Chapter 104

They finally arrived to Gozaburo's office. Both stood outside the door to the office of the creator of this tournament, as well as the owner of the Millennium Crown.

In a serious tone, Yami said "Yugi, let me take over. He's far too dangerous and powerful for you. I might stand a chance, at the least, so let's switch."

Yugi nodded and called out "Yu-Gi-Oh!"

In a flash of golden light, Yugi's body made room for the spirit of Yami. Yami opened his eyes and then went to open the door when it suddenly flew open on its own.

There stood Marie, or what someone who looked like Marie. The most noticeable part that was odd was on her forehead. There glowed a Millennium Symbol. Next were her eyes, which were eerie looking, almost like they were glazed over in a haze.

"Welcome Pharaoh, or should I say, Yami!" Marie said in an odd voice.

It sounded like it was her voice laid overtop of another, which was more masculine. Suddenly it hit Yami whose voice it was when he looked back further in the office to see Gozaburo in his throne with his Millennium Crown on, laughing at Yami.

"NO!" screamed Yami. He grabbed Marie by her shoulders as gently as he could, shaking her slightly.

"Snap out of it Marie! Fight him! I know you can break free! Remember who you are! Fight back!" Yami said in a panicked voice.

Gozaburo only laughed again, saying "You fool, she is under my control, and she shall never leave my side, right my dear?"

That said, Marie broke Yami's small hold on her and backed over to stand beside Gozaburo. She gave off a smile that looked quite evil.

In his mind, Yugi called to Yami, saying "Oh no! It's just like how Marik took over Tea and Joey, except this time its Gozaburo taking over Marie. We have to free her."

Yami replied back with "I know, but how? We have to get through, but with what?"

It suddenly came to Yami in a flash, and he said to Yugi "I'll use my memory of her. Maybe that'll free her Yugi."

In his mind, Yugi replied "Yes, that should work, I hope."

Yami then concentrated on Marie again, and said in a calm voice "Marie, try to remember who you are. I remember you from long ago in ancient times. You were a slave girl who was just nine years old. Remember how much you desired to be free and not controlled by another person. That's why I know you can break free. Try to remember and fight back!"

Gozaburo laughed again, replying with "She'll never be free Pharaoh, and there is no one that can stop me. Now, be a good Pharaoh and surrender yourself as well. Refuse, and I'll take control of you as well."

Yami only growled when Gozaburo threatened him with this. In his mind, he was frantically trying to think of a way to save Marie. Him and Yugi both conversed about what to do.

Yugi began with "What if we try to break the hold on her mind with our own power?"

Yami replied with "No, we're not strong enough. Even with all my power I don't think I could break that bond. We have to find a way though."

Both thought for a second when they realized there might be one way to get through after all.

"If we bring up the love she has for Illidan, it could free her mind from Gozaburo. What do you think Yami?" asked Yugi.

Yami thought for a second before replying with "It's the only chance we have at this particular time. Let's try."

Returning to the events, Yami cried out to Marie "Marie, please try and remember your love for Illidan! Remember how much he cares for you! He has loved you for so long! Please, try and concentrate on that!"

Marie physically flinched. For a moment, her eyes returned to normal, as if she was breaking free at last.

Gozaburo growled that the foolish Pharaoh had said something that would break his control over her, even if it was a momentarily break. He then poured on the power and fully enslaved her mind again. She tried to resist and break free, but she couldn't. She was far too weak from the battles with him before to resist and was easily taken back over. Her eyes then returned to the eerie look again and an evil smile came on her face.

Yami bit his lip, knowing he'd succeeded for a moment, but knew Gozaburo had overpowered her mind once again.

Gozaburo only laughed triumphantly as he'd again conquered her mind. Then he glared at Yami, saying "And now Pharaoh, for you!"

He began reaching out with his Millennium Crown's awesome powers and started trying to take over his mind. Gozaburo's plan was to first take over little Yugi's mind, then to take control of Yami's mind. He started targeting Yugi's mind.

Yugi appeared beside Yami in spirit form and doubled over, holding his head. He screamed in pain as Gozaburo started probing his mind, attempting to grasp full control.

Yami then stepped in and used his Millennium Puzzle to force Gozaburo to focus his attack on himself instead of Yugi. Basically, he shielded Yugi from the blunt of the blow. He screamed in pain and anguish as the probing began.

When Yugi stopped feeling the pain and realized what Yami had done, he cried out "No, Pharaoh!"

Yami was fighting a tough battle within his mind. Gozaburo was strong, but Yami kept thinking of what would happen to his friends if he failed to stop this madman. If he let Gozaburo take over his mind, his friends, not to mention Yugi, would all be in danger. If he put them in that kind of danger, he'd never be able to forgive himself. With all his power, he fought back, throwing Gozaburo from his mind. It had taken a great deal of his power to do so, but he was still rather strong.

He was on his knees, panting hard, trying to catch his breath. Yami then looked up to see Gozaburo was caught up in the feedback from being thrown out.

The shock of being thrown out had always stopped him for at least a minute or so before against other people, so this was nothing new for him. That was how the others had escaped. When the feedback had hit Gozaburo before, they fled. Unfortunately for Marie, when she had tried, she was too weak to escape. Now that Gozaburo was caught up in his feedback, Yami tried to stand.

"MARIE!" bellowed Gozaburo. "DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!"

Marie nodded and quickly walked over in front of the door to the office and blocked it off with her body. Yami didn't want to hurt her, but at the same time, he couldn't afford to remain in the same room either.

With pleading eyes, he said "Marie, please, snap out of it. You have to break free. Think of your friends and family. Think of Illidan! If Gozaburo wins, he'll be more than likely fed to the Shadow Realm! Please, try and break free for his sake at the least!"

Marie flinched again. The words brought up memories of the past, mostly of her and Illidan in ancient times, how he had protected her from the horse trainers that one day. Then another memory of him talking and sharing his thoughts with her throughout her training. Again another memory of when he had proclaimed his love for her. Then one last flash of the day they married and then how he'd protected her from Gozaburo of that time. How he'd always cared so much for her, always sacrificing his all to just be with her. Those images began running through her mind, and she desperately began to fight for control over her mind. As she fought for control, her Millennium Necklace began to glow more and more brightly.

While she struggled, Gozaburo was finally freed from the feedback and yelled "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT PHARAOH! NOW BECOME MY SLAVE!"

He slammed a large amount of his energy into Yami, forcing the powerful young man to his knees again. He screamed out in pain, holding his head, trying desperately to free himself from this torment. He was in terrible pain, for it felt like his head would explode. Slowly, he was feeling the darkness surround him, knowing that if he slipped into it, he would lose total control of his mind. Again, the thought of his friends being lost due to him failing to protect them, and how he would hate himself for leaving them in that position. Digging deep for inner strength that he didn't know he even had, he began pushing the darkness away with all the light in his heart.

Gozaburo began feeling his grasp slipping again and decided he could not afford to take another feedback blast. Shoving more power forward, he screamed "YOU THINK YOU'LL WIN? THEN TAKE THIS!"

He sent more power from his evil crown, causing the darkness surrounding the Pharaoh to increase again. It was a more powerful burst of energy than Yami could handle at once. The light in his heart was slowly fading.

In his mind, he screamed out to Yugi, saying "YUGI! I CAN'T HOLD IT BACK MUCH LONGER! PLEASE, HELP ME!"

With all his strength, Yugi, who was still in spirit form beside Yami, rose again. He then remerged with Yami and started combing the light within his heart with Yami's. Together, they pushed the power of the light into the darkness. Slowly, the darkness was being forced to retreat.

Growling with more frustration, Gozaburo pushed more power into his crown. He began laughing manically as he could feel Yami and his little friend weakening.

Yami and Yugi were both pushing everything they had into generating the light. It was slowly draining both.

Yugi cried out "Yami, I'm not sure how much longer I can hang on! I'm so sorry!"

Yami tried pushing more power forward to try and take more of the brunt of the blow, but he knew if he fell, Yugi would fall into the darkness as well.

With pain in his voice, Yami sorrowfully said "No need to be sorry Yugi! It's my fault we're in this disadvantage. If only I could tap into more of my power…"

While the struggle continued, Marie was fighting the darkness within her own heart. Gozaburo's power was so strong, but with him fighting Yami, his grasp over her had weakened considerably. With all her might and strength within, she poured out more energy than she had ever. This was the untapped power she had had as a young child. This was the power that would have made her the strongest in Egypt. It was the power that Yami's father had feared would upset the balance of things and destroy his family's dynasty, thus ending his son's future reign. Now with all this new found power, she poured it out, banishing the darkness from her mind and freeing herself once again.

Gozaburo felt it suddenly, as a huge backlash of power came from Marie, severing the link with her. It was enough to distract him and cause him to lose focus on Yami.

Yami felt the focus of Gozaburo slipping and he looked deep within himself for any and all strength he could find. He remembered how much he loved his friends, and how if he was gone, they'd all be powerless to save themselves. This caused a major surge of energy to come forth and destroyed the darkness in his mind, forcing Gozaburo out.

With the double shock of Marie and Yami forcing him out of their minds, Gozaburo was physically thrown out of his throne. He laid there panting for a moment, knowing the double feedback would cost him precious time.

Now Marie was free, as well as Yami. She fell to her knees as her eyes returned to normal, and the Millennium Symbol disappeared, but her Millennium Necklace still glowing with intense power. It was such a bright golden light that it was nearly blinding.

Yami looked back at Marie and smiled, knowing thanks to his friend, he had been given the chance to free himself. Slowly, he dragged himself to his feet and walked over to her, knowing that they didn't have time to waste. Grabbing her hand, he began to yank her up. Still, she sat there, not making any motion to stand up.

Yami turned back towards her and yelled "Marie, hurry! We must go before he regains his full power!"

Still, she sat there, her eyes swelled up with tears. "I… I can't go Yami. I'm too… I'm too exhausted to move." she said in a sad voice.

Staring at her in shock, he then began to get ready to carry her out. She placed a hand on his chest as he was bending over to pick her up.

In a chocked up sobbing voice, she said "No… don't do it. You can't carry me and escape. There isn't enough time. He'll be up before we could escape, and neither of us have enough power to stop him again. Please, go and save yourself."

Yami looked at her with tears in the corners of his eyes. With full concern in his voice, he replied "But I can't leave you! He'll resume control if I leave you, and you know that!"

She nodded, knowing that it would happen. "I know…" she said in a small voice. More tears welled in her eyes as she continued. "… but, I have to stay. It will give you enough time to run. If I stay, you'll survive and be able to save Illidan as well."

Now she was shaking as the tears continued to stream down her face. In a voice filled with sorrow, she continued. "Please, save him, Yami. He is the key to it all. If he survives, we all have a chance to still fix things. Please, save him! And tell him this. I will always love him, and know he'll save me! Also, only Joey and Seto are free right now. The others are all captured by Gozaburo as well. Let him know this. Now please, go!"

With her final words, she then pushed on his chest, forcing him to stand up. Yami was crying as he stood there, looking at his long time friend. He understood what she was doing. She was sacrificing herself in order to save him. He didn't like it, but he had no choice. She couldn't escape on her own, and he couldn't carry her out in time. Knowing there was no other way, he turned and ran, smashing the door open and off of it's hinges on the way out. He quickly ran down the hall to the elevator and set off for the living quarters.

Meanwhile, Gozaburo finally sat back up, his head reeling from the pain inflicted by Marie and Yami's feedback. He stood and looked at the pathetic woman sitting in his floor. Marie sat there, glaring at him with eyes full of defiance.

Suddenly, it hit him. A memory of the former Gozaburo of ancient times opened up. It was one where he had talked with Illidan a day after her first testing of her Shadow Powers. He had bragged how his student would have been the strongest person with Shadow Powers in Egypt if she'd been trained from an earlier age. How her powers would have surpassed his own powers now if she'd trained while she'd been young. He remembered how the ancient fool had laughed at Illidan's comments, thinking Illidan had gone crazy. Now he realized Illidan wasn't lying and that he'd seen a sample of her untapped strength just a few minutes ago.

"So, that was your true power, wasn't it Marie?" he said with irritation in his voice.

She only glared at him still, refusing to look away or give up. Her eyes were filled with defiance still yet, knowing that she wouldn't give up, no matter what the cost. She had to buy Yami as much time as she could in order for him to get to Illidan.

Gozaburo sensed she was incredibly weak, knowing she couldn't resist him again most likely. Even with her untapped power still flowing through her, it was still not enough to defeat the might of his Millennium Crown. Not to mention, she was weakening. The power she had tapped into was beginning to fade away again as well. He then realized that out of necessity she had been able to tap into it.

Marie never took her eyes off the evil man in front of her. In a defiant voice, she said "You may take control of my mind and body, but you'll never control my soul. I'll fight till the bitter end and never give up. It's my love for Illidan that makes me strong and I'll never give up because I know he loves me with all his heart and soul, and you can never take that from me!"

Gozaburo laughed evilly at her and replied "That so! Then take this!"

He once again powered up the Millennium Crown, throwing his full power into it. He then reached out and began taking control of her mind.

With all the strength she had, Marie tried to push him back. The little strength she had left was no where near enough. She let a tear fall from her eyes as she felt the overwhelming darkness surrounding her.

She smiled and silently said "I love you, Illidan."

Then suddenly the darkness swallowed her whole, easily taking control of her mind.