The elevator fianally reached its destination and the doors reopened to
reveal Level Two and the site of the Semi-Finals. Serena emerged from the
lift and instantly caught site of her next opponent.
"You," she said, the anger in her voice obvious.
"It's good to see you again."
"How dare you?" Serena shouted.
"Aww, aren't you happy to see me?"
"Only for the chance to get you back. Get you back for the cheap shot hit in the back of my head."
Jaina smiled. "Is that what this is about? Is your poor little pride hurt?"
"That's not it," Serena said shaking her head.
"If it makes you feel any better it was never about you. You were just bait for Fader."
"That's why I'm mad," Serena replied. "I'm mad becasue I wasn't important enough for you or for Evo, you were just using me. And nobody uses me."
"You got your precious ego hurt. Poor girl."
"Stop talking to me like that!" Serena shouted. "I'm not a little girl. You and I are going to have it out right now. In this duel I'm not bait for you to play with and you aren't going to use any tricks to try and play mind games with me."
"Is that so?"
"I'm not a pawn. I'm the granddaughter of Seto Kaiba."
"That's right, you're Kaiba's granddaughter. You are not Seto Kaiba, so stop acting like him. We all have shadows of the past hanging over us, you're problem is that you've let your shadow completely overcome you."
"Who are you to try and judge me?"
"Try? I don't need to 'try' and judge you, you're an open book. You think that by getting back your grandpa's precious Blue Eyes that you'd be complete. You're a fool. A card isn't going to give you closure. You aren't going to be complete until you actually have a reason to duel. Seto Kaiba, Yugi Moto, even Joey Wheeler; they all had reasons to duel. That's why they were the best. Do you know why you duel?"
"It doesn't matter. So cut the chit-chat and let's duel already."
"Have it your way," Jaina said. "But you won't be able to win. I'm not using the same weak deck from in the factory. You don't stand a chance."
"Fine by me."
Serena: 4000, Jaina: 4000.
Jaina won the right for the opening play of the game. "I'll lay my monster in face down defense mode, along with two other cards, then I'll end my turn."
"I'll summon the Shining Abyss (1600/1800) in attack mode. But I won't have it attack. I'll just end my turn as well."
"I'll summon the Red Archery Girl (1400/1500) in attack mode, and end my turn once more."
Serena knew that Jaina was just setting her up. She had left herself too open to an attack with an obviously weaker monster. But Jaina could be bluffing and Serena knew that opportunities to attack Jaina's Life Points weren't just going to lay themselves out like that all the time, and she had to take the chance."I'll lay a card face down and then attack your mermaid with my Shining Abyss!"
"Sorry Serena, but I'll activate me Shift card."
"I knew you had a trap."
"I'll redirect your Shining Abyss' attack to my face down monster, the Aqua Madoor (1200/2000). Your attack isn't stong enough to defeat my monster and you'll take 400 points of damage.
Serena: 3600, Jaina: 4000.
"Your turn Jaina."
"Thank you Serena," Jaina said as she drew her card. She furrowed her brow in a fake display of dismay. "It looks like my Red Archery Girl just isn't strong enough to take down that Shining Abyss of yours.
"Looks like," Serena replied. She didn't buy into Jaina's tricks at all.
"I'll just have to equip it with a Black Pendant magic card to increase its attack by 500 points."
"Sorry Jaina, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Serena said with her own fake sweetness. "I activate Fairy's Hand Mirror to move the Black Pendant to the Shining Abyss."
"Hmph," Jaina grunted. "I was hoping to save this for one of your Blue Eyes but it looks like I'm going to have to use it now. Fissure. It will destory one of your monsters with the lowest attack, but since you only have the single monster, Shining Abyss is destroyed."
"And I take 500 damage since your Black Pendant was destroyed."
"A small victory. But even better is the fact that I've left you completely defenseless. Red Archery Girl, attack!"
Serena: 1700, Jaina: 4000.
"I'll lay another card face down and end my turn," Jaina said.
"I'm guessing that you want me to attack again and have another trap waiting for me," Serena said. "Well I'm not going to play your game so I'll set my monster in defense mode."
"You're only half right Serena. I did have a trap waiting for you, but it wouldn't have been activated if you had attacked. I reveal the Gorgon's Eye. This trap card will turn any monster you lay in defense mode to stone."
"My Spirit of the Harp (800/2000)!" Serena shouted as her monster was petrified before her eyes.
"I told you that you couldn't win," Jaina added. "This deck is the best ever built. Designed by the greatest man to play Duel Monsters."
"Gloat all you want Jaina," Serena replied clenching her jaw. "But I will beat you. I'll lay one card face down and end my turn."
"Beat me?" Jaian said laughing. "You can't be serious. Have you even looked at the situatuion? You've lost over half of your Life Points and I haven't lost a single one."
"Just make your move."
Jaian drew her card and laughed again. "Oh this is going to be good. Normally this combination is hard to pull off, but with you it's a piece of cake. I play the Dark Tutor!"
"What does that do?"
"I get to name a card. If that card is in your deck you add it to your hand. And I'm going to name the Blue Eyes White Dragon."
Serena searched her deck for one of her dragons, placed it in her hand then shuffled and replaced her deck in her Duel Disk. "Why would you do that? Now I have one of my best cards in my hand."
"But I'm not done yet. I'm also going to play the magic card Exchange. We each take one card from each other's hands. And I'm going to take your Blue Eyes. Since I only have one card left in my hand, it's all yours."
"Solemn Wishes," Serena said examining her present from Jaina. "Not really a fair trade."
"Nobody said that life was fair hun," Jaina replied. "It certainly isn't being fair to you. Now I'll tribute my Aqua Madoor and Red Archery Girl to summon your, I mean my Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"
Serena now found herself in a situation that she had never expected to be in again. Staring down the powerful blue eyes of her favorite monster, and with less than half of her life points, those blue eyes looked like doorways straight to defeat.
"You," she said, the anger in her voice obvious.
"It's good to see you again."
"How dare you?" Serena shouted.
"Aww, aren't you happy to see me?"
"Only for the chance to get you back. Get you back for the cheap shot hit in the back of my head."
Jaina smiled. "Is that what this is about? Is your poor little pride hurt?"
"That's not it," Serena said shaking her head.
"If it makes you feel any better it was never about you. You were just bait for Fader."
"That's why I'm mad," Serena replied. "I'm mad becasue I wasn't important enough for you or for Evo, you were just using me. And nobody uses me."
"You got your precious ego hurt. Poor girl."
"Stop talking to me like that!" Serena shouted. "I'm not a little girl. You and I are going to have it out right now. In this duel I'm not bait for you to play with and you aren't going to use any tricks to try and play mind games with me."
"Is that so?"
"I'm not a pawn. I'm the granddaughter of Seto Kaiba."
"That's right, you're Kaiba's granddaughter. You are not Seto Kaiba, so stop acting like him. We all have shadows of the past hanging over us, you're problem is that you've let your shadow completely overcome you."
"Who are you to try and judge me?"
"Try? I don't need to 'try' and judge you, you're an open book. You think that by getting back your grandpa's precious Blue Eyes that you'd be complete. You're a fool. A card isn't going to give you closure. You aren't going to be complete until you actually have a reason to duel. Seto Kaiba, Yugi Moto, even Joey Wheeler; they all had reasons to duel. That's why they were the best. Do you know why you duel?"
"It doesn't matter. So cut the chit-chat and let's duel already."
"Have it your way," Jaina said. "But you won't be able to win. I'm not using the same weak deck from in the factory. You don't stand a chance."
"Fine by me."
Serena: 4000, Jaina: 4000.
Jaina won the right for the opening play of the game. "I'll lay my monster in face down defense mode, along with two other cards, then I'll end my turn."
"I'll summon the Shining Abyss (1600/1800) in attack mode. But I won't have it attack. I'll just end my turn as well."
"I'll summon the Red Archery Girl (1400/1500) in attack mode, and end my turn once more."
Serena knew that Jaina was just setting her up. She had left herself too open to an attack with an obviously weaker monster. But Jaina could be bluffing and Serena knew that opportunities to attack Jaina's Life Points weren't just going to lay themselves out like that all the time, and she had to take the chance."I'll lay a card face down and then attack your mermaid with my Shining Abyss!"
"Sorry Serena, but I'll activate me Shift card."
"I knew you had a trap."
"I'll redirect your Shining Abyss' attack to my face down monster, the Aqua Madoor (1200/2000). Your attack isn't stong enough to defeat my monster and you'll take 400 points of damage.
Serena: 3600, Jaina: 4000.
"Your turn Jaina."
"Thank you Serena," Jaina said as she drew her card. She furrowed her brow in a fake display of dismay. "It looks like my Red Archery Girl just isn't strong enough to take down that Shining Abyss of yours.
"Looks like," Serena replied. She didn't buy into Jaina's tricks at all.
"I'll just have to equip it with a Black Pendant magic card to increase its attack by 500 points."
"Sorry Jaina, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Serena said with her own fake sweetness. "I activate Fairy's Hand Mirror to move the Black Pendant to the Shining Abyss."
"Hmph," Jaina grunted. "I was hoping to save this for one of your Blue Eyes but it looks like I'm going to have to use it now. Fissure. It will destory one of your monsters with the lowest attack, but since you only have the single monster, Shining Abyss is destroyed."
"And I take 500 damage since your Black Pendant was destroyed."
"A small victory. But even better is the fact that I've left you completely defenseless. Red Archery Girl, attack!"
Serena: 1700, Jaina: 4000.
"I'll lay another card face down and end my turn," Jaina said.
"I'm guessing that you want me to attack again and have another trap waiting for me," Serena said. "Well I'm not going to play your game so I'll set my monster in defense mode."
"You're only half right Serena. I did have a trap waiting for you, but it wouldn't have been activated if you had attacked. I reveal the Gorgon's Eye. This trap card will turn any monster you lay in defense mode to stone."
"My Spirit of the Harp (800/2000)!" Serena shouted as her monster was petrified before her eyes.
"I told you that you couldn't win," Jaina added. "This deck is the best ever built. Designed by the greatest man to play Duel Monsters."
"Gloat all you want Jaina," Serena replied clenching her jaw. "But I will beat you. I'll lay one card face down and end my turn."
"Beat me?" Jaian said laughing. "You can't be serious. Have you even looked at the situatuion? You've lost over half of your Life Points and I haven't lost a single one."
"Just make your move."
Jaian drew her card and laughed again. "Oh this is going to be good. Normally this combination is hard to pull off, but with you it's a piece of cake. I play the Dark Tutor!"
"What does that do?"
"I get to name a card. If that card is in your deck you add it to your hand. And I'm going to name the Blue Eyes White Dragon."
Serena searched her deck for one of her dragons, placed it in her hand then shuffled and replaced her deck in her Duel Disk. "Why would you do that? Now I have one of my best cards in my hand."
"But I'm not done yet. I'm also going to play the magic card Exchange. We each take one card from each other's hands. And I'm going to take your Blue Eyes. Since I only have one card left in my hand, it's all yours."
"Solemn Wishes," Serena said examining her present from Jaina. "Not really a fair trade."
"Nobody said that life was fair hun," Jaina replied. "It certainly isn't being fair to you. Now I'll tribute my Aqua Madoor and Red Archery Girl to summon your, I mean my Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"
Serena now found herself in a situation that she had never expected to be in again. Staring down the powerful blue eyes of her favorite monster, and with less than half of her life points, those blue eyes looked like doorways straight to defeat.