Chapter 63

About 6:30 A.M., Illidan woke back up to the sound of his alarm going off. He slapped the alarm clock to make it quit and stretched lazily in bed and finally got up. Quickly taking a shower, he then got out and picked out an orange shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans to wear for the day. He combed his wet hair and looked in the mirror to make sure he got his shoulder length hair fixed right.

Once he had finished, he grabbed his pop tarts and checked out the days duels. He was shocked to see he'd be facing Marie for the days duel. "I can't believe it. It's me and her today! This should be interesting. Every opponent I've faced so far has failed to beat me, but I guess Gozaburo wants to really test me now. After all, there are only three more days of dueling left before the final 10-way duel."

Illidan then got up and prepared his deck. Looking over his deck with studying eyes, he finally placed it back in it's holder once satisfied.

After finishing, Illidan decided to read a fan fiction he'd discovered called Otherworld. He'd been so interested in it lately for some reason, but he figured it would help pass the time more than anything.

Finally, the time came for him to head to the elevator. He grabbed his Duel Disk and deck holder and headed for the elevator. Once there, he saw Marie hadn't arrived yet. In fact, not even the judge had showed up. He glanced at his Duel Disk's clock and realized he was 10 minutes early. "Wow, that's a first." he thought with a chuckle.

Soon enough, Marie showed up. He smiled at her as he saw her walking towards him. She gave a smile back to him, but then tried to put her game face back on. "I know this duel will be good, but still, I wish we didn't have to duel each other. After all, who knows me the best other than the one I love?"

About a minute later, the judge came running down the hall. He was out of breath, but motioned for the two to enter the elevator. The elevator quickly sped towards the top, with Illidan looking out the viewing window. He smiled at the beautiful morning that was starting to appear. The sun was just coming up, and some fog was still on the island.

At last, the elevator got to the top of the tower and all three exited the elevator and moved to the center of the field. Once in the middle, the judge began his usual speech. About this time, the crowd had gathered and was watching. The judge continued on with his usual speech, and finally asked Illidan who he wanted to go first.

Thinking for a moment, he smiled and said "I'll let the lovely lady go first."

Marie lightly blushed at this comment, but tried hard to regain her composure. The judge just nodded, saying "Marie shall go first then. Duelists, shuffle each others deck, and then shake hands."

Illidan handed Marie his deck and she did the same for him. He shuffled till he was satisfied, as did Marie. Both then handed back the others deck. Smiling, both then grasped each other's hand and shook.

Illidan then said in a happy voice "Good luck Marie."

She smiled and replied "Good luck to you too Illidan. Let's have fun with this, ok?"

Nodding, Illidan replied "Right, this will be a fun duel."

"Now duelists, to your positions." interrupted the judge.

Both obeyed the judge and made their way to their designated spots on the field. While walking that way, the crowd was a buzz with talk about the duel to come.

"So Yug, who do you think will win?" asked Joey.

Yugi turned to Joey and responded "I'm not sure Joey. Illidan has an explosive offense with his Chaos deck, but Marie has a powerful offense as well. Also, her Deck Master gives her the ability to increase her life points several times. It's just going to be a toss up really."

Yugi then saw Yami appear beside of him. Mentally, Yugi said "This should be interesting. I'm not sure if Marie can beat Illidan, but I think it's going to be a good duel all around. What do you think Yami?"

Yami stared at Yugi for a moment and then said "It should be a good duel, but we need to study this duel as well. We should try and study Illidan's moves. Remember, we have to duel him tomorrow, and we need to know all we can for us to beat him."

Yugi nodded and Yami said "So much depends on Illidan's win. If he wins, he'll be one step closer to proving Marie and Ishizu's predictions on the winner of this tournament. Once we duel Illidan, we'll know more about who faces Gozaburo, but for now, we can't jump the gun. Illidan may lose this duel, and prove that he's not the one to defeat Gozaburo. We just have to wait and watch."

Yugi again nodded, agreeing with Yami. Then they returned to watching Illidan and Marie as they were taking their positions.

Also at that time, Seto showed great interest. "I must watch Illidan closely. If I'm to win this tournament and destroy my step father once and for all, I must defeat Illidan. Once I've defeated him, the others will crumble beneath me."

As well, Joey was mentally thinking about the duel. "I have to watch closely. I have to study up, since I have to duel Illidan in two days. On that day, I have a shot at the Intercontinental Title, and I have to be ready. I worked so hard to get that title shot, and I'm not going to mess it up. I have to study everything Illidan does, and I have to make sure to know what to do when we duel."

Also, Marik was watching the preparations for the duel, and began to think about the ramifications this duel would have. "If Illidan wins, then he'll have the momentum he needs going into his duel with the pharaoh tomorrow. As well, he'll be carrying a lot of momentum towards the final duel. If he wins, according to my sister, he'll be one step closer also to fulfilling her predictions. Maybe it is Illidan that's destined to duel Gozaburo. I just don't know. I have to find out though. I won't underestimate him again though, for in the final 10-way duel I'll have to make sure I him."

Everyone looked on, in anticipation to see if Illidan and Marie would truly go full force in this duel. They were all curious to see the two go at it seriously, unlike the last duel, the 5-way duel, where they helped each other instead of dueling one another.

At long last, both reached their marks. They turned to face one another and prepared to fight. Illidan had a small flash back in his head of the last time the stakes were high for when him and Marie dueled. This was in ancient times, for she wanted to join the group that aided Yami. This group was known as the Shadow Court, and consisted of strong people with Shadow Powers. She had won that day, but he won her heart a few days later.

Shaking himself of the memory, he then focused. "I can't start day dreaming. I have to be ready for whatever she throws at me."

The judge smiled and said "Duelists, fire your holo projectors and bring out your Deck Masters. Then draw your first five cards and begin!"

Both fired their holo projectors at the same time. Once the projectors landed and activated, both Duel Disks unfolded and lit up.

Marie smiled as she said "Alright, I'll call out my Deck Master, Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000)!" A beautiful pink skinned angel with golden wings and a white dress then appeared beside Marie.

Smiling at this sight, Illidan said "Well, look at that. There are two angels on the field."

Marie slightly blushed at the comment, but then quickly regained her composure, saying "Just call out your Deck Master, Illidan."

Illidan smirked, and then said "I call forth my Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!" A large soldier clad in black, shiny armor appeared beside Illidan. He raised his sword and shield, showing his readiness for battle.

The two then drew their cards and said "LET'S DUEL!"