Hey guys. Thanks for all the readers who keep reading, and thank you Metal Overlord 2.0 for your review. Yeah, Illidan is kind of laid back. In a way, I kind of took how I am and applied it to him. I'm laid back, yet I can be serious when need be. Lol, and I did pay a lot of attention to details. Sometimes I ponder if too much, but if I did, oh well. But again, thanks for your review. I'm glad to get a bit of feedback. It lets me know if this story is actually being understood or not, lol. Anyways, without further ado, here is today's chapter. Everyone feel free to review it. I like knowing people's opinions. Enjoy.

Chapter 27

Once the duels of the day had finished, the stats were all updated. The duel results appeared like so: Illidan had won his duel against Marik; Yugi defeated Joey; Marie won a hard fought battle against Seto; Noa easily overcame Bandit Keith; and Bakura won a close duel against Mai. The stats revealed the following: 1st Yugi Moto, 2nd Illidan Stormrage, 3rd Marik Ishtar, 4th Marie O'Dell, 5th Seto Kaiba, 6th Noa Kaiba, 7th Bakura Ryou, 8th Joey Wheeler, 9th Mai Valentine, and 10th Bandit Keith.

After a hard day of dueling, all the duelists lounged around the tower in their rooms. Each had had a hard day.

Then around six o'clock that night, the PA system came on, saying "Duelists, may I have your attention please. Mr. Gozaburo has decided to hold a tag team duel tonight for the Tag Team Titles. The first team will consist of Yugi Moto and Marik Ishtar."

Almost everyone in the tower gasped. Yugi and Marik had at one time been bitter rivals at the Battle City Tournament, so everyone wondered if they could fight as a team. They had fought hard against each other, but it had been the dark side of Marik that had dueled Yugi really, not his good side. When the good side of Marik had returned, Marik and Yugi became quite good friends.

The PA then buzzed again as the man said "The other team will consist of Illidan Stormrage and his partner of random choice. This duel will start at seven, so duelists competing, ready your decks."

Slightly growling, Illidan thought "Great, Gozaburo is trying to force me into another duel. No matter. I'll win this duel, but I wonder who my partner is?"

With only ten minutes before the duel, Illidan heard a knock on his door. Quickly racing over to see who it is, he flung the door open to see that it was the dueling judge. He was standing there holding a small box of some kind.

Smiling, the judge said "Alright Illidan, you will now draw from this box to see who your partner is. Please reach in and pull out a lottery number."

Slowly reaching in, Illidan pulled out a small ball that was marked with the number four.

Nodding, the judge said "Illidan, whoever is ranked fourth is your partner tonight."

Looking at his stats sheet, he smiled and said "How about that, it's Marie O'Dell."

Shocked, Illidan said "Huh? You mean my partner is Marie?"

Nodding in reply, the judge then said "Yes, she is. Good luck Illidan. By the way, you might want to hurry and tell her that she is your partner."

With that, the judge then turned and left Illidan there still in shock. Quickly shaking himself free of it, he ran back into his room and grabbed his deck and Duel Disk. He then quickly ran down the hall to Marie's room and knocked on it.

After a few minutes, a sleepy eyed Marie appeared at the door.

Yawning, she said "Illidan, what is it? You just woke me up from a very nice dream I was having."

Shaking his head, Illidan said "Marie, I just found out who my partner is for the tag team duel tonight. It's you!"

Shocked, she opened her eyes completely and yelled "What?"

Smiling, he replied "It's you! So, hurry up and grab your Duel Disk and deck!"

Fully waking up, Marie quickly ran back into her room and grabbed both her Duel Disk and deck. Then together, the two ran for the elevator. Once there, they saw Yugi and Marik, along with the judge, waiting on them. They arrived panting, for they had run full speed to make it on time.

The judge then spoke up and said "Well, now that everyone is here, we can head on up. Please board the elevator."

All five stepped on board the elevator. The elevator buzzed to life and flew to the top of the tower in what seemed like only a few moments. Once arriving, the five moved off the elevator and towards the lit up ring. In the background, the sun was setting, making it the perfect time of the day to duel. The crowd had already gathered in the stands and was eagerly waiting to see the duel.

Quickly, the judge moved to his usual position and said "Duelists, the following duel is a tag team event. The winners of this duel will become the Tag Team Champions! Now, the turns will be set by the highest ranking duelist. Since Yugi Moto currently is ranked first, his team has choice of who will take the first turn. Since Illidan is ranked second, he will decide who goes second. So, teams, decide."

Both Yugi and Marik began to talk it over, and after a moment, Yugi replied "Marik shall go first. I will go third."

Nodding, the judge then turned to Illidan and Marie, saying "Illidan and Marie, give me your choice."

Quietly, Illidan asked Marie if she cared which of them should go first, and she replied simply that she didn't care either way.

Illidan then turned to the judge and said "Marie shall go second, which means I will go fourth."

Nodding, the judge then said "Very well duelists. The order shall be Marik Ishtar, Marie O'Dell, Yugi Moto, and finally Illidan Stormrage. Also, nobody is allowed to attack on their first turn. That means you must all wait till the first duelist starts their second turn. Finally, you will each start with only 4000 life points. Now duelists shake hands and proceed to your positions."

All four met in the middle of the field and shook hands, wishing one another luck. Slowly, each moved to the marks on the field for where tag team duelists would stand.

"Duelists, shuffle your decks and then activate your Duel Disks, and bring out your Deck Masters." ordered the judge.

Before shuffling his deck, Illidan noticed that Yugi stood there for a moment and then he said him say "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Suddenly, the Millennium Puzzle glowed, causing Yugi to transform. He became taller, his hair became much more spiked, and his face seemed to change. Illidan quickly realized though that Yugi had transformed into Yami.

"So, Yami is going to duel as usual. Figures he would."

All four then shuffled their decks and then stuck them into their Duel Disk deck slots. Then simultaneously, each fired their holographic projectors. Then all of their Duel Disks unfolded at once and lit up.

Yami then said "I summon my Dark Magician (2500/2100)." A large magician dressed in purple robes then appeared beside Yami.

Smiling, Marie said "Come forth my Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000)." A large pink skinned angel with golden wings then appeared beside of Marie.

"Time for my Puppet Master (0/0) to make its appearance." called out Marik. His large odd looking puppet monster then appeared beside of him. Once appearing, it gave off an evil laugh.

"It's time for Black Luster Solider – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500) to appear." called out Illidan. The large soldier in black shiny armor that wielded a mighty sword and shield then appeared next to Illidan.

"Duelists, draw your first five cards and begin the duel!" declared the judge.

All four drew their cards and yelled "Time to duel!"