AN: Update Time! Wuhu! And I need to apologise that this chapter might not be my best. I guess I had some kind of a writers block and you already know that I hate writing duels, but some of them are necessary.
I'm so glad that I'm completely recovered from my hangover haha But hey! WE WON! YES! I'm so flattered and so happy! So we had something big to celebrate this weekend :P So, sorry that I let you wait.
Thanks for the latest reviews and followers! I'm so happy you liked OMR so far!
Enjoy chapter 15!
Chapter XV
Deceitful Hopes
„Joey!" Jesara cried out loud as she stepped out of the elevator on the top of Kaiba's duel tower. „Why did you do that!? You know how dangerous it could be!"
Yami Marik and Joey already positioned themselves on the dueling platform and started to shuffle their decks as Jesara's warning interrupted them. Her blonde friend just looked at her over his shoulder and grinned sheepishly. „I told you that I'll make him pay for what he's done to you, Jess! And I can't let him take over the world, you know."
Marik's alter ego just rolled his eyes at Joey's statement and put on his signature smirk. His exorbitant self-confidence seemed to amuse the demonic entity.
„That's too dangerous to play the hero, Joey! What if he makes it a shadow game again like he did in the duel with me!?" She urged again although she knew that her friend was way too stubborn to listen to her warnings.
„Don't worry, I'll make it!" Joey reassured and blinked an eye at her. By this Jesara knew it was to no avail to warn him, he was determined to duel and win against Yami Marik. There was nothing she could say to make him stop putting his life at risk.
„Jess, I'm certain that Joey knows what he does." Yami said from beside her and gave her an assuring glance. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, but his expression still held a touch of concernment.
„I hope you're right, pharaoh…" Jesara muttered with worry in her tone.
„I'm glad to see you here to cheer me on, my dear Jesara." Yami Marik chuckled down at her. „I promise you to make this short and crisp so that the both of us can come back to where we stopped earlier, sweetheart."
Jesara let out a growl at Yami Marik's venomous words and clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her palms and her knuckled went white from the pressure. „You are disgusting." She murmured while looking away from his ghosty blank eyes. A shiver shot through her body as she thought back to their encounter in the morning and how his breath felt on her neck when he smirked in amusement and how he enjoyed her physical and mental pain. The way he forced himself on her made her sick. It was so surreal that this body was the same she hugged and kissed less than 24 hours ago.
Roland declared the official beginning of the duel and it was Yami Marik to make the first turn. After drawing his cards he summoned a steel-armored machine like warrior, Gil Garth, in attack position (1800/1200) and placed one card face down on the field before he ended his turn.
Joey put on his poker face and summoned his beloved Alligator Sword (1500/1200) in defense mode and also set a card face down. "Just in case you didn't know yet, but I was dead serious when I said I'll make you pay for what you did to my friends, you shitface!" Joey yelled from at the spike-haired egyptian in front of him.
"I can't wait to see that, little Joey. But let me give you a little advice. Save this words for the moment when you're not playing on defense!" Yami Marik teased back and draw his next card. "I think it's time to bring this duel to the next level, Wheeler."
Yami Marik grabbed the millennium rod from behind his back and pointed it towards Joey, who raised a curious brow at him. The blonde knew well enough what was coming next. Within seconds the whole top of the duelling tower was covered by the same dark void like in Jesara's duel against Marik's alter ego. He called for the shadows; from now on they were fighting a shadow game and the loser will be doomed to spend the eternity here. Joey's soul was in great danger now.
"Welcome to the shadow realm, little Joey. I'm sure that you're already acquainted with the rules." Yami Marik explained and smirked evilly at the blonde in front of him. Joey stared daggers at him, but tried to keep cool. Joey Wheeler wasn't the type of guy to show his fear towards his opponents.
"Yes yes, nothing new! Stop playing with that stupid magic stick and make your turn!" Joey spat angrily.
"Tststs" Yami Marik taunted and wagged his index finger at Joey. "This shadow game is a bit different from the one my dear wife and I fought yesterday. I decided to spice things up a bit." Suddenly a violet glowing lace that connected his monster Gil Garth with his chest appeared on the field. The same violet lace linked Joey with his Alligator Sword. Joey eyed it with a staggered expression on his face.
"Everytime one of our monsters get destroyed we're losing vital energy, little Joey. Your Alligator Sword is connected to your body through a thread of life." He explained in evil amusement and attached the millennium rod back to his belt. It was his turn and so he drew his next card. "I'm calling Drillago in attack position (1600/1100) and command it to destroy your Alligator Sword!"
With a jolt Yami Marik's new monster rushed forward towards Joey's creature and sliced it into two before it shattered to pieces. Joey cringed in pain as the thread of life between his monster and his body yanked from the attack of Drillago. The blonde placed his hand over the spot on his chest where the thread used to be just a second ago.
"Joey!" Yami shouted at his friend from beside the platform. "Are you okay!?"
"I'm fine." Joey muttered in pain. "It takes more to get a Wheeler down."
Yami Marik chuckled evilly as he looked at his blonde opponent. "I'm afraid that I'm not finished yet, little Joey! My Gil Garth will attack you directly and wipe away a big amount of your life points! Hahahaha."
The steel-armoured monster rushed forward and raised its katana sword, but before it was able to harm Joey the blonde activated his face-down card. "Not so hasty, you freak! I activate my spell card Scapegoat to block your attack! My four sheep tokens will protect me from your attack!"
Instead of being attacked directly one of his tokens (0/0) got destroyed. But Joey's little trick didn't impress the devilish smirking Yami Marik at all. "Well done, little Joey. But that was nothing more than luck." He grinned diabolical and ended his turn.
"Please be careful, Joey!" Jesara exclaimed at her friend in concernment. "You don't know with what kind of dark magic you're dealing with! You can beat him - I believe in you - but please don't be reckless!"
"Oh my little Jesara, you should better cheer on your beloved husband, shouldn't you?" Yami Marik taunted sarcastically and smirked down at her. She narrowed her eyes dangerously at him.
"You're not my husband! You're nothing more than a maniac parasite!" She spat back at him and cringed her fists beside her hips. Every word he said made her furious. How could he dare to think that he's got some kind of claim to her.
"You are mine, sweetheart. And you will accept that sooner or later." He teased her again. It made Jesara sick that it was senseless to insult him in any way. He would always answer with his annoying devilish grin and another threat.
"Don't let him get to you, Jess!" Tea tried to calm her and placed her hand on Jesara's shoulder. "He wants to vex you and to make you angry! You're better than him."
Jesara sighed and nodded at her brunette friend; she was right. Yami Marik enjoyed to threat and tease her to the bone. 'How could someone so kind create something so evil…?' She thought to herself as her gaze drifted back to Yami Marik on the platform.
"Enough, Marik!" Joey cut in and drew another card. "Stop teasing her and let's carry on with our duel! I'd rather kick your ass sooner than later! I summon my Panther Warrior in attack position (2000/1600) and since my monster needs a sacrifice to attack you I tribute one of my super sweet sheep tokens and send your Gil Garth to the graveyard, you jerk! Time for a payback!"
Joey's Panther Warrior made short work of Yami Marik's monster. When Gil Garth shattered into thousands of pieces and the thread that connected it to its owner yanked Yami Marik let out a painful groan. But the groan immediately turned back into a chuckle. His tanned hand was placed in his chest as he grinned at the blonde teen. Yami Marik's life points dropped from 4000 down to 3800. Joey grinned cheeky at him and was proud that he has destroyed his strongest monster in the field.
"Did you forget that I was born from my weaker half's pain? This is just child play for me, little Joey." Yami Marik sneered and drew his next card. "I play Tribute Burial and remove my Gil Garth and your Alligator Sword from our graveyards from play. And so I can summon my Helpoemer (2000/1400) without sacrificing any other monster. And I also play a card face-down and pass the turn to you. Try to impress me, little Joey."
The blonde growled at his vexing words before he drew a new card. He eyed the cards in his hands carefully and thought about what to do next. Joey was sure that Yami Marik's Helpoemer had some kind of secret effect and that attacking him was probably was exactly what his opponent wanted him to do.
xx
About 20 minutes later the duel still went on. Yami Marik had 2100 life points left at that point of the game, Joey had 2900 remaining. The blonde was still confident to succeed in beating Marik's alter ego in the shadow game. Jesara and the others watched their duel carefully, but something told her that the worst was yet to come. Yami Marik was full of evil surprises. Marik has always played with dirty tricks against the pharaoh and her friends, so why should his evil side be any better?
'I wish I would have been good enough to beat him when I had the chance…' Jesara thought to herself.
Yami Marik has activated several trap cards which had the power to wipe out a few of Joey's life points with each turn he made. The gang could read from his face that his opponents trap cards gave him a hard fight.
Joey drew his next card and as he looked at it a confident grin was plastered on his face. "Now I'm turning the tables, you jerk! I activate my spell card Question!"
As the card appeared in front of Joey Yami Marik's gaze grew darker, this seemed to go against his dirty strategy for the duel. Jesara's face was met by a smile too; she knew what Joey was about to intend with playing this card. Because of Marik's Helpoemer on Joey's graveyard he lost one card of his hand randomly and had to send it to the graveyard. Joey had found a way to use Yami Marik's dirty tricks against him.
"Let me explain my spell card's effect to you, you spike haired jerk-lord! Now you have to guess the first of my monsters that was sent to the graveyard. If you're right this monster will be removed from the duel, but if you're guessing wrong I'm allowed to special summon this monster!" Joey explained in poise and grinned sovereign at his opponent who let out a vexed growl.
"That's awesome!" Jesara said out loud. "Marik has no chance to guess the right monster, because he never saw it!" A bright smile crossed her tanned face, after a bad start for Joey he was turning the tables for his advantages. "Great turn, Joey!"
Yami Marik said nothing, but narrowed his eyes to slits as he tried to think back to the first of Joey's monsters he's sent to the graveyard. But Jesara was right, it was impossible to know which monster it was. Because of Helpoemer's special effect he never saw it.
"Fine! I'll take that for a wrong answer! That means that I can special summon it! Please welcome my Jinzo (2400/1500) with an applause!" Joey cheered and special summoned his beloved Jinzo from his graveyard.
"No! Not Jinzo!" Yami Marik cried out when the big creature came to life on Joey's side of the field. Since he had three cards face-down on the field his strategy was determined to fail, because of Jinzo's special effect to unable all trap cards on the field. His Rocket Warrior was now released from Yami Marik's "Nightmare Wheel" and switched his Baby Dragon and Panther Warrior back to attack position. He was now in control of 4 monsters, while his opponent just had his Legendary Fiend in play to protect him.
"And now I command my Jinzo to kick your Legendary Fiend's butt!" Joey commanded and his Jinzo immediately destroyed Yami Marik's monster. With that his life points dropped down to 1900. "Now you have no more monsters on the field to protect you! My three other monsters can attack you directly easily!"
Joey's monsters prepared for their direct attack, but then an evil smirk returned to Yami Marik's face; he still had one card face-down. "Not so hasty, little Joey! I activate Dark Wall Of Wind! This spell card protects me from any damage from direct attacks for one turn!"
"No! He almost beat him! He was so close!" Jesara cried in dismay. Yami Marik smirked down to her evilly at her words.
"Did you really think little Joey could beat me so easily, my sweetheart?" He teased as he grinned in amusement at her. "And to be honest it would be a pity if we wouldn't have the chance for another little date." His words made her tremble again; but not because of fear - this time it was anger and hatred that overwhelmed her. She growled slightly and clenched her hands to fists beside her hips.
"That hate looks breathtaking on you, my dear." He taunted again. It amused him to provoke her and within seconds she felt used by him again. He didn't even need to touch or harass her physically. Jesara decided to say nothing in return and cover her unease as good as possible, she didn't want to give him what he wanted.
Within the next turns Yami Marik special summoned Lava Golem (3000/2500) to Joey's some of the field by sacrificing Joey's Jinzo and Baby Dragon. The monster had the special effect to wipe away 700 of Joey's life points. Because of Yami Marik's dirty strategy Joey's life points dropped from 2900 down to 2200.
Although it seemed like Yami Marik was in control again Joey managed to tribute his two remaining monsters Panther Warrior and Rocket Warrior such as Yami Marik's Lava Golem to summon his powerful Gilford the Lightning (2800/1400) in attack position. Thanks to Gilford's special effect he destroyed every single of Yami Marik's monsters, leaving him without any protection. But when Joey tried to attack his opponent directly he negated it with his face-down card "Nightmare Mirror", which also caused that Joey lost another 1000 life points. (1200)
"That was too sweet, Joey!" Yami Marik taunted from across the field and chuckled at the failed attack of his opponent. "But you won't win this duel! Hahahaaha"
"Stop talking and make your turn!" Joey spat back and waited for Yami Marik to draw his next card. It annoyed him to the bone that he again was so close to defeat Yami Marik - close, but not close enough.
Suddenly Yami Marik broke out into laughter as he looked at the card he has just drawn from his deck. This diabolical laughter meant nothing good. Yami and the gang became more and more concerned about what was coming next.
"This duel is almost over, little Joey!" He chuckled evilly and placed the card into a slot of his duel disk. "In case you didn't know, but a few turns earlier I've discarded my Winged Dragon of Ra to the graveyard. And by activating Monster Reborn I'll bring my ancient creature back on the field! It's over, little Joey!"
Everyone gasped in shock at his words. Again flames appeared behind Yami Marik and then a familiar golden dragon rose from them. The moment when Ra attacked and injured her; the way the inferno burned on her skin, crossed her mind again. By looking at the enormous dragon on Yami Marik's side she started to worry about Joey's health. He was in great danger now. And since Marik's alter ego made this duel a shadow game it was much worse and more dangerous.
Joey's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the golden Egyptian god.
"But Ra get it's attack points from the monsters that were sacrificed to summon it! That means Ra has no attack points!" Yami shouted at Joey to calm him down a bit. "Ra isn't a danger for you, Joey!"
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, pharaoh." Yami Marik cut in and chuckled in amusement. "Ra has some secret abilities that will help me to end this duel now."
Jesara raised a brow in curiosity; what was he talking about? Since Marik managed to steal the card from Ishizu's hiding place he studied this card well and detailed. But he would have told her about more secret effects of The Winged Dragon of Ra. Or was it possible that his alter ego knew more than himself?
"I will now transform Ra into the Egyptian god Phoenix, little Joey!" Yami Marik explained ginning diabolically as Ra started to transform into a burning creature that had a similar silhouette like a falcon. But Joey tried to keep his poker face in place.
"And why should I fear an oversized grilled chicken!? It still has zero attack points!" Joey teased cooly at his opponent.
"It's a pleasure to explain it to you, little Joey. First of all I pay 1000 life points to activate Ra's second special effect to attack and destroy your Gilford The Lightning immediately." Yami Marik explained as the phoenix attacked Joey's monster with a burst of fire. Because of the thread of life that connected Joey with Gilford the blonde lost vital energy again. He bowed in pain when Gilford shattered into pieces. The flames of Ra's attack surrounded Joey; he screamed in pain when the fire was burning around him. Jesara knew this pain, Joey was in trouble.
"Joey!" Serenity cried out when she saw her brother in heavy pain. "Please stop! My brother!"
But Yami Marik just laughed while he enjoyed the pain of his opponent. "Hahahahaahaha! It's over!"
Jesara covered her mouth with her two palms to hold back whimpers as she looked at Joey fighting against the pain, surrounded by flames and heat. She knew this pain too well, but she was lucky that her injuries weren't worse. Hopefully Joey will also have a guardian angel that saves him from critical damage.
When the flames disappeared and Ra vanished from the field a thick haze covered Joey's side of the field. The smoke started to lift slowly. Yami and the gang held their breaths and hoped that Joey was okay.
"Oh my god!" Tea shouted out loud when she saw Joey's silhouette in the smoke. "He's still standing!"
"Joey! Are you okay!?" Yami cried out and wished he could go up there and help his best friend.
Yami Marik's eyes were wide, he didn't expect Joey to stand Ra's destructive attack. His plan was to break Joey's will and take away all of his energy. But Joey was stronger, although the blonde had a hard time to keep standing upright.
"No!" Yami Marik spat. "That can't be!"
Jesara smiled slightly in relief to see her friend still standing. Yami Marik had no more monsters on the field to protect himself from a possible attack; he also had no trap or spell cards on the field. 'When he manages to summon a monster now he could attack him directly and beat him… Joey could win this… I hope he's strong enough…' She thought to herself and hoped with all her might that Joey was able to do this.
Joey slowly rose his hand, still bowed down slightly and weakened from Ra's attack and drew a card from his deck. His bangs hung into his face and covered his eyes completely, but Yami and the others could make out a slight smile on his face when he looked at his card.
"I summon Gierfried the Iron Knight…" Joey said with a weak voice and placed the card onto his duel disk. Yami Marik's expression grew more and more shocked, sweat covered his forehead. He was close to losing the duel. Jesara folded her hands and prayed for her friend on the platform.
The iron knight appeared from a beam of light on the dark field. Everyone was tense, no one dared to speak a word. Serenity was close to crying.
But then… Joey's legs gave in to the pain and he fell to his knees. He fell down to the ground, Gierfried shattered into millions of pieces when Joey's body hit the ground. He didn't move and didn't respond to his friends cries from beside the platform.
"Joey! No!" Serenity cried, tears fell down her rosy cheeks.
Joey was unconscious and didn't react. Yami Marik stared at him, his horror still present on his face. He has been just inches away from losing everything. Joey could have easily defeated him with Gierfried.
The dark shadows that surrounded them during their duel vanished away, the blue sky and the sun came back to the surface. Yami, Tristan, Tea, Serenity and Jesara climbed onto the duelling platform as fast as possible after Roland declared Yami Marik the winner of the duel.
"Joey! Wake up!" Yami cried and shook him slightly to wake him up - but to no avail. Joey's breath was low, close to not existing. His friends kneeled beside him with watery eyes.
"Joey… please, open your eyes…" Jesara stammered whimpering and stroked his blonde hair. A tear ran down her tanned cheek as she saw his bruises from Ra's attack. "That's all my fault…"
"Hahahaha. Not all, but at least it's your fault to think that you could stop me or my pitiful weaker half, my dear. How could a weak little girl think she could do at least one thing against what's unpreventable? Hahaha." Yami Marik laughed when he passed by. "Don't waste your time to try waking him up, he'll never wake up again. Hahaha."
Jesara started to sob at his words, they hit her deep - sharper than a knife. She felt useless. Also Yami cried when he held Joey in his arms. His best friend fell victim to an insane split personality that wanted to defeat him - not Joey.
"Shut up, you disgusting prick." Jesara muttered and glanced back at Yami Marik over her shoulder while she kneeled beside the injured blonde teen on the ground. He stopped at Jesara's words and also looked back at her from over his shoulder. He smirked at her in amusement.
"Guard your tongue, sweetheart." He chuckled as his blank lavender eyes locked with her watery amber-olive ones. "That's not how you should talk to your husband, my dear."
He did it again, he provoked her. Did he want to find another breaking point with bringing um this special topic again and again? "How often do I have to tell you that you're not my husband or anything comparable!?" Jesara spat back as she got up to her feet and turned to face him. Tea tried to hold her back before this situation was about to escalate, but to no avail.
"Hahahaha. Oh my sweet Jesara…" Yami Marik grinned and turned half way around to look at the light grey haired girl who dared to stand up against him. But he knew how he could easily hurt her with just a few words. "Well, I'm afraid that you're wrong. You lost our duel and now you have to bear the consequences. Since your precious Marik's soul is almost dead I can force you to do whatever I want whenever I want by using the power of my millennium rod." His grin was demonic, pure evil in every inch of his dark smirk.
Jesara stared at him in melancholy. "Dead?" What did he mean by that? Her heart skipped a beat at this four letter word. „Marik isn't dead… And I will do whatever it takes to bring him back, you creep." The others eyed their conversation attentively while the medical team lifted Joey onto the gurney.
"Almost, my dear. But he will be gone soon enough when I've beaten the pharaoh in the finals. I'm certain that it's already too late for whatever it takes, wifey." Yami Marik grinned into her staggered eyes. He could tell from her face that he hit her at a weak point. "Love, sweet love. What an unnecessary thing. But I love how those deceitful hopes torture you." He warbled with wickedness. With that he turned again and walked away, his evil laugh thrilled her.
Jesara was frozen, his words hit her like a sledgehammer. Tea decided to stay by her side; Yami and the others wanted to be with Joey and rushed to the medical room of Kaiba Craft 3. Jesara swallowed hard as a shiver shot down her spine. Because of his venomous words she realised how much she really missed the real Marik that she knew and loved. A single tear ran down her cheek. Suddenly the thought of never seeing him again felt so real.
"Jess… Are you alright…? Don't let his words get to you…" Tea asked softly and as carefully as possible as she offered her sobbing friend a tissue.
"Nothing is alright, Tea…" She paused to wipe away the tear from her cheek with Tea's tissue. „My whole life turned into a nightmare and I feel so responsible for what happened to Joey…"
/ MEDICAL ROOM
Joey laid on the bed next to the one where Bakura had laid before he disappeared after his shadow game with Yami Marik. The doctor connected him to the heart monitor and treated him with an oxygen mask since his breath rate was quite low.
Yami and the gang stood around his bed and stared at him in concernment. They still didn't believe that their beloved friend fell victim to the freak. As Jesara and Tea entered the medical room they looked at the blonde in dismay.
"Will my brother be okay?" Serenity asked with a hoarse voice and looked at Kaiba's doctor, hoping that he would say that her brother will be fine.
"His condition is critical. But I'll do my best to help him." The doctor said and tried to calm Serenity a bit. He looked back at the two girls as he heard them enter the room. "Miss Ishtar, didn't I tell you to rest? I was searching for you the whole day!"
"I'm fine, sorry doctor. I think that Joey needs your help more than me now. Please, help him…" Jesara answered and again felt the unease when he called her by her real surname.
"Doc, when can we bring Joey to a real hospital?" Tristan asked insistently. Before the doctor was able to say anything in return the door slid open again. It was Mokuba and his expression meant nothing good.
"I'm sorry to tell you that…" The little Kaiba said in a worried tone. "But Seto said that we won't interrupt the tournament. But I ordered a helicopter to bring Joey back to Domino and into the hospital."
Yami let out a growl. "Kaiba… Joey's hurt and all he thinks of is his stupid tournament. When will the helicopter arrive here?"
"Probably in about an hour or so." Mokuba replied.
"I'm sure that Joey will recover completely, but he really needs intensive care." The doctor said and scribbled something on his clipboard. „I'll do my best to treat him while we wait for the medical emergency team."
Serenity sat beside her brother on the bed and sobbed heavily, her anxiety about her brother made her sick. Jesara felt so sorry for her and she still blamed Joey's condition on herself - she failed in helping Marik. And Yami Marik's words from earlier had hit her harder than she thought words could hurt. She placed her hand on Serenity's shoulder.
„Pharaoh…" Jesara said and shot him a sad glance. „I'm so sorry for everything. When there's something I can do to help you please let me know…"
Yami said nothing, but nodded at her with a serious and confident expression.
„The next duel of the Battle City finals is starting in 10 minutes! Seto Kaiba is going against Yugi Muto! Please proceed to the top of the duel tower!" Roland's professional voice came through the intercom system.
"This unsympathetic rich egoist really continues with his stupid tournament while Joey really needs to be brought to a real hospital! Sorry Mokuba, but your brother is a careless jerk!" Duke grumbled after Roland's announcement about the upcoming duel. Mokuba replied with a sad glance at the black-haired teen with the piercing green eyes, but they could tell from the little boys face that he shared their opinion about his brother at least a little bit.
"I'll make this short and try to be back as soon as possible…" Yami said with seriousness in his tone as he turned towards the room's exit.
"I'll stay here with Joey and have an eye in him." Tea said while her eyes were resting on her unconscious friend on the bed. Tristan and Duke nodded in agreement; so did Serenity. "Good look, we count on you!"
"Good luck, pharaoh… I know you will make it." Jesara said softly; her hand still rested on Serenity's shoulder to comfort her. She loved her big brother more than anything else.
Yami nodded at them; they've never seen such poise in his gaze before. He will win his duel against Kaiba, they knew it. It won't be easy and but the worst was yet to come. Silence filled the room after the doors slid shut behind Yami. Just the beeping sounds of the heart monitor and medical computers echoed in the room. It was nerve-wrecking to see their beloved friend like that.
xx
Fifteen minutes went by and the gang sat in the medical room to watch over Joey while Yami had to face Kaiba in the duel. As they looked outside the window to the CEO's duel tower they saw a large colosseum covering the bottom area of the building.
Jesara rolled her eyes at what she saw outside. "Seriously?" She sighed in annoyance and rubbed her templed with her index and middle finger.
"Maybe he's trying to compensate something, huh?" Tristan shrugged his shoulders and rubbed the back of his head as he glanced outside the window. "I knew that Kaiba's a weirdo; but know it's a official that he's much worse…"
"I hope Yugi wins that duel…" Tea sighed and sat down again beside Joey.
"He will, it's his destiny to win and save the world… We have to keep on hoping." Jesara said and felt a bit awkward by saying this; she almost sounded like Ishizu. She thought back to Yami Marik's words from earlier. 'But I love how those deceitful hopes torture you.' Deceitful hopes… His words tied up her mind.
"Guys, I need to fresh myself up a bit. I'll be back in 5 minutes… if you don't mind." Jesara said and made a few steps towards the exit of the medical room. "Does anyone want a coffee or tea? I can stop by the kitchen and grab some?" She asked kindly, maybe she could cheer her friends up at least a tiny bit in this awful situation. But they all shook their heads at her but thanked her that she asked.
As Jesara left the room she headed down the hallway and hoped intensely not to come across Marik's alter ego on the way to her room. She was lucky, he was nowhere to be seen - probably he was watching the duel between the pharaoh and Mr. Rich & Famous.
Her heart skipped a beat as the doors of her room slid open and she stared into blue, blank eyes that were almost expressionless. They belonged to a tall guy who was wearing a turban and a traditional Egyptian attire. The stranger wore a big Egyptian ankh on a necklace around his neck. Jesara heard about this item before. Could this really be the millennium key?
The room-doors closed behind Jesara, her puzzled eyes still locked with the stranger's ones.
"W-Who are you?" She whispered while her heart bumped a million miles a minute. Was she supposed to fear the unknown man that stood in her room? How did he get in here? His expression was still unreadable and clinical as he introduced himself to her.
"My name is Shadi."
AN: Yes, another cliffhanger! Sorry for that! :P But I have a great plan for chapter 16!
It's so awkward that OMR is already coming to an end. I guess the story will end up with about 19 chapters, maybe 18. Let's see :-) I created a poll on my profile and I really would like to know if you'd like a Sequel or Prequel to this story? Since Marik & Jesara have a quite intense past before Battle City I guess a Prequel would be a good idea, but a Sequel is also tempting :P
I would also love to have your reviews and I'm so thankful for every single one! :-)