"And the winner is duellist number 3, Yugi Muto!"
"Bakura!" Yami yelled as I ran forward, I could see everyone else doing the same.
"Now lower the arena and get the down here," Joey yelled, it lowered and we all rushed to Bakura and Yami.
"So where am I?" Bakura said, looking around confused. I closed my eyes and tried to see why he was so ill; I saw the injury and I saw the mental drain that the spirit had taken in order to keep the body he lived in safe. Tristan crouched, and the others helped put him on his back before he rushed to the medical rooms, lead by one of the suits that worked for Kaiba. I watched them go before turning back to Yami, I could tell he and Yugi were having a conversation that I couldn't hear.
We all made our way down to the hospital area.
"Bakura has been through a lot, he defiantly needs some rest. But you got to land this blip and get him to a hospital." Duke said to Kaiba as we all huddled around Bakura's bed.
"Yeah," Téa said. "Some crazy stuff happened in that duel, especially when Marik showed up. What exactly happened there?"
"Marik and the spirit are working together or they were until Marik threatened Bakura." Yami said, I nodded, I had come to the same conclusion that he had.
"Wait so you mean to tell me that the spirit of the ring let you win?" Joey said looking between Bakura and Yami shocked.
Yeah, because he depends on Bakura to survive so he might have been in danger."
"See the spirit took the blast from the God because he knows Bakura may not have been able to handle the magic, even outside of the shadow realm." I added to try and bring some clarity. "Maybe we should hunt down Kaiba, you know, get him to land this thing to get Bakura to the hospital."
"Go ahead, I'll stay here and keep an eye on Bakura." Téa said, we nodded and all headed out.
"Hold on, it's gone," Tristan said.
"What?"
"The millennium ring –"
"It comes and goes so the spirit cannot be forcefully removed, and partly to do with how Mahad lost it – that last part wasn't voluntary – what happened to Mahad?" I looked at Yami worried, then realised he didn't really know Mahad. It hurt that he couldn't remember our closest friend.
"I am sure you will learn eventually," he smiled, probably knowing roughly where my thoughts were. "Come on, let's find Kaiba."
"Attention Battle City Finalist, with the completion of the opening duel there will be a half an hour intermission at the end of this intermission all remaining finalists are instructed to report to the main concord with the selection of the nest Battle City final match up."
"We need to go and help Bakura," Téa said. The others left to the hospital, and I went to start making my way back to the room. I got to the staircase when…
"Wait, Mana I would like to speak with you," Yami said, I felt hands lock on my wrist and drag me up against a wall.
"I'm really not in the mood," I mumbled, he ignored me, cupping my face in his hands.
"Mana, talk to me about both memories he dragged to the surface." He said soothingly, I shuddered, he pulled me into a hug and I began to sob.
"The Pharaoh he… he wanted me to stop being afraid of him, you know this," Yami nodded encouraging me to continue.
"So once a week we would take a stroll around the gardens… his health was already falling, then the thief shot dark magic at us… at me, your father he blocked it and he died a few days after." I said beginning to cry again. He let me cry for a moment and waited patiently until I could compose myself again.
"And… my death. You looked like you had given up all hope. The horror and grief in your eyes…"
He held me tighter, and I leaned into him, resting my head on his shoulder. We stood like that for a while, content just being comforted by him.
"Thanks," I whisper, he smiles at me placing this thumb gently against my lips, I smile. And repeat the gesture.
"Come," he said once we removed out thumbs, "Let's relax while we wait for the next duel, spend some time together." He interlocked our fingers, I leaned into him nodding.
We made it to the room and a flopped onto the sofa.
"What a day – I was kidnapped today." I shook my head.
"Hmm, yes you were, perhaps you should rest –"
"Are you kidding, Marik could be about to face off against someone, they may need magical protection. I can't go to sleep now."
"Mana, it does not fall to you to keep us safe." He said sitting beside me rubbing my knee.
"I mean it kind of does, Yami. I'm the only one who can attempt to stop this stuff."
He sighed.
"I worry you will push yourself too hard."
"I'll be fine." I smiled putting my thumb on his lip. He smiled, wrapping an arm around me. I snuggled in. Five minutes like this would be perfect, try and forget everything that had happened today. The nightmare about Mahad last night, Weevil, being kidnapped, that weird celebrity, being thrown into my first death. Yeah, some cuddle time is what I needed.
I felt his body stiffen, not realising I had even closed my eyes, I opened them to see a familiar face from Duellist Kingdom.
"I remember you," Yami said pulling away from me standing. I sat up wishing that we could have had our few minutes, but apparently that is too much to ask. "You're Shadi,"
Shadi kneeled at him.
"My Pharaoh," he said lowering his head as well. "My Queen," he said turning to me. "It is an honour to be in your presence again." He stood. "You've both learnt much since we met at Duellist Kingdom. You are beginning to understand your fate and your connections to the past."
"So what evil are we supposed to be defeating," I asked him. "I can't really remember what the great threat looks like or how to defeat them this time round. I'd rather not be stabbed in the heart again if I can avoid it."
I heard Yami wince, I touched his arm.
"I am but the guardian of the seven millennium items." He said holding his key. "I am here because I sensed a disturbance of the mystic elements once again. All seven items are aboard this vessel, as well as the three Egyptian God cards, meaning all of the objects capable of saving or destroying the world are right here."
"Of course they are," I said pinching my nose.
"Head my words, my Pharaoh, my Queen. If the wrong individuals were to gain control of any of the millennium items or the Egyptian God cards. The results could be catastrophic. It almost happened once before when Pegasus created Duel Monsters."
"What?" I said standing up.
Shadi began to explain the story of how Pegasus came to get the millennium eye in his quest to save his wife, and how Shadi had given him the eye. He told us about how in creating duel monsters the monsters came back to this world creating mysterious deaths and then how he learnt to reseal the monsters away. How if Marik or anyone else had the 3 Egyptian God cards they could rerelease the monsters causing destruction.
"So, no pressure," I sighed, at least we had a lot more information now, and we could use that information to our advantage.
"All remaining finalist must report to the main concord," I looked at the door thinking someone had entered, only to remember the speakers in the rooms. I turned back to see that Shadi had disappeared.
"The next two duellist will be chosen." Yami said.
"Yep, lets get this over with," I said taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. He smiled and squeezed it back.
"It's time to join the others," Yugi's astral form stood beside us.
"All right, the future of mankind is depending on us."
"This is your two-minute warning all finalist must be on deck in two minutes."
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming," I grumbled, as we made our way to the deck.
"Finalists and guests, may I have your attention please, the second duel of the Battle City Finals is about to begin," Roland said, bringing our attention to him.
"Now the selector will randomly pick the next 2 duellists." Mokuba said as the balls began to fly around.
"Remember your numbers," Roland said. "If you are selected you will be participating in the second duel of the finals."
The blue eyes head took a number. "And the first chosen is…"
I saw the number two. Joey.
I looked at him.
"Number two, Joey Wheeler."
"Yeah, it's time to kick some major butt." He said as the second ball was caught. Seven. Oh no.
"And Mr Wheelers opponent in this duel is number seven, Marik Istar."
"It's go time," Joey said. "I hope you brought a parachute cause I'm blasting yer right off this blimp. You got that Marik?"
Half of my mind was still on our conversation with Shadi, I made my way to get a snack from the table. When I felt a tall body collide with mine.
"Oh Sorry!" I squeaked looking up. Kaiba, great. "Sorry Kaiba I –"
"Look you little leech – "
"Seto! Leave her alone!"
I whirled around to see Mokuba standing behind me fists clenched, glaring at his brother. Everyone was watching. "It's not Mana's fault that –"
"Mokuba that is enough!" he snarled back. "That is a private matter between us, they do not need to know."
"So, her memory is supposed to just stay locked away? Even so, Mana is a good person she doesn't deserve the way you treat her. She has helped me so much since we met, the first day she met me she fought off kidnappers for me, then today she helped me escape knowing she was going to stay behind. Even if its hard cause of everything. It doesn't mean its right that you take that stuff out on her."
Kaiba looked at me, then back at Mokuba , then the audience, who were coming closer. Their expression protective.
"Whatever," Kaiba grunted, and walked away. Mokuba turned to me, and gave me a hug.
"I'm really sorry about him," he murmured. He stroked his hair.
"Shh, hey it's not your fault don't worry about it. I'm a big girl." I titled his face so he could see my expression.
"I don't like it," he said.
"Neither do I, but it seems like it's something pretty big for it to bug him so much."
Mokuba's gaze moved as if I could figure it out just by having eye contact.
"Look Mokuba if you do want to talk then you can ok, but I won't force you." I gave him another squeeze before I let him go. He smiled at me.
"Thanks Mana, you're the best." He ran off after his brother.
"Are you ok?" Tristan asked me.
"I'm fine, don't worry," I smiled at them all reassuringly. "Come one let's get up there and end this."
"Yeah," Joey said, rushing towards the duellist elevator.
We headed to the arena and they began the duel. It was great to see how far Joey had come as a duellist, but it was so tough to watch him, even though I didn't think this man was Marik, he was still dangerous. As the duel went on, I noticed a lot of 'Marik's' cards were centred around ancient Egypt. The temple of the kings being Joey's biggest problem, but Joey managed to figure it out after a pet talk from Mai. Thought it wasn't much longer after that that we discovered that the card inside the tomb was Ra. By this point Joey had caught on to my suspicions and accused this man of being a fake. To try and prove who he was he played Ra causing a storm, it hit him, and was still hitting areas of the arena.
"Joey!" we all cried.
"Get down from there!" Serenity yelled as Yami yelled.
"Don't move,"
But before Joey could listen to either of them, lightning struck him.
"Joey!" Tristan tried to climb up onto the arena. "Are you ok pal?"
"Get down, there's a duel going on here,"
"Are you fucking kidding me!" I yelled at him. "Both duellist have been struck by lightning." I took a step to go up there, but Yami trapped me in his arms before I could make a second.
"Open your eyes both duellist our out cold." Duke said.
"True, both have 200 LP remaining –"
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" I yelled trying to get out of Yami's arms again.
"Forget about your rules, my friend needs help right away,"
"I don't know where that lightning came from but it had nothing to do with –"
"We are not trying to sue you! But we can if you do not let them come down, they need medical attention." Téa said. I used magic to try and heal them, only to find neither of them had any burns or physical injuries.
"Guys its ok," I said addressing the group.
"What!" Tristan rounded on me.
"How can you say that?" Serenity said nearly in tears.
"They are not hurt – physically. The lightning was from the Gods, they mentally zapped them. They are angry cause of the card, and now it is a game on mental strength and worthiness or something. When they wake up, they will not have 'lightning type' injuries or burns."
The suit explained the first one to get up in the next 5 minutes would be the victor. Then the cheering started trying to push Joey into standing up first.
After a long three minutes 'fake' Marik began to move, trying to get to his feet. I drowned everyone out watching between the two. I had a feeling whoever didn't win would be out for a long time. Come on Joey. He got to a crouch before he collapsed back down again.
We continued to cheer then after another minute Joey rose up, and was standing. We began to cheer.
"I'm lost can someone fill me in?" Joey said looking at 'Marik' then our happy faces.
"You're duelling in the final," Téa told him.
"And you scared us you dope, don't ever do that again," Mai said.
"Sorry," he said. "But who is that guy – wait, I remember…"
"The winner of the duel is Joey Wheeler!" the suit announced. As he did so the platform began to lower and the guys began to wake up. I could see Joey walking towards him, I looked at Yami who nodded and we made our way up as well. Joey for him to his feet.
"Please forgive me, Joey. I'm sorry it was an honour for me to duel with you." He said.
"Wow, same to you, and thanks to that lightning bolt I won't forget this duel in a hurry," we were right next to them now. "You gotta come clean if you're not Marik then who are you pal?"
"I am only a servant to the real," he began to point, "Master Marik,"
"That's Marik," Yami and Joey said as he pointed to Namou.
"I knew it!" I yelled pulling out my staff pointing it at him, but he wasn't paying attention, he was clutching his head clearly in a lot of pain, the millennium rod shown to all as he clutched it in his hand.
"You!" Duke snarled.
"We trusted you!" Téa said. He composed himself for a moment, struggling to speak through the obvious pain.
"Yes, it's true, I am indeed the real Marik, you fools."
"You little worm." Joey
"So Pharaoh we finally meet face to face." He said.
"Master," the guy grunted.
"Now at last I can finish the job my pathetic servant couldn't Yugi, I'll claim your puzzle, and your power will soon belong to me." He clutched his head in pain again.
"Oh no, I was afraid of this, we are all in grave danger. Beware the great evil hidden within."
"What are you talking about?" Joey said trying to help him stay upright.
"Master Marik has a darker side, and I am unable to contain it anymore, it's too late now. My Pharaoh. My Queen, I am so sorry." He said before he fell unconscious again.
"Let me out you can't restrain me anymore," a deeper, darker voice left Marik's body. I moved closer to Yami as Marik screamed.
"I'm gunna file this under the category of not good," Joey said looking between us and Marik.
"Marik, what is going on?" Yami called to him.
The other voice chuckled as Marik's features and hair changed, the millennium symbol on his forehead. "I'm finally free again, which means I can do things my way. I was restrained for many years by that fool Odeon."
I looked down at the unconscious servant. Odeon. I recalled his last words, and the words he said to me when I was held captive… he way loyal to us, he was trying to protect his master… and us from this darker part of Marik, a part that was probably split through the magic of the rod.
"Who are you?" Yami asked.
"I am the true Marik, and I'm not as kind as the one you've come to know. And soon I'll finish the job he couldn't complete and strip you of your powers for I deserve to be Pharaoh. Not you. So get ready for the real battle and when I'm through with you, your puzzle will be around my neck where it belongs and you will be trapped forever in the world of darkness along with your friends and Odeon as well."
"Hey pal, get a life," Joey snapped at him.
"You fool, thanks to Odeon's failure I have a life." He said. "Of course, by failing Odeon did prove that only the chosen few can control the Egyptian God Cards, Kaiba your one."
"Marik," Kaiba said. "I'm sick and tired of hearing these Egyptian fairy tales, I control Obvilisk because I am a master duellist."
"Ha, don't deny your ancient past you'll find you can't escape your 5000-year-old memories. Sooner or later you'll learn, Kaiba. Your role –"
"Hey," I yelled at him, I felt Yami's arm get tighter on me. "If you're going to go full evil monologue can we do it inside, it's cold up here."
I kept my hand firmly on my staff.
He laughed.
"Of course, my Queen, your role is vital in obtaining –"
"You just can't help it can you." I said. He laughed again.
"Very well, but soon the power of the Pharaoh will be mine!" he walked off.
Could things get much worse?
Hey guys! Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a great holiday season! I hope you guys liked this chapter. I am planning to be updating once a month from 2020! Whoop! See you next time! Xx