Hey there everybody! This past weekend wasn't too bad. Saturday, I ended up helping my dad out on the farm all day. Sunday, I went and saw my grandfather, who is doing pretty well. They sat him up in a wheelchair for a few hours, which is pretty good they said, especially since he had been bedridden for the last few weeks. He's slowly doing better and better each time, and he's still rather responsive. He wiggled his left foot some while I was there, showing that he still had movement in it, which is great. I'm due to go up there again Wednesday, so I'll find out how he's doing again.

Last time, Illidan finally beat Crowler with a cute trick at the end, causing Crowler to take off in a huff. Later on, Illidan woke up from a horrible dream/vision of his past of someone he seemed to have known. He found comfort in his memories of his father and went back to bed, only to have the feeling someone is watching. Who is this stranger that keeps watching, and how does he know Shando, Illidan's father? And more importantly, what could he possibly want from Illidan?

Alright, now that that's out of the way, it's time once more for the reviews!

ardee: LOL! Yes, I keep leaving hints of someone at the end of my chapters. Possibly a villain, or possibly a friend? Heh, you'll find out soon enough, lol. Thanks about the combo. I liked it a bit too, so I thought I'd use it. Yeah, I've done a good bit of Inuyasha one-shots/songfics, and honestly, I have an idea for an Inuyasha full story. It's call Another, but it's waiting in the wings for me till I finish up this story. I only have a bit left to write, but I just have yet to finish. Thanks for the vote of confidence that you think I could do it well. Thanks again for the comments.

Metal Overlord 2.0: Lol, yes, no one saw that one coming, hehe. Thanks for the comments. Yes, Mystic Box is underestimated. It's a great card, but only if played right. Yeah, this new contender is definitely a mysterious one. And he seems to know Illidan from five millennia ago, which makes things even more troubling. Plus he knew Illidan's father. Thanks about grandpa. He's getting better all the time.

Very Swampeh: Yep, he beat Crowler, lol. Heh, reincarnated buddy of Illidan's? could be I suppose. Good possibility, but you never know.

PKC: Lol, nice review.

x-knight20: Thanks. Yeah, I'm glad he's out of ICU also.

Ultimate Legendary Master: Thank you. Yeah, he's doing much better, thankfully. Heh, the memories are just memories at the end. Illidan was just having a nightmare about the past. His memories of his father were just something to comfort him, hence they really have nothing to do with the whoever it is watching if that's what you thought. But yes, the memories, the stranger, all of it, will be explained in due time.

Isis the Sphinx: Yep, more hints, hehe. Glad you liked this chapter.

Ok, that's it for the reviews. Thank you everyone who has submitted one. All of you have been wonderful so far, and I thank each of you for continuing to support me and my writing. For those who haven't submitted a review, feel free to, or PM me if you'd rather. I'll always answer either way. In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter, for things are about to get intense. For now, later!

Chapter 25

The next day, right around noon, Illidan and Marie headed back to the dorm to begin lunch as usual. When they arrived, they found they had a visitor waiting.

She was a kind looking lady with brown hair up in a pony tail that came to her mid-back, but it sat over her right shoulder. Her eyes were kind looking with a deep brown coloring. She wore gold hoop earrings, and had a bit of a semi-large body build. Her clothes consisted of a pink shirt with a blue apron.

Both immediately noticed she was holding Pharaoh in her arms, gently stroking his head.

"That cat better not have done something he'll regret!" Marie thought as a flash of anger crossed her eyes.

"Hello, may we help you?" Illidan kindly asked, trying hard to ignore Marie's slight flare up of anger.

Smiling up at both, the lady sat Pharaoh down and stood, dusting off her pants. "Hello. I think so."

Walking over, she offered her hand, saying "My name is Dorothy. I operate the card store up in the main building."

Accepting it, Illidan shook it, saying "Ah yes, I remember the students, particularly Jaden and Syrus, mentioning your name. My name is Illidan, and this is my wife, Marie."

Marie gladly shook her hand as well, and Dorothy smiled at the two. "It's nice to meet both of you."

Nodding, Illidan asked "So, what brings you here?"

Smiling back at the two, she said "Well, the Chancellor contacted me today and let me know that he wanted me to take over the cooking duties for the two of you."

Raising an eyebrow, Illidan asked "You mean, for all meals?"

Curtly nodding in reply, Dorothy replied "Yes, he asked for me to take over completely. Seems he didn't realize that the Slifer Dorm had no cook, and didn't find out till today, so he quickly acted on it and sent me over."

Lightly chuckling, Illidan smiled and said "That's good. Our cooking the meals was slightly inconvenient."

"Well, I'm just glad I can help. Anyways, if it's alright with you, I'll start today."

Nodding with approval, Illidan replied "Of course, that's fine with me. How about you Marie?"

Slightly smirking in triumph over being released from cooking, Marie replied happily "Yes, of course, you are more than welcome to take over today."

"Thank you. I hope to see the two of you quite often." Dorothy said with a smile as she walked off into the cafeteria.

Turning towards the back of the dorm, Illidan and Marie could hardly keep themselves from running with excitement. Finally arriving at the house, the two let out happy yells.

"WE DON'T HAVE TO COOK ANYMORE FOR THE STUDENTS!" Marie happily let out.

Smiling at her, Illidan nodded, saying "This is great! Now we have more time for other things."

Giving Illidan a seductive look, Marie asked "What other things would that be?"

"Not those things, although they are included I suppose." Illidan said with a sly voice.

Smirking, Marie turned to leave, but Illidan turned her around, pressing her up against the wall and pinning her arms above her head while kissing her deeply. After a few moments, the two came up for air, each breathing hard.

Seeing a glint of mischief in his eyes, Marie sexily asked "What do you think you're doing?"

Grinning evilly, he picked her up bridal style and rushed towards the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him.

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A week and a half later, on a Thursday, school was still continuing. The students seemed to adjust well to their teachers, as did the teachers to the students. Many younger students finally found their niches as well, with the middle class and upper classmen settling in.

It was nearly time for class to let out for Tag Team Dueling, with many of the students mostly following along with the teachers.

Noting the time, Illidan stopped and looked at Marie, saying "Well, I suppose it is time we reveal to you all who the teams are."

All the students perked up, curious to who they would be paired with. Seeing the excited looks, Illidan walked over to the computer that had a projector attached and brought up a file he had made for this.

"We based most of the pairings off of many things. One being the compatibility of the teams, such as how well you all will get along with one another. Another one was your dueling skill level, plus we sort of did it by dorm as well. Some were also based off of randomness as well, but for the most part, we selected the teams based on how we felt a team would do." Marie explained.

Finally bringing the file up, Illidan said "Here are the pairings for all of the teams."

The screen lit up, showing all the pairings. All of the students immediately began talking amongst themselves, some shocked at the pairings, while others finding them quite good.

"No, please not her!" whined Bastion.

Smirking at his behavior, Mariah heatedly replied from a few seats above him "Hey, don't complain! It's not like I want to be with someone who thinks they're smarter than everyone else here!"

A few seats down, Ino screamed "I don't want to be billboard brow's partner!"

Growling with white eyes, Sakura screamed back "Not like I want be partners with you either Ino-pig!"

Elsewhere, Syrus groaned, saying "Great, I'm stuck with the military wanna-be…"

Glaring at Syrus, Hasselberry replied "Not like you're any kind of prize yourself. I wish I was partners with Jaden instead, but I have no choice."

A few seats away, both Ed and Al smiled at one another, with Al saying "Brother, I can't believe it, we're actually partners!"

Nodding, Ed replied "We'll most definitely blow away the competition with our alchemy."

Near the middle of the rows, Chazz yelled out "NO WAY I AM TEAMING UP WITH THAT SLACKER!"

"Ah, come on Chazz, we'll be a great team." Jaden said, trying hard to coax Chazz into calming down.

Glaring at him, Chazz replied "NO WAY!"

Turning to Illidan and Marie, he yelled "I want a new partner!"

Sighing, Illidan replied calmly "We won't redo the partners. They are set as is."

Growling loudly, Chazz stood up and started walking down the stairs towards the teaching podium. Arriving, he once again said "I want a new partner!"

Groaning at the fact that this was turning into an argument, Illidan closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Reopening his eyes, he once again calmly said "I'm sorry Chazz, but you have a partner. You need to learn to work with Jaden."

"Unacceptable! That Slacker will slow me down! The Chazz prefers to work alone!" Chazz arrogantly replied. His eyes then softened, as he said "Although I would accept Alexis as a partner if I had my choice."

Sighing once more, Illidan replied "Chazz, it's not happening. Jaden will be your partner, regardless of what you say or do."

"I refuse to accept that!" Chazz bantered back.

"SHUT IT!"

Everyone was surprised to hear these words. All eyes fell upon Marie, who had her fist clenched. Glaring daggers at Chazz, she added "We set up the teams, and they're staying the way they are, and no brat is going to change that!"

Shocked at her outburst and taken a back, Chazz soon decided not to back down, saying "I want a new partner! Jaden isn't even close to my level!"

Infuriated, Marie growled loudly, but suddenly calmed down by closing her eyes. Reopening them, she smirked evilly, saying "Chazz, I think I know a way to settle this."

Confused, Chazz asked gruffly "Yeah?"

"A duel." Marie stated coolly.

Chazz lightly chuckled, saying "That's your big idea? Well, it's your funeral."

Smirking confidently, Marie said "We'll see about that. Here are the terms. If you win, you pass the class and don't have to come anymore."

"Uh, Marie…" Illidan began.

"I mean it Illidan!" Marie growled at Illidan, who put his hands up in surrender.

Smirking at this, she continued with "But if you lose, you have to be Jaden's partner, with no gripes about it!"

Not even taking the time to think about it, Chazz said "I accept those terms, so let's throw down!"

Immediately, the two began to fetch their Duel Disks. Illidan walked up behind Marie, asking "Are you sure about this? If he wins, then…"

"Then I'll be to blame and I'll fix the problem. Don't worry, I have no intentions on losing. I'll take care of this." Marie replied with a small wink.

Sighing, Illidan cleared the stage for the two, giving each enough room. Once the stage was cleared, he took a seat on the front row.

Both Chazz and Marie stared one another down, each intent on proving their way was better. In unison, they said "Game on!"

Their Duel Disks both activated with both extending, which caused each to draw their first five cards.

Picking up her sixth card, Marie said "Ladies first."

Pulling out a card from her hand, she said "I summon Bountiful Artemis (1600/1700) in defense."

A white creature with a pointed end for bottom part of it's body, that curved outwards like a vase, that came up to a set of shoulders covered with a purple flowing cape and long mechanical looking three fingered hands appeared. On it's back were two large mechanical wings that were hollow. Lastly, it's head was white and looked more like a robots head than anything. The creature took a hunched over stance and crossed it's arms.

"To end, I'll throw this down for later. Your go!" (Marie 8000, Chazz 8000)

Drawing his card quickly, Chazz smirked, saying "Time to Chazz you up!"

Looking at the card, he smirked once more, saying "You're in for a rough ride! I start by summoning my X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)!"

A blue machine like creature with some yellow that floated on a spiked sphere appeared. It had twin cannon barrels sticking out of it's chest, and had two large arms.

"It's not over yet, for I activate the spell card Frontline Base! Thanks to this spell card, I get to special summon one level four or lower Union Monster from my hand once per a turn, so I play Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)!"

A red machine dragon appeared on the field with a low mechanical roar. It straightened it's large red wings, showing off it's impressive wingspan.

"I'm not through yet, for I activate the spell card Quick Summon, which let's me summon another level four or lower monster from my hand, so I pick Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)!"

A large yellow and blue tank like creature with large tank tracks appeared onto the field. It let out a small moan, much like the other machine creatures.

"I now remove the three of them from play in order to merge them, creating the XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!"

All three creatures shot off into the sky with their thrusters roaring. Slowly, the red dragon detached it's wings and pulled in it's feet as the blue and gold robot struck it's large sphere into a slot on it's back. The two then descended till they docked with the yellow and blue tank creature, forming a large machine creature where three once stood.

"Scared yet!?"

Looking bored, Marie yawned, saying "Oh, are you done yet?"

Infuriated by Marie's behavior, Chazz gruffly said "You'd better get scared, cause I'm still not done!"

"The only thing I'm scared of is you'll never finish your turn today!" Marie sarcastically replied.

Growling in anger from the comment, Chazz said "I'll show you! I activate my monster's special ability! By sending a card to my Graveyard, I can destroy one card on your field. I'll send this, my Enchanting Fitting Room to the Grave, meaning I can now destroy that monster of yours!"

The turrets of the machine monster began to glow light blue as it powered up. Soon enough, it released a shot of blue energy from each turret at the white winged creature. The blast easily smashed the creature, leaving Marie wide open.

"Hey Teach, let's see you comment on this! Attack her directly XYZ-Dragon Cannon with Cannon Burst!"

The five ports with guns on the machine creature began glowing lightly yellow with power as the machine monster took aim. At long last, after powering up, the creature released the five blasts of fire power at Marie, who only stood strong and smirked.

In a chastising voice, Marie said "Chazz, you should learn to check your target. I activate the trap card Negate Attack, which does as it says, negates your attack! Plus it ends your Battle Phase!"

A black hole appeared in front of Marie, swallowing up all of the blasts. Soon enough, the hole closed, leaving Marie completely unharmed.

Growling with frustration, Chazz muttered "Just go already."

Picking up a new card, Marie smirked at it, saying with chastisement in her voice "Now, now Chazz, don't be angry. After all, we have a long duel to go yet. Well, maybe we do. I play Quick Summon, so like you, I get to summon a new monster, so come on out Kaiser Seahorse (1700/1650)!"

A blue and purple creature with rough scaly armor, a scaly shield, and a lance in hand appeared onto the field. It only stared at the machine creature, seemingly not intimidated.

"Next, I sacrifice my Kaiser Seahorse. By the way, when Kaiser Seahorse is sacrificed, it counts as two tributes for…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It counts as two sacrifices for Light attribute monsters!" grumbled Chazz.

Smirking back, Marie nodded, saying "Yep, that's it, so I sacrifice Kaiser Seahorse for my Majestic Mech – Goryu (2900/1800)!"

The scaly creature immediately vanished from the field in a beam of white light, making room for a white winged dragon like creature. It had many bands of white on it's body, with it's mid-section, which was close to it's head, having a pair of metal wings attached. A majority of it's body appeared to be golden sparkling energy, which was somehow retained in the white bands.

Chazz could only stare at the creature, with a slight bit of frustration appearing on his face. Seeing this, Marie seized the moment, saying "Goryu, attack that scrapheap with Golden Radiance!"

The white and gold dragon like creature softly roared and raised it's head to stare at the machine monster. Opening it's jaws, the white and gold dragon released a stream of golden energy at the machine creature, striking it hard, causing a large explosion.

"I'll lay this down on the field and let you take over." (Marie 8000, Chazz 7900)

The entire could only gasp at the duel so far. Everyone was in complete shock at the fast pace action, unsure how to react.

"Sam Hill, Chazz had a strong monster, but in a single turn, lost it!" exclaimed a still shocked Hasselberry.

Looking at the white and gold dragon, Syrus added "And that thing has all of Chazz's monsters beat, well, except one who has enough defense to stop it. But still, that's not much."

Jaden had a goofy grin on his face, saying "This is going to be exciting guys. I can't wait to see how this works out!"

Illidan only smirked at the students. "Marie has truly gotten better and better throughout the years. Hard to believe she's the same duelist I once thought would be a pushover. I learned then and there she wasn't. She is one of my toughest rivals, yet is my best friend, lover, wife, and soul-mate. Hard to believe that two people with such fierce dueling spirits could ever get along, let alone fall in love."

On the field, Chazz drew his next card but growled in frustration, saying "Just go!" (Marie 8000, Chazz 7900)

Without a moment's hesitation, Marie drew, saying "Goryu, direct attack with Golden Radiance!"

The gold and white dragon let out small roar and released a large stream of golden energy at Chazz, who crossed his arms to ward off the attack. The energy slammed into him hard, knocking him into the air. He landed about three feet back from where he started on the ground hard. After a moment, he stood up, with a look of anger on his face.

Slightly smirking at her achievement, Marie said "Why don't you have a go at it Chazz." (Marie 8000, Chazz 5000)

Drawing his card, he said "I place a card face down. That's all." (Marie 8000, Chazz 5000)

"Man, Chazz is still wide open!" Syrus said with some concern.

Looking on, Jaden replied "He'll be fine, for now. Still, he needs to put some kind of defense up."

"Yeah, like anything." Alexis remarked.

Back on the field, Marie drew once more, and slapped the card to her Duel Disk, saying "I summon my Layard the Liberator (1400/1500)."

A six armed creature with no legs, but a small balancing needle point, with golden wings, a white body except where it's shoulders, elbows, and balls of it's palms joined together were a shade of dark pink. It's head looked like a robots round doomed head with a single eye.

"Layard, direct attack with Six Handed Angel Strike!"

The white and dark pink creature lurched forward at incredible speed. Immediately, it was upon Chazz, and pulled back all six of it's arms. In a fury, the fairy released punch after punch, striking Chazz several times, causing Chazz to cry out in some pain. Finally, the pummeling ended, leaving a weakly standing Chazz panting hard.

"Come now Chazz, I thought you were going to beat me?" Marie teased.

Glaring at Marie, he roared "I WILL beat you!"

Teasing him more, Marie replied "Oh really? Well, then maybe this attack will help you think on how you're going to beat me! Goryu, hit him with Golden Radiance!"

The gold and white dragon let out a soft roar and took aim. In a flash of gold, a stream of energy went flying towards Chazz, who only crossed his arms in front of his body to block the strike. The blast knocked him backwards to the ground, leaving him panting hard.

Slowly, he rose up from the ground, with Marie saying "Well, I see you do have some fight left in you." (Marie 8000, Chazz 700)