Showdown in the Shadows
Marik wasn't as gone as everyone thought he was. A part of him had still taken refuge in Téa's mind. Under his control, Téa brings the Millennium Ring to Bakura so that the evil spirit can awaken once again. The evil spirit leaves his room and Marik guides him to his other half.
Malik had broken into Odion's room in an attempt to banish his mind to the Shadow Realm. He knew that if he would awaken, Malik would be suppressed and have a hard time getting back in control. But as he was about to do so, he was interrupted by the evil Bakura. Malik recognized him and noticed that Marik was taking refuge with him.
"I want my body back," Marik demanded. "And I brought an old friend along to help me get it."
"He promised me the Millennium Rod if I can successfully do away with you."
"Oh, that's right. You and your girlfriend were trying to collect the Millennium Items," Malik remembered.
"If you hand over the Millennium Rod, you won't have to force me to add you to my other collection of victims," the spirit of the Millennium Ring warned him.
"My Millennium Rod can easily overpower your pitiful Ring," Malik boasted. To prove it, he pinned the evil Bakura to the wall. He decided to do away with him once he would finish what he came here to do, but Malik found himself being rendered immobile.
"We're not afraid of you," the evil Bakura boasted. "Now just hand over the object."
But it seemed that their powers were evenly matched. So Malik proposed that they should have a duel to decide who gets the right to keep the Items. Bakura agrees and suggests to raise the stakes by playing a Shadow Game. It was settled and they headed to the stratos dueling arena to play their game. Since Malik was the challenger, he decided to be the one controlling the magic of the Shadow Realm. And just because the spirit of the Millennium Ring felt the rage of an Egyptian God card once before didn't mean he had any idea what he would be up against. Not that he needed to know. Malik remembered that Marik would be fighting alongside the evil spirit, sharing all of his knowledge of the Winged Dragon of Ra.
With all of the knowledge gained from Marik, the spirt of the Millennium Ring knew how his opponent's deck was constructed. But he would be in for a surprise. Malik had actually changed some of the cards in his deck, creating new strategies. Malik was also aware of how Bakura's deck was constructed after watching his duel with Yami, therefore knowing his strategies.
"Before we start, Marik would like to have a few words with you," said the evil Bakura.
"I will win my body back from you because destiny is on my side," promised Marik.
But Malik disagreed. "I'm in control now, meaning that your destiny is mine. I'll claim the ultimate power of the pharaoh while you two wallow in the shadows for eternity."
"I won't let you claim my fate as your own!"
"I'm afraid it's too late," said Malik. "I'm the real you and soon you'll be nothing but a forgotten memory in the sands of time."
But Marik heard Ishizu's story from within Téa's mind. He heard how Malik took over and banished their father's mind to the Shadow Realm and vowed that his dark half would pay. But Marik had to remember that his dark half was created out of his anger, hatred, and jealousy, meaning he caused his own suffering. Knowing that, Marik decided he would make up for his wrongs, praying that his father would forgive him. Now he knew the truth behind it all and wanted to set things right. But the outcome of the duel would decide his fate. If Malik was lost to the shadows, Marik would cease to exist was well, but Marik was going to risk it to defeat his dark half.
The evil spirit of the Millennium Ring realized that there were some secrets that Marik had been keeping from him as he was listening to their conversation. He decided that this duel was going to come with an even bigger price that Marik had to pay. "You and I have some business to discuss," he tells Marik. "I'll help you to reclaim your body, but I have a price."
Marik figured he knew what he was going to demand. "If we win, I'll hand over the Millennium Rod."
"Sorry, Marik, that's our old deal. I demand more. What's that I heard about you seeking the power of the pharaoh? Is there a magic stronger than that of the seven Millennium Items and even the Millennium Star? I want to know what secrets you've been keeping from me and Max. Tell me everything and we have a deal."
"If we win, I'll tell you all," Marik promised.
With that being settled, it was time to begin the duel. The spirit of the Millennium Ring stopped trusting Marik after learning about what happened to Max. But he knew that the only way to rescue her and get everything he wanted was for them to work together. "Prepare for a one-way trip to the Shadow Realm, you fiend."
"I'll be the one bringing forth the darkness so it can consume you piece by piece," Malik said, and darkness began surrounding them. "In this duel, the shadows will slowly devour us as our life points diminish."
"What do you mean?" the evil Bakura asked. But Malik just told him to wait and see as the match would progress. The evil spirit made the first draw. Already, his cards were showing no mercy. He played a card face down and summoned Goblin Zombie, a monster with 1100 attack points. Malik played a card face down as well and summoned Drillago, a monster with 1600 attack points. As the machine began to attack, Bakura's trap card Fearful Earthbound activated. This trap would deal 500 points of damage to Malik every time he declared an attack. But the hidden card Malik played was Remove Trap, destroying Bakura's Fearful Earthbound and causing only him to lose life points from the attack. As the evil Bakura lost 500 points, his injured arm began vanishing into the darkness. "My body, it's vanishing!"
"Do you remember what I said earlier? As your life points fade away, so will small portions of your body until the Shadow Realm claims all of you."
"You fiend," hissed the evil spirit. "So this is how you defeated Max."
"And she was showing the same frightened expressions as you are doing now," said Malik. "She couldn't stand my shadow powers and paid the price by surrendering her mind. And I took her treasure as my prize," he says, showing the Cobalt Star shard hanging from its chain.
"Max's Cobalt Star shard!" the evil Bakura shouted. But he managed to take it easy. Just because it was in his hands now didn't mean that he could use its powers. Bakura was still certain that he would prevail with Marik's help and have the last laugh.
Bakura took into account that Malik had memorized most of the cards in his deck and was familiar with his strategies. Knowing he would be expecting him to play Dark Sanctuary and his Destiny Board, Bakura decided not to. Plus, his opponent only had one monster and since he needed to sacrifice three in order to summon the Winged Dragon, Bakura still had time to put a plan in motion. But rather than take his chances, the spirit of the Ring demanded for Marik to confess the card's secrets. Finally, he made his move by playing two cards face down and summoning Gernia in defense mode.
Whatever plans of conspiracy Marik and Bakura would think of wouldn't do them any good in Malik's point of view. He played Card of Sanctity, a magic card that allowed both players to draw until they had six cards in their hands. He drew two cards while the evil Bakura drew four. Sensing disappointment in Malik's tone, the evil spirit took it that he didn't draw the card he was looking for. To help him, he revealed his hidden trap card Multiple Destruction, forcing both players to discard their hands and draw five new cards from their decks. But the use of Bakura's trap costed him 100 life points for each card he discarded. By losing 600 life points, his other arm began vanishing.
Malik wondered if his opponent was playing some sort of trick by destroying himself. But he drew his new hand and was still disappointed for not drawing the Winged Dragon of Ra, so he ended his turn by playing a card face down.
The spirit of the Millennium Ring sacrificed Gernia to summon Puppet Master. It had no attack or defense points, but for the price of 1000 life points, it could use its special ability to bring forth three monsters to the field from the graveyard. The evil spirit's waist began disappearing as his monsters reappeared on the field. The monsters he chose to resurrect were Headless Knight, Earl of Demise, and Goblin Zombie. But using Puppet Master's special ability prevented his monsters from attacking. But the evil spirit had better plans in store. He played Dark Designator, a magic card that allowed him to choose a monster from Malik's deck and place it in his hand.
Malik knew the card Bakura wanted him to place in his hand was the Winged Dragon of Ra. That was when Bakura's plan became obvious to him. It was all on the field; his face down card, the monsters he sacrificed his life points to summon, it was too obvious. "The card will never leave my hand."
"Don't be too sure, you demon," Bakura growled. The hidden card was Exchange. It still made no difference to Malik. His Winged Dragon of Ra would be useless to Bakura just as it was to Max. Still, he gladly exchanged his Egyptian God card for his opponent's Monster Reborn card. "I know you it may seem like you lost your card, but I can assure you that you will be seeing it again soon."
"Don't get too excited," Malik warned. "Your girlfriend thought she could control the Winged Dragon of Ra and use it against me, but she was wrong. You're no different, which means my Egyptian God card is useless to you as well, even if you're a follower of the Dark Lord." But it wouldn't be as useless to him as Malik was thinking. He remembered that Marik was still helping the evil spirit and could help him control the card. Realizing that, Malik torments his opponent by saying, "Looks like the spirit of the Ring isn't duelist enough to handle me without running to his little friend for help."
"Don't push me," the evil spirit warned. But as much as he wanted to cast his opponent into oblivion, he had to wait until next turn. That was enough time for him. Bakura would get his winnings from Marik and he would get his body back. But the truth was, Marik would not be where he was today without Malik, even if his dark half claimed to be whole without him. Marik would not have begun treading on the path he chose if Malik hadn't claimed the Millennium Rod and used it to banish his father's mind into the Shadow Realm. Marik agreed, but promised to reclaim his control.
Having grown tired of Marik's ranting, Malik decides to continue the duel by playing Vengeful Bog Spirit, a magic card that forced all monsters that had been summoned to wait one turn before attacking. So even if Bakura did summon the Winged Dragon of Ra, it would be useless. That didn't stop him from doing it, however, as he sacrificed the monsters brought forth by his Puppet Master. But this actually did a lot more good for Malik than it did for Bakura. He played Joyfull Doom, a trap that drained the attack points of the monsters being sacrificed and transferred them to Malik's life points. And because the monsters sacrificed to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra had no attack points, the Egyptian God itself had no attack points. Marik had no idea Malik had that card on the field and now the Winged Dragon was useless to him and his partner after all. The evil spirit ended his turn by switching the Winged Dragon and the Puppet Master into defense mode. It was Malik's turn again and he had his Drillago attack Puppet Master with Spiral Thrust.
While Yugi was asleep, his dreams led him to the corridors of his mind. He was standing in the small playroom that was filled with toys; the chamber that reflected his own mind. He left and crossed the hall to enter the door to Yami's mind. He remembered going in once before and remembered the dangers he faced, but had a feeling that this time things would be different. But talk about a complex mind. It was an endless labyrinth with many doors and stairs. But it seemed like it had changed and built even more false starts and dead ends.
Yami saw Yugi wandering around. "Something wrong, Yugi?"
"Sorry if I disturbed you," Yugi apologized.
Yami forgave him. "Your mind must have been restless to have brought you here."
"I guess I am a little worried," Yugi admitted.
Yami chuckled, understanding his friend. "Tell me, what's on your mind?"
Like Yugi said, he was worried because the dangers were progressing and things were continuing to get out of hand. But it seems to be so as he and his friends get closer to achieving their destinies. Thinking about that made Yugi begin to understand the nature of this labyrinth. "I think I get it. All these confusing passages represent the mysteries of your past and all the questions you have about the future. But I know we're going to figure all of this out and I'm not going to let anyone stand in our way."
As they walked through the different passages, Yami asked Yugi, "Do you remember what happened when you first came here, Yugi? A stranger appeared to us."
Yugi knew he was talking about the day they first met Shadi and how he used his Millennium Key to enter their minds. He was searching for the truth, but couldn't find any answers because behind every door was a mental trap hiding the truth.
"Shadi had no better luck than I've had in trying to uncover the mysteries here," Yami was saying. "I climb these staircases and enter these doors just as he has, but to no avail."
"But he hasn't given up yet. That's why he appeared before us on the blimp," said Yugi. "Do you remember what Marik said? He told us that the secret to unlocking the pharaoh's power was imprinted on his back on the day of his initiation. Maybe he holds the answers we've been looking for."
Yami stands up. "You and I make a great team, Yugi, and together, we can unlock that power before he does. I know I can't do this without your help."
"I'll always be there for you," Yugi promises as he and Yami grasp their hands.
Inside Bakura's room, Téa began waking up. She looked around asking herself what she was doing here and how she got here in the first place. What really concerned her was that Bakura wasn't in the room. She immediately left and went to Yugi's room, knocking on the door and calling for him and Emily.
Emily heard the sound and woke up first. "All right, I'm coming," she said, yawning.
Yugi began waking up as well. "Who is it?"
"Don't get up, I'll get it," Emily said and opened the door. "What's wrong, Téa?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
She decided to get to the point. "I was just in Bakura's room and he's missing!"
Hearing that seemed to make Yugi and Emily feel a little more awake. They split up and began searching around the blimp.
Just because the spirit of the Millennium Ring couldn't attack with the Winged Dragon of Ra didn't mean he could use it another way. He sacrificed it and summoned a powerful fiend called the Dark Ruler, a monster with 2450 attack points. The Winged Dragon would still be useless if either of them tried to bring it back to the field. But the Winged Dragon of Ra had many secrets and abilities and Malik would soon demonstrate them.
The spirit of the Ring wasn't finished. He removed three monsters from his graveyard, allowing him to summon Dark Necrofear. After that, he played Premature Burial, a magic card that allowed him to revive his Earl of Demise from the graveyard for the price of 800 life points. Now he was down to his last 1100 life points.
Marik didn't like what Bakura was doing. "If you want to win, don't be so reckless with our life points!" he scolded.
"What do you mean 'our' life points, you parasite?" the evil spirit asked. "I'm the one fighting this duel, not you!"
"Wise up, you fool," Marik snapped. "If you want the secret of the pharaoh's power, you'll listen to me!"
The evil spirit continued to argue. It was bad enough that he had to do this with his real partner and he certainly didn't need this pushover's commentary. "But you haven't helped me at all, Marik! In fact, you're the reason I wasn't able to play the Winged Dragon of Ra!"
Marik began raising his voice as he was completely facing Bakura. "And it's your fault we lost so many life points!"
Seeing them argue as they were nose-to-nose amused Malik and made him think that they were quarreling like a married couple. He even wondered if the evil spirit of the Ring did this all the time with the spirit of the Cobalt Star shard. "It's such a shame when good friends can't work things out," Malik told himself. To break up the argument, he raises his voice and tells his opponents, "Your new monsters are impressive, but I'm afraid my Vengeful Bog is still in effect, which means they can't attack just yet."
The evil spirit heard him and replied, "I'm well aware of your magic card's effect. So go ahead and make your move while you still can." But he would regret those words. Malik was about to end the duel by playing the Winged Dragon of Ra. Bakura didn't take him serious, but Malik warned him that the Winged Dragon possessed many hidden abilities. When Marik thought he knew all of the Winged Dragon's powers and secrets, apparently he didn't, and now his dark half was about to demonstrate.
Téa, Yugi, and Emily met up at the main concourse when they were unable to find Bakura. Only Yugi and Emily wondered if Malik was behind this. The only place they hadn't checked yet was the stratos dueling arena, so they headed to the elevator. But when they reached their destination, they saw the darkness of the Shadow Realm blanketing the entire arena.
"Oh, no," Emily moaned. "Marik and Bakura are playing a Shadow Game."
The Millennium Puzzle activates and Yami takes over. "If Bakura loses to Marik, he'll be trapped in the Shadow Realm. This is dangerous, girls, and enough people have gotten hurt already. So please go back downstairs."
The girls knew that Yami wanted them to be safe, but they didn't want to leave him. "I am not leaving you to deal with this alone. We're in this together until the end," said Téa.
Emily agreed. "Remember, I was with you on the day you discovered how your destiny was liked to your past. Don't forget I'm involved in this as well. We're aware of the dangers, but that's not going to stop us from helping you. So don't bother trying to change our minds."
Yami knew there would be no point in doing so, but he still had a bad feeling about all of this. "You girls make this all sound so easy. But Marik seems to get stronger and more evil with each duel. I fear that the darker Marik becomes, the more difficult it becomes to shield the world from his wrath. Marik has already begun to target our friends because of a grudge he has against me. He must be stopped before anyone else falls victim to his insanity."
"We understand," said Téa. "That's why we want to help."
The effect of Monster Reborn would only last for one turn on the Winged Dragon of Ra, but that was all Malik would need to end the duel. He played the card and the Winged Dragon's flames burst out as the divine Dragon appeared on his side of the field.
"Calm down, you fool," Marik said to Bakura as he was watching him tremble in fear. "The monster's attack strength is still zero. Plus, his Vengeful Bog is still in play, which means he can't attack now anyway."
But the Winged Dragon of Ra had the hidden ability Instant Attack, allowing it to avoid the effect of the magic card and immediately attack after being resurrected. It also had the hidden ability known as point-to-point transfer. Malik began transferring all of his life points to the Winged Dragon of Ra's attack points, keeping only one life point to remain in the game. Malik's body looked like it was disappearing into the shadows, leaving a small portion merged with the Winged Dragon. Now the Winged Dragon had 8549 attack points. The divine Dragon attacked, destroying all of Bakura's monsters and the rest of his life points.
"Get ready to fall into the darkness by the hands of Ra!" Malik shouted.
The spirit of the Millennium Ring grinned as he was disappearing into the shadows. "Don't you realize that I am the darkness?"
Malik just chuckled. "And just what's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I can't be destroyed," he answered. "You haven't seen the last of me." And he disappeared altogether, leaving behind the Millennium Ring.
As Malik approached it and picked it up, together, Yami and Emily used their powers to infiltrate the Shadow Realm. He notices them and asks, "So how long have you two been here?"
Emily demanded to know, "What have you done to Bakura?"
"I don't know who you're talking about," Malik answers, placing the Millennium Ring in his cloak. "If you mean the spirit of the Millennium Ring, you tell me where one goes after losing a Shadow Game. Don't be so surprised, Pharaoh and Princess. It won't be long before you join him and the rest of your friends in the Shadow Realm."
But the evil spirit wasn't really gone. A part of him still lived within the Millennium Puzzle. He even found his partner looking well. They idly talked about what happened in the past few hours and began on their personal quest wandering in the labyrinth. "Marik thought he could get rid of us, but we promised we would back," said the spirit of the Ring. And where better to unlock the power of the pharaoh than in the dwelling of the pharaoh himself? But would their luck fare any better than those who had entered the mysterious labyrinth before?
Marik was not completely gone either. A portion of his spirit had still taken refuge in Téa's mind. Through her, he went to his elder sister's room and begged for her to hide and protect Odion. Ishizu knew that she had to. Her brother's dark side would try to send him to the Shadow Realm to prevent him from trying to contain him again.
When Malik entered Odion's room to finally carry out his task, he saw that he wasn't there. The only explanation was that Ishizu was behind this.
At the main computer, Kaiba was doing some research on the Winged Dragon of Ra. What shocked him was that he could read the text with his own eyes. It was clear to him like it was written in English. He even learned about the card's many hidden powers. He knew he had to add it to his deck, but after all that he was learning, this would be a difficult card to obtain.
Kaiba was so engrossed in his studies; he didn't realize was waking his brother. Mokuba stirred and asked his brother why he was still awake. "Even you need some sleep," he reprimanded. "There's another round of finals tomorrow."
"I'm well aware of that, Mokuba. That's exactly what I'm preparing for." Kaiba said, still looking at the screen. "We're currently on course for KaibaCorp Island. This is where the finals will end and the champion will be crowned. It's a fitting place for my victory and soon we will arrive at the very site where our stepfather was last seen; after I took over the corporation and left him with nothing. The tower I built symbolizing the new era of KaibaCorp still stands as a reminder of my power.
"Do you understand why I've chosen this island for the conclusion of the Battle City finals? I'm finally returning to the land where our stepfather made his billions. For now, I, too, have built a mighty empire and I've done it all on my own terms. And that's just how I'll win this tournament; with no help from anyone except for myself. It won't be long now, Mokuba, before I prove to the entire world that there's no one on Earth who is superior to me!" he said and began cackling.