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Fanfic Chapter 162: Conquering Hatred Pt 4: Letting Go
Episode Basis: Battle for the Bronze Pt 3

Yami-Yugi: Marik has gone too far this time he's attacked Tea and lured Harold into a duel. Harold couldn't even attack and Marik's life points just kept going up! And to make matters worse, Harold can't even see me, Ishizu, and Serenity, so he couldn't even see that we're there for him. Perhaps that is why Harold chose to give up the duel. But… I don't know… at least Joey is safe by dueling Kaiba.

"I can't see anything," Serenity complained, the shock causing her to collapse to her knees. "Is Harold all right?"

"I don't know," Yami-Yugi said. "Ishizu, even if Harold comes out of this, would your brother…?"

Ishizu knew what he wanted to ask. "My Brother's dark side was the one who killed our father," she said placing hands on both of Serenity's shoulders. "It was the dark side who almost killed me and Odion years ago. His cruelty knows no bounds."

"Oh no," Yami-Yugi grumbled.

Inside the Shadow Dome, Yami-Marik laughed as the attack struck Harold. "It was easier defeating this fool than it was to beat that nincompoop Joey Wheeler. And even in the off chance he does survive…" Yami-Marik raised the Millennium Rod. "I'll make sure that one way or another, he no longer interferes. He'll be too weak to use that Armlet of his." As the smoke from his Despair from the Dark cleared, Yami-Marik saw to his delight (and to the horror of Yami-Yugi, Serenity, and Ishizu) that Harold was face-down on the ground. "I did it I put the Avatar to rest for good!"

"Don't count me out yet, Goldilocks." Yami-Marik took another look and saw to his horror (and to the delight of Yami-Yugi, Serenity, and Ishizu) that Harold was breathing and getting up. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"But how… you lost the duel, you should be a pile of ash by now!"

"Did I lose the duel? Take a look at your Duel Disk, Einstein."

Yami-Marik looked down at his life point counter.

It was at 0.

"How could I have lost all 7600 life points?"

"Simple, while you were going about showboating, I activated my trap card Self-Destruct Button."

"Self-Destruct Button?"

"I was really self-destructive in the old days before I met Yugi, Tea, and the others. So when I heard that a Duelist's deck often reflects their inner soul, I made sure there was a card that reflected my suicidal manner. Of course, not long after that I met Yugi and the others and learned that life was indeed worth living. I suppose it was a little hypocritical of me to leave that card in my deck but I never bothered to remove it."

"That still doesn't explain…"

"And I thought Joey was dense," Harold cracked. "Self-Destruct Button can only be activated when your life points are way higher than mine. It lowers both of our life points down to 0 automatically ending the duel in a tie."

(H: 0)
(M: 0)

"So I just pressed the button and hit the dirt as your attack struck. Now…" He raised his Duel Disk. "Are you ready for round two?"

Yami-Marik let out a frustrated sigh. "You're not worth my time. Besides…" He chuckled. "I have something more fun planned. When next we clash, I will have the power of the Pharaoh and the Egyptian God Cards."

"We'll see."

The shadow dome lifted and Harold could finally see the others. "Yugi, Serenity, what are you guys doing here?"

Serenity embraced him. "Harold, why do you keep worrying us like this?" She asked.

"I'm sorry I didn't even see you guys there. I just knew I had to save… Tea!"

"She's okay," Ishizu reported as she and Yami-Yugi examined her.

"But what made her think she could stop Marik on her own?" Serenity asked. "I know she was upset after Joey woke up but still…"

"Tea was being controlled by my Brother's good side," Ishizu explained. "He wanted to end this once and for all but he could not."

Tea moaned and opened her eyes. "My head" she complained rubbing her head. She looked around at the others. "What am I doing here?" She asked. "I never sleepwalked before, so how did I get up here? What's going on, guys?"

"Do you think we should tell Tea she was being controlled by Marik's good side?" Yugi asked. He looked at Tea who was looking at Serenity and Harold. "Maybe we shouldn't."

"Yeah, good idea."

"It's my move," Kaiba announced. "I just drew Thunder Dragon (1) and I'll use his special ability by discarding him so I can add two more Thunder Dragons to my hand. Next I play Polymerization fusing my dragons together to form Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon (2) followed by the magic card Quick Attack which lets it attack immediately! Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, attack his Thousand Dragon with Double Thunder Storm!" The two heads of the dragon opened and let out lightning destroying Joey's Thousand Dragon.

(J: 1700)
(K: 700)

"Now do you see the difference between our two dueling skills?"

To everyone's surprise, Joey laughed out loud, "Man, Kaiba, you're a riot."

"You've lost it."

"Nah, I'm just having a good time. You should too."

"I don't have fun."

"Then you're an even more miserable person than I thought."

"You don't know anything about me!" Kaiba snapped. "I duel to gain power and to be the best. But when Yugi defeated me, he took all that away… again!"

"Exactly my point." Kaiba looked at Joey like he was off his rocker. "Last I checked, Duel Monsters was meant to be a game and games were supposed to be fun. As long as you have fun then who cares if you win or lose?"

"I'll show you caring about who wins or loses. Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack with White Lightning!" The mighty dragon unleashed a ball of energy which threw Joey back.

(J: 0)
(K: 700)

"Precisely where someone like you belongs," Kaiba grumbled and turned to walk away.

Joey shot up and laughed heartily. "Oh man, that was one of the sweetest duels I ever had!" He turned to the others and said excitedly, "Did you guys see the way I took control of his dragon? Man that was awesome! I actually just thought that strategy up at the last minute. I just wish Yugi, Tea, and Harold could've seen it. By the way, where are they?"

"There's no cure for stupidity," Kaiba moaned.

"Look, Kaiba, I'll be real with you, I didn't really expect to win. This duel was just a test, a test to see how far I've come since Duelist Kingdom. And even though I still have a lot to learn about becoming a true Duelist, I think I'm pretty much on my way there. And besides, I have fun dueling strong opponents and as long as you have fun, then winning really doesn't matter."

But for some reason, Kaiba stopped listening at the second sentence. "You… USED ME?"

"Why so upset, you used me to find out Ra's weakness."

Kaiba's last string snapped. He ran up and slugged Joey so hard that Joey collided with Amara. Fortunately, Duke was able to prevent Amara from being pinned under Joey and Tristan was able to stop Joey from falling. Kaiba turned and stormed off, Mokuba reluctantly following him.

"Idiot," Joey said. "You may have beaten me at Duel Monsters but when it comes to being human, I've got you hands down!"

"Relax, Joey, he's not worth it," Duke said calming him

"Yeah, you did a good job," Amara argued. "I'm just sorry the others couldn't see it."

"Yeah, where the heck were those three when I needed them? They just upped and left. That was not cool."

"What wasn't cool?" Harold asked as he, Tea, Serenity, and Yami-Yugi walked up to them.

"And just where the heck were you guys, off getting a sun tan? You missed the greatest duel of all time!"

"Nah, all they missed was Joey getting stomped on by Kaiba," Tristan said dismissively.

"Hey, I made him squirm!" Joey protested.

"You played a good game, Joey, but Kaiba just played a better game."

"But… oh screw it we got more important things to worry about, namely Yugi and the finals."

Kaiba was still grumbling. Not long after he belted Joey, he ran into Yami-Yugi and his party just back from Harold's duel with Yami-Marik. Kaiba and Yami-Yugi glared at each other before Kaiba walked by him. Mokuba shot Yami-Yugi an apologetic glance before following his brother. "There's no point in staying around this dump any longer," Kaiba said.

"But there's still one more duel," Mokuba argued.

"It's meaningless. Prepare to detonate the Tower."

"But… the others…"

"Not my problem." Kaiba stopped. Ishizu was standing in front of him. "What do you want?" He asked harshly.

"You don't think Yugi can win," she said matter-of-factly.

"No duh," he snapped. "The Winged Dragon of Ra is the most powerful of all three Egyptian God Cards."

"That we can agree on, but I must insist on you staying."

"Battle City is over for me and the sooner I put this all behind me, the better."

"If Yugi loses, the future of the entire world could be at stake and yours as well."

"Not my problem," Kaiba said again. "Now leave me alone."

Ishizu sighed. Kaiba was making a big mistake; she could see that even without her Millennium Necklace. It was time to bring out the heavy artillery. "Preg kreto," she said softly.

Kaiba halted. He turned and glared daggers at her.

"I know you understood what I said," Ishizu said standing tall even under Kaiba's evil glance. "Just as you understood what was written on the Winged Dragon of Ra."

"Well I didn't," Mokuba said stepping up besides Ishizu. "What did you say, Ishizu?"

"It is an ancient Egyptian prayer, a prayer for the dead. It is written on the stone tablet… by the sorcerer." Ishizu heard Kaiba inhale sharply and knew she had him. Now she had to plunge through and started reciting a poem that sounded more like a song.

The dead body lies in a vessel covered by sand and dust.
Gold also lies there and also a sword.
The body wrapped in a sheath of time.
The corpse does not bear the king's name.
In that time on the battlefield of the soul, he cries out.
A poem of war.
A poem to a friend.
Guide him to the place where long ago souls crossed.

"You see, Kaiba, the sorcerer wasn't just the Pharaoh's greatest rival, he was also his friend. And when Egypt found itself in its darkest hour, the two rivals united. The Sorcerer was able to let go of his hatred, so why can't you?"

"Shut your mouth!" Kaiba shouted. He wanted to say more but Mokuba was within ear shot. Instead, he said, "I designed this tournament to become #1, not to help Yugi!"

"I thought you organized this tournament to collect rare cards," Ishizu slid in.

Kaiba turned and stared at the Duel Tower. "That tower… this entire place… I wanted to be crowned the World's Greatest Duelist on top of my Duel Tower as a final testament of my triumph over my step-father, but now that that's impossible… it disgusts me. The best thing I can do is to bury this place so I can forget it once and for all. Mokuba, prepare the detonation sequence."

"No," Mokuba said quietly.

Kaiba turned towards him. "What?"

"I said no," Mokuba said more loudly. "Yugi was right you are filled with nothing but anger and hatred. You've become exactly what our step-father wanted you to be: ruthless and merciless." Kaiba recoiled visibly from that remark. "You said you wanted to forget the past, well I don't! Because the past also contained some good things, like when we played games. You used to play games for the challenge and the fun, but now you behave like each game is a full-blown war. And what does our past have to do with Yugi? Yugi wasn't responsible for sending us to the orphanage nor was he responsible for Gozaburo's behavior! So why do you have to match our past with him? HE'S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!" Ishizu placed a hand on the boy's shoulder calming him. Mokuba took several deep breaths before saying, "You never used to behave this way."

"Those days are over, there's no way I can go back to who I used to be."

"If you truly wish to distance yourself from our step-father; if you truly wish to rise above him, then how about causing less destruction and anger and start giving hope… like how you used to be. Seto, it's time to let go"

Kaiba just continued staring at the Duel Tower. Even if I wanted to help him, how can I?

"Yugi, Marik's merciless," Joey said. "He plays by his own rules and stacks the deck in his favor."

"I could've told him that," Harold muttered.

Joey continued, "But if you win, you would save Mai and the entire world!"

"Yugi, keep my knight cards," Harold instructed. "Now that you have two Egyptian God Cards, you'll need all the monster summoners you can get."

"Thanks, Harold, I will."

"Come on, Serenity, I'll walk back to the blimp with you," Amara said. "Two dark games in one day is more than enough for me."

"Thanks, Amara. Good luck, Yugi."

"Thanks, I think I'll need it. Let's go, everyone."

Yami-Marik stood on the duel platform. The Pharaoh may think having two Egyptian God Cards will give him the advantage, but Slifer and Obelisk put together pale in comparison to the Winged Dragon of Ra. The Pharaoh and all his friends will spend the rest of eternity as prisoners of the Shadow Realm. No, I won't give the Pharaoh that pleasure. I'll send his friends to the Shadow Realm and kill the Pharaoh's host so there's no way he can return. He turned and saw Yami-Yugi flanked by Joey, Tea, Tristan, Duke, and Harold. "Ah so it's finally time."

"Yes," Yami-Yugi said. "It's time."

"Yugi's chances of winning are slim," Kaiba commented to Ishizu and Mokuba. "There's no way of knowing that any help I can give him would increase his chances."

"But can't you at least give him some kind of edge?" Mokuba said. "Anything, a card, a piece of information? You read the Winged Dragon of Ra text, you must know."

Kaiba gasped as a thought occurred to him. There is a card that can increase his chances, here in my deck. But just using the card won't be enough, it needs to be played in a specific way. He drew the card in question. If he can play this card right, he could just might beat the Winged Dragon of Ra. "Mokuba, let's go."

"Where?"

"To the top of my Duel Tower."

"Does that mean you've decided to help him?" Mokuba asked, a smile creeping back on his face.

"It means that I'm going to rise above my step-father once and for all."

Thank you, Kaiba, Ishizu thought. I only pray that one day soon, you will understand just how similar you and the ancient priest truly are.

As the three rode up in the elevator, Kaiba stared at the card. I could just let Yugi lose, that would be the ultimate revenge. But if he is truly my number one rival, then this will be his final test to see if he is truly at my level.

The three arrived as the platform started to rise. "The Battle City Finals are about to begin," Roland announced.

"Hold on, Yugi," Kaiba called. He threw Yugi the card.

"What is this?" Yami-Yugi asked.

"This will be your final test, a test to see if you truly have the skills needed to be called The Number One Duelist." And it will prove to all of these fools once and for all that miracles don't happen, that friendship means nothing in a duel as heated as this. Hopefully, this loss will make Yugi understand that.

The End

Duel Monster Database

(1)
Name: Thunder Dragon
Level: 5
Type: Thunder/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1600
DEF: 1500

(2)
Name: Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon
Level: 7
Type: Thunder/Fusion
Attribute: Light
ATK: 2800
DEF: 2100

A/N: In case you guys are wondering, the "prayer" that Ishizu recited to Kaiba I copied off of yu-jyo. net, whom the owner copied from the manga version of that particular episode.