Offerings of Paper Cranes

When Sugoroku had first said 'this seems familiar', he wasn't really sure what he meant by that. What, did he play a match with the same monsters? Was there actually some kind of plan to all of this? In the case of the former... That was weird. How... How the hell did that even happen. The latter..?

...There was a plan!

Personally, he just wanted Rebecca beaten and gone, preferably on the next plane to wherever the hell she said she was from. This girl was a royal pain in the ass to put it lightly- any longer and he'd probably have to go in there toss her off the side of the arena. And while that would be harder now that there were railings in place on the bridge, that was still a nice fall right?

The blond's somewhat disturbing musings were cut short to say the least, as Rebecca made her next play, a strange and almost ominous air appearing to hover over the area. "I play this- 'Tribute to the Doomed'! By discarding one card from my hand," the girl shouted, tablet appearing tall and intimidatingly behind her as she spoke, "I destroy one monster on the field! Not that there's much choice," she said with a smirk, her opponent tensing somewhat as the tablet glowed. As the girl said this, she pulled a card from her hand, dropping it into the graveyard to activate the tablet she'd summoned into play. A single wave of dust was all it took... The tablet vanished in one swift blast, and with it, the elf on Yugi's field was destroyed... Blown into nothingness by an enormous sand storm that took all of seconds to fill the table. "Hnhnhnhn... The Elven Swordsman is destroyed," Rebecca cheered, bear held loosely at the side as she grabbed another card from her hand. "And to finish my turn, I'll set this monster in defense mode," she stated, a blank tablet appearing at her side as she put down the card. "Hnhnhnhn... This could be interesting," she continued smugly, brushing a few bangs from her face as a few bits of dust continued to clear from the table. "Like I said... I will get that Blue-Eyes card..."

Gh... The others tensed, staring with narrowed eyes as the girl ended her turn. "I guess she really did have a strategy," Anzu muttered, blinking a few times before shaking her head. "Yugi had better watch his steps..."

"When doesn't he," Honda continued, frowning somewhat. "Still... It's like she's suddenly an entirely different person," he muttered with a swallow, "The way she pulled that one..."

Hah! Got that right... Though he'd personally seen enough people with different persona during a duel in his opinion. The crowd narrowed their eyes, watching as Yugi stared at the board for a few moments before making his own move. "Alright then... My turn," he called out, drawing and placing a card on the field. An immense stone tablet appeared at his side in a flurry of shadows, bone-claws pulling themselves free as its master made the move. "Skull Demon," Yugi ordered, the monster flexing its arms with a low groan as its tablet crumbled behind it, "Attack the defense monster!"

With a curt nod the monster struck, charging at the blank tablet. Claws sunk into the solid stone, cracks appearing across it in a spiderweb fashion as the sound echoed around the room. However, as the stone flaked away, it was the demon that gave a loud shout, hurriedly pulling back as it was tossed back to the other side of the dome. "GNNNGH!"

What th- "Hnhnhn! Got it! You're attacking," she 'asked', smirk growing, "In that case, here's the monster you attacked! The Millennium Shield," the girl shouted, an enormous golden shield appearing before her as she shouted. A single gold eye stared forward, watching as the Skull Demon steadied himself from the rebounded attack. The monster shook itself off, five hundred of Yugi's lifepoints vanishing at the same moment while it 'glared' at the shield before it. "Hahahah!" She bounced in her seat, squeezing her bear close with a grin. "An iron defense," she shouted with a laugh, before her childish grin vanished into another dark smirk. "Unstoppable! Hnhnhnhnhn... Did I scare you," the girl continued, a faux look of concern on her face. "Good!~"

Damn it... "Tch... I swear it," the blond muttered under his breath, jaw clenched, "I don't care how good this kid actually is, if she says one more word..."

"Yugi has a lot of self-control," Mokuba muttered, shaking his head with wide eyes as they continued to stare at the arena. "If I were in there, I'd have pulled out and called her in for harassment by now..."

At this Honda blinked, frowning somewhat before turning to Mokuba. "And... Why didn't we do that to start with again?"

"Honda, she's twelve," Anzu muttered, shaking her head. "Don't you think that even as bratty as she's being, that it would be a little much to do that?"

The teen shrugged, shaking his head. "Well yea," he said dismissively, "But she's also graduating. I'd say that makes her plenty able to deal with being arrested," he continued, leaning back on his seat. "And if she's not, too bad. She's acting like a prick." Hear hear!

As Anzu continued to roll her eyes at that, Rebecca's shout from the arena took their attention again. "It's not over yet," she shouted, holding her stuffed bear close with a grin, "Neh, Teddy-chan?" Again with the bear... The girl pulled another card from her hand as her audience shook their heads, an immense tablet appearing behind her as the card was placed on the field. "For my turn I'm playing the Electromagnetic ring on my shield," she shouted clearly, tablet glowing brightly with her words.

"Electromagnetic ring..?" The others turned as Anzu frowned, her arms crossed as she stared at the arena in thought. "That card lowers the monster's defense by five hundred points though," she muttered, shaking her head. "Why would she do that..."

They blinked, frowning at those words. It lowered defense... ...Huh... Good question... Katsuya turned back to the field, watching as the tablet summoned into existence ground away into dust to form a series of large black disks around the Millennium Shield. Sparks flew between the disks, a few bits of light scuffing the sides of the shield but nonetheless proving as sturdy a defense compared to beforehand... Not to mention blinding enough for anything that could see it... Which probably only meant him.

Ahhhh god his eyes... He blinked a few times, squinting as the electricity sparked along the sides of the dome. Damn it this really sucked... Someday he would seriously have to figure out what the hell was going on with him, he really did... "...I'll pass on my turn," Yugi said in the meantime, drawing his card and looking at where the shield likely was on the board. Yugi's eyes were staring at about the center of the table... The shield... Was sitting at the far left and was probably half of Rebecca's size. This was really weird, seeing things in a completely different location... Really... Weird...

Rebecca smirked, drawing a card as it came to her turn once more. "Hnhnhnhn... Can't do anything can you," the girl 'asked', batting her eyes somewhat as her opponent merely sighed. "Not surprising," she said with a small laugh, "I am a genius after all..." Damn it, someone please throw her off the side. "I summon Cannon Soldier in attack mode," Rebecca called out, the tablet appearing to her side as she called it's name. In a pale show of light the stone vanished from sight, the metal, cannon headed monster appeared to cross its arms and adjust its cannon with a loud crack as the tablet crumbled behind it. The skull demon at Yugi's side turned toward the monster, both of the sightless monsters staring the other down.

How that could happen when neither had eyes, who the hell knew, but at this point, nothing made sense damn it. "Cannon soldier," Sugoroku muttered from the side, before tensing and leaning forward. "Yugi," he shouted, the boy turning from his seat at the shout as it barely made it through the glass. "Yugi! If Rebecca sacrifices a monster she'll deal five hundred points of damage to you," he cried, eyes wide. "Be careful!" Shit, seriously?

The others turned back as Yugi nodded furiously, the boy turning back as Rebecca merely continued to smirk. It was all great that they knew but... Something felt off... "Well," Honda muttered, "At least Yugi still has his Skull Demon right? That monster easily beats out the cannon soldier..."

That was always true... But damn it, why the hell was Rebecca so smug... Even with that, the girl was sill grinning... "It's not going to work," Anzu was muttering, the others turning with frowns as their friend said this under her breath. Back on the field, Yugi had declared an attack, the Skull Demon sending a volley of thunder toward the robot with a roar. It looked right but...

"Whaddya mean it won' work," Katsuya muttered, frowning as the woman continued to stare at the field. That... That couldn't be right... Right..?

...Damn it he hated when he was wrong. "Watch," the woman said with a frown, not taking her eyes off the field. "The ring of magnetism attracts attacks..."

There was a sudden clashing sound, the blond jumping as the attack the summoned skull created abruptly veered off track and into the Millennium shield. Sparks fizzled on contact with the defensive monster, singing its owners' bones as it growled in anger. Wait wha- "Aww hell, seriously!"

"...Or... Not," Honda muttered, shaking his head. "I could be wrong... Damn," he continued, rubbing his head with a wince. "I guess she really is the champion..." Damn it, it really didn't feel good to have to admit that...

Chuckling came from inside the arena, Rebecca's smirk darkening as she held her hand of cards. "Hnhnhnhnhn... Fun isn't it," she said with a laugh, drawing her next card as she stared at her opponent. "You have no choice but to wait for me to finish my strategy... Too bad for you! Hnhnhnhnhn..." Laughter I summon the Black Witch of the Forest," she shouted even louder, the monster's tablet appearing to the side of the girl before crumbling away to dust. The cloud of stone rubble cleared within seconds, revealing a somewhat resigned looking three-eyed maiden standing with a grimace. "And I sacrifice it to activate the Cannon Soldier's effect," she continued, moving the card into the graveyard as her cannon solider raised its barrel toward the demon across from it. A single red laser light found its way to the monster's skull as the maiden at its side abruptly burst into flames with a panicked and pained scream, the demon tensing as a counter flashed across his opponent's chest.

"Oh great," Mokuba muttered, scowling as the events took place on the board. "That probably activates its effect too..."

A loud shout on from the arena verified the theory, Rebecca's dark laughter filling the room almost ominously as the flames from her sacrifice died down only for a loud gunshot to pierce the air. A large gaping hole tore through the Skull Demon's chest, the monster clawing at it with a loud moan before falling back into dust. "You know what happens when the witch is sent to the graveyard right," Rebecca said with a grin, putting her hand down to search through her deck as Katsuya looked back at the girl rather than the field. "Hnhnhnhnhn... I warned you," the girl continued, eyes narrowed to slits. "I'm going to show you what it's like to lose something as powerful as Blue-Eyes," she spat, hands gripping the bear almost tight enough to break the fabric. "Just like your grandfather did to mine!"

Hang on... "What?" Katsuya stared, eyes wide as the others also tensed. Grandfather..? They turned, incredulous stares in place as the man continued to frown. Gr... She just said... "...WHAT!"

Sugoroku said nothing, merely grimacing at the words as he stared forward. "So that's where," he muttered under his breath, before pulling himself from his seat to come toward the railing. The others continued to frown, slowly joining the man with skeptical looks on their faces. "Rebecca," the old man shouted, eyes narrowed somewhat as the girl turned from the duel table. "Your Grandfather... He's a professor in archaeology isn't he," he asked, the girl crossing her arms at the question. ...Eh..? "Professor 'Arthur Hopkins', am I right?"

Wait wait... What..? Katsuya looked at the old man, turning back to the arena. What..? "That's right," she said with a more plain tone, almost frowning as she responded. She clenched her jaw, a low growl likely forming as she continued. "The man you stole 'Blue-Eyes' from is my Grandfather!"

"...What." Seriously... What the hell...

The old man beside them sighed, shaking his head. "I knew that Arthur had a granddaughter named 'Rebecca'," he explained, leaning somewhat on the railing as he stared forward. "But I didn't realize that it was this Rebecca..."

Again, only one word to really describe this situation... "...What..."

"You're going to get what's coming old man," Rebecca shouted angrily, pointing accusingly at Sugoroku as her opponent frowned. "I might not be fighting you," she spat, gritting her teeth, "But I think it's almost poetic, avenging my grandpa by beating your grandson in a match... Hnhnhnhnhn..." She turned back to Yugi, ignoring the steady glare of sorts that she was receiving from the boy. "You mind as well surrender while you can," she muttered dangerously, a set scowl in place as her opponent merely stared back with a slight frown. "Preserve what little bit of 'honor' you still have!"

Katsuya groaned, holding his head. Shiiiiit, this was to much. "Whaaaaaat..."

"Katsuya-nii," Mokuba said with a frown, turning to the blond as his friend looked through the hand on his head. "Stop saying 'what' and just sit down..." Yea... That was probably a good idea...

Back in the arena, Yugi was having a reaction similar to most of the others, swallowing as he stared across to his opponent. "Y... You..." He paused for a moment, closing his eyes before calming himself. "...You're... The granddaughter of my Grandpa's..."

The girl gave an almost wicked smirk, narrowing her eyes. "Yep~ Hnhnhnhnhn..."

Yugi quickly tensed, frowning. "My Grandpa didn't steal anything," he insisted loudly, gripping his cards tightly. The girl across from him continued to seethe in response, slamming her fist on the table with a shout.

"YES HE DID," she screeched, the boy across from her wincing only slightly at the shout as the girl continued. "My grandpa loved that card... It was his greatest treasure," she raged on, tears dotting the sides of her eyes. "Worth more than most of the gold he found on his digs! Your grandpa stole it," she spat, "And I'll NEVER FORGIVE HIM!"

Auugggghh... Katsuya groaned, slamming his head into his hands as the shouts filled the air before shaking his head. "What th' hell..!"

"Oh Rebecca..." Sugoroku as well shook his head, ignoring the annoyed groans of the others and looking over at the girl. "Rebecca," he repeated, somewhat louder as the girl in question turned back from the table. "I think I should tell you about how I met your Grandfather right now," he said seriously, bowing his head somewhat. "About my best friend, Arthur..."

The monsters on the board appeared to turn to the man, as though curious about the story themselves. Rebecca, however, looked far less than pleased. "I don't want to hear your excuses," she shouted back through the glass, eyes wide with rage as her opponent continued to frown. "Just shut up and watch your Blue-Eyes become mine, like it should!"

Sugoroku stood firm, eyes set in a calm and stern glare. "I will ask again Rebecca," he said somewhat severely, tone intensifying and causing the girl to shrink back only just slightly. "Listen, please."

"Mnnngggg..! FINE!" The others sighed as the girl huffed, apparently willing to listen for just a few moments. With those words, the monsters themselves shared a glance, shrugging as their masters appeared to turn away from the game... They themselves opting to take a seat for the moment and listen as well.

Well... As something to shut the girl up briefly... Even that would be enough he supposed. "A number of years ago in Egypt," the man began, closing his eyes somewhat as he recalled the memory, "When you, and everyone here were but small children," Sugoroku added, I had managed to run out of water at a fairly difficult point in time. I was a tourist," he said almost matter-of-factly, shrugging somewhat, "And like all tourists," the man continued with a short chuckle, "I was fairly confident that I could maneuver my own way around the desert. This was of course, an incredible mistake... However," he added with a smile, apparently drifting off into his memories, "I got lucky."

"Lucky," Katsuya muttered, the old man merely nodding at the question as they listened in silence.

"Yes- you see, while I most certainly wasn't in an ordinarily inhabited area of the desert at the time," he said with a smile, "I was within the area of a recent dig going on in a tomb. It was there that I met Arthur, who was heading the archaeological dig in the area," the man continued. "He shared some water with me, and invited me to join him for the day... We began talking," Sugoroku stated calmly, "Sharing stories of grandchildren, reasons for being in Egypt... He was, and still is, an extremely good man..." Sugoroku appeared to pause for a moment, before again pulling himself out of old memories. "But unfortunately," he continued, Rebecca visibly tensing at the man's next words, "Those who worked with him... Did not see him as such."

They... Didn't? Anzu frowned, as did the others as they stared at the man. "Why," she asked, shaking her head. "If he was a good man, then..."

"You could say that his work was seen as 'a joke'," the man muttered, shaking his head with a sigh. "By those of his 'level' in the world of 'Egyptology' as you could call it, his ideas were seen as heresy, nonesense even. You see," Sugoroku went on, still staring out at the arena, "This all stems from the fact that around this time seven years ago, he had found himself interested in the game 'Duel Monsters'... Isn't that right Rebecca," he asked, the girl gritting her teeth as the man continued.

The girl remained silent, Yugi staring at the table momentarily with a frown before looking back. "How would Duel Monsters tie in though," he asked, shaking his head somewhat. Even the 'other Yugi' seemed curious about this, the familiar and visibly solid form appearing at the boy's side with a similarly confused expression as their Grandfather crossed his arms.

"Well," he began, expression somewhat unreadable, "That's the thing... It had everything to do with it, or so Arthur had found." Err... hang on, he lost them there... "You see," he continued with a slight nod, "During his studies in the recent years, he had found one word used continuously throughout the area, a word deciphered most literally as 'Game'."

...Game..? The others stared, blinking a few times. "...The word game," Mokuba asked, frowning somewhat. "But if that's all he found then-"

Sugoroku shook his head, smiling somewhat before cutting the boy off. "Oh... That wasn't all," he said, sounding somewhat excited about what he had yet to say as the smile became a grin. "From the ruined hieroglyphs found, he found that an 'exchange' of sorts occurred, something that only happened during the era of those ruins and a short time before it... In times of peril or danger," he went on with a grin, "The ruler of the land would seek out an 'oracle', one who could foresee the future as it would happen... However," Sugoroku added, "From the stones in the ruins that he had found in the area of his dig, a different tale was seen. The ways that they went about this abruptly changed, completely in fact!" Changed..? And what the hell did 'oracles' have to do with this..? "Rather than seeking out those blessed by the gods with foresight," the man said with slight surprise, "They consulted in the gods themselves." Uh... ...What... Katsuya frowned, tilting his head somewhat as Sugoroku went on. "Using a game," the man explained, "And carved stone, they would use the results to determine what was yet to come. These carved tablets were unique in that they did not resemble the creatures of the real world," he continued, Katsuya growing rather pale at the mention of the tablets, "Nor the hieroglyphs used for their language," he added, "But rather the same monsters we see on Duel Monster's cards now."

Wait... The tablets on the field, what the hell did that mean the- "...Pegasus' book," Anzu muttered, the others turning. The woman coughed somewhat, shaking her head as the attention was suddenly brought to her. "While we were waiting for you to wake up," she explained, looking at Mokuba briefly as the boy frowned, "There was a diary of sorts at the side... I couldn't make out all of it," she continued with a slight shrug, "But... It did say something about Egypt under a date seven years ago," the woman added, narrowing her eyes. "So if Pegasus was in Egypt before he made Duel Monsters..."

Sugoroku nodded, smiling. "Hahahaha... That's right; and that's what Arthur thought as well," he continued, turning back to the arena and making sure to keep his voice up for those inside to hear. "But unfortunately," the man continued with a small frown, "When Arthur came forward with this knowledge he was ridiculed for his ideas, which seemed completely outlandish thanks to the presence of the card game itself. The prospect of ancient demons being used for prophecy, while not so uncommon in ancient times, suddenly became a laughing matter in the face of 'mythology as a muse'... But Arthur did not give in," Sugoroku added with a stern shout, turning back to Rebecca. "And he still works at his research, his life's work! In fact," he continued, smiling brightly as the girl in the arena continued to frown, "He's recently uncovered a large village ruin of sorts, which should soon be going under study in Cairo's museum... In addition to an enormous stone tablet. It bears mention of 'gods in stone form'," he continued, "Creations so powerful that supposedly those who possess them will become so powerful... That they could replace the sun god himself as the ruler of the world..."

"Woah..." The others stared, blinking a few times. Gods? As in... Giant Egyptian animal-headed gods? "Tha's pretty intense..." How come his history class wasn't like this..!

"So, Jii-san," Mokuba asked, the old man turning as the others shook themselves. "That dig," he continued, blinking. "Is that where Arthur gave you Blue-Eyes then..?"

The old man nodded, only for the group to jump as a loud an screeching shout came from the arena. "LIAR," Rebecca screamed, both hands slamming on the table as she stood from her seat. "Liar, liar, LIAR! He would never have given away that card," she roared, the other Yugi glaring at the girl with evident annoyance despite the expression being invisible to most in the room. He quickly misted out of sight as his lighter half gave him a small glance however, leaving the boy alone to deal with his opponent's tantrum. "Maybe I was wrong about you coming to California," the girl growled, fingers digging into the table as best they could, "But that doesn't mean you didn't steal it then, in Egypt! This changes nothing," she continued, sitting back down in her chair and holding her bear close and continuing to shout. "Nothing!"

"Please, just listen," Sugoroku shouted, the others turning to watch Rebecca growl and huff in her seat. "I haven't finished!" Eh? There was more? "Back in the tunnels where Arthur showed me the carvings," he said clearly, gripping the side of the railing as he spoke, "Among the tablets depicting the 'stone battles', we became trapped in a sudden cave in... The walls literally crumbled inward on themselves by some unseen force, the two of us barely left alive in the mess... We had no way to contact someone for help," he trailed off somewhat, gaze moving downward. "All we could do was wait... But two days passed, our food depleted completely and still no one came. We were down to only a few more sips of water," he continued, staring down as he recalled the event with an almost flat tone. "And we were running out of time and hope... But your grandfather suggested something, a game," the man said with a slight nod, looking back up at Rebecca as he spoke. "To 'decide our fate', or at the very least, pass the time... As we pulled out our decks," Sugoroku added, voice gaining a small bit of volume, "I made an offer; the winner of the duel gets the last of the water. And Arthur agreed," Sugoroku continued, sighing somewhat. "He agreed... And so we played... And his first move was to send out the Witch of the Black Forest, which would later be followed by Sangan," he said with the wave of a hand, "And then the Millennium Shield... Arthur taught you to play this game didn't he," Sugoroku asked, the girl in the arena shaking somewhat as she fixed the others with a murderous glare. "After all," he continued, only for a loud shout to interrupt him. "He-"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Again the others jumped, frozen with silence as the girl turned on them again. H-H-Holy shit... F-Frightening... "I don't want to hear it! No more! You're lying... And I don't want to hear any more of it! No more... There's no proof to your words, none," she screeched, the others pulling sour expressions at the attitude as they recovered from the initial shock. "By the way," she snarled to her opponent, those on the side narrowing their eyes. "It's your turn!"

Alright, that was it. "OI," Katsuya shouted, leaning over the railing with narrowed eyes as he came forward. "Jii-chan ain't done with yah! Cut it out y-"

"It's alright," Sugoroku muttered quietly from the side, moving back to take his seat as he shook his head. The others turned, blinking as the man stared out at the arena with an odd expression in place. W-What... But... "Just let her play," the man said, shaking his head. "It's strange," he added, folding his hands in his lap as the two in the arena composed themselves. "But it feels as though Arthur is here right now..."

...Huh... (Wait, he made it sound like he was dead...) "Tch!" The others quickly resumed their glares as Rebecca snorted, still huffing in the arena. "You're the one who interrupted," she growled, fingering her cards. "That's not your call to make!" Yea yea yea, whatever mini-bitch... The girl turned back to Yugi, frowning. "Go on... We'll see how long this takes," she spat, opponent merely frowning.

Yea, they'd see how long it took... For her to lose... Yugi drew his card, looking over his hand briefly before making his move. "I summon the Catapult Turtle in attack mode," he called out, the large tablet glowing somewhat on appearance as a mechanized tortoise stomped through. The monster turned its head toward Rebecca, eyes gleaming somewhat as it slowly took aim toward her with the closest thing it could call a grin.

"Hnnn... The turtle," the girl said with a smirk, those on the sidelines frowning. The girl continued to smirk, shaking her head. "Hnhnhnhnhn... Nice try... But-"

"I'm not done yet," Yugi said calmly, still frowning as he cut the girl off. His opponent lost the smirk, watching as he set down another card. "I also play Brain Control," the boy continued, Rebecca quickly growing pale as the tablet appeared behind him. Large withered hands flowed out from the tablet, the stone's dust mixing with the air as they began their mesmerizing dance. "I'm taking the Millennium Shield'," he stated as the hands moved past the electromagnetic ring, "And I'm loading it into the Catapult Turtle to activate its effect!"

With a single swift motion the shield was taken in the grip of the hands, locked into place on the catapult. "A-Ahhh... Not..." Slowly the device rose upward, locking into position as Rebecca sat in shock. "Ahh..." And then, it fired... With a thundering crack against a seemingly invisible wall the shield flew forward, exploding on contact with the air a mere centimetre from Rebecca's head. The tablet behind the girl, the 'electromagnetic ring', also disintegrated, becoming mere dust in the air as its owner went red. "Hah... Ahh..!"

"That's not all," Yugi continued, pointing his summoned skull forward with a frown. The demon growled, pulling itself up from its seated position and cracking his neck with a 'grin'. "The Skull Demon attacks," he called, the monster charging up a large blast of electricity in his claws. One instant was all it took, and with a flash of lightning the remaining monster on Rebecca's side of the field became naught but dust. Sparks scattered across the field, tracing along the outlines of where the Cannon Soldier's corpse had fallen. "The Cannon Soldier is defeated!"

"Aaaaahhh! NOT FAIR," Rebecca shouted, gritting her teeth as her lifepoints plummeted. "Not fair, not fair not fair! AAAARGH!"

The girl continued to seethe, Katsuya merely grinning on the sidelines. "Hehehe... 'S called karma y' brat!" He continued to laugh, shaking his head as the girl continued her tantrum. "Keep it up Yugi!"

Honda nodded, grinning as he shouted over the railing from beside the blond. "YEA! You go for it Yugi," he shouted, giving a loud clap. "Kick her ass!"

The cheers continued, Anzu deciding to ignore the more rash comments on the side and watching as Rebecca grit her teeth and drew a card. "...Ah... Hang on," Mokuba muttered, frowning somewhat. The others blinked, the cheers halting as they followed the boy's gaze over the side of the rail. "Rebecca's expression just changed..."

"Hnhnhnhnhn... Hnhahahaha!" Ah hell not that laugh. "Ohhh Wonderful! This is wonderful," the girl was shouting, holding the card to her teddy bear's face. What... What the hell... "Look Teddy-chan," she continued, Katsuya pulling a face as the skull demon and turtle both tilted their heads in confusion. What the hell was this kid doing..? "Look what we drew! Hnhnhnhhn... Judgement Bomber!" The card was slapped on the table, a large, thickly muscled man stepping out from the tablet that appeared as the stone crumbled into dust. The man grunted, heaving an enormous black device up on his back before staring across the field. "By discarding five cards from my hand," its master shouted with a laugh, grinning almost wickedly, "All monsters on the field are destroyed!"

Gh- The man from the tablet hauled an enormous, chained capsule forward, the device slamming soundly into the table before glowing a beet red. Countdown... Three... Two...

-BROUM!- Small vibrations blew past the arena, Katsuya wincing somewhat as the sound blasted through his ears. Pieces of flesh metal and bone both flew through the air, splatting against the arena glass with a sickening splat. And even then the pieces were only there a moment, before burning away into ashes before his eyes. Nothing was left in the explosion, to say the least... And above the arena, the counter was ticking down for lifepoints. Nothing left...

Just dust... "I'm going to win no matter what," Rebecca said darkly, smirking with narrowed eyes. "Here's my favourite monster, the most powerful in the deck! The Shadow Ghoul!" With a low and rumbling roar a tablet appeared behind the girl, a void of sorts appearing from the surface. From the stone's carved image it came, rotted, boil-ridden skin and cruel gaping teeth staring down the empty side of the field. Four bone-thin, rotting green legs pulled the beast to the table, hungered maw hovering just inches above the unaware boy that was its opponent. As it moved however, the most disturbing was yet to come, even with that. For from the graveyard pile of cards at the side...

There were screams. Wailing cries as the shadowed figures of the monsters both killed and discarded came into view, each one captured and devoured by the Shadow Ghoul with a loud and audible snap as it stood in front of it's master. "Hnhnhnhnhn... This monster gains one hundred points of attack for each monster in the grave," Rebecca shouted with a laugh, voice accented by the miserable shouts from the grave as her monster devoured each soul. "You can do the math for that one," she continued, dark grin widening as the others stared in shock.

"No way," Honda said with a swallow, shaking his head as he stared at the board. "There could be eleven monsters in that pile," he continued, gripping the railing. "There's no telling how many were in her hand..."

"Eleven monsters," Katsuya muttered, eyes wide. The screams had died down... Honda was right, eleven was the number of monsters that died... Even so... He swallowed, watching as the monstrous ghoul in the arena turned to stare almost hungrily at the crowd. Evidently... Yugi wasn't enough for his attention. "That's..." Blank red eyes, staring forward with no attention to whatever command was delivered... Saliva was literally flowing from it's open mouth, low grumbling coming from its throat. "That's..."

Anzu frowned, looking at the blond and shaking her head annoyedly. "It's eleven hundred Jonouchi..."

"Gh- I know that," he shouted angrily, glaring at the woman before turning back to the field. He wasn't worried about the numbers! This was... "Still... Eleven monsters just for that..."

Yugi as well was staring in shock, though at Rebecca rather than the ghoul... Or at least, where it was assumed the ghoul stood. It was hard to see anything else besides the ghoul from Katsuya's angle in any case, given that the beast literally stood between the pair. "You sacrificed all those monsters," the boy asked, frowning, "Eleven monsters," he continued, shaking his head somewhat, "Just to increase this one's attack in groups of a hundred..?"

The boy's opponent smirked, crossing her arms. "Of course," she said cheerfully, Katsuya clenching the side of the railing as the girl spoke, teeth grinding in aggravation as he bit back a shout. "You realized that just now? It's well worth it," the girl continued with a wicked smile, eyes narrowed with mirth rather than anger for the moment. "After all... 2700... There aren't many things that can beat that..."

"...Rebecca," Yugi said quietly, bowing his head in silence. This seemed familiar somehow... This match. These words... He wasn't sure how but... "Each monster has a purpose," he continued, eyes appearing almost dim as he looked back at the girl across from him. "A 'soul' that needs to be respected and treated with care... You're supposed to believe in your cards," the boy said slightly louder, frowning as his opponent stared back. "Not throw them away..! Don't you think that sending so many to the graveyard, just for this, is a little-"

"Psh!" Rebecca snorted, laughing as she cut the boy off. "Hnahahahha! Souls? You think the cards have souls," she said with a louder laugh, unaware of the second and third glare she was receiving for her efforts. "These are cards," the girl shouted, her amusement abruptly switching to anger yet again as she waved her hand through the air. "Slips of printed paper! The only purpose that they have is making me win," she continued, narrowing her eyes. "That's all this is- a card game! And the only thing that matters is winning, at all costs," the girl shouted loudly, Katsuya abruptly widening his eyes.

Those words... Katsuya slowly looked at Mokuba, the boy as well growing tense before looking up at the blond for a moment. These words were...

"That's a real duelist," Rebecca continued on with a growl, narrowing her eyes and leaning forward somewhat. "So stop making up excuses," she snarled, eyes narrowed into slits as she pulled back into her seat. "Stop covering up for your grandpa's theft! It won't work!" Shut the hell up... Just shut up... "These cards are weapons," the girl said lowly, gesturing to her graveyard as the Shadow Ghoul turned toward her with a tilted head. Tch... "That's all they are..."

Yea... Where had he heard that before... Katsuya frowned, turning back to the duel as Yugi turned their way for a small moment. There was an odd look on his face... Undecipherable... He seemed to be turned toward his grandfather, despite the fact that his other half appeared to be trying to get his attention from the side before misting back into the puzzle. "...Is that so," Yugi said quietly, Rebecca merely watching in silence.

The girl stared, eyes narrowed as she held her bear. "Yes... It is," she finally said, before crossing her arms and looking at the board for a moment before continuing. "I end my turn."

Tch... Yugi nodded, drawing his next card. "Alright then... I set a monster in defense mode," he stated, placing the card face down as a blank tablet appeared at his side. "...And then I end my turn," he continued, bowing his head somewhat and leaving the tablet to hover at his side.

The boy's opponent nodded quietly, moving for her deck to draw a card before smirking. Damn it, not that look... "Hnhnhnhnhn... Well," the girl said with a smile, looking over at her opponent with narrowed eyes. "Would you look at this... Luck is on my side," she continued with a smirk, placing the one card she'd drawn and setting it on the board. "I play the spell 'Stop Defense'," she cried, pointing forward as her Shadow Ghoul did the same. From the blank tablet the form of a violet robed mage appeared, before the Dark Magician himself stepped forward from the stone with a frown. He'd been found... And he was not prepared for battle. "And now... Shadow Ghoul," Rebecca ordered, the slightly more powerful of the two staring hungrily at the magician as he tensed. "Attack!"

Katsuya winced, shutting his eyes as the Dark Magician attempted in vain to fend off the prowling monster with his staff. A wide gaping mouth lined with oversized teeth moved forward, the Dark Magician batted across the side of the table by claws easily the size of his head, with little else occurring before one or the other won. "Gnoooooooouuu..." G-Gh... A 'crunching' sound hit the air and the blond swallowed, opening his eyes only to watch as the Magician's still kicking legs vanished into the ghoul's mouth, the staff on the ground misting from existence without a master. Gh... Disgusting...

"Hnhnhhn..." Rebecca looked over her bear's head, still smirking as she 'waved' at the vanishing corpse. "Bye bye, Dark Magician..."

That was... "Damn it," Honda was muttering at the side, shaking his head as the blond beside him growled. "How the hell are we going to beat this..!"

"Jii-san," Mokuba asked, frowning as he looked back at Sugoroku. The old man turned, blinking as Mokuba continued. "I don't know how these duels can be happening exactly as they did for you," he began, voicing the thoughts that most of the others had had on the matter. "But... Isn't there something you can do," he asked, swallowing.

The others nodded, Katsuya turning from the railing to look at the old man as well. "Yea... Hell," he continued, shaking his head, "You know how th' duel ended las' time right," he asked, frowning as the man nodded. "So then..."

"Just watch," the old man said with a wink, looking back to the match as the others frowned. "Everything will work out fine," he continued with a nod, "Just wait and see... The results," he added, "Will probably surprise you..."

Surprise? But that was never good... Ahhhh... The group turned back to the arena, watching as Yugi drew a card from his deck and set it on the table. "I play Swords of Revealing Light," he called out, the tablet appearing at his command only to crumble away into a fine powder as a series of golden blades dug into the table around the Shadow Ghoul. The beast screeched in anger, clawing at its glowing prison before sitting in a squat with a low growl as he received no results. The boy nodded toward his opponent, ending his turn as the girl before him grumbled in a manner not unlike the monster on the field.

"Gh... How irritating," she muttered darkly, before drawing her card and huffing. "I'll pass," Rebecca drawled, shaking her head as she put the card in her hand. "It'll be better for me to wait these turns out than ruin my own strategy..."

Tch... "Easy f'r her t' say," the blond growled, again leaning over the side of the rail with narrowed eyes. "She's got th' most powerful monster on th' field..."

There was no response to the comment, from the crowd and arena both, Yugi merely drawing his card as his darker half watched in silence from the side. "Monster Reborn," the boy called out, placing the same card on the table with a short nod. From the tablet that appeared came an immense and shining light, a glowing green ankh appearing only to vanish into dust. And from the rubble and light the Dark Magician reformed completely, cracking his neck before staring down the imprisoned Shadow Ghoul with narrowed eyes as he twirled his staff.

"Hnhnhnhnhn... Putting up another shield," Rebecca said with a smirk, drawing her next card and looking over it. "Heh! No use," the girl muttered, shaking her head, "No use at all... I'll win that card," she continued with narrowed eyes, placing her own on the field. "But first... Lets see how you like this..." The tablet appeared at the side as the girl spoke, a crouching, somewhat confused looking cannon soldier appearing in its wake as the stone device crumbled into a cloud of dust. "Cannon Soldier," Rebecca said calmly, pulling back to cross her arms. "Defense mode!"

Tch... Great... It was either add to the Ghoul's attack or sit still... No choice there. Yugi bit his lip, the others watching in silence as it came to his turn. "Dark Magician," he ordered after a moment, having drawn his card as the magician readied himself. In the end, it was this or face the Soldier's special effect... "Attack the solider!"

The magician nodded, spinning his staff for a moment before holding it forward with narrowed eyes. "Black Magic," the monster stated calmly, Katsuya blinking for a few moments as the words echoed clearly around the room. Again... He heard a monster... A blast of shadows gathered at the tip of the staff, before slamming the Cannon Soldier into the arena glass and rendering the metal nothing but a smouldering heap of scrap. Sparking plastic and metal fell to the ground, vanishing into dust as the Dark Magician brought his staff back to his side. "...Hn!"

Good god he needed sleep... "Hnhnhnhn... Thanks for the bonus," Rebecca said with a laugh, those at the sidelines shaking their heads as her monster's attack rose another hundred points. "I'll be sure to use it when these swords of yours finally disappear..!"

Damn it damn it damn this kid... "Shit... If Yugi doesn't pull something out soon," Honda started with a swallow, "He's screwed..." The teen bit his lip, shaking his head. "Damn it..."

There were a few nods, Katsuya gritting his teeth as their friend drew a card only to pass on his final safe turn. "It ain't over yet though," he muttered, narrowing his eyes. "There's gotta be one card he's waitin' for... Jus' one..." Some kind of trump card... A back up...

"Some kind of card huh," Honda muttered, staring out at the arena as the others held silent.

The blond nodded, swallowing. "Yea... A card..." Something...

"Waiting for your trump card," Rebecca teased, dark smirk in place while the swords vanished completely from sight. "It won't do you any good... Lets face it," she continued, giggling, "I've won this match! And on my next turn," she continued, watching as Yugi drew his next card and stared at it momentarily. "You're history! Hnhnhnhnhn!"

Oh was she now? Katsuya grit his teeth, glaring at the board. He bet that the next card Yugi had would- ...What was that look on his face... ...And why was his Dark Magician already vanishing from sight, along with the Shadow Ghoul..? "Rebecca," Yugi said calmly, placing the card back on his deck along with his hand. "...I surrender."

W... What... "What," Katsuya said quietly, watching as Rebecca grinned wickedly. He shook his head, eyes widening as he looked forward. "W-WHAT!"

"Katsuya-nii," Mokuba growled, rubbing his ears. "Keep it down..!"

The blond ignored him, running over to the exit of the arena as Yugi walked out. "Y-Yugi," he called, frowning somewhat as the boy stepped toward them. Why... Why did...

...Why did Yugi seem happy..? "Yugi," Honda asked, frowning. "Why did you quit," he continued, the others staring as well. From inside the arena loud shouts were echoing around the room, Rebecca jumping around with her bear in her hands as she laughed.

"We won," she shouted with a grin, voice echoing around the room to their distaste. "We won Teddy-chan! YES!"

The others continued to watch as Yugi turned to them, confused expressions in place as their friend merely smiled. "...What's going on," Anzu said confusedly, blinking with somewhat narrowed eyes. "Yugi... Why..."

"I'd like the card now 'please'," a familiar and aggravating voice said from the side, Yugi remaining somewhat silent as he moved to let Rebecca past. The others grimaced, nonetheless holding their tongues as the 'winner' put her suitcase to the side and held her hand out. "I know you have it with you," she continued, narrowing her eyes. "I was told you always have it after all..."

Yea, a real little 'know it all' wasn't she? Let alone the fact that they had no clue who told her all this crap. Katsuya bit his tongue, watching as Sugoroku slowly and carefully pulled out the taped up card he'd carried with him since the day at Death-T. "Very well," the old man stated, nodding his head somewhat morosely. "Here you are," he said quietly, holding it out as Rebecca gaped.

"You... You tore it," she whispered, staring at the worn edges of the paper with wide eyes before looking at its owner with unbridled rage. The others mentally groaned, wincing slightly as the girl continued to stare with shock "YOU FUCKING TORE IT," she screeched, the others jumping back.

Gh..! What the- "Shit," Katsuya muttered, shaking his head as he stared at the girl, who was currently regaining her breath. "Where th' hell did that one..."

"I'm gonna say tenth grade," Honda answered under his breath, eyes not moving from the red faced little girl before them. "...Maybe ninth."

"I don't believe it," Rebecca roared, the man before her nervously pulling back under the volume of the shouts. "You tore my Grandpa's card!"

"I'm very sorry," Sugoroku said quietly, shaking his head as he held the card gently. "I did try to tell you but-"

The girl merely shook her head, nails digging into the bear at her side as she continued to shout. "You ripped it clean in half, just so no one would use it! Just so you could have it all to yourself!"

Aaaugh, just shut up already...! "I wanted to tell you earlier," the man insisted, Mokuba currently looking away somewhat guiltily at the mention of the card, "I tried to explain but-"

"No. More. EXCUSES," she roared, Katsuya rolling his eyes and moving forward. "THIS IS-"

"That's enough!" The group all tensed, turning as a stern and clear voice sounded through the room from the side of the main elevator. Who was that..? They stared, eyes wide as a somewhat well dressed old man stepped forward from the hall, cane in hand as he looked toward Rebecca with slightly narrowed eyes. "That's enough, Rebecca. Calm down... This is not how a 'lady' acts after all," he said with a somewhat disciplinary nod, the girl hurriedly flushing and bowing her head in response. Well, obviously whatever he said did the trick... Wait... The old man continued to step forward, Mokuba staring in confusion as the others blinked. That would mean that this...

This was... Rebecca's Grandfather... "H-How... How did you get up here," Mokuba managed to ask, shaking his head as he stared.

"That's right," Anzu said slowly, shaking her head and frowning. "Mokuba said that this floor is closed off right now, so how..."

The old man smiled, shaking his head. "An interesting thing," he stated in Japanese, holding his cane to the side as he spoke. "But when I contacted the police in the area for information on the whereabouts of my granddaughter," he stated, "I was told that she was last spotted entering the 'KaibaLand' building. Within one call," the man continued, "Not only did the police manage to contact the manager of the building, but as it turned out, the CEO himself was notified when the manager became unsure of just how a young American child could have entered without their knowing... Apparently, Kaiba-san had an idea," he continued, Mokuba ducking his head as the old man turned to him, "And had one of the staff activate the side elevator to allow me in. I must ask you to thank your brother for me," he continued, bowing his head to Mokuba as the boy nodded somewhat weakly. "It's quite likely that without this," he continued, "I would have had to give an extremely upsetting call to my daughter concerning all of this."

Um... Ok... The others stared, blinking a few times as the man turned back to them. "Wow," Anzu muttered, blinking a few times. "Kaiba did that..." Sheesh... Calling in the boss of all bosses in the company, wasn't that a little...

Mokuba brightened somewhat, smirking as he turned to the others. "Heh... Nii-sama's a good person when he wants to be you know!"

When she wanted, being the key term here... But hey, the kid still had a point. Katsuya shook his head, turning as more talking continued on from the side. "Ahhh... Sugoroku," 'Arthur' said cheerfully, pulling the group's thoughts back to the reason they were there. "It's been a long time," he continued, bowing his head to the shorter old man. "You're looking well..."

"Hahahahaaaa... As well as I can be at this age Arthur!" Sugoroku shook his head, laughing while he shook his head and looked up at his friend. "A 'long time' indeed..."

The others watched as the two old men exchanged greetings, before Rebecca tensed up again. "G-... Grandpa," she shouted in English, frowning as she grabbed at her grandfather's arm. "Grandpa, he tore your card in half," she protested, shaking her head. "How can you talk to him like thi-"

"He didn't tear it!" Rebecca jumped as Mokuba angrily came to the old man's defense, somewhat red-faced as stuttering and accented English came out. The girl stared, as did the others in a shocked silence as the boy continued, bowing his head to the side somewhat. "...It... Someone else tore it," he continued, shaking his head. "It wasn't him..."

Er... ...What was he saying..? ...Damn it, he should have paid more attention in English... Rebecca frowned, turning on the boy almost immediately with the shout. "Someone else," she questioned, eyes wide. "Who! Who did it?" ...Okay, he knew what that word meant. The boy turned away somewhat, swallowing as the girl continued shouting. "Who-"

"Oi oi oi," Katsuya shouted, stepping between the two with a scowl. That was it! He might not have known what was being said, but he had a pretty decent idea... "Lay off!"

The girl growled, shaking her head. "No! I have a right to know," she continued bitterly, "And if he says he knows who ripped it, then-"

"Rebecca..." Arthur turned from where he was speaking with Sugoroku, sending a stern glare down at his granddaughter to match the dangerous tone his voice held. "Behave!"

She bowed her head, nodding and turning away with a scowl. "Sorry Grandpa..." Yea, she was 'sorry' alright...

The old man sighed, turning to the others for a moment and shaking his head. "I must apologize completely for how she's been acting," he said with a sigh, frowning. "She's normally quite kind, if not quiet even..." Yea. He'd believe that when the words described Seto. "Now then," he continued, shaking his head as he moved from Sugoroku's side. "Rebecca," he said calmly, "There's something you need to understand about this duel. Come," he continued, gesturing toward the arena and walking toward the table. "Both of you," he added politely, Yugi slowly nodding as they followed down the bridge. Arthur moved over to where Yugi's deck still sat, slowly lifting the top card and nodding to himself. "As I thought," he stated, smiling. The man turned, looking down at Yugi and shaking his head with a chuckling smile. "You're just like your Grandfather... A kind heart... Now then. Rebecca," he continued, looking at his own grandchild and shaking his head, "You did not win that match."

...Wait what. Rebecca frowned, shaking her head as the others as well stared in silence. "That's... But that's not true," she muttered, "I..."

Arthur held the card forward, the others watching as Rebecca gave a loud and fearful gasp, the girl stepping forward with her hands on her mouth. "Soul Release," her grandfather said with a smile, shaking his head before putting it back on the deck at the table. "Had he used this card," the man explained, carefully handing the deck back to Yugi, "Five monsters from the graveyard would have been removed from play. Your Shadow Ghoul," he continued, "Would have been just weak enough for the Dark Magician to defeat... And then it would all be over."

"But... That's..." She shook her head, frowning. "That's..." The girl swallowed, staring at the ground for a moment. "Why," she finally shouted, shaking her head as she turned to Yugi. The boy turned away, sending a glance toward his grandfather as the girl continued to shake her head. "...Why," Rebecca continued to press, her grandfather giving a somewhat exasperated sigh.

He placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, smiling. "You don't know why," he asked, chuckling somewhat and shaking his head. "Because he, like his Grandfather, has a kind heart... He wanted to 'save' you," he continued, those outside the arena tilting their heads somewhat. Er... 'Save'? "As Sugoroku did for me. You see," he continued, looking back down the bridge at the old man while the others followed his gaze, "When Sugoroku and I were dueling, I became fatigued... It was hard for me to see, hard for me to breathe even... Closed spaces can do that to some people, and evidently, I was one of them. He forfeited that match so that I would take the water," Arthur continued, bowing his head. "And later, when we were rescued," the man went on, "I asked him... 'Why did you forfeit that match?' And he told me 'Winning is not important... But life, however, is.'"

Rebecca looked up, frowning somewhat as they made their way from the arena to the others. "Rebecca," her grandfather said calmly, "In any 'game' or 'career', one must always honor those involved... Be they people," he said with a smile, not moving his gaze from the girl, "Or the cards themselves... Because despite what most may think, even a a simple 'piece of paper' is enough to change the flow of fate... I might have sacrificed those monsters during my duels to give the Shadow Ghoul power," Arthur continued, still smiling, "I still respected and honored that sacrifice. A true duelist Rebecca, is not someone who 'wins'," he explained calmly. "It's one who shows respect for their opponent and themselves, despite what fate throws at them. A true duelist needs a caring heart," he continued, turning back to the others. "A heart and a drive for whatever they do in life. After that duel," Arthur stated, looking back to the others, "After we both recovered, I gave Sugoroku that card, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Because compared to life... It's more than worth the price. And I don't regret that choice..."

"...But... Grandpa," Rebecca continued to protest, frowning. "The card is..."

Sugoroku bowed his head, watching as his friend walked over and looked over the card. Torn completely in two, the edges were taped back together with scotch tape. "Yes," Arthur said calmly, "I can see that... But that's fine." Katsuya blinked, staring a few times. Er... ...It was? The old man smiled, looking at his friend as the other smiled back. "The fact that you kept it old friend, is more than enough for me; I don't need to know why it's been torn," he continued, Katsuya mentally smacking himself over the head for missing the point, "I only need to know that you'll always remember what this card represents. Because even when torn," the man added calmly, "Our friendship will still be intact." Damn it, of course it was ok... God...

The old man nodded, pocketing the card with a calm smile. "I wouldn't have it any other way Arthur."

A small bit of silence settled over the area, a few of the others shifting somewhat awkwardly. Sooo... That was fixed... Uh... What now? "...Yugi," Rebecca said quietly, the others turning from the old men to stare at the girl. She stared at the ground face a beet red as she turned somewhat awkwardly from the looks to grip her bear. "All of you... I... I need to apologize..." Damn straight she did. The others stared, most bearing a mixed look of surprise and annoyance as the girl continued. "I... I really did think that you had done all that..! Stealing the card I mean... And..." She bit her lip, still completely red-faced as she stared at the ground.

"It's fine," Yugi said with a smile, shaking his head. The girl blinked, the others as well staring with slight surprise. "Besides... You know now, right?" Again, the girl choked, staring at the ground somewhat while Yugi dug around in his pockets for something. "Here," he continued, smiling. The boy held out a card, Rebecca slowly taking it from him with a frown. "It's not Blue-Eyes... But I want you to have this, alright?"

Rebecca frowned somewhat, slowly taking the card and looking over it as the others stared at it as well. "...The Ties of Friendship..?" Eh? Where did Yugi get that card?

The boy nodded, still smiling. "Yea; it can't be used in a duel," he added, shrugging somewhat, "But... It's a special card, alright?"

"...Right..." Rebecca stared at the card, slowly nodding before carefully putting it in a pocket on her suitcase. "O-Of course!"

"Well now," Arthur said from the side, the others turning. "I would say that's quite enough excitement for today... What do you say we calm this down with a playful match ourselves," he said with a laugh, turning to Sugoroku as the old man nodded.

"Well," he muttered in response, "I think that if I can handle watching those holograms from the sidelines it won't be too much from inside..."

Er... Really..? Mokuba and Katsuya both shared a nervous glance, before shrugging and looking back.

"Do you still have your old deck," Arthur asked his friend with a wink, chuckling as Sugoroku smirked.

"Hoh! The game is only seven years old Arthur, that's hardly old," he said with a laugh.

"Hahahahaha!"

Katsuya grinned, shaking his head. Well, whatever right? If he thought he was ok, he was probably ok. "Aw this I gotta see," he said with a laugh. "'Duelin' Grandpas'!"

"O-Oi," Mokuba said nervously, shaking his head with a small laugh. "Is that really a good idea, it's completely different from inside..! A-Ahhhh..."

Sugoroku waved the boy off, shaking his head and moving toward the arena. "I'll be fine," he insisted, reaching for the gate. "Completely-"

-crack-

The man abruptly froze, hands snapping to his back as Arthur blinked from where he stood. "O-Ooooohh..."

"...Sugoroku," Arthur asked with a cough, staring. "Are you sure you're alright..?"

"O-Oiii, jii-chan..."

"Seriously jii-chan..."

The old man groaned somewhat, turning from the arena and rubbing his back. "I think it'd be best... Of we just headed home now," he forced out, setting his back straight with another crack as the others shook their heads.

"That's probably a good idea," Yugi said with a slight laugh, turning with the others toward the hall and the elevator.

"Hahaha... ...Let's just go home..."

AN: And that's it for Rebecca! We'll be seeing snippets of her as we go along before she makes her comeback in Doma, but not so much that anyone will tell its her by then. That scene was fairly amusing after all.

In any case! She'll still be around so to speak at the start of the next chapter, but da-da-daaa! D-D-D is next, followed by a short bit of a breather to build up the upcoming Battle City Arc!

...I swear, I never thought I'd get this done so fast...

On another note, this chapter might seem short, but don't let that fool you! In reality, it's actually about the same length as most. The 'shortness' comes from the short length of this note, along with the huge paragraphs above. Because that's what happens when someone tells a story. Paragraphs. Paragraphs that have to be split in two so that people can actually read them.

Haaaaahhh...

Anyways, some art for you below! Consisting of graduation fun, concepts and... Luls. You can't have art without the luls. ALSO FANART. (Yay~)

Poll Results

For the identity of Kaiba's past life... Be it male, female, or female and crossdressing.

The Priestess is pulling up the rear! WHOO! Just remember guys; If you have an account, it's easier for me to tally the votes when you participate in the poll using the in-site version rather than commenting. Mostly because, that way when I re-count to make sure I didn't make a mistake, I don't have to dig quite so far in my review folder in the inbox... Hehehe...

Female Crossdressing Set - 12 (Three Anonymous)

Obviously Female Priestess Set - 9 (Three Anonymous)

Canon (Male) Set - 2

And now we have...

Anonymous Review Responses

Hey there Szaphyr! Hahaha, right… I need to get that through my head.

Seriously though, Yugioh is the king of shipping names. They have names for threesomes, foursomes…

Oddly enough, one of the pairings in this fanfic doesn't have a name, despite it being far more likely than most of the three/four-somes on that list... There is no official name, that I am aware of, for Ryuzaki and Shizuka. Huh.

Yeeeeesss, Rebecca… A brat that gets better… Ish. It's a work in progress, but then again, so is Kaiba's own personality.

And… YAY~ Thank you!

Quite a bit like Seto actually, I was rewatching that episode and double taking at pretty much each line Rebecca spouted during her duel. It almost mirrors the words that Kaiba normally goes on about!

The comparison is especially strong if you look at 'Mini-Seto' from that one dream Jonouchi had. Hehehehehe.

What not to do… Of course! Though Kaiba's probably more worried about those lessons not sticking I think; Mokuba might not realize it, but he really has picked up a number of Jonouchi's bad habits; namely shovelling the food in, putting off homework (Though he still gets his done with full marks, HAHA…) wearing the uniform wrong… (you'll see that one next chapter) There's an entire list, trust me.

Scapegoat was that obvious huh… Eh, I like to think that you and Iona just know me that well Cynical Gamer. It is a long fanfic…

Oddly enough, Scapegoat itself won't have anything to do with this, particularly since it's more likely he'll be herding goats rather than sheep. Oh well~ Of course, there aren't really any cards tied in at all for Past-Jou so… Yea.

Hehehe. AAAANGST.

Haha, yep! As I said; a bit OCD about the details I am… (Why I'm not an author probably points to the length of this sucker; how many books are this long before hitting the half-way point? Granted, it'd have been split into series but still. I'm going into the 3D animation field… So not really an author thing.) …Either way! Fun stuff.

Speaking of wage earners; the GX Manga, which is also by Takahashi and is largely different in plot from the GX Anime (especially since the manga was created after the fact) has another Kul Elna person as the main antagonist; 'Tragoedia', who worked at the palace, and therefore avoided being massacred.

He wasn't happy when he found out about the massacre though. Heeeeee… Either way, interesting to see that not everyone in Kul Elna were, as the anime leads you to believe, a bunch of thief's… In fact, they were probably a legitimate village with the sad side effect of being tied into the wrong things.

I refuse to believe you! THE SQUIGGLY IS RIGHT!

It's very rare, they bicker too much for most to really consider it. There actually will be a bit of them plotting as time goes on… It'll take a while, but they will, you'll see… (The results will likely shock you. Along with the reasons.)

You want plotting? I would say three, four more chapters and you'll get it! YEA!

Well… Um… I'm just trying to be good at writing right now so YAY! Go me?

Hehehehehe. Your hint is somewhere in this chapter right here. And ooh, trust me, I won't be pulling a LOST; all the answers will be answered, I just happen to have a set point in the plot for those answers. You'll see more build-up and revealing as Battle City hits though, mostly because of all the Millennium Items floating around.

Speaking of Millennium Items, did you know there's an item in Final Fantasy III called the Millennium Rod? …I WANT IT.

Heeeeee'll get over it… Not really… UM…. Right. Anyways! Phew! It's good to know I'm just helping rather than hindering… That's always one of my worries. (I'm a great, big, worry wart I am…)

Hehehe, phew! That's an incredible load off my shoulders… Makes me feel better about what's to come too; there are obviously going to be duels in the Noa Arc, but a lot of things around then are being shifted around… A lot.

Keep an eye peeled for the changes!

Oooooohhh, poor Jou indeed… She does have a soft spot for him, not that she'll come anywhere near admitting it right now. Hell, she doesn't even know she has a soft spot, she's completely convinced herself that it's just bearing with for Mokuba's sake. It'll be far more apparent once we really hit Battle City though; and I say 'really' because the events concerning the big old tablet reveal happen quite a bit before the tournament begins.

Because tournaments are big things. And they take time to organize. Especially when there are air-ships and duel arenas to be made.

Annnnd here you go! Duke, AKA Otogi will make his appearance next chapter, as you guessed. There won't be any dog suits though (That's why I had my fun with the dog-stuff in the Legendary Heroes), as it's following the Manga plot. Because that one makes far more sense in terms of how things played out really…

Even worse, it was a kigurumi. The kind of pyjamas reserved for teenaged girls and small children..! …Also resident shotas. (In other words, Yugi could pull of a kigurumi and not be dinged for it at all.)

Speaking of dog-suits, OHHH! Fan art.

Hey there Iona! What a setup indeed… It gets better though; as we'll find out next chapter, she was purposefully using her Grandfather's deck. (Or at least one modelled off it) He real one is more similar to the deck she has during the Doma Arc, or at least Fanfic Rebecca's real deck is.

Ooooh, she survived a lot in High School. True, nothing would have really been to her face, but the behind the back crap gets pretty intense, and then there's the self-inflicted seclusion that comes with age. Gym-room talks get really awkward when all the girls start talking about boys and what they do with boys with a twelve year old in the room; and while most would stave off that kind of conversation for obvious reasons, there are a large number who will argue that this girl went through sex-ed like every other student, so there's nothing to hide.

She didn't kick too many shins though. Unless someone was a dick.

FLUFFYYYYYY. Ahhhh yes… Actually, the steak eating went quite differently, if not more frighteningly in the manga; Bakura was just eating with this zombie-look on his face, as though he wasn't really there…

HIHHHHH!

Anyways, it's always interesting, and just you wait until Battle City… Ohhhh boy…

…Yea, I figured that would be the answer. I'd probably last a bit longer just by holding an awkward silence myself.

Amazing character development! And all it took was a Mind Crush! YAAAAAAY~ Still a ways to go though, that's for sure.

And for the next chapter… Away we go!

Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner

The section that has facts for you! AHAHAA- Wait, that's not new?

Today's chapter is returning to my usual cryptic ones... Kiiiiind of. Paper cranes are a symbol of peace in Japan, and besides that particular symbol, cards are... Well... Made of paper.

Not to say that card should be folded into a paper crane. Not only is that likely impossible, it would be very very bad. ANYWAYS.

Seriously, go look at the Death-T series in the manga; not a single one of the bridges in the Death-T events (The ones in the park are obviously completely safe) have a railing.

It's... It's almost like Kaiba was just hoping for someone to slip and fall to the floor below...

In the anime, when the card 'Tribute to the Doomed' is activated, a bunch of bandages come from nowhere, wrapping around the Celtic Guardian… And then A GIANT FUCKING HAND COMES AND PULLS HIM UNDER. Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh...

Tribute to the doomed indeed… ...I was feeling merciful toward Jonouchi's eyes. Hehe.

Sugoroku doesn't actually say anything about the duel he had a few years back until after he realizes that Rebecca is Arthur's granddaughter in the Japanese… I think that he mentions it earlier in the dub version though. In any case, as usual... Went with the Japanese... Mostly.

For some reason, in both versions of the episode, Cannon Soldier's attack is only 400. …But… It's attack is 1400 in real life…

There's a bit of dialogue switching around in Rebecca's case (You can already tell that I've added and subtracted things from the audience)… Some lines came after certain moves rather than before. Yaaaaay!~

OHHH cliches! It feels like a soap opera during that moment! 'THAT'S RIGHT. THE MAN YOU STOLE FROM WAS... *dramatic pause* MY GRANDFATHER.' At the same time though, that's cannon. And... Let's face it guys, kids are dramatic, and it would be terrible if I didn't take advantage of it.

It's good for giggles in any case. Same with SPEAKING IN CAPS FOR SHOUTING. RAAAAAAAH.

For some reason, Sugoroku keeps saying that all this stuff with the match between him and Arthur happened 'a long time ago'. I dunno, I didn't think six years would really qualify as 'long' to someone as old as Sugoroku… Who knows though.

I didn't say the reason why Sugoroku was in Egypt; the dub version says something about participating in a dig. The original just says that Sugoroku was looking for rare cards, hehehe. I'm pretty sure the dub is the one that's further off.

Note that it says 'their' grandfather up there when both of the Yugis are mentioned; at this point in time, while the main cast see the two Yugis as different people, they still see them as the same. This is more easily explained by a mental monologue that Anzu has after the D-D-D arc in the manga. She sees the two Yugis as 'two halves'; Yugi isn't whole as either one or the other... He's 'whole' when they're 'both there'. (So she's pretty much assuming that he's got personality issues. Or something. Which are triggered by the puzzle, something that Kaiba was probably guessing even earlier but whatever.)

In other words, despite being 'different people', they're arguably considered as related to Sugoroku in the same fashion. We just don't really see how this works with the 'other' Yugi, because he never shows up in Sugoroku or the parent's presence. (At least not in person... I'm looking at the manga with that one.)

Speaking of the dub, the dub said that the word Arthur kept finding was 'duel'. Which is all a little silly given that all of this started off with games in general being the focus, rather than the card game. So needless to say... 'GAME'.

'Now Usagi, what's all this nonsense about Oracles…'

The clever fore-shadowing cookie gatherer will know. Trust me. Keep in mind, all oracles pretty much vanished from sight once the Millennium Items showed up... Because hey, you can ask the necklace anything. The oracle doesn't have a damn choice about what they see.

In the Japanese version of the anime, Anzu finds the book/diary that Pegasus had, and mentions that she isn't sure how much she'll be able to get from it, given the fact that (of course) it's written in English.

She then proceeds to explain EVERYTHING.

ANZU. ANZU YOUR POWERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARE AMAZING. Explained here by the fact that earlier, I think I mentioned her parents living or working in the states… Probably the latter. If I didn't, then hnnn... I was sure that I put that in one of the chapters. In any case, I like to assume the latter of the two. Yay~ (Missing parents explained~)

Also, someone who dreams of going there should probably put a fair effort into the language, so really, even if I didn't mention the above...

Yes guys, the original anime did mention the god cards like that. Though I was slightly more 'subtle' about it, because frankly, the Egyptians didn't use cards, they used tablets… And they probably mentioned that.

This was cut from the dub though. It appears we north americans miss a lot neh? (Probably wanted to set up more surprise...)

You know, at the end of the next episode (42), Japanese Sugoroku's line of 'it feels like Arthur is right here in this room' becomes pretty silly... Hehehe.

However, this line can also be... Very misleading, much like Yugi's line in the manga, when he shows Anzu his (as of that moment unfinished) Millennium Puzzle... And says 'it's a memento of my Grandfather'.

Anzu immediately assumes Sugoroku has died, and is therefore more than just frightened when they go to his house and are greeted... By Sugoroku. Naaaaaaah! Oh fun.

But seriously, the first thing you think of when somone says 'it feels like they're in the room now', is not of someone alive.

Originally, Rebecca's tantrum starts when Yugi pulls out Brain Control. Because let's face it, Brain Control and Turtle Catapult, doesn't take a genius. However, I delayed it for the sake of not spamming you with constant dialogue shots. WRAAAAAAAAHHHHHH.

During one moment, we get a shot of Rebecca's hand… And in both versions she has two Sangan in there, along with the third Witch of the Black Forest. I knew she had three of each card! ...Just thought I'd say that.

The card 'Judgement Bomber' is called 'Judgement Blaster' in English. Hurn… In any case, I merged effects here; the dub said 'discard 5 cards to destroy all of the opponent's monsters'. Japanese however, merely said 'destroy all monsters on the field'. (This card doesn't exist by the way.)

So yea. Merged~

Certain dialogue segments are merged as well, as originally, there was a lot more shots to the audience… Mostly because it's visual means rather than text so… That's more expected and desired. It's a little harder to make that kind of thing smooth in a written work really.

Originally (of course), Jonouchi's reason for hesitating with the 'that's (number of points here)', is because he's busy counting. Everyone still assumes this is the case of course, what with Jonouchi being Jonouchi, but… Well, the reason in the fanfic is pretty obvious. Hihhhhhh Shadow Ghoul...

Up to you if Jonouchi can handle lesser math though.

Interestingly enough, because of the dub, the number of monsters in the graveyard is different; the dub replaced two of the cards in the shot of Rebecca's hand with spell cards. But that affects Shadow Ghoul's attack power...

Originally, there was mention of hearts in the anime… And 'Kokoro', which is a lot more than just a 'heart'! Kokoro translates not only into heart, but also mind, and spirit. (Rebecca said 'Heart' in English during the original series, while Yugi said Kokoro.) Also, Rebecca says her Grandpa taught her this… Which is rather silly, since he obviously didn't. Or did he..? Maybe it was an assumed lesson? Well, at least you know where the dub pulled that 'heart of the cards' nonsense; in reality, the anime was talking about the cards being alive.

I don't think I should really mention every minor dialogue switch in any case…

Also, Rebecca comments on Yugi taking a long time in the original but… He… He only takes a few seconds. Plus there's dialogue there in the fanfic soooooo… Yeaaaaaa… Cut line.

By the way if you haven't guessed, Yami Yugi has been standing at the side pulling audience duty as well. For the rare moment he can. (Seriously, how many other times does Yugi duel on his own where his darker half can just sit back and watch?)

Holy shit guys. THE PARALLELS. Look at Rebecca's words before the 'reveal' of Soul Release, right down to her treatment of the cards… And then look at Kaiba during a duel early on (Kaiba gets better. Still a jerk, but still gets better).

Seriously guys. SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL THEY'RE THE SAME.

...Except... Rebecca actually has solid sane thoughts running with her. Kaiba kinda lost it. (Don't you tell me that's not true. Look at the manga, and you tell me that's not true.)

Interesting fact; as many are probably wondering, there are ample opportunities for a 'direct attack' during earlier duels than this one. So why did no one take them?

Because it was against the rules; until Battle city, the rules for the duel (or at least in the manga... Who knows with anime) was that you couldn't attack the opponent directly, you had to attack a monster. Having a clear field however was still deadly, as... Well, there are still spells that can fix that.

Which might actually be part of why those same spells were outlawed during Battle City (Kaiba specifically says, during the Jonouchi VS Yugi duel at the pier, that cards which inflict direct attacks are not allowed in the tournament)... Besides the fact that the holograms actually kinda hurt at least.

For some reason, when Yugi summons up the swords of revealing light, we only see two of his three turns go by… I guess he didn't do anything on his third one… That or I am a terrible count.

How many of you pictured 'sparta' at the end of the 'this is' that I cut off? Admit it, you did!

(Yea... Just me I guess.)

Now obviously, despite me clearing the arena well enough, I still had to get Arthur in there! And then it hit me… Rebecca came to Japan on her own. If that doesn't start ringing alarm bells among those looking after her, I don't know what does. Thankfully, Rebecca was at her dear Granddad's at the time, or this would have ended much more awkwardly.

You can probably imagine how weird the call to Kaiba went though… 'Yea, they're saying a kid entered but… She didn't…' '…*How the hell is this my problem…*' As for how Kaiba knew where they were, it's pretty clear that when the duel arena starts doing crap on its own, someone is up there. Moreover… This. 'Check the security feeds...'

Nonetheless, I can pretty much guarantee that as someone who has gone through the absolute hell of having a younger relative go missing, Kaiba would indeed quite gladly help Arthur out by letting him in when the mention of missing children comes up. Because trust me guys; the feeling is terrifying, and as someone who really has, for at least a few hours, believed their younger brother to be missing… I can really, really feel for it.

(As it turned out in my case, my brother, who was conveniently dressed in camouflage, decided that three foot tall piles of grass was a brilliant place to sit and quietly play... And he ended up just watching curiously when the police started coming around and shouting. We were waiting for the dogs when I spotted him. Tackled him out of a mix of rage and relief I did.)

Mokuba, being twelve and Japanese, will obviously not have perfect English. It's a lot better than most his age of course, given that he spent as long as Kaiba did on it while at Gozaburo's (Well, for the most part at least), but at the same time, think; would Gozaburo bring both the siblings along to a dinner of any kind of the kids couldn't interact with any other kids in the room? Probably not, since that would make him look bad. (Hehehe. Yay?)

…For some reason, in the scene where Arthur explains why Yugi surrendered, Yugi is blushing. WHAT.

Here's a bit of 'Fridge Brilliance' for you; Arthur says that the shadow games (And as a result, duel monster matches) were a way for the Egyptian's of 'Yami Yugi/Atem's time to discern the future, their fate. Directly after Sugoroku forfeited the match for Arthur's sake, the rescue team found them.

Coincidence? Or was it all a test…

Originally, Rebecca has her spazz about Sugoroku's card being ripped in half after Arthur says it represents friendship ('Yea some show of friendship HE RIPPED IT IN HALF!'). …But I moved it.

Heeeeeyyyy it's that card that Anime Yugi got from the Duelist Kingdom… This is actually quite common (Getting prize cards), if not the only way anyone who duels professionally earns money. Big tournaments get really rare, one of a kind cards… But you can't use them in duels. That would be silly. (And illegal.) Sure you could use them in a playful match among friends if you wanted to be a dick but… No tournaments!

Of course, being one of a kind, these things can fetch a fairly high price. That 'Ties of Friendship' card Yugi has might not be worth as much as say Blue-Eyes in their realm, what with Blue-Eyes being a legal card and 'three of a kind' (With Sugoroku's being unfit for a match now.), but you never know… It could be worth more.

Whaaaat, you thought I'd do the old man match? HAH no. Not doing more card games than I have to, no thanks!

Poor Kaiba though, probably got like five calls while trying to deal with all this crap... Remember, the reason why she wasn't there to punt Rebecca with words (You so know this kid wouldn't get dick all if Kaiba was there. ...Unless Kaiba randomly figured this would be amusing... But I doubt it with Rebecca's attitude.) is because she's dealing with car accident issues.

FanArt and My Art Section

It's that time of... Update?

Remove the spaces for your link, and enjoy!

Also a bit of a guide; if it says concept, it's something that has the potential to spoil, but might not appear when that moment comes. On the other hand, spoilers have already been set and given a moment in my mind, and will happen at some point in the fanfic. If it has both though, watch it; that means the scene is set, but the design isn't, and it really WILL SPOIL.

Of course, then there's crack and comic; Crack is basically just me drawing weird stuff with the characters. And I mean weird stuff, not just like... Jonouchi in Yusei Fudo's clothes, I mean weird stuff. A full on comic, or doodle comic is... Well, exactly what I just said. Keep in mind, some are one panel. Next is costume; if it doesn't have a label other than that, it's either me screwing around with clothing designs, or me showing you other designs that already happened in fanfic. I'll let you know when that happens in the label though.

Lastly there's just the stuff without a label; this stuff is going to be things ranging from me being silly (Like the dragons) and me making 'cover' pages. Yaaaay~

MOST IMPORTANT: Any and all Fanart, in other words, anything NOT drawn by myself, will be in bold, with the name of the artist in the title.

So yea. Enjoy, now that you know what to click!

Costume: Legendary Heroes Mask Battle – http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ GrimHound. Jpg – So this chibi here is wearing what Jonouchi did during the 'colosseum' match of the Legendary Heroes... ...Yeaaaaa. Much more menacing and 'battle-oriented' than a pig eh? ...Not to mention a dog kigurumi... Anyways. Ignore the skewed foot positioning! I tend to forget I'm bizarrely flexible when I test my poses... Whoops.

Comic: Before The Grad – http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ GradPrep. jpg – No seriously, how long? Every time I look at that kid's hair... Kyouko has her work cut out for her! (And if you thought that was Anzu, my life is now complete. Need to remember; the maid looked eerily like Anzu's initial appearance, so... I draw Kyouko based on that.)

Concept/Spoiler: What If..? - http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ WhatIfDream. jpg – If you can guess what kind of panic is on Jonouchi's face, you win another foreshadowing prize. Especially if you manage to guess what the hell is going on. Hehehe.

Costume: Pokemon Part 1 - http: / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ Pokemanz1. jpg - This is what happens when I get a hold of the walkthroughs for the upcoming Pokemon game 'Black' and 'White'. I say 'upcoming' with loose terms of course, because the game is released in Japan, and should be out in North America come February-March. In fact, the starters you see there all have names now... Tepig, Oshawott, and Snivy. I DEMAND SMUGLEAF! (Also, you really do get two rivals in this game. Hence Mai and Kaiba both being there.)

Costume: Pokemon Part 1 - http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ Pokemanz2. jpg - The second part! I'm not naming all these pokemon, but they are all real, and they're all from the coming games. Yami Yugi has crap loads of bird pokemon in his head (of course), his lighter counterpart sitting with one of the legendaries (the one whose ability is called Brave Heart) and another pokemon (It's a cactus~)... Anzu's in the corner with the same legendary on each side; it has two forms... Voice and Step, so yea. Anzu-pokemon... Mokuba's waaaaay in the background, having a spaz on a dragon... And then there's Ryuzaki, who has both the fossil pokemon... One of which is our friend the feathered dinosaur that links birds to reptiles. Yaaaaay~ Have fun.

FanArt- Sugarfang Phantom – http: / / voiceofwho. deviantart. com/art/Seto-chan-185421772?q=&qo= - Hey hey hey! Fanart! First off, a big thanks to Sugarfang for the fanart... I know the section is for fanart but... Truth be told, I never expected to actually get any, oh wow! It's certainly a better job with prismacolor markers than I can ever hope to achieve... In any case, Sugarfang has an FF account, so you should go check her out!