She looked at him questioningly and he shrugged. "I think it's after the Yu-Gi-Oh character, before he got the Millennium Ring. Everyone tells me I'm a pushover."

Stephen did look a lot like the TV Bakura, hair and all. Fortunately, I didn't see a Millennium Ring around his neck.

Tiffany giggled a little. "Well, I'm not Yugi, but I do have this Millennium Puzzle." She held the pyramid part out in front of her and showed it to him.

Something flashed in his eyes, but I didn't manage to catch what it was. "Wow, so we dueling are going to be like them dueling."

Something about the boy bothered me. I couldn't sense any power from him at all, so I was sure he didn't have a Millennium Item. He could be the one Maximus sent, but he didn't seem right for that.

"Well, let's go ahead and start the duel then," he said with a smile, apparently oblivious to my thoughts. "You can go first."

Tiffany drew her card. I held back, waiting to see what she would do. "I'll play this monster facedown and set these two cards behind it." She laid the three cards facedown on the table and ended her turn.

Stephen drew a card. "I'll play Dark Hole to destroy your monster. Then I summon Bistro the Butcher to attack your life points directly."

Dark Hole
Spell Card
Destroy all monsters on the field.

Bistro the Butcher
Fiend 4 Stars
A: 1800
Effect: When this monster does damage to your opponent's life points, he/she draws two cards.

Tiffany: 2200
Stephen: 4000

Since these matches were played with half the life points of a normal duel, Tiffany now had 2200 life points. She drew two cards for the monster's effect, and then she drew a card to start her turn.

"No magic or trap cards?" she asked. "Okay then, I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back my Mystic Elf."

Monster Reborn
Spell Card
Special Summon one monster from either player's graveyard.

Mystic Elf
Spell caster 4 Stars
A: 800
D: 2000

"Next I'll play Change of Heart to take control of your butcher. Finally, I'll summon Celtic Guardian, and all 3 will attack your LP directly."

Change of Heart
Spell Card
Control an opponent's monster until the end of your turn.

Celtic Guardian
Warrior 4 Stars
A: 1400
D: 1200

Combined attack power: 4000

Tiffany: 2200
Stephen: 0

Stephen blinked. "That... that was over really quick."

Tiffany felt a little bad. She had hoped he would have a Kuriboh or something in his hand. "It was your monster's effect. He let me draw the Change of Heart and the Monster Reborn."

I could understand how she felt. Duels were more fun when they were drawn out. Quick duels didn't really leave a chance for the other player to show his skills.

Stephen put on his grin again. "Well, I guess that starts me off at one loss. Hopefully, I'll still be able to make it to the finals. I'm sure you will."

Tiffany blushed again, relieved that he wasn't upset. "Thank you. I'll go find a judge and tell him the outcome."

She started to leave, but Stephen caught her hand. Something sent a chill through me. Oddly enough, it sent warmth through Tiffany.

"Tiffany, since you have the Millennium Puzzle, I guess you play a lot like Yugi did. Do you use a Dark Magician?"

"Of course," she replied nervously. "I mean its one of my favorites."

He let her go, and she ran quickly to hide her red face from him. I, on the other hand, was still puzzling over his last question. He seemed to be very pleased with her answer.

I decided to let it go. After all, there was still someone in this group that had been sent to take the puzzle from Tiffany. I had to be prepared for what would happen.

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I know what you are thinking, and you're right. That was a really lame duel. Believe it or not, there's an important clue hidden inside of this chapter that will come into play later.

I've already started writing out the next chapter, and it is pretty much one long duel. So for those of you that really want to see Yami and Tiffany in action, the real deal is coming soon.

On a side note, I really appreciate the reviews and e-mails I've been getting about this fanfic. Any suggestions are welcome, as I know I could be doing so much better with this story.

Please R&R!