Friends 'Till the End Part 1
I don't own Digimon or Yu-Gi-Oh
Daisuke slowly opened her eyes, groaning softly as she sat up holding her head. "Where am I?" she asked, looking around seeing herself in a fog laden place. "The last thing I remember was…" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes before gasping. "I let myself fall under Marik's mind control to protect Joey, but that doesn't explain where I am." She jumped to her feet and ran ahead only to bounce off an invisible barrier that flickered gold for a split second. "What the?"
She then heard a soft grumble and felt a creature curling around her protectively. She looked up and her eyes widened when she saw it was familiar to her. "Red Eyes?" she asked only to see this dragon was different, while its eyes were still red, it looked nothing like the original Red Eyes. It had dark gold lines along its body, a red gem on its forehead, along with smaller red gems on the sides of its chest, on the front of its legs and two larger gems on its wings which were three protruding sharp metal wing shaped blades. "Oh, Red Eyes…what happened to you?" she asked gently stroking its head as it grumbled lowly.
Before she could question it again, a small glimmer of light pierced the fog, slowly parting it to form a sort of viewing portal and she found herself looking at the docks at someone's back as they walked. "Namu, but he was knocked out by the Rare Hunters."
"Everything is in place, Kaiba and Little Yugi should be here shortly with the hopeless plan of rescuing you two." Namu said. "But with you as my mind slaves they will have no choice but to play by my rules. Soon their Egyptian God Cards and Yugi's Millennium Puzzle will be mine for the taking. And soon the whole world will be mine as well."
Daisuke's eyes widened before she growled. "Marik!" she was furious, she couldn't believe that he lied about being a friend, no doubt he hurt an unwilling Bakura just to get close to them and set them up to be caught.
"What's wrong my friends, you seem awfully quiet. It's almost like you don't have minds of your own anymore." Marik said with a smirk, looking behind him at both Daisuke and Tea, the two silently following him.
"Master Marik, I beg your pardon." A voice said and he saw one of his Rare Hunters approaching and kneeling beside Daisuke and Tea. Marik gave the Rare Hunter a look before nodding. "As you requested, I have collected twelve Locator Cards for the Battle City Finals." He informed Marik, holding up the twelve cards causing Marik to smirk.
"Excellent work, Odion. You've done well, now we may both qualify for the finals if we need to, but hopefully it will not come to that. In which case you've wasted a great deal of time, but hand them over anyway." He ordered and Odion did so, giving Marik six of the Locator Cards.
"It is an honour to serve you Master." The Rare Hunter said humbly.
"I always have a backup plan to get what I want, but today's plan seems foolproof. Give my servant the new deck we constructed for her." Marik ordered.
"Of course." Odion said, standing up he pulled a deck from his ropes and handed it over to Daisuke who wordlessly took it and put it into her duel disk.
"When Yugi is forced to duel against his brainwashed best friend, he's sure to lose it all." Marik said with a laugh.
"Replacing her pathetic deck with an unstoppable assortment of extremely rare magic cards was an excellent Master Marik." Odion said.
"This is my most ingenious scheme yet, I've taken what means the most to Yugi, his friends." Marik said, a twisted grin on his face.
"An ingenious plan master." Odion praised while Daisuke, trapped inside her mind banged on the golden dorm that had formed around her and the dragon.
"I gotta get out of here. I won't let Marik hurt my friends." She thought banging her fists on the dome which remained intact.
Meanwhile approaching the docks, the KaibaCorp helicopter pilot looked down at the area below before glancing back at the passengers in the cabin. "We're approaching our destination now Mr Kaiba." He said.
"Good work. Land as soon as possible." Kaiba ordered. He then looked to Yami, Veemon and White Veemon and Mokuba. "The moment we land, we find out where Marik is holding Daisuke and Tea, Mokuba you'll lead the way."
"We could be heading into a trap; it might be that Marik anticipated our arrival." White Veemon said.
"That's obvious, the sooner that snake reveals what he's planning, the sooner I can make him pay." Kaiba replied, arms crossed with an ice-cold glare. "That fool made his last mistake by kidnapping my brother and bringing innocent people into his little games."
"Well make sure you save some for me, I'm going to make that guy pay if he hurts Daisuke." Veemon said cracking his knuckles before Mokuba let out a surprised gasp.
"Hey, I see someone down on the pier, it's Daisuke!" he said, looking out the window down at Daisuke who was alone on the pier by a large cargo ship.
The helicopter began flying down towards the long girl whose expression was blank with her eyes glazed over. "It's time my servant, this is it. The fun is about to begin." Marik's voice rang inside her empty mind. "Alright Little Yugi this is it. When you discover I have turned your best friend against you, your soul will be crushed."
The helicopter landed and the door opened and Yami jumped out followed by the others. "Welcome." Daisuke said, her voice cold and empty.
"Daisuke." Yami said.
"Not exactly. Daisuke is not present at the moment, she's gone away." Daisuke replied her lips twisting into a small smirk.
"It's Marik!" Veemon shouted with anger.
"That's correct, and if you want your friends back you will listen to me." Marik speaking through Daisuke replied.
"What's going on?" Mokuba asked.
"Marik's taken control of her mind, seems he's still playing games." White Veemon answered as Kaiba grit his teeth.
"Daisuke, you've got to be in there." Yami called out to his friend only for her smirk to widen.
"It's pointless. We're now playing by my regulations Yugi, I'll release your pathetic friends after I get what I want." She continued, raising the arm with her duel disk on it. "However, since the things I want from you are your Millennium Puzzle and your Egyptian God Card, there is only one way to end this. You and I are going to duel."
"You're insane!" Yami shouted back.
"Refuse and your friends are my slaves forever!" Daisuke told him, crossing her arms she chuckled softly. "So, what's it going to be, duel or condemn your friends to everlasting servitude."
Yami growled softly as Kaiba stepped forward. "I'd do the smart thing Marik, I'd let Daisuke go right now. If you were a real man you would duel us in person, not hide behind your mystical mumbo jumbo."
"Be silent." Daisuke growled at Kaiba, shocking the CEO at how cold the normally kind and warm person sounded now. "I'll retrieve Obelisk from you after I have finished with Little Yugi, now follow me if you wish to try and save your friends." She said before she turned and began walking down the pier.
"What do we do? If we follow her, we're bound to stumble into another one of Marik's traps." Veemon said in worry before another voice called out from behind them.
"Yugi, I suggest you do exactly as I say." They all turned to see Tea walking down the stairs leading from the cargo ship.
"Oh no, Tea!" Yami said, seeing the glazed over eyes of his friend as she continued walking down towards them.
"This may come as an unpleasant surprise, but like your friend Daisuke, Tea too is now under my control." Tea said before laughing.
"Marik leave her alone, she's done nothing to you!" Yami demanded.
"Looks like I've turned your closest friends into your greatest enemies. You're at my mercy." Tea continued, walking past the group, following Daisuke as Yami ran after them followed by the others.
Soon, Tea and Daisuke had led them all to a square made of wooden planks out on the water at the edge of a concrete walkway. Above the square was metal rigging with a large anchor suspended above the ocean that was in the middle of the square.
"Welcome to my very special dueling arena, look around you, should you accept you'll be battling your friends in a duel like you've never experienced, for the highest stakes imaginable." Tea explained, Daisuke already standing on one side of the square smirked at Yami as he walked onto the square and stood across from her.
"Alright, let's duel if it means saving my friends." Yami said.
"Let's begin, here try these on for size." Tea said holding out two shackles and soon both Daisuke and Yami had one of the shackles around their left ankle, the chains running up to the anchor above them. "Notice how you're both connected to the large anchor hanging above you, thirty seconds after a player's life-points hit zero the anchor will drop to the bottom of the sea."
"That's right, now look down." Daisuke said with a smirk, glancing down at the box between her feet with Yami doing the same. "This box is your life-point counter, but it also holds the key to your survival. When one player's life-points reach zero, the other player's box opens revealing a key that unlocks their shackles. Remember, you only have thirty seconds before the anchor drops." She continued to explain while Tea mindlessly walked over to a chair on another pier nearby.
"So, the loser of this duel will be dragged to the bottom of the ocean, while the winner goes free at the last second?" Yami questioned.
"That's right, quite ingenious isn't it?" Daisuke asked, sadistically chuckling at Yami's expression.
"But wait, if I win this duel will you set Daisuke and Tea free?" Yami asked.
"You'll have to fish Daisuke out of the sea first, and don't think I've forgotten about Tea, I'll get to her role shortly." Daisuke continued. "And before you think of stalling this duel out for too long, if there is no winner within forty-five minutes, the anchor will automatically drop sending both of you plummeting into the sea."
"But you will lose Yugi, but before that anchor drops, I'll take your puzzle and your Egyptian God Card." Tea continued, chuckling softly.
"Alright I've heard enough, this duel is getting way out of hand. We've got to stop this before someone gets hurt." Mokuba said.
"And before Marik tries that sort of thing on you guys." Veemon said and Kaiba nodded.
"As head of the Battle City Tournament, I demand that this duel be stopped now!" he shouted.
"Sorry, but this duel will proceed as planned." Tea said, sitting down in the chair she had walked to and metal restraints clasped around her wrists and ankles leaving her trapped. "And speaking of plans, here is the final piece of my plot."
"Hey what's that!?" Mokuba asked, seeing a giant crane moving towards Tea, holding a large crate before it stopped with the crate now hanging above Tea.
"That can't be good!" Veemon yelped as Yami turned around to look at what was going on.
"What is the meaning of this Marik!?" he shouted.
"I'm afraid that anchor won't be the only thing that's getting dropped." Daisuke told him with a smirk. "I've taken extra precautions to ensure nobody stops this duel, if anyone tries anything that crate above Tea's head will fall, you wouldn't want her to be hurt now would you?" she cooed softly as the Rare Hunter inside the crane cabin smirked and pulled into view a bound and gagged Joey who had a few bruises on his face and the young boy was currently struggling in his bindings.
"Joey!" Veemon and Mokuba shouted in worry.
"Little Joey will also be going for a swim if you try to interfere, so make sure you think before you do anything reckless Kaiba." Daisuke continued.
"Now for one last thing, we wouldn't want Tea to miss out on the show, now would we?" Tea asked before she slumped forward, her eyes closing, and she let out a soft moan. "Wh…where am I?"
"Tea!" Yami said as the girl continued to regain her bearings.
"Now Yugi, remove your Egyptian God Card from your deck, it's off limits. I won't have you use it against me, it's rightful master nor will I let you take it with you to the bottom of the sea." Daisuke continued.
"Very well Marik," Yami said, removing his belt which held his deck box he then tossed it aside. "I wasn't planning on using Slifer anyway, it's far too dangerous to use. But I still have Daisuke's Dark Magician Girl in my deck, she just might be able to help me get through to her." He thought.
"Now whoever wins will claim that Egyptian God Card while the loser goes swimming with the fishes." Daisuke said.
"My plan can't possibly fail, I'll soon have Slifer the Sky Dragon and Yugi's puzzle. Nothing can stop me!" Marik thought.
"Now it's time to duel!" Yami said, both his and Daisuke's life-points climbing to 4000.
"Yugi…and Daisuke, they're dueling?" Tea asked herself completely confused as to what was going on even while she struggled in her restraints.
Meanwhile at the train station, Tristan and Serenity walked out of the building. "Finally made it, must be good to be back huh?" Tristan asked Serenity who smiled.
"Yeah, Daisuke, Joey and I used to hang out here all the time." She replied, looking around and basking in the familiar scents and sounds.
"Speaking of your siblings, we should go find them. I just wish I knew where they were." Tristan muttered, seeing a phonebooth down the stairs he rushed over and began dialling a number unaware of three ghoulish looking Rare Hunters watching him and Serenity with evil smirks.
Back at the pier, Yami drew his first card of the duel. "What's wrong, afraid to attack your friend?" Daisuke questioned.
"I don't think so Marik, I play Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts!" Yami said, summoning the monster to the field, it roared as it appeared in defence mode. "That ends my turn."
"Very well." Daisuke said, drawing a card and smirking. "Say goodbye to your Gazelle, I activate Raigeki to destroy it!" she shouted, playing the magic card and a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky striking Gazelle destroying it in a flash of light. "Next I summon Red Eyes Wyvern!" her dragon appeared on the field spreading its wings with a roar. "Attack his life-points directly!" she commanded.
Her dragon launched a fireball at Yami making him grunt in pain and his life-points fell to 2200. "I trust you're not going easy on me because we're old friends, that'll cost you." Daisuke warned him.
"We're not friends Marik," Yami growled, he drew his next card and nodded. "I summon Big Shield Gardna in defence mode." The warrior appeared in front of him, its large shield protecting it from harm and Daisuke smirked.
"If you think that monster will keep you safe from my attacks, you're a bigger fool than I thought." She said, drawing her next card. "I play my Hinotama magic card, this allows me to inflict 500 points of direct damage to your life-points!"
"Watch out!" Tea shouted to Yami who looked up as a giant fireball fell from the sky and slammed into him making him cry out in pain as the flames scorched his body as his life-points dropped by 500 to 1700.
"Magic cards like that are forbidden in Battle City!" Mokuba shouted with a frown.
"Marik must have added those cards to her deck, there is no way she'd use them on her own." White-Veemon said.
"That's the second time he's attacked me directly." Yami thought, grimacing in pain as smoke hissed off his clothing.
"Looks like Yugi's starting to panic against my powerful deck, enhanced with cards gathered by my Rare Hunters Daisuke's deck is unstoppable. Yugi will be out of my way shortly, leaving behind his puzzle and his Egyptian God Card." Marik said, standing on his boat which was hidden in a covered dock nearby.
"Pardon me Master Marik," Odion said as he kneeled behind the man. "I've just received word that Daisuke Wheeler's sister has arrived in Battle City."
"Did you say her sister?" Marik asked before he smirked. "She will be of some use to me, bring her to me at once." He ordered.
"Of course." Odion said bowing his head before departing.
Inside her mind, Daisuke was still banging on the dome keeping her cut off from her body as Marik's voice rang out in the void around her. "Excellent work my mind slave, I'll continue to use my Millennium Rod's power against your former friend until his life-points are completely wiped out."
"I can't let this continue, there has to be some way I can stop this." Daisuke thought as the dragon around her purred gently trying to comfort her.
With Yami, he was struggling to stand as his body ached with pain. "I've already lost more than half my life-points, if I don't find a way to stop this duel Daisuke and I will both be finished and then the entire world will be in danger." Yami thought.
"Time's running out little Yugi, don't tell me you've given up." Daisuke said.
"She's right, in less than an hour that anchor will fall into the ocean taking us both with it." Yami thought, glancing up at the anchor as he drew his next card. "Heart of the Cards, guide me, help me save Yugi's friend." He pleaded.
Meanwhile back with Tristan and Serenity, the two were walking along looking for Daisuke and the others. "I'm sorry, I should have asked where we all wanted to meet up before I ran off to get you." Tristan apologised to Serenity.
"It's okay, we'll find them." Serenity reassured him. Grabbing his arm, she turned him to face her. "We're in Battle City and so are they, how far could they have gone?"
"Good point. You're right, what was I thinking." Tristan replied, his eyes then narrowed when he caught sight of a Rare Hunter walking up to them while another two approached the other side of them.
"Hold it right there, unless you wanna get hurt." One Rare Hunter said with a smirk.
"Tristan, what's going on?" Serenity asked worried as Tristan pushed her behind him.
"Quick get on my back!" he told her kneeling so she could climb onto his back. "Hold on tight!" he told her before running down a nearby alleyway.
"Don't let them get away!" one of the Rare Hunters shouted, the three men chasing after them into the alley, unaware they had been seen by Kari and Willis who were nearby, the two Digidestined sharing a look before nodding and rushing to a nearby computer café.
Back at the pier, Tea continued to struggle in her restraints. "What is going on here, why are Daisuke and Yami dueling?" she asked Kaiba and the others.
"Long story short, Marik's taken control of Daisuke's mind and is forcing her to duel Yugi on his behalf to get his hands on Yugi's Egyptian God Card, and if Yugi refuses to duel then both he and Daisuke will be dragged into the ocean by that anchor." Mokuba explained.
"Marik's behind all this, that must mean he's the guy Ishizu warned us about. It's all making sense now."
"Hey, shut up!" the Rare Hunter sitting in the crane shouted to Tea with a smirk, she looked over and saw him waving a detonator around. "If you keep talking, I'll end you right now." He warned, gesturing to the crate above Tea's head.
"You don't have the guts." She replied.
"You wanna bet!?" the Rare Hunter shouted.
"Kaiba stop this duel right now!" Tea shouted. "If you don't, the whole world may be in danger of being destroyed!"
"We can't do anything, it's too risky." Mokuba told her regretfully.
"There has to be something I can do." Kaiba thought, looking around the area several times trying to find something that he could turn against the Rare Hunter and Marik.
"Time is of the essence Yugi, stalling won't help you save your friends. So, make your move now!" Daisuke shouted, drawing all attention back to the duel.
"Alright, there has to be something that I can do." Yami thought, looking at his hand he thought over his options. "Her Red Eyes Wyvern has 1800 attack points, I don't have any monsters that can defeat it for now, but Big Shield Gardna has enough defence points to protect me for now. I think I know what to do."
"I set one card face down." He told Daisuke, a card appearing in front of him. "And then I summon Kuriboh in attack mode." He said, the furry monster appearing on the field with a coo.
"Are you an idiot, Kuriboh is a pathetically weak monster, it only has 300 Attack points, are you trying to lose on purpose?" Daisuke questioned, a hand on her hip and she coyly smirked. "Fine by me, I don't care how I win your puzzle, so long as you perish by my hand. Red Eyes Wyvern attack!" She ordered.
Her dragon roared, charging a ball of fire in its mouth. "Hold on Marik, activate face down card!"
"A trap!" Daisuke growled.
"Indeed. My Spellbinding Circle shall stop your wyvern's attack." Yami said, the magical circle appeared around her monster's torso and it writhed around in pain and thanks to the trap card's added effect its attack points dropped by 700 to 1100. "Your monster has been weakened while my Kuriboh is safe from harm."
"He weakened her monster." Kaiba said, a slight relief appearing on his face.
Daisuke however smirked quite sadistically. "Alright little Yugi, I've had enough of your childish games. It's time for me to regain control of this duel."
"Daisuke don't attack!" Tea pleaded with her friend who ignored her as she held a card out from her hand.
"Since this worked so well last time, let us try it again. Hinotama, attack his life-points!" Daisuke shouted, the magic card in her hand glowing before another fireball flew down from the sky striking Yami blowing his cape off his body.
"Yami!" Tea cried out in worry as Yami's life-points dropped by another 500 points to 1200 while Daisuke cackled evilly.
"Farewell forever Yugi!" Marik's laughter rang out in her empty mind as she continued laughing.
The end of the chapter
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