Hey all! Back with a new chapter! Time for the next duel of Battle City! Snowing today and both of my classes were cancelled so I thought it was a good day to post.

*I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I only own Christine, my OC. If you recognize anything from somewhere, I don't own it either!*

I had to race to Yugi's room first to drop off the elixir that I had used to patch up Bakura's wounds; it would be a pain to carry that for the length of the next duel. Thankfully, Yugi let me borrow his keycard so that I could jump into the room then back out as quickly as I could.

I had just finished closing the door to Yugi's room and turning the corner when my feet twisted underneath me. Curse this blimp for having such tight corners!

I felt myself going down when something else wrapped around my waist. Huh?! The grip stopped me from falling to the ground and was strong enough to not even flinch at my weight. It settled me back onto my feet before releasing me. I turned around and my blood turned to ice at the sight.

The hooded face of Marik was staring down at me.

I tried to jump away but the close corner made that difficult. I was pressed up to the wall, the corner digging into my shoulder blade. Oh god… Oh god… It was the person who had tried to kill all of my friends in one day! And I was alone with him! Yami!

The movement made Marik almost flinch back himself. He took a step back, almost releasing me from his imposing shadow. I blinked and the harsh expression that he wore every single time I saw him melted away. He was… embarrassed? Ashamed?

I relaxed, straightening myself against the wall. This… Was this really…?

With nothing to say, Marik stormed past me. My eyes followed after him. The stern body language returned with each step but after seeing the shameful steps just now… It didn't fit him. I shook off the thoughts. Yugi and Jounouchi were waiting for me in the assembly hall.

When I entered the room, Jounouchi and Mokuba were shouting at the Bingo machine. Jounouchi wanted himself to go but Mokuba wanted Kaiba to go.

"We have our results!" Roland cried, silencing the cries. "The two duelists will be…"

Roland thrust a hand towards Jounouchi first. "Katsuya Jounouchi!"

"Now that's more like it!" Jounouchi cheered. "Who's my opponent?!"

"Vs Marik Ishtar!"

The room went dead. What? I glanced at the hooded man. He still said nothing, hardly caring about the glares Jounouchi was sending his way even as they got to the duel arena. I didn't tell anyone about my tumble in the corridor - Yami would have come out in an instant sending penalty games flying – but… I knew something was more complicated.

I wish I remembered.

I must have missed Jounouchi saying something stupid as when I allowed myself out of my thoughts, everyone had slapped their hand to their forehead. I blinked at all of my friends, trying to show my confusion, but nobody answered my silent question. I gave up and looked back to the duel.

Before Jounouchi made a move, a gust of wind blew his cards out of his hand. The blond had to dash to catch them, grabbing one between his teeth. I sighed. That was even with a newly formed barrier surrounding the blimp. This was ridiculous. He eventually got around to playing Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode. 1800 attack points on the first turn wasn't bad.

Marik drew his card silently and then became a lot chattier once he played his card. Royal Temple was a continuous spell card and I was annoyed that I didn't know this one too well.

"His side of the field turned into an Egyptian temple!"

"Not just a temple." Marik finally spoke in his deep voice. "A sanctuary for the King's treasures… filled with traps that pass judgement on thieves and robbers! Thanks to this card, I can play two traps per turn!"

Oh yeah… The rules right now say that players can only play one face down card at a time. That's annoying. Marik did end up playing two face down cards but not a monster. He had nothing to defend himself but already had a firm hand on the duel.

Jounouchi kept summoning monsters in the next few turns – first Panther Warrior with 2000 attack points then Swordsman of Landstar with only 500 – but not attacking with them. Marik still played no monsters and I got the feeling that his deck was entirely traps, not a single monster. After Marik played another two cards face down, Jounouchi's 'plan' sprung.

"Take a good look at my hurricane that's gonna blow all your cards off the board!"

I loved Giant Trunade! It was played on the board and had begun to activate when Marik's voice cut through the added wind.

"I am the one who trapped you."

Jounouchi's card immediately began to evaporate. "You may have thought that my trap cards were activated by a monster's attack but I was waiting for you to play a spell card!"

Marik had seen through Jounouchi's plan. I shouldn't have been surprised but here we are. "Anti-magic trap, activate! Judgement of Anubis!" Yikes!

A shadowed dog appeared over Marik's head, releasing a large blast that destroyed all of Jounouchi's monsters. Jounouchi's life points dropped to 1850, the combined amount of half of all his monster's attack power.

Obviously riled by Marik's short dialogues with him, Jounouchi kept up with his turn to play Alligator Sword with 1500 attack points. He fell short of attacking, simply playing a face down card and ending his turn. Yugi and I agreed that it was the right move to make. Who knew what those cards were?

Marik passed his next turn and that made Jounouchi all the madder. After playing Rocket Warrior, Jounouchi attacked. Oh boy… Of course, Marik had a trap waiting. "Will of the Wadjet!" It allowed him to take control of Jounouchi's Rocket Warrior until Jounouchi's end phase. Of course, he attacked back. "Reverse flight path! Attack Jounouchi's Alligator!"

"Oh no you don't!"

Jounouchi's face down card flipped to reveal Fairy Box and Alligator Sword was quickly hidden inside. I gave a sigh. We were playing Whack-a-Mole now? Rocket Warrior kept careening towards it until it crashed into the box with a loud boom. When the smoke cleared, both of Jounouchi's monsters were in different holes in the Fairy Box. "Wa ha ha ha ha! You wasted a trap card on this turn! Too bad! My monster's unscratched! Plus I found the weak point of your trap tactic! Your deck's mostly traps and spell cards; in other words, you don't have monsters to shield you! So, if I get rid of all your trap cards, I can finish you off, easy!"

"Are you sure? Haven't you realized it was you who fell for my trap last turn?"

Jounouchi's confidence faded away instantly. "Just as you said, my deck is mostly spell and trap cards but what if a trap card exists that can take the place of a monster card? Then my deck would truly be unbeatable, with none of the weaknesses you speak of!"

I knew the card. It was handy when summoning a protective monster or needing something quick to make a tribute summon. I used it in one or two of my decks back home but not my main one. All three of his face down cards activated to show the same image. "Embodiment of Apophis!" Three humanoids appeared from the cards, snaking protruding from their backs, each one with 1600 attack points and 1800 defense points. Jounouchi, obviously slightly riled, put a card face down and ended his turn, the Fairy Box disappearing with it.

Marik used his turn to attack with his three monsters causing Jounouchi to activate his face down card, Scapegoat. I gave a sigh of relief, he would last the turn! And then…. "De-spell! Your magic is nullified!" What?! The Scapegoats vanished immediately and there was nothing to stop the Snake men's attack.

Jounouchi now only had 50 life points left while Marik still had 4000. My heart dropped when I saw his hand lift up to settle on his deck to surrender.

"No! Jounouchi!" I shouted at him.

"Don't give up!" Honda shouted as well.

"Get up!" Mai cried. "Get up!"

"You can do it, Jounouchi!" Shizuka's cry actually made Jounouchi look up. "Don't let him beat you! You've worked so hard for yourself and your friends! You've come so far and you gave me light when I was wandering in the darkness!"

Shizuka wiped a tear away from her eyes then. "Even if… you can't win… I don't want to see you give up…"

"Jounouchi, you idiot!"

I noticed that Marik had also turned his head to look at Shizuka, his face softer than what it was before. I tilted my head at it. It faded back into the determined expression once he turned back to Jounouchi.

"Since I won…" Marik mused to Jounouchi. "Will you answer one question for me? What did you seek by joining this tournament?"

"There's…" Jounouchi replied after a moment. "Somebody I have to beat."

A shiver ran down my spine at the words. I glanced around to see that Yami hadn't come out but I bet he was watching. "To get to that point… I had to go a long way. I met all kinds of people and I fought them! That's my own Battle City!" Jounouchi snapped his head up then. "That's enough of an answer! Now I got something to say to you! Take back 'Since I won"! I haven't lost yet!"

"Go Jounouchi!" Yugi cheered.

"If I give up now, what am I gonna tell the duelists I fought who paved the way for me? Every single one of them fought me till the very end without giving up!"

"But…" Marik interrupted politely. "There is nothing more you can do… Is it not honorable for a duelist to gracefully turn his back…?"

Marik? Honorable? Ok…. This was getting weird.

Jounouchi ended up reaching to pull a card out of his deck. Another shiver ran down my spine and I turned to see a smile on Yami's face.

"Jounouchi!" He called and the blond turned to look. "Remember this riddle. 'What's something you can show but you can't see?'"

I playfully rolled my eyes. This again? It seemed to perk Jounouchi up as he drew his card. He played two cards face down then ended his turn. No monster… Yikes.

Marik took the chance and attacked with his three monsters. Jounouchi sprung into action. He activated both of his face down cards: one being Foolish Burial and the other being Grave Robber. He put a monster in the graveyard only to summon it to the field… Very nice, Jounouchi.

The next second, all of Marik's traps were obliterated. A smile grew on my face when I saw the monster that destroyed them. One of the coolest monsters in the game: Jinzo.

"Ever heard of Jinzo the Psycho Shocker?" Jounouchi called over the wind. "His 'Trap Sense' lets him destroy all traps on the field! I played him into your graveyard with Foolish Burial, then summoned him with Grave Robber." Jounouchi attacked Marik directly, causing his life points to go down to 1600.

"That was an impressive comeback… You're very brave." Was Marik complimenting him? "Despite being almost out of life points, you showed your pride as a duelist by standing up to me!"

"Shut up! I know you don't mean that! My friendship with Yugi was almost destroyed 'cause of your brainwashing! You're not gonna get away with it! I'm gonna beat you so bad you'll think a pyramid fell on your head!"

Marik's silence was worrying. The Marik I had come to know today would have laughed at their friendship, no complimented Jounouchi's spirit. I turned my head to glance at Marik. Why was I beginning to doubt the identity of this man who called himself Marik?

Marik took his turn, simply playing Swords of Revealing Light. It was effective in giving himself time to get a new plan in place as Jounouchi couldn't attack with Jinzo or a summoned Legendary Fisherman. The next card he drew made his face pale in shock. What the…? He seemed terrified of what he drew. He pushed the expression away when Jounouchi snapped at him and the man played a card face down. Jinzo didn't go off so it was a spell card.

"For now… I place one card within the ark in the temple!"

There was a big show of a large card being enclosed in the box at the top of the temple. I narrowed my eyes at it. Now what could that be?

Jounouchi used his next turn to play Baby Dragon to which Marik replied with playing two cards face down. Jinzo, again, didn't react.

"All right! On my next turn, the Swords of Revealing Light will wear off! You don't have any monsters on your field! You'll be finished after my monsters' all out attack!"

"It's too late for that. I only used Swords of Revealing Light to buy time… to prepare for a ritual."

I called it. Marik flipped over two of his face down cards to reveal two of the three cards necessary to summon a powerful monster. The monster, Selket the Scorpion God, crawled over the temple and I gave a dramatic shiver. True to its name, it was a giant scorpion. Plus, with 2500 attack points, it was more powerful that all of Jounouchi's monsters!

Based on Jounouchi's terrified expression on his next turn, I'm gonna guess that he didn't draw anything helpful. He simply did the best thing and switched his monsters to defense mode. Marik of course used the opportunity to strike. "Demigod Selket! Attack! Your target is Jinzo!" The large scorpion reached over its giant claws to grab the monster and stuffed him into its mouth. I gave a disgusted noise.

"Gross!" I whined.

"I know it is unpleasant to behold but that is Selket's special ability! Selket takes enemies inside itself and adds half of their attack points to its own!"

Uh oh…. What's half of 2400 again…? I watched as 1200 attack points were added to the already formidable 2500 to now make it 3700…. That thing could now beat Kaiba's Blue Eyes. And why was it standing on two legs now?! When Jounouchi still couldn't do anything, Marik took his turn to attack the Legendary Fisherman and increase its attack points again to 4650.

I faintly saw Shizuka flinch to cover her eyes and Jounouchi saw it quickly.

"Shizuka!" Jounouchi called to his sister. "Look at me! Don't close your eyes!"

The girl pulled her hands away from her eyes only a hair. "I might lose, but… watch till the end! You found a light in the darkness! A light called courage! So don't hide in the dark anymore!"

I saw Shizuka nod her head but my gaze was quickly taken to the pensive expression quickly taking over Marik's expression. What Jounouchi had said must have struck a chord in him. Jounouchi quickly turned back to the duel, declaring he was keeping Baby Dragon in Defense mode and ending his turn.

"You insist on dueling, despite the fact that you have no chance…" Marik commented aloud.

"Even if it's useless, I'll fight until my life hits zero!"

"I respect your spirit."

There went the doubt again. This time I was sure, this man isn't Marik!

Selket attacked Baby Dragon and its attack points increased to 5225 now. I didn't know a monster that could defeat this thing! "It's your turn… your last turn…"

Jounouchi ended his turn without playing a card. 'Marik' didn't split a smile.

"'What you can show but you can't see…?'" Jounouchi then said aloud before 'Marik' could make his move. "I got a funny feeling, I can't explain it… A little while ago, I reached the point where I was resigned to losing and just then – when winning or losing didn't matter – it's like, I saw something I couldn't see before! Why didn't I figure it out sooner? Must have been the heat of battle… but then I remembered Yugi's words: 'What you can show but you can't see?' Marik brainwashed me! He forced me to fight a duel to the death; a pointless battle that only hurt my and Yugi's hearts! I'll never forgive him for that!"

Jounouchi had caught on… He knew as well!

"Then go ahead and curse me. But… no matter how great your anger, you still cannot defeat me…"

"When this duel started, I really hated you! I hated your guts! But… as the duel went on, I lost that hatred, and I tried to remember how bad it felt when Marik took over my mind…" Jounouchi raised his head to look square at 'Marik'. "But you… You're a duelist who fought me fair and square! So fair that I forgot those bad memories! 'Cause you're not Marik!"

Confusion abounded.

"He's not Marik?" Kaiba demanded. "So he's not the wielder of Ra?!"

I continued staring up at the man when my name hit my ears. I turned to see Yami waving me up to him. I had been standing a bit behind him so I took the small steps up to him.

"What's up?" I asked softly.

"I have a bad feeling." Yami replied, taking my wrist in a tight grip, making me roll my eyes.

"Over protective as always."

I changed the grip so that now our fingers were entwined. Yami didn't fight me, only tightening the grip.

Marik went to attack and finish the duel but he stopped short. His face paled drastically. I narrowed my eyes in hopes to see it clearly. Whatever was going on, he looked terrified! I blinked and a resigned expression remained.

"For the last turn…" Marik intoned. "I shall prove that I am the chosen one of Ra."

Yami flinched next to me. "Right now, the god card is resting in the Holy Ark. Though I must sacrifice Mystical Beast Selket and half my life points to open the lid… when it is opened, the Sun Dragon Ra will be unleashed!"

Both the ark opened and Selket vanished out of existence and a shadow materialized over the temple now. I could faintly see a beak and the claws of something but… It was so dark I couldn't make it out. Yami and Kaiba did as their eyes were both wide as dinner plates. Since Selket had 5225 attack points, Ra now had that much power, easily giving it the power needed to defeat Jounouchi in one move. "Sun God! Attack!"

A twinge hit my stomach then. I tightened my grip on Yami's hand to try and distract myself but it only got more painful. I brought a hand to my mouth, expecting to be sick, but nothing came. Yami noticed my discomfort and turned toward me. He tried to get my attention but my attention was stuck on the shadowy Ra. I didn't know how I knew but… I knew that it was angry. Something had made the god utterly furious.

The electric tendrils that began to float across the field then let everyone else in on the angered god. Ra never attacked, fading into even darker mist and vanishing from the field. All the tendrils floated up towards the ark that Ra was summoned from then blasted into the sky.

"What's going on?!" Jounouchi cried across the field.

Before anyone could cry out, the tendrils came back down as mini electric arrows. I flinched back when they began to strike the field close to Jounouchi's feet. What made me scream was when one of the bolts struck 'Marik' in the back. He collapsed to the ground with a thud. Jounouchi was hit in his stomach and his own collapse made me scream again. We all tried to race up to them but Roland stopped us.

"Step back!" He called. "The duel isn't over yet!"

"Are you crazy?!" Honda snapped back. "They're both down!"

"They both have life points left. Even if that last attack hurt them personally, their points in the game were untouched!"

"Who wins the duel then?!" Mai snapped then.

"Whoever stands up first on this turn. Whoever displays the greater willingness to continue will be deemed the winner."

All our eyes moved to the unconscious duelists on the platform above us. I prayed and prayed that Jounouchi would get onto his feet. The rest of the gang were shouting at him, begging for him to stand up. "One minute is left! If neither player is able to stand up during this turn… both will be disqualified from the tournament!" Crap crap crap!

"Wake up, Jounouchi!" I shouted up at him.

It was barely even 10 seconds after I called when Jounouchi hesitantly climbed to his feet. He looked dead but he was standing up. Once he had fully gotten to his feet, my friend's hazel eyes cleared and he blinked at his surroundings.

"Jounouchi!" Yami cried up to him. "You did it!"

Jounouchi looked to us, looking utterly confused. He mumbled something about a building in Domino and we all stared at him like he was crazy.

"You moron!" Mai shouted at him. "You were talking in your sleep!"

Jounouchi still looked confused but he eventually looked over at 'Marik'. I followed his gaze to see that he hadn't stood up. Jounouchi won the duel.

We all dashed onto the platform when Jounouchi raced over to the now unknown man. I had to let go of Yami's hand to settle next to the man, feeling for a pulse, while Jounouchi shouted at him.

"Hey!" Jounouchi shouted. "Wake up!"

The man was bleary, his eyes just barely opening up.

"J-Jounouchi…" The man gasped. "I… am proud to have… fought against… you…"

"Yeah! Me too! You were a real duelist!"

The man's eyes were now fluttering. His pulse was fading slightly, like it would when you were falling asleep. "Hang in there! You're not Marik, are you? Who are you?! Tell me!"

"I am… a shadow…"

The arm closer to Jounouchi reached up to point suddenly at Yami. "Yugi… please… Stop… it… that man's… other…"

He was starting to fade again. I tried to do everything I could to keep him awake but his eyes kept fluttering shut. The gang turned to face something below so I may have been the only one to hear the last thing he said. "Lady… Nefertari…" I blinked, snapping my head up to the man's face. "I'm…. sorry…"

"Why?" I gasped, trying to use my voice to keep him grounded. "Why are you sorry?"

I grasped at his hand. "Please… who are you? What are you talking about?" The man's eyes fluttered closed no matter how much I tried to talk to him. I tried to shake his shoulder now but he didn't open his eyes again. He was completely gone to the world.

I helped carry him to the medical unit but was forced to stand on the far side of the room while the doctors looked him over. Once we were allowed close to the bed again, the doctor allowed us to ask questions.

"How is he?" Honda asked. "Will he be all right?"

"His brainwaves are fine." The doctor replied. "The cause is unknown… but I believe he fell into a coma from extreme mental shock."

That I didn't doubt. It was like he was falling asleep while he was talking to us. What on earth had those arrows done?

"Bakura's still sleeping after he collapsed in his duel…" Anzu breathed then. "Too many people have been hurt in this tournament…"

"I got hit when the God Card went crazy, just like he did…" Jounouchi was musing. "Why just him….?"

"'Cause you're thick skinned…" Honda teased.

Jounouchi gave him a quick dirty look, stuffing his hands in his pockets. The blond flinched when his hands hit something in them. "What's up?" Jounouchi lifted his hand and falling out of his hand and to the floor were shards of crystal. Jounouchi looked at me, eyes wide in panic.

"Your crystal…"

I stepped forward, catching some of the shards as they fell out of his hand. The crystal I had made for him and the gang had completely shattered. Ra's wrath had overwhelmed it.

"No…" I breathed, allowing myself to fall to my knees.

Yami was at my side immediately, an arm around my shoulders. He didn't say anything, his eyes probably on my terrified profile. The crystal I had made when bits of my power unlocked were no match for the wrath of the gods. There was no way I could protect my friends from this… And now, Jounouchi was on his own. I looked up at Anzu, since she was mind controlled by Marik, curious to see if it was damaged as well. Anzu messed with her pocket and stared at her own crystal. Through its translucent shine, I could see the large crack that had formed. Anzu's was on its last legs as well…. Tears teamed at my eyes at the anger that rushed through me. My boyfriend tried to say something but my ears couldn't pick it up. I reluctantly allowed Yami to pull me to my feet. He said something to the gang before he guided me out of the room.

He pulled me into another room. He looked me over for any sign that I was truly paying attention but I only stared blankly at him. The spirit gave a sigh before looking down to the shattered crystal in my hand.

"Can you fix it?" Yami asked gently.

I shook my head, amazed that I could hear him.

"The hair is gone. Without it, there is no bond to hold it together. It's… just trash now…"

My voice faded into another round of tears. Yami remained silent for a moment before he finagled my hands to drop the shards into his own. He must have taken them to the trash as his hands were now free when he wrapped me in an embrace. I returned it quickly, the rush of tears so fast that I was now crying into his shoulder. The spirit still said nothing, moving one of his hands to my hair to brush through it gently.

"He called you something." Yami's voice was gentle in my ear when he finally said something. "Nefertari?"

He didn't need any more secrets from me so I told him.

"The name in the cartouche on the stele I showed you. It was my name as your queen. I couldn't be Iliana so I was given that name."

"Does it mean something?"

"Beautiful Companion."

Yami gave a hum, tightening his grip on me. I relaxed into his hold, feeling the tears begin to fade from my eyes. I was still worried though. Yami was on Marik's hit list, practically near the top of it, and I didn't know if I could protect him. "Will you promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"Will you tell me if your crystal shatters too?"

Yami released me, moving his hands to cradle my face. I looked up at him to see an almost disheartened expression on his face.

"Of course. I will let you know as soon as I find out."

I nodded my head, accepting the answer. My boyfriend leaned in to kiss my forehead before he pulled away. "We should get back to the others." I nodded again and was led by the hand out of the room.

I had a really bad feeling about what was going to happen.

Hope you all enjoyed it! Odion is such a precious bean and I love him so much!

Marik: I thought I was a precious bean?!

Robyn: You'll be a precious bean again when you stop being a jerk.

Marik: *zubSAD*

Bakura laughs hysterically from across the room while Yami nods his head.