Lu: Hello once again! Major update: I have gone back over all the chapters, added/ deleted bits, rewritten parts, put songs in at the beginning of some chapters (bit like songfics, but different. The song is at the beginning of the chapter), and but in bold, italics, and underlines (Thanks kikoken). Basically given the whole story a complete makeover.
Yami Lu: I can't believe it, it actually looks presentable!
Lu: Yup!Now, here is the long awaited next chapter. I'm gonna start calling Kaiba, Seto. Warning: complete and utter plot twist here, and a bit of each couple.
Chapter 25 – Betrayal
"The final key to the Pharaoh's power. Combine the strength of the Pharaoh with all of the Egyptian god cards and the Millennium items. Then you gain ultimate power," said Malik and he took the two final Millennium items.
And nothing happened.
"What!" he screeched. "I should now be the most powerful being on Earth!" He grabbed hold of Arkana's collar, and lifted him off the ground in rage. "Are you sure that these are Shadi's Millennium items?"
"Yes, master," whimpered Arkana. "I took them myself from his house in Egypt."
"Well then why aren't they working?" Malik yelled. "One of the items or cards must be a fake!" He released Arkana, who was unable to regain his footing in time, and fell to the ground. Scrambling up onto his knees, Arkana knelt humbly in front to Malik. Malik disregarded him.
"Millennium items, please show me where the final one of you can be found," recited Malik. The Millennium Ring was quick to react - several of its arms shot upwards and pointed at one of the members of their party...
"Ishizu?" exclaimed Tea in disbelief. 'How could Ishizu be holding a Millennium item? She gave her necklace to Yugi...'
"Yes," hissed Ishizu, in a voice quite unlike the sweet, caring, mystical voice they were used to. This voice was full of malice and venom. "How easy it was to fool you all. How trusting you are. I simply had to pin all the bad things that were happening on my brother's Yami, and you all believed me." A/N: I'm so evil to change the plot halfway through, but later on it got too repetitive, so I changed the plot.
The realisation of what was going on was slowly sinking in. Mai and Tea stared at her with their mouths open slightly. Joey started blinking hard, not believing what he was seeing. Duke and Seto stared blankly at her, trying to process the information. Yugi and Ryou were trembling out of shock. And Yami's head shot up, and he glared at her with such a look of disgust and mistrust that everyone could feel his rage.
"Sister?" asked a timid and raspy voice. Everyone looked at Marik, who had managed to break free of his Yami's control upon hearing this revelation.
"I was the one who caused the Egyptian God card attack Odion and Joey. I was the one making your Yami do the things he does," sneered Ishizu, appearing much taller and more imposing than anyone had ever thought possible.
"But... if that necklace is a fake... then how did it show me the future... of Tea being hurt?" croaked Yami accusingly.
"It is as simple as replacing it while you sleep. You men are such deep sleepers," cackled Ishizu. She then launched into a stream of raucous laughter that could have matched that of Bakura and Malik.
"How can you betray us like that?" demanded Mai. "We trusted you, and you comforted us. How can you throw that all away like it doesn't matter?"
"The question is, how could I throw away what I was before that?" Ishizu replied.
"Sister, how long have you been like this? I was always the rebellious one," whispered Marik. "I thought you were always with me to keep me in line."
"When I got that taste of the outside world, I reacted the same as you did. I didn't want to go back in. But I did, and I became sour. Then your Yami, Malik, was created, and I bonded with him. It was easy to convince him to help me. So, he guided you throughout your quest for world domination. Then, at the first opportunity, I took Odion out, so Malik could not be contained. Therefore it was easier for him to carry out my commands.
Losing the finals was a small glitch in the plan, because he was only supposed to lose, but not let you break free. During this whole tournament he has been following my orders. But now, with all the Millennium items and God cards in one place, I can throw him aside and claim what is rightfully mine!"
There was a stunned silence after this speech. It was all falling into place for the friends. Ishizu had always been about 10 steps ahead of them, carefully planning what happened, and managing to conceal her real objectives.
"So... this is the path you've chosen..." said Yami. It wasn't a question, more like a statement. Everyone fell silent again. Ishizu glared around at them, as if daring them to challenge her. After finding none of them objecting openly, she turned to her brother, whose head was buried in his hands.
'I don't understand... my sister... the one sane thing in my life... evil?'
"Marik, give me the items," urged Ishizu in a gentle voice. But her voice, like a fluffy silver cloud, had a black lining of sinister intentions. Marik shrunk back. The one thing he had always had faith in, apart from Odion, was his sister, but now his confidence in his sister was shaken, and he was lost.
"No," he said in a husky voice. "You can't have them. Malik can't have them. They belong to their rightful owners. So back off!"
No one had ever seen Marik act like that to his sister. But Marik was feeling let down by Ishizu, and therefore took it out on her.
There was a large beeping noise, and the world around them flickered. Kaiba sunk to the ground, released from the prison of Malik's Millennium Rod. Then their surrounding disappeared, and they lost consciousness as the stimulation ended.
The gang next awoke in the pod room, and they jumped up immediately. The other people who had not been witness to the scene in the clearing of the forest stared at them as they glanced around frantically for any sign of danger.
Yami could still barely lift his head, let alone get up. But suddenly, he felt some gently take his arms and put it around their shoulders. They then wrapped their own arm around his waist to support him. He could barely lift his head to see their face. He started down at their feet.
They were wearing platform shoes with knee-high socks. He moved his head up a little further, and saw a micro-mini skirt. Even further up, he found a yellow sleeveless top reading 'SPIRIT'. By then he had realised who it was, and was blushing heavily. He lifted his head up to meet a pair of sapphire blue eyes.
"Thank you Tea," he said nervously. She beamed at him. A shout from the centre of the room drew their attention away from each other, and to a very angry Joey.
"What did you think you were doin' trickin' us like dat!" he yelled furiously at Ishizu. Mai had her arms wrapped around his waist to restrain him.
"Calm down Joey," she muttered soothingly into his ear. Joey stopped screaming at Ishizu and relaxed in Mai's grip. She then let her arms drop to her sides, and Joey took this chance to take a lunge at Ishizu. Mai immediately hooked her arms around his shoulders, so it was impossible for him to get any closer.
"Don't think I wasn't expecting that, Joseph Wheeler," she whispered in his ear. He shivered slightly. She sounded so... seductive. He stopped struggling, and spun around to face her. Mai took this opportunity to fulfil her dare, and she pecked him on the lips. She let go of him again, and he didn't try to attack Ishizu. But someone else did.
"Where's Serenity?" growled Seto, and he leapt at Ishizu. She mock-yawned and tapped her foot. Duke grabbed Seto by the back of the collar to stop him trying to hurt her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you," taunted Ishizu. Seto growled again and tried in vain to break free of Duke's grip, but Duke had now been joined by Ryou and Yugi. Even now, with three people holding him back, Seto's anger was barely being contained.
"What happened to Joey's sister?" snarled Seto. Ishizu clicked her fingers, and several people emerged from the doorway.
Three of them were people in robes - Malik's Rare Hunters. The other three were Tristan, Serenity and Mokuba, gagged and bound.
"Mokuba! Serenity!" shouted Seto, and ran to them. Yugi, Ryou and Duke let him go, and Duke followed Seto in the direction of Serenity.
"Serenity! Are you OK?" questioned Joey, coming up behind Seto. Serenity's eyes told the story - no, she wasn't OK. Seto growled again, and punched the guy holding her. The Rare Hunter grunted and released Serenity. She wasn't quite ready for that, and she stumbled a little. Seto caught her, and steadied her. Joey worked on the ropes that fastened her wrists together. Duke untied the scarf the Rare Hunters had used to silence her. The two other Rare Hunters who were holding Mokuba and Tristan let go of them and charged at Joey, Seto and Duke.
"Mind Crush!" yelled Yami, who had limped over with the help of Tea. But, him not having his Millennium item and the power of the Pharaoh meant that it had no effect. The Rare Hunters sent Joey and Seto flying, and knocked Duke over. A/N: Remember that there was only two of them.
Mai caught Joey, and they both fell to the floor, Joey on top of Mai. Serenity, sprinting as fast as she could, managed to catch Seto. Blushes spread across all of their faces when they realised the positions they were in.
"Err..."
Another angry cry came from the centre of the room. Yugi and Ryou were taking out the Rare Hunters. It was kinda weird watching little Yugi take on someone that was at least twice his size, but he somehow managed to take the Rare Hunter by surprise and knocked him out with a simple blow over the head. Ryou was just as surprising, breaking his nose and swiping him over the head.
Mokuba and Tristan were soon freed by the gang, and they were all quick to leave the building. Marik trailed along, not wanting to be with his sister, but not wanting to be alone either. He felt guilty for getting them into this mess in the first place, because it was his Yami and his sister who had caused everything in the last two tournaments.
"Hey, guys," said a quiet voice. Everyone turned around to face Marik. He held out the Millennium items that belonged to the people in front of him. Yugi and Yami took the two puzzles, and Ryou took the Millennium Ring and Eye. A slight flicker of the eyes showed the Bakura was watching the two items belonging to Shadi, but Marik drew his hands back.
"What are you going to do with Shadi's Millennium items?" asked Yugi. Marik shrugged.
"I suppose I'll send them to him, or go and give them to him personally after the tournament," he replied. Yami, still being supported by Tea, nodded.
"That would be the best," he stated. "It means they can't be intercepted."
"Or stolen," added Joey.
"I think that was what he was implying, knucklehead," said Mai, hitting Joey playfully over the head. He faked pain, but laughed nonetheless. Despite the seriousness of the situation, they all still managed to laugh.
"Yugi, I'm sorry that the Millennium Necklace is in my sister's hands," said Marik, looking at the floor. Yugi smiled and shook his head.
"It's not your fault, Marik," he said. "We can still stop Ishizu if we all work together." Marik looked up doubtfully.
"If she has managed to deceive us as easily as she did, I'm sure it will not be very easy to prevent her from taking over the world," he reasoned. Joey shrugged.
"Doesn't mean Yuge and Yami here can't stop her. How many times have dey stopped you and your Yami from your plans?"
"Lots of times," said Tea quickly, before anyone could point out that the major scheme hadn't been stopped.
"Well, we better get some kind of rest. It would be great if we could all get our qualification cards tomorrow," said Seto, yawning slightly. Everyone agreed.
Lu: Mwhahaha! I'm so evil! But I think Marik as a kid was so cute, and I reckoned that he should be good in this story. So, I blamed it all on Malik and Ishizu. Why not? At least it's original. Not brilliant, but original.
Yami Lu: It's not original. I bet you I can think of at lest three other fics where Ishizu is evil. Umm… err…
Lu: See! If anyone has seen one, can you please tell me? I'd like to see how different people make her react. Anyway, I'm going to ask all you reviewers to do me a favour. Can you tell me if you are a guy or a gal? I'm a girl, and I was wondering what the majority of Yu-Gi-Oh! romance readers were like me. Thankies! Review!