Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, and all people, places, and events from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! were written and are the rightful property of Kazuki Takahashi (as it should be; if any of us fan fiction writers get our little hands on it... well, then it wouldn't be Yu-Gi-Oh!).

Author's Note: Well, this has been a tough four days, but behold, I HAVE UPDATED! For some reason my document manager wouldn't let me upload chappies, but I got a tip from spiritfire (I owe you my thanks times infinite) that exporting a chappie from my story, and then copy/ pasting the new chappie in would do the trick! I love you spiritfire!

Also, immense thankies to Elfbrat18 and Maridel for also helping me out… I couldn't have survived these four days without you all! You rock!

Now onto the story! FINALLY!

#2 Author's Note: All thoughts are in italics.

Revival of the Heart

By: Angel's Nocturne

Chapter 53: Ups and Downs, All Around….

The fight had already started out very smoothly for Kaiba—he had no time for these distractions that were Samira's pathetic soldiers, and if there was one thing Kaiba knew now, it was that he would refuse defeat from these scoundrels. He had knocked their leader square in the jaw; if that wasn't warning enough, then he would have to instill that fact into them a few more times. No matter to Kaiba though—with all his rage aimed at Samira building, he needed to let off some steam.

They had all charged at him, some with weapons and some with just their bare fists. The numbers were completely at the soldiers' advantage, with a good twenty or so to one—the odds appeared horrible for the CEO as he braced himself for his first victims. They ran towards him confidently, yelling and laughing as they sped at the brunette in a reckless fashion. Kaiba smirked at their messy teamwork and effort.

What deadbeatsI'll put them out of their misery. Soon the first one had approached, a fist in the air as he shot his arm forward. In a swift motion, one too fast for the human eye to see clearly, Kaiba managed to pull the slave's arm behind his body and held the man in front of him like a human shield. Some of the other servants halted their attack, afraid to hurt their own comrade, but that was the opening Kaiba was waiting for. He shoved his hostage into the nearest guy and kicked one of the others.

The leader was standing now after having his jaw used for a punching bag, watching as his soldiers put forth their best efforts against this foreign man. He observed how Kaiba took two clueless fighters and skull bashed the both of them together—they were both out cold before they hit the sand with a thud; despite how clumsy his forces appeared the official was unfazed, watching as he stood confidently near the jeeps and the mind slaves. He smirked maliciously at the fight.

This shouldn't take too long, he though to himself.

Meanwhile, Kaiba clenched his fist nervously as he was now surrounded by a large group of the men who managed to stay out of his grip. They had him trapped in a circle, all of them grinning and chuckling as they inched closer and closer. Kaiba, in a defensive stance, waited for the right moment, just waiting for them to come a little nearer….

"You gonna beat us up, Mister?" one of the smaller men asked, his voice like nails on a chalkboard as he snickered. Kaiba was silent, failing to respond—this brought a glint to the man's eye. "No? Well, then allow us to do the beatin'!" With a battle cry they all ran forward, whistling and cheering as they used up the space between them and Kaiba. Suddenly Kaiba's azure eyes narrowed.

Now! From the pocket inside his purple trench coat he pulled out the one thing that he held nearly as dear as he did his little brother and company—his dueling deck. With his cards in his hand he used an old trick that he had used on several occasion to get himself out of many jams; he didn't like to do this, but it was the only way he could fend off these fiends. In near seconds he was able to throw one of his cards like a ninja star, and in only a second's time after that he heard the scream of a soldier as the man held his face, blood seeping out of a sharp paper-cut wound around his neck.

Some of the other fighters looked on at their fellow man in shock, as the warm blood ran into hot sand, bubbling with the sun's light. With them watching the man die, Kaiba threw a few more of his cards at them, gashing them across the face and neck. He smirked as they held their wounds in slight agony, but it wasn't enough to stop the majority who got off with smaller injuries. Kaiba took them out quickly, hitting one in the groin and another with a kick to the head. It wasn't long before many of the soldiers were unconscious or too wounded to continue.

"Heh, amateurs…" Kaiba mumbled as he pulled a card out of one man's throat, where it got lodged in his vocal cords. It was his Vorse Raider, now covered in blood and sand—Kaiba scowled as he turned his gaze to the jeeps, and in turn, the leader of the group. All was silent as they stared at each other with much distain, and Kaiba sauntered towards him as he grabbed one of the fallen soldier's clubs. He held the weapon in his hand, and he glared at the man as he approached.

"Now, I'll say this one more time" Kaiba growled as he came closer, his shadow now falling over the man as he edged near. "I just want my brother back, and a pathetic worm such as yourself has no right trying to stop me." In a mad anger Kaiba raised the club so that he was ready to use it, and his eyes held a resentful malice as he spat out dangerously, "Any final words before I beat in your skull?"

The leader, who should have been terrified of the fate that was about to befall him, just stood there with a confident smirk on his lips; without an inkling of fear he ran his fingers through his brown locks.

"How about, don't let you guard down?" the leader said.

Kaiba didn't understand at first, but his answer came thundering down by means of a baseball bat to his head. From behind him a tired servant held the weapon as he slammed it down on Kaiba, and with the sickening sound of the harsh contact Kaiba was instantly knocked unconscious—his blue eyes glazed over as his body became rigid, and then he fell to the ground in a swift moment. He didn't even know what hit him as his vision hazed away into darkness….

Silence reigned supreme for a while as the leader let out a heavy sigh, and the other soldier slowly dropped his weapon in both terror and relief. Finally the leader spit on the ground and rubbed the excess spittle from his mouth with his gloved left hand.

"Thank God for what you just did, soldier" he hissed, as the boy who knocked out the CEO panted from the nervous venture he just accomplished. "That sonofabitch woulda killed us all if ya hadn't done that… is everyone okay?" From all around there were grunts and groans as supposedly out-cold men staggered to their feet, nursing their cuts and bruises that were all obtained from one raging man. Slowly the many of them climbed into their jeeps, mumbling about the fight and how they could have done better. The leader called a few over from his own jeep, and they made their way to him without complaints.

"You see that sonofabitch there?" he pointed to Kaiba's unmoving form, and they all nodded with distain in their eyes. "Well, I think he would be a good addition to the Queen's arsenal—he was a tough fighter, and I wouldn't mind seein' him work for us. Put him in the jeep and take him back to the dungeons—we can always use more servants for Her Majesty anyways."

Without question or acknowledgment, the four men who had been in that particular team instantly sprinted over to where Kaiba's body lay. Together they lifted him up and carried him over to the jeep, where they flung his body inside it without seemingly being aware that it was a body they were dumping. Nonetheless, they coldly threw him into the backseat; two men seated themselves up at the front, and two men sat on the tops on the backseats so as not to be near the bastard that they had to be close to for the journey back to base. With a salute to their officer, the jeep started up, and with a cloud of sand billowing behind them they rode off in the opposite direction of where they were once going, as they now went back to the palace. The leader smirked as he watched them go, then turned back to the rest of his squad in the other two jeeps.

"Alright, now that was just a taste of what you'll be getting' yourself into today" he announced as he climbed into the jeep closest to him, standing up in it so that all his soldiers could see him. "If he's from that camp the Queen told us to go to, then there might be more bastards like that in store for us. But we're far better than them, and y'all know that! Let's show 'em what we got, boys!" Rowdy cheers were heard from all the free servants as the mind slaves sat there obedient and quiet, but still the atmosphere rained with confidence and domination. The jeeps were started, roars were screeched into the twilight sky, and the two vehicles were off, still zooming towards their final destination—where Bakura, Ishizu, Odion, and Anzu awaited.

---

A: 4000---Y: 1400

After she received back-up from the most unlikely of places, Anzu felt the weight of all that was upon her lift a bit. I've had so much doubt, so much anguish from this duel, she thought as she straightened herself up, recalling all of Yami Marik's encouraging words and the support of her friends from wherever they were now. I can't lose this duel, no matter how much this fake Yugi discourages me, no matter how bleak the possibilities seem. I may feel fear, I may feel regret or anger, but that can't stop me from getting out of this realm, and saving my friends once and for all. It's time for me to step up to the plate, and face this illusion with all I have!

"Alright Yugi, it's time for me to take you down!" Anzu shouted, and she peered down at the card in her hand. And I may have a chance yet!

"I play Pot of Greed!" she announced as the green Spell card activated, showing the image of a whimsical pot with a strange face on it. "With it, I can draw two cards!"

"Big deal!" Joey yelled from the background, and Yugi only observed her silently as she drew two cards from her deck. She examined them, and then played one from her hand.

"Next I play Graceful Charity! I can draw three cards, so long as I discard two to my Graveyard afterwards." She drew another three cards from her deck, and after she scanned her hand, placed two of her cards in the Graveyard slot. Marik cocked an eyebrow at this.

Hmm… why would little Anzu do that? She didn't improve the number of cards in her hand, and now has two in the Graveyard. He frowned. She must have something planned.

"I play two cards face-down…" she positioned one monster in face-down defense mode and one Spell or Trap card face-down on her side of the field, "and I end my turn."

"My draw!" Yugi said as he looked at the card in his hand, brining the total number of cards in his hand to three. "Anzu, only one turn left before your swords of light vanish from the field… the clock is ticking on how long you can last."

"Just make your move, Yugi" she said, slightly nerved by his cruel words, but nonetheless strong against his attempts to scare her so. He smirked broadly.

"No problem, I'll just sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician then!" His monster faded away in a flurry of pixels and lights. Yugi took out a card from his hand and slammed it on the Duel Disk. "Now I can bring out the one and only, Dark Magician Girl!" A burst of gentle pink light appeared, before transforming into a blonde-haired girl in a skimp blue and pink outfit, wearing a hat similar to the Dark Magician's and carrying a small staff. Anzu was used to seeing the Dark Magician Girl come out with a cheerful disposition and a huge smile on her face, but this time was different—instead she showed a hint of sadness and a reluctance to be there. Yugi didn't seem to notice.

"Now I'll place one card face-down, and that's all I will do for now." A card appeared face-down next to Yugi's other mystery Spell or Trap, and Anzu gulped a little at the thought of what awaited her under those cards. "Go ahead and draw, Anzu. Time is of the essence."

As Yugi said this, signaling the end of his turn, there was an increase in the number of shadows and lurked about the temple room—Anzu was curious as to why, until she noticed the real reason… her swords were fading away. The only real source of light in the room, they were dissolving away into nothingness as their light diffused, snuffed out like a candle flame. In a matter of moments they were gone, fizzled out, leaving the two duelists back in a realm of near darkness. Anzu shivered as the darkness made her skin tingle, and as her eyes swarmed about the dark room she looked down at her deck, knowing very well that this next draw was crucial to the duel.

If she drew the wrong card, Yugi could very well attack her two monsters on the field, and then strike her with the third so that her Life Points would take a serious beating. She did have the ability to delay that, though, as the face-down card she had set earlier was Mirror Force—as long as Yugi's face-downs didn't negate her card, she could push him off for a turn and destroy his monsters. Still, there was that risk, and now was as good a time as any with two monsters on the field already, to take control of this duel… all she needed was the right card….

She closed her eyes and concentrated on her friends—on Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Ryou, Ishizu, Odion, on everyone she could think of… and especially Atemu. She imagined them all placing their hands on her deck, and smiling at her so as to give her the confidence she needed.

"You can do it, Anzu!" Yugi said cheerfully.

"We believe in you!" Tristan said, "Now kick some ass!"

"Show dat fake Yug whose the boss, Anzu!" Joey encouraged, with a fist in the air.

"The cards will come through for you, Anzu" Atemu said, staring deep into her eyes. He placed his other hand on her shoulder. "Just believe in your heart, and the cards will listen…we have faith in you."

She smiled back as she placed her hand on the deck, picking up the card that lay on the top. Her heart beat slightly faster as she felt the card under her fingers, griping the edge of it with her nails as she lifted it from the deck….

Heart of the Cards, she said in her mind, guide me, please!

She drew the card.

She was still so nervous as she let her eyes open for a moment, just barely letting her see the card that she now held in her hand. Finally she fully opened her eyes, and saw what she had left to play.

"Well? Have anything decent in that hand of yours?" Yugi sneered, thinking it to be nothing but a regular draw that just occurred. He realized his mistake by the look of confidence in Anzu's azure eyes.

"More than decent, Yugi!" Anzu shouted boldly, before making her move. "I sacrifice my two face-down monsters…" the two cards vanished in a flurry of lights, and those lights recombined into a figure that floated high above the duel arena, "… to summon, one of the most powerful cards I own, Guardian Angel Joan!"

The lights swirled about as a solid person was formed from them, revealing a woman with short reddish-blonde hair, wearing a tight-fitting white outfit made for battle. Royal gold laced the breastplates that made up the armor she wore around her chest, and two ribbons of gold and white hung off the woman's arms from which they were so tightly wrapped around. To make her even more stunning, a pair of translucent white wings, as clear as glass and as thin as a single layer of silk, formed from back so that she floated above the temple floor, and her mere presence illuminated the room with her breath-taking holiness. (A: 2800—D: 2000)

Yami Marik, who was still standing by the stairs that led up to the temple floor, shielded his eyes slightly from the holy light that emanated from Anzu's latest monsters. Though the light burned his eyes and his own being, he smirked nonetheless.

With a monster like that, little Anzu may just be victorious. He chuckled a little to himself. And it will all benefit me in the end! Kukuku….

Yugi, who had once been as cold as a block of ice, now stared up at the angelic being with a hint of fear and awe at the same instant. Joey and Tristan appeared the same way, and they backed away from the brilliance that was the holy light. Anzu simply basked in it, allowing the warmth of the radiance to shower over her and keep the darkness at bay.

"You see Yugi?" Anzu said as Guardian Angel Joan descended a little so that she now stood in front of her master. "There is no way I'm going to let you win today. The Heart of the Cards, and my friends, are helping me out in this duel—there's no way I can lose when I have them at my side!"

"We'll see about that…." Yugi muttered under his breath, too quiet for Anzu to hear. She looked at all three of Yugi's monsters, pondering which one she should take out in her attack. The obvious choice was the Dark Magician Girl, as she would provide the most damage from the Battle Phase, but for some reason Anzu just couldn't find it in her heart to kill the monster.

Maybe it's because of Mana, she thought as she remembered the brown-haired girl from Ancient Egypt—she was Maahado's apprentice and the one who could summon the Dark Magician Girl. Anzu recalled how nice that girl was to all of them, and she shook her head. I can't attack her, it would be like attacking Mana. I should aim my attack at the Summoned Skull instead

"No, Anzu! Attack me!" a kind voice pleaded in her thoughts. Anzu's eyes grew wide as she tried to discover where the voice came from, only to meet her azure orbs with that of the Dark Magician Girl's. Anzu finally made the connection.

Is that you, Dark Magician Girl? She asked in her head, her gaze directed at the female monster. The Dark Magician Girl nodded and smile.

"Yes, it's me. And I want you to attack me, Anzu." Anzu blinked, confused.

But, why? I don't want to attack you, to send you to the Graveyard

"You haveto, Anzu. I don't want to serve this fake Yugi, this fake reincarnation of the Pharaoh…" she glanced down at Yugi, and shivered; Dark Magician Girl gave the brunette a stern look. "For the sake of this duel, and for everyone back in the real realm, please Anzu, you need to destroy this imposter! I hate serving this fake, he doesn't have the right heart… it pains me to even be on his side of the field! Maahado hates it as well—we want to be free from this as much as you. Take us out, and win this one for the rest of the world!"

Anzu looked at the Dark Magician Girl, her head downcast as she considered what the Duel Monster had said. Finally she gave a firm nod.

I will, Mana, don't worry. The Dark Magician Girl gave her a wink.

"Thanks" she saidAnzu raised her arm forward, pointing at the Dark Magician Girl.

"Alright, here goes nothing! Guardian Angel Joan, attack the Dark Magician Girl with Holy Crusade!" The angel nodded, and then from out of nowhere pulled a sword from a golden sheath, making a hiss as the blade appeared. It was a shiny gold color, with a silver hilt that sparkled, just like the rest if it, in the angel's holy light. Grasping the sword tightly, Guardian Angel Joan flew into the air, and sped down like a missile towards the Dark Magician Girl, sword in hand. Just as she was about to strike, though, Yugi cackled as he activated one of his face-downs.

"A reckless move, Anzu!" he shouted, "because I still have this! The Trap card, Magic Cylinder!" Anzu's eyes went wide, but it was too late to call back her attack anyways. From Guardian Angel Joan's sword came a stream of light, and it burst from the blade like a laser. Two large cylinders appeared on Dark Magician Girl's shoulders, like giant mechanical cannons… Dark Magician Girl appeared just as surprised as Anzu was, but she was unable to stop the Trap card's magic. The light from Guardian Angel Joan's attack flew straight into the left cylinder, and all was quiet… until the second cylinder was suddenly alit with the same light as Joan's attack. It hummed as the light built itself up, and Anzu watched in terror as it was aimed right at her.

Oh no….

The light, in a climatic silence, suddenly built up enough fire power, and shot forth looking nearly as strong as a Blue Eye's White Lightening Attack. It engulfed Anzu in its light, and Anzu screamed in pain as she was hit by the blast at full force. Marik side-stepped out of the way as the light extended even out of the temple, illuminating a pathway through the epitome of darkness that was the Shadow Realm for a good hundred feet.

It didn't stop for a while, and when the blast from the cylinder was finally out of juice, what it left behind was not a pleasant sight. The path of which the light took was steaming, as light strands of smoke hissed off the floor and only added to the Shadow Realm's atmosphere. Anzu was hunched over, barely looking conscious at all as her upper body was flopped over—only her legs stayed steady, and if that wasn't the case then she would be on the floor. From her body hissed strands of smoke as well, as her arms laid limp at her sides and her head hung uselessly from her body. Yugi cackled at the state she was in.

"Did that burn, Anzu? The sting of your own medicine?" Anzu was silent, but her body visibly shook as she tried to move. She was still too weak. "Face it—one powerful attack, and you're already out of the running. You never had what it takes to be a duelist, and to try and face me was a foolish mistake. You might as well just stay in that position" he sneered, "as it will be easier for the shadows to take you if you're in submission!"

He chuckled in his child-like manner, and would have continued to do so, had it not been for a sudden groan that came from the form that was Anzu. Her arms tightened, and her upper body started to waver—slowly, though she struggled as she did so, Anzu began to arise as she straightened her back and stood tall. She appeared slightly bruised and charred, and she staggered a bit as she wobbled on her legs, exhausted. However, the last attack didn't do anything to drown the smoldering gaze that she held in her azure eyes. She glared at Yugi as she brought back up her Duel Disk and stood proudly, despite her panting and obvious effort to stay up-right.

"Yugi…" she whispered, but then her voice grew with unwavering strength. "I already told you… no matter what… you will never… beat me!" Anzu smiled, and her eyes blazed with something that she never truly had in this fight. It was determination, and it was ironic how the most devastating attack she could ever handle had awakened it so. Yugi was taken aback by this, as well as Marik and the others, but the tri-colored haired quickly recovered as he gave her an equally determined glare in return.

"So, is that all?" he asked mockingly.

"I end my turn" Anzu said sternly.

A: 1200---Y: 1400

Yugi drew a card from his deck.

Perfect, he thought as he examined the card he just drew. This will get rid of her monster.

"I play the Spell card, Tribute to the Doomed!" Yugi shouted, and his Spell card appeared on the field. "I can destroy one monster, so long as I discard from my hand. And I choose your Guardian Angel Joan!" He smiled maliciously as he took one of his cards out of his hand, and a mummified hand appeared on the field; in a quick motion it grabbed Guardian Angel Joan and pulled her into the floor, into the Graveyard. "Now you are defenseless to my attacks—you're finished now!

"I attack you now with Dark Magician! Dark Magic Attack!" The Dark Magician zoomed forward, his purple staff in hand as he raised it to the ceiling. It glowed with a black and purple light, before shooting this essence directly towards Anzu. It was about to make contact, when it suddenly bounced off of an invisible force field that surrounded Anzu—the magic headed for Yugi's monsters instead of her, and in a catastrophic blast destroyed all three of them in seconds. Yugi became infuriated.

"What did you do?" he growled, and when the smoke cleared it revealed that Anzu had activated her face-down—Mirror Force. The tri-colored haired boy hissed indignantly. "You'll pay for that…."

"I'll take that has, you end your turn?" Anzu said, and Yugi nodded reluctantly. "Alright, then my draw!"

Anzu drew a card, and looked at it. She sighed a little. I hope this works….

"I place one card face-down, and I end my turn." A monster appeared on her side of the field, face-down and in defense mode. Yugi drew his card now, his hand a total of two cards.

"Well, well, well…" he said as he looked from his hand, to the only card on Anzu's side of the field. "I guess the end has come sooner than expected. You only have that card to protect you, and once it's gone you'll be unprotected—there's no way that you will be able to draw another card to save you. Your luck has officially run out!" He placed a card on the Duel Disk.

"I summon Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress!" As Yugi placed the card on its slot, a mass of pixels and light produced a medium-sized blue dragon, with long claws and razor-sharp teeth as it snarled menacingly. (A: 1400—D: 1200)

"And now, my dragon, take out her face-down card!" The blue monster flew straight into the air, high up to the temple ceiling—it was so high up in the darkness that Anzu could no longer see it… that was, until it went into a nose-dive, heading directly for her monster. It came down too fast for anyone to see it for more than a blue blur, and it smashed itself into the card, breaking it into pixels. As the dragon floated back to Yugi's side of the field, Yugi looked to see which monster he had destroyed.

"Which one of your creatures have I demolished?" he pondered, but his smirk dropped as he saw what it was. "That isn't—"

It was a girl with dark pinkish hair tied in an up-ponytail, and wearing a purple, red, and pink robe-like outfit. She carried a gold staff with a crescent moon at its tip, and she screamed as she shattered from the attack. Anzu smiled at Yugi.

"I'm glad you recognize my Magician of Faith" she said, and her Graveyard suddenly glowed with a yellow light. "Because, then you must be aware of it's special ability—if it is flipped face-up, which it was when you attacked, then I can take one Spell card from my Graveyard and add it to my hand." Her Graveyard glowed even brighter, and a card appeared in Anzu's hand. "You never saw me use this card, but it was still in my Graveyard. Do you end your turn now?"

Yugi grimaced. Besides his Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, the only other card Yugi had on the field was Michizure, but it wouldn't do him any good if Anzu had the card he thought she had. The card in his hand was another useless Trap card… he really didn't have another move.

"Yes" he responded bitterly, "I end my turn."

"Alright then" Anzu said as she drew a card from her deck, "it's time for me to finish this duel!" Whatever she drew now really wouldn't make much of a difference, for the Spell card she got from her Magician of Faith was all she needed. Still….

"I activate the card I just drew, Giant Trunade!" A huge gale came out of nowhere, sweeping Yugi's face-down card off the field and back into his hand. "It brings Spells and Traps and puts them back in their owner's hands—just thought I'd take some pre-caution before I do this!" She slipped a Spell card into her Duel Disk, and revealed it.

"I activate… Monster Reborn!"

"WHAT!" Yugi screeched, and Marik's lavender eyes opened up a little from their half-lidded normalcy.

This battle is finally over, he thought as he watched on.

"When did you use that card? I never saw you use Monster Reborn!" Yugi exclaimed, but Anzu just shook her head.

"You're right—I didn't use it. But you have to remember that when I used Graceful Charity, I discarded two cards to my Graveyard, and one of them happened to be this." Yugi gaped now at what had just happened, so Anzu just continued. "And I think you already know who I'm going to bring back, don't you? Well, here she is again, the powerful Guardian Angel Joan!"

Monster Reborn glowed ominously, before shimmering in a dazzling light that brought forth the angelic woman again. Sword in hand, and transparent wings spread high, Guardian Angel Joan coldly looked at the Winged Dragon, who cowered under her gaze.

"Time for the final attack!" Anzu shouted. "Guardian Angel Joan, take out his dragon and win this duel! HOLY CRUSADE!" Above them the ceiling opened up with a brilliant light from above, as though the clouds parted to reveal a shining sun above. This spotlight shined over Joan, who raised her blade to the sky… and as the sword turned into a weapon of pure light, she shot from it a swirling mass of heavenly light that sped at the Winged Dragon and wiped him off the field in a matter of seconds. The beam hit Yugi, and pushed him to the ground, sapping out the last of his Life Points as he cried out in pain.

"NO!" he yelled as his face looked towards the sky in anguish. The light eventually died away, and Yugi fell to his knees.

A: 1200---Y: 0

"Yug!" Joey yelled, and as Tristan and Joey approached their friend in mock worry, Anzu was shocked as she watched their bodies suddenly disintegrate into the shadows, as though they were never really there. Without thought, she ran over to the fake Yugi as he struggled to get back to his feet, his body also beginning to evaporate into nothing. He looked up at her with cold purple eyes.

"Anzu… you saw through our illusions, and your heart was strong enough to overcome your greatest obstacles… you are worthy of the door to the light…." He was now nothing more than an outline of his former self, and as he began to vanish into the shadows his voice was now nothing more than a distant whisper. "The real Yugi, your friend… he waits for you now… but…beware the shadow… that lurks behind you—"

And then he was gone, his essence absorbed back into the shadows as though he was merely sand in the breeze. Anzu almost felt sorry for him, but knew better than to spend time pitying some figment of the shadows. She had work to do back home.

"Good work, Anzu" she heard Yami Marik say behind her. She turned to see him sauntering from the stairs, approaching her with his hands in his pants pockets and a smirk on his tanned face. "It seems you are not as weak as you seem to have thought."

"No, not at all" she admitted, and as Marik came up to stand beside her, she turned her face back to the end of the temple, only to see an empty room, just like before. "So, what do I do now?"

"Just wait" he said calmly. "Perhaps we'll see soon enough."

"See what?" Anzu asked, but as soon as she asked this, a loud hum resonated throughout the temple room. Anzu silenced herself as both Marik and herself looked to the ceiling of the room, where a pinprick of light dazzled brightly like a firefly in the midsummer twilight. It grew larger, soon becoming a portal of light above them, and Anzu stared at it in awe.

"Is that the door?" she asked in amazement. She sensed Marik nod.

"I think it might be." As they watched the brilliant portal, the temple around them dissolved into nothing, and all around them became a world of pure darkness—from every angle there was pitch blackness, all except for the doorway of light above their heads. They didn't take notice until a little while after, but at that point Anzu didn't care as she started to walk so that she was directly in the path of the light. She kept her head up as she walked, her eyes glowing azure under the wondrous light. She was so mesmerized by it that she failed to notice when the blackness beneath her feet started to bubble and swirl, so much so that without warning, it grabbed her legs and yanked her into its murky depths.

Anzu was pulled from her trance and looked down as nearly all of her lower body was now submerged beneath some sort of black goo—the material of solid shadows. Her arms were stuck too, and she was sinking deeper into it—her eyes were wide with terror as she struggled in panic. She pulled and screamed as she yanked an arm free and tried to lift herself up.

"Marik, help me!" she cried out, but when she heard no answer she called again. "Marik, please, help me!" This time she was answered with a low chuckle, one that was directly behind her—she whipped her head around to see Yami Marik watching her sink into the puddle of muck, and there was a large smile gracing his distorted face. Anzu gasped in fright.

"Marik, what are you doing? Help me!" she yelled, but he only laughed as his hand moved about in a fluid motion; Anzu didn't know what he was doing, until she noticed how the shadows around her seemed to swirl in the same fashion. She put two and two together very quickly, but her mind could not comprehend it.

"Ma… rik… why?" she said, frightened as she panted for breath. He grinned delightfully.

"Silly child… do you really think that I was helping you just for the sake of it? So that it would benefit you out of the kindness of my heart?" He cackled darkly as he looked at her desperate form with half-lidded eyes. "Little Anzu, I have no heart! I am made of darkness, pure and simple! Do you think I enjoy living here, in this realm of shadows where I am slowly being distorted, molded, and twisted around by the greedy powers that RIVAL ME?"

His face suddenly contorted, so that his veins bulged out and his face became stretched and distorted. "I want to be FREE, back in the other realm where I can reap my revenge on that stupid Pharaoh for locking me away here! I want to bring the world into endless darkness! And in order to escape here, I needed to open the door to the light… something I cannot do because I have no light within me. You, however…" he sneered, "are full of light, and you were able to open the door to the real realm, just as I had wanted you to. You were the perfect puppet, never suspecting a thing!" He laughed again as he threw back his head, and then he began to meander towards the portal of light, where it cascaded down and illuminated the blackness beneath it. Anzu watched in terror as he started for the light, while she was already up to her shoulders in the shadows.

"Thank you, little Anzu—if not for you, then this would never have happened! Consider yourself a part of the world's official destruction, while you wither here in the Shadow Realm FOREVER! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Marik cackled into the darkness, and that was the last Anzu heard as her head sank beneath the shadows, and her soul descended deep into the heart of darkness.

No… she whispered, but then there was no more.

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Author's Note: You would not believe how long it takes to write out a duel… but it's over now so thank Ra… my God I thought I was gonna go insane if I didn't update. Again, so many thanks to Elfbrat18, Maridel, and spiritfire for assisting me… couldn't have done it without you all! Until next update!