Author's Notes: First I have some very sad news. I want to thank everyone who wished my grandfather well … but … he died on May 30th. He was eighty-three and died of natural causes. He would have been eighty-four on June 16th. He had just come home from the hospital two days earlier. The last thing we said to each other was 'I love you' and he died peacefully in his bedroom next to my grandma. I have been crying most of the time I wrote this chapter, but I won't stop writing. It helps to heal the pain. I'll keep adding chapters till this story is over. And please look forward to my next two as well. And I do have sequels planned for the future as well. Thank you everyone. Thanks for the reviews and your wonderful and encouraging words. We'll all move on in my family and everything will be all right. It always is. And thanks to Yugioh, these last three months we went through with my grandpa weren't as bad. The anime and manga kept my mother and I going through the hard times. (We both love Yugioh so much!) And writing these fanfics for all of you helped also. Thank you so much.
Well, here's chapter 12. Please enjoy!
Chapter 12:
The Finals
Ryou was just finishing his ice cream when he saw Téa suddenly rush by him. "Téa! Are you alright?"
Téa turned quickly to face Ryou as she ran past him. "Please, leave me alone." She looked away, trying to hide her tears.
Ryou blinked and started to run after her, but was stopped by Yugi's voice.
"Let her be. She had a small problem with Bakura and Yami. She'll be alright." Yugi said as he approached the white haired boy.
Ryou eyes cast downward. "What happened?"
"Bakura and Téa were fighting and then when she went off to make things up with him, Yami stopped her. She ran off frustrated." Yugi explained.
"I see …" Ryou whispered.
"Well, we should be heading back to the stadium now. It's almost time for the second round." Yugi spoke softly as he started to walk passed Ryou. "Bakura's probably there by now."
Ryou nodded and followed Yugi in silence. What happened between her and Bakura? Everything seemed to be going well with them and why would Yami interfere? None of this made sense. He decided he would ask Bakura later on at home. And hopefully get an answer without getting punched out in the process. He winced as he brought his hand up to his now bruised eye. No, he definitely didn't want to go through that again.
***
"And next up is Bakura VS Ishizu Ishtar!"
People began to cheer.
"Ishizu Ishtar wasn't a well-known name in Battle City, but most know her now as the woman that almost beat Kaiba. She's an amazing duellist who you need to watch out for. She has her own Egyptian exhibit at the Domino Museum. And belongs to a clan that protects the ancient Pharaoh's Tomb in Egypt. Related to Marik Ishtar, the nut that almost ruined Battle City, these two loyally watch over the Pharaoh's tomb and protect his sacred things."
Marik was growling from his seat. "Just who IS this announcer? And why haven't we seen Pegasus yet?" His eyes began to dart around suspiciously. He looked up at the announcers' stand and his jaw dropped. A man wearing a black hat, white semi-unbuttoned shirt and black pants was seat there. He was holding a mic close to his mouth. His long white hair drooped over his slim shoulders.
"PEGASUS?" Marik shouted almost falling out of his seat.
Pegasus looked up from his mic when he heard his name being called. He saw Marik, Joey, Rex, Weevil, Mako, Bandit Keith and many others glaring at him. He gulped. "Uh …" He cleared his throat. "And now, let the duel begin!!!"
Bakura, who had been oblivious to everything at that moment, simply huffed and placed a card face down and put 'Headless Knight' in attack mode. His eyes darted around the large stadium. Why was he even bothering looking for her? It was obvious she was upset. But did she really mean those words before she left? And why didn't she chase after him? His eyes stopped and landed on the face he had been searching for. Téa was there. She had come, but she looked different. Her eyes looked puffy and her hair was rather messy. He felt a slight tug in his heart. He hurt her. He had to make it up to her somehow.
"Are you just going to stare into space, or are we going to duel?" Ishizu asked in a rather irritated tone.
Bakura glared at her. "I end my turn."
Ishizu smirked and placed two cards face down. "My turn is over."
Bakura looked over at her cards, his eyes narrowing ever so slowly. "I see." He picked up a card from his deck and grinned. "I place this in defence mode and end my turn."
The battle went on for quite a while. Both duellers testing each other out, playing things carefully. Everyone was on the edge of their seats.
Téa was feeling awful now. She didn't hate Yami, but she despised him for what he just put her through. One minute he was rejecting her, the next he wanted to be with her. Why couldn't he have been honest before? Maybe, maybe he saw that her heart really did belong somewhere else. Maybe if she hadn't agreed to help Ryou this never would have happened. But, she wanted to help and she loved being near Bakura. And that kiss they shared. She brought her fingers up to her lips. She'd never felt anything so electrical before. Her whole body jolted with pleasure when he placed his lips over hers'. No. She shook her head. No matter what anyone says, she loves Bakura and not Yami. He was only a crush brought on by her silly girlish thoughts and feelings. "Hormones are a bitch, …" She muttered to herself. Right now there was only one thing she should focus on and that was this duel. Bakura had taken a great lead and she would cheer him on no matter what.
"And Bakura is once again the winner! Now he must face Seto Kaiba, the CEO of Kaiba corp. and the host of Battle City. Which by far was nothing compared to Duellist Kingdom. I mean, who ever heard of battling on a blimp? Why a castle is so much more elegant!" Pegasus glared at Kaiba. "Well, now shall we begin?"
Kaiba began with a narrow lead, but soon Bakura was able to catch up and now they were tied and one thousand and five hundred life points each. Kaiba was positive he had the advantage. He summoned his three blue eyes white dragons and combined them. Bakura wasn't sure if he could defend against that, but tried anyways. Sadly he just couldn't concentrate anymore, he was very tired. He placed a card face down and waited for the final blow from Kaiba. Kaiba grinned maliciously and had his 'Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon' attack Bakura's life points directly. His life points went to zero. He bowed his head his hair hiding his eyes. "Well played rich guy, well played." He exited the arena.
"Wow, what a stunning display folks! Now let's give Kaiba a big hand shall we?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm. "And now we have Marik Ishtar VS Seto Kaiba! Marik is a young man who thought it would be fun to take over the world. He controlled people's minds and cheated his way to the finals of Battle City. He forfeited to Yugi and returned to Egypt with his sister and adopted brother. Let's see if he has what it takes to beat the former champion of Duel Monsters."
Marik shuffled his deck shakily. He was trembling with rage. He was so going to kill Pegasus for this!
Bakura frowned when he saw the only seat available was the one next to Yami. He heaved a heavy sigh and threw himself down into the seat. His slid down in the chair, his legs spread apart and stretched out. He was tired. Too many things had happened at once and in such a short time. He ran a hand through his spiky hair. He noticed Téa was watching in from her seat opposite his. He felt a pain in his heart once again. He placed his hand over his heart. I guess I do have one. Even though I thought I lost it all those years ago. He closed his eyes tightly and felt a wet substance in them when he reopened his eyes. He wiped his eyes and noticed a wet liquid on his finger. Was he crying?
Téa watched as Bakura stared at his hand. He looked so depressed and he had been through so much. Now he was crying and didn't know how to react to it. She reached out to him, wanting to console him somehow. She withdrew her hand though deciding it was best to let things between them cool off first. She refocused her attention on the duel. She frowned. Just who the heck was she supposed to root for in this duel?
"And Marik is now playing his famous 'Revival Jam!' It seems like Kaiba is in quite a predicament!"
"Come on, Kaiba! Let's see you attack me now!" Marik taunted.
Kaiba growled. He remembered that card from Marik's duel with Yugi. He knew that Yugi was able to take control of it, but he himself didn't have a card that could control monsters. He was screwed. Damn. He really needed to get out of this losing streak he was in.
Marik was smiling quite evilly which made Ishizu worry. His face suddenly became deadly serious. "I see you have no move to make. Then let's end this, shall we?" Marik attacked Kaiba's card, which was 'Saggi the Dark Clown' Unfortunately he had lost all of his other monsters due to Marik's traps. He dropped his remaining cards from his hands and climbed out of the arena's stand.
"And Marik is the winner! Next up are the final rounds. Marik will duel Joey Wheeler!"
Joeys' face became unusually pale. "I don't want to die again!" He shrieked, jumping out of his seat.
Yugi, Ryou, Téa and Mai held him down.
"Joey, he's not evil anymore! And he doesn't have the Rod! Relax! He's just as harmless as Kaiba!"
Joey stopped momentarily and thought over Yugi's words. "I don't want to die again!" He repeated.
Téa grunted as she held his arm behind his back. "Nice going, Yugi! You DO realize those two hate each others guts and would kill each other if they could, right?"
Yugi blushed. "Uh, sorry about that. Heh, Heh …
Joey then turned to face Mai. "Why haven't you duelled yet? I thought you were a Battle City Finalist?"
Mai shrugged. "I was, but I declined the offer to duel. At first I thought I could make up for everything during Kaiba's tournament, but my heart just isn't into duelling anymore." She sighed.
Joey stopped struggling and freed himself from the gangs grip. He kneeled down in front of Mai. "Mai, you are a great duellist. I don't see why you feel like this. I … I love watching you duel. It inspires me to do my best even in the toughest situation." He blushed.
Mai smiled and leaned over kissing him lightly on the lips. "You really are the best, Joey Wheeler. Go kick Marik's butt for me, ok?" She winked.
Joey went a deep shade of red. "Uh, yeah … sure … thing ..." He stuttered. He was so dazed from the kiss; he tripped on the steps and went crashing down them, rolling right into the arena.
"And here comes Joey Wheeler with a very unusual entrance! Yugi's best friend and second place winner in Duellist Kingdom. He was an amateur who used to be beaten by a girl, which is also one of Yugi's close friends.
Téa sunk down in her seat when she saw the camera pan in on her and everyone started to stare.
"He went on to duel his best friend and obviously lose to him in the finals. Soon he entered Battle City and made his way to the top, mostly by pure luck! He battled fiercely against Marik but lost and died."
Everyone went quiet and stared at Joey in horror.
"Uh, I mean … passed out. Now he is back and determined to be number one for once in his life! Let's begin now!" He spoke quickly, as Joey was making death signals by moving his fingers across his neck in a cutting motion.
Joey and Marik narrowed their eyes at each other. "LET'S DUEL!"
Yami was watching Marik carefully. Even though they were all friends now, well almost all of them that is. He still couldn't be too trusted. He was a very unstable person. Yami then turned his attention to Bakura. He looked down and then up and turned his body to face the former thief. "Bakura!" He spoke sternly.
Bakura's eyes trailed over to Yami, he turned and faced him. "What do you want, Pharaoh?" He asked, a hint of tiredness in his voice.
"Bakura, I want to apologize for earlier. I didn't know what I was doing. And Yugi made me realizes something. I've been acting very selfish and I wasn't really thinking about Téa's feelings."
"And why do I need to know this?" He asked, angrily.
"Bakura, I stopped Téa from going after you." He confessed; his eyes concealed by his spiky blond bangs.
"What?" Bakura asked in a horse whisper. "She did come after me?"
Yami nodded. "She did. And I knew that if you two made up, I would never be able to be with her. Bakura, that girl loves you. I don't want to mess anything up between you two. I'm sorry. I'll tell Téa the truth. Just promise me something?"
Bakura crossed his arms. "I'm listening."
"Don't ever hurt her. She's a very fragile minded girl. Even the slightest thing could break her heart. I know. I watched her agonise over Yugi when our quest was nearing the end. She has her heart in the right place, but if broken, it would be impossible to heal. So, as long as I know you won't hurt her, I'll step back. BUT, if she comes to me telling me you did, don't think you will ever see her again!" His voice had started out soft but soon grew more deep and threatening as he went on.
Bakura huffed. "Pharaoh, I love Téa. It's that simple. I don't know how, but it is. I would never dream of hurting the ones I love. I may have seemed a cold and heartless thief, but I had my reasons for doing what I did. And not once did I hurt a woman or child! If you even think I would hurt her, you are out of your mind. I swear I will never let any harm come to that girl as long as I breathe. Is that good enough for you?"
Yami nodded and looked back to the arena. "Yes. Thank you." His eyes went downcast suddenly as he wondered if he had really made the right choice. Yugi did say he was being selfish. Maybe this could make amends? He wouldn't want to live if Yugi hated him. So for his sake, he'd do the most honourable thing he could and that was to let go of the girl he loved and let her be with the man she loved.
During their whole conversation, Joey and Marik had been going back and forth in their duel, one always coming out on top when it seemed hopeless. Now Joey had fifty life points left and Marik had one hundred. Joey was exhausted. Then he remembered Mai's words and he looked over to see her and Serenity cheering him on. He would win, for them. "Marik, this duel is over now. But you are not the winner!" Joey picked up a card from his deck and slammed it down. "Thanks to my dear friend Yugi, I decided to add this card to my deck! Meet, 'Brain Control'!"
"NO!" Marik shouted in horror.
Joey took over the mind of 'Revival Jam' and then attacked Marik directly with 'Legendary Fisherman' reducing Marik's life points to zero.
"And with a startling change in the battle, Joey has now become the winner! Give him a big hand folks!"
The crowed was cheering wildly.
Marik picked up his deck and walked off, refusing to even look at Joey.
Joey called out to him. "Marik!"
Marik turned around. "What is it, Wheeler?"
Joey hopped off of the stand and ran toward him. He held out his hand. "Good duel, Marik. You defiantly would have won if Yugi hadn't suggested I buy that card."
Marik shook his hand, smirking. "I know."
They stared at each other in silence and just kept shaking hands. Soon their eyes narrowed and they bared their teeth. Their grip on each other's hands tightened and they started to growl.
Everyone sweat-dropped as the two blonds began rolling around on the floor punching and kicking each other and shouting out profanities.
"Um, we'll take a short break before the final duels." Pegasus said nervously. He reached for a bottle of wine and downed it. "I hope I don't have to duel that Wheeler kid. He's nuttier then I am!" Pegasus stood up, stretching his legs. "Well, let me know when the ambulance arrives so when can finish off this tournament, Croquet."
Croquet nodded and sweat-dropped watching the two boys rolling all over the arena in a cloud of dust. "Yes … sir.
Yugi laughed nervously. "I knew that moment wouldn't last long between those two."
Everyone nodded.
To be continued …
