Hello once more people. Oi, it's early, lol. I hate 6-2 shifts still, but I only have one more day of it, so happy days. Sigh Life is so cruel sometimes… Anyways, onto the reviews.

pink-kiss-candy: Why Baghdad? Why not somewhere farther, lol. Watches the cat fight start. Yep, should have definitely sold tickets. Could have made some money. Ryou: Yep, and you could have been rich old chap.

Brianna Ishtar: She sure is, at the moment. Continues to watch the cat fight. I'm taking bets now! Who shall win the fight and claim Ryou as their own! Place your bets now! Ryou: Someone save me!

thehyperactivecow: Thanks for the correction. Some of them I've yet to find in this story. And yeah, everytime he gains a little momentum, Marie just takes him down a notch once more. We'll see if he can make it or not though.

Isis the Sphinx: Yeah, they are truly fighting it out this time. You're right about the show though, although, in Yugi and Yami's duel, the two seemed almost evenly matched, other than when Yami summoned all three Egyptian Gods, leaving Yugi in a difficult position. Sniffle You want Illidan to lose! Bawls eyes out! But seriously, we'll see. Never know, he could lose.

Metal Overlord 2.0: Both are throwing all they have at one another. Neither one is holding out on the other, which is what I was going for. LOL! Yep, nothing like a battle to destroy one another to make for a romantic date. As for the archlords making an appearance, it's possible. Marie would only use one of them though, seeing how it's a Fairy type monster, if she used any at all. He will have to really work in order to win this duel, seeing how Marie can instantly boost her points by destroying one of Illidan's monsters.

Well, that's all I have. I have to go to work and sulk this morning. Sigh Maybe I'll talk about it tomorrow. For this morning, I'm just going to sulk. Later all.

Chapter 66

Sighing with a relief, Illidan then realized the predicament he was in. "If I attack her Saturn, I'll be rid of it, but what if she draws Monster Reborn or something else to bring it back? I'll be in major trouble at that time. Hmm, I have to be careful here. One wrong move and I'm history."

Looking at his hand, Illidan tried to figure out what he could do. He had all three of his Magnet Warriors, but still, no Valkyrion yet. Closing his eyes, Illidan drew and only could smile at the card he just drew when he looked again.

Grinning like Joey usually did, he said "Sorry Marie, but you aren't going to take me down that easily. I now send Alpha the Magnet Warrior, Beta the Magnet Warrior, and Gamma the Magnet Warrior from my hand to the Graveyard in order to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3800)!" All three Magnet Warriors then appeared on the field and began to disassemble. Slowly, the three then formed together, creating the huge warrior that carried a large sword.

"Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, destroy Marie's Shinato with Magna Strike!" The large metallic warrior took off and came swinging down hard with its sword. The blue skinned angel was instantly destroyed from the blow.

"Thanks to my Deck Master, I can attack again. Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, destroy Marie's The Agent of Judgment – Saturn with Magna Strike!" Letting out a metallic battle cry, the monster once again took to the sky and slashed the weaker blue angel this time. The hit instantly took down the weaker angel.

"Now that you're wide open, it's time to hit you hard. Dark Magician of Chaos, Jinzo, and Slate Warrior, direct attack with Chaos Scepter Blast, Cyber Energy Shock, and Fiend Slash!" All three then made their attacks. The mage fired his powerful blast of black energy, followed by the cyborg who fired a powerful sphere of black energy, and finally followed up by the blue fiend that slashed Marie hard. Marie was struck by the three attacks simultaneously, knocking her to the ground hard.

"I wish I didn't have to be so rough with her, but I had no choice. It was my one opportunity to take some points off her." he chided in his mind.

She slowly got up, panting hard from the three hits. It was evident that she had taken a pretty good hit from his attacks this round.

Slowly, Illidan began remembering the duel Marie had had the day before with Yugi, or more like Yami. He remembered being in the stands as Yami played Pot of Greed, allowing him to have two more cards. Marie had Watapon and Hysteric Angel out. Yami had Big Shield Guardna and Kuriboh out. Thanks to his draw, he'd picked up Watapon as well, which was automatically summoned to the field. Now he had his three monsters out, which allowed him to summon Slifer the Sky Dragon.

Yami then used his dragon to take out Marie's Hysteric Angel. Of course, she had her field card Sanctuary of the Sky out, so she got no damage. The problem for Yami was, she had 10,100 life points while Yami only had 100 left. He laid one card down and ended his turn.

When she drew, Marie had a sparkle of mischief in her eye, like she was ready to finish the duel. "It's over for you! Watch as I sacrifice my Watapon for The Agent of Judgment – Saturn (2400/0)!" The blue skinned angel with blue wings then appeared on the field in all its glory. Of course, Slifer's special effect was triggered, reducing Saturn's attack points by 2000 (400/0).

That didn't matter to Marie though, for she only laughed as Slifer had reduced her monsters points.

"Why are you laughing Marie? Don't you realize your monster is weaker now?" asked a surprised Yami.

Marie only continued to giggle innocently, saying "Yes, I do, but that wasn't my plan. I activate The Agent of Judgment – Saturn's special effect. I can sacrifice her in order to do the following. We take the difference in my life points and yours and subtract it from your life points. Therefore, you will lose the duel. Now Saturn, blast away 10000 of Yami's life points! It's over Yami!"

The blue skinned angel then began to glow and took to the sky. It then went soaring in straight for Yami directly. As it neared Yami, Yami showed no fear. And soon enough, he showed why by revealing a trap card.

"Sorry Marie, but not this time. I activate my trap card called Barrel Behind the Door! This trap sends the damage I'd receive due to your card right back at you!" he called out as the blast was about to hit. The blast then halted right in front of Yami and suddenly reversed right back at Marie.

All she could do was brace herself for the impending impact. The blast was so strong it knocked her off her feet. She went flying backwards into the wall of the tower hard before falling to the ground with a sickening thud.

"MARIE!" screamed Illidan. He had felt like running out to gather her up in his arms, but he knew if he interfered, she'd automatically lose.

Yami started to run to her to check on her, but the judge stepped in, saying "You must finish the duel. That is the orders by Gozaburo himself. Now, please continue the duel."

Shocked at these words, Yami replied "Can't you see her laying there! I won't continue…"

"No, don't." came a hoarse voice.

Yami looked over, full of concern to see Marie slowly getting up. She was still shaking from the blast with wisps of smoke coming off of her from where her monster's attack had hit her directly.

She was barely standing and was panting heavily, just struggling to remain standing. With fierce eyes, she then looked up at Yami, saying in a raspy voice "I'm … not done … yet. So, don't even … think of giving … up. It's still … my … move."

Yami only stared in disbelief, shaking his head and saying "Marie, you can't be seriously considering continuing after a blast like that. You should give up now, and save your strength."

Marie only lightly chuckled with great difficulty and finally said "No, I … don't … quit. So, it's still … my move."

Summoning all of her remaining strength it seemed, she said "I place three … cards face down. That … ends … my move."

Marie was barely still standing there, but showed no signs of back down. Yami seemed unsure of what to do. If he gave up, that meant he'd lose, but if he continued, Marie could get hurt worse. The young man just didn't know what to do.

He then heard "Come on … Yami. Continue, or are you … giving up?"

He stared up into Marie's determined eyes. Even while she was hurting, she refused to give up the fight.

Sighing, Yami said "Alright then Marie, you asked for it. I draw, giving Slifer 1000 more attack points! Now he has 3000 total attack points. Even though our life points are equal, they won't be for long."

In the crowd, Joey was talking to Tea, saying "Yugi had better not attack Marie. It's too big a gamble. With only 100 life points each, he shouldn't gamble that way."

Tea had a totally shocked look on her face, saying "You're one to talk. You always gamble."

Joey only smirked, but replied "Only when the odds are with me. When they're this big, I don't take a chance. Marie has a plan I think, and Yugi is walking right into a trap."

After a minute of hesitation, Yami finally made his decision, saying "Slifer the Sky Dragon, direct attack Marie's life points with Thunder Force!" Slifer roared and let loose his powerful stream of energy at Marie.

Marie only smirked and weakly said "I activate … Nutrient Z! This … trap activates when I receive 2000 … or more life points of damage. It … adds 4000 life … points to my score before the blast. So, I'll … survive your att..." The blast hit about that time, which cut off what she was saying.

Marie was thrown backwards into the wall yet again by the force of the hit. She landed hard on the ground with a sickening thud once again, just like before. She attempted to at first to get up, but then fell back down, unable to move.

"MARIE!" screamed Illidan. He quickly made his way to the edge of the stands, ready to jump out onto the field when he was interrupted.

"Enter the ring and you'll be stripped of your titles!" yelled the judge.

Illidan only glared at the judge, not really caring about his titles at the moment, but he then remembered he had to keep them up in order to fulfill his destiny most likely. Sighing, he nodded.

The judge then said "I must now administer a ten count. If Marie is unable to get up at the end of the count, Yugi Moto will automatically win the duel."

Impatiently, Illidan waited for the stupid count. The judge counted all the way to ten, and by no surprise, Marie didn't get up. He then declared Marie the loser by count out and Yugi the automatic winner.

But to Yami and Illidan, that didn't matter. They both ran to Marie's side, checking on her and trying to wake her up. Bakura soon ran over and used his Millennium Ring to heal her. She woke up immediately after the healing process and apologized to Yami for not being able to finish.

Yami only replied that it was alright, and that it didn't matter. Illidan only held onto Marie tightly and kissed her forehead. He then picked her up bridal style and carried her to the elevator. He took her to the infirmary to make sure she was completely alright. After a quick check up, the infirmary confirmed that she was alright and they returned to the top of the tower to watch the other duels.

"Illidan, you still with us?" asked Marie, who woke him up from his memory of the day before.

Waking up fully, he had to admit he hated doing what he did. As bad as he hated it though, he had had no choice. No matter what, he did have to continue. It was his destiny to stop Gozaburo from taking over the world. No, it was his duty, not just his destiny.