Chapter 26

Standing there staring on at the powerful Egyptian God, Illidan thought "What am I going to do now? That Winged Dragon of Ra is so powerful that I can't even attack it with any of my monsters. There's got to be a way to beat this thing. I've got to trust my deck. Hopefully there is something in there that can help."

Slowly, Illidan drew his card to see his Scapegoat card. He quickly thought "Scapegoat? What good is Scapegoat right now?"

Sighing, Illidan said "I'll switch my Slate Warrior to defensive mode. Then I'll set this card face down. Finally, I'll set this monster in defense. That ends my turn." (Illidan 900, Marik 1100)

Smirking as he drew, Marik said "What a pathetic move Illidan! I expected better than that from you! Now watch as this duel is about to come to a close. I play Monster Reborn, bringing back my Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000)!" The brown ape then reappeared on the field beating it's chest wildly.

"Berserk Gorilla, destroy his Slate Warrior with Gorilla Beam Blast!" Leaping into the air, the gorilla opened it's mouth and released it's powerful blast at the blue headed fiend. As the blast hit the golden armored fiend monster, he threw his halberd straight at the gorilla, easily sending it through it's right shoulder, causing the gorilla to roar in pain as it crashed to the ground holding it's shoulder.

"What have you done to my Berserk Gorilla?" demanded Marik.

Smiling, Illidan replied "Your Berserk Gorilla triggered Slate Warrior's special ability. When he's destroyed in battle, he is allowed to reduce that monster's attack and defense points by 500. Since Berserk Gorilla destroyed him, Slate Warrior then weakened your monster (1500/500)."

Growling slightly, Marik then smiled and said "No matter. Even without Berserk Gorilla's full power, I still have Ra. The Winged Dragon of Ra, destroy his face down monster now with Blaze Cannon!" Ra roared as a powerful fireball appeared on it's back once more. The fireball then transferred to Ra's mouth and was spat out as a huge blast. As the blast neared Illidan's face down monster card image, the image disappeared and a small grim reaper like creature appeared on the field.

Marik laughed and said "You're pathetic Spirit Reaper (300/200) won't survive this attack Illidan!"

The blast then struck the small monster, causing a huge explosion. As the blast was subsiding, Marik started laughing till he made out a small figure on the field. Suddenly, he realized it was the small grim reaper monster still.

Marik then yelled in shock "NO WAY! How could that thing withstand that blast?"

Illidan chuckled and said "He could due to his special ability. He can survive any battle with another monster."

Growling, Marik then let calmness wash back over his face as he said "In that case, I'll play the magic card Smashing Ground! This card now destroys the monster on your side of the field with the most defense points, and since you only have Spirit Reaper, that means he is gone!"

Suddenly a hand came out of the sky and smashed the small grim reaper monster, causing it to cry out in pain as it was destroyed. Illidan growled, thinking "Spirit Reaper was my last defense. Now what?"

"That ends my turn." (Illidan 900, Marik 1100)

Illidan stood there, contemplating what to do for a moment. "What now? I don't know what to do. I don't know of anything in my deck that can save me now. What should I do?"

"Illidan!" called out someone in the stands.

Illidan looked up to see it was Marie that had shouted at him.

"Illidan, don't give up! You can still win! Just believe in yourself and trust your deck! I know you can win!"

Realizing she was right, he quickly thought "She still believes in me, and that means I have to at least try! Things may seem hopeless, but they're not! As long as I have the support of Marie and my friends, I can do anything! I can even take down The Winged Dragon of Ra!"

With a new confidence in himself, Illidan drew his next card and smiled at the card. He then looked up at Marik and said "Check this out Marik! I summon Kuriboh (300/200) in attack mode!" A little ball of brown fuzz with green hands and feet, and purple eyes then appeared on the field. The monster looked more like a dust bunny than anything else to everyone.

All but Yugi in the crowd couldn't help but laugh. Yugi saw that Illidan had something planned, but what he wasn't sure. He quickly consulted with Yami, but Yami only smiled on as he watched his old friend try and turn things around.

On the field, Marik did a classic anime sweat drop as he laughed harder than he had ever done in the past.

"Is that what you spent so much time contemplating? That card is weak, and nearly useless. Using a dust bunny against me won't work Illidan, and you should know that by now."

The small furry creature then let out what sounded like insults as it squeaked at Marik's comment.

Smiling, Illidan turned to Kuriboh and said "Pay no attention to his comment. I know you're just the monster to win me this duel." The small brown creature then turned to Illidan and seemed to smile, although it's mouth was covered by fur, so it was impossible to tell for sure.

Illidan then turned back to Marik and said "Kuriboh may look weak, but he's stronger than you think. Next I'll equip him with the magic card called United We Stand! This gives Kuriboh an extra 800 attack and defense points per a face up monster on my side of the field. Since I have one, Kuriboh thus gains only 800 attack and defense points (1100/1000)!" The small fur ball creature then began to glow as his power increased thanks to the equip card.

Still, Marik laughed at this pitiful site, saying "It's still no where near strong enough to combat Ra Illidan. Don't insult me in thinking your monster could possibly stand up to him, let alone my Berserk Gorilla, which still has 1500 attack points. How pathetic!"

Lightly chuckling, Illidan quickly thought "That's right Marik, laugh all you want, cause I'm about to wipe the floor with Ra's sorry butt!"

"That ends my turn." (Illidan 900, Marik 1100)

Still chuckling, Marik drew and said "This duel is about to end Illidan. Watch as I'm about to show my Winged Dragon's true power by wiping out that pathetic Kuriboh! Winged Dragon of Ra, destroy his Kuriboh and the rest of his life points with Blaze Cannon!" Ra then roared as it began powering up. As before, a huge blast of energy began to form on it's back, and then the energy moved to Ra's mouth. At long last, Ra spat a huge fireball at the small brown monster, knowing that the blast was overkill.

In the crowd, Marie screamed out "No, Illidan, you can't lose this duel!"

Smiling up at Marie as she said this, he then said "Oh Marik, I have a surprise for you. You've triggered my face down magic card, Scapegoat! Now thanks to this magic card, I gain four Scapegoat Tokens (0/0) in defense mode on my side of the field!" Suddenly four small goats appeared on the field. There was a blue one, orange one, a pink one, and a red one.

Marik only looked on and laughed at this development, saying "You know perfectly well those monsters can't block my attack! Why bother playing such a foolish move?"

Chuckling, Illidan said "I bet you're wondering why I'd bother. Well, the reason is to help out Kuriboh."

Clueless, Marik said "Huh? How does that help your Kuriboh?"

Laughing, Illidan pointed at Kuriboh as suddenly it glowed with newfound power. "You see, when I set off Scapegoat, I brought out four more monsters, thus triggering United We Stand. Now that I have five face up monsters, Kuriboh's attack and defense points change (3200 + 1100 4300/3200 + 1000 4200)!" With that, the holo stats on Kuriboh updated as Kuriboh continued to glow brighter and brighter with it's newfound power.

"This cannot be! Your Kuriboh is stronger than my Winged Dragon of Ra!" cried out Marik.

Nodding, Illidan replied "That's right Marik! And now, your Winged Dragon of Ra will be destroyed at the hands of my Kuriboh! Kuriboh, counter attack Ra's attack with Fuzz Blast!" As Ra's attack was about to hit, the small fur ball dodged and took flighty straight at the Egyptian God. Then in a rash decision, the small fur ball flew straight into Ra's mouth, causing Ra to make a gulping sound.

Shocked at this, Marik yelled "What is he doing to my dragon?"

Suddenly, Ra's mid section began to glow. The glow became brighter and brighter till suddenly, an explosion happened right at the source of the light. Ra roared in horror as his midsection had been destroyed, causing the dragon roar even more loudly as it exploded into millions of pieces. In the debris of the explosion, a charred little fur ball popped out and landed safely back on the field in front of Illidan. The explosion from Ra had forced Marik to come literally crashing to his knees.

Illidan still stood tall though, saying "You see Marik, the Kuriboh attack by exploding when they make contact with the enemy. Since Ra ate my Kuriboh and had lower stats, the explosion just turned him inside out. So much for your invincible Egyptian God Card."

Marik just sat on his knees in total shock. He finally said "How could my Winged Dragon of Ra be destroyed, and by a Kuriboh at that? Never has this happened before in any of my duels."

Then with a heavy sigh, Marik stood and placed his hand over his deck, a sign known through out the world as a way of conceding.

Curious, Illidan asked "Does that mean you forfeit for sure Marik?"

Nodding, Marik sadly said "Yes. I'd rather not see my Berserk Gorilla destroyed this turn. Good duel Illidan."

Smiling, Illidan replied "Good duel Marik."

"The winner of this duel is Illidan Stormrage." the judge then declared.

Illidan then slowly walked over to Marik and extended his hand.

Smiling sadly, Marik said "That was an excellent strategy Illidan. I didn't know what you was trying to do by summoning Kuriboh in attack mode. Nor did I understand equipping it with United We Stand. It's rather good strategy. It's taught me to not to underestimate any monster ever again."

Smiling back, Illidan replied "Thanks Marik. And by the way, you had some excellent moves yourself."

The judge then interrupted the two as he walked over and handed both of Illidan's title belts to him. Smiling Illidan then threw each onto his shoulders.

Marie and the others then ran onto the field from the bleachers to congratulate the two on a great duel. As well, Odion and Ishizu complemented Marik on his duel, and told him to not be sad, he did excellent. Marik smiled and nodded and the celebration continued on till the next duel was ready to begin.

Elsewhere in the Duel Tower though, Gozaburo was screaming about Marik's loss, saying "That fool! He failed to beat Illidan as well!"

He then quickly stood up and used his Millennium Crown to throw a wave of energy, which was created from his anger, into the wall, easily cracking the wall.

At long last, Gozaburo finally calmed down, and began one of his usual evil laughs, saying "I've got the perfect idea! It's time for the tag team duels, and I'll have Illidan and his own choice of partner duel Marik and Yugi for the Tag Team Titles tonight! It will be great seeing how both have Egyptian God Cards! And Illidan will lose, once and for all!"