Hello once more everyone. I'm glad you all liked the last two chapters. Not too much new here, for I've been working most of the day only to come home and kind of pass out, lol. I have been working on my Inuyasha story though, and it's nearly finished up. Once I finish it, I'll start back to work on my other one-shot for Yugioh. Hopefully, once I get done with it, I'll resume work on my final sequel. I thought I'd be farther on it than I am, but oh well. At any rate, onto the reviews.

Metal Overlord 2.0: Yeah, she's his puppet. It looks slightly like Battle City, but it hopefully won't turn out that way… Btw, you idea is good. I like it, but I hate to tell you that I really don't want to work it back in now. I finished this story back in February (that was the reworks and corrections), and I just don't have the time, energy, concentration, and more than likely patience, to work on it again. Your idea is good though, for I had never thought of the Sacred Beasts as the dark Egyptian Gods. Lol, the Egyptian Gods themselves seemed dark in a way. Thank you for the suggestion though. And don't worry, I discuss the Sacred Beasts later on. There is a story to go with them coming up eventually.

pink-kiss-candy: Yeah, I couldn't have poor Yami get taken over. Everyone would hate me then, lol. Pokes Ryou one more time with stick. Yep, he's alive.

Strawberry Cake: Sadly, yeah, it wasn't enough to beat Gozaburo. Yami escaped at least, but no one could really stand against the crown head on, sadly.

Isis the Sphinx: A messenger indeed. And yeah, it's kind of a shock.

Tomb Robber Vicky: Yeah, I liked the flash back as well. Once Cindy finishes up more of her story, you'll see more about their past. But yeah, Illidan could break down, or just explode, lol. Lol, doubtful Seto would work with anyone, although Joey might.

Ultimate Legendary Master: Who knows what will happen, well, other than me and my fiancé, lol. He might, you never know. Then again, he'd probably say "Get the hell away from me tards!" Yeah, that'd be more like a Seto response, lol.

x-knight20: Thanks. Yeah, I know, it was kind of sad, but she knew she had to in order to save Yami sadly. Looks at eye. Yeah, it's called a tear, lol.

Well, that's all I have this morning. Tomorrow should be fun. I get to drive four hours to see my fiancé. I love her to death, but I wish she wasn't so far away… Oh well, I knew that she'd be that far away when she got her job. sigh I'll just have to get over it. Anyways, I'll post in the morning, or more than like this evening. Later everyone.

Chapter 105

Illidan stirred in his sleep once again. In his dreams, he was reliving painful memories, but with a twist. The memories were changed slightly, to where many other things happened.

First was the day he had lost his guardian at the age of 14. They had been in a battle with a group of mercenaries that had attacked their training grounds. Him and his guardian fought side by side with many friends he had made and trained with. In actuality, only his guardian had died that day, but in this twisted nightmare, his guardian and all his friends died in front of his eyes. The mercenaries then laughed and left a wounded Illidan to deal with his grief.

Another memory then flared up, this one of the day he had first met Marie. It was when he had returned to the stables to find three men trying to rape her. But in this memory, instead of helping her, he was forced to watch, as if he didn't exist as a person who was there. He cried out at the men and tried to stop them, but he couldn't. Then he watched as they killed her in the end, spilling her precious blood all over.

The next twisted memory was when he had first looked into Marie's eyes. Rather than gently stop her from using his Shadow Powers, he used too much strength and killed her instantly with them. He again cried with grief, knowing this time he'd been the one that had killed her.

Another painful memory erected itself then, this one of the day he declared his love to her in ancient times. But instead of accepting him, she rejected him and chose Gozaburo. He was crushed by this event. It felt as if someone had ripped his own heart out and stomped on it several times.

Finally, the last memory that had been twisted beyond belief was the day Gozaburo had been driven insane by the Millennium Crown. One by one, he killed the Shadow Court members till only Marie and Illidan remained. He then took control of Marie's mind and body, forcing her to draw a sword and attack Illidan with it. He desperately tried to wake her up from the controlling haze, but nothing worked and she began to slowly wound him. His precious crimson life force was pouring out from several wounds, but still he fought on. In her eyes was a look of rage and hatred for him. Then before she was going to deliver the final blow, she said the words he never believed he'd hear from her mouth. "I HATE YOU! NOW DIE ILLIDAN!" The words alone seemed to kill him. He had then felt the pain of the sword delivering the killing blow. He stood there, drawing in his last breaths of life as he watched Marie walk back over to Gozaburo, who then kissed him passionately. Gozaburo laughed with an evil smirk on his face and then released control of Marie. She stood there blinking her eyes for a second, then finally realized what she'd done. It was too late though. Illidan drew his last breath and died in front of her.

Suddenly, before the next nightmare could be found within his memories, he awoke. He sat up with a sudden jolt. His body was covered in sweat, and tears were running down his cheeks. He shook his head and tried to clear his mind and shake the horrible dreams out of his head.

With a sad voice, he said "So many memories, yet twisted into horrible dreams. Why though, I don't know."

He looked down to see his Millennium Key glowing softly, as if it was trying to say something.

Sighing, he decided to reach out with his key and see if he could find Marie. Usually, when he was injured or unconscious, she would stay close by. Normally, right by his bed. He looked around the room, trying to see if she was still there. He realized immediately she was gone, but when he reached out to feel her presence within the tower, he couldn't find it. He continued to search the island, thinking she must be outside. Again, he found nothing. Now he was getting worried. He could always sense when she was around with his Millennium Key, but he was picking up no traces of her at all now. It was as if she was being either shielded from him or she was hiding extremely well. She'd never been able to hide from him though, so he was unsure why he couldn't find her.

He reached out again, this time looking for the others. He found Shadi easily, for he never masked his energy now that he didn't have the Millennium Key. He searched again for others and only found Yami, who was heading towards him quickly. He concentrated again and looked for any sign of Marik and Bakura, but found not one sign of them being around. Now he was worried. Both of them had unique energies that he could easily detect. It was impossible for them to hide, for they had never had to.

Again, he stretched out his power and found Gozaburo was alive and well. "Well, that means the Millennium Key isn't busted then." he mused with a sigh.

After a moment though, he said aloud "Still, this makes little sense. Why can't I sense Marie, Marik, and Bakura? They're all three here, I'm sure of it. And why is Yami approaching me so fast?"

Illidan sighed and decided to finally to get up. He slowly climbed out of bed, realizing he was wearing only shorts and underwear. Smirking, he perversely thought "I bet Marie dressed me. She always liked to at least undress me in ancient times."

He then stretched out and walked over to grab some clothes out of the closet. Once he had something picked out, he decided to take a shower. He quickly grabbed his clothes and went into the bathroom. He jumped in and began to scrub up. While shampooing his hair, he heard the door open. "Strange, I thought I locked it. Oh well, guess not. Must be Marie. After all, she wouldn't lock herself out."

He didn't even bother to feel to see who it was. Once he finished washing his hair, he shut off the water and grabbed a towel. Wrapping it around his waist, he decided to walk out to greet Marie, hoping to get some whistles from her.

Instead when he walked out, there stood a worn out Yami, who was panting, and now had a red face due to embarrassment. Illidan smacked his head due to the stupidity of not trying to find out who it was.

"Uh… can you put some clothes on so we can talk Illidan?" Yami stated rather flatly.

Illidan laughed and replied with "What, can't you talk to me in this?"

Yami shook his head and kept a stern face, which wasn't that typical of Yami. Illidan realized he'd better quit joking around. He quickly went back into the bathroom and finished cleaning up, coming out finally dressed fully in jeans and a orange t-shirt.

Illidan then saw Yami sigh and he sat down. He looked a little worse for wear to say the least. His eyes were puffy, like he'd been crying. This concerned Illidan greatly, for he'd rarely seen the great Pharaoh cry in ancient times, and never in current times.

Illidan took a seat as well on a chair in front of Yami and asked "So, what is it?"

Yami looked quite troubled by something, but sighed. He closed his eyes, looking like he was about ready to cry. Slowly, he spoke, saying "Illidan, it's about Marie and the others…"

Illidan could tell this was extremely hard for Yami to talk about. He quickly asked "Does it have something to do with the fact I can't sense the other Millennium Items, other than mine, yours, Shadi's, and Gozaburo's?"

Yami slowly opened his violet eyes and nodded to him, saying "Yes, it does. The others have been taken over by Gozaburo…"

He closed his eyes as he said this. Illidan looked in disbelief at Yami. In shock, Illidan asked "All of them?"

With a nod, Yami replied with "Yes, all of them…"

Illidan now realized how hard this was for Yami. He was telling him all of the other duelists, including his beloved Marie, were captured!

Illidan stood as power began to flare out from his Millennium Key. He turned away from Yami and started walking towards the door.

Yami quickly jumped to his feet and moved in front of Illidan. He screamed "NO! You can't help them right now!"

Illidan was ready to throw Yami out of the way with a bit of his energy when he realized he couldn't afford to waste one drop of his power. "MOVE YAMI!" he said in a demanding voice.

He didn't care if Yami was the Pharaoh reborn at this moment. In fact, he didn't care about anything, other than one simple thing. The fact that he had to free Marie, at all costs. That meant if he had to sacrifice his life, so be it. Yami continued to block him though.

With eyes of determination, Yami said "No, I can't move Illidan. I promised Marie to make sure you survived. If I let you go, you'll be decimated in a battle with Gozaburo. Marie was, even when she was tapping into her hidden power."

Shocked by Yami's statement, he asked in disbelief "She… she tapped into it?"

Yami nodded, and replied with "Yes, she did. She was able to free herself while I was there by tapping into it. It was magnificent. Her power was overwhelming for a moment. But it was uncontrolled. It was only a short burst. She quickly lost it after she settled back down. But her display helped free me as well. I wasn't captured yet, but almost was. With her little display, I freed myself. I tried to bring her with me, but there wasn't time. She knew that. That's why she made me leave and come to save you, and to keep you safe for now."

Illidan's power slowly began to drop now. His Millennium Key powered down, showing signs he was calming down at the least.

He was still in shock that she had managed to tap into that hidden power. Years ago, in ancient Egypt, he had worked with her to try and tap into it. When she had started out at the age of sixteen, she had an amazing gift. She was as strong as Illidan had been when he'd left for training at age eight. This amazed him that she could control her power at such an older age without any real training.

Through three years of rigorous training, they fought to gain a handle on it. Of course, by age eighteen, most Shadow Duelists couldn't get too much stronger. They wouldn't make great gains of power like most did at when were younger. But amazingly, Marie had grown to be as strong as Yami had been when he was sixteen, which was an amazing feat for anyone. For she had gained the power with only two years of training, where it took Yami eight years to reach that level. Even at eighteen, she continued to grow stronger. Sometimes, in duels, she would find great strength within herself to summon powerful monsters.

Illidan had realized back then that she was somehow tapping into a power that manifested itself deep within her. He later decided that it was a hidden power, one which could only be summoned in times of great need. She had tapped into it during their duel during her final test. It had been what helped her summon Tyrant Dragon in that duel. There was no other true explanation for it. At the time, she had been far too weak to summon a monster. So, the simplest one to him was she had used her hidden power. After that final test, he had rarely seen her tap into again. They had continued to try and tap into it, but she never did quite learn to tap into it fully. Only in the most desperate of situations did she seem able to tap into her hidden power, but still, it was there in a flash and then faded in a flash. She never could maintain it.

He had learned after the rampage of the Egyptian Gods from Yami that Marie had tapped into her power that day as well. It was her that had stopped a rampaging Ra from destroying the entire city of Cairo. That kind of power had amazed Illidan, and he had tried to resume training her to tap into the power, but still, they never could fully tap into it.

Even after the Millennium Items had been constructed, she still seemed to be able to tap into it, but as before, only in desperate situations. The only problem was she rarely tapped into it after the items had been constructed. Illidan had figured then that possibly her hidden power had been drained due that the Shadow Magic had been sealed within the items. Perhaps her hidden strength hadn't. Now that Yami had told him about this development, he pondered how much hidden power she still had. If it was anything like in ancient times, it would make even Illidan quiver in fear at the thought of facing her in a Shadow Game.

His thoughts then turned back to the situation. Gozaburo had captured eight out of ten duelists, meaning he was planning something for the final 10-way duel. Now that Gozaburo had the eight, Illidan realized what he was attempting to do.

He looked at Yami and said "He's trying to eliminate me."

Yami nodded, replying with "It seems that way. What better a way to eliminate you than with the one you love?"

Illidan's eyes were filled with strong rage, just thinking of how Gozaburo was trying to destroy him. "Using my friends and the woman I love to destroy me. That is the most detestable thing he could try to do to me. I won't go down without a fight though. I'll free them, at all costs, even if that means I must sacrifice myself." Illidan said with rage flashing from his eyes.

Yami stared at his friend, feeling so sorry for him. He knew when he had left Marie that it would be difficult on Illidan to hear the news. Now Illidan was setting himself up to try and set his friends free, even at the cost of his own life.

"Wait, there might be another way. If the four of us; me, you, Seto, and Joey…"

Before Yami could continue, Illidan said "Four? I thought you said everyone but the two of us?"

Yami shook his head, and replied "I'm sorry, I meant to pass that onto you. Marie said Seto and Joey had survived their confrontations with Gozaburo."

Illidan thought for a moment, and then realized why Seto could survive. The fact he was the reincarnation of Set, the High Priest of Egypt, must have made his mind strong enough to take on Gozaburo's tactics. As for Joey, Illidan was unsure why it worked. After a moment, he remembered a person that looked like Joey that had helped him escape Cairo back when he was a child. Of course, the man he thought of was killed in battle, but he had been a nomad who had great strength. Still, he clearly remembered now that it had been Joey that had helped him escape.

Illidan was soon awoken from his thoughts, as Yami said "If we all work together, we may win the duel. But of course, there can be only one winner…"

Illidan chuckled lightly and said "You really think Seto would try and help us? He maybe the reincarnation of Set from ancient times, but he denies his past. He'll never help us now."

Yami looked at Illidan with a shocked look. "So… you knew he was Set the whole time?" he asked.

Again, Illidan chuckled and replied "Yes, I did. I knew from the first day I met him that he was more than likely Set. I can sense the Shadow Powers still within him. Even though he denies his past life now, I know it be true, for I've felt the Millennium Rod seemingly calling out to him."

Yami nodded and said "Yes, it called out to him twice during Battle City. The first time was in a duel with Ishizu. The second time was in a duel with me when our Egyptian God Cards clashed. I saw the second vision, but from what I guessed, the first one showed him something that forced him to summon his Blue-Eyes White Dragon in order to defeat Ishizu."

Illidan only smiled, knowing his former friend from the past was most likely receiving visions of his past. It was sad really though that Seto was ignoring the visions though. His past was a glorious one, at least to Illidan.

Finally shaking these feelings out of his head, he looked up again at Yami. "Will Joey help us in the duel?" he asked questionably.

Yami only smiled as Yugi's spirit form appeared. "Yes, I'm sure Joey will help us Illidan. I'd almost guarantee he will." replied the young boy.

Illidan nodded and then tried to think about how they were going to do this. "There is one problem though Yami. There are six of them and four of us. Sure, me and you have the first two positions locked down, but Joey is fourth and Seto is eighth. With Marie between you and Joey, she could easily pick off Seto or even one of us. Possibly even Joey, but more than likely she'll be forced to go after me thanks to Gozaburo. I'm sure that's his plan. He wants to pick me off as fast as possible. Then you'll be next, followed most likely by Seto, then Joey. Once the four of us are out, he doesn't care who wins."

Yami nodded again, knowing that was more than likely the plan. He stood there trying to think of a plan. "The best thing we could do is try and protect each other. If we can get rid of at least three or four opponents early, we should be a good bit safer." stated Yami flatly.

Illidan nodded, knowing full well it would take everything for them to win now. If he was to save Marie, and his new friends, he needed to win, at any and all costs.

Illidan then looked at Yami and said "Let's go find Joey and Seto. Hopefully we can get them to form an alliance with us. I know Joey would help, but Seto I could always hope for."

Yami nodded and the two stood up, leaving the room to search out their allies.