Good Day Readers. Obviously I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh only Kylie and Katherine Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also italics symbolise a mind conversation or a flashback, or something in another language.
By the way, since I was lazy last week and unloaded nothing there will be another chapter out tomorrow as an apology. Thank you for the review from Guest and no problem about updating my story. I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy
Chapter 28: - Summon The Winged Divine Dragon of Ra
This was definitely not good, I didn't know what would come of Ra being sealed within that sarcophagus but with it having been brought into play I was more unnerved now than at any point prior during this duel; aside from that little fact, there was that monstrous red scaled beast towering over Marik with its' wicked looking pinchers threatening to tear into Jounouchi's monsters.
"Holy Beast Serket is only a demi-god who protects the true god within the shrine!" Marik declared. Jounouchi was frozen stock still having heard Marik's words as he was no doubt panicking slightly about going up against a God card, especially after seeing the kind of power that Yugi and Yami's card had; Anzu commented that Jounouchi had tried so hard to push Marik into a corner, but that might have been what convinced him to bring Ra into the game.
"Yami-san, is there anything my brother can do to win this?" Shizuka asked. Yami bluntly admitted that the monsters that Jounouchi had out wouldn't be able to defeat Serket but did admit that Jounouchi had to think fast in order to avoid losing all of his monsters to the scorpion beast, add on to the fact that we didn't know what kind of special effects the creature possessed and Jounouchi had to think really fast.
"By the way Yugi, Kylie… that ark, the one the Winged Divine Dragon of Ra is in…," Mai started. The three of them alongside myself looked at the sarcophagus, possessing the final God card meant that this man was Marik… but then why did something still feel amiss, the more I looked at Marik then the more I felt like he couldn't be Marik, there was simply something about the man currently dueling that didn't fit with what I knew about the madman.
Once more Marik glanced down to look at us before turning back to the duel and he announced that Serket was unable to attack this turn which meant Jounouchi had to make the most of his next turn if he wanted to get rid of that beast and protect against the God card that was waiting for him; Jounouchi drew his card and his lack of a poker face showed he hadn't drawn a card to help him out of the situation.
"All my monsters go to defence mode! And my turn's over!" Jounouchi announced. With those words the Sealing Swords proceeded to blink out of existence, Mai commented that he had an opportunity to fight back now but he didn't possess a monster strong enough so we had to wait until that opportunity arrived; but until then it left him at the mercy of Marik's bestial minion.
The next move was anticipated as Marik ordered Serket to attack Psycho Shocker, the mechanical humanoid was seized in Serket's massive claws and proceeded to devour – literally devour – the monster; Jounouchi was stumped by the action whilst the rest of us recoiled slightly upon witnessing the spectacle, I actually felt a little sickly upon watching this occurrence and pressed a hand to my mouth.
"Ah… now that's revolting," Kylie complained. Glancing at my big sister I noticed that she looked a tad paler than usual, not that anyone could blame her since everyone – even Yami and Seto – looked to be unsettled; Marik did comment that whilst it was a unpleasant sight, that was how Serket's Special effect activated and this effect allowed Serket to take half of the devoured monster's attack points and add it to its' own attack.
Holy Beast Serket – ATK/2500 – ATK/3700
Because of the new addition to its' strength the eye symbol on the creature flashed slightly and the scorpion proceeded to stand on its' hind legs with more spikes emerging across its' surface, Anzu and Mai quickly caught on that the more Serket attacked then the more powerful it became; which meant that if Jounouchi didn't find some way to destroy the creature soon it would be too powerful to stop.
This was a dangerous pinch that Jounouchi was in at the moment as he drew a card from his deck to look at it, I sucked in a breath as I hoped that this card would be able to get him out of trouble; such a thing didn't come to pass as I practically deflated upon hearing those words, Jounouchi proceeded to pass his turn.
Once more Marik had Serket attack with the being the Insect Queen – with Marik calling it a sacrifice – and once more we were forced to watch one monster devour another, it was a sickening sight to behold with several of us turning away or closing our eyes to avoid the sight until that dreadful crunching and screaming sound mixture faded away; I looked back and found that Serket had grown insect wings that were styled like a bat.
Holy Beast Serket – ATK/3700 – ATK/4900
Mai and Anzu began to encourage Jounouchi to stay strong despite how desperate this situation was becoming, however Shizuka had finally reached the end of her rope as she declared that she couldn't watch anymore and the auburn haired girl started to run away from the duel, all of us stared after the girl unable to find the strength to stop her.
"Don't you run, Shizuka! Look at me!" Jounouchi called out. His words did cause the girl to stop her retreat as she proceeded to turn around to look at her brother. "I might lose this, but… I want you to watch until the end! You found light in the deep darkness, a light called courage," Jounouchi spoke. At those words I saw Marik's eyes widen as if what the blonde had said struck a chord with the Egyptian man. "So, no matter what happens, don't you run back there!" Jounouchi encouraged. Shizuka agreed to those words and she moved over to stand by us once more but my attention was focused on Marik.
His eyes had changed, the cold indifference that was placed over his eyes had turned warm and saddened, almost as if he was reliving a memory that was both happy and sad; this man was not as cruel and sadistic as Marik appeared to be through his puppets, that was what further increased my suspicions of the man's true identity and his continual looking down to our location didn't help matters.
Thanks to that glancing I had managed to figure out that the person he was looking at was Namu, which deepened my own suspicions about the boy being connected to this entire mess of the Ghouls; looking back at the man I saw his eyes had a faraway look in them, almost like he was reliving a memory of some distant time and there was great pain within that memory from the look in his eyes.
"Katherine-chan… me and My Other Self have been speaking and…," Yugi's voice came. It was comforting to feel his presence brushing against my own through our connection but his words did cause a small amount of worry to burst to life inside of me, although I already had my suspicions about what he was going to say. "… we believe that the man currently dueling, isn't actually Marik," Yugi finished.
"You're not the only one. There is something about him that simply doesn't fit with what we've experienced," I admitted. Yugi wasn't surprised by the revelation of my own suspicions about the man claiming to be our enemy and I felt him leaving my mind, but I decided to impart my other suspicion to him before he could do so. "Yugi, I believe that Namu is the one who our suspicions should turn towards now," I stated. As he left I felt the shock yet understanding of my words rush through Yugi and in the physical plane I noticed Yami's eyes dart to Namu with a dark look in them.
There was nothing we could do now, whether it concerned helping Jounouchi win this duel or about confronting Namu regarding our suspicions, however that didn't mean that I enjoyed being forced to stand by and watch my friend being forced into such a difficult situation, I wrung my hands together and focused on the man pretending to be Marik who still seemed to be lost within his own mind.
I pressed my teeth against my lip and wondered if I should attempted to pry into the man's mind; it was an intrusion of privacy and I didn't like doing such a thing but given everything that was currently happening perhaps it would help me answer some of the numerous questions that were currently running through my mind; besides if he really was the enemy then knowing more about him wouldn't hurt.
Just as I began to raise my Millennium Gauntlet clad hand to point at 'Marik' a hand clamped on my shoulder causing me to jump slightly as I turned to see that Kylie had knelt down next to me with an angry light shining in her eyes, I ended up bowing my head as I began to fiddle with the edge of my cardigan hoping that Kylie would eventually stand back up or at least that she wouldn't pry into my intentions.
"I thought you were better than that Katherine. Prying into someone's mind is an intrusion of privacy and the utmost abuse of our power. Plus if that really is Marik then going into his head isn't something I want you to do. Who knows what horror he's done," Kylie lambasted in English. I felt the others looking at us in confusion probably wondering what the two of us were talking about; I looked into my sister's green eyes as my lips pressed tightly against each other.
"Sorry sis, I guess I just wanted to do something and got carried away with myself. I don't feel right just standing here and doing nothing to help him out," I admitted. Kylie smiled gently as she settled a hand atop my head as a way to comfort me and show that whilst she was angry at my reckless action, she wasn't totally mad about my attempt since she knew that I already regretted doing it.
"Just don't do it again," Kylie stated. She then ruffled my hair causing me to swipe at her hands as she chuckled whilst standing back to her full height and I turned my attention back to the duel which still hadn't move on from the paused scene that it had been when I felt into my musings, I was admittedly a little annoyed that neither duelist had made any move in the few minutes that had elapsed but I was also glad since that meant I hadn't missed anything during my thoughts.
Once more 'Marik's' eyes fell down to where Namu stood before he closed them and once the eyes were opened, they were focused back on his opponent; whatever my suspicions were, there was definitely a connection present between the two of them and that could spell an immense amount of trouble down the road if the younger man was in fact the demon we'd been fighting against.
Jounouchi was about to start his turn when 'Marik' called out to the blonde and ordered him to give up on any hopes of defeating the Egyptian, however Jounouchi didn't listen to the man and instead passed his turn, implying he didn't have anything that could help him on his turn, that meant that Serket was about to become even more powerful by devouring Legendary Fisherman.
"You... despite the situation, you intend to continue dueling?" 'Marik' asked. Jounouchi claimed that his words were insulting and whilst it may indeed be useless to continue fighting, but Jounouchi had something that he had to accomplish and he intended to keep fighting until his Life Points hit zero, that was the kind of fighting spirit that one needed to possess during duel… no matter how grave the situation they were in.
"I respect you spirit," 'Marik' admitted. If I hadn't suspected the man of not being Marik already then that admittance would have cinched it for me, because Marik would never say those words nor would he ever have thought that and actively manipulated such a person; the way Marik had spoken through his puppets had implied as such with every sentence that he saw us as little more that annoyances, tools to be used or targets to get be rid of for his sick desire for misguided vengeance.
"Yugi, I'm sure you know. No matter how hard Jounouchi may try to turn this situation around… this is just one match Jounouchi can't turn around. Jounouchi can't win this duel," Mai admitted. It was cruel words for the woman to speak but she was a practical woman, however my sister proceeded to shake her head causing the blonde vixen to look at the red haired woman.
"Not yet… Jounouchi will still have a turn left after this one, that card could turn things around," Kylie commented. Yami smiled and then told Mai to look at the blonde boy, he wasn't wavering and wasn't worried about what was going to come, he was staring straight ahead at his opponent completely calm and confident which shocked Mai completely. "No matter the obstacles that arise during a duel, a duelist cannot lose their fighting spirit or they've already lost," Kylie stated.
"Those are the eyes of someone prepared for anything!" Yami stated. As the two duelists stared each other down, the tension began to thicken over quite rapidly cause Mai to slightly exclaim when she felt it baring down upon us. "That's right. The tension on this battlefield reflects both of their duelist's pride. They are both honoured they met each other," Yami stated.
"That shared fighting spirit is flooding across the entire field, until one of their Life Points hits zero or they run out of cards, this duel will not end because they will not stop fighting until the very end," I added on. 'Marik' made his move by drawing a card and ordering Serket to attack Jounouchi's remaining monster, it removed the human from the fish and devoured each separately causing me to flinch back slightly; Serket's appearance changed as it grew bigger and the stinger was replaced by a finned tail.
Holy Beast Serket – ATK/4900 – ATK/5825
"Now Jounouchi it's your turn. Your last one, that is," 'Marik' stated. Whether he knew it or not, the imposter was correct because on 'Marik's' next turn then this duel was going to end yet for some reason an unsettled feeling was burning into my bones and my eyes drifted up to the sarcophagus that held Ra and I felt a shiver crawl across my body, so I wrapped my arms around myself to provide some semblance of warmth.
"There's nothing I can do, turn over!" Jounouchi announced. All of us were upset at this with Kylie clenching her fists tightly but I simply wrapped my arms around me even tighter than before. "What you can see, but can't see. I got a funny feeling… a little while ago, I reached the point where I was resigned to losing…and just then, when winning and losing didn't matter, it's like I saw something I couldn't see before. Why didn't I figure it out sooner? Must have been the heat of battle… Marik brainwashed me. He forced me to fight my friend in a duel to the death, a pointless battle that only hurt our hearts. I can't forgive the bastard who set up that duel and forced us to fight!" Jounouchi commented.
"Then go ahead and curse me. But a match is different, that anger is not enough to defeat me," 'Marik' stated. This man was certainly a good actor as he was easily able to respond to negative emotions and accusations being thrown at him without being shocked or surprised or even breaking his calm exterior, that certainly implied that there was a close connection between this man and the man whom he was impersonating.
"That's not what I'm trying to say!" Jounouchi protested. I didn't know exactly where the blonde was going with this train of speech but I had my suspicions about it. "When this duel started, I really hated your guts. But I've lost that hatred now and I tried to remember… how terrible it felt when that bastard took over my mind and implanted his memory. But you didn't use any cheap tricks and fought me fair and square! I may lose to you… but while fighting against you in this duel, it became one of the best I've had! You're the real deal! You're a True Duelist! I may not know your reasons, but I do know one thing. You aren't the guy who did that before. You aren't Marik!" Jounouchi declared.
A shocked expression crossed the imposter's face, with Seto vocalising his own surprise at this turn of events with Mai openly asking where the real Marik was and in response to that, Yami along with me and Kylie proceeded to turn our gazes onto Namu as he had swiftly move to the prime suspect of our list about who could be Marik and his angered expression certainly didn't help matters.
"What utter bullshit!" 'Marik' snapped. He had reached behind him and proceeded to pull out the Millennium Rod which was pointed at Jounouchi. "This Millennium Rod is proof that I am Marik. This duel shall continue as I have foreseen and no one listens to the words of a loser!" 'Marik' declared. He was actually angry about his deception having been seen through, that meant he must have had a close connection to Marik that spurred these strong feelings of loyalty; 'Marik' put the item away and drew his card. "Finish him off, Holy Beast of Serket! Direct attack Jounouchi!" 'Marik' ordered.
The titanic creature proceeded to stomp towards the blonde prepared to destroy what remained of the blonde's meagre Life Points yet he didn't even flinch as the wickedly sharp pinchers reached out towards him; Yami, Shizuka and Mai called out to the man but there was no way their words would stop the coming attack…
Suddenly, the pinchers stopped just as it reached the blonde's neck.
"Oh boy!" Kylie exclaimed. My jaw tightened as I look at the scene before me, a twisted feeling rising within my stomach. "Something's wrong," Kylie stated. Looking at the sarcophagus in the temple, I had a fairly good idea about what was about to happen.