Hello once more everyone. I feel so much more rested and relaxed tonight. I spent the weekend with my wife (mate), and had a great time. Yes, the half demon is quite relaxed… and sore, lol. But seriously, we had a good weekend together as usual.

Now, I'm sure everyone was quite surprised that Illidan cut Bakura loose. He maybe out on probation, but that's still out. I had to throw in the little scene with Vash getting scared too for kicks, hehe. So now that he's free, what next? Who knows, lol.

Alright, enough with the questions, time to answer the reviews.

Isis the Sphinx: Lol, yes, a bit of hentai. Had to throw in some kind of joking, hehe. Ah, I see about the AE thing now. But yes, I did kind of scrap it. I didn't know the entire story when I began ToP, so I just made up what I didn't know really. Then I found out through my wife, and was like oops… It's alright though. It does leave a big question on what happened during the last season, but that shall be answered eventually. Btw, I do have a pretty good episode guide at The guy there does an awesome job on the differences between the Japanese and English episodes, which helped me in some scenes. I need to find a good GX place though, so if you happen to have any suggestions, I'd be ever so grateful.

Metal Overlord 2.0: Meh, he's trying not to think about it obviously. I mean, would you want to constantly think about losing the one person whom you loved so deeply all the time? Lol, but seriously, he's trying to keep from thinking about it. But yes, Yami Bakura will certainly be a big help against the Wolf Pack. He may know how to blow a duel against Yugi, but against others, he seems halfway up on the game. Lol, I don't like Aster Phoenix that much either, but you have to deal with idiots like that sometimes. Chazz had that kind of attitude at one time, but he changed… somewhat, lol. We'll see about the pairing though. Perhaps one or the other won't like the other, or perhaps they'll pair up nicely. Lol, doubtful Yami Bakura will care about redemption. He only wants revenge most likely.

Tomb Robber Vicky: Lol, yeah, poor Vash, but he didn't seem to mind it too much. About the hair drier though, he just forgot it, not that he couldn't use it. I'm sure he could… maybe.

pink-kiss-candy: Rofl, the teenage girls of doom are there! They chase me around sometimes, although I think Cindy has enough of them off to make them stay away. Watches her slash another five in half. Perhaps not…

Ultimate Legendary Master: Yeah, I understand the school thing. It was tough, and I did a lot of my reading on the weekends. Sometimes even my writing came then, if I had time… Yep, new GX episodes are coming! Does happy dance.

x-knight20: Yeah, I'd freak out slightly if the spirit that nearly killed you last time came back too.

Alright, that's all for tonight. What will become of the spirit, will Pegasus have some answers, and will Illidan ever get those damn silver highlights out of his hair? Lol, I had to just throw that last one in as random, hehe. Enjoy guys and girls. Later.

Chapter 18

Once Vash left, Illidan picked up his cell phone and looked for Pegasus's number. Finally finding it in his directory, he hit send and waited for his voice.

After a few rings, a woman came on the line, saying "Industrial Illusions, Mr. Pegasus's office, may I ask whom is calling?"

"My name is Illidan Stormrage. I have a meeting with him at noon, and I wish to speak with him about rescheduling it."

The woman said "One moment please."

Some catchy cartoon music came on while he was on hold, but soon enough, Illidan heard Pegasus come on the line, saying "Illi-boy! How are you?"

Illidan clenched a fist with irritation. He hated Pegasus calling him this, but he had learned that Yugi and Kaiba had both been called a nickname by Pegasus as well. Still, this didn't help him out.

"I'm fine Pegasus. I need to ask you to move our meeting back an hour. Some things have come up and I can't make it at noon."

"Oh, are you and Marie enjoying your private room too much?" Pegasus asked with major perversion in his voice.

With a tint of sadness in his voice, Illidan replied "No… Listen, I just need you to move it back. I'll explain why when I arrive to see you."

There was a moment of silence before Pegasus finally said "Very well Illi-boy, for you I'll move it back. You'll owe me one though. Till one, chow."

"Good bye."

Illidan hit end on his phone and sighed. He glanced over at Marie's still form and he felt tears threatening to fill his eyes. Taking a moment, he struggled for control of his emotions, and finally regained it. About that time, there was a small knock on the door.

"Come in." he kindly said, knowing most likely it was Blue.

Blue timidly opened the door, her eyes staring at the ground. She slowly walked in, closing the door behind her. She was terrified of meeting with Illidan. "I'm the one who took his fiancé away. I bet he wants to tell me how much he hates me. That's why he's still in this room."

Illidan watched as the girl with downward eyes walked in. Her face told him immediately that she feared what he had to say. Trying to ease the tension, he gently smiled at her and kindly said "Your name is Blue, right?"

She lightly nodded her head, trying hard to not look at him. Seeing that this would be slightly difficult, Illidan gently said "I'm not going to yell at you. You don't have to be afraid of me. So, please, can you look me in the face?"

Blue slowly raised her face up to look him in the eyes. She noticed that he had deep brown eyes, and a kind face. His mid-back length brown hair had silver highlights in his bangs. He gently smiled at her when she finally was finished looking his face over.

"See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" he gently asked.

Blue only nodded, but remained silent. Tears were welling up in her eyes, for the guilt she felt about Marie was eating her alive. A few tears streamed down her face, and she finally couldn't hold them back anymore.

Seeing this, Illidan walked forward and embraced her, and gently started cooing to her. "It's alright Blue. You don't have to be afraid, I'm here for you." he said gently.

She then sobbed into his shoulder, crying hard, and said in a weak voice "I'm so sorry."

Pulling back to look at her, he said "It's alright Blue. I know you didn't want to take her soul now. I saw that in your eyes last night."

Blue only continued to sob, saying "But it's my fault. I should have lost my soul, not her. She should have taken my soul, and then she would still be with you, and you'd both be happy, and I'd have gotten what I deserved…"

Before Blue could ramble on any further, Illidan pulled Blue into a tight hug. "Blue, you don't understand. Marie vowed many years ago to never take a person's soul. She swore in our past life, five millennia ago, to never take a soul after she watched an innocent person lose their soul once. She stayed true to that oath all these years, and even last night, she refused to break her promise."

He then released her and cupped her chin with one finger so he could raise her head to look at him. "Blue, even if we were together, she would have felt guilty for what she would have done. Marie never liked violence, and she never wanted anyone to be hurt due to her. As for getting what you deserved, you wouldn't deserve losing your soul. There is good in you Blue, and Marie saw that. That is why she also refused to take your soul. She knew you were a good person deep down, and after the duel, I believe she was right. No person with a good conscience could ever not feel regret for taking a soul. You feel that regret, and I see it in your eyes."

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he then revealed them again, saying "Marie wouldn't want you to feel guilty the rest of your life. She would want you to fight on for your dreams, and to keep the light of goodness in your heart. That was how Marie was, and that is how I know I could never hate you for what you did. You were convinced it was right, but knew in the end it wasn't. So please, don't think I hate you for what you did. I understand you were tricked, and I wish to put a stop to this before anyone else is hurt."

Looking up into Illidan's eyes, Blue saw no hatred. He was telling the complete truth. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged him, saying "Thank you."

She finally let go and pulled away. Using her sleeve, she dried her tears and lightly smiled. Smiling back at her, he said "Now, how about we get you cleaned up. I'm sure you could use a shower. The bathroom is right in there, and fresh towels and bathing supplies are in there."

Nodding, Blue said "Ok, thank you. I think I will take a shower."

Slowly, she headed for the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Smiling, Illidan walked over to Marie's body and lightly touched her hand, saying "Amazing how your love has changed me, and made me think."

Illidan then remembered he had pulled her deck out of her Duel Disk and left it on the night stand. He picked up the deck and looked through it, saying "If I'm going to win your soul back, there is one monster from your deck I want to take to do it with."

After searching for a few minutes, he found what he was looking for. It was Marie's soul monster, Tyrant Dragon. He pulled out his own deck from his deck holder and slid the card into his deck. He quickly shuffled and then stuck the deck back in it's holder.

He then heard the door to the bathroom open, and looked to see Blue step out in the same clothes she had on. She shook her wet hair slightly, and asked "Uh, do you happen to have a hair dryer?"

Smiling, Illidan picked the one he had been using up and handed it to her. She thanked him and began to blow dry her hair. After a few minutes, she returned, hair all dried out and ready to go.

"Illidan, I have a favor to ask." Blue said hesitantly.

"Oh?" he responded.

Taking a deep breath, Blue finally said "Illidan, I want to help find Marie's soul. I'm partially responsible for what happened, and I feel indebted to help her. So please, let me go with you to save her. I'm a good duelist, and I promise to help out and hold my own."

Sighing for a moment, Illidan thought silently and finally said "Alright, but promise me one thing."

Blue smiled and said "Sure, anything."

Looking at her, he said "Please, if you have any information on where we can find the Wolf Pack, please help us."

She nodded and said "I wish I knew where they were. Kiba didn't tell us much on what the plans were, but he said he was going to wait on taking you out. He wanted to take out the ones close to you first before he dueled you personally."

Illidan nodded, taking this all in. He then asked "Do you know much about the seal?"

She shook her head and replied "Very little. I know all that Hige told me about it. He said it would help save the Earth from mankind, and that it'd make the world a better place. I see now though, what it truly is. It's evil, and it's power won't save the world, but it will destroy it."

Nodding, Illidan replied "I see. Thank you Blue. By the way, here are some cards that might help you since you no longer are using the seal."

Smiling, he then handed her Marie's deck and said "Here, look through these cards and see if there is anything in it you can use. I already borrowed one card from it."

She took the cards and started looking through, but stopped abruptly a few cards in and handed them back towards Illidan. "I… I can't use these cards. They're Marie's…"

He gently put his hand over the deck and pushed it back towards her. "She… she would have liked for you to use them if they can help you." he replied kindly.

Blue nodded and began looking again. After a few moments, Blue pulled out some cards, and finally handed deck back to Illidan, saying "Thank you."

Nodding, Illidan then walked over to where Marie's Duel Disk sat and brought it over to Blue, saying "Here, you can use her Duel Disk too. It may not look as snazzy as that other one you have, but I'm sure it won't remind you of the seal as much either."

Blue gently smiled and said "Thank you again. I promise to take good care of this Duel Disk and these cards."

She then hugged him, and Illidan returned the hug. The two then separated and Illidan said "We'd better go see if the others are ready. We have to leave at noon, for Pegasus is expecting us at one."

Nodding, the two then stepped out of the room. Illidan lead the way back to the main room. In there sat the spirit on the couch who was munching on a bowl of cereal. He was wearing a light solid blue shirt with blue jeans and sneakers.

Blue looked at the spirit and asked "How can he be awake? Tsume took his soul."

Lightly smiling, Illidan quickly explained what had happened. She was quite shocked to learn that the young man sitting there was not the same one she had seen the night before, but he was the actual spirit of the Millennium Ring.

Illidan then thought of something and asked the spirit "Hey, what are we going to call you now? Your name was Bakura in ancient times, but your vessel's name is Bakura. Not to mention, you don't seem to like that name as well."

The spirit thought for a moment before saying "Call me Ryou. It's simple, and it's a part of Bakura's real name."

Nodding, Illidan replied "Very well, Ryou. Where is Vash?"

Smirking, he replied "He's in the shower. I believe I scared him to death when he first saw me. He went running to you while I continued to get ready. I left the room soon after he left and went outside for a little fresh air. When I walked back in, he was in the shower already."

Slightly smiling, Illidan said "Just don't scare him too much, or do anything to him."

Ryou only nodded and finished eating his breakfast. As he placed his dish in the sink, he asked "What are we going to do today?"

"We're headed out to see Pegasus at one. We're leaving at noon to get there, so be ready." Illidan replied.

Ryou only smirked, but Illidan knew why. "Don't do anything to Pegasus today either. It's bad enough you took his Millennium Eye already."

Sighing, Ryou replied "You're taking all my fun you killjoy."

Illidan only lightly laughed and replied "That's what I get for being a good person."

Vash soon came out of the spare bedroom in fresh clothes. He was now wearing a light green shirt with blue jeans and his usual shoes. Blue gave an evaluating stare at Vash, noting how his body looked. She lightly blushed, realizing what she was doing and looked away quickly.

If she had kept on looking, she'd have seen Vash evaluate Blue's body as well. Vash in turn had turned away with a blush too.

Shaking his head at this and sighed, Illidan checked the time to see it was already 11:30. "Alright you three, at noon, I have to go see Pegasus about something…"

"Illidan, I wish to go with you." Vash interjected.

"As do I." added Ryou.

"Don't forget me." Blue added in as well.

Looking at Vash, Illidan said "You don't have to go Vash."

Vash shook his head and replied "I have to go. I need to help save my brother, and I want to help save Marie. She was my friend, and I can't turn my back on her, so you're stuck with me, like it or not."

Smiling, Illidan then said "Very well, we're all going. The four of us will see Pegasus. After he tells us whatever we need to know, we'll head out to find our friends."

The group nodded and then prepared to leave. Illidan, Vash, and Blue quickly ate something for breakfast and then it was time to go.

The four walked downstairs to see a limo waiting out front. When the driver stepped out, he said to Illidan "Are you Illidan Stormrage?"

Nodding, the driver then said "I was sent here by Mr. Pegasus to pick you up. Please, you and your friends get in."

Slowly, the four stepped into the limo. The ride was quiet. Hardly a thing was said. Illidan and Ryou sat beside one another, while Blue and Vash sat beside one another too. The two couldn't look at one another without getting a slight blush on their faces.

Ryou lightly poked Illidan in the side and whispered in his ear "So, young Vash is in love?"

Smirking, Illidan whispered back "I believe so."

Vash noticed the two whispering and figured he knew what. He was thankful the ride ended at that time though.

The limo had pulled up to a beautiful estate. There were plenty of flowers, shrubs, and other beautiful things on the lawn. The limo pulled up to a four story building with large glass windows covering it.

Out in front of the building stood a man with shoulder length silver hair which covered his left eye. He wore a red business suit that looked like a business suit that southern Americans wore. The suit had a white flowery collar with a black tie around on it, and white flowery sleeve edges. His right eye was brown collared, but his left eye was covered by his hair still.

When the limo pulled up, the driver quickly got out and opened Illidan's door first. Illidan stepped out to see the man he knew had to be Pegasus.

"Hi there Illi-boy!" Pegasus exclaimed happily.

Rolling his eyes, Illidan said "Hello Pegasus. So, we meet at long last."

Pegasus smiled and nodded, saying "I see you brought some friends with you."

Nodding, the others prepared to get out. First, Ryou stepped out. Pegasus only gasped at the sight of him and backed up. His whole demeanor changed from joyful to fearful.

He slowly stuttered "You…"

Ryou smirked and said "Boo!"

Illidan glared at Ryou, who only shrugged. Sighing, Illidan said "Don't worry, he won't harm you. He's here on parole, and if he does anything, he goes back into his own mind to spend eternity in prison."

Pegasus finally got up some nerve and nodded. The next person to get out was Vash, but Pegasus lightly smiled at him. "I see you brought the European Champion with you."

Illidan only nodded as Blue slowly climbed out. Smirking, Pegasus said "You begged and pleaded to bring Marie, and then you bring a new girl. What has gotten into you Illi-boy?"

This got a reaction from Illidan, who only growled at Pegasus. Seeing he had struck a sensitive spot, Pegasus just said "Come, let's go in and get down to business."

The four followed Pegasus into the building. He took them to an elevator and took them to the roof of the building. Once there, he stepped out and the four saw a dueling ring set up.

Looking at Pegasus, Illidan said "Explain what's going on Pegasus."

With a smirk, Pegasus replied "Well, what does it look like to you, Illi-boy? It's a duel obviously, and it's between me and you. You see, I have information I'm sure you're dying to know about Anubis. Information that no one else knows about but me. Of course, I can't go handing out this sensitive information without knowing the person using Anubis is actually strong enough to wield it. So, it's a duel to see if you deserve the right to use that card."

Smiling, Illidan said "Me and you duel for some kind of information about Anubis? What is so important about Anubis that I don't know already?"

Pegasus smirked and replied "That's for me to know, and you to find out. So, how about it? There is one catch though. I want you to put Anubis up as the prize for this duel, and not to use it during this duel. That way the winner will possess Anubis and know it's full effects."

Lightly chuckling, Illidan said "Sure, you're on. I need to know all about Anubis that I can know, and this might be the only way."

Illidan then pulled out his deck and took Anubis out and held it up. Pegasus then grabbed a briefcase that was beside the field and brought it over. He opened it and removed a Duel Disk and a deck that was in there. He then said "Here, place Anubis within so it'll be safe."

Nodding, Illidan did so and Pegasus set the briefcase back where it was. "Shall we begin then Illi-boy?"

Annoyed, Illidan replied "Yes, let's begin."

The two then shuffled one another's deck and shook hands. Each then walked to their designated positions and activated their Duel Disks. The Duel Disks each unfolded simultaneously and the life point counters powered up to 8000. Both drew their first five cards and said "Let's Duel!"