DISCLAIMER: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine.

Mind Game Part II

Marik chuckled. 'Feeling light-headed since I'm wiping out your memories? That's to be expected!'

'Hey,' Tristan said. 'Mai looks like she's in a major daze, guys.'

'Try and hang in there, Mai!' Téa called. Mai looked down, almost blankly. 'You can do it! We'll all here for you!' She suddenly paused and looked up at her with confusion. 'What's wrong? She's not answering me. And what's with that blank stare.'

'Weren't you listening?' Shamee asked. 'Every time one of Mai's monsters is destroyed, her memories of one of us is destroyed. It looks like you were the first one to go.'

'That's impossible!' Téa insisted.

Shamee cast her a sidelong glance. 'You have been here before, right?'

'She should still be at least able to see me!' Téa insisted.

Shamee shook her head. 'He won't want to risk triggering her memories. You're blocked from her perception.' That wasn't entirely true. Mai could clearly still hear Tea, but she was looking right through her; she couldn't see her. Still, it would be better for Tea to remain silent rather than distract Mai with a loud voice that was coming from seemingly nowhere.

'You mean to her I no longer exist?' Téa demanded.

Shamee nodded. 'To her, you never existed in the first place I'm sorry to say.'

YGO

'Mother! Mother!'

The woman turned as her son came rushing towards her. 'What's the matter?'

'There's a Shadow Game happening again! But I heard Shamee say the woman is a non-Shadow Gamer!'

'Rat rot!'

YGO

Mai pulled her attention off of the mystery voice. It seemed to have stopped. Better for her, then. She'd do much better to focus on this duel rather than worry about voices with unknown sources. Whatever this was, she still had to worry about the Winged Dragon of Ra.

Marik drew. 'All right then. I place one card face down,' he set his cards, 'and then, I'll summon Makyura the Destructor in attack mode!' Both cards appeared on the field and Makyura emerged from his card. The purple-armoured monster stood at attention on the field. 'Next I'll add this all-powerful magic card,' he played it, 'the Mystical Black Pendant!' The Pendant appeared around Makyura's neck. 'Black Pendant's dark magic raised my monster's attack strength by 500 points.' Makyura's attack flew from 1600 to 2100.

Now Marik's monster is stronger than my Unfriendly Amazon. Mai tensed, and her free hand curled into a fist. He's going to attack!

Marik chuckled. 'Time to say goodbye to another one of your friends!'

'That's enough!' Mai snapped.

Marik pointed across the field. 'And now, Makyura, Three-Claw Slash!' The monster attacked, but Mai was prepared.

'Activate trap card!' The card flipped up. 'Amazon Archers!' They emerged from the card and each let their arrows fly into Makyura, one by one. 'Now your monster's attack points are reduced by 500, bringing them back where they started.' Makyura's attack dropped back down to 1600.

Marik just smirked again. 'Very clever.'

'Now it's my monster's turn to attack,' Mai said. She called the order as her monster charged. 'Go, Unfriendly Amazon! Soaring Slash Attack!' The Amazon sliced Makyura clean in half. 'Maybe that will erase someone from your mind!' Although she doubted he'd really care that much.

'Why, thank you,' said Marik as his life points dropped to 1950.

It took Mai a second to register that. 'Huh?'

'There's no one in my mind worth remembering,' Marik explained. 'I prefer to be all alone.' He shut his eyes and dropped his head, appearing serene. 'So attack my monsters and remove my servants from my mind. Given the choice I'd forget every single one of them.' He chuckled.

Mai glared at him. 'You're nuts.'

'Perhaps,' Marik said. 'But I'm sane enough to have caught you in my trap. You see, when a monster wearing the Black Pendant is destroyed, its opponent loses 500 life points.'

Mai's life points dropped to 3500.

'And I'm afraid there's another penalty for you to pay, my dear.' He raised his arm to indicate his duel disk. 'By sending Makyura to the graveyard you've activated its special ability, which allows me to play any trap card I want from my hand.' He took the card in question.

Mai's breath caught.

'And I think it will serve me best to activate this one.' He played the card and it appeared on the field. It levitated and activated. 'Rope of Life!' The Rope came out of the card. A black portal appeared in the floor of the field and the end of the Rope fed through. 'This card brings a monster back from my graveyard and empowers it with 800 extra attack points. So say goodbye to your Unfriendly Amazon.'

Mai's heart leapt to her throat. 'It can't be!'

'Oh, it can.' The Rope pulled, rising one particular monster up out of the portal. 'Makyura the Destructor, attack her Amazon now!' The Rope of Life vanished and Makyura charged. He slashed with both sets of claws. The Amazon was destroyed. 'As she goes, so goes your memory of another friend!'

YGO

'Who?' Shamee whispered, scrutinising. 'Who?'

She reached out. From her left, she felt the Pharaoh reach out and offer assistance in her endeavour. With his help, and only with his help, she managed to pierce through and find out as the memory itself shattered into little bitty pieces. Of course, she didn't need to see that. Shamee's normal power was enough to feel the heartbreak in her friend. She pulled back and turned her head.

'Joey.'

YGO

Mai stared up. 'He's slipping away. I can barely see him…' This couldn't be happening. Not Joey! She felt an odd pain in her chest. She didn't want to lose him most of all. Sure, he was loud, and brash, and a hothead, didn't think before he opened his big mouth. All the same there was something about him that she was desperate not to lose. 'I feel so alone.'

Then it came back to her. What her past was like; what her life was like before she had these friends. It's nothing new. Feels just like the loneliness I felt when I was a kid. Back when she'd been an only child left alone in a huge mansion. My family always moving, never having any friends, my parents always too busy to spend time with me. I had nobody.

Her entire childhood had gone like that, and her entry into adulthood wasn't much better. Even after I got my first job and discovered Duel Monsters I was still just a lonely kid. The powerful Harpy cards I kept in my deck were the closest things I had to friends. But, as cool and powerful as my Harpies were, deep down inside I knew they weren't real. So I pretty much decided that I was just meant to be alone; to play by my own rules…until that day on the boat to Duellist Kingdom – when everything changed.

That was when she'd first met them. At first, they'd just looked like a ragtag group of kids, who probably all went to school together. Not a single one of them was over sixteen. She hadn't thought much of them at the time. Of course, the first people she'd actually seen were Joey and Yugi.

The other two had shown up later. Sharee didn't show up until they actually landed on the island. Mai had later found out that she'd taken a private plane to the island, to save herself the trouble of stowing away – and that was how they'd gotten off of the island after the fact.

As soon as I saw those guys, I felt something I'd never felt before: Friendship. And the more I hung out with them, the more they began to grow on me. Sure they were a little weird at times, but they were nice weirdoes, and soon my loneliness was gone. But now I'm losing the only real friends I've ever had!

'So…I'm just a lonely kid again,' Mai murmured.

Marik chuckled. 'Now, say goodbye! Joey's gone forever!'

Joey was cast from her mind.

'Your memory of Joey has been erased,' Marik said.

Mai dropped to her knees. She heard some distant talking down where what was left of her friends were. It sounded one-sided though. She could hear Yugi and Sharee, but it only sounded like one half of a conversation. They didn't seem to be speaking to each other at least.

Mai looked down to see who they were speaking to. She had the vaguest impression of someone else speaking, but it quickly slipped away. Yugi and Sharee were standing there, with Sharee standing on Yugi's right and a couple of steps back as usual. Their arms were folded and their eyes were hard. She had the strangest feeling they knew what was happening.

Yugi and Sharee suddenly looked at each other. Sharee raised an eyebrow. Yugi seemed to consider something for a moment, before he nodded. They both turned back to the duel and something suddenly began tugging at Mai's consciousness. She began hearing that other voice more clearly, and it sounded kind of familiar.

More importantly, she felt a bright light pierce through the darkness off her mind. In her mind's eye, she saw a tunnel and a light came through. She turned to it, shielding her eyes. She couldn't see, but a very familiar voice came through and reached. 'You're not alone, Mai.'

'Who's there?' Mai called.

'It's Yugi and Sharee.' This time it was Sharee who spoke. 'Look, Marik just wants you to think you're alone. He wants to get you as low as you could possibly be so that you're easy to beat. You're not alone though.' Her voice suddenly changed and it was almost like her next words were almost written across her heart. 'We're all still here. You win this and you'll get your memories back.'

'Yugi?' Mai asked. 'Sharee? What are you doing up here?'

'That's what I'd like to know!' Marik snarled.

'Listen to me, Mai,' Yugi said. 'You can't let Marik's illusions distract you.'

'Illusions?' Mai asked. 'What do you mean? That this whole thing's a fantasy? But it all seems so real.'

'Yes,' Sharee said. 'He's not really destroying your memories. He's dropping a veil over them.'

'A veil?'

'Such as it is,' Yugi said. 'It makes them had to see, hard to remember. You can't tell they're still there, but they are. The only reason it seems real is because the world you're in now is making it seem real. Win this match and you'll shed light on the truth, and return to life as you knew it.'

'But Yugi…' Mai stopped herself.

'What is it?' Yugi asked.

'I don't know if I can,' Mai said. 'I feel so empty inside.'

'Fight it, Mai,' Yugi said.

'But I'm all alone!' Mai insisted. 'I have nothing left.'

'Just because he's wiped your memories of us doesn't mean we're not still down there,' Sharee told her. 'Listen.' She lifted a hand and clicked.

'Hey, Mai!' a distant voice called. 'We're here for you!'

'Who is that?' Mai asked, looking back. 'I don't know the voice but…something about it is…familiar…'

'Yes, Mai,' Yugi said. 'Listen! It's the voices of your friends who continue to support you.'

Mai looked back at him and Sharee.

Yugi continued. 'And you can rest assured that no matter how dark it seems in these shadows, those voices are always there.'

'Okay,' Mai said. It was enough. She refocused on her duel. The darkness seemed to fade from her and the arena was clear to her again. She climbed back onto her feet. She looked back down at Yugi and Sharee again. She heard Yugi speaking still.

Be strong, Mai. You have to beat Marik and free your mind. You can do it!

'Thank you.'

She heard it again. 'Come on. I just know you can beat this evil freak! Come on!'

There's that voice again! Maybe Yugi and Sharee are right and I'm not as alone as I feel. Mai climbed to her feet.

'Is the danger a little too real for you?' Marik attempted to mock her.

'Not even close,' Mai said. 'Your head games don't scare me, sweetheart.'

'Suit yourself, but realise when I'm through with you your brain will be nothing but an empty shell.'

'Well, bring it on, Marik. I've never backed out of a duel and I won't start now.'

Marik smirked. 'Hmph. Then prepare to lose your mind.'

'Guess we'll see. So give the scare tactics a rest and get ready, buddy, cause now it's my turn.' Mai drew. She set her card. 'And I play Amazon Chain Master in attack mode.' The card appeared on the field and the monster emerged from it.' She set another card. 'Then I'll play one card face-down on the field.' The card appeared. 'Now, pick your best shot, though guy!'

'Your Amazon Chain Master is weak.' Marik decided to boast.

That's what he thinks. But once he tries to attack, I'll activate my secret weapon.

Marik drew. 'Are you ready? Once Makyura the Destroyer wipes out your pitiful Amazon Chain Master, another piece of your memory will disappear. So if you want to retain what's left of your fleeting intellect, I'd advise you not to summon such weak monsters to the field or it won't be long before your entire world is shrouded in the fog of complete darkness!' Marik set his card. 'I play Holding Arms.' The card was set on the field and the glorified ancient-looking shackles appeared on the field. 'It may not look like much, but observe. Although it has only 500 attack points, it can still stop your monster! Holding Arms attack!'

The shackles flew forward and clamped onto Amazon Chain Master's wrists.

Marik chuckled. 'You see, my Holding Arms card has the ability to stop your monster from attacking for three turns! That should buy me enough time to destroy you and your mind.' He began to laugh maniacally.

'Wacko,' Mai said.

Yugi called from below. 'Marik, forget these mind games and just duel!'

'These games are how I duel,' Marik said. 'You see, Yugi, Duel Monsters and the Shadow Realm are intertwined so I'm simply playing the game as it was originally intended. But fortunately fate has selected Mai to be the victim of today's game.'

'You're insane,' Yugi stated.

'Oh, really?' Marik queried. 'Why's that? Because I duel with ancient magic. Last I checked so do you, by tapping into the powers of the Millennium Puzzle. Don't you?'

'Yes,' Yugi said. 'But not to spread evil.'

'Hey, Yugi.' Mai called his attention. 'I appreciate you trying to help and all, but I'm the one duelling here. So please trust me.' She turned back to the duel. 'I can defend myself from now on.'

She heard the voice again. 'Yugi! You're not just going to stand here and let her keep duelling, are you?'

The voice must have been real because Yugi answered it. 'I am. Mai has made her choice.'

Thank you. 'My move. Go face-down card.' Mai's card flipped up. 'It's my all-powerful Grave Arm.' The effect of the card activated. A hole appeared in the floor of the field and the arm came out of it. 'This magic card can bury one monster on the field.'

Marik chuckled. 'Sorry, but my Holding Arms are still invincible right now. Your magic effect won't work on them.'

'Whoever said I was gonna use it on your monster?' Mai asked. 'I have other plans.'

Marik quickly frowned. 'Hm? Go on.'

The hand grabbed her Amazon. 'I'm using its magic on my Amazon Chain Master.' As she was pulled down, the shackles were forced to let go. 'And since I'm destroying her, my memory stays the same.' It seemed logical. The way Yugi and Sharee talked it was safe to assume this was how it worked. And it was, the pain of losing her memory was not present here and now.

Marik glared at her. 'So, you're that desperate to keep the memory of your friends?'

'Look, Marik, that's not the only reason I sent my own monster to the graveyard. So get a load of this!' Sure enough, the monster was swinging her chain around. 'Before my Amazon goes to the graveyard, she lets me take a card from your deck.'

'Really?' Marik demanded flatly.

'Really.' Mai narrowed her eyes. 'And the monster I'm taking is your Egyptian God Card, the Winged Dragon of Ra.'

YGO

'Great!' the Pharaoh said.

'Yeah!' Joey cheered. 'Way to go, Mai!'

Shamee watched with a thoughtful gaze, though. She remembered Ishizu telling her about each of the cards. There was something very special about the use of the Winged Dragon of Ra. A particular skill was required, which only a small number of people possessed. Both Shamee and Sharee had a very strong feeling that Mai did not speak High Ancient Egyptian.

YGO

The Amazon Chain Master gave a yell as she let her chain fly. It sailed across and buried itself in Marik's deck. The card in question was pulled from Marik's deck and it soon sat in Mai's hand. While she'd never seen this card, she'd heard enough about it to know that it was the most powerful one on the blimp.

Mai held it up. 'You don't look so tough without your Egyptian God Card, Marik! Too bad.'

But Marik just smirked. 'You may possess the Winged Dragon of Ra for now, but the only way for you to keep it is by defeating me.'

Mai lowered the card again. 'Don't worry. I plan to. I just thought I'd take it for a little test drive first.'

YGO

Kaiba looked up at the field. 'Interesting turn of events.'

'You said it,' Mokuba said. 'Now that Mai has the Winged Dragon of Ra she may win!'

Perhaps. But it remains to be seen if she has the experience necessary to wield a card of such power. She's definitely a good duellist. That he would concede. But is she good enough?

YGO

'It's my move!' Mai drew. Okay, I need to sacrifice three monsters in order to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra, but so far I have none and he has two so this won't be easy.

Marik sneered. 'Go on. Everyone's waiting.'

The voice came from below again. 'Yeah! Waiting for you to kick his butt! Now, go get him, Mai!'

'First I'll place two cards face-down.' Mai set the cards and they appeared on the field. 'And then I'll summon Amazon Fighter,' she set the final card, 'in attack mode!' It appeared before her and the monster in question emerged. And if you try attacking her, you'll get a very unpleasant surprise.

'It's another weak Amazon?' Marik drew. 'How sad! I'll eliminate her with ease, along with another piece of your ever-shrinking mind.' He called to his monster. 'Makyura the Destructor, attack her Amazon Fighter now!' Makyura attacked, sailing across the field and at Mai's newest Amazon.

'Hold on there, bud, cause now I activate Amazon Magician!' One of her face-down cards flipped up. 'By playing this magic card, I've instantly swapped the attack points of your monster with the attack points of my monster!' The card glowed as its effect activated. Makyura's attack points dropped from 2400 to 1500. Amazon Fighter's attack points rose from 1500 to 2400.

Marik smirked.

'Amazon Fighter, take out Makyura the Destructor!' The Amazon Fighter attacked, kicking Makyura in the head. 'And someone else from Marik's memory.' Makyura was destroyed.

Marik chuckled. 'I never cared much for that fool, Arkana.' His life points dropped to 1050.

'Looks like Makyura the Destructor is destroyed,' Mai said.

'Yeah!' Tristan cheered from below.

Marik just chuckled. 'A small price to pay…'

'Huh?' Mai asked, confused.

Marik's eyes went wide and his teeth almost looked like fangs. 'To have you caught deep within my trap!'

Mai drew back. 'A trap?' she demanded.

'That's right.' He activated his face-down card. 'Reveal Card of Last Will!'

'Card of Last Will?' Mai asked.

'Yes,' Marik said. 'It allows me to draw five new cards into my hand when one of my monster's attack points is decreased.' He discarded his old hand and took the five cards. 'I offer you my gratitude. Gaining five new cards isn't all you've allowed me to do. By destroying Makyura you've activated its special ability.' He took one of the newly-drawn cards from his hand. 'Now I'll play a card that will surely annihilate you!' He seemed to snigger to himself. 'This Shadow Game's quite amusing.' He turned the card in his hand around. 'Now, prepare to live out your worst nightmare, by way of the trap card Nightmare Wheel!' He activated the card and the Wheel appeared on the field.

Mai gasped as her monster was suddenly strapped to the Wheel.

'Not only does it trap your Amazon Fighter,' Marik said, 'but the Nightmare Wheel will also take 500 life points from you every turn.'

Mai let confidence flow and propped a hand on her hip. 'Hm. I was expecting something I couldn't handle.'

'Pardon?' Marik asked, apparently unimpressed with her lack of fear.

'I thought you'd try something like this, Marik,' Mai said, 'so I played this card.' She activated her face-down card: Rescue Operation! This trap allows me to rescue my Amazon Fighter from your trap. It also lets me summon a new monster to the field now.'

'So, are you going to summon the Egyptian God Card you took from me?' Marik asked.

'Of course not. I paid attention the last time it was played, and I know if I summoned it now without sacrificing any monsters first it would have zero attack points. But not to worry. I'll play that Winged Dragon by the end of my next turn. But first thing's first. Amazon Fighter, return to my hand now!'

The Amazon Fighter was released from the Nightmare Wheel and went back into its card. Mai picked up the card and put it back in her hand. 'And now to summon a new monster.' She took a different card from her hand. 'Oh, this ought to do.' She played the card. 'I summon Cyber Harpy!' The card appeared on the field and the Harpy emerged from it. 'Now I just need one card. Let's hope this is it.' If I draw the right card, I'll be able to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra! She shut her eyes and drew. There was a lot to be said for the method Yugi and Joey used to get the cards they needed. Come on…She opened her eyes. Not exactly what she wanted but: This'll help. 'I play Graceful Charity, a magic card that lets me draw three new cards from my deck! And then I discard two from my hand.' She did so. Mai looked at her hand. 'Oh, I am so good!' She looked across at Marik. 'Well, you asked for it! And now, Marik, I'm gonna give it to you. Ready, sweetheart?'

YGO

Kaiba leaned forward. 'The Winged Dragon!' Could it be really happening? Was he really about to see the Winged Dragon of Ra in action. All of his muscles quivered in anticipation. He had heard that Mai's Harpy cards had a combo that brought three of them onto the field at once and that was what it took to summon the God Card.

His long wait was finally over.

YGO

'You won't be smiling for too long,' Mai said. 'Especially when you see this!' She pulled the card from her hand and set it. The card appeared on the field. 'I play the magic card Elegant Egotist!' A bright light enveloped her side of the field. 'And now Elegant Egotist shall turn my one Harpy Lady into three!' The brightness faded and three Harpy Ladies stood upon the field. 'Let's give a big Battle City hello to the Harpy Lady Sisters!' The three of them stood back-to-back. They began to rotate on the spot. 'And now I'll sacrifice these three lovely ladies and summon the Winged Dragon of Ra!'

They spun and spun and spun until there was a whirlwind. The three sisters vanished into a gust vortex that went right up to the sky.

Mai lifted the card as the gust dispersed. 'The Winged Dragon of Ra is now in my control!' She set it on her duel disk. A large bright orb of light appeared overhead and began to slowly descend upon the arena. It illuminated everything around. The light faded and showed a massive orb floating overhead. 'What in the world is that thing?'

'The Winged Dragon of Ra is locked in that sphere!' Marik announced.

What…? 'But…how can I use it?'