The following STILL takes place during Awakening of Evil.
LP Richard 1900
LP Marik 4000
I look in horror as Marik Summons his three Embodiment of Apophises at once! At least I can avoid his attacks with my Forgotten Temple of the Deep.
"I end my turn!" I declare "And at the end of the turn, Bugroth surfaces in Defense Mode!"
Bugroth emerges from the water and places itself in front of me (DEF: 1300).
"Do you think that will help you avoid my attacks?" Marik asks.
"Of course" I answer.
"Then it's my turn. Apophis, attack!"
The three serpentine monsters rush against my creatures.
"I activate Forgotten Temple of the Deep's effect!"
"Too naive!" Marik exclaims "I activate the Trap Card Dust Tornado!"
"Say what?!"
A giant tornado appears and my Water Field is sucked inside, leaving my monsters nowhere to hide. Then two Apophises slash my monsters with their swords and the last one hits me directly.
LP Richard 100
LP Marik 4000
"Damn it!" I curse falling on my knees.
"Richard, with your strategy you cannot defeat me" Marik comments "It's too easy..."
He's too strong! Even without using his dirty tricks! But... but after what he did to Rebecca... I cannot let him defeat me! "I'm not defeated yet!" I cry "I'll do it for Rebecca's sake!"
I see him flinch for a second. "There is nothing more you can do"
"Maybe. But I'll lose fighting rather than giving up!" I declare drawing my card "We're just getting started! I activate Water of Life! This card brings back my Cannonball Spear Shellfish!"
The weird mollusk-like monster appears again.
"Then I'm going to sacrifice it to call out Giga Gagagigo!"
A giant reptilian monster with a silver armor appears on my field (ATK: 2450).
"Impossible!" Marik exclaims "You Summoned a Level 6 monster in a little-to-no time at all!"
"That's right! And I'll use it to attack your Apophis!"
My monster rushes towards one of the Apophises and slashes it with its claws, destroying it.
LP Richard 100
LP Marik 3150
"Now what are you going to do?" I ask pointing at him.
He silently takes his turn switching his two remaining Apophises to Defense Mode (DEF: 1800).
I smirk. "Now you don't trashtalk anymore, huh?" I say drawing my card and placing it on the Duel Disk "I Summon Warrior of Atlantis!"
A blue humanoid fish-like monster with a wristbow appears on the field (ATK: 1900).
"Now go, my monsters!"
Giga Gagagigo and Warrior of Atlantis rush towards the two remaining Apophises and destroy them.
"That was impressive" Marik says "Despite being almost out of Life Points, you managed to stand up to me"
"I know you don't mean that!" I answer "I won't forget how you brainwashed the girl I love and forced me to battle her! I'll defeat you no matter what!"
He silently draws his card and then follows up by taking the third card from his left. "I activate the Magic Card Swords of Revealing Light!"
All of a sudden, a bunch of swords made of green light appear from above and stuck to the ground in front of me and my monsters. And unfortunately I know that it will be that way for the next three turns.
I silently draw my card. "If I can't attack, I'll just keep Summoning monsters. I sacrifice Warrior of Atlantis to Summon Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness in Defense Mode!"
The giant orca appears on the field (DEF: 1200).
"Then I'll switch Giga Gagagigo to Defense Mode as well and end my turn"
Giga Gagagigo kneels down (DEF: 1500).
Marik then draws his card and looks at it with a terrified look. What did he drew?
"I-I place one card face-down" he says before holding up the card he drew "I then seal one card away within the sarcophagus in the Temple of the Kings!"
The card's hologram appears before entering the sarcophagus.
"Now I end my turn"
"Then back to me!" I declare drawing a card and placing it on the Duel Disk "On this turn I'll use Silent Doom to bring back Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness!"
The sea warrior appears again (DEF: 1500).
"I'll then sacrifice it to call out Amphibian Beast in Defense Mode!"
A green humanoid monster with fins all over its body appears (DEF: 2000).
"Swords of Revealing Light's effect will disappear on my next turn!" I state "But you don't have any monsters on the field. If I attack you with all my monsters, you'll be history!"
"No. You won't touch me with any of those monsters" Marik says "So long as the card I placed in the sarcophagus remains within the Temple of the King's alter, it shall not be harmed by the enemy"
"What?!"
"I was also using Swords of Revealing Light in order to buy time while I prepared for a ritual" he continues "But the time has come! The three cards I've gathered on the field hold the power to Summon the great guardian of the temple, protecting the sacred sealed card!"
"Guardian of the temple?"
"Behold! I activate the Magic Card Cup of Sealed Soul along with my face-down card Seal of Serket! With the Temple of the Kings I can Summon the scorpion deity that will devour your monsters! Show your glorious form before us, Mystical Beast of Serket!"
All of a sudden a giant red scorpion with lots of teeth both in its mouth and on its body along with some egyptian motifs and a Wedjat eye appears on the field roaring (ATK: 2500).
"What the hell is that?!" I cry.
"The Mystical Beast of Serket exists to guard the sacred card sealed in the sarcophagus!" Marik explains.
"This means the cad you sealed-"
"Correct. Is the Egyptian God Card The Winged Dragon of Ra!"
I look at him in horror. "With only 100 Life Points I cannot survive an attack from that thing!"
"Since Serket was Summoned using a Ritual Magic Card, it cannot attack this turn, so I end my turn"
"That was close" I think placing my hand on top of my Deck "I'm taking a bet!"
I then draw my card: Underworld Sacrifice!
"This card can't help me!"
Since I can't do nothing, I simply add the card to my hand and end my turn, causing the Swords of Revealing Light to disappear.
"Here I come, Richard!" Marik declares drawing his own card "I attack you with Mystical Beast of Serket! My target is Giga Gagagigo!"
Serket jumps in front of my monster and literally eats it.
"Gross!" I think.
"I know this is quite unpleasant, but that's Serket's special ability"
"Say what?"
All of a sudden, Serket grows in size, its Attack power increasing to 3725.
"Serket takes the enemy inside itself and adds half of its power to its own"
"3725 Attack points?!" I think as I silently draw my card and place it on the far right "I can't do anything this turn"
"Then I take my turn by attacking with Serket! The next sacrifice is Amphibian Beast!"
Serket eats Amphibian Beast like it did with Giga Gagagigo and grows in size again, its Attack power now being 4925.
"Richard, give up your hopes of defeating me" Marik says.
I silently draw my card, which is Furious Wave, and place it with the other cards in my hand, which are Double Attack, Underworld Sacrifice and Steel Shell. "I pass this turn"
"Despite this situation, you actually plan to continue?" Marik asks.
"It may be useless to continue fighting, but I'll still do it until my Life Points hit 0!"
He looks at me for a few seconds before commenting: "I respect your spirit"
I look at him without changing my expression while he draws his card. "Serket, attack Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"
Marik's monster destroys mine and it absorbs its power, going up to 5975 Attack Points.
"Now it's your turn"
I draw my card silently. "There is nothing I can do. I end my turn. But still... I got a funny feeling"
Marik looks at me with a puzzled look.
"Why didn't I realized before? Was it because of the heat of the battle?" I wonder "Marik brainwashed Rebecca and forced me to Duel her in a Life or Death Duel. I can't forgive the one who set up that Duel!"
"Then go ahead and curse me" my opponent says "But a match is different. That anger is not enough to defeat me"
"That's not what I'm trying to say"
He shuts up again.
"When the Duel started, I really hated your guts! But I lost that hatred now... And I tried to remember how terrible it felt when I was forced to Duel Rebecca... But you didn't use any dirty tricks and fought me fair and square. I may lose to you, but while fighting against you in this Duel, it became one of the best I had! You're the real deal!" I finally declare "I may not know your reasons, but I know one thing: you are not Marik!"
"This Millennium Rod is proof that I am Marik!" my opponent says taking out a staff-like object with a Wedjat eye on top of it "The Duel will continue as I foreseen and no one will listen to the words of a loser! Finish him off, Serket!"
"This is far as I go!" I think as I close my eyes and prepare myself for the impact... which doesn't happen. Why did he stop?
"This turn I shall prove that I am the wielder of the God Card" he says "I sacrifice Mystical Beast of Seret and half of my Life Points in order to Summon The Winged Dragon of Ra to the field!"
LP Richard 100
LP "Marik" 1575
As Serket disappears, the sarcophagus finally opens, a green flash coming out of it and hitting the sky. Afterwards, thunderbolts start manifesting as a giant golden dragon with a eagle's head appears, flames sorrounding its body (ATK: ?).
"Ra's Attack and Defense points are determined by the total Attack and Defense Points of the three sacrificed monsters" my opponent explains "But Serket absorbed Giga Gagagigo, Amphibian Beast and Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, totaling in three monsters. Therefore The Winged Dragon of Ra's Attack power is 5975!"
He then looks at me. "Richard, you only have 200 Life Points. As Ra will attack, your loss will be granted"
"So this is the end, huh?" I say calmly while closing my eyes again and manifesting a small smile.
"Prepare yourself! Attack him, Ra!"
Strangely, Ra doesn't move. Instead it vanishes and more thunderbolts manifest, some of them even hitting the field. All of a sudden one of them hits my opponent and makes him faint.
"Hey! Hang in there!" I exclaim while running towards him. Unfortunately I also get hit by a thunderbolt.
"Mr. Tsunami! Mr. Tsunami!"
I slowly open my eyes and see that the one who's calling me is my former manager.
"Mr. Tsunami, it's already late! You need to prepare!"
"What? What do you mean?" I ask.
"Today is the American Championship Finals!" he explains "The one who wins this match will become the USA Champion!"
"Oh yeah, that's right!" I exclaim while getting up "Where is my Deck?"
"Right here" he says handing me my cards.
"Thank you! I'll prepare as fast as possible!"
As I open my eyes again and I get up I hear everyone cheering.
"Ya stood up!" Joey says.
"Huh? What is happening?" I ask before looking at my opponent "Why's he on the ground? Oh yeah! Now I remember! He Summoned Ra and then we both fainted"
"The winner of the Duel is Richard Tsunami!" Isono declares.
"I won?" I ask confused as everyone cheers.
I then slowly go towards my opponent. "Snap out of it! Come on!"
He opens his eyes weakily. "Richard..." he says "I am... proud... to have fought... against you..."
"Right back at you" I answer smiling "You're a great Duelist. But you're not Marik, right? Who are you really?"
"Do not think about me... stop Master Marik's..."
"Marik?" both me and Yugi say turning towards Namu, which is now groaning in pain while holding his head, since he's the one my opponent is pointing at.
Namu then turns towards us. "I am the real Marik, the one you've been fighting this whole time" he says "Yugi, in order to destroy you, I will do anything I can!"
He then screams as a Wedjat eye appears on his forehead. He then turns his head around and faces us again, a creepy smile on his face. "I finally broke free"
His voice is different.
"When Odion is around... I am hidden..." he says "Compared to me, the other Marik is a child. That's why he can never finish a Duel properly: he's afraid of the darkness. But... I love the darkness. To me, every single one of you are merely shadows, and Odion was one of the more convenient ones that disappeared"
"Damn you..." I curse.
"In that Duel he proved me something, though: the only ones capable of controlling the God Cards are only those connected to the Millennium Items. Right, Kaiba?"
Seto smirks. "I have no interest in your occult nonsense. But Obelisk obeys me as a loyal servant"
Marik chuckles. "We will find the answer soon enough... Now the Millennium battle can begin!"
Altered cards:
Warrior of Atlantis
Level 4
Aqua-Type
WATER
ATK 1900
DEF 1200
(Author's note: I turned it into a Normal Monster. Why? 'cause I felt like it XD)
Finally Marik's evil half has finally awakened! Also, keep in mind that flashback 'cause it will be very important in later episodes... very later episodes. Until then, hasta la vista!