Author's Note: For the hardcore Yu-Gi-Oh! fans out there, this is what you've all been waiting for!

For the non-Yu-Gi-Oh! fans out there, please bear with me. Duel Monsters is a children's card game that Kaiba Corporation made more exciting by creating holographic projections of the monsters. However, the point of playing is not so much the game itself but how the game facilitates the characters working out their differences.

Chapter 32: DUEL

After dinner, the Kaibas returned to the Hyatt. A barrage of camera flashes and video cameras greeted them as they stepped out of the limo. Roland's first thought went to Rebecca Hawkins, but instead of a blond cyber geek with half-moon glasses, the white woman blocking their path had limp, bleached hair. It trailed over her shoulders and down to her waist. Her thin wrist sported a bulky red, white and blue plastic duel disk. An ice-blue evening gown graced her delicate form and matched her eyes . . . or were those colored contact lenses?

"Seto Kaiba!" the strange woman hollered.

The bodyguards stood poised, fingers twitching to draw weapons but waiting for clear signs of danger.

"What the fuck?" Seto said.

"I am Kayla, the human incarnate of your Blue Eyes White Dragon."

Seto let loose an incredulous laugh. "If you're going to cosplay, at least have the decency to put on some wings."

"This isn't a cosplay, Seto. I'm your soulmate," Kayla persisted.

"If you want a good fuck, get in line. My cock is spoken for tonight."

"No, Seto. That whore has corrupted you. I'm here to show you what real love is all about."

"Corrupted? Please. I've fucked countless whores. This one," Seto waved a hand at Joan, "happens to have a brain. You think I have time for a gold-digging bimbo like you?"

Kayla didn't let the sting of his words show. "Since I know the great Seto Kaiba never backs down from a challenge, I challenge you to a duel! If I win, you agree to never see that whore again."

Seto glanced back at Joan. Mokuba's arms encircled her protectively as she silently surveyed the events unfolding. Seto faced Kayla again. "Surely you don't mean the future Mrs. Kaiba?"

The crowd gasped.

"I'm the future Mrs. Kaiba," Kayla fumed, "and what is that whore even wearing? She looks like a fucking lumberjack."

"We just took a hike," Mokuba said, "and that's what you need to do right now."

"Don't tell me the great Seto Kaiba is backing down from a challenge," Kayla taunted.

"It's pointless for me to duel a bratty, self-entitled fangirl like you, but since you brought an audience, I'll make an exception just this once. Let's duel!" Seto raised his hand before his face and bowed his head. He clenched his fist, and his implanted duel disk activated. "And when I defeat you, you'll serve as an example to anyone who would dare challenge the Kaiba family." Seto swept his arm to the side and lifted his head. "Here's the deal. If you win, you have one chance to impress me in bed. If I win, you have nothing that I want anyway, so staking any more than that on this duel is absurd."

Mokuba and Joan breathed a sigh of relief. Seto could be reckless, but he knew better than to risk everything against no reward.

Kayla considered her options. Agreeing to this would render her a slut on live TV, no better than Joan, but she couldn't simply throw away this chance. "No sex. A real date – just you and me."

"Whatever," Seto smirked, "not that winning is a possibility for you anyway."

"Let's duel!" Kayla shouted. Her physical duel disk activated, and a virtual coin flip determined that Seto would go first.

Seto's deck, safe in a vault in Japan, uploaded digitally to his duel disk. 4000 life points appeared in the air beside each duelist.

Kayla spoke as they drew their first hands. "This duel is to teach you what you should have figured out by now. The heart of the cards will guide me to victory because I am the reincarnation of Kisara, your long-lost love from four thousand years ago. When your life points reach zero, you'll understand that I did this for your own good, because destiny brought us together."

"I didn't realize Yugi's geek squad blabbed about their shared hallucination to troglodytes like you. Spare me the diatribe."

"That was no hallucination, Seto. You saw everything for yourself, and the memory of Kisara's loss was so painful that you drowned your sorrow in empty sex."

"I'm getting bored. I draw!" Seto declared. He stared down at a hand full of two and three-star monsters. All of his best cards were missing. He blinked and shook his head. Same crappy hand. "I haven't had these cards in my deck since Mokuba was in diapers."

Mokuba's grip tightened around Joan, initially disturbed by the jab but more disturbed by what it entailed once he processed Seto's predicament.

Kayla fidgeted with her cards. "No excuses! Make your move or surrender!"

"Roland, I smell a rat. Contact that cyber geek back in Domino and have her get to the bottom of this." Stalling for time, Seto set the strongest card in his hand in facedown defense position. "I set one monster facedown and end my turn."

Roland already had his phone out. He'd managed to charge it on his break but hadn't gone through his messages until now. Rebecca hadn't merely refused to hack Facebook but had left Kaiba Corporation's main office building in Japan fuming, declaring that she would teach Seto Kaiba a lesson he'd never forget. She must have contacted a fangirl in America and set this whole thing up. Given the widespread chatter on various social media platforms, it must have been a walk in the park for her. "Sir, Miss Hawkins cannot be reached. I believe this is her doing."

Seto's eyes went wide in shock. "What?"

"No excuses! I designed my deck specifically to bring you to your knees. Well, at least one knee," Kayla giggled. "I summon Strength of Prophecy in attack mode!" A woman clad in red surrounded by talismans and runes appeared on the battlefield displaying 1500 attack points. She wielded a huge ax with an animalistic face on its poll. "She'll knock your socks off."

"Socks? Unless you have a foot fetish, that's not where you'll find the real prize," Seto taunted. "You know why I fell in love with my whore? She doesn't beat around the bush like you gold diggers. She knows what she wants and doesn't hesitate to seize the opportunity when granted. You, on the other hand, spout this 'no sex' nonsense."

"Sex with someone who is already taken is a corrupt, disgusting act. That whore has poisoned your mind, and I'll prove it. I activate the magic card Stop Defense! This forces your monster into attack mode." Seto's facedown monster flipped into attack position, revealing a green fiend with no mouth bound by chains around its neck and all four limbs. A measly 600 attack points displayed beside the Dark Prisoner. "I'm here to set you free, Seto. Strength of Prophecy, attack!"

Seto cringed as Dark Prisoner shattered and his life points dropped to 3100. "Do you want to know what else I love about my whore? She accepts me for who I am and doesn't try to make me into someone I'm not. You think you can waltz in here, play me with a deck that isn't even mine, and expect to call it a fair fight? What a joke."

"You tell her, Seto!" Mokuba's fist pumped the air.

Joan wanted to add her two cents as well, but with so many eyes, so many cameras, she simply shuddered. It took all her strength to keep her eyes on Seto. Joan felt her phone buzz and pulled it out of her pocket. Michael. Just found out. Hang tight. Linda is driving me over. I'm watching you on my phone right now. Joan breathed a sigh of relief as she read the message. She thumbed back a short thanks.

Kayla busted out another monologue. "This isn't an ordinary duel, Seto. In this duel, we draw our cards from our hearts, not our decks. Your heart drew that card, Seto. It is a reflection of your decay. You need to see that before you can break free of the curse that whore has cast upon you. Your move."