Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters. I do own my OCs, Akunriou / Tory and Kishtoh / Lucca, plus the storyline.

Read the notices!

MidnightBallad: -rolling on the ground in piles of reviews- Fourty-five reviews...thank you SO much everyone! I am so happy that you guys like the storyline so much, you made my day! And I apologize for the cliff-hanger I left you guys with, but you know...it's business as usual.

On another note: they cancelled Yu-Gi-Oh again!! I'm going to kill the producers... –runs off laughing crazily-

Present: Dark Battles

From the helicopter emerged a very bright, almost holographic light. Stunned, Bakura could hardly breathe as he watched some sort of creature form above his head.

From the light sprouted two long serpentine heads, marked with silver horns and emerald green scales. A body formed next – a slender, scaled body, yet with only a pair of forelegs (A/N: Haha, don't know what the hell they're called), the hind legs being absent. The tail came next, long a whip-like with a ball of spines on the end. Last of all, a pair of wings that would not disgrace a Bowing 747.

'What?' Bakura hissed as the massive, two-headed dragon formed out of midair. 'How did she do that?'

Lucca twirled his Essence Rod between his long fingers. 'I told you that Tory's magic was great. She can bring monsters from their cards, however she is not the only one. The creature you see above you is a Twin Dragon, and the only one in existence.'

Bakura gritted his teeth as the Twin Dragon took off, a shower of rain erupting from its wings as it opened them wide. He could not see what was on the dragon's back, but he guessed that Tory and the others had made an escape.

'Damn it...' Bakura whispered to Lucca. 'Who would have known she would pull a stunt like that?'

The Twin Dragon soared down into the city, shattering raindrops as it flew. Its four eyes burned with fiery light, as if it were really alive. Bakura knew that this magic was only temporary, though.

'Shall we go to meet them?' Lucca said, throwing on a long leather trench coat. He made his way to the side of the road, where two motorbikes were parked, glistening and silver in the rain. The lightening up above was reflected in their mirrors –

Boom! Seto's helicopter hit the ground and exploded magnificently. Grinning, both Lucca and Bakura gunned their bikes toward the landing Twin Dragon.

- -

Seto, Mokuba, Yami, Tory and the pilot slid from the Twin Dragon's back as soon as it had landed. Tory held out her two hands, and each of the dragon's head rubbed a hard snout into one of them.

'Thank you, friend.' Tory murmured softly. The dragon nodded its twin heads and vanished in a twinkle of bright green stars. Once he was gone, Tory spun around to address the others. She saw Mokuba hiding under Seto's coat, his eyes bright with fear, and the flashing of lightening. His raven hair dripped with rain.

'Seto, I'm scared.' He admitted finally. Seto put a hand on his brother's head and ruffled his hair a bit, as if it were some form of comfort. 'I know you are, but it'll be alright.'

Yami gazed over his shoulder into the shadows of an alleyway. 'We cannot stay here – we better move.'

'I'm with you,' Seto agreed, flinging his jacket behind his back. 'Let's move.'

He, Yami, Mokuba and the pilot began to move, but halfway into the alley, Yami spun around to see that Tory hadn't moved. She was gazing up into the sky, her heart racing as thunder echoed overhead.

'Yami...' she said in an undertone. 'If you wish to go, I totally understand. But this is my battle,' she looked into Yami's eyes. 'And I want to finish it.' She hid her face in the collar of her jacket. 'So, go now.'

Yami grimaced at her, and then laid a hand on her shoulder. 'No. I'm not leaving you alone. This isn't just your battle, it's mine also. Let's defeat Lucca together.'

Tory blinked – Yami couldn't tell whether she was crying, or if it were rain running down her cheeks. She laughed softly. 'Thanks...Atemu.'

The fact that Tory had called Yami by his past name made him feel very strange indeed. In the end, Yami just nodded and hurried forward toward a different alleyway, Tory right behind him. They were about halfway down the alley when two, dark figures stepped out before them. Yami came to a slippery stop, and Tory tried very hard not to crash into him.

The two before them leapt forward without another word. Yami was unfortunate enough to receive a very hard punch to the nose, and he was fairly sure that it broke. Blood splattered the ground, Yami's clothes and even the closed-in walls of the alley. He was out cold in seconds.

The second of the people came forward, but after seeing what had happened to Yami, Tory was ready for it. She ducked, the swing went over her head, and she swept her leg out across the ground, knocking over her attacker and causing him (at least, she assumed it was a guy, how often did girl's punch?) to land on his back with a loud thud.

'Nice moves,' Tory's attacker panted. 'Let me show you mine...' He lashed out with a sideways kick. Tory, still being on the ground, was struck in the neck – the kick had enough muscle in it to send her flying into the wall. Before she could recover, Tory was knocked to the ground and pinned down. She could barely see, but in a flash of lightening, her attacker's face was lit up –

'Bakura?!' Tory gasped, quite breathless. Bakura gave her an evil smile, and leant in close to whisper, 'Sorry, I didn't quite burn in hell...'

He stopped when he noticed that one of the golden beads hanging from his Millennium Ring pointed straight at Tory's neck. He was suddenly very confused very fast.

Tory used this to bring back her foot and place it on Bakura's chest. She winked at him, and then pushed as hard as she could. Bakura was thrown back onto his knees, and Tory came with an uppercut to his nose that brought the guy to unconsciousness.

In the darkness, someone laughed, 'Oh, very good, Tory. He wasn't expecting that.' The same person clapped, the sound bouncing off the walls. 'Bravo, sister.'

The glowing Essence Rod in hand, Lucca strode forward, standing over the unconscious bodies of Yami and Bakura. 'Such a shame that the Pharaoh won't be around much longer to help you out.'

Weak at the knees, Tory climbed to her feet, steadying herself on the wet wall of the alley. 'Lucca – you're hear, so you did start the storm?'

Lucca waved the Essence Rod. 'Of course. As well as having the power to put a person in an eternal sleep, this rod also affects the elements all around us.'

'So what're you going to do?' Tory asked. 'Use this storm to wipe out the world so that you may take over it?'

'No, I don't intend to rule at all. I don't need to rule. With the Essence Rod, I can cause a tsunami on the other side of the world – I don't need to be the supreme ruler to do that.' He said, gazing up dreamily into the sky. Then he whispered, 'I plan to put you and the Pharaoh into an eternal sleep, full of nightmares and painful memories. That is surely worse than death.'

Tory gripped the wall tightly. She gulped – this was going to be it. Lucca would put her and Yami to sleep until the day that they died, and Tory could not even fight it –

Or maybe she could.

Tory took her Duel Monsters deck from her pocket and threw one card into the air. 'Awaken, Silver Ice Wolf!'

From the card erupted a brilliant white wolf, its paws alight with bright blue flames and its eyes as bright as the sun. As soon as the wolf's paws touched the ground, the alleyway was covered in a thick layer of frost. The Silver Ice Wolf gave a powerful, bone-chilling howl.

'You can attack all you want, but just like in a good game of Duel Monsters, the Silver Ice Wolf is resistant to magical attacks – including those of your Essence Rod!' Tory shouted, as a hand of pure dark magic grew from Lucca's Essence Rod, wrapping itself around the Silver Ice Wolf. It was only there for a few seconds before it flashed brightly and crumbled away like ash.

Lucca began to cackle insanely. 'I have to admit, you are smart. I did not think your wolf could overcome the powers of my Rod, but obviously I was wrong.'

'Yeah, you were wrong – dead wrong!' Tory yelled, her voice growing very bold as she pointed at Lucca. 'Silver Ice Wolf: attack!'

The Silver Ice Wolf barked and then leapt forward, when another hand of dark magic surged from the ground and seized it in midair, pulling the ice wolf to a dark doom. Tory was speechless.

'But, I also know about your wolf...it is resistant to magic attacks, but not immune. After a few tries, it would have no choice but to take those attacks.' Lucca said, beaming from his effortless victory. 'Now, Tory, Pharaoh: prepare to feel the power of the endless sleep of the Essence Rod! Prepare for your nightmare, because it will be a long one indeed.'

Tory, still on her feet, and Yami, still unconscious, were dragged into the memory – the very last of Tory's memories, and the most painful.

-End chapter 17-

MidnightBallad: Uh...sorry. Ended with a cliffy again. I have to go to basketball now! So, bye-bye and don't forget to review otherwise Yami will smite you with a big, long Egyptian stick! Bwahaha!

Oh yeah, can someone tell me whatever happened to Marik (or Malik, whatever you guys call him where you live) and his Millennium Rod after the Battle City Tournament? I heard that he became good, which would help me a great deal if I write a sequel to this story, but I don't really know. Thanks!