Banged this chapter out in three hours! Woohoo!

Was hoping to get it up earlier but I got distracted by other projects. Anyway, here it is! the conclusion to the Slifer Duel!

Shit it gonna get REAL!


Worthy

The last of Yami's hope vanished alongside the Dark Magician Girl. Wisps of smoke curled mockingly around him and through the haze, there was Slifer, as menacing and undefeatable as ever. It's two mouths that had both just attacked earlier were now tightly closed and those golden eyes bore into his: judging him, testing him, daring him.

Mocking him.

"I can't win." Dread squeezed his heart and his knees wobbled. One gave out and he dropped to it, his duel disk hung limp on his arm, his trembling fingers barely able to grip his two remaining cards.

The God Five Combo. That was what Marik has called it: Slifer the Sky Dragon, Revival Jam who cannot be killed, Jame Defender that allowed it to block any and all attacks, Card of Safe Return drawing three cards whenever the Jam regenerated, and Infinite Cards removing the hand limit and allowing Slifer's power to reign unchecked. Infinite. A True God.

"There's no way to defeat it…" His words were whispers, mourns. "There's just no way." His eyes burned with unshed tears as the full measure of that fact weighed upon his heart and soul. He couldn't win: there was no way to win. He would lose. He would lose his memories forever, and Yugi...oh Ra and all his Blessings, Yugi would die because the Doll had been programmed to kill him .

This pain. This guilt. This terror that left him shaking and burned his eyes so much he couldn't keep them open anymore and once they closed the flood of tears threatened to utterly consume him.

"There's no way...to win." he choked on a sob.

Was this defeat? Was this what it felt like when Hope died?

"Get on your feet, Yugi!" The command was sharp and startling. The smooth baritone sharpened by determination as well as derision, but also something else...something like...encouragement?

Yami rose, spun and was stunned beyond comprehension to find Seto Kaiba standing there on the upper street, glaring at him with absolute fury, not that he was losing, but that he'd dare to give up. "Get on your feet. Yugi!" he repeated again. "Your journey as a Duelist doesn't end here!"

But in that baritone, Yami heard something else behind the words, a subtext message for him and him alone.

I will not let it.

X X X

Seto Kaiba did not believe in Fate.

He did not believe in Magic or Falsehoods of divinity or that anyone else other than himself was in charge of his life and his decisions. He trusted science and power because it was real, because they were factual things he could see and manipulate and if they could be manipulated they could be controlled. And if they could be controlled then he would control them.

Because no one had any right or ability to control his life except he, himself.

Too many people had tried. Too many people had failed. Too many had done everything within their power to break him and he refused, refused , to ever let anyone take his power, his choices, his decisions away from him ever again,

He wasn't proud of every decision he'd made. But every decision had been a choice, his choice, a way for him and Mokuba to have a better life...even if it meant becoming the very kind of creature he despised….the very creature he wanted Seto to be…

He wasn't proud of that person. The person he'd become before...before the Other Yugi.

But it had still been his choice. His mistakes. And he'd triumphed.

He'd escaped the Other Yugi's first Shadow Game...if not barely. He'd survived the second and passed the trials allowing him to rebuild himself and become the person he was before...before Gozoboro, before power and victory and vengeance blinded him. He'd overcome, he'd triumphed, he'd succeeded.

Now, now, call it Fate, Faith or Fortune, he did not care, now the Universe was giving him the chance to prove himself once again, but on a scale far more tremendous. Far more astronomical. Now, now, he was being given the chance to prove himself worthy.

Not just worthy of a God, but of all the Gods.

Not just worthy of the title King of Games, but of the King of Games, himself.

And he would be damned if he let some second rate grave-digging card thief take either of those things away from him.

"You are one of the few people who I respect as a duelist! Where's your pride?" The words were accusatory despite themselves. "I won't allow you to lose miserably while I watch!" They were fierce and harsh. but nothing in the tone reeked of blame or disgust, only shameless determination.

Will .

"I know you can see it," Kaiba's tone softened, almost to a plea, though his words were no less sharp. "Our road of battle goes farther than the eye can see. Don't tell me…" There was almost a choke in the tone, but it was covered up so smoothly by the ferocious fervor of the next words, it could almost have been imagined. "Don't tell me you're going to stop here !"

The Other Yugi stared at him: his eyes wide and cocked almost like a curious bird: confused, but in them was fierceness, a hope, not a gentle push but a needed shove off the cliff to give his wings the wind to fly.

"And if a God stands in your way," A smile slit Kaiba's face. "You mow them down!"

Seto watched as the Other Yugi's face transformed with determination: a smile pulled vigorously at his lips curling to that confident smirk that both infuriated him during duels and set his blood on fire. Those fierce eyes, the very color of Slifer's scales, brightened with resolve, a fire, not wild but not savage, blazed them bright and when he spun to face the Mime who held the Red God, pride galvanized Seto's entire being.

Yes , he grinned, pride and victory battling for dominance in his mind. Defeat God, Yugi.

It didn't matter that he planned on claiming the Red God for himself as soon as this duel was over. It didn't matter that he planned to mow down the unknown 'Marik' as well and claim both the Three Gods and "Yugi's" title as his own.

No one can defeat Yugi but me. No one else was allowed to.

He watched as Yugi, wearing the mask of his Other Self, set up his defence and scrambled for some kind of strategy. Watched mesmerized and unashamedly shocked as he gazed the full might of Slifer's power. Powers that far exceeded any and all expectations he might have had when in comparison to his own Obelisk. Watched as he realized the only man he considered worthy of beating his rival faced a creature that transcended monsterdom with forces so mighty it didn't just win the game...it crushed its opponent's will to fight.

The fact that "Yugi" remained strong in the face of such awesome power…It made Seto want him all the more.

"How can he beat a monster with infinite attack points?" Mokubs asked besides him just as flabbergasted.

Infinite

And there it was, the key that undid the lock, the spell that broke the curse

"Yugi!" Seto called out, ignoring the maniacal mime who was clearly insane. "Nothing is infinite! That's just God's deception!"

The Other Yugi met his riddle with a mixture of befuddlement and calculation. Seto only smirked. He'd given his aid, now it was up to "Yugi" to figure it out.

Big Shield Gardna fell under the might of Slifer's lighting, but "Yugi" stood unphased, a pillar of stone in a lightning storm, or a king among the fallen ashes of comrades. He emerged from the electrical mists with a contented smile that curled into a victorious smirk.

He watched as his rival closed his eyes and poured all his faith into his next draw. was unsurprised by the smile that brightened his triumphant eyes before he even glimpsed it.

"Marik...I win."

Of course , Seto smiled expectantly and watched as Yami cut through all of Marik's mad amusement with a single card, discovering the single whole in his strategy, the one loophole that turned the God Five Combo into the Ultimate trap.

Brain Control.

Revival Jam appeared on Yugi's side of the field, regenerated and forced the mime to draw more cards. And then Slifer's second mouth, it's one true weakness attacked.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Each time the Jam revived itself.

Each time Slifer's mouth destroyed it,

And each time the Mime drew three more cards.

Watched as shock and hysteria overcome the dumb mime's features as it realized the trap: the infinite loop it was caught in...no, not infinite, limited...to the number of cards in the Mime's deck.

And the limit of Slifer's power.

The duel ended when no more cards could be drawn and the Red God fell, but not in a raging mist of agony and defiance against death, but a respectable acceptance as its body slowly evaporated in a series of streaming curls of red mists. Had Seto not known better, he'd sworn he saw those massive mouths with their terrible teeth curve into a smile, and acknowledgement of its own pride, and even nodd. Or was that a trick of the light reflected off its blue gem?

It did not matter.

In the end he had chosen well.

Gods, after all, only choose the worthy.

X X X

Yami almost could not contain his relief as the Red God fell, but not in an agonizing haze of angry defiance, but a calm acceptance, a respectful defeat. Did he see those monstrous mouths with their terrible teeth cure into a smile? Give a respectful nodd? or was that a trick of its blue jewel?

No, this was something different. This was…

His heart stammered: acceptance. Those brilliant golden eyes burned with something that wasn't reluctance, and it let out a powerful roar before its body vanished in curls of plumes of crimson smoke. A roar of recognition and remembrance and love.

His puzzle pulsed in recognition...the said remembrance. Images of a past he did not remember flashed across his mind: Slifer blackening out the sky behind himself, dressed as a King. Slifer in a more relaxed form, its tail curled around his waist, offering comfort. Slifer licking his tiny childish hand and purring in contentment as those tiny hands, his tiny hands, patted its head from the lap of a dark-haired woman whose long hair flashed with streaks of red in the sun. Her smile genuine, her eyes bright, the God before her purring in her presence.

His heart pounded with the onslaught of emotions: love, joy, contentment, peace, confidence, boldness, overwhelming trust.

The return to the present was disorienting and shocking, but none more so than the ache of his heart: the familiarity that came with the shock of awareness.

Slifer. The Dragon God of the Sky. The Great Red God.

Was his. Had been his .

And...that woman...who was she?

He couldn't ponder those thoughts now.

He watched the Mime fall and with it came the shuddering understanding of just how close he'd come to losing...and losing everything.

Even Gods have a weakness...hidden behind infinity... His gaze flicked back to Kaiba standing indomitable as an obelisk upon the bridge. His expression had not changed: cool and collected, but the smallest glimpse of a smile tugged at his lips and his eyes flashed with something had Yami not known better, he would've called it pride.

I would never have figured it out...if it wasn't for him .

He smiled as Mokuba brought him the ante of his victory. Gazed down at the card in his hand, as red as the God it embodied as its avatar. He expected it to feel heavy in his hands, and yet it did not. But neither did it feel light. The weight of this card's power was like a crown upon his head, and yet it was a familiar pressure, one he was well equipped to handle.

One he knew he could trust.

He could not explain how or why...but that brought him comfort.

Behind him Kaiba's grin widened as he acknowledged his rival. Now they were both chosen by a God. He chuckled. Of course, his rival must be nothing short of the best, otherwise it would be pointless to defeat him.

He met Yami's expression with a face of stern resolution. His duel disk activated upon his arm. His eyes piercing as they bore into Yami's, his ambitions clear.

And then the Mime awoke with a shriek of laughter.

X X X

Bakura ignored the groaning body on the ground as he shuffled through his deck, duel disk secured in his right hand.

"Curses, all his cards are junk!" He groaned, tossing them aside without a second thought. "Ugh, pathetic." He stepped over the fallen body, punched it across the jaw when it dared to lunge for him, once more knocking him out cold.

He slid the duel disk over his wrist, adjusted it upon his arm and once more looked towards the sky. Gone was Slfer's storm which meant the battle was over and he had no doubt of the victor.

He snorted, lips curling upward. "Idiot. Thinking he could take down the King with his own chosen God? HA!" It was a small comfort.

Once more the Ring pulsed, an apprehensive warning.

His fists clenched, his jaw tightened. Whoever held Slifer was after the power of the Pharaoh, that much was clear, and whoever it was, he had no doubt, was the one holding the missing Millennium item he sensed...was it the one he lost track of at the museum or...no, it couldn't be him . The brat's admirer was nothing but an annoyance.

No, he had a much, much bigger fish to fry.

There was a Millennium Item wielder in this city...now the question was...who could it be?


Phew! I am so proud of this chapter.

Kaiba's POV was definitely intriguing to write, I really like exploring his feelings for "Yugi" as both a rival and a possible romantic interest though he won't admit it.

It was also very interesting to explore Yami at his lowest moment (at least so far), but to quote my friend Yaminsu there is a reason why Yami/Atem is the one who holds the Gods: Kaiba was given his, and Marik stole his but Atem...Atem faced ALL THREE of the Gods and he triumphed. He EARNED those Gods...and Slifer especially was always his...

And of course Bakura had to make a cameo ;)

BaKura is on the hunt...Marik has hit a new low and shit is about to get real...VERY VERY real.