(Chapter 2)

Yuugi was dressed, and had his Duel Disk on his arm. He and Nephthys had gone down into the shop to duel, as it was the only place in the house with enough space for a duel.

"Duel!" Both Yuugi and Nephthys called out. Both of them drew their first 5 cards.

(Yuugi: 4000) (Nephthys: 4000)

Yuugi drew an extra card to begin his turn. He looked over his hand, trying to decide what his best option would be. He picked a card out of his hand and placed it onto his Duel Disk "I'll summon Magical Knight - Breaker!" he said. "Turn End" he added. (Dark/Magic User. ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000. Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned, put a Spell Counter on this card (max 1). For each Spell Counter on this card, increase this card's ATK by 300. You may remove one Spell Counter from this card to destroy one Magic or Trap card on the field) (Yuugi: 5 Cards In Hand)

"My Turn! Draw!" Nephthys replied as she drew her sixth card. 'He's off to a good start, using a Dark monster. I think his deck is mostly made of them. I'm going to have a hard time with his monsters' she thought. "I'll set a monster in defense, and set a card face down. Turn End" she told Yuugi.(Nephthys: 4 Cards in Hand)

'I wish I knew what was there... I've no idea what kind of deck Saratu uses, so I don't know what kind of cards Nephthys will play against me, if she's using Saratu's deck' Yuugi thought. "My Turn, Draw!" he called out as he drew his card and added it to his hand. "Come out, Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts!" (Earth/Animal. ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200) the familiar beast appeared on the field "I'll use the effect of my Magical Knight - Breaker! By removing his spell counter, I can destroy one of the magic or trap cards on the field, so I'll use it on your face down card!" Yuugi said as Breaker formed a glow over his sword, and slashed with it. It sent wave of energy towards the face down card, it hit, and sliced through it. Nephthys discarded the card from the Duel Disk.

"Gazelle, attack her face down monster!" Yuugi ordered. Gazelle leapt towards the face down monster and the card flipped up. A short brown haired girl appeared, who was wielding a staff. He attempted to slash her with his claws, but she defended the strike with her staff. Her staff then started to glow, and the King of Mythical Beasts calmed down, seemingly mesmerised by the glow of the staff. He jumped over to her side.

"You attacked my Earth Spirit User - Aos! Her defense matches your attack, and her effect allows her to take control of your monster" Nephthys informed him.

"But her effect only lasts while she remains on the field. Breaker, attack Earth Spirit User - Aos!" Yuugi replied, his monster charged forward, and raised his sword to the girl, and slashed through her chest. She exploded into pixels, and Gazelle jumped back to Breaker's side. (Earth/Magic User. ATK: 500/DEF: 1500. Effect: Flip: Take control of 1 Earth monster on your opponent's side of the field. This effect lasts while this monster is face up on your side of the field.)

"I'll set a card face down. Turn End" Yuugi finished. (Yuugi: 4 Cards in Hand)

Nephthys drew, then looked at Yuugi again "Why do you wish to help me and my Guarding Hand? You would be placing yourself in danger, and you hardly know us" Nephthys questioned.

"It's not fair to Saratu that she be chased down like she said by this organisation, because of them wanting you. I've kind of been in the same situation in the past, and I don't want to just sit by and watch someone else go through the same kind of things that I did, because of something that she may have been destined to have" Yuugi explained.

"You seem to be trustworthy, but I won't know if you or your friends are until this duel is over" Nephthys replied. She glanced at the card she drew. "I'll activate the magic card, Scapegoat!" she called out as she slid the card into her duel disk, making the four token monsters appear on her side of the field. "Turn End"

"My Turn, Draw!" Yuugi said as he began his turn. "Gazelle! Attack one of the tokens!" he ordered as Gazelle leapt towards one of the tokens and slashed through it, destroying it instantly.

"My Turn, Draw!" Nephthys called, beginning her turn. "I'll summon this monster, Guarding Hand of Nephthys!" she added, as a person appeared on the field, who was wearing something on their head which was styled like a phoenix's head, golden arm and leg guards, and had fire formed into the shape of a phoenix around them. "I'll activate my Guarding Hand's effect, by sacrificing itself and one of my tokens, I can summon my spirit straight from my deck!" she said, as the two were sacrificed, and in a burst of flames, the Phoenix God of Nephthys appeared on the field. (Nephthys: 2 Cards in Hand) (Fire/Winged Beast. ATK: 2400/DEF: 1600. Effect: If this card is destroyed by a card effect, Special Summon it on your next Standby Phase. If this card is Special Summoned in this way, destroy all Magic and Trap cards on the field.) "I'll attack Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts!" Nephthys called out. The phoenix flew into the air, then flapped it's wings at the beast, sending flames down to burn it. As soon as the flames hit, it shattered into pixels. (Yuugi's LP: 3100) "Turn End" she finished.

"My Turn, Draw!" Yuugi said, drawing a new card into his hand. He looked at his hand, thinking of a way to take down the Phoenix. He had one monster on the field, his Magical Knight, and his opponent had a powerful creature that would destroy the knight next turn, if he didn't do something. "I'll sacrifice my Magical Knight - Breaker, in order to bring to the field, Summon Demon!" he explained (Dark/Demon. ATK: 2500/DEF: 1200).

Nephthys stared at the demon, and cursed under her breath. This demon had more attack power than her spirit had, and it would surely destroy it this turn. With no face down cards, she wouldn't be able to save it, or resurrect it on her next turn because of being destroyed by an attack.

"Summon Demon! Attack the Phoenix God of Nephthys!" Yuugi ordered.

Lightning formed between the claws of the demon. It fired the blast at the phoenix, destroying it. (Nephthys' LP: 3900)

"Turn End" Yuugi finished. (4 Cards in Hand)

"My Turn, Draw!" Nephthys began as she drew. She added the card to her hand "I'll activate the Magic Card, Pot of Greed. It allows me to draw two cards from my deck" Nephthys explained, drawing two extra cards, then placing the Pot of Greed card in her graveyard. (4 Cards in Hand). "I'll set two cards face down, and activate the Magic Card Raise Dead. With it, I'll revive my spirit!" Nephthys called as the phoenix returned to the field. "Since it wasn't brought back to the field by it's own effect, it's effect doesn't activate. Turn End" she finished. (0 Cards in Hand)

Yuugi looked confused as he drew his next card. Summon Demon would be able to destroy the phoenix again, so why revive it? He could only guess that it was her face down cards. But, to have a better chance at winning, he needed to get Nephthys' spirit off of the field. "Summon Demon! Attack the Phoenix God of Nephthys again!" he ordered.

Nephthys pressed a button on her duel disk to activate a card "Reverse Card Open! Astral Barrier activate!" Nephthys' card flipped up, and a human shaped form of energy formed in front of the phoenix. "With Astral Barrier, I can change any of your attacks into a direct attack on my Life Points, saving my spirit" Nephthys explained.

This confused Yuugi. 'Saratu must not be very good at the game, with the kind of cards that Nephthys is using. But I do wonder why she is protecting her spirit like this. Astral Barrier saved her spirit, but at the cost of a direct attack from my Summon Demon. Does she want to win?" he thought to himself.

Nephthys smirked as she pushed another button on her duel disk "Another trap card! Spirit Barrier!" she called as the second card flipped up, and a barrier formed around the human shaped form of energy. "And this card blocks all battle damage to my life points while I have a monster on the field" she explained as the demon's attack struck the barrier, cancelling it out.

"She played a great defense combo, and until I get one of those cards off of the field, I won't be able to destroy her spirit in battle. She must be better than I thought" Yuugi thought. "Turn End" he finished. (5 Cards in Hand)

Nephthys drew her next card, then set it on her duel disk "I'll set a monster face down, Turn End" (0 Cards in Hand)

"My Turn, Draw!" Yuugi said, drawing a new card from his deck. "I'll summon Skilled Black Magician in attack mode" he said as he set the card on his duel disk. a dark robed magician appeared on the field beside the Summon Demon. (Dark/Magic User. ATK: 1900/ DEF: 1700. Whenever you or your opponent activates a Magic card, put a Spell Counter onto this card (max 3). You may sacrifice this card when there are 3 Spell Counters on this card, and special summon a Black Magician from your hand, deck, or Graveyard.) "Magic Card, Foolish Burial, Activate! This card lets me take any monster card from my deck and put it in my graveyard!" he explained as he reached for his deck and searched through it for a card. He picked one, reshuffled, and showed the card to her. "The monster I choose is the Buster Blader!" he added as he put the card into his graveyard. One of the gems on the Skilled Black Magician lit up.

Nephthys looked confused as she saw him do this. She knew of the card, and it was a very powerful monster. Especially opposing decks that contained dragon type monsters.

"Next, I'll activate the Magic Card, Move Dead. By discarding a card from my hand, I can put a monster card in my graveyard into my hand" Yuugi explained as he discarded a card, then returned the Buster Blader into his hand. A second gem lit up on the Skilled Black Magician.

"Magic Card, Hand-Sealing Swords of Light, Activate!" Yuugi called as the familiar swords formed in front of Nephthys' monsters. A third gem lit up on the Skilled Black Magician.

"Skilled Black Magician's Effect, activate! By sacrificing him while he has three Spell Counters, I can special summon a Black Magician from my hand or deck!" Yuugi explained as the Skilled Black Magician glowed and disappeared, leaving the Black Magician in his place. (Dark/Magic User. ATK: 2500/ DEF: 2100)

"Magic Card, Treasure From Heaven, activate! Both of us draw until we have 6 cards!" Yuugi explained as they both drew 6 cards. Yuugi frowned, he didn't get the card that he needed to finish this combo. But, he did have a card he could use. "Magic Card, Cyclone, activate! I'll use it to destroy the Spirit Barrier!" he called as a cyclone formed out of the card and destroyed the Spirit Barrier. "Summon Demon, attack the Phoenix God of Nephthys!" he ordered. The Summon Demon powered up it's lightning attack and launched it at the phoenix.

"Astral Barrier activate!" Nephthys called. The card took effect, and the human shaped form of energy formed in front of the phoenix. It took the full force of the Summon Demon's attack! (Nephthys' LP: 1400)

"I'll set a card face down. Turn End" he finished. (4 Cards in Hand)

"My turn, Draw!" Nephthys called as she began her turn. "I'll set two cards face down, and a monster face down. (4 Cards in Hand)

"My turn, Draw!" Yuugi called.He smiled slightly as he saw the card he drew. "Magic Card, Fusion, activate! I'll use it to fuse Black Magician and Buster Blader!" he explained with a smile as his card took effect, the Buster Blader appeared on the field and began to fuse with the Black Magician as Yuugi discarded the cards to his graveyard. "Fusion Summon! Super Magical Swordsman - Black Paladin!" he finished as his new monster had formed. (Dark/Magic User/Fusion of Black Magician and Buster Blader. ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400. Effect: This Monster can only be Special Summoned by a Fusion Summon. When this card is face-up on the Field, you may discard 1 card from your hand to negate an activation of a Magic Card and destroy it. Increase this card's attack strength by 500 for each Dragon Type Monster on all Fields and in all Graveyards).

Nephthys was a little suprised at the sight of this monster. But at least thought she had a plan to deal with Yuugi's new monster.

"Super Magical Swordsman - Black Paladin! Attack the card on the right!" Yuugi called. The Black Paladin raised his staff and a glow formed. He slashed, and a wave of energy was shot from the staff.

"Reverse Card Open! Attack Nullification!" Nephthys said as she revealed the face down card.

"Counter Trap Open! Seven Tools of the Bandit!" Yuugi replied. (Yuugi's LP: 2100). Nephthys' card was obliterated, and the Black Paladin's attack still hit it's target. "Summon Demon! Attack her other monster!" he ordered. The Summon Demon attacked, successfully destroying her monster.

"You don't have any more monsters to attack me with. Unless you have a card to play, then it's my turn" Nephthys told him.

Yuugi smiled as he slid another card into a magic/trap slot of his duel disk. "Quickplay Magic Card! Fusion Cancel!" he said as his Black Paladin split into it's two separate monsters, Black Magician and Buster Blader. "Buster Blader! Attack the Phoenix God of Nephthys!" he ordered. The Buster Blader leapt forward with his sword raised, and sliced the phoenix into two. "Black Magician! Launch a direct attack on Nephthys!" he finished. The Black Magician raised his staff and fired off a orb of energy. It hit Nephthys, ending the duel. (Nephthys' LP: 0)

Yuugi watched as both of their Duel Disks powered down, and return to their standby mode. "Well, what do you think now Nephthys?" he asked.

"If your friends have the same kind of strength that you do, then you'll be able to help us" Nephthys answered. No sooner than she finished speaking, a crash was heard from upstairs.

"That came from the guest room... Anzu!" Yuugi said as he took off up the stairs, Nephthys followed.

As the two got up the stairs, they were met by Jyonouchi and Honda. "We heard the noise, what's going on?" Honda questioned.

"We just finished a duel, and we heard a crash coming from the guest room. Sounded like the window being broken through" Nephthys answered.

Yuugi walked over to the door, and knocked "Anzu, what's going on in there? Are you okay?" he asked. After a few moments of recieving no answer, he opened the door, and a man a few years older than them was standing over Anzu, with a card in his hand, and a very familiar sight, the Sennen Ring was hanging from his neck. "What're you doing to Anzu!" he demanded.

"I'm capturing her spirit. Your punishment for getting involved with Saratu, and Nephthys. She won't be much use to you as a card" he answered, smirking. He then threw the card to Yuugi, and leapt out the broken window.

Yuugi looked down at the card he held, seeing it was a Black Magician Girl card. Anzu's worried blue eyes flashed over the magician's usual green for a moment, then returned to normal. Yuugi collapsed to his knees, and broke into tears.

"I should've warned you they'd do something like this. I'm sorry Yuugi..." Saratu told him as she kneeled down to look at him. He noticed her eyes had returned to their normal blue. "Nephthys just filled me in about what just happened. If we're going to restore Anzu to her body, then we need to act quickly" she added.

"How? I don't have the Puzzle, and I don't know how to use it" Yuugi questioned.

"I know that Yuugi, but if we can find the Puzzle, then you can find out how to unlock it's magic on your own. With it, you might even be able to contact Atem" Saratu replied.

"I just... I just always seem to get those close to me in danger. You were looking for me, hoping to speak to Atem, we wanted to help you, and now look what's happened..." Yuugi sobbed.

"We'll get Anzu back into her body Yuugi. Those bastards won't get away with this" Jyonouchi said as he hit his fist into his other hand.

Yuugi nodded as he got to his feet.

(End of Chapter 2)