DISCLAIMER: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine.

A Duel With Destiny Part II

'Tell me, Ishizu,' Kaiba sneered, 'do you still think destiny is on your side? Or have you finally faced up to the undeniable truth that this duel is mine?'

Shamee just looked up at the field, nearly rolling her eyes. Kaiba was cocky now, but soon – very soon – he would be horrified. This was a trick he would never see coming. He always had been so confident on winning that it never occurred to him to think how things could possibly go wrong.

'You know, I gotta hand it to her,' Joey said. 'She's about to get stomped, but that Ishizu's keeping her cool.'

Tristan was quick to agree. 'Yeah, I'm starting to think that maybe she does know something we don't.'

'No way,' Duke argued. 'It's just an act.'

'Act or no act,' Téa said. 'She's in big trouble!'

'Yeah, thanks to Kaiba, most of her monsters are in the graveyard now.' Joey's comment made Shamee roll her eyes again.

She'd done that on purpose.

Beside Shamee, the Pharaoh muttered to himself – or, to Yugi.

Kaiba just continued gloating up there. 'Your most powerful cards are in the graveyard and soon the rest of your cards will join them!'

'I'm well aware of your plan, Kaiba,' Ishizu said.

'Ha!' Kaiba lifted a finger into the air. 'This is it!' He pointed down then. 'My face-down card will finish you off.' He activated the card in question and it flipped up. 'Virus Cannon, wipe out ten magic cards in her deck!'

'What's this?' the Pharaoh demanded.

The Cannon appeared on the field.

'I'm about to destroy your deck!' Kaiba gloated. The end of the Cannon's stick glowed. 'Or what's left of it.'

The beam shot out from the Cannon. Ishizu simply lifted her arm and the beam hit the cards remaining in her deck. All of her magic cards were destroyed. Smoke wafted up from her deck.

'Heh!' Kaiba curled his lip. 'And now almost every magic card in your deck has been sent to the graveyard.' He laughed at his apparent triumph. 'As if your deck wasn't pathetic enough!' He began bragging. 'First my Crush Card destroyed all your high-powered monsters, then my Cannon did the same thing to your magic cards.'

Ishizu ignored him and just discarded the cards in question.

'Your deck is no longer a threat!' Kaiba proclaimed.

That's where you're wrong, my friend.

'So, do you still think I'm gonna lose?'

'I do,' Ishizu said. 'You've played into my hands, Kaiba. Now, you've sealed your own fate.'

Kaiba glared at her. 'Nonsense! I've heard enough of your false predictions!'

'My predictions are quite real, and now you've fallen into my trap!'

At the word trap, Kaiba finally seemed to take it all seriously. 'But how? Your…cards! They're gone!'

'I still have my trap cards.' Ishizu activated the one in front of her and it flipped up. 'Reveal Exchange of the Spirit!'

There it was – that horrified look. Shamee smirked.

'This card will be the beginning of your downward spiral towards defeat, Kaiba. At a cost of 1000 life points,' Ishizu's life points dropped to 1400, 'my trap replaces the cards in each of our decks with those in our graveyards.'

Leaving Kaiba with a deck of only six cards.

'See what I meant?' Shamee asked.

The Pharaoh nodded. 'Earlier Kaiba sent almost every card in Ishizu's deck right to the graveyard. Now she gets them all back, along with the magic card she lost last turn.' The two players switched the cards over. 'But Kaiba's not so lucky. He had only six cards in his graveyard. Once he uses them up, his deck will be empty and he'll lose the duel.'

'And the dill-hole played right into her hands,' Shamee concluded.

YGO

Kaiba had heard Sharee's description of him. Usually he'd be offended, but after what had just happened, calling him a dill-hole was fairly mild. He had played right into Ishizu's hands. He'd heard Sharee say Ishizu had once used the trick on her, but he'd just disregarded it.

'I believe it's my turn, Kaiba,' Ishizu said. She drew.

Kaiba growled. 'Then go.' He reluctantly threw the rest of his deck into his graveyard.

'Very well.' Ishizu took a card from her hand. 'I summon Kelbek.' She set the card and it appeared on the field. The dork patrol nattered on between themselves below. A final card appeared on the field at Ishizu's feet. 'I'll play one card face-down. That ends my turn.'

How had this happened. This is my Tournament! If I lose, I'll be humiliated!

'Seto! What happened up there?'

Kaiba looked down at his brother. 'Never mind. Have you finished translating that card yet?'

'Not quite yet. There's still one line left, Seto!'

Kaiba ground his teeth and looked over at Ishizu as she spoke.

'Make your move.'

'When I'm ready!' Kaiba snapped. His hand shook as he reached for his deck.

'You will pick Virus Cannon.'

Kaiba's hand shook as he drew.

'Take a look.'

Kaiba grunted and looked. Virus Cannon.

'You have chosen Virus Cannon, correct?'

Kaiba stared in disbelief.

'I'll take your silence as a "yes". So go ahead and play your trap card right now.'

Kaiba stared at her, desperately trying to understand.

'You can't escape what the future holds.'

Rage shot through him. 'I will not listen to any more of this nonsense!' He set the card and it appeared on the field. It flipped up. 'Activate Virus Cannon!' Once more, it appeared on the field.

'My trap will send it straight to the graveyard.'

With a cry of alarm, Kaiba's eyes widened.

She flipped her face-down card up. 'Activate Muko! I'm afraid that's the end of your Cannon.'

Kaiba sent the card to the graveyard.

'And soon it will be the end of you, Kaiba. Have you accepted the power of my Millennium Necklace yet? Or do you still deny that I have already foreseen your defeat?'

Kaiba closed his eyes in an effort to dismiss her claims. 'Make your move.' He looked down at his hand, at one card in particular. There's only one way for me to win this. I must summon Obelisk the Tormentor. Ishizu will cower in fear before the very Egyptian God Card she gave to me!

Ishizu drew. 'And now I summon Zorga, in attack mode.' She played the card and it appeared on the field.'

Kaiba glared across at the monsters over there. I may only have a few cards left in my deck, but I have everything I need in order to win this duel.

'Kaiba!' Yugi called. 'Listen to me!'

With a start, Kaiba looked down at Yugi.

'You're in over your head.'

'Stay out of this,' Kaiba growled.

Yugi ignored him and went on anyway. 'This tournament of yours is more than just a game.'

Kaiba drew back.

'Have you not seen the damage Marik has caused so far?' Yugi asked. 'The people he's harmed? You might be next! There is an ancient magic at work that cannot be denied! And if you continue to ignore it, you're a fool!'

Okay, so Yugi's little speech had scared him a bit but he wasn't going to let that be known. He covered it up, closing his eyes and scoffing. He turned back to Ishizu. 'All right. Let's go. Make your move!'

'You'll regret those words, Kaiba,' Ishizu said. 'Zorga, attack his Dark Gremlin with Cape of Destruction!' Her monster moved, attacking. Something came out from under the cape as his Gremlin was cut up in pieces.

Kaiba's life points dropped to 2850.

Ishizu went on. 'But that's not all. Come forth, Kelbek, and attack his life points directly!' A beam of yellow light shot from the eye of her other monster and crossed the field to hit Kaiba.

Somehow, pain shot through him. He staggered back. He glared at her. 'Are you done?' Kaiba's points dropped again to 1350.

'No, Kaiba,' Ishizu said. She set a card. 'Next, I'll place this card face-down,' the card appeared on the field, 'and now I am done.'

Ishizu's face-down card must be a trap. But what kind of trap is it? Well, I know what I need to do: avoid losing my life points long enough to summon Obelisk the Tormentor. Then this duel will be over. He narrowed his eyes. 'I hope you're ready! Ready to lose, that is! I draw.' He drew.

'Activate trap card,' Ishizu's face-down card flipped up, 'Muko!'

Another one? Kaiba groaned in annoyance. 'My card…it goes straight to the graveyard!'

'Let's go, Seto!' Mokuba called from below. 'I know you can do this! Come on, there's no way you're gonna lose this, big brother! Use your secret weapon, now!'

Kaiba looked at his hand. 'Hm.' He's right. I have to summon Obelisk now if I'm going to win, but I'll need to sacrifice three monsters first. He looked across the field. That's where Ishizu comes in. Once she summons a third monster, I'll activate Soul Exchange. He took the card from his hand. It lets me sacrifice her monsters, and once I do Obelisk is mine! He set the card. 'I play this face-down.'

The card appeared at his feet.

'Make your move.'

Ishizu drew. 'It's the beginning of the end, Kaiba.' She took two cards from her hand. 'Now I shall place one card face-down.' The card was set and it appeared on the field.

Play a monster! She needs to have three on the field for my plan to work!

Ishizu set a card. 'Now I summon the monster Agido.' The egg-shaped Egyptian-themed monster appeared on the field.

Kaiba smirked. Excellent. Now the stage is set for my sacrifice. Something shot through Kaiba. He wasn't sure, but he took it for an epiphany. Hold on! What if Ishizu is expecting me to play Soul Exchange? I could be walking right into a trap! He didn't have much choice though. His eyes narrowed. No! This is my only chance to summon Obelisk. I must seize the moment now! 'Kelbek, Agido, Zorga, these monsters are now in my control, and will soon be sacrificed! Open face-down card!' His card flipped up and revealed itself. 'Soul Exchange!' All three monsters were vaporised and sacrificed for Kaiba's summoning. 'And now I will summon my Egyptian God Card!' He slapped the card onto the duel disk. 'Show yourself, Obelisk the Tormentor!'

The card appeared on the field and flipped up. A vortex appeared before him and a beam of blue light shot up into the air. It hit the sky and created a much bigger vortex above. Glowing balls of energy began to descend from the portal in the sky, culminating into a beam of light that hit the field behind Kaiba. Kaiba laughed maniacally. He knew, but he couldn't help himself.

There was no way she'd win now!

The light was stripped upwards, revealing the massive form of Obelisk the Tormentor underneath. Ishizu did quite a good job of looking calm. Kaiba wasn't fooled though. He propped a hand on his hip. 'Still think I'm going to lose? Let's see which is stronger: your necklace or my Egyptian God Card.'

Ishizu remained unshaken. She closed her eyes. 'We shall find out.'

Kaiba sneered. 'Counting on a piece of jewellery in order to win this duel is pathetic! To win a duel takes skill, and an extremely powerful deck!' He smirked. 'You'll see that soon, when I attack you with Obelisk the Tormentor and wipe out your life points.'

Ishizu merely closed her eyes again. She opened her eyes and looked at him again, still unshaken. It made him feel a tad put out, to be honest. Part of the fun of winning a duel was watching your opponent sweat. In fact, she was still adamant that she was going to win.

'Try as you may, there's no escape from the defeat that awaits you in your next move.'

'Fat chance,' Kaiba said. 'You have no monsters left to protect you.' His smirk turned patronising. 'So spare me the doom and gloom speech, and just surrender to me now.' She didn't respond, but there was some mild chit-chat from the dork patrol down below. He ignored that. 'The end is here. No one can survive the fury of Obelisk.'

Kaiba spotted Marik leaving below. Obviously, he expected the end of the duel and he already saw the conclusion. Thus, he saw no point hanging around. So he was leaving. Sharee was standing down by Yugi's side. A slight smirk was on her face. Why was she smirking? There were very few instances where she smirked like that. No matter. As Kaiba prepared to attack, he noticed a golden glow in his peripheral vision. He simply ignored it.

It wasn't important.

'All right.' Kaiba began to call out the attack. 'Obelisk, attack!'

YGO

'What's this?!' It wasn't just Marik's cry that got their attention. 'My Millennium Rod! It's activating by itself!'

The Pharaoh stared, confused. 'What's going on?'

'Hold on, it's coming!' As Shamee said that, she stumbled a bit and her head fell into her hand. 'It's coming…' The answer, obviously. 'Oh.' She looked across and quirked an eyebrow. 'How interesting.'

'What is?' the Pharaoh asked.

'It would seem,' Shamee said, 'that Kaiba is the Millennium Rod's true master.'

'Huh?' The Pharaoh looked at her quizzically.

'The last time it picked a master, 5000 years ago, it was Kaiba – or whoever he was back then.'

That meant that the Millennium Rod was activating for Kaiba.

YGO

'Obelisk—' Kaiba found himself cut off as a jarring sensation shot through him. Ung! I feel something strange inside. A vortex began shooting past him. This is crazy! I've never felt anything like this before! Is this another one of Ishizu's tricks! Suddenly a stone tablet flew out of the darkness and came to stop directly in front of him.

It was the tablet he'd seen in the museum, but portions of it flashed in front of him.

Why are these visions flashing before my eyes? Ishizu's mind games must be getting to me!

Then, suddenly, a single tablet rushed forward and stopped before him. Then a vision came to him. A sensation, like his heart had been ripped from his chest, came over him as he gazed upon the image of a man kneeling before the tablet, cradling the lifeless body of a woman. He tried to dismiss it.

Wait a second. That's the stone carving of my Blue Eyes White Dragon. What does this mean? Maybe I should rethink my strategy and call off Obelisk. This feeling is too strong to ignore!

Kaiba staggered and caught his head in his hand.

My instinct tells me Obelisk isn't the answer. He looked at his hand. It's as if my Blue Eyes White Dragon is calling to me. Maybe I should attack Ishizu with Blue Eyes instead of Obelisk. He stared at the card in question. This goes against my entire strategy. I planned to destroy Ishizu with Obelisk from the beginning. But now I know. To win this duel, I must summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon!

YGO

Shamee watched in interest.

Kaiba reached for one of the cards in his hand. 'Observe as I activate my magic card, Silent Doom,' He played the card and it appeared on the field, 'which lets me summon a monster from my graveyard, Gadget Soldier in defence mode.' The monster in question appeared next to him.

He was pleased to note that Ishizu finally looked surprised.

'Before I can summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon, I must sacrifice two monsters,' Kaiba said.

This was getting interesting. It would seem Kaiba's latent connection to the Millennium Rod may just save him the duel.

Kaiba reached down. 'First this.' He took the God Card from his duel disk.

And it seemed the Millennium Necklace had no supplied Ishizu with this outcome. 'Oh, no!'

'That's right! It's my Egyptian God Card!'

Beside her, her friends were clearly confused.

'No way, man!' Joey insisted.

'What's he thinking?' Téa demanded.

'It can't be…!' The Pharaoh, at least, would have a similar idea to her as to what was happening here. And it was confounding.

'Here me now!' Kaiba stated firmly. 'I won't be controlled. I decide my future! So now I sacrifice my monsters!' He took both cards from the duel disk. 'Obelisk and Gadget Soldier, I send you to the card graveyard!' Both monsters shattered into glowing dust and vanished, sacrificed. 'You're so quiet, Ishizu. Where's your magic now? Or have you realised that there's no such thing as destiny? Now observe as I summon my Blue Eyes!'

Kaiba took the card in question and set it on the duel disk.

'Show yourself!' The card appeared on the field and flipped up. The Blue Eyes White Dragon emerged from within with a mighty roar.

Shamee listened to Ishizu, through their respective Shadow Powers. 'So somehow Kaiba was able to change the future, by summoning his Blue Eyes White Dragon!'

'Ishizu, if you could foresee all my moves, how did Blue Eyes surprise you?' Kaiba asked. 'Unless, of course, you're nothing but a fake, as I suspected!'

But Ishizu suddenly looked calm, accepting this.

'Time to finish you off now!' Kaiba called for his Blue Eyes to attack. 'Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack!' The Blue Eyes opened her mouth and began building up power. 'Wipe out her life points, with White Lightning attack! Farewell.' The blast crossed the field and came to hit Ishizu.

When the White Lightning cleared, Ishizu's life points dropped down to 0.

Kaiba had won.

Shamee perched her hands on her hips. 'Well, strike me a cyclops.'

Hey, guys. Okay, so I'm not feeling too good at the moment. For this reason the next few chapters are going to be coming a little later than I had planned. I will keep on updating though.