I thought chapter 5 went rather well, how about you? If you have been paying attention to the notes at the beginning of each chapter, you'll know that I don't own anything in this story except the original characters, etc. And yes,my Skarra is starting to sound like Teal'c. In this chapter something pretty interesting is going to happen. What is it? You'll have to read to find out. Here's chapter 6.

Chapter 6: Marik Surfaces

"I hope Yugi is alright," Téa commented.

"Me too, Téa," I thought. "This is not going to be good."

Joey, Téa, and I were running through the city, pushing through the crowds, searching for our friend. The light we had seen in the sky had disappeared and we had lost track of where we were going. The feeling of dread that I had had disappeared, but I was still apprehensive. We stopped at a street corner and looked around for some sign of what happened.

"I don't see anything," Téa noted. "Are you sure this is where you sensed him?"

"I'm positive," I replied. "This is right where it originated."

"But, there's no one here," Joey said. He was right. There was no one in sight at all. "This place is emptier than Tristan's skull."

"We could do without the bad puns, Joey," Téa scolded him.

Out of nowhere, several men, wearing some sort of ceremonial robes, stepped out of the shadows of the alleys. Joey and I took up defensive stances on either side of Téa, ready to fight if the need arose.

"How many you count Joey?" I asked him.

"Ten, eleven," he responded.

"Same here," I told him. "These the same guys that jumped you before?" He made an affirmative sound. One of them, obviously the leader, stepped forward.

"You will come with us," He said. "Resist and we cannot guarantee your safety."

"Try to get us and we can't guarantee your safety," Joey challenged. Tristan's comment earlier today was coming true. Joey's mouth had gotten us into a lot of trouble. But he was still right, if they came after us, Joey and I were going to fight them.

Fight. I will assist you.

"No time to argue with that," I thought as our would-be captors approached us. "Now or never!" I lunged at one of them and hit him square in the face with my right fist, a blow that sent him flying three feet. I didn't hesitate and hit another in the back of the neck with my left elbow as soon as my feet hit the ground again.

"Cease your attack at once, or your friends die!" the leader of the group threatened.

I spun around to take on the leader and drew a breath in fear. Unconscious, Joey had been subdued by his assailants and the leader had Téa in front of him and held a knife to her throat. "No…Téa…" I said under my breath. "I…I surrender." I looked into my loved one's eyes and saw the fear that overwhelmed her. Before I realized it, a hand placed something over my face and my thoughts grew dim.


I woke up a few moments later in a familiar place. I was on my back staring into the black clouds of the Shadow Realm. I sat up and scanned the perimeter of where I was sitting. It was the same place I always appeared when I went to study the Temple of Abydos. An outstretched hand appeared in front of me. I looked up to see that it belonged to Skarra. I grunted as he helped me up. Even though my mind was separate from my body in the Shadow Realm, it still hurt.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I replied. "What happened?"

"Something knocked you out and your body began to suffocate," he explained. "I saved you by pulling your mind here."

"I will recover, right?" I asked.

"Yes, of course," he assured me. "But I suggest we do something new. A ritual that I recently discovered."

"Elaborate," I told him.

"It is called a soul fusion," he continued. "Our minds will join as one. You will gain my strength, my knowledge, my power. This will benefit us greatly in this fight."

"I don't know about this," I said. "If I go through with it, I won't be the same person my friends know and Téa loves. I don't think I can do that to them."

"That will not happen," Skarra responded. This new development drew my attention. "Your thoughts are crucial to our existence and your determination far surpasses mine. They will not be suppressed. When the effect is complete, the stronger abilities and emotions will take over. Over time, the merge will not be noticed by anyone."

I thought about it for a few minutes. "Okay, let's try it," I agreed. I watched as Skarra gathered what he needed for the ritual. Among the items were several candles and a large torch. It looked more like a bon fire than a ritual site. "So, where did you put the marshmallows?" I joked.

"There are no marshmallows in the ritual," he replied. I hoped that I got to keep my sense of humor after this. "There everything is ready."

Skarra and I sat face to face with the torch between us. Skarra chanted some words in Egyptian and the ritual began. At first nothing happened, then I felt a strain on my mind. The sudden pain that jolted through my body was excruciating. I screamed and my muscles tensed. Another sharp pain attacked me, this time it tore through my heart. My thoughts turned to Téa right before I blacked out.


When I regained consciousness, all of the pain from the ritual had vanished, but I still felt weak. I felt that my head was elevated slightly and a soft hand was caressing my cheek. I slowly opened my eyes and looked straight into Téa's face.

"Oh, Brian," she whispered to me. "Thank heavens you're alive. I was so scared that you wouldn't wake up."

I tried to tell her I was fine, but I couldn't find my voice and I was too weak to sit up. Téa was resting my head in her lap. It didn't seem like she was injured, but I really couldn't tell. She told me to just rest for awhile and I did for an hour or so. Eventually, I regained some of my strength and ability to talk. My weakness was caused by the strain of the ritual. Somehow I knew that. I didn't know how I knew it, I just did.

"Téa, are you hurt?" I asked after awhile. She shook her head no. "That's good." We sat next to each other with our backs against a stack of boxes. We were in some sort of warehouse, where we didn't know. I had been out cold and Téa had been blind folded on the way here. We were separated from Joey for a reason we couldn't think of.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open and two thugs that had ambushed us appeared in the door way. They were carrying a kid between them. The prisoner had long black hair and was kicking and screaming, trying to get free. His captors threw him into the room with me and Téa and slammed the door shut behind them. The kid then got up and started pounding on the door.

"Let me out of here!" he yelled. "When my big brother gets here, he's gonna beat the snot out of you!" After his tantrum, he kicked the door.

"Mokuba?" Téa asked as she stood up.

"Huh? Téa!" he cried out and took a step towards us. He looked at me with a puzzled look. "Who are you?"

"Captured like you, for the moment," I replied. I then remembered Téa's explanation of who he was. "Brian Matthews. I'm a friend of Yugi and a member of your brother's tournament."

"Any idea what this is about, Mokuba?" Téa asked him.

"They're probably after my bracelet," I tried. "Why they haven't taken it yet is beyond me."

"No, they're after the Egyptian God cards," Mokuba informed us.

"Okay, that makes sense. But why have they captured us?" I wondered.

"Because my brother has one card and Yugi has another," he continued.

"What? Yugi had one of the Egyptian God cards this entire time?" Téa questioned. "And Kaiba has one, too? Ishizu never told us that." I nodded in agreement.

"So, you guys met Ishizu, as well?" Mokuba said, a little surprised. "I should have figured you would. The stone tablet with Yugi and Seto on it threw us for a loop. Anyway, Seto and I just watched Yugi win Slifer the Sky Dragon from one of Marik's Rare Hunters."

"Marik? So he's the one behind this?" I asked. Mokuba nodded. "Okay first let's get out of here then we'll go take out this Marik guy." With the help of Téa and Mokuba, I stacked up a bunch of boxes high enough to get out of a sky light. Together, Téa and I hoisted Mokuba up first.

"We're at the docks," Mokuba informed us upon getting out.

I pulled myself up and reached my hand down to Téa. The door down below was suddenly opened and the pyramid of boxes fell, along with Téa.

"Go! Get out of here!" she shouted at me. "Get Yugi!"

I clenched my teeth and pounded my fist on the roof. "I promise, I'll be back for you!" I called back. I turned and swore in Egyptian. Skarra's knowledge was starting to kick in. I saw Mokuba slide down a gutter at the end of the roof. I stepped up to the edge and simply jumped off. I landed on the ground and dropped to a knee. For some reason it didn't hurt. Skarra's abilities were really coming in handy.

"How did you do that?" Mokuba asked me after I landed.

"I'll explain later," I told him. "Right now we need to track down Yugi and your brother."

"Right. I need to get to a phone," he said. "If I can contact tournament head quarters, I can find Seto and Yugi using the tracking system in their duel disks."

"That'll take too long," I said. I held up my hand and closed my eyes. I could sense everyone in the city. I quickly found Yugi about a quarter of a mile away. Skarra was right, the fusion was helping out, a lot. "Mokuba, follow me. This way."

I led Mokuba away from the docks and into the city. I confidently tracked Yugi as we moved, which seemed kinda easy with my new-found power. We turned a corner and saw Yugi and Seto Kaiba at the end of the block.

"Mokuba!" Kaiba shouted in disbelief. They rushed over to us, Kaiba embracing his little brother.

"Brian, where are the others?" Yugi asked me.

"Tristan wasn't with us when we were taken," I explained. "Hopefully, he's still alright. They knocked me out with something. While I was unconscious, Joey was taken somewhere else. I had to leave Téa behind during our escape." I suddenly felt really bad about it. "I shouldn't have left her…"

"It will be fine. Let's go get her back," Yugi said. He turned to leave when Kaiba told him to stop. "Kaiba, I told you that you will have your duel when my friends are safe. Not before."

Kaiba let out an amused laugh. "I was just going to suggest that we take one of my helicopters," he said. "But if you want to take forever getting back on foot, that's your prerogative." Just as he finished, a Kaiba Corp helicopter hovered down to pick us up. "Mokuba, how did you find us so quickly?" he asked after we had filed on.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure," Mokuba responded. "Brian was able to detect where you guys were somehow."

"I used my Millennium Bracelet," I explained. "It has the power to…"

"I've had enough of this Millennium Item nonsense," Kaiba interrupted. "You're a bunch of fools if you actually believe that this magic exists."

"It does exist, Kaiba," Yugi said. "I'm living proof of that."

"Please. Spare me this ridiculous trash," Kaiba replied.

"It's true Kaiba," Yugi continued. "I'm actually not Yugi, but a five thousand year old pharaoh."

Kaiba didn't respond to this, but instead looked at me. "And what part do you play in this charade?"

I glared at him. "I was skeptical at first, too. Then this changed my mind." I held up my right arm with my bracelet on it. "I hope nothing bad has happened to Téa," I added sadly.

"I don't know what you idiots see in that little cheerleader," Kaiba stated. "It's pathetic."

"Hey, who's that down there?" Mokuba pointed to a figure standing out on the dock.

"It's Joey," I said to Yugi. "Something's wrong though. I can barely sense his spirit. It's like trying to see him through a blanket." A few seconds later, our ride landed and Yugi and I jumped out and started to run down the dock toward Joey. He was just standing there with no guards or anything.

"Stop right there!" a dark voice shouted. It took me a few seconds to realize that the voice came from Joey. "Only Yugi may approach."

"Marik!" Yugi shouted. "Release him at once!"

"Yugi, I don't see anyone but Joey," I said to him.

"Marik has a Millennium Item," Yugi explained. "It has the power to control other people's minds. He's been controlling all of his Rare Hunters the entire time."

"Yugi," another voice said. "You will duel Joey for the possession of Slifer the Sky Dragon and the Millennium Puzzle right now."

We turned to look for who had said that. I gasped when I saw it was Téa who had said it. She was flanked by one of Marik's Rare Hunters. "Now, this has gone too far," I muttered.

"Marik, let them go and I'll play your game," Yugi said.

"You know I can't do that, Pharaoh," the voice from Joey said. "Your opponent will be me, but I will be using Joey's body!"

"Looks like Wheeler has finally gone off the deep end," Kaiba laughed.

"I'd watch what you say, Kaiba. I'm coming after you next," Marik said through Joey. "Now, Pharaoh, just to make sure you don't back down to save yourself, if you don't duel me right now, Téa will have an…unfortunate accident." Joey's body pointed in Téa's direction. I followed his indication and looked above Téa in horror. A crane was holding a large steel crate above her head. Téa sat in a chair under the crate and the Rare Hunter hit a button that strapped her to it then climbed into the control chair of the crane.

Yugi looked at me. "This has gone on long enough. If you duel Marik, I may be able to trace where he's controlling them from," I told him. "Just drag out the battle as long as possible so I can get a definite position."

"I'll do my best," Yugi replied. "Fine Marik. I'll duel you, but first release Téa."

"Of course, I wouldn't want her to miss your destruction," Marik replied. I watched Téa's head drop and felt Marik release his hold on her. Suddenly, she brought her head back up and looked around until she found me.

"Brian! What's going on?" she shouted and struggled against her restraints. "I can't get free! Help me!"

"Téa, stay calm!" I shouted back at her. "I'll get you out of there soon!"

"Before we begin out duel, there is one other rule I forgot to mention," Marik continued. "Both of us will be chained to the anchor that hangs over the water. When one duelist wins the box in front of us will open. Inside is a key that will unlock your shackles. Thirty seconds after one of the boxes opens the anchor will drop taking the loser to the bottom of the ocean. Don't think that stalling will help you either. If a winner is not declared in forty minutes, the anchor will take both of you down." The Marik controlled Joey turned his attention to me and the Kaiba brothers. "As for you three, if you move from that spot, I'll crush Téa!"

The duel between Yugi and "Marik" commenced. Early on, Yugi had taken control from Yami in order to try to get through to the real Joey. Yugi fought a defensive battle, but fell victim to several Hinotama magic cards. Eventually, the duel was down to the wire. Yugi was using a deteriorating Red Eyes Black Dragon against his friend, to whom he had given his Millennium Puzzle.

A car pulled up a few moments later and out piled Tristan, Duke, Serenity, and Mai. They came up to me and asked what was going on, but there wasn't time to explain. Joey was starting to come back to his senses and I could feel Marik's control slipping away. There was a sudden jump in Marik's power as he forced Joey to make the final move.

"Now I play Meteor of Destruction!" he called out. "With this card I'll finish you off!"

"Not so fast Marik," Yugi huffed. He was exhausted from the duel. "I activate Magical Rant Panel. It stops your magic card and allows me to choose the target of it." He thought about his decision for a few minutes. I looked at my watch. The allotted time for the match was almost expired and soon that anchor would drop, taking both of them with it. "The target I choose…is myself." The attack launched itself at Yugi, wiping out the rest of his life points. Yugi then collapsed from the attack.

Seeing his friend fall broke Joey free of Marik's control completely. "Red Eyes attack me!" he cried out, taking advantage of Magical Rant Panel's second effect. The attack took the rest of his life points as well and both boxes containing the keys were opened.

"Time to put my plan into action," Kaiba said coolly. He pressed on the insignia on his lapel and said "Now!" A second later a helicopter swooped in and knocked the crane off the dock. Mokuba then rushed to Téa's aid. I was about to follow him when Joey swung himself over to Yugi and grabbed the key from his box. Then the anchor fell and took Yugi and Joey with it.

I rushed down the wooden dock, removing my duel disk and deck belt. I dropped them by the water's edge and dove in after my two friends. They had already dropped several yards and I thought I'd never find them until I saw Yugi floating free. I grabbed him and pulled him to the surface. Everyone, save Kaiba and Mokuba, had followed me down the dock.

"Oh no, Yugi…" Téa said after I had appeared at the surface.

I quickly swam to the dock, where Tristan dragged Yugi out of the water. "Joey must not have his key," I told them. "I didn't see him down there. Give me the key, I'm going back down."

"I'm on it," Duke replied. He ran across the wooden boards to Joey's box. He looked in and a terrified look came across his face. "It's gone! The key is missing!"

"What? It has to be there!" I cried after everyone's gasps. A sudden splash drew our attention.

"What the heck was that?" Tristan asked.

I clung to the dock near Téa. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a pile of bandages sitting on the ground. "Serenity? No, it couldn't be…could it?" I thought to myself. I turned back to the water just in time to see Serenity break the surface, pulling Joey up with her. "Joey!" I reached my arm out and helped Serenity hold up her brother until Tristan and Duke pulled him out. Then they helped Serenity out and I helped myself out, since Tristan and Duke were too busy with Serenity.

Yugi and Joey eventually came around and appeared to be fine. We all were sitting at the edge of the dock looking at the sunset. The four of us that had been in the water were wrapped in blankets that Mai just happened to have in her car.

"Hey, Kaiba. Thanks for saving Téa," I said to him.

"Whatever," he replied as he and Mokuba turned to leave. "You helped out my brother, now my debts are paid. I expect to see you in the finals, Yugi, so I can take your Egyptian God card."

"I guess that's Kaiba's way of saying you're welcome," Joey said after they had left.

He was sitting between Mai and Serenity, with the latter he was sharing a blanket with since Mai only had three. To Joey's left was Mai, then Tristan and Duke, whom Joey had forced to sit far away from his sister. Next to them was Yugi then me and Téa. Four of us were wet and freezing, but everyone was glad that there were no injuries.

"We owe you some thanks as well, Brian," Yugi said to me.

"Yeah, you really saved our butts back there," Joey added.

"Oh, you guys don't owe me any thanks. I was just following my instincts," I told them.

"Well give this to your instincts," Téa said before she kissed me on the cheek.

I looked at her and she gave me a sweet smile. "I guess I can take some credit," I said. Téa snuggled my shoulder and everyone laughed.

"There's just one more thing to do," Mai said. She activated her duel disk and placed her locater cards on it. A huge holographic map of Domino appeared in front of us.

"Congratulations finalist," came a robotic voice. A red dot began blinking on the map. "You are required to report to this location to participate in the finals. If you do not report, you will be disqualified."

"Kaiba sure knows how to get a point across," Mai noted after the hologram shut down.

"Okay, let's see," Joey started. "I qualified. So did Mai, Yugi, and Brian. Kaiba has a spot without a doubt. And probably Marik, too. So, that's six."

"Looks like the other two are a mystery right now," I said. "For me, that just adds to the fun."

"You'll might have to fight Yugi or Joey. Aren't you worried?" Téa asked me.

"Not really," I replied. "As long as they don't go easy on me, just because I'm their friend."

"All right, then," Yugi said as he stood up. "Off to the finals!"