Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh.

Chapter Seventeen: Seek No Sanctuary In God

"We seek the meaning of life because we are mortal." -Final Fantasy IX

"There's something more going on here then just what we were thinking. Did you hear what Drake was saying? By the sound of it something similar happened to his sister. Kaiba, any information you could give us would be extremely helpful."

The CEO of Kaiba Corp looked up from his computer at his rival, Yugi Moto. Shortly after the end of the last quarter final duel Kaiba had brought his medical team up. Drake had been moved to the medical wing, and the gang had decided to investigate. The only people not present were Taichi, and Hinata. Kensai and Ryu stood in the back, waiting for their chance to tell them the news. Ryu's face was completely blank.

Kaiba's fingers were a blur as he accessed supposedly secret information, information that was illegal for doctors to give out because it was personal information on a patient. His connections and his computer skills were getting them what they needed to know. After a few minutes of this he stopped and moved his chair back to let the others come closer. "I've brought the information up. Take a look."

The gang crowded around, watching as illegal information scrolled in front of their eyes. Most of it was technical stuff on the girl's condition, but some of it was easier for them to understand...particularly the picture. "She looks a lot like Drake doesn't she?"

The woman that they saw before them, for she was older then any of those present, could have been picked out as Drake's sister by someone with a mental defect. Because the picture was current it seemed rather fake. Her violet eyes, identical in color and shade to Drake's, were open and staring blankly ahead. Her russet brown hair fell past her shoulders, it was naturally wild, though in an attractive way. Even her facial features were similar to Drake's.

Ryu's eyes widened as he got a look at the woman in the picture. He stumbled backwards and let out a cry of surprise. "That's the same girl from before!" The gang turned to him, confused as to what he was saying. None of them but Dalin knew anything about the truth behind the loss of his Blue Eyes, and what had happened after.

"Back before Battle City started, Drake came to me and challenged me to a duel. There was something odd about him the whole time, it was like he was a completely different person." At this Yugi and his friends sent meaningful glances at each other, each of them having quite a bit of experience in situations like that.

"He challenged me to a duel and took me to a place he called the Shadow Realm, and we dueled. He won and took my Blue Eyes, but something happened after the duel. Drake...he...well he split into two different people. I was attacked by a monster she brought to life and knocked unconscious, but I got a good look at her. Add about four years to her and she would have been the mirror image of that girl...Drake's sister."

The entire room burst into discussion on this topic, trying to figure out exactly what the truth was. The tirade of conversation continued for a few minutes, until Kaiba stopped them with his commanding voice. "If that stuff interested you, maybe this will as well."

The gang stopped arguing and moved over to see what was now on the computer. In a separate window from the hospital information was a registered account, that belonged to Drake's sister. Apparently she had her own bank account, and all purchases were filed through it. "According to this file, about a year or so before she went into a coma she and the rest of her family went to Egypt because they won some vacation ticket."

None of the gang could understand exactly how that made sense, as Egypt wasn't exactly a premier vacation spot. Those in the room who understood intrigue a little better, started to realize that somebody had set up the family going to Egypt...but for what reason they didn't know. "They spent an entire week there, and according to the account records she purchased, and I quote, 'A golden disc, ancient Egyptian in origin, cost approximately 25,000 yen.'"

The gang was silent for several moments as they contemplated this, but Kaiba wasn't finished. Going back to the medical information he pulled up the general stuff, including date and time of the inset of her coma. "The information listed here says that she was ushered into the hospital at exactly 7:51 P.M. She was accompanied by a medical team and a young boy who signed into the hospital as Daisuke Ihachi...her brother."

Once again everyone was gathered around Kaiba, staring at the screen as Kaiba continued to pull up information on the mystery girl and exactly what she had to do with Drake's current activities.

"The hospital's records say that she drifted in and out of consciousness for hours on end. It also says that her injuries, head trauma, were most likely caused by a sharp impact. It also says that she suffers from a condition that is sometimes called 'Glass'. It says that her body was very weak, and something that would be minor to most people would be severe in her case. They state that the blow was most likely mild, but her condition made it severe in nature."

A picture of her at her entrance into the hospital showed the same girl from before, about four years younger, on a Gurney with bandages wrapped around her head. A medical team was crowded around her, moving her to a hospital room, and a younger version of Drake followed after, a haunted look in his eyes.

"The hospital submits that it tried to contact the only living relative of the two children, one Tenjiku Ihachi...their mother. When they informed her of what happened apparently she had a mild stroke. Because they were unable to get a response from her a police dispatch was sent. They were the ones who found her unconscious on the floor. She too was rushed to the hospital."

The picture next to his information was that of a middle aged woman, with jet black hair and blue eyes. She didn't even remotely resemble her children, except that her hair had the same wild nature that theirs did.

"The next bit of information is the last part of the general stuff. The hospital states that the only ones present in the room at the time of the girl's loss of activity...when she entered the coma...were a team of doctors and her younger brother. One of the doctors later wrote that she gave her brother the necklace that she had been wearing. She told him something then, but nobody heard it except the boy. They didn't question him on it."

Kaiba searched through the database briefly before coming up with another window. He squinted at it for a second before deciding to show it to the others.

"The only remaining piece of information only came up in the search because its mildly connected with the girl. About four days later a boy was brought into the morgue. Upon investigation it was discovered that he had been dating...guess who...Drake's sister. The family said he had loved the girl dearly and it was deemed suicide. A few of the morgue staff that inspected the boy said that they didn't agree, as the damage that was done to him would have been too difficult for him to perform on himself without passing out before completion. They were overruled by a majority of the rest of the staff."

Upon hearing this the entire gang turned their heads to stare to their left. Separated by a dozen sets of walls was the medical room on the tower, where three people currently rested. One was Kirani, who was in something of a coma of her own, soulless as she was. The next was Rishid, who had been unable to keep active and had passed out from overexertion.

The last was Drake Ihachi, in bed with severe trauma of a mysterious nature. Kaiba's doctors said the damage was healing itself, which was completely impossible. By this time Kaiba had learned that a number of things that should be impossible actually were possible. He had started to believe in magic.

"For now...I say we continue the tournament. Drake won't be waking up for at least a day, and Serenity is in there watching him. If he wakes up early we'll know about it. And we have to continue the tournament."

Dalin and Yugi looked up at each other, and nodded. Worrying over Drake wouldn't get them anywhere. Right now they had a duel they had to run, because only one of them was destined to stop Taichi, and they had to find out who it was.

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The two duelists stared at each other as the stood on the dueling field, ready to begin whenever they were given the word. This duel, first of the semi-finals, was still a Battle City duel, and therefore the winner would be walking away with the loser's rarest card. Each of these duelists possessed one of the three Egyptian god cards, and that meant the winner would walk away with two.

(DLP: 4000, YLP: 4000) Dalin grinned as he drew his opening hand, watching Yami do the same thing. Then Dalin drew a sixth card and surveyed his hand. He looked over it and started to make his plan. With the cards he had he'd be able to get a distinct advantage over Yami quite quickly, as long as he made sure Yami fell into his trap.

"I'll begin by setting one monster in defense mode. I'll finish up by placing a single card face down. Now let's see what you can do Yami. Do you have what it takes to defeat me? A better question...could you do it without Osiris?"

Yami grimaced and added a sixth card into his hand. He had several useful cards in his hand, enough to get a strong monster onto the field in his first turn. From what he had seen of Dalin's duels, increasing life points was his focus, so he'd have to finish off Dalin's life points as fast as he could.

"I'll star this duel by playing Polymerization! This fuses Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Baffomet from my hand to create Winged Beast Chimera(2100/1800)!" The first monster appeared and was revealed to be a two headed monster with wings extending from its back. It certainly looked dangerous, but as a fusion monster it couldn't attack in the first turn.

"Now I'll continue by playing the magic card, Quick Attack! With this Chimera can attack this turn! Go Chimera!" The beast took flight and smashed Dalin's monster apart with a two-headed skull bash. The particles from Dalin's monster faded leaving only Dalin's laughter.

"I now give you two things to worry about. The first is the trap card Solemn Wishes, which will increase my life points by 500 every time I draw. The second is that the monster you just destroyed is the rare and deadly Goddess of Balance! When it would be destroyed in battle it is instead removed from the game!"

Yami grimaced as he watched a holographic image of a beautiful brown-haired woman with a golden aura around her appear above them both. Three sets of golden wings extended from her back, and dangling from her hand was a large set of balancing scales. "What does she do?"

Dalin grinned as the goddess hovered above them, giving him an advantage that Yami knew nothing about. "When she is removed from play I can select one of several abilities. I've already selected the ability that she will use...you'll just have to wait to find out what it is."

Yami grimaced and took one of his two remaining cards, setting it on the field before he ended his turn. The moment Dalin drew the duelist would be getting a five hundred point lead, and in each of his turns he'd be able to keep up that boost. "Draw!" (DLP: 4500)

The muscular duelist grinned and selected a card from his hand. With five cards in his hand he had more options then Yami did with only one. Based on the way he was grinning his previous turn had only played out that way because he wanted Yami to attack. "Next turn will be when I unveil my key card! The card that will make it impossible for you to win this duel! To do so I play Angelic Choir! This card allows me to discard one card from my hand in order to place one card from my deck into my hand that relates to angels in some way. So here I go!"

A chord was struck and dozens of majestic voices sang out from all around them. Even the goddess above them joined in briefly as Dalin sent a card from his hand to the grave, and then ejected his deck from its holder. It didn't take him long to find the card that he wanted, and he placed it in his hand. "Of course, this turn I can't use the card. So I'll set up one card, and summon Holy Shine Sphere(500/500) in defense mode!"

A single brown backed card appeared behind a floating purple sphere with minimal stats. Despite its appearance, Yami was fairly certain that the monster was an angel sub-type. If he could get another monster in this turn he could get through for a direct attack. Dalin would restore only a fraction of his life points next turn, so Yami would take the lead. "First I draw!"

"I shall do so as well." Yami's eyes widened in surprise as the goddess above them tilted its scales first from one side, then to the other, and finally letting them balance out. He also watched as Dalin drew a new card, increasing his life points by yet another set of five hundred. (DLP: 5000) "Thus is the effect that I chose! Now I draw one card each turn, one in mine, and one in yours! At this rate my life points will leave you in the dust!"

Yami grimaced and then looked down for the first time, to see exactly what card he had drawn. His look of despair turned to one of triumph as he saw the background color. It was a monster! "I summon Queen's Knight(1500/1600) in attack mode!"

Yami's new monster was a blonde woman wearing red armor and wielding a sword. Dalin knew all about the Tri-Knights. Though why Yami would have such a thing in his deck was a mystery to Dalin. "Now, Queen's Knight, attack his Holy Shine Sphere!"

The warrior woman charged forward and with a quick swipe of her sword split the sphere into two pieces. Each piece spun in the air for a few seconds before exploding into dust. "Chimera, attack Dalin directly!"

The winged beast took off after Dalin, but in moment it struck a shield that sent a massive barrier of blue energy up around it. "Activate Drain Shield! This trap card will negate your attack and increase my life points by the amount of attack points your Chimera has!" Yami gasped as Dalin's life points took a serious turn for the better, as energy flowed into him through the shield that had deflected his beast's attack. (DLP: 7100)

(DLP: 7600) Dalin added his next card into his hand, bringing the total cards in his hand back up to four. He grinned as he selected a card from his hand and placed it on the field in one of his monster zones. "I summon Venus, Angel of Creation(1600/0) in attack mode, and pay 1000 life points to special summon the two remaining Holy Shine Spheres(500/500 X2)!"

The blond angel appeared and stretched its wings out as far as they would go. Two of the remaining spheres that normally floated around it zoomed forwards, coming to rest in front of them. Now Dalin had a total of three monsters on the field. "It is time Pharaoh, time for me to reveal to you the key card of this duel. The key card of my deck that will make it impossible for you to achieve victory!"

Yami's eyes shot across the field, at each of the three monsters that Dalin possessed. He had already summoned this turn, but if he had some other way of continuing to summon then that would mean...Dalin's key card, the card he was so adamant about bringing out...was Ra! "Now I play the field magic card, Sanctuary of the Sky!"

Behind Dalin rose a massive temple set upon the clouds. Yami watched as angels of various sorts flitted in and out of this sanctuary. But what effect of the sanctuary would have that made it Dalin's key card...that he had yet to determine. "I will play Magic Guard on my sanctuary, which states that will keep my card from being destroyed. Now, Venus attacks Queen's Knight!"

The angelic woman raised her arms and fired off a burst of pure light. However before it could reach its intended target Yami acted to protect his monster. "Activate Magical Pigeons! This card will protect my monster from attack during this turn!" The blast of celestial light crashed into a top hat that appeared to cover Queen's Knight. The blast punched right through the hat, but instead of the knight being harmed, a bunch of pigeons flew out, and the knight was seen standing a few feet away. "Fine then, end turn."

Yami grimaced as both he and Dalin drew a card, thanks to Goddess of Balance. As long as that monster remained out of play he was at a distinct disadvantage, but there was no way for him to stop it. (DLP: 7100) "Now I summon King's Knight(1600/1500) and by its effect I can now special summon Jack's Knight(1900/1400)!"

The first new monster was a bearded man in orange armor wielding a stout broad sword. The second was a younger man in blue armor wielding a longer sword. The three monsters were assembled. They were the Tri-Knights. Monsters who worked together to get each other onto the field. However they wouldn't help Yami at all. "King and Queen, attack the two spheres! Jack, destroy Venus! Then finally Chimera will attack your directly!" His four monsters rushed forward to attack Dalin's monsters. Once this move was completed he would have reduced Dalin's life points to a mere 2600, giving himself the lead.

Before each attack struck, a small barrier of light appeared in front of the monsters. The blades of the Tri-Knights collided with these barriers and bounced backwards. Chimera made a vain attempt to get past the monsters, but a barrier sprang up and threw it backwards. "This duel, its too much for you! The effect of my sanctuary means that in battle all battle damage to my angels becomes 0! Not only can you no longer destroy my angels, but you can't cause me any damage through an attack against them either! It's the ultimate angel weapon, and the key card to my deck!"

Dalin drew his next card and smiled as he watched his life points raise yet again, reaching heights beyond what Yami could manage to defeat. Soon even the gods would be unable to stop him in this duel. Yami didn't have much longer before his defeat, and that same defeat was knocking at his door with the appearance of Dalin's key card. "You're lucky Pharaoh, for this next monster is no angel. Watch as I sacrifice one of my two Holy Shine Sphere's for Emperor Jabolug, the Thunder Warrior(2400/1000)! And when he is tribute summoned I can destroy one monster on the field...your Chimera!"

One of the two spheres shattered into holographic dust, and in its place appeared a fearsome monster. The monster was large in every dimension, standing at least seven feet tall. He was outfitted in silver armor with massive ribbed shoulder pads. Some kind of yellow spikes appeared behind his back, and power crackled around him. The warrior let out a cry of fury and unleashed a blast of lightning at Chimera, shattering it into many pieces.

"Emperor Jabolug, destroy Queen's Knight!" The warrior grunted in response and raised its arms above its head. Energy crackled above it in the sky, and a bolt of lightning shot down to collide with the spikes on its back. Yami suddenly realized that they were power collectors of some sort. Then the warrior extended his arms and sent a streak of lightning at the blond woman, blasting her into pieces. (YLP: 3100) "Now I set up one card and end my turn."

Yami watched as the situation continue to get worse as he drew and Dalin's life points increased. (DLP: 8100) The gap between the two of them was steadily increasing, and he had to find a way to finish Dalin off quickly. "This may not seem like a good idea, but I need time to regroup. So I'll switch my two monsters into defense mode, and then play Swords of Revealing Light!"

Dalin watched calmly as the swords rained down around his monsters, trapping them. He drew his own card and then smirked, knowing that the Pharaoh's situation was about to worsen. (DLP: 8600) "An excellent stall technique Pharaoh, however it will do you no good. I shall now activate Light of Judgement! By discarding one light-type monster from my hand, in this case Atomic Firefly, I can send one card from your field or your hand to the cemetery. So say goodbye to the Swords of Revealing Light!"

Yami gasped in shock as his entire plan went down the drain, his last defense gone. With three monsters Dalin would soon be able to cut through to his life points. If he summoned another monster in this turn then the damage would be worse. "I will send Venus and Jabolug to destroy your monsters, and then Holy Shine Sphere will attack directly!"

Two blasts of energy, one lightning and the other light, shot from the two monsters and crashed into Yami's monsters. The two knights had no chance to fight back before they were destroyed by the superior strength of Dalin's monsters. Then the little sphere zipped forward and collided with Yami, knocking him backwards. (YLP: 2600)

Yami's vision blurred momentarily from the impact, and he was forced to shake his head to clear it. When his vision cleared he saw Dalin standing across from him, duel disk raised up parallel to his chest and one card held in his right hand, separate from his other card. "It is fitting isn't it Pharaoh. Fitting that I should have a goddess above the field...and a god on the field. It balances things out. So watch as I bring this duel one step closer to the end by sacrificing my three monsters in order to summon the Winged Divine Dragon of Ra(4500/1500)!"

The golden dragon roared as it appeared on the field, darkening the sky above with its appearance. Now Dalin's advantage was complete. He had constantly replenishing life points, the strongest of the god monsters, and the ability to draw a card every turn. There didn't seem to be any options left to Yami...even Osiris couldn't help him now, for he had no way to summon it. "Just you wait Dalin, I'll find a way to win! If its necessary I can even use Osiris to defeat you!"

Dalin's laughter cut through his false bravado and forced him back into reality. There was no way to summon Osiris, and no way to win. "Don't be a naive fool Pharaoh. In this duel you can seek no sanctuary in god. There is no sanctuary for you!" Thunder crashed to punctuate his words, and all hope for Yami was lost.

********************************

The world was a strange place. One moment he was playing games with his sister, games ranging from Uno to Monopoly, and the next he was watching a young girl cower in fear beneath the outstretched hands of a enormous monster. Somewhere in his mind he was aware that these two events had only a little bit to do with each other, but the rest of him was confused.

His mind stretched out before him like a vast sea. All around him swam bubbles of light, and he quickly learned that within these bubbles were his memories. Some good ones, but all to often the memories that he encountered were unpleasant.

A sudden sensation ripped him away from that sea of bubbles, the sea of his memories. He was moving away from them, towards the air above. It registered in his mind that the sensation he had felt that had pulled him away from the memory sea was a cool and soft reassuring touch upon his forehead.

Blinking weariness from his eyes Drake Ihachi awoke, and focused on the girl who sat at the edge of the bed he was sleeping on. It took several moments before he was able to connect the face with a real person, and not merely some phantom. He was no longer in a sea of memory, he was now truly awake. "Serenity?"

The younger girl nodded and gave him a small smile. Had he been more fully aware he would have realized that a tinge of pink was coloring her cheeks, embarrassed that her own actions had woken the sleeping boy. "You've been asleep for a couple of hours now. Everybody else is watching Dalin and Yugi duel right now, but I decided that I would look after everyone here while they were doing that."

He blinked and started to roll over. However he discovered to his surprise that he was unable to move his body below the waist, so all he was able to accomplish was to twist his upper body to the side, and nearly fall out of the bed. He groaned and sat up, facing the younger girl. "What happened? What exactly is going on?"

The younger girl blushed and looked away, her eyes coming to rest on a chair across the room. Drake turned his gaze to the chair and realized why she was blushing. Resting on that chair was his clothing, and when he had sat up the sheet had fallen to his waist. He grimaced and looked down in embarrassment. "Serenity...I don't want to impose but...could you get my shirt for me? I can't exactly get up at the moment."

Serenity nodded and went over the chair. She grabbed the shirt and tossed it to him, looking away while he put it on. Finally she returned to the bed and sat down on it, and looked him in the eye. "What happened...you relived some bad memories, and your anger got the better of you. Dalin thinks that the power of your item accelerated your emotions, making them worse then ever. He said it's power has something to do with emotion, but I never heard exactly what. And...you nearly hurt Autumn...but she's fine. Dalin said you drained yourself using as much power as you did, so your body was pretty wrecked. He said since it was magical the injuries will heal themselves in time."

Drake grimaced and looked down, ashamed of his own actions. He could barely remember what had happened, but it had felt like he had become another person entirely. The entire thing didn't feel right in his mind, like it was a fuzzy picture that he had watched from somewhere else.

He stopped his musings as he noticed the object in Serenity's hand. It was a deck of Duel Monsters cards. "You're Joey's sister...and as good a duelist as he is I bet you're really good too. Could I see your deck?"

She blushed and shook her held, but held the deck out to him anyways. "I've never dueled before, and I didn't even really know any of the basics until recently when Tristan started teaching me. Its your deck." Drake took his deck from her and stared at it for a few moments, before deciding that he had to get bad memories out of his mind.

"Do you want me to teach you more of how to play Duel Monsters? I don't know if I'm as good as your brother, but I do know that I've been payed to teach people how to play for quite some time now, so I figure I can do a good job. What do you say?"

The young girl smiled, practically lighting up the entire room in doing so. It was a smile that reminded him of Kirani, for it was far to similar to hers to not remind him of her. "Okay. Well, the first thing I've got to teach you about are the three basic types of cards. Monster, magic, and trap. Each of these is split into different types. Effect monsters, ritual monsters, fusion monsters, normal monsters. Then you've got normal magic cards, permanent magic, and quick-play magic. Last are the traps, normal traps, counter traps, and permanent traps. I'll start by explaining each of the different monster groups."

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Deep within his own mind, Taichi Nobuki was having a chat with a certain dark spirit. At the moment Yami Malik and he were having a discussion about methods of torture, a conversation they both found pleasant and relaxing. Taichi was happy to have met this dark spirit, because he was Taichi's kind of scum. He was pretty sick minded for a mortal, but then again the sick mind he had developed had come from all the sickest and most depraved minds in mankind's history.

His thoughts were interrupted by cold laughter ringing through the walls of his mind. The dark spirit rose to greet their visitor, a fierce looking white haired man. Of course, it had to be the thief didn't it? "How are you here? You were banished to the Shadow Realm, never to return!"

The Thief King smirked and stepped up in front of them, item glowing as he gathered its power to do whatever he intended to do. "I said then that I am the darkness, you can't expect me to be defeated by such a paltry trick as banishing one to the Shadow Realm? Ha! But now I'm here to stop the two of you from ruining everything."

The two other men gave the thief confused looks, and Taichi rose to discover exactly what this man intended. "What is it that you mean? I could have sworn you considered yourself to be one of us 'bad guys'. Are you upset about being left out of the evil club? We could give you a spot if you were nice and begged us to give you one."

The thief snarled and extended his left arm, activating his duel disk. He thrust his deck into the slot and his counter rose to 4000. "I talk big all the time. It's the nature of people like us to talk big, just like you were doing a moment ago. But while I talk big, you plan far too big. I may desire power but you two are simply insane! Your current course of actions will lead to the destruction of all things, including yourselves. I wouldn't normally interfere with another so-called 'evil plan', but in this case you plan would end up with me dead, so I intend to stop you!"

Taichi smirked and allowed a duel disk to appear on his own arm. He inserted his deck and activated it, extending it into full position. His life points also counted up to 4000, meaning that both of them were ready to duel. "I respect your opinion Bakura, and while normally I'd be willing to spend time breaking a strong spirit such as yours, I'm not particularly in the mood. There are things I'd rather be doing then playing with upstart thieves with delusions of grandeur! So lets make this quick!"

The thief king smirked and drew his opening hand. "You read my mind! I'll start this duel off by setting two cards face down, and then summoning Headless Knight(1450/1700) in attack mode! Now I will play Occult Rule Breaker! At a cost of 1000 life points I can break a rule of the game in this turn. So I will choose to break the first turn attack rule! Headless Knight, attack him directly!"

Two brown-backed cards appeared in front of Bakura, followed by an armored knight whose armor stopped at the neck, leaving only empty space above it. Soon after it hit the field it charged forward and slashed Taichi across the arm, cutting deep into the flesh and letting blood flow freely from it. (TLP: 2550, BLP: 3000) Bakura let out a harsh lash as he saw the damage that he had caused in the first turn, and passed his turn to Taichi. "The first turn and already the damage you have taken might prove critical! Within your mind the damage will be all too real, and I can crush you with paltry ease!"

Now it was Taichi's turn to laugh, as the blood faded and the wound vanished. "You fool! You said yourself that this is my mind. Things are only as real as I allow them to be in here, and false wounds like this are mere trifles for my mind to banish!" Bakura grimaced at seeing his supposed advantage fall apart. Now he'd have to find another way to win.

"You know Bakura, our decks are actually rather similar. Your have an occult theme, and I have a more advanced form of the same. While you rely on the pathetic tricks of an occult deck, I destroy those strategies, making sure you can accomplish nothing! To do so I'll play Death Dealing Potion, a magic card that will allow me to send cards from your deck equal to however many increments of 100 I pay from my life points! So I pay 2500 life points to send the first twenty-five cards from your deck to the cemetery!"

(TLP: 50) Bakura gasped as he thumbed through until he had picked up the top twenty-five cards and then shoved them into his cemetery slot. Already one of his stategies had been ruined, for all but two of his copies of the pieces for his Ouija Board had been sent to the grave. Now his face down Ouija Board trap card was useless! "That furious look on your face tells me that I did some serious damage to whatever occult strategies you might have depended on. Now I'll continue my turn by using a favorite of mine, Demon Puppetry! Your headless knight is occult, but it's a zombie and not a demon, so I can now summon King Goblin(0/0)!"

Bakura laughed hysterically as a small green goblin wearing a crown appeared, seated upon a throne. Behind it swarmed a vast number of demons, who seemed to stay behind the little creature merely on its own orders. "What can that thing do? Its got no attack strength whatsoever!"

"You shall see, as I play two more cards. The first is Demon Soldier(1900/1500)! The second is a magic card called Demonic Revival Ritual, which lets both of us special summon a demon monster from the cemetery, whoever's cemetery they exist in. I select Dark Ruler Hades(2450/1600) that you were forced to send to your cemetery!"

The demon appeared beside the demonic soldier and the little goblin, making a total of three monsters for Taichi's side. Bakura on the other hand only hand one essentially weak monster. "I'll special summon from my cemetery my strongest monster, Despair From the Darkness(2800/3000)!" Bakura's monster rose onto the field, a monster of pure darkness, its true form hidden within.

Taichi grinned as he placed his remaining card face down. Then he started to explain. "You're lucky that your demon monster is as strong as it is, but unlucky that it isn't strong enough! My King Goblin has the ability that when I have other demons on the field, it can't be attacked. But its true strength comes from its attack power. For every demon on the field other then itself it gains 1000 points, raising its attack to 3000! So go my monsters, attack and destroy!"

Bakura snarled as King Goblin dispatched one of its many demons to claw apart his Despair From the Darkness. Then the Demon Soldier unsheathed its sword and sliced his Headless Knight into pieces. Then Hades moved in for the kill, with an attack that would reduce Bakura's life points to zero. "Activate Sakuretsu Armor! This will destroy your attacking monster!"

Hades shattered, leaving Bakura safe for at least one more turn. All he had to do was get out a stronger monster then Demon Soldier and he'd have the duel won. Taichi may have destroyed most of his deck, but he hadn't gotten rid of all his cards. It was foolish to reduce one's life points to such a small portion when victory wasn't guaranteed. (BLP: 2350) Now King Goblin was reduced to 1000 attack points.

"In destroying half of my deck you managed to defeat one of my key combos. However in doing so you also gave me the key to defeating you. Since you sent so many of my monsters to the graveyard, you piled up the monsters for me to use to summon this next monster. I summon Dark Necrophia(2200/2800) in attack mode!"

The blue skinned demon woman appeared on the field, menacing in all its occult glory. It was one of the key cards to Bakura's deck, and its 2200 attack strength was more then enough to destroy Demon Soldier and reduce Taichi's life points to zero. Who would have thought that he, the Thief King, would be the one to save the world? "Dark Necrophia, destroy Demon Soldier and the rest of Taichi's life points!"

"Activate Dark Wall of Air! This card will keep me from being attacked for one whole turn!" The occult monster was stopped as a whirlwind of black air surged up around Taichi, keeping him from harm.

"Fine! I'll set one card face down and end my turn!" His chance to win gone! Now he had to hope that Taichi didn't find a way to come back and win this duel. His newest face down card could help him stay safe for this turn, and at the moment Taichi wouldn't dare to destroy his Dark Necrophia, for then he would gain control of one of Taichi's own monsters.

"You know Bakura, your thieving ways have shown me something. That greed can be a useful trait! Activate Pot of Greed!" Taichi displayed the magic card with its green faced pot, and slipped it into his cemetery as he drew two new cards into his hand, giving him more options.

"Upstart thief...I don't think I mentioned that when a demon monster revived one my side of the field by Demonic Revival Ritual is destroyed, it goes to my cemetery. Which of course is perfect for this next monster. By removing one dark main-type monster in my cemetery from the game I can special summon Spirit of Darkness(1600/1200)!"

The new monster was similar to Despair From the Darkness. It had a vague shape that was hidden by a surrounding fog of darkness, making it, in a manner of speaking, the embodiment of darkness. "One of the my new demon's effects is that if I special summon him I can destroy one magic or trap card on the field!"

Bakura grimaced as his face down Bark of Dark Ruler was destroying, giving him no way to stop Taichi in this turn. He could still count on the special effect of his Dark Necrophia, but Taichi's other card might be a counter. In fact, his card might be Exodia!

"I bet you're wondering if the reason I special summoned Spirit of Darkness was just to destroy your face down card, or if it was to increase my sacrifice options. I bet you think I'm going to summon Exodia to defeat you. But no...that wouldn't be fair to use Exodia's power on a wasted upstart like you. Instead I've got a better plan in mind. The magic card, To Dispel The Illusions Of The Mind's Eye! At a cost of half of my life points (TLP: 25) I can remove any of my opponent's face up monsters from the game!"

Bakura dropped his remaining card to the ground as a shroud of darkness wrapped around his occult monster, and then vanished. When the shroud was gone, so was his prized monster. Worse, since it hadn't been destroyed its effect wouldn't activate, and now he was completely open for attack. "Demon Soldier(1900/1500), King Goblin(2000/2000), Spirit of Darkness(1600/1200), destroy this pathetic upstart once and for all!"

And once more, Bakura knew defeat and despair. (BLP: 0) The last thing he heard before the force of Taichi's power struck him was the hideous laughter of his two foes, and the dreadful knowledge that he would live to see the end of the entire universe. 'Well,' he thought, 'At least I'll probably outlive the Pharaoh.'

*********************************

"Yugi! Don't give up, no matter what! You said yourself that you've got a destiny to win, and you worked too hard to get here just to give up now. So don't stop until one of you hits zero!" Yami looked over at his friend, Joey, and responded with a thumbs up.

He had been being foolish. Joey was right, he had gone through so many trials and tribulations to get to this point in the tournament, and if he won this duel he'd go on to face his destiny, in order to defeat the evil that threatened the planet. Joey had taught him a very important lesson in their duel, and he wouldn't let that lesson go to waste.

"Sumatin, in my duel with Joey I learned a valuable lesson. I learned that destiny isn't something that can be fulfilled by simply hoping. Instead you must never give up, and always put forth your full strength into the desire to fulfill that destiny. So now I shall draw and show you what I can accomplish when I put my strength into fulfilling my destiny!"

(DLP: 9100) "I shall now play, Card of Sanctity!" Dalin grinned as the two duelists started drawing cards into their hands until each player held six cards. Yugi drew five cards and Dalin drew four of them. However because of Solemn Wishes the move merely helped to strengthen Dalin. (DLP: 9600)

"Certainly you gave yourself more options, but in doing so you've given me those options and provided me with an extra boost to my life points. Furthermore, there is no way for you to defeat Ra as you are, no matter what cards you drew. At this very moment I could, if I so wished, increase Ra's attack strength to over fourteen thousand, and with its immunities it becomes even deadlier. If you wish to win, show me what the strength of your destiny can accomplish!"

Yami closed his eyes and focused his mind upon his cards. He had yet to look at them, and knew that if he was going to succeed in this duel he had to get the right cards. He couldn't lose, not as determined as he was! "Sumatin, prepare yourself to witness the truth of my destiny! Soon it will be you who can seek no sanctuary in your god, for within three more turns Ra shall fall! Now, I shall begin my plan by activating, Necromancy!"

Dalin watched in shock as Venus(0/0), and two Holy Shine Spheres(0/0) appeared on Yami's side of the field, each of them in defense mode. "What's going on? How did you get my monsters?"

Yami smirked as he plucked another card from his hand of five cards. "Necromancy allows me to up to three random monsters from your cemetery. Unfortunately each of them is forced into permanent defense mode and their stats reduce to zero. But it makes the perfect card to unleash my greatest strength. Watch and learn the truth of destiny as I sacrifice these three monsters to unleash the Saint Dragon Osiris(4000/4000)!"

Everyone watched in awe as for the third time during this tournament the skies darkened, and the massive beast that was Osiris descended from clouds. Its long red body coiled about the field, looping several times as it prepared itself to strike. Finally it came to rest with its head hovering above Yami, facing towards the large figure that was the Winged Dragon of Ra.

"What kind of move is that? Ra remains more powerful than Osiris, and with traps unable to effect the god cards you won't be able to protect your monster. Next turn I shall wipe it off the field!" Yami smirked at this and slipped another card from his hand, and slid it into his duel disk.

"Perhaps that is so. But I'll take my chances with Ra as soon as I set this single card face down. Now go ahead and draw whatever card you'd like, for it will do you no good. My destiny will be the end of Ra in three more turns!"

(DLP: 10100) Dalin glanced down at his hand which was now a total of seven cards. With Osiris on the field his options were cut down, as he would be unable to summon a monster without the dragon-god destroying it. The immunities that Ra possessed applied to Osiris, so he couldn't do anything against it that way. Furthermore, if he kept all his cards in his hand he'd be forced to discard a card at the end of the turn, so he had to set at least one card. "I shall begin by setting a single card face down."

The brown-backed card appeared on the field, dwarfed by the massive shapes of the two god monsters. Dalin was certain now, for some odd reason, that it wasn't the god cards that would determine this duel, but he would do his best to see that Osiris fell before the power of Ra before this duel was over. "Now I intend to defeat Osiris with one attack! So go...God's Breath Cannon!"

The massive golden dragon opened its beak as wide as it would go, gathering the tremendous energies that it possessed into that one point. A golden fire was brewing within its mouth, a fire that when released would consume its deadly opponent, the representative of the Lord of the Dead. With one final swing of fate the other god would fall before Ra's might.

The golden fire surged forth from Ra's mouth at a blinding speed. It was on an intercept course with Osiris which, despite its high attack power, would be unable to fend off the blast. Everyone watching shielded their eyes as the blast connected, sending a shower of golden light dancing across the field.

"Sorry Sumatin, but as I said before, it will be Ra who falls. Traps may be unable to effect the gods, but the card I activated doesn't effect either god, it effects battle damage. The trap card known as Waboku turns the battle damage to zero!" Dalin grimaced as his attack was staved off by a group of robed men whose chanting stopped the attack, protecting Osiris for another turn. Now Yami would have another chance to bring about his prediction, something Dalin couldn't allow.

"Draw!" (DLP: 10600) Yami smirked as he lifted the card he had just drawn, displaying it to his opponent. It was a magic card with a green pot with a face on it, and everyone knew what that was. "Pot of Greed allows me to draw two more cards, and with them Osiris' attack strength jumps to five thousand! But I won't stop there, I will use the two cards I just drew, one of them right this minute!"

Everyone watched as Yami took one of the two cards he had gotten through the Pot of Greed's effect and slipped it into a magic/trap slot. He pressed the activation button as soon as it was played and the card appeared on the field. The image on the card was of a man being offered up in a sacrifice, and erupting from his prostrate body was a green energy that surged around the man who had sacrificed him.

"The magic card, Sacrifice Maneuver! At a cost of a mere one thousand life points I can have one of my monsters on the field attack my opponent directly during this turn. So prepare to feel the horror! Osiris, Thunder Force Attack!" The red dragon opened its top mouth and a stream of purple energy rushed out, bypassing the other god monster completely and colliding with Dalin's chest, hurling him backwards a few feet.

(DLP: 6600) "Now I will set a single card face down, and end my turn." Yami watched as his opponent struggled to his feet. The other duelist shook his head to clear it and then drew a new card into his hand, giving him a total of eight cards. Now was the time. Now was the moment of destiny! This was the fated third turn that he had predicted, and if he was right then in this turn Ra would be no more! (YLP: 1600)

(DLP: 7100) "This is the turn you predicted. Now we will all get a chance to see if that prediction was a correct one. When we do find out everyone will see exactly what destiny has in mind, and in the end victory will be clear to whoever's prediction is correct! And my prediction as that with this next attack Osiris will meet its end. So now let's find out who is right and who is doomed! God's Breath Cannon!"

Ra opened its beak and unleashed its torrential energies upon Osiris, thousands if not millions of ergs of power rushing forward with one goal in mind. The utter destruction of the Saint Dragon Osiris. In response the saint dragon opened its top mouth and sent thousand if not millions of ergs of power rushing towards the other god's attack. And with tremendous power the two attacks collided, pushing against each other in a battle for supremacy.

The two duelists watched, focused as they could possibly be as the two titans pushed back and forth against each other, first one monster winning, and then the next. But both of them knew, as did everyone watching, that this struggle was merely one put one as a display. Academically they knew that with a fifteen hundred attack point advantage Ra would be able to finish off Osiris.

"Now the moment of destiny! Activate Careless Avarice!" Dalin's triumphant grin was stricken from his face as his opponent added two more cards to his hand, boosting Osiris' attack strength by two thousand, making it reach a level higher then Ra's. What was worse was that Ra could not increase its attack strength after it had attacked, so Ra would be destroyed.

"I refuse to allow Ra to fall and for you to maintain Osiris! If Ra is to be destroyed, then let both monsters be destroyed! I activate the special effect of Winged Dragon of Ra, an ability known as God Phoenix!" The massive energies that Osiris was pouring forth were pushing Ra's energies backwards, and now that stream of power was meters away from striking Ra and destroying it. But Dalin's command would change that.

(DLP: 6100) Right in front of everyone's eyes the mighty golden god monster exploded into a shower of flames, becoming a massive burning phoenix. To Yami's horror that phoenix rose up and over Osiris' attack, and raced down upon the red god. He threw his arms up to shield himself from the light and the fire as the phoenix that was Ra struck Osiris head on, and began to incinerate it.

For nearly a minute the mighty god struggled against the flames, trying to free itself from certain doom. But survival was not the fate of the Egyptian god monster, it was time for the representative of the Lord of the Dead to go to the land of the dead, but it would not go alone.

Finally the flames died down and neither god could be seen. By becoming the God Phoenix Ra had been able to destroy Osiris at a cost of one thousand of Dalin's life points. However in the process it was destroyed, leaving Dalin open for an attack in Yami's next turn.

"I'll continue my turn by setting a single monster, and playing Ray of Hope, to shuffle one Holy Shine Sphere and Venus back into my deck. Then I shall end my turn." Yami watched as a celestial light shined down upon the ground in front of Dalin, and the two named monsters rose up and that shot forth into Dalin's deck.

Yami smirked as he took one of the cards from his hand and played it. "It's a good thing, actually, that I have no draw phase during this or my next turn. Now you won't be getting cards during my turn. Even better is that skipping draw phases don't stack, allowing me to use Offerings to the Doomed to destroy your set monster!"

Dalin grimaced as his monster was shattered by the power of Yami's magic card. Offerings to the Doomed was the relative of Tribute to the Doomed, except in its case you didn't have to discard a card to activate it. Instead it allowed the user to skip their next draw phase in exchange for destroying a monster. But since Yami was already doing that, it was like destroying a monster for no charge whatsoever.

"Next I set a monster in defense mode, and play Monster Reborn to revive Emperor Jabolug(2400/1000)!" First a monster card apperead sideways and face down on Yami's field, and then the armored warrior with its energy collectors rose up, ready to do battle once again. With such a high attack strength Yami would be able to devastate Dalin's life points and possibly get back in the lead.

"Jabolug, attack your former master directly!" The warrior cast one hand into the still darkened sky and called upon the might of heaven to aid it. In response a bolt of lightning forked down from the clouds above and was absorbed by the warrior's energy collectors, super-charging him. Then the warrior cast his hands out and sent a bolt of lightning straight at Dalin.

"Activate Sealing Ward of Light! By paying three thousand life points I can prevent any of your monsters whose attack is lower then three thousand from attacking! With this permanent trap card, and the fact that no monster in your deck has a higher attack then that, you won't be able to attack at all!" The bolt of lightning struck a solid shield of light and curled around it, trying to find a way in. Finding none the bolt dissipated, and Dalin was kept safe, though his life points still took a heavy blow from what he had to pay to activate the trap. (DLP: 3100)

Yami took a look at his two remaining cards and then passed the turn to Dalin. The muscular duelist drew a new card, letting his life points increase to slightly recover from the loss he had taken in preventing Yami's attack. It was worth it though, because now Yami was doomed to stay on the defensive. (DLP: 3600)

"I now play Graceful Charity!" (DLP: 4100) Since Dalin got to draw new cards because of Graceful Charity's effect his life points increased again, letting him recover a total of one third the amount of life points he had spent in his previous turn. He looked over the three cards he had drawn and then over at the rest of his cards. He calculated his move carefully and then selected two cards and sent them to the cemetery. There was no need to win the duel in that manner.

"Now I shall summon Mars, Angel of Power(0/0)!" Yami was shocked at the appearance of Dalin's newest angel. Not only was it forbidding looking, but with Sanctuary of the Sky on the field Yami couldn't beat it in battle. Worse yet, there was no telling what sort of effect it might have.

The angel was tall and muscular, with several scars across his bare chest. Blue wings extended out to either side, and in one hand he held a spear. The other hand was empty, but Yami could see the weapon it might hold. Strapped to its back was a massive black hammer, that could easily crush someone's skull with a single strike. The most forbidding part of it was the eerie red aura that extended several inches from its body.

"This new angel benefits greatly from my having Sanctuary of the Sky in play. With it active his attack and defense strengths become equal to the difference in our life points. So Mars(2500/2500) becomes more then enough to defeat Emperor Jabolug! I'll set a single card face down, and then Mars will attack!"

Mars raised its empty hand and pointed it at the larger warrior that it faced across the field. Yami grimaced as the red aura that surrounded Mars funneled directly into that outstretched arm, and then blasted out, spearing straight through Jabolug's chest and destroying it in seconds. (YLP: 1500, Mars: 2600/2600).

Yami stared down at his two cards as he was for the second and final time, forced to skip his draw phase. Next turn he would draw again, and while it would benefit him, it would also benefit Dalin, which was never a good thing. "I'll set up one card. I'm not defenseless Sumatin, and I assure you that I will not allow this duel to be determined by gods, or by any other such force. This is merely a duel between the two of us and our destinies. I will now end my turn, and see exactly what your destiny can accomplish!"

(DLP: 4600, Mars: 3100/3100) Dalin glanced down at his hand, and then smirked as he slapped a card down on his monster zone. "I set one card face down, next I summon Mercury, Angel of Wisdom(0/1700) in attack mode. Next I play a magic card known as Monster Gate! By sacrificing a monster, mercury, I can draw cards until I reach a monster that can be normal summoned, and then I special summon it. Now lets begin!"

Yami stared in awe as a huge obelisk of some kind appeared, setting up a large circle of connectors and other strange things. Then Mercury rose into the air and rushed towards the gate. Bolts of lightning leapt from strange spikes that jutted out and Mercury shattered into thousands of pieces. Then the gate began to spin.

Swirls of blue energy leapt across the gate from spike to spike, as the entire thing spun faster and faster. Soon a circle of that blue energy had appeared, and Dalin began drawing cards. He had gone through three of them by the time the actual portal opened, revealing a series of mystical symbols in between that ring of glowing blue power. "Come out, Heavenly Knight Perseus(1900/1600)!"

From the gate galloped a half horse, half man with angel wings. The gate behind it collapsed in on itself and the knight settled himself in, ready to take whatever command was needed of him. "Unfortunately for me, in this turn Perseus can't attack. But I warn you that defenses won't work with him around. He does damage even if he the monster is in defense mode, and when you take damage from him I get to draw one card."

Dalin raised one arm and pointed it at Yami's face down monster. With an attack strength of 3100 no monster Yami could have set face down could possibly withstand the assault. Once that monster was out of the way Yami's defenses would be decreased, and next turn he would draw a card, allowing Dalin to draw as well, boosting Mars to 3600. "Mars, I command you to destroy the Pharaoh's monster!"

The angel stalwartly picked the hammer off of its back with a single hand. It hefted the hammer and then with a quick flap of its wings took flight. Yami watched it rise up into the air, and then fold its wings. The angel dropped like a stone, swinging its hammer as it went. The field shook with the force of the impact as the angel crashed down on Yami's defense monster, hammer first. A cloud of dust was sent sky high.

With a quick sweep of its wings the angel returned to its previous place, and the dust was blasted away. However to everyone's surprise the monster that Mars had attacked was still there, and it was revealed to be...a melon? "Allow me to introduce Mashumelon(300/500)! This little monster may not seem impressive, but he can't be destroyed in battle, making him the perfect defense. Not only that, but when he's attacked in face down defense position he deals one thousand points of damage to the person who attacked it!"

(DLP: 3600, Mars: 2100/2100) "Very well then. I shall end my turn, but be warned, since Mashumelon can't be destroyed in battle, he becomes the infinite target for my Heavenly Knight Perseus. In my next turn I will attack it and you will take 1400 points of damage, but I will still have my target!"

Yami grimaced, knowing that Dalin was right. He couldn't afford for Dalin to attack Mashumelon with Perseus, so he'd have to make sure that didn't happen. He had to win soon, but at the moment he couldn't even attack without a monster whose attack strength was over three thousand. "Draw!" (DLP: 4100, Mars: 2600/2600)

Yami clenched his eyes shut and whispered a little prayer, knowing that he needed something soon or else he'd be finished. He had to get a good card! "This is it! This card may determine the outcome of this duel!"

He turned the card over and looked down at it and then shouted in triumph. He quickly played the card, knowing that his chance for success was here at last. "Its time to see exactly who fate favors! To do so I play a magic card known as Test of Fate! Now I will flip a coin and select one monster in my hand. If the outcome of the toss is heads then the monster is special summoned no matter what its text reads and then I can activate another effect, neither of which can be negated!"

Dalin raised one eyebrow, shocked that the Pharaoh was willing to take the risk of a coin flip. However he understood something about such cards in the game of Duel Monsters. If they had a powerful effect such as this one did, then they had a powerful effect if it went wrong. "What happens if the coin lands on tails?"

Yami smirked as he pulled a coin from his pocket and casually tossed it into the air where it spun about, twisting in a high arc through the air. "If the coin lands on tails then the monster I selected is removed from the game, and I lose life points equal to half of its attack strength. But I'm willing to test fate if that's what is need to win and go on to fulfill my destiny!"

All eyes were focused on that single silver coin as it whirled through the air above the two duelists. The outcome of the entire duel might very well rely upon the single flip of a coin, and nobody wanted to miss that.

Everyone was tense, including the two duelists, as the coin started on the last leg of its journey, the arc that would take it to the ground. Dalin and Yami watched, eyes practically burning holes in the coin, as it hit the ground next to Dalin's feet and spun about in a dizzying circle. Finally the spin of the coin slowed and it dropped onto its face, revealing the side that was face up to Dalin alone. "Its...heads."

Yami smirked as he took the remaining card in his hand and then slammed it down onto one of his monster zones. "Now I gladly introduce you to Valkyrion the Magna Warrior(3500/3850)! With an attack strength of 3500 he's strong enough to attack, even with that ward of yours in play!"

A tall machine-like warrior now dominated Yami's side of the field with its awe-inspiring attack and defense strength. Its yellow body had spikes coming out of the head, two large wings, and he held a broad sword that glistened in the rays of the sun that broke through the clouds above. "Now for the next effect of Test of Fate I shall destroy one card on the field. I select Sanctuary of the Sky!"

Dalin let out a gasp of surprise as Valkyrion threw its sword at the sanctuary behind him. The sword sliced right into it, and the sanctuary became a card that was cut in half. He grimaced, knowing that his key card had been destroyed and his angels were defenseless. It was even worse, because the effect of Mars that made it so powerful only worked with Sanctuary of the Sky in play, so its attack was now 0!

"Valkyrion, attack and destroy Mars with Magnet Strike!" The powerful combo warrior, one of the strongest monsters in the entire game of duel monsters, held its blade aloft and charged towards its angel opponent. The now weakened Mars tried to lift its hammer to defend itself, but without the boosting effect of Sanctuary of the Sky it was unable to get the hammer up in time. With a single slash of its blade Valkyrion cut Mars into ribbons. (DLP: 600)

Dalin grimaced as he drew a card, even though his life points increased. He was now losing this duel, and Yami also had the field advantage with his incredibly powerful magna warrior. (DLP: 1100) But now he had the chance to win the duel. "Its all over now Pharaoh! By destroying Mars you have infuriated the heavenly order itself. Now witness the wrath that you have incurred. Activate trap card, Angelic Rage! During this turn my angel sub-types can attack directly!"

Heavenly Knight Perseus galloped across the field, ready to strike a deadly blow. A huge aura of light extended off of it thanks to the effect of Angelic Rage. An aura that would make it unstoppable for this turn, and allow it to take Yami out. "Not today Sumatin! Open face down card, Book of Moon! This card will place your knight in face down defense mode, stopping its attack!"

A magic card flipped up, revealing a green book. A green glow shot out from the magic card and struck Heavenly Knight Perseus. In a flash of light the knight was gone, and all that could be seen was a horizontal card. The attack had been stopped. "Very well, I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

Yami drew his next card, knowing that they were now in the final leg of this duel. Despite his current advantage Dalin had proven himself to be quite adept at pulling himself out of the fryer, and coming back for a win. A skill that Yami also possessed. (DLP: 1600)

Yami took a look at the card he had drawn and then grinned in triumph. He now had exactly what he need to win the duel! "Its over Sumatin, and I'm going to win. Book of Moon is a very effective card, but it works even better with its counterpart. Book of Sun to put Perseus back into attack mode, making him vulnerable to Valkyrion's attack!"

Dalin grimaced as his knight flipped up again, ready and waiting for an order. Unfortunately it wasn't strong enough to stop Yami. If he had another turn he might have been able to use it to even the odds, but now he didn't have that. "Valkyrion, Magnet Strike!"

The magnet warrior zipped across the field and slashed through Perseus before the angel could put up any sort of defense. The great strength of the mighty magnet warrior had struck again, and its damage was enormous. Yami grinned, knowing that the damage would come out as exactly 1600, enough to drop Dalin to 0. "Its over Dalin, and I've won my destiny."

"You've won nothing yet! Activate Restorative Drought! When you destroy one of my monsters it boosts my life points by 500, allowing me to survive!" (DLP: 500) Yami grimaced, knowing that his chance to defeat Dalin had been taken from him, and in the next turn Dalin's life points would get boosted again. At the start of Yami's next turn they would be equal.

(DLP: 1000) Dalin stared hard at the card he had drawn and then slipped it into its activation slot. It was time, now was the time for destiny's truth to reveal itself. "We're reaching the final leg of this race Pharaoh, very soon it will be over. So I play Hope of Heaven! This magic card will allow me to discard my entire hand in order to select five magic cards from my deck and place them in my hand. However it will also cost me half of my life points!" (DLP: 500)

Yami watched, curious, as his opponent sent his entire hand to the cemetery. Then Dalin ejected his deck from its slot and started shuffling through, looking for whatever cards he needed to win the duel. Yami was certain he knew what at least one of them was.

"I will begin by playing Sanctuary of the Sky!" Yami groaned as the temple appeared behind Dalin for the second time, in order to protect Dalin's angels. He had indeed predicted correctly, and one of those cards would probably let him bring out another angel.

"I play Stealing Goblin, to decrease your life points and increase mine, just as I did to Malik!" The little goblin darted out of the card with his card and sauntered over to Yami. He swung his arms at Yami as if snatching something up, and then deposited it in his cart. As quickly as he had come the little goblin turned about and headed over to Dalin. Once he reached the duelist he picked up whatever he had taken, now in package form, and handed it to Dalin. When it opened the scores changes. (DLP: 1000, YLP: 1000)

"Now I play Angel Glow, which increases my life points by 1000!" Yami grimaced as an angel descended from the sky above where the Goddess of Balance still dominated. The angel flapped its wings, sending a flurry of feathers down upon Dalin. As it did so a hole broke open in the sky above and a burst of light shot down, connecting with Dalin and restoring his life points. (DLP: 2000)

"It is all over now Yami. For I play Monster Reborn to revive the monster that I had chosen to not use earlier in this game. I wanted to end it on different terms, but your skill has proven to great for me to win without it. Now I shall introduce you to one of the strongest angels I possess. Rise Saturn, Angel of Judgement(2400/0)!"

The newest angel in Dalin's arsenal had purple skin and purple wings which he kept partially folded. The angel was male, and wore a white rob that descended past his feet. The center of the robe was a blue color, and around his neck he wore a symbol of wings with teeth descending from it, at the center of this pendant was a ruby. Upon the angel's head was some kind of fancy helm.

"Pharaoh, you have a very important destiny. But it is not your destiny to face Taichi and defeat him. Were you to face Taichi you would most certainly lose, as he is a more powerful duelist then any you have ever faced before. So I will keep you safe by fulfilling my own destiny with a monster that is potentially more powerful then any other."

Yami's eyes widened as the angel before him wrapped its wings around itself and started to glow a deep purple color. Swirls of light streamed off of both Yami and Dalin only to be absorbed by the glowing purple aura around Saturn. "By sacrificing my monster with Sanctuary of the Sky on the field I can inflict damage to your life points equal to the difference between ours, if of course my life points are higher. So this is the end. Saturn, Final Judgement!"

The angel's wings swung wide and the purple aura exploded off of its body, consuming the two duelists in the purple light. The bright nova subsided moments later, leaving the end in its wake. For Yami had finally met his match in this deadly angel duelist. (YLP: 0)

"I understand Sumatin. Go and face your destiny. I will continue to be ready to face mine when it comes along." The duel was over at last, but the danger was just brewing around the corner. For as soon as Drake was ready the second semi-final duel would begin, and as in each of Taichi's duels, someone was certain to be hurt, or perhaps even die.

Many of their trials were over, but the greatest trials were only about to begin. For Taichi was the threat they would be forced to face, and behind him was the awesome might of Exodia, an invincible monster more powerful than the Egyptian god cards.

__________________________________________________________________________

Author's Note: Well, there ya go. The first of the semi-final matches finished, and one to go. Ya got two nice duels, and you found out about Drake's sister. Not only that, but this chapter marks my passing the 200 page mark! No its not really significant, but I feel excited about it anyways. I pass that point around the time when the coin flip takes place. Ya happy now? I hope you are, cuz now I gotta ask you one thing. Read and Review please?!

Original Cards

Taichi: Spirit of Darkness, To Dispel The Illusions Of The Mind's Eye, Demonic Revival Ritual, Demon Puppetry, Death Dealing Potion

Bakura: Occult Rule Breaker

Dalin: Goddess of Balance(based off of Angel of Balancing Scales, which belongs to Aldea. The rest of its effects will be revealed later), Angelic Choir, Magic Guard, Hope of Heaven, Angel Glow, Angelic Rage

Yugi: Sacrifice Maneuver, Test of Fate

Next Time: The last semi-final duel will commence, but only after Drake manages to get on his feet. Another obstacle lies between him and Taichi, and they are the questions of those around him. Can Drake confront these questions and duel Taichi without falling into darkness again? Find out next chapter!