Disclaimer: All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and references belong to their respective owners. The song One Card Short 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 Eleven

Don't Say You Love Me

Joey drops Tristan's body on the hard floor.

"Joey! Be careful! That's still Tristan's body!" exclaims Yugi.

"Oops," says Joey watching as the body moves around on the floor.

"If this is how you treat your friends, I'm glad I'm not one of them!" exclaims Seto.

Joey glares at Seto. "Shut up!"

Tristan's eyes flutter open.

"He's awake!" exclaims Yugi.

Joey's eyes snap to Tristan's face. "Tristan?"

The boy pushes himself into a sitting position and looks at the cords binding his ankles and wrists. He looks up at Joey. "Hey, bud! What's going on?"

"Come on," says Joey helping Tristan to stand, "We're trying to find Noah and Mokuba."

"Uh… bud, am I supposed to hop?"

Seto raises his eyebrow at Tristan as Joey releases the cord from his legs.

Keep your hand a secret
Unleash the monsters within…

Joey finishes untying Tristan's legs and stands up. "Now let's go!"

Tristan yanks his wrists apart to break the cord that had bound them together. He punches Joey before running off and into a room down the hall.

Joey slams back into the wall from the force of the blow. He growls. "Damn!"

"He's getting away!" exclaims Yugi with wide eyes.

"We'll catch him again later," says Seto, "and next time, don't release him, mutt!"

"Hey! How was I supposed to know that Tristan was strong enough to break that?" asks Joey glaring at Seto.

"No arguing!" exclaims Yugi.

Joey and Seto glare at each other for a moment before Yugi steps in between them.

"Let's go," says Yugi, "We need to find Mokuba and Tristan again!"

Seto nods and starts walking again.

"Give me the walkie back, Yuge," says Joey, "I'll call Duke and have Marie try to track Tristan too."

Yugi takes the walkie-talkie from his belt and passes it to Joey as they walk down the halls.

"Hey, Duke… you still out there?" asks Joey into the walkie-talkie.

Right here, Joey! We saw what that punk did to you! Are you okay? asks Duke.

"Yeah! I'm fine, Duke, but can you have Marie start tracking Tristan so we can find him again?" asks Joey.

She says she already did it. Check out the computer for the new update, says Duke.

Seto opens the laptop and looks at the screen. He looks up and sees the video camera near the roof. He smiles and nods his head to the camera.

"Thanks, Duke!" exclaims Joey.

Marie types on the console in front of her while Serenity and Téa sit beside her trying to learn from what she's doing.

The robotic monkey rests in Serenity's arms and stares at the computer screen.

Duke paces back and forth in front of the broken-down doorway.

"Watch out, Duke!" exclaims Marie, "Someone's coming up fast!"

Duke looks out the door, and his eyes widen. "Duck! Now!"

Marie grabs Téa and Serenity and pulls them to the floor.

Duke drops down onto his stomach.

A loud whoosh echoes through the room accompanied by a large explosion and flying debris.

Marie looks up and sees the computer crackling and sizzling from the impact of the rocket that had just went flying through the room. She hits the floor with her fist. "No! They hit the main computer!"

Duke hurries to his feet. "We've got to get out of here now!"

Marie pushes herself up while Duke helps Serenity to her feet.

Duke helps Téa stand up while Serenity scoops the robotic monkey into her arms.

"This way!" exclaims Marie grabbing Téa's hand and pulling her through the doorway that they had used when they came into the room.

Serenity and Duke, with the monkey, run out after the two girls.

"We've got to tell Yugi and Joey about the computer!" exclaims Téa already panting.

"Yeah!" exclaims Duke pulling the walkie-talkie from his belt. "Joey, come in!"

Hey, Duke! What is it? asks Joey.

"Some of Noah's goons just came in with a rocket launcher! They wrecked the main computer, and we're now running for our lives!" exclaims Duke, "But we're all okay!"

What? screeches Joey.

"The computer is gone! We can't help you anymore from here! We're going to try to come find you!" exclaims Duke.

Okay, be careful, says Joey, And uh… Marie, protect my little sister, okay?

"Sure thing, Joey! Stingray and T-bird are both under my protection!" exclaims Marie.

"She says yes," says Duke into the walkie-talkie, "Don't worry! We'll both protect Serenity!"

"I'm not a baby! I can protect myself!" exclaims Serenity.

"I don't want to test that theory against someone with a rocket launcher, Serenity!" exclaims Duke as they all run into the room in which they had landed after jumping off the virtual bridge.

"Okay," pants Téa, "Now what do we do, Camaro?"

"We go through the door," says Marie taking a deep breath, "and we hope that we can get to Seto and the others quickly."

"Let me go out first," says Duke, "in case there's something out there waiting for us."

"No!" exclaims the monkey, "I'll go out first! You could die if some goons are out there and they have guns! I'm a robot. I can't!"

"Even better idea!" exclaims Duke opening the door.

Serenity lets the monkey jump from her arms, and it runs through the doorway.

Everyone waits in silence for a moment before the monkey returns.

"Everything's cool! Let's go!" exclaims the monkey.

Serenity grabs the monkey and holds it in her arms as everyone walks through the doorway. "Now… where do we go?"

Marie looks all around. "I don't know."

'Marie?' asks Nefertiri, 'Will you listen to me now?'

'Nefertiri! Can't you see that I'm in a little bit of a fix,' thinks Marie, 'The main computer is destroyed! It was our only hope of returning Tristan's mind to his body! I have no idea where I am! I can't summon forth a new laptop because I don't have the Millennium Scale! I'm lost and I'm scared, and I don't know what to do!'

'Perhaps I do.'

'What? You have an idea, Nefertiri? Why didn't you say that earlier? What is it?' thinks Marie quickly.

'I think that I can lead you to Mariko and Yami. I have a sense of where they are located,' says Nefertiri, 'It must be a side effect of being an ancient spirit reincarnated into your body.'

'If anyone could hear this, I would be in a mental institution faster than you could say Ma-Ri-Ko!' thinks Marie, 'Okay, Nefertiri, which way does it feel that Mariko and Yami are in?'

"Maybe we should go this way," says Téa pointing down the street.

'She is right! We should go that way, Marie,' says Nefertiri.

"You're right, T-bird," says Marie, "That's the perfect direction to go in right now! Let's walk though. No more running."

Everyone starts to walk in the direction that Téa and Nefertiri had both indicated.

"Camaro?" asks Téa, "I was just wondering…"

"Yeah, T-bird?" replies Marie, "What's on your mind?"

"Without the main computer… can we still put Tristan's mind back into his body?" asks Téa.

Serenity's eyes widen as she holds the monkey closer to her chest. She stares at Marie. "Camaro? Can we?"

Marie takes a deep breath. "I don't know. Honestly, T-bird, Stingray… I don't know."

"You mean I could be stuck in this robot body for the rest of my life?" asks the monkey, "I'll never get to be kissed that way!"

"I'm sorry, Tristan," says Marie, "I just don't know if there is a way…"

"There has to be a way," says Téa determinedly, "If there is a way, we'll find it! Yugi will find a way! We'll save you yet, Tristan!"

"Yes," says Serenity blushing slightly, "We have to save you!"

"Thanks, Serenity," says the monkey.

'Marie… That building up ahead! There is great power inside it. I believe that is where Mariko and Yami are,' says Nefertiri.

'Really? Hey, you're right! That does look like the building we saw them go into,' thinks Marie, 'Could they really be inside there…?'

'I do not sense that they are in danger… for the moment. We must hurry and get to them, Marie!' exclaims Nefertiri.

"Come on! Let's hurry! I think I know where the others are!" exclaims Marie.

Are you doing what you want or what you've been told?

"How do you always seem to know things?" asks Duke as they all start to jog towards the building.

"Well… I guess I'm a little crazy! I hear voices inside my head! The voices are from people who can feel things that we can't feel! They know more about what's around us than we will ever know!" exclaims Marie, "There's Nefertiri, who used to be married to Yami! She was reincarnated into my body. Plus there is also Mariko, who resides in the Millennium Scale. They have great spiritual sense!"

"Uh… okay?" Duke shrugs his shoulders as they hurry into the building. "I shouldn't ask questions like that I guess."

"We have to take the stairs! The elevators are rigged to explode when someone enters them!" exclaims Marie leading the way towards the stairwell.

"I'm going to die if we have to run all the way up the stairs!" exclaims Téa, "I hate stairs!"

They burst through the door into the stairwell. They start to race each other up the stairs.

Marie bursts out of the stairwell and crashes on the tile floor.

"Marie!" exclaims Yugi running towards her from down the hall.

Marie looks up into Yugi's purple eyes, and she smiles. "We found you!"

"Yes, you did," says Seto smiling, "And quite quickly as well."

Téa and Serenity, still holding the monkey, run through the door and nearly trip on Marie.

Yugi reaches Marie and helps her to her feet. "Nice of you to drop in, Marie."

Duke runs into the hallway. He looks around. "Hey, Yugi, Joey! Glad to see you!"

"Hey, Duke!" exclaims Joey.

"Are you hurt, Marie?" asks Seto moving over to her and taking her waist with his hands.

Marie blushes and shakes her head. "No! I'm okay! Not a scratch on me!"

Seto's eyes run up and down Marie's body. In a stern, demanding voice, he says, "You once swore that you would never lie to me, Marie. Don't go back on your word now!"

"I'm not lying, Seto!" exclaims Marie with wide eyes, "Duke, Tristan-monkey, and I got into a fight, but the other guys didn't touch me! I'm not hurt!"

"You're still bleeding," says Seto running a hand down over Marie's hip.

Marie looks down and sees the dried blood adorning her inner thigh, nearly invisible due to the darkness of her fabric. She pulls herself further into Seto's arms. "It must be from my surgery. I'll be okay… really. It doesn't even hurt."

"You aren't just trying to be strong, are you?" asks Seto. His concern shines in his blue eyes as he looks at Marie.

Marie smiles, and she stares into the blue eyes. "I'm not strong, Seto. I meant what I said."

Seto nods. "Then we must be off. We have to get to Mokuba!"

"Right!" exclaims Marie nodding.

'It is good to have you near me again, Marie,' says Mariko, 'I've missed you.'

"Not now, Mariko!" exclaims Marie.

'Now… that's no way to talk to me, Marie. I'm here to help you, remember? Well… actually, I just want to control the world, but I'll need money and power to do that,' says Mariko, 'and that's where I need your help. But right now I can help you. I have watched the program changes that you have been making, Marie. I think I might be able to help you with a major rewrite change, unlike the little ones you've been doing.'

'What do you mean, Mariko?' thinks Marie.

'We can change the program to trap Noah and Mokuba…'

'What about Gozaburo?' thinks Marie.

'We can handle him as well. You see, he is… indisposed at the moment,' says Mariko, 'His mind is also trapped here in the virtual world. He's sharing the same body with that stupid kid, Noah… but even though there are two minds in one body, they can work independently of each other. If we join together, you and I might be able to separate Gozaburo's mind from Noah's body and trap him in the Shadow Realm! Then we can rewrite the program to trap Noah and Mokuba so that we aren't chasing them anymore!'

Marie's eyes widen. "Give me the Scale, Seto!"

Seto removes the Millennium Scale from his waist and holds it out towards her. "Here, Marie."

Marie reaches out with her right hand and grabs the base of the Millennium Scale. She holds it up above her head. "Ma-Ri-Ko!"

The ends of Marie's ponytail flare out as her spiky bangs become far more prominent. Her waist-long purple and white jacket grows so that it covers her down to the middle of her thighs, but it remains open to reveal the clothing beneath. Her pants legs shorten to Capri length and the waistband slides down to hug her hips. The white T-shirt she wears shrinks so that her tanned stomach shows. Her body grows slightly taller even as her white pumps transform into tall, stiletto heels. Her purple eyes gain a more determined look.

"Marie? What's up? Why did you change to Mariko?" asks Seto.

"Because… we're going to try a program over-write," says Mariko smirking at Seto, "One that will be quite beneficial if it succeeds!"

"What do you plan to do?" asks Yugi.

"First, send Gozaburo to the Shadow Realm! Then we plan to trap Mokuba and Noah so that they can't run away from us any more!" exclaims Mariko, "Program…"

"How can you do that, Camaro?" asks Serenity.

"Simple, Stingray," says Mariko, "I control the Millennium Scale. Program overwrite!"

"Stingray?" asks Joey looking at Serenity.

"Yes, Joey. I've joined their dance team," says Serenity smiling, "I'm Stingray… of the Hot Rods. After the tournament's over, we're all going dancing!"

A screen appears in front of Mariko showing a mixture of strange Egyptian hieroglyphics and computer program language.

Is what happens next in your control?

Mariko starts to touch the screen and move symbols around at will. Her hands move rapidly as she tries to rewrite the program.

Seto looks at the screen in front of Mariko and watches the symbols flying across the air. "Wait! Not like that!"

"What?" asks Mariko turning towards Seto.

Seto points to various symbols as he speaks, "Put this symbol over here and move this one over like this. It's a better way to word what you're trying to do."

Mariko moves the symbols as Seto requested. "How do you know this, Seto? I never knew that you could read Egyptian, especially this form. It is the same type of hieroglyphics that are imprinted upon my arms and legs, and young Marik's back, and the Winged Dragon of Ra card. Only the highest-ranking officials in Ancient Egypt could read it. How do you know this?"

"I don't know, Marie," says Seto, "I honestly don't know."

"Who are you?" asks Mariko turning back to the screen and continuing to slide the symbols around.

"You know who I am," says Seto.

Mariko places the last symbol and the screen in front of her vanishes. "If that succeeded, Noah and Gozaburo have been separated. I was unable to trap Noah and Mokuba in the room that they are in however. There are many defenses to that room, and I didn't want to waste the time to break them all down!"

"Let's go!" exclaims Yugi, "We need to find Noah and put this to an end!"

Seto looks at Yugi. "This is a family matter, Yugi Motou! It does not concern you! I can handle this problem on my own. It doesn't concern any of you."

Mariko's hair falls down gently so that the ends of the ponytail brush against her shoulders. Her jacket shrinks back to her waist, and her pants legs lengthen to reach down to her ankles while the waistband moves up to her actual waist. The white T-shirt she wears grows to cover her stomach. She becomes shorter as her shoes transform themselves back into the white pumps she normally wears. Her purple eyes widen at Seto's words.

"Wait a second, Kaiba!" exclaims Téa, "This family matter of yours does concern us! We're stuck here in this virtual world, and we may have lost our friend! All because of this family matter! It does concern us!"

"You go and find Tristan," says Seto, "This is a family matter and will be dealt with by family." He spins around and takes a few steps in the direction he had been heading before meeting up with Marie and the others.

"Seto…" Marie's voice quivers.

Seto stops and turns his head to look at Marie.

"Seto… am I a part of your family?" asks Marie staring off at the spot where Seto had stood moments before.

"Need you even ask?" replies Seto.

"I know that Mokuba thinks of me as family," says Marie, "and I think of both of you as family, but I'm no longer sure about what you think, Seto. If this doesn't concern any of us, and it only concerns your family, then I guess I must not be a part of your family."

Seto crinkles his eyebrows. "Marie…?"

Marie snaps out of her glazed-over glare and walks over to stand in front of Seto. "Did you mean what you said? Of course you did… You wouldn't have said it if you didn't. Well… if you don't think of me as a member of your family…"

"Marie, I…"

Sometimes it's over
Before it's even begun…

"Then I don't think I can marry you," says Marie interrupting Seto as she pulls the engagement ring from her left hand. She takes Seto's right hand and places the ring into his palm. She closes his fingers around the gold and diamond ring. She tries not to look into Seto's eyes and opts to look at his hand instead. "I'll be moving in with Yugi once we get back to the real world. I'll come by the mansion to get all my stuff next week, and I'll say good-bye to Mokuba then. Good-bye, Seto Kaiba."

"Marie…"

Marie turns her back to Seto and starts to walk away from him. "Come on, everyone. We'll go find Tristan and let Kaiba take care of his family problems himself!"

"Marie?" whispers Téa.

Seto lowers his right hand to his side and opens his fingers. He listens to the ring clatter on the tile floor.

"Go after her, Kaiba," hisses Téa in a whisper.

Seto doesn't move towards Marie, and it doesn't even faze him when she stops and waits impatiently for the others to catch up to her. He simply falls to his knees, and then falls even further so that both hands press against the floor to support him up off its surface. There, on his hands and knees on the floor, in front of his worst enemy, he starts to cry. The tears flow from his eyes to drop on the tiles, and his body is racked with his sobs.

Marie stands straighter as she hears the sound.

If someone else gets hurt
Then what have you really won?

Yugi takes a step towards Seto, reaching out his hand to try to comfort him.

Téa quickly grabs Yugi's wrist and holds him back. She shakes her head so that he knows he shouldn't get himself involved.

Marie turns around and sees everyone still standing behind Seto with him on the floor crying. Her eyes widen as her own tears, which had welled up in her eyes after telling him good-bye, fall to the floor. She runs over to Seto and collapses to her knees in front of him. She pulls him into her arms and starts to caress his back as they both cry.

"Who would have ever thought Kaiba could cry?" whispers Joey, "Mr. Tough Guy…"

"Shut it, Joey," whispers Téa poking him in the ribs.

"It's okay, Seto," says Marie, "It's okay… everything will be just fine. You'll see. Everything will work out." She cries into Seto's dark brown hair as he cries into her shoulder.

"I can't lose… first Mokuba, now you… Noah's trying to take away everything… everything I love…"

"He could never take me away," says Marie rubbing Seto.

"You and Mokuba are the only family I have, Marie… I can't lose you… I can't do this alone, Marie! Don't leave me… Please, don't leave me, Marie. I can't make it on my own. I need you!" exclaims Seto pausing to let out loud sobs as the salty tears fall into Marie's jacket.

"You're strong, Seto… You don't need anyone," says Marie wiping her eyes with one hand.

"I do need you. I love you!" exclaims Seto.

"Don't say that… You just said a few moments ago that you didn't need any help at all," says Marie, "That…"

"I didn't mean it! I… I lied," says Seto clinging tightly to Marie, "I just don't want… Yugi and his friends… They can't see me like this!"

"They already have. They've already seen your weakness, Seto," says Marie pulling Seto even tighter to her body, "They already know how you hide your true self behind an mirror… how you never let anybody in… I'm sure they already know that you are not the person you want them to think you are…"

"I love you, Marie," says Seto.

Marie pulls back slightly and lifts Seto's chin. She kisses his tears away and smiles. "I love you, Seto. That will never change."

Seto lifts the ring from the floor and holds it up to Marie. His eyes plead with her and beg for her to take the ring and to once again agree to marry him.

Marie takes the ring and slides it back onto her left hand's ring finger. "Are you okay now?"

Seto wipes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He smiles at Marie before pulling her into a chaste kiss. He stands up and pulls her to her feet. He guides her a few feet down the hall before stopping. He turns towards the others. "Are you coming or not?"

"Of course we're coming!" exclaims Yugi, "We'll have to work together to get through this!"

"We'll call a truce… for now, Yugi," says Seto, "For now…"

"We've got to get a move on, guys!" exclaims Joey, "We need to find Tristan and Mokuba and get out of here!"

Seto nods. "This way!"

Everyone hurries down the hallway together.