Hello once again everyone. I'm glad you all liked the ending of that duel. Vash was close, but no cigar for him. Just think, if he had lasted one more turn, Illidan would have lost, then he'd have gone down in a blaze of glory. Oh well, Vash just couldn't get the job done, lol. At any rate, time to get down to answering some reviews.

Tomb Robber Vicky: Indeed it was a close duel. Any closer, and I'd have sworn Yugi or Kaiba would have been there dueling, lol. Never know, he could lose a duel to someone, hehe. We'll see about that Bakura, we'll see.

pink-kiss-candy: Yep, she's brainwashed. It wasn't too hard I think. Listens to bicycle horn honk for Ryon. Nice new theme music. Hears Ryon grumbling.

Metal Overlord 2.0: He just didn't draw Anubis. Besides, he tries to sparingly use that card as mentioned in the early part of the story. Hmm, a Zombie deck you say? Well, we'll see, hehe. I have a few strategies to use on Zombies as well, but I've never really played them due that I never have had the right cards to make them work yet. Maybe one day I will…

Isis the Sphinx: Lol, yeah, I know, sometimes I am a bit predictable. Although, perhaps I'm not always predictable. Yes, I can be unpredictable. Cindy: "You're so damn predictable that I know what you're going to always do, silly doggy." Growls and leaps into air and tackles her to the ground. That predictable enough for you? She nods Sighs and gets up. Oh yeah, back to the review, hehe. Well, perhaps I won't be predictable forever. Just maybe, lol.

Ultimate Legendary Master: Perhaps they will travel with him. That or ditch him so they can go make out. That one sounds so much better, lol.

Well, that's all I have. I hate my damn sinuses. I think I have a sinus infection, and I just can't breath or smell very well. I'm all clogged up, not to mention my head hurts due to the sinus pressure. It's like being human… I mean like having a cold. Yeah, that's it… Lol, but anyways, that's all I have this morning, so enjoy it. Later.

Chapter 7

After spending the remainder of the afternoon and almost all the evening and most of the night together, the three decided to have a late dinner together. Vash left the two love birds for a minute to call Bakura so the four could meet somewhere to eat.

The moon was already up in the sky in it's full glory. Marie sighed at the sight and snuggled up closer to Illidan by hugging his arm. Illidan smiled at this, as Vash returned to roll his eyes.

He simply muttered "Get a room you two."

Smirking, Illidan said "Good idea! We have a room already. Let's go there Marie!"

Vash again rolled his eyes, and Marie only innocently giggled. She let go of her tight hug on Illidan's arm, but still was walking along with him with their fingers intertwined.

Throughout the day, Vash had told them about his travels, and a bit about himself and Bakura. Illidan learned that the two had been rather close even after Bakura had received the Millennium Ring. He also learned that the spirit of the ring, his former and ancient friend from five millennia ago, had threatened to take Vash's soul as he had Bakura's mother, but Bakura stopped him. Bakura had begged him not to, and probably against his better judgment, the spirit had listened. That's when Bakura had returned to Japan in order to protect his brother.

Now that Illidan had sealed away the spirit of the Millennium Ring, Bakura was able to return home to see his brother now with no worries of ever losing him again to the spirit of the ring. Vash of course was very happy for this fact, for he often worried about his younger brother. The two had been best friends throughout their childhood, but the spirit had changed everything. Now the two were making up for lost time.

Illidan smiled at the fact that now the brothers were safe to see one another. "Yet another good thing to come from the tournament. I'm glad I did help Bakura out in the end with more than just the spirit."

The sky wasn't completely dark thanks to the lights of the city, but Illidan saw a strange green glow appear in the sky. He noticed at first that it seemed oddly circular. Then he noticed something within the circle. Curiosity was getting the better of him, so he stopped to stare at it.

He then turned to Vash, who was looking at the glow too, and asked "Do you see that Vash?"

Vash nodded, and said "Yeah, I see it. That's an odd glow. It looks like some kind of symbol. Maybe it's part of a duel."

Marie was looking too, and then suddenly she grabbed Illidan's arm tighter. Illidan knew instantly why too. He felt the same thing she had. Something was amiss when the glow had seemingly landed.

Seeing which direction the glow was, he said "We need to check this out. I have a bad feeling about this. You feel it too, don't you Marie?"

She looked up and only nodded silently. Her eyes told the story. She had felt the sudden burst of dark energy released onto the earth, but what it was, neither was sure.

Illidan thought for a moment, trying to decide what it was he felt. "It isn't a Millennium Item. If it was, I'd have felt a residual energy from the item, and my key would know. But whatever that glow is, it feels… evil. Yes, that's the word for it. I can feel it, just like when I felt it a few other times, mostly from when I faced Gozaburo's Millennium Crown. We need to investigate before someone is hurt."

Noticing Vash was still with them, Illidan turned towards him and said "You don't have to go with us."

Vash shook his head, and said "No, I want to come. I feel as if I need to be there. Like Bakura is there."

Worry the washed over Illidan. "Has the spirit of the ring gotten free! No, it's impossible! My seal can only be released by my Millennium Key. There is no way he could be free. But if Bakura is there, I need to be there, and now."

Sighing in defeat, Illidan replied "Very well. Let's hurry and find out what's going on."

Marie let go of his arm and the three rushed towards where they had seen the green symbol fall from the sky. As they ran, the three continued to wonder who, or what could have made such an odd symbol.

They ran for about a mile before they arrived. Once they got there, they saw a weird green symbol on the field, with two people inside. Outside stood a small group of five that appeared to be watching the duel. With one thunderous explosion within the circle, the duel appeared to end. Immediately, the group of three knew who the one that had just lost was as he fell to his knees. Silver hair could be seen, as well as his blue and white striped shirt with his grey shorts.

"Bakura!" screamed Vash as he ran forward towards the circle.

The green circle then glowed and seemed to be contracting as the group neared the duel. Illidan instantly noticed the symbol was contracting around Bakura. Finally, it completely encircled him in a small circle as he screamed out in pain. The blinding green lightly glowed brighter as if something was being taken. The light was reaching up into the sky as the circle finally vanished. Bakura then fell over onto the ground just as the three made it to him.

Illidan was first to Bakura's side and kneeled down to check on him. The young man was lying very still. First thing Illidan noticed was how still he was. He was too still. Illidan quickly began to use his Millennium Key's power to feel for Bakura's soul, but noticed immediately it was gone. There was nothing left. Bakura's body was now empty, except for the spirit in the ring.

Vash started shaking his brother, kindly saying "Bakura?" He got no response and kept trying to shake him, saying "Wake up brother!"

Illidan finally placed a hand on Vash's shoulder and shook his head, saying "It's no use Vash… He's gone."

Marie let out a gasp as what she had thought she felt was confirmed by Illidan. She had felt it when they had arrived. She had felt that Bakura felt empty as they had approached his body. Now she knew why.

Vash looked at Illidan with tears forming in his eyes, saying with sadness in his voice "NO! He can't be! He'll be fine, I know he will! He just has to wake up! Come on, wake up Bakura!"

He then pulled his brother into a hug, holding him close. Illidan closed his eyes, knowing the pain his new friend was going though oh so well. He then glanced up, seeing the guy who had been apparently dueling Bakura still standing where he had been.

Standing up, Illidan started walking towards the guy standing ten feet away. The first thing Illidan noticed about this guy was his grey hair. It was short in front, but he had a small thin pony tail in the back. He wore black leather pants, along with a black boots. He had on a black undershirt that had no sleeves, then a black leather vest. It revealed part of his chest that had a noticeable white x type scar on his breast bone. He had cut off sleeves made of black leather as well. On his arm was a black Duel Disk in some kind of odd design. The most curious thing about the guy in front of Illidan was his eyes, which were a golden color, making him that much more mysterious.

As Illidan slowly advanced forward, the guy stood like a statue. Finally, Illidan stopped with only three feet separating the two. Illidan's hands were clenched and his knuckles were white. He was angry that anyone would hurt his friend, and wanted answers.

"Did you do that to Bakura?" he simply asked, if not demanded.

The guy smirked and said in a calm voice "What business is it of yours if I did?"

Illidan lightly growled, but another guy from behind him said in an arrogant voice "Tsume, leave him be. We didn't get what we wanted from that brat anyways."

Memorizing the name of the guy in front of him as Tsume, Illidan said "And what exactly did you want from him?"

The guy who had said that then stepped forward. He had long black hair in tight pony tail that trailed down to his rear. He wore faded blue jeans with black boots, a red flannel vest with a white undershirt, and a brown headband. His eyes were oval shaped, and were a strange color of teal. He wore a strange Duel Disk as well.

He stepped forward, and said "No point in hiding it from you, since you're the one I want to duel. We were after the spirit of the Millennium Ring if you must know."

Illidan was shocked by that statement. "They wanted the spirit? But why him?"

Curious, Illidan slowly asked calmly "Why the spirit?"

Tsume turned his head towards the guy who had stepped forward and said "We shouldn't tell him anything Kouga."

Smirking, the one called Kouga waved Tsume off and said "Don't worry about it. Where he's going soon, it won't matter."

Turning back to Illidan, Kouga smirked and said "He was our target. We wanted his soul. For some reason though, the spirit refused to duel us, so Tsume had to duel the boy. We figured the spirit was hiding, or would come out in the duel, but he didn't do either. So, in the end, we took the boy's soul. Well, Tsume took his soul. It was really a waste of a duel though. The boy didn't last but two turns, which was pitiful."

Growling, Illidan know knew why they had targeted Bakura. "Thanks to me, the spirit couldn't do a thing to protect Bakura, or be taken. Now Bakura lost his soul due to me helping him. I should have done something… But I couldn't have…"

Sighing, Illidan then turned his attention to Kouga and said "Return his soul now. You have no right to take it from him."

Kouga smirked and replied "Sorry, but I can't do that. But I'll tell you what, I'll make a deal. How about you duel me, and if you win, I'll have my friends here explain what you need to do to save him. But if I win, I get your soul and your Egyptian God Card!"

This statement slightly shocked Illidan, for few knew he had the fourth Egyptian God Card in his possession. "He knows about my card, but how? Next to nobody knows about it, so how does this guy know?"

Sensing that Illidan was shocked, Kouga smiled and said "I know thanks to my master about your card, plus thanks to us keeping track on you. I must say, so far we're impressed, and that is why our master made you top priority on our list to take down. You have a strong soul after all, and that Egyptian God Card only makes you much more dangerous. So, how about it, do we have a deal?"

Marie quickly yelled "Don't do it Illidan! The same thing that happened to Bakura could happen to you!"

Knowing what Marie said was true, Illidan still knew he couldn't ignore this challenge. "I owe Bakura too much to leave things as is. Besides, I have a feeling I don't have much of a choice in the matter."

Staring Kouga in the eye, he said "I agree, but if you are lying about any of this, you'll be rather sorry you ever met me."

Kouga smirked and said "Doubtful, but we'll see. Now, shall we begin?"

Nodding, Illidan stepped back till there was ten feet between the two. Tsume turned around and rejoined the group that was behind Kouga. They were a good five feet or so away from where Kouga was. From what Illidan could tell at a quick glance, there were four guys, including Tsume, and a girl. All of them seemed in the early twenties or younger.

"I wouldn't worry about them when you have me to deal with Illidan." Kouga said which instantly interrupted Illidan's assessment of the others.

Looking back at Kouga, Illidan smirked and replied "Just sizing up the rest of the competition and seeing how many butts I have to kick in order to get Bakura's soul back."

Kouga let out a hearty laugh, and managed to say "You're rather funny there Illidan, but too bad it has to end for you. Now, you ready to duel or what?"

Illidan nodded and pulled his deck out of his deck holder. He shuffled it till satisfied and stuck it in the deck slot of his Duel Disk. Kouga did the same, and showed he was ready. The two's Duel Disks powered up then. Illidan's Duel Disk unfolded as it always did and powered up, it's life point counter instantly hitting 8000 points. Kouga held out his arm as a piece of the disk flipped out, and then a long blade like piece shot out. The blade was the monster and spell/trap card zones in a compact form. It then lit up as the life point counter hit 8000 as well.

Glancing back at Marie, Vash, and Bakura's body, he nodded, seemingly saying to them "I'll be okay."

Marie looked on at Illidan, hoping he would be, but she was afraid. "If what happened to Bakura happens to him, I don't know what I'll do. I just hope he knows what he's getting into."

Each of the two duelists then drew their first five cards and both said "Let's duel!"