Yay! No update gap!! Anyway...

Crazy Little Devil: Okay... whatever you say... and I guess you'll see right now xD

Ninja Wolf 25: Well, wasn't that a cliffie? I mean Bakura has all 7 items... but whatever. As long as you're happy :-D

Chaos: I'm glad you liked it. And it did kinda react to Takashi... with the illusion of Kaiba and everything... oh well.

Only 3 reviews? I know you people are out there!! Review!!!

btw, this is something that every piece of media needs... a clip show!!! Whee!!!! But this chapter is pretty important, since it sets up the last mini-arc...

RER!


Chapter 40: Time Machine

Chris slowly opened his eyes. "How long have I been out?" He wondered aloud, gripping his head and sitting up. He looked around the room, and spotted Takashi. "Takashi!" Chris exclaimed. Takashi didn't stir; he looked badly beaten up.

"Takashi… could you have…?" Chris asked. I need to get him back to my dorm. Chris walked over to Takashi, a little wobbly at first, and tried to lift him up. Chris grunted, "Urck. This isn't going to work," As he set Takashi back down. "I'd better get Sarah over here." He took out his PDA, sent her a message, and Sarah quickly appeared.

"This is going to be a real workout," She sighed as Chris and Sarah picked up Takashi and began to leave arena. "Maybe we should get some people to take him to the infirmary?"

"I don't think we should," Chris answered. "I'm not sure if Bakura took his soul or not. If he still has his soul, when he wakes up, he might be able to give us some information."

"I wonder why he stood up for you," Sarah said.

"I know. It seems so… unlike him," Chris replied, remembering all the things Takashi had done.


"Then its time for me to win this match!" Chris declared as he drew a card (2). "First I'll activate the card I set earlier, Dust Tornado!"

Uh oh… he can destroy my Best Above the Rest card, and then he'll also be able to destroy my swordsman! Takashi worriedly thought.

"Don't worry about your swordsman," Chris said, seeing Takashi's concerned face. "I'm not going after your trap card… I'm going after mine! I'll use it to destroy my Blast with Chain!"

"But why would you do that?" Takashi asked.

"Because," Chris explained, "You've seen the chain part of my trap, but now you'll see the blast! You see, when it's destroyed by a card effect, I can destroy one card on the field! And I'll choose your swordsman!" The chains unwrapped from Mystic Swordsman's sword, and launched themselves at Silence Swordsman, destroying him. "And now that your swordsman isn't on the field…"

"Your Megamorph isn't negated!" Takashi finished as his eyes widened and Mystic Swordsman's size doubled, so it had an attack of 4600.

"Bingo," Chris said smiling. "Now, attack and win the duel!" The swordsman slashed his sword through Takashi as Takashi fell to his knees and yelled in pain.

Chris: 3000; Takashi: 0

"Well, looks like my 'horrible' deck won!" Chris said, walking over to Takashi. "Now, you remember our agreement, don't you?"

"Fine, take them!" Takashi shouted, shoving the three cards into Chris' open hand. "Now just… just go away!"

"Fine," Chris said, walking away as his duel disk folded up.

After Chris left the room, Takashi's frown turned into a snicker. Well, that may not have worked, but at least I have plan B…


"Sit," The main uniformed man said as the two men holding Chris released Chris. Chris walked over to the four chairs, and to his surprise found a brown-haired Obelisk sitting in one of them.

"Takashi! What are you doing here?" Chris exclaimed.

"I'm here to reclaim my stolen cards!" Takashi angrily shouted.

"What are you talking abou- Oh! You mean your Silence Swordsman cards?"

"Yes, now give them ba-"

"Takashi, settle down," Casatos interrupted. "Now, Chris, Takashi claims that you came to his dorm and then forced him into a duel where if he lost, he would have to give you his deck. You then beat Takashi and tried to take his deck, but Takashi was able to defend himself and escape. However you were still able to snatch his Silence Swordsman LV3, 5, and 7. Is this true?"

"No!" Chris instantly shouted out. "What really happened was he invited me over to his dorm, and then showed me around. Afterwards, he challenged me to a friendly duel, but then suggested using the ante rule but with out 3 rarest cards instead of just our rarest. So we dueled, and I won so he gave me his Silence Swordsman cards and I left. Besides, do you have any proof?"

"Actually, yes," Casatos replied. "First, do you have the Silence Swordsman cards with you? But before you take them out, Takashi, do those cards have any distinguishing marks that will prove that they are your cards?"

"Yeah," Takashi answered. "Silence Swordsman LV3's bottom-left corner is slightly bent, Silence Swordsman LV5 has a small… 'dent' on its bottom edge, and then Silence Swordsman LV7 has a small scratch on the picture in the bottom-right hand corner."

Chris took out his deck and searched his deck for the three mentioned cards and took them out. He inspected the cards, and sure enough the cards had the listed marks.

"So, that is confirmed," Casatos said. "The second thing we have is that our computers recorded the duel you two had, as they do with all duels. The last thing we have is security camera footage."

"Security camera?" Chris asked. "That'll prove everything!"

"If you say so," Casatos sighed, pushing a button on his deck. As the chancellor did this, Chris thought he saw a yellow glint coming from Casatos' covered left eye. A hologram appeared over the desk, and showed a small portion of the Obelisk blue hallway. Chris walked into the picture, and knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal Takashi, whom Chris immediately grabbed.

"Alright, you, listen!" Chris harshly demanded as he began to drag Takashi off screen. "We're gonna duel, and we're gonna duel now! And when you lose, I'm getting your deck!"

"And what if I refuse, or if you lose?"

"In the order you asked, then you'll wish you hadn't, and nothing!" Chris cackled from off screen as the picture faded.

"Wha- how? But I-" Chris couldn't get a sentence out as Casatos silently waiting. "That never happened!" Chris was finally able to blurt out. "He probably edited the security video! Something like that! He's a Kaiba, he probably paid someone to do it for him!"


"That's it?" Takashi asked as he drew a card (1). Takashi began maniacally laughing when he saw his drawn card. "Time for this duel to end! You can do nothing to stop me! I activate my face-down spell, The Shallow Grave, allowing us each to summon a monster from your graveyards! However, it is a surprise as to which ones because they are summoned face-down!"

"I'm well aware of what your spell card does," Yami said as his graveyard slid out of its slot. He sifted through its contents, selected a monster and put it on his duel disk, as Takashi did the same.

"Next, it's time for the second to last card you'll ever see in this academy!" Takashi laughed. "By removing Chaos Angel LV2 and Chaos Demon LV2 in my graveyard from the game, I can special summon the almighty Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (0;3000/2500)!" The two glowing spheres came out of Takashi's graveyard, like with Chris' Black Luster Soldier. However, this time when they combined, they were merged in a flash of black light. And the monster appeared was a giant dragon, instead of a soldier. The dragon had golden and black scales, and a mane of red hair coming out of the back of its head.

"But that's a banned card!" Chris burst out, taking control of his body again.

"So?" Takashi laughed. "I'm a Kaiba! I can do anything I want!"

"But… how? I mean, why is your duel disk accepting the banned cards?"

"I told you, I'm a Kaiba! I know just about everything about these duel disks!" Takashi explained. "It's not that hard to change them to accept banned and fake cards, or to disable the security cameras in here!."

"But why did you do this?" Chris asked.

"Because!" Takashi yelled. "I'm not going to let some snot-nosed, bratty Ra reject beat me and make a fool of me! I'm going to get my revenge on you for defeating me!"

Chris sighed. If Takashi was using banned cards, this would be an even harder duel. He let Yami take control of their body again.

"And now to use my dragon's effect! By simply paying 1000 lifepoints, all of our cards and destroyed, and you take damage for each one!" The dragon roared, and began to glow. The glow covered the entire field, and Yami could hear the cards shatter into pixels.

Takashi: 3000; Yami: 3600

"Hey! Why didn't your lifepoints go down? The effect went through; all of our cards are gone," Takashi demanded.

"I used my trap," Yami explained. "It's called Gift of the Mystical Elf. It increased my lifepoints by 300 for each of our monsters, which is 900 points in total. Then I would take 1200 lifepoints of damage from your dragon, but since my trap card was off the field, I only took 900 points of damage, so it all evened out. And I assume you'll end your turn now, since you don't have any other cards."

"Not exactly," Takashi smirked. "When I used Graceful Charity, I discarded my copy of Sangan (1000/600), which I summoned back with The Shallow Grave. And now that it was destroyed, I can add a weak monster from my deck to my hand (1). Now I'll summon it out! Here's Yata-Garasu (0;200/100)!"

"But that's also a banned card!" Chris burst out, taking control again as a small, transparent violet crow appeared on the field.


He went through all that trouble, just to save me at the last minute, Chris thought.

"Chris, are you okay?" Sarah asked as they reached his dorm.

"Yeah," Chris answered as he opened his dorm, which took several moments since he was still holding Takashi. "Why do you ask?"

"You've been silent since we've left the Dueling Complex," Sarah answered as they carried Chris to his bed. "I was just a little worried." They laid him down on Chris' bed, and went back into the foyer.

"I hope he's all right," Chris sighed.

"Me too. Oh, let me get your Millennium Puzzle!" Sarah remembered. She went to the dresser, and opened the top drawer. She pulled out the Millennium Puzzle, crossed the room again, gave the Puzzle back to Chris, and sat back down on the couch.

"Thanks," Chris smiled, putting it on. "Your plan really worked."


"I'll be going now," Yami said as he began to leave.

"Wait!" Sarah put her hand on Yami's shoulder as he opened the door.

"What is it, Sarah?" Yami asked.

"I… have an idea," Sarah replied.

"What is it, Sarah?" Yami reiterated.

"My family has begun to make duplicates of the Millennium Items to use as decoys," Sarah explained. "It takes a while, because they have to copy the magic aura of the Millennium Item so people like Bakura can't tell it's a fake until they try to use its powers. But anyway, they've already done the Millennium Puzzle. Maybe you could use that in the duel, so in case you lose, not all hope is lost…."

"I can't hide the Millennium Puzzle, so I can only use the decoy or the real one. If we use the decoy, Chris will have to duel. Bakura will want to know why I'm not dueling, and we won't have an answer. I don't think your plan will work," Yami sadly said.

"Well, what if Bakura didn't realize it was Chris dueling?" Sarah suggested.

"I'm sorry, I don't follow," Yami apologized.

"Well, your deck changes when you two duel, right? Maybe Chris will be able to use your deck even when you aren't there," Sarah elaborated. "After all, the decoy still has the same aura as the Millennium Puzzle."

"Well, what do you think, Chris?" Yami asked. After a moment, Yami told Sarah's Chris' answer: "I don't know if I'll be able to get Yami's deck, or even use it well in the duel, but I'll be happy to try!"

"All right then, let's go see if our plan will work," Sarah smiled. "But the decoy is in my room, so we've got to hurry here. If you go to Bakura too late, he'll be suspicious." And with that, Sarah and Yami hurried out of the dorm. They happily discovered that their plan would work. Chris gave Sarah the real Millennium Puzzle, and a copy of the key to his dorm. (He always carried around a copy; he never knew when he's need to use it, with Bakura's constant plots and all.)

I'm going to be using Yami's deck, Chris thought as he began walking to the arena, finally realizing the entirety of the situation. It's a strong deck, but it's also complex. I don't know if I'll be able to use it…but I must! I cannot allow Bakura to succeed! I swear on both Yami's and my deck that I will win this duel!


"So, Bakura has six Millennium Items, and we only have once. What do we do now?" Chris wondered.

"When Bakura finds out about the fake Millennium Puzzle, he's going to be furious," Sarah groaned. "Who knows what he'll do then."

"We might be able to figure it out," Yami declared, taking control of Chris. This time, he also reverted to his original body; he wanted to let Sarah know who was talking without constantly telling her. Sarah was slightly stunned for a second, since she wasn't used to seeing Yami's original spiky-headed form. However, she quickly got used to it. "If we think about what Bakura has done in the past, we might be able to figure out what he will do in the future."

"Well, he revealed himself and unsuccessfully tried to steal the Millennium Puzzle," Chris began. "Then he brainwashed Sam."

"And attacked my family," Sarah chimed in.


I won, Chris thought, relieved, as the dark sphere began to disintegrate. When the black sphere and black magic had disappeared, Chris felt much better. "Yes! I defeated Bakura, and the world is saved!"

"Not really," Bakura said, getting up from the floor. "I guess you're not as pathetic as I thought."

"But… how?" Chris asked. "Shouldn't your soul have been taken when you lost the shadow game?"

"I'm a 10,000 year old spirit!" Bakura exclaimed. "I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve. You should remember this one." A transparent Man-Eater Bug appeared once again in front of Bakura.

"That again?" Chris laughed as Mystic Swordsman LV6 reappeared beside him.

"Look again," Bakura said, pointing behind Chris. Chris turned around, and half a dozen more bugs were positioned around the hallway. One jumped towards Chris, but was easily destroyed by Mystic Swordsman. Then the one that was originally in front of Bakura attacked, and he too was destroyed.

5 more left, Chris thought. Three of the bugs attacked simultaneously, but simultaneously they were destroyed. However, immediately after another attacked Mystic Swordsman LV6 and the remaining bug attacked Chris. Chris fell to the floor again, and could see his duel spirit fighting off the other bug. This could be the end, Chris thought with a sense of déjà vu. And again, the Man-Eater Bug was removed from Chris. However, the first time it just disappeared, but this time it felt like it was ripped from Chris. Chris opened his eyes to see both Man-Eater Bug flying together in a jumbled heap into the wall. When they collided with the wall, they disappeared as their brethren had earlier. "Nice idea."

"Thank you," Mystic Swordsman replied. "Did you see where Bakura went?"

Bakura's gone? Chris looked around, and sure enough the hall was empty. "No, but why do you think Bakura did that? He should have known that you would defeat the Man-Eater Bugs." What do you think Yami?

Yami.

Chris suddenly knew what had done. He bolted off back to his dorm without even explaining to Mystic Swordsman what had happened. Bakura wasn't trying to kill Chris; he was trying to stall him! Chris prayed to all the gods, goddesses, and holy beings he knew of as he unlocked his dorm room. When he opened the door and peered inside, his heart and breathing momentarily stopped, and a wave of black despair washed over him.

The coffee table was empty; the Millennium Puzzle was gone.


"Like I said, I thought you'd be more of a challenge," DA laughed again, drawing (5). "I summon Opticlops (4;1800/1700)!"

"Not so fast!" Yami yelled. "I activate my Dark Magic of the Revival Coffin, tributing both your Opticlops and my set monster to special summon the all-powerful Dark Magician (2500/2100), which I discarded with Graceful Charity!" Yami's card backing disintegrated, as a strange black coffin rose out of the ground around DA's one-eyed monster. The coffin opened, and Yami's signature purple-robed magician stepped out.

"D-Dark Magician?" Dark Assassin murmured, in a strange trance. However, he quickly broke out of the daze. "Raviel, attack and destroy Dark Magician and the rest of Chris' lifepoints!"

"Nice try, but I have another trap!" countered Yami. "I use Dark Trick, so now you will take the damage from your attack, and my lifepoints will be replenished!" Dark Magician raised his staff, and the green gem in it glowed. Raviel's fist came closer to the spellcaster, but was repelled by the staff into the Dark Assassin, knocking his mask off. Yami was speechless when he discovered the Dark Assailant's true identity.

"S-Sam?" Yami murmured.

Yami: 1650; Sam: 1850

"Sam, w-why?" Yami asked.

"Because!" Sam yelled. "A friend of mine, Bakura, told me all about how you were going to betray me! You, Sarah, and Kengake!"

"Sam…" Yami said, astounded. "We would never betray you."

"Yes, you will!" Sam continued to shout. "You were going to betray me! Just like everyone else… just like everyone else…."

"Sam, I don't know what Bakura did to you, but you must snap out of it!" Yami urged.

"He didn't do anything! You're just trying to trick me! But I'll make sure you never trick anyone again…" Sam vowed as a dark sphere of mist began to cover the dorm room.

"Sam, no!" Yami shouted, but it was too late; the duelists had entered the shadow realm. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"I know perfectly well what I've done!" Sam laughed. "When I defeat you, your soul will be lost in these shadows forever!"


Bakura: 4000; Thar: 4000; Kara: 4000; Ordos: 4000; Cholistan: 4000

"Since I am at an obvious disadvantage, I'll go first (6)," Bakura declared. "First I play Graceful Charity (5). I will now draw three cards (8), and then discard two (6). The cards I choose to discard are Headless Knight (1450/1700) and Necro Candle (500/1200). Since Necro Candle was discarded, I can send the other two copies in my deck to the graveyard. Next I play Trap Booster (5), discarding The Portrait's Secret (4;1500/1200) to activate Destiny Board (3) from my hand!"

"Destiny Board?" Kara gasped.

"What is it, my dear?" Ordos asked.

"I… I think I know that card," Kara explained as a spirit holding a "D" appeared on Bakura's field. "At the end of each of the opponent's turn, a new letter of the message appears. Once the message is complete, the user of Destiny Board wins the duel."

That must be his strategy! Ordos realized. "Kara, how many letters are in the message?"

"Excluding the D, there are four," Kara answered. "The message spells 'Death'."

"So a new letter will appear at the end of Choli's turns?" Thar asked.

"No, child," Bakura laughed. "A letter will appear at the end of each of your family members' turns!"

"Wait," Order thought aloud. "If there are four letters, and four of us, then—"

"Then each of you only has one turn to defeat me!" Bakura laughed. "And I'll think I'll make your job a bit harder by removing The Portrait's Secret, Headless Knight, and two Necro Candle from play to special summon D.E.A.T.H. – Death (2;2900+200/2450)! As long as I control Death, card effects cannot destroy Destiny Board and its Spirit Messages! Plus, Death grows stronger for each Spirit Message I have. All right Thar, you can make your first—and last—move."

"O-okay. D-draw (6)," Thar weakly declared. "I set a monster (5) and a trap (4) and end my turn. Sorry." An A appeared on Bakura's field, and Death's attack increased to 3300.

"It's okay, honey," Kara soothed, drawing a card (6). "I activate Terraforming (5), so I can use Necrovalley from my deck!" The room transformed from an old, stone room, into a giant, dark valley. The five duelists were on a small cliff, suspended above the valley. "Then I summon Gravekeeper's Cannonholder (4;1400+500/1200+500) and end my turn!" An E appeared, spelling "DEA".

"Then it's my turn (6)," Ordos declared. "I shall also activate Graceful Charity (5), so I draw three cards (8) and discard two (6). Also, like you again, I shall play Trap Booster (5), discarding a card (4) to play Rite of Spirit (3), summoning Gravekeeper's Assailant (1500+500/1500+500), who I discarded for Graceful Charity. Then I tribute my Assailant to summon Gravekeeper's Chief (2;1900+500/1200+500), who summons back Assailant!"

"You are a very powerful duelist," Bakura observed. "Too bad you'll still lose. You might have actually been a challenge if you weren't held back by the rest of your family."

"My family doesn't hold me back," Ordos smirked. "My family makes me stronger! I activate Grave Save (1) so summon back Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500+500/1000+500) who I also discarded for Graceful Charity!"

Bakura: 4000; Thar: 4000; Kara: 4000; Ordos: 3200; Cholistan: 4000

"Now, this is my family!" Ordos declared. His three Gravekeeper's, along with Kara's, gathered together. Gravekeeper's Assailant also pulled down her hood, revealing her striking likeness to Kara. "Thar—Cannonholder, Cholistan—Spear Soldier, Kara—Assailant, and myself—the Chief. Each of these cards represent one of us, and together, we cannot be beaten." It was true; each monster bore a resemblance to the named family member.

"Don't tell me all that nonsense!" Bakura laughed. "Your monsters are simply tools, and together they are not any stronger, nor do they prove anything about you or your family!"

"We shall see," Ordos replied. "I have Mystical Space Typhoon in my hand," Ordos said, showing it to Choli and Bakura. "I'll set it (0) and end my turn. Cholistan, it's your turn. All you need to do is draw a card to destroy Death."

"Okay," Cholistan quietly said as the penultimate letter of Bakura's message appeared. "I'll try." Cholistan had nothing in his hand to destroy Death, so it would be up to his draw. He placed his tiny fingers on his deck, and picked up the top card (6). "I… I'm sorry," He said, tears welling on his eyes. "I… I end my t-turn."

"Yes!" Bakura exclaimed as "Death" was completed. "I told you you would not succeed!"

Bakura: 4000; Thar: 0; Kara: 0; Ordos: 0; Cholistan: 0

"And I think I'll take your souls, too," Bakura laughed as the Ishtar clan all fell to the floor. Bakura began to walk to the other end of the room to claim his prize.


"I'll never forgive Bakura for that," Sarah forcefully vowed.

"I'll never forgive Bakura, either, but I have too many reasons to tell you know," Yami sighed. Of course, Bakura has countless reasons for his actions.

"Then there were what seemed like… pointless duels," Chris continued. "Bakura didn't really seem to be trying that hard to beat us."

"Yeah, but after a few of those he really started trying," Sarah said. "All those duels were really hard… but thinking back on it, each one of us only had one of those really difficult duels."

"And until today, excluding when Bakura revealed himself, he has never actually dueled," Yami realized. "He always had someone else duel for him."

"But we always came through," Chris smiled.


"And now I activate my three face-downs!" Chess countered. "The first one, Light of Intervention, stops you from setting monsters. The second one, Final Attack Orders, switches all face-up monsters to attack mode. The third one, Eternal Fighting Spirit, forces all attack mode monsters to attack! So as you should be able to see, this will force any monster you summon to attack Dark Mime!"

"Again, if you want me to attack, I'll be happy to comply," Yami said in a combination of a sigh and a smirk. "I summon Winged Kuriboh (6;300/200), and as your trap cards dictate, use it to attack Dark Mime." The small winged furball flew forward, and Dark Mime floated forward in a similar manner. When they collided, Winged Kuriboh disappeared in a small 'poof', and Dark Mime's attack increased to 3850. "I end my turn with this set trap (5)."

"How dare you mock me with your pathetic Winged Kuriboh!" Chess angrily shouted as he drew (3). "Now, Dark Mime, direct attack on Yami! I may only win with 100 lifepoints, but I'll still win!"

"Not so fast!" Yami shouted as his trap card flipped face-up. "Revenge of Dark Magic summons back the Dark Magician's Apprentice (1200/1000) you destroyed earlier!"

"2650 damage is still a lot," Chess simply said.

"It's not 2650 damage, because Dark Magician's Apprentice reduces all battle damage to my lifepoints to zero!" Yami shouted as his young magician was destroyed.

"Fine," Chess sighed. "I'm getting tired of you avoiding defeat. I end my turn."

"You're getting tired of me avoiding defeat?" Yami asked as he drew a card (6). "You're the one who only has 100 lifepoints left! Anyway, I pay half my lifepoints to activate Dark Magic Curtain (5), special summoning Dark Magician (2500/2100) from my deck!" A purple curtain held up by a skeleton appeared as Yami's lifepoints decreased. After a moment, the skeleton pulled open the curtain, revealing the Dark Magician. When Dark Magician appeared, Yami instantly felt his torso tighten up.

Chess: 100; Yami: 1650

"And now that I have Dark Magician, I can use Scroll of Dark Magic (4)!" An aged scroll appeared in Dark Magician's hands. He then began to read a strange chant from the scroll, causing a glowing card to appear in front of Yami. Taking the card (5), Yami explained, "Scroll of Dark Magic lets me add a trap in my deck to my hand. I'll set it now (4)."

"Setting a trap card won't help you," Chess said. "You have to attack Dark Mime because of Eternal Fighting Spirit. That will increase Dark Mime's attack to 5100, so you'll lose!"

"That's why I have this next card," Yami explained, sliding it into his duel disk (3). Dark Magician's staff transformed into a gleaming sword, and his attack increased to 5000. "This is Excalibur. It doubles Dark Magician's attack! So now, although Dark Mime's attack will increase to 6350 when I attack, I'll only take 1350 damage. Dark Magician, attack with Shining Sword Slash!" Dark Magician gripped his sword in both hands, and Dark Mime did the same with his invisible sword. Both rushed forward and slashed at each other, but Dark Mime is the one who succeeded.

Chess: 100; Yami: 300

With the damage, everything but Yami's arms and head froze up. 'We both have barely any lifepoints left,' Yami thought. 'This duel will probably be over next turn… I just hope I'm the victor.' "To protect my lifepoints, I activate Reincarnation of Dark Magic (2). Since Dark Magician was destroyed I can bring out Dark Magician Girl (2000+300/1700)!" The female spellcaster appeared, along with a transparent Dark Magician, increasing her attack power. "I end my turn."

"It's over!" Chess yelled after he drew (4). "Dark Mime, attack Dark Magician Girl with your 6350 attack points!" Dark Magician Girl raised her staff and fired a pink energy beam, while Dark Mime shot a black energy beam with an invisible staff. The two attacks collided and seemed equal for a moment, but then the black energy then pushed the pink energy beam back.

Seeing that her attack was failing, Dark Magician girl immediately gave up on her attack. The black energy rushed at her, but right before the attack collided she side-stepped, so the attack was absorbed by a purple cylinder.

"What was that?" Chess asked.

"Magic Cylinder," Yami proudly responded.

"Wait, but does that mean—" Chess was cut off when a second cylinder appeared in front of him, unleashing his own monster's attack upon him. The force of the attack sent Chess flying all the way across the room, knocking him against the wall. Because the Shadow Game froze him, he wasn't able to brace himself or get back up.

Chess: 0; Yami: 300

'I'm glad that's over with,' Yami sighed as his body returned to normal.


"Time to end this duel! Draw (2)!" Heikou screamed. He immediately slid his new card into his duel disk (1). "Treasure of Slashing Life let's me draw four cards (5)! This duel won't last long enough for the second effect to matter."

Heikou sifted through his new cards, one by one, and when he got to the last card he maliciously grinned. "I drew what I need! I remove Chaos Gryphon and Chaos Phoenix to summon the most powerful monster in my deck: Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (4;3000/2500)!"

'Takashi used that card!' Chris remembered as the gold and black scaled dragon appeared. "Hey! That's a banned card!"

"This deck has been passed down through my family for centuries," Heikou said. "We have always used this card when necessary, and nothing will stop us from protecting the Millennium Items."

'Chaos Emperor Dragon is an extremely powerful card. But if Yami could overcome it, I can too,' Chris thought, looking at his set card.

"Now it's a battle between the Envoy of the End, and then Envoy of the Beginning! However, I think it's obvious as to who will win. I pay 1000 lifepoints to activate Chaos Emperor Dragon's effect, Chaos Apocalypse!" Heikou yelled. Chaos Emperor Dragon roared and began to glow. The glow enveloped the entire field, and when it subsided both players' fields and hands were empty (0). "That was 3600 points of damage!" Heikou manically laughed. "There's no way you could have survived!"

"Guess again," Chris coughed through the smoke that the blast had caused.

Heikou stopped laughing for a moment to look at the score.

Chris: 100; Heikou: 2300

"Wh-What? How did you survive?!" Heikou demanded.

"Simple," Chris smirked. "My set card was Mystik Wok. I tributed Black Luster Soldier for its effect, so I gained 3000 lifepoints. With two less cards on the field, Chaos Emperor Dragon only dealt me 3000 damage, leaving me back at 100 lifepoints."

"I don't care," Heikou snorted. "I have 2300 lifepoints, and you have 100 lifepoints. There's no way you can win."

"I can't lose," Chris responded. "The world is counting on me."

"The world isn't counting on you to destroy it."

"For the last time, Yami and I are not evil!" Chris shouted. "But anyway, on with my turn… I don't care if I'll only have one card, I won't lose. I trust my deck, and my deck trusts me, so defeat is impossible! Draw (1)!" Chris immediately activated his drawn card. "Graceful Charity lets me draw three cards (3), but I can only keep one."

Chris looked at his three cards for less than a second before sliding two into his graveyard (1). "I activate Level Modulator (0)! Do you know what Level Modulation does?" Heikou nodded. "Well, this has the same effect, except for two main differences. First off, you draw three cards instead of two."

"Thanks!" Heikou laughed as he picked up the cards (3). "You'll regret that! After all, your LV monster, which I'm assuming you just discarded for Graceful Charity, can't attack this turn!"

"Well, you're half-right," Chris replied. "First of all, the monster I'm bringing back, Mystic Swordsman LV6 (2300/1700), was discarded for Graceful Charity. However, I can attack with him this turn, since that's Level Modulator's second difference! This duel is over!" Chris announced as his signature swordsman appeared. "Mystic Sealing Slash!"

'Even if I couldn't get here earlier, I'm glad I could deal the finishing blow,' Mystic Swordsman LV6 said as he ran forward and attacking Heikou.

Chris: 100; Heikou: 0

"I… lost," Heikou sighed as the Shadow Game faded.


"Anyway, it's time to destroy you! First I set a trap (2), and then I activate my own Card of Sanctity (1)! Now we can draw cards (6)! Then I use the card I didn't just draw, Blue Lightning Strike (5)! Now all of your cards are destroyed!" Mira manically laughed. A blue dragon made out of lightning appeared, and attacked Kengake, sending all his cards to the graveyard (0). "Blue Lightning Strike forces me to end my turn, but I was going to anyway."

"What kind of card lets your completely destroy your opponent, when all you need is one monster?!" Kengake exclaimed.

"Well, it has a drawback," Mira sighed. "My next five turns are skipped, except for my draw."

"Good, then I have a few turns to recover," Kengake sighed as he drew (1). "Perfect draw!" Kengake laughed as he activated his card (0). "Pot of Greed! Now I draw two cards (2)!"

"I summon F-Hero Flamefire (1;1300/500)," Kengake shouted as a man covered in fire materialized on Kengake's field. Flamefire doesn't have much attack, but I need to go on the offensive immediately. Those five turns will be over before I know it, and then I'll probably lose quickly after that! Besides, so far most of Mira's monsters haven't had high defense. "F-Hero Flamefire, attack Mira's set monster!"

The man launched a stream of fire at Mira's monster, which was a man in black clothes. However, he was able to resist the attack, and Kengake's life points slightly decreased.

Kengake: 100; Mira: 4000

"That was Ancient Baevraet (500/1500)!" Mira said.

"Then I end my turn with this set card (0)," Kengake sighed.

"No, wait! Baevraet has to activate his effect. Now I pick any word," Mira explained, "And any card with that word in its name is sent from your deck to the graveyard! So goodbye… hero."

Kengake gasped as a dark light suddenly came out of deck slot. When the light disappeared, only one card remained in Kengake's deck. "Oh no," Kengake murmured.

"What will you do now?!" Mira taunted. "You have one card left! That means only one turn! There's no way you can win!"

However, Kengake didn't hear her. He was thinking, trying to figure out the last card in his deck. At last, he realized what it was just as Mira drew a card (6) and ended her turn.

"Mira, this duel is over. I win."

"A bold claim; Sarah said the same thing. Do you think you can really do it?"

Kengake didn't respond, but instead drew his card (1) and activated it (0) without even looking at it. "Fusion Recycle activates, fusing a monster on my field with a monster on my graveyard. So I can fuse F-Hero Flamefire with F-Hero Fightingfists into F-Hero Fireheart (2000/2200)!"

Kengake's new monster was a large muscular man covered in a small aura of fire. He had several pieces of flame-themed armor and weapons.

"But… but you removed F-Hero Fightingfists with Spirit Fusion!" Mira objected. "And what is so special about Fireheart?"

"The Fightingfists I removed with Spirit Fusion was the one you sent to my graveyard with Ancient Warrior Legkton," Kengake slyly explained. "And Fireheart is so great because his power increases for each hero in my graveyard! I use 21 monsters, all of them heroes. Now I get the benefit of all of them!" Kengake roared as F-Hero Fireheart's aura flared, becoming almost twice as tall as him. His attack raised all the way to 6200.

"Oh… oh no!" Mira screamed.

"Oh yes!" Kengake shouted. "F-Hero Fireheart, attack! This may not deal enough life point damage to win, but Ancient Heroine Otius' effect will cause you to lose!" The hero launched itself forward and attacked Ancient Heroine Otius. However, she turned into a strange blue mist as the impact hit her, which reformed into a dark warrior holding a shield.

"Sorry, but I used Monster Relief," Mira explained. "This returned Otius to my hand, and summoned another Ancient Warrior Zeljhi (0/2200) from my hand in defense mode. It won't do any good attacking, and now you can't win this turn, which means you lose. But don't feel bad… I defeated Sarah in the same way."

"I told you I was going to win, and I meant it," Kengake said, glaring at Mira. "Fireheart, attack Zeljhi!"

"Wh-Why?!" Mira demanded. "There's no point!"

"Actually, there is," Kengake stated as Fireheart rushed forward. Once he was about halfway there, his aura doubled in size, and became a brilliant shade of golden yellow.

"What's this?!" Mira cried as Fireheart came even closer to her monster.

"This… this is the Strike of Justice," Kengake solemnly said as his monster plowed through Ancient Warrior Zeljhi, as if he wasn't even there, into Mira. The blast was powerful enough to slightly burn her clothes, and throw her all the way back to where Bakura was standing.

Kengake: 100; Mira: 0


"Well… almost all of us came through," Sarah sniffed.

"I-It doesn't matter! Everything turned out okay in the end," Chris pointed out, trying to cheer up Sarah.

I was the one who kept on losing. I was the one that failed everyone else. Even when I was at the top of my game, against Mira and Bakura… I still failed.


"I could destroy your monster right now with Otius," Mira said slyly as she drew a card (4), "But I think this method will be more fun... First, I set two traps (2). But now, go, Blue Lightning Strike (1)!"

Ancient Heroine Otius raised the Elemental Sword of Darkness above her head, and her blue dragon came and began to circle her. The dragon then infused with the sword, giving the sword and Otius a bright blue glow. Otius let out a battle cry and then ran forward. With one swing of her blade, all of Sarah's cards on her field and her hand were completely decimated (0).

"All my cards… gone…" Sarah wept.

"That is the full power of Ancient Heroine Otius," Bakura declared.

"However, my next five turns are skipped, except for my Draw Phase," Mira noted.

"That means… that means I have a few turns to recuperate!" Sarah celebrated. But Mira still has those two face-downs…

"Not exactly," Mira winked. "You see, I've been counting cards, and so far thirty-nine cards have been removed from your deck! Oh, and look at your last card. It's Caravan. How ironic, since you won't be able to use it's effect. Anyway, Blue Lightning Strike forces me to immediately end my turn, so go."

"Your wrong," Sarah slowly stated, but then repeated more forcefully, "You're wrong! I have forty-one cards in my deck! That means I draw Caravan (1), but then remove him from play (0) to get my last card!" Sarah took a deep breath before placing her fingers on her last card. Please…please pull through for me. Sarah drew a card (1) and smiled.

"I win," Sarah confidently declared.

"Oh really?" Mira asked. "I doubt that there's any card that could save you at this point. After all, you have barely any life points, just one card, and I have full life points and an extremely powerful monster!"

"Like I just said, you're wrong! I can still beat you!" Sarah laughed. "My last card is the spell card Mirage (0)! This lets me summon a monster from my graveyard, but removes all other monsters in my graveyard from play." The air on Sarah's field began to warp, as if in intense heat. A strange mummy-like creature made of sand soon appeared from the haze. "The monster I've chosen is Desert Avenger (?/?)!"

"An unknown number of attack points? Ha!" Mira laughed, but then it struck her. "Wait, what determines Desert Avenger's power?!"

"Actually, it varies," Sarah began to explain. "It can either be 300 for each monster in my grave, or 400 for each removed from play. I have twenty monsters in my deck, excluding Desert Avenger, and all of them are removed from play due to the combined effects of Ancient Warrior Gargax and Mirage. Do the math."

"This… this can't be happening!" Mira wheezed as Desert Avenger's attack shot up to eight-thousand.

"You may have full life points, but that doesn't matter, because this attack will deal four-thousand damage! Go, Desert Avenger! Avenge all my monsters that Mira destroyed!" Sarah commanded.

Mira turned around to look at Bakura as Desert Avenger drew nearer. They were able to communicate just with their eyes.

'Do something,' Mira pleaded, 'Please.'

'Your face-downs,' Bakura coldly responded.

How could I forget those?! Mira scolded herself as she turned her attention back to the duel. As Desert Avenger swung its claw through Otius, Otius turned into a strange blue mist. The mist then reformed into a dark warrior holding a large shield.

"Sorry, but one of my traps was Monster Relief," Mira explained. "It returned Ancient Heroine Otius to my hand, and summoned another Ancient Warrior Zeljhi from my hand in defense mode!"

Sarah just stood there, motionless, as Desert Avenger automatically destroyed Zeljhi. She did her best… she was pushed to her uppermost limits… victory was right there… but she still lost. And that meant Bakura won.

"Since you have nothing else to do, I'm assuming you're ending your turn," Mira laughed as Desert Avenger faded into nothing. "I draw a card (2), and then I am forced to end my turn from Blue Lightning Strike. However, since you don't have any cards in your deck, you automatically lose."

Mira: 4000; Sarah: 0 (from deckout)

"No…" Sarah murmured, before the spirits of Sins of Darkness suddenly swarmed around her, attacking her.


"Who knows what Bakura will do now," Sarah said, softly and slowly. "But I doubt it will be a single duel. It will probably involve all of us. And when I'm selected to duel…"

I'll fail.

"Sarah, are you—" Chris began to say, but was cut off by someone else.

"Chris! Where am I?" Takashi demanded, standing in the bedroom doorway.

"You're in my dorm," Chris answered. "I woke up in the duel arena, and you were unconscious. What happened?"

"Bakura beat me in a duel," Takashi admitted, looking away.

"Why were you dueling him?" Chris continued to ask.

"Because… because I saw Bakura had beaten you, and I decided that I would be the one to crush you!" Takashi shouted, but then added more quietly, "And no one double crosses me."

"Double cross? What do you mean by that?"

"Well… uh…" Takashi stammered, his face starting to turn red. He didn't mean for them to actually hear that double crossing part. He decided it would just be better to tell them now. "I've been helping Bakura this entire year."

"YOU WHAT?!?" Chris exploded. Chris took a deep breath, and then told Takashi, "Whatever, I really don't care right now. What's done is done, and now we need to deal with Bakura."

"Why?" Takashi asked. "He's already beaten us both, and—" Takashi finally noticed that Chris was still wearing the Millennium Puzzle. "The Millennium Puzzle. Didn't Bakura take that from you?"

"Well, to be honest, we used a fake Millennium Puzzle for that duel," Sarah admitted.

Takashi looked at Sarah incredulously, and then let out a small laugh. "I'm sorry, I just thought I heard that you used a fake Millennium Puzzle."

"You did hear that. You heard correctly," Chris said.

"That's… not good," Takashi replied. He walked over to one of the chairs, sat down, and covered his face with his right hard. "You don't know what you've done…. I can't believe you've driven Bakura to this," He said, slightly shaking his head.

"To what?" Chris nervously asked.

"Oh, I'm not telling you," Takashi said, removing his right hand from his face and looking up. He let out a small laugh. A small, slightly insane laugh. "You should find out soon enough."

And, as if on cue, Chris' PDA began to beep. Chris opened his PDA, and Bakura's voice began to play.

"A fake Millennium Puzzle. I didn't expect you to sink that low, Pharaoh," Bakura hissed.

"Pharaoh?" Takashi asked, but Chris immediately silenced him.

"Anyway, I believe it's time to pay for your actions," Bakura's message continued. "Meet me in the dark of the light; the lowest floor of the Cathedral. Bring Sam, Kengake, Sarah, and of course, your Millennium Puzzle. If that traitorous Takashi is still with you, he can come too. I know this is sudden, and you might want to have some time to recuperate, but that's too bad. If you and your friends are not there in fifteen minutes, there will be consequences. Serious consequences. I have a bomb, and everyone on this island will die if you do not cooperate."


Bakura with a bomb cannot be good... anywayz, I hope this chapter wasn't too bad! And it gets mch better after this, 'cause all the duels after this are amazing!!!

RER!!


Card of the Day

Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End (DARK)
Dragon/Effect
Level 8
3000 ATK/2500 DEF
This card can only be Special Summoned by removing 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster in your Graveyard from play. Pay 1000 of your Life Points to send all cards in both players' hands and on the field to the Graveyard. Inflict 300 damage to your opponent for each card that is sent to the Graveyard by this effect.


Next Time: Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts