AN: Chapter 10 is up & finished! :D And you know what? It sucked. It was so boring writing this duel of Joey and Odion, because I didn't find a perfect workaround to skip or shorten it a bit more. So I'm sorry, but you have to deal with that now. Hopefully you like it anyways.
As the title says I'm dropping the bomb of who Jesara really is and what her relationship with Marik really is about. Let me know if you did expect it or not :P
Also I will skip or workaround the Noah-part of the story. I hated it and it was so unfitting to the whole plot.
Please leave a review and let me know if you have any scene suggestions for the upcoming chapters.
Happy reading and enjoy!
Chapter X
Who I Am
"Please proceed to the great hall of Kaiba Craft 3 and be prepared to be chosen for the next duel of the semi-finals." Roland's voice came from the intercom. Jesara inhaled deeply and let out a sigh. With her palms she wiped away the tears from her cheeks and got up from the floor. Her make up was ruined, that was for sure - so she decided to touch it up in her bathroom and save what could be saved.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror; her now dry tears had left a dark trace from her non-waterproof mascara down her face and she added buying a waterproof one to her bucket list as soon she gets back to Domino. It took her a few minutes to fix the mess in her face but at least it was acceptable. Hopefully her friends and especially Marik won't recognise that she cried because of their clash.
It was time to make her way to the hall before Joey would come to remind her again. Once again she inhaled deeply to calm down her nerves and went out of the bathroom towards her rooms door. Jesara pressed the button beside it to activate it, but startled when her eyes suddenly stared into lavender irises again. Marik's room from which she came just ten minutes ago was vis a vis from hers; they both must have activated their door at the exact same time and in her opinion it was the perfect worst timing evef. She wanted to keep distance to him for the rest of their trip or until Marik said something like an apology or steadied down. Nice try.
Jesara cleared her throat and looked down to the floor. She hesitated to make the first step. An awkward silence surrounded them.
"Hey Jess! Hey Namu! Ready for the next duel?" Yugi spoke up when he came around the corner and approached the two teens, wearing his typical innocent smile. Both startled at his voice and stared at him. Jesara greeted him with a smile; maybe he came just on cue to get her out of this awkward situation.
"Sure." She said softly. "But I hope that it won't be me and you, I'd like to stay in the finals for a bit longer." Jesara chuckled. Marik nodded in agreement and gave little Yugi one of his faked charming smiles.
"Then, off we go!" The little teen said and looked at them, waiting for them to get going.
'Nahhh… It would be more awkward to leave them both behind to get some distance between me and… him." Jesara's inner voice sighed. They walked down the corridor to the hall. Marik walked right beside her and Yugi followed them right behind. Why did she get in one inconvenient situation after the other.
"Huh, Jess?" Yugi spoke up from behind them. "Where have you been earlier? When we've been at the medical room to look after Bakura you left without saying a word. You are okay, aren't you?" He asked in a concerned tone. Jesara's body tensed within seconds. He was right; she didn't. And she couldn't blame him for asking. Jesara knew that her friends recognised her unlikely behaviour since the first signs of Marik's arrival in Domino.
"Ahm…" Jesara murmured and put on her thinking cap for a good excuse. "I-I felt a bit dizzy. I guess it's the cold wind on the deck and maybe the hight, so I took a little power nap." It was the best alibi that came to her mind. Marik didn't say just one word to join the conversation and she was thankful that he didn't.
"Oh, yes. I know what you mean. It's quite chilly up there." Yugi replied soft.
The walk to the hall felt like hours; walking side to side to him was so awkward after what happened in his room earlier. His cheek wasn't reddened from when she bitchslapped him, but her hand still burned like hell. Did they reach a dead-end? She wondered if she disappointed Ishizu and broke her promise to her.
When the teens arrived in the hall they were kindly greeted by the other duelists and her friends who wanted to cheer them on - except of Mr. Rich Bitch Kaiba and Odion. Jesara looked at the bulky man in the deep purple cloak who leaned with his back against the wall at a corner of the hall. They still believed he was Marik and he did a great job in acting like him so far. His expression was dark, his eyes glaring at everyone in the room. Odion has been always there for her and he'd walk through hell to protect the Ishtar family. He was wise and had always a good advice for her if she didn't know what to do. Right now she'd give so much if she could hug him and ask for his advice in this dead end situation she was caught in.
Jesara made sure to stay a few steps away from the real Marik. She could still feel that her eyes were slightly burning from crying earlier. They were probably reddened and she didn't want him or anyone else to see it.
But she felt his gaze resting on her and tried her best not to look at him. Jesara didn't want him to see her eyes, although she knew he already was well aware of the fact that she had cried because of him. They met on the floor earlier… he knew. She sighed and turned her face away from him a bit more.
She wondered if he really did break their mind link and left her thoughts as she asked him to. They never shared the same mind before and it was awkward to hear him speak in her head.
'Marik…? Are you there? Can you hear me?' Jesara asked in her mind to put it to the test if he had left her mind or not.
Silence.
'Marik?' She asked again and looked over to him.
Silence.
Marik looked back at her from the corner of his eye when he felt her gaze on him. He didn't hear her. He was gone. He did break the mind link. First it annoyed her to have him talking to her inside her mind, but right now she wasn't sure what annoyed her most. Being connected with him via a mind link or hearing nothing but the silence… being alone.
"Alright, duelists!" Roland spoke up and stepped onto the little platform on which the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon lottery machine stood. "Now we're choosing the next pairing for round two of the semi finals! Make sure to remember your number!"
Then the machine came to life again and the balls in its belly swirled around. Jesara hoped so much not to be chosen next, she wasn't in the perfect mood for a duel. Her heart skipped a beat when the first ball dropped out of the lottery machine.
"And the first duelist for round two is…" Roland grabbed it from the machine and inspected it for the number on it. Everyone looked at him awaiting his announcement of the number. "Marik Ishtar!"
Jesara glanced over to Odion, but his expression didn't even change after the announcement that he was next. 'Oh Odion… what are we doing here..?' Her inner voice asked herself. The gang shot him an evil glare. Whoever was the pitiful duelist to fight him, he or she had to prepare for another dirty duel.
"Alright then." Roland said when the machine came to life the second time. The balls ruffled against the glass of it, ready to choose the next duelist.
'How funny it would be if Marik would have to duel himself.' She thought and her inner voice chuckled a bit. The familiar sound of the lottery machine made her look up to Roland. The second duelist was chosen.
"Duelist number two against Marik Ishtar is…" Roland declared when his hand grabbed the ball from the machine. "Joey Wheeler! The duel starts in 5 minutes! Please proceed to the startos deck."
"Yeah Joey! You're next! Congratulations!" Tristan cheered and patted his shoulder.
"Hahaha! Perfect! Now I can kick his cloaked ass and take revenge for what he did to my friends and me!" Joey grinned and shot Odion an evil glare. But Odion said nothing, he just stared back at the blonde teen with his poker face.
Yugi and Tea weren't that happy at all, concern was written to their faces.
"Joey, please be careful. You know that he's not playing fair and he's capable of everything." Yugi urged his friend. Joey underestimated things too easily when he was furious.
"Yugi is right. Please don't be reckless. Beating Marik won't be easy." Tea said and gave him a concerned glance.
"You'll see, I will frazzle him out and make him pay for harming my friends! Let's get this started!" Joey grinned and headed for the elevator to the stratos deck. Yugi and Tea sighed and glanced over to Odion, who still leaned his back to the wall and said nothing. He looked dangerously and evil in his deep purple outfit. Both then followed Joey to the elevator.
"Joey won't have a chance against Marik and his Winged Dragon of Ra." Kaiba said cooly when he and Mokuba walked by Jesara, leaving the hall and following the other duelists to the stratos deck.
'Marik won't ever give Ra out of his hands…' Jesara thought and glanced over to the real Marik, who stood there with his arms crossed in front of his chest. She shot him a frowning glare before she cold-shouldered him and left the hall.
/ Stratos Deck
Joey and Odion took place on the duelling platform and started to shuffle each others deck. The blonde shot him an evil glare while she shuffled and shuffled his opponents deck.
"Wheeler! You've shuffled enough cards for three duels. Now get going!" Kaiba hissed from beside the platform.
Jesara stood behind Yugi, Tea, Joey's sister Serenity, Tristan and Duke to be out of their sight since her eyes were still burning a bit and felt swollen. She cringed when Marik positioned himself right next to her.
In the meantime Joey and Odion prepared themselves for the start of their duel and activated their duel disks.
"Are you ready to get a clip round your ears, you baldheaded sourpuss!?" Joey yelled and pointed his finger towards Odion. "I'll beat you in only 9 turnes, Marik! So be prepared to loose this!"
"Aww Joey is the best! He already calculated the whole duel beforehand! You're the best big brother!" Serenity shouted and cheered at the blonde teen. The gang face-palmed in unison. Her naiveté did almost hurt.
Odion's hand grabbed something from behind his back and then the millennium rod came to the surface from under his deep purple cloak. The gang gasped when they saw the golden item in his hands. Odion pointed it towards Joey to remind him of the power the item gave him; to remind him with whom he was talking. "Swear how much you want! But you won't win this duel. The ancient magic and my destiny to rule the world as Pharaoh will give me the power to defeat everything in my path. You won't have a chance! And now make your turn!" The baldheaded man said with a serious voice.
Jesara gave the real Marik beside her a dangerous glare. She didn't get the sense of his plan to deceive her friends that he's a guy named Namu. What difference would it make? Behind his back she caught a glimpse of the real millennium rod in his hands. Hopefully he won't use it on Joey again to manipulate the duel.
"Well then, Marik! I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack position!" Joey declared and placed the card onto his duel disk. A dark iron knight formed in front of the blonde. But Odion didn't even bat an eye at Joey's powerful monster. (1800 / 1600).
Odion drew a card and then activated a spell card. A huge egyptian temple emerged behind him. Jesara stared at it; old memories crossed her mind when she saw the familiar ancient architecture of the temple. Joey stared at the building in confusion.
"This is my Temple of Kings, a magic card like you've never seen it before! It gives me the power to activate trap cards in the same turn they were placed. And it also limits your playable magic cards to two per turn." Odion explained still wearing his poker face. "And I play two cards face down. Your turn, Wheeler."
"Joey needs to be careful, Marik definitely has a trap card to protect himself from a direct attack of Joey's monster." Yugi said in a stern tone; his eyes glued to the ongoing duel on front of him.
It was Joey's turn again; so he drew his next card and inspected the cards in his hand. He thought about his strategy and what to expect from Marik's trap cards.
"Watch this! I summon Tiny Guardian in attack position and end my turn." Joey said and his monster came to life beside his Gearfried.
"Alright, Wheeler." Odion said and drew his next card. "I place two more cards face-down and pass to you."
Jesara raised her brow, this strategy was typical for Odion. He loved trap cards and constructed his deck from almost only trap cards. But wasn't it suspicious that Odion had a completely different way to play than the real Marik?
"Joey! Please be careful about his face down cards! Marik will block your attacks with a trap, that's for sure!" Jesara shouted to warn her friend Joey not to attack him, although it might be tempting. The blonde glanced down to her and gave her a friendly smile. His cheeks blushed a bit when their eyes met. He appreciated it that she cared about him.
Jesara felt Marik's eyes on her again and looked at him from the corner of her eyes by intuition. She knew what he was thinking; he knew that she was well aware of Odion's trap strategy and she risked his plans by telling Joey about it. Their eyes locked for a few seconds before Jesara's gaze drifted back to Joey again. He stared at her with a raised brow; Namu's and her eye contacts vexed him and she was sure he's feeling more and more suspicious about their behaviour.
"I would appreciate it if we can finish this duel this week, Wheeler! Make your turn!" Odion requested in a bugged tone.
"Calm down, you baldheaded jerk!" Joey yelled and narrowed his brown eyes dangerously towards his opponent. "I summon my Hayabusa Knight in attack position (1000/700) and now I will beat you in just one turn! I activate my Giant Trunade! This little baby kills all of your face-down cards!"
A huge tornado formed on the field and heavy winds started to blow across the field. Joey grinned certain of success when the storm approached Odion's face down cards. Odion's gaze was still unfazed.
"You wish, little Joey. I activate my trap card Judgement of Anubis! It negates the effect of your Gains Trunade and destroys it!" Odion flipped his trap card and within seconds the tornado vanished from the field, leaving Joey with a pissed off gaze towards him. "And now the second effect of my trap card activates! It destroys all of your monsters on the field and influences damage to your life points equal to the half of the total attack points of them!"
Joey and his friends beside the platform gasped when all of his monsters got destroyed. His life points fell to 1900, leaving him without any other card for his protection on the field. Now Joey really was furious.
"You just destroyed my best cards, you jerk!" He yelled and balled his fists while Odion's face remained expressionless.
"Didn't you realise it yet that you can't win this duel? You're not strong enough to stand the ancient powers!" The bulky egyptian replied. After he drew his next card he again placed two new face down cards on the field.
"If you didn't get it yet, Marik… This game is called duel monsters and that suggests that it's supposed to be played with monsters!" Joey teased.
Marik was smirking beside Jesara, she could feel it. They both stood behind everybody else, out of their sights and she toyed with the idea of step on his foot. She glimpsed over her shoulder to check on Marik's millennium rod he held behind his back. It seemed to be active, a low light enhanced the Anubis eye on top of it. Marik might be talking to Odion through their minds. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"I'll stop playing trap cards immediately if you find any rule that forbids me doing so." Odion replied in a stern tone and glared over to Joey, awaiting his next turn.
"He's playing too reckless. Joey already lost more than the half of his life points…" Tristan growled from beside the platform.
"My brother will turn the tables and win this! I know it!" Serenity said and folded her hands like she wanted to pray for her sibling. Kaiba and his brother Mokuba stood on the other side from the field to watch the duel, but the young CEO remained unimpressed from Odion's trap card tactics.
The duel went on; the following turns Odion and Joey only drew their cards and passed. Joey's gaze grew more and more annoyed by every turn they made. He had enough from his opponents traps. The duel started to get boring.
/
Serenity was right about her brother. As the duel went on he managed to turn the tables and gain control over the duel against Odion. He was able to summon his Battle Warrior, Swordsman of Landstar and his powerful Jinzo, which had the special effect to make all trap cards useless. Odion had three Embodiments of Apophis on his side of the field; but since they were trap card monsters they were useless to him too. So Joey left Odion with nothing to protect him from a direct attack of his three monsters.
"Guess you didn't expect that, you bald jerk!" Joey teased and laughed heavily. "I attack your life points directly! You're almost done! I told you not to mess with Joey Wheeler!" He commanded his monsters to attack, one after the other did how he said. A deep growl left Odion's throat when his opponents attacked hit him, wiping away the most of his life points. Now he only had 400 left. Joey was about to win this duel.
Jesara recognised that the light of the millennium rod behind Marik's back enhanced a bit, his gaze grew darker when his lavender eyes glared dangerously towards his servant on the platform. She was certain that he wasn't amused of the change of the duel. Marik could be so offending when he was furious, he never accepted when his servants made mistakes. He was probably mentally yelling at him right now.
Next Odion activated his spell card Swords of Revealing Light to hinder Joey to attack him with his monsters for at least three turns. Joey growled when he realises that he was stuck with the swords, unable to attack and finish the duel. But instead he sacrificed his Battle Warrior to summon his Legendary Fisherman in defence position, which he had won from his duel with Mako Tsunami. Yugi and the others cheered when the sea warrior appeared in front of Joey besides his Jinzo. He also switched his two other monsters to defence position until the swords will loose their effect.
Again it was Odions turn, but his eyes widened when he looked at the card he had just drawn from his deck. He stared at it in puzzlement like he had seen a ghost or something like that. Jesara raised a brow in bewilderment. Why did his mood change from his typical cool behaviour to some kind of shock? What did he draw?
'It's not easy to baffle Odion… What happened?' She thought in confusion.
Odion's olive gaze drifted down to the sandy blonde teen beside her for a second; so did hers. Marik was smirking again; his eyes locked with his servants. Jesara was sure they were discussing this incidence via mind link. If she only knew what this sudden change of Odion's mood was all about. She wished she didn't ask him to break his mind link with her, although she was still upset with him. Whatever scared Odion… it meant nothing good.
"What's wrong, you jerk? Not the card you expected?" Joey teased from across the field to catch his attention.
"I just draw the card that will lead to my victory, little Joey! And I decided to place it into the chest of my Temple of Kings to summon it when the time's right!" Odion explained when a hologram of a duel monsters card disappeared into the big chest of the temple behind him. But they couldn't make out which card it was exactly. Jesara felt a queasy feeling in her stomach as like she already knew what this was all about. But she hoped that her gut instinct will prove her wrong soon.
Jesara's body tensed up and her eyes were again glued to the ongoing duel in front of her. But then she cringed when she felt a breath on her neck. Marik had drawn a step closer to her unobtrusively and leant in to her when nobody was watching them. They still stood behind all others, so nobody noted something.
"Don't worry. It's just a copy of the original." He whispered into her ear, so low that nobody else heard him saying anything. Jesara's turned her head to look at the sandy blonde beside her. She didn't knew what exactly he meant by that, so she shot him a questioning glare.
"He drew the Winged Dragon Of Ra. If I want them to think that he is me, then he has to duel like me, my dear Jesara." Marik whispered again and smirked at her. Jesara's eyes widened in shock and stared into his lavender gaze. He did what!?
"You made more copies of the egyptian god card…? Are you insane?" She hissed as quiet as possible, but right now she wanted to insult him at the top of her lungs. She couldn't believe what he just said.
"We tested them, this one will work. I'm sure he is able to command Ra." Marik whispered cooly. Feeling his face that close to her neck made her flesh crawl like it always did when he got that close to her. No matter how much she displeased him and no matter how much so wanted to hate him, he always had this special effect on her.
"I hope you're right… Otherwise you'll anger the gods." She whispered back. "And now get out of my personal bubble." With that she turned her gaze back to the duel and made a little step to the side to get some more distance between her ex and her.
During the next 15 minutes the duel turned to the worse for Joey. Although he also managed to summon his Insect Queen, which he won in his duel with Wheevel Underwood, Odion summoned his powerful ritual monster Mystical Beast Serket (2500 / ?) in attack mode. The Swords of Revealing Lights were still active and hindered Joey to attack. First Odion's monster Serket destroyed Joey's Jinzo and absorbed it's power. Half of Jinzo's attack points were added to those of Serkets, making it 3700.
"Oh no Joey!" Tea shouted out loud beside the platform when his monster got eaten by the huge beast.
"Joey! You can beat him, I now you can! Trust the heart of your cards!" Yugi, who was now controlled by the ghost of the puzzle, tried to motivate his friend.
But the situation seemed to be hopeless for Joey. Luck wasn't on his side, every card he drew couldn't help him to get out of his misery. Odion's beast Serket then absorbed Joey's Insect Queen and his Legendary Fisherman and the half of their attack points. (5825/?)
Joey had nothing on the field to protect him from a direct attack. He only had 200 life points left and really needed a miracle to win this duel. But although he was just inches away from losing it Joey shot his opponents a confident smirk. His friends wondered why he was smiling, although none of them could imagine just a single turn he could make to win this.
"You know what Marik? I was wondering about this since the beginning of our duel. You played fairly and honourably." Joey spoke up while he smirked at his opponent. "But the Marik I came to know plays dirty, reckless and honourees in order to get what he wants. The more I think about this the more I'm certain that you aren't who you claim to be!"
Everyone gasped at his words and Jesara heard a low growl from the sandy blonde teen beside her. His true identity was about to be exposed. His lavender eyes narrowed dangerously. Yugi and her friends looked at Joey in puzzlement, but they had to admit that his words made sense. The bulky egyptian did play fairly and he didn't use the power of the millennium rod for his advantage like he did before.
"Joey is right! Marik always played unfair and dirty, but not in this duel. It's obvious that this man may be not the real Marik." Yugi stated and looked at his blonde friend on the platform.
"But when this guy isn't the real Marik, who is it?" Tea asked in confusion and stared at her friend Yugi. Jesara's eyes were glued to the floor, fear shot through her whole body. Might this be the moment of losing it all? Her friends, her new life, their trust? Marik's grip on the millennium rod behind his back tightened, his whole body was tense. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Thing's weren't going exactly to plan anymore.
Odion grabbed his fake millennium rod from underneath his cloak and pointed it towards Joey. "I AM the real Marik! And you are just one turn away from losing this duel!"
"So what are you waiting for? Whoever you are…" Joey spat and stared at him awaiting his opponent to make his turn. After Odion drew a new card he commanded his Mystical Beast Serket to attack Joes directly. The blonde teen closed his eyes, knowing that Battle City was over for him.
"Nooo! Joey!" Serenity shouted when the enormous beast prepared to attack her brother. She covered her eyes with her hands in fear. But suddenly it stopped its attack and came to a halt just inches away from Joey.
"W-what happened?" Tea asked in confusion. Why did he stop his attack?
"I decided to destroy you otherwise, little Joey!" Odion explained, still holding the fake millennium rod in his hand. "I will prove it to you that I AM the real Marik and I will use my egyptian god card to defeat you once and for all!"
Joey's eyes widened in shock at Odion's words and so did his friends. Jesara stared at the bulky egyptian with fearful eyes. 'Please, don't do that… Don't summon the Winged Dragon of Ra, Odion…' Marik must have told him mentally to use Ra to clear up the doubts of Odion's true identity. He risked the life of his most faithful servant to protect his cover and plan. 'Marik has no idea how dangerous this is… I've seen it with my own eyes. I've been there when he started to produce copies of the Winged Dragon… But every of his slaves died from playing it. I can't imagine that Marik got rid of this unhappy side effect of using a fake god card.' She thought when her fingers covered her mouth to hold back a whimper.
"I sacrifice my Mystical Beast Serket and half of my life points to unleash Ra from the chest in my Temple of the Kings! Emerge from the chest and help me to win this duel, almighty Winged Dragon of Ra!" Odion commanded and his great beast Serket vanished from the field. The whole deck started to vibrate underneath their feet and the chest behind him started to glow in all imaginable colours. A bright light enhanced it and also the sky changed dramatically. Thunderclouds started to cover the sky within seconds; it looked like an end time scenario. Fear shot though Jesara's whole body.
A golden silhouette appeared in the thunderclouds above the temple, it covered nearly the whole sky. It was the burning silhouette of a golden dragon - The Winged Dragon of Ra has awoken from his slumber. Everyone stared at the golden dragon in the sky with shocked eyes. Marik smirked, his plan worked out and Odion has successfully summoned a fake version of an egyptian god. His cover was save now. Almost.
"And now my ancient beast, attack my opponent and allow me to win this duel!" Odion commanded the dragon, but it didn't react. It did nothing. The glistering silhouette in the sky didn't move an inch - something was wrong. Terribly wrong. "Obey me! Attack him and wipe away the rest of his life points!" Odion repeated and turned around to face his unwilling monster.
"What's wrong, Marik? Isn't your huge grilled chicken in the mood to play today?" Joey teased and giggled at the bulky egyptian, who repeated his commands over and over. But to no avail. The Winged Dragon didn't react, instead thunderbolts illuminated the sky and the thunder roared loudly above them.
Suddenly one of them hit Odion, the millennium rod in his hands shattered into million of pieces and he collapsed to the ground. He didn't move, the thunderbolt had knocked him out completely.
"Oh my god! This millennium item was a fake!" Tea shouted when the shards of Odion's fake rod fell to the ground beside him. "And where did this thunderbolt came from!? Is he okay!?"
"Oh no!" Jesara whimpered when she saw her beloved friend laying on the ground, unconscious and not moving at all. "Kaiba, you have to stop this duel now!"
"I won't suspend this duel, it's still going on." Kaiba said cooly and shot Jesara an angry glare.
"Hey, you jerk? Are you okay?" Joey asked anxious when he made a few steps towards the unconscious egyptian on the ground. Suddenly a second thunderbolt struck down from the sky and hit Joey who immediately fell down to the ground.
"Joey!" Serenity whined in shock. Duke and Tristan immediately tried to climb onto the platform to help their friend, who laid on the ground - hurt and unconscious. But Roland stopped them to do so and held them back. "You can't come up there! Here's still a duel going on!"
"What's wrong with you!? Didn't it get to you that both duelists are unconscious!? We need to help them and bring them to the hospital!" Tristan spat at Roland and glared at him dangerously.
"They both have 200 life points left! We'll wait for 5 minutes, the first that gets up to the feet will be declared as the winner! Otherwise both will be disqualified from the tournament." The young CEO stated and looked at them with his typical dismissive glare.
"Kaiba, are you crazy? They're hurt!" Yugi yelled, but his words were only answered by an arrogant smirk.
A low, grief-stricken growl met Jesara's ears from beside her. When she turned her head to see what it was and where it came from she saw Marik, clinging his head with his hands and bend down like he went through terrible pain. In one hand that was pressed against his temples he held the millennium rod - the real millennium rod. Yugi and her friends were still too focused and concerned about Joey and Odion that they didn't recognise him.
"Marik… W-What's wrong with you…?" Jesara stuttered under her breath when she drew closer to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. His skin was nearly burning, something was terrible wrong with him. She never knew that Marik suffered from a dreadful sort of migraine. He said nothing, he just moaned from the pain in his head. "Marik…?"
Suddenly Joey regained consciousness and stood up from the ground. He did it, he won the duel. Yugi and Tristan climbed the platform to hug him, the others cheered in excitement and relief; their friend was okay and unharmed. Roland declared him as the winner of the duel.
But what about the bulky man? He still laid on the ground, not moving at all. Yugi, Joey and Tristan ran over to him and tried to wake him up. A painful moan left his throat when he opened his olive eyes; he was weak and injured.
"Hey man. Are you alright?" Joey asked softly and held Odion's upper body in his lap to make him more comfortable. "What was this all about? Who are you?"
"M-my real name i-is Odion. I-I'm just a slave… You're all in great danger…" Odion muttered under his breath, too weak to sit himself up.
"What does that mean, Odion?" Yugi asked and kneeled beside the bulky egyptian.
"Pharaoh, please be careful. The world is in great danger… You need to be cautious about…" Odion rose his weak hand to point towards a sandy blonde teen beside the platform. "…the r-real Master M-Marik…"
Their eyes followed the direction of his hand and stopped when they saw Namu, or to be exactly, the real Master Marik bowing and moaning in pain. Jesara stood close to him, her hands on his shoulder, looking at him in concernment.
"Marik, please. Talk to me. What's wrong?" Jesara stammered as she drew more closer to him. Her eyes were filled with fear. But he didn't react to her, his headache was too bad.
"THIS IS MARIK!?" The gang shouted out in disbelief.
"What the hell, Jess!? What are you doing there!? Don't tell me that you know who he is!?" Joey yelled and narrowed his eyes in disappointment. She called him by his name, his true name and she stood close to him, too close to him; caring for him. They found her behaviour around him suspicious from the first time they met the sandy blonde teen in Domino, something about them was wrong and now they got proven right.
Jesara stared at her friends with fearful eyes. Now they know what she never wanted to tell them. Her past was catching up on her. Before Jesara could say any word Marik spoke up and smirked at her friends evilly. Beads of sweat from the heavy pain were still visible on his forehead.
"Yes, that's right, you fools! I AM the real Marik!" Marik laughed and his eyes locked with Yugi's. "And I'll wrench your power from you! Finally I'll claim what meant to be m-meahhh!" The headache got worse, his palm met his forehead and again a painful moan left his throat.
"Marik! Please, tell me what's wrong with you!" Jesara wrapped her arms around him and laid his head onto her shoulder to provide him she comfort. Right now every anger she felt about him from their last encounter vanished away and was replaced by worry… worry about him.
"Jesara…" Marik panted heavily from the pain. He tried his best to fight the unbearable pain to say something. "Run. Run away as f-far as you can. I don't want to hurt you." His voice was low. Marik was fighting against something deep inside of him.
"W-What do you mean!? Marik, please…! You scare me!" Jesara whimpered; a tear ran down her cheeks. Why did he say that? She stroked his head and through his sandy blonde hair to comfort him. All of the sudden he shoved her away from him; he shoved her so hard that she lost her balance and crumbled to the ground before him. Her amber-olive eyes stared at him in shock when a loud, painful cry filled the air. And then…
Silence.
"I guess that's for the category: Really really freaking bad." Joey muttered, still holding Odion in his lap.
Jesara covered her mouth with her hand, whimpering, when she saw Marik's hair standing up in all directions. His lavender eyes went blank and were half opened. The symbol of the Anubis eye glowed on his forehead brightly. He chuckled evilly, his voice was lower and darker like it wasn't his own… like he wasn't himself.
"Hahahaha… As if running away could save you, little Jesara." Marik laughed and looked down to the young woman who still laid on the ground before his feet. Jesara wasn't able to say something in return, fear tightened her throat and shock froze her body. Her amber-olive eyes stared at him.
"Marik! What is this all about!?" Yugi yelled last him, awaiting an explanation from Marik.
"Pharaoh, long time no see." Marik cackled wicked. "I'm Marik, this time the real one. And I'm not that friendly like the one you already came to know."
"Jesus Christ, man! What's wrong with your hair!?" Joey exclaimed and looked at the sandy blonde with a vexed glare.
"What do you want, Marik!?" Yugi hissed.
"What I want? Hahaha, didn't you get it yet? I'll take your power from you and reign the world as Pharaoh. For thousands of years my family stood guard by your tomb, waiting for your return. Me and the Ishtar clan suffered for millenniums and I will take revenge for what you did to them!" Marik laughed heavily, his evil smirk scared the crap out of Jesara.
"You'll see soon enough, Pharaoh. I will defeat you and claim what's mine. Hahahaha." Marik laughed and went towards the elevator. He grinned at the gang once again before the doors slid shut in front of him.
For a second no one dared to say a word. Everyone's eyed were glued to Jesara like she was an alien that just came from mars. Serenity helped her to the feet, she sobbed heavily and she wiped away a few tears from her cheeks.
"Yugi… I-I.. It's…" She stuttered, not knowing how to explain this. But Joey cut her off.
"Jess! You knew him all the time!? You knew who he was!? And you didn't tell us just a single word!?" His tone was furious and he shouted on the top of his lungs. He glared dagger at her.
"I-I did… p-please Y-Yugi, Joey… let me explain…" She whimpered. Jesara's eyes were glued to the ground and her light grey bangs covered her tear-stained eyes.
"And I thought you were our friend! WHO ARE YOU, Jess!? Are you one of his lackeys!? Was your friendship even real or was it all a great lie!?" Joey's loud yell startled her. This situation was one of the worst of her life. She didn't know if the pain she felt when Marik punished her two years ago hurt more than to loose her friends because she didn't tell them. Jesara trembled heavily. She needed to say at least something. But what… Maybe it was time to start with the truth… the truth she never told them, the truth she wanted to forget.
Jesara inhaled deeply before speaking the next words out loud.
"I-I'm his wife."
/
AN: Boom. Yep, that was the bomb. Expected it? :P
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Happy weekend!