Disclaimer: All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and references belong to their respective owners. The song Your Move belongs to the artist and the company that recorded it and was used in this story with the best of intentions. Story elements © Hideki LaShae. No money was gained in the writing of this story.

WARNING: This story contains sensitive cultural practices and references that might offend some readers. The views and opinions of the cultures which condone these practices are not shared by this author, but they are included in this story for awareness purposes only.

Time to Duel, Mariko!

By

Hideki LaShae

Chapter Ten

I Believe That Family is Worth More Than Money or Gold

'Mariko?' thinks Marie.

'Mariko is too far away,' comes a woman's voice within Marie's mind, 'The Millennium Scale is too far away from you, Marie. You will not be able to talk to Mariko anymore until the Scale becomes nearer again. Did you need him for something?'

'Uh… no… I think I'm okay,' thinks Marie, 'You're Nefertiri, aren't you?'

'Yes, I am,' says the woman appearing before Marie in her mind. Her solid, gold-blonde hair falls down in spikes around her shoulders. Her lilac colored eyes shimmer with a light of their own. She wears a solid white dress in a style that Marie has seen many times in depictions from Ancient Egypt. 'My name is Nefertiri, Marie, and once upon a time, we were one.'

'We were one? How could we be one, Nefertiri? When were we one?'

'We have not been one in many years I am afraid. Before you gained the Millennium Scale, we were still whole. We were still one. When you first met Seto… well, we separated then,' says Nefertiri, 'I believe he loves you deeply, and you love him. That is why we had to separate. He is not the one I loved in my time. I cannot love him now. My heart remains forever to the one who I lost. Even if he was reincarnated…'

'Nefertiri! You make no sense!' thinks Marie.

'I never did… I don't want to be a part of you! I don't want to love the one you love! I don't want any of this! I want to be gone from you, and back where I was meant to be! I was never meant to be reincarnated! I couldn't have been!' exclaims Nefertiri, 'I want… I just want to die and go to the world beyond, but Yami must need my help for me to have been reincarnated in you.'

'Nefertiri!'

'I am just a woman. I can do nothing!'

'You're rambling, Nefertiri! Ramble somewhere else!' thinks Marie, 'I'm going to be working!'

"Are you sure you're okay, Marie?" asks Serenity.

"Oh, yes, Serenity. I'm fine," says Marie typing on the computer console in front of her. She sighs.

"Something's wrong… what is it?" asks Serenity.

"Yugi and Yami's presence in my life has awakened a spirit within me, my reincarnated self. The person who I was in the past, Nefertiri… she was once just another aspect of my mind I guess, a part of who I ultimately was. After I met Seto, she broke away from the rest of me and went to sleep. She's awake now, and she's rather talkative too," says Marie, "She won't shut up! All she's doing is rambling inside my head! And Mariko is in the Scale, so he's too far away to shut Nefertiri up."

"How are you doing on tracking Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba?" asks Duke.

"Well, I can put them on the map," says Marie as a screen off to the side of the one she's been focusing on flares to life and shows the video feed from the camera in the hallway where Seto walks with Yugi and Joey.

"Great, Camaro! They're okay," says Téa, "I was starting to get worried about them going off on their own."

"They'll be fine," says Duke, "If nothing else, Joey can punch his way out of trouble!"

"Hey, Seto's no lightweight himself!" exclaims Marie.

"Easy there! I've never seen him fight, so how would I know?" asks Duke holding up his hands to surrender, "By the way… did he call you his fiancée?"

"Yes," says Marie, "He's asked me to marry him, and I agreed."

"You agreed to marry Kaiba?" asks Téa, "You must really love him, Camaro."

Marie turns to look at Téa, and she smiles. "I do love him, T-bird, and I thought you wouldn't understand. You and Yugi…"

Téa blushes slightly. "What about me and Yugi?"

"You and Yugi and all his friends… You hate Seto," says Marie, "I know he's a little rough around the edges. He acts all big and tough, but he's really very kind. I didn't think any of you would understand how I feel about Seto, because I see a part of him that no one other than Mokuba knows even exists."

"Well… I understand, Marie… I too know what it's like to care for someone that way," says Téa blushing even redder, "I understand you, Camaro."

"Oh, you like me, don't you?" asks Duke smiling at Téa, "I'm sorry to tell you that I like someone else!" His eyes dart to Serenity.

"I'm not talking about you, Duke!" exclaims Téa.

Marie squints as she looks at Téa and motions for her to come closer. "I think I know who."

Téa walks over to Marie and leans down so that Marie can whisper something into her ear. She nods quickly as she moves away.

Marie smiles happily. "Lucky guy… does he know?"

"No! I could never tell him!" exclaims Téa, "He doesn't even think of me as a girl!"

"Maybe he should, T-bird," says Marie winking. She holds up her left hand so Téa can see the ring.

"Wow! That ring is gorgeous!" exclaims Téa, "Serenity, come see!"

Serenity carries the monkey over and looks at the ring. "Oh, it's so pretty! Is that a real diamond?"

"I think so since it did come from Seto," says Marie, "and he wouldn't get me a fake diamond."

"Very pretty," comes Tristan's voice from inside the monkey.

"Thank you," says Marie blushing slightly, "Let's just keep this engagement thing under wraps. I don't know if Yugi or Joey caught that Seto called me his fiancée, and if they didn't, then I think I should be the one to tell them later."

"Deal," says Duke stepping close enough to look at the ring. "So… Téa, who are you in love with?"

"I never said love… I never said anything about love," says Téa looking down at the floor as her cheeks redden even brighter than before, "And I certainly cannot tell you since he does not know it yet."

"Oh, come on!" exclaims Duke, "I won't tell him! I swear! Who is it? Wait… if you can't tell me, it must be Tristan!"

"What? Me?" asks the monkey.

"No!" exclaims Téa, "No offense, Tristan, but you're my friend. Just my friend."

"Great!" exclaims the monkey, "I have a crush on someone else anyway! But don't even think about asking, Duke! I'm not telling!"

"You are no fun!" exclaims Duke.

"Téa, Serenity, would you like to learn a bit about hacking into computers while we wait for the others to return?" asks Marie turning back towards the computer console.

"I think that would be great," says Téa smiling. She pulls up a seat beside Marie.

Serenity smiles and pulls up a seat on the other side of Marie. She sits down with the monkey in her lap. "Okay, Marie… teach us what you know."

"I'm trying to find the quickest way for Seto and the others to get to Mokuba." Marie starts talking and explaining what she's doing as she continues to type on the console in front of her. She tells them all about the computer programming language that she's using and what each shortened word means in actual English. "Do you like to dance, Serenity? I think you might make a good addition to the Hot Rods team!"

"I do like to dance!" exclaims Serenity smiling.

"And we can call you Stingray!" exclaims Téa, "After the Chevy Stingray convertible! I think that would be the best car for you!"

"Stingray? I like it," says Serenity smiling.

"Two Chevy cars and one Ford!" exclaims Duke shaking his head to the sides.
"Shut up, Duke!" exclaims the monkey.

The girls giggle as they continue to work and learn.

They got the upper hand
But that won't last for long…

"Kaiba, why did you call Marie your fiancée?" asks Yugi, "Did you ask her to marry you?"

"Do you have a problem with that, Yugi?" asks Seto glaring at the shorter boy.

"No… not really," says Yugi, "I was just wondering when you were planning to announce your engagement. If you're going to marry her, that's between you and her. I just think you should have an engagement party to celebrate. I think she might enjoy that. She… seems really happy with you."

"She is," says Seto.

Joey walks in silence beside Yugi, trying not to get involved in the conversation.

"I'm surprised you're so silent, mutt. Has the cat got your tongue?" asks Seto.

"No, you stupid jerk!" exclaims Joey, "But if you really want me to talk so bad, then tell me! How did you ask Marie to marry you? Were you all romantic or did you just hand her the ring and demand she marry you?"

Seto glares at Joey. "That's none of your business!"

"Ooo… sounds like I struck a chord! You just tossed her the ring and demanded she marry you!" exclaims Joey, "And she said yes! She acts just like all those girls at school who swoon and sigh when you walk by! The ones who are only interested in you because you're young and rich!"

"Marie is nothing like them!" exclaims Seto.

"Sure… whatever you say, Kaiba!" exclaims Joey with a grin, "I don't know her. I wouldn't know. I just know what I see, and I see her acting just like the money-mongers!"

Seto glares at Joey.

"Joey! That's enough! You may not know Marie, but I know enough about her to know that she genuinely cares about Kaiba," says Yugi, "She isn't using him for anything because she loves him. The difference between her and the girls at school is in their eyes. Her eyes show her true feelings. She can't hide it or deny it. She does love Kaiba… for reasons that are known only to her, but she loves him. I think she would do anything for him."

"Yes… she would," says Seto. He checks the laptop and looks at the map on the screen. He turns around a corner. "This way."

Yugi and Joey turn the corner and walk with Seto.

"Do you have a date set yet?" asks Yugi.

"No… but I was thinking of February fourteenth," says Seto.

"Why then?" asks Joey, "Are you suddenly getting romantic?"

"It was the day we first met," says Seto, "So of course it would be romantic for us, not because it's Valentine's Day, but because it is already an anniversary of sorts."

"Kaiba? Can I ask you how you met Marie?" asks Yugi.

Seto sighs. "I found out that she had a rare card I was looking for, so I invited her to come to Domino City… so I could see it I told her. When she arrived and met me, the first thing she did was challenge me to a duel. She placed her rare card up as the prize if she lost and asked me to place up something she needed should I lose. I defeated her."

"Uh, Kaiba! I think you're turning red!" exclaims Joey chuckling.

Seto turns away so that Joey can no longer see the blush on his cheeks.

"What prize did you get when she lost?" asks Yugi with innocent eyes and slightly raised eyebrows.

"A kiss and the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon," says Seto.

"Was it your first kiss? Was it hers?" asks Yugi innocently.

"Yes…"

"I'm glad. She deserves to be happy," says Yugi. He stops abruptly. "Wait!"

"What's wrong, Yugi?" asks Joey stopping.

"We don't have time for this!" exclaims Seto turning to look at Yugi.

"We're going the wrong way!" exclaims Yugi looking all around them, "Mokuba and Tristan aren't down this way! They are… that way!" He points down a nearby street.

Seto looks at the laptop again. "They are this way."

"Let's ask Marie," says Joey pulling the walkie-talkie from his waist. He holds it up to his lips and presses the button while he says, "Come in, Duke."

Hey, Joey! What's up? comes Duke's voice through the walkie-talkie.

"Where are you showing Tristan and Mokuba being located? We're having a little argument here," says Joey.

Just a minute, Joey. Marie's having a bit of trouble with the main computer. Someone's trying to hack into it from the outside, says Duke, Okay… that problem's solved. She's going to check on their location now. Give us a second.

"Well?" asks Joey after a minute of silence.

Marie says to look at the laptop. She tried to download the updated information straight to it, says Duke.

Seto looks at the screen and sees it change rapidly so that the signal indicating Mokuba and Tristan appears down the road Yugi had been pointing down.

Sorry about the delay getting the information to you, says Duke, but Marie has her hands full trying to block this hacker. Whoever it is keeps getting past her.

"Give me that," says Seto snatching the walkie-talkie from Joey. He speaks into it, "Duke, let me talk to Marie!"

I'm here, Seto, but I don't have time to chit-chat! exclaims Marie, This guy's breaking down my firewalls as fast as I build them!

"Marie, listen… Can you download the firewall from my security system?" asks Seto.

I'll sure try, Seto! exclaims Marie, I hope I have enough time! Serenity, take over here!

"Serenity?" asks Joey with wide eyes, "She doesn't know anything about computers! I don't think."

Okay, Seto. Serenity is buying me some time creating firewalls for our hacker friend to knock down while I work. I'm going to try to grab your firewall now.

"Good girl, Marie," says Seto with a smile.

I need a password! exclaims Marie.

"The password is Marie Kaiba!"

Got it! Thanks, Seto.

Seto waits in silence for a moment.

Second password?

"Mokie."

I should have known that! exclaims Marie.

Seto chuckles, quite sure that Marie's smirking at that very moment.

How long has my name been the password here? asks Marie.

"At least a year," says Seto into the walkie-talkie, "That's how long I've known that I was going to marry you."

Okay! Blue-Eyes Ultimate Firewall up and running! exclaims Marie, Maybe now I'll get a chance to breathe!

"Keep it up, Marie," says Seto, "We'll try to take care of this quickly and swing back to get you."

I'll be waiting.

Seto passes the walkie-talkie back to Joey.

Joey places the walkie-talkie back on his waistband. "Well… let's get going. We aren't going to find the others standing around here!"

Seto nods.

Yugi leads the way down the street.

"How'd you know this was the right way, Yuge?" asks Joey.

"Yami told me," says Yugi, "He said that Mariko told him. I guess since the Millennium Scale came with Kaiba that Mariko came with him too."

"Yami and Mariko can communicate with each other?" asks Joey, "Freaky!"

"The computer says we should go into that building," says Seto pointing to a tall skyscraper up ahead, "Mokuba and Tristan are on the top floor!"

"Then let's go!" exclaims Yugi.

The three boys run towards the building.

It's time to take a stand
And show them that you're strong…

Seto leads the way into the building with Joey and Yugi fast on his heels. They run towards the elevator.

"You're not going anywhere!" exclaims a large security guard stepping out of a room in front of them.

"You want to bet?" asks Joey sliding into a kick to the man's shins.

Seto punches the guard as hard as he can in the jaw, and the man crumples to the floor.

Joey gets up quickly and steps on the guard as he hurries past with Yugi and Seto.

"Not the elevator!" exclaims Yugi as they stop in front of the doors, "Mariko says they're booby trapped!"

Joey! Kaiba! Yugi! The elevator is rigged to blow if you step into it! calls Duke frantically over the walkie-talkie.

"What about the stairs?" Joey scrambles to pull the walkie-talkie from his waist and speak into it. "What about the stairs? We need a way up that will be fast and not kill us!"

The Express elevator! exclaims Duke, Marie just said she cleared it of the traps. It's the third door on your left! It looks like a waiting room!

They run down and enter the third door on the left, stepping into a lush room with pink sofas and doors on both sides. The elevator starts to move without them doing anything.

"Where are we going?" asks Joey into the walkie-talkie.

I'm controlling the elevator, Joey! Just sit down and hang on! This might go a bit faster than a normal Express Elevator since I had to create it and write it into the program myself! exclaims Marie.

Joey sits down quickly as his eyes widen.

Yugi and Seto hurry to sit down on the nearest couch.

The elevator moves faster and then slows to a stop.

Okay, now before I let you out, I left you some presents under the seat cushions! exclaims Marie.

Seto and Yugi quickly stand up and pull the cushions from the couch they had been sharing. They each lift up a pistol that looks very much like a toy.

Joey stands and retrieves his own pistol. He pushes the button on his walkie-talkie. "What are these, Marie?"

Non-lethal electro-shock weapons! exclaims Marie, I pulled up the design from this computer, and then I modified it.

Seto looks at the weapon in disgust. He grabs Joey's hand and presses his fingers against the button on the walkie-talkie. "This was one of the weapons Gozaburo was designing, wasn't it?"

Well, yeah, but since you're going up against Gozaburo, I thought that maybe it would be appropriate, says Marie quietly.

"We're what?" asks Seto. He releases Joey's hand in shock.

Gozaburo is here and he's helping Noah, says Marie, Noah couldn't think up all this on his own! Gozaburo is the one who's been trying to hack into this computer, Seto.

"Who's Gozaburo?" asks Yugi.

"My step-father… Gozaburo Kaiba," says Seto, "I took over Kaiba Corp from him. It used to be a weapons company, until I took over."

"I think it's much better making games!" exclaims Joey.

Seto looks at Joey. "So do I."

The doors on the other side of the room open.

Seto leads the way out of the elevator with Joey and Yugi close behind him. They hurry down the halls and break through every door looking for Noah, Tristan, and Mokuba.

"I don't get it. We've searched every room here and haven't found Tristan or Mokuba," says Joey punching a wall.

Seto checks the computer again. "They are supposed to be right here, in this room."

"Unless they're hiding under the rug, they aren't here!" exclaims Joey, "This room is empty!"

"Too empty!" exclaims Yugi walking further into the vacant room. He disappears from sight.

"Yugi!" exclaims Joey running to the spot where he had last seen his friend. He also disappears.

Seto walks forward and passes through an unseen boundary into a room that looks vaguely familiar to the vacant room they had just been in, except that this room isn't vacant.

"Big brother!" exclaims Mokuba smiling, "You found me!"

Tristan, or more accurately Tristan's body, leans against the wall behind the black haired boy and smirks at the new arrivals.

Another boy sits in a chair beside Mokuba. He glares at Seto coldly. This boy, Noah, has been the cause of all these problems. "Your crazy girlfriend has been causing nothing but problems for me, but my guards are about to take care of that."

"You will not touch her," says Seto glaring back at Noah.

"You're right. I won't. That's what I have guards for," says Noah. He glances back at the boy leaning against the wall. "I'll leave the two weaklings to you. It's time for my duel with Seto Kaiba."

"Noah. Sir, our hacker would like to speak to you about that stupid girlfriend of his," comes the deep voice from within Tristan's body.

"I'll get to him soon enough," says Noah, "It's time to duel, Kaiba… if you can find me!" His chair, as well as the one that Mokuba sits in, vanish.

"So… I guess it's up to me to take care of you," says Tristan.

It's not a match you're in
It's much more like a brawl…

"We have to be careful about fighting him, Joey! That's still Tristan's body!" exclaims Yugi.

"Fine," says Joey raising his pistol and firing it quickly at his friend.

"Joey!" Yugi's eyes widen.

"Marie said it was non-lethal!" exclaims Joey as Tristan falls to the floor being electrocuted by the gun.

Tristan passes out from the shock of the electricity.

Joey pulls his walkie-talkie from his waistband and he speaks into it, "Hey, Duke! We've found Tristan! But that Noah freak ran with Mokuba! Can you track him down?"

Sure thing. We're on it, Joey! How is Tristan? asks Duke.

"Right now… he's unconscious thanks to the present Marie gave us," says Joey, "By the way, this gun won't cause any permanent damage to him, will it, Marie?"

Marie says no, says Duke.

"Good," says Joey with a sigh of relief, "Oh, and Noah said that he was sending some guards to your location, so watch out for the girls, Duke!"

The monkey says he can take care of the guards, says Duke, And Marie has just downloaded some new information to your laptop.

Seto opens the laptop and looks at the screen. He nods his head. "They're downstairs and moving."

"We should tie Tristan up and drag him with us!" exclaims Joey. He tucks his pistol and the walkie-talkie into his waistband and moves to get something to bind Tristan's hands and feet. Then he lifts his friend's body onto his shoulder. "Yugi, you'd better take my gun and the walkie-talkie… just in case this guy wakes up and tries something funny."

"Right!" Yugi carefully pulls the two items from Joey's waistband. He clips the walkie-talkie onto his belt.

Hang on, guys! The express elevator is coming to you this time! comes Duke's voice through the walkie-talkie.

The floor beneath the four teenaged boys drops suddenly, and they fall into a long chute. They fall down onto a cushioned floor.

Seto looks at the laptop quickly. "We're on the same floor as Mokuba and Noah!"

"Let's go!" exclaims Yugi.

I'm afraid you aren't going anywhere, comes Noah's voice over a loudspeaker, That stupid girlfriend of yours might have been able to help you this far, Seto, but she'll never be able to help you get all the way into the inner sanctum where Gozaburo waits for you!

"My fiancée is anything but stupid!" exclaims Seto angrily.

Yeah… that's what you think. I know better. She's no match for Gozaburo, says Noah.

"We'll see about that," says Seto.

The only way to win
You've gotta stay your own…

Duke passes the walkie-talkie off to Téa as he hears the pounding against the door as the people outside try to burst into the room. "Marie… Is there anything you can do to help?"

"I can fight," says Marie, "Stingray, take over here and just keep creating that firewall for Gozaburo to knock down. You understand, Serenity?"

"Yes, Marie," says Serenity trading places with Marie at the computer console, "Uh, Camaro! I got it covered, I hope!"

"Marie… I cannot have you fighting," says Duke staring at her with wide eyes, "You heard Kaiba! If you get a scratch, he's going to kill me!"

"He won't kill you," says Marie, "Hurt and torture you, yes, but not kill."

"That's even worse!"

"Besides, Duke… you can't take them all on your own! And we're in the real world, so I can't help us like I can help Seto and Yugi!" exclaims Marie, "I don't suppose Serenity or Téa knows how to fight, so there's only me, you, and the monkey! Come, Tristan-monkey!"

The monkey climbs down from Serenity's lap and walks over to Marie. "I'll fight too!"

"Thanks!" exclaims Duke sarcastically, "You couldn't even hit these guys in their knees!"

"Neither can you!" exclaims the monkey.

The door cracks as the men outside hit it again.

"Get ready!" exclaims Marie.

The door falls open and several men rush in.

Marie starts punching and kicking, using the martial art form that she learned in Egypt, while the monkey jumps up into the faces of the men and blocks their vision so that they run into each other.

Duke starts punching the men and trying his best to knock them unconscious.

It takes some time and a lot of fighting, but they manage to knock the men out and send them running back in the direction from which they had come.

"And not a scratch on me," says Marie wincing in pain as she moves to sit down in the seat that Serenity quickly vacates for her.

"Are you okay, Marie?" asks Duke with a concerned voice as the monkey rushes into Serenity's arms again.

"I'm going to be okay," says Marie biting back her pain. She starts typing on the computer console quickly, still establishing the weaker firewall to safeguard her computer while she tries to find little ways to help her fiancé, brother, and their friend.

"Are you sure, Marie?" asks Téa, "I didn't see any of them make good contact with you, but you still sound like you're in a lot of pain."

"That's because I am. I shouldn't be moving like that," says Marie, "I just had surgery, and I haven't had a chance to heal yet. Could you get me some water please? I brought medicine with me to help with the pain."

Téa quickly gets Marie a cup of water and passes it to her.

Marie pulls her pill bottle from her pocket and takes one with the cool water. Then she tucks the bottle back in her pocket and tries to relax as she continues her work on the computer.

"What surgery did you have, Camaro?" asks Serenity, "I just had surgery on my eyes so that I could see again."

"I… I had surgery to correct a mistake," says Marie, "I was injured in Egypt, Stingray, and the surgery I had is trying to heal the damage that was done to me there."

"Oh…" Serenity hangs her head.

"In Egypt they circumcise girls so that they'll remain virgins until they are married," explains Marie.

Serenity's eyes widen. "No!"

"Uh… what?" asks Duke blinking repeatedly.

"Let's just say that some vital parts of my anatomy which should remain open were sewn closed," says Marie, "I suppose I got lucky, because only part of what they were supposed to do actually happened."

"Uh… what?" asks Duke again.

"I'll explain it to you later, Duke," says the monkey.

Serenity shakes her head in disbelief. "I thought that practice was outlawed!"

"I was in Egypt, and it had been outlawed there for a short period of time, but I had the operation done before it was outlawed. It's now legal there again," says Marie, "but there are many people who are still trying to get that decision overturned! As for me… I've gone through a surgery to repair the damage, and it's painful… but that doesn't matter right now! We have more important things to worry about, like getting Mokuba and returning Tristan to his body!"

"That's right!" exclaims the monkey.

"We have to rely on Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba," says Téa staring at the screen that shows their three friends walking down a hallway together.

With all the rates all black and white
Friends will help to win the fight…

"Are you dead back there, mutt?" asks Seto turning to glare at Joey.

"Hey! You try carrying Tristan all this way, moneybags!" exclaims Joey, "He weighs a ton!"

Seto chuckles as he checks the computer again. "Don't worry, mutt! We're almost there!"

"What direction now, Kaiba?" asks Yugi.

Seto touches the Millennium Scale lightly as he points in the direction they need to go in.

Egyptian secrets are revived
Ancient Powers have survived…

"I wonder what traps Noah has set for us down there!" exclaims Yugi.

"Oh, don't even mention traps! Between him and Marie, I may never be able to play a virtual game again!" groans Joey.

"Marie's not trying to kill us though," says Yugi, "She's trying to help."

"By dropping us down a hole in the floor!" exclaims Joey, "I know she doesn't want to hurt us, but she's making it very easy!"

"What? Is the mutt afraid?" asks Seto as they continue to walk.

"Not afraid… just concerned," says Joey, "What if that Gozaburo creep managed to rewrite a line in a program change she made? We could all end up very dead!"

"They don't want me dead," says Seto.

"Oh… so you have nothing to worry about, but Yuge and I do!" exclaims Joey.

Tristan groans as Joey carries him slung over his shoulder.

"He's waking up!" exclaims Yugi.

Your move…