Author's Note: Let me first say that this takes place some years after the main events of the show. I'd give it a good couple years, 'cause Seto and everyone are in their early twenties, late teens. I should've said it in the first chapter, but I totally forgot and assumed that when people saw Seto was, like, 21 they'd realize that. And, um, if isn't actually isn't possible to have a Battle City tournament some years after the main events of the anime/manga/whatever due to some plot device that I know nothing about, then this story is slightly AU. With all precautions in place, let's move on to the real point of this author's note...I thank those who reviewed kindly, because it makes me feel a lot better. I just hope I don't screw any of the dueling part up. I just got really into the card game itself recently, so there might be some (read: many!) kinks to work out. -takes in a deep breath- Well, here goes nothing.

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

Relics of the Past
by Judanim

Chapter Two: "The Resolved Vendetta"

The more populated sectors of the city during the tournament were the big squares that had more than enough room for several duels to go on simultaneously. Plus, there were many places for people to watch, and what many players dueled for was the attention. Seto found himself in one of these squares, doing the routine and mundane task of making sure none of the rules were being violated, and no one was trying to cheat anyone out of rightfully earned locator cards.

Mokuba stood beside him, taking a keen interest in one of the duels already in play. Seto thought it was a bit amateur, but the day was early. The better duels didn't happen until later. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mai watching the same duel Mokuba was, but she didn't seem to be all that interested in it. He wondered for a moment if it had anything to do with that confrontation from yesterday.

While Seto wasn't paying attention, Yugi had entered the square, worked his way through the crowd, and found Mai. They started idly comparing the amount of locator cards each had, probably trading stories so far as well. Seto, deciding this was boring to watch, turned his gaze to the opposite side of the square. For some reason, the crowd was starting to clear here. He narrowed his eyes to see a slender woman dressed in a pair of black gi pants with a green dragon going up the side of one leg and a white spaghetti strap tank top. He watched the wind rustle the dark blonde hair that cascaded down her back, and that's what brought a very strange thing to his attention. There was a katana at her waist. A split-second later, he also noticed several four-pointed shuriken situated on her belt. In all his years of dueling, and with all the insane people he had met, this had to have ranked in the top five.

"Seto, check out that duelist!" Mokuba yelled.

"Huh? Duelist?" Seto exclaimed. He hadn't even noticed the Duel Disc. He was all too focused on the arsenal of weapons attached to her hip! "Why would a duelist carry around a katana and shuriken?"

"I definitely don't know, but this can't be good," Mokuba answered, looking ready to intervene.

His big brother held him back. "She technically hasn't broken any rules yet, so there's really nothing we can do. But, let's wait it out." He examined her face a little more. "She looks like she's got a score to settle. I definitely wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of her vendetta."

The crowd had cleared enough that the woman finally reached Yugi and Mai. Then, a thought slowly dawned on him. What if this was the same woman from the day before, the one he couldn't see? If so, then he felt really sorry for Mai.

"I told you we'd settle this in a duel, and I'm here to make good on my promise," the woman said, looking straight at Mai with a lethal glare. "I just hope you're prepared."

Mai returned the attitude. She wasn't taking the challenge lightly, as Seto (and most others) had seen in the past. "I'm always prepared, and if you're any kind of duelist, then so are you."

The woman took a step forward and shuffled her deck. "I've been prepared for this for a long time."

As both women inserted their decks into their Duel Discs and drew their first cards, everyone around them was confused. Yugi met Seto's gaze from across the square, but the latter had no insight to provide, even in a glance. He was still trying to figure out exactly who this mystery woman was, and why she had a bone to pick with Mai. It, of course, probably had something to do with a history that they knew nothing about, which was also half the reason they were speaking in cryptic phrases. Well, that, and they probably didn't need to refer to the past events; they were all to familiar with the mere reference. He reminded himself to always settle any feud he might have when it started, otherwise he might end up like one of these two.

"The challenger goes first," the mysterious female began. "I'll play this card face-down and summon The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave in Defense mode. I believe that would make it your turn."

"Then I'll summon Harpie Lady in Attack mode! Next I'll equip my Harpie Lady with the Rose Whip and Cyber Shield magic cards, which makes her Attack higher than your monster's Defense," Mai answered. "Harpie Lady, destroy her dragon!"

Seto nodded in approval. Mai had a lucky first draw, but she hadn't taken into consideration the mysterious woman's face-down card. If it was a trap, things could get ugly.

The unknown person shook her head with a mischievous grin. "I can't believe you fell for it. A duelist of your supposed caliber should've known that I made it way too easy for you to attack. I activate my trap card, Shadow Spell! It decreases the Attack Points of your Harpie Lady by 700, making it no threat to my dragon."

Mai narrowed her eyes. "If your so confident, then make your next move." She definitely wasn't happy about losing 600 Life Points in the first round, especially when she had expected to terminate her opponent's only defense.

The challenger drew her card and looked quite happy to see it. "I'll play De-Spell, and take out your Cyber Shield, even further reducing your little monster's Attack power. Now I summon Lady Ninja Yae to the field, in Attack mode, and I'll equip her with the Fusion Sword Murasame Blade magic card, upping her power to a nice 1900." She turned her attention from her monsters to her adversary. "Now, Lady Ninja Yae, attack her Harpie Lady!"

The monster glady did the work, eliminating Mai's only defense, as well as one thousand of her Life Points.

"But that's not all," the still unascertained figure said, stopping Mai from drawing her next card, which she was about to do. "I switch my dragon to Attack mode. Now, Dragon Dwelling in the Cave, attack her Life Points directly!"

"Whoa! That was a brave move!" Mokuba exclaimed.

The corporate executive silently agreed. The only problem with that was, if Mai found a good enough monster, the dragon would be toast. Its defensive power far outweighed its attack power. The move was enough to take another good chunk out of Mai's Life Points, though.

"Not so confident now, are you? Good," the challenger said once the attack was over. "I'll put this card face down, and end my turn."

Mai visibly winced. She was not happy about this. She drew her next card and grinned. "I'll summon Harpie Lady in Attack mode! Next I'll play the magic card Elegant Egotist to summon another Harpie Lady. Then, I'll sacrifice both my Harpie Ladies to summon Harpie's Pet Dragon, and it's going to wipe the floor with your pathetic little ninja. Pet Dragon, attack!"

The challenger didn't look worried as her Lady Ninja Yae was destroyed. "Are you finished?"

The blonde nodded. "Your move."

As she drew her card, the unnamed woman looked very pleased. "I'll activate my face-down card, the monster Hane-Hane!"

Most of the duelists in the square, including Mai, donned clueless faces after this move. "And what are you going to do with that little squirt? Have him swat at my dragon?"

"No, he's going to remove your dragon! I activate Hane-Hane's special ability, which removes one monster from your side of the field and puts it back into your hand. And right now, you've only got one monster."

Even though Yugi was rooting for Mai, he still looked appreciative of that move. Any good duelist would, of course, even the usually unmovable Seto.

"Now, Dragon Dwelling in the Cave, finish her off!"

With a mighty roar, the dragon devoured the rest of Mai's precious Life Points, and won the duel for the one who summoned him. When the dust cleared, the scene was almost frozen in time, as if someone had come along and pressed the pause button. Neither woman was moving, just staring at the other as if nothing had happened at all.

"You won," Mai said quietly. "Satisfied?"

"For the moment," the winner of the duel replied. "I just wish winning meant I could turn back time and change everything that happened."

Mai's blank expression turned into a glare. "That's what this is all about?" She rolled her eyes. "Why take it out on me, then? It's not like I had anything to do with the decision. I was a kid, and so were you. Neither of us had any control of the situation. If we did, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Seto, for some reason unknown to him, was hanging on to every word of the conversation. The fact that they wouldn't say a word about what actually happened in the past, in addition to his desire to find out who this mysterious woman was and why he almost recognized her, probably made him more eager to listen, which was definitely unusual for him.

"But we are, and that's the point, Mai." She turned around and started walking away. Considering she just won a duel, and probably fulfilled a revenge wish, she didn't look happy.

"Kim, wait!" Mai called.

The CEO's eyes widened. Something in his brain clicked, like the last piece of a puzzle sliding into place. Of course! That's why he recognized her! He could only wonder if Mokuba picked up on it too.

The woman paused, but didn't turn around. She was waiting.

"I know there's a lot of bad blood between us, but can't we try to talk it out? We don't have to be enemies." Mai looked nervous. "The stuff that happened back then had nothing to do with us, we were just swept into it all. This feud doesn't have to go on forever."

Kim slowly turned around, a shuriken in hand. She expertly threw it, an unreadable expression in her eyes. Surprisingly, Mai caught it with just as much finesse as it had been thrown. "You haven't changed," she said.

"But I think you have," Kim replied. "By the way, you owe me a locator card. I didn't enter this tournament just to challenge you. I'm also in it to win."

Mai smiled and handed her a locator card. "I may be slightly egocentric, but I still wouldn't think that highly of myself. Besides, I've learned not to underestimate you, especially after that match. Not bad for a rookie."

Kim pocketed the locator card. "I'll take that as a compliment coming from you."

As they started to walk off together, Seto watched Kim's back, shaking his head all the while. He looked over at Mokuba once they left. He was still watching them, even though they were out of the square.

"Was that who I think it was, Seto?" he asked, looking up at his brother.

Seto nodded. "I think so, Moki. I think so."

As he walked into the coffee shop, Seto felt very much like a stalker. It's not as though he followed Mai's friend all over town until she stopped somewhere. On the contrary, he merely sat at his laptop for a few hours and tracked her through her Duel Disc signal. When she finally stopped moving at the coffee shop, it was only then that he physically got up and followed her. The fact didn't shake his feeling, however.

Pushing it aside at least for the moment, he looked around and saw her sitting all the way across the room absorbed in a newspaper. He was grateful for the newspaper, because that meant he could start the conversation his own way, instead of being pushed into it through awkward realization. He walked up to the counter, ordered a moccha latte (so he wouldn't seem like a stalker to anyone else), and waited. On her table, he now noticed, lay her katana, along with a couple of the shuriken. He shook his head. From the looks of things, no one else in the shop had either seen these items, or they did and just didn't care. He guessed it was the latter.

"Tall moccha latte?" the cashier called.

Seto got his drink, paid, and then began the slow walk over to her table. Blood was pounding in his ears, and he could feel his pulse quicken. He hadn't been this nervous in ages, if ever. He took in a deep breath and quietly pulled out a chair and started to sit down.

Even though he was practically silent, Kim folded up the newspaper and looked right at him. She had an eyebrow raised the entire time he took his seat. She didn't speak, just stared.

For a moment, Seto didn't have a clue as to what to say to her. He was partly still trying to figure out how she had heard him, but he eventually pushed it aside. It wasn't important enough to ponder for the instant. He took in another deep breath, and his brain decided to work again. He was so unsure of himself, but he had to start the conversation somewhere. "It's been a long time."

She still didn't speak. She merely stared, seemingly contemplating his existence and possible reasons for being there, but not once betraying any sort of emotion.

Her silence made him even more nervous.

-big sigh of relief- Whoo! That dueling part could've been ugly. I really hope it wasn't. I kind of just studied a couple of Mai's Duelist Kingdom bouts to get her stuff, and partly went through my own deck to create Kim's strategy. A big credit goes to Itstimetoduel(dot)com 'cause they have just about every card listed in their database, and it definitely helped me out. And I know I followed a little too closely to the rules of the TCG, but go with it...please? Anyway, criticism is definitely welcome, just as long as you review.