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Fanfic Chapter 107: The Third God Pt 1: One is the Loneliest Number
Episode Basis: Mind Games Pt 1
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Finally giving in to pressure, Odion released the fake Egyptian God Card that Marik placed in his deck. But somehow, the fake Egyptian God Card rebelled and threw things into chaos. The spectators were protected thanks to some quick thinking from Harold and Yami-Yugi, but both Joey and Odion were knocked unconscious by lightning bolts. Kaiba, clearly unaware of how serious the situation was, declared that the first to rise within five minute's time will be the winner. It became a test of endurance, of which the winner turned out to be Joey. With his last ounce of strength, Odion let out a warning about Marik's dark side, but it was too late, as the dark version of Marik that has been dormant ever since childhood because of Odion's protection had overpowered his other half. Now the question remains: which of the three remaining Duelists would be the unfortunate soul to go up against Yami-Marik.
On the blimp, Yugi and some of his friends have already gathered around Odion's bedside.
"How is he?" Joey asked.
"Physically, he's fine, but his tests show a large amount of mental stress," the doctor explained.
"You're just lucky to be up and about," Tea pointed out.
"Don't I know it," Joey said solemnly. "And that's what bugs me, we were both on the platform when his card went kablooey, so how come I'm standing and he's not?"
"Perhaps it has something to do with the fake Egyptian God Card," Yugi theorized. Immediately, everyone's attention was trained on him. "Odion played a fake Egyptian God Card. The fact that it didn't obey his commands is proof of that. Perhaps it was some sort of… punishment for something, but what I don't know."
"Oh please, Yugi, that's got to be the lousiest excuse I ever heard," Mai said dismissively.
"Call me crazy, but there might be some truth in that," Duke said. "Granted, I was only on the sidelines when it happened, but from my point of view, it looked like the Duelists were being attacked."
"That's certainly what it felt like," Joey agreed.
"Well I think you're all crazy, I'm going to see who the next Duelists are." Mai turned and walked out.
"She has issues," Duke commented.
"True, but I don't blame her for being skeptic," Yugi said. "Some things that happened can be hard to swallow."
"Joey, can I see you alone?" Serenity asked.
"Sure, sis." And the two left.
"Hurry up, will you, Amara?" Harold called into the restroom. "There are others who need to puke their guts."
"Well give me a break, Wonder Woman," Amara called back. There was a gagging sound before they heard, "Not all of us are used to seeing monsters eaten alive, even holographic ones."
"Typical girl; always has to hog the bathroom," Tristan complained.
There was a flushing sound as the door opened and Amara stepped out. Scowling at Tristan, she said, "I heard that, Tinkerbelle."
"Say what?" Harold quickly dashed in and shut the door. "Boy, pesky."
Mai stomped by Tristan deliberately slammed her shoulder into him and continued down the hallway. "Sheesh, am I ticking all girls off or is it just the ones on this ship? Hey Mai, where's the fire?" But Mai ignored him, and just continued around the corner. "Okay, what was that all about? Mai was acting weird even for Mai."
"Maybe Joey said something that pissed her off," Amara suggested.
"Wouldn't be the first time, but I don't know…"
Mai went into the Observation Lounge where the next duels would be decided. She stared out the window, thinking about what she just heard.
"So what did you want to talk to me about, Serenity?"
"Joey… I'm scared, I have a feeling deep down that this has become more than just a simple card game tournament."
"I hate to tell you this, Serenity, but… it has become more than just a card game. This Marik creep is a grade-A prime psychopath, and it's up to Yugi and me to stop him."
"You and Yugi?"
"That's right, you saw… well… experienced what this creep is capable of, Yugi and I are the only ones with the skills to stop him."
"But what about the others? What about Harold, Kaiba, and Mai."
"Harold and I dueled once before and I kicked his butt and Kaiba cares about us about as much as he cares about an old pair of sneakers."
"And Mai?"
"Look, Serenity, the point is we have to stop him or he'll try to take over the world! Yugi and I will do whatever it takes to stop him."
"Joey…" Serenity wrapped her arms around her Big Brother. "Please be careful, I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you."
Joey stroked her hair, "Don't worry, Sis, I won't do anything to hurt you ever."
I envy Serenity, Mai thought. She has someone to look out for her while I had to be the one doing the looking out. When my Aunt first brought Kevin, she asked me to look after him. How was I to refuse, he was one of the few family members I had left. But it seems that Kevin had a lot of his father in him, always striking out on his own, doing stuff that would surprise everyone, especially me. When he started winning a few Duel Monsters matches, it seemed like he was finally asserting his independence, but I…
"Well, what do we have here?" Mai turned and saw Yami-Marik walk into the room. He had changed into a black sleeveless shirt, khaki pants, and some sort of weird gold-colored wrist bands. He was twirling his Millennium Rod in one hand. "A little bird who wandered away from her nest."
Mai backed up but only hit the window, "Back off, you nut job, and don't you even think about trying any of that mind control stuff on me!"
"My dear little bird, you insult me, the whole 'mind control' thing was an idea of my former weaker self. In fact, I should be thanking your friend Joey Wheeler for finishing off Odion for me. It was him that was holding me back, but since Wheeler won, I am now free to do what I want."
"But he was one of yours!"
"'One of mine?' My dear peacock, I only look out for one person, myself! Anyone else is just a hazard keeping me from achieving my ultimate goal, too bad you won't live long enough to see my goal come to fruition." Yami-Marik burst into laughter.
"What's going on here?" Kaiba asked walking into the room. He scowled upon seeing Marik. "Marik."
"Ah, Seto Kaiba, come to enjoy the view one last time before your inevitable demise?"
"That's big talk coming from someone who spent most of this tournament hiding."
"I assure you, I won't be doing any more hiding. I will, however, be doing lots of eliminating, including with you."
"You'll have to get past me before you get to Kaiba, Marik," Yami-Yugi said walking in with his friends.
"Ask and you shall receive, Pharaoh," Yami-Marik said. "I will take special pleasure in putting you and your merry little band where your kind belongs… in the darkness oblivion of the Shadow Realm!"
Roland nervously stepped up to the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon pachinko machine. "Um… if everyone's here, we'll start." He flipped on the machine and two balls were deposited. The numbers were 5 and 7.
Mai would duel Yami-Marik.
He was being chased, no doubt about that. He had some close calls since coming on board but this time, the jig was up. Now he was being chased by a team of Kaiba-Corp. guards.
He came around a corner and saw a hallway that was riddled with doors with numbers on them. One of the doors was open. He dashed inside and slammed the door. He heard footsteps run by the room and then silence. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Greetings."
He gasped in his hurry to escape he failed to ascertain whether or not the room was occupied. He looked at the strange woman sitting in the chair.
"I…"
"I know who you are," the woman interrupted. "We have a mutual acquaintance."
He gasped.
"It's time!" Roland announced. "Mai Valentine, Marik Ishtar, prepare your Duel Disks and let's begin!"
"I hope Mai knows what she's doing," Harold said.
"I'm not putting anything past Mai," Joey said.
Finally, its showtime, Kaiba thought. Let's see what the real Egyptian God Card is like.
A/N: Okay, for claritys' sake, I'm going to use their last initials to indicate their life points. So it's 'I' for Ishtar, and 'V' for Valentine.
"Let's duel!" Mai shouted. Yami-Marik just chuckled.
(V: 4000)
(I: 4000)
"I'll start by summoning Dunames Dark Witch (1) in attack mode!" A colorful looking woman with wings appeared.
"That's not a Harpie card," Tristan realized.
"Mai did say she modified her deck before the tournament," Yami-Yugi said. "I just hope she modified it enough to stand up to Marik."
"Then I summon Revival Jam in defense mode," Yami-Marik responded. "Along with the magic card Jam Breeding Machine!"
Yami-Yugi gasped.
"What's wrong?" Amara asked.
"He used that combo against me," Yami-Yugi explained. "He must be trying to breed enough slime tokens to summon his Egyptian God Card."
"Then shouldn't you warn Mai?" Serenity asked.
"Mai!" Yami-Yugi called out.
"Can it," Mai snapped. "Don't you remember what I said earlier? Giving advice is illegal, I won't lose!"
"If you're so sure, why do I see fear in your eyes?" Yami-Marik retorted. "If there's one thing I love, its fear."
"You should use that third eye on your forehead a bit more often," Mai came back. "I'm just eager to get you out of the way so I can get on to more important things… like winning the finals! Dunames Dark Witch, attack Revival Jam now!" The Dark Witch fired an energy blast at Revival Jam but just as the water monster was destroyed, it reformed itself. "How did that happen?"
"I tried to warn you," Yami-Yugi said. "He used this tactic against me."
Mai cringed.
"First I'll play Pot of Greed which let's me draw two cards," Yami-Marik said starting his turn. "Like I always say, greed is good. Next my Jam Breeding Machine will create a slime token (2). And then I'll play face-down a card that will render your attacks useless!"
"What does he mean?" Mokuba asked.
"Marik must have a trap card that will block Mai's attacks," Kaiba deduced.
"Your face-down cards are about to become worthless," Mai said. "Because I'm activating Harpie's Feather Duster!" A fierce tornado destroyed Jam Breeding Machine as well as Yami-Marik's face-down card.
"That's socking it to him, Mai," Joey cheered.
Mai handled that situation well, Yami-Yugi agreed. But she's in for much worse, especially if Marik brings out his Egyptian God Card.
"Dark Witch, attack his life points directly!" Mai commanded. An energy burst engulfed the small water droplet with a face that appeared.
(V: 4000)
(I: 2700)
"I think I made my point that I'm not to be taken lightly," Mai said as she placed a card face-down. "I end my turn."
"I summon Melchid the Four-Faced Beast and next I'll sacrifice Melchid and Revival Jam so I can summon the Masked Beast Des Guardius!"
A/N: In case you're wondering how that's possible, according to Des Guardius' special ability is that it can only be special summoned by tributing two monsters, one of them must be either Melchid the Four-Faced Beast or Grand Tiki Elder so it's perfectly legal for Yami-Marik to perform that move.
"Attack her Witch, my Masked Beast!"
"Not so fast, three-eyes, I reveal my face-down card, Mirror Wall!"
"You what!"
"You heard me right, spiky, Mirror Wall reduces your monster's attack points by half!"
(MBDG: 3300-1650)
"Dunames Dark Witch, attack his Masked Beast!" Yami-Marik's monster was destroyed.
(V: 4000)
(I: 2550)
As the dust settled from the destruction of the Masked Beast, a large mask was revealed in its place. "My Masked Beast may be destroyed, but not before leaving behind a little surprise: the Mask of Remnant!" The mask slammed itself onto the face of Mai's monster. The Dunames Dark Witch floated over to Yami-Marik's side of the field. "Now your monster's mine to do with as I please! Next I'll play the Remove Trap magic card to destroy your Mirror Wall!" Mai's trap card was destroyed.
"Mai better do something quickly before Marik plays his God Card!" Tristan said.
"She's fine," Joey assured him. "I mean look at the score, she hasn't lost any life points."
I know Joey's trying to be nice but Tristan's right, Mai thought. There's no way I would survive if Marik plays his Egyptian God Card. I have to win this duel before that happens! She drew a card, "Don't get cocky, Marik, things are about to change!"
"I completely agree," Yami-Marik said with a smile.
Marik's up to something, Joey thought. "Mai…"
"Zip it, Joey, I know what I'm doing."
Yami-Marik brought out his Millennium Rod, "Practice time is now over," he said. "It's time to take this match to the Shadow Realm!" Everyone gasped as the entire blimp was engulfed in purple shadows.
"It's as I feared," Yami-Yugi said. "Marik has called upon the powers of the Shadow Realm."
"It just looks like we went into some fog," Amara commented.
"I don't think this is normal fog, Amara," Duke said.
"This is just like at Duelist Kingdom," Tristan commented.
"Yeah, only now we're all in it instead of outside," Harold said.
"End this now, Marik!" Yami-Yugi commanded.
"But the shadows are hungry and they will be fed," Yami-Marik said back. "If Mai wants to stay in this duel, she'll have to do it in my world!"
"Mai, you have to end this now!" Yami-Yugi warned. "There's more at stake here than you could possibly imagine!"
"You've gone off your rocker, Yugi," Mai commented. "There's no way I'm going to back out now!"
"Well that's that," Joey said conclusively. "Once Mai's mind is made up, there's no way to change it. But this time it could end up costing her big."
I can't let those kids distract me, Mai thought. Marik thinks that by summoning some freaky fog, he can scare me into giving up. Well I'm not running scared; I'm not going to give up just because they say so. I will win this on my own. "It's my move, and I'll place a card face-down and summon my Unfriendly Amazon (3) in attack mode!" A dark skinned woman in battle armor appeared. She was literally glowing. "Why's my monster glowing like that?"
"The glow around your monster represents your mind," Yami-Marik explained. "If that glow goes out, so will a piece of your mind!"
There's something seriously wrong with this guy, Mai thought. But I can't let his taunts scare me. "Unfriendly Amazon, attack Dunames Dark Witch now!" The fairy monster fell to the warrior.
(V: 4000)
(I: 2350)
"My life points may have gone down, but since Dunames Dark Witch was your monster, you lose the memory of someone you know."
An image of Tea briefly appeared in her mind and then faded.
"No, not Tea!"
"Huh… uh… Mai, I'm right here." But Mai seemed to be looking past Tea.
That was because that Mai saw nobody where Tea was standing, she didn't even realize that anyone had been standing. All she knew was the cold feeling in her stomach.
"Hey Mai, you okay?" Joey asked.
"She's far from okay," Yami-Marik said. "And this is just the beginning!"
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Dunames Dark Witch
Level: 4
Type: Fairy
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1800
DEF: 0
(2)
Name: Slime Token
Level: 1
Type: Aqua
Attribute: Water
ATK: 0
DEF: 0
(3)
Name: Unfriendly Amazon
Level: 4
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 2000
DEF: 1600
