Disclaimer: All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and references belong to their respective owners. The song The Ghost of You and Me belongs to BBMak 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 Sixteen
A Date With Destiny
Watching the candle flicker out in the evening glow
I can't let go
When will this night be over…?
"What do you want, Seth?" asks Yami.
"I thought I told you before, Pharaoh," says Priest Seth, "Albeit when I did tell you last, I was speaking through Marik… even that baka yami could not resist my power for long. It drove him crazy when he tried to fight against me. Why Marik was ever reborn into the body of that child Malik is beyond me! I see no reason why he should even exist."
"I see no reason why you should exist, so I guess we are even," says Yami drawing his first card. "I will play Beaver Warrior in defense mode, and I will place one card on the field for later. Now… what is it that you want?"
"Fine then… I will tell you what I want," says Priest Seth drawing his card. "I will play Battle Ox in attack mode. Destroy that Beaver Warrior."
"Not so fast," says Yami activating his hidden card, "I play Messenger of Peace."
"I want your power," says Priest Seth, "I want the ultimate power, the three Egyptian God cards and the Millennium Puzzle, the power of the Pharaoh! I will rule the world!"
"You were never meant to rule the world, Seth! No one was!" exclaims Yami.
"I will rule the world!" screams Priest Seth. His pale blue eyes bore holes into Yami.
What am I supposed to do?
Yami draws his card. "I will play Feral Imp in attack mode, but I will not have it attack."
Priest Seth draws a card and tucks it into his hand. He pulls another card from his hand and slides it into his duel disk. "I will just place one card on the field for later."
Yami draws and smiles as he tucks his card into his hand. "I will sacrifice my Feral Imp and Beaver Warrior to summon forth Gaia the Fierce Knight, and I will place one card on the field for later. I do not wish to lower my Messenger of Peace right now, so I will wait for another turn."
Priest Seth draws a card and places it on his duel disk. "I will play La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp in defense mode and I will switch Battle Ox into defense as well."
Yami draws a card and tucks it into his hand. He glares at Priest Seth.
Priest Seth gives Yami an all-knowing smirk. He draws his card and slides it into the magic slot on his duel disk. "Tell me, great Pharaoh, what are your plans?"
"My plans? What do you mean?" asks Yami drawing a card. "I will play Mystical Elf in defense mode, and I will place one card on the field for later."
"Surely you have some plans for the power that you have inherited," says Priest Seth drawing. "I will place Hitotsu-Me Giant in defense mode."
"I will now destroy my Messenger of Peace," says Yami after drawing his card, "I will play one monster in defense mode. Now, Gaia, attack the Battle Ox!"
"Oh, surely you must not plan to simply protect your stupid other self for the rest of your life! You must have some plans for your power!" exclaims Priest Seth drawing a card and tucking it into his hand, "I sacrifice La Jinn and my Giant to summon forth Sword Hunter! Hunter, attack Gaia!"
"Gaia!" exclaims Yami as his monster disappears.
Priest Seth chuckles. "Weren't expecting that were you? Now, your Gaia is a part of my Sword Hunter's armor giving him an addition 200 attack points! Beat that, Pharaoh!"
"Trust me. I will." Yami draws a card.
'We can do this, Yami,' says Yugi within their mind, 'We have to beat Seth to save the world.'
'I know, Yugi. Together, we can do this,' thinks Yami, 'As long as we believe in the Heart of the Cards.'
Yami looks at the card and then at his hand. He smiles. "I will sacrifice my monsters to summon forth the Dark Magician! And I will equip him with the Book of Secret Arts to boost his attack power! Dark Magician, attack!"
Priest Seth glares at Yami. "Activate Trap Hole!"
"Activate Remove Trap! And since my face down monster was the Magician of Faith, I can return one magic card from my Graveyard to my hand," says Yami, "I still destroy your monster!"
Priest Seth draws his card. He smirks. "I will now play Lord of D. I combine it with the two Flutes of Summoning Dragon from my hand to summon forth Hyozanryu and my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons! This duel is now over!"
Seen a lot of broken hearts go sailing by
Phantom ships, lost at see
And one of them is mine…
"I don't think so, High Priest! I activate my trap card, Swords of Revealing Light!" exclaims Yami.
"Only a matter of time, Pharaoh," says Priest Seth, "I will place two cards on the field for a later time."
'Yami… although I don't like the idea of using it, maybe we should try for the Egyptian God card,' says Yugi.
'Slyther…' Yami looks into Yugi's amethyst eyes. 'I don't want to use it, but maybe it is best. We only have one piece of Exodia in our hand, and we must prevent Seth from using either of his God cards.'
'Remind me later to ask Marie where she got Exodia from,' says Yugi, 'The way Kaiba talks she has a lot of rare cards, but I've never heard of her being a duelist before so I don't know how she could have gotten them.'
'Perhaps Kaiba bought them for her. In which case we will need to return them to her later,' says Yami, 'We will discuss it with her later. After we find out how to release her mind from the prison Nefertiri has trapped her in.'
Yami draws. He looks at the card and tucks it into his hand.
'That's no good,' says Yugi.
I wonder why
The stars don't seem to guide me…
"I will make no move this turn."
Priest Seth draws. "You are merely postponing the inevitable."
"Perhaps that is all I can do," says Yami drawing a card.
'Soul Exchange! Great! We can use that to sacrifice Seth's monsters to summon our Egyptian God card,' says Yugi, 'I believe in you, Yami. Draw Slyther next turn.'
"But we will see in a moment," says Yami, "It is your move, High Priest."
Priest Seth draws his card. "Not long now… I will now activate my Polymerization card to fuse my three Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards into Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! The most powerful dragon you've faced and lost to, Pharaoh!"
Yami closes his eyes as he places his hand on his deck. 'Are you with me, Yugi?'
'I'm right here, Yami. We can do this,' says Yugi smiling at his other self.
Yami smiles at Yugi, and he pulls the smaller one into a close one-armed embrace. 'Then let's do this together, my light…'
'Together, my dark,' says Yugi placing his hand over Yami's on the deck.
'Yu-Gi-Oh!' both exclaim.
I didn't mean to fall in love with you …Yami draws his card and holds it in front of his face. He slowly opens his eyes.
'We did it!' exclaims Yugi, 'I knew we could!'
"Well, Pharaoh?" Priest Seth taps his foot on the ground impatiently.
"First I will play Soul Exchange to sacrifice your three monsters… Lord of D., Hyozanryu, and the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon… for my monster, Slyther the Sky Dragon!" exclaims Yami, "And since I have four cards in my hand, Slyther's attack is 4000. Since I must skip my Battle Phase, it is your move, Seth."
Priest Seth draws a card. He smirks again. "I play Monster Reborn to revive my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon which I'll place in defense mode."
Yami draws a card and smiles at the second piece of Exodia. "Now… Slyther, destroy the Blue-Eyes Ultimate! Now every time a monster appears on your side of the field, Slyther will automatically attack, and I will have to draw three cards."
Priest Seth draws a card. He smirks. "I'll play Revival Jam!"
"No!" exclaims Yami growling slightly as Slyther attacks the Revival Jam.
"You don't look happy, Pharaoh!" exclaims Priest Seth laughing.
'Yami!' exclaims Yugi, 'We can summon Exodia faster this way!'
'It might be too risky,' thinks Yami.
"Actually, I suppose I should thank you for helping me." Yami draws three cards and looks to see that he does in fact have a third piece of Exodia. "I will now discard three cards."
Revival Jam reappears on Priest Seth's side of the field, and Priest Seth smirks as Slyther attacks it again.
Yami draws three more cards and discards them all. "So… tell me… how did you get a Revival Jam so quickly after finding out about Slyther's weakness?"
"I had a Revival Jam for a long time. I just never used it. I brought it out, dusted it off, and placed it in my deck," says Priest Seth, "I have surprised you it seems."
Yami draws three more cards after Slyther destroys Revival Jam again. He discards two cards from his hand and two of the cards he just drew.
'I don't know if this will work, Yugi,' says Yami, 'We need to stop Slyther from attacking and end Seth's turn. Otherwise, gathering Exodia is useless.'
When will this night be over?
'Yami… how do we do this? Do you think that the power of the Millennium Puzzle could do something?' asks Yugi.
Yami's eyes widen. He pulls Yugi to him and gives him a chaste kiss on the lips. 'Yugi, you are brilliant!'
Yugi blushes a deep red from receiving his first kiss.
"No witty words, Pharaoh? No grand schemes?" asks Priest Seth.
"I have a plan! Slyther! Stop your attack! Return to your card!" exclaims Yami before the Revival Jam completely formed again.
The Eye on the Millennium Puzzle flares a bright light that illuminates the entire room, and Slyther responds by evaporating and the card floats back up into Yami's hand.
"You have unlocked one of the powers of your Millennium Puzzle, I see," says Priest Seth, "Now… my turn is over. It's your move. Can you defeat me before you run out of cards?"
"I will," says Yami drawing a card. "I will use Monster Reborn to summon the Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my graveyard."
"All right, Yugi!" exclaims Joey from the sidelines, "That's the way to show that creep! Give him all you got!"
Nefertiri glares at Joey. She pushes herself to her feet. "Seth! Seth! Use the Millennium Scale! Summon forth Ammit!"
"An excellent idea, Nefertiri," says Priest Seth reaching down to grasp the Millennium Scale. He pulls the Scale up and raises it high into the air. "I summon Ammit! Trial of Judgment!"
"Yugi!" exclaims Téa with wide eyes as a huge, ugly monster appears.
"No!" screams a voice from out of nowhere, a voice that sounds rather familiar.
"That sounded like Bakura!" exclaims Tristan.
"But Bakura's unconscious! Isn't he?" Duke looks around in case Ryou somehow did revive and come back in.
A glowing light surrounds Yami, and Ammit, as well as Revival Jam, disappear under its light.
"What just happened?" asks Mokuba.
'Yami! Yami! That Bakura look-alike is here!' exclaims Yugi running around inside their mind.
'Yugi!' Yami's eyes widen as the smaller boy latches himself around his waist. He looks at the boy with the evil brown eyes and he glares at him. 'What have you done to Yugi?'
'Nothing,' snaps Bakura, 'yet!'
'You will not touch him!' exclaims Yami angrily.
Bakura chuckles. 'I just saved your stupid hikari's life! I was the one who activated the defense field that sent Ammit and Revival Jam to the Shadow Realm!'
Yugi looks back at Bakura while keeping his arms wrapped around Yami's waist. He takes a deep breath and releases Yami. 'Is that true? Yami, is what he said true?'
Yami exhales a breath he didn't realize he was holding. 'I did nothing, Yugi. I think his words might be the truth. But why did you help us?'
'I want my body back!' exclaims Bakura, 'And if you die, I might not be able to achieve that!'
'Let's not argue. Just tell us how you got here,' says Yugi.
'I… don't think I will,' says Bakura, 'Go back to your duel. You can talk to me later!'
'He's right, Yugi. First things first. Let's win this duel,' says Yami patting Yugi on his shoulder.
"Yugi, are you okay, bro?" asks Joey.
"Fine!" exclaims Yami.
"It is my turn," says Priest Seth returning the Scale to his hip where the strap reattaches itself. He draws a card. "I will play one monster in defense mode."
Yami draws a card. "I will discard two cards from my hand and command my Red-Eyes to attack!"
"You've just destroyed my Magician of Faith, allowing me to select a magic card from my Graveyard to return to my hand," says Priest Seth drawing a card from his deck and then retrieving the card from his Graveyard, "So I will bring back Monster Reborn to return my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to the field. I will also summon Crimson Sentry to the field. Blue-Eyes, destroy the Red-Eyes!"
"No!" screams Joey standing up with fire in his eyes as the three-headed blue-eyed dragon destroys the red-eyed dragon.
And baby there's a name for what you put me through…"You jerk, Seth!" yells Joey.
Priest Seth glares at Joey. "Shut up, slave!"
"Watch who you're calling a slave!" exclaims Joey.
"Now, Crimson Sentry, attack the Pharaoh's life points!" exclaims Priest Seth, "Next turn, it's all over."
'I'm afraid he's right, Yugi. If we don't draw the last piece of Exodia, he will destroy us,' says Yami.
'We can do it,' says Yugi hugging Yami. He smiles. 'We can do it.'
'You're right. We just need to believe in each other… in our friends… in our deck… and in the Heart of the Cards. We will win.' Yami smiles.
Yugi nods. 'Let's do it, my Yami!'
'Yes… my Yugi, my hikari,' whispers Yami. 'Let's do it!'
'Time to save the world from an evil Priest!'
Yami takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He draws a card and places it in his hand without opening his eyes to look at it. He exhales as he opens his eyes and looks at the five cards in his hand. He starts to assemble the five cards on top of his duel disk. "It ends now, Seth."
Priest Seth's eyes widen as a pentagram appears in the air.
"I summon Exodia the Forbidden One!" exclaims Yami.
"No!" screams Priest Seth, "I never even got to test my Egyptian God cards!"
"This duel is over, Seth! You've lost!" exclaims Yami.
Nefertiri runs up to the duel platform and throws her arms around Priest Seth's neck. "He cannot lose!"
"Rage Inferno! Exodia Flame!" exclaims Yami.
Nefertiri and Priest Seth both scream as the blast destroys the monsters on the field and reaches them. They fall to the floor in each other's arms.
'We did it, Yami! We did it! We won!' exclaims Yugi hugging Yami happily, 'Now we can focus on saving our friends!'
"All right, Yugi!" exclaims Téa smiling and jumping happily.
"Way to go, Yug!" exclaims Joey.
"All right!" exclaims Tristan.
"Nice job, Yugi!" exclaims Duke.
"Big brother!" exclaims Mokuba, "Marie!" He runs onto the duel platform and kneels beside the unconscious lovers.
Yami and Téa both look towards Mokuba and the two people beside him.
"Camaro?" asks Téa starting to get worried about her friend.
"Marie?" asks Yami rushing over to the other side of the duel platform and kneeling beside them.
Mariko opens her eyes. "What… happened?"
"Marie?" asks Mokuba.
Mariko shakes her head then quickly stops all movement. "No, little brother. It's Mariko. Marie is still trapped within the prison that Nefertiri created."
"What about Nefertiri?" asks Yami, "She had regained control over that body and come here to help Priest Seth."
"I don't know where she is… She is no longer in this body. Her soul room has vanished. It's gone," says Mariko. She slowly pushes herself into a sitting position.
"So… what happened to Seto?" asks Mokuba running his hand through his older brother's soft brown hair.
Seto groans, and his eyes flutter open. "Where am I?"
"Seto?" asks Mokuba.
"Is something wrong, Mokie?" asks Seto carefully sitting up. He presses his hand to his forehead trying to force out the pounding headache within.
"Kaiba. I must ask you something," says Yami, "What happened to Seth?"
Seto shrugs his shoulders slightly. "You tell me."
Yami sighs. "I think he and Nefertiri may both be truly gone then."
"And if they aren't?" asks Mokuba as Yami helps Mariko to her feet.
"Then we'll deal with them again and defeat them again," says Yami.
"By the way, I thought you lost Exodia," says Mokuba standing.
"Exodia?" asks Seto as Yami holds out his hand to help him up. He takes the hand cautiously.
"Marie gave me… lent me Exodia. Didn't you know she had it, Kaiba?" replies Yami.
"No… I never knew she had Exodia," says Seto, "She has a lot of cards that I don't know about. Her deck and the other cards she possesses are the one secret that she keeps from me. She figures she can't tell me about every card when she might decide to later give them to me as a gift or a prize."
"I think you two both need to rest now," says Mokuba, "You had a pretty rough fight, and that fall must have hurt!"
Seto nods bluntly. "So… who won?"
"Yugi is the winner of the tournament," says Mokuba slowly, "He defeated you just now."
"And did he get the card?"
"Oh, no… Obelisk, right?" asks Mokuba pulling his brother's deck out of the duel disk. He shuffles through the cards.
"That's the one," says Seto quietly.
Mokuba holds out the card towards Yami.
Yami takes the card. "Thank you. Now, Seto, Mariko, you should both go back to the blimp and rest."
"Come on, Seto," says Mariko quietly.
Mokuba grabs Mariko and Seto's hands and pulls them away to go to Marie's room on the blimp since Serenity and Mai are still in Seto's room.
Yami closes his eyes, and he opens them again as Yugi.
"Hey, come on now, Yug, let's go get some chow!" exclaims Joey.
"I'm not hungry, and I have a lot to think about now," says Yugi, "Plus, that duel really took a lot out of me! I'm going to take a nap!"
"Okay, Yugi," says Joey.
"What do we do about him?" asks Duke pointing to Marik's still unconscious body.
"We'd better take him to the blimp," says Yugi with a sigh.
"Hey, Tristan and I will take care of it," says Joey, "You go and get some rest, Yugi."
Yugi smiles. "Thanks!"
Tristan mumbles about being volunteered while he helps Joey pick Marik up.
Yugi hurries out to go to his room on the blimp.
Téa and Duke follow behind Tristan and Joey as they drag Marik out of the building and to the blimp where they deposit him with Seto's medical team and head off to get some food.
"Yami?" asks Yugi sitting down on the edge of his bed.
With a small flash of light from the Millennium Puzzle, Yami, intangible and slightly transparent as he may be, appears beside Yugi and sits down on the edge of the bed. "What is troubling you, Yugi?"
"A lot of things actually," says Yugi blushing slightly.
Yami sets his hand on top of Yugi's. "Tell me."
"I'm… worried about Marie!" exclaims Yugi clamping his eyes shut, "And Kaiba. And Seth! And Nefertiri! I don't understand any of what happened out there today!"
"I don't pretend to understand any of it myself," says Yami, "Somehow, Nefertiri regained control. Then her love for Seth in combination with the two Millennium Items brought out the evil Priest from Seto. I believe that Exodia sent them both to the Shadow Realm. I didn't intend it, but I believe that happened."
"Oh… well… that was what was bothering me," says Yugi.
"You should rest, Yugi," says Yami, "I'm sure you are tired. That duel took a lot out of both of us. I will return to the puzzle to rest."
"Wait, Yami!"
I hear the voices call
Following footsteps down the hall
Trying to save what's left of my heart and soul…
"Why did you kiss me?" asks Yugi. He blushes a deep crimson.
Yami's cheeks redden. "I told you… it was because you are brilliant."
"Yes, but you could have hugged me or given me a high-five," says Yugi, "Why did your form of affection turn out to be a kiss?"
"I… I…"
"It was my first kiss," says Yugi, "Thank you." He crawls up to lie down on the bed. He yawns.
Yami smiles. "You're welcome, Yugi."
"I like Téa, but I also like you, Yami… a lot. I like you a lot," says Yugi yawning again, "Maybe we could try that again." He closes his eyes.
"Try what again, my little Yugi?" asks Yami. His only response is the rhythmic breathing coming from the smaller boy. He sighs and lies down beside Yugi. He gently caresses Yugi's cheek, even though he's sure that the other can't feel it. He doesn't have his own body after all. How could Yugi feel him?
It isn't love, it's robbery
I'm sleeping with the ghost of you and me…
Yami tries to pull the blanket over Yugi, but not having a body, he finds it rather difficult. He pulls himself into Yugi and takes over control. He pulls the blanket up over himself and tucks himself in. Then he gets into a comfortable position and pulls himself back out of the shared body to lie in front of Yugi again. He smiles at the sleeping beauty before closing his eyes and resting as well.
Moments later, Yugi shifts restlessly and opens his eyes groggily. He pushes the blanket a little away so that it still covers him but not nearly as tightly as Yami had it placed over him. He looks at Yami sleeping in front of him. He swallows hard before slowly moving closer and trying to kiss the intangible lips. He blushes and pulls away when he feels nothing where the other's lips should have been. He settles himself down as close as he can be to the spirit beside him, and he closes his eyes mumbling quietly to himself about not being able to touch the one he cares about.
The ghost of you and me
When will it set me free?
