AN: The website was down when I posted the last chapter, so if you haven't read it, go right ahead so you're not confused!

They are lucky to even be alive after that explosion. Cairo had managed to protect them with a shield at the last moment using her wand. Unfortunately, it wasn't strong enough to take on the full duration of the blast. It shattered like the mirrors around them and they caught the tail end of the explosion, throwing her and her father in different directions.

They're alive. But now they face another problem that could cause them to cease to exist.

Still laying on the ground, Atem watches with horror as Yami Marik picks up the sphere containing Cairo's dark abilities. After Mimic was practically incinerated by the darkness and his self destruction, the sphere was left behind, leaving it up for grabs.

And now it is in Yami Marik's possession.

'I knew he was up to no good,' Atem thinks angrily to himself. 'I knew he couldn't be trusted. But he still managed to cause distractions and decoys to avoid suspicion.'

Atem's eyes scroll over to Cairo, who still lies facedown and motionless. He gasps sharply when Marik's gaze goes down to her.

"This was honestly easier than I thought it would be," Yami Marik says, towering over her. "I have to say I'm disappointed."

"Get away from her…" Atem says, trying to use his hands to sit up.

Yami Marik smirks. "Wait your turn pharaoh. I'll end you soon enough." He lifts the sphere up to his eye level, studying it and moving it around in his hand. It almost seems anticlimactic for it to end this way. Mentally he had prepared himself for a huge battle between the three of them, ending with his victory of course. But the two people he expected to fight are now practically out of commission. Would he even need the dark power?

Something glimmers at the corner of his eye and he grins, outstretching his hand toward the sharp object. It levitates and floats through the air until it is positioned just right. "This should do nicely," Yami Marik says, aiming the large, pointed shard from a broken mirror at her back.

"Perhaps I wasn't clear," Atem says lowly, causing Yami Marik to look over his shoulder. "Get away from her. Now."

The sight of Atem struggling to get up to his hands and knees while giving threats only makes Yami Marik cackle at his pathetic attempt of intimidation. "There are certainly similarities between you and your daughter, I'll say that," Yami Marik says, turning his sights back to Cairo. "Both of you talk a huge game. But that's all it is. All talk and empty threats. Without her dark abilities, she's weak and incapable of effectively protecting herself. And so are you."

He raises his hand that is currently in control of the floating piece of glass, preparing to strike. "May you suffer immensely and forever be enshrouded in dar—" A magical blast collides into his body, causing him to be flung into the air, hitting the ground shortly after. Sitting up, he growls inwardly.

The sorceress glares angrily with glowing pink eyes and clenched teeth, ready to shoot yet another attack at the one who threatens her family.

"It's Mana!" Yugi exclaims, relieved that she has appeared just in time to save Cairo.

"That's Mana?" Joey asks with disbelief over her new appearance.

"Nice haircut," Téa compliments with a surprised expression.

Mana exhales deeply after landing a moderate blow to Yami Marik, then she crouches down to Cairo, placing a hand softly on her back. She can feel movement, signifying she is breathing, which only brings Mana a little at ease. She notes her daughter's long hair and gasps lightly. It's just like when she was able to extract the dark abilities from Cairo in the afterlife before it ended in failure.

"Cairo…"

Feeling a tug in her heart, she holds onto her chest. She looks over her shoulder to Atem, sensing something off. Her strength hasn't fully returned and it's all due to Atem not being a hundred percent either. The fact that he can't even stand is very telling.

"Atem...?"

He grimaces, managing to hunch up on his elbows. With him being in this weakened state, Mana can feel herself fading. It's taking a lot out of Atem for her to even be summoned there. And if she takes a hit, he could…

As she turns her head back, her neck is suddenly grabbed by Yami Marik who lifts her off her feet. She gasps for air, trying to free herself from his grasp. In any other scenario, she would be able to free herself with ease. But if she overdoes it, it could mean fatal consequences for Atem.

"M-Mana…!" Atem yells hoarsely.

Yami Marik snickers. "You never introduced me to your significant other," he says, maneuvering her so that her back is up against him, with one hand still clenching her throat and the other wrapped around her waist. "That's what she is, right?"

He moves his face to lightly press his nose into her hair, inhaling her sweet scent. Mana shutters and tries to move away, only for him to tighten his grip.

This sends Atem into a rage. "MARIK! I'm warning you!"

"You're really in no position to be giving threats pharaoh," Yami Marik says with a grin.

Atem is about to respond, but something hovering behind his foe leaves him speechless. He partially sees a tall black figure with blue skin, long spiky hair and wielding a long black wand, floating inches off the ground. Its arms are crossed over its chest and its narrowed gaze is directly on Yami Marik.

"It's truly pathetic that you can't protect your own family. It makes me wonder how you even qualified to be king of Egypt," Yami Marik continues to taunt.

Atem subtly looks over to where Cairo is laying. She has not moved, which puzzles him. His eyes slowly scroll to Mana who looks at him knowingly. She must have sensed this new monster's presence before he did, seeing that it is also a sorcerer.

"You guys…where did the monster come from?" Téa asks. The presence from this sorcerer alone gives her chills.

"It must belong to Cairo," Yugi guesses. "The Magician of Black Chaos…"

"But how?" Tristan questions. "She hasn't moved a muscle since the explosion!"

"I'll never forget that guy," Joey says in a serious tone, remembering the last they saw the sorcerer.

"Yeah," Yugi agrees, nodding his head. "And I'm sure it brings back bad memories for Atem and Mana."

"…And now it's time to do away with you," Yami Marik finishes. But it isn't long before he notices the shocked expression on Atem's face. And by the looks of it, the pharaoh is looking at something behind him.

Yami Marik slowly turns his head and his eyes immediately snap wide open. "What's this?! Who summoned you?!"

The Magician of Black Chaos simply raises its wand in preparation for an attack. Yami Marik grits his teeth fearfully. Whatever this magician is packing will surely leave him in a battered state. He's sure of it. 'No! I haven't been able to absorb the dark energy yet! Not without my other self! But now, I'm completely defenseless against this monster!"

Yami Marik suddenly feels something hit the side of his head, throwing him off balance and loosening his grip on Mana, allowing her to escape. A red liquid pours out of the wound and he whips around, seeing Atem fully standing with another rock in his hand.

"Why you—!" He isn't able to finish his sentence when the Magician of Black Chaos pulls back its wand, winding up its attack before shooting out a powerful magical wave of energy, sending him flying hundreds of feet.

"NO! THIS ISN'T THE END!" Yami Marik's voice echoes before fading away.

Seeing Atem about to collapse again, Mana runs over to hold him up, placing his arm over her shoulder and wrapping her other arm around his waist for support.

Atem grunts. "Is that…?"

"Yeah. And it looks like it's not finished," Mana replies, seeing the tall magician eyeing them now and targeting them for its next attack. As they stare face to face with Cairo's monster, Mana thinks back to when she last saw the Magician of Black Chaos. It was during the final battle between Atem and Cairo. The magician had appeared at a point in the battle where Cairo was in trouble. And it appears to be doing the same right now.

But instead, it's perceiving Atem and Mana to be a threat. Perhaps it remembers them as well. How they faced off against each other's monsters and ultimately led to his defeat.

"This must be payback," Mana says anxiously. "No hard feelings right?"

The Magician of Black Chaos raises its wand toward her in response.

"Great…" Atem says with dread.

"I'll take that as a no," Mana replies, grinning nervously as she and Atem back up a little in anticipation of its attack.

"Chaos, what are you doing?" an innocent voice asks.

Atem and Mana exchange glances before a small figure walks from behind Magician of Black Chaos. She holds onto her arm and her eyes are dull looking from her lack of energy. The magician goes to face its master, lowering its scepter.

"They are not our enemy," Cairo tells the magician. "They were never our enemy." It would make sense as to why her magician has immediately gone into defense when seeing her parents. He hasn't been summoned since then and is clearly still living in the past.

"That's my mom and my dad," she continues to tell him. "So please…stand down."

The Magician of Black Chaos doesn't respond for a moment, as if making sure its master is truly okay. Its expression is hard to read and for a moment, Cairo thinks it will not listen, seeing it turn around to face her parents again with its scepter pointed at them. Even in a state of weakness, Atem gathers the strength to stand up straight and place his arm in front of Mana protectively.

Instead, a warm glow appears around him and Atem suddenly feels his strength returning, little by little and Mana feels the same to their surprise. Then it finally bows and disappears.

Cairo lets out a long sigh, drooping her shoulders. "That actually worked…thank goodness…" A wave of exhaustion hits her all at once, her body suddenly feeling weighed down before she faints.

"Cairo!" Mana yells, rushing over and crouching down to lift her daughter in her arms. Atem joins her moments later as Mana observes her daughter's injuries and her altered appearance. "She really has reverted back to her old self…just like last time…"

"Yes," Atem replies before looking over his shoulder in the direction Yami Marik was blasted away. He's still out there. And they need to find him as soon as possible. But with Cairo in her current condition, they will have to retreat unfortunately.

"Are you guys alright?" Yugi asks as he and the others run to them.

"We're fine," Atem tells them.

"It looks like he got away," Joey assumes and Atem nods his head.

"There's not much we can do now," Atem says. Then he looks down at his daughter. "Let's get her back home."

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At first she hears the sounds of water running, followed by shower curtains being drawn back and the sound of her father's voice. Her body is lowered into the tub and she is immediately greeted by the warm water that goes up to her armpit. Her arms are draped over the edge of the tub and her head is tilted, resting on her shoulder as someone picks through her hair.

A muffled woman's voice begins to speak to her father and Cairo finds herself trying to unravel the mystery of who it is.

Atem leans on a wall inside the bathroom that faces away from the bathtub, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. "How is she?"

"She's going to be fine," Mana tells him, floating next to the tub while picking the small shards of glass out her daughter's hair. She has to say, seeing her daughter like this sure does bring back memories. Aside from the incident in the afterlife, she hasn't seen Cairo look like this in centuries. If only this could have been under better circumstances.

Atem hears Mana let out a small sigh and he opens his eyes. "Something wrong?"

"No," Mana quickly replies. "Everything's fine."

Atem pauses. He can only imagine what's going through his wife's head as she tends to Cairo. "It's only temporary," he says, causing Mana to stop what she's doing for a moment and bringing her back to reality.

She knows that. Once Cairo gets her dark abilities back, she'll be back to her 'shadow' self. So why did Atem's words cause such a heart wrenching reaction within her? Mana slowly nods her head with lowered eyes. "Yeah…I guess apart of me still held out hope."

"If it's any consolation, Cairo has accepted this outcome as well," he continues. "And so should we."

"Right…" Mana says before changing the subject. "What's the plan?"

"Yami Marik hasn't absorbed the dark abilities right away. I'm sure he knows what will happen after seeing what happened to Mimic.."

"That should buy us some time, right?"

"Not necessarily. Yami Marik thinks quickly on his feet. And I'm sure he'll come up with a solution very soon."

"Any plan he comes up with will end in his demise eventually," Mana says. "I still remember when it was briefly inside me…It literally felt like Zorc himself was trying to take control, feening for my power."

Atem's eyes widen. "You never told me this, Mana," he says with surprise. But he guesses it makes sense. The dark abilities Cairo was cursed with did directly come from Zorc himself.

"A piece of Zorc was within Cairo…at least until your old foe from this world got his hands on it."

"Is there a possibility Zorc could reemerge?"

Cairo groans lightly, her eyes fluttering open. As her vision begins to focus, she notices someone in close proximity to her. Her eyes slowly scroll up, meeting the gaze of a woman with aquamarine eyes. Though the appearance of this woman is different, her presence is the same as it's always been. Just like her mother, she can sense the presence of other sorcerers. And not only that. But when it comes to the bond between her and her mother, they know each other's energy like the back of their hand.

"M-Mom?" Cairo says hoarsely.

Mana smiles. The last she saw her daughter was right before the shadows took her again in the afterlife. She was in so much fear and distress. The villagers had taunted and picked on her prior to that. And it was overall a tough time. "Hi there!"

"Mom…you got a hair cut," she says, slightly lifting her head, truly viewing her mother for the first time. "And you look different. How did you get here?"

"I don't know quite how it happened, but your father can summon me in this world," her mother replies, rubbing her head. "And apparently it comes with a different appearance."

Cairo looks left and right. "Where is he?"

Mana looks over her shoulder to the corner of a wall where Atem is on the opposite side. Cairo follows her gaze and sees the shoulder of his black jacket poking out a little, revealing his presence. But he stays silent to allow Cairo this moment with her mother, since they haven't seen each other in awhile.

"How are you feeling?" Mana asks.

"I'm okay…but…" she lowers her eyes, causing Mana to tilt her head with concern.

"What's wrong?"

"Have I always been this weak?"

"What do you mean?"

"I could barely put up a magical shield to protect dad and I…And I can't shoot magical blasts from my hands. I have to rely on my wand for everything," Cairo explains. "Did I mention I can't fly?"

Atem overhears this and it all suddenly makes sense. He wondered why she mentioned she couldn't heal him. Or why placing a shield around them was so difficult when it always used to be so second nature to her.

"You're not weak Cairo."

"But there's so many things I can't do now."

"Is that really the case?"

Cairo blinks. "Huh?"

"Perhaps you're holding back."

Cairo rests her chin in the palm of her hand. "Believe me, I was trying my hardest back there."

"Remember your trainings with Mahad? How you two were sparring in the courtyard and you were doubting yourself until he pushed you to go all out? You let out the biggest magical attack I've ever seen you do!"

Atem recalls when this happened. When he went back to the Memory World, it was the first time he reunited with Cairo. She and Mahad were training and she released an attack that even impressed the male magician.

"Sure, you were given new abilities when the darkness overcame you, but it also happened to enhance the abilities you already had within you," Mana continues. "Just because the darkness is gone doesn't mean you can't do it anymore. Just look deep down inside yourself. And I think you'll be surprised at what you can really do on your own."

Cairo sighs softly, not quite convinced. But decides to focus on the whereabouts of her 'partner.' "Where's Yami Marik?"

"Gone," Mana replies. "Probably trying to recover. And you should be resting too."

Atem leaves to the sounds of Cairo's protests. He later finds himself outside in the backyard, looking up at the night sky. It seems like they have been taking loss after loss with no light at the end of the tunnel in sight.

What does Yami Marik having Cairo's dark abilities mean? With Mimic being out of the picture, it has become even more clear that Yami Marik was using him as a scapegoat. And now that Yami Marik has gotten a glimpse of what he can do with those abilities, Atem has no doubt that he will be using it to its full potential. But will even his old foe be able to handle it?

The more time that passes by, the more Atem grows anxious to take action. "I have to do something," he says to himself, stepping a few feet forward.

"Alone?" Mana's voice echoes before she magically appears in front of him. "I think not."

"Cairo is in no condition to—"

"And you are?" Mana questions raising an eyebrow. "We have no idea what we're up against!"

"I know exactly what we're up against. I've fought him before and I know he'll stop at nothing to get his way. He is merciless and pure evil and I refuse to let him harm Cairo or anyone I love."

Mana sighs and shakes her head. "You and your daughter are so similar."

"What do you mean?"

"Stubborn," Mana mutters side eyeing him.

"Is that all…?" he mutters back, dimming his eyes at her.

"Before I made her go to bed, she also said that she cannot allow Marik to hurt anyone she loves as well."

Atem lowers his eyes. "I see…"

"You two are determined to worry me to no end," Mana groans, dropping her head briefly. "I'm behind you every step of the way. But please…whatever you decide to do…please be safe."

He lifts her head up by cupping her chin to look her directly in the eyes. "Always, Mana." He then brings her into his arms and she rests her head on his shoulder as they both look up to the full moon, anticipating the things to come. "Always."

Unbeknownst to them, Cairo gazes down at the both of them from the bedroom window, consumed with anxiety as a bad feeling overcomes her. She looks down to her hands, remembering the words her mother spoke to her just a few moments ago. Has she really been holding herself back? Have her struggles with her abilities really all been in her mind?

A cold shiver goes down her spine, feeling darkness growing elsewhere and she closes her eyes with a long exhale. "Are we…are we already too late…?"

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In the middle of a dark road, a severely damaged motorcycle lies on its side with flames shooting out and smoke raising into the air. Off in the distance, a spiky haired silhouette lifts his victim by grasping onto his weaker self's neck with one hand and holding the dark orb containing Cairo's power in the other.

The good Marik sports several cuts on his face and arms as he struggles to break free from his evil self's grasp. While his evil self sports even more injuries from the battle before. But that doesn't stop him from commencing with his plan. "No…Stop this at once…" Marik demands weakly in a grainy tone.

Yami Marik only grins devilishly as the orb breaks into his hand and a purple light surrounds them both, merging two silhouettes into one.

Marik's body goes numb to the sound of Yami Marik's laughter and his world becomes pitch black as he feels himself fading.

A huge surge of power goes through Yami Marik's body, feeling the darkness going through his veins and his injuries beginning to heal. At first he feels discomfort as he doubles over and covers his face with one hand. But with the addition of his good counterpart's body, he is able to overcome it shortly after and he has the strength to stand up straight, snickering lowly.

"I must say…the child wasn't lying. If not for absorbing my weaker self, I'm not sure if I would be able to handle all this power," he comments, balling up his fist and inhaling before exhaling, ending with a smirk on his lips.

"But now that I have succeeded in gaining this power…I'm never letting it go."

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOL

AN: A huge battle lurks ahead. But who will come out victorious? What will the outcome be? And can Yami Marik truly handle his newfound power even after fusing with his other self? Keep reading and find out! And leave a review!