"Wish me luck guys," said Joe, turning to his friends and smiling. "I'm going to win this duel and save Mai from the Shadow Realm."
"It's your fault she's there in the first place," shot Shayla, a whole lot more bitterly than she thought she was capable of.
"Hey!" exclaimed Joe, completely surprised.
"You lied to her and look what happened!" snapped Shayla.
"It…it was an honest mistake!" protested Joe. The rest of the group was staring at them in disbelief.
"Shayla, calm down," said Téa.
Shayla said nothing; she merely crossed her arms. She had no idea where that explosion at Joe had come from. Though, she knew what she had just said had to be what she believed was true, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to say it.
"Don't think you're the only one here who is worried about her, Shayla," said Joe, harshly, before continuing to the duel platform.
"This should be over quick," muttered Kaiba, under his breath.
"Come on bro, I know you can cream this freak," said Kevin. "I saw how you dueled in the virtual world. You can win!"
"He has to," said Téa, a bit softly. "After what's happened to everyone whose lost to Marik…"
"If he wins, then Mai will wake up," said Tristan. "Right?"
"I think so," said Téa. "And I know Joe promised he'd try to save her. He also promised Yu-Gi he'd help him stop Marik. Joe's going to be dueling his heart out out there."
"He's going to have to, to beat the Winged Dragon of Ra," commented Duke.
Drake's ears perked. "Winged Dragon of Ra?"
"Is that the god card we've been hearing about?" asked Lara.
"Yup," replied Tristan.
"Dragon…." murmured Drake.
"Earth to Drake, get your head out of the clouds," said Duke.
"Wow, and I thought I liked dragons," commented Kevin, noticing the semi-spacey look on Drake's face.
"He doesn't stand a chance against Ra," thought Kaiba, crossing his arms. "Though it will be useful for me to see Ra in action, so I know how to beat it when I challenge Marik in the final round. At least Wheeler is good for that much."
"Brother…" said Ishizu, softly, as Yami Marik took his place on the left hand side of the field.
"I know…" Shayla murmured to her.
"The duel will now commence," announced Rollin. "The finalists will exchange decks for shuffling." Joe and Yami Marik stepped forward on the platform.
On the sides, the spectators spread out for the best positions to watch the duel. Kaiba and Mokuba were on the back and on the left side. Shayla and Ishizu were in the middle on the left hand side. Shayla had positioned herself in the middle of the sidelines, as far from the edges as she could guess. Yami, Téa, Tristan, Kevin, and Duke were on the right hand side, closest to Joe. Drake and Lara were on the right hand side as well, in the middle, exactly opposite of Ishizu and Shayla.
"Come on, pineapple head, let's duel!" shouted Joe.
"If you're that eager to share the fate of your friend Mai, then by all means, let's duel," smirked Yami Marik. "I'll go first. I summon Gilgarth in attack mode, then I set one card face down." His first monster appeared in a flash of light, directly in front of him. It had 1800 attack points.
"I'll set one card face down as well," said Joe, starting his first turn. "The I summon Alligator Sword in defense mode." His reptilian warrior appeared directly in front of him. It only had 1200 defense points.
An evil grin slid up Yami Marik's face. "Let's make this more interesting!" He raised the Millennial Rod high. A small cloud of pure darkness formed on its tip, and quickly grew until it engulfed the entire top of the duel tower.
"Oh no!" gasped Téa.
"Not again…" groaned Tristan.
"Not a Shadow Game!" gasped Drake.
"I had been hoping against hope…" muttered Shayla.
"What is going on Seto?" asked Mokuba, slipping closer to his older brother.
"It's just some cheap trick, Mokuba. Don't worry about it," Kaiba brushed off the now commonplace magic.
"Come on Joe, we know you can still win this," cheered Tristan.
"Marik…" growled Yami, glaring daggers across the field.
"Now doesn't this look familiar?" gloated Yami Marik. "Oh yes, this was the same way I sent your friend Mai into the shadows."
"Watch it buster!" snapped Joe.
"I wonder how she's doing?" laughed Yami Marik, raising the rod once more.
Mai appeared, trapped within a double pyramid shaped hourglass. She was slowly being buried by sand, only her shoulders and above were uncovered, though more sand was pouring in by the moment.
"Is anyone there?" she cried, weakly. Her eyes were unfocused, staring blankly upward. Her head was resting on one side of the glass pyramid. "Someone help…"
"Mai!" gasped Joe. Everyone else looked too horrified to say anything.
"Marik! That's enough!" shouted Yami. "You're fight is with me! Let my friends go!"
"These pathetic mortals are too fun to destroy pharaoh," smirked Yami Marik. "And I love watch you squirm as I break each and every one of them!"
"Mai…" Shayla said, her hands clenched tightly, shoulders vibrating slightly. It hurt more than she could tell, to hear her friend in grave trouble like that, and to be able to do nothing.
Kaiba had been looking like he was going to comment, but one look at Shayla, and his eyes dropped. Something like guilt flickered across his face so fast that no one caught it. He had not cared before about all those who had been hurting during the tournament, always finding some excuse to justify it. But seeing Shayla distraught over the fate of her friend was the first thing to open his eyes to that problem. Not that he would ever admit that.
Yami Marik lowered the rod, and Mai and the hourglass disappeared.
"If that doesn't give me a reason to cream you, then nothing will!" shouted Joe.
Yami Marik laughed. "You might want to look at the field again."
Joe glanced down. There was a glowing green cord coming from the heart of his monster. The cord was connected to both Joe and Alligator Sword's hearts. Likewise, Yami Marik's Gilgarth was connected to him.
"What gives?!" gasped Joe.
"I don't like this one bit," growled Drake. "Marik is trying to play dirty."
"It's a Shadow Game, they're never pretty," replied Lara.
"What is going on?" asked Kevin. "I don't know of a card that does that."
"It means Joe can be in real trouble," answered Téa.
"But that's nothing new, is it?" asked Tristan, rhetorically.
"Our monsters are now connected to us. Any pain that they feel we will feel. As they are destroyed, we will lose energy too," Yami Marik haughtily explained to Joe. "I summon Drillago to the field in attack mode." This monster was a machine type. As its name implies, it was covered in drills. Its stats were 1600 and 1100. "Now Drillago, attack his Alligator Sword!" Drillgo charged forward and shredded Joe's only monster. Luckily, Alligator Sword had been in defense mode. Unluckily, Marik's new rules were in play.
Joe screamed, clutched his chest, and dropped to one knee. The cord that had connected him to his monster broke into colored bits and vanished.
"Joe!" gasped Tristan.
"What just happened?!" demanded Duke.
"It has to be the Shadow Game," growled Drake. "He wasn't kidding when he said they'd feel the same pain as their monsters!"
"That's not playing fair!" protested Lara.
"It's a Shadow Game, who ever said it was going to be fair?" grumbled Tristan.
"I don't think I like Shadow Games much," commented Kevin. "Though it does make me wish I had listened to my dad better when he talked about Egypt and magic and everything."
"How does it feel to suffer like your monsters do?" gloated Yami Marik.
"The same thing's gonna happen to you!" shouted Joe, struggling to his feet.
Yami Marik only continued his sadistic smirk. "The fool doesn't realize that my energy reserves are deeper than his."
Ishizu's eyes dropped sadly. Her brother's good soul was quiet. It was weakening as his dark side grew stronger. Her fifth sense kicking in again, Shayla put a hand on her shoulder. Ishizu said nothing, though the support was greatly appreciated.
"My turn's not done yet!" said Yami Marik. "Gilgarth, attack his life points directly!""
"Not so fast! Reveal face down card!" shouted Joe, flipping the card over. Four fuzzy, multicolored cartoon goats appeared in front of him. "Scapegoat creates for sheep tokens. And since they're only monster tokens, I don't get hurt when they're destroyed!" As he spoke, Gilgarth shredded one of the Scapegoats. No cable appeared to connect it to Joe.
"Awesome!" cheered Tristan.
"He found a way to outsmart Marik at his own game!" added Téa.
"Either that or a lucky guess," said Drake.
"Knowing Joe, the latter," agreed Lara.
"Come on guys, Joe's going good so far. I think he can win this," said Kevin. "The he can save Mai." A smile grew on his face. "I can't wait to meet her!"
"Oh brother…" groaned Lara.
"Are you jealous?" asked Kevin, smiling sweetly.
"Absolutely not," replied Lara, grabbing onto Drake's arm. "I've got all I need right here." Drake tried to choke down the blushing.
Joe drew a card. "Now, I summon Panther Warrior to the field!" he announced. A violet panther walking on its hind legs appeared in the middle of his Scapegoats. It had 2000 attack points. A violet cable connected it to Joe's heart. "I need to offer a tribute for Panther Warrior to attack, so I'll use one of my Scapegoats." A second Scapegoat vanished from his side of the field. "Now, Panther Warrior, attack his Gilgarth!"
His monster leapt into the air, sword raised. It sliced Yami Marik's monster top to bottom and it burst into confetti. Yami Marik clutched his chest as his monster vanished, though he didn't fall like Joe did. His life points dropped to 3800.
"How does it feel to have a taste of your own medicine?" taunted Joe.
"Grr…"
"It's no less than he deserves," remarked Duke.
"He deserves a lot worse, I think," said Tristan.
"It's my turn," said Yami Marik, malevolently. "I activate the magic card Tribute Burial."
"Tribute Burial?" echoed Joe. Then his eyes went wide as he remembered that magic card's effect. "Not that card!"
"This card allows me to select a monster from both of our graveyards," explained Yami Marik, arrogantly. "I can then remove them from play in order to summon a monster!" Alligator Sword and Gilgarth appeared faintly on the field for a moment, then vanished completely. In their place stood a zombie-like monster with dark violet flesh. It was vaguely human shape and size. Its attack was 2000 and it was connected to Yami Marik. "Meet Helpoemer!"
Joe eyed it warily. But since its attack was equal to Panther Warrior's, Yami Marik seemed unwilling to send it into battle and have them both destroyed.
"I set one card and end my turn," he said, a face down card hologram appearing in front of him.
"My turn then!" said Joe, drawing a card. "Jinzo! Perfect! Now all I need to do is get it on the field!"
"Marik seems pretty calm, I think he's up to something," commented Duke.
"When isn't he?" asked Tristan.
"Come on," thought Kaiba, impatiently. "Get the Winged Dragon of Ra on the field! I need to know what it can do if I am to win it from Marik. A computer analysis of the card is one thing, seeing it in action is another. Wheeler is my guinea pig for Ra." He glanced over at Shayla. "I'll tell her, right after I win my title as King of Games."
"I summon Rocket Warrior in attack mode!" declared Joe. A simple shape creature with green plating appeared on his end of the field, connected to Joe by a golden cord. Its stats were 1500 and 1300.
"Reveal trap card, Hidden Soldier!" said Yami Marik. "This allows me to summon a monster to the field, and I choose Plasma Eel!" His serpentine monster appeared, and instantly latched onto Joe's Panther Warrior. Joe and his monster both gasped in pain. "What do you think of Plasma Eel's special ability? It drains 500 attack points from your monster, and you feel it too!" This dropped Panther Warrior down to 1500 attack points. Joe screamed in pain, clutching at his own heart.
"Brother…where is your heart?" wondered Ishizu. "I know you do not take joy in seeing others suffer. But where is that light? I can hardly feel his heart any more…"
"My turns not over yet," growled Joe. "I'll activate my monster's special ability! Invincible Mode!" His Rocket Warrior folded in on itself, turning into a green rocket. It blasted into Yami Marik's Helpoemer. Yami Marik clutched his chest in pain as his monster lost 500 attack points.
"Awesome! Now Joe's Panther Warrior is stronger, and he can destroy it!" cheered Kevin.
"Got that right, bro," smirked Joe, thumbing his nose. "I'll offer another Scapegoat. Panther Warrior, attack Helpoemer!"
One of the two remaining fuzzy goats vanished. The Panther Warrior again leapt forward, slashing Helpoemer to pieces. Yami Marik again grimaced in pain, though he tried not to show it. His life points dropped to 3300.
"Next time you'd better think twice before forcing us to play a shadow game," Joe said, spitefully.
Yami Marik started laughing.
"What's up, Chuckles?" retorted Joe.
"You've fallen right into my trap," countered Yami Marik.
"What the heck do you mean?" asked Joe.
"Helpoemer is now sent to your graveyard," said Yami Marik.
"…so?"
The answer revealed itself. A ghostly hand reached out from Joe's graveyard. It grabbed Jinzo out of his hand and pulled it into his graveyard.
"No! What happened?!" gasped Joe.
"What was that?" asked Téa.
"Helpoemer's special ability," answered Drake.
"At the end of every turn, Helpoemer will take one random card out of your hand to the graveyard," explained Yami Marik, arms crossed.
"No way!" exclaimed Joe.
"He can't win the duel if all his cards are in the graveyard!" said Téa.
"Some of his best cards might be destroyed before he can even play them!" agreed Duke.
"There's always a way," said Yami. Then, louder, "Consider all your options, Joe!"
"Right bud," agreed Joe.
"It won't be easy. Helpoemer can't be special summoned from the graveyard," commented Shayla.
Kaiba glanced over at her. "You really do know your cards, don't you?"
"Luther always wanted that card," she answered.
"She's still thinking about her old boyfriend?!" Kaiba thought with a groan.
"I set these two cards and end my turn," said Yami Marik, clearing out his hand.
"That's all?" smirked Joe, beginning his turn. "He could have attacked one of my Scapegoats with his Drillago, but he didn't. I'd better not risk Jinzo yet. I need to get Plasma Eel off of my Panther Warrior too, but as long as that leech is connected, I can't tribute Panther Warrior!"
"I summon Baby Dragon in defense mode!" announced Joe. His small orange dragon appeared, crouched down in defense mode. Its stats were 1200 and 700.
"Marik only has Drillago on the field!" exclaimed Tristan. "Joe can finish him this turn!"
"Don't forget about his face down cards," said Duke. "Joe still needs to be careful."
"I agree, it seems that Marik is trying to lure Joe into attacking," said Drake. "It was a good idea for Joe to play his Baby Dragon in defense mode."
"What should I do?" wondered Joe. "Marik has those face down cards, and at least one is bound to be a trap card. If I attack, he'll just activate them. But if I don't attack him, I'll never win this duel and save Mai!"
"Why do you hesitate in attacking me?" gloated Yami Marik. "I thought you wanted to save your friend Mai from the Shadow Realm." He smirked. "It seemed before you were eager to share her fate. So why do you hesitate to attack me now? The shadows are waiting to devour your mind!"
"That settles it for sure! Marik wants Joe to attack!" exclaimed Duke.
"Then don't attack Joe!" called Téa.
"You need to focus on getting those face down cards out of the way," added Kevin.
"No, Joe needs to attack," said Yami.
"What do you mean?" asked Téa.
"Joe needs to attack Marik and force him to reveal his cards, so Joe can devise a strategy to defeat them," explained Yami Yu-Gi.
"This is Joe we're talking about," commented Drake. "He's strategy is luck."
"I made a promise to a friend, and I'm going to keep it!" shouted Joe. "Rocket Warrior, go into Invincible Mode! Your target is Drillago!" Rocket Warrior compressed itself into its namesake, blasting 500 attack points away from Drillago.
"Thank you! Now I activate Card of Last Will!" exclaimed Yami Marik, flipping one card over. "This card lets me draw five new cards!"
"Now he has a fresh hand!" exclaimed Lara. "This means trouble for Joe."
"Big deal," Joe tried to shrug it off. "You'll need every single one to stand a chance at beating me!"
"Don't start talking like that," called Kevin. "Or else you're going to start sounding like Kaiba!" They both shared a brief smile.
"That fool doesn't know that I drew the Winged Dragon of Ra!" thought Yami Marik. "Soon this foolish mortal will taste the wrath of an Egyptian god card and join my other victims in the Shadow Realm!"
"Good-bye Scapegoat, hello Panther Warrior!" smirked Joe, tributing his last Scapegoat. Panther Warrior raised it sword and leapt into the air, slicing Drillago into scrap metal. Drillago was down to 1100 attack points. Panther Warrior had 1500, so Yami Marik's life points dropped to 2900.
Yami Marik clutched the place where the energy cable disintegrated. With his head low, he started laughing again.
"Now what's so funny?" asked Joe, groaning.
"Thanks to your attack, I can activate Coffin Seller!" gloated Yami Marik, flipping over another card. "Every time one of your monsters is sent to the graveyard, you'll lose 300 life points!"
"Marik's strung Joe along since the beginning!" exclaimed Drake.
"Joe can win this," said Kevin. "He did a good job against the Big 5, and I know he can win this too."
"The Big 5 didn't have the Millennial Rod," muttered Lara.
"This is bad," said Duke. "As long as Helpoemer is in Joe's graveyard, he's going to lose cards."
"And if one of them is a monster card, Joe will lose life points whether he attacks or not!" finished Yami.
Shayla could feel another lump forming in her stomach. "Please Jesus…don't let anyone get hurt."
"I end my turn," grumbled Joe.
"Not before Helpoemer takes another card from your hand!" taunted Yami Marik.
The same ghostly hand reached from Joe's graveyard and snagged his Insect Queen.
"No! Not Insect Queen!" lamented Joe. He then shuddered as if a blast of cold wind had hit him. Coffin Seller had activated, causing him to lose 300 life points, dropping him down to 3700.
"That's not all! Plasma Eel, drain his Panther Warrior more!" ordered Yami Marik. Plasma Eel clamped down tighter on Panther Warrior. Joe screamed in pain, clutching at his neck, where Plasma Eel was connected to his monster.
/This shadow game is starting to take its toll on Joe,/ thought Yami.
/There has to be something we can do to help!/ insisted Yu-Gi.
/This is Joe's fight. He insists on keeping his promise to Mai, and we have to respect that. We also promised him we would quit protecting him. There is nothing we can do…/
/I can't sit by and watch my friends get hurt!/
/I know aibou, I know…But all we can do is support Joe./
"My turn," gloated Yami Marik, staring haughtily down at Joe, who was still cringing on the other side of the field. "I set one card face down, then I activate Premature Burial. For the cost of 800 life points, I can revive one monster from the graveyard!" His life points dropped to 2100.
"Great…" groaned Joe, trying to compose himself.
"I chose to revive Drillago, which I'll tribute to summon my Legendary Fiend!" announced Yami Marik. His newest monster appeared where Drillago briefly appeared. The Legendary Fiend was a sickly blue monster with two barely humanoid heads. It had four arms, though two of those arms ended in mini heads instead of hands. Its stats were 1500 and 1800. "Your move."
"Wait! That monster only has 1500 attack points!" exclaimed Joe.
"You should know by now that things aren't always what they appear to be, little Joey," taunted Yami Marik.
"Huh?"
"Special abilities, Joe," said Shayla.
"Oh…yeah, right," muttered Joe, who had almost forgotten there was a crowd on that side of the field, since that side was so much quieter than the other.
"She's right," cautioned Drake. "Legendary Fiend gains 700 attack points each turn!"
"That means I just have to wipe it out right now!" retorted Joe. "And I'm going to use pineapple head's head as the mop!" He drew a card and frowned. "I summon Little Wing Guard in defense mode." This tiny monster was wearing green, violet, and silver armor. The armor almost resembled thick winter clothing rather than armor. Its face was totally hidden behind that armor. Its stats were 1400 and 1800.
"Reveal face down card, Nightmare Wheel!" exclaimed Yami Marik.
"Not another trap card!" groaned Joe. "I really need Jinzo, but it's at the bottom of my graveyard!"
"Nightmare Wheel traps your Rocket Warrior, making it incapable of attack or defending! Your monster is useless!" exclaimed Yami Marik.
"Grr…I move my Panther Warrior to defense mode and end my turn," said Joe.
"Plasma Eel and Helpoemer, do your jobs!" ordered Yami Marik. Joe braced himself as his Panther Warrior was further weakened, drained down to 500 attack points. Another card vanished into his graveyard via Helpoemer. Fortunately, this one wasn't a monster, so Joe did not lose life points because of Coffin Seller.
"Brother…" Ishizu said, softly. "Where are you?"
"Ishizu…I…" Shayla stammered, wanting to say something helpful, but not finding the words.
The shadow duel was unnerving them both. Anytime Joe or one of the monsters cried out in pain, tremors shot through Shayla's fingertips to her elbows. She was trying to keep her promise to herself, though she didn't think she was keeping it very well. Ishizu was focused on Yami Marik, constantly scanning his face for any signs of her true brother. It was all in vain thought. Shayla knew she never could fully understand the situation, never knowing a family herself. But that thought reminded her of her latest 'vision.' She tried to pull the memory of safety and security up, shielding herself with it. Shayla also made a mental note to ask Ishizu about those visions at a more opportune time.
"We must not give up hope," said Ishizu, voicing both of their struggles. Shayla nodded.
Kaiba glanced over at Shayla again, noticing how tense she looked. Once more he was surprised by the sudden need he felt to hold her, to comfort her.
"Why not now?" a small voice asked him in the back of his head. "You care about her, you can't deny it. Tell her now. Why wait?" Kaiba shoved that away like he did every other sentiment.
Yami Marik drew a card. "To start my turn, Nightmare Wheel will cost you 500 life points!"
"I know!" gasped Joe, in pain, as his life points dropped down to 3200.
"Hang in there man!" called Tristan.
"You can't give in to this twisted game!" added Duke.
"Legendary Fiend gains 700 attack points," continued Yami Marik. Now his monster had 2200 attack points. "Destroy his Little Wing Guard!"
Joe screamed as the attack connected, turning his monster into data bits. His life points dropped to 2900, because of Coffin Seller. Though he didn't lose any more, since his monster was in defense mode.
"Joe!" called his friends.
Joe waved it off and struggled to his feet again.
"I need to do something to turn this duel around," thought Joe. "Come on heart of the cards, show me a little love." He drew his next card. "Perfect!"
"It doesn't matter what card that is, your fate in inevitable," shot Yami Marik.
"Nah-uh," replied Joe. "This card is going to turn this entire duel around! It's a magic card known as Question. You have to guess which monster is at the bottom of my graveyard. If you're right, that monster is removed from play for good. But if you're wrong it gets instantly summoned to the field!"
Yami Marik's eyes went slightly vacant, half in surprise, half in trying to recall the moves of the duel. "The first monster I destroyed was Alligator Sword, but that has already been removed from play. Grr… I've destroyed so many of his monsters I can't remember which was first any more!"
"Give up?" smirked Joe. "I'll give you a hint, it's a monster that was randomly destroyed by your Helpoemer. So you can't know which monster it is!"
"Grrr…."
"Awesome move Joe!" cheered Téa.
"Way to blow up his own plan in his face!" added Kevin.
"Lucky dog," muttered Drake.
"Hey!"
"Nothing personal, it's just an expression."
Joe turned back to his opponent. "Any guesses? You've got five seconds. Five. Four. Three. Two One. I'm sorry, stunned silence is not the answer!" Joe selected the monster on the bottom of his graveyard and set it on his duel disk.
"It doesn't matter which monster you summon," growled Yami Marik. Then his eyes went wide as the monster appeared. "Not Jinzo!"
"You know what that means!" gloated Joe. "Jinzo destroys all your trap cards on the field. Jinzo, do your thing!" Jinzo's eyes shot a red beam passed Yami Marik's monster slots, to the magic/trap card zone, obliterating all but one of his cards there. This freed Rocket Warrior from Nightmare Wheel, and destroyed Yami Marik's Helpoemer/Coffin Seller combo.
"Marik is wide open! If Joe can get an attack in, he'll win this!" cheered Lara.
"I have this bad feeling it won't be that easy," said Drake, his eyes narrowing at Yami Marik's lingering card.
"Wow! I don't believe Joe did that!" exclaimed Mokuba. "He's going to win this!"
"I'll believe that when I see it happen," stated Seto.
"I move Panther Warrior and Baby Dragon to attack mode," said Joe. "Now, Jinzo, attack his Legendary Fiend!" Jinzo did so, blasting Yami Marik's monster to atoms. Yami Marik cringed when that happened, but he simply didn't seem to be effected by the loss of a monster the way Joe did. Yami Marik's life points dropped to 1900.
"Now, direct attack!" ordered Joe. His Baby Dragon and Rocket Warrior sprung forward, ready to end the duel.
"Yes!" cheered Kevin.
"I activate Dark Wall of Wind!" announced Yami Marik, flipping over his remaining magic card. A whirling vortex formed around him. Baby Dragon and Rocket Warrior bounced harmlessly off of it.
"No way! He blocked the attack!" exclaimed Tristan.
"I don't think I can take much more…" whined Téa.
"If you can't, can you imagine how Joe is feeling right now?" asked Duke.
"Now that your turn is over, the fun can begin again," smirked Yami Marik. "First Plasma Eel will drain the rest of your Panther Warrior's attack points." Joe once again cried out in pain, similar to his monster. "And Helpoemer will take another card of yours to the graveyard."
"Joe can't keep dueling under these conditions!" exclaimed Téa.
"He needs to regain control of this duel," stated Yami.
"Yeah, but how?" asked Duke. His question went unanswered.
"I'm surprised Wheeler has lasted this long," thought Kaiba. "But Marik has yet to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra to the field. He had better do it soon! I want to see that Egyptian god card in action before this duel ends!"
"Now, for my next turn," Yami Marik drew a card and smiled broadly. "I'm going to summon Lava Golem to the field." He turned the card in his hand so it faced Joe.
"Yeah right!" retorted Joe. "That's an eight star monster, and in case you're forgetting the basic rules, you have to sacrifice two monsters first!"
"I haven't forgotten, in fact, I intend on sacrificing two monsters."
"Then you've forgotten you don't have any monsters on your side of the field!"
"That doesn't matter, because I am sacrificing your monsters!" gloated Yami Marik.
In a flaming flash of light, a massive mountain of lava appeared behind Joe, taking the form of a blob of a monster. It picked up Jinzo and Little Wing Guard, its sacrifices, and incinerated them. A cage hung from Lava Golem's neck, connected by a thick chain to a melt-proof collar. In that cage was Joe. The monster itself had 3000 attack points.
"What gives!? Let me out!" demanded Joe, struggling against the bars.
"This is not good!" exclaimed Drake.
"Joe! Bro!" called Kevin.
"How the heck could Marik do this in the first place?!" demanded Tristan.
"Consider Lava Golem a gift from me," smirked Yami Marik. "With the small price that each turn, Lava Golem melts a bit more, causing you to lose 700 life points."
"What?!" exclaimed Joe, his forehead glistening with sweat.
"Lava Golem is on your side of the field."
"You mean this monster is mine?" gaped Joe.
"Is he serious, Yu-Gi?" asked Tristan.
"Yes," replied Yami.
"Lava Golem wasn't supposed to become real like this when dad made the game," said Drake.
"You sure? Your dad was a little nuts to begin with," said Tristan.
Drake shook his head. "I spent a lot of time reading his diary after you guys left. It was only the influence of the Millennial Eye that did that to him."
"Millennial Eye?" asked Kevin. "And what did happen to Mr. Pegasus? Why haven't we heard anything about him since the Duelist Kingdom tournament."
"He slipped into a coma after the Millennial Eye was stolen," explained Drake, stolidly. "I was hoping that the Eye would surface again in this tournament. I'm surprised it hasn't, with all the other freak magic running around."
"What do you want with the Millennial Eye?" asked Tristan.
"I think if dad gets it back, he'll wake up," said Drake.
"And go all nuts again," shot Tristan.
Drake shook his head. "I think he's learned his lesson. But I couldn't just sit by while he's in that condition."
"If you say so…" said Tristan, not so convinced Pegasus was trust-worthy.
"Guys, focus," scolded Téa. "Joe needs us right now!"
"I need to get my Egyptian god card on the field," thought Yami Marik. "But in order to do that, I need to tribute three monsters. And this dork has stopped me from having three monsters on the field…I'll have to be more creative with Ra. In the mean time, I'm going to show this foolish mortal a new meaning of the word pain."
"I play one card face down. I can play trap cards now that Jinzo is in the graveyard," continued Yami Marik, not paying any attention to their conversation. "It's your turn. Are you going to attack me with your new monster?" Yami Marik smirked very evilly.
"He is definitely planning something!" thought Yami. "Or else he never would have given Joe such a powerful monster, despite the fact he loses life points each turn. Joe needs to be very careful now!"
"All Marik needs to do is attach another Plasma Eel to Lava Golem and make it impossible for Joe to get rid of it," thought Shayla. "I bet that's what he's going to try to do with that face down card."
Joe drew his card and studied his hand for a long moment, weighing the options of attacking with Lava Golem.
"Have you finally realized there's nothing you can do?" taunted Yami Marik. "Your fate will be the same as your friend Mai. At least you can keep her company as the shadows feast on both of your minds!"
"Mai…" said Joe.
Another tremor raced up Shayla's arms.
"She does not wish to be here," Ishizu realized. "It hurts her to know her friend is in pain, just like it does me to know my brother is trapped within the darkness. And without my Millennial Necklace, I do not know what the future holds. I do not know if my brother will be saved and all the harm his dark side has caused will be erased. I can only hope and support my friends here." She glanced at Shayla again. "The child is facing her fears just to be here with me. I know she would not come otherwise. Why does she not know her own strengths?"
"What choice do I have here? Let Lava Golem melt away my life points or attack Marik and let him activate his face down card?" thought Joe, wiping away sweat. "I promised Mai. I have to attack!"
"Lava Golem, attack his life points directly!" ordered Joe.
Lava Golem raised a massive molten fist, ready to slam it down on Yami Marik.
"I activate Relieve Monster!" announced Yami Marik.
"Relieve Monster?" echoed Joe, expecting anything but this.
"This lets me return one of my monsters on the field to my hand," explained Yami Marik. "Then it allows me to summon any four star or less monster from my hand to the field!"
"You don't have any monsters on the field!" shot Joe.
"Oh no!" gasped Yami. "Plasma Eel is Marik's monster!"
"Ugh…I don't like where this is going," groaned Duke.
"Come on Joe!" called Kevin. "Don't forget who you're dueling for!"
Plasma Eel vanished off of Joe's Panther Warrior.
"Now I can summon a four star or less monster," said Yami Marik. "And I'll select my Plasma Eel, which I'll set in defense mode." His eel reappeared directly in front of him, its bulbous serpentine body coiled around itself. Lava Golem's attack connected with it. "Did I forget to mention Plasma Eel can't be destroyed in battle?"
Joe visibly slumped at that comment. The steam faded from the field, and sure enough, Plasma Eel had not even been singed.
"Don't forget, your turn ended," said Yami Marik. "That means Lava Golem melts, taking 700 of your life points with it!"
"Ouch! Hot!" exclaimed Joe as a drop of lava barely missed his body. His life points stopped at 2200.
"We need to do something about this!" exclaimed Téa. Then her eyes went wide as she got an idea. "I'll be right back!" With that she turned and ran for the elevator.
"What got into her?" asked Lara.
"Absolutely no clue," answered Drake.
"For my next turn, I activate Machine Duplication," announced Yami Marik. "This magic card allows me to multiply a weak monster, like my Plasma Eel! Now I have three Plasma Eels!" As he spoke, his monster split into three. "Now, my eels, connect yourselves to his monsters and drain his energy!"
"I am really starting to hate being right about these things…" said Shayla, trying to control the tremors in her arms without much luck.
"She needs you now," that same voice whispered in the back of Kaiba's mind. "You should go over to her. What have you got to lose?"
"Grr…I'm here to see Ra in action," Kaiba countered himself. "That's what's important now. I'll worry about Shayla after I regain my title. But to do that I need to win Slifer and Ra. In order to beat Ra, I need to see its special abilities in action. So Marik had better hurry up and summon it."
Joe drew a card, giving him a total of two in his hand. "This is going to take a lot of luck to pull off, but the pay out will be well worth it."
"I activate Graceful Dice!" declared Joe. "This handy magic card allows me to increase the strength of any monster on the field. And I'm using it on your Plasma Eel!"
"What?" asked Yami Marik.
"I think the heat is starting to get to him," commented Tristan.
"No! I see his plan!" exclaimed Drake. "The odds are in his favor too, six to one."
"What do you mean?" asked Kevin.
"Just watch."
"Your Machine Duplication card only works on monsters with 500 or less attack points," said Joe. "So once I increase the attack of the original Plasma Eel, the copies go bye-bye!" He set his magic card in his duel disk and the chibi cherub holding the die appeared. "Come on…not a one…"
The cherub dropped the die. It rolled halfway across the field before it stopped on a six.
"Oh yeah!" cheered Joe, Tristan, and Kevin.
"By my math, six is more than one," said Joe. "That multiplies your Plasma Eel's attack points by six!"
"Grr…" growled Yami Marik. The Plasma Eels around Joe's monsters broke apart, leaving only the original on Yami Marik's side of the field in defense mode.
"Now I can tribute my monsters!" said Joe. "Panther Warrior, Rocket Warrior, and Lava Golem!" His three monsters vanished from his side of the field as he placed a new monster on his duel disk. "Time to meet Gilford the Lightning!" Gilford's appearance was mark by a virtual lightning storm. The winds ripped through everyone, blowing clothing, hair, capes, and jackets wildly around the place. Gilford appeared in a flash. He wore red and golden armor that was similar to Ax Raider, in the fact it wasn't fully covering. But what was there looked more like Flame Swordsman's style of armor. An identical colored helmet adorned his head, giving him a fierce look. A large sword was strapped across his back. He had 2800 attack points.
"How did Wheeler get a card that rare?" asked Kaiba, out loud.
"Now Gilford, activate your special ability, Lightning Sword!" ordered Joe.
Yami Marik again resumed his evil laughing.
"I missed the joke," glowered Joe.
"Your own magic card worked against you!" exclaimed Yami Marik. "Graceful Dice increased Plasma Eel's attack to 3000, 200 more than your monster!"
"Either turn up your hearing aid or get a hair cut," shot Joe. "Take that back, do both! Gilford's special ability destroys all monsters on your side of the field!" Gilford the Lightning raised his massive broad sword high. A bolt of lightning shot down it, which he in return launched at Plasma Eel. Plasma Eel lit up like a bulb on a Christmas tree and exploded.
"That's impossible! Plasma Eel can't be destroyed by an attack!" protested Yami Marik.
"Special abilities," repeated Shayla.
"That's right," replied Joe, grinning broadly. "Now to finish you for good! Gilford, attack his life points directly!"
Gilford again raised his sword, leaping forward, ready to deliver the final blow.
"I activate Nightmare Mirror!" declared Yami Marik. A large mirror, about eight feet high, appeared in front of him. It was framed with ornate metal claws. Joe's reflection could be seen in it. "It's your life points that are going to be harmed!" Gilford's sword shattered the mirror, but did not harm Yami Marik at all. "You lose 1000 life points for your foolish move!"
"Can he just lose?" groaned Kevin.
"I can see why Téa left, this duel is way intense," said Lara.
Joe's eyes went wide, though he managed to repress his scream. His life points dropped to 1200.
"And I pay the small price for activating Nightmare Mirror of discarding one card to the graveyard," said Yami Marik. He slipped his last card, the Winged Dragon of Ra, into the graveyard. "Perfect! If things go as planned, this fool won't last my next turn!"
"You'll never get a monster strong enough to beat my Gilford in one turn," grumbled Joe, still wincing. "So make your move."
"No monster strong enough?" taunted Yami Marik, drawing his next card. "Not even my Egyptian god card?"
"WHAT?!" exclaimed the cheerleaders.
"Finally!" thought Kaiba.
Yami Marik turned his card over, "I activate Monster Reborn, bringing the Winged Dragon of Ra back from my graveyard!"
In a brilliant flash of gold, a large form shot out of the ground beneath his feet. The form unfolded and the light slowly faded, revealing Ra. It was a massive dragon, easily the biggest monster on the field that entire duel. It looked a bit like a cross between a dragon and a bird, with feathers in its wings and a bird-like beak. The whole monster was gold, almost like it had been forged from that metal. It eyes burned red like two coals. But it registered at 0 attack and defense points.
"Crap…" Joe muttered under his breath.
"Woah…" said Drake, his eyes completely locked on Ra, jaw dropping.
"Drake?" asked Lara, but he did not reply. "Drake!"
"That…dragon…" was all he could manage to say.
"DRAKE!"
"Huh?"
"Snap out of it! You'd think you'd never seen a dragon before in your life!"
Drake's eyes wandered back to Ra. "I can't believe dad made a dragon that awesome and never told me!"
Lara sweat-dropped.
"Why would Marik bring back Ra with no attack points?" wondered Yami, out-loud. "Ra takes on the attack points of the monsters used to summon it, but since Marik did not sacrifice any monsters, Ra has no attack points! What can he be planning? Is he just relying on Ra's special abilities?"
"Since I revived Ra from the graveyard, I can activate its special ability, Instant Attack!" gloated Yami Marik. "And that's not all, Ra will now take on its true form!"
The Winged Dragon of Ra began to spew fire on itself, igniting itself. Flames highlighted some of its features, while disguising others. When it had finished, Ra was a glowing bird of flame.
"Ra has take the form of the Egyptian creature, Phoenix!" announced Yami Marik. "And it only cost me 1000 life points!" His life points were now at 900. "Pharaoh! Kaiba! Look! This is the creature that will bring one of you down as well!"
"It's…beautiful," said Drake, who was almost drooling.
"It's also a lot of trouble!" said Lara, backing away.
"Go Ra!" said Drake.
"Who's side are you on?!" demanded Tristan.
"Er…right!" said Drake, bashfully. His red eyes darted across the field to Kaiba. "Now he is totally going to pay for not letting me have a chance at that dragon!" The group sweat-dropped.
"Hang in there bro!" called Kevin. It did little. Joe seemed completely panicky.
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"Serenity!" called Téa, entering the hospital wing.
"Téa?" asked Serenity, turning her somber gaze from Mai's unmoving form. "Shouldn't you be with the others?"
"Yeah, but so should you," said Téa. "Your brother needs you right now."
"Joe?! But what happened? Is the duel going badly?" asked Serenity, instantly worried.
"Joe is dueling his heart out, but he needs your support," answered Téa. "You mean more to him than anything, and I know you'll give him the encouragement he needs to win this duel."
"But what about Mai?" asked Serenity. "She hasn't moved or spoken or anything since she lost her duel. And I promised I'd stay with her."
"I'll stay here with Mai," answered Téa. "You need to hurry! Joe needs you!"
Serenity bit her lip, looking at Mai, then out the window at the duel tower, which was in plain view. She nodded and bolted out the door.
"Good luck, everyone," whispered Téa, taking Serenity's seat.
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"My Gilford is still stronger than your god card," said Joe, with pseudo-confidence.
"Your forgetting one thing!" said Yami Marik. "Look down! You're still connected to your monster by that energy cable! And when Ra disintegrates your monster, you won't have the strength left to stand! Now my dragon, attack the fool's monster and wipe out his energy!"
Ra craned its head back and fired a massive stream of flames at Joe. The entire duel tower shook from the force of the attack. Shayla, Ishizu, Duke, Tristan, and Lara were all thrown off of their feet. The others managed to stay up, but only just barely. Mokuba was clinging to his older brother. Gilford was blasted out of the duel the moment the flames got close. Ra's attack continued, completely engulfing Joe. He screamed loudly, clearly in intense pain.
"JOE!" called his friends, all shielding their eyes from the raw power.
"This has gone too far Seto," moaned Mokuba. "We have to stop it!"
Kaiba didn't reply. He was far to interested in the duel. But he felt his eyes drifting over to the right again. Shayla and Ishizu had not yet picked themselves up. Shayla had reverted to her habit of clinging to people when she got frightened. Right now Ishizu's left arm was in her death grip, though the Egyptian lady did not seem to mind greatly. Ishizu was still focused on her brother.
"She needs you now," that persistent voice said in the back of Kaiba's head. "Go to her, hold her. You promised you'd always protect her, now go keep that promise."
Kaiba jerked in surprise at his own thoughts. "I never promised her anything! I can't let her distract me! I need to win this tournament, then I'll worry about talking to Shayla!"
"So long, mortal!" laughed Yami Marik.
"Joe! No!" called his friends.
The smoke cleared from the field. Joe was still standing, though he was half doubled over. His eyes were glassy and he was still smoking.
"No! How could you withstand Ra's attack!?" gasped Yami Marik. Ra faded from the field. His turn was over, and god cards can only be revived for one turn.
"Joe! Bro! Say something!" called Kevin.
"Are you okay?!" called Yami.
"He doesn't look good at all…" said Lara.
"Marik has no monsters on the field," said Duke. "Joe! You can finish him now!" Yami Marik knew this too. His eyes were both twitching.
"He did it! He won!" cheered Mokuba.
"I don't believe it…" said Kaiba. "The dog knows how to stand…"
"Joe?" called Tristan, at how still his friend was being.
Joe slowly raised a hand, reaching to draw a card. He didn't look up.
The elevator opened and Serenity stepped onto the duel arena. "JOE?!"
Joe started tipping forward. It started slowly, but then gravity took over. He collapsed face first across the duel field.
"NO! JOE!" called his friends.
"No…" said Ishizu, once more feeling hope lost.
"I don't think I can handle this," said Shayla, still with her death grip.
"This is still an official duel!" reminded Kaiba.
"Mr. Wheeler has thirty seconds to get up or he forfeits," declared Rollin.
"Who cares?!" shouted Mokuba, hurrying to the edge of the duel platform. "Can't you see he's hurt! Get the medical team!"
Rollin looked between Mokuba and Kaiba, not sure how to make the call. Mokuba was waiting impatiently for the duel arena to lower, while Kaiba did not meet his eyes.
"Joseph Wheeler forfeits the duel, the winner is Marik Ishtar," announced Rollin. The only one who seemed to care was Marik himself.
"Joe! Say something!" said Mokuba, running to him, being the first on the platform.
"My brother!" sobbed Serenity, reaching him a moment later.
"Joe! Snap out of it!" demanded Tristan, picking him up by the collar and shaking him.
"Tristan, stop!" protested Lara. "You'll only hurt him more!"
"Joe…no…" said Kevin. His blue eyes flared, glaring at Yami Marik. "He's going to pay!!!"
"Chill!" exclaimed Duke, grabbing him by his blazer. "You're not going to help Joe by starting a fight right now!"
"GRRRR!!!"
Drake walked over with Lara, and picked up the card that has slid out of Joe's hand, the card he had just drawn. "Gearfried the Iron Knight," said Drake, mono-tone. "Joe had this duel won…"
"That duel wasn't fair," grumbled Lara, looking at Joe, amid the group of concerned friends.
Yami Marik merely smirk malevolently before flouncing away to the elevator.
"No, no," Serenity kept on sobbing.
"This isn't right…" agreed Drake.
/Joe! No!/ sobbed Yu-Gi inside his mind. /No! Why?! It's us Marik wants! Why does he have to keep hurting our friends?!/
/Aibou…/ said Yami, putting a soul arm around his light half.
AN1/ As of this point in my Shayla's Story Saga, I am starting a spin-off named Bonds to the Past, co-authored with Blue-Eyes White Knight. It's a fic where we combined our ideas about the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, including many original twists. Bonds will have the same roots as this saga of mine, but as of now, it is branching off on its own. Nothing in Bonds from this point on will be related to the Shayla's Story Saga, though the characters are the same. If you happen to like this saga, then I suggest that you also read Bonds. Bonds was a lot of fun coming up with, and we have lots of ideas for it, so I hope you do consider reading it.
AN2/ Congratulations all who stuck around this far! Shayla's Story 3 has doubled the length of Shayla's Story in this chapter!
AN3/ Monster spelling corrections are appreciated, but please be polite. And, as always, please read, review, and enjoy!
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