Erin's POV

"That bastard!" I roared and slammed my fist hard into the wall. "This is such bullshit!"

Zane and I are outside of the medical ward on the blimp. Joey had almost won his duel against Yami Marik but the blonde having endured Ra's wrath lost by falling unconscious. And now he was in the medical ward in a coma like Odion and Mai. Serenity was distraught as was everyone else.

Tears threatened to come down my face and Zane drew me into his arms.

"It's going to be okay sis" my older sibling promised. He kissed the top of my head.

"We're Nine-Tailed Foxes we should be able to do something!"

"You need to calm down Erin, you need to be able to think clearly when you duel Kaiba"

He was right; I did need to get my composure, but seeing a friend of mine getting hurt like he did broke my heart.

"Wait a minute," Zane said after letting me go.

"What's up?" I asked, wondering what was going on in his mind.

"It's hard to explain so come on"

Zane rushed into the medical ward, and confused, I followed. Inside, everyone else surrounded Joey, who was hooked up to a monitor and had an oxygen mask over his mouth. Ishizu was also present.

"There's something I want to try" Zane announced to everyone else. "It might be a long shot though so I can't make any promises"

The doctor was with Mokuba who was trying to get emergency medical care from the mainland.

My older brother went to Serenity and placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner, and despite still being in tears, the look on my brother's face seemed to calm her down. Then Zane focused his attention on Joey.

It was then his Nine-Tailed aura came to life and everyone watched in awe as Zane's silver nine tails appeared behind him. Zane then placed a hand on Joey's forehead, and it glowed a silvery blue.

"What's he doing?" Yami questioned coming to my side.

"I don't know but one of his Nine-Tailed powers must have manifested, remember how I certain abilities well so does Zane"

Most foxes could run fast and see lost souls and spirits, but there were some abilities that, like my fox fire and ability to summon a sword, differed from my brother's.

After a few minutes passed, Zane's hand stopped glowing, and his aura disappeared. I protested as Zane began to fall backward, and I was quick to catch him. Alarmed Ishizu rushed on over with worry written all over her face.

"I'm okay" Zane stated. "Just a little low on energy from using whatever that ability was just now"

"I keep telling you not to overuse your fox powers, idiot," I scolded him before letting him go.

Zane chuckled before giving Ishizu a kiss on the forehead. Serenity gasped and we all did when Joey's eyes opened.

"Holy shit! You woke him up!" I exclaimed not believing my eyes.

Joey looked around in confusion before sitting up. He blushed when he saw his shirt had been lifted up, and after pulling that down, he removed the oxygen mask.

"What happened?" the blonde questioned.

"You lost your duel with Marik, and he sent you to the Shadow Realm," Yami explained. "But Zane was able to bring you back"

Serenity then burst into tears and she hugged her brother.

"Sorry I worried you, sis," the blonde apologized, returning the hug.

"Damn, you foxes are really awesome," Tristan complimented me and Zane.

Yami walked over to Zane and gratitude lay in his amethyst eyes.

"Thank you, Zane"

"No problem man, Joey's a friend to me as well, and plus seeing Serenity upset was something I couldn't ignore, as an older brother seeing your little sister crying tugs at your heart"

Joey slowly got up and came up beside Yami. He then held out his hand to Zane, and with a smirk, Zane shook it.

"You're a good fox, Zane"

The door opened, and Mokuba went wide-eyed at seeing Joey awake. The doctor was just as dumbstruck, the younger Kaiba sibling then said emergency medical services were on the way. To be on the safe side Joey would get checked out anyway.

"Alright y'all I gotta go"

"Good luck against your boyfriend, Erin," Joey told me with encouragement. "It's gonna be close"

"Indeed it will, your deck is the only one of its kind"

"True but as I said before it's not invincible, hope to some of you guys up there"

"I'll be up there shortly, sis," Zane vowed.

"You better be"

Zane flashed me a grin and I gave him a wink before turning around to head on out.

"Good luck, Erin," Mokuba added.

"Thank you Lekia"

I ruffled Mokuba's hair and made my way out of the blimp. Roland told me where I needed to go before this duel and it wasn't long until I was riding the elevator up to the top of the duel tower. My heart was pounding like hell and I was nervous.

"Be calm, wielder," Silverwing advised me. "All will be well"

"Easier said than done"

"We are at your side" Vermithor chimed in. "Now and always"

"And we are proud of you on how far you've come" Balerion finished.

With their words of encouragement, I relaxed and waited until the elevator arrived at its destination. And waiting for me in the arena was my Zaldrizes. He was alone and I was confused.

"Am I missing something or are we alone?"

"Roland will be back in a few minutes, you look nervous"

"Not going to lie I am"

Seto then drew me towards him and surprised me with a mind-blowing kiss. When he pulled away he wore his signature smirk.

"That should calm you down Kitsune"

"You're a god-awful tease my Zaldrizes"

My face was blood red and seeing me frazzled amused my mate. He then pressed his forehead against mine.

"You are a talented duelist Erin and you coming this far to face me proves it, and I'm proud of you for it"

He kissed my forehead before he pulled away. Roland returned, and with him were Zane, Yami, Tea, and Duke.

As I went to my side for the duel, I saw Mokuba rush over to his brother's side, and he shot me another wink.

"Alright, the next duel in the Battle City semi-finals will now begin! Seto Kaiba vs Erin Randall! Whoever wins this duel will face Yugi Muto in the next round!"

"Let's duel!" Seto and I said in unison as well as activating our duel disks. The biggest match of my life was about to start and I was ready.

The arena lifted up slightly and as our life points came to life, Seto decided to add another touch to the duel.

The tower changed from its regular setting into the mother freaking Roman Coliseum!

"Holy crap!" Zane yelled as the virtual crowd in the stands both shouted for me and my Zaldrizes.

Roland then said the duel could start and it was game on.

Seto smirked and he went first. He summoned Ryu-Kishin in attack mode and placed two cards face down.

"He's testing you" Silverwing alerted me.

She was right because my gut told me his two face-downs were Shrink and Crush-Card Virus. And I hoped to god I was right.

"Mazis! Caraxes!"

I slammed the Blood Wyrm's card onto my duel disk and Caraxes emerged onto the field with his signature roar. Duke jumped and I mentally sweat dropped at how easily Caraxes could intimidate people.

Like my mate, I, too, lay two cards face down.

"Caraxes may scare Devlin, but he doesn't scare me, Kitsune," Seto stated.

His next monster to bring out was X-Head Cannon.

Shit! He could summon Blue Eyes on his next turn! I thought.

Seto concluded his turn, and after drawing, I made my next move. Sunfyre joined Caraxes and with him on the field it was time to see if my mate's cards were what I thought they were.

"First I'll activate Sunfyre's special ability! Say goodbye to your right face down Kaiba!" I shouted.

Sunfyre opened his mouth and sent a fiery inferno at the target, and sure enough, it was Shrink!

"Next I play this Stamping Destruction!"

The other face down was indeed Crush-Card Virus and with it gone, Seto was wide open for an attack. My beloved was dealt 500 points of damage and now was the fun part.

"Go Caraxes! Take out his X-Head Cannon! Dracarys!"

Caraxes shrieked before obeying and X-Head Cannon turned into ash. Seto lost 200 more life leaving him with 3300. I ended my turn with a card face down.

"Well done" Seto praised me. "But this duel is far from over!"

He then laughed, and he was right. This duel was only beginning.