I own nothing.
Pairings are: Naruto x Serenity W. x Ishizu I. x? x?
Yugi x Tea
Joey x Mai
"Normal Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Monster Talk"
'Monster thoughts'
Last time….
"N-Naruto nii-san…. W-were you going to…" Yugi asked, but was too scared to say it.
"Sigh… Yugi there are things I've done to protect you and grandpa that I can never take back and I've made peace with myself in knowing as long as my family was safe… I don't care if the devil has made a claim on my soul, but I will do anything and everything to protect my family. You, grandpa and Serenity are the only one's keeping me sane and if I lose any of you… I fear that my soul will forever be trapped in the darkness that has engulfed my heart" he said as he put on his eye patch which caused him to revert to his original form.
"B-But nii-san…" Yugi tried to say, but was stopped when Naruto placed his hand on Yugi's head and rubbed it.
"Yugi… what you did was something I couldn't have done and I'm proud of you for not letting the desire to win get in the way of your morals" Naruto said as he pulled out the bag with the extra star chip. He then pulled out 5 and placed them in the 5 empty slots.
"Now why don't we go and win back our grandfathers soul and the prize money for Serenity" he said getting a cheer from Yugi's friends and a weak cheer from Yugi who was still coming to terms with what had happen during his duel and with what his brother's duel against Kaiba.
Naruto then went on a head leaving Yugi's group. Joey then turned to Yugi "Yug… I understand where your brother is coming from, because if Serenity were ever put in your shoes when you dueled Kaiba just now… then I would show no mercy for hurting my sister" Joey said which everyone looked at their blonde friend in a different light.
"So, don't hate your big bro Yug because for better or for worse he's always looking out for you because he loves you. Like any sibling should" Joey said right before following Naruto.
Yugi looked on as his brother and friend walked away and took what Joey and Naruto said to heart. The same could be said about the spirit in the millennium puzzle who looked on at the older siblings with respect for they'll do anything to protect their family even if it meant following a dark path just to keep the younger sibling in the light.
Now…
The Moto's and company were heading for the gate, when they met Mai Valentine. Mai saw the group and flinched when she saw Naruto glaring at her with every bit of hate he could muster without drawing everyone's attention. In sensing the tension, Joey decided to break the tension "alright we finally made it! Pegasus's castle!" he said as he ran for the door.
"Race you there Joey!" yelled Tristan as he chased after his friend. The others followed suit.
"You're on!" Joey said.
As they ran for the entrance, Naruto couldn't help but glare at Mai, but shook his head because now he was one step closer to his wish 'don't Serenity… Grandpa, just wait a little longer I'm almost there' Naruto thought to himself.
'I'm coming grandpa' thought Yugi.
Upon making their way, they were greeted by the same man who welcomed them on the pier, but for Yugi and friends they've had several run-ins with this guy "Hmm… Oh, no! No way had you brats won 10 star chips each! Oh boy. Get lost. This isn't some clubhouse. It's a place for duelist elites" he said as Naruto, Yugi, Mai and Joey stepped forward and presented their dueling glove showing that they did have 10 star chips.
"I guess that means we'll fit right in" Mai said.
"Uh…." The guard said shocked to see 4 duelists with the correct amount of star chips needed to enter the castle.
Naruto the stepped forward "would you mind stepping aside, or would you like for me to toss you aside" Naruto said still in a foul mood from his earlier duel with Seto Kaiba.
"Also, would mind telling housekeeping that I like my pillows extra fluffy?" Joey added as he moved to the door getting a growl from the guard.
"You're a doll" Mai joked with Yugi following her to the door where Naruto was placing the star chips into the slot that opened the door. After placing the last star chip and turning the circle panel the door opened up.
"At last! We're finally at the castle" Yugi said excited to be a step closer to saving his grandfather. The contestants began making their way, but were stopped when Tristan, Tea and Bakura tried to enter as well.
"No, No, No!" the guard said as he blocked their path.
"You three don't even have dueling gloves" the guard said.
"But you have to…" Tea said, but was stopped when Naruto kicked the guard in the back of the head sending the poor fool several feet across the courtyard before crashing into a tree knocking him unconscious.
Everyone looked at Naruto in shock in seeing what he did "problem solved" was all he said before going further into the castle. Everyone getting over their shock followed after the blond Moto.
"There is no time to waste" Yugi said as he ran after his older brother.
"You heard the man. Let go" Joey added.
'The sooner I find Pegasus, the sooner I can find my grandpa' Yugi thought.
After a few minutes of running, the group finds themselves on a balcony coming across someone Yugi's group was familiar with "Bandit Keith. I can't stand this guy" Joey seethe. However he wasn't the only who hated this guy; Naruto growled at the mere sight of him. You see in one of the many tournament duels he attended, he dueled the man in question and had almost lost if it wasn't for the fact that he caught the guy cheating.
Keith in hearing Joey turns to see the group "well, what do you know? If it isn't big, tough Joey and his whole crew of dueling dummies" Keith jabbed, but then he then set his sights on Naruto.
"And Naruto Moto…. I still haven't paid you back since you ratted me out" Keith growled.
"You got what you deserved, and a 4 year suspension was a slap on the wrist compared to what I would've done Keith" Naruto growled as his single eye glowed.
"You slime bucket! I've been waiting to find you ever since you left us trapped in that cave" Joey said, now this got Naruto's attention.
"I'm sorry Joey, but care to repeat what you just said…" Naruto said in a low tone, but those who were familiar with that tone knew full well that Naruto was angry.
"This guy trapped us in a cave…" was all Joey said, before Naruto charged Keith and slammed him into a wall, breaking said wall and holding Keith at the throat. This shocked everyone, even Kaiba who was on the walkway down below who witnessed to whole thing, but decided to turn his attention to what's in front of him.
"HOW DARE YOU ENDANGER MY BROTHER!" Naruto yelled as his features changed. By now Yugi was trying to pull Naruto away from Keith.
"Big bro I'm fine please don't…"Yugi begged. Naruto then looked at his brother with his single eye. Naruto growled, but loosened his grip on Keith's neck who then slid to the floor holding his throat and coughing up some blood.
"Keith… I'll give you this one warning…. If you ever endanger my brother again I'll kill you" was all Naruto said before rejoining the group who were shocked and horrified that Naruto would make such a promise, but knew that Naruto loved his brother and would do anything for him as evident from his duel with Kaiba. Joey looked at Naruto with both fear and respect; fear because since he was dating Serenity would she one day see this side to him, and he respected a guy who will do anything to protect their loved ones.
Mai was both horrified and sadden; horrified because this wasn't the first time she'd seen him this angry and saddened because the day she saw him that mad was the day their relationship ended with him hating her with every fiber of his being.
Everyone got over their current state, when Keith spoke "that brother of yours… is a freak" he said getting Yugi's attention.
"Hey don't disrespect my brother" he yelled.
"Whatever… and in case you haven't noticed, we have front row seats for the real action" he said getting everyone to look over the balcony.
"Real action?" Joey asked as he and everyone sane Naruto looked down below to see Seto Kaiba.
"Yeah the world champion and Pegasus. Although I'd say the former world champion isn't that right blondie" Keith said as he looked to Naruto who ignored him in favor of walking to the balcony to see Seto.
"Whoa. It is Kaiba" Yugi gasped.
"I'd hoped to get first crack at the old man myself, but you know what they say; save the biggest match for last" Keith said with an air of arrogance that wasn't missed by Naruto.
"Wait a minute. Are you saying that those two are going to duel?" Yugi asked.
"That is correct" a voice said getting everyone's attention.
"Greeting finalists. I'm Croquet, chief tournament liaison. Congratulations on getting this far. Pegasus is quite taken with all of your dueling talents. In fact he was so impressed he wanted to reward you with some entertainment… a special exhibition match. I think you'll be quite in awe with what you're about to see. Hmm. This match should give you an idea of what's in store for all of you" the man named Croquet said as he introduced himself.
"So basically it's meant to intimidate us, huh?" Mai asked.
"Whatever Pegasus has in store doesn't scare me…" Naruto said getting everyone's attention.
"I made a promise to two people who're very special to me and I will not fail… I cannot fail" Naruto said as he clenched his fists really hard, until his nailed digged into the palms of his hands causing blood to drip onto the floor. Yugi and Joey looked to Naruto and knew should either of them fail, he would fight to save Grandpa Solemn Moto and Serenity Wheeler. Tea, Tristan and Bakura were touched by his determination to win for the people he loved since they were made aware for his reason to being in the tournament by Yugi and Joey. Mai was saddened to see that he had found another to fill in the void she had caused, but knew that she had no one to blame, but herself and wondered if she had done things differently would they still be together and would he have fought for her just as hard as he is for whoever he was fighting for. Keith merely scoffed thinking that the blonde punk was putting a show.
"As touching that may've been, but to answer your question Ms. Valentine, why would Pegasus do something like that?" Croquet said getting a glare from Mai.
"Because he's a Grade-A nut-case" answered Joey.
"Enjoy the match" Croquet chuckled as he left the group. The group then looked down at Seto.
'This should be interesting' Yugi thought.
Seto as he stood waiting for Pegasus clutched his pendant 'little brother, I'm here for you, now and I won't let anything stop me from saving you' Kaiba thought as something caught his attention. On the other side of the platform, a door opened up revealing the creator of duel monsters and the CEO of Industrial Illusions; Maximillian Crawford Pegasus who was flanked by two of his guards.
"Where is my brother?!" Seto demanded.
"What no "hello" no "how are you" I thought we were friends, Kaiba boy. Don't tell me that my kidnapping Mokuba and seizing control of your company has put a rift between us" Pegasus said as he approached Seto and stopping just a few feet away from him.
"It was nothing personal. Besides it's not like I hurt your kid brother. He's perfectly safe. In fact, you can have him back if you like. Just beat me in a duel like we agreed, and I'll hand him over. I mean one little victory shouldn't be a problem for the duel monsters world champion" Pegasus said as his Millennium eye was partially revealed.
Naruto growled as his duel monster spirits appeared to try and calm him down, they didn't come out when he attacked Keith was quite simple…. They were afraid of him especially since his anger was tied to his ability to see, hear and feel duel spirits. Now don't get them wrong they love Naruto and he loves them as well, but when he's angry to the point where he'll most like put someone in ICU or worse the morgue it's best to stay out of his way, although Kisara aka Blue-Eyes White Dragon being the strongest of all of Naruto's monsters will step in to stop him from doing something that he may never forgive himself for.
Naruto in seeing his duel spirits calmed down 'thanks guys' he thought to his duel spirits.
'Master we'll always have your back' Great Shogun Shien spoke via telepathy.
'Naruto-kun, like Shien said, we're here for you' the white dragon spoke in an angelic tone that soothed Naruto's anger into a simmer.
'Again thanks guys' Naruto thought with a small smile, but frowned when he turned his attention to Pegasus.
'That millennium Eye Pegasus has could make it a real big problem, even for Kaiba' Yugi though concerned about Kaiba's chancing of winning against Pegasus.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm not hoping Kaiba loses this duel. I still say he's a first-class jerk for everything he's put us through, but I can't help but feel for him, trying to get his ked brother back" Joey said.
"You and me both Joey" added Naruto.
"As far as I'm concerned anyone who stands up to Pegasus can't be all bad" Tristan said getting agreeing responses from the group sane Keith.
'Joey, Big Bro, and Tristan are right, after all what could be more noble than fighting for someone you love?' Yugi thought as he stared down at Seto.
TIME SKIP: THE DUEL BETWEEN KAIBA AND PEGASUS IS CANON
After witnessing Seto's defeat at the hands of Pegasus, and the loss of his soul everyone was angry, but not as much as Naruto who roared and unleashed a blast of red aura which shot everyone back and cracked the balcony. Naruto's features had changed with his eye patch being torn off his face revealing a crimson eye. He then stares down at Pegasus and releases his KI, something everyone wasn't use to and were now terrified at Naruto.
"PEGASUS… PRAY TO WHATEVER DEITY IS WILLING TO LISTEN TO YOU, BECAUSE I'M COMING FOR YOU!" Naruto roared.
Pegasus regained his composure "I look forward to your best efforts Naru-boy and wonderful performances from all our finalists, but there happens to be too many and I only need 4, so anyone who doesn't have a prize card in their possession is automatically disqualified" Pegasus sneered, but on the inside he was terrified and hoped Naruto loses, because anyone with that level of power and killing intent wasn't human. When hearing what Pegasus said, Naruto, Yugi, Mai and Joey pulled out their prize cards showing two 3 million dollar prize cards from Mai and Joey and two wish cards from Yugi and Naruto. Keith didn't have any of those cards, so in a panic he pulled out a gun, but Naruto already angered attacked Keith, disarmed him and tossed his sorry hide down the pit not caring what happened to him. After all he has already endangered Yugi and his friends once, and he'd be damned should he allow that fool to do so again. However, what no one, not even Naruto had noticed was that his magatama had cracked evident from his earlier outburst of his mysterious power. A power that scared everyone even the spirits of both the Millennium Puzzle and the Millennium Ring.
As Pegasus left the area, his thoughts were turned to something that Shaadi said when he gave him the Millennium Eye…
Mini-Flashback
Pegasus was on the floor holding his face more specifically his left eye. Shaadi stood over Pegasus "remember you're only a place hold for the real owner of that eye. When you meet that one that eye is destined for you will relinquish it to the one it was meant for" Shaddi said as Pegasus barely conscious looked to the man.
"A-and who is the eye destined for?" Crawford asked weakly.
"A boy who possesses a powerful soul and an unstable aura will appear to you, but be warned… the boy bares the spirit of rage deep within his soul and the pendant he wears won't be able to hold back the spirit for long" Shaddi warned.
"H-how would I k-know who it is?" Pegasus asked.
"He will be wearing a magatama and an eye patch covering his left eye" Shaadi explained as Pegasus finally lost conscious.
Mini-Flashback End
'So he's the one Shaadi told me about… no matter I'm not giving up my chance to bring her back. I'm not giving you this eye boy, but I'll take your soul should you get to me' Crawford thought.
Timeskip
Everyone was in their rooms after the creepy dinner with the host which turned out to be a selection of who'll duel. Naruto was paired with Mai Valentine and Yugi was paired against Joey. Throughout the night, the finalists were getting their decks ready for the duel to determine if they had what it took to duel against Maximillion Pegasus; Naruto was communicating with his duel spirits. Yugi was getting his deck ready, while giving the spirit of the millenium puzzle the cold shoulder. Mai was doing the same thing as Yugi, but was concerned about her chances of winning since her opponent is her ex-boyfriend and someone she betrayed. As for Joey… he was sleeping and dreaming of winning the whole tournament.
The rest…. well, they tried to see how Pegasus 'cheated' in his duel with Kaiba, then they discovered a cult… and a bunch of other stuff that thanks to Bakura and his Millennium Ring everyone in Yugi's group didn't remember anything, so this was a mute point.
The next day (A.N. I'm skipping straight to the start of the first duel of the quarter-finals)
It's a bright and sunny day, and most would feel ready to tackle the day, but for those on Duelist Kingdom i.e those in Pegasus castle were anxious especially the four finalist; however Mai was more afraid than anxious because her opponent was someone who wanted to tear her apart for her betrayal of someone she once cared for.
The two stood opposite sides of the dueling arena, while Yugi and friends were on the balcony overlooking the dueling arena.
"So, Yugi… do you have any idea why your brother would hate Mai?" Joey asked wondering why his potential brother-in-law would hate someone so much.
"It's not my place to tell…. all I can say is that Mai betrayed my brother and was somewhat responsible for the loss of his eye" Yugi said not taking his eyes off the two duelists.
"Well whatever the reason is, maybe the two can find some closure because holding onto a grudge for as long has he had is like a poison, and I hope he lets go" Bakura said in a sagely tone. Yugi and the others looked to the white haired boy and were shocked to hear something like that come from him, unknowingly being heard by Naruto who wanted to retort, but knew that the boy had a very good point, holding on to a grudge as long as he had, was like a poison and it was only getting worse as each day passed, so he, he took in a deep breathe and choose to let go.
Before Naruto could speak, Croquet spoke "Duelist's before beginning, please present your prize cards" the butler asked, with both Naruto and Mai showing their cards.
"Very well, please shuffle your decks and be ready to duel" the butler said and he stood to the left of Pegasus. Mai and Naruto did as they were told and after shuffling their decks, they set their cards on the deck zone.
Balcony
"Good luck big bro" Yugi yelled who received a thumbs up from his brother as the magatama around his neck started to glow and Naruto was replaced by his older form, but chose to keep the eyepatch on.
Joey then cut in between Tristan and Tea and stood next to Yugi "Joey what's with you?" Bakura asked.
"What? Getting a birds eye view and to see how good Naruto is, since his last duel with Kaiba" Joey said not taking his eyes off of Naruto.
"You know… you or Yugi may end up having to duel him" Tristan said pointing out what may or may not happen.
"I know, but I know he's dueling for both his grandpa and my sister, so if either of us loses, then we know who'll carry the torch" the blonde said.
"That's quite mature of you Joey" Tea said surprised to see how far Joey has come along since he arrived to Duelist Kingdom.
Duel Arena
Before Mai can say a word, Naruto stopped her "Mai… don't hold anything back, if you want my forgiveness, then duel me with everything you got" he said shocking everyone sane Pegasus and his butlers, but mostly Mai, because ever since that day, Naruto made his mission to avoid her like the plague, but now he was giving her the opportunity to be forgiven, but knowing him he'll never forget, which was okay, because that bridge has long been destroyed and there was no point in mending it, so this was the best she could hope for and so, she nodded as if accepting his offer.
Mai- 2000
Naruto- 2000
"DUEL!" the two yelled in unison.
"I play Harpie Lady (1300/1400) in attack mode" Mai said as she summoned her favorite monster to the field.
Balcony
"That move is Mai's standard opening play" Tristan said having seen first hand how Mai played.
"Naruto be careful…" Tea said, but was stopped by Yugi.
"Tea, my brother knows what he's doing and knowing Mai, she's going to give him the fight to earn his forgiveness, and knowing my brother, he won't make it easy" Yugi stated.
Dueling Arena
"Then I'll lay a card facedown and end my turn" Mai said playing a facedown.
Mai-2000; Harpie Lady;1 Facedown; 4 cards in hand
Naruto-2000; 6 cards in hand
"Good opening play, so I'll start by activating two spell cards Six Samurai United and Gateway of the Six, then I'll summon a monster in defense mode facedown along with a face down, my turn ends here" Naruto announced.
Mai-2000; Harpie Lady;1 Facedown; 4 cards in hand
Naruto-2000; 2 cards in hand; 1 monster face down defense; Gateway of the six, Six Samurai United, facedown
'Playing defensive, must've been a bad hand' Mai thought, not knowing the strategy that was going on through Naruto's head.
Balcony
"Hey Yug, what gives? Normally your brother would do more than that" Joey pointed out, but Yugi who knew his brother better than anyone knew what Naruto was planing.
"Don't worry Joey, knowing my big bro the way I do, don't underestimate his strategy, because it may cost you" Yugi answered his friend.
"Well whatever your brother is planning, better survive Mai'a assault" Bakura added.
Duel Arena
"Heh… guess it's my turn again" Mai said as she played her spell card.
"High fashion for my Harpie Lady… I activate Cyber Shield" Mai announced as her monster was equipped with the card she just played.
1300 + 500= 1800 Harpie Lady (1800/1400)
"Make over complete… Harpie Lady attack his facedown" Mai ordered. Her monster flew up, then dived bombed Naruto's face down revealing a simian wearing armour and holding a spear. When Harpie Lady's attack made contact, the simian smiled as if it knew it's sacrifice will not be in vain.
At this Naruto smiled "thank you Mai you just played right into my hand" Naruto said with a confident smirk.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"The monster you just destroyed was Shien's FootSoldier and when he's destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon 1 level 3 or lower Six Samurai monster from my deck" Naruto stated getting a shocked look from Mai.
"So you had me destroy your facedown knowing it was what you needed" she said realizing her mistake.
Balcony
"Woah… I see what you mean Yug, now with that card going to the grave he can search out any card he needs and I have a feeling I know which one he'll go for" Joey said hyped to see what his potential future brother-in-law will do.
Mmmhmm…. my bro gets me with that that strategy almost every time, if either of us have to face him…. be careful" Yugi warned his friend and himself mostly to the spirit of the puzzle who said nothing, but was watching his hosts older sibling.
Duel Arena
Naruto searched his deck for the right monster and once the monster was selected, he summoned it "the monster I summon with Foot Soldier's ability is The Six Samurai - Yaichi (1300/800)" Naruto said as he summoned the samurai archer who then proceeded to aim his Yumi bow at Harpie Lady who then hissed trying to scare the monster, and all it did was make the archer pull back on the bow even harder.
"Well Mai it seems our monsters don't like each other, not that I blame him, after all samurai's follow a very strict code of honor and duty and must not be distracted by anyone or anything in their path" Naruto stated getting a nodded from Yaichi as if agreeing with his master.
"What is that suppose to mean?" Mai asked.
"It means that my monsters know their goal and will do anything to achieve it. Besides it's my turn" Naruto said as he drew his next card.
"I summon The Six Samurai - Yariza (1000/ 500) in attack mode" Naruto said as he summoned a blue armoured samurai carrying a futuristic spear.
"Then I activate Six Samurai United and send it to the graveyard to draw 2 new cards" Naruto announced as he put the spell card in the discard pile and drew two cards from his deck.
"Now I special summon Grandmaster of the Six Samurai (2100/ 800) in attack mode" he added as he summoned an elder samurai in between Yaichi and Yariza, who proceeded to bow to the aged samurai. The aged samurai then shot a glare at Harpie Lady who backed away in fear at the predatory glare from the older samurai. Hell, even Mai felt how intense the glare was, it was as if the monster was peering into her soul, judging her.
Pegasus on the outside, showed no outward reaction, but on the inside he was seething that the deck he created as a prize for one of the secret tournaments was here and what's worse it was in the possession of Naruto U. Moto; Yugi's older brother and the biggest obstacle to getting the Millenium Puzzle.
'Damn him, those cards plus that spirit he's carrying will mean that getting the puzzle from Yugi-boy will be impossible…. I hope Yugi defeats Naruto here, so that we may duel and I'll have a chance, but there is still the possibility of Naruto facing me in the final duel' Pegasus thought as he hoped that Yugi would defeat his older brother, thus leaving him defenseless against the game master.
Balcony
"Man Yugi your bro is really going all in" Joey said seeing the same monsters when Naruto dueled against Seto, so he knew how this duel will end.
"I know Joey, Naruto-nii isn't giving Mai any breathing room, and even if she found a way to get out, he'll put her back into a corner" Yugi said.
"I see what you mean Yugi, and you brother is about to start cutting Mai down" Tristan said.
Dueling Arena
"I activate Yaichi's special ability you see once per turn: I can target 1 Set Spell/Trap Card and destroy that target. However, to resolve this effect I must control a face-up "Six Samurai" monster with a different name to activate and to resolve this effect. The price for such ability is that this card cannot declare an attack during the turn this effect is activated. So since I control Yariza and Grandmaster who happens to be a Six Samurai monster, my Yaichi's ability activates. Go Yaichi find the trap and clear the path" he ordered his yellow armoured samurai who then armed his yumi bow and aimed at his intended target and fired. The arrow then pierced the card revealing it to be Mirror Wall which then shattered the card. Mai was shocked and horrified in seeing her means of defending her monster shattered into millions of pieces.
"Now that the path is clear, Grandmaster attack Harpie Lady with Quickdraw slash" he ordered the aged warrior who then grabbed his sword, then in a flash of steel the aged samurai then sheathed his sword, then with a click Harpie Lady was sliced in half and was destroyed.
2100 - 1800 = 300
2000 - 300 = 1700
Mai: 1700
Naruto: 2000
"Now I'll activate Yariza's effect and attack you directly" Naruto announced making everyone sane Yugi, Joey and Pegasus wide eye. The blue armoured warrior then drew his spear and shoot at Mai, thus driving the spear into Mai's side of the field.
1700 - 1000 = 700
Mai: 700
Naruto: 2000
"With that, I end my turn" Naruto said.
Mai was scared, no, more like terrified, Naruto her ex had single handedly took her took her apart and on his second turn, had reduced her defenses from 2 to zero. Now she was being stared down by three monsters and one of which could attack her directly, so one more attack and she would lose, so she had to pull a page from Yugi's book and believe in the heart of the cards, and so, she drew her card and smiled.
"I play monster reborn and bring back Harpie Lady" Mai declared playing the revival spell and bring back her Harpie Lady.
"Then I play Elegant Egotist and bring out Harpie Lady Sisters (1950/ 2100)" Mai said as two more Harpie Lady's appeared joining their sister. Naruto's monsters looked back to him seeing if their master was wavering, only to see that Naruto remained strong and has shown no fear.
"But why stop there when I can summon Harpie's Pet Dragon (2000/ 2500)" she announced as she played her fearsome dragon which then let out a mighty roar causing Naruto's monsters to falter.
"But it gets better, you see my dragon gains 300 attack points for every Harpie Lady I have on the field, and I have 3, so my dragon gains 900 extra attack and defense points" Mai explained.
2000 + 900 = 2900/ 2500 + 900 = 3400
Harpie's Pet Dragon (2900/3400)
Balcony
"Woah look at Mai go, she actually made a comeback" Joey said amazed at how far Mai has come along since the start of Duelist Kingdom.
"She must really what his forgiveness, if she's pulling out all the stops" Téa said not looking away.
Yugi said nothing, but remembered what happened, and Pegasus using his Millennium eye to see Naruto's history (AN: I'm not going into much detail and I'm not going to do a flashback, so I'll make this as painless as I can; Naruto was born with an IQ of over 200, so he skipped grades and when he met Mai he was 14 years old and she was 17, the two hit it of, but Mai was using him and was planning on dumping him in front of her actual boyfriend, but as time progressed, she began to genuinely like him, but her boyfriend didn't like it and forced Mai to tell him what she knew about him and she told him about Naruto's younger brother and they had the boy kidnapped and Naruto was forced into a position where it was revealed that Mai as only using him and his brother looked like he was beaten up. Naruto, having one of his eyes cut out by one of the boys with a pocket knife, lost it and lashed out like a possessed demon and he beat up the kidnappers so badly that it looked like some of them would either die from their injuries, or remain crippled for the rest of their lives. A bloodied Naruto picked up his unconscious brother, when Mai tried to stop to see if he was ok, he turned to her with a look of pure hatred towards her and for ever trusting her. He made a vow to never forgive and to never forget what she had done. Then he left the alleyway leaving a shocked and heartbroken Mai as it started to rain as if to cover her tears as they cascaded down her cheeks.)
After seeing the memory, Pegasus had a new somewhat respect for Naruto, but that still didn't mean he would forfeit the match if Naruto made it to him.
Duel Arena
Naruto wasn't scared, if anything he was excited, Mai was delivering what he asked for, she was bringing her A-game and he was waiting for her to make her move.
"Go my dragon attack his Yariza" she ordered her dragon to attack, but Naruto saw this coming and activated the face down he played a turn ago.
"Sorry Mai I activate my facedown Negate Attack and stop your monsters attack and end your battle phase" Naruto said as he activated his trap card to protect his monsters. Mai clenched her teeth, but knew that Naruto was unpredictable and should've expected such a move, but ignored the facedown he played, her mistake.
"Well Mai, that was unexpected, but looks like my turn" he said as he drew the next card from his deck and was wide eye.
"Mai, I call it final turn and it starts with this come forth my faithful engine of destruction Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/ 2500)" he announced as he summoned the dragon of legend. Seeing this card shocked everyone sane those who knew that he possessed the card mainly Yugi's group minus Bakura.
"I-It can't be…. you have the fourth Blue-Eyes" Mai said in shock.
"Yes… my grandpa gave me this card and trusted me to protect it, now this duel ends here… Blue-Eyes attack Harpie's Pet Dragon with Burst Stream of Destruction" he ordered his dragon. The Blue-eyes then opened its mouth and launched a beam of white energy at Mai's dragon. The beam hit the poor dragon and destroyed it.
3000 - 2900 = 100
Mai: 700 - 100 = 600
Naruto: 2000
"And now, Yariza attack her directly end this duel!" Naruto ordered his monster, who then rushed passed Mai's remaining monsters and launched his spear at her and this taking the remainder of her life points.
Mai: 700 - 1000 = -300
Mai: 0
Naruto: 2000
Winner: Naruto U. Moto
"The winner of the duel and proceeding to the semifinals is Naruto U. Moto" Croquet announced the winner to the first duel of the finals. Yugi and friends cheered for Naruto's victory, and Naruto looked at Mai.
"Mai…" he said getting her attention.
"You've earned my forgiveness…." he said getting a shocked look from Mai.
"But know this, forgiving you wasn't my idea, for that you should be thanking my current girlfriend for convincing me into forgiving you, so thank her when you see her" Naruto said. Before leaving, he was stopped "Wait!" Mai yelled.
"Who… who is your girlfriend?" Mai asked to know who was the one to convince him to forgive her.
"Her name is Serenity Wheeler…. Joey Wheeler's younger sister and one of the ones who I'm here for… she's losing her sight and I need the prize money to pay for the operation she needs to save her sight" he said as he left not even reversing the effect of the Magatama. Mai was speechless that someone had managed to talk him into forgiving her and she wanted to find her and thank her and maybe learn how she managed to talk the blonde into forgiving her.
As this was going on, both Yugi and Joey were staring at each other because now, two very good friends must duel to see who'll proceed to the semifinals and will duel against Naruto, then Pegasus.