The next couple of days passed without a hitch; occasionally I went to work with Seto, testing out the duel disk and other stuff. Except the day before the tournament, I sat alone in the sun room, thinking. The darkness was here, I could feel it; the presence hung over the city like a plague. Glancing over at the clock, it was two and I sighed moving upstairs to change. Then went downstairs my helmet and keys in hand, started up the bike, slipped on my helmet and shot off down the street.
As I was driving, I looked at my duel disk on my arm. I had made a few minor modifications to mine personally; without Seto's consent I rewired mine so he couldn't find me based on my duel, though he could most likely find me by the cards I played, mine was also completely black, so was my entire outfit, jacket, pants, helmet and bike. Not a single drop of color. Looking back up, I sped down an alley then made it to the docks, not slowing my sped until I had made it to the same warehouse number as I was instructed and spun to a stop looking at it.
I turned off my bike, and slipped my keys into my pocket, removing my helmet. Locking the helmet onto the bike I turned and only stared at the warehouse for a couple of moments. As soon as I took a step forward, a small group walked out and up to me, led by a very familiar man.
"Odion?" I asked and he nodded very softly.
"My Master has been waiting for you," he said and my eyes narrowed on him, "please, follow me." Turning, I walked just behind him, the group following beside and behind me. He led me inside, then onto the boat, and into the boat. We paused before a door and Odion paused slightly, glancing over his shoulder at me. I gave him a confident stare and he looked back forward opening the door, allowing me to enter.
I stepped inside first and walked forward to a desk, stopping just before it, behind that a throne with a single man sitting on it, a dark robe on, covering his body and most all of his face. There were three robbed men either side of him, plus the four behind me, silence filled the dark room and I kept my eyes on the man before me.
"Bow you—" a hand touched my shoulder and before he could finish the sentence, I grabbed the hand and easily swung him over my shoulder, onto his back and placed my boot on his throat.
"Tell your men to leave, or I'll make them," I said and I heard him chuckle softly nodding. Everyone left, including the guy on the ground, except for Odion, and the man sitting on the throne. "You have a lot of explaining to do, Marik." I growled and he laughed softly standing, removing his hood.
His violet eyes found mine and he smiled darkly looking at me, "Not even a hello for seeing a friend after all these years?"
"You can't fool me, you should know that. You are not the Marik I grew up with." I crossed my arms and his smile turned into a smirk.
"You're very smart," he walked around the desk and up to me. "And, you are right, I'm not, but you have met me before, it's all a matter of, do you remember?" stopping just before me I stared at him. "Leave us Odion."
"Yes Master," he bowed and left; leaving us in silence as I studied Mariks eyes, trying to figure him out.
"Still don't remember my dear?" he asked and I didn't move. Instead, he moved close, stopping just by my ear where we whispered something ancient in my ear, "The darkness will always watch over you." I gasped as he stepped back with a chuckle, leaning on the edge of his desk. "Remember now?"
"How is this possible? You were killed, I was sure of it, Shadi…he…" I looked down towards the ground.
"Not killed, merely locked away." He looked at the Millennium Rod in his hands, spinning it. "When my father found out, you were with me, during the ritual, he tried killing you."
"Yes, but you defended me, and killed him yourself, but you weren't you; you were darker." I said softly and he nodded.
"I took over Mariks body; I was created out of his hate and disgust for his father, but also created out of his love for you. You were his only friend not of the Ishtar family, so he created me to protect you." He stood upright, "but, your father found out about me, and locked me away, then took you out of Egypt." He placed the item under my chin and lifts my head lightly, "this rage has been building every day since then, and now I find you with the Priest." His voice became harsh; I could feel the hate burning from him. He lowered the item and smiled, "unfortunately, I cannot control you like I do everyone else, but," his grin turned dark again and I took a slight step back. "I can block your memories from the last decade." He raised his item and it began glowing.
I didn't have time to say or do anything before the light blinded me, and a strong pain hit my head, forcing me into darkness.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed before I finally opened my eyes, but my head felt like a million pounds and it was hard sitting up. Groaning, I closed my eyes and dropped my head in my hand thinking. I didn't know how I had gotten here, or why I was here, slowly, I raised my head and looked around the room, confused. The door opened and I tightened a fist, ready for anything.
"Aura, you're up!" he said rushing to my side, wrapping me in his arms.
"Marik?" I asked softly and he nodded pulling from me lightly, "what happened? How did I get here?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked and I thought for a moment then shook my head, "well, we were living in Egypt, as we have since we were little; we were invited to a tournament so we came to Japan. About a week ago, on the way here we hit a pretty rough storm and you hit your head pretty rough, it's possible you had a concussion and lost a bit of your memory."
"Oh," I said softly looking towards the bed. I glanced at the duel disk on my arm and pulled it up before me, something wasn't right. "When did the tournament start?"
"Yesterday, the same day we arrived. Are you feeling alright to be dueling though?"
"Yea, I may have forgotten my memories, but definitely not how to duel," I said with a smile and stood from the bed letting out a sigh. I took a couple of steps forward then paused looking towards the ground, thinking.
"Everything alright?" he asked walking up to me and I smiled nodding, "You remember how to drive?"
"My bike," I asked softly.
"Yes," he answered and I nodded again, "take this," he handed me my helmet. "I should tell you, Aura, that you have a World Champion title, you are known as the Silent Duelist, you've never shown your face or said much of anything at all. I highly suggest keeping that act, wear that helmet at all times, if not; cover your face."
I looked at him confused for a second but only smiled nodding, "this tournament is there anything special I should know about?"
"You must win seven duels, collecting seven locator cards. The winner of each duel also claims the loser's rarest card as a prize." I started walking towards the door and he caught my arm gently, "Aura, there are a lot of people out for you, the chance to beat you, the chance for your hand." He said and kissed the back of my hand lightly. "I know you don't remember us but," he pulled me close and kissed me gently, "try not to forget me."
"I couldn't forget a kiss as sweet as that," I kissed him again, a bit deeper; I wouldn't tell him that something felt wrong about it. I left the warehouse and slipped on my helmet, then drove behind the warehouses, something caught my eye and I skid to a stop looking down between two narrow houses. Down, on a pier, two people stood face to face in a duel, their ankles shackled to an anchor above them, which if the anchor would drop, would drag them both into the water. There was also a group of people standing on the side lines watching, my eyes stopped on a single person, and narrowed. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place it, his long white trench coat, light brown hair, firm posture, everything about him. My eyes then caught a woman, held down in a large chair; over her head was a large metal unit, used for shipping items. The only thing holding that unit up was a chain to a crane, I noticed then a robbed man, with his hood down, a remote in his hand, a button on it that would most likely drop the unit onto the girl.
I began thinking, I couldn't sit back and let this happen; I had to do something. I saw, opposite of the girl and the duel, a ramp, turned from a docked ship, and looked like just the perfect angle to hit the unit. If I timed it just right, I could turn the bike in midair, hit the box sideways, and drive forward allowing the whole crane to fall over, and me landing the bike clean.
Easy; I spun the bike around and went behind the warehouses, far enough to gain the speed and force I needed, then pulled out in front of the warehouses, revving slightly. I only had one shot at this, if I failed, that girl would most likely be killed; but I had to chance it. Revving again, I shot forward, redlining it before shifting, just as I got to the ramp, the group turned towards me. Hitting the ramp as fast as I could, I launched off it and shifted my bike just as I planned. I hit the unit just as I had hoped and sped off as it began falling back, landing not too far from her; I shot forward, then slammed on the brake bringing the back tire up and off the ground, I spun the bike, slamming the spinning tire across the robbed guys face, throwing him into the water, then I landed clean.
My adrenaline was pumping, and it took a couple of seconds before I caught my breath, leaning back down to shoot off.
"Aura!" the kid smiled running towards me and I sat upright looking over, confused. Both the kid and the guy I thought look familiar walked up to me and I remained silent.
"Where have you been?" he growled and I was still confused looking between the two. He then reached for me gently, and touched my shoulder; I placed the kickstand down, grabbed his hand and got off my bike placing his arm in a tight lock behind his back.
"I don't know who you are, but if you ever touch me again, I'll rip this arm of your body," I hissed lightly and let him go. He took a step forward and turned to face me, to find I was on my bike, spinning around and speeding off.