First of all, I'd like to address a particular review from happerry:

Yami Marik is NOT the spirit of the Millennium Rod, happerry. He was born from Marik's anger during the ceremony when Marik's father carved the key to unlocking the Pharaoh's memory onto his back in an initiation ritual. It's a common misconception, since all the other spirits on the show are spirits of Millennium Items. Get YOUR data right.

Next, I'm ecstatic that this fic has almost made it past the magical 100-review mark! Uncork the non-alcoholic champagne! Crank up the tunes! Order the pizza! Celebrate!

I seem to have FINALLY gotten over my writer's block. I used a little trick I read in a fanfic (can't remember which one). I put my favorite song (Bohemian Rhapsody from Queen) on repeat at full blast and wrote. It works really well.

P.S. Did anybody catch the subliminal message in the last chapter? Kudos if you did and understood it!

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"Khell," said Lu Chao "I'll be watching you."

With that, he disappeared.

Khell appeared in shock. He started blankly at the spot where Lu Chao had stood a moment before. Arrathir waved his hand in front of Khell's face. No reaction. He was completely catatonic.

"Khell!" said Kaiba "We have a duel to finish!"

"The duel's over!" snapped Khell and he stormed off.

Arrathir sensed Khell was hiding something. Why had this apparition shocked him so much? He took off after Khell.

"Hey, Khell! Wait up!" he shouted, as the Spellcaster entered the elevator.

Arrathir slipped into the elevator as the doors closed.

"What is going on?" he demanded "First, you almost kill Kaiba by summoning real creatures, then this Lu Chao comes and you go all weird!"

"He said he was a Justicar Planeswalker," said Khell, talking to himself.

"Hello?" said Arrathir "A little help here? What is a Justicar Planeswalker?"

"The Justicar Planeswalkers are a myth, or at least I thought they were. A bedtime story for young ones. They were a highly advanced race of Planeswalkers who lived for millenia. They served as keepers of justice and were said to be masters of time and space."

"So what does this guy want?"

"In my duel with Kaiba," said Khell "I summoned real creatures because I wanted that artifact, that rod. It's hard to explain. The urge to posses it was so strong, I was ready to commit murder to have it. That was why the Justicar Planeswalker stopped the duel; to prevent me from committing an unforgivable act. I see it now, and I am ashamed. This is the second time I've nearly killed an innocent in this world."

"I wouldn't call that thug 'innocent'," said Arrathir "He got what he deserved."

"No," said Khell "I need to tell you something Arrathir. In the forest, the first time you fainted when you were learning to tap mana, I nearly killed you because I saw you were a black mana-caster, a ghell. All my life, I've despised black mana. To me, it represents the Cabal, and I cannot forget the horrors I've seen and heard because of them: Entire villages slaughtered to feed their minions, their twisted experiments, their grisly sacrifices...I hate them. But to let this hatred take your life, I could never forgive myself for. Arrathir, it was not your doing that you cast black mana, you were born that way. I respect this and feel assured I hold you in no way responsible for what the Cabal have done."

Arrathir was shocked by this revelation. He said nothing as they left Kaiba Land and headed for the Kame Game shop. It was late at night when they reached the shop. Arrathir was tired and immediately went to sleep.

Khell wandered around the house, unable to find sleep. He decided to take a walk outside, the night air might be able to clear his mind. As he stepped out into the dark, he felt a presence.

"I am here, Justicar Planeswalker, what do you want?" he asked.

Lu Chao stepped out from the darkness of an alley and stood before Khell.

"You did well today, Spellcaster," he said "The first step to letting go of your hatred is admitting to it. Watch the boy, he has great potential. He may be one of the five."

"The five?" gasped Khell "But how? He is only a child!"

"Even the tallest tree was once but a sapling. His future is clouded, but his destiny will be revealed in time. Now I take my leave. Tell nothing to the boy. I will be watching."

The Justicar Planeswalker stepped back into the alley and vanished.

A few days later Arrathir was having breakfast when Yugi came into the kitchen with the mail.

"Arrathir," he said "You got a letter addressed to Khell and you."

A letter? But who knows I'm here?

Arrathir opened the letter and read it:

Dear Mr. Arrathir, Mr. Khell

KaibaCorp is pleased to inform you that you are invited to the second Battle City Tournament.

Enclosed in this letter are your four locator cards (two each) and a set of the tournament rules. Please present yourself at Kaiba Land at 9 P.M. in four days for your deck registration. Only one deck is permitted per duelist.

Please note that you will be required to submit your entire deck for verification. We will be tracking your duels, and if we find you are using unregistered cards, you will be disqualified.

You will received your new Duel Disk III at any participating game shop in Domino. These new Duel Disks have been modified to allow any Duel Monsters duelist to duel against your Magic: The Gathering decks..

We hope to see you at the tournament.

Sincerely,

KaibaCorp

"Hey," said Yugi "You got invited to the tournament too? Good for you!"

Arrathir saw Yugi was also holding a letter. He dug through his envelope and found four transparent cards.

"So what do these do?" he asked Yugi.

"Those are your locator cards," explained Yugi "You wager them when you duel with other duelists. The winner gets the loser's cards. You need eight to get into the finals. When you win a duel, you also get the opponent's best card."

"Wow, I gotta go tell Khell."

Arrathir ran off to find the Spellcaster. Yugi watched him leave then turned to Yami.

/Well Yami? What do you think?/

Yami Marik's going to be at this tournament, a good opportunity to defeat him once and for all. The fate of the world depends upon it.(A/N Edo's Yu-Gi-Oh! drinking game: Take a drink every time Yami or Yugi says "It's our destiny." or "The fate of the world depends upon it." You won't stay sober long!)

/His Rare Hunters will be out in full force./

The easier for us to collect locator cards.

Arrathir found Khell in Yugi's room, sifting through his deck.

"Hey Khell! We've been invited to a Duel Monsters tournament!"

He handed the letter to Khell who read it over and smiled.

"This is a great opportunity for you to hone your dueling skills. Have you decided which deck you are going to use?"

"I don't know. I thought of using my artifact deck because it's very fast."

"You should use your black deck," said Khell "You are a ghell, so you should do best with your black deck."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Arrathir asked. This was the first time Khell had mentioned his being a ghell since the night when he had duelled Kaiba.

"Arrathir, I already told you; being a ghell does not change my opinion of you or your dueling abilities. Go with your black deck."

"O.K. Thanks, Khell," said Arrathir before going back downstairs.

As he crossed the front hall, he was literally bowled over by an over-excited Joey who way waving his invitation letter.

"Can you believe it? I got invited to the new Battle City tournament!"

"As runner-up at the first Battle City, it was to be expected," said Yugi.

Arrathir spent the next few days going over his deck, fine-tuning his strategy. He also studied the rulebook for the tournament. Most of it was basic information about how the tournament would take place over a three-day period during which duelists would have to collect eight locator cards. He found out Kaiba had added a little twist to his blended rules. Creatures with an attack of 6 required one sacrifice to summon, creatures with an attack of 7, two, and creatures with an attack of 8 or more, three sacrifices.

That won't be a problem for my black deck. I can always bring my creatures back and my Soulless Ones will benefit from a full graveyard.

Arrathir, Khell, Joey, and Yugi also picked up their new Duel Disks. They looked the same as the old Duel Disks, but were available in several colour schemes, including the classic white, red, and blue from the original Duel Disks. Arrathir chose an all-black Duel Disk to reflect his deck, Khell chose a forest-green and yellow Duel Disk, while Yugi and Joey went with the classic design.

"It's too bad the rest of the gang isn't here to cheer us on," said Joey as they walked to Kaiba Land on the opening night of the tournament.

"Yeah," agreed Yugi "Tea's in America at that dance school, Tristan's working, Duke's promoting Dungeon Dice Monsters in America, and Serenity's in summer school."

They arrived at Kaiba Land and found the place packed with duelists. Some were having practice duels, others were showing off their rare cards. Above them floated a giant KaibaCorp blimp with a large screen on its side. Suddenly, a the screen turned on, and Kaiba's face appeared. All activity stopped below as everybody stared at the blimp.

"Welcome," said Kaiba "Welcome to the second Battle City tournament! We welcome back former Battle City and Duellist Kingdom champion, Yugi Mutou!"

Yugi blushed madly and hid himself behind Joey as everybody around them clapped.

"Joining us for this new tournament are two special individuals: Arrathir and Khell. They play a game very similar to Duel Monsters, so I have decided to allow them to participate in this tournament. You will be using the blended rules described in the rulebook when duelling against them. You will have three days to collect the eight locator cards necessary to enter the finals. If you loose all your locator cards, you will be forced to drop out of the tournament. I will myself be competing, so if you think you have what it takes, you may challenge me. The first prize for the winner of the tournament will be 10,000 shares of KaibaCorp's stock, a value of about 100 million yen (approx. 1 million dollars US). If you will now please load you decks into your Duel Disks so we can verify and register them. I remind you that if you are found to be using unregistered cards, you will be disqualified."

There was a hubbub as the duelists slotted their decks. A few moments later, a buzz arose as each duelists deck was scanned by their Duel Disks.

"Now that your decks are registered, I declare the second Battle City tournament open! Let the duels begin!"

Fireworks erupted all around Domino City as the largest Duel Monsters tournament began.

To be continued...

Author's Note: Well, Battle City 2 is under way. What perils will Arrathir and his friends face? Will Yami Marik be defeated? Will Arrathir discover his destiny? Will these cheesy cliffhanger questions ever stop? Will this story ever end? Will you review? Well, that last one's up to you.