So here they are, fighting at the Duelist Kingdom semi finals, over a place in the final. Mai Valentine versus Yugi Muto. Yugi Muto versus Mai Valentine.

In her eyes, Yugi is the ideal duelist. He has all qualities that render a player perfect: talent, confidence, shrewdness, creativity and, most importantly, the admirable ability to retain his mental clarity even under the most adverse conditions (such as when he defeated Panic, despite the latter's mind games, thus getting back the star chips that that creep had essentially stolen from her).

Fighting him marks the culmination of her development both as a duelist and as a person over the years.

Though at the beginning of this duel, it felt like she was fighting someone who just looked like Yugi. Mai was not sure what caused Yugi to be off form in what is probably his most crucial game in this tournament, maybe even in his life! Had he underestimated her? Had he not got over his loss to Kaiba yet? Had he already set his mind to his imminent fight with Pegasus? Whatever it was, as a result, Yugi appeared distracted, playing disappointingly poorly, making serious mistakes, thus giving Mai a huge advantage.

Eventually, Mai's words woke Yugi up, albeit too late; Yugi had already lost his most powerful monsters (Gaia the Fierce Knight, Summoned Skull and Dark Magician) and his life points had been reduced to 300, whereas Mai's points remained unscathed. Even so, Yugi regained his fighting spirit and performed an impressive counter attack, producing a brilliant Catapult Turtle/Brain Control combo to destroy two of Mai's best cards (Mirror Wall and Harpy's Pet Dragon) and take away more than half her life points while he was at it!

But, as Mai had already said, it was too late. After Yugi's last move, the Catapult Turtle is left in attack mode. All Mai needs to do is destroy it with the Harpy and Yugi's life points will drop to zero.

Except there is this face down card he has played on the board! Could it... could it be a trap card?

Mai checks the cards in her hand. She has used up all her Harpy Feather Dusters. If Yugi's face down card turns out to be a trap, her Harpy will be destroyed. And Mai cannot afford that! That single monster is the cornerstone of her deck. She must keep it alive at all costs!

So... to attack or not to attack this turn? This is the most difficult decision she has ever had to make in her career as a duelist.

Mai looks forward. Yugi is staring at her with a smile of confidence. 'Go on, Mai. Conduct your battle phase,' he provokes her. Those piercing eyes! Is he... is he tempting her to attack?

Mai gulps, a bead of sweat appearing on her forehead and trickling down her cheek.

'Miss Valentine, I remind you that your turn will be over in one minute,' the referee declares at some point, reminding her that, according to the official rules, a duelist has five minutes per turn to make their move.

Mai gets a determined expression. 'Okay,' she cries. 'And now I will...'

She pauses for a moment. Yugi takes a neutral expression, in order to conceal his uneasiness. This is the moment of truth. Here goes nothing.

Mai almost said, '...not attack.' She bets that, in a parallel universe, she really spoke that sentence. However, in this universe, at that moment, some neuron in her mind functioned differently.

What if this is all just a bluff? She has already destroyed two trap cards of Yugi's (Spellbinding Circle and Mirror Force). What are the chances that he has a third one? She has watched Yugi duel a couple of times and, though she probably doesn't know every single card in his deck, she does not think she has ever seen him play any trap card other than those two. There is a good chance this is just a bluff!

Yugi is not the kind of duelist who gives second chances. If you give him even one turn to recover, he might pull off a miraculous comeback. If it turns out that that is a bluff and Mai loses in the end, she will never forgive herself for missing her chance to win. No, she must not allow that to happen! She must finish off Yugi now that she can. You cannot win against a great opponent by always being cautious; sooner or later, you have to take your chances!

'Harpy Lady, attack the Catapult Turtle,' Mai cries with a fierce expression.

For a moment, Yugi retains his nonchalant expression. It took him one moment to realize what has just transpired. For a fraction of a moment, his mind was in denial phase. Unconsciously, for a long time now, it has seemed inconceivable to him that he could ever... lose! He means, he has never lost! (Unless you count his duel with Kaiba, where he actually gave the victory away.)

No, no, just no! There is no way he, Yugi Muto, can lose a match fair and square. This is just unheard of! What he's experiencing right now has to be a dream or something. Yeah, that's right! A dream! He's still sleeping in his bed, in one of the chambers of Pegasuses castle. When he wakes up, he's going to kick butt and...

The next moment, the eyes of the undefeated so far duelist widen in the realization of the tragic truth as the Harpy strikes the Catapult Turtle with her whip. As it always happens whenever a monster is destroyed, a gentle, white light surrounds Yugi's turtle before the hologram breaks into one million tiny pieces that vanish soon afterward.

With his eyes bulging, Yugi shakes his head no in disbelief, unconsciously lowering his eyes to the screen, as if to desperately cling to the impossible possibility that there is some mistake. However, the counter showing his last 300 life points rapidly abandoning him at the moment leaves no room for doubt. Yugi has lost the game and there is nothing that he or his friends, for all their support, or anyone else can do about that.

Croquet, the grey haired, dressed in black bodyguard of Pegasus, who is also serving as a referee at these playoffs, raises his arm in the air, all fingers pointing upwards. 'And the winner is Mai Valentine,' he declares in a formal tone but also in a loud voice.

Yugi closes his eyes. He places his hands on the board that represents the duel field, where the cards are played for their holograms to be projected on the vast duel arena. He grips the edge of the board in despair.

Inside his head, his two minds, which are united into one mind when he duels, are now separate. Against a black background, the normal high school boy and the spirit of the Millenium Puzzle are conversing.

'Yugi,' the spirit says, his eyes lowered. 'I don't know what to say. I did what I could...'

'It's all my fault,' Normal Yugi closes his eyes, clenches his fists and bursts into sobs. 'If I had let you help me from the beginning... '

'No, don't blame yourself,' Yami Yugi cries, raises his eyes to his partner, extends his arms forward and shakes his head no. 'I got carried away during our duel with Kaiba and freaked you out. I was a jerk. I...'

'What does it matter whose fault it is?' Normal Yugi snaps and opens his tearful eyes. 'I'll never see grandpa again. NEVEEERR...'

'NEVEEER,' Yugi physically cries out loud the next moment as his body transforms back into the schoolboy's form. He becomes shorter, his eyes become larger and rounder and his voice gets lighter. He falls on his knees, slams his palms down on the floor and bursts into sobs physically.

'I'M AN IDIOT,' Normal Yugi screams, looking at the floor, with his eyes full of tears. 'If I had let him help me... if only I could go back in time...' He raises his hand, clenches his fist and slams it down on the hard floor, forcefully and repeatedly, ignoring the pain in his knuckles.

In the stands, Yugi's friends are staring, speechless, not knowing how to react.

'Yugi,' Tea finally breaks the silence, her hand on her chest.

'Dude, are you okay?' Joey calls out, worried, leaning against the railing.

Tristan and Bakura are just staring, with their mouths partly open, not knowing what to say.

High up, Pegasus, sitting on his throne like chair, arms and legs crossed, is smiling. 'So Yugi boy has lost,' he thinks. 'Who could have imagined? Not that it matters anyway. Whoever wins this tournament, in the end, I will be the only real winner. Everybody else loses!'

After making sure nobody is looking at him at the moment, he takes out the photo of his deceased lover, Cecelia, and has a furtive look at her. 'Wait some more, my love,' he says in his head, addressing her. 'Soon, we will be together once again.'

Then he gently wraps the photo in a white handkerchief and puts it back in his suit's pocket, right on his heart! He looks down below, where Yugi is still on his knees crying and Mai is standing across from him. He has to admit that it's surprising how exceptionally well that woman played today. Sure duel monsters is a game played by two players, sure one's performance depends to a great extent on their opponent's performance. Sure it helped Mai that her opponent was in bad shape. Still, though, Mai's game today was flawless, spectacular.

Thanks to his Millenium Eye, Pegasus knows everything that has gone on on the island since this tournament commenced. He knows everything about everyone that has participated in the Duelist Kingdom tournament or affected it in any other way. He knows everything that has transpired during all duels played on his island, everything every duelist has done since they set foot here. He saw them when they were sleeping, he knew when they were awake! He knows if they've been bad or good... and he doesn't care as long as his purposes are served! Therefore, he knows full well that the Mai that arrived on the Duelist Kingdom island two days ago, though undoubtedly skilled, was nowhere near as good as the Mai that is standing before him right now.

What has made her so much stronger in the meantime? Does her meeting Yugi have something to do with her growth as a duelist? Come to think of it, Kaiba boy, too, seemed a lot stronger during his second duel with Yugi, yesterday, right outside of the castle, than he had been during their first duel, a few weeks earlier. It seems that interacting with Yugi has a certain effect on most duelists. How amusing! Pegasus chuckles at those thoughts of his.

Down below, Mai closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She feels... strange. To her, defeating her role model, Yugi Muto, was the best thing that could happen to her. Yet, now that it has happened, now that her dream is a reality, she doesn't feel happy. She can't really enjoy it, she cannot really celebrate this victory.

And it's not hard to figure out why! She had been dreaming of an honorable duel. And what she got was not the duel she had been dreaming of. She fought Yugi with everything she had, expecting him to do the same. Yet he didn't. His body was here, in this arena, but his mind was God knows where. She tried everything she could to resuscitate him: she provoked him, she reminded him, she belittled his goofy friend, Joey, she opened her heart to him. Unfortunately, by the time Yugi had snapped out of whatever had been going on in his head, the duel was essentially already over.

Mai is disappointed. Yes, she just found the right word! Disappointed! That's what she is! She doesn't feel that she really defeated the great Yugi Muto today.

Oh, whatever. What is done is done. There is no point in looking back. What matters right now is that she is in the tournament's final, one step closer to her goal: to dethrone Pegasus and become the Duel Queen.

Nevertheless, she could try to console Yugi a little.

Mai walks over to Yugi, in her usual haughty and sexy manner. She stands next to the crying boy.

'Yugi, believe me, this is not the way I wanted my victory to occur,' she says solemnly, arms crossed.

Yugi keeps looking at the floor and crying. Did he hear Mai? Does he even know where he is anymore?

The older woman makes one more attempt to draw his attention. She crouches next to him. 'Don't feel bad,' she says, kinda more softly than before. 'Everyone has bad days. You obviously were not yourself today. Perhaps, later, after this tournament is over, when you feel better, we can have a friendly rematch somewhere in order to decide who is the better duelist between the two of...'

'SHUT UP!' Yugi cries, turning his head to Mai, palms and knees still on the floor. 'YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.'

Mai jumps to her feet and steps back, startled. Is this really Yugi talking? The usually timid and gentle Yugi?

The boy looks at her with anger. She dares say, even with hatred!

'Do you think I care whether I win or lose a stupid children's card game, you brainless bimbo?' he growls. 'You have no idea what is at stake here. My grandpa... Kaiba brothers... (sob)... Joey's sister... They all were counting on me. And I have failed them all!'

Mai stares at Yugi, her mouth partly open in shock. What the hell is this boy talking about?

After some more sobs, Yugi carries on: 'Pegasus is a madman. Unless someone stops him right now, he will wreak havoc on the whole world!'

He lowers his eyes, takes the golden pendant he's wearing in his hands and looks at it. 'Only the spirit of the Millenium Puzzle could stop him,' he now speaks more softly, though he's still crying. 'If I had let him help me. If I had let him duel alongside me. But I didn't. I prevented him from saving us all. Now we all lose, and it's my fault!'

He closes his eyes, lets out an inarticulate cry and bursts into sobs anew.

Mai sighs. She does not think she has understood any of what Yugi said. But, at the end of the day, how one takes defeat is none of anyone else's business. She's kinda disappointed to see her role model like that, but if he wants to react like a crybaby, so be it.

And if the only way for him and Pegasus to resolve whatever differences they had was to duel, then he'd better hope that Mai will defeat Pegasus for him. Because Mai intends to fight long and hard to reach and defeat the creator of the game, even if Yugi is sure that no one other than himself can do it!

The blonde, beautiful woman turns around and walks away.

Keeping his formal expression and himself distanced from the boy's emotional outburst, Croquet announces, 'And now, duelists Mai Valentine and Yugi Muto are kindly requested to leave the arena, so that the second duel of the semi finals may commence. Keith Howard versus Joey Wheeler.'