I'm truly sorry everyone. I tried to get this out on one of the days I said I would get it out but it was rather late when I got it back from my beta-reader (not her fault at all, she was just making the duel in this chapter awesome) and I had school the next day. So, yeah, it's a day late but, ah well, that's life.

Thank you to Guest, SuperNeos2, bobmanv2.0, Sundown17, Guest [there were two guests reviewers], DarkZorua100, Supreme Elemental Hero, EndlessNight025, Kamen Rider Sting, decode9, a1993, Sorcerer of the Stories, StrawHatLuffy94, Lightclaw's Shadow and iloveyugiohGX93 for reviewing the last chapter. You guys, as usual, are the greatest.

And, as usual, thank you to EndlessNight025, to whom I give credit for this duel once again (since she was the one that did it), for being an awesome beta-reader.

Also, the next two chapters will not feature a duel. There are three more chapters in part one and then we will get on to part two, where things take on a darker turn. The next chapter will, definitely, be posted next Sunday.

I hope that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.

3

The Semifinals: Machines and Gem-Knights

Jaden shot up in his bed and gasped, a cold sweat covering his body and his eyes wild with fear. The fear started to die down as Jaden took a few shuddering breaths and closed his eyes as he attempted to get his breathing under control. The nightmare was as bad as they usually were, but Jaden found that his nightmares about what happened the two times his powers got out of control were more terrifying than the nightmares he occasionally got about his past life as Haou, events that Haou still hadn't explained to him yet.

Jaden got to his feet and walked over to the doors leading into the balcony, moving quietly to avoid waking up Raiden and his father. Kasumi was sharing a room with Alexis and Arina as they were the only girls, aside from Emily, who were on the trip. Chazz had his own room while Atticus, Kyle, and Keith were sharing a room and, naturally, Matt and Emily had their own room. Opening the doors, Jaden walked onto the balcony and gazed at the pool and the ocean that lay beyond, its undulating waves lit by the starlight above. A gentle warm breeze surged through the air, brushing a few stands of brown hair into Jaden's face.

'Are you okay, Judai?' Yubel asked, materializing beside Jaden.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he said, folding his arms on the railing and resting his chin on them. "Just can't sleep."

'The nightmares,' Yubel said matter-of-factly. 'Which one was it this time?'

Jaden sighed. "The incident with that Shadow Duelist and Mom getting stabbed," he said softly. "I still can't believe I did that."

'No, Judai, it wasn't you. You had no control; it was Haou that did that,' Yubel said firmly.

Jaden was silent for a long moment before he turned to look at Yubel. "I guess so, but these are still my powers. I can't have Haou take control every time I almost lose control of them. I'll never learn to control them if that happens," he said.

'I know. You've learned much on how to control your powers, but your emotions are another story. When you were young, that was because you were too young to understand how to control them, especially when something bad happens, and now it is because you are a teenager and hormonal,' Yubel said.

"Yubel!" Jaden protested, blushing while Yubel laughed.

'I am just saying. All teenagers are that way,' she said. 'Still, you are learning, and you've still got some time to master your powers. You and Haou are working rather well together since that duel against Kagemaru, after all, surprisingly.'

'Surprisingly? What is that supposed to mean?' Haou demanded.

'That you don't work well with others,' Yubel deadpanned.

Haou growled in fury. 'I worked well with you and my brother,' he snapped.

'True, until that thing happened.'

'Once again, not my fault.'

What are you talking about? Jaden thought.

'Nothing,' Haou snapped and fell silent.

'You aren't ready to know, not yet,' Yubel said before she looked over her shoulder. 'You've got company.' She then vanished.

"Judai, are you okay?"

Jaden turned as his brother, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, walked over to join him. "Yeah, I'm fine, just another nightmare," he said.

Raiden yawned again. "What about?"

"Nothing important."

Raiden raised an eyebrow, giving him a look that said 'I don't believe you but I'll let it go' and asked, "So who do you think will win tomorrow's duel?"

Jaden shrugged, grateful for the change of subject. "I dunno. I've never seen either of them duel. I looked 'em up and they're both pretty good," he said, turning his gaze back to the ocean.

Raiden leaned against the railing. "It looks like it'll be a good match," he said.

"Yeah."

The two said nothing more and simply watched the undulating waves of the ocean.

. . .

The following morning, the gang decided to have breakfast in the cafeteria at the hotel. They were all gathered at one table, talking with each other about the upcoming duel and what they wanted to do while they waited for the duel to start. The day before, they had spent that time looking at a few more landmarks.

"I'd like to keep learning how to surf," Raiden said.

"So you don't keep wiping out?" Jaden asked.

Raiden glowered at him. "It's not as easy as it looks," he muttered.

"But it's funny to watch."

"Shut up."

Kasumi chuckled as she picked up her iced tea and took a long drink from it. "Personally, I really don't care. Maybe I'll just hang out at the beach again or the pool," she said. She cast a sidelong glance at Jaden and added, "Maybe you can take Alexis out on a real date, Jay."

Atticus nodded in agreement. "That'd be a good idea," he said brightly.

"You are not following them," Raiden said.

Atticus pouted. "I won't follow them, Rai. Why would you think that?" he asked.

"I know you," Raiden deadpanned.

Jaden, sipping at his drink, shrugged. "It's a good idea. What do ya say, Lex?" he asked, looking at his girlfriend.

She gave him a small smile. "I'd like that," she said.

"I know a good restaurant you two can try out. It's about a block away," Kaede suggested. "It's called Helena's Hawaiian Food if you wanna try Hawaiian food. It was really good when I went there when I was here last."

Jaden looked thoughtful. "Since we're about to eat anyway. Why don't we go to the zoo first and then to the restaurant for lunch? Oh, and we'll probably need some money," he said, looking at his father who raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to the money I already gave you?"

"Spent it on souvenirs," Kasumi said.

"And booster packs and autographed posters from the convention yesterday," Raiden added.

Kaede sighed. "I really should teach you how to better manage your money," he muttered. "Fine, I'll give you enough to take Alexis to the zoo and to the restaurant, as well as get back to the hotel before the second semifinals match begins." He pulled out his wallet and, while he was counting out the amount Jaden would need, the rest of the gang went to get their breakfast from the breakfast bar.

After they ate, the gang split up to find something to do until the second semifinals started. Kaede handed Jaden a map of Honolulu before pointing to where the zoo and the restaurant were located. "Don't get lost," he said.

"I'm not Raiden," Jaden said. He paused as he thought about how he wasn't the best at directions either and added, "Well, not as bad anyway."

"Bullshit," Raiden said.

"Well, you did get lost in Tokyo that one time," Jaden said, glowering at his brother.

"So did you."

Alexis chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll make sure he doesn't get lost, Mr. Yuki," she said, taking Jaden's hand and the map from him before she guided him out of the hotel.

Jaden followed, pouting. "Rai's the one who always gets lost and I only get lost every once and a while and Dad reminds me?" he muttered. "I don't get him at times."

Alexis laughed as she stopped on the sidewalk and called for a taxi in English. "Now I'm thankful I got all those English speaking lessons when I was younger," she said as the taxi pulled to a stop in front of them.

"Tell me about it," Jaden agreed as he and his girlfriend climbed into the back of the taxi.

"Where to?" the taxi driver asked.

"The Honolulu Zoo, please?" Alexis said, folding the map and tucking it into the pocket of her shorts.

The cab driver nodded and pulled away from the hotel.

While they drove down the street, Alexis and Jaden talked about everything from the tournament to what they liked best about Honolulu so far. It wasn't long before the cab pulled to a stop at the entrance to the zoo. Jaden and Alexis climbed out and Jaden paid the cab driver.

"Thanks," he said.

The cab driver nodded and drove away while Jaden and Alexis walked over to the entrance. Seated behind the ticket was a young man around their age with mullet-style hair and a bored expression on his face. He seemed to brighten up when he spotted Alexis, though, and he grinned.

"So, what can I do for you, pretty lady?" he asked and Alexis blushed.

"My boyfriend and I would like to get in," she said.

The boy, thankfully, backed down upon hearing that Alexis had a boyfriend. "Why are all the pretty ones always taken?" he muttered as he typed onto his computer before telling them how much they owed him.

Jaden paid him and they each got bands around their wrists so that they could visit all the exhibits before they entered the zoo.

"It's been a while since I've been to the zoo," Jaden commented as they walked along the walkway toward the pond that was across from the entrance. There were flamingos there as well as ducks swimming around in the pond.

"Yeah. Atticus and I last went when we were ten," Alexis said.

"So, where do you want to go?"

Alexis thought about it for a moment. "Let's go see the birds first," she suggested, pointing in the direction a sign was indicating was where the birds were located.

"Okay."

After seeing the birds and the Kipuka Nene Sanctuary, Jaden and Alexis saw the Komodo dragon and the Sumatran tiger before they took a break at the snack bar and Jaden bought himself and Alexis a slushie before they took a seat at one of the tables.

"So, what now?" Jaden asked.

"Since we're heading in that direction anyway, how about the African Savanna?" Alexis suggested.

"Fine with me."

. . .

Jaden and Alexis weren't the only ones at the zoo. Arina had suggested they go to the zoo as well, and Chazz, having nothing better to do and having not been to a zoo in years, agreed. After Chazz nearly punched the person in the ticket booth in the face for flirting with Arina—Arina had sighed and restrained him—they headed toward the duck pond and stopped as they decided where to go next.

Chazz was still fuming. "Y'know, when someone finds out the girl they're flirting with has a boyfriend, shouldn't they, I dunno, stop flirting with said girl?" he muttered.

Arina patted his arm. "C'mon, Chazz, let's just enjoy ourselves and forget about him," she said with a bright smile.

Chazz grunted. "All right," he said and they walked off, heading toward the primate section, though Arina—who had brought a digital camera with her—paused before snapping a picture of the hippo sculpture they passed by. "That's cool," she said before she looked around and spotted someone walking nearby.

"Hey, can you take a picture of us, please?" she asked.

The woman smiled kindly. "Sure," she said, taking the camera and Arina grinned.

"Thanks," she said before grabbing Chazz's arm and the two walked over to the sculpture before the woman called to them to smile and then snapped the picture. She handed the camera back to Arina.

"There you go," she said.

"Thanks," Arina said as she took back the camera before she looked at the picture and nodded. "I like it." She showed it to Chazz, who took it and examined it; it was a good picture and he was smiling a little, it was more of a half-smile. Chazz knew that, recently, he had only ever smiled around Arina; there was just something about her that caused him to smile, most likely her cheerful personality.

"C'mon, Chazz," Arina said happily before she flipped forward and walked on her hands away from the sculpture, weaving around the people who just watched her move. Chazz jogged after her, rolling his eyes fondly at his 'show-off' girlfriend.

They reached the primates and Arina flipped to her feet before they walked over to the orangutans and she took a few pictures. They walked onward with Arina taking delight in showing off, as usual, and snapping pictures of everything she saw, including gorillas and regular monkeys and the like.

After the primates, Arina looked around as if attempting to find some other place to visit. "Wanna check out the reptile exhibit?" she asked.

Chazz shrugged. "I guess," he said.

"C'mon, aren't you having fun?"

To be honest, Chazz was just enjoying spending time with Arina, and he did like seeing animals that he hadn't seen since he was a little kid, but he was getting rather tired of walking around. "Yeah, but do ya think we could rest for a bit?" he asked.

"Sure."

They found a place to sit and watched as people walked by. Parents with small children, teenagers chatting with each other or talking on their phones or listening to music and volunteers and employees moving around, helping people or taking care of the animals. It was crowded, though it was still early.

After resting for about ten minutes, the two of them stood up and started heading toward the Reptile House.

. . .

"Why did you want me to go with you again?" Kyle asked as he followed his brother down the hallway of the hotel. They were on the top floor, heading toward one of the rooms in which one of the finalists of the first Battle City tournament was staying.

"I would've thought you wouldn't mind meeting him, Kyle," Keith said.

"I don't, but I still don't know why you asked me to go with you," Kyle said. "I mean, I'm not a pro or anything."

"No, but I have no doubt you will be one someday. You're good, Kyle, and you always have been."

"Not as good as you," Kyle murmured under his breath but nevertheless said nothing as Keith came to a stop at one of the doors and knocked on it.

The door opened.

"Hey, Keith, c'mon in," Joey Wheeler said brightly.

"Thanks, Joey. This is my brother, Kyle," Keith said as he made his way into the room.

"Nice to meet ya, kiddo," Joey said, holding out a hand.

"Uh, you, too," Kyle said shyly, taking Joey's hand and shaking it.

"So, how are ya enjoying the tournament semifinals so far? That first duel sure was awesome," Joey said as he led them toward the living room of the suite.

"Marina did a good job and Gladiator Beasts are a tough archetype," Kyle said. Being in the presence of a legend and talking casually with said legend was not something Kyle thought would happen when Keith first told him he had gotten him and his cousins and friends tickets to the semifinals and finals.

"Yeah, they are," Joey agreed.

"So what brings you, Yugi, Marik, and Bakura to Honolulu anyway?" Keith asked.

"Marik and Bakura are here, too?" Kyle said, surprised, before Joey could respond.

Joey nodded. "Yup, they're here, all right, though Ishizu and Odion couldn't come, but they wished you the best of luck, Keith." He paused, as if thinking, and added, "And I think Marik dragged Bakura to the bar. Yugi's talking with his fiancé though. And we're only here 'cause Yugi asked us to come," he said.

"Are Kaiba and Mai here, too?" Kyle asked

Joey shook his head. "Not Mai, she's in California right now, but Kaiba's here. He kinda has to be 'cause he did pay for most of this tournament and he's gonna be in the World Championship next year, so he wants to check out the competition, though he's talking about taking Yugi's title from him again." He rolled his eyes at that and Keith chuckled.

"Well, I plan on winning this tournament and I'm gonna try and get further in the World Championships than last time," he said.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that, but it was a good duel," Joey said. He had been the one that knocked Keith out of the World Championship Tournament that occurred the year after Keith won the U.S. title the first time, or so Kyle was told.

"Yes, it was."

. . .

Kasumi lounged by the pool, gazing up at the cloudless sky above her head. All around her, children were splashing and playing in the water while their parents watched on and teenagers were swimming nearby or talking with each other. A few were relaxing and tanning on lounge chairs. Kasumi hadn't been the only one to decide to stay at the hotel today, though; nearby, Matt and Emily were talking with each other and Raiden and Atticus were swimming in the pool, splashing each other just for the heck of it, though they did splash her on occasion.

"Will you stop that?" Kasumi protested, glaring at Raiden, who had just splashed her for the third time.

"You're not gonna melt, y'know," Raiden said, floating on his back.

A few girls noticed and whispered to each other before giggling.

Atticus laughed. "Looks like ya got some admirers, Rai," he said.

Raiden splashed him.

Kasumi rolled her eyes and closed her eyes, only to be splashed yet again. "Okay, that's it," she muttered, removing her sunglasses and her towel before diving into the pool and swimming over to Raiden, splashing him in the face as she did so.

Raiden, who had been chuckling, sputtered and spat out the water in his mouth. "Hey," he protested.

Kasumi laughed. "Payback," she said with a smirk.

Raiden grumbled under his breath.

Atticus swam over the edge of the pool and folded his arms on the edge. "Hello, ladies," he said with a bright smile.

One of the girls giggled. "Hello," she said. "Do you know that cute brunet that's with you?" She pointed to Raiden.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Atticus said with a grin. "He's single, y'know."

"Atticus!" Raiden shouted, overhearing since Atticus wasn't bothering on keeping his voice down. "Stop trying to set me up with someone."

"You could use a girlfriend, Rai," Atticus called back.

"Look who's talking!" Raiden rolled his eyes and muttered, "Besides, I don't really like the idea of a long distance relationship. I would rather get together with someone that I can see regularly."

The girls giggled again while Kasumi rolled her eyes and swam back to the edge of the pool and climbed out of it, freezing when she heard a wolf whistle from nearby.

"Wow, you're cute," one of the guys that were in the pool nearby said.

Kasumi rolled her eyes, wrapping the towel around her waist as she returned to her chair.

One of the guys swam to the edge of the pool. "Hey, baby," he greeted her. "Did it hurt?"

Kasumi raised an eyebrow and asked, "What?"

"When you fell from heaven?"

Kasumi narrowed her eyes. "Did you just call me Satan?" she asked.

The guy blinked, obviously surprised by that response.

Raiden swam forward. "This guy bothering ya, Little Mist?" he asked.

"And who are you?" the guy asked.

Raiden glared at him. "Her brother," he said before looking back at Kasumi.

"I'm fine, Rai. I'm used to all the cheesy pick-up lines guys use on me," she said. "They get repetitive after a while."

Raiden nodded.

"Hey, Rai, Stephanie here says she's willing to give ya her phone number," Atticus shouted.

"Will you stop trying to set me up with someone?" Raiden shouted back.

"Hey, I'm the Master of Love, it's my job."

"Master of Annoying People is more like it."

Kasumi laughed.

. . .

Jaden and Alexis were a bit surprised to run into Chazz and Arina at the African Savanna exhibit.

Arina waved and walked over to join them, with Chazz just behind her. "Hi, guys," she greeted them.

"Hey, Arina, Chazz," Jaden greeted them. "I guess great minds think alike, eh?"

Chazz grunted but didn't respond.

"Don't mind him. He's just sore that one of the parrots we saw decided to mimic him," Arina said with a shrug, recalling that incident from when they visited the bird exhibit after the Reptile House.

Jaden chuckled and ignored the glare Chazz tossed at him. "Well, we're about to go see the zebras. You wanna come with?"

"Sure," Arina said brightly.

Chazz shrugged. "Whatever," he said and followed the others as they led the way toward where the zebras were.

. . .

Several hours later, it was time for the final duel of the semifinals. Jaden and Alexis, after their date, which had turned into a double date with Chazz and Arina, had returned to the hotel to find Raiden hiding in the hotel room he shared with his brother and father. When asked what happened, Raiden just said, "Atticus" and left it at that. Alexis had gone off to see what Atticus did this time while Jaden had grilled Raiden until he admitted that Atticus was trying to set him up with practically all the single girls staying at the hotel. Jaden had laughed and was hit in the face with a pillow for doing so.

The gang met in the lobby and then left to get to the stadium hour early so that they could avoid the crowds. On the way there, Kyle told them about meeting Joey and learning Marik and Bakura were there.

"So Bakura is here?" Jaden asked.

Kyle nodded. "Yeah. He and Marik were really wasted when they got back to the room. Let's just say that what happened was so funny that Joey would not stop laughing upon hearing about it," he said.

Kasumi chuckled and shook her head. "You're lucky you got to meet Joey, though," she said.

"Lucky," Jaden muttered. "Am I the only one who didn't get to meet a legend?"

"You met Yugi," Raiden pointed out.

"Oh yeah."

About fifteen minutes later, they were back in the stadium, waiting for the next match to begin.

"So, what do we know about these two competitors?" Jaden asked.

"Well, Slade and Jagger took Celina under their wing, apparently," Kyle said.

Jaden frowned. "Those assholes? Wonderful," he said sarcastically.

Chazz grunted. "And here I thought I wouldn't have to deal with those lousy scrubs again," he muttered quietly, thinking back to Slade's words at the convention.

Heat of the moment response.

Chazz still wondered if Slade was speaking the truth.

Arina placed a hand on his arm. "Don't think about 'em, Chazz," she said, kissing him gently on the cheek. "Let's just enjoy this duel."

Chazz nodded, blushing a little at the kiss.

About an hour later, the stadium was filled once again with excited fans. On the jumbotron, clips from Celina's last duel and the last duel of her opponent Nathan Callahan were projected side by side.

Jackson made his way onto the field, raising his hand in greetings to the cheering fans. "Man, all of you sure are excited, aren't you?" he said into the microphone he was holding and the cheers grew louder. "Well then, why don't we get to the final match of the semifinals? The winner of this match will advance to the finals to challenge the current reigning U.S. Duel Champion, Keith Rhodes, for the title. Now, let's introduce our competitors."

. . .

Celina watched the clips that were being played about her last duel and barely heard Slade and Jagger as they gave her a pep talk about the upcoming duel, reminding her that she had to win and that a lot was riding on her winning. She still didn't understand why they were so determined to have her win, as they refused to tell her.

"Why won't you tell me why everything is riding on me winning?" she asked once they finished talking.

"You don't need to know," Slade said. "Just go out there and win."

"First off, once again, I'd like to introduce our commentators for the evening; Elizabeth Harley and Bryan Stone," Jackson called and the crowd cheered.

"I'll do my best," Celina said.

"I've told you this already, Celina. You need to do more than just your best," Slade said firmly.

Celina sighed, irritated. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know," she said.

"And now, our first competitor; he is the user of the Gem-Knights who has risen through the ranks quickly for one as young as he. Please give a warm welcome to Nathan Callahan," Jackson called.

Cheers erupted as Nathan Callahan, a slim boy about a year younger than Celina with short-cropped auburn hair, walked onto the stage as a hologram of Gem-Knight Master Diamond, an armored warrior wielding a broadsword with gems of all colors of the rainbow embedded into it, appeared floating just above him.

"Go and win," Jagger said firmly as Celina checked her duel disk to make sure it was strapped on properly.

"I know," she said.

"And next, his opponent; she is the user of the newly released Ally of Justice archetype and a representative of the Princeton Group, please give a warm welcome to Celina White," Jackson called and, again, cheers erupted as Ally of Justice Thunder Armor, a red four-legged machine monster with blue sabers as its hands and canisters on its back, floated above Celina as she made her way onto the platform.

"Now then, duelists, cut each other's decks and let's get this show on the road," Jackson called.

Celina joined Nathan at the center of the field. "Good luck," she said, handing her deck to Nathan.

Nathan snorted. "I don't need luck to beat you," he sneered, handing his deck to Celina who frowned at his tone but shook it off and took the deck. She shuffled it before handing it back and the two returned to their respective sides of the field.

"Two archetypes that have only recently been released, going head to head with each other," Elizabeth commented.

"Well, the previous duels are evidence that these two know exactly how to use their decks, Elizabeth," Bryan said. "So this is bound to be an intense match."

"I agree."

"Are you ready to lose, White?" Nathan said as he activated his duel disk.

"I'm not gonna lose," Celina said, her duel disk whirring to life.

"Let's duel," they shouted as they both drew their opening hands.

Celina: 8000

Nathan: 8000

"Ladies first," Celina said, drawing her sixth card before she looked at it and then placed it on her duel disk. "And I start by summoning Ally of Justice Garadholg in Attack Mode."

An android-like monster covered in orange white metal appeared on the field (A: 1600/D: 400)

"I'll set two cards and end with that," she finished as she inserted two cards into her duel disk.

"That's it?" Nathan scoffed as he drew his card. "I summon Gem-Knight Garnet in Attack Mode."

As soon as he placed the card on his disk, a red-armored monster with a flaming right fist appeared (A: 1900/D: 0).

"I activate my face-down card, the Continuous Trap known as DNA Transplant," Celina suddenly declared, her set card springing upwards. "Thanks to this, I can declare one monster Attribute and then this card will change the Attribute of every face-up monster on the field to the one I picked. I think I'll go with Light."

Both monsters on the field were briefly surrounded in a golden radiance as their Attributes changed.

"Big deal," Nathan snorted. "That won't stop my monster from attacking, after all. Garnet, attack Garadholg with Flaming Iron Fist!"

"Garadholg effect activates: when this card battles a Light-Attribute monster, it gains 200 Attack during the Damage Step only."

Seconds after Celina's explanation, the garnet knight shot forward, Garadholg's Attack increasing to 1800 before its enemy's blazing fist slammed into it, causing it to explode on contact.

Celina: 7900

Nathan: 8000

"Ooo, first blood goes to Nathan," Elizabeth said.

"I place this facedown and end my turn," Nathan said with a smirk as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

"My move," Celina said, drawing a card before she inserted it into her duel disk. "I activate Star Blast. Now I can reduce the Level of one monster in my hand by one for every 500 Life Points I give up. So I'll give up just 500 to reduce the Level of my Ally of Justice Omni-Weapon by one, making him a Level four monster."

Celina: 7400

Nathan: 8000

"And now I summon Omni-Weapon in Attack Mode," she added, placing the card on her duel disk.

A silver machine with a globe filled with what looked like constellations as its head appeared on the field (A: 2200/D: 800).

"Omni-Weapon, attack Gem-Knight Garnet," Celina ordered.

"What is she doing? Did she not take into account Nathan's face-down?" Slade hissed to Jagger.

Jagger shook his head. "I hope this mistake won't cost her the duel," he said curtly.

"You should have paid attention, White," Nathan said with a snort. "I reveal my Negate Attack facedown, stopping your attack and ending the Battle Phase."

Omni-Weapon's attack died down and Celina scowled before glancing at her hand. Damn, I forgot about that face-down, but how was I to know it was a Trap that could stop my attack? she thought.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn," she ended.

"My draw," Nathan said, drawing a card and then grinning upon seeing what it was. "Nice. I now play my Gem-Knight Fusion to fuse Gem-Knight Obsidian in my hand with Gem-Knight Garnet on my field in order to summon Gem-Knight Ruby in Attack Mode."

Garnet merged with another monster to create a monster in red and gold armor with a red scythe in his hands and a dark-blue cape around his neck (A: 2500/D: 1300).

"Looks like Celina's monster's outmatched," Bryan said.

"I'm not finished yet," the Gem-Knight duelist went on. "Since Obsidian was sent from my hand to the Graveyard, I can now target one Level four or lower Normal Monster from my Graveyard and Special Summon. Since it's the only one I have right now, I'll go with Gem-Knight Garnet."

In a flash of light, Garnet returned to the field in Attack Position (A: 1900/D: 0).

"Next, I'll Normal Summon Gem-Knight Sardonyx in Attack Mode."

A red and brown warrior wielding a spiked ball on a red chain soon took its place by the other two knights on the field (A: 1800/D: 900).

"Gem-Knight Ruby, attack Omni-Weapon, Ruby Slash," Nathan ordered and his newly created Fusion Monster shot forward, cape billowing out behind him before his scythe cut through Omni-Weapon, shattering it and conjuring up a cloud of dust that Celina shielded her face from with her arm and duel disk.

Celina: 7100

Nathan: 8000

"Next, I'll use Garnet to attack you directly!"

"Not so fast! I activate my other face-down, the Quick-Play Spell, Fires of Doomsday," Celina quickly interjected. "With this card's effect, I can now Special Summon two Doomsday Tokens to my field in Defense Position."

Out of two wisps of dark flames emerged these two one-eyed creatures made of black smoke (A: 0/D: 0 x2).

The appearance of the two new Token monsters caused a replay to occur, so Nathan had Garnet attack and destroy one of the Doomsday Tokens instead. After that, he had Sardonyx attack, which quickly got rid of Celina's second Token.

"How did you manage to make it this far in the tournament? You're so weak," Nathan taunted, signaling the end of his turn.

"Don't call me weak," Celina growled, practically yanking her card out of her deck before she took a deep breath to calm down. She had only lost nine-hundred Life Points, but she did have a temper and she hated it when people doubted her dueling abilities; she had learned everything she knew on her own and from the tutors the Princetons hired and she was determined to take to heart what she learned and be the best.

"I activate my Allure of Darkness Spell Card to draw two more cards," she said before she did so and added, "And then I have to banish one Dark-Attribute monster from my hand, like my Ally of Justice Unlimiter." She pocketed the card before adding, "Next, I activate my Trap Card, Escape from the Dark Dimension. This card lets me select one of my banished Dark-Attribute monsters and then Special Summon it to the field. I choose Ally of Justice Unlimiter."

A machine that looked vaguely like a bug with large blue eyes and a glowing spike jutting out of its nose appeared out of a void of darkness (A: 600/D: 200).

"What do you call that? It's pathetic," Nathan sneered.

"You won't think that way for very long," Celina growled under her breath before throwing down another card onto her duel disk. "I summon Ally of Justice Thousand Arms in Attack Mode."

A dark blue automaton with a spiked helmet for a head then materialized onto the field, its multiple arms wielding a variety of very sharp and dangerous-looking weapons (A: 1700/D: 0).

"Is your turn gonna end sometime this century?" Nathan asked, bored.

Celina rolled her eyes. "And people say I'm impatient," she muttered. "I activate the effect of Ally of Justice Unlimiter. By Tributing this card, I can double the original Attack of one face-up Ally of Justice monster that I control until the End Phase and I choose my Thousand Arms."

Unlimiter vanished, but not before blasting Thousand Arms so that it was surrounded by a blue aura (A: 1700-3400).

Nathan's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Ooo, this is gonna hurt," Bryan said.

"Especially when you factor in Thousand Arms' ability," Elizabeth added.

"That's right," Celina nodded in agreement. "Thanks to the effect of Thousand Arms, it can attack all face-up Light-Attribute monsters my opponent controls once each, and because of DNA Transplant, all of your monsters are Light right now. Guess what that means?"

Not giving Nathan a chance to answer that question, Celina switched over to her Battle Phase and had Ally of Justice Thousand Arms attack his three Gem-Knights. They were all no match Thousand Arms' arsenal of deadly blades and each soon ended up as nothing more than a bunch of gold pixels, their destruction taking out half of Nathan's Life Points just like that.

Celina: 7100

Nathan: 4000

"Oh very nice job by Celina," Elizabeth exclaimed. "She just knocked out half of Nathan's Life Points in one turn."

"Man that was a sweet move!" Jaden exclaimed from the stands.

"I know, right?" Raiden and Kasumi agreed.

"Not bad," Chazz said with a nod.

"Way to go, Celina," Kyle said with a smile as he gazed at the white-haired girl.

Alexis glanced at him. "Why are you blushing?"

Kyle, realizing he was, in fact, blushing, blushed harder. "Um, no reason," he said quickly and looked away.

Alexis chuckled.

"Impressive," Jagger said from near the arena.

"Yes, but the duel's not over yet," Slade agreed, watching the match intently.

"And I end my turn with that, which means Thousand Arms' attack returns to normal," the white-haired girl said as Thousand Arms powered down (A: 3400-1700).

"My draw," Nathan said, drawing a card. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards."

He did so, and then, placing another card on his disk, added, "I summon Gem-Knight Alexandrite in Attack Mode."

A silver armored warrior with alexandrite gems around his body and on his chest appeared (A: 1800/D: 1200).

"And thanks to his effect, I can Tribute him to Special Summon a Normal Gem-Knight from my deck, so say hello to Gem-Knight Crystal!"

In a shimmering light, Alexandrite vanished and was soon replaced by a bigger knight with large blue crystals embedded in his shining platinum armor (A: 2450/D: 1950).

"Now go, Gem-Knight Crystal. Destroy Thousand Arms," Nathan ordered.

Using one of the jagged crystals on his arm like a sword, the Gem-Knight ran forward and sliced Celina's monster in half.

Celina: 6350

Nathan: 4000

"I set one card and end my turn."

Celina drew a card. "I play my own Pot of Greed, which means…well, you know the rest." She picked up two more cards from her deck before holding up another card. "I summon Black Salvo in Defense Mode."

A black round bomb with a demonic grinning face rolled onto the field (A: 100/D: 1100).

"And when Black Salvo is Normal Summoned, I can select 1 Level 4 Dark-Attribute Machine-Type monster from my Graveyard and Special Summon it to the field in face-up Defense Position, though all its effects will be negated. I'll go with Ally of Justice Garadholg."

The orange robot reappeared on the field (A: 1600/D: 400).

"Then I activate my Double Summon Spell to Normal Summon yet again this turn," Celina added. "I now sacrifice my Black Salvo and my Ally of Justice Garadholg in order to summon Ally of Justice Thunder Armor in Attack Mode."

Both of her machines vanished to be replaced by the red machine that had appeared when Celina was first introduced, its saber arms pointed offensively at Nathan and his monster (A: 2700/D: 2200).

"Thunder Armor, attack Gem-Knight Crystal," she ordered.

Thunder Armor's blue saber sliced through Gem-Knight Crystal, causing the monster to cry out in pain and shatter and Nathan to stagger back from the force of the attack.

Celina: 6350

Nathan: 3750

"With that, I end my turn."

. . .

"This duel is getting really good," Jaden said excitedly in the stands.

Raiden nodded in agreement.

"These Gem-Knight monsters are awesome. I'd love to be able to go against 'em," Kasumi said. "But Celina's good and those Ally of Justice monsters are cool, too."

"Yeah, they are," Jaden agreed.

. . .

"My draw," Nathan said, drawing a card. "I summon Gem-Knight Sapphire in Defense Mode."

A knight covered in light blue armor emerged in a gush of shimmering water (A: 0/D: 2100).

"Next, I'll activate my Trap, Gem-Enhancement. This card lets me Tribute one Gem-Knight on my field in order to Special Summon a Gem-Knight monster in my Graveyard, so I'll trade in Sapphire for Gem-Knight Obsidian."

As Sapphire vanished in a bright light, a large black rock-like monster with a belt made of obsidian orbs encircling its body from its shoulders to its hips soon took his place (A: 1500/D: 1200).

"I'll then activate the Quick-Play Spell, Inferno Reckless Summon from my hand," he added. "Because I just Special Summoned a monster with 1500 or less Attack Points while you control a monster, I can now Special Summon all cards with the same name as the Summoned monster from my hand, deck, and Graveyard in face-up Attack Position. Of course, you get to do the same thing with a monster on your field, but given your Thunder Armor's effect, I guess that's not gonna happen."

Celina frowned in annoyance at that. It was true, though. Because Thunder Armor's effect made it so it couldn't be Special Summoned, Celina wouldn't be able to use Inferno Reckless Summon on it even if she wanted to.

Meanwhile, two more Gem-Knight Obsidians appeared on the field (A: 1500/D: 1200).

"And next, I activate my Particle Fusion Spell to fuse my three Gem-Knights in order to summon Gem-Knight Master Diamond!" Nathan declared as his three monsters fused together to create the large diamond-covered warrior wielding the rainbow gem encrusted broadsword (A: 2900/D: 2500).

Celina whistled. "That's a powerful monster," she said.

"And he's gonna get more powerful," Nathan said smugly. "He gains 100 Attack for every Gem- monster in my Graveyard, and there currently happen to be nine."

Master Diamond was surrounded by a white aura (A: 2900-3800).

"And that's not all. Now, the second effect of Particle Fusion activates. By banishing this card from my Graveyard, I can target one of the Gem-Knights I used to summon Master Diamond and my monster gains that monster's Attack until the End Phase and I choose one of my Gem-Knight Obsidians."

He pocketed the Spell he had just used as his monster's attack increased once again (A: 3800-5300).

"Oh, that's not good," Celina murmured.

"Now, Master Diamond, attack Thunder Armor with Diamond Strike," Nathan ordered and his monster drew his sword before charging forward, the broadsword sinking into the center of Thunder Armor and slicing it into two pieces.

Celina: 3750

Nathan: 3750

"Very nice," said Bryan. "Nathan's managed to close the Life Point gap between him and Celina, and now they're currently tied."

Celina lowered her duel disk. "A good move," she complimented him.

"Whatever," Nathan snorted as he signaled the end of his turn (Master Diamond A: 5300-3800).

"She'd better get back into this," Slade growled.

Jagger nodded in agreement.

"My draw," Celina said, drawing a card. "And I play Spellbook Inside the Pot so that we each draw three cards."

"I know what the card does, idiot," Nathan sneered.

"Well, maybe someone in the audience didn't," the white-haired girl retorted as she and Nathan each drew three new cards.

"Next, I summon Ally of Justice Core Destroyer in Attack Mode," she added and a four-legged gold and silver robot with only a mechanical red eye for a face appeared on the field (A: 1200/D 200).

Nathan scoffed. "It's weaker than my monster," he said.

"Yeah, but thanks to Core Destroyer's effect, that doesn't matter," Celina smirked. "See, when it does battle with a Light-Attribute monster, that monster is instantly destroyed at the start of the Damage Step, without applying any damage calculation, and unfortunately for you, my DNA Transplant is making all monsters on the field Light."

Nathan swore as Celina ordered her monster to attack. Core Destroyer then shot a blue laser beam from its tail which soon hit Master Diamond, rendering him nothing but a pile of diamond dust.

"And then I place these two cards facedown and end my turn," Celina concluded, inserting two cards into her duel disk.

"It's my turn, then," Nathan said as he drew a card, giving him four. "I'll start by activating the Spell, Dark Factory of Mass Production. This allows me to take two Normal Monsters in my Graveyard and add them to my hand."

With that, Nathan retrieved Gem-Knight Garnet and Gem-Knight Sapphire from his Grave and added them to the other three cards in his hand.

"Next, I activate the effect of Gem-Knight Fusion in my Graveyard," he went on. "By removing a Gem-Knight monster from my Graveyard, I can add this card back to my hand." After pocketing one of Gem-Knight Obsidians, Gem-Knight Fusion reappeared in his hand, glowing brightly. "I'll then activate it to fuse the Gem-Knight Garnet, Sapphire, and Iolite in my hand in order to summon Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond in Attack Mode!"

The three aforementioned monsters briefly appeared before jumping into the colorful swirling fusion vortex. In their place emerged a female knight clad in diamond-studded armor, a flowing red cape on her back and a long sword in her hands (A: 3400/D: 2000).

"Not bad," said Raiden.

"It's powerful but I'm sure Celina will find a way to defeat it," Kyle said.

"It's a sweet monster though," Jaden said.

"But wait, there's more," Nathan exclaimed, apparently still not done yet. "I play the Spell, Silent Doom and use it to Special Summon Gem-Knight Iolite from my Graveyard in Defense Mode."

A blue-armored knight wielding a blade made of blue cordierite appeared before kneeling down (A: 1300/D: 2000).

"And since I still have my Normal Summon, I'll use it to Gemini Summon Iolite as an Effect Monster."

Gee, and he accused me of taking a time with my turns, Celina rolled her eyes as she watched Iolite give off a bright glow as his true power was unleased.

"I'll now use Iolite's effect: by banishing Gem-Knight Sapphire from my Graveyard, I can add Gem-Knight Obsidian back to my hand." The Gem-Knight duelist did exactly that before adding, "And now I'll activate Lady Brilliant Diamond's effect: once per turn, I can send one Gem-Knight monster I control to the Graveyard in order to Special Summon a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions. I'll give up Iolite to summon Gem-Knight Prismaura!"

Lady Brilliant Diamond lifted up her sword and slashed open a portal that Iolite was soon sucked in to. In his place, a warrior in shining silver and gold armor then appeared, a lance and shield clenched tightly in his gauntleted fists (A: 2450/D: 1400).

"Well, I'll admit those are two really strong monsters you have there," Celina admitted. "Though all the Attack Points in the world still won't get them past my Core Destroyer since its effect will just destroy them both if they attack it."

Nathan just snorted. "Yeah, I haven't forgotten about that," he huffed. "Why else do you think I decided to bring out Prismaura?"

"Huh?"

The Gem-Knight duelist grinned at his opponent's confusion. "He has a special effect of his own, you see. Once a turn, by sending one Gem-Knight monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can target one face-up card on the field and destroy it."

Celina's eyes went wide at that revelation, making Nathan's smirk grow wider. The white-haired girl gritted her teeth together at Nathan's smug expression and had to take a few breaths to avoid storming across the field and smacking the idiot across the face with her duel disk.

"I send Gem-Knight Obsidian from my hand to the Graveyard to have Prismaura destroy your Ally of Justice Core Destroyer!"

After Nathan discard said card, Prismaura flung his shield at Core Destroyer like a discus. It ended up slicing the Machine monster in half, causing it to blow up before the metal disc flew back around safely returning to the knight.

"Gem-Knight Obsidian effect now activates," Nathan declared then. "Since it was sent from my hand to the Graveyard, I can once again Special Summon a Level four or lower Normal Monster from my Grave, so welcome back Gem-Knight Garnet."

The crimson-colored knight retook the field for the third this duel (A: 1900/D: 0).

"Now I'll activate the effect of Gem-Knight Fusion in my Graveyard once again," Nathan kept right on going, making Celina wonder if he was ever going to shut up. "I banish Gem-Knight Iolite from my Graveyard to bring my Spell back to my hand."

"Is he going to Fusion Summon again?" Elizabeth wondered.

"Looks like it," Bryan commented.

"I activate Gem-Knight Fusion to fuse Gem-Knight Garnet with the Gem-Knight Emerald in my hand to Fusion Summon Gem-Knight Citrine in Attack Mode!"

The two Gem-Knights fused together, creating a paladin wearing bronze armor and a blue cape, his fists and claymore covered in molten lava (A: 2200/D: 1950).

"And now, Citrine, attack Celina directly," Nathan ordered. "Oh, and when he attacks, you can't t activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step."

Citrine ran at Celina before slashing at her with his blazing-hot sword, making the Machine duelist have to block it with her duel disk so she wouldn't get scorched.

Celina: 1550

Nathan: 3750

"Next I'll use Lady Brilliant Diamond to attack you directly!"

"You triggered my trap, Dimension Wall, which throws your monster's attack back at you," Celina said, pressing a button on her duel disk and Nathan swore as the his monster's sword crashed into a wall that had appeared in front of Celina and was redirected back at him, sending him skidding backwards several feet.

Celina: 1550

Nathan: 350

Nathan ground his teeth together. "Yeah, well, so what?" he spat. "Prismaura can still attack you directly. Go!"

The third Gem-Knight Fusion Monster charged forward and pierced Celina with his lance, making her wince. However, during the damage calculation, before any Battle Damage could be applied, she quickly interjected with, "I activate my Trap, Defense Draw! This card makes the Battle Damage I would have received become zero, and then lets me draw a card from my deck!"

"Talk about saving herself in the nick of time!" Elizabeth breathed as Celina went ahead and drew a card with her Trap's effect.

"That certainly was a close call," Bryan agreed. "Some quick thinking might have saved Celina this time, but how will she fair with those three powerful Gem-Knights still staring her down?"

"Looks like we'll have to wait and see."

"Not bad," Jaden said. "She managed to avoid both of those attacks that would have lost her this duel. She really is good. I wanna duel her now."

"Of course you do," Raiden said dryly.

Nathan glowered at his opponent after that last play, muttering something along the lines of "lucky brat" under his breath. "Since I'm out of things to do, I'll end my turn."

"Finally!" Kasumi exclaimed from the stands.

"Well, it's about time," Celina said, rolling her eyes.

"She's doing okay, but she better turn this around before too long," Slade murmured to his brother.

Jagger nodded before raising an eyebrow as Celina grinned after she drew a card from her deck. "Something tells me she's going to turn this duel around this turn," he said.

Celina held out the card she just drew. "This duel is over! First, I summon my second Ally of Justice Unlimiter to the field in Defense Mode," she said and another bug-like machine appeared on the field (A: 600/D: 200).

"Next, since you control two or more monster, and because at least one of them is Light-Attribute, I can Special Summon Ally of Justice Cosmic Gateway from my hand!"

A large intergalactic portal with a blue swirling energy in the center then materialized on the field (A: 2400/D: 1200).

"And then I activate Unlimiter's effect, Tributing it to double Cosmic Gateway's attack until the end of my turn." Unlimiter blasted Cosmic Gateway before vanishing as Cosmic Gateway was surrounded by a blue aura (A: 2400-4800).

"Now, Cosmic Gateway, attack Gem-Knight Citrine," Celina ordered and Cosmic Gateway unleashed a blast of gold energy from its portal that enveloped Citrine and destroyed him, shrouding Nathan's side of the field in a thick cloud of smoke and knocking him off his feet.

Celina: 1550 WINNER

Nathan: 0

"And we have our winner!" Jackson shouted. "Celina White will go on to the finals next Saturday to face Keith Rhodes for the Duel Monsters U.S. Championship!"

Celina waved at the crowd as they cheered for her before she walked over to Nathan and held out a hand to him. "Good duel," she said.

"Whatever. I would have won if I had my Gem-Knight Amethyst in my deck," Nathan said snidely. He ignored the offered hand and got to his feet before walking away.

Someone's a sore loser, Celina thought as she also walked off the platform.

Slade and Jagger joined her.

"I can't believe I made it this far," Celina said, looking at the still cheering audience as Jackson told them what time the finals would begin.

"Yes, and now you will need to work twice as hard to come up with a way to defeat Keith," Slade said.

"Yeah, I know." Sheesh, wish I knew why they keep harping on me to win this tournament.

"Let's go," Jagger said. After a duel in the tournament, most of the time, the competitors would remain for a little while to sign autographs for their fans and the semifinals were no different.

Celina followed Slade and Jagger toward the exit, noticing that there were quite a few people already gathered in the lobby. She wasn't surprised, though.

"Celina!" a shout sounded and Celina turned as a boy around seven years old rushed through the crowd, practically dragging his mother behind him. He was carrying a poster in his hand and, when he came to stand in front of Celina, he held it out along with a Sharpie.

"Will you sign it for me, please?" he asked shyly.

Celina smiled. "Sure," she said, taking the poster and the Sharpie before she signed it with her loopy cursive before handing it back.

The boy beamed. "Thank you!" he said excitedly, taking the poster and Sharpie back.

"Excuse my son, he's a big fan," his mother said apologetically.

"Oh, it's no problem," Celina said dismissively. "I don't mind at all."

"I do. We don't have time for this, Celina," Jagger said firmly.

"Geez. I'm just giving an autograph. Chill out," Celina said, rolling her eyes as the mother gently guided her son away from her and the Princetons.

"Celina," another voice called out and Celina turned as Keith made his way through the crowd, stopping every now and then to sign an autograph or take a picture with a fan.

"Hello, Keith," Celina greeted him.

"Good duel out there," Keith said. "I look forward to our match next weekend." He held out a hand.

"I look forward to it, too. Be prepared to lose your title," Celina said, taking the U.S. Duel Champion's hand and shaking it.

Keith smiled a little. "Confident, are ya?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

Celina nodded.

"Well then, I wish you the best of luck. I'll see you at the banquet Wednesday," Keith said before he released Celina's hand.

"You too, and see you then," Celina said before watching the U.S. Duel Champion walk away.

. . .

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: and that was chapter 3 of Chained

Darth: I liked it

Jaden: sweet duel!

Jesse: I know, right?

Syrus: (sighs and shakes his head) and they wonder why people think they're twins

Chazz: true that, so what happens next?

Blaze: a hiking trip, some more with Jaden's parents, the beach, the Banquet Keith mentioned, some more of Celina's backstory and…I think that's it

Jaden: cool

Blaze: so, like I said at the beginning of the chapter, the next two chapters don't have duels in them and then it will be the finals and then on to part two where shit hits the fan, so to speak

Bakura: yeah, yeah, do you have a question for today?

Blaze: unfortunately, I do not, therefore, I am going to go work on my essay that I have due on Thursday (walks off)

Jaden: she didn't finish the chapter again!

Jesse: guess we've gotta do that

Bakura: that's your problem (walks off to go rob Kaiba's Mansion)

Kaiba: stay away from my mansion!

Jesse: well, I guess we'll finish it. Blaze hopes that you enjoyed this chapter and the duel, which she gives full credit to her beta-reader Misha (EndlessNight025)

Jaden: and the next chapter will be posted next Sunday. So review please as they are always appreciated.