Hello once more everyone! Well, I had a very enjoyable weekend. I went and spent it with my wonderful mate (wife), and we had a great time. There was a festival this weekend that went in front of her apartment, so we spent Saturday watching it. It was pretty cool overall. I enjoyed it, as did she. Afterwards, we went out for dinner and came back to relax and watch Naruto. LOL, we had a beer each, but she got rather tipsy. It was hilarious to watch, yet so sad at the same time, lol. I mean, one beer was all it took! Obviously, half cat demons can't hold their liquor. It was fun though to watch, hehe.

Also, something cool that happened was she won a contest. She put in for it back in September or August I think. Anyways, it was a contest to win one of three prizes: 1.) a Dodge Charger or car valued up to 30k. 2.) a cash prize, I think of 25k, but we're not entirely sure. 3.) some kind of vacation, all expenses paid. She's going to take the cash prize, which she'll use to get a car, plus pay off some other stuff, like her old car and other stuff. It's just amazing that she got this money, and we're both shocked still.

Alright, let's see, last time Blue won her duel and beat Hige. Illidan offered to end the fight, but Kiba of course chose to continue on. What else could happen before they arrive at Death Valley, and when they arrive there, what will they find? These questions and more shall be revealed… eventually, lol.

Anyways, time to answer the reviews. Stupid email didn't preview them to me, so I had to go in the hard way through my stats. Smacks for not emailing me.

pink-kiss-candy: Very good idea. We all need a good bashing site to pick on Ryon even more.

Brianna Ishtar: I'd never go around acting like a thief, rogue, or ruffian. Yes, very noble, wise, good, and all that fun stuff. Yes, Ryon is quite evil, but he deserves a second chance, possibly… Yeah right, hehe.

Berry Kisses: The kind in which Ryon was named for, lol. His childhood had to have been interesting. (Imagines small Ryon.) Ryon: (Steals wallet.) "I hate doctors! And half demons!" (Ends image) Yep, that's most likely what his childhood was like. Yeah, he's been gone a long time. He should have hired me to help him do whatever it is he's doing.

Fire Princess: Uh, yeah… (Slowly walks away from prison.)

Strawberry Cake: Very nice with the sales. You know, you should advertise on radio and TV. People would by more then. Of course, I'd have to help get rid of the competition, for a small fee.

sweetxokissesxo: Yes, she's making a bundle thanks to the elimination of her closes competition. (Competition's tents are burned to the ground or are slashed to shreds.) I'd say it's a very profitable day indeed.

Ryon Nakura: (Pokes head out from behind girls.) Ryon, Ryon, Ryon, when will you learn that you need the half demon protection package? If you don't get it, awful stuff will keep happening to you, like with these two girls who most likely will kill you now.

Ultimate Legendary Master: It's all good. I understand, sometimes life happens. Lol, not like I expect a review immediately. My surprise was good though, hehe. Very, very good. (Gets dreamy look in eyes.)

Tomb Robber Vicky: Very true, and now she's free from him, once and for all. Yeah, I thought I'd have him show some emotions. You can't have him be a stick in the mud forever. Btw, the guy won't leave yet Bakura. Keeps saying pay or else. I think I saw him holding a Shadow Charm, so I don't think you'll be able to get rid of him that easily.

Metal Overlord 2.0: I thought it'd be somewhat ironic if the same combo that nearly beat her took down Hige. Yes, the remainder of the Wolf Pack are backed into a corner. Very true, those two will most definitely have their fangs bared at Illidan and Vash, so who knows what will happen now. Btw, I'm going to PM you about your idea.

x-knight20: It's all good. I understand that you got busy or whatever. Yes, I found the site. Thank you very much, cause it had exactly what I needed.

Well, that's it for the night. Sheesh, these things get longer and longer, lol. I don't mind though, cause I love hearing from everyone. It's always fun and interesting to read what people think of my story. Plus, sometimes I get ideas for my story, or for my other stories. Also, it helps me assess my writing style, and see where I stand I guess skill wise.

Alright, that's it for now, so enjoy the chapter. Also, remember to review everyone. I love hearing from you all, so post your thoughts. Feedback is always a plus, good or bad. Till next time, everyone enjoy the chapter. Later.

Chapter 29

The group, one by one, starting with Illidan, followed by Ryou, and then Blue and Vash, woke up and prepared for the day. After cleaning themselves up, they ate breakfast and headed out to find a taxi to take them to their destination.

Once finding one and giving the instructions to the driver, the group was off. The drive was a silent one, other than the radio of the driver that was blaring what he called Country music. Illidan didn't mind it, but noticed that Blue, Vash, and especially Ryou disliked it. Still, he didn't let the group get him down.

Silently, he thought that finally he would meet the man that could possibly point them in the right direction. "If he can point us to where we need to go, I'll be eternally thankful."

Finally, they arrived at the destination to find a burnt down building and a camper parked out front. Blue rushed out of the car quickly when they got there while Illidan paid for the ride. Vash had tailed Blue, trying desperately to keep up.

She screamed out "Professor Hawkins!" as she ran towards the smoldering remains of the house she had grown up in since she was an eight year old child. As she neared, she then noticed that there was a camper in the front of the house. Two people were coming out, one which Blue barely recognized, and the other she had no clue.

The one she barely recognized had glasses, blond hair that reached her shoulders, but was held back in a pony tail, blue eyes, and some freckles. She was wearing a blue blazer with a grey undershirt and a white skirt. The other had brown shoulder length hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a white jacket with a light red undershirt, a yellow skirt, and calf high yellow boots.

Softly, Blue called out "Rebecca?"

Rebecca suddenly stopped, as if remembering who the person was. "Blue, is that you?" she called out.

The girl turned to Rebecca and asked "Do you know her Rebecca?"

Completely ignoring the girl, Rebecca ran forward and both Blue and she hugged one another. "I'm so happy to see you big sister!" called out Rebecca.

Vash came up soon behind them to see the two together. He lightly smiled, happy to see Blue smiling. Illidan and Ryou soon walked up behind them.

Blue and Rebecca then started walking towards the burnt down remains of the house, simply talking. They left the others of the group to talk with the remaining girl.

"Illidan?" the girl called out.

Nodding, Illidan said "It's good to see you Tea. It's been a while."

She flashed a smile and nodded, but then kind of pulled back when she spotted Ryou. Seeing her fear, Illidan calmly said "Don't worry about him, he's out on parole, for now."

Smirking, Ryou said "Don't worry, I won't bite… hard at least."

Lightly jabbing him in the side, Illidan only shook his head. He then turned his attention back to Tea and asked "Is Yugi here?"

Tea soon shook her head and said "No, he left early this morning. The professor, Rebecca's grandfather… Wait, you don't know who either of them are, silly me."

After a few minutes of explanations, Tea finally said "Now, as I was saying, Yugi left this morning to retrieve Rebecca's grandfather. He was kidnapped the night before, and his home was burned down. Yugi left to save him, hoping to retrieve him. Well, not even an hour after Yugi left, the professor walked in. Duke, Joey, and Tristan then set out to catch up with Yugi. They've been gone since. It's only noon, so I'm not too worried yet."

Nodding, Illidan replied "I see. Tell me, have you all run into any more duelists wielding the Seal of Orichalcos?"

Sadly nodding, Tea said "Yes, we have, and Mai Valentine was one of them. When we met up with Seto a while back, he had run into one too. The guy that had kidnapped the professor here too is one."

Sighing, Illidan said "I see. Then what Kouga told us was true. They were after the strongest souls left on earth, mainly the remaining members of the Shadow Court from five millennia ago."

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, they got to Pegasus too…" Tea added.

With a bit of shock on his face, Illidan replied "What?! But I just saw him a few days ago! They must have finally cornered him."

Looking at him with sad eyes, Tea said "Mai is the one who took his soul. She dueled him the night before we arrived here in America, and won."

Sighing again, Illidan mentally counted who was left. "That leaves me, Ryou, Yami, Shadi, and Seto. Shadi is most likely still in Egypt, so I doubt they'll go after him, but the other four of us are in open season."

Turning towards the trailer, Illidan asked "Is the professor in there?"

Tea slowly nodded, but said "He's resting. He had a tough night. They made him walk a majority of the way back through the desert. He's a bit dehydrated, but will be fine. For now, he's resting."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Illidan then said "Well, I guess we wait till they return."

Noting that Marie was missing, Tea asked curiously "Where is Marie? I figured she'd be here in America with you."

Looking at Tea with sad eyes, he said "I'll explain it all soon when everyone gets back."

Seeing the pain behind his eyes, she nodded, guessing something really bad had happened.

To pass the time, Illidan had Tea explain what happened after he left Japan. She told him about their return home, about Joey and Mai going their separate ways and then all the way up to where they were then. Illidan took this all in, gathering all he could from her.

Finally, around 1:30, a car with a horse carrying a rider behind it pulled in. Rebecca went running out of the trailer to greet the newcomers, while Blue, Illidan, Ryou, and Vash simply waited inside.

The happy sounds outside soon turned to sad sounds of wailing tears. Hearing this, Blue was quick to run out and see why her sister was crying. She found her beating on the chest of a young man with multicolored hair and wearing blue clothing. His eyes were downcast as he simply stood there, letting her beat her fists on his chest.

She kept yelling "Why?!"

Running to her sister's aid, she quickly took her in her arms while the girl wailed, yelling for someone named Yugi. She knew that was one of Illidan's friends, but she was curious to know why she called out that name since he was obviously probably standing there.

She soon got her answer when the one she had been beating on sadly said "It's my entire fault. I'm the one who lost Yugi. He stepped in to save me, but I should have been the one to lose my soul!"

Illidan soon stepped out of the trailer when he heard this. He noted right away that Yami was different. Normally, Yami would rest after a duel, allowing Yugi to take back over, but not the case this time.

Slowly, Illidan walked up to Yami, and heard Joey say "Hey, Illidan, what are you doing here?"

Not acknowledging Joey, Illidan only continued to walk up to his friend. He saw Yami soon look up with great pain flowing out his violet eyes. Illidan instantly knew what had happened.

Calmly, he asked "You lost, didn't you?"

Yami only nodded to acknowledge him. Sighing, Illidan then said "I'm guessing Yugi was taken instead of you then."

Again, only a nod was given. Illidan sighed once again and said "I see. Like me, you've lost a person who was close to you now."

Looking up at Illidan with curious eyes, Yami asked "What do you mean?"

Illidan only turned and asked the group to come with him so he could explain it at once. The group followed him inside, and he told his tale of what transpired since his conversation with Yami that one fateful night. He told all that had happened, not leaving out one detail.

The group of friends was shocked to find out that Illidan had lost Marie, but not too surprised to hear he was chasing after the ones who had done it. Yami had even been surprised that Illidan took such drastic measures as to release the spirit of the Millennium Ring.

Yami then told what had happened earlier that day, from where he had accepted Raphael's challenge to where he played the Seal of Orichalcos. Illidan was courteous enough to not even say a word when Yami had told him he used the seal. It then ended with Yugi sacrificing himself to save Yami. When he was finished, Yami slowly stood up, saying he was going outside.

Illidan soon followed as he saw Yami slowly walking away towards the remains of the house. He followed closely and quickly caught up. He then placed a hand on Yami's shoulder and spun him around. Illidan soon proceeded to punch Yami in the mouth, knocking him to the ground.

The whole gang of friends saw this and went rushing in to stop Illidan, but Illidan gave them a glare that said to not even try it. Once the group backed off, Illidan turned his attention back to Yami.

"How could you have been that stupid Yami!?" Illidan asked with rage in his voice.

Looking up at Illidan with saddened eyes, and he simply said "I don't know… I wanted to win so badly, that I was willing to do anything to win, even at the cost of my own soul. I made a foolish mistake…"

Still glaring at him, Illidan said with coldness and anger in his voice "You're sure right you made a mistake! You know as well as I do that card was evil! Why you would be so stupid to play it, I don't know! Even in the most desperate of situations, you should know to never play it!"

Yami only nodded, but Illidan wasn't finished. "Now look at you Yami. You're only a shell of what you once were. I intend to help fix that though. I challenge you to duel!"

The crowd lightly gasped at what Illidan had just proposed. Yami only slowly stood and dusted himself off. He looked up at Illidan and said "Will it get you off my back if I do?"

Lightly smiling, Illidan said "Yes, it will for now. I know you're as devastated as I am at the moment, so trust me. A duel with me might just help you."

Nodding, Yami pulled his deck out of his Duel Disk and shuffled it. Illidan quickly walked over to where his backpack lied and grabbed his own Duel Disk. Walking back, he pulled his own deck from his deck protector and began to shuffle it. He finally stuck it back in his Duel Disk. The two then moved to two spaces wide enough to duel.

Each flipped on their Duel Disks, causing each to unfold and power up. Each life point counter then went to 8000. Both then drew five cards and called out "Let's duel!"

Illidan drew his sixth card and smirked. His hand consisted of Shining Angel, Masked Dragon, Level Up, Level Modulation, and Call of the Haunted. His sixth card was Polymerization.

Looking up, he silently said in his mind "I have to go easy on him. Still, I can't be too easy either. I guess I'll just tactfully play myself as open, but not truly open. Here goes something though."

Smiling, he said "I now summon Masked Dragon (1400/1100) in defense mode." A green dragon with a red underbelly and part under it's neck then appeared. The dragon had a long like neck, wings, four legs, and a tail.

"That'll do it for my turn." (Illidan 8000, Yami 8000)

Drawing, Yami called out "I'm disappointed Illidan! I expected much more out of you for all the bugging you did to get me to duel you. Now I summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) in attack mode!" An elf with a brown long sleeve shirt, tan pants, green armor shoulder pads and a helmet, a black cape, and a silver sword then appeared on the field. He let out a grunt, showing his readiness for battle.

"Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, attack his Masked Dragon with Silver Blade Slash!" The elf quickly rushed across the field and leapt into the air. It then came down with sword barred and slashed the weaker green dragon, causing it's demise.

Illidan lightly smirked and said "Thanks Yami, for you just activated my dragon's special ability. When sent to the Graveyard by battle, I get to special summon one Dragon type monster from my deck to my field in attack mode with 1500 or less attack points, so I pick Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900)." A orange skinned dragon with grey metal covering it's skin and small stubby wings then appeared on the field.

Yami only lightly laughed, saying "Do as you please Illidan, but that monster is far too weak to be a threat to my monster. I'll end my turn." (Illidan 8000, Yami 8000)

In the background with the rest of the crowd, Joey said "He's not thinking about his moves."

Duke seconded that, saying "He's not playing wise at all. He should have thrown a face down or something."

Tea only looked at both Duke and Joey and asked "What do you mean? He already took out one of Illidan's monsters, and that weaker monster is out now."

Joey only looked and said "You're wrong Tea. Illidan wanted him to destroy that monster. He had it planned so he could play that Armed Dragon there. I don't know much about LV monsters, but what I know about them is enough. The Pharaoh should know Illidan is setting him up, but he's so caught up in the moment that he can't see it."

Tea only sighed and said "I don't know why Illidan is dueling him anyways. How is this going to help him?"

Duke quickly replied "It helps relieve tension and emotions. Not to mention, Illidan knows the Pharaoh can't stew over his defeat like he is. Illidan knows that the Pharaoh has to move on, and the only way he can drive that point home is with a duel."

With worried eyes, Tea said "I guess, but I only hope the Pharaoh can hang in there and win. He needs to regain his confidence and fast."

The others only agreed with a nod to Tea's comment.

Back on the field, Illidan drew and said "Now during my Standby Phase, I'm allowed to activate my Armed Dragon LV3's special ability. You see, I'm allowed to now sacrifice him in order to special summon from my hand or deck my Armed Dragon LV5, which happens to be the card I just drew. Now rise Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700) in attack mode!"

The smaller dragon vanished from the field as a larger, orange skinned dragon with grey metal on it's body appeared. It had many spikes covering it's body, large clawed hands, shorter, stubbier wings, and a spiked ball on it's tail.

"Now Armed Dragon, attack his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian with Infernal Roar!" The dragon let out a horrifying roar and charged forward, striking the elf hard with both of it's clawed hands. The elf was pushed backwards, but stayed in one piece.

Smirking, Yami said "I guess you forgot about my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian's special effect. He can't be destroyed in battle by monsters with 1900 or more attack points, so nice try Illidan."

Illidan only lightly chuckled, for he knew this, but had wanted to humor Yami. "I'll place one card face down and end my turn." (Illidan 8000, Yami 7000)