Starlight Luster: Hey bud! Long time, no see! Don't worry about it, I always tell my reviewers its no biggie. Seriously, people get busy and I, well, I get excited. I update a lot more quickly than people can keep up with, so it's understandable. But hey, it's great to hear from you and I'm happy you approve of my story so far! I hope to hear more comments from you in the future, thanks again!

Kukki Boo: Hey hey hey! Yeah, I thought you might. You always did enjoy those sarcastically true one liners;) I remember you saying you hated first person. I'm glad it's not gnawing away at your soul yet, though! Thanks for the review!

WhiyteAsukalover: Thanks buddy! Well, not to shoot you down, but technically he is dead. His body is dead, at least. His brain is alive though/preserved, as well as his conscious. Although you did point out that I forgot to mention I was going off of the Japanese version rather than the English, thanks for that! And also thanks for checking up on me, I'm quite a forgetful person. Enjoy the chapter!

MythCreatorWriter: You might actually be creepier than me!(actually, that would be pretty hard considering, well, me) Writing duels do kill my soul with each typed out word, but the thing is, writing this duel is more painful because there is NO MOKUBA IN IT. UG, it just makes me want to DIE, you know? Mokuba makes my life WHOLE. Well, anyhow, thanks for the review! Enjoy!

AmePiper: I love you more than the sun loves the moon!(Everyone must agree that the sun and the moon definitely have some sort of forbidden love going on there. I just know it! Wow, solar/lunar love… HOT.) I heart you!

Rena Redhead: You must hate me right now, don't you? I'm sorry! I just couldn't hold back after LK's update! It inspired me to no end!o Anyhow, so… I already responded to most of your epic and genius questions you left for me in the review, and I felt I expressed a lot of what I wanted to say as a reaction. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to say; DUDE, you rock. Thanks so much for all your reviews. You're what we call a rock star, a COOL KID(gosh, I should NOT write review replies at 12:30 in the morning, I seriously shouldn't) Anyhow, I love you girl, and your reviews make me love myself. I hope you enjoy this chapter, once you look past the fact that you'll probably want to kill me after updating so quickly. Don't stop believing! Thanks for all those great reviews!

Hey guys, so you know how I love you guys? Well, yeah, I do. Actually, that has nothing to do with what I'm about to say. I suppose you can blame that on me writing this at 12:13 a.m. I just wanted to say that I was inspired to finish this chapter by my dearest Rena Redhead, and inspired to post it by LittleKuriboh. Because dammit, we were closer than brothers! And now we have to fight each other! Can we trust our faith to the heart of the cards?

No matter what!(If you guys didn't catch the LK reference that's fine, but you all must know the lyrics to the song I'm referring to! It's only one of the classics from the Music to Duel By CD! Yes, I do have it. Why? Cause I rock the world and your socks:p)

Yeah. Enjoy your chapter, guys. You've earned it by being awesome! :]

Chapter 19: Only One

-S-

I turned back towards Noah.

"Oh good, your fan club is here, just in time to witness your demise," Noah commented with regards to Yugi and his friends' arrival. I really hated that kid. Honestly, I felt like part of me wanted to bring Noah down just to see the dumb look of despair on his face. He was such an annoying brat.

"Now I'll continue with my turn. I'll activate Chiron's special effect, the Mirror of Truth, which allows me to see your face down card and destroy it." My eyes widened. That wasn't good. That was my perfect strategy. Noah smirked when he saw what I had hidden face down, "Say goodbye to your Crush Card!" My trap card disappeared from the field, "And don't forget to bid your farewell to your Giant Germ, as well as 800 life points!"

My life points were down to 3200, but thankfully I wasn't completely defenseless.

"My Giant Germ will now return to the field as a result of his special ability," I said, "And in addition to that, you lose 500 life points."

"500 life points is nothing, and your Giant Germ could barely be seen as a threat." Oh Noah, if only he knew what I had planned up my sleeve.

"I've got something else planned for it," I drew a card from my deck and began my turn, "I'll sacrifice my Giant Germ in order to summon my Vampire Lord!" A holographic image of my Vampire Lord appeared on my side of the field. It was time to strike, "Vampire Lord, attack his Chiron the Mage!" I commanded. My duel monster did as I had asked and destroyed it with. Noah's monster burst into tiny little pieces. Noah was down to 3300.

"Are you done yet?"

"Not quite. My Vampire Lord also has the ability to force my opponent into discarding one type of card I choose. And I'll choose Monster."

"Very well then," Noah said, picking one monster from his hand and sending it to the graveyard. "I'll discard my Giant Soldier of Stone." Noah didn't look impressed or afraid. "My turn." Noah drew from his deck and began his turn once more. "Well, it's been fun, but it seems as though your Vampire Lord's time has run out, for I'll activate Fissure!" I grimaced with despair. Fissure gave Noah the ability to destroy the strongest monster on my side of the field. And since I had no other monsters, Vampire Lord was destroyed. This meant I was wide open for any attack.

"Lastly, I'll summon this!" Noah summoned another monster with 1800 attack points. I gritted my teeth. "Attack him directly, Aries!" Noah commanded his monster. Noah's Aries lunged forward, its spear was held out straight ahead. I held up my duel disk just as the blade came close to me. Sparks exploded from my duel disk after the blow was made, and I was pushed back a couple steps from where I had been standing. My life points were down to 1400 now. I didn't like the idea of that.

"Why don't you just give up now and save us from wasting our time?" Noah suggested, smirking.

"Don't give up Kaiba!" Yugi called from behind me.

"Yeah! Show that green-haired twerp whose boss!" Joey commented. I sighed with annoyance. As I expected, they were going to respond to every single thing that happened in the duel. This may prove to be even more annoying than having to stare at Noah's smug face.

"I'll place one card face down," Noah said, ending his turn. Noah still thought he had a chance. Life points wouldn't be the defining factor, though, in this duel, I was sure of that. The way he kept thinking he would beat me infuriated me more.

"I'd rather see my company crumble to the ground, then hand it to you. Kaiba Corp. is mine."

"That company belonged to me before you even knew it existed. It was mine from the very beginning, and it will be mine after I defeat you in this duel." I gripped a card from my deck in preparation for a draw.

"Keep dreaming kid," I said, before drawing a single card from my deck. "First off, my Vampire Lord returns to the field as a result of his special ability, which makes him practically immortal. And that's not all; I'll also summon my Slate Warrior to the field!" Noah looked less than afraid. In fact, he seemed quite confident.

"You can't possibly beat me—we're in my world now." My eyebrows furrowed and I glared at Noah. Who did this kid think he was anyway?

"Look kid, this virtual world is just a rip off of the virtual system I created, you got that?" I pointed my finger towards him, "Now Vampire Lord, attack him!"

"Reveal face down card; Earthshaker!" There was a low rumbling that could be heard from beneath my feet as the ground under me started to shake. The lava was being shaken up and pushed against the side. I was more focused on keeping my balance, and trying to anticipate whatever effect his trap card would have on my monsters. "This card makes it so that you must choose one of your monsters to destroy based on the type you pick. Your Slate Warrior is a Wind type monster, while your Vampire Lord is a Dark. You must pick one, but remember; whichever one you choose will be destroyed."

It would only take me a second, but I knew which monster would be my best bet to destroy.

"I choose Dark, destroying my Vampire Lord!"

"Very well then, Earthshaker, destroy Vampire Lord!" The lava from beneath my two monsters rose up and swallowed my Vampire Lord whole. Although I knew my Vampire Lord had the most attack out of the two monsters, because of his effect, he would return to my side of the field after one turn. For now, I would finish my turn by eating away some more of Noah's life points.

"Now that that's over with, Slate Warrior, attack Noah's monster!" My Slate Warrior moved across the field and attacked Noah's monster head on, destroyed him with one punch. Noah only lost 100 life points as a result, but now his field was wide open once again for another attack. Noah was still 2000 life points ahead of me, which wasn't a good feeling, but I was making a come back. I would make a come back.

Noah looked down and smirked as he drew his next card.

"I'm sure it must be annoying to think you have an advantage, only to have it wash away the instant I make my next move." I raised one eyebrow as I stared at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Noah looked up.

"This." Noah activated a new magic card. I braced myself for whatever he had planned for me. "I'll activate the magic card, Giant Flood." The ground began to rumble again. I could hear Yugi and his friends pondering what was happening now, and whimpering in fear. I looked more closely and saw a giant wave forming from behind Noah, heading this way. I took a step back and again, braced myself for impact. The wave came crash down into me, almost pushing me off my own two feet, but I remained stable and standing.

When the water washed away, I saw that my Slate Warrior was being pulled in by the current over to Noah's side. "What's going on here?" I questioned Noah. I also noticed that other monsters I had in my graveyard were floating along with my Slate Warrior. What was going on? What did this mean? "Noah, what have you done?"

"I'm using my deck master's special ability." My eyes narrowed.

"You never picked a deck master."

"Oh, didn't I?" The ground began to rumble again as the water began to build up from behind Noah. "Behold, Shinato's Ark!" I watched as a huge ark rose from the water and hovered in the air beside Noah. It was huge and it was powerful, I could tell by just looking at it. And yet, it didn't seem like this could technically be a deck master.

"That boat is your deck master?" I asked, continuing to stare at the massive boat.

"Indeed it is. It will be the vessel that allows me to sail away with everything you own; your company and your brother!" I clenched my fists for a moment, but took a deep breath and let the anger fade. The last thing I needed was for Noah to get to me. If my emotions got out of control, the duel would be lost in no time. But I couldn't help but hate Noah for the way he was talking about my brother in that way. Mokuba wasn't some possession or thing, he was my little brother. And Kaiba Corp. shouldn't be seen the same way either; for that company represented everything I ever worked hard for.

"Speechless, are we Seto?" Noah asked. The boat descended downward back into the ocean that covered the current landscape. Two doors opened up from the front side, all the monsters from both our graveyards and our hands floated into it. The doors closed and the ark hovered back into the air. "Wondering what's happened to your monsters?"

"It crossed my mind," I said, emotionless.

"From now on, all monsters that will be sent to the graveyard shall be redirected into the belly of Shinato's Ark. All the cards shall remain there for the rest of the duel, and there's not a thing you can do about it." I chuckled to myself. Noah didn't seem to understand what it was that I could possibly be chuckling about. "Finding some of this funny?"

"Yeah, and you're the punch line," I explained, "Because of your deck master's ability, you now have no monsters on the field or in your hand, making you an easy target. It's my move, so if I draw a monster, you'll be left wide open for an attack." What it all comes down to, in the end, is drawing all the right cards. In a lot of ways, dueling can only be seen as a fight to the finish. Whoever can take away the most life points the quickest would ultimately be the victor. And that's what I intended to do, with or without that Ark as his deck master.

I drew a card from my hand and glanced at it. "I'll call to the field, Spear Dragon!" My Spear Dragon appeared on the field in front of me, ready to attack when told. This was the time to strike. "Now Spear Dragon, attack Noah directly!" Spear Dragon opened its mouth to form an attack, but Noah seemed to have something prepared.

"I don't think that's going to work, because I have a monster of my own to protect me." I hated it when Noah tried to be vague. I wish the jerk would just tell me what he had planned so we could move on. Noah held his arm straight up, "I'll be using a monster you might recognize; one that dwells within my ship!" A yellow orb floated out from the top of his Ark and down to the field. The yellow orb transformed into Vampire Lord.

"That's my monster," I declared.

"Not exactly, you see, he's apart of Shinato's Ark now. And because of my Ark's other special effect, I can call him to the field in defense mode to absorb your attack. Not only that, but every monster that is sent to the graveyard can be used at my disposal for this precise purpose!" My Spear Dragon attacked Vampire Lord directly, destroying the monster instantly. Noah still lost life points, but he still had the advantage of being able to summon any monster that had been sent to the graveyard to the field. It seemed that I was losing my edge, but I wasn't going to allow myself to lose the duel.

"Like I said before, Seto, this is my world. I control everything that goes on in this place, which grants me the power to do anything I want." The water from the ocean that had formed around us began to drain away and disappear, as the scenery began to change. Suddenly grass covered the land, and I was surrounded by lush jungle. "Welcome to the dinosaur age. Now I'll summon Giant Rex!"

A giant orange t-rex appeared on the field now, and it had a 100 more attack points than my Spear Dragon did. "Say goodbye to your monster!" Noah said, as he had his Giant Rex destroy my Spear Dragon. The dinosaurs gave a frightening roar, before taking my Spear Dragon by the neck and throwing it in the air. It crashed onto the ground behind me and disappeared. My monster was in defense mode, so my life points had been safe for the time being.

"Feeling frustrated, Seto? Is it because I'm more intelligent then you?" Noah pointed upward at the glowing, blue sphere that hovered above both of us, "With each passing second, my brain grows. When my mind was digitized, something extraordinary happened. My brain waves became more powerful, and I was able to absorb vast amounts of knowledge through my father's computer network. Soon, I became a superhuman, one with more knowledge than anyone on Earth!

"But it still wasn't enough. You see, I was only lacking one thing at this point, something I was never able to achieve as a human—and that was my father's trust. But once I destroy you, I'll be able to prove to my father that Kaiba Corp. should be mine!"

I shook my head and smirked, chuckling once more. Noah looked frustrated and annoyed again by this gesture.

"Superhuman intellect? Give me a break." Noah glared at me, I didn't care.

"You're nothing but a lowly orphan, an opponent that was adopted for the soul purpose of challenging me. You don't have anything close to the amount of intelligence I have, so you wouldn't possibly understand what I was talking about." I could tell that Noah was trying to get to me, but it wasn't going to do a thing, because I was better than that and I was better than him. I knew I was.

"You're nothing but a spoiled brat, that's what you are. All your life, people just handed things to you. But I had to work for what I have. Kaiba Corp. is mine because I earned it. The fact that you think you can take it away from me just by winning one duel proves to me what I've thought about you from the start."

"And what's that?"

"You're insane."

"You think I'm insane in wanting to claim what's rightfully mine?"

"No, I think you're insane for trapping me in this virtual computer program and forcing me to duel you just to prove to your Daddy that he's not the failure he thinks you are. Well, I'm here to prove that you are," I said, "There's a reason I'm the president of Kaiba Corp. and you're not."

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm the best man for the job. I'm more fit to run that company than you'll ever be, and deep down, your father always knew that." Gozaburo might've been the most evil and heartless man I had ever known but if there was one thing he had always been was smart. Gozaburo knew exactly what it took to run a company and the day I stepped up to the plate and challenged him, without any hesitance or fear, he knew I would be the heir with the ability to run his company. No matter what sob story Noah could tell, it would've been true from the very beginning.

It was true that I didn't believe in destiny, but I did believe that Kaiba Corp. had been destined to be mine from the moment I had seen Gozaburo on the television screen, the day I had promise myself that I would beat him and obtain a life for myself, and my little brother. Noah might've been Gozaburo's only son, but in this case blood had nothing to do with it. It was the heart and the determination that made a man fit to rule an empire.

I was Kaiba Corporation's only heir and always would be.

A/N: YES! YES! WE'RE SO CLOSE I CAN ALMOST TASTE IT! The climatic episode is coming soon to a video you own or on DVD! Or… something like that! Okay, so… wait, do I have to explain anything? Uh… well, the story seems to be ending in odd places, mainly because of word length and what not, but hopefully that won't disrupt the flow I have going on here. Oh yes! And I forgot to mention that I'm kind of going along with the Japanese side of things when it comes to Noah. You know the fact that he's dead, but he's brain is alive, and his memories are downloaded, but still he's dead(rather than his body being "rendered useless" WHAT IN THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN ANYWAY, 4KIDS?!) Hahaha, anyhow, I hope this chapter wasn't too DUELIFIED, that it made you wanna pull your hair out :) (It was for me, I don't know about you) But whatever my short comings were with this chapter, I'm sure to make them better with my next chapter, it's a promise! Thanks for reading!

P.S: God, I miss Mokuba;.; THIS DUEL BETTER HURRY UP AND FINISH BEFORE I CRY! I can't stand a whole chapter without Mokuba o