Osiris smiled. Although two of his most powerful monsters had been destroyed, the way in which they had been destroyed just paved the way for something greater to appear on the field.

Ryou only gulped.

"W…what is it?" he finally managed to add. His body shivered with a new-found terror.

"When my two sphinxes are destroyed at the exact same time, I am allowed to sacrifice 500 of my own life points in order to summon Theinen, The Great Sphinx to the field! And this – This is the monster that will be your undoing!"

Osiris searched his deck, and set a new monster card on his duel disk.

A gigantic winged beast descended into the chamber. Its body parts were borrowed from several creatures, both natural and unnatural, making it appear even more impressive. As it landed, the ground shook with its immense power.

Bakura, who was just managing to stand again, was knocked back onto his knees. Even the jackal-headed deity, Anubis, lost his divine balance, and fell on top of the captured thief.

"Oh…oh my god…" Ryou gulped again.

This was not just an ordinary duel monster. This creature possessed just as much strength as an Egyptian god card. Perhaps it was a god, just not one that the pharaoh knew to summon.

The creature was far more powerful than anything Ryou had ever seen before. Its attack strength reached 3500; its defense strength was 3000. And Zorc was just a dark shadow in comparison.

"It's still your turn, though." Osiris finally added, after the immense power of Theinen the Great Sphinx had been clearly displayed.

"Oh…" Ryou just whispered back, quickly switching Zorc into defense mode. There was nothing else he could do.

Bakura couldn't bear to watch.

"I… I end my turn…" Ryou whispered, defeated.

Osiris just smiled, and drew his next card. While his life points may have fallen to under 2000, he was still confident that in the end, he would win the challenge. No one had ever defeated the Lord of the Dead. And no one ever would.

"I play one card face down." Osiris announced, laying his latest card on the field. "And now, I shall obliterate the darkness that is Zorc!"

The thief Bakura buried his eyes as the lord of the dead pointed towards what had eventually become his ka. The greatest shadow power in the world was no match for this new creature.

"My great sphinx, I beseech thee - Crush Dark Master Zorc." Osiris shouted, and the monster obeyed. His thick claws sliced through the demon, spilling a shadowy tar over the floor of the chamber. The air smelt of rotting corpses, making even Ryou's spirit cringe. Had he a mortal body at the moment, he surely would have vomited.

"Your god is dead. And you are defenseless." Osiris stated calmly. "Those who rely on the power of darkness eventually succumb to the light."

Ryou stared at the floor.

"I end my turn."

"I… I came so far…" Ryou Bakura whispered to himself. He glanced over at his yami. The thief, so vitriolic in the face of a god, was crying. At first, Ryou didn't believe it. But out of the corner of his eye, he was certain he saw tears slide down the jagged scar. "Yami, please… don't… don't…"

He reached out his hand gently towards the fallen spirit of the thief. Bakura looked up momentarily. Ryou realized he was right. Bakura was crying. Anubis watched, smiling at the pitiful state the king of thieves had been reduced to.

He wiped his eyes.

"Please… don't give up yet… I… I can still win…"

"How? Zorc is dead. I know my deck, host! There is nothing in my deck that stop that God! Nothing!" he shouted back, slamming his fists into the cold stone. "Nothing! And now we're both going to be devoured by that crocodile-headed freak of nature!"

"… Yami… please… This… this isn't just your deck…" Ryou whispered back. Osiris just watched them, keeping his silence. "It's also my deck. I… I made a few changes to it… Not many… But I did make a few."

"Like what!" Bakura refused to look up.

"I added one card." He whispered. "One card I…I couldn't duel without…"

"Like one card can make a difference." He snarled. "What'd you add, anyway?"

"My… my favorite card." Ryou smiled weakly, wishing he could just walk over to his yami, and dry his tears. He came here to save him, not to hurt him. And after all the pain both of them had been through, the last thing he wanted to do was cause his yami any more pain.

Bakura gasped, instantly understanding.

He knew exactly what card Ryou added to the deck. It was a card that Bakura himself once used during Duelist Kingdom, when he had a brief opportunity to steal the millennium puzzle. Through the power of his ring, he sealed everyone into cards. Ryou was sealed as well. And the boy had turned against him, just to save the lives of his friends. Given that battle, and others like it, he could hardly even imagine why Ryou was here now, fighting for his life.

But regardless, Bakura knew what card Ryou was referring to. There was only one that so aptly caught Ryou's affection. It was the Change of Heart magic card.

And Bakura finally understood something else too.

"That card was meant for me, wasn't it, host." He finally looked up again.

"… Yes." Ryou answered weakly. "For… for both of us, kind of."

He trembled a little, trying his best to keep the courage he had learned from his yami.

"And I think it worked…"

Bakura didn't know how to respond.

"Now… if only I could draw it."

Ryou put his hand on his deck. He wished upon every last remnant of strength within him to draw that card.

"I… I have maybe… maybe two turns, maybe one left… I… I have to draw it now…"

"You have to draw what now?" Osiris finally asked.

"The one card that… that can stop you."