'He'd die…'

Such a thought had crossed Bakura's mind too. The thief's body chained in place, he could only watch the duel unfold, knowing that should his former host lose, both of them would be ripped apart by Ammut's dagger-like incisors.

"It's my move now." Ryou announced, drawing another card from his deck. "Destroying those germs gave me just enough fiends in my graveyard, Osiris."

The thief blinked. He knew exactly which card Ryou was going to play.

"I summon my Dark Necrofear to the field in defense mode."

Ryou slapped the card neatly onto an open space on his duel disk, and the demonic woman appeared in the sulfuric haze. Her tiny yellow eyes stared at Osiris with contempt, as though she remembered him from somewhere. She clutched her broken baby, pulling it closer to her metallic chest.

"She will protect my life points." Ryou added. "I also summon another archfiend soldier to the field, and I attack the archfiend soldier you stole from my graveyard!"

"An eye for an eye." Osiris replied, watching as the two archfiends sliced each other in half at the same time. Because they were equal in all respects, they both died. No more life points were lost on either side.

"And now, I end my turn…" Ryou whispered. "Necrofear, you can protect me for now… I'm going to need your effects soon enough…"

Osiris drew another card, and held it up.

"I activate another pot of greed, allowing me once again to draw two more cards." The deity spoke calmly, adding those to the three already in his hand. "And then I play the magic card, Celestial Transformation."

Ryou glanced at Osiris quizzically; he'd never heard of that card before. The thief also looked on with confusion.

"You do not know what it is, do you?" Osiris looked down on the mortal boy. He rested his hands on the podium. "With a deck comprised solely of demons, I would assume not. This card allows me to special summon one angel from my hand. And I already know who to select."

He held up a card, and a gigantic angel descended into the chamber. Radiant purple armor covered his muscular form, and the creature's wingspan alone engulfed the entire tribunal area. The angel pointed a large scepter at Ryou Bakura, small waves of white static rolling over the wand.

"I summon Voltranis the Adjuciator to the field."

Ryou trembled at the presence of such a force. The angel had an attack strength of 2800, the exact amount of defense strength of his Dark Necrofear. Thankfully, she could withstand such an attack.

"And I end my turn without attacking." Osiris added, and lowered his cards.

Ryou nodded, and drew his next card.

"This could come in handy." Ryou whispered, laying a magic jammer face down on the field.

"Don't let him get to you, hikari!" Bakura shouted from the sidelines. "Any idiot can see what strategy he's aiming for! He's obviously got a god card in there!"

Ryou froze as he heard his yami shout. His breath stalled, deep in his throat, and he coughed to try and free it.

His yami's outburst made sense. This was Osiris, lord of the dead. The enormous red dragon in the pharaoh's Battle City deck was also called Osiris. Surely the deity would have his own namesake, if not his own ka, present in his deck. The better question, however, was: Did Bakura have anything in his Battle City deck that could stop a god?

Ryou glanced at the thief, and nodded.

"Gods, don't let him psych you out!" Bakura pleaded. These were some of the first words of confidence he dared utter after the Ouija board combination had been destroyed on its last turn.

"I won't…" Ryou answered.

He looked through his hand. He had a secret weapon waiting, but he couldn't use it just yet. But when the time was right…

"I end my turn…"

"You will regret not attacking with your infernal puppeteer." Osiris chanted calmly.

Ryou blinked.

"…wh..what?"

Osiris held up the card that he had just drawn from his deck. It was just as the thief Bakura feared. The card in his hand was the saint dragon bearing his name. The card itself resonated with such power, that both yami and hikari feared its arrival onto the playing field.

"Yes…" Osiris smiled. "This duel ends now."