"X.A.N.A. I knew you were up to something." Jeremy said. "What are you up too?"

"Foolish child, you can't even hope to understand my objectives, however I will say this, I am far closer to them than you could possibly imagine." Marik said. "This spirit has joined with my power and now nothing can stop me."

"This ridiculous story isn't important, Roland announce the next two duelists." Kaiba said.

"Yes Mr. Kaiba, Randomizer, select the next duelists." Roland said. "The next duelist is number two Joey Wheeler."

"Nice, I'm about to get one step closer to the championship." Joey said with a grin.

"Listen up Wheeler, I don't know how you got this far but I assure you you won't be winning anything." Kaiba said.

"Oh yeah? How do you plan on stopping me rich boy?" Joey asked.

"Joey's opponent in the duel will be number one, Seto Kaiba." Roland announced.

"Well, I guess that answers your question." Kaiba said before taking his position at the dueling field.

"Keep talking Kaiba, I'm going to win this tournament." Joey said shuffling his cards.

"Duel." said Joey and Kaiba simultaneously.

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"Yugi, you need to stop Marik right?" Odd asked.

"Yeah, the fate of the entire world depends on my ability to stop him." Yugi said. "Although I sense a malevolent force inside of his mind."

"That's because there is, whatever Marik was planning earlier, he has more powers than ever now, and you need our help." Yumi said.

"X.A.N.A. is much stronger than you know, he can manipulate electricity and increase the physical abilities of anyone under his control." Jeremy said.

"Well, all we have to do is make sure that we take them down." Yugi said.

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Joey 4000 Kaiba 4000: "I'll take the first turn Kaiba, and I summon Rocket Warrior in attack mode." Joey said as his monster appeared. "Now I set three facedowns, that does it for now."

"If that's the only move you have, this will be over sooner than I thought, I set two cards facedown, and summon my Kaiser Seahorse." Kaiba said.

"That monster isn't a problem, I have stronger ones." Joey said.

"Is that so? Well in that case I attack your Rocket Warrior with Kaiser Seahorse." Kaiba said.

"Sorry Kaiba, but I activate the trap card Fairy Box, now I flip a coin, and if I call it correctly your monster loses all its attack points." Joey said as a coin appeared in midair. "Ok, come on lady luck. I choose heads."

"Well, it looks like my strategy will work even better than I thought." Kaiba said calmly as the coin landed on heads and he lost 1500 life points. "I end my turn."

"Alright, in that case it's my move. Awesome, I summon Panther Warrior in attack mode." Joey said as his monster appeared. "Now I attack you directly with Rocket Warrior."

"I activate the trap Negate Attack." Kaiba said. "Looks like you won't be attacking me anymore this round."

"Fine, I end my turn with one facedown, looks like I win next round Kaiba." Joey said.

Kaiba 2500 Joey 3500: "You made one mistake Wheeler, you thought you could defeat me in a duel, I activate the magic card Silent Doom, this revives my Kaiser Seahorse in defense mode, and next I sacrifice him in order to call on my mighty Blue Eyes White Dragon." Kaiba said as his monster appeared on the field."

"Kaiba, you do know that my trap can still work on your dragon right?" Joey asked.

"I activate the magic card Megamorph." Kaiba said. "Now my blue eyes doubles in attack points."

"Activate trap card, Rivalry, this forces me to send two monsters on my field to the graveyard, and in exchange I can summon one that has the same type as yours, so I play Red Eyes Black Dragon." Joey said as his monster appeared.

"Even with Red Eyes, you still lose as soon as I attack."Kaiba said, "Blue Eyes White Dragon, wipe out Wheeler's life points with White Lightning attack."

"Sorry Kaiba, but my trap gives both our monsters equal attack points. So they both go to the graveyard." Joey said with a grin. "Red Eyes counter attack, Inferno Fire Blast."

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"Awesome, Joey took down Kaiba's blue eyes." Tristan said.

"Right, but keep in mind Joey only has one Red Eyes. While Kaiba has two more Blue Eyes White Dragon's in his deck." Tea said. "He's still in trouble."

"Don't worry, this game is far from done." Odd said. "If I know anything, it's that as long as you have one life point left you can still win."

"He's right, this game is far from over." Yumi said.

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"I hate to rain on your friends parade, but this duel is over. On my next turn I'm going to defeat you, but for now I activate Graceful Charity." Kaiba said before nodding to acknowledge the end of his turn.

"My move Kaiba, and I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight, now I attack you directly." Joey said.

"Enjoy your attack, because it's the last one you'll declare in this tournament." Kaiba said.

"Huh, did you say something, but all I hear is the sound of me kicking your butt." Joey said. "I end my move."

"You made the last mistake of the tournament." Kaiba said drawing a card.

Joey 3000 Kaiba 700: "I activate the magic card Heavy Storm." Kaiba said. "Now that the magic and trap cards you have are destroyed, I can play the two magic cards left in my hand, I activate Dark Core, and by sending my X-Head Cannon to the graveyard I banish your Gearfried from the game."

"That's not good, please tell me you aren't holding that card." Joey said nervously.

"Which card would that be Wheeler?" Kaiba asked sarcastically, "Would you be referring to my Monster Reborn magic card, because I'm using it to bring back my Blue Eyes White Dragon, now I attack you directly."

"Come on, I can't believe I lost again." Joey said.

"Don't worry Joey, you did a great job, and you should be proud." Yugi said.

"Thanks Yugi, but be careful, you need to duel Mai, and she's good. Not that I want you to lose Mai, but you have to understand why I'm rooting for Yugi." Joey said.

"I understand, as for you Yugi, this time I'll win the duel." Mai said.

"Well good luck Mai." Yugi said with a smile.

(Kaiba took Joey out of the tournament, and now the last duel of the first round of the finals pits Yugi Moto against Mai Valentine. Next chapter will feature the duel, along with a startling discovery from Kadic. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)