So I was recently going through my stories, and I realized that when I originally uploaded this story, I LEFT A CHAPTER OUT. If anyone was confused but the sudden jump in story, I very deeply apologize. With that said, enjoy this long-lost chapter!

Chapter Seven: Sword and Shield

"I'll start things off!" I declared, drawing six cards. Looking at my hand, I noticed that I already had the cards in my hand for a special combo! "I'll Summon The Forgiving Maiden in Defense Mode and lay this card facedown! That's all for now."

"My move!" the warped – voice Rare Hunter (We'll call him Rare and the other guy Hunter) announced, "I Summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in Attack Mode and place these two cards facedown! I end my turn."

I felt a slight shiver as Yami made his move. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was tag-teaming with a pharaoh who had almost never lost a game. What if I messed up his strategy and cost us the duel and the Egyptian God Cards!?

"Queen's Knight! Attack Mode!" He declared, "And this, facedown…" He ended his turn.

Hunter played Ryu – Kishin Powered in Attack Mode, and that was it.

"My move! I draw!" It was another good card! "I activate the Spell Card Polymerization, fusing The Forgiving Maiden and Marie the Fallen One from my hand to form St. Joan!"

She looked almost exactly like Guardian Angel Joan, and had the same Attack and Defense Point, except instead of a white dress, she wore beautiful white armor and held a lethal and elegant sword. Huge wings made of light sprouted from her shoulders.

"I equip her with the Spell Card Horn of the Unicorn, giving her boost of 700 Attack and Defense Points, for a total of 3500!" Joan's sword began to glow with electric energy as the Spell Card did its work. "Finally, I activate Gravekeeper's Servant, which means that every time you attack, you must discard one card from the top of your deck!" Rare and Hunter looked outraged at how productive my turn had been. "St. Joan! Attack Ryu – Kishin Powered!" With one slash, Hunter's Life Points were reduced to 2100, almost half of what he started with! "I end my turn," I said finally.

"You probably think you're so special," Rare sneered as he drew his card, "But believe me, this duel has just begun! I Summon this monster in facedown position, and Attack Queen's Knight with my Neo the Magic Swordsman!" he flipped a card off the top of his deck and discarded it to the graveyard because of my Spell Card, and the handsome knight flew at Yami's monster, swinging his sword in a wide arch!

"I won't let that happen!" I countered, "Trap Card! Ordeal of a Traveler!" I held up my card. "Trap, Monster, Spell. You make the call, but be careful: one wrong guess and your monster returns to your hand!"

"Spell?" Rare asked.

"Wrong!" I snapped, flipping the card over to prove it was a Monster Card, and Neo was returned to Rare's hand, leaving Yami untouched!

"Good move," he complimented me, sending a pink flush into my cheeks.

"Grrr…I end my turn," Rare snarled.

"My move!" Yami drew. "I Summon King's Knight to the field!" as the large man joined the blonde woman, he added, "That means that I can automatically Summon my Jack's Knight!" a handsome tan knight with long blonde hair joined Yami's building army, completing the trio. "Now, my Jack's Knight! Attack the facedown monster!"

"Not so fast!" Rare hissed, "You activated my Trap Card Mask of Weakness, which decreases your precious knight's power by 700 points! Also, my monster was the Mystical Elf, with 2000 Defense points!"

"No!" Yami gasped, but it was too late! The knight attacked the beautiful elf and lost, deflected by her defensive magic, lowering Yami's Life Points to 3200! "I…end my turn," he muttered.

"Excellent!" said Hunter, drawing his card, "I Summon one Monster in facedown Defense Mode and place this card facedown. That's it!"

"Interesting…" Yami murmured. When I shot him a questioning glance, he explained, "There are two types of duelists: the offensive and the defensive. Offensive duelists attack their opponent and try to take out their Life Points as quickly as possible, using brute force and magical combos. Defensive duelists usually play their monster defensively and raise their Defense in an attempt to exhaust their opponent. You and I are offensive duelists, but these two," he gestured to the Rare Hunters, "are playing defensively, but they use spells and traps to make our moves backfire on ourselves. In other words, be careful about how you use your cards, or you could find it being used against you."

I was stunned that the pharaoh could read our opponents so quickly, until I remembered his reputation as the world champion. I took his advice to heart with this in mind.

"My turn! I draw a card!" As I flicked a card off the deck, my life Points went up by 200.

"What happened?!" Hunter demanded.

"It's Marie the Fallen One's Special Ability," I explained as a phantom of the black-skinned, black-winged demon girl appeared above me. "When she's in the graveyard, I gain 200 Life Points during each Standby Phase." I played my newest card. "I Summon Dancing Fairy in Defense Mode and end my turn." I did not attack out of wariness of the Hunters' facedown cards.

Rare drew his card. "I sacrifice my Mystical Elf!" She disappeared in a spiral of darkness, "To Summon Magical Marionette!" a dark wizard wielding a puppet holding a pair of sharp knives appeared."Next I will activate Ookazi! This Spell Card inflicts 800 Points of damage on whichever opponent I choose!" A throng of fireballs descended upon…me!

"Ah!" I yelped in surprise as my life Points lowered to 3400!

"Sarana!" Yami cried, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…I'm fine," I answered, wincing.

Suddenly, a circle of magic glowed on the marionette, and its attack points went up by 200, making its total 2200!

"What?! Why is your monster more powerful?!" Yami demanded. "What have you done?!"

"Every time someone activates a Spell Card, Magical Marionette's power goes up by 200 points," Rare explained with a sneer.

"I won't let it get any more powerful," the pharaoh promised, drawing his card. "I sacrifice King's Knight and Queen's Knight to Summon my Dark Magician!"

The two knights converged into a ball of light, which burst to reveal a magician with purple hair, dressed in some black and violet costume that covered just about all of him. He held a long violet and black scepter with a red orb on top.

"Dark Magician! Attack his Marionette with Dark Magic Attack!" Yami ordered.

"That cannot happen!" Rare exclaimed, "Trap Card activate! Shift will redirect your attack to my partner's facedown monster!"

The burst of green light that had burs from the magician's staff veered off the side…to attack the facedown monster instead!

"My facedown is Wall of Illusion!" the monster was revealed to be a hideous face leering at us from a stretch of wall. The Dark Magician's attack destroyed it completely, but at the time the magician disappeared!

"What's going on?!" I demanded.

"If Wall of Illusion is attacked, the attacking monster is returned to its owner's hand," Yami explained. "That ends my turn."

All Hunter did was put another monster in facedown Defense Mode and another card facedown.

I drew my card and my Life Points went up by 1200.

"Now what's going on?!" Rare shouted.

"It's my Dancing Fairy's Special Ability: as long as it remains in face-up Defense Mode, My Life Points go up by 1000," I explained with a smirk. My total was now 4600!

"Your marionette is going down," I declared, "St. Joan, destroy it!"

Joan launched herself at the marionette, brandishing her electric sword.

"I activate Waboku, which will protect my monster on this turn!" Rare countered, and Joan's attack was nullified. I ground my teeth in frustration.

"Don't lose your cool," Yami warned, "That's what they want."

I exhaled through my teeth and muttered, "My turn is over."

Rare drew his card with a flourish. "I activate my Spell Card Magical Mallet!" Another ball of light hovered by the marionette as its Attack strength went to 2400. "This card allows me to shuffle as many cards in my hand as I want into my deck, and then draw the same number of cards. I only have two cards, but I will shuffle both of them into my deck." There was a moment of silence as he did just what he said, but when Rare looked at his card, he started laughing maniacally. "I equip Magical Marionette with the Spell Card United We Stand!"

Suddenly, its Attack power was way higher than it had been…at 4200!

"This marionette get 800 Attack and Defense Points for every monster on our side of the field, plus the 200 it gets from activating a Spell Card," Rare said dangerously, "But that's the least of your problems!" Two of the three Spell Counters hovering around the marionette disappeared and St. Joan blew up! "By discarding two Spell Counters I can destroy any monster I want on the field. Now, attack the Dancing Fairy!" Once again, he discarded a card from his deck, and I saw anger flash across his face. I smirked inwardly; he had lost an important card.

I held up my card for Rare to figure, and he – regrettably – guessed correctly: it was a Monster card. Dancing Fairy was gone, but none of my Life Points were. "I end my turn by putting this last card facedown."

"My move!" Just before the pharaoh drew his card Yugi materialized beside him.

"It's not looking too good right now," he said worriedly.

"We'll have to trust in the heart of the cards; they'll find the way," the pharaoh answered. He closed his eyes as his hand inched toward his deck. I also focused my willpower into that card on top. Please, heart of the cards, please…be a really good card! We couldn't lose the Egyptian God Cards, we just couldn't!

Suddenly, the card was swished from the top of the deck, and Yami smiled.

"I place this card facedown and end my turn!" That was it?!

"I draw!" Hunter announced. "I will also place one card facedown and end my turn!"

The pharaoh had said that these two played defensively, but now I wasn't so sure…Then it occurred to me!

"They're like a sword and shield," I said. Yami glanced at me, confused. "That one," I gestured to Rare, "does all the attacking, but his friend defends him with Traps and Spells whenever we attack."

"Excellent observation," Yami complimented, and I felt a slight blush creep into my cheeks. "I just started thinking the same thing…" He suddenly addressed the Rare Hunters.

"Why do you want my Millennium Puzzle?"

Rare began laughing. "For the same reason I've always wanted it, pharaoh! To have all seven Millennium Items!"

Yami gasped. "It can't be! You can't be - !"

"Maybe," Rare said, "Now, if I recall, it is the girl's turn."

"Right." Heart of the cards, now would be a good time to help out, I thought frantically, but I forgot Horn of the Unicorn's Special Ability, and that was what I drew!

"Spirit of the Harp, Defense Mode," I muttered, while my Life Points went up to 4800. "I end my turn."

"Prepare to hand over your Puzzle, as well as all three of your God Cards," Rare sneered as he drew his card. "I summon one monster in facedown Defense mode, which powers up my marionette," its power increased to 4600! "and end my turn."

"What do you want with his Puzzle?!" I demanded, "There's nothing it can do for you!"

At this, Rare threw his head back and laughed. "Nothing, you say?! With the Puzzle and the other Millennium Items, girl, I can take over the world…and destroy it!"

What?!

"Wait, time out!" I shouted, and looked at Yami. "Can he do that?!"

"Unfortunately…yes, if he's who I think he is," Yami said, and there was anger glinting in his burgundy eyes.

"Well, this changes a lot of things!" I said fiercely, "If the stakes are this high in this duel, we have to win!" I caught Yami's confused expression. "Uh, not that we didn't have too win before, but now I know just how much more important it is to win!" I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Um, it's your turn."

"Right," Yami nodded. "You won't get my Puzzle this time…Bakura!"

So Rare had a name, did he?

Rare – Bakura? – laughed again. "You got me. I'm using the Millennium Rod to control this worthless puppet, and once I defeat you both, he'll take your Puzzle and your God Cards and bring them to me."

"Millennium Rod?!" Yami demanded, "That's not your Item! You have the Millennium Ring!"

"Rod? Ring? How many Millennium Items are there?" I asked.

"There are seven," the pharaoh told me, "And each of them holds part of the key to my memory. Bakura has been after all seven of them for some time, because he believes that some great power resides within my memories. But you won't get your hands one them, ever!" he vowed.

"Really?" Bakura asked through the Rare Hunter, "Then why do I have six of seven Items? Your Item is the only one not in my possession, pharaoh!"

"What?!" To say Yami was upset would have been an understatement. "But how-?"

"Very carefully, now make your move!" Bakura snarled, "So that I defeat you and claim my prize…"

"You won't be defeating me, Bakura!" Yami drew his card. "I sacrifice my Jack's Knight to Summon the Dark Magician Girl!" A beautiful young spellcaster with a very flattering outfit, blonde hair, and sparklingly merry green eyes appeared. Her Attack points were 2300, for some reason, but I saw on her card that she was supposed to have only 2000.

Yami smirked. "So, there is a Dark Magician in your graveyard, is there? It powers up my magician girl by 300," he explained to Bakura, who bared his teeth in a sneer.

"Yami that's no where near strong enough to beat their monster," I said warily.

He chuckled, deep in his chest. "That's why I'm not attacking this turn, Sarana. This ends my turn."

Hunter drew his card. "I'll pass on this turn."

He's waiting for us to make the wrong move, I realized while I drew my card, I'll have to tread cautiously if I want to avoid making any huge mistakes. I glanced at the card I drew: Soul of Purity and Light. Not exactly what I was looking for, but it would have to do. "I remove St. Joan and The Forgiving Maiden from the graveyard and the game to Special Summon Soul of Purity and Light!" the ghostly fairy hovered in front of me. "I'll end my turn."

Bakura began laughing, a sound that sent a chill down my spine. "You just made a huge mistake, little girl." My heart almost stopped beating; what did I do? "You left your monster in Attack Mode, leaving your Life Points wide open for attack." He was right! If this attack made it through, almost half my Life Points would be decimated!

"Magical Marionette! Attack the Soul of Purity and Light!" he discarded another card with a grimace, but he guessed correctly once again what card I held: a Spell Card!

Yami smirked again as the marionette's attack sped toward my fairy! "I activate my Trap Card! Magic Cylinder!" Two cans appeared in front of my fairy! 'This card will protect Sarana's card…and send your attack right back at you, Bakura!"

The attack entered one capsule…and shot out of the other one! It hit Bakura directly in the chest, and he took 4600 points of Attack directly to his Life Points! Yami won the duel!

So there's that...I hope you like it! I know it's been over a year since I updated this, and again I'm very sorry. I'm still working on ploading the Monstrosity, and I'm very busy with art and school, so I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for chapters...enjoy the rest of the story!