Ok, I've been working a lot on Millennium Magic recently more than I've been working on Where's Yugi.... But here, finally, is another chapter of the former story.
I've still been trying to work on finding a new name for the story, BTW... So far, I've got "Lost Souls" from Master of Dimensions, but no other titles have been submitted... A little help here guys? You've already seen the extent of my imagination for creating titles.... It's not much. (sweatdrop)
Other than that, though, I don't really have any opening notes, except for the one that I'm still on vacation and wishing for internet connection....
We're currently camped near a McDonalds, and they usually supply wireless internet connection to anybody near the restaurant... But unfortunately, this one doesn't. -.-U
Ah well, let's get into the story before my muses actually stop watching the scenery in Yellowstone go by and realize that I've done the entire author notes without them... (sweatdrop)
Oh, also... In this chapter, nothing much really actually happens to further the plotline, it's mostly just a chapter that's meant to answer questions and stuffs....
Also, I had a really strange dream the other night that I was writing this chapter, and I was thinking, "Ok, so now Bakura has to do this... hmm... I guess Joey's going to have to take an entire week in order to defeat Rishid....." (sweatdrop) I have the oddest dreams...
Malik: Hey, Daricio? What are you doin- o.o Heeeey, why are you doing all this without us?
Daricio: ummm....
Malik: Oh great. Radley! Kura! You better get over here! Daricio's writing in a bunch of stupid stuff into her story!
Radley: (wanders over) So?
Kura: (follows) That waterfall was reeeally cool, Daricio, you missed it!
Malik: (face fault) Am I the only muse here that cares about the welfare of Daricio's story?
Radley: (nods)
Kura: No, it's just that it's her story, and she should be able to-
Malik: (sigh)
(----Divider----)
{Bakura}
The few times Bakura actually tried to retake control of his body, he had immediately fallen back into his soul room again.
His body was still out cold, and the pain radiating from his left arm was so much that even if it hadn't, Bakura didn't really want to take control anyway.
He knew that he would eventually have to take control again sooner or later, especially if Daricio didn't wake up soon. Somebody had to warn Yami of the true identity of Namu.
He sighed and turned back to attending to Daricio so that when she did wake up, she'd have enough energy to make the trip back to her soul room.
He really didn't feel up to carrying her...
(----Divider----)
(A/n: Yeah, yeah, that was a really stupid POV, so what?)
{Joey}
'This is it', Joey thought. 'Now I'll be able to be able to keep my promise to Yugi. Now I can bring him down.'
He was mainly thinking these things to keep himself feeling confident. Under his cool expression and street boy relaxation, his hands were shaking.
The group had already seen just what Marik was willing to do to gain his prize. He was even willing to kill.
And as far as Marik was concerned, Joey was just another obstacle to be removed at this point. And Joey really didn't want to find out just how far Marik would go to do this.
He climbed into Kaiba's elevator, Marik's huge form following in behind him. Joey mentally shivered.
'All I hafta do to get this guy is to never show that I'm worried. Never let my guard down, and never let him get ahead. I can do this. He's a pushover.' Joey reassured himself, gulping slightly.
Marik stared at him with his usual cold fury across the way, seemingly completely unfazed by Joey's calm.
Joey tried not to be unnerved himself by the cool unblinking stare.
Finally, an eternity later, the elevator reached the top, and the two of them stepped off onto the open air of the blimp.
/The two of them made their way to the dueling platform and it raised itself up. Then the doors of the elevator opened again, letting the spectators of the duel come out.
Roland signaled and the duel began. Joey drew his cards.
He was looking over them, trying to decide what to do for his turn, when his fingers fumbled. He dropped his cards just as a small burst of wind picked them up and began to blow them away.
His eyes opened wide and he scrambled to catch all the cards, mentally cursing himself for paying more attention to strategies and to that stupid Marik than to holding his cards.
His mental bashings continued as Kaiba began laughing at him.
"Shut up, Kaiba. I haven't seen you up here, yet. And whose bright idea was it to have the dueling field up in the open wind, huh?" Joey accused indignantly.
Kaiba just smirked. "Oh, so the little puppy blames his stupidity on his surroundings. Sorry you can't face the conditions of the big league, Wheeler."
Joey was just about to leap upon Kaiba and tear him limb from limb when Marik interrupted.
"If you are all quite done with your little games over there, we have a duel to play out." He said, sounding impatient.
Joey growled and turned back to face Marik. As much as he hated his guts, he was right: Joey had a duel to win.
(----Divider----)
{Daricio}(earlier)
Daricio was surprised to find that her way back to Bakura's soul room was blocked, even as Radley took over Bakura's body again.
"Attack me, you fool!" he screamed at Yami, seeming to forget about her.
She glanced from him to Yami, then yelled "I can take the attack, Yami! Do it!"
"Will you be able to find a way back when this is over?" Yami asked, sounding worried.
She nodded firmly. "I'll be fine. Just attack!"
"Okay."
Even so, Yami hesitated for a second before he called his attack. "Slifer the Sky Dragon! Attack!"
The dragon's blast drew nearer and nearer. Daricio's eyes got wider and she braced herself for when it hit. This was going to hurt.
The blast knocked her temporary physical form completely out of existence. She realized with a cold slap of fear that if Radley didn't open the defenses that were keeping her from going inside, her soul might be lost.
Fortunately, as he himself was slammed into unconsciousness, Radley was forced to let go of the barriers, and she was allowed back in. She sighed in relief as everything around her went black.
And...
Even though she couldn't see anything, she could feel herself seeming to float. She struggled to open her eyes so that she could figure out where she was.
Her feet found solid ground, and the thick blackness slowly began to give way. Light blurred into her eyes, and she slowly began to see the images around her.
She was standing in a large field full of flowers; the sun in the sky was shining bright.
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be... She was supposed to be...
She couldn't remember.
She began to walk around, trying to figure out where she was and why. No matter where she went, though, there was nothing but fields of flowers. She sat down, frustrated and confused after several hours of walking.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began to think. She couldn't enter her soul room, so she must already BE in her soul room... But this obviously wasn't her soul room, and it wasn't Bakura's soul room either.
She paused. Bakura's soul room? Why would SHE be in Bakura's soul room?
The memories suddenly flooded back to her, and she stood up quickly. Wherever this mental plain was, she had to get back to Yugi's soul room! She had no idea why she didn't point out Namu to him while she was out there in the first place, but it had been rather stupid of her.
It had slipped her mind for some reason... Probably had something to do with Radley's magic...
She began to run, searching the area for any way out. She soon reached a sort of mental barrier, and beyond that barrier was Bakura's soul room!
She banged against it with one fist and then sighed, realizing what had probably happened.
"You are correct, Daricio." A voice directly behind her said clearly. "This is your subconscious."
Daricio jumped, her eyes wide, and she whirled around, coming face to face with the Dark Magician, who was smiling at her.
She blinked. "My subconscious?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yes. Normally, this place functions on its own without any help. Any time a person travels to their soul rooms, they are looking around their active mind, the part that they have to deal with. When a person's mental form is knocked unconscious as well as the body, they go to their subconscious soul room instead."
"But... If this is MY sub-soul room, then wouldn't that mean that I'm actually closer to my own soul room than I am to Bakura's?" Daricio asked, gesturing to Bakura's soul room past the barrier.
The Dark Magician shook his head. "No, Daricio. Your subconscious is actually two parts. One that stays with your body and one that stays with your soul. The one with your body regulates your breathing and heart beating, stuff like that. Your soul doesn't need that, so this subconscious is simply a place for your mental form to go if you've been knocked deeply out."
Daricio blinked. "Oh... But shouldn't I be able to go back to Bakura's soul room at least? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I sort of have things I need to be doing..."
"Once again, no. Once you're here, you're stuck here until your mental form becomes strong enough to go back yourself."
"Oh." Daricio watched the barrier closely and noted that it was very slowly getting thinner, like a piece of ice. "I see. So it's a sort of a prison."
"More like a hospital." The Dark Magician explained.
"Oh," Daricio turned back to him. "Any particular reason that you're here in my sub-soul room?"
He smiled. "To guide you. Answer your questions."
"But why you of all people? I mean, as far as I've seen, you never talk to anybody..."
"I only talk to those I am loyal to."
"So why are you loyal to me?" she asked, a bemused smile coming across her face.
He laughed. "I think I better sit down! You've got a lot of questions, young Daricio."
Daricio let out a small laugh and sat down beside him so the two of them could talk until the barrier went down.
(A/n: there did used to be a point to that section, but I have forgotten it. (sweatdrop))
(----Divider----)
{Shells}
The moment Daricio announced that she was tired and that she was going to take a nap, Shells had known something was up, but both she and DVD ignored it, figuring that it was something to do with Yugi's world.
When DVD suggested that it was the Battle City finals that were up as they talked about it after dinner, Shells wanted to use Daricio's soul room as a door to go and watch.
"No, Shells, we can't do that." DVD said. "Our link to Daricio is sort of like the link Yugi has with his friends, only a little bit stronger because we've known each other longer."
"Yeah, what does that have to do with Battle City?" Shells asked.
"Well, I'm pretty sure that we have enough of a link to travel to Daricio's soul room, so we'll be able to tell when she's there or not, but I've tried to go to Yugi's soul room before."
"Oh. Didn't work, huh?" Shells asked.
DVD nodded.
"That sucks. Oh well, we'll have to wait until she comes back in order to find out what happens, then." Shells sighed, and the two of them went to wait in Daricio's room so that they could watch some recorded Yu-Gi-Oh episodes as they waited for her to 'return.'
(A/n: Yeah, I WISH I had a TV in my room...)
(----Divider----)
{Marik}
'Use the Winged Dragon of Ra!' Marik commanded, using the thought link he shared with his adoptive brother because of the Millennium Rod.
Rishid glanced at him with a worried look. 'But Master... Those without the Ancient Egyptian backgrounds that attempt to harness the power of the gods will-"
'You're MY brother, Rishid. That will be enough. Now use its power!" Marik thought angrily. His brother was being rather annoying.
'Y-yes Master.' Rishid returned shakily, turning back to his dueling opponent.
Marik reached up to massage his temples. He had a headache all of a sudden. It wasn't a good sign...
"You ok, Namu?" He heard a voice ask him. His head snapped up quickly and he saw Tea looking at him worriedly.
Quickly he put on a smile and hid the Rod further behind his back. "Yes, I'm fine, Tea, thanks. I'm just worried for Joey. This Marik guy seems really dangerous..."
Tea nodded. "Yeah, I'm worried too. But he seems to be doing ok so far."
Marik agreed with her, and fell silent, watching Rishid free his God Card.
"Behold, Joey! Your worst nightmare! Come out, Winged Dragon of Ra!" he called. The box in the temple opened, and the holographic card emerged, and then disappeared.
Rishid looked fully scared now. "Come forth!" he called.
The storm above seemed to gain strength, and Rishid's fear grew even more.
"So where is this all powerful dragon, Marik?" Joey taunted. "It doesn't seem to like you."
Marik let out a soft growl. Joey was right. The God was mad at Rishid now.
Lightning began to literally pour from the sky, never striking anything, but creating a mad show of light. Electrons made everyone's hair that wasn't already standing up stand up.
(A/n: (cough)Yami(cough))
Thunder roared around them, making anything said unintelligible.
Tea screamed in fear, Duke's eyes were open wide and even Mai seemed a little shocked. Kaiba looked slightly amused at everybody else's fear. Mokuba was hiding in his trench coat.
Rishid's eyes closed as he realized what might happen to those who angered the God and he calmly accepted his fate.
A bolt of lightning streaked down headed for the very center of the duelist field, and then divided into two, hitting both duelists squarely in the head.
Marik called out in a sudden moment of panic for his brother, and then the headache overcame him completely. He doubled over in pain.
Faintly, he heard cries of alarm, but he knew that they weren't worried about him. He had been standing behind everybody, and besides that, some people had just been hit by lightning.
'Rishid... Rishid...' He called out mentally. He could feel himself blacking out. He couldn't let that happen. He COULDN'T....
'Rishid!' His brother was already out cold. There was nobody left to turn to. Nobody. But he couldn't let all these people die. Sure, the Pharaoh might deserve anything that would happen when he did black out, but not all these others...
Too many innocents... And no way to know who or why any of it...
"Yugi! Look at Namu! Something's happening!" Tea's voice broke through his fading thoughts.
One last time, the Millennium Rod activated. He had to see what happened to his body that made things happen...
All light was gone, and his very soul was pushed aside. His only ticket to seeing the outside world was in Tea's hands now...
The last thing he heard was insane laughter....
(----Divider----)
{Daricio}
"Oh, and that's what was back there... and that's why the Magician guarding that room in the puzzle wouldn't let Shadi through?" Daricio asked.
"Yes, that's the only reason why. Pretty simple concept." The Dark Magician replied.
Daricio nodded, and then looked back at the barrier. "When exactly does this thing thin out?"
The Dark Magician placed his hand against it. "It's different for each person. We've been sitting here for a few hours, though." He pushed.
A crack appeared and Daricio grinned. She also placed her hands against the barrier, and she shoved with all her strength. It shattered, and each of the pieces faded.
Daricio turned to say thank you to the Dark Magician, but he had gone. She blinked. "Odd..."
She shrugged and ran to Bakura's soul room.
Everything suddenly went black again, and then she opened her eyes. She was apparently in a bed in his soul room, and she could sense him sitting near her.
She sat up, feeling slightly dizzy.
"Oh, good, you're up." Bakura said, sounding relieved. "Can you stand?"
"I think so..." Daricio replied. She tried, and found that she could. "Ok. Bakura, can you take me-"
"Back to Yugi's soul room? Yeah, of course." He said, smiling. "Come on."
The two of them walked outside Bakura's soul room to the corridor that connected him to his Yami. At the end of the hallway, on Radley's side of the room, there was a sort of magic portal.
The two of them stepped inside, and Daricio found herself inside the Millennium Puzzle. She grinned. "That's a cool trick."
Bakura nodded and continued to lead the way. It wasn't very long before Daricio started recognizing things, and then Bakura pointed out the main door back to Yugi's soul room.
Thanking him over and over again, she hurried inside. Bakura politely bowed, and turned back towards his own soul room with a small sigh.
Yugi's soul room was empty, except for the usual bed and toys. Daricio realized that Yugi and Yami were merged, and she wondered whether they were in yet another duel.
She closed her mental eyes in order to look through Yugi's physical ones along with them.
Lightning flashes filled her vision, and thunder rumbled loudly. She could hear people shouting, but Yugi's attention was on the dark stormy skies.
So that she didn't distract him by changing his vision so that she could look around, she quickly took a temporary physical form; one that only Yugi and Yami could see.
Up on the dueling field, Joey had been going against the fake Marik, whoever he was. She opened her mouth to say something, but then a single bolt of light came out of the sky, dividing in two and hitting both duelists.
"Joey!!" Yugi and Yami, merged, cried together. He started to get up onto the dueling platform to help him, but Roland stopped him.
"Wait. These two have two minutes to get up. Whoever does not will be disqualified. You cannot enter the dueling field until the duel is over, or you will be disqualified from the Battle City tournament as well!" he said officially.
Yami growled but didn't get up there, instead silently urging Joey to get up.
Daricio did the same, but also decided to let Yami and Yugi know that she had made it back safely. She tapped Yami on the arm, and he looked over at her.
'Daricio!' He said, using their mind link. He had noticed that she was in a form that only he and Yugi could see. 'You got back!'
She nodded. "Yeah, I did. What happened here?"
Yami looked back at Joey. 'Marik tried to summon his Egyptian God Card, but for some reason it didn't like it and it retaliated. That's why all the lightning... Now we can only hope that Joey can get up before Marik does!'
Daricio nodded. "Yeah. But, Yami, I know why the God Card didn't like him using it. That's not the real Ma-"
Suddenly, Joey stirred. "Wha...?"
"Joey, get up! Get up, Joey!" Yami yelled.
Joey blinked at him. "Why, Yug'?"
"If you don't get up, you'll be disqualified!" Tea told him.
Joey blinked again, and then struggled to his feet, looking over at the fake Marik, who was still unconscious.
He stood like that for a few more seconds, and then Roland called out, "Marik Ishtar is disqualified! Joey Wheeler wins by default."
Joey sighed and dropped back to his knees. Yami quickly got up onto the platform to help support him, followed by Tristan and Daricio.
When they were sure that Joey was ok, Yami went over to the fake Marik, trying to see if he was still alive or not.
Daricio came up behind him. "Yami, that's not-"
The fake Marik coughed. "Pharaoh... Yami.... Beware... Master Marik has a dark side.... If that dark side is let loose..."
Yami's eyes opened wide. "So you're NOT Marik?!"
"That's what I was trying to tell you." Daricio said softly.
"Marik has a dark side? What does that mean?" Yugi asked.
"Where is the real Marik, then? And who are you?" Yami asked the decoy reassuringly.
"My name is Rishid..." he said. His eyes were going blurry again. "I'm sorry Master..." he whispered.
He lifted himself up enough to be able to point, but collapsed back into unconsciousness from the strain.
"Rishid!" Yami said, looking worried.
"He's the real Marik." Daricio said with a frown, pointing towards him. "He's been deceiving you all during these finals."
Yami looked over. Marik was doubled over in pain, holding onto his head with both hands as if his life depended on it.
"Look! Something's wrong with Namu!" Tea called to them.
Almost silently, he was muttering something over and over again. Yami stood and started to make his way over to Marik, when suddenly his hands wrenched themselves away from his head and he let out a scream of pain.
Something seemed to actually stretch away from his sky-turned head, and then his hands returned to it, holding it tightly.
Everybody had frozen at the strange sight.
Slowly, his trembling hands pulled down to his sides and he looked up at them, chuckling evilly under his breath.
Daricio's eyes opened wider. This wasn't the same Malik that it had been a moment before.
"This is Marik's dark side..." Yami gasped. Yugi shuddered.
"This must be the evil that we were told would take over the world if left unchecked." Yugi whispered. "I... I can feel evil radiating from this soul..."
Yami agreed, as did Daricio. This was going to be bad...
(----Divider----)
{Joey}
"And everybody wanted to help me up. It was so inspiring, I guess, that I woke up." Joey said, telling the people in his room what his dream had been.
Tea grinned.
Mai smiled. "And was I in your dream, Joey?"
Joey turned slightly red. Yeah, Mai had been in his dream. And he'd tell her that, too, but.... Well, Tea and Tristan and Duke were all there... and he really didn't want to let everybody in the whole world know that he liked her.
"N-no, I don't really remember, but I don't think that you were there Mai." He said, his rather obvious lie making him turn a little redder.
Mai blinked at him and her smile faltered. "Oh, I see..."
"Would all duelists please report to the main room so that the next duelists can be chosen?" Roland's voice came on over the loudspeaker.
Joey hurried from the tense situation out into the hall, letting out a small breath of relief. Mai pushed past him and hurried down the hall, her eyes on the floor.
Tea came up beside him and glared at him. "What was that for? She's your friend isn't she? You could have let her know that."
Joey shrugged. "She knows already that she's my friend. Besides, I really honestly didn't remember. There were quite a few people there..."
Tea gave him a sideways glance, telling Joey that she definitely didn't believe him, and then she also hurried off down the hall.
Joey sighed. "Great, now they're both mad at me."
He shook his head and continued down the hall to hear who was going to be dueling next. At least it wouldn't be him versus the real Marik. He was even creepier than the other one...
And to think he had been tricked into thinking that Namu was a friend...
(A/n: Ooooh, inspiration point! Maybe I can get some inspiration!
Malik: Yay...)
He came out into the hall, making sure to stay as far away from Marik as was humanly possible. Others were also keeping their distance from him.
"Wheeler, get off of me."
Joey jumped, scooting away from Kaiba. "Sorry, didn't see you there."
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Of course you didn't. You were too busy cowering from spike hair over there."
Joey was about to protest at this, but Roland began the choosing of the next two duelists.
Mai and Marik...
Joey gave Mai a worried look. She ignored it, instead walking to the elevator. "Oh, Yugi? I don't need you or any of your cheerleaders up there rooting for me, ok? I don't have any friends, and I can do this on my own."
Yugi blinked. "But Mai..."
Mai walked off without another word.
Joey was flabbergasted. He hadn't realized that his comment had hit her that hard.... He looked at the floor. No wonder Tea had gotten mad at him. She had always been more in tune with the way people felt than he was...
He frowned, looking up at the elevator again. Then, against her wishes, he followed up to root for her. She did too have friends, and he was going to prove it.
"Come on, Yug'. She's going against the worst creep in the world; somebody's gotta let her know that she's not alone." He said, getting in the elevator. Yugi nodded and followed, as did Tea, Tristan, Duke, Kaiba, and Mokuba.
When they reached the top and stepped off, Mai was already on the dueling platform with Marik. She glanced over at them and rolled her eyes.
"Fine, you want to watch you can, no rules against that, but I think you're wasting your time."
Yugi looked ready to say something, but Tea gave him a look that said that they'd better leave well enough alone. He sighed, and they all took places standing next to the platform to watch.
(A/n: I hate writing duels, so this is going to be very vague. Be glad there's something here at all... (Sweatdrop))
The duel started, and it started off badly. Marik quickly turned it into something called a Dark Duel.
Joey already didn't like the name, especially since he had fleeting memories of a dark duel with the Evil Bakura in which he and his friends had been trapped in Duel Monsters cards...
It got worse when Mai lost her first monster. Joey wasn't entirely sure what happened, but she suddenly cried out his name.
"Mai!" He called out. She looked over, worry etched all over her face. She looked shattered.
"She can't see you." Yami said softly. Joey whirled on him.
"What do you mean she can't see me? Why?"
"That's what this dark duel is doing. Every time she loses a monster, she loses the memory of another person. She no longer knows you. But keep cheering her on, Joey. She can still hear you."
Joey nodded firmly, his hatred of Marik growing deeper as the duel went on. Soon, Tea was gone to her as well. Joey looked on in anticipation. Mai was down on her knees, watching those who were watching her, silently struggling in the darkness.
Yami finally decided he'd had enough. He closed his eyes and the Millennium Puzzle glowed.
Once again, Joey wasn't sure what happened, but Mai was able to get up and keep going. That encouraged him.
He continued shouting to Mai, and when she glanced over at him, although she couldn't see where the support was coming from, she nodded.
The encouragement was so helpful, in fact, that she ended up being able to get Ra out of Marik's deck and into her own hand. Then, using a cool combo with her Harpies Ladies, she summoned it to the field.
"Yeah! That's the way to do it, Mai!" Joey yelled.
Marik just laughed, cutting Joey's calls short. Joey turned to him angrily. "What are you laughing at?"
Marik pointed upwards to where the monster had been summoned. "You need special words to activate Ra's abilities, my dear." He said, addressing Mai. "At the moment, it's totally useless to you, sitting there in a curled up ball of potential!"
Mai stared up at it in despair. "But..."
Marik laughed. "I do believe you can't do anything more this turn!"
Mai nodded absently. "End turn."
Joey growled. That Marik liked laughing at them way too much. Suddenly, he played a card that bound Mai's arms and legs to a back block carved with hieroglyphs.
"Hey! That's cheatin'!" Joey yelled. "How can she play any cards if she can barely reach her deck to draw?!"
Marik ignored him, smirking snidely at his captured foe. Then, he crossed his arms and began to chant, low under his breath.
Joey grit his teeth. Yami "hrrrr"ed beside him. Mai looked defeated. The great ball that Mai had summoned just the turn before began to glow and come apart. Ra was forming, and it was transferring itself to Marik's side of the field.
"That's it, that's enough." Joey muttered. He ran forward, climbing up onto the dueling field.
"Joey! You'll be disqualified!" Yami said, looking shocked.
Joey turned back, glaring at his friend. "I don't care, Yug'. I hafta help Mai, no matter what it takes." He turned around again and ran over to Mai.
"Mai, look up. Mai, look at me. Mai!" he said, holding her head up. She blinked, obviously seeing nothing.
Tears came to Joey's eyes. "Come on, Mai, you've got to remember me! It's me, Joey!"
Mai stirred. "Joey?"
"Yes! Joey!"
".....Who's Joey?"
The tears in Joey's eyes spilled over. "Mai! Come on, you've GOT to remember!" His mind raced, he looked over her face. True to what she said, there was no hint of recognition.
Slowly, he leaned forward. "Mai... You've got to remember me.... please..." he pleaded. "I... I'll make you remember!"
He kissed her.
Mai's eyes suddenly widened, and Joey pulled away. Her eyes began to focus, and she whispered. "Joey? Joey Wheeler?"
Joey's worried look faded, looking relieved. "You remember!"
She smiled slowly. "I oughta smack you, Joey." She said. "But... I don't want to..."
He grinned momentarily, but glanced away when he heard Marik's laughs.
"What do you want?" he asked angrily.
"It's just so touching seeing the two of you like that... But touching or not, it's still time for me to attack. She has to be hit. You do not. You can run. Please move."
Joey stood his ground, glaring at Marik. Mai glared with him.
Marik laughed again. "Fine with me. Winged Dragon of Ra, attack!"
"No!" Yami shouted, also climbing up onto the dueling platform.
(A/n: (wonders why the two of them weren't disqualified))
Mai and Joey had been bracing themselves for the attack, Joey leaning protectively over Mai, but they both looked up when they realized that Yami was taking the hit for the both of them.
"Yugi!" they both said in surprise as they watched him.
Marik frowned. "Stupid Pharaoh. You're always getting in the way."
"You won't hurt my friends!" Yami said, gritting his teeth against the pain of the blast he was absorbing.
The attack slowed, then came to a stop. Yami collapsed onto the floor. The holographics disappeared, dropping Mai to her knees. Joey tried to shake Yami awake. "Yug'! Come on, Yug'!"
Slowly, he began to stir, and he looked up at Joey. "Are you ok?"
Joey nodded, then helped Yami into a sitting position. Then he turned back to Mai to help her up as well.
He growled as he realized that Marik had gotten over to her first. "Hey, keep away from her! Haven't you done enough damage?" he got up and started to get between him and Mai.
Marik laughed again, then held up the Millennium Rod. Suddenly, Joey couldn't move! He was frozen!
He watched helplessly as Marik turned back to Mai. The Millennium Rod flashed, and Mai suddenly went alternate colors for a moment. Her eyes opened wide, and she slumped over.
Marik walked off a ways, and Joey was unfrozen. He dashed to Mai. "Mai! Mai!" he glared at Marik. "What did you do to her, you freak of nature?"
"Oh, not too much. Her mind is trapped in the Shadow Realm." Marik said, laughing once again.
Joey had to keep himself from walking over there and strangling the creep. He turned back to Mai. "Mai! Mai!" he shouted. "MAAAIII!!!!"
(----Divider----)
Daricio: (with a cookie in her mouth) I think 17 pages are enough for one chapter...
Malik: Perhaps...
Radley: (looking it over) um... some of those quotes are wrong...
Daricio: I don't care. I did that on purpose.
Malik: Yeah, right. More like you haven't watched the eppie in so long that you've forgotten it.
Kura: You've got two whole duels in this chapter...
Daricio: (sweatdrop) yeah, this part isn't so interesting, so I was trying to get it over with...
Kura: Oh... Does that mean that the next part IS interesting?
Daricio: I... I think so.... I mean, a really really weird thing happens in the next one...
Radley: Yet another thing having to do with me, too. -.-
Malik: (reading the notebook) Well, no, more with Kura than with you...
Radley: Speaking of which, I wasn't in this chapter at all...
Daricio: Duh, you're unconscious...
Radley: -.-U
Daricio: well, nothing else much to say, so I'll just end the chapter now...
Malik: -.- Goooooood idea....How intelligent of you.
Daricio: (sweatdrop) (to readers) he's the Sarcastic muse..... ..... And so is Radley.
Both: -.-
Daricio: (sweatdrop) but anyways, thanks for reading! Please review!