YuGiOh!, Past Repeating: Book 2

by xyugiohluvrx

Battle City is coming up and there's a new evil around the corner. Sarah's bond with the Pharaoh will need to be strong for the upcoming battle they have to compete in. Will they succeed in defeating this new enemy? Read to find out. Hunters are everywhere... you've been warned... [PharaohxOC]

39. Death Call

Written: 23/10/17

Author's Note: Yaaaay! Another Book 2 chapter! =D FINALLY, xyugiohluvrx, YOU DID SOMETHING. Goodness me, what a year. =3

I hope you enjoy this chapter! =D Please leave a nice comment if you have the time. I would really appreciate it. =)

~*After an hour's rest and recollection, the gang is ready to face the finals. The first duel organized could make or break the prophecy, as a terrible condition is laid before the Pharaoh, of which he has very little time to counter. With heavy hearts, our friends watch the duel unfold, only to realize the reality of the situation. Even Kaiba is powerless to stop it.*~

Disclaimer!: Fanfiction, and I do NOT get any money out of it either. Thanks. ^^

---

Battle City - New Evil Emerges, Old Friends Reunite - Chapter 39

Ten minutes before everyone had to meet on the main level, I was sitting in Joey's room getting help with some makeup.

"So they kept your bag in the warehouse?" I asked as Téa gently brushed some sort of powder onto my cheek. She explained that it was a type of makeup that evened my skin tone, or something like that. She also mentioned that it was the perfect thing to hide the bruise on my cheek.

"Yeah," said the brunette. "I guess he didn't want us all over the place during that duel."

"Unbelievable."

When I had asked Téa if I could borrow some of her makeup, it occurred to me that she may not even have her bag with her, but she told me not to worry: it was right where she was before being mind controlled.

"Everything he does is strange," I added.

"Mm. First he gets Rare Hunters to try and overpower you, then he gets other Rare Hunters to defeat Yugi, and then just now he tried to get rid of all of us at once. If you ask me, he's the one who's all over the place."

"That may be so we won't be able to predict his next move. He's carefully planned everything out, and he always comes back stronger no matter how many times we defeat one of his strategies."

"Only means one thing… he had backup plans ready with him."

"Yeah…"

Téa pulled away with the brush and makeup, and tilted her head, inspecting her work.

"Can't even notice it anymore," she said with a smile.

I smiled back. "Thank you again for letting me borrow some…"

"It's no problem. Just… try not to need any more…"

Out of everyone on this blimp, I knew that Téa worried the most for everyone's well being. She wouldn't show it most of the time, just like the Pharaoh, but I could see it in her eyes. I was asking a lot from her just for keeping the injury a secret from everyone else. She was so worried when I first showed her… but I couldn't let anyone else know. I couldn't show to the others that I was weak.

I clenched my fist, remembering her expression, and the Pharaoh's. I could not let them bear such eyes of concern ever again. I needed to be stronger. For me and for them.

"Now that doesn't mean that you push yourself," said Téa in a motherly tone while her hands were on her hips.

She must have read my mind.

"Alright…" I said sheepishly, but I still wished to do something more. There was always room for improvement, like finding out how Marik was able to control that Dark Magic in the first place. If I could figure that out, I wouldn't be weak against it anymore.

"Now let's go meet the others. They're probably down there already."

"Right." After gathering up our things, we left the room and headed for the elevator.

When we arrived, everyone was scattered around Roland, Mokuba, and a huge machine filled with what appeared to be white balls the size of golf balls. They had numbers on them like in the bingo game, and the machine itself was grand - it was spherical with Blue-Eyes White Dragon figures mounted inside and around the glass globe. The man behind the favoured design wasn't anywhere to be seen at the moment. The gang was hanging out with Mai and Bakura, while Marik and Zafar were off to the side, far away from us as they could possibly get. They were talking amongst themselves, clearly going over their plan.

I wish I could turn invisible… I could sneak over and hear what they were saying…

"What took you ladies so long?" asked Joey, raising a brow as we approached, walking by said Hunters as I forced my anger into control.

"Girl talk," said Téa defiantly. Joey blinked. I was thankful that Téa didn't tell him what really happened.

"You're right on time though," said Tristan. Duke suddenly came around and sniffed the top of my head. I stared up at him, wondering why he had done such an odd thing.

"Alright, it's official. No one smells like ocean water anymore," he said with a smile.

"It's nice that Kaiba had the showers installed," said Mai.

"And lots of food in the kitchen," said Ryou with a cheery smile.

Duke stared bewildered at the boy. "The whole time?" he asked, pointing to the food Ryou was munching on, as though asking if he'd been eating the entire time that we've been on the blimp.

"Oh, no. Just for a bit," said Ryou sheepishly. "But it's very thoughtful of Kaiba to have everything carefully planned - unlike Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom."

"Yeah, and the blimp is a fraction of the size of the island," I added. "Even with all that space, Pegasus didn't provide for anyone. Kaiba had it all worked out even with such limited space."

"Thank you, Sarah," said a nonchalant voice from behind me. Kaiba walked into view soon after with a smirk on his face.

I blushed. He heard us.

"Are you hungry, Sarah?" asked Tristan. At his words, my stomach started to growl, as though it had suddenly remembered that it needed feeding.

"Actually… I am," I said, blinking.

"Kaiba set up a table with some food for us."

"He continues to amaze me."

And so we walked over, each one of us filling a small plate with as much as we had wanted to eat. Joey had taken the all-you-can-eat part of the buffet to a whole new level by filling his plate as much as he could. Then again, after what we just went through, food was the last thing on our minds, so our hunger finally caught up to us.

"Joey, how are you gonna fit all that in here?" I teased as I poked his tummy. He grinned childishly.

"I have my ways," he said, sticking out his chest. I laughed at the innocence he placed into his words.

"You should have seen him at the school's Cultural Festival last year," began Téa. "He ate all of his allowance and mine."

"Ah… good times," reminisced Tristan. Both he and Joey sound like such a handful.

"So, Ryou, I've been meaning to ask this," started Joey, turning to look at the white-haired boy who was nibbling on a cookie.

"Mm, yes?"

"How did you manage to win all those locator cards at once?" asked the blond. "I know you said it was a secret, but… man, am I curious! Some of those duelists were tough to beat!"

"Well… I suppose I could tell you, Joey," replied Ryou with a small grin. "It was just my luck that I had run into Bonz and his friends at the cemetery. They were scaring duelists into dropping their Locator Cards, not much different than what they were doing back in Duelist Kingdom."

I squished the biscuit I was eating within my fist and all the fluffy filling oozed out from the bottom. "Those damned brats…" I growled. Tristan stared in comedic horror at the destroyed biscuit while Téa and Yugi tried not laugh at his expression.

"I bet you taught them a lesson, Ryou," said Yugi.

"Indeed! I scared them back with my own deck of ghouls, and won all six Locator Cards at once!"

Joey suddenly paled and took a few steps back. "W-What kind of deck do you play with…?" he asked hesitantly.

"Oh, it's an occult deck," said Ryou a bit too cheerily. He was the exact opposite of his deck-type, which made me think that Bakura was the one behind its choosing.

"Man, that's scary," said Joey. "But it's great that you got 'em all at once. Hopefully now those old lackeys of Bandit Keith's will never try to steal anything ever again."

"Sometimes, a good scare is in order," I said, licking the last of the biscuit filling off my finger.

"If we duel, I hope you'll go easy on me, Joey!" said Ryou with a smile. The look on Joey's face said that he didn't really want to duel against Ryou's deck.

Eric walked up to me. I didn't even notice when he came down.

"Sarah, you haven't eaten much. Are you alright?" he asked me quietly so he wouldn't have to worry the others. I stepped away from the group so I could talk with Eric.

"I'm okay..." I said. The truth was that even though I was hungry, I didn't eat as much as I thought I wanted to. I only took my loss of appetite as the consequence of realizing how close we were to fighting against Marik again.

Eric looked at me carefully. "You're concerned about what that guy will do next…" he said, reading my mind. Were my thoughts written on my forehead? I wasn't hiding my concerns as well as before.

"Yeah…"

"Don't worry. If there's one thing I learned from watching you guys duel and support each other, it's that you're all very strong. You make it through anything that comes your way."

I smiled, feeling a small load disappear from off my back. Perhaps even I needed some reassurance every once in awhile. Holding onto the burden all by myself was just too much, even for a Guardian.

"Thanks, Eric…" I whispered. "I needed that…"

He patted me on the shoulder, smiled sweetly, and then walked towards Mai. After our talk in his room, Eric seemed to be doing fine.

"Thank you for being punctual, everyone," said Roland, gaining our attention. He was standing on the small podium where the spherical machine was. "Now that everyone is here, we will decide the matches. It will be done so using pairing numbers, this way, the duelists will be chosen at random. Each of you will be assigned a number and the two numbers this machine shows each time will be the two duelists dueling in a match. Until the first two duelists finish their match, the second pairing will not be decided. This way, no one will know who their opponent will be until just before their duel."

"So it's chance now," I said quietly, walking back into the group. "Any one of us could be paired with Marik."

Speaking of Mario, he and his Rare Hunter Zafar were standing off to the side, away from the podium. They were brooding their own little aura of darkness, cultivating the essence of evil in their midst as they looked this way by secluding themselves from everyone else. To be honest, I didn't really feel like waiting for a duel of cards - I wanted a duel of swords - and I wanted it right now.

"Regardless of what happens, I want everyone to be careful and do their best," said Yugi. His violet eyes held so much conviction, I myself felt more at ease, just as when I see the Pharaoh's calm gaze. "We won't know what he tries, but no matter what it is, we have to promise to give it all we got."

"Always," said Téa. Joey and Tristan also nodded with determination in their eyes.

Yugi looked at me, expecting the same amount of vigour. "And, Sarah…?"

"Let's do it," I said confidently.

He smiled.

"I will read out the numbers now - please keep in mind what your number is!" Roland read off an index card he pulled from his pocket. "Mr. Kaiba is number 1, Joey is number 2, Yugi is number 3, Mai is number 4, Ryou is number 5, Eric is number 6, Sarah is number 7, Salex is number 8, Namu is number 9, Zafar is number 10, Marik is number 11, and… Duelist Number 12 is not here…"

As Roland looked around, expecting to see the twelfth duelist, another man stepped onto the podium and murmured something into his ear, to which his eyebrows rose past his sunglasses.

"I see… Duelist Number 12 will not be joining us for now. We will meet with them sometime later."

"I wonder who it is…" I said. "We haven't even seen a glimpse of them."

"Maybe they're not feeling well…?" Yugi suggested. I shrugged.

Suddenly, my Locket glowed and I felt a searing hotness against my collarbone. I placed my hand over it and blinked.

What was that? My Locket sensed something, but the signal was weak as if the source wanted to hide.

I looked over towards Ryou, but he didn't seem bothered. Neither did Yugi. Their Items hadn't signalled anything to them. I had a funny feeling that Bakura must have definitely sensed it though, because he had the Millennium Ring, and he was most closest to it.

Very curious. Something, or someone, was here that didn't want to be found. My Item was the only one to have recognized it because of its similar properties to the Millennium Ring.

I wondered if Marik had anything to do with it. I watched him from the corner of my eye, and saw that he was looking right at me, his olive green eyes burned me as he glared. Without losing composure from the surprise of seeing him staring at me, I turned my attention back to Roland.

Perhaps he did have something to do with it after all. Was he taunting me? But why in this manner?

"Alright, duelists!" said Roland. "The first two duelists for Round 1 of the Battle City Finals will now be selected!"

He pressed a button behind the large sphere and it started to spin, the white balls inside began bouncing around.

I took a deep breath. It was finally starting. The finals were going to begin as soon as the first two numbers were decided. Some time ago, I knew deep in my heart that the Pharaoh was the one who had to defeat Marik. I had thought that no one else was strong enough, but now, I needed to think differently. Mai was a clever duelist from the beginning, and now she was even better. Joey had grown since Duelist Kingdom - he practiced more complicated ways of thinking up strategies for his duels. I wasn't sure about myself, but for some strange reason, I wasn't worried about that either. Even if one person defeated Marik, then this would all be over, whoever that person may have been. We all had the potential to win a game against him; we all had a chance.

But… if it had to do with the Ancient Scriptures… then Marik could only be defeated by the Pharaoh. I didn't want to think about that right now, because it would mean that everyone else would be defeated - and who knew what kind of sick and twisted Shadow Game Marik would trap them in? They could all get hurt - the duels might be really dangerous.

I prayed that the others were strong enough to defeat him once and for all.

One of the bingo balls dropped into the little Blue-Eyes White Dragon's mouth that was inside the sphere and rolled down the length of that dragon before exiting out of the mouth of the second Blue-Eyes the first one was attached to, which was outside of the sphere.

Roland retrieved the ball from the compartment and read the number. "Number 5! Ryou! You will be participating in the first duel!" called Roland.

My heart raced nervously as his name was said out loud, while the others started to wish him luck. Ryou blinked, surprised that his name was called first, but then he laughed it off in a nervous manner.

"Looks like I'm up," he said.

"I still think you should be resting," said Téa. "You just got out of the hospital."

"I'll be alright," said Ryou confidently with a smile. "I just wasn't expecting to be chosen for the first round."

His eyes darkened, and my breath hitched. Ryou was becoming more heavily influenced by Bakura as the days continued to go by. He might have begun to think that there was no way out, and he couldn't ask for help for whatever reason.

Or… Bakura had taken complete control over Ryou.

I wished so much that I could just rip Bakura's soul from out of his body, but I knew that I couldn't, and that frustrated me. I had to be patient and wait for a chance to show itself. We needed to do this right, without brute force, since Bakura was the evil that had returned with us from the past.

"I wonder who's going to go up against me?" asked Ryou, as everyone waited patiently for the second ball to roll.

"The next duelist will now be chosen," said Roland, and he pressed the button once more. Again, a little ball went through the fun little displacement of Blue-Eyes White Dragons, after hopping around in its cage with the other balls, before rolling into the open compartment.

Roland read the number.

"Number 3, Yugi! You will be facing Ryou in the first match!"

I felt my body go stiff, and grow hot with concern.

"Whaaat…! The first match is like this?" said Joey with wide eyes. Ryou and Yugi blinked at each other, wondering what the chances were for them to be chosen for the first duel.

"I guess we'll just have to do our best," said Ryou with a smile. "All the best to you, Yugi."

"Yeah… good luck to you too…" Yugi blinked. He wasn't expecting this pairing just as much as everyone else wasn't expecting it. The others were surprised, but they wished both their friends luck.

Yugi's eyes finally met mine, and I could see that he noticed something was wrong.

"I know what you're thinking," he said quietly so that only I could hear. The others began teasing Ryou about going up against Yugi's new Egyptian God card.

"But we can deal with Bakura."

"He will most likely challenge you to a Shadow Game," I said. "I know it's dangerous, and it's something that you have to do, but…"

"This may be our chance to make him leave Ryou alone once and for all," he said. I nodded. He had finished my sentence. "No matter what he throws our way, the Pharaoh and I can do this."

"... You're right…" I just hoped that all it would take was a duel. After losing the Shadow Game that he will set up himself, he should disappear into darkness and never bother us again. His loss will foil part of Marik's plan, and we can then be one step closer to defeating him. It was a good plan, but I just hope it would go as planned..

It was indeed a good chance, and so I needed to stand by Yugi's decision to go through with it.

"I'm with you," I said to Yugi. "You two, be careful and do your best."

Yugi gave me a reassuring smile and nodded. Then he seamlessly switched places with the Pharaoh.

"I will keep your card close," he said.

I smiled. "Use it when you think it'll come in handy."

"Both Ryou and Yugi will duel on the Stratos Dueling Arena at the top of the blimp," said Roland. "There is a place on both sides of the arena where your friends will be able to watch. Let us go up first and then everyone else may follow."

We watched both Ryou and the Pharaoh follow Roland towards the elevator. Then I looked at the others.

I was already feeling unsettled, and the duel hadn't even begun. If the Pharaoh won this duel, then Bakura would be defeated once and for all. Perhaps this was the duel that would help us move forward with the prophecy. Maybe this was the duel Bakura needed to lose in order to be cast into darkness.

This could be the duel in which we could finally destroy the evil from our past.

---

When we arrived onto the observation deck, the first thing Joey commented on was how cold it was.

"It's freezing up here!" he said, hugging himself as he shivered. The others were also visibly cold, quivering in response to the high altitude and colder temperatures.

Instinctively, like it was the most natural thing to do, I warmed my hands using a mild fire spell in which I could only control the heat and heated up my hands. Then I held them up against Joey's chest.

"Is this okay?"

At first, Joey blinked, surprised. Then he soon stopped shivering and sighed with content, feeling the warmth radiating through my palms and into his body. I learned from my mother that it was important to keep one's chest warm before anything else, because that was the body's center.

"Your magic is a beautiful thing."

"Hey, I want to be warm too!" Suddenly Tristan was hugging me from behind, expecting my whole body to be warm. I blinked, and changed the spell a little bit so that I could use my whole body to emit heat. Soon, he was also sighing comfortably.

"Sarah's a heater!" Téa and Joey also threw their arms around me, trying to get as much of the heat to touch their bodies as they could. I blinked, wondering how it had come to this. Then I realized that we may have looked a little odd to the others.

Indeed, everyone else was staring at us. They didn't know I had magical capabilities, so their curious glances were justified.

"There is a story here…" Mai concluded, crossing her arms and eyeing us suspiciously.

"Oh, you wouldn't understand…" said Joey, nuzzling my neck. I almost laughed because it tickled.

"More warmth for us," said Téa, gently patting me on the head.

"But I want to understand…" said Duke, pouting as he hugged himself from the cold.

"Is Sarah really huggable?" asked Salex excitedly.

"Guys…" I said with a small laugh. I noticed the Pharaoh looking over at us from the duel arena with one of his eyebrows raised and blushed. He was watching the whole scene.

Both he and Ryou were standing next to Roland on top of the elevated dueling field. The observation deck was a little lower than the field itself, but we could still see the board. I was still close to the Pharaoh, even though I wanted to be closer.

The blimp was set on a course to circle over Domino City, and in the night we could see the city lights sparkling in the darkness. Colourful lights of our own were displayed all over the blimp, probably catching the attention of hundreds of people and many news stations. Kaiba Corp. was definitely going to get some good publicity from this tournament. Aside from the freezing temperatures, there was also a fast wind that added to the cold.

It was a beautiful sight, a breathtaking one, to see the whole city laid out in front of us like a festival. We passed an airplane tower that had a blinking red light and I realized just how high we actually were. I wasn't afraid of heights, but the thought of being so high up was thrilling. The feeling sent shivers up my spine.

"Sarah, you're cold even when you're acting as the heater?" asked Tristan with a laugh.

"We're touching the sky," I said, laughing as well. "It's kind of fascinating but frightening all at the same time."

"Don't worry," said Eric coolly as he slid his hands into his pockets. "I'll catch you if you fall."

"But who's going to catch you?" said Joey with a smirk. Everyone including Eric laughed, but he looked a little embarrassed to have no counterattack.

"Big brother, you're teasing him," Serenity said with a cute laugh. She was younger than all of us, but I wasn't sure by how much. I could tell that she loved her brother a lot just from the loving way she spoke to him - but then again, I bet everyone could. So far, they've done everything they could for each other, and we were witness to it all. Serenity seemed like a very gentle person, and I admired the compassionate gaze she had in her amber eyes.

Joey grinned. "Somebody has to," he replied. Eric pouted, which for some reason was very cute, but I didn't tell him that because it would add spark to the flame.

"Kaiba Craft 3 is now cruising at an altitude of four thousand feet," announced Kaiba, his voice booming over the wind. "The cold air and strong winds will test your strength and stamina. If you can't handle it, you shouldn't be up here."

Joey glared at the CEO for his snarky comment.

"It's a thrilling way to duel," noted Mai.

"Kaiba sets some pretty high standards for his tournament, doesn't he?" commented Duke.

"Let us get on with the first duel," said Marik, suddenly breaking the warm atmosphere apart. He said it in such a dark manner that, at first, no one did anything. But then, slowly, everyone let me go. Nobody said anything for it might fuel the fire, but to say thank you for the heat, Joey gave me a pat on the back.

We weren't scared of Marik and his Rare Hunters. We just didn't want to make more trouble by saying something wrong. He could take it any way that he wanted and every way would have been troublesome for us. We stopped joking around and turned our attention to Ryou and Yugi whose duel was about to start.

Marik and Zafar were standing the furthest away from everyone, clearly showing their intentions purely as business. I watched Namu look their way.

"Hey, what's up with those guys anyways?" he asked.

"They're bad news," said Joey simply. There was no real reason why we had to explain the details to him or Salex. It could have been dangerous to let them know in the first place. I wasn't used to their presence, so having them here with us was a little odd, but I wanted to get used to it soon, otherwise it would be awkward. For now, I simply considered them as other duelists that we had met in the tournament - nothing more, and nothing less.

"Alright, everything is setup accordingly," said Roland. "The final duels of the tournament will be held using Kaiba Corp. Tournament Rules, meaning that the winner of the duel gets their opponent's rarest card. Kaiba Corp. Tournament Rules and Regulations will be in effect at all times, however, in the Finals, the losing duelists will be out of the tournament."

"Slifer…" I said under my breath. Bakura could not get his hands on that card. If he did, he'd give it to Marik. Bakura has no use for the god cards. He wanted the Millennium Items. And if Marik regained control of Slifer, together with Ra, he'd be twice as hard to defeat all over again.

Aside from the cold I felt from the wind, I had a bad feeling about this setup. Both Yugi and the Pharaoh knew of Bakura inhabiting Ryou's body like a parasite. There was no way Ryou would be able to duel against Yugi, because Bakura will just take over. And that was what we were worried about.

I once again noticed the shadows over Ryou's eyes, as I was closely inspecting the arena. His hair was suddenly strange; as if devil's horns had sprung from their hiding place, two wings of his hair rose up on either side of his face, probably from the wind. His chest soon began to glow.

The air got much colder.

"Are you ready?" asked Ryou in a suddenly deeper voice. It was a sure sign that it wasn't Ryou anymore. Bakura had pushed him aside to take his place, just as I predicted he would.

"Before we begin…" the Pharaoh's voice had also become dangerously low, aware that Bakura had taken over Ryou too. "I would like you to know that you will not win this duel. I won't let you."

"Silly Pharaoh, we haven't even started. Don't go making promises you can't keep just yet." Bakura smirked.

The Millennium Ring suddenly appeared around his neck and everyone finally saw the truth. He brought it out of hiding for the rest of us to see that he was back, and with a vengeance.

"No way… it's the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring!" cried Joey, his honey-coloured eyes looking concerned.

"I thought I got rid of him back at Duelist Kingdom..." said Tristan with wide eyes, unbelievingly.

"Millennium Items… have a strange way of coming back to their masters," I said as I started digging my nails into the palms of my hands.

"Bakura has come out to play."

"Yugi…"

"He knew this would happen," I told Téa, who's ocean blue eyes shimmered with concern for her friend. "We both did. And I know deep in your hearts all of you thought the same. Bakura's Millennium Ring is powerful, and he will do everything he can to make sure it isn't lost. He's followed us all the way here from Duelist Kingdom."

"He still wants Yugi's Millennium Puzzle…"

I nodded.

"Whoa… something's changed…" said Namu, blinking up at the duel arena.

"Where did that gold ring come from?" asked Salex, who was equally confused. "And what are you guys talking about? It seems like you know a lot about what's going on."

"It's… a long story…" said Joey simply. He seemed hesitant, probably for the same reason I was feeling hesitant; we didn't want to tell people we didn't know the details about what was going on. But at the same time, they were curious.

"I'd like to hear it someday," said Eric, and he was looking at me when he said that.

I matched his gaze, but I didn't say anything in return. I didn't want to bring innocent people into this, it was the last thing I wanted to do. They didn't deserve to get hurt because of knowing what we knew. But Eric was looking at me with an expression I had never seen on him before; his maroon eyes held such conviction, I had to blink to make sure I was looking at the same person. He wanted to know more than what I told him in his room. He knew he was already a part of it now, so he wanted to know what was really going on. Even though I had told him what Marik was after, I didn't tell him anything about Bakura. And he knew nothing about the Pharaoh and me.

Bakura's history with us expanded for millennia. I didn't know if it was even right to tell Eric about him.

Before I could begin speaking, Joey decided to start instead. "Both Ryou and Yugi have these ancient items that hold magical powers," he said. "Yugi's item is good but Ryou's item is bad. Inside it is an evil spirit who's trying to get Yugi's item."

"So you're saying that's not Ryou up there?" asked Salex with wide eyes.

"That is impossible, Joey," stated Mai.

"It's true," insisted the blond. "And you'll see it as you watch the duel. This guy isn't the same as the Ryou we know."

"It's hard to believe," said Namu.

"We didn't believe it at first either," admitted Téa.

"I just hope he doesn't take him to the Shadow Realm," said Joey. He said it quietly so that only I could hear.

"Yeah…" Joey summed it up pretty well, and it was enough to keep curiosity at bay without giving too much away.

Eric's eyes were a little wide as he kept looking at me during the whole explanation, expecting me to explain myself and how I was involved in this situation. Now he was sure I wasn't telling him everything. I didn't want to blame Joey for telling everyone the general story, but he said this in terms of just Bakura and Yugi. Eric didn't seem satisfied with the answer - not only was he still curious about the why, but he was also curious about Bakura now. He's realized that Bakura and Marik could be connected through Yugi, because Marik was also after Yugi.

I couldn't look him in the eyes. I wanted to tell him… but I didn't want to cause him any trouble. And yet, because of me staying away from the topic around him, I was becoming untrustworthy in his eyes.

"Now that we know the real duelists in the arena, why don't we begin?" said Bakura. His smirk never once left his face. Just like always, he was always scheming, and always so dark.

He never once stopped to acknowledge his actions.

"First things first," said the Pharaoh. "Are you still after the Millennium Items?"

The Pharaoh asked a very obvious question, but I realized his strategy. He knew that Bakura was working with Marik, and wanted to know if maybe he would accidentally tell us something important that Bakura wouldn't think was relevant at the moment.

But Bakura didn't falter. "How do you know I am not here to take something else away from you?" His voice was laced with malice, and his dark eyes turned to look at me.

Wait… what did he mean? My Locket? He was still after it? Why was he looking at me like that…

"Bakura… I won't give you the chance." The Pharaoh realized what Bakura had meant and glared harshly towards his opponent, but I still wasn't sure. Besides my Locket, what else could there be? He could have also said that to throw us off.

"Hah! The future can only be seen after this duel. One of us has to get through it in order to move one step closer to achieving our goal. So let us begin this duel and see which one of us will be moving forward."

"I agree," said the Pharaoh, clicking his deck into place along with Bakura.

"Duelists, at the ready!" announced Roland. "Let's duel!"

The life point counters were set, and the duel began.

The Pharaoh was dueling in the very first duel. What were the odds of that happening? Now he was going to battle against our toughest opponent. If the Pharaoh was able to defeat him here, Bakura would be weakened until we could figure out a way to physically get rid of him. Unless Bakura played a Shadow Game… then the chance for his spirit to be trapped there forever would be great. We had to free Ryou, and keep Bakura from achieving his ultimate goal.

"Good luck, Pharaoh…" I whispered into the wind. I clenched my fists tightly, calming myself down from worrying. He was going to be fine. He was a strong person.

LP: Yugi: 4000/Bakura: 4000

"Go, Yugi!" cheered Téa. Her ocean blue eyes held conviction - she wasn't going to stop believing in Yugi and the Pharaoh. I was so glad that they had such wonderful support from good friends.

"Kick that evil spirit right out of the Millennium Ring!" said Joey.

"Your friends make it sound so easy, but I can assure you that it won't be," Bakura sneered. He drew his first card. "Allow me to demonstrate the ultimate power of my deck!

"I summon Portrait's Secret in attack mode!"

One thought sped through my mind as he played the first card of the duel: Bakura didn't summon the Shadows. This was a regular duel. And what was I just thinking moments ago? Now he couldn't be trapped in the Shadow Realm as I had planned. He didn't want a repeat of what happened in Duelist Kingdom. I still wondered how he was able to come back from the Shadow Realm after that duel, but now, this posed a problem. Even if he did lose, he wouldn't be completely gone.

He would still live.

A simple portrait of a man suddenly materialized onto the field, but then a green ghost emerged from within and stared at the Pharaoh with its empty black eyes.

That monster was indeed scary looking… but…

"It's only got 1200 attack points…" noted Mai.

"What in Ra's name…? He was boasting about his powerful deck just now. So why bring out such a weak monster…?" I asked, despite the very bad feeling that had begun to develop in the pit of my stomach. Bakura wasn't one for mistakes.

"It's obviously a strategy to get Yugi to attack," said Eric as he stepped up beside me. I blinked, wondering how he could still talk to me after not being told the whole story.

"He's not going to make any other move until Yugi attacks and goes along with his plan," I said with a sigh as I realized what was going on.

"Yup."

The Pharaoh drew his card, and examined his opponent and his monster carefully. He knew what was going on, I could see it in his eyes, but he must have been debating on whether or not to follow through or play something that could tamper his strategy right from the beginning.

"I summon Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts!" said the Pharaoh, playing his monster and summoning it onto the field. The ferocious beast with piercing yellow eyes roared at his monster opponent. With one look at the Pharaoh's face, I realized he was going to follow through.

"Attack!"

The great beast tore through the portrait monster with one large swipe of his razor sharp claws. Bakura's Life Points fell.

LP: Yugi: 4000/Bakura: 3700

"I set one card face down and end my turn." The Pharaoh glared cautiously at his opponent. "Try again."

"He is so focused up there," said Téa, impressed.

"This duel has just started and already Bakura has something planned," I said. "So he's got to keep his guard up from the start."

Bakura smirked. "Not to worry, I still have other things that I can play," he said. He drew his card and then played a new monster. "Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams!" A horridly green ghost with long pink and white hair flew out of Bakura's card holding a wooden shield and sword. Its attack strength was still lower than Gazelle's, and it was once again played in Attack Mode.

"Now that he knows Gazelle's Attack Points, Bakura should have played a stronger card," Eric said. "But he played a weak monster, and even in Attack Mode. He's not making any sense."

"I have a really bad feeling…" I said, gripping the hem of my shirt. The monsters that Bakura was using were frightening, and this was the second time that the Pharaoh was dueling against Bakura again. I was feeling so on edge, wondering what kind of strategy Bakura could be using. And if the Pharaoh could foil it.

"To counter your misuse of monsters, I will summon more of my own. Gamma, come to the field!" The Pharaoh knew Bakura was setting a trap, and because he knew, Bakura was going to pay dearly. I could only hope that the Pharaoh will thwart whatever plan he had come up with before Bakura had the chance to play it through.

Gamma the Magnet Warrior appeared onto the field. It had the same number of Attack Points as Gazelle, so it was also able to attack and destroy Bakura's monster.

"Attack!" came the Pharaoh's cry once more. Gamma darted forward and punched right through the ghost, shattering its image. Bakura's Life Points fell for the second time.

"And now, Gazelle, attack him directly!" The Pharaoh's beast charged forward and slashed at Bakura with his claws. The man held up his arm in reflex, but other than that, he made no other defiant movement. The evil glare in his eye did not falter. We watched his Life Points dive and wondered if maybe this was a break.

LP: Yugi: 4000/Bakura: 2000

"Alright! He's down to half his Life Points!" cheered Tristan.

"Maybe Bakura just got unlucky and drew a bad hand," suggested Joey, excited that Yugi got such an early lead in the beginning of the duel. "And now he can't pick up where he wants to."

"That man could have rotting flesh in his hands and still be able to think of a strategy," I muttered to myself, truly troubled by the scene unfolding before my eyes. I never underestimate Bakura, because no matter what happened, he still manages to pull some sort of trick from his sleeve. I wouldn't ever think this was just an easy duel - Bakura was too cunning for simple things.

"Oh my, not another one of my monsters," said Bakura callously. "And a good chunk of my Life Points. My, my, Pharaoh, you're beginning to get better at this game with every duel."

"You know as well as I do that anyone could have defeated your weak monsters," said the Pharaoh. "What are you really scheming?"

"I suppose it's time to show you my plan, so enough playing around!" Bakura summoned yet another monster to the field in Attack Mode, this time, it was a knight wearing armour but he had no head. "Headless Knight! Hold your ground!"

"Bakura, your plan will be foiled! Gamma, attack his Knight!"

The little pink warrior charged in and destroyed Bakura's third monster. Bakura didn't look fazed at all.

"Now, Gazelle - attack him directly!"

Gazelle tore through Bakura's Life Points again, now leaving him with only a chunk.

LP: Yugi: 4000/Bakura: 0450

"One more hit, and he wins!" cheered Joey.

"Unless Bakura's plan kicks in now," I said. My eyes suddenly widened at what I saw.

Bakura was smirking like the devil.

"It was too easy to be true," said Téa, disappointed.

Bakura laughed. "Did you honestly think that I would go this easy on you?" he asked. "You must be joking!"

"I didn't believe it for a second, Bakura," said the Pharaoh, matching the evil smirk on Bakura's face with a defiant glare of his own. "You gave me no choice but to attack."

"Precisely," said Bakura. "I forced you into my trap, and now you will see what it is!"

Bakura held up one of the cards he had in his hand. "This card holds dark powers beyond your imagination!" he said. "But before I could play it, I needed three monsters to be destroyed. So, thanks."

"You…"

"Now, I will summon this monster, and your destruction will begin! Dark Necrofear! Come to the field!"

As Bakura played the card in his hand, an eerie stream of purple light emerged from his Duel Disk. It flew over the field, and even went down towards the observation deck in a dramatic attempt to make its appearance more frightening. The odd way it moved was, indeed, daunting. It swam through the air as though there was no straight path, as though it was deliberately choosing its own way. It flew over Serenity, and she ducked.

"Oi! Watch it!" said Joey, waving his fist at the light. That boy was surely fearless when it came to protecting his sister, but any other time, he would have been scared for his life.

The pink stream of light then flew around my shoulders, but I kept my arms crossed and concentrated on glaring at Bakura. He watched, hoping to get any sort of reaction out of me, but of course I wasn't going to amuse him.

"He's a crazy bastard…" said Tristan, as the pink light flew back to the field.

"Why, thank you. I take pride in that," said Bakura.

The pink light began to pulsate and grow, until it molded into the shape of a monster. She was a female fiend with decorated ornaments on her armour and a dead baby in her arms. The aura she was giving off was pungently dark, even darker than the night itself, and her piercing wine-coloured eyes seemed to bore right into the Pharaoh. Her Attack Points were nothing to ignore - 2200 was a huge jump from what Bakura's previous monsters had as their attack strength.

"He sacrificed so much of his life just to summon that monster…" I said, my eyes wide at the sight of the horrific beast now standing before the Pharaoh.

"She's really powerful," said Eric quietly.

"Why didn't Bakura just summon all the monsters in Defence Mode?" asked Téa. "He could have saved his Life Points."

"If Bakura had done that, then Yugi would have thought of them as Effect Monsters and would have been more reluctant to attack," I said. "Because they were in Attack Mode, Yugi had the advantage of lowering Bakura's Attack Points by going through with the attack. Even though he knew it was a trap, he decided to bring Bakura's Life Points down and deal with whatever he had planned. This way, he's at an advantage."

"And this is where my brilliant plan continues to develop," said Bakura. "I place two cards face down and end my turn. Good luck destroying my monster, Yugi. She is one of the strongest in my deck!"

Now this was strange too - Dark Necrofear really was quite strong, and could have easily destroyed any one of the Pharaoh's monsters that he had on the field, but Bakura didn't order an attack against them. What could he have been thinking now? Why would he miss his own opportunity to lower the Pharaoh's Life Points? Or did the Pharaoh's face down card scare him?

The Pharaoh drew his next card and looked through his hand in search of a strategy that could help him. There was a moment when he was concerned about whether or not he could defeat Bakura's monster, but the hesitation in his crimson eyes quickly flew away, and was replaced with the determination that we were so used to when he thought of something that could help him.

"I sacrifice Gazelle!" The King of Mythical Beasts glowed and broke down into a pile of shattered holographic pieces. The pieces then began to disappear, and as they did, the Pharaoh looked at me. I blinked.

Why did he look at me like that? He looked... worried.

"To summon Dark Magician Girl!"

It's her… The memory of what happened last time when I saw this monster immediately played through my mind again as she appeared onto the field in a burst of magic. The images I had seen when she was first summoned also resurfaced. I didn't want to collapse again - definitely not in front of Zafar and Marik. They were right there, and if seeing the Pharaoh's monster made me weak again, then I had no right to call myself his Guardian, and them witnessing my falling would have proved that fact, making me look completely and utterly useless.

I clenched my fist, and forced myself not to show any change in emotion when the beautiful magician twirled onto the field from a magical portal. Once again, the image of that other girl with brown hair and the most beautiful teal eyes flashed before my eyes, and so did the image of the small tablet.

Who was this girl? Why did she appear with the Pharaoh in that flashback? What was that tablet? What could it all mean?

This tablet was strange. It was much smaller and it didn't look like any normal carving, like the one depicted on the museum wall. No, this one had something else to it. There was something mysterious about it, and I couldn't quite place what it was. Something was missing: something obvious. But what?

It was then that my Locket burned against my collarbone, and my eyes widened.

We knew this girl, but we've forgotten. Just as we established before the mime's duel by the bridge, certain memories were suppressed for our safety.

Against Pegasus, who could look into our minds and see what was there.

And against Marik, who could only control our minds, but could find out what he needed to by forcing us to tell him.

If we didn't know about these important things, then we wouldn't be at a disadvantage against our enemies. Without our memories, they didn't have a chance to know either, and therefore couldn't use that information to do more evil.

But we couldn't stay in the dark forever. We needed to bring these things into light at some point, because these memories were key for our mission.

But was now really the right time?

My Locket was burning against my skin, but I made no move to rip it off my neck to escape the scorching heat. I let it burn, thinking that it was somehow helping me remember. Discomfort must have been visible on my face despite my best efforts to hide them, because I felt Eric grab my arm tight as I began to lean backwards from the immense pain throbbing in my brain.

"Sarah? You okay?" he asked. I didn't see him. I couldn't. All I could see were the images flashing across my eyes of the girl that we once knew. She smiled in one image, cried in another, and attacked an enemy using magic which she channelled through a magic wand in the third. There was also one scene where I saw the Pharaoh, the girl, and myself talking to one another, discussing something important, and the tablet was under her arm. Ancient hieroglyphs were carved around a dented shape in its centre, and I could just make out the words:

'The power that you seek in your darkest moment lies within your heart.'

Did this… tablet have something to do with my powers? This girl must have played some role. She appeared to wield magic, just like me. Was she also one of Master Mahad's students?

"Oi… Sarah!"

Hands were gripping my shoulders now, tightly, and I realized that I was being shaken back to reality. I didn't collapse like last time, thankfully, but everyone still noticed that something had happened. I first looked into the eyes of one concerned Joey, wondering if what I had seen was real. Then I glanced over towards the Pharaoh. He was now closer to the observation deck, his crimson eyes looking down at me with worry at what was happening.

We were friends again. He wasn't worrying about his shield… he was worrying about his friend. Remember that, Sarah.

I took a deep breath and sighed, relieved that I handled this wave of memories a lot better than last time.

"I'm sorry…" I said, quietly. "I'm alright."

"What… happened?" asked Téa, gently placing her hand on my shoulder once Joey removed his own hands. I noted his small sigh of relief.

"I, um…" I couldn't explain to them what I saw. If I began talking now, then Marik and Zafar would overhear and know that I had just remembered something important. I needed to prolong their suspicions about me for as long as possible. They were watching me intently from the other side of the observation deck.

"I got… dizzy for some reason… I couldn't see anything or hear anything for a while."

"Damn it, Sarah… you really didn't eat enough when we were down there..." Eric pulled a small chocolate bar from his hoodie pocket and promptly placed it in my hand. Then he proceeded to talk distinctly, as if indirectly announcing to everyone my diagnosis.

"You should know that when your glucose levels are low enough, you can get dizzy." He spoke with a prominent voice, deliberately. Eric's maroon eyes bore into my scarlet ones. He was silently telling me something - and it was important. By quickly analyzing his words, I realized what it was: he wanted me to play along.

I had a funny feeling from the way he spoke that he knew I wasn't feeling dizzy just from low sugar levels. Eric was becoming a lot more observant after encountering one of Marik's men. He was now searching for all kinds of signs of strange behaviour that could link back to what I had told him in his room.

"Er… right… I forgot about that," I said with a small grin, acting sheepish as I scratched the back of my neck. "Sorry..."

Téa sighed. "You need to take better care of yourself," she said.

I nodded. "You're right…" The Pharaoh and I exchanged glances. I opened the chocolate bar Eric gave me, nodding as I did so, to tell the Pharaoh that I was indeed alright, and then took a bite from it. It was one of those small, two-bite chocolate bars. It was enough to provide a distraction, and disappoint Marik and Zafar.

Now they would think twice about making a move. For if they acted under false pretenses, assuming that I had remembered something important, when in reality I didn't, not only would they have exposed themselves further, but I would then have a valid reason to act. Unsheathing my sword wouldn't have needed an explanation and I could attack back at them with no question.

The Pharaoh noticed my small nod and, to play along, returned to his original spot on the dueling platform. He didn't say anything, though I was sure he had questions. As did I.

What could I do with this new information? It obviously raised more questions… but when in Ra's name could I get them answered?

Bakura scoffed after remaining quiet for so long.

"Pathetic," he said blatantly. "And you trust her with your life." It was obvious that he didn't know what really happened. He probably didn't even know what happened the first time. Marik was keeping his partner in the dark.

"You wouldn't understand, Bakura," said the Pharaoh, holding his ground as he stood up for me. "And I'm sorry that you never will."

Bakura bared his teeth like a dog would when provoked. The Pharaoh might have struck the wrong cord.

"Whatever, it isn't like I'm here to play games," said Bakura.

"Well, neither am I. I activate my facedown magic card, Magic Formula! This card increases Dark Magician Girl's Attack Points by 500, making her strong enough to defeat your Dark Necrofear!"

Dark Magician Girl began to glow a beautiful golden hue as her Attack Points went up to 2500. She was now more powerful than Bakura's Dark Necrofear.

"You missed your chance to deal damage to my Life Points," said the Pharaoh. "You will pay for that mistake. Dark Magician Girl - attack Dark Necrofear!"

The Pharaoh's magician twirled her magic wand in her fingers and pointed it at Bakura's monster. She blasted Dark Necrofear with a flaming blue orb or magical energy, and when it hit its mark, Dark Necrofear burst into flames. A piercing shriek ripped through the air as the monster melted under the heat of the flames. The baby she was holding also disintegrated. After the horrific destruction of Dark Necrofear, Bakura's Life Points plummeted again, this time to his last little bit.

LP: Yugi: 4000/Bakura: 0150

"Way to go, Yugi!" cheered Tristan.

"Bakura sacrificed a lot of his Life Points to get that monster on the field," said Eric. "It was so easily destroyed by Yugi's Dark Magician Girl. It seems odd to me."

"Bakura never makes mistakes," I added quietly. "He never underestimates anyone. His traps are ruthless and counterintuitive. He must definitely have something-"

Suddenly, Bakura began to laugh. It was quiet at first, before it built up into a loud, maniacal howl which resounded for our ears to hear and our hearts to fear. I felt my heart grow heavy with concern for the Pharaoh. What did Bakura have planned all along?

"Thank you, Yugi!" derided Bakura. "You've destroyed my monster, one of the most powerful in my deck! All in a matter of moments - you did exactly as I thought you would!

"And exactly as I hoped you would."

The Pharaoh narrowed his eyes at Bakura. "What was your real plan?" he asked, suspecting that he was soon about to find out.

"When Dark Necrofear is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can activate this magic card." Bakura pressed a button on his Duel Disk and one of his face-down cards flipped up into view. The illustration was grotesque, and I felt my heart sink just from looking at it.

"Dark Sanctuary!"

Black shadows bathed in a blood-red veil suddenly rose up from behind both duelists and came together to form a massive dome over the entire dueling field and observation deck. Within the mass formed abstract mouths and eyes, with no clear direction or face anywhere. It was a horrifying experience to see disconnected eyes watching, and gaping mouths as dark holes that could land anyone in an unknown abyss. There were even mouths holding eyeballs within their fanged teeth, and eyes with teeth inside their irises. A chill crawled up my spine, and for the life of me, I couldn't think of what could have possibly been the reason for Bakura to have such a terrifying card in his deck. Then again… Ryou did say it was an "occult deck". Bakura must have drove him to getting his hands on the strongest cards that he could find, specific to his dark, wretched heart.

Serenity covered her mouth in shock and disgust, and stepped closer to her brother.

"What is this…" she asked, horrified.

"The place of nightmares," sneered Bakura. Joey protectively held his sister against him while I stood in front of her, to cut off his line of sight, and glared.

The Pharaoh looked around his new surroundings, clearly disturbed by the appalling atmosphere. "What have you done, Bakura?" he asked, grinding his teeth together, hoping that he didn't just trap himself too badly.

"You will regret what you have unleashed!" cried Bakura, laughing, with a grand wave of his arm. "This is the stuff of nightmares! Prepare to face an evil like never before!"

"It's a continuous spell card," said Eric, noting the symbol for it on the card's holographic illustration. "Whatever his plans are, they're big. He sacrificed a lot to get to this point, and he plans to do a lot more with this card."

"It could be the home to something we've never heard of," said Mai as her crossed arms changed position so that she was hugging herself. "That could be why Bakura needed to play this specific card. Or it has certain effects that are detrimental." Even though her stature might have altered, she still maintained a calm composure, just as I was trying to do, but the random directions each disembodied eye was looking made my stomach turn.

"Indeed..." said Bakura with a low voice. "And its terrifying magic will keep you in a constant state of fear - until it destroys you!"

The situation didn't faze the Pharaoh, because he didn't let things get to him very easily. He recomposed himself quite quickly after seeing the grotesque images, and stood his ground against Bakura. "You are the one who should be afraid," he said. "You have no monsters on your field, and only 150 Life Points to your name, which means it could end here and now."

"Take your turn and find out," said Bakura as he smirked.

"Then Gamma! Attack Bakura directly!"

We waited for Bakura to activate the second card that he had set faced down, but he didn't do anything. Not even when Gamma was charging up for the attack. He said nothing again when Gamma reeled back his clenched fist.

But instead of charging in towards Bakura, instead of punching right through his Life Points, instead of giving Yugi the match we thought he won, Gamma froze mid-attack, and from out of his back flew a ghostly specter. It shot through the air towards the Pharaoh. His eyes grew wide.

"What..!"

The creature flew through the Pharaoh, and in that instant, I felt a cold wind inside my shirt. The sensation made me realize something; the Pharaoh was attacked by that thing.

He narrowed his eyes at Bakura as he recovered. "Bakura! Explain yourself!"

"Were you not expecting anything, Pharaoh?" asked Bakura, tauntingly. "Of course I would have a dirty little secret in this place. Gamma the Magnet Warrior was possessed by the spirit of Dark Sanctuary, Onryou!"

"'Onryou'?" questioned the Pharaoh. "A vengeful ghost?"

"That's right, and it becomes an equipment card that I can attach to any of your monsters."

"So you've decided to equip it to Gamma?"

"You could say that. It will be more than happy to attack when you declare your monster to, but you will be the one taking damage."

The Pharaoh's eyes widened.

"The damage that you take will be equal to half of the possessed monster's Attack Points," continued Bakura. "So that's 750 points off your Life Points!"

"What?!"

"And the points you lose will be added to my total!"

LP: Yugi: 3250/Bakura: 0900

Bakura laughed, cruelly mocking us at how we were tricked. "Dark Sanctuary harbours terrible secrets… doesn't it?" he said, his voice dangerously low. The Pharaoh looked troubled at the idea of Bakura incorporating his Life into his own, but he didn't bear a look of defeat just yet. This was just a second problem that he had to overcome.

"Mai was right," said Eric, his maroon eyes narrowing. "There was something hiding in the field card after all."

"And it's a haunting nightmare!" cried Bakura crazily.

A ghost as white as a sheet diverged away from Gamma's hologram and hovered next to Bakura. Its face composed of a gaping mouth and narrow, empty eye-sockets, and its body glowed against the dark backdrop, emanating in false light.

"This ghost resides here in Dark Sanctuary," said Bakura. "And each turn, he will possess one of your monsters, Yugi, and if you order an attack from the possessed monster, the attack will rebound!"

"But how can he fight something he can't see? That's just luck!" said Joey, watching the ghost disappear again.

"It's still part of the rules," said Eric, gaining harsh looks from the others. Even though they didn't wish to hear such a thing, it was the truth. "Yugi just has to find a way around it."

"Are all my monsters possessed?" asked the Pharaoh, taking the situation calmly, but there was still uneasiness in his eyes.

Bakura simply smirked in response to his question. "You're going to have to attack me in order to find out," he said conceitedly. The Pharaoh clenched his fist as Bakura drew his next card. That damned lunatic. He should have explained all the effects to the card's name as per tournament rules, but he wanted the Pharaoh to waste time in finding out for himself.

"Now that it's my turn, I finally get the chance to play the next step in your demise. I activate my trap card: Destiny Board!"

A large board appeared above the field depicting letters, numbers, and the words "Yes" and "No". There was also a cursor with a hole inside that was held by two ghost-white hands. I had never seen anything like it before. The board itself seemed like a puzzle, but I didn't understand how it worked.

"What you see before you is a Ouija Board, a tool used to communicate with the dead." Bakura's line of sight switched over to me, and I glared. "The cursor moves according to how the spirits want it to move, and in the process, it spells out the message that the spirits wish to share with the ones who summoned them.

"This Ouija Board is different. Indeed, it will spell out a message, but the letters in the message are shown when I draw them from my deck. The word that is depicted will be the fate of my opponent."

Bakura switched his gaze back to the Pharaoh's.

"What is the message, Bakura?" asked the Pharaoh with narrowed crimson eyes.

"I will give you a letter this turn to start you off, since I'm so nice," said Bakura with a smirk.

We watched with anticipation as the hands moved the cursor over the board before stopping on a letter. A large "D" burning in blue-white flames materialized before the Pharaoh.

"Each turn, one letter will be revealed," continued Bakura. "After five turns, your message will be shown. One by one, the letters "E", "A", "T", and "H" will appear in the next four turns… and then the shadows will consume you!"

I put the letters together and felt the blood drain from my face. My eyes widened and I instinctively stepped forward to get to the Pharaoh's side, but the fact this was a tournament duel made me stop in my tracks. My heart was beating uncontrollably from worry in place of my restricted actions.

The letters spelt "DEATH". If the Pharaoh lost… would he die? Was Dark Sanctuary a gateway to the Shadow Realm? Was this a Shadow Duel after all?

"'Death'!" said the Pharaoh in realization at the same time.

"That's right!" cried Bakura triumphantly. "Even if you have Life Points remaining, in four turns, once the entire word is spelled out, you will instantly meet your end!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Bakura, how dare you!" I shouted, taking two steps forward this time. "You threaten him with death?!"

Bakura smirked so viciously that I felt my skin crawl. "I wouldn't give up the chance to kill the Pharaoh, my dear," he said. I glared at his arrogance. "Why only win against him in a duel when I can destroy him in the process?"

"So this was your plan all along, right from the beginning," said the Pharaoh. "All of that… to get me to this point."

"Precisely!"

"No way…!" cried Téa, horrified. "Is that even possible? Will Kaiba allow such a thing?"

At the mention of his name, the CEO said nothing to ease our racing thoughts. He continued watching the duel, while Mokuba looked up at his big brother expectantly. Finally, after a moment of careful thought, Kaiba offered us some words of encouragement, but they did very little to ease our worry.

"Although death is quite inconvenient, Yugi should be able to handle Bakura's combination with his God card."

"He's right," I said, although it angered me to no end that I was, once again, helpless. This new way of dueling limited me and my abilities, which made me quite impatient. Not only that, but even if Kaiba did wish to stop the duel, he couldn't. It was part of the rules. It was part of the game. Bakura was playing a dangerous version of a Shadow Game, one that did not need to start from the beginning. "We need to keep our faith that Yugi will come through and win, regardless of what Bakura throws at him."

"Alright…" said Téa, as she swallowed nervously before looking back to the duel. She held her hands together on top of her heart, as a silent prayer for things to be okay.

"That means I only have four turns left…" The Pharaoh didn't appear to worry as much as us, but he did look troubled. He needed to make these next few turns count, and with such a limited amount of time, it was going to be hard to come up with a sound strategy to defeat Bakura's dark combination. He tried to keep his composure instead of panicking, which always got him far. He would come up with something soon, he just needed some time to think.

But my job was to protect the Pharaoh. Even though I knew that my position was very confined in terms of one-on-one duels, I could still lend my support. And even though "death" may have been a part of Bakura's little game, I wasn't going to allow him to hurt the Pharaoh. Even though "death" may be a condition of a duel, in which I cannot fight against, I would do whatever I needed to do to protect the Pharaoh. If I lose my place in the finals, then so be it. The tournament didn't matter to me anyways. What mattered to me was the Pharaoh's life.

Without a doubt, if the Pharaoh was ever in a position where death was right at his doorstep, I would do everything I possibly could to make sure he was far away from it. I'd trade my own life if I had to.

As the confidence for knowing that I could still protect the Pharaoh outside of tournament rules enticed me, I felt stronger. Knowing that everything wasn't lost, and there was always a backup plan, calmed my racing heart and mind. I should know that as Guardian, I have more power than anyone knew. Even Marik underestimated me. Even Bakura. What they didn't know, was that I had the final say.

Exchanging my life gives the Pharaoh a second chance to defeat the evil cursing him.

My Locket glowed against my skin, this time more gently, and with more control. My powers were at the ready. If the Pharaoh happened to lose, I had a plan to protect him.

With that, I kept silent, like a watchful protector, and gave him my verbal support, all that he needed for now.

"You can do it!" I said confidently.

At the sound of my voice, the Pharaoh turned towards me. Then he smiled a bit in reassurance, acknowledging the support that he had from all of us.

"I'm not afraid," he stated confidently, turning back to Bakura. "Because in four turns, you will be the one regretting to have played this trap!"

"I dare you, Pharaoh!"

Now that it was Bakura's turn, he drew his next card, the sly smirk on his face never faltering. Even when he played his move.

"If you think my trap ends there, you're dead wrong! I activate the magic card Dark Door! This spell limits the number of attacks you can order to one per turn!"

"Damn…! As if the Onryou wasn't bad enough…" said the Pharaoh, gritting his teeth together. "Now I can only attack once…"

"While I leave you to chew on that, I summon Earthbound Spirit to the field!"

A mud-coloured monster that crawled out of the "ground" of the dueling field reached feebly towards the Pharaoh. It was a very weak monster, and we knew it couldn't have been used as a defensive measure because of it's placement. So what did Bakura have planned with this monster?

Bakura met our confused expressions with a very straightforward answer. "In order to keep Dark Sanctuary in play, I must sacrifice a monster during each turn." With a wave of his arm, before Earthbound spirit could get out, it shattered into a million pieces with no remnant of its existence having been left behind.

To keep this hideous card on the field, Bakura was required to sacrifice a monster each turn.

Never before had I wished for Bakura to quickly run out of monsters as much as I did just then. If he had no monsters to sacrifice, then we wouldn't have to worry about Dark Sanctuary. However, it was a wish that was much too far fetched.

"Finally, to finish my turn, I'll place this card face down." A trap card appeared on Bakura's side of the field, and I thanked the gods his turn was finally over. Since he didn't have any monsters, the card was definitely something he could use to counter the Pharaoh's next attack. Or it could have just as easily been a bluff.

The Pharaoh looked at both of his monsters carefully. Since Onryou was possessing Gamma, he was surely going to attack Bakura with Dark Magician Girl. As I watched his intent crimson orbs looking at his magician, for a moment, I thought I met the magician's gaze.

Her beautiful green eyes were lighter than the girl's eyes, the girl whom I kept seeing in my visions. I wondered what their relationship could have been for them to share such a close resemblance with one another. From what I could tell, they were both magicians… and the Pharaoh and I knew her. That girl with her warm smile and kind eyes… was someone we used to know. I wondered with desperation how it was even possible to forget a close friend like her, but again, the thought of destiny wanting it this way entered my mind, and the rage I felt settled down.

"Amira, it's alright!" I blinked, hearing a girl's voice from somewhere. It was strangely familiar, and for a fleeting moment, I wondered if it belonged to the girl who appeared in my visions.

Without making it completely obvious, I looked out from the corners of my eyes, scanning the top of the blimp, hoping to see if I wasn't going crazy. The voice was distinct. It sounded like someone was talking directly to me.

But of course, there was no one up here with us whom we didn't know about.

It was then I noticed Dark Magician Girl's chartreuse eyes still on me.

I froze, thinking it had gotten much too cold all of a sudden.

"Really... it's alright," said the voice. It was clear to me now that the voice was resonating from within my mind and not beside me - that was why it seemed so close even though no one with that voice was with us on the observation deck. The Dark Magician Girl gave me a small smile, and her lips weren't moving as the words spoke, but I had a feeling that she was talking to me. "These things must happen for the greater good."

At her words, I felt myself calm down even more. The frustration dissipated completely, and I found myself in comfort when I gazed back into her eyes. But I wondered why her voice soothed me. I could feel reassurance from her words as though I had complete trust in her.

I swallowed a little nervously, wondering if I was having another vision or if I was really talking to the Pharaoh's monster. "How… do we know each other…?" I asked inside my mind. She knew my true Egyptian name, one I haven't heard for so long that it sounded foreign to me.

The Dark Magician Girl's smile didn't disappear. It was reassuring to know that she didn't seem sad or angry about me not remembering her. It was like she knew this would happen. "You will know everything soon," she said. "The time for knowing is near. Protect the Pharaoh."

Before I could say I would die before I let anything happen to him, in the blink of an eye the setting changed back to the duel arena. The Dark Magician Girl was now looking ahead of her, as any programmed monster would, and the Pharaoh was still considering which monster to choose for his next attack.

The burning heat that my Locket was emitting also died down. It was like it sensed all the strange phenomena that were occurring around me.

It felt as though no time went by even though it was clear to me that I had a conversation with the Dark Magician Girl.

So she knows me… she remembers me… and I can talk to her… I wondered what in the world was going on. Was it just my mind filling in gaps that it wanted filled in, on its own? Or did I really talk with the Dark Magician Girl just now?

Or was it that girl talking through Dark Magician Girl…?

I was terribly distraught from having a small conversation with a seemingly animated Duel Monster, and it didn't help that I couldn't ask the Pharaoh's monster for clarification.

What if… what if I was speaking… to her spirit…?

I felt the blood drain from my face. The girl who appeared in my vision was someone we knew back in Ancient Egypt. It's been five millennia, so there was no way that she could have been alive anymore. The fact hurt me to no end, to know that we couldn't see this seemingly important person anymore, but her spirit could have still lived on. She could have been helping me from across the grave.

This was something that I had not anticipated, but she did say to have faith… and it was a strange thing. There were so many aspects to its spirituality that some things we could never possibly understand. Perhaps… it was a possibility…

Something in my heart pushed me to trust this feeling. I decided to put my faith in her words and wait patiently for the time when I would know everything, no matter how increasingly confusing everything became. Or would I have to accept the fact that I was going completely insane from thinking about this person? Dark Magician Girl might not even have spoken to me, and the voice that I heard could have easily been just my mind playing tricks on me.

At this point, I had nothing else to go on.

"There's no point in continuing the duel when you have nothing," taunted Bakura, ironically saying the word I had just thought of. "Surrender now!"

"I will do no such thing," said the Pharaoh. "There is always a way out of every strategy. Such as how you weren't able to summon a monster to defend yourself, leaving you wide open for a direct attack.

"I first summon Kuriboh to the field in Defence Mode." The little furry monster popped onto the field between Dark Magician Girl and Gamma, his cute purple eyes looking ahead of him expectantly, waiting for his chance to attack. The Pharaoh's gaze then turned to his magician.

"And I will attack with Dark Magician Girl!"

Bakura did not seem worried about his inevitable doom, which could only mean that he had something waiting in his favour. It must have been the trap card that he set. But as Dark Magician Girl was gearing up for her attack, pointing her magic wand at Bakura and summoning magical energy to its core, the Pharaoh's power-hungry opponent did not activate his trap card. Even the malicious smirk on his face didn't go away.

What in the world was he thinking?

Suddenly, the Dark Magician Girl's eyes grew wide, and the magic disappeared from her wand. Then, from out of her back flew the spirit of Onryou, hurtling towards the Pharaoh. In the last moment, when the Pharaoh was able to meet the ghost's empty eyes, he quickly braced himself as the white spirit shot through his chest, taking his Life Points with him.

Confusion could be seen in the Pharaoh's eyes. "What…! I thought the spirit was possessing Gamma!"

"You shouldn't assume such things," said Bakura with a slight shrug as he chuckled darkly. "I never said the spirit remains in one of your monsters… I get to choose who it will possess! Otherwise, what fun would it be when it's a predictable spirit?"

LP: Yugi: 2000/Bakura: 2150

"Once again, you lose Life Points, while I gain them! Ahahaha!"

"Bakura! Tell him all the rules before you use the effect!" I yelled, angry that he put the Pharaoh in such a tricky situation.

Bakura's dark eyes bore into my own. "This is more fun," he said. "I get to see his confusion before his look of defeat!"

"You sick bastard…" cursed Joey. I knew how he felt. How could we free Ryou and the world of this insane evil? He fed off of fear.

"And I can only attack once per turn because of your spell card," the Pharaoh added grimly to the already troubled situation.

"And your turn ends," said Bakura. "While mine begins. And to start this turn, another letter will be added to the board!"

Bakura played the magic card illustrating the letter "E", and it appeared in the air next to the first floating letter. My heart began to sink. I was beginning to feel the pressure of time constraints.

"Only three more letters to go!" laughed Bakura. "Then it's the end for you!"

"That also means you've still got three chances, Yugi!" cheered Tristan helpfully. "You can do it, man!"

At first, the Pharaoh didn't respond, but then it looked like something clicked. His crimson eyes were questioning as they glared at Bakura.

"You say that I only have three turns…" he started. "But do you yourself not have two? Players are only allowed to have five magic cards in play at a time. Not only do you have Dark Door on the field, but you also plan on adding five letters. You won't be able to finish the whole spell."

Before I could begin to contemplate what this could mean, and celebrate the possibility of Bakura being limited to how many letters he could play, Bakura showed us all that we were hoping in anguish with his dark laughter shaking our souls.

"One would think that, yes," he said. "However, because of Dark Sanctuary, I am allowed to play more than five magic or trap cards! You are still not off the hook!"

"Damn! I thought Yugi was on to something," said Eric.

"He'll find another way," I said confidently.

"So he'd have to use the monster card slots, right?" asked Téa.

Duke nodded. "Yeah, this guy is actually kind of clever…"

Sure, Bakura was clever, but the Pharaoh was strong. He could defeat him, I just knew it.

"Once again, I must tribute one monster in order to keep Dark Sanctuary on the field. So I summon Sangan to be that sacrifice!" Bakura summoned a furry, little monster that have one cat-like eye and long green arms. Just as fast as it had appeared, it disappeared. Once again, Dark Sanctuary was safe from the Graveyard, and for another round we were forced to deal with the twitching eyes and gaping mouths floating all around us.

"Thanks to Sangan's ability, when he is destroyed, I get to draw one card." Bakura drew his card and then placed it in his hand without even looking at what it was. His bold eyes were on the Pharaoh the whole time, as if daring him to find a way out of this. He was confident that he had a solid strategy that had trapped the Pharaoh.

But of course, the Pharaoh was not one to give up. He continued to push through the duel, and drew his next card, making sure not to show Bakura any signs of falter. He remained strong.

I tried to think about the thought process Bakura would use when choosing which monster his spirit would possess. Kuriboh was too weak, and any new monster that the Pharaoh will summon won't be possessed as Bakura must choose right when the Pharaoh's turn starts. So he would either choose Dark Magician Girl or Gamma, two of the Pharaoh's best attacking monsters at this moment. Both had an equal chance of being possessed, so the Pharaoh must think of another factor to help him determine which monster to attack with. He might choose Gamma, since he had less Attack Points than Dark Magician Girl. This way, if Gamma did happen to be possessed, the Pharaoh would lose less Life Points than if it was Dark Magician Girl.

"I summon Big Shield Gardna to the field in Defence Mode!" The burly monster with great defence strength appeared before the Pharaoh, down on one knee with his shield held protectively before the Pharaoh. It was a good idea to build up a defence, but when we got right down to it, it was the choice of attacking monster that would make the difference. I prayed that the Pharaoh would choose the right monster.

"Then I choose Gamma to attack you directly!"

The magnet monster charged forward, raising his sword. However, once again, Bakura had something else planned - right when the Pharaoh had chosen the right monster to attack with too.

"Not so fast! I play the trap Dark Spirit of the Silent!" Bakura's face down trap card was activated, and the face of another mischievous spirit was on the card. Gamma's attack immediately stopped short, with his sword inches away from Bakura's chest. The man smirked.

"This card stops your attacking monster," said Bakura. "And forces another to attack instead! Since there is really only one other monster in Attack Mode on your side of the field, she will be the one attacking!"

Bakura could have done this for only one reason and that reason alone: the Pharaoh had chosen the right monster, which would have won him the duel had Gamma's attack been able to go through, but because it was the right monster, Bakura had another strategy besides chance that would force the possessed monster to attack, making the Pharaoh lose more Life Points.

Indeed, when Gamma fell back, and Dark Magician Girl moved forward to attack, the same ghostly spirit of Onryou flew from out of her back and into the Pharaoh. More of his Life Points fell at the expense of choosing the right monster.

If Bakura had a card to counter his carefully chosen monster, then what could the Pharaoh do to win?

LP: Yugi: 0750/Bakura: 3400

"It's not looking too good for Yugi, guys," said Duke, rather unhelpfully. We didn't need a bother in morale level.

Tristan grabbed the front of Duke's shirt and pulled his face closer to his. "Say that again!" he said daringly. "That's no help, man! Yugi has a lot riding on this!"

"I-I'm sorry!" cried Duke. Tristan gritted his teeth but then he let him go, knowing that violence wasn't going to solve anything. "It's just… this Bakura guy keeps throwing some mean punches left and right…"

"I'm worried for him, Joey…" said Serenity to her brother.

"Yeah… I'm worried too…" admitted Joey. "But Yugi's so smart… I'm sure he'll figure out a way."

"He's got to get rid of it," said Salex suddenly. "Yugi's got to get rid of the ghost."

"But how is he going to do that?" asked Tristan. "It's a part of the field spell."

"There are some exceptions," said Salex. "Only if Yugi plays his cards right."

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"Oh, you know!" Salex smiled sheepishly. "I did some extra homework on cards that I wanted to add to my deck, but I couldn't find Dark Sanctuary anywhere."

"Oh… I see…"

The Pharaoh glared at his opponent. "I place two cards face-down and then end my turn." His turn was forcibly cut short, but it was all he could do with what he was given.

Bakura chuckled. "Not that it would matter," he said, drawing his next card. "And with a new turn… comes a new letter!"

Above the field, the letter "A" emerged. The word was already coming together. The Pharaoh only had two turns left. My hands were cramping from how tightly I was clenching them.

"And while you contemplate the feat of your demise, I will play Souls of the Forgotten!"

A small ghost appeared on the field for only a second before Dark Sanctuary swallowed it up. Bakura was now able to keep Dark Sanctuary in play for another turn. Once again, it was the Pharaoh's turn.

"This seems all too familiar," said Bakura, crossing his arms. "Are you sure that you're thinking of ways to defeat me?"

"Bakura, once I defeat you, you won't be as cocky."

"What if I told you that you didn't even have to beat me?"

The Pharaoh watched Bakura carefully. "Change your mind already? After chasing me so long for a duel to win the Millennium Puzzle?"

"That was before I found out about another source of power that could get the job done."

"... What do you mean?"

"Tell you what, I'll stop hunting you... if you give me your Guardian."

I blinked. The Pharaoh briefly glanced my way before confronting Bakura.

"What the hell are you talking about…"

The Pharaoh was right. What the hell was Bakura talking about?

"Your Guardian holds a power within her that not even she is aware of." Bakura smirked as the Pharaoh's eyes widened. "Why not just remove the wild card from your deck? It won't cost much… just her life."

"How do you know of such things in the first place?" glared the Pharaoh.

"Oh, you know…" Bakura's smirk never faltered. If this was a bluff, he was playing it very well. "Gossip runs quickly through Ancient Egypt, and yet, it took the three of us five thousand years to find out that your Guardian isn't who she says she is."

"Bakura… what do you know about my Guardian?" The Pharaoh had had enough with Bakura's games. He sounded dangerously angry. He wanted to know what Bakura claimed to know, and against my better judgement, I wanted to know too.

"It's strange how your Guardian, the one who claims to be someone who can help you with all the memories she possesses of you, has conveniently left out the fact that she has magical powers beyond her current number of spells," asked Bakura crudely. "She is obviously hiding something."

"She isn't hiding anything, Bakura," said the Pharaoh. "You should have known that if you were trying to show-off.

"My Guardian isn't some bargaining chip in the first place. Focus on your opponent, no matter how close to victory you may seem."

My chest tightened. The Pharaoh considered me as someone important. A friend.

He was… protecting me.

Knowing that, I began to feel strange. I hadn't been shielded by someone else before.

Bakura smirked, as if he hadn't stopped since the beginning, and the Pharaoh's words didn't faze him at all. "You can easily stop all this chasing if you simply give her to me."

The Pharaoh's narrowed eyes were now thoughtful. He tried his best to glare his opponent down, but it was clear that he didn't shake off these last few words as easily as he did the rest.

For a heart-wrenching moment, I wondered if the Pharaoh was considering Bakura's offer.

But the man's set eyes never wavered far, he was just thinking about a perfect counter. "Trade my Guardian in for no trouble from you? But I've been enjoying the attention."

"Whoa, that quick lip," noted Eric, pleasantly surprised. "He'd better be careful though. This Bakura guy doesn't seem nice at all."

"He's a piece of work," I mumbled, admiring the Pharaoh's courage.

The smirk finally disappeared from Bakura's face and what replaced it was a dissatisfied glower. "You'll regret this…" he said. "I offered a faster way out, but you chose the difficult route."

"I won't take short cuts. Not against you. You must be defeated the right way."

"Very well. You've chosen your path. But know this: you're both in my sights now."

I blinked. This reminded me of the times Bakura confronted me when I was alone: once back in Duelist Kingdom and the second in the museum before the tournament even began. Both times, he had wanted my Locket.

He claimed to know about my power, and things that I "must have been hiding". He wanted my Locket before and now he wanted me.

Before I could contemplate any further, the Pharaoh began his next turn.

"Bakura, you had best focus on the duel before you, because I can play anything that will ruin your day."

The Pharaoh flipped over one of his face down cards. "I activate the trap Collected Power! This card forces all Equip Cards to focus on solely one monster of my choosing, and I choose Kuriboh!"

Magic Formula, which was a Spell Card bestowed upon Dark Magician Girl, now rendered its power to Kuriboh, increasing its small strength. We were just as befuddled as the little Kuriboh as to what the Pharaoh might have been planning.

"Why would Yugi do that?" asked Tristan.

"He's doing just as he should…" I said with amazement at the Pharaoh's strategic manoeuvrability. "We can't see it because it's invisible when it switches hosts, but the Evil Ghost is also inside the Kuriboh! Bakura can't choose who it can haunt now because of the trap!"

"And with that I will finish off the ghost with this card: Exile of the Wicked! This card destroys all Fiend-type monsters on the field, and when Kuriboh is destroyed, so is your ghost."

Kuriboh disappeared in a puff of brown smoke and the ghostly whisper of Onryou could be heard echoing through the Dark Sanctuary. The object that was blocking the Pharaoh from victory was now gone.

The gang and I cheered for the heroic play.

Bakura finally looked dissatisfied. His snarky grin had left with his ghost. "So, you've managed to defeat the great spirit Onryou, but can you really defeat me?"

"I have done so before, and will do it again," said the Pharaoh confidently. "For now, I will unroot the very basis of your Occult Deck - Dark Sanctuary!"

"He's going to get rid of the field card? But how!" asked a very puzzled Téa.

Destroying a Field Spell was difficult. I tried to think of a strategy the Pharaoh could use based on the cards that I had seen in his deck, but I couldn't come up with anything as a good answer to Téa's question.

But then I saw the sweat beading down Bakura's face, and instantly I remembered how Dark Sanctuary was played in the first place.

"Monster Reborn…"

"Huh?" Téa looked at me with an even more puzzled expression.

"He's going to use Monster Reborn."

Just in time to show us, the Pharaoh activated his other face-down card. It was Monster Reborn.

"I activate this spell card to bring back an important player in the game. Most importantly, an important player in your game, Bakura, because you need this monster in the Graveyard for Dark Sanctuary to even be in play."

Bakura gritted his teeth as he came to terms with what the Pharaoh meant. "You mean…"

"That's right. Using Monster Reborn, I resurrect Dark Necrofear!"

From within a blooming cloud of dark smoke emerged the familiar female Fiend with her dead baby in her arms, but this time, she was on the Pharaoh's side of the field. And with her out of the Graveyard, Dark Sanctuary didn't have any time left on the field.

The bloody haze featured with grotesque faces slowly faded away, as if it was a bad nightmare that one would soon forget. Amid the spectators' joyous tributions for its disappearance, Bakura was the only one to miss its presence. He stood there, rooted to his spot, staring up at the sky, hoping with a death glare set in his gaze that the field card would magically reappear.

But it didn't.

And so, that death glare was redirected towards the Pharaoh.

"You've taken away my most powerful card," he growled.

"Not only that, but I have limited the number of magic card slots in your Duel Disk back to five," replied the Pharaoh curtly. Of course, this additional side effect to the destruction of Dark Sanctuary was also a bonus. "Now you are unable to completely spell out your final word on the Ouija board.

"You're finished, Bakura. And now, I attack with your own monster!"

Dark Necrofear left her baby floating in the air as she molded her arm into a scythe. Then she charged towards Bakura, who attempted to brace himself with his arms, and swiped at him. Bakura grimaced at the force of the attack, and watched in frustration as his Life Points fell dramatically.

LP: Yugi: 0750/Bakura: 1250

"That was for my Guardian," said the Pharaoh, surprising me. "Don't ever try something like that again."

I felt my face grow hot from the Pharaoh's valour. When I turned to the others to see their expressions, they were giving me knowing smiles.

"He's so bold…" I said with a small sigh as I tried to brush it off as just another noble thing that the Pharaoh did, but deep down, I felt a warmth in my heart that I never thought I would feel. He stood up for me against Bakura, our most powerful enemy. Despite my lacking memories, he continued to hold me at his side, as his partner and not his shield.

He continued to surprise me.

"He's doing great!" Joey cheered, punching the air enthusiastically. "He's got this one in the bag!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" asked Téa.

"Well, it isn't over yet," said Eric. "Bakura could bounce back with any number of strategies. Even Yugi isn't celebrating just yet."

"You're right…" I said. "I just hope Bakura doesn't trap him again…"

"You may think you are going to win, but I'm still in the game," said Bakura as he played another magic card. "I play the next letter of my ultimate spell - T."

"You've used up all of your magic and trap card slots," said the Pharaoh. "If you wish to play the final letter, you will have to deactivate Dark Door, but by doing so, I will be able to attack with all of my monsters, and you won't even get the chance to play the final letter."

Bakura looked at his new card, and upon seeing what it was, his mood appeared lifted.

"With this card… you won't have the need to worry about the number of card slots again! I summon Jowgen the Spiritualist!"

A man wearing religious robes materialized onto the field. His attack strength wasn't at all high, so I wondered why Bakura played him. If it wasn't for the attack strength, then it must have been for the effect.

"This card has a very nice ability, one that will unravel all that you've done! Jowgen's special effect allows it to limit players to only Normal Summon monsters. All Special Summon monsters go straight to the Graveyard! And you know what that means…"

By the power of Jowgen's telepathy, as his hand was rising up from his side, Dark Necrofear was also floating up. When he clenched his fist, Dark Necrofear turned to dust.

And the roiling veil of faces and blood shrouded the field once more.

"Now that Dark Sanctuary is back on the field, I can play more magic and trap cards!"

"Not again…" said Serenity sadly.

"Because Dark Necrofear is back in the Graveyard, Dark Sanctuary is back in play…" I looked towards the Pharaoh's troubled expression.

"And because Dark Sanctuary is in play, the ghost of Onryou is also back," said Eric. His hard eyes looked straight at me, and the concern he was feeling pooled into my heart.

The Pharaoh… he only had one turn left.

"I'm tired of being creeped out," said Joey as he held his stomach. "It's exhausting to feel nauseous for so long."

"Yugi did all that work…" Tristan gritted his teeth.

"If he can defeat the spell before, then he can do it again," said Téa, her faith unwavering at the familiarly grotesque sight.

"He has to…" I said. "This turn makes or breaks it…"

Bakura burst into a maniacal laughter I wasn't happy to listen to again. It was the Pharaoh's turn to grind his teeth together in frustration, for he was back in the same position as before.

"You can attempt at removing the darkness but you never will!" cried Bakura, crazed at the favourable outcome.

"I've defeated your possessive ghost before, and I shall do so again!" said the Pharaoh, maintaining his confidence despite the corner he's been backed into again.

Bakura shook his head, the smirk on his face was electrifying. "You won't be able to choose the right monster to attack with," he sneered.

I groaned. "He's got another Dark Spirit of the Silent…"

"Guys… I'm not sure if…"

Duke was violently cut off when Tristan turned to him with a fiery glare like no other. At the sight of it, Duke immediately stopped his words.

"I'm afraid what Duke is saying might be right," said Mai. "As strong as Yugi is, he's trapped. He needs something on his turn or else he'll lose."

"If he attacks, and he chooses the possessed monster to attack with, then he'll lose the duel from Onryou taking the rest of his Life Points," I started. An unpleasant feeling boiled in the pit of my stomach as I continued to explain possible routes and their outcomes as a side effect to my stressing out. "He attacks, and he chooses a monster that isn't possessed, then Bakura will activate Dark Spirit of the Silent and force the possessed monster to attack instead, which would allow Onryou to take his Life Points. And if he doesn't attack this turn at all… then not only would he lose the chance to take out Bakura's last bit of Life Points, but he will also have to face the wrath of the spell that Bakura will finish spelling out. In all scenarios… he will lose."

Eric gave me a knowing glance. "But…?"

"If he draws something extraordinary during his turn, then he has a chance of winning…"

"Then let's believe in that," offered Eric. I stared wonderingly at Eric. This boy, who tricked and lied to me in Duelist Kingdom, and upon which wasn't the believing type, was reinstating what Yugi and his friends believed in so much.

Faith. Faith in their friend, faith in each other, and faith in themselves. Faith for us was praying to the Gods, and the knowledge of having their support strengthened our forces and power. But faith from comrades and friends was something entirely. When a group of people you could see before you was actively believing in you, there was a new kind of strength.

And now Eric believed in it too.

He's changed… so much since then…

"You're right…" I replied.

"He'll come through," added Joey. "He knows he has to."

Worry for his friend darkened his eyes and made him anxious, but he didn't stop believing.

Of course, I couldn't let the negative outcomes outweigh my belief either.

I looked up at the Pharaoh as he concentrated on his deck.

"You can do it…" I said quietly.

Defeat this evil from our past.

"I'll sacrifice Jowgen to keep Dark Sanctuary in play, of course." Bakura then placed a face-down card.

"I'll set this down, not that I think I need it, and end my turn But your turn is, shall we say, the turning point of this duel. Will you finally lose?"

"I can't lose to you," said the Pharaoh, his continuous courage unwavering. "I won't.

"I will defeat you… using my next card!"

The Pharaoh placed his entire faith into this one card, and at the same time, my Locket glowed.

I saw a familiar image soar through my eyes, one that I haven't seen for millennia.

"Osiris…"

"I sacrifice Dark Magician Girl, Gamma the Magnet Warrior, and Big Shield Gardna!"

The darkened sky above tore with lightning. The Pharaoh's three monsters combined into one and shot into the clouds. From within, we heard a deafening roar.

"I summon Slifer the Sky Dragon!"

A large serpent emerged from behind the lightning. Its beautiful red colour glinted with each strike. The giant monster's two mouths bore sharp teeth strong enough to rip apart the blimp if it wished. Just staring into its intense yellow eyes, one could tell that they were at its mercy.

It was Slifer the Sky Dragon.

"Behold! The monster that will trump your Dark Sanctuary!"

The giant serpent's body wound itself around the blimp, with its tail hovering down by the cockpit while his head loomed over the dueling platform. I stood there in awe, taking in every little detail of the enormous beast. For a split second, I thought I saw the god turn to look at me, but then I blinked and he was back to staring his opponent down.

I noticed the giant tears in the Dark Sanctuary field spell where it looked like someone had gone through it with a very large pair of shears. Slowly but surely, the field spell was disappearing. I saw it melt away before Bakura could finish staring in shock at his opponent's offence.

"How in the world is someone supposed to defeat such a beast…" I heard him mutter. Sweat beaded down the side of his face and I could somewhat sympathize with his fear.

The god was terrifying. Being in his presence brought about the feeling of insignificance. I almost knelt before him right then and there, ready to ask him for mercy.

"Amazing…" I breathed. "Absolutely incredible…"

"That's Yugi's god card?" Mai was stunned by its enormity. Her violet eyes were wide as she stared up at the hovering beast like everyone else. Disbelief was plastered onto their faces at the raw power this card possessed.

Even though it was just a card, the Pharaoh and I knew better. If these cards were destined to display the power of the gods, then they will have great power like no other.

With a god on his side, the Pharaoh seemed more radiant than ever. His courage, never lacking, bolded the look on his face. Relief filled his crimson eyes.

"I now have Slifer on my side," he said, his voice booming over the quiet field. "He isn't affected by your spells or your ghost, so they will both be destroyed."

As if on dramatic cue, we watched the ghost appear on Bakura's side unable to possess Slifer. With the last of Dark Sanctuary disappearing, the ghost also vanished. Bakura looked on, unable to do anything a second time to save his strategy.

"Surely, he cannot win you the duel..." he asked.

"Would you like to challenge that?" replied the Pharaoh with a smirk. "You're finished."

"No… no, I can't be…" Bakura ground his teeth. "I cannot lose…!"

"You just did. Slifer… attack Bakura's Life-"

Suddenly, the air around us turned ice cold, and as soon as I saw the Pharaoh's Millennium Puzzle glow, my Locket burned.

We sensed something.

From the other side of the observation deck, Marik was approaching the duel field. He had the Millennium Rod in his hand and a dark look on his face.

"You had best hold back your attack from Slifer," he said. His voice was deep and calm, almost hypnotic. Did he use it to his advantage when controlling minds?

"You can't interrupt the duel!" said Mokuba. However, mind control wasn't in the Official Battle City rules, and therefore, no one could legally stop him.

"Why you…! You can't just stop him!" Joey was going to go after Marik, but Tristan held him back.

"Come on, dude! We don't want to replay what happened last time!"

"Indeed. Your escape from my last plan was unseen. If given another chance, I will not let you win again.

"Which is why in this duel, I will control your friend Ryou, and free his possession from the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring!"

He held the Millennium Rod up towards Bakura and activated its magic, freezing the man in his spot on the duel field.

"Hey! What do you think you're trying to do!" I shouted, storming towards Marik. I stepped just out of Duke's reach.

"Sarah! What do you think you're doing?!"

"The Guardian has no say in the matter," said Marik curtly.

"I say otherwise," I said, glaring at the man. It was strange. Now that I was this close, the Millennium Item's power didn't seem to be radiating from the Rod as I sensed it did from the Ring and the Puzzle. Marik must have been really good at controlling its width of magic.

"Why are you releasing our friend from the evil spirit's control? What are the two of you scheming?!"

My question wasn't answer by what I wanted, but by a small voice instead.

"What… where am I…"

My eyes darted over to the duel field. Ryou was on his knees, holding his injured arm.

"Ryou!" The Pharaoh was about to run over to him, but Roland stopped him.

"There will be no contact with the opponent!" The man was nervous about the duel being as it was, but he was very adamant about doing his job. "The rules must be followed!"

"But what about this interference?" I cried, frustrated. I wanted to fight Marik, but my body wasn't moving like I wanted it to. I didn't know why it was stalling. So I did the only other thing that I could think of.

"Kaiba!"

The CEO just looked on. "I don't see the problem," he said coldly. "All Yugi has to do is have Slifer attack and he wins."

"This is about more than just a duel!" cried Téa. "He's hurt!"

"And he will not survive Slifer's attack," said Marik. Suddenly, it all made sense.

To stop the Pharaoh from attacking, Marik forced Ryou to appear, knowing full well that when the Pharaoh sees his weak state, he'll give away his turn.

Then Bakura could regain control and play the last letter, winning him the duel.

"The nerve…" The Pharaoh glared at Marik. "You coward!"

"Yugi… I'm not feeling very well… what's happening…" Ryou's chocolate brown eyes were dark. His breathing was ragged and he couldn't stand. Ryou needed medical help, and he needed it fast. He shouldn't be in this duel.

"Ryou… hold on-"

"Yugi, you must continue your turn or be disqualified," said Roland. That didn't make matters any easier.

"Hey! Can't you see that our friend needs help?" Joey was already halfway up the duel platform when Tristan and Duke finally caught him and started pulling him back down.

"You need to pull back, or else you will also be disqualified."

"Damn you…!"

"It's not his fault," said Eric. "He's just here to reinstate the rules. He isn't involved with what's going on."

"Yugi, attack already," said Kaiba.

"I can't… do such a thing," said the Pharaoh. Then I saw a familiar pain in his eyes, the same conflicting pain he had when he was dueling Kaiba on top of the castle at Duelist Kingdom. He was put in the same position, where the health of his opponent was risked for a win.

What could he do…?

"Ryou won't survive the match," I said, feeling my face grow hot with frustration. "Slifer's attack will be too great…"

"We can't have that, can we…"

Suddenly, Ryou was back on his feet. Something happened. Bakura was back in his host's body, regaining control.

"I need this body," he said. "I can't risk you choosing to attack my defenceless host. So attack me instead!"

This was no act of heroism. Bakura was always thinking about whatever benefited him, and he always will. In this case, he put himself in harm's way to 'save' his host, like a devious parasite.

Bakura was a parasite. He needed someone else in order to survive and persist, and he possessed Ryou ruthlessly. The poor boy could only helplessly be pulled around to his will.

The Pharaoh felt the same way about Bakura. Upon seeing his return, he acknowledged his time to attack.

"We will defeat you, Bakura!" he cried. "Just you wait until you come back out of your shell.

"Slifer! Attack Bakura directly and end this!"

One of Slifer's vicious jaws opened to summon a lightning attack. Energy surged and sparked into a tight ball between his teeth, and when he attacked Bakura, a destructive beam of light hurtled towards him.

Delusional about his loss, or chance at redemption, Bakura laughed at the god's attack. The light engulfed his body, and the impact ignited into a monstrous explosion of flames. The raw power that I felt from the beast was magnificent.

Once the light died down, Bakura released his hold on Ryou, who then fell to his knees again, conscious but in pain. The Life Point counter finally stopped.

Bakura was stopped for another day.

"Yugi Mutou wins the duel!" announced Roland.

LP: Yugi: 0750/Bakura: 0000

We finally got the okay to go to Ryou's side.

Mokuba stepped forward. "Let's get him down to his room!" he said as Joey and Tristan held Ryou up. He looked up towards his older brother, expecting him to say something, but he didn't.

Seto's eyes just stayed glued onto the Pharaoh.

I turned towards Marik but he was already walking away with Zafar. I called out to them with one warning:

"Cowards will burn in hell."

Marik stopped walking. Without turning around to face me, he said:

"That does not only apply to us."

Words died in my throat. I felt my leg throbbing from where my nails were digging into my thigh.

Of course, I was going to take it to heart.

I turned around and ran to the others, ready to give Ryou emergency treatment.

I didn't want to admit to myself that I couldn't take a step forward when I should have. Not while the man who tried to kill me was so close.

His words dug into my heart like sharp nails.

---

Author's Note: I finished writing this chapter on the bus ride back to my place after a long day at uni. I can't believe it took me so long to finish this chapter. O_O

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! =D Please send a review if I'm rusty after all this time!

Happy Halloween! =3

I apologize for being so inactive. I have found that I have stress-related problems, and with too many things on my plate, it's hard for me to manage it all. I need to come up with a better time management plan. x.x

Anyways. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! =D Thank you very much for being patient, and reading my fanfictions. It means a lot to me. =)

~xyugiohluvrx