The next day, everyone gathered at the same place where Kaiba was defeated. Pegasus was now sitting on a chair, across from where Yugi and the others stood overlooking the dueling arena below.
"Well, here we are. This is where everything will be resolved. Akia, we can't afford to lose... For grandpa's sake," Yugi told his sister.
Akia, looking as determined as her brother, nodded, "you can count on me, Yugi. One of us will be the one to face Pegasus and win."
Pegasus' bodyguard, who was standing right next to him, drew everyone's attention by announcing the start of the finals. Pegasus then spoke up, "the first match will be between Keith Howard and little miss Mutou Akia."
"Go get that bastard, Akia. I mean, I wish I was the one against him, but I know you'll wipe the floor with him just like how I wanted to do it," Jounouchi cheered his friend on.
"Don't worry about it, Jounouchi. Whatever grudge you have against him, I'll resolve it today. It'll be a total victory for me," Akia reassured him.
Akia and Keith then made their way down to the arena. They were now standing face to face at both ends of the dueling arena. Pegasus requested them to show their prize cards. Keith showed Glory of the King's Hand, while Akia showed Glory of the King's Opposite Hand.
"Heh, don't cry too hard when I beat you, little girl," Keith chuckled.
Akia just looked at him with uninterested eyes. That annoyed Keith, since she wasn't giving him any reaction.
"What's with that look, huh? You think you can just get away with disrespecting me like that?" The older man confronted her.
"Why should I give any respect to someone with an overinflated ego? Are you overcompensating for something perhaps?" Akia berated him.
"What did you just say...?!" Keith snapped back.
"Woah... Now I know not to get on Akia's bad side," Jounouchi pointed out.
"Yeah... She kind of has a sharp tongue," Yugi affirmed.
"A girl should always have some spunk," Mai came to her friend's defence. During the time they spent together, she felt like Akia was almost like a little sister to her. It was rare for her to actually root for someone, but she wanted Akia to win this with all her heart.
"That makes her so cute..." Bakura mumbled that so that no one heard him. He really found Akia irresistibly adorable, especially when she was trying not to be.
"Will you start the duel already?" Akia egged her opponent on.
"Grr... I'll make you regret every word you said. I draw!" Keith yelled out as he drew his first card.
Everyone's attention then focused on the duel.
"We'll see what you're made of, Keith Howard. This is a golden chance for me to try out my improved deck," Akia thought.
"I will set a monster and end my turn," her opponent played his move.
"He's planning something... Last night I added a second Banisher of the Light as well as a Banisher of Radiance in my deck, and I still didn't draw any of them. Let's hope it's the next card," the red-eyed girl thought before starting her turn, "I draw!" She looked at her hand and frowned a little, "damn it... There's still a chance, though. I drew Pot of Greed so that should help."
Akia turned her gaze to her opponent and used her card, "I use my spell card: Pot of Greed!"
"That's just another way of saying that you have nothing that's worth it in your current hand," Keith mocked her.
Akia didn't pay him any attention yet again and drew two cards from her deck, according to her spell card's effect. This aggravated him even more, "hey! Don't ignore me you little bitch!"
His opponent looked at the cards she drew and pondered on what to do next, "I know what he's looking for is a reaction from me. If I don't give him any, he'll become agitated and frustrated. That can make him do a mistake in his card play. Now let's see here... I got it! Good."
"I set a card facedown in defense position. I will also set one card facedown," Akia said, "with that, I end my turn."
"You're going down, you little piece of shit. I draw!" Keith kept the insults flowing.
Akia smiled at how worked up Keith was getting.
"You won't have that smirk on your face after I do this!" The man reached for his facedown card, "I flip summon my monster! Say hello to Pendulum Machine (1750/2000)!"
A hologram of a machine-like monster materialized on Keith's side of the field.
"Such a powerful monster right from the start..." Yugi stated.
"I'm so worried about Akia... Keith is such a... brute!" Anzu expressed her concern.
"Akia said that she'll win, and I'm putting all my faith in her. She won't lose," Jounouchi declared with confidence.
"That's right. You guys haven't seen her duel that much. I've seen most of her duels on this island. When she's serious, nobody can ever stand in her way."
Akia was looking at Keith's monster, hoping for it to attack.
"Pendulum Machine, attack her puny facedown card!" Keith declared an attack with his Pendulum machine, revealing Akia's monster to be Banisher of the Light (100/2000). Due to its superior defense points compared to Pendulum machine's attack, Banisher of the Light wasn't destroyed and counterattacked with his light.
"Wait, what...?" Akia looked at Keith's Life Points, confused at what they displayed, "why didn't you lose any Life Points? According to my monster's superior defence, you should lose 250 points."
Keith chuckled, "did you really think I'd go down that easily? My machine monsters are all made of a special metal. They can't be destroyed by magic or non-physical attacks."
"I see..."
"Well, that means that normal attacks won't work. All of my monsters use magic attacks. Gren Maju Da Eiza, no matter how strong it gets, won't even scratch these things," Akia pondered on what to do.
"Haha! Giving up yet?" Keith scoffed at his opponent.
"Are you done with your turn?" Once more, Akia completely dismissed Keith's snarky remarks.
"Tch. Yeah, I am. Bitch."
"He keeps calling me bitch... That's when you know that he has nothing better to say," the red-eyed girl chuckled internally.
She then brought her hand to her deck, drawing her next card, "I will set a facedown and then I will activate my spell card: Card Destruction! This card requires that we both discard our entire hand and draw the same number of cards discarded. Since my Banisher of the Light is face up on the field, all of our discarded cards are removed from play."
"What...?!" Keith was getting worried, since his most powerful monster, Barrel Dragon (2600/2200) was now going to be removed from play for the entirety of the duel. His demeanour changed however, when he drew his new hand of six cards. It was even better than his last set of cards.
"I set a facedown monster and end my turn," Akia ended her turn.
"Another facedown? What? Too chicken to fight me head on?" Keith kept egging her on.
"Do you have to make unnecessary remarks at every single turn? We would be done by now if you stopped wasting time," the black-haired girl called him out.
Keith's expression twisted with frustration.
"She really likes to take it a notch too far..." Yugi commented.
"Man, I actually feel a bit bad for Keith." Jounouchi chuckled.
"Yeah, you go girl!" Anzu cheered her friend on.
"Women are so scary..." Honda mumbled.
Pegasus was also watching this with amusement.
"Shut your damn mouth, bitch! I draw! Prepare to meet your end. I summon Slot Machine (2000/2300) in attack mode!" Keith yelled out.
A slot machine robot appears on the field.
"What are you trying to accomplish with only 2000 attack points?" Akia taunted him. "Take that trump card of yours out. I'll finish it off along with your Slot Machine," she then thought.
"You know what a jackpot is? Well, considering how you're still a minor, I doubt it," he replied.
"Get to the point," Akia cut him off.
"Sheesh, I'm getting to it! My point is that there are three 7 Completed cards that are required to complete a jackpot. Of course, wouldn't that be almost impossible to do in one duel?"
Akia remained silent. Keith continued his explanation. "...Well, you're lucky, since you will survive this turn. For now, I'll just use my Slot Machine to destroy your facedown monster card."
Keith's monster strikes Akia's facedown and destroys it. Akia then smiled brightly that it took Keith by surprise. It was the first time he saw her smile like that, "great! You activated my monster's flip effect!"
"...What...?" Keith asked, confused about what she meant.
Akia took her monster card and showed it to Keith, "the card you just destroyed is Needle Worm. Its effect is to send the first five cards of your deck to the graveyard. In other words, your top five cards are going to be removed from play, thanks to my Banisher of the Light."
"Kuh... What's the point of removing all the cards from play...?" Keith took the top five cards of his deck and removed them from play.
"I wonder what the point is..." Akia still kept her smile.
"Whatever... I'll put a card facedown and end my turn," the blond older man concluded.
"What is she smiling about...? Keith has the stronger monsters on his side. Isn't she worried? How is she going to handle them?" Jounouchi asked.
"Wait... I get it!" Yugi realized.
"Really?! What is she planning?" Jounouchi inquired.
"I can't think of what she has in mind either," Mai pondered.
"You'll see," Yugi smiled at his friends. He was almost certain of what his sister's strategy was, since he knew what cards she had acquired.
"I really do wonder myself what her strategy is as well. It's a bit different from her strategy with Panik," Bakura noted.
Everyone's attention then went back to the duel, since Akia was now drawing her card, "I play the spell card Hand Destruction. We both discard two cards and draw two cards."
"I think I'm starting to see a pattern here..." The white-haired boy realized.
"Yeah," the blonde older woman agreed, "I think I see it too."
"What pattern? Why does everyone get it except me?" Jounouchi questioned.
"Don't worry man, I'm as clueless as you..." Honda comforted him.
"But you're not even a duelist! I don't want to be compared to you!" The blond boy snapped back.
"Stop it, guys! Focus on the duel!" Anzu reprimanded them.
Akia then looked at her hand, "I'm not done yet! I play my next spell card: Dark World Dealings. We each draw a card, then discard a card."
"Again? What is she trying to do?" Jounouchi inquired.
Keith was getting worked up. It was getting on his nerves that he didn't know where this was all going.
"I'll then put three face-downs and set a monster facedown. That'll end my turn," Akia finally ended her turn.
"This whole duel you haven't even attacked me once! How do you even plan on winning this?" Keith mentioned.
"There's more than one winning method," the black-haired girl replied.
"You're absolutely right... I draw, " Keith smirked. As he was reaching to draw a card, he took one out of his wristband and made it look as if it was the one he drew from his deck. Everyone was oblivious to it, except for Pegasus. However, he decided against pointing it out, since he wanted to see the outcome of the duel. If Keith won, he would kick him out due to cheating. If he lost, then it'll make his humiliation even bigger.
"Heh, am I lucky or what?" Keith then revealed the card that he "drew". It was one of the three 7 Completed spell cards, "I guess I'll just use this now. I equip it to my Slot Machine, which gives my monster a 700 attack point boost!"
"Its attack is now 2700! He's going to take out Akia's Banisher of the Light!" Just as Jounouchi predicted, Keith was planning to target the Banisher of the Light and get rid of it for good.
"Say goodbye to that annoying monster of yours! Slot Machine, attack!" Keith declared the attack.
"Not so fast! I activate my trap card: Shift!" Akia intercepted.
"That card looks a lot like the one you used against Mei and Kyu in the labyrinth, Yugi," Jounouchi observed.
"They are similar, but their use is a bit different. The card I used was Monster Replace," Yugi answered.
Everyone was looking at Akia, waiting for her to explain what she was using this card for, "This trap card allows me to redirect your attack to one of my other monsters. I choose my facedown monster."
Slot Machine's attack then immediately turned to the facedown monster that Akia had set and destroyed it.
"Tch! Another one of those pests?" Keith realized.
"You know what comes next right? My Needle Worm's effect activates, so now you have to send the top five cards to the graveyard, or, in this case, remove them from play," Akia replied.
"Yes! I get it!" Keith was downright angry at this point. Even though he felt that he was clearly at an advantage with his stronger monsters, there was something that was threatening him. It was the fact that Akia looked so undisturbed and confident. It's as if she already felt like she had this duel in the bag.
"I summon Zoa (2600/1900)! Now watch and learn about what real power is! I activate my facedown: Magic Metal Force. I'll equip that to Zoa, which transforms it into Metalzoa (3000/2300)! Now just try to take this down! Since I can only attack once each turn, I'll end it here. Next turn, you're done!" Keith played his turn.
Akia's smile faded. She felt like she'd done everything she could, "I draw. I'll pass my turn."
"Oh no... Is it getting too much for her? I mean, look how strong that monster is..." Jounouchi remarked.
Yugi looked at his sister. When he did, he understood everything and remained silent.
"Haha! I knew you'd break at some point! You're already admitting defeat! Well, that's too bad! I draw! I'll attack your Banisher of the Light with my Metalzoa! Metalzoa has the special ability of reflecting all magic attacks back at the caster. Since your Banisher is in defence mode and his defence points are 2000, you will lose as soon as I destroy it!" Keith said with confidence.
"No...!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"It can't end like that?!" Honda denied.
"I can't watch...!" Anzu said.
Akia's smile then returned as she reached for one of her two remaining face-downs.
"Did you really think I'd let you win just like that? I activate my trap: Dimensional Prison. I can only activate this when my opponent declares an attack. This allows me to remove from play your attacking monster. That means: bye bye Metalzoa," Akia stopped her opponent's attempt to attack her.
Keith's mouth went agape and he stared speechless at his monster getting sucked in the banishing vortex.
"D-Don't scare me like that...!" Jounouchi blurted out.
"Way to go, Akia!" Mai cheered.
Keith's hands were trembling from the unexpected turn of events, "s-so what?! I can still get you next turn!"
Akia giggled, "there won't be a next turn. Remember my last facedown?"
Akia reached for her last uncovered card and flipped it, "I activate my second trap card: Different Dimension Dynamite!"
A giant clump of dynamites with a timer in the middle materialized on the field.
"Can you count how many dynamites there are?" She asked her opponent.
"W-Why does that even matter?" Keith replied.
"Well, for each one, you will lose 100 Life Points. Do you know what they're based on? The cards that were removed from play since the start of this game," Akia answered.
Keith's hand dropped the cards he was holding. He was in shock at what Akia just said. His mind didn't want to process it.
"Wait... How many cards were removed?" Jounouchi inquired.
"Let's count together now," Akia recounted, "ten of your cards were removed from play due to my two Needle Worms. Then, six were removed due to Card Destruction. After that, there are two that were removed thanks to Hand Destruction. Are you following me until now?"
"That makes eighteen cards until now," Honda noted.
"After that," Akia continued, "there was Dark World Dealings, that made both of us discard one card. Finally, your Metalzoa was just now removed from play along with the card you equipped it with. That makes a total of 21 cards. More than enough to take you out in one shot."
"T-This can't be happening!" Keith yelled out.
"Oh, look at the timer. It's time for a countdown. 5, 4, 3..." Everyone was watching, breathless, as the countdown on the dynamite counted. Only Akia's voice was heard, "2, 1, boom!"
On cue, all the dynamites exploded and Keith lost all of his Life Points.
"That was incredible..." Bakura observed.
"She didn't attack even once this entire duel!" Jounouchi stated.
Keith was still in shock over what had just happened. Pegasus, on the other hand, was thrilled with how entertaining the first duel in the finals was, "well, the clear winner of this spectacular duel is Akia. Congratulations, you deserved it."
"This duel is void...! She clearly cheated! How else could everything go so conveniently for her?!" Keith confronted the results.
Everyone then stared at Keith in disapproval.
"Should I remind you, Mr. Howard, that you are the one who pulled that 7 Completed card from your wristband?" Pegasus exposed him.
"You did what...?! I knew you were an asshole, but now also a cheater?!" Akia called the man out.
"Sh-Shut up! I'm sick of you berating me, you little brat!" Keith yelled out.
"And might I add that the qualification card that you presented in the beginning of the duel was stolen from Jounouchi?" Pegasus further brought the events to light.
"Wait, what...?!" Jounouchi exclaimed as he checked his pockets and found out that the card was indeed missing, "you snake!"
"Take that cheater away." Pegasus ordered and his guards then came out to kick Keith out, but, in a fit of rage, he knocked them out. He then leapt to where Pegasus was seated and pointed a gun at him.
"You're the snake! After how you humiliated me in front of everyone that time, do you think I was just going to let that go? Now, if you want to live, give me the prize money or... Waaaaa...!" As Keith was threatening Pegasus, the latter pressed a button on the floor and activated a trap on the ground which sent Keith down a tunnel and out in the ocean. Akia gasped a little. She wondered if Keith was going to be okay. Even though she didn't stand him one bit, she would never hope for him to lose his life.
"Now that this little incident is taken care of, let's have a short break then move on to the next match," Pegasus stated.