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Fanfic Chapter 163: The Final Battle Pt 1: Dangerous Games
Episode Basis: The Final Face-Off Pt 1

Kaiba: I never knew Mokuba was upset with me. The whole reason I started toughening up was to protect him. But I suppose somewhere down the road I lost sight of why I needed to do it and became an exact image of my step-father, the very thing I was trying to avoid. If I'm truly to slip the collar of burden my step-father placed around me, I must let go of my hatred. Unfortunately, the only way I know how to do that right now is to help Yugi. But it'll take more than just the right cards to win it must take a sound strategy. And even then it's not a sure thing.

Yami-Yugi looked from Kaiba to the card Kaiba gave him: the quick-play magic card Fiend Sanctuary. Why did Kaiba give me this card? He voiced his question to Kaiba.

"That card can defeat the Winged-Dragon of Ra but only if you play it right. If you can find the right strategy to defeat the Winged-Dragon of Ra with that card, I will acknowledge you as a great Duelist. Not as great as me but great in your own right."

"I don't trust that rich snob," Joey said giving Kaiba the evil eye. "Just toss that thing right off the Duel Tower, Yug!"

"Yugi, the decision to use it or not is up to you."

Yami-Yugi stared long and hard at Kaiba. Kaiba and I may not always agree but he is a good strategist and I do trust him. He shuffled the card into his deck.

"He'll need all the cards he can get to defeat me," Yami-Marik boasted. "Soon the power of the Pharaoh will be mine!"

"I'll defeat you and release you from the darkness."

"Then come and get me," Yami-Marik dared giving his opponent an insane look.

"I know Yugi has two Egyptian God Cards while Marik only has one," Joey said. "But Yugi's will be harder to summon."

"I know," Harold agreed. "Yugi needs three monsters to summon his Egyptian God Card while Marik only needs one card."

"You mean Monster Reborn," Tristan said sourly.

Joey shivered remembering the special summoning strategy Yami-Marik used on him. "Ra has abilities up the wazoo, it's almost impossible to beat…" Joey gasped as a thought occurred to him. "Kaiba, didn't you say your computer figured out all of Ra's secrets?"

"What if I did?" Kaiba asked back.

"If that's true, maybe that card really can help him."

"Duelists, exchange and shuffle your opponent's decks," Roland instructed. The two Duelists approached the center of the platform and exchanged decks.

"Shuffle well," Yami-Marik teased. "And hope that Ra ends up at the bottom of my deck." He laughed.

"Kaiba, thank you," Ishizu said.

"For what, all I did is give him a good card; it's up to him to do the rest. And even if he uses it, it won't guarantee he'll win. Maybe by seeing him defeated, you'll stop believing in fairy tales. I've learned long ago that the only way to succeed is to look forward and not hang on to the past."

"That may be true in your case," Ishizu said. "But in his case, he'll need his past if he's to see where his future lies." Good luck, my Pharaoh, the world, and my brother, are counting on your victory.

Yugi may think I gave him that card to test him well he's only half-right. I want to prove to these fools once and for all that friendship means nothing, only skill matters.

The decks were returned and the Duelists took their places at opposite ends of the platform.

"Commence dueling," Roland commanded. The two activated their Duel Disks.

(Y: 4000)
(M: 4000)

"Let the fun begin," Yami-Marik said taking out his Millennium Rod. After licking it (much to the disgust of the bystanders), he held it up. Dark fog began to gather around them.

"Not again," Tea moaned.

"It's another Shadow Game," Joey said.

"This game will be vastly different from the games you've experienced before," Yami-Marik told Yami-Yugi. "I've prepared a few twists especially for you."

Serenity, Amara, and Kevin were all in Mai's room. Serenity looked out the window and saw the dome forming. "It's beginning," she informed the other two. Kevin and Amara joined her by the window. "This is our last chance to stop Marik." She stared down at Mai. "And free Mai."

"Time to show the Pharaoh the first of my surprises." Yami-Marik raised the Millennium Rod and a hole in the dome appeared. Mai could be seen in a rectangular container though no walls could be seen. Her body was almost all black and she looked like she was in intense pain.

"Help me," she pleaded.

"Mai! This madness must not continue."

"But it will. And unless you win this duel, she'll be totally consumed by the shadows!"

"No!"

"Oh yes, and she's not the only one in trouble."

Yugi opened his eyes. He was somehow outside his body. Not only that, but he was being held against the dome wall by dark energy bands.

"Leave Yugi out of this!" Yami demanded.

"Do not worry my light side is also at risk." Original Marik appeared also bound to the wall of the dome. "If I lose, the shadows will take him instead! Now let me show you how this duel's going to work with an example. I summon Vampiric Leech (1) in attack mode! Attack his life points directly!" The spiked worm lunged forward and bit Yami in the leg.

(Y: 3500)
(M: 4000)

But it was Yugi crying out in pain as a piece of his leg disappeared.

"What did you do to him?"

"Every time you lose life points, a piece of Yugi will be swallowed by the darkness. And when your life points go down to 0, Yugi will be gone forever!"

"No, I won't duel!"

"You must," Yugi called

"I agree," Yami-Marik said. "We're playing by my rules now and I can banish Yugi to the Shadow Realm any time I wish." Yami may not realize it but when Yugi is banished to the Shadow Realm, Yami will also cease to exist in this world.

"You have to fight," Yugi told Yami through their link. "Ever since we first met, we've faced everything together and right now is no exception. I'm right here along side you and we'll defeat Marik together!"

"Right," Yami agreed. But in his own mind, he was thinking, So much is riding on this duel. If Marik wins, not only will he get my Millennium Puzzle and all three Egyptian God Cards, but the souls of Marik's original half, Yugi, as well as Mai and Bakura will be gone forever. But I'm now certain that the reason Yugi and I were brought together was to win this one duel.

"It's still my turn and I'll activate another of Vampiric Leech's special abilities. By discarding one card to my hand, I can shift it to defense mode." He slid the Winged Dragon of Ra into the graveyard thinking, I already have Ra in my graveyard, all I need now is Monster Reborn. "I switch Vampire Leech into defense mode and set a card face-down. That ends my turn."

Yami drew the magic card Exchange. "I summon Queen's Knight in attack mode."

This is all part of Yami's strategy to summon three monsters so he can bring out one of his Egyptian God Cards. Too bad I already saw this strategy during his duel with Kaiba.

"Queen's Knight, attack Vampiric Leech." The woman swung her sword and cleaved the worm in half. "I then set two cards face-down and end my turn."

Yami-Marik drew his next card and laughed joyously.

"Uh-oh," Joey said. "Marik's planning on summoning Ra the same way he did during our duel."

"I drew just what I need," Yami-Marik said. "But first I play Juragedo (2) in attack mode and have it attack your Queen's Knight." The horrific-looking monster crushed Queen's Knight underneath its hand.

(Y: 3300)
(M: 4000)

A piece of Yugi's arm disappeared.

"Yugi!"

"I'll be fine."

"All right," Yami said.

"Next I set two cards face-down and end my turn." Yami drew a card but Yami-Marik called out, "Activate trap card: Left Arm Offering. Now I can move a magic card from my deck to my hand at the cost of discarding all the other cards in my hand."

"You want Monster Reborn!" Yami realized.

"That's right," Yami-Marik confirmed as he drew the card.

"Then I'll have to take that card away from you. I activate the magic card Exchange! Now we must each pick a card from the other's hand." The two stepped towards the center of the ring. Yami snapped the Monster Reborn card out of Yami-Marik's hand and showed his own hand. Calmly, Yami-Marik took De-Fusion.

"Too bad," Kaiba said dryly. "Now Marik can't bring back his God Card."

"I'm not complaining," Harold said.

"Now, to see that you don't get Monster Reborn back, I'll play it to bring back Queen's Knight. And next I summon King's Knight on the field. And when Queen's Knight is also on the field, King's Knight lets me automatically summon Jack's Knight." The three knights appeared.

"Awesome, now Yugi can summon one of his Egyptian God Cards," Duke said excitedly.

"Forget that, he could just attack and deal a massive blow to Marik's life points!" Tristan rebuked.

Tea grew solemn, "But… Marik still has those two face-down cards."

"What are you waiting for, Yami, come and attack me if you're brave enough." It was obvious that he was baiting Yami.

But Yami wasn't biting. "I end my turn," Yami announced.

Now Tristan was concerned, "Why didn't Yugi just attack?"

"Yugi did the right thing," Joey said. "He has great instincts he knew the time wasn't right."

"I set one more card face-down and end my turn. I could end this duel shortly but I think it would be more amusing for me if I extend this duel and prolong your suffering, Yami. Since you're obviously going to lose when I play my God Card, I've decided to give you some assistance so you can play yours. I play Card of Sanctity which allows both players to draw from their decks until they're holding six cards! Then I switch Juragedo to defense mode and end my turn."

Yami drew a seventh card. "I sacrifice all three of my knights."

"All right!" Tristan cheered. "Yugi's got this in the bag!"

"Maybe," Harold said doubtful.

"So I can summon Slifer the Sky Dragon."

(SSD: 6000)

"Slifer, attack his Juragedo with Thunder Force!"

Yami-Marik laughed again, "Your monster means nothing I activate my face-down magic card Dark Spell Regeneration!"

"What does that do?" Mokuba asked his brother.

"It allows Marik to move any magic card from the graveyard to the field and play it immediately," Kaiba explained. "And since he only has one magic card…"

"I use Monster Reborn to bring back Ra in its phoenix mode!" The giant firebird rose out of the Graveyard slot. Slifer's attack was deflected off Ra's fiery wins. "In this mode, Ra is immune to all attack for one turn."

"I was certain Yugi had that creep beat," Tristan said snapping his fingers.

"If it was that easy, then that would be me up there and not Marik," Joey pointed out. "I have a feeling that Yugi has a long ways to go before this duel ends."

"Thanks to the fiery wrath of Ra," Yami-Marik was saying. "Little Yugi will be consumed by the darkness and absolute power will be mine!"

To Be Continued

Duel Monster Database

(1)
Name: Vampiric Leech
Level: 3
Type: Insect/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 500
DEF: 500

(2)
Name: Juragedo
Level: 4
Type: Fiend
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1700
DEF: 1500