The darkness that emerged from the rubble of Edric's mansion spread out through the sky, blocking the sun and began taking shape.
"Uh... Tristan, doesn't this look eerily familiar?" Joey asked.
"Yeah, kind of reminds me of the Battle City finals when Yugi and Marik duked it out."
"That may be true in more ways than one," Bakura said, his Millennium Ring shaking wildly. "Shadow Magic is being released."
"What?" Joey and Tristan asked at the same time.
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Pegasus felt a slight tingle in the back of the neck. Even years after he lost his Millennium Eye in a duel against Bakura, he still had a sixth sense when it comes to the Millennium Items. And now, he felt it. Boy, did he feel it. It felt like it was right near by. He looked out into the distance and saw a large black pyramid forming in the distance.
"No doubt about it," he muttered. "A Shadow Duel is about to start." He continued to stare out at it. "I wonder... could it be..."
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"Sister, did you feel that?" Marik Ishtar asked Ishizu. They turned and looked at the distance.
"I did, the ultimate Shadow Battle is almost to commence."
"I... I have a feeling that the Conundrum is involved. But is it good or bad?"
Ishizu smiled. "It's good, Marik, very good."
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The man known only as Shadi stood on the rooftop of Kaiba Corporation. He held the Millennium Scale out in front of him. It tilted slightly to the left.
"The Pharaoh," he simply said.
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"What's going on?" Kaiba asked as the black energy began forming a pyramid-shape object around the ruins of the house and the forest surrounding the Duelists. It was huge, probably about the size of the real pyramids but much roomier.
Joey looked down at Bakura's Millennium Ring. "This better not be one of your tricks."
"I couldn't form a Shadow Dome this big, you ape. But I think I know what could."
"Well, 'Lord of the Ring,' don't hold us in suspense," Tristan said.
"Thousands of years ago, a series of powerful artifacts were created. All these artifacts were strong, but only one could hold enough power to display what you're seeing here. A speck of light appeared near the tip of the pyramid. "It is the Conundrum, the blessing, and the curse of all Egyptian artifacts, the house of the Pharaoh himself, and the most powerful of all the Millennium Items." It was then that the object in question revealed itself from the speck of light.
"The Millennium Puzzle!" Bakura realized looking up at it.
Tea gasped and looked up.
The Millennium Puzzle began spouting out beams of light. The Dark Magician formed along with the Knights, the Battleguards, Harpie Lady, Gaia, Neo, the Magic Swordsman, Dark Blade, and Curse of Dragon in front of Machina.
"It's the Dark Magician!" Tristan realized.
The Dark Magician Girl formed behind Machina along with Kuriboh, the Magnet Warriors, Magician of Faith, Vorse Raider, Man-Eating Treasure Chest, Big Shield Gardna, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress.
"Dark Magician Girl's here too," Mai pointed out.
The Dark Magician raised his staff and all the monsters charged. Immediately, several transformations took place. Gaia leaped off his horse and landed on the Curse of Dragon to become Gaia, the Dragon Champion. The Magnet Warriors broke apart and re-combined to form Valkyrion, the Magna Warrior. Machina had to defend itself as the monsters made an all-out assault against it. One by one, the monsters attacked with weapons, magic, even their own bodies. Machina fired all of its spire lasers. The Dark Magician set up a shield to block it. Machina immediately set out to attack the Dark Magician. It swung its arm down at the Dark Magician who blocked it with its staff.
Joey could've sworn that he heard the Dark Magician grunt.
The Dark Magician was saved by his female equivalent, tackling him to throw them both out of the arm's reach. Tea realized that it was similar to the way she saved Yugi from the car years ago.
Harpie Lady led the flying monsters in a dive-bomb assault, hitting it with every kind of attack imaginable. When Machina tried retaliating with its spire lasers, the monsters spread out so that they wouldn't be taken down at once.
Valkyrion and Dark Magician Girl were attacking Machina's arm trying to free Mokuba. Machina was trying to beat them with lasers that appeared from its arm and punching them with its free arm.
Edric could hardly believe the site before him. Duel Monsters coming alive, this defies all laws of physics. I have to give Machina more power so it can take these incompetent morons out. Edric dove for his control but before he could program anything, a little furball landed on it: Kuriboh.
"Get off, you ball of fuzz, I command you," Edric ordered. Kuriboh cooed and its eyes made it look like it was smiling. Then it scowled at Edric and exploded destroying Edric's remote and blowing Edric back. Ironically, Kuriboh survived making a laughing-like sound.
Vorse Raider and Dark Blade were able to lend a hand by stabbing Machina's arm with their weapons. With its circuitry broken, the hand opened up allowing Harpie Lady to grab Mokuba and fly him over to the others. Valkyrion destroyed the arm laser as Dark Magician Girl ran up the arm to the head and fired a tremendous blast of energy point-blank at its eye, destroying its head. As Machina twisted uncontrollably, one of its spire lasers made its way towards Tea and the others. Big Shield Gardna and Obnoxious Celtic Guardian quickly jumped into the line of fire and were able to defend them from it.
Gaia destroyed one of its spires with its double lances and dragon fire. The Knights destroyed another. Harpie Lady and the Battleguards ganged up on a third. Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl both destroyed the center one and the last was taken care of by the Magician of Faith and Neo the Magic Swordsman.
"This rocks," Joey said. "Our cards protected Yugi's life points, now it's like his cards are protecting our lives!"
Harpie Lady, Vorse Raider, the Battleguards and Man-Eating Treasure Chest started attacking the mid-section. Together, they pushed Machina back. By this time, Machina was just one big hulking wreck.
Suddenly the monsters all gathered behind Dark Magician. Yugi's chief monsters stepped forward. The Winged Dragon landed in front of the Dark Magician and the Dark Magician held out his staff so that the shell-shaped end was resting on the Winged Dragon's head. Dark Magician Girl and Valkyrion took up position on either side of the Dark Magician's staff and each laid a hand on it. Gaia the Dragon Champion hovered above and behind the Dark Magician. Energy started to gather from all the monsters to the Dark Magician's staff. At the same time, the Winged Dragon's mouth opened and Gaia's lances started to glow. Machina slowly began to rise into the air. The shadow of a card appeared behind Yugi's monsters, an image that Tea recognized as the card Yugi won after he defeated Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom: The Ties of Friendship.
A humungous energy bolt lanced out from the monsters that gathered around the Dark Magician. Machina's body, which was already heavily damaged, disintegrated.
"My machine... my machine is destroyed... but... none of this makes sense, how could holograms destroy a real version of Machina... unless they weren't really holograms... but how could they be real... it doesn't make any sense... nothing makes sense..." Edric noticed the Dark Magician glaring at him. He panicked and fled.
The monsters turned back into beams of light and the Millennium Puzzle began sucking them all up. A shaft of energy formed all the way to the ground and slowly, the Millennium Puzzle moved down it. When the bulge of light that represented the Millennium Puzzle reached the ground, it formed into Yugi, unconscious. The Pyramid arena disappeared.
"Yugi!" Tea and the others ran up to him. But Tea was afraid to approach his still form. "Kaiba... is... is he...?"
Kaiba felt his pulse then nodded to Tea. "He's alive," he confirmed.
Tea's eyes swelled with tears, tears of joy and happiness. "Thank heavens."
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Edric saw this sight from a hiding place. So, Yugi Moto survived. No matter, this is but a small setback. I'll start over and soon, I will take Yugi Moto's life for good and take over Kaiba-Corp. Those fools haven't heard the last of Edric Masters! Edric turned and ran off.
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"So what do we do now?" Tristan asked.
"I guess somebody should bring him home," Bakura replied.
"I'll do it," Joey volunteered.
"No, wait," Tea said. "Let me do it. I don't think there's anything I can do to repay Yugi for what he did, but at least I can do this. And besides..." she stared lovingly at him. "He's my best friend and I care about him."
Joey nodded. "All right." All the cards were returned to their original owners (Kaiba seemed glad that his Vorse Raider, despite all it's been through, wasn't damaged) and everyone went home except for Tea who picked Yugi up in her arms and took him back to his house.