I know it's taking a little longer for the past few chapters, but I'm hitting some writer's block walls and then there's school work and getting bogged down at home, well let's just say things have been hectic lately. Anyway, the finals have picked back up and I still don't know what is going to happen with Noah, so don't ask. I'm thinking rehab and a psychologist right now, but we'll just have to see. Kaiba goes off character a little bit here, but some things I hinted at earlier will become apparent. This is just my little way of flaming the Kaiba/Téa lovers out there. I think Kaiba's a jerk and I won't read Kaiba/Téa fics at all, so don't bother asking. Kaiba/Serenity, on the other hand, is okay since I don't think Joey's sister isn't worth the argument. Anyway, on with the show!

Chapter 13: Obelisk Falls

"All Battle City finalists and their guests please disembark. We have arrived at our final destination, Kaiba Corp's Battle Tower!" a voice called through the intercom.

I looked at my watch as I stretched my arms and legs. It was 5:00. I must have fallen asleep at some point in time. The last thing I remembered was looking at my cards and finding the card Alexis slipped into my deck. Téa wasn't in the room so I figured that she was still with Yugi and the others. I tucked my deck into its case and walked out the door to the hallway. I saw a medical team a few doors down taking Mai out on a stretcher. Everyone else looked extremely worried as they followed her out.

"Hey guys. What's going on?" I asked curiously. I glanced at their faces one at a time. Joey's looked the worst.

"Mai still hasn't woken up," Téa informed me. "But Bakura is missing."

"What do you mean he's missing?" I questioned.

"It's just that simple, we walked into his room and there was no trace of him," Tristan answered.

"We think Marik is behind it," Yugi spoke up. "He did stay on board when Noah attacked us."

"Alright, get off now," Kaiba ordered. "I have a tournament to win."

"Yes, sir," Duke said sarcastically behind his back. "Let's go before he bursts a blood vessel."

We walked down the ramp and saw Marik standing near the bottom. He smiled evilly but said nothing as we passed. Ishizu was nowhere to be seen. Kaiba led our group into a lobby that had several television monitors on the walls. Each one had a different duel arena on it. Mokuba stood on a podium at the back of the room and he beckoned us to gather around, probably to hear some speech.

"Will the final four duelists please step forward?" he started. Yami had switched with Yugi at that instant and he stepped up to my right. Next to him was Kaiba then Marik. "A number from one to four will appear on you duel disks in a moment. This will be your semifinal match number. Duelist number one will battle number two and number three will battle number four."

I watched my duel disk carefully as a single digit scrolled rapidly from one to four and back. Glancing at Yugi, I saw that his was doing the same thing. Suddenly it stopped, displaying a one. I looked at Yugi's number, which was three, and breathed a sigh of relief. I was glad I didn't have to fight him in the first match. I was surprised to see Kaiba smirking at me. He held up his duel disk, which displayed a two. I was fighting Kaiba, but that meant Yugi was up against Marik.

"Now that you know your numbers, you will now proceed to your dueling arena," Mokuba continued. "Numbers one and two go into the elevator on the left, three and four to the right. Guests will stay here and watch the duels from the monitors. Cheering won't help because all sound from here will be cut off. Say your good lucks now before they leave. Both duels will take place simultaneously in separate rooms. After the matches, the two winners will meet on the roof for the final duel. Guests will be taken up there at the end of the semifinals."

Without a word from either of them, Kaiba and Marik walked over to their respective elevators and stood impatiently. Téa came up to me and hugged me. I stroked her cheek then kissed her on the lips. After our little moment, Yugi approached me.

"Good luck, Brian," he said to me and held out his hand. I shook it and wished him luck as well. "Remember, Kaiba is no pushover. He is a skilled duelist to begin with and he has Obelisk the Tormentor. That makes him nearly unbeatable, but I'm sure you can find a way to defeat him."

"Right. I'll see you on the roof and I'll have Kaiba's Egyptian god card in my hand," I said confidently. He nodded and headed towards Marik. I stepped into the elevator with Kaiba and leaned against the back wall.

"After our match, I'll be taking that Red Eyes Darkness Dragon of yours," Kaiba stated. "Then I want you to do a couple of other things for me."

"And what's that?" I asked irritably.

"Give me that gold bracelet you've been wearing," he replied.

"Why? What could you possibly do with a piece of jewelry?" I responded, trying to persuade him it wasn't worth it.

"It's simple," he continued. "You'll give me that, then leave town and dump Téa and break her heart. I'll come in and cheer her up with it and she'll go out with me instead. You see, there's no point in you being with a girl with a body like hers."

"No way am I going to let that happen," I said angrily. Kaiba just laughed. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down with my thoughts. "He's just trying to get under your skin and distract you, Brian. Shake it off and focus on the match."

After about a minute of silence, the elevator opened its doors to allow us passage to the dueling arena. We stepped up to our designated spots which were dimly illuminated. Neither of us did anything until bright lights shone down on us and Mokuba's voice came through an unseen speaker.

"Everyone is at their designated spots. The match will start at the sound of a buzzer. The duelist with the higher number will go first," Mokuba announced. Seconds after he finished the buzzer went off and the duel began.

"Now you'll see the power of a true champion," Kaiba said. "I play Polymerization to fuse my three Blue Eyes White Dragons together. Behold, the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

I watched in awe as my chances of victory became slim to none. With 4500 attack power, Kaiba's dragon was stronger than anything I had, save for Dark Paladin. My hand contained Double Medium, which would give my Dark Paladin the edge, but I had none of the cards necessary to summon it. "What else can I do?" I asked myself. "Draw a card and…Book of Moon. Let's see…Paladin of White Dragon and its ritual card, plus a monster to sacrifice and Trap Jammer. I might be able to make this work…"

"Enough stalling. Make your move already!" Kaiba interrupted my thoughts.

"Fine then. I set one card face down then play White Dragon Ritual and I'll sacrifice Element Dragon from my hand to summon Paladin of White Dragon," I stated clearly. "Then I'll activate my magic card, Book of Moon. This card allows me to change one monster on the field to face down defense position and I select your Ultimate Dragon. Now Paladin of White Dragon, attack his monster!"

"Little good that will do. My dragon has a defense of 3800 and your monster has only an attack of 1900," Kaiba said calmly. When my dragon attacked, however, Kaiba's monster was indeed destroyed. "How did you do that? There's no way you could have destroyed it!"

"On the contrary, Kaiba," I explained. "When Paladin of White Dragon attacks a face down monster it is instantly destroyed, no matter what defense rating it has."

"Hmm…it seems I didn't give you enough credit in your dueling skills," Kaiba said, still seeming over confident. I simply glared at him. "Now I'll summon Saggi the Dark Clown in attack mode and set one card face down."

"He's planning something, I just know it," I told myself. "It must be his Crush Card." I looked at my face down card, Trap Jammer. "That will counter it nicely, plus the Luster Dragon I just drew will cause him some major problems."

"Hurry up!" Kaiba said impatiently. "The sooner you make your move the sooner I can win."

"I summon Luster Dragon and use it to attack Saggi!" I said.

"Fool! You walked right into my Crush Card!" Kaiba laughed.

"Oh did I? I'll counter your trap card with Trap Jammer!" I laughed right back. Saggi the Dark Clown was wiped out and Kaiba lost 1100 life points. I then attacked him directly with Paladin and dropped him to an even 5000. "And to be a further menace, I'll use Paladin of White Dragon's other effect. I sacrifice it from the field to put one of my own Blue Eyes White Dragons in its place!"

"I'll use Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck," Kaiba snarled. After he drew, he grinned. "I play Monster Reborn to revive my all powerful Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Now watch as your Blue Eyes White Dragon is annihilated!"

There was nothing I could do but watch. With no cards on the field and two weaker monsters, I was helpless. My life points fell to 6500. I forced my hand to steady as I drew my next card. It was just the card I needed to buy me some time. "Now your monsters can't attack for three whole turns, Swords of Revealing Light!" I declared.

"You're wasting your time," Kaiba said as he drew. "I pass this turn."

"Very well, then," I said, copying Ishizu's calm demeanor from before. "I'll use my own Pot of Greed to draw from my deck." I drew and saw what I had drawn. It was my Buster Blader and Graceful Charity. I played the latter and drew two dragon monsters, which I discarded, and a magic card called Fusion Gate. There were now ten dragons in play, if I got my Dark Magician soon Kaiba would be toast.

"I summon Giant Germ for this turn," Kaiba stated. He looked a little bit mad, but I didn't care. I just had to beat him, not for myself, but for Téa's heart and the fate of the world if Yugi couldn't defeat Marik.

Much to my dismay, Dark Magician wasn't my next card. Instead it was Stamping Destruction, and it was useless since Kaiba had no magic or trap cards at the moment. "I'll attack Giant Germ with my Luster Dragon!" I proclaimed. Kaiba grinned and I realized what I had just done. It was too late to call off the attack, however. When the monster fell, Kaiba lost another 900 life points, but I lost 500 and two more Germs appeared on the field.

"Now you're finished, Matthews. I activate Diffusion and split my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon into the original Blue Eyes White Dragons," Kaiba said on his next turn. "I offer them as a tribute to call forth Obelisk the Tormentor!"

"Oh…no…" I murmured. My Luster Dragon was no match for an Egyptian god. The giant, light blue creature towered over me, the energy it emitted washing over my entire body. He couldn't attack with it yet so I was safe this turn. "Please…" I said in my mind. "Please let me draw the right card…" I drew the next card, hoping to draw Dark Magician. I looked at the card in horror. Spirit Ryu. Now I was in major trouble. "I switch my Luster Dragon to defense mode and summon Spirit Ryu in defense mode as well."

"Your pathetic monsters are no match for Obelisk!" Kaiba laughed at me. "I sacrifice my Giant Germs to activate Obelisk's Omni Hand Crusher! It inflicts 4000 points of damage to all of your monsters and your life points!"

Obelisk picked up the two round creatures and crushed them in its hands. Then it pulled one hand back and punched my two defensive monsters, crushing them, and hit me dead on. The blow sent my flying onto my back and dropped my life points to 2000. I got back, unsteadily, to my feet. Obelisk the Tormentor couldn't attack in the same turn it used its special effect, but that didn't matter, I was just about through.

Tears began to well up in my eyes. I was about to lose everything, my destiny, my girlfriend, my friends, my entire life. It would all be gone in an instant. I thought of Téa, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and everyone else I had met, even my sister. I looked at my Millennium Item. Skarra had trusted me to fulfill an ancient prophecy to protect the Pharaoh, but I couldn't even protect myself. My mind went back to Téa and all the special times we had. Paige had told me we had something and not to ruin it. I shut my eyes hard trying to get the images out of my head. That's when I heard a voice.

"If you ever need someone to support you, I'll be there."

"Téa…" I whispered. She had told me that awhile back. I had promised to do the same for her, but now… "No! I can do this!" I shouted.

"What are you talking about? You can't win!" Kaiba sneered.

"Watch and see," I said calmly. I could feel a new determination build up inside me and flow around me. I pressed two fingers on my next card and quickly pulled it out. "I play Fusion Gate! Then I'll remove Buster Blader and Dark Magician from play to summon Dark Paladin!"

"With an attack of 2900, it's no match for Obelisk!" Kaiba assured himself out loud.

"That's what you think. Dark Paladin gains 500 attack points for each dragon in play, all eleven of them," I explained. "That's an additional 5500. But that's not all, I activate Double Medium. This doubles the increases and decreases to my monster's stats. Now Dark Paladin grows to an unstoppable 13900!"

"Th-that's impossible!" Kaiba stuttered. "I can't lose now!"

"Dark Paladin, attack and obliterate Obelisk the Tormentor!" I cried.

My monster charged and leapt into the air above the towering god. Dark Paladin dropped onto Obelisk's head and plunged its sword into the orb on the top. A loud bellow erupted from the god as cracks split from the entry point and crept down its entire body. The parts separated and disintegrated one by one.

I had done it, I beat the unbeatable. "Now do you see, Kaiba? Do you see what happens when you are blinded by power?" I asked defiantly. "Your overconfidence was your weakness. You put too much thought into your cards and not enough faith in those around you. That is why you lost."

"I underestimated you, that's all. You don't need to tell me how to duel," was Kaiba's response to my speech.

"You're right, I don't," I replied. "But perhaps, you should listen anyway."

"Whatever," he spat back. He held out his Egyptian god card to me. "Just take this and shut up!"

I took the card from his hand as a second elevator door opened on a side wall. I walked over to it, assuming it would take me to the roof. Kaiba followed me and leaned against the back wall glaring at me. I stood with my back to him and looked down at the card in my hand.

"Obelisk the Tormentor," I said in my head. "Now for a nice, friendly match with Yugi. I suppose I'll have to give him this card regardless of the outcome. He's the one destined to control it, not me."

Kaiba and I arrived at our destination and found it empty. "I guess we're here early," Kaiba stated. He seemed to have cooled off a little. "We'll just have to wait for the end of Yugi and Marik's duel."

It must have been another twenty minutes before the elevator arrived again. Téa was the first one out, followed by everyone else. She ran to me and hugged me. Her face was buried in my shoulder, but I could hear her sobbing. By the looks on everyone else's faces, something had happened.

"Téa what's wrong?" I asked quietly.

Before she could answer, another elevator opened and out stepped Marik. I carefully stepped away from Téa and frowned at him. I gasped when I saw two things that weren't supposed to be there. Hanging from his neck were Bakura's Millennium Ring and Yugi's Millennium Puzzle.