The next day, everyone gathered at the same place where Kaiba was defeated. Pegasus was now sitting on a chair, across from where Yugi and the others stood overlooking the dueling arena below.

Yugi: "Well, here we are. This is where everything will be resolved. Akia, we can't afford to lose... For grandpa's sake."

Akia, looking as determined as her brother, nodded.

"You can count on me, Yugi. One of us will be the one to face Pegasus and win."

Pegasus' bodyguard, who was standing right next to him, drew everyone's attention by announcing the start of the finals. Pegasus then spoke up.

Pegasus: "The first match will be between Keith Howard and little miss Mutou Akia."

Jounouchi: "Go get that bastard, Akia. I mean, I wish I was the one against him, but I know you'll wipe the floor with him just like how I wanted to do it."

"Don't worry about it, Jounouchi. Whatever grudge you have against him, I'll resolve it today. It'll be a total victory for me."

Akia and Keith then made their way down to the arena. They were now standing face to face at both ends of the dueling arena. Pegasus requested them to show their prize cards. Keith showed Glory of the King's Hand, while Akia showed Glory of the King's Opposite Hand.

Keith: "Heh, don't cry too hard when I beat you, little girl."

Akia just looked at him with uninterested eyes. That annoyed Keith, since she wasn't giving him any reaction.

Keith: "What's with that look, huh? You think you can just get away with disrespecting me like that?"

"Why should I give any respect to a stepping stone?"

Keith: "What did you just say...?!"

Jounouchi: "Woah... Now I know not to get on Akia's bad side."

Yugi: "Yeah... She kind of has a sharp tongue."

Mai: "A girl should always have some spunk."

Mai was feeling proud of Akia. During the time they spent together, she felt like Akia was almost like a little sister to her. It was rare for her to actually root for someone, but she wanted Akia to win this with all her heart.

Bakura: "That makes her so cute..."

Bakura mumbled that so that no one heard him. He really found Akia irresistibly adorable, especially when she was trying not to be.

"Will you start the duel already?"

Keith: "Grr... I'll make you regret every word you said. I draw!"

Everyone's attention then focused on the duel.

'We'll see what you're made of, Keith Howard. This is a golden chance for me to try out my improved deck.'

Keith: "I will set a monster and end my turn."

'He's planning something... Last night I added a second Banisher of the Light as well as a Banisher of Radiance in my deck, and I still didn't draw any of them. Let's hope it's the next card.'

"So now it's my turn. I draw!"

'Damn it... There's still a chance, though. I drew Pot of Greed so that should help.'

Akia looked at her card then turned her gaze to her opponent.

"I use my spell card: Pot of Greed!"

Keith: "That's just another way of saying that you have nothing that's worth it in your current hand."

Akia didn't pay him any attention yet again and drew two cards from her deck, according to her spell card's effect.

Keith: "Hey! Don't ignore me you little bitch!"

Akia looked at the cards she drew.

'I know what he's looking for is a reaction from me. If I don't give him any, he'll become agitated and frustrated. That can make him do a mistake in his card play. Now let's see here... I got it! Good.'

"I set a card facedown in defence position. I will also set one card facedown."

'Just in case...'

"With that, I end my turn."

Keith: "You're going down, you little piece of shit. I draw!"

Akia smiled at how worked up Keith was getting.

Keith: "You won't have that smirk on your face after I do this!"

He reached for his facedown card.

Keith: "I flip summon my monster! Say hello to Pendulum Machine (1750/2000)!"

A hologram of a machine-like monster materialized on Keith's side of the field.

Yugi: "Such a powerful monster right from the start..."

Anzu: "I'm so worried about Akia... Keith is such a... brute!"

Jounouchi: "Akia said that she'll win, and I'm putting all my faith in her. I know she'll win."

Mai: "That's right. You guys haven't seen her duel that much. I've seen most of her duels on this island. When she's serious, nobody can ever stand in her way."

Akia was looking at Keith's monster, waiting for it to attack.

'Come on, attack me!'

Keith: "Pendulum Machine, attack her puny facedown card!"

Pendulum machine attacked Akia's facedown monster, revealing it to be Banisher of the Light (100/2000). Due to its superior defence points compared to Pendulum machine's attack, Banisher of the Light wasn't destroyed and counterattacked with his light.

'Wait, what...?'

Akia looked at Keith's Life Points, confused at what they displayed.

"Why didn't you lose any Life Points? According to my monster's superior defence, you should lose 250 points."

Keith chuckled.

Keith: "Did you really think I'd go down that easily? My machine monsters are all made of a special metal. They can't be destroyed by magic or non-physical attacks."

"I see..."

'Well, that means that normal attacks won't work. All of my monsters use magic attacks. Gren Maju Da Eiza, no matter how strong it gets, won't even scratch these things.'

Keith: "Haha! Giving up yet?"

"Are you done with your turn?"

Once more, Akia completely dismissed Keith's snarky remarks.

Keith: "Tch. Yeah, I am. Bitch."

'He keeps calling me bitch... That's when you know that he has nothing better to say.'

Akia brought her hand to her deck, drawing her next card.

"I will set a facedown and then I will activate my spell card: Card Destruction! This card requires that we both discard our entire hand and draw the same number of cards discarded. Since my Banisher of the Light is face up on the field, all of our discarded cards are removed from play."

Keith: "What...?!"

Keith was getting worried, since his most powerful monster, Barrel Dragon (2600/2200) was now going to be removed from play for the entirety of the duel. His demeanour changed however, when he drew his new hand of six cards. It was even better than his last set of cards.

"I set a facedown monster and end my turn."

Keith: "Another facedown? What? Too chicken to fight me head on?"

"Do you have to make unnecessary remarks at every single turn? We would be done by now if you stopped wasting time."

Keith's expression twisted with frustration.

Yugi: "She really likes to take it a notch too far..."

Jounouchi: "Man, I actually feel a bit bad for Keith."

Anzu: "Yeah, you go girl!"

Honda: "Women are so scary..."

Pegasus was also watching this with amusement. He really found the banter quite entertaining.

Keith: "Shut your damn mouth, bitch! I draw! Prepare to meet your end. I summon Slot Machine (2000/2300) in attack mode!"

A slot machine robot appears on the field.

"What are you trying to accomplish with only 2000 attack points?"

'Take that trump card of yours out. I'll finish it off along with your Slot Machine.'

Keith: "You know what a jackpot is? Well, considering how you're still a minor, I doubt it."

"Get to the point."

Keith: "Sheesh, I'm getting to it! My point is that there are three 7 Completed cards that are required to complete a jackpot. Of course, wouldn't that be almost impossible to do in one duel?"

Akia remained silent.

Keith: "...Well, you're lucky, since you will survive this turn. For now, I'll just use my Slot Machine to destroy your facedown monster card."

Keith's monster strikes Akia's facedown and destroys it. Akia then smiled brightly that it took Keith by surprise. It was the first time he saw her smile like that.

"Great, you activated my monster's flip effect!"

Keith: "...What...?"

Akia took her monster card and showed it to Keith.

"The card you just destroyed is Needle Worm. Its effect is to send the first five cards of your deck to the graveyard. In other words, your top five cards are going to be removed from play, thanks to my Banisher of the Light."

Keith: "Kuh... What's the point of removing all the cards from play...?"

Keith took the top five cards of his deck and removed them from play.

"I wonder what the point is..."

Akia still kept her smile.

Keith: "Whatever... I'll put a card facedown and end my turn."

Jounouchi: "What is she smiling about...? Keith has the stronger monsters on his side. Isn't she worried? How is she going to handle them?"

Yugi: "Wait... I get it!"

Jounouchi: "Really?! What is she planning?"

Mai: "Yeah, I think I know what's about to happen too."

Jounouchi: "What's about to happen?"

Yugi giggled at Jounouchi's cluelessness.

Yugi: "You'll see."

Bakura: "I really do wonder myself what her strategy is as well. It's a bit different from her strategy with Panik."

Everyone's attention then went back to the duel, since Akia was now drawing her card.

"I play the spell card Hand Destruction. We both discard two cards and draw two cards."

Bakura: "I think I'm starting to see a pattern here..."

Jounouchi: "What pattern? Why does everyone get it except me?"

Honda: "Don't worry man, I'm as clueless as you..."

Jounouchi: "But you're not even a duelist! I don't want to be compared to you!"

Anzu: "Stop it, guys! Focus on the duel!"

Akia then looked at her hand.

"I'm not done yet! I play my next spell card: Dark World Dealings. We each draw a card, then discard a card."

Jounouchi: "Again? What is she trying to do?"

Keith was getting worked up. It was getting on his nerves that he didn't know where this was all going.

"I'll then put three face-downs and set a monster facedown. That'll end my turn."

Keith: "This whole duel you haven't even attacked me once! How do you even plan on winning this?"

"There's more than one winning method."

Keith: "You're absolutely right... I draw."

Keith smirked. As he was reaching to draw a card, he took one out of his wristband and made it look as if it was the one he drew from his deck. Everyone was oblivious to it, except for Pegasus. However, he decided against pointing it out, since he wanted to see the outcome of the duel. If Keith won, he would kick him out due to cheating. If he lost, then it'll make his humiliation even bigger.

Keith: "Heh, am I lucky or what?"

Keith then revealed the card that he "drew". It was one of the three 7 Completed spell cards.

Keith: "I guess I'll just use this now. I equip it to my Slot Machine, which gives my monster a 700 attack point boost!"

Jounouchi: "Its attack is now 2700! He's going to take out Akia's Banisher of the Light!"

Just as Jounouchi predicted, Keith was planning to target the Banisher of the Light and get rid of it for good.

Keith: "Say goodbye to that annoying monster of yours! Slot Machine, attack!"

"Not so fast! I activate my trap card: Shift!"

Jounouchi: "That card looks a lot like the one you used against Mei and Kyu in the labyrinth, Yugi."

Yugi: "They are similar, but their use is a bit different. The card I used was Monster Replace."

Everyone was looking at Akia, waiting for her to explain what she was using this card for.

"This trap card allows me to redirect your attack to one of my other monsters. I choose my facedown monster."

Slot Machine's attack then immediately turned to the facedown monster that Akia had set. It destroyed it, but...

Keith: "Tch! Another one of those pests?"

"You know what comes next right? My Needle Worm's effect activates, so now you have to send the top five cards to the graveyard, or, in this case, remove them from play."

Keith: "Yes! I get it!"

Keith was downright angry at this point. Even though he felt that he was clearly at an advantage with his stronger monsters, there was something that was threatening him. It was the fact that Akia looked so undisturbed and confident. It's as if she already felt like she had this duel in the bag.

Keith: "I summon Zoa (2600/1900)! Now watch and learn about what real power is! I activate my facedown: Magic Metal Force. I'll equip that to Zoa, which transforms it into Metalzoa (3000/2300)! Now just try to take this down! Since I can only attack once each turn, I'll end it here. Next turn, you're done!"

Akia's smile faded. She felt like she'd done everything she could.

"I draw. I'll pass my turn."

Jounouchi: "Oh no... Is it getting too much for her? I mean, look how strong that monster is..."

Yugi looked at his sister. When he did, he understood everything and remained silent.

Keith: "Haha! I knew you'd break at some point! You're already admitting defeat! Well, that's too bad! I draw! I'll attack your Banisher of the Light with my Metalzoa! Metalzoa has the special ability of reflecting all magic attacks back at the caster. Since your Banisher is in defence mode and his defence points are 2000, you will lose as soon as I destroy it!"

Jounouchi: "No...!"

Honda: "It can't end like that?!"

Anzu: "I can't watch...!"

Akia's smile then returned as she reached for one of her two remaining face-downs.

"Did you really think I'd let you win just like that? I activate my trap: Dimensional Prison. I can only activate this when my opponent declares an attack. This allows me to remove from play your attacking monster. That means: bye bye Metalzoa."

Keith's mouth went agape and he stared speechless at his monster getting sucked in the banishing vortex.

Jounouchi: "D-Don't scare me like that...!"

Mai: "Way to go, Akia!"

Keith's hands were trembling from the unexpected turn of events.

Keith: "S-So what?! I can still get you next turn!"

Akia giggled.

"There won't be a next turn. Remember my last facedown?"

Akia reached for her last uncovered card and flipped it.

"I activate my second trap card: Different Dimension Dynamite!"

A giant clump of dynamites with a timer in the middle materialized on the field.

"Can you count how many dynamites there are?"

Keith: "W-Why does that even matter?"

"Well, for each one, you will lose 100 Life Points. Do you know what they're based on? The cards that were removed from play since the start of this game."

Keith's hand dropped the cards he was holding. He was in shock at what Akia just said. His mind didn't want to process it.

Jounouchi: "Wait... How many cards were removed?"

"Let's count together now. Ten of your cards were removed from play due to my two Needle Worms. Then, six were removed due to Card Destruction. After that, there are two that were removed thanks to Hand Destruction. Are you following me until now?"

Honda: "That makes eighteen cards until now."

"After that, there was Dark World Dealings, that made both of us discard one card. Finally, your Metalzoa was just now removed from play along with the card you equipped it with. That makes a total of 21 cards. More than enough to take you out in one shot."

Keith: "T-This can't be happening!"

"Oh, look at the timer. It's time for a countdown. 5, 4, 3..."

Everyone was watching, breathless, as the countdown on the dynamite counted. Only Akia's voice was heard.

"2, 1, boom!"

On cue, all the dynamites exploded and Keith lost all of his Life Points.

Bakura: "That was incredible..."

Jounouchi: "She didn't attack even once this entire duel!"

Keith was still in shock over what had just happened. Pegasus, on the other hand, was thrilled with how entertaining the first duel in the finals was.

Pegasus: "Well, the clear winner of this spectacular duel is Akia. Congratulations, you deserved it."

Keith: "This duel is void...! She clearly cheated! How else could everything go so conveniently for her?!"

Everyone then stared at Keith in disgust.

Pegasus: "Should I remind you, Mr. Howard, that you are the one who pulled that 7 Completed card from your wristband?"

"You did what...?! I knew you were an asshole, but now also a cheater?!"

Keith: "Sh-Shut up! I'm sick of you berating me, you little brat!"

Pegasus: "And might I add that the qualification card that you presented in the beginning of the duel was stolen from Jounouchi?"

Jounouchi: "Wait, what...?!"

Jounouchi checked his pockets and found out that the card was indeed missing.

Jounouchi: "You snake!"

Pegasus: "Take that cheater away."

Pegasus' guards then came out to kick Keith out, but, in a fit of rage, he knocked them out. He then leapt to where Pegasus was seated and pointed a gun at him.

Keith: "You're the snake! After how you humiliated me in front of everyone that time, do you think I was just going to let that go? Now, if you want to live, give me the prize money or... Waaaaa...!"

As he was threatening Pegasus, the latter pressed a button on the floor and activated a trap on the ground which sent Keith down a tunnel and out in the ocean. Akia gasped a little. She wondered if Keith was going to be okay. Even though she didn't stand him one bit, she would never hope for him to lose his life.

Pegasus: "Now that this little incident is taken care of, let's have a short break then move on to the next match."