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Fanfic Chapter 108: The Third God Pt 2: Capture of Ra
Episode Basis: Mind Games Pt 2
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! As luck would have it, Mai would be the one to duel Yami-Marik. A pre-duel confrontation drained Mai of her self-confidence, making her believe that it would be easier if she didn't have anyone to care about. On the dueling field, Yami-Marik warmed up by summoning monsters that Yami-Yugi and Kaiba recognized from past duels. Then things really got serious as Yami-Marik transformed the duel into a Shadow Game, whereby for each monster destroyed, the original owner of the card would lose the memory of someone. Although Mai drained Yami-Marik of almost half his life points, she did it by destroying her own monster making her lose her memory of Tea. It's going to get ugly from here, but you can bet Yami-Yugi won't take this lying down.
"You look a little startled, my little bird," Yami-Marik taunted. "You should be proud, you almost took away half my life points!"
(V: 4000)
(I: 2350)
"Perhaps you're upset about losing the memory of someone."
Why do I feel empty inside? Mai thought. She risked casting a glance at the sidelines. I could've sworn there was at least one more person here, but now… was I just imagining it? The dark mist of the Shadow Realm began gathering around her.
Below decks, the duel was being broadcasted throughout closed-circuit television. The Tenth Duelist and her mysterious visitor were watching it. "This is not good," the Duelist said. "Now that the magic of the Shadow Realm has been unleashed, the loser will suffer a penalty game."
"Penalty game?" Her 'guest' asked.
"The Shadow Realm is a cold and cruel place," she explained. "Anyone who loses a Shadow Game, while in the Shadow Realm will suffer eternal torment."
"Can't it be stopped?"
"No, once the powers have been unleashed, they will stay there until the very end."
"Cherish your memories while you have them," Yami-Marik said. "Because soon you'll lose them forever!"
"No, I can't, I…"
"Mai, get a grip!" Tea called. But Mai ignored her. "Huh? Why is Mai ignoring me?"
"She's not," Yami-Yugi explained. "In her mind, you do not exist." Tea's eyes widened at Yami-Yugi. "It's the rules of the Shadow Game."
"Oh man," Tea muttered.
Yami-Marik placed a card face-down. "I summon Makyura the Destructor (1) in attack mode along with the magic card Black Pendant which raises its attack power by 500 points!"
(MD: 1600-2100)
"Now, Makyura, destroy her monster and another of her memories!"
"Not so fast, Big Hair, I reveal my trap card: Amazon Archers!" A row of archers appeared in front of Mai. "These arrows lower your monster's attack points by 500!" The arrows flew through the air and stabbed Makyura in the legs.
(MD: 2100-1600)
The Unfriendly Amazon retaliated and destroyed Makyura.
(V: 4000)
(I: 1950)
The memory of Strings the Quiet One vanished. Yami-Marik shrugged, "I should thank you, my dear, there's nobody in my mind worth remembering anyway. You see, unlike you I thrive on loneliness, it allows you to do whatever you want without having anything to tie you down. In addition, destroying Black Pendant causes your life points to be lowered by 500!"
(V: 3500)
(I: 1950)
"Plus since you sent Makyura to the graveyard by attack, its special ability kicks in allowing me to play a trap card from my hand and I choose Rope of Life. Rope of Life brings back the monster you just destroyed and raises its attack power by 800 points!" Makyura reappeared, larger than before.
(MD: 1600-2400)
Makyura attacked her Unfriendly Amazon and destroyed her.
(V: 3100)
(I: 1950)
This time, the image of Joey faded.
No, Joey, please, don't go, Mai pleaded as the shadows gathered around her. She collapsed to her knees. I never thought I would feel this way again. I had to grow up really fast, taking care of myself and my young cousin, Kevin. I never knew what it truly felt to have someone watch out for you, I thought that people relied on me, but didn't care about me. Then I met them: Yugi Moto and his group. They showed me friendship and kindness; they actually looked out for me, something that I haven't felt in a long, long time. Sure they were a little odd, but it would be a boring world without odd people. Gradually, the darkness in my heart faded. I thought that I truly knew what kindness was. But now, that darkness is returning, stronger than ever, I feel like I'm going to be consumed by it. Someone, anyone, help me!
"Mai!" Joey ran to the side of the dueling platform. "Mai, can you hear me? Mai, it's me, Joey!" He growled, "I don't get it, first she ignores Tea, now she ignores me!" He turned to Yami-Yugi, "What's going on, Yug?"
"Mai isn't ignoring you, at least not deliberately. The Shadow Game makes her forget everyone she's ever known."
"No way, I refuse to believe it!" Joey shouted. "She would never forget me!"
"This is insane!" Amara complained. "Is this a duel or second grade? What kind of a Duelist would make someone forget their friends?"
"It's just intimidation tactics," Kaiba dismissed.
"Very good intimidation tactics," Duke added. "If Mai's being affected by it."
Kaiba had to give that one to Duke, Mai Valentine was a strong woman, even he would admit that, so for someone to literally bring her to her knees with just words… Marik would make a great interrogator.
"Yugi, we have to help her," Harold said. "I know we might be breaking some sort of ancient law, but I can't stand by and watch him basically mind-wipe her!"
"You're right, Harold," Yami-Yugi said. "If Marik can use magic to hurt her, maybe we can use magic to help her." Harold nodded.
"What's the meaning of this?" Mai slowly looked up to see a ring of archaic symbols surrounding her. Yami-Marik looked just as surprised meaning this wasn't his doing. Mai closed her eyes.
In her mind, she could see nothing but shadows.
"I… I don't want to be alone," she said meekly.
"You're not." A large golden eye symbol appeared in front of her and someone appeared in front of it.
"Yugi!"
"Harold's shield won't last long," Yami-Yugi said more to himself than to Mai. "Mai, you can't let Marik's illusions distract you. You must win this match to return to the life you once knew."
"But how can I? It feels like… like there's a darkness growing in my heart…"
"Darkness and light are like two sides of the same coin: they're complete opposites but they compliment each other. One can not exist without the other. Right now, Marik is trying to fill your heart with nothing but darkness, but a balance is needed." Yami-Yugi held out his hands and an orb of light about three times the size of a basketball appeared.
"What is that?"
"The compliment to Marik's darkness: light." He handed it to her.
Mai held it close to her, "It feels… warm."
"That light represents your friends, Mai, listen." Mai laid an ear to the orb of light and could distinctly hear Joey and the others shouting words of encouragement.
"I… I know these voices."
"Those are your friends, Mai, we're all your friends and no matter what happens, we always will. You have the strength, Mai, use the light to call upon it and overcome Marik's mind games."
"That's just what I'll do!"
Yami-Marik used the power of the Millennium Rod to knock Harold down. But by then Yami-Yugi had already returned to the sides, a satisfactory smirk on his face.
"How dare you try to interrupt our duel, Pharaoh!"
"You've used magic, no reason why the rest of us couldn't," Yami-Yugi said as Harold got up and dusted himself off.
"It'll be your time to die soon enough, Pharaoh, after I finish with this…"
"I wouldn't start planning a eulogy just yet, Marik!" Yami-Marik turned and saw Mai rising to her feet. "You still have to get through me first! And I won't go down so easily! Your mind tricks won't work on me any more! The only way to settle this is by dueling! So look out, because it's my move!" Mai drew a card. "I summon Amazon Chain Master (2) in attack mode! Then I place one card face-down and end my turn!"
"I'll show you what real terror is all about!" Yami-Marik declared drawing a card. "I summon Holding Arms (3) in attack mode!" A pair of shackles with the Millennium symbol at the center appeared. "Holding Arms binds your monster and keeps her from attacking for three turns!" The shackles held Amazon Chain Master's arms out in a T-shape. "And it has a rather nasty side-effect too!" Electricity surged through Amazon Chain Master's body. She was screaming with no voice, Mai grunted.
"Forget these mind games and just duel, Marik!" Yami-Yugi snapped as Yami-Marik placed a card face-down.
"These games are how I play. Duel Monsters and the Shadow Realm are intertwined so I'm just playing the game the way it was intended to be played. Fate has chosen dear Mai here as the victim for today's Shadow Game!"
"You're insane."
"You're no different, you use Millennium magic too." Yami-Yugi thought back to the times where he did use the magic.
"But... I am the best in the land! How could I have lost to such an amateur?"
"Kaiba," Yugi addressed, a strange eye symbol glowing on his forehead. "If you truly wish to know..." He held out his hand. "OPEN YOUR MIND!" Yugi sent a shockwave coursing through Kaiba's body. Kaiba felt a piece of himself break away and disappear.
The explosion blinded Dark Kaiba. But his problems were just beginning.
A strange Egyptian eye appeared on Yugi's forehead. "Pegasus may have saved you from the Shadow Realm once before, but it won't happen again! NEVER AGAIN!" Yugi held out his hand and the apparition disappeared.
Inside, the fire storm, Panik celebrated the supposed death of Yugi Moto. Until he noticed that the flames were actually going around Yugi's podium. Panik immediately turned off the flame throwers. Yugi was still standing on his podium. His puzzle was glowing and he had a colorful Egyptian-looking eye on his forehead.
"How... how did you survive? It's impossible!"
"My Millennium Puzzle protects me from cowardly assaults like yours. Now I will teach you a lesson about bullying others." Yugi held out his hand. "PENALTY GAME: TORMENT OF FIRE!" All the flames immediately converged on Panik, leaving nothing but his two dueling gloves.
Yami-Yugi held up the Millennium Puzzle, closed his eyes, and concentrated. The eye symbol on the puzzle's centerpiece started to glow and the same image appeared on Yami-Yugi's forehead. The symbols started to glow brightly and spin more rapidly. A golden ring appeared around the Duelists, a ring that, if seen from above, looked like the Egyptian eye symbol of the Millennium Items with Yugi's puzzle being the pupil.
"There is one big difference, Marik," Yami-Yugi said. "I use my powers to help and protect people, not to spread evil like you!"
"Yugi, I appreciate you trying to help me," Mai said. "But I can protect myself."
"You're going to let her duel, Yugi?" Joey asked.
Mai caught Yami-Yugi's eyes. "It's Mai's choice," Yami-Yugi concluded.
Kid's not as dumb as he looks, Mai thought with a smile. "I reveal my face-down card, Grave Arm which destroys one monster on the field!"
"Hah, it won't work on my Holding Arms."
"Who said I was using it on your monsters? I'm using it to destroy my monster!" Amazon Chain Master burst into pieces. "Since the rules of your little psycho game require that someone loses their memory if their opponent destroys a monster, destroying one's own monster is the exception to the rule!"
"You must be desperate to keep your memory if you're destroying your own monsters."
"That's not the only reason I destroyed her. When Amazon Chain Master is destroyed, her special effect activates allowing me to take one card from your deck and guess which one I want."
Yami-Marik gasped.
"That's right, Slugger, the card I want is your Egyptian God Card!" A chain dug into Yami-Marik's deck and came out with the real Egyptian God Card. The chain flung it into Mai's hand. "I'd say it's worth the 1000 life points I have to pay to activate it."
(V: 2100)
(I: 1950)
Joey cheered, "What a move!"
"You may have the God Card for now, but the only way you'll keep it is by defeating me in this duel."
"That's just what I plan to do; I'm just going to take your God Card for a test drive first."
Taking Marik's God Card was an awesome move, Yami-Yugi thought. Now all she has to do is summon it.
Foolish girl, she may have my God Card, but can she use it?
This is an interesting turn of events, Kaiba thought. It takes a strong Duelist to control an Egyptian God Card, let's see if Valentine fits into that category.
"It's my move!" Mai announced. Let's see, if Marik's God Card is anything like Yugi's, then you have to sacrifice three monsters. The problem is I don't have any on the field and I don't think Marik's going to let me.
"Come on, Mai, I know you can win," Joey cheered.
"Remember your light," Yami-Yugi muttered.
Show me what you can do, Valentine, Kaiba thought.
"I place two cards face-down and summon Amazon Fighter in attack mode. I end my turn."
I'll destroy her Amazon with ease. "Makyura, attack her Amazon now!"
"Reveal face-down card, Amazon Spellcaster! This magic card switches the attack points of our monsters!"
(MD: 2400-1500)
(AF: 1500-2400)
The Amazon wound up and slugged Makyura in the face destroying it along with Yami-Marik's memory of Arkana.
(V: 2100)
(I: 1050)
"I never cared much for that fool anyway," Yami-Marik shrugged. "I play my trap card Card of Last Will. This card lets me draw five new cards every time one of my monster's attack points is decreased. In addition, destroying Makyura activates his special ability allowing me to play a trap card from my hand and I choose to play Nightmare Wheel!" Mai's monster appeared strapped to a giant spiked wheel inside a monster's jaw. "Your monster is now trapped and each turn it will drain 500 of your life points!"
"No it won't, I counter with my own trap card, Dramatic Rescue! My monster returns safely to my hand plus I can summon a new monster to take its place."
"Are you going to summon the God Card?" Yami-Marik asked amusingly.
"Oh please, even I know better than that. If I summon the God Card without sacrificing any monsters, its attack points would be 0, but don't worry, you'll see your precious God Card soon enough, in fact by the end of my next turn."
"How's she going to pull that off?" Joey asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Harold replied.
Amazon Fighter returned to Mai's hand. "Now I summon my Cyber Harpie in attack mode!"
"Mai's favorite card," Joey said excitedly. I get it, she's going to multiply her Harpies and use them to summon the Egyptian God Card.
There's only one card that'll help me now, Mai thought as she drew a card. And this isn't it, but it may help me nevertheless. "I play Graceful Charity allowing me to draw three cards and discard two." Mai drew her three cards and smiled. She had drawn the card she needed. "You've asked for it, Marik, and now I'm going to give it to you, though I'm sure that soon, you'll wish you hadn't!" Even Kaiba perked up, realizing where this was leading. "I play the magic card Elegant Egotist which transforms my single Harpie into the three Harpie Lady Sisters (4)!"
A/N: Okay, obviously since the Harpie Lady Sisters card is one monster card, even if the Winged Dragon of Ra was allowed in actual play, using that card alone wouldn't be able to summon it. Oh well, I'm sure they'll clear it up by the next series.
"Now I sacrifice my three Harpies so I can summon YOUR Egyptian God Card!" She laid the card on her tray.
She's a fool, Yami-Marik thought. She won't be able tocontrol the God Card, the God Card will control her. She'll… huh… Yami-Marik then noticed a faint Egyptian eye symbol on Mai's forehead. She's… Yami-Marik looked at Yami-Yugi, the Pharaoh! He somehow gave her the ability to control the Egyptian God Card! How is that possible?
A bright light shined from the platform into the sky. It started to take a round shape. A giant orb appeared.
"What the heck?" Mai asked surprised. "That… that's the third Egyptian God Card?"
"The God is locked inside that sphere," Yami-Marik said.
"But… how do I get it out?"
"You can't, you'll never be able to unlock its ancient power!" Yami-Marik laughed demonically.
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Makyura the Destructor
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1600
DEF: 1200
(2)
Name: Amazon Chain Master (Amazoness Chain Master)
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 1500
DEF: 1300
(3)
Name: Holding Arms
Level: 3
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 500
DEF: 800
(4)
Name: Harpie Lady Sisters
Level: 6
Type: Winged-Beast/Effect
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 2150
DEF: 1950
