Chapter 88
"Don't … you … dare…" called out a raspy voice.
Illidan's thoughts were suddenly broken by the voice. He looked over, shocked at the sight he saw. There stood Marie, leaning heavily on Marik for support. She was shaking, and had a glazed eye look.
Slowly, she spoke, almost as if it took all she had to say the simple words. "We've … come too … far … to … quit … n…"
She suddenly passed out yet again and fell back into Marik. He calmly said "She's definitely knocked out now Illidan. I'll take care of her till you're done if you like. I'll take her to Bakura. He'll heal her for you."
Illidan slowly nodded. His eyes were filled with great concern, yet great sadness as well.
In his throne, Gozaburo smiled, pleased to see Illidan in such pain. "That fool will feel much more pain soon enough, muwhahaha!"
Slowly, Illidan tried to return his focus to the duel still going on. Still, his thoughts were centered on Marie. "I hope she'll be alright. If anything happens, I swear I'll make Gozaburo pay for it."
The judge cleared his throat and said "Since Marie is unable to continue, she is disqualified for this round. This means only one member of each team now remains. Duelists, please continue. Since Marie's turn is now over, Illidan's turn begins. Continue now!"
Illidan looked up at Yami, whose sad eyes told the whole story. "This isn't really his fault. He didn't know his trap would have such devastating effects on her."
As kindly and sympathetically as he could, Illidan said "It's alright Yami. You didn't know your trap would do that kind of damage to her physically. None of us did."
Yami only looked at Illidan with his sad eyes to see Illidan's eyes were filled with concern and sadness as well, but he saw Illidan was trying to help comfort him. He nodded slightly, accepting Illidan's words.
Realizing he needed to quickly rap up the duel, Illidan drew and said "I play the magic card Heavy Storm, destroying all magic and trap cards on the field. That means even my cards are gone." A powerful storm blew up, instantly destroying Illidan's face down and Yugi's remaining face down.
"I now switch Beta the Magnet Warrior into attack mode." The yellow magnet creature then stood back up straight.
"Next I'll flip summon my face down Slate Warrior (1900/400). Since I flip summoned him, he gains an additional 500 points (2400/900)." A blue fiend with gold armor then appeared with a large halberd on his back.
"Slate Warrior, attack the Magical Hat on the left with Fiend Slash!" The blue fiend quickly slashed the hat in half with his halberd, causing a small explosion. Nothing appeared out of the hat. The final hat then exploded as the female mage reappeared from it and said "Ta-daa."
"As I thought, empty. That means her cover is now blown. Dark Magician of Chaos, attack Dark Magician Girl with Chaos Scepter Blast!" The powerful mage pointed his scepter at the girl and released a blast of dark energy, which easily struck the young girl down.
"Now I use my Deck Master's special ability. Dark Magician of Chaos, attack his Summoned Skull with Chaos Slice!" Once again, the mage raised his staff. He pointed it at the fiend creature and made a downward sweeping motion, sending an energy blade at the fiend monster. He was slashed in half by the blast, and exploded shortly afterwards.
"Blade Knight and Beta, finish this duel by direct attacking together!" The white knight slashed Yami with his sword, causing Yami to slide backwards slightly. The yellow magnet warrior quickly followed up with a punch to Yami's gut, making him wince with pain, but he still remained standing. Yami's life points dropped to zero instantly, automatically shutting down his Duel Disk. With that, Illidan's Duel Disk powered down as well.
With a smile, the judge said "The winner of the Tag Team Gauntlet match, and still champions, Illidan and Marie!"
Gozaburo mockingly clapped his hands for Illidan, who turned towards Gozaburo with hate filled eyes. A fire of rage filled his eyes, one that showed he had great hatred for this man. "If it wasn't for the fact I need to hurry to Marie's side now, I'd tell that fool where to go with his clapping."
Illidan rushed over to check on Yami before leaving. Yami was still standing after all the attacks and was staring at the ground. Tears had formed after the duel was over. He looked up at Illidan with tears running down his cheeks, saying "I'm sorry…"
Seeing the deep regret on his friends face, Illidan put a hand on Yami's shoulder and said "Yami, it's alright. I know you didn't mean to hurt her at all. Don't worry about it. She'll be fine. Now, come on, let's go check on her."
Yami brought his sleeve up to his face and wiped the tears away, and then nodded. Together, the pair ran to the stands where Bakura still hovered over Marie. He was concentrating hard on his Millennium Ring, which glowed brilliantly.
Illidan quickly went to Marie's side, taking hold of her hand with is own. The others only silently waited for Bakura to finish. Finally, he stopped the healing process and nearly fell over. Joey caught him and helped steady him back out though.
After taking a deep breath, he said "That took a lot more out of me than I thought it would."
He wiped the sweat off his face , showing he was truly exhausted from healing her.
Curious, Illidan asked with full concern in his voice "So, how is she, Bakura?"
He sighed and said "I've done all I can do for her for now Illidan. She has a nasty bump on her head, but my healing power pushed it back down. She just needs to rest. Best thing for her to do now is to rest and recover. If she needs any medicine or is in pain when she wakes up, I maybe able to heal her again with my ring. Otherwise, there is nothing else any of us can do for now."
Illidan only silently nodded and leaned over her. Slowly, he gathered Marie up in his arms and picked her up in bridal fashion. Without another word, he walked over towards the elevator that would take them back down to the living quarters.
The doors opened upon his standing in front of them. He slowly walked in and pressed the button for the living quarter's floor. It was rather difficult for him to press the button and hold Marie as well, but he managed finally. Once on the quarter's floor, he walked to her room. He opened the door and took her to her bed and gently set her down on it.
He took her Duel Disk off her arm and set it on the coffee table where she normally had it sitting. Grabbing a blanket that was nearby, he spread it on her, slowly tucking her in. He grabbed a chair and moved it beside her bed and sat down.
It was only 9:00 P.M., so he figured she'd be out at least an hour or two. Illidan sat and patiently waited on her to awaken, not once closing his eyes to sleep.
Around 4:00 A.M., Marie finally awoke to see a pair of sad brown eyes staring at her. Realizing she was awake, he took her hand and asked "Marie, are you alright?"
She slightly nodded and replied with "Yes, I am. What time is it?"
Glancing over at the clock on the wall, he replied "It's four in the morning. Gee, you sure sleep a long time."
Both lightly chuckled at his comment, and she asked "Have you been waiting for me to wake up all this time?"
Illidan only smiled and kissed her hand, saying "Yes, I have. I didn't want you to wake up alone and not know where you were. Besides, I was too concerned to sleep anyways."
She saw the love in his eyes as he said that, and slightly smiled at his comment. She then said "You really shouldn't have. You'll be exhausted tomorrow before you even begin. Go get some sleep before it's too late."
Illidan only smiled inwardly, thinking "Even after taking a shot like she did, she's still more concerned about me than herself."
Smiling at her, he replied "You should take your own advice as well. Get some more sleep Marie. You need to recover your strength."
She nodded and pulled the blankets on up around her neck. He placed a kiss on her forehead and then one on her lips. It was a gentle kiss, more of a chastising kiss than anything.
After pulling away, he said "Good night Marie."
He quietly left her room and walked to his room in silence. Once he arrived, he felt something was amiss. Soon, he realized what it was. There in his room was Gozaburo on his couch, who was only grinning evilly at Illidan.
Growling with anger, Illidan raised a mental shield and started summoning up his power from the Millennium Key. Gozaburo only smirked at this and said calmly "I see you're back finally. How is Marie doing?"
Illidan only glared at him, anger rekindling in his eyes, and in a rough voice, yelled "You dare to ask me that! After you saw how she was suffering, you dare to ask me! Get out!"
Gozaburo only smirked, followed by an evil chuckle. He soon asked "What's wrong Illidan? Where is the kindness you were so famous for?"
Illidan was infuriated by Gozaburo now. He grabbed his Millennium Key and prepared to fire a blast of Shadow Magic at Gozaburo when he suddenly realized what he was doing. "No! I can't. My item doesn't have enough power for this. He is toying with me. He could stop me in my tracks with just a slight twitch of his nose. No, I'll not do something out of anger."
Calming down, he lowered his key back down. Gozaburo laughed, saying "Can't do it, can you? I don't blame you, seeing how terrified you are of my power."
He only laughed manically at Illidan, but saw he couldn't get Illidan to grow angry again or to fight him. Seeing this, he rose and walked for the door, saying "I see that calm and coolness you've always had has returned. I see no need in staying here any longer. Just remember, if you make it to the end, I'll be waiting, and you'll truly suffer then. You'll suffer slowly and painfully through that duel my friend. That I guarantee."
Illidan only glared at Gozaburo. Gozaburo slowly started to leave, and just as he passed by Illidan, Illidan said "Leave the others out of this. It's me you want, not them. If you want me, then fight me. Just leave the others out of this."
Gozaburo stopped dead in his tracks. Their backs were to one another. Gozaburo only lightly chuckled and said "You think I'll actually let them go free? You're a fool! Each will suffer due to what you did to the Gozaburo of the past. No one will be spared! No one…"
He then continued to walk on out of the room, but Illidan turned and said in a voice of steel "Gozaburo! Leave them out of it! They had nothing to do with you back then. I know you're truly the reincarnation of your past form, so you have those memories. You know the good things they did for you back then. Let the bad go, and remember the good. It's not too late to turn away from the evil of the Millennium Crown!"
Gozaburo only laughed like a madman once again and replied "You're such a fool, Illidan Stormrage! You actually believe I'm the reincarnation of that ancient fool. You're wrong, cause I'm not. I may have his memories, but I'm not him. And no, it is too late for them, cause their fate was sealed the minute they stepped foot on my island. All of their fates…"
Illidan only cringed due that he put emphasis on the word "all." Sighing, he said in a humbling voice "Spare Marie at the least. She shouldn't have to suffer this fate. I will give you whatever you want if you spare her at the least. Do that, and I'll submit to you."
Gozaburo only laughed more maniacally than ever. He beat his hand on the door, laughing so hard. He turned and said "You're such a fool! She will suffer just as the others will! And you will suffer the worst Illidan, cause it is you that caused their suffering. So beg all you want, but my mind is made up. Good night!"
With that, Gozaburo turned and walked out of Illidan's room. He slammed the door hard on the way out, making a loud banging noise.
Illidan only stood there, with millions of thoughts running through his mind. "No, the others… What am I going to do now? If I win this tournament, they'll be in danger. If I lose, they'll be in danger. Grr, what am I to do?"
Suddenly a voice in his mind, or possibly his Millennium Key, said "Trust yourself Illidan. That is your greatest strength. They are depending on you, and you know that you must and will succeed."
He only closed his eyes, knowing that it was true what the voice said. Slowly, he readied himself for bed. Time he finally got into bed, it was already 5:00 A.M. He set his clock for 7:00 A.M. and then drifted off to sleep.