Author's Notes: I have an announcement to make after this chapter finishes. I'm just going to start the disclaimer now: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Nick who belongs to Phoenix727 or DJ or Darien who belong to DJ Rodriguez. Here's Chapter 16!

Chapter 16: Renewed Courage and Hope

"I demand to know what's going on?" Pluto yelled angrily, who was busy defending us from the Final Five.

Two new people had appeared and one of them seemed familiar with Artemis and Luna. I thought things might have gotten hectic.

"Artemis, have you met these two before?" Zephyrus asked. He wasn't fighting at all.

"Only Darien." she answered. "I met him when I was thirteen. Well, in this body's lifetime anyway."

"A young, childish girl sort of like DJ here as I recall," Darien replied.

"Exactly what are you doing here?" Artemis implied.

"We were watching our monitors when we came across this conflict you all were having, and we wanted to help." DJ explained.

"Luna, why has Artemis gone to the side of evil?" Darien questioned.

"It's a long story!" Luna said.

"If you two are siding with them, then I have no choice but to eliminate you as well!" Artemis sneered.

"Nice girl." DJ muttered to Darien. "Maybe we should help them while Yugi can deal with her." DJ pointed to the Guardians' fight against the Final Five. He seemed concern to help them.

"I hope you all are done with introductions because I have a certain mortal to kill!" Artemis shouted. "None of the Guardians are able to defend you once I summon my ultimate beast!"

No. She wouldn't summon her fusion Ka! It was too powerful and it might destroy her. I had to stop Artemis from accomplishing her task.

"DON'T!" I cried.

"Yugi, I have to!" Artemis said as God Phoenix and Mesenet appeared.

"This is not good…" Luna whispered.

"I'll stop her with my Rose Blast!" Darien replied. He held out a rose as he lifted his hand into the air, but someone grabbed his hand.

"I… Won't… Let… You…" Yukai said weakly.

"Are you okay?" I asked. I looked at him carefully and he was back to normal.

"Just barely…" he gasped with every breath.

I realized Artemis began combining her Ka as they fused into a silver fiery bird. The creature roared loudly, and I noticed Artemis was breathing raggedly.

Yukai was talking to DJ, and I decided to summon Ra. The golden Ka flapped its bird-like wings into the air and descended before me. I looked on in worry for Artemis's safety. Zephyrus, who was still not fighting, kept a close watch on me.

"The poor boy…" he mused to himself. "If only he knew Ra's special ability, then Artemis's heart would become pure again."

"So, you got that?" Yukai questioned DJ.

"Are you sure you have enough strength to perform the transfer?" Luna asked.

"My life may be diminishing but not my will to continue fighting!" Yukai said confidently.

"Erebus has drained you of all your energy, and you're still going to risk your life!" Luna yelled.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Atem assured.

"Do whatever you can." DJ said.

Yukai smiled. "Well, let's get started!"

Meanwhile at the infirmary, Mercury's eyes began to slowly open. His right hand twitched and he felt his body ache. Mercury got out from his bed and looked around the room.

"What happened…?" he muttered in confusion.

"Ceasar, you're awake!" Kiki cheerfully cried, calling him by his human name. She jumped on him, almost knocking him down.

"Kiki, where are you?" Mark asked as he appeared by the doorway. "Ceasar, what are you doing up?"

"I don't know…" Mercury replied. "Where are the others?"

"When we came here, no one besides Mokuba, Tristan and Serenity were around." Mark explained.

"They told us that they heard arguing, and then this strange black storm appeared and trapped them inside." Kiki continued. "It's no longer there!"

"The Shadow Realm!" Mercury concluded.

"But I thought it never existed!" Kiki yelled in surprise.

"It does exist…" Serenity said as she, Mokuba and Tristan entered the room. "The Shadow Realm was where Mai's soul was trapped in…"

"Guess we shouldn't believe what Father was telling us," Mark responded.

Mercury began to muster all of his strength to open a warp tunnel. This tunnel seemed different than the one we used to travel to one place to another. Black-purple clouds surrounded it and lightning streamed about.

"Don't tell me you're going in there?" Mark queried.

"I can find them!" Mercury said. "You all have to stay here because whatever trapped our friends in there, probably does not want us to interfere!"

Mercury leaped into the tunnel and it closed instantly. Serenity, Mokuba, Tristan, Kiki and Mark were the only ones left.

"Ra will not be able to stop my Ka once I unleash its full power!" Artemis declared. "You all will eventually feel its wrath."

The fiery phoenix glowed a red aura and I knew at that point it was the move Berserk. Artemis had gone too far, and whatever plan Yukai had, I hoped it would work.

"Artemis, I will not let you do this!" I shouted. "You have to remember we wouldn't do anything to hurt you!"

She stared at me cautiously. Her cold look gave me the desire to destroy her. "Yugi, you're about to experience the true might of my Ka," she said.

Her Ka stood behind her and enveloped her within its blazing wings. The Ka unfolded itself, and Artemis was no longer there. Where was she?

"Oh, no!" Atem gasped. "She has become a part of her Ka!"

"Are you sayin' Artemis is inside that bird?" Joey said in disbelief.

"Afraid so…"

"If she attacks, there will be no chance any of us to survive." Luna replied sadly.

"I have an alternate plan," Yukai responded.

We all faced him and noticed Gemini Elf (Spellcaster/ ATK: 1900/ DEF: 900) standing beside DJ. Suddenly, Slifer appeared out of nowhere, and Yukai held something in his hand. He gave it to DJ and gazed at us.

"Joey, Kaiba, I need the both of you to summon Ammon," he instructed.

"What is your plan?" Luna raised an eyebrow.

"I can't elaborate on that now. You'll see."

The Bronze Phoenix Dragon appeared and then followed by various types of Duel Monsters. Ammon's special ability allowed it to summon help from the Shadow Realm, and I realized the Millennium Guardians' Ka appeared as well.

"Darien, what is Yukai up to?" Luna asked.

"All I heard him say to DJ was that he was going to give him the ability to summon Ka, like the others, and Yukai said his plan would only work if more monsters were around," Darien explained.

I overheard their conversation, and I looked back at Artemis's Ka. It seemed angry and its blue eyes stared deeply at me. It began to gain energy as it built up its fiery attack.

"You guys better hurry because time has run out for us!" I warned.

DJ lifted the card Yukai gave him in the air, and it was United We Stand. The card activated and Slifer received its power with all of its ally monsters around. The more monsters there were, the stronger Slifer became. Was this what Yukai was planning?

Slifer charged its attack and it opened its jaw. The dragon shot out its attack, and the electricity stopped the phoenix from completing its work. I could hear the Ka screeching within the bolts of lightning, and it quickly burst into light. Artemis came out, but she was mostly bruised. I realized she was ensnared inside her Ka's fiery blaze.

The others shielded their eyes, and I remembered this scene looked familiar… This was just like the memory Apollo and I saw when we were inside Artemis's mind. The fire died down, and Artemis slowly got up. She glared at us angrily.

"You were very fortunate to survive today, Yugi, but I will destroy you if it's the last thing I do!" Artemis yelled.

Seiryu and the rest of the Final Five saw the whole thing. He dodged a blow from Pluto's sword and signaled the others to retreat. Before they did escape, a portal opened and Mercury appeared out. His blue eyes stared at them, and Seiryu looked surprised to see him.

"You may have won this round but remember who has the Millennium Puzzle!" Seiryu said as he lifted the puzzle in his hand. "The Galactic Dragon will be revived again and it will eliminate you for good!"

He and the Final Five vanished into the darkness. I turned around to face Artemis, and she was still here. Luna stared sadly at her as she approached her steadily. Artemis looked up and met face-to-face with her dark half.

"My little light, you must understand…" Luna began.

"I won't, Luna!" Artemis said harshly, and disappeared into the darkness.

Luna's eyes widened as she turned around. Pluto and the rest of the Guardians walked towards us. I noticed Luna's eyes were filled with tears as the Shadow Realm disappeared and we were back home.

Author's Notes: Now for the announcement: I am planning for a sequel to Dark Crisis and it's called Struggle of Chaos, which should take place six years after all this happened. Anyway, here's the next chapter summary:

Once again, the Final Five's plans have been foiled and their last battle has made Artemis weak. What is Luna trying to warn us about this night? The full moon. What's so terrifying about it? Oh, wait, Artemis's powers will be rejuvenated and she may be more dangerous when it's a full moon! What's Nick up to? Hey, why is he helping Artemis when he's on the good side? Next time on Dark Crisis: Chapter 17: Full Moon Terror! False Allegiance