*~*Disclaimer!!!!*~* Ok, these last few parts are super, SUPER, SUPER long, and I found out early that I can't possibly fit them all into one chapter ^-^;;;;;; So I broke them into smaller chapters. Heheheheh so in other words, when I said it'll take 2-3 chapters to finish this darn thing.... um.... I slightly lied. LOL!!! Then again, I have SO MUCH FUN writing this........ ANYWAY!!!!! You know the drill, and if you don't then you can read the other chapters previous to see who gets what credit for what character, setting, etc. I'm sick of typing disclaimers like that.... Oh lookie! My story's gettin' very violent cuz of all the last minute fight scenes.... hehehe I've upgraded the rating to R lol!!!!! Again, ANYWAY!!!! Enjoy!!!! Please read and review, cuz I like those lol!!!!! (ALSO, side note: Sais are those three pronged blades that martial artists use. Think of the weapons Raphael has in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ^-^;;;;; Or, think the battle scene between Nefertiri and Anuksunamun in the Mummy Returns. YES, pruningshears, you're completely right about the sais ^_^)
"Remind me to really, REALLY kick Merrick's butt when we get through this." Groaned Midnight, sweeping back her ruby red and black bangs. "Now the question is, where is everybody and WHERE AM I!?!?!?"
Forcing herself to stand instead of being laid out on the floor, she surveyed her surroundings, hoping to find any sign of her friends. The room was enormous, about as big as a coliseum and decorated just like one. Stone pillars rose up from the floor to hold the ceiling above, and rows upon rows of hardened, smooth, slate bleachers surrounded the circular area she was standing on. Almost everything was lit with the torches placed strategicly around the room on the pillars, giving the room some warmth and light.
A shuffle of feet behind her made her whirl around. "Who's there?"
The blackened shadows seemed to shift and waiver as a voice chimed from deep within them, laughing at Midnight's expense. "After all this time, you still have to ask yourself that? 'Who's there'? You always know it's me."
Narrowing her eyes, Midnight whirled around in circles, trying to catch the voice that hailed her. "Come out Demona!!! I know it's you!"
"NOW you do, you mean."
The first woman glared into the shadows, not knowing where her adversary was. "It was you who Yamara and I felt, wasn't it? Your powers were giving you away even before we saw you!"
"That may be," Replied Demona, revealing herself from the shadows behind Midnight. "but I'll trouble you no more!'
Midnight sensed rather than saw the snap kick to her left, and barely ducked in time to avoid it. Somersaulting forward, her momentum carried her back to her feet, where she stood with a fighter's pose.
Undaunted, Demona slid her hands backward behind her head, unsheathing a long, glittering steel katana blade from the scabbard on her back. Wickedly, she swiped the air with her razor sharp toy, testing its strength and durability. In doing so, she bashed Midnight with her own verbal army. "What, can't stand the heat Midnight? Funny, I thought you were better than that."
The red and black-haired spellcaster sighed heavily, knowing that the fight ensued would be one of her most tiring. "Demona, I don't want to hurt you. I can't fight you, not again!"
"Well too bad, Because I really, REALLY want to hurt you!!!" Lightning quickness errupted from her muscles, as Demona forward flipped through the air, landed silently behind Midnight again, and took a mindblowing sweep of her katana at neck level, trying to sever her opponant's head from her neck. Midnight ducked and dodged, weaving in and out as Demona dished out sweep after sweep, blow after blow. The combination of ducking moves and dodges was enough to make Midnight's head spin.
"This fight is going to go by in a blurr..." She muttered under her breath.
"What? What was that Midnight? Was that your plea for surrender?" Mocked Demona, twirling her katana blade in her hand.
"Not on your life."
"Then put up or shut up!"
A flurry of kicks, spins and sweeps of the katana blade kept Midnight on her toes, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet as she ducked, dodged, and otherwise avoided. Annoyed, Demona threw her head back, howled in displeasure, and kicked up her attack, swinging her favorite blade faster and with more force in attempts to hit Midnight.
*WHOA, she'll take my head off with those kinda strokes!* Thought the red and black-haired spellcaster, backflipping ten feet away to avoid another collision. *If I'm not sharp, I'm done for!*
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Waking up with a start, Kaiba groaned audiably, clasping his hand to his forehead as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. "Uhhhhh... where am I? What happened?"
"It seems we're in a coliseum of some sort." Replied a voice to Seto's left. The red spikey hair with blonde bangs revealed the face of Yami, attentive as always. "I have no idea where we are though. The storm Merrick conjured up disoriented us all."
The first of the two glanced up and narrowed his eyes threateningly as he glanced around the room and took note of who was missing. "WHERE IS SHE YUGI?! WHERE'S MIDNIGHT!?!? I know you took her from me, so where IS SHE!?!?"
Undeterred, the Pharaoh only gazed at his adversary and sighed. "As much as you would like me to take credit for kidnapping Midnight, it wasn't me. As you can see," He gestured around the "Globe Theatre"-sized room, complete with seating in the round, "Yamara's missing too."
"What makes you think I should believe you? I trust you less than I can throw you, so why would I believe you now?"
Yami scowled, "You'll have to learn."
"INDEED!!!" Hollered a voice to their right. Two, lone figures began to approach, and even off to the distance, Yami and Seto could make out the silhouettes of Merrick and Bakura, their gold and silver hair billowing out like capes in back of them. Gripped in their hands were their dueling decks, their complete 52 card hands safely secured by their fingers in a death grip. It was Merrick who had addressed the two top duelists, smirking in his usual, cocky way as he continued, "You WILL have to learn to work together, if you ever want to get out of here alive!"
Furious, Yami turned to look Merrick straight in the eye, as the mock Pharaoh came to a stop ten feet infront of the real one. "MERRICK! What have you done with Yamara and Midnight?! If you hurt either one of them I'll--"
"Or you'll what Yami? You'll kill me? Banish me to the Shadow Realm? HARDLY. You see, if you get rid of me, not that you COULD, but, if you got rid of me or Bakura..."
"You'll never see Midnight or Yamara again." Finished Bakura, glaring at Kaiba and Yami under his long bangs with his black-outlined eyes. He crossed his arms and smirked. "You're completely in our power now."
"What do you want from us?" Demanded the Pharaoh, balling his hands into fists. "What do you want from us that has such a high price at stake?"
Merrick paced in front of him and Seto, walking around in his usual confident swagger. "What do we want? I thought you already knew Pharaoh, or else you're slower than you look."
"Give me back Midnight you cocky little miscreant." Intoned Kaiba in his own icy cold tone of voice. "Give her back to me or so help me, you're face might be battered and bloodied, and that would be BEFORE I rearrange it to look like abstract art!"
"Temper, temper!" Chided Bakura, sneering. "For someone who's so cold he's sub-zero, you sure can be a hothead."
"ENOUGH of this!!!!" Enraged, Yami took a couple steps forward, almost face to face with Merrick. "Name your price or I'll send you back to whatever filthy little hole you both crawled out of!"
Merrick threw his head back and laughed, amused. "HA! You're entertaining when you're enraged Pharaoh. Maybe there's hope for your pathetic little soul in this world after all! Come join me Pharaoh, and we could rule the world."
"As much as the promise of power is appealing, the thought of working with the two of you makes me sick to my stomach!"
"As you wish Pharaoh!" Retorted Merrick, his blank, light violet eyes seemingly to glow, accenting his cruel smile. "You want my terms? I want your power Pharaoh, and your Egyptian God card!!"
"No one gets that card before I DO!" Shot back Kaiba, lowering his eyes and stepping forward. "If there is anyone who will get that Egyptian God card, it'll be ME."
Bakura smirked cruelly. "My partner wants your power Yami, and I want your Millenium Puzzle. Those are our terms, now hand all of it over!"
"NEVER!"
"Very well then," The silver haired teen replied, shrugging, "You're not leaving until you hand them over, whether we have to fight you for it or not."
"It seems we WILL have to fight." Interrupted Merrick, cocking his head to the side and never taking his gaze out of Yami's eyes. "They aren't giving anything up to us without one."
Yami met his gaze steadily, trying greatly to conceal his anger. "If it's a fight you want Merrick, then I challenge you to a duel! Let's see how great you are from the LAST time we met!"
Kaiba stared at his heated rival, quizzical. *He's a fool. Yugi knows he can't face Merrick alone, especially if it's against both Merrick AND Bukura. Besides, my chances are better at getting BOTH my Egyptian God cards from separate people, rather than to have them team up against me.* He smiled an icy cold, frigid grin, and addressed Merrick directly. "Merrick, if it's a fight you want, then let's go. Winner gets what he wants." He held up his own God card, Obilisk the Tormentor, its hulking figure massive against the bluish background of the card. "And I KNOW this is one of the two cards you've been looking for."
*Kaiba's trying to taunt Merrick into a duel! Most likely to get Merrick's Ra card... I'll have to be careful if this will be a tag team duel, or else we'll both fail!* Thought Yami, his gaze flickering to his rival and, in a round about way, friend. *He's gotta learn not to be so full of himself. I hope being married to Dawn will turn him around sooner, rather than later...*
A flashing glow interrupted his thoughts, as the blinding force of light shone so brightly that he had to close his eyes, shielding them with his arms. "AHHHHH! What's going on!?!?"
"Prepare yourself Pharaoh, for the duel of your life!!!!" Screamed Merrick, laughing at Yami's surprise as the arena seemed to shift and reshape itself, bending to Merrick's will with the greatest of ease. The ancient ground bubbled up like soap bubbles, forming a twisting, shifting pattern until it eventually reformed itself into the modern day dueling arena. Two huge pilons rose from the ground, their gritty sand surfaces shifting molocules around to form metallic pillars of machinery.
A fully functional dueling arena had formed in the place of dirt and sand, and when he opened his eyes, Yami could only gasp at the power Merrick held in this realm. "Oh god... heaven can only save us if Merrick has that kind of power here... and we're completely at his mercy..."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Her heavy breathing and sagging stature could only mean one thing: Midnight was exhausted and hurting badly. They had been going at it hour upon hour, minute after minute without stopping. Now, she barely had enough energy to avoid Demona's slashes, and hardly enough strength to cast any spells. In truth, she was dead on her feet, with no time to stop, and no heart to stop moving.
Demona, however, showed no motion to stop. Her victory near, she grinned widely as she began to form a ball of heated plasma in her hand from the raw magicks of the realm they were held captive in. Grinning when it had reached basketball size, she threw it with deadly accuracy at her adversary, with Midnight barely escaping out of the way before it zoomed from Demona's hand into the pillar beyond, shattering the stone surface as the other blasts had done to similar ones in the past. Her dodge did not come without a price, as Midnight winced in pain, a second degree burn from the blast grazing her right hip. Her jump to avoid the collision had left her sprawling, and without the strength to get back up and fight. She struggled, but to no avail.
Her enemy stalked towards her, a feral, wolfish grin upon her face as she sensed victory. "Too bad, you're still second best Midnight. Too bad, you were so good back in the day... Guess all this time in the Shadow Realm has made me the better." Her footsteps took her to Midnight's left side, as Demona gently traced swirling patterns up and down Midnight's arm with the tip of her katana blade, her grin widening with every bloodshed drop and every howling pain Midnight experienced. "This ends Midnight. The only thing that's good is that you will be released from the pain that binds you to this world, just as you should have been let go when Dawn wanted to die. Don't you see? I'm helping you Midnight. Helping you to die, in order for you to truely live. There is no life without death, and your time of death is now." The redhead flipped the katana blade in her hand, ready to plunge it through the middle of her prey's spine, a paralyzing deathblow. "Death awaits you Midnight, and your time in this world is forever over." This said, she raised the blade high, high enough to where the tourchlight made it glitter, gleam and shine like wildfire before she brought it down with tremendous force, plunging the blade deep as her prey gave an earth shattering scream, painfully loud. Midnight kept screaming as Demona pushed the blade deeper, anchoring her former friend to the floor. And with Midnight's dying screams behind her, the blade fixed into the center of her back to ensure a gaping, fatal hole in Midnight's chest, Demona left the room as quickly as she could, her face frozen stiff and indifferent.
"Remind me to really, REALLY kick Merrick's butt when we get through this." Groaned Midnight, sweeping back her ruby red and black bangs. "Now the question is, where is everybody and WHERE AM I!?!?!?"
Forcing herself to stand instead of being laid out on the floor, she surveyed her surroundings, hoping to find any sign of her friends. The room was enormous, about as big as a coliseum and decorated just like one. Stone pillars rose up from the floor to hold the ceiling above, and rows upon rows of hardened, smooth, slate bleachers surrounded the circular area she was standing on. Almost everything was lit with the torches placed strategicly around the room on the pillars, giving the room some warmth and light.
A shuffle of feet behind her made her whirl around. "Who's there?"
The blackened shadows seemed to shift and waiver as a voice chimed from deep within them, laughing at Midnight's expense. "After all this time, you still have to ask yourself that? 'Who's there'? You always know it's me."
Narrowing her eyes, Midnight whirled around in circles, trying to catch the voice that hailed her. "Come out Demona!!! I know it's you!"
"NOW you do, you mean."
The first woman glared into the shadows, not knowing where her adversary was. "It was you who Yamara and I felt, wasn't it? Your powers were giving you away even before we saw you!"
"That may be," Replied Demona, revealing herself from the shadows behind Midnight. "but I'll trouble you no more!'
Midnight sensed rather than saw the snap kick to her left, and barely ducked in time to avoid it. Somersaulting forward, her momentum carried her back to her feet, where she stood with a fighter's pose.
Undaunted, Demona slid her hands backward behind her head, unsheathing a long, glittering steel katana blade from the scabbard on her back. Wickedly, she swiped the air with her razor sharp toy, testing its strength and durability. In doing so, she bashed Midnight with her own verbal army. "What, can't stand the heat Midnight? Funny, I thought you were better than that."
The red and black-haired spellcaster sighed heavily, knowing that the fight ensued would be one of her most tiring. "Demona, I don't want to hurt you. I can't fight you, not again!"
"Well too bad, Because I really, REALLY want to hurt you!!!" Lightning quickness errupted from her muscles, as Demona forward flipped through the air, landed silently behind Midnight again, and took a mindblowing sweep of her katana at neck level, trying to sever her opponant's head from her neck. Midnight ducked and dodged, weaving in and out as Demona dished out sweep after sweep, blow after blow. The combination of ducking moves and dodges was enough to make Midnight's head spin.
"This fight is going to go by in a blurr..." She muttered under her breath.
"What? What was that Midnight? Was that your plea for surrender?" Mocked Demona, twirling her katana blade in her hand.
"Not on your life."
"Then put up or shut up!"
A flurry of kicks, spins and sweeps of the katana blade kept Midnight on her toes, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet as she ducked, dodged, and otherwise avoided. Annoyed, Demona threw her head back, howled in displeasure, and kicked up her attack, swinging her favorite blade faster and with more force in attempts to hit Midnight.
*WHOA, she'll take my head off with those kinda strokes!* Thought the red and black-haired spellcaster, backflipping ten feet away to avoid another collision. *If I'm not sharp, I'm done for!*
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Waking up with a start, Kaiba groaned audiably, clasping his hand to his forehead as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. "Uhhhhh... where am I? What happened?"
"It seems we're in a coliseum of some sort." Replied a voice to Seto's left. The red spikey hair with blonde bangs revealed the face of Yami, attentive as always. "I have no idea where we are though. The storm Merrick conjured up disoriented us all."
The first of the two glanced up and narrowed his eyes threateningly as he glanced around the room and took note of who was missing. "WHERE IS SHE YUGI?! WHERE'S MIDNIGHT!?!? I know you took her from me, so where IS SHE!?!?"
Undeterred, the Pharaoh only gazed at his adversary and sighed. "As much as you would like me to take credit for kidnapping Midnight, it wasn't me. As you can see," He gestured around the "Globe Theatre"-sized room, complete with seating in the round, "Yamara's missing too."
"What makes you think I should believe you? I trust you less than I can throw you, so why would I believe you now?"
Yami scowled, "You'll have to learn."
"INDEED!!!" Hollered a voice to their right. Two, lone figures began to approach, and even off to the distance, Yami and Seto could make out the silhouettes of Merrick and Bakura, their gold and silver hair billowing out like capes in back of them. Gripped in their hands were their dueling decks, their complete 52 card hands safely secured by their fingers in a death grip. It was Merrick who had addressed the two top duelists, smirking in his usual, cocky way as he continued, "You WILL have to learn to work together, if you ever want to get out of here alive!"
Furious, Yami turned to look Merrick straight in the eye, as the mock Pharaoh came to a stop ten feet infront of the real one. "MERRICK! What have you done with Yamara and Midnight?! If you hurt either one of them I'll--"
"Or you'll what Yami? You'll kill me? Banish me to the Shadow Realm? HARDLY. You see, if you get rid of me, not that you COULD, but, if you got rid of me or Bakura..."
"You'll never see Midnight or Yamara again." Finished Bakura, glaring at Kaiba and Yami under his long bangs with his black-outlined eyes. He crossed his arms and smirked. "You're completely in our power now."
"What do you want from us?" Demanded the Pharaoh, balling his hands into fists. "What do you want from us that has such a high price at stake?"
Merrick paced in front of him and Seto, walking around in his usual confident swagger. "What do we want? I thought you already knew Pharaoh, or else you're slower than you look."
"Give me back Midnight you cocky little miscreant." Intoned Kaiba in his own icy cold tone of voice. "Give her back to me or so help me, you're face might be battered and bloodied, and that would be BEFORE I rearrange it to look like abstract art!"
"Temper, temper!" Chided Bakura, sneering. "For someone who's so cold he's sub-zero, you sure can be a hothead."
"ENOUGH of this!!!!" Enraged, Yami took a couple steps forward, almost face to face with Merrick. "Name your price or I'll send you back to whatever filthy little hole you both crawled out of!"
Merrick threw his head back and laughed, amused. "HA! You're entertaining when you're enraged Pharaoh. Maybe there's hope for your pathetic little soul in this world after all! Come join me Pharaoh, and we could rule the world."
"As much as the promise of power is appealing, the thought of working with the two of you makes me sick to my stomach!"
"As you wish Pharaoh!" Retorted Merrick, his blank, light violet eyes seemingly to glow, accenting his cruel smile. "You want my terms? I want your power Pharaoh, and your Egyptian God card!!"
"No one gets that card before I DO!" Shot back Kaiba, lowering his eyes and stepping forward. "If there is anyone who will get that Egyptian God card, it'll be ME."
Bakura smirked cruelly. "My partner wants your power Yami, and I want your Millenium Puzzle. Those are our terms, now hand all of it over!"
"NEVER!"
"Very well then," The silver haired teen replied, shrugging, "You're not leaving until you hand them over, whether we have to fight you for it or not."
"It seems we WILL have to fight." Interrupted Merrick, cocking his head to the side and never taking his gaze out of Yami's eyes. "They aren't giving anything up to us without one."
Yami met his gaze steadily, trying greatly to conceal his anger. "If it's a fight you want Merrick, then I challenge you to a duel! Let's see how great you are from the LAST time we met!"
Kaiba stared at his heated rival, quizzical. *He's a fool. Yugi knows he can't face Merrick alone, especially if it's against both Merrick AND Bukura. Besides, my chances are better at getting BOTH my Egyptian God cards from separate people, rather than to have them team up against me.* He smiled an icy cold, frigid grin, and addressed Merrick directly. "Merrick, if it's a fight you want, then let's go. Winner gets what he wants." He held up his own God card, Obilisk the Tormentor, its hulking figure massive against the bluish background of the card. "And I KNOW this is one of the two cards you've been looking for."
*Kaiba's trying to taunt Merrick into a duel! Most likely to get Merrick's Ra card... I'll have to be careful if this will be a tag team duel, or else we'll both fail!* Thought Yami, his gaze flickering to his rival and, in a round about way, friend. *He's gotta learn not to be so full of himself. I hope being married to Dawn will turn him around sooner, rather than later...*
A flashing glow interrupted his thoughts, as the blinding force of light shone so brightly that he had to close his eyes, shielding them with his arms. "AHHHHH! What's going on!?!?"
"Prepare yourself Pharaoh, for the duel of your life!!!!" Screamed Merrick, laughing at Yami's surprise as the arena seemed to shift and reshape itself, bending to Merrick's will with the greatest of ease. The ancient ground bubbled up like soap bubbles, forming a twisting, shifting pattern until it eventually reformed itself into the modern day dueling arena. Two huge pilons rose from the ground, their gritty sand surfaces shifting molocules around to form metallic pillars of machinery.
A fully functional dueling arena had formed in the place of dirt and sand, and when he opened his eyes, Yami could only gasp at the power Merrick held in this realm. "Oh god... heaven can only save us if Merrick has that kind of power here... and we're completely at his mercy..."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Her heavy breathing and sagging stature could only mean one thing: Midnight was exhausted and hurting badly. They had been going at it hour upon hour, minute after minute without stopping. Now, she barely had enough energy to avoid Demona's slashes, and hardly enough strength to cast any spells. In truth, she was dead on her feet, with no time to stop, and no heart to stop moving.
Demona, however, showed no motion to stop. Her victory near, she grinned widely as she began to form a ball of heated plasma in her hand from the raw magicks of the realm they were held captive in. Grinning when it had reached basketball size, she threw it with deadly accuracy at her adversary, with Midnight barely escaping out of the way before it zoomed from Demona's hand into the pillar beyond, shattering the stone surface as the other blasts had done to similar ones in the past. Her dodge did not come without a price, as Midnight winced in pain, a second degree burn from the blast grazing her right hip. Her jump to avoid the collision had left her sprawling, and without the strength to get back up and fight. She struggled, but to no avail.
Her enemy stalked towards her, a feral, wolfish grin upon her face as she sensed victory. "Too bad, you're still second best Midnight. Too bad, you were so good back in the day... Guess all this time in the Shadow Realm has made me the better." Her footsteps took her to Midnight's left side, as Demona gently traced swirling patterns up and down Midnight's arm with the tip of her katana blade, her grin widening with every bloodshed drop and every howling pain Midnight experienced. "This ends Midnight. The only thing that's good is that you will be released from the pain that binds you to this world, just as you should have been let go when Dawn wanted to die. Don't you see? I'm helping you Midnight. Helping you to die, in order for you to truely live. There is no life without death, and your time of death is now." The redhead flipped the katana blade in her hand, ready to plunge it through the middle of her prey's spine, a paralyzing deathblow. "Death awaits you Midnight, and your time in this world is forever over." This said, she raised the blade high, high enough to where the tourchlight made it glitter, gleam and shine like wildfire before she brought it down with tremendous force, plunging the blade deep as her prey gave an earth shattering scream, painfully loud. Midnight kept screaming as Demona pushed the blade deeper, anchoring her former friend to the floor. And with Midnight's dying screams behind her, the blade fixed into the center of her back to ensure a gaping, fatal hole in Midnight's chest, Demona left the room as quickly as she could, her face frozen stiff and indifferent.