Hello once more everyone. Hehe, I know you all hate me for leaving my story with that kind of killer cliff hanger. So, Marie is left knocked down with Illidan appearing suddenly, but now she's outgunned by Blue's new monster. Could things get any worse for her? Well, you'll soon find out. I was kind of shocked though by the mixed reactions about Blue. I guess that's just one more thing to realize that I should expect, lol. But for now, time to get on with doing the reviews.

Ryon Nakura: Poor man, you're trapped. You know, if you'd call me up, I might be willing to come save your ass and keep the good doctor away. Of course, I'm not cheap. I think about 10k would do it for now. Call me if interested, hehe.

Berry Kisses: He could be human… Or possibly a demon in disguise! Yes, it's not normal in any circumstances though.

Strawberry Cake: Yes, it was. Don't you see, this new shrink will help. Crackles claws. That is if the shrink knows what's best for them. See, the two of you are already getting along.

Brianna Ishtar: Nah, the doctor wouldn't lie… Looks at bill for Ryon. THAT ASS TOLD ME HE'D DO THE JOB CHEAP! Grabs sword from corner. I will return, with Ryon's corpse possibly, and a nice new doctor display.

Fire Princess: Rofl, yes, Ryon is having fun. I'm sure of it. Looks in the window of room where he's tied up. See, he's just screaming for his life. It's all good.

sweetxokissesxo: Too bad Ryon isn't with Dr. Evil. He's so fun. He could make a Mini-Ryon, lol. He made me a Mini-Illidan. Points at adorable looking Illidan clone that's 1/10th his size. Isn't he just precious? Watches as Mini-Illidan slashes a passing human. Sniffles He's already making me proud.

pink-kiss-candy: Pokes Ryou with stick. You'd better have a missing soul, or else you're going to wish it was. Oh, here is the piñata. Throws an empty piñata over.

Ultimate Legendary Master: Yes, a cliffe, hehe. And yes, I promise to update on a timely manner, lol.

Tomb Robber Vicky: Yes, messy and fast. Maybe she'll think Blue is Illidan, and give her a big hug and kiss… Watches story Illidan screaming "NOOOOO!" Sorry man, just had to add that in. We both know it won't happen, yet, hehe… Gets smacked by Marie and Cindy. I mean, it won't ever happen…

Isis the Sphinx: Yes, I did, hehe. I know, that's a horrible place to leave the story. It leaves so much open to your thoughts, which is what I wanted, hehe. Wow, odd that you got up so early. Then again, I woke up at 5:30 A.M. this morning. Hehe, I woke up Cindy when I did that. I was just laying there giggling and woke her up. Why I was giggling, I'm not sure. She wasn't happy about it though, lol.

Metal Overlord 2.0: True. You hope against all hope Marie can pull the win off, but at the same time, you wish Blue could win as well. As you said, Blue is treated badly by Hige, not to mention she wishes she hadn't played the seal in the first place so that they could have a good duel. Lol, yes, use the seal for some good reasons. True about Weevil using that card. I figured he would use it, but he didn't ever use it, which shocked me. Actually, I remember seeing Keith during this saga. He was one of the spirits that were in that circle place when Yami faced Yugi. Btw, sorry about not posting sooner. I got tied up (not literally, sadly) last night, so I didn't get a chance to post the chapter.

Well, that's all for today. One thing is for sure: this duel will end this chapter. Who will win? Will there be a tie, or will one win while the other loses their soul? And where the hell was Illidan at during this whole mess? All these questions and more will be answered.

Till Wednesday, enjoy the chapter guys and girls. See you then.

Chapter 15

After walking into the master bedroom to speak in private with Yami, Illidan hadn't heard Marie and Vash leave. He only had continued his conversation with his friend, pressing him for any information he had on the guy that dueled him. Yami, of course, did the same to Illidan.

"Yami, I have no idea how a magic that strong could have been from ten millennia ago. We should have known about it in our previous lives it was this powerful." Illidan said after explaining that he had never heard of the card that was played.

"I'm not sure either Illidan. I just don't get it either. Possibly the power was hidden?" Yami replied.

Thinking for a moment, Illidan said "I don't know. Power that strong would be hard to hide I'd think. I could feel the evil when I saw the Seal of Orichalcos played. It was strong, nearly primitive evil."

Yami was quick to say "Yes, it was. It was so evil, so primitive. I never would have guessed something that strong could ever exist. Even the Millennium Crown wouldn't compare to this evil."

"Yeah, that's right. None of our Shadow Magic could ever compare. Marie's hidden power isn't even a match for the seal." Illidan soon added.

He then glanced out the window and saw a green light like he had before, and suddenly felt the burst of strong evil. "NO!" he cried out.

Yami, unsure of what was going on, yelled "What is it?"

"It's happening again! They're dueling someone! I see the seal!" Illidan replied as he ran out of the bedroom for the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Illidan noticed Marie and Vash were gone. He then saw a note on the table, signed by Marie saying the two of them had went after Vash and Bakura's stuff.

"NO! I'm such an idiot!" he screamed.

Yami quickly asked "What is it? What's wrong Illidan?"

"I've got to go Yami! Marie, she's in danger! I'll call you later or something!" Illidan said quickly as he hit the end button on his phone.

He quickly grabbed his Duel Disk and deck holder and strapped them on, hoping he wasn't too late. Grabbing his shoes, he then ran out of the motel towards the direction he had seen the lights.

As he approached a set of alley ways, two guys came out to block the way. The one he recognized as the guy named Tsume, a Wolf Pack member and the one who had taken Bakura's soul. The other had light brown near shoulder length hair with golden eyes, a red shirt and green khaki pants. He looked very young, at least twenty or less.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Illidan snapped out in anger.

Tsume smirked and shook his head, saying "I can't let you through. We have orders to keep you out of this duel. Your little girlfriend is about to lose her soul."

This sent Illidan over the edge. Without thinking, he quickly ran headlong towards Tsume and was quick to punch at his face. Tsume saw it coming and sidestepped Illidan in the nick of time, but Tsume wasn't expecting Illidan to quickly spin around and round house kick him in the knee. This caused Tsume to topple over, while the other boy made a motion towards Illidan.

"Careful Toboe! He's fast!" Tsume yelled out as he tried to sooth his knee.

The boy, Toboe, then threw a punch at Illidan, but Illidan was too quick and dodged. Illidan was then on the offensive, throwing punches quickly at Toboe. Toboe was quick, but Illidan was just as fast. Illidan continued to throw punches, each being blocked or dodged by Toboe.

Growling due that he was wasting too much time, he quickly tried to throw a front kick, only to be blocked. Illidan then heard Tsume getting up, but noticed he was extremely slow due to the weakened knee. Knowing he wouldn't possibly be able to hold both off, he quickly done a sweeping kick, knocking Toboe off his feet and onto the ground.

Illidan now had a clear path and began to run forward when he felt something grab his leg and pull him down to the ground. Looking back, he saw it was Toboe holding onto his leg. Illidan prepared to kick him in the face with his spare leg, but Tsume had just arrived and grabbed it.

Furious now, Illidan sat up and punched Tsume square in the face with his fist as hard as possible. He saw the gray haired youth go flying, and then focused on the light brown haired boy. Illidan kicked him in the head once with his free leg now, which gained him freedom once again. He quickly stood, but so did the light brown haired boy. He threw a punch at Illidan, which Illidan thought he could dodge easily, but to his surprise, he didn't and was hit square in the mouth, making him retreat a few feet in the opposite direction of the way he wanted to go.

Using his right hand, he wiped the blood out of the corner of his mouth. Looking at the boy with eyes of steel, he said coldly "You'll pay for that one. It wasn't enough you two had to block the way, but you had to draw blood."

The boy lightly smirked and replied "Well, you asked for it. After all, kicking me in the head wasn't too friendly either."

Illidan quickly rushed forward after those words and punched at the boy. He quickly dodged, but Illidan was quicker to deliver another blow. This one was another punch, and this time it was to Toboe's gut, making him instantly double over. With the boy doubled over, Illidan took this time to hit the boy with a round house kick, making him drop to the ground.

"STAY DOWN THIS TIME!" he yelled. Illidan then quickly ran ahead, hoping he wasn't too late. He soon found his answer as he saw the duel still doing on.

An insect creature had just skewered Marie's weaker monster with it's horn, and the backlash of the explosion had knocked Marie backwards into the barrier of the seal, which reacted instantly to her touch, sending out sparks. She then went flying to the ground, landing hard.

"MARIE!" he yelled out as he rushed into the alleyway.

He saw her slightly move, which made him happy she wasn't unconscious. Even though he knew the barrier of the seal was still up, he foolishly ran towards it, passing Vash along the way, and struck it, hoping he could maybe break it. It was to no avail though, for the barrier refused to give in.

He then yelled out "MARIE, MARIE!" She had yet to stand up, making him that much more worried. He continued to bash on the barrier with his fists, but then saw her raise her head to look back.

He then heard her weakly say "Illidan…"

"Marie! Come on, get up! I know you can win this duel still!" he called out to her, hoping to encourage her.

He then heard a burst of laughter shoot out. Looking up, he followed the laughter to the one he had met earlier in the night. The one who called himself Kiba. Him and another boy with light brown hair and light brown, yet slightly reddish eyes were watching the duel.

Illidan growled at the two, and yelled "How dare you force her into a duel! It's me you want, not Marie! Stop this duel now and duel me!"

Kiba laughed yet again and replied "Sorry there Illidan, but I can't do that. Once the seal is played, the duel can't be stopped."

This only frustrated Illidan even more. "She… She can't escape. Why! Why did I have to go talk to Yami alone and leave her unprotected?"

Looking over at Vash, he walked over to him and grabbed him by the collar forcefully, and yelled "Why didn't you duel instead of her?"

Vash slightly struggled against Illidan's rough grip and replied "I tried, but the seal threw me out. Besides, told the girl in there I'd duel, but she refused and the seal threw me out of the way."

Realizing that Vash couldn't have done anything else other than that, Illidan sighed and released his friend's collar. "I'm sorry." he apologetically said.

Turning back towards the duel, he noticed Marie's opponent was the girl he had seen earlier with the Wolf Pack. Right now, she seemed concerned with Marie's situation, and worry was in her eyes clearly. "She's actually worried about Marie… I have a feeling she doesn't want to take her soul, but she has no choice due to the seal now."

Something then caught Illidan's eye. He noticed Marie slowly standing back up on shaky legs. She slightly smirked at the girl, as if Marie wasn't ready to quite give up.

"I'm far from done with this duel Blue. Go ahead and finish up your move." she said slowly.

She then looked back at Illidan and said "I'll be fine Illidan. Don't worry about me."

He slowly nodded, but that still didn't stop his worrying. "I'm going to have to be more careful from now on with her. True she left on her own with Vash, but still, I should have gone. I wish she had told me she was going at the least!"

Blue lightly smirked at Marie, happy to see that she was up and standing yet again. "Still… I have to defeat her." she thought sadly.

Shaking her head, she said in her mind "What is wrong with me? I can't get distracted now. I've worked too hard to lose this duel now. Still…"

Finally sighing, she said "To end my move, I play the spell card Smashing Ground, which destroys the strongest defensive monster on your field, which happens to be only Mokey Mokey!" A huge fist came flying out of the sky, easily smashing the small rectangle creature into pieces.

"That'll end …"

"Not so fast Blue, you forgot about my Human-Wave Tactics trap! Now I get to special summon a new monster to the field, and the one I choose is my second Winged Kuriboh (300/200) in defense mode!" A brown fur ball with purple eyes, green arms and feet with small wings on it's back then appeared on the field and let out a small cry.

Blue lightly chuckle and said "You forget, my Ultimate Insect LV7 reduces your monster's points by 700 (0/0). That'll end my move now." (Blue 3500, Marie 2700)

Marie lightly smiled and drew, and said "I activate my trap card, Jar of Greed. Now I get to draw one new card into my hand. That'll do it for my turn." (Blue 3500, Marie 2700)

"It all rides on this turn. If Blue doesn't destroy Winged Kuriboh with some spell or trap card, I'll have a chance to win this duel, but if she does destroy it with some card, I'm finished. I just hope my plan works out." Marie silently said in her mind.

Blue drew her next card and said "Ultimate Insect, obliterate that fur ball now with Ultimate Horn Strike!" The insect let out a small roar as it's wings buzzed to life. This caused the creature to lift off from the ground as it faced it's target.

Marie smirked and said "You just fell into my trap Blue, and it's a very costly one! I activate the spell card Transcendent Wings! Now by discarding two cards from my hand to the Graveyard, I get to sacrifice Winged Kuriboh in order to special summon Winged Kuriboh LV10 (300/200)!" The small brown fur ball creature vanished in a flash of light to only be replaced by the same brown fur ball creature, but he had armor on his body now. What appeared to be a large golden dragon's head with a long neck, along with it's tail and massive white wings, with the small brown fur ball trapped by the dragon's talons, now surrounded the small brown fur ball creature.

Blue lightly laughed, and said "Have you forgotten that my Ultimate Insect reduces your monster's attack and defense points by 700 (0/0)!"

This only made Marie lightly giggle, and she replied "Nope, but there is something you should know about my new monster. I activate his special ability. During your Battle Phase, I can sacrifice him to the Graveyard, allowing me to destroy all of your attack mode monsters and deduct those monsters' attack points directly from your life points!"

The new brown creature let out a cry as it's wings then pulled in towards it's body slightly and a blinding light formed within it's wings. The blast was then fired directly across the field, instantly striking the powerful insect in the sky, causing it to come crashing down to the field and explode into millions of pieces.

"It's… it's not possible!" Blue said as she watched the remains of her monster scattering into the wind.

She then fell to her knees, not knowing what to do. Tears were forming in her eyes, knowing she had failed, and she was about to pay the price for failure. She fought for control, but she was in a losing battle as tears streamed down her face and she began to sob.

In a sad voice, with her eyes facing the ground, she said "I end my move." (Blue 400, Marie 2700)

Illidan let out a sigh of relief, knowing Marie was most likely safe now. "She has a big advantage. All she needs is one monster with 400 or more attack points that she can summon, and she wins the duel. She's going to make it. Thank goodness."

Marie let out a sigh and drew her card and looked at it for a moment. She then remembered her oath from long ago, from when she had begun to train under Illidan. "I swore to never take a soul, and I meant it. I still mean every word of it… But what am I going to do now? If I lose, I lose my soul, but if I win, I take that girl's soul, and she doesn't deserve that. But…"

She stared at the card she had in her hand. It was a card Illidan had given her long ago, showing her that they were not only in love, but best friends as well. Looking up at the field, she said "I summon Shining Friendship (1300/1100) in attack mode." A green sphere monster with golden wings, blue eyes, a small smile, and small feet and arms.

Blue only sobbed slightly more, knowing it was over. "I've failed. I failed my friends, my master, Hige, and most of all, I failed myself. I only wish I could have done things over now…"

Marie looked up at the girl, knowing that the girl thought she had lost. She saw the sorrow, the sadness in her eyes, but not for herself. It was for what she had done. It was real, and Marie could see it. "She regrets this duel. That must mean the evil within her heart is leaving her. I noticed this earlier in the duel, when she seemed to be enjoying herself, but regretted having the seal out. Yes, the evil in her heart is dying. Blue regrets having used it I believe."

The pause in the game made Illidan wonder why Marie had stopped. "Why is she hesitating?" he pondered.

Closing her eyes, Marie soon made up her mind on what to do. "I… I can't do it. I have no choice. I just hope what I do helps this girl awaken fully from the evil."

Opening her eyes, she looked at Blue and smiled, and gently said "Blue, I can't do it. I promised myself long ago in ancient Egypt to never take a soul, and I swore I would forever honor that oath. And I will today."

Blue looked at her, tears still in her eyes and shook her head, saying "No, you can't do it. Please, take my soul. What I've done to you, it's unforgivable. Please, just take my soul as my atonement."

Illidan couldn't believe what he was hearing. "NO MARIE! Don't surrender!" he yelled, afraid of what she might do now.

Looking back at Illidan she smiled, and said "I love you Illidan. Please, never forget that."

Turning back to Blue, she said "I'm leaving him in your hands. Help him out. There is good still in you, and don't forget it."

Closing her eyes then, Marie said slowly as tears formed in her eyes "I surrender the duel."

"NOOOOO!" Illidan screamed as Marie covered her Duel Disk with her hand, giving the customary surrender signal.

When Marie's hand covered her Duel Disk, the seal instantly glowed brighter and began to contract around her. Tears fell as the seal finally circled her body.

"No, take me instead!" Blue screamed as she watched the seal finally surround Marie's body. She cried even harder as she watched someone sacrifice their self for no reason just to save her. This made Blue feel greater regret in her heart. The small green stone that was around her neck that had been shining all duel long then shattered, making the seal symbol on her forehead vanish once and for all.

Illidan ran for Marie, but the barrier still surrounded her. She looked at him, tears in her eyes, and whispered "I'm sorry Illidan."

That was the last thing she said as the seal glowed brighter. The light then died down, and Marie went limp. Illidan easily caught her, but he knew she was gone. He held her close to his body, letting tears fall from his own eyes.

He sank to the ground, letting his own tears fall plentifully on her face, sobbing loudly. "MARIE!" he cried out, hugging her body tighter to his own, burying his face deep into her soft hair.