Mana closes the door to Cairo's room after making sure she was okay after their most recent incident. She had so many questions as to what happened. She knew Cairo was strong and had huge potential, but she didn't know that Cairo could summon the Magician of Black Chaos as well. After her conversation with Cairo, it seemed that even Cairo was surprised that it happened and she told Mana it was her first time. Figuring that Cairo could use some rest after such a long day, she decided to talk more about the situation tomorrow.

As she turns to walk down the hall, she sees Atem coming out of the bathroom wearing only shorts, exposing his chest that he had covered in bandages. It didn't seem like he had noticed her as he continued to walk to his bedroom. She slowly walks behind him and peeks around the door, seeing him sit on his bed, examining the bandages on his arms before turning on the television to the news. Mana rolls her eyes and shakes her head. She had every intention on healing him and had told him to wait, but he was super stubborn.

"Knock knock," Mana says, knocking on the nearby wall.

"Who's there?" Atem asks, still looking down at his bandages.

"Me."

"Me, who?"

"Gah…" Mana looks up in thought with a sweat drop. "Sheesh…didn't think it would actually get this far. I didn't think of witty response," she giggles, placing a hand behind her head and Atem finally looks up at her as she walks up to him.

"How is she?" he asks, referring to his daughter. He figured Mana would be the best to talk to her in order to understand what happened.

"She's fine. She sure does brush things off really quickly," Mana says before folding her arms. "I hate that those two boneheads got away."

"Yes. Just when you think they're out of the picture, they pop up again with new tricks. And we still haven't figured out who their master is."

"Whoever it is, they're definitely behind all of the magician disappearances. No doubt about it. Their master has an obsession with me. And when I wouldn't budge, they turned their sights on Cairo, another magician."

Atem narrows his eyes. "If they so much as think about harming my daughter again, they will surely regret it."

"Speaking of harm, how are you feeling?" Mana asks looking down at the multiple bandages on his arms and chest. "I see you didn't need my help."

"I'm fine, Mana," he replies, trying to demonstrate his wellness by standing up. As he tries to stand up straight, he grimaces and shutters from the pain before sitting back down, causing Mana to shake her head and outstretch her hand toward him.

"Don't be so stubborn," she says as she begins to heal him.

"Where were you Mana?" he asks, not giving her any eye contact as he feels some of his wounds starting to heal one by one.

Mana takes a deep breath, focusing on her task of healing Atem, while not letting her emotions get the best of her. She secretly wished he hasn't brought it up, but she knew he was going to ask her eventually. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave so abruptly that day. My emotions have been all over the place and I thought you would hate me for…"

"Kissing me?" Atem finishes and Mana flinches slightly, but maintains her composure to finish healing him.

"Yeah…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"You don't need to apologize Mana. It's okay," Atem reassures her. He knew he couldn't wait much longer to tell Mana the entire truth. He just hoped whenever the truth was revealed, that she wouldn't run away again…and for good. She finally lowers her hand once she sees that he is completely healed and Atem starts removing the bandages, revealing his melanin skin that looked flawless.

"Another magician has turned up missing today in Domino city, adding to the growing list of missing magicians," a reporter announces, causing Mana and Atem to turn their attention toward the television. "So far there are still no leads as to who may be behind all of this. However, Domino City Police did retrieve an altered recording of who they think may be suspects."

"A recording?" Mana says with surprise.

"We know you're listening," says the muffled voice on the recording. "Our master has requested your presence and you continue to deny them."

Atem and Mana both look at each other in horror, realizing who the voice belongs to.

"Your power is more than sufficient to please him. All you need to do is comply with us. Otherwise, this will continue. We will stop at nothing to give our master what he wants. The choice is yours." The recording ends and the news reporter continues to speak on the incident.

"Lumis and Umbra," Atem says, narrowing his eyes.

"This is all my fault," Mana says, holding on to her chest as her heart starts pounding and she turns around to head to the door. "I've got to do something!"

"Mana wait," Atem says, grabbing her hand to prevent her from leaving. "You can't just blindly run off into this. We don't know how many magicians' powers this person has absorbed. They could be really powerful."

"Yeah, but I've got to do something!" Mana exclaims, whipping her head back to look at him with watery eyes. "I can't allow them to continue doing this!" She attempts to leave again, but Atem had a strong hold on her hand and he brings her back to him. "Let me go, Atem!"

"I will not lose you again!" Atem yells to her surprise as she tilts her head slightly in confusion.

"What do you—"

"Daddy?" Cairo says and both adults whip around to see Cairo standing at the door way, rubbing her eyes. "Are you guys in a fight again?"

"Everything's fine, Cairo," Atem assures her.

"Yeah, you need to get your rest," Mana chimes in, faking a smile.

"You're not gonna leave us again, are you Mana?" Cairo asks.

"No, I'm not gonna leave," Mana says reassuringly. "I will be here when you wake up. Now, go get some sleep, alright?" Cairo groggily nods her head. As she turns to leave, Mana motions her hand at the door and closes it so that Atem and her could talk more privately. She exhales and turns around to face Atem. "Fine. I won't do anything...tonight."

She plops down on the floor with her legs crossed, holding out her hand and making a wine glass full of wine appear. "I will, however, drink this glass of wine because what a DAY this has been." She takes a long sip of the red drink as Atem watches in disbelief.

"Seriously?" he asks with dimmed eyes.

She glances over and points at his hand, making a wine glass appear in his hand as well to his surprise. He examines the glass and raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, you've especially had a long day," she says and she takes another sip. Atem lifts the drink up to his eye level before shrugging and taking a sip as well.

One hour later…

Atem and Mana sit across from each other on his bed, laughing away as they relive recent past moments. Mana demonstrates how Atem attached Lumis and Umbra in the abandoned gym and Atem laughs as he takes another glass of wine and gulps it down.

"Yeah, you were like WAM WAM WAM!" Mana exclaims, punching her free fist into the air while trying not to spill her glass. Her eyes were low and she had a goofy smirk on her face, as did Atem. "You didn't…you didn't even give me a chance to get 'em. You just went at it with no hesitation at all! Man, I wish I were as strong as you Atem because you sir…you're strong."

"Oh stop," Atem slurs, rolling his eyes. "You took down a machine at Kaiba Stadium."

"Yeah, but not by myself."

"But you still went up against a machine. That's…that's reallyyy impressive. You're amazing."

Mana lightly pushes him on the shoulder. "You're making me blush," she says, although her cheeks were already red from being intoxicated. "You're an amazing fighter. I mean you took me down even when I…when I tried to use my magic."

Atem gulps down the rest of his drink and smirks. "Yeah, I am pretty darn good."

Mana laughs. "Oh my gosh, I think we drank a little too much. I feel so..."

"You're drunk Mana," he finishes and she shakes her head in denial.

"No! No! I'm just a little tipsy!" she tries to convince him and herself.

"Rightttt," Atem says with a smirk, not buying it.

Mana places both hands on his shoulders after she finishes her drink. "I gotta say something serious," she says, staring into his eyes that didn't look as focused or sharp as they usually are on a normal basis. "I wanna say sorry."

"No. No don't do that," Atem says, leaning his head back and turning it away slightly. "You don't…you don't need to."

"Shhh! I have to. I'm sorry for running away like that."

"Stoppp," Atem says in a long drawn out manner, taking her hands off his shoulders and placing a hand on her bare leg soothingly. "It's okay. You're okay."

"No, that wasn't cool," she whines. "I shouldn't have done that. I made you mad."

"Not mad. I was worried," he says staring deeply into her eyes despite his eyes feeling heavy from all of the alcohol. He couldn't figure out which one of them was more drunk. Mana was always the light weight. He was surprised she even drank the amount that she did. Heck, he was surprised he drank as much as he did as well. How much was it again? He shakes his head to attempt to snap out of his drunken thoughts and to get a grip. But he couldn't. He was as drunk as she was.

"You…were worried about me?" she asks, edging forward with a goofy smirk on her lips.

"Course I was. I care about you. You mean the world to me," Atem says, raising his hand from her leg to her shoulder, narrowly missing her breast. His movements were sluggish and a bit delayed and he wasn't as alert at this point.

"I've never had someone care about me as much as you do…" She covers his hand with hers and rests her cheek on it sheepishly. "Can I…can I tell you something?"

"Anything," he replies, edging forward to hear what she has to say.

"I think…I like you," she reveals. He couldn't even fully react that way he wanted to. He just continued to look deeply into her eyes and she stared back.

"Mana…" he could feel them getting closer to one another. Their faces were inches apart and somewhere along the way, his hand had slid down to her thigh. "I feel the same about you."

She tilts her head slightly, her eyes were now halfway open at this point. "Really?" She breathes out as he uses his other hand to tilt her chin down to meet his lips.

"Really," he responds in a partial whisper as their lips slowly collide with each other. Mana felt even warmer than before and it wasn't because of the wine she had gulped down. The heat rose to her cheeks as his lips brushed against hers, tasting the wine that lingered on her lips. She could feel herself falling backwards onto the bed as he edged forward and she wraps her arms around his neck as his body pressed into hers. The weight of his body on top of hers felt amazing to her and his hands were all over her.

"Atem…" she moans, a brief moment of realization hitting her. "We shouldn't…" She gasps as he starts to plant butterfly kisses on her neck, switching from soft pecks to slightly aggressive sucking, but not too much to leave a love bite as much as he wanted to. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, pulling him harder against her, causing him to groan soft and low in his throat. His tongue slips between her lips gently, yet demanding and she felt her body dissolve into his.

They roll over, their lips interlocked in a kiss as Mana straddles him, having her brief moment to take control and explore his body as well, feeling every inch of his body - high and low. His stomach was chiseled and hard in all the right places. Her hands lower to his shorts, tugging on the waistband.

"Mana..." he murmured against her lips, kissing her again, his arms tightening around her hips. He felt every part of her body pressing against his which sent a rush of sensations throughout his body. He felt shivers of pleasure as she felt the length of him and he shuddered, letting out a half growl, half moan. It wasn't long before they had rolled back over, tangled together as the kissing became more intense, their lips mashing together. She could feel him raising her shirt, exposing her breasts as he gave them the attention they desired. Her fingers grip his hair as he starts from the left before going to the right. He then slides up to meet her lips again as he pushed her upwards allowing her legs to wrap around his waist.

He pauses to look at her briefly, in all her glory as she looked at him seductively before entering her, their hips molded together as they rocked back and forth. She moaned softly, pulling him closer as she wrapped her legs tightly around his hips as he picked up the pace. She moaned in his ear what she wanted, but even in his state, he remembered all to well. Where she liked to be touched, kissed and her hot spots. After so long, everything was coming back to him. He quickened up the pace once more, feeling her tightening. They both moan simultaneously as they felt a burst of electricity shoot through their bodies, reaching their climax.

The kisses begin to slow down, becoming more soft and tender until they were both laying breathlessly beside each other, their minds in a daze for multiple reasons. With the last amount of strength he had, he drags the bedsheets over them as she huddled closer to his chest and they both drifted off to sleep.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

An old woman wearing a red skull cap, and brown trench coat makes her way through the city at night. It was late and she seemed to be the only person walking on the sidewalk. But it didn't phase her one bit. Her magic would be able to defend her against your typical thug. She places her hands in her pockets, feeling a chilly breeze and she picks up the pace a bit to reach her destination sooner.

She hears snickering off in the distance which causes her to stop to examine her surroundings. Her eyes move from left to right to see what was the cause. Maybe someone had their window open in their apartment and was having a good laugh, she thought to herself. She begins to walk again, staying a little bit more on the alert just in case. The snickering sounds through the air again and she pauses.

"Show yourself," she says, yet no one appeared. She turns her head to look behind her and no one was there. She draws in a deep breath and turns to look straight and what she sees makes her heart drop. Two figures stood in front of her. One figure was significantly taller than the other.

"Who are you?" she asks, taking a step back. Another person appears from an alleyway and stands in between the two hooded figures. She squints her eyes, observing the top hat, mask and suit and she gasps in realization. "You…"

"Lumis. Umbra. Bring her to me," he commands and the shorter figure raises a card in his hand and it glows.

The woman shields her eyes until the light fades. But she isn't expecting a ghoulish mask to appear right in front of her. She quickly shoots a few magical blasts to keep it away and she tries to make a run for it. But due to her old age, she didn't get far. Just as she is about to defend herself again, the mask latches onto her face, leaving her powerless as she screams.

Arcana approaches the woman as she laid on the ground, trying to get the mask off and he grins. "You can thank the magician you admired at the stadium for this…" A pain filled scream echoes through the air.

Mana's eyes fly open, her heart feeling as if it's beating out of her chest. That didn't seem like an ordinary dream…or nightmare. Where did she recognize that woman from?

The room was dark with only the moon shining through the window giving off a bit of light. She buries her head into the chiseled chest in front of her and inhales deeply, taking in Atem's scent and then she exhales.

Wait.

Her eyes slowly look up to see Atem sleeping there beside her. It was at that time she realized they were naked underneath the white sheets and his arms were wrapped around her. She moves to lift her head before groaning from the pounding headache. All at once, the memories swarm in her head from earlier that evening. She looks over Atem's shoulder to look at the time. It's 3am.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, an odd part of her liked the feeling of being wrapped in his strong embrace, even while he was sleeping. He looked peaceful and the stress that would normally be portrayed on his face, was now replaced with the opposite. But the thought of his wife still filled her brain. How were they once again in this predicament?

A loud scream echoes through her head in the same manner it did in her dream, which caused her to jump slightly and sent shivers down her spine. Her eyes start to glow pink as images of a familiar old woman with a red skull cap flash through her mind. The woman is in deep pain and anguish as she is dangling by her arms, electricity surrounding her body as her life starts to get sucked out of her.

Then it finally came to her. It was the same magician woman that Mana had met at the game shop the other day.

'Who is doing this to you? What do you want me to see?' Mana asks within her head and the vision reveals not only Lumis and Umbra witnessing this all happen, but none other than Arcana as well, who seems to be getting powered up as the life drains from the woman's body. They seemed to be in a red and white striped room. A tent. Mana's heart drops into her stomach. He was behind the magician disappearances all along?

She carefully wiggles out of Atem's arms and she sits at the edge of the bed, her hair draping over her bare shoulders. Were those events happening in real time? An immense amount of guilt overcomes her. She couldn't stop feeling like this was all her fault. Maybe if she had complied with their "master's" demands, there would be less casualties. But if her power got into the wrong hands, then there's no telling what Arcana would do.

She hears Atem groan and she turns her head to him. He shuffles a bit before slipping back to sleep. She had to go. She had to something. But she didn't want to drag Atem into all of this and put him in any danger. The best place for him to be is home with his daughter, she thought. She puts on her clothes and heads toward the window, opening it and placing one foot out. Taking one last look at Atem and thanking him internally for helping her with her memories and apologizing to Cairo for not sticking around like she promised she would. Her body starts to emit a soft glow and she levitates out of the window, heading toward Arcana's tent.

Mana flies across the night sky, her wand in her right hand as she mentally prepares herself for what's to come. She didn't quite know what to expect or what she was getting herself into. But she knew she couldn't sit around knowing that she could do something. The old woman's word stuck with her. She had so much faith in Mana to finally put an end to all of this so that magicians could live as they used to. To be able to use their powers freely and not living in fear. She finally comes across Arcana's red and white tent and she grips her wand with both hands, lifting it up into the air as she fell toward the tent.

The woman with the red skull cap screams as electricity surrounds her. She didn't know how much more she could take before her life would be taken from her. Arcana holds his arms out, taking in all of he energy as Lumis and Umbra look on, grinning evilly.

"STOP!" Mana yells through, crashing through the tent's ceiling and using her wand to wack Arcana and he falls to the ground. The electricity that once surrounded him and the woman was gone and Lumis and Umbra stand on guard.

"So you finally decided to show up," says Umbra. "Its about time you—" Mana outstretches her hand and shoots a powerful blast at Umbra and Lumis, not breaking eye contact with Arcana as his two lackeys are blown back through the tent's fabric.

"I've had about enough out of you two," she says and she makes her way over to the woman, releasing her and laying her down on the floor.

"I knew you'd come," the woman says with a weak smile before coughing violently.

"Hang in there."

"Ah, Mana. Pleasure seeing you here," Arcana says with a grin and Mana narrows her eyes at him.

"How could you? Eliminating your own kind? Why Arcana?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want to be the strongest magician that ever lived! They will write my name down in the history books and I will be known as the greatest to ever do it!"

"The only thing that you'll be known for are your subpar magic shows and the fact that you tried to cheat your way to the top," Mana mocks and he growls in annoyance. "Instead of training like any normal magician, you prefer to suck the powers from other magicians instead until they're left for dead. And you're seriously proud of yourself?"

"As a matter of fact I am. And once I gain your power..." he snickers, causing an immense amount of anger to build within Mana. "…I'll be the strongest magician there is."

"Not if I can help it." Mana prepares her wand to shoot an attack, but she is thrown off guard when a rather larger figure tackles her across the room. She grunts as her body makes contact with the ground and she whips her head to see who the attacker is. To her horror, it is none other than Manic. It was hard not to forget those menacing red eyes of his.

"No…I thought you were…"

"You thought wrong," he says, grinning down at her. "This time, you won't escape."

"You ruined my life," Mana says, standing up, her shoulders trembling as she tries to keep her composure. "You're the reason why I lost my memories."

"Be glad that's all you lost," Arcana chimes in and Mana turns her head to hear him continue. "I initially sent Manic to kill you. so that I could be the strongest magician."

"What?!"

"But he unfortunately underestimated you and left you there that night lying unconscious instead of dead. After that, I came up with a brilliant idea. Instead of just killing the magicians off so that I could be the strongest one, I would extract them of all of their powers so that I can be stronger without having to lift a finger. Then I would dispose of them myself."

"Monster…"

"Years later, you came back on my radar and I decided to stop at nothing to have your power within my grasp, even if it meant continuing to kill off more magicians," he continues.

"What a pathetic magician you are."

Arcana shrugs his shoulders. "I'm done talking. Manic, bring her to me. I want her alive."

Mana stands defensively as the large figure approaches her. His eyes begin to glow red and Mana grits her teeth. Those eyes that would haunt her nightmares. Those eyes that were the last thing she saw before she lost her memories. Those eyes that would inflict so much fear in Mana, that it would leave her frozen in tracks.

"Are you going to come nicely, or am I going to have to bash your skull again?" Manic taunts and he begins to laugh. A smirk curls on Mana's lips that catches him off guard. "What are you smiling for?"

Mana raises her hand and it begins to emit a pink glow. "I'm not scared of you anymore," she says and she blasts him through the tent into the open road outside. She rushes at him before he could regain his balance and begins landing punches and kicks that leave him discombobulated and he lands up against a brick wall.

"Give up yet?" Mana asks as she slowly starts to approach him. He had scratches and bruises all over his body from the beating he just took from Mana. He uses the back of his hand to wipe the blood from his mouth and he shutters. He wasn't expecting Mana's strength to improve. She no longer trembled at the sight of him and her emotions seemed to be under control.

"You've…you've gotten stronger," Manic says weakly.

"Save it. I don't need any compliments from you." She aims her hand at him once more. "I'm gonna finish you off for good."

"Heh…You sure about that?" he asks and she raises an eyebrow.

"Go! Masked of the Accursed!" yells Lumis from afar and the same ghoulish mask that once latched itself onto Cairo's face yesterday, had now attached itself onto Mana's face. She stumbles and takes a few steps back, trying with all her might to take it off as Manic looks on, laughing at her struggle.

"Darn it!" Mana yells. "No!" She was so close to defeating him for good.

Manic approaches Mana as she continues to struggle with the mask and he pulls one fist back, hitting her in the stomach so hard that it took her breath away. She doubles over and holds onto her stomach. He then takes his elbow and hits the back of her shoulders, causing her to hit the ground. "I'm going to enjoy this," he says, kicking her while she is down. He grabs her by the back of her shirt and begins to torture her with numerous blows to the stomach, her ribs and her arms as she yells in pain.

Mana grimaces as she hits the ground once more. She shuts her eyes, trying to think quickly as to how she would defeat Manic with the mask on her face. That darn Lumis and Umbra and they shady tricks, she thought to herself. She doesn't get much more time to think as she feels herself being lifted by Manic once again and he continues his assault. She felt the life slowly leaving her as not only the blows were making her feel weak, but so was the mask.

Arcana comes out of his tent and he narrows his eyes. He could see, even with Mana having the mask on, that she was growing weaker and weaker and starting to come close to death. "I said I wanted her alive you fool!" he reminds Manic. But Manic totally disregards Arcana and throws Mana up into the air, before firing off a magical blast that sends her in a nearby lake.

Arcana closes his eyes as he tries to search for Mana's energy. The energy that normally emitted from Mana was strong and vibrant. But this time around, he could feel her energy fading. He grits his teeth in anger and turns his sights to Manic. "You idiot! I told you I wanted her alive!"

Mana puts her hands up to the mask, still struggling to take it off as she starts to plunge deeper into the lake. But it is no use. In her weakened state, she couldn't do much else. Was this really how it was going to end? Her eyes slowly close.

She had let the other magicians down. She wanted her fellow magicians to be able to live in peace, with no fear in the world. And she had failed each and everyone of them that was left.

'Atem. Cairo. I'm…sorry,' she thought to herself as she allowed her self to drift toward the bottom. Her body begins to glow pink and a ball of light emerges from the pond.

Arcana and Manic watch as the ball of light flies down the street and Arcana punches a nearby wall. "Fool! You've ruined everything!"

"But master, with Mana being gone, you truly are the strongest magician there is!" Manic points out.

"That may be true, but I want more power!" he yells, walking away. "And I know just where to get it."

Atem groans as he opens his eyes and he places a hand on his forehead. It felt like someone was taking two drumsticks and pounding it into his brain. How much did he and Mana drink?

Mana.

He looks over to see the other side of the bed empty to his dismay, although he isn't surprised that she wouldn't stick around until he got up. He is slowly reminded as to what happened last night as his mind became a little more clear the more he woke up. He sighs and rolls to his back, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't believe things had gone so far last night. Regardless of the circumstances, there was no doubt about it that he and Mana had gotten closer. But he knew he had to tell her the truth. How he is her husband. That she was the one that he had been looking for this entire time. How Cairo is her daughter and that there is no coincidence that she shared many traits, not to mention magical abilities, with her.

He had to tell her. But the question is, where is she now? Had she ran off again after her own recollection and realization of last night's events? His head turns when he feels a cool gentle breeze from the open window. He swings his feet out of bed, putting on his clothes and getting up to close the window. Right before he does, he gasps when he sees a pink light coming toward him.

"What's this..?" he asks himself. He takes a few steps back as the pink light appears in his bedroom before it starts to change form and reveal none other than the Dark Magician Girl. Atem's eyes widen with surprise. The magician was not her bubbly or vibrant looking self. Instead, she looked very weak, her costume is drenched and her normal spiky hair lay flat and damp on her head. "Dark Magician Girl? What are you doing here?"

Dark Magician Girl lets out a breath and she collapses into Atem's arms. Atem clenches his teeth. This wasn't a good sign. Dark Magician Girl and Mana are connected. And he knew by Dark Magician Girl being in her weakened state, that something bad must have happened to Mana. "Where is she?" he asks. Dark Magician Girl coughs up a large amount of water and her eyes roll back as she starts to fade in and out. That's when it hit him. "She's drowning…Please! Tell me where she is!"

"T-The lake…" she says weakly. "…behind the…tent."

"You mean…"

Atem's car races toward the tent belonging to Arcana, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. He had his suspicions that Arcana had been behind this the whole time. He knew that he couldn't be trusted. Why did she have to go off on her own, he asks himself. "Mana…please be alright."

He finally pulls up to the tent and hops out of his car, running inside. To his surprise, Arcana didn't appear to be there. He sees holes through the tent where it appeared a battle had taken place. A groan causes his attention to shift elsewhere and he sees an old woman laying on the ground. He rushes over to her and kneels down. "Are you alright?" He raises her up to a sitting position.

"I'm…fine. But help the young lady."

"Is there a lake nearby?"

"Why yes, through the back way. But why?"

Without answering, Atem darts to the back and steps through the curtains that led the outside. He sees the dark, murky pond and his heart drops. "Mana!"

"You're too late," comes a deep voice from behind him and he turns around. His eyes widen when he sees Manic standing there. He had some scars and bruising and he appeared weakened, but he was still standing tall in triumph after doing away with Mana.

"I thought Mana defeated you for good." Atem says, surprised that he is still alive.

"Well you thought wrong."

"I'm going to make sure you never walk this earth again."

Manic laughs as Atem reaches into his pocket. "And just how do you think you're gonna do that?"

"Dark Magician!" Atem cries out, raising his card into the air and a blinding light shines as it starts to appear. Manic takes a few steps back, holding onto his.

"No…I wasn't expecting him to be a duel master. I don't have enough strength to—"

"You're going to pay for what you've done...DARK MAGIC ATTACK!" In a large wave, the Dark Magician shoots its attack at Manic who screams in pain as he fully disintegrates, leaving nothing behind. The Dark Magician whips his wand in a circular motion a few times, turning to Atem to bow before disappearing once again. Atem then turns his sights to the lake and dives in. He squints his eyes to see through the darkness as he swims further down until he sees a dark, feminine figure floating. He quickly swims toward her and he grits his teeth, seeing the Mask of the Accursed on Mana's face. Taking hold of her with one arm, he uses all of his strength to swim up to the shore, dragging her a safe distance from the lake and laying her down.

Her body is limp and cold and her chest showed no movement at all. He frantically removes the mask with ease, knowing it would have no effect on him due to him not being a magician and he opens her mouth to attempt to give her air.

"Don't die on me Mana!" he pleads, pressing her chest a few times before once again blowing into her mouth. With each passing second, he started to get even more emotional. "Mana wake up!" he blows into her mouth once again and presses down on her chest. But nothing happens and she lays lifelessly on the ground. He punches the ground in anger and frustration as tears begin to trickle down. His best friend, his wife, showed no signs whatsoever of coming around. He sobs as he lowers his head, pressing it to her forehead and hugging her body close to his.

"Mana…please…I can't lose you again…"

AN: This story will be ending soon. I thank everyone for reviewing and all of the story favorites! It does not go unnoticed. This was going to be my last fanfiction, but I think I have more story left in me if you're interested. Let me know!