Welcome welcome! I come bearing a new chapter! This is a bit of a longer one since it is all three episodes of the final duel of the KC tournament! Hope you all are staying safe and healthy!

*I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I only own my OC, Christine. If you recognize anything, I don't own that either.*

I was getting stiff from sitting in this seat for so long. I wanted to stand up and stretch but was most likely not going to be given the chance for another few minutes. Since I was still sitting, I could hear Rebecca start to talk.

"Can you believe that guy?" Rebecca huffed. "He weaseled his way into this tournament just to publicly humiliate Kaiba!"

"Well…" Leon argued. "He did have his reasons…"

"Yeah…" Honda added. "But when he started endangering people's lives, Zigfried stepped over the line."

"I agree." I added with a nod. "Hurting other people for your own revenge only makes you look more like a bad guy."

"Do you guys think all that stuff about Kaiba stealing Zigfried's invention is true?" Yugi suddenly asked. "I mean, he seems pretty bitter."

"Hardly! Kaiba's been working on that stuff for years! Remember those virtual reality pods? I'm sure Zigfried is just blinded by anger and jealousy."

Yugi gave a hum and, from the shiver down my spine, he went for Yami's opinion. He said nothing to argue with me so I guess our thoughts were pretty close.

Mokuba then chased after his brother, most likely congratulating him. They spoke to Roland for a moment before Kaiba gave one of his evil laughs and walked off. The man fumbled for a second before pulling out his microphone.

"It's the moment you've all been waiting for!" Roland called. "The final match of the Grand Championships featuring the Boy Wonder and Semi-Finalist Champ! It's Leaping Leon Wilson!"

All of us gave cheers and claps but… Leon didn't look too happy. He actually looked a bit nervous. "He'll face off against the reigning International Duel Monsters Champion! None other than the King of Games himself, Yugi Motou!" Leon's smile returned as he looked at Yugi, who smiled back. "This will be a duel to remember!"

The crowd was allowed to leave then as we all headed to the Blue Eyes Fortress. I didn't even know what this thing was but it sure looked neat! Mokuba took the rest of the gang to where they were sitting while I quickly followed after Yugi and Yami to wish them luck. I must have just missed the switch as Yami was now walking up the steps.

"Hey!"

Yami turned around and smiled.

"Shouldn't you be with everyone else?" He asked.

"I should but I wanted to wish you two luck. I know you'll do great!"

The smile grew and I gave him a quick hug but tight before I scampered off. I didn't want to miss too much of the duel by waiting in the tunnel. I dashed as fast as I could but I only made it back up when Kaiba started talking. No one paid me any mind as I stood next to Anzu as we looked up at the CEO.

"The KC Grand Championship Tournament was designed with one thing in mind: finding the only person besides myself who deserves to be called the Greatest Duelist in the World! So these two competitors will face off in one final battle to determine just that! Start the duel!"

The first thing I noticed was the absolute malice in Leon's voice. He didn't sound like himself. What was going on? He played Forest Wolf in attack mode and I couldn't help but recognize the apron and bonnet on its head. The Big Bad Wolf?

"What the heck is that?" Jounouchi asked. "A Wolf in Grandma's clothing?"

"Don't be fooled!" Rebecca warned. "That card's bad news!"

Yami fusion summoned Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast and quickly destroyed the wolf. We all cheered but Leon snapped at us. I couldn't help but actually feel hurt at the words. I stared silently as Leon then played a card that looked a lot like Little Red Riding Hood.

"She's so cute!" Anzu cooed.

"I can't believe I know this but isn't that Little Red Riding Hood?" Jounouchi asked.

"I guess Leon still likes Fairy Tales."

"Trust me, you guys don't even know the half of it." Rebecca deadpanned.

"Well how tough can they be?"

"Let's just say they're not the sweet little characters you guys remember!"

"Make your move!" Leon practically spat and I flinched at the words.

"Leon!" I gasped.

The boy didn't look up, eyes still narrowed at Yugi. What was going on?

"Speaking of not being sweet, what's up with Leon?" Anzu asked.

"Yeah!" Rebecca agreed. "Ever since this duel started, he's been acting like a jerk!"

"For once, I agree with you dorks." Kaiba's voice suddenly cut in.

We all turned around to see Kaiba now glaring daggers down at Leon. "I've been watching the competitors closely since the tournament began and something definitely seems different about that kid!" Was it something like Invasion of the Body Snatchers…? I mentally whacked myself for even suggesting that.

Yami started his next turn by playing Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. Why was he obnoxious? That was the real question of the day. The elven warrior attacked Little Red Riding Hood but then her special ability activated. When she's destroyed, she can let Leon summon a level four warrior monster from his deck. He chose Forest Hunter, who also had an effect that could banish a Beast or Beast Warrior monster before he even attacks. That meant Chimera! The large beast exploded but Leon didn't smile. He only said that he had a job to do. I wasn't allowed to dwell on it long as one of Kaiba's men jumped up behind him.

"Mr. Kaiba!" The man cried. "You've got to take a look at this!"

Kaiba snatched the paper from the man. "Something was fishy in Leon's profile so I ran another background check."

Kaiba glared at the paper like it would catch fire.

"Tell me this is some kind of joke."

"I'm afraid it's true, Herr Kaiba!" Zigfried's voice sounded so cheerful with that.

"So this is the final part of your twisted plan?"

"Yes. Unt it took you long enough to figure it out."

What was going on up there? What was in Leon's profile that would scare Kaiba's men so much?

"Throwing away your own life wasn't good enough so you had to drag your own brother down with you?!"

We all gasped. Leon was Zigfried's brother? I turned back to Leon to see if he would argue but he didn't, only looking up as Zigfried walked onto the balcony where Kaiba stood.

"It's all true, every word of it! Leon Vilson is, in reality, my younger brother! Leon von Schroeder!"

It was actually kind of brilliant. He made Kaiba focus on him while Leon could sneak through the ranks to the top and win the Championship crown. But it all hinged on Leon winning the duel and, Kaiba said it best that only he had the talent to beat him.

"Tell me, Leon!" Yami then called. "Are you really here to destroy Kaiba Corp or are you letting your brother control who you are?!"

Leon didn't get a chance to answer as his brother jumped in.

"Listen, Leon! Don't let these do-gooders turn you against me! Zey will never understand vhat our family has been through! Now go ahead and crush Yugi Motou so you can obtain Championship title that you so rightfully deserve! It's your duty as a Schroeder!"

Leon nodded his head, saying he understood. Yami tried to talk to him again but Leon shut him down. It broke my heart to hear him say that this was the first time Zigfried had asked him for help. Leon explained that Zigfried had always been the favored child in their household while Leon was ignored. He had to learn to entertain himself and had always loved Fairy Tales. Then he discovered Duel Monsters and, through changing his name to protect his identity, he won tournament after tournament. Zigfried caught him after winning a tournament and essentially used his desire to be a part of his family to coerce him into being part of his plan. I couldn't fight the tears at that. It was emotional abuse!

Leon continued the duel, playing Iron Hans which let him automatically summon his Iron Knight. They were all lower attack points than Obnoxious Celtic Guardian but… I was worried about an effect. Still wiping away tears, I stared at the duel.

There was a brush at my cheek but no one was standing next to me. I glanced over to see a translucent Slifer standing next to me. I might have jumped in surprise but the god card had already done more than enough strange things that I was now numb to it.

"And how are you here?" I muttered.

There was silence at that so I looked back to the duel, seeing Leon send his own monster to the graveyard with a giant iron cage.

'Check your pocket, child.' A whispery voice echoed in my ear, the same one where Slifer's head was.

I did so and tried to hide my surprise when I felt three duel monster cards laying innocently in my pocket. Conniving spirit! He stuck the god cards in my pocket when I hugged him! I was wondering where he was keeping them! There was a laugh from the voice but it quickly faded into a soft hum. 'Do not worry about Leon, child.' I immediately gave a sigh.

"I can't help it." I watched as the Forest Warrior attacked Yami next, lowering his life points even further. "He's having his emotions tugged at by his psychopath of a brother when all he wants is to be accepted and loved by his emotionally distant family. I'm scared the Leon I thought I knew is completely gone."

'He isn't.'

"And why do you say that?"

The Slifer head twisted to look at Leon and I followed. He was looking down at his cards, a sweet smile on his face. Those fairy tales meant everything to him. Then the ice took over again leaving me sighing.

'If anyone can get through to him, it is the Pharaoh.'

"If you say so."

The little god didn't vanish from my shoulder, adjusting so that the large head laid against my shirt like a parrot. I hoped he was right.

Yami started his next turn by playing Queen's Knight as well as a card face down. Most likely a trap card to protect himself. Leon retaliated by activating his Iron Cage's second effect, bringing back the monster he had destroyed. The re-summoning allowed him to bring up another Iron Knight. The boy then played Spinning Wheel Spindle and I recognized which Fairy Tale that was from.

"It's time to reenact the story of Sleeping Beauty with your Queen!" Leon called.

I couldn't help but flinch at that. I had totally forgotten that Queen's Knight was on the field. There were too many queens here. The translucent Slifer gave a chuckle and I told him to shut up, hardly caring that he was a god. Queen's Knight would be back in three turns but Leon still had three monsters. Mirror Force took care of them in quick order but I knew the duel wasn't over yet. Leon continued by playing Water of Life, which allowed him to bring a monster back from the grave. He brought back Iron Hans again and, again, another Iron Knight appeared to join the party.

Slifer was immediately on my case when I started giggling when Yami started his turn with Pot of Greed.

'Is now really the time to be laughing at such a thing?'

"When is it not?" I retorted. "Gotta laugh at something."

There was a sigh but he didn't argue with me. With the help of Pot of Greed, Yami drew Watapon, the cute puff ball of a monster, and was able to summon it since it was drawn with the help of a spell card. He was still allowed to summon as Watapon was a special summon so he ribute the puff ball to summon Dark Magician Girl. The look on Leon's face was just like his normal one, blushing when she blew him a kiss. It sadly didn't last long. She attacked his Iron Knight and Yami ended his turn.

Leon then played a card that made Kaiba, Grandpa and Professor Hawkins gasp. Golden Castle of Stromberg wasn't exactly a card I'd ever heard of before. What did it do? Leon said one of the effects was he could automatically summon a level four monster from his deck and he chose Cinderella. Her summoning allowed Leon to summon his Pumpkin Carriage and Cinderella was allowed to attack directly! What?! The glass had to have hurt when it hit him. It also didn't help that when Cinderella attacked, her shoes were transferred to Dark Magician Girl, who lost 1000 attack points and now couldn't attack Cinderella herself.

"Yugi's getting crushed!" Ryuji gasped.

"He's the King of Games!" Jounouchi argued. "Ya think he's scared of some princess?!"

"That's no princess!" Rebecca argued with him. "That's a monster in heels!"

'Well, that's kind of rude.'

I rolled my eyes at the god's comment. I was brought back to the present when Professor Hawkins started talking.

"You see, kids." He breathed. "There are several Duel Monsters cards that Pegasus created but never fully developed and therefore never officially released."

"You three." I huffed at Slifer who gave a surprisingly evil laugh.

"And the Golden Castle of Stromberg is one of them!"

"Then how did Leon get hold of it?" Jounouchi asked.

"I recall a tournament several years ago that offered the Golden Castle Card as the Grand Prize but it was never meant to be used!" Grandpa explained.

"That's right! Because it was only a test sample, it was forbidden from tournament play!"

"And since only one copy was ever made, it remains one of the most sought after cards in the game!"

"I just can't believe that Leon has it in his deck!"

It may not have been there to start with. I had noticed Leon glancing up at Zigfried before he played the card. Zigfried may have given him it. Slifer's head adjusted to move to my other shoulder, a hum echoing in my other ear.

"If that's really a non-registered card," Mokuba breathed up to his brother, "Leon's duel disk shouldn't have recognized it, right? So… What's the deal?"

"The Card Limiter must have been deactivated!" Kaiba gasped. "And I think I know how."

"Hold on!" Jounouchi jumped in. "So that means that Leon is cheating!"

Leon's eyes shifted away from the hard ice. He looked horrified.

"I am?!" He gasped.

Zigfried of course denied hacking into Kaiba's mainframe to ensure this would happen. He again goaded Kaiba to stop the duel if only to harm his reputation. It seems Zigfried was thinking he had Kaiba right where he wanted him. I've known Kaiba for a long time now but I highly doubted this guy had a good read on him from just a few chance meetings. The elder Schroeder kept trying to convince Leon that the card was real but I could see the seeds of doubt beginning to fester in Leon's eyes.

"How could you!" Yami growled up at Zigfried.

"I knew you were jerk but lying to your own brother?!" Jounouchi growled as well.

Poor Leon… Being lied to by the one person he wanted to have notice him. Slifer's head brushed up against my cheek again, being a perfect quiet comfort.

"Don't listen to them, Leon!" Zigfried continued to call down to Leon. "They don't care about you! These friends of Herr Kaiba just vant to tear our family apart! Now who are you going to believe: these strangers or your own flesh and blood?"

Leon looked so confused now. He looked at his duel disk wordlessly for another few seconds before looking back up to his brother.

"It's just…" Leon's voice shook as he spoke. "I don't wanna win by cheating…"

"I told you zat card is legal!"

"Don't trust him." Yami said far more calmly than I would have, turning to face Zigfried rather than Leon.

"Why not?" Leon asked.

"He's just using you. He reprogramed Kaiba Corp's dueling system, forcing our duel disks to accept an illegal card!"

"Is this true?"

I didn't give Zigfried the attention he wanted, keeping my eyes on the duel. Zigfried admitted to hacking the system to get the card accepted but he still had the gall to try and keep Leon on his side. Thankfully, the ball was already set in motion as Leon played Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Golden Castle.

'Don't get your hopes up.'

Hm? I looked again and gasped. The castle was still there?! What?! Zigfried's laugh explained everything. He hacked the card's data, protecting it from Spell cards, Trap cards and who knew what else! He also added a virus into the card data. Once it was played, a devastating virus would be unleashed into Kaiba's system. It was actively deleting everything in Kaiba's mainframe!

"It's all my fault…"

The damage had been done. Zigfried had lost Leon's cooperation. "I never should have trusted him but now it's too late."

"It's never too late, Leon!" I called.

The boy looked up at me but it was like he couldn't even see me as his eyes dropped back to his deck. He can't surrender! His dream of dueling Yugi! Funny enough, Zigfried stopped him from surrendering, saying that the virus couldn't be stopped by surrendering the duel. It had to be destroyed.

"How?" Anzu groaned. "Spell and Trap cards are useless against it, right?"

"Yeah." Jounouchi agreed. "And who know what other abilities Zigfried added to that thing."

Leon still felt hopeless but Yami refused to give up hope. Just like when he fought against Slifer and Marik's infinite combo, I knew he would find this card's weakness. The god himself gave a chuckle like he knew that was what I was thinking.

Kaiba left quickly after that, Mokuba following on his heels. They were most likely going to lead the group trying to protect as many files as they can. I watched as Yami went to give Leon some comforting words but he still looked worried. This betrayal hit deep. I didn't have any siblings so I wouldn't know what this felt like.

Yami started his turn by drawing a card but Dark Magician girl began to attack. What is she doing?!

"Golden Castle of Stromberg's special effect is automatically activated!" Zigfried cheerfully exclaimed.

Dark Magician Girl attacked but it was reflected back at her, destroying her immediately. What the heck just happened? "As long as my new and improved castle remains on the field, both player's monsters will be forced to do battle each turn. Unt as an added twist, whenever one of your monsters is forced to attack, half of that monster's attack points are then deducted from your life points. Unt then the monster itself is destroyed!" What kind of effect was that?!

"Can he really make a card do that?!" Jounouchi gasped.

"I think he just did!" Honda added.

Leon looked downtrodden again but Yami was quick to lift his spirits.

"Leon!" He called. "We can't give up! Every card has a weakness and as long as we continue to duel to the very end, we'll find a way to tear that castle down!"

He was very good at lifting spirits. I'm sure he's had a lot of practice with all of us. Slifer gave a knowing laugh but no matter how much I looked at him to talk, he kept both of his mouths shut.

Yami played a card face down and ended his turn. But before Leon could start his own turn, Zigfried butt in again with another one of his added effects. Yami had to place half of his deck into the graveyard with every one of Leon's turns. That was utter bullshit! Leon unwittingly played another Forest Wolf and his monsters were now forced to attack. Cinderella landed an attack on him but the moment Forest Wolf attacked, his face down card protected him. Dark Magic Retribution let Yami bring back a spellcaster from the graveyard if he was attacked. He chose Dark Magician Girl, who protected him for the duration of the turn before returning to the graveyard.

Yami's next turn began and Queen's Knight returned. Oh yeah, it has been three turns! That felt like an eternity ago. He then played two cards face down but then activated Card of Sanctity, letting them both draw till they had six cards. He then summoned King's Knight, and with Queen's Knight already on the field, he could summon Jack's Knight. Then playing Royal Straight, Yami could sacrifice his three knights to summon Royal Straight Slasher from his hand, deck or graveyard. The warrior was imposing for sure, but he was kinda creepy. But his effect, by what Yami was describing, could actually destroy the Castle.

"Oooh…" I hummed. "Will it work?"

Slifer was quiet, which didn't give me any confidence. Yami had to discard a monster from the first five levels to activate the effect. Level one was Kuriboh, level two was Old Vindictive Magician, level three was Giant Soldier of Stone, level four was Big Shield Gardna and level five was Curse of Dragon. The effect was a large explosion, destroying all of Leon's monsters but the debris covered the castle for the moment. Did it work?

Zigfried's laughter told me otherwise. So monster effects were useless after all!

I was tempted to whack Honda for suggesting the duel was done and there was going to be a new champion but Yami playing Time Travel stopped me. It ensured that the Slasher didn't attack and Yami lost the rest of his life points. Leon drew to start his turn and Zigfried called for Yami to put half of his deck into the graveyard. Yami only smiled.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I can't do that." Yami sassed.

"You must!" Zigfried argued.

Yami lifted his duel disk to show that only one card was left in the slot. It was another Slifer incident. Instead of running out of cards to draw, he couldn't put half of one card into the graveyard.

"You're wrong! There's only one card left in my deck! That makes it impossible for me to deposit half of it into the graveyard! So I suppose your Golden Castle of Stromberg has to go!"

It was Zigfried's turn to look horrified as the Golden Castle faded away like it should have with Mystical Space Typhoon. Leon's smile was genuine as he looked back to Yami.

"You did it!" Leon cheered.

"You mess with the best and you fail like the rest!" Jounouchi quoted.

I knew he could do it. I smiled as I lifted a hand to brush a finger along the tiny Slifer head.

"Get a load of Zigfreak!" Honda taunted.

"Oh well! You schemed, you cheated and you still lost!"

Zigfried didn't take the offense, only starting to laugh.

"I admit that I'm surprised Yugi was able to dismantle my Golden Castle, but in the end, victory will be mine!"

"Yeah, right!"

'He has a point…' Slifer droned quietly as Zigfried began to talk again.

"You're not on his side, right?!" I hissed.

'Of course not, child. I'm only saying that Leon has a slight advantage at the moment; the Pharaoh only has one card left and it's Leon's turn; Zigfried still believes that Leon will win.'

Well… no pressure there… I kept mindlessly rubbing over the Sky Dragon's head as I looked back to the duel.

"I'm quitting!" Leon called again.

"Don't even think about it!" Yami argued with him. "Now that your brother's castle is gone, the real duel can begin! You owe it to yourself to fulfill your dream and see this duel through to the end. Right?"

Leon smiled again. There he goes again. Leon nodded. "I believe it was your move." The Slasher returned since it was Leon's turn and the Time Travel card's effect faded. Leon started his turn by playing Monster Reborn to bring Cinderella back from the graveyard, which let him summon his Pumpkin Carriage again. He then sacrificed both of them to summon Hexe Trude to the field. I had no idea what fairy tale she was from but wow! She attacked Yami's slasher and gained 400 extra attack points just for destroying him. She now had 3000 attack points!

Ok… Yami… it was time for a miracle.

Yami drew his last card and the tide began to shift. He placed one card face down just to destroy it with Emergency Provisions, gaining 1000 life points. He then played his own Monster Reborn and the look on Leon's face when Dark Magician showed up was so cute! To make up for the fact that Hexe Trude had more attack points, Yami then played Necromancy, bringing back four random monsters from Leon's graveyard in defense mode. It seemed strange but then he explained that Hexe Trude would lose 600 attack points for each one that was destroyed. And if he destroys all of them at once… She would have nothing! And he did just that. By sacrificing 1000 life points, Yami was able to activate Diffusion Wave Motion and end the duel.

"Yeah, baby!" Jounouchi cheered.

"He won!" Anzu and Rebecca cheered as well, surprisingly holding each other.

"Knew it." I hummed.

'There was some doubt…'

I poked the god on his translucent nose.

"Hush, you."

There was a chuckle before the god finally faded away. I huffed at his after image. What was he even doing here to begin with? I wasn't going to get an answer so I looked back down to see Yami walking over to Leon. They talked for a moment before Leon threw himself into Yami's chest, crying. That brought tears to my eyes.

"Oh, would you stop your whimpering!" Zigfried's voice made the tears fade into anger.

He had suddenly gotten down to the bottom level. "It wasn't a total loss! It will take years of reprograming for Kaiba Corp to restore what my devastatingly brilliant computer virus has destroyed! Unt in the meantime…"

"You'll what?" Kaiba's voice taunted. "Take all of my business away?"

We all looked up to see Kaiba and Mokuba had come back. "You might've had a chance if your plan actually worked, Zigfried."

"Vat?!"

"The moment I laid eyes on you; I knew you were a snake. So I was more than prepared for your little scheme! My entire computer network has already been restored. So the only loser here is you!"

Kinda harsh… but needed…

"I don't believe you! My strategy was flawless!"

"Zigfried, wait…" Leon tried to talk to his brother.

Zigfried snapped around, eyes almost mad.

"Not now, Leon."

"Look, even if your plan did work, nothing would have changed! Can't you see that our family's obsession with the Kaiba's has ruined us?"

Zigfried actually scared me when he fell to his knees.

"What's ruined us, Leon, is that I'm weak! I'll never beat Kaiba!"

"That's the first sensible thing he's said all week." Kaiba huffed.

That nearly got a snort out of me. Wow, Kaiba pulled no punches. I would have told him off but the brotherly moment below took my anger out of me.

Roland quickly wrapped up the Tournament, proclaiming Yugi Motou as the continued reigning champion of Duel Monsters. Like that was totally unexpected.

The next day, we were all packed up at an airport, ready to go home. I had returned the God Cards after Yugi went on a panicked search for them earlier. Seems I was the only one to have seen Slifer on my shoulder, nor did anyone hear my whispers to him. He didn't even show up again despite me holding onto the cards for the rest of the day yesterday. Oh, well. My little secret.

"That was fun!" Jounouchi said mid-stretch. "But I'm ready to go back."

"I'm ready for a home cooked meal!" Honda exclaimed.

"Ooohh, me too!" I agreed.

Honda and I high fived for the agreement and the gang laughed.

"Not to drag out this goodbye because I'll be in your neighborhood in a few weeks." Ryuji said.

"Why's that?" Jounouchi asked.

Ryuji got a coy look in his eye then. I immediately became nervous.

"I've got a date with Shizuka."

I jumped out of the way before he was murdered by Jounouchi and Honda. I didn't know if I wanted to break it up since we were in public but I ended up just rolling my eyes. I moved over to Yugi and Anzu then.

"Yugi…" Rebecca hummed. "Don't forget you promised to email me twice a day and visit every weekend!"

That seems a bit much… Yugi only chuckled and agreed. "And you!" Rebecca pointed at me.

"Me?" I asked, eyes widening in curiosity.

"You keep an eye on 'him'!"

I immediately caught on to who 'him' was and laughed. I gave a playful salute in response.

"Will do, Rebecca."

Mokuba then came over, berating us for being late for the flight home. Kaiba had been nice enough to let us use his private plane to get us back to Japan. It may have been a long flight but I was glad to finally be home.

When Meg was admitted into our class at school barely a week later, I knew fate had an interesting turn of events coming up real soon.

Hope you all enjoyed!

Yami Bakura: *Makes a duck call*

*Gives him a dirty look* Really?

Yami Bakura: I'm just giving your audience a hint as to what's making you take so long on writing stuff. *Makes the duck call again.*

I want to see him beat the game! What do you want me to do?!

Yami Bakura: Write?! What else?!