~Chapter Twenty-Five~

Normal P.O.V

Shaina draws another card, and Marik cackles. "Looks like I drew one of the Guardian Cards! This will be the end of the line for Yugi!" Marik says to himself.

Just then Mai, Tristan, Duke, Miho, and Serenity come running in. "Tristan, Miho, there you are!" Shana says. "What's happening here? We have to help!" Tristan says, about to barge in. "No! If you do, Tea and Joey will get exploded by that crate of explosives!" Mokuba says, pointing at the duel. "No way! This is insane! Why would they do that?" Duke says.

"It's only so that we can't interfere with the duel between Shaina and Yugi. And right now, he's gonna lose!" Mokuba says anxiously.

"What?! But why are Shaina and Yugi dueling in the first place? She wouldn't just do that!" Miho says. "It seems that Shaina here lost her mind and is on their side and under their ever control." Kaiba says. "Who's side?" Mai asks confusingly.

"Now, activate your Guardian Card Shaina." Marik commands Shaina. "As soon as you play that card, everything of his will be mine! Now do as I command!" Marik says. "Shaina! This is your chance to break free and be who you are!" Atem shouts.

The real Shaina inside breaks free, and fights against Marik's control. "I am Shaina…and you will not force me to hurt my friends!" Shaina yells, shaking her head fiercely. "Listen to your master!" Marik yells in her head.

"No way! Now get out of my head!" Shaina shouts back, pounding on her head. "Though your will is strong, you are under my control! Now destroy him!" Marik says. "I told you…YOU WILL NOT FORCE ME!" Shaina shouts in her head.

"What's this?! My control broke! This can't be!" Marik says with anger. Shaina gets up. "Crap it all…" she mumbles. "Guys! Time is running out!" Shana shouts to them. "C'mon guys, one of you settle this already!" Mai calls out.

Shaina glances at the clock. One minute left. "I'll finish the rest of my move! I place a face down card and end my turn! Okay Pharaoh, attack me!" Shaina shouts. Atem raises an eyebrow. "What are you planning?" "Just do what I said!" she orders. "Whatever you say. Blizzard Princess, attack her face down!" Atem yells.

"Alright! My face down is activated, revealing Mirror Absorb! This absorbs the attack of your monster, giving me the option of who I want to attack!" Shaina says. Atem's eyes widen, and realization hits him. "You don't mean-" "Yeah I do." She says, putting on a brave smile.

"SHAINA, NO!" Atem screams. But, Shaina orders the attack on herself, her life points dropping to zero. "Escape Pharaoh…" she mutters. '"NO!" het friends shout from the side. Even fear flashes across Kaiba's face.

Then, the chains pull on Shaina's leg, dragging her down to the ocean. "SHAINA!" Shana screams. The countdown begins. "Yugi, throw me that key!" Kaiba yells uickly. Atem regains control of his tears, and throws it over to him. Kaiba takes off his trenchcoat and dueling belt.

"Big bro what are you-" Mokuba shortly stops when Kaiba breaks out into sprint and dives into the ocean. "What the hell?!" Tristan, Mai, and Duke shout at the same time. Kaiba swims fast into the bottom, finding Shaina unconscious. He jabs the key into the locks.

"Oh man, only ten seconds left!" Mai says eyeing the clock. Kaiba takes Shaina in the hand, and starts swimming quickly to the surface. 5…4…3…2…1…! Then Kaiba and Shaina jump to the side, narrowly escaping the electrical charges activated in the water.

Kaiba places Shaina on the ground, but she's not breathing. "Shaina, I'll be SO angry if you die on me!" Shana shouts. "We need to do CPR!" Kaiba says. Just when he says that, Shaina coughs up water, and sits up abruptly.

"NO WAY. Everybody back away, no CPR!" Shaina says, coughing more. Everybody stares at her in amazement. "Damn, thanks Kaiba, you saved my ass, but there's no need for a make out session!" she says, grinning. "I wasn't going to do it! And god, why the hell are you still smiling after nearly drowning and about to get fried to death?!" Kaiba shouts in irritation.

Shortly, everything is settled, the Rare Hunters in the crane retreated, leaving Joey and Tea unhurt. Atem's cuffs were unlocked. He faces Shaina with tears shaking in his eyes. "My gods Shaina, you scared me half to death. Don't you ever do that again," He whispers, taking her in a hug.

"Awww," their friends say teasingly. *with the exception of Kaiba* "SHUT UP!" Shaina shouts.

A/N: And that ends a good ending ish. Now that the Friends Til' The End chapters are finished, I can finally go onto the Bonds Beyond Time chapters. Yay! Stay tuned!