Between my Brother and Me

by Green Phantom Queen

When May and Max return to Petalburg, their parents suggest that they visit the city of Domino for a week. Unfortunately, Leviathan is starting to awaken, and both siblings must fight the menance or risk their chances to ever getting back home safely. [Discontinued]

21. Descending into Madness

I'm exhausted, my arms are getting tired, and I really need some rest...but I don't care! Here we are with the next chapter! This chapter is also dedicated to Mousou in helping me getting rid of all the bugs that I was being plagued with.

And I hope you're all having a Happy Easter!

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Between my Brother and Me

by Green Phantom Queen

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Chapter 20-Descending into Madness

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

For the next few minutes, May and Kaiba observed the strange light patterns outside. After getting 'reassurance' from the captain, they sat down and were wondering what was going on. May stared at the lights, imagining the same ones that appeared back at Domino City...Dark Magician Girl's words whispered in her ear as she recalled the Spellcaster returning to the Dominion of the Beasts.

Time is running out...

And it was; it would only be a matter of time before Dartz got his hands on her. She couldn't let that happen.

Suddenly the lights began to turn off by themselves. Then they started to flicker, going on and off.

"What's going on?" said May, looking at the ceiling. "Did we blow a fuse or something?"

"Captain," said Kaiba, pressing onto the communicator on his trenchcoat. "Do you read me?"

There was no response. Kaiba pressed onto the communicator once more.

"Are you there?" He asked. "Come in, now."

"I'll check it out myself." said May, getting off of the couch and running to the source of the problem. She soon entered the room and let out a gasp.

I don't believe it! May thought to herself. The whole crew was a mirage! And that means only one thing...

"Hey Kaiba!" She yelled. "The whole crew was gone. And you said you had a team on you to help us out...I doubt they all had to use the bathroom simultaneously. You have any ideas what's going on?"

"Sorry, you lovebirds." said the captain. "But this is a private party now."

There was some laughter as May grasped onto her arm...she knew who was talking to them.

"I don't like the looks of this." said Kaiba.

"We have some unfinished business to address, Kaiba." The voice added.

"Alister!" Kaiba snarled. "Show yourself, now!"

"He must be in the cockpit." said May. "Let's catch him!"

Kaiba nodded his head as the two ran up the stairs, in an attempt to stop the Swordsman (or at least beat him to within an inch of his life).

"You're going to regret showing your face again!" said the CEO, once getting to the cockpit. May followed suite, noticing that there was no one there. The two then walked to the pilot seat, seeing the steering wheel of the plane rocking back and forth.

"The plane's on auto-pilot." said May, sitting herself down on the pilot's seat. "But then...where's the pilot?"

"I'm not sure." said Kaiba. "I don't like where this is going though."

"Me too." May whispered. "Me too."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"Um, guys..." said Mokuba, pointing at the sky. "What's that?"

"Oh, no..." said Yami. "It can't be..."

"Isn't that the same light that accompanied that giant eyeball we saw back at Domino City?" asked Max. "That can't be good..."

"Does this mean that it's going to come back?" asked Téa.

"I don't know." Yami answered back. "But I have a very bad feeling about this."

"Then what are we doing just walking?" asked Mokuba. "I say we hitch a ride!"

"Hitch a ride on what?" asked Téa. "There's no one here for miles."

"Then we'll get some!" said Mokuba, drawing two cards. "I'm summoning Celestial Spirit-Leo and Celestial Spirit-Aries! Appear now!"

The two monsters soon materialized in front of the four: one was a white lion with a crown on its head, the other was a bighorn sheep with red eyes.

"Absol!" said Max, tossing a Poké ball into the air. "Let's go!"

The sphere opened, revealing the Shiny Disaster Pokémon. It got on its knees as Max and Mokuba got on him.

"Come on." said Max to Yami and Téa. "Just choose a ride and follow us."

"All right." said Yami, grasping onto Aries. Aries let out a bleat and began to run.

"Wait up, Pharaoh!" said Téa, getting on top of Leo. Leo roared and soon followed its fellow spirit.

"Let's ride!" said Max as Absol began to catch up.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"Let's get going." May said to the CEO. "We have no time to lose."

"Likewise." Kaiba said in reply. He then pulled out something from his pocket and tossed it to May.

"What's this?" asked May, looking at the device.

"A cell phone." Kaiba replied. "There's a number for my office inside. Should things go wrong, call them. All right?"

"What do you mean 'should things go wrong'?" asked May. "Things...are going to get better, right?"

"If they were, then Yugi would've defeated the guy who made him lose his title, I'd figure out who was buying shares of my company, and your wounds would no longer be there. Now come with me, we've got work to do."

"All right." said May, placing it into her waist-pack. "Still...what happened to your crew, Kaiba? I mean...you did have one, right?"

"They must be around here somewhere." said Kaiba in response.

"But where?" asked May.

"He couldn't have take them too far." Kaiba answered back.

"You don't get it do you?" asked Alister over the speakers. "You never had a crew, Kaiba! They were an illusion all along."

"I've had enough." said Kaiba, striding back downstairs, May following after him. "Now tell me where you are, you coward!"

"Getting warmer," said Alister in a taunting tone. May had a look of worry on her face, placing her right hand near her heart. Kaiba noticed this and gently took her hand into his, helping her calm down.

"No more games, Alister." said Kaiba. "Show yourself!"

Suddenly the lights turned on, each one illuminating the once dark conference room. There were a couple of chairs, but the one that looked out of place was the chair whose back was facing theirs.

"This plane is so big you can lose yourself in it." said Alister with a hint of sarcasm. The chair swiveled, revealing the red haired Swordsman to both the CEO and Pokémon Coordinator.

"So you better be careful, or you'll be next." He added.

"Alister..." said May. "What right do you have in being here? And that trick of making Kaiba thinking he had an airplane crew...did you get a kick out of messing with our heads?"

"I'm just leveling the playing field." Alister remarked. "Besides, it makes it easier to trap you here after you jumped off of that building with the Winged Dragon of Ra."

"Hold on," said Kaiba. "May said that your friend was the one who caused her to fall, she didn't jump off of the building...right?"

"Right." May answered, staring at her arms. "That explosion which caused me to fall and screaming toward my death. After all of those bruises...and after all of those scars. It'd be impossible to remember something that...that awful."

"That's not how I remember it." said Alister. "After I told you to give us Ra, you screamed that you wouldn't and then jumped off of the building."

"That's not right! How can you not recall that?"

"It's not my responsibility to record every pathetic detail in your life, now is it?"

May looked on in shock; how could Alister not remember what he did to her? How could he blatantly state that he didn't recall bringing a switchblade onto her right arm and then standing into space as she tried to knock him, Raphael and Valon out of that trance-induced state that the Orichalcos gave them? Something was horribly wrong...

"I thought I got rid of you back at Duelist Kingdom." said Kaiba, seeing his enemy.

"You got rid of me?" asked Alister. "That's now how I remember it. According to my recollection, I defeated you."

"Really?" asked the CEO with anger.

"Come on," said Alister in a calm tone. "It's pointless about it now. So what do you say we have a rematch? I have a score to settle, remember?"

"If it's about what happened to your brother then he had no part in it!" said May. "So wake up from your delusion that Dartz gave you and understand that Kaiba is not your enemy! He wants to help you, but you're pushing him away...he has the technology that could find your brother and reunite the two of you together!"

"And what are you to tell me that?" asked Alister. "A little pipsqueak who's avoided us for so long due to a couple of card tricks...and some sort of idol for Raphael to ponder at."

"I'm telling you I'm not who he think he is!" May snapped back. "And I'm telling you the truth, so if you won't wake up from this daydream, I'll..."

"That's enough." said Kaiba, interrupting the Pokémon Coordinator. "I'll handle this on my own, May. You're still wounded from those attacks.

"And look, Alister. Let's say we do have that rematch; does that mean you'll get out of my life once and for all? I'm sick of this."

"But Kaiba..." said May.

"Don't change my mind about this, May. I'm going through with this no matter what."

Kaiba then flipped a switch as the conference table and chairs soon started to descend. Eventually they disappeared, so now there was a space for both competitors to duel.

Good luck... May thought to herself, seeing Kaiba and Alister activate their Duel Disks. You're going to need it against him...

"As the challenge, I'll start." said Alister, drawing a card from his deck. "And I'll start by playing Science Soldier in Defense Mode."

A soldier with a white helmet and a gas mask appeared, dressed in silver armor. In its hands was a laser rifle as it knelt in defense. (800/800)

"That's all for now."

"How pathetic." said Kaiba, drawing a card. "It's my move, and I'm summoning my X-Head Cannon in Attack Mode!"

A Monster appeared in front of the CEO. It was a powerful looking Machine with yellow bulky arms, no legs, and two guns on its 'shoulders'. It also had a blue-colored visor that began to glow red when it saw its opponent. (1800/1500)

"Now, X-Head Cannon...Attack!"

X-Head Cannon fired its blasters as Science Soldier exploded into particles.

"Looks like you're defenseless." said Kaiba, noticing the empty field.

Even with the fact that I know Alister's going to play the Orichalcos...I wish that he didn't. May thought to herself as she saw the duel. If he does, then I hope Kaiba wins...

Kaiba will win...our little knight in shining armor shall defeat the one who hurt us.

May gasped and turned around, thinking that she had heard someone talk to her. There was some silence as she turned her attention back to the duel.

"No big deal," said Alister, drawing a card. "Watch this! I'll play Cyber Soldier of Darkworld in Defense Mode!"

A second soldier appeared, this one being blue and purple covered in yellow wires and plates. He had a laser gun for a right arm, glaring at Kaiba with soulless eyes. (1400/1200)

"And next, I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

A face down card appeared behind the Machine Monster.

"What a joke," said Kaiba, commenting on the situation as he drew a card. "My move! I summon Y-Dragon Head in Attack Mode!"

Another Machine Monster appeared, this one shaped like a red dragon armed with laser guns. It was hovering above X-Head Cannon, flapping its wings. (1500/1600)

"Attack his Cyber Soldier of Darkworld now!" shouted Kaiba.

Y-Dragon Head opened its mouth as an orb of electricity fired at the Machine Monster. Waves of electricity ran through the soldier before it exploded.

"And now, X-Head Cannon attack his lifepoints directly!"

X-Head Cannon fired a blast at Alister's feet. Smoke filled the air As Alister shielded himself with his arms. His lifepoints went down to 2200.

I don't like where this is going... May thought to herself. Alister is making this a little too easy...

"I think that's just enough punishment for now." said Kaiba, placing one card into the tray of his Duel Disk. "I end my turn."

"You sound pretty confident, Kaiba." said Alister, drawing a card from his deck. He looked at it as a wicked smirk crept onto his face. "But you'll change your tune; you've been so preoccupied with your own monsters, you forgot what I have waiting in my deck. Guess I'll have to remind you!

"It's a card I used on you last time! And it changes the entire playing field!"

"Hold on!" said Kaiba. "Did you draw what I think you just did, Alister?"

Alister just laughed, as if to reply to the question.

"Get back, May!" said Kaiba.

"I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" Alister announced to his opponent, playing the Field Card. It soon started to expand, trapping both him and Kaiba, while also knocking May back onto the stairs. Beams of green light shot out of the plane, electricity started to crackle and fizzle around the aircraft, knocking out its auto-pilot. Theh plane started to descend as the sides of the plane seemed to dissolve. The Orichalcos opened out, lifting both Kaiba and Alister above the plane.

This can't be real! Kaiba thought to himself, seeing the situation.

"What's going on, Alister?" He asked his opponent. The red haired Swordsman smirked, his eyes tinted with a crimson glow, and the Seal of Orichalcos branded onto his forehead.

"I just needed some air, that's all." Alister replied. "Isn't it better?"

"Look, punk." said Kaiba. "I've had just about enough of your head games! So lose the magic act and let's get on with this duel."

Alister was covered by a plume of black smoke, making him look more sinister than before.

"But my magic act is just getting started." said Alister in response. "So pay attention Kaiba, there's nothing up my sleeve."

As the Orichalcos created the dome above the competitors. Coils of smoke began to slowly fill the dome as Kaiba looked with some boredom.

"Now for my first trick, I'm going to need a little help from the dark powers of the Orichalcos!" Alister continued. "So are you a believer yet? You will be soon enough. Now watch..."

"Boring," Kaiba remarked. "Let's duel."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Outside the Seal, May slowly started to wake up. She then blinked and shook her head to get rid of any cobwebs that were inside. She then looked up, seeing the Seal of Orichalcos above her.

"Those two must be in there." May said to herself. "I doubt they can here me from where they are..."

Suddenly she felt the plane nosedive. She grasped onto the rails of the staircase, trying to maintain her balance.

"Oh man..." She said to herself once more. "The Orichalcos deactivated the auto-pilot! I better put that training to good use."

She ran up the stairs and headed for the pilot's seat. Grasping onto the wheel, May strained as she tried to pull up the plane. But no matter how hard she struggled, it was no use.

"Not good." She said. "It's busted...I have to radio for help!"

She pressed the buttons for the radio, placing the headphones onto her ears.

"Emergency!" She cried into the microphone. "We need backup! Anyone, can you hear me? We've lost control! I repeat, we lost control!"

Lost control, hmmm? Well...you'll see soon enough.

May gasped and turned around; there was that voice again. The voice sounded just like her, but that couldn't be right.

"Who are you?" May asked to no one. "And where are you?"

All in good time...all in good time...and speaking of good times...our knight in shining armor is in danger.

"What are you talking about?" asked May. "A 'knight in shining armor?' Wait...are you talking about...Raphael?"

Let him rot in the underworld; he deserves it for everything he's done for us, right? Abuse us, stalk us, threatened to kill us...he even had half a mind to hurt us with that knife of his...

"He didn't mean to, though...He was brainwashed by Dartz. I saw it; that green light in his eyes, and the way he didn't react to my statements...Raphael's being controlled by the Orichalcos.

No he wasn't...he said it himself. He was using his own free will to harm you, and so did his two friends. There are no tricks at all.

"Go away!" May screamed to the bodyless voice. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

But who can you talk to about your problems? Surely not those spirits of yours...

"Atem and Kura?" asked May. "They protected me...they made sure I was safe from Valon's punches."

They didn't stop him, they didn't hurt him, did they? All they did was fight him off, but they were also too weak when it came to deflecting their blows.

"No...they were doing the right thing." said May. "They didn't want to hurt him. He didn't deserve it."

HE didn't deserve it? Did you deserve to become wounded by their fists and knives? Did you deserve to be choked, throttled and punched some more by Valon? Did you deserve to fall to your death from that explosion? Did you deserve to be ignored for a piece of a magic rock?

May stayed silent in reply to those questions. It was true that he didn't deserve to be punished...but where did that leave her? Who was helping her fight the menance? Who was there as she was running away from the Swordsman? Who listened to her words as she tried to tell the Swordsmen that they were being brainwashed? Who told the Swordsmen to stop their attacks on her? And finally, who caught her when she was falling?

No one...No one came to help her, no one was there to stand up for her...no one was there to stop the madness, the fighting, the pain...No one...no one...

May stared at her bandaged arms...these arms that were holding her Duel Disk and deck...what did she do to deserve her fate? What did she do to gain the wrath of the Swordsmen? What did she do that was so horrible, so awful, so evil...that it caused her to be all alone, bandaged and in pain?

She ignored those thoughts as she focused on calling someone from Kaiba Corp. Right now, it was important to get help.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Kaiba was pissed. He had to go through this whole 'mind-trick' about a war torn town and tanks parading through the streets. He had enough of it.

"That's enough, Alister!" He roared. "Now get out here and face me, you coward! You'll never win this duel!"

Suddenly, both X-Head Cannon and Y-Dragon Head appeared, Y-Dragon Head suddenly being destroyed by one of the tanks' blasts. Kaiba heard Alister laugh, seeing his opponent behind three army tanks.

"Did you honestly think that your mind games were going to work on me?" He asked the Swordsman. "Nice try...but it looks like your little trick is wearing off."

"Believe me, what you saw was not a trick." said Alister in reply. "Those three kids you saw back there? Those were my best friends back when I was growing up."

"Enough!" said Kaiba.

"It's true," said Alister, ignoring Kaiba's cry. "We all looked out for one another...until your father ran us out of town too! So now that you've got a taste of my past, what do you think?

"Your father's tanks ruined my life now see how it feels! Because I'm about to activate a trap called Tank Corp and I'm adding it to my ultimate weapon, the KC-1 Clayton!"

The 'ultimate weapon' Alister was speaking of was a black tank with the intials for Kaiba Corp. painted on the side. (2000/1200) As Alister played the Trap Card on the field, three smaller tanks appeared alongside KC-1 Clayton. (800/1200 x3)

"My Trap Card reinforce my tank with three others, plus an extra 1,500 attack points. Which means, my attack strips you of 2,000 lifepoints! So maybe now you'll fear the rumble of tanks just like I did!'

Kaiba didn't say anything in response as his lifepoints went down to 2000. Meanwhile, the KC-1 Clayton had its Attack Score at 3,500.

"Next, I place this face down."

A facedown card appeared behind the tanks.

"It's hopeless." Alister continued. "With my tanks to protect me. You're as good as gone! And this is your last chance, after this my tanks are going to destroy you just like your father destroyed my life!"

"You're going down!" Kaiba replied, drawing a card. "Because I'm activating my Monster Reborn to bring back Y-Dragon Head!"

The Magic Card was replaced with the red dragon machine, letting out a roar and flapping its wings. (1500/1600)

"Then, I summon my Z-Metal Tank!"

With a whir, a yellow robot on tank treads appeared, staring at the tanks with an optic eye. (1500/1300)

"But that's not all!" Kaiba added. "So watch and learn as I combine my monsters together!"

X-Head Cannon extended a device on its underside as it connected with Y-Dragon Head. Y-Dragon Head retracted its wings as it hovered oer Z-Metal Tank. Then the three monsters locked into place in a burst of energy. (2800/2600)

"Meet my XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" said Kaiba, revealing the powerful Machine Monster. "And now I'll activate my new monster's special ability! I give up one of my cards..."

He discard a card from his hand into the graveyard.

"So I can automatically destroy one of your cards!"

The three small tanks soon exploded due to Tank Corp being destroyed. Without the card, KC-1 Clayton's Attack Score went back down to its original 2000.

"Now that your trap is gone, so are your back up forces!" said Kaiba. "And with no rear defense, your puny tank doesn't stand a chance!

"That's too bad! Now XYZ-Dragon Cannon, attack!"

The fused monster soon unleased six giant lasers at KC-1 Clayton. The tank soon exploded into nothing but shrapnel as Alister's lifepoints went down to 1400. There was an explosion of light before the two found themselves back inside the Seal of Orichalcos, the illusion having vanished from the attack.

"Oh, well." said Alister. "I should've expected hostile behavior from you, right? You are the son of Gozaburo Kaiba."

"Watch it!" Kaiba snarled at the Swordsman. "I have nothing in common with him. He was a snake!"

"Could've fooled me." Alister said in reply. "You're more alike than you think. And so is the rest of the world, just face it. This planet is full of nothing but hatred and greed. Unfortunately, I had to learn it the hard way years ago. The same lust for power that drove your father to do what he did to my friends and family is still alive today! And there's a little bit of it in everyone!

"But that's all going to change with some help from my new family! 'Cause we plan to do away with all the evil ones, so we can rebuild the world into the paradise that it once was! There will be no such thing as Kaiba Corp., and people like you will get what they deserve! An eternity locked away where you can never hurt anyone ever again!"

Suddenly, the plane began to tilt, careening in the sky.

"I wouldn't worry about this plane." said Alister. "It's your soul you should be concerned about!"

"Is anyone out there?" asked a voice. "Please, someone!"

Oh no... Kaiba thought to himself. May's still in there contacting Kaiba Corp. She's in no condition to try and control the plane from this altitude; she still has those scars!

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

May was gripping onto the wheel, trying to contact someone through the radio.

"I repeat," She said through the headset. "This is May requesting backup! Can anyone hear me?"

Not good! May repeated. I can't contact anyone from the radio...but what about the cell phone?

May pulled out Kaiba's cellphone and called the number for Kaiba Corp. She then removed the headest and placed the cellphone to her ear. She then gasped, seeing that the plane was heading toward the mountain side.

"I can't control it!" She cried. "We're going to crash!"

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"May!" cried Kaiba, hearing May's statement.

"Thinking about your girlfriend, aren't we?" Alister asked mockingly. "Well, you can think about her later.

"If you thought the Seal of Orichalcos was bad, wait until you see what's next! As a matter of fact, why should I let you wait? When I can end it right now."

Meanwhile, May screamed, grasping onto the controls of the plane, in a futile attempt to make sure the plane didn't crash into the mountain side. Kaiba snarled as he saw his opponent making his next move.

"Time's up." said Alister, drawing a card from his deck. He let out a laugh as a wicked grin was on his face.

"Let's see," he continued. "This plane's out of control, and you're about to lose the last duel of your career! I say this isn't your day!"

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"Emergency! Emergency!" said May, on the cell phone. "This is May! Does anyone copy? We're falling from the sky really fast! Repeat, I've lost control of the plane!"

"This is Roland." said a voice. May didn't know whether to gasp or sigh in relief. "Who is this? I repeat who is this?"

"I'm a friend of the Kaiba brothers, who's trying to take control of this plane." May answered back. "Listen up, we have no flight crew and we're about to slam into a mountain! So get me someone who knows how to fly this thing and fast!"

"Understood, ma'am." said Roland in reply. May let out a sigh in relief...there was hope for them after all.

Suddenly she heard something shift. The Pokémon Coordinator turned around...but saw nothing.

"That's weird." she said to herself. "Thought there was someone there..."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"You're going down, Kaiba." said Alister. "In more ways than one!"

"You're a riot." Kaiba replied with sarcasm.

"Thank you," said Alister. "And now, on with your demise."

He then showed Kaiba a Magic Card depicting a ragged and muscular junk man (If there was such a thing like that).

"I play my Junk Dealer Magic Card!" He announced. With this, I can refubish any two of my monsters and bring them back onto the field with with half of their Attack Points! So I welcome back my Science Soldier and my Cyber Soldier of Darkworld!"

Both of the Machine Monsters appeared with the Orichalcos on their foreheads. Science Soldier had 400 Attack Points while Cyber Soldier had 700.

"Then I'll summon a third monster known as Kinetic Soldier!"

A third monster appeared. It was an android with a grim face dressed in blue armor and had a laser-device on its shoulder. (1350/1800)

"And thanks to the Orichalcos, they all get a power boost!"

As Alister said that, the attack strength of all his monsters was raised by 500. Science Soldier now had 900 Attack Points, Cyber Soldier of Darkworld was at 1200 and Kinetic Soldier was at 1850.

Kaiba just glared at Alister as Alister laughed at the site of his monsters being powered up by the Orichalcos.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"Okay," said May, one hand on the wheel, the other clutching the cell phone. "I flipped the red switch, and now I'm trying to level off the aircraft."

She felt the airplane become more balanced.

"I got it!" She cried.

"Okay, then." said the voice on the other end. "Now pull up."

Alister heard May getting the plane back to normal, but ignored it as he brought his attention back into the duel.

"I activate my Trap Card, Soldier Revolt!" He announced.

The Trap Card lifted, revealing a Circle divided into three sections: one section had Science Soldier, another section contained Cyber Soldier of Darkworld, the last section had Kinetic Soldier.

"It only works when Science Soldier, Kinetic Soldier and Cyber Soldier are all on the frontline together!" Alister explained to his opponent. "And since that's the case, I can send every card you have on the field straight to the graveyard. Plus I can destroy every card in your hand too."

Bolts of lightning escaped the card and struck XYZ-Dragon Cannon. It soon shattered into particles, along with Kaiba's face down card.

"And now," Alister continued. "I activate a devestating Magic Card called Sky Union!"

Kaiba snarled seeing the Magic Card. It depicted a silhouette of a hulking and massive machine admist the clouds, and from the looks of it, it looked rather frightening.

"It lets me sacrifices all three of my soldiers!" Alister added, placing the card into his Duel Disk. "Now I can summon my ultimate beast so he could finish you off!

"Come forth, Air Fortress Ziggurat!"

The three soldiers combined to become a bolt of lightning, striking the clouds above. Then it started to descend onto the field. Kaiba's eyes widened in terror as he saw electricity crackle and dance around its body...

He just knew that things were about to get tougher.

0 0 0 0 0 0

"Excuse me, miss." said the man from the phone. "Our radars shows that you're too close to that mountain! Is your wheel pulled back?"

"YES!" May cried, as the plane was nearing the mountain. "And another thing, my name is May!"

"Well then, May." said the advisor. "Pull the wheel harder!"

May grunted as she pulled the wheel harder with all the energy she had. She winced in pain from the wounds, but she ignored them as the plane barely skimmed the mountain.

"You made it, May!" May let out a sigh in relief, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She then got the command to reactivate the auto-pilot, which she did.

"Now that's the best idea I've heard all day." She said to herself, seeing the steering wheel move on its own. It was at that moment that she heard someone walk in.

"Kaiba?" she asked, turning around. "Did you beat—ACK!"

May looked up to see a hand squeezing her throat, for the person who was behind her was none other than Raphael. A maniacal look was in his eye, the look of someone who was no longer wholly sane in his sense of mind. In his hands was that knife, its blade caked with dried blood.

"Did you think I was going to give up our search so easily?" asked Raphael, releasing his grip around May's neck. "I found you by using the power of the Orichalcos...and I'll make sure that it'll be used for you to give me Ra and to bring back the Guardian of the Sea."

"H-How did you get here?" asked May. "The plane was empty..."

"There are ways to ge to and from certain places." Raphael answered, clasping onto his Orichalcos Stone. "Now you're going to tell me what you've done to the Guardian of the Sea. Why else would you've jumped off that building?"

"I told you I don't know anything about her!" May screamed at him. "And I never jumped off that building, Valon pushed me off! Just leave me alone!"

Raphael snarled, lunging the knife toward the Pokémon Coordinator. May, out of instinct, blocked the attack with her arms. She grit her teeth in pain when the blade penetrated through the linen bandages and went deep into her skin. Raphael pulled the knife out of her arm...and May then used that time to push herself out of the chair and into a forward roll, somersaulting away from Raphael's grasp. Standing up, she gripped onto her right arm—the arm that was stabbed by the knife—and began to run...

Or was about to, before Raphael grabbed onto her shirt. The Pokémon Coordinator turned around, seeing the blonde Swordsman's face grim and emotionless...just like he was back at the rooftop of the building.

"Please let go of me!" May screamed. "Please...Please let met go...You've hurt me already..."

May's pleas fell upon deaf ears as Raphael leaned into her ear, his breath causing the hairs on the back of May's neck to stand up. The Coordinator squeezed her eyes shut, trying her hardest not to scream...but it was hard when her heart was pounding against her chest and her breathing came out in short pants.

"I'll release you if you give me Ra." Raphael whispered into her ear. "You have avoided me because you know something. You know about the Guardian of the Sea and who she really...now tell me what you know."

"I...I don't know anything about the Guardian of the Sea." said May, trying to pull herself away from the situation at hand. She closed her eyes, trying to imagine that this was nothing more than a nightmare she was having. "Please don't do this...Don't do something that you'll regret. You have to fight the evil inside you; it's hurting you and it's hurting your...friends."

"Those two aren't my friends. They're just nothing but useless puppets. But you, you are who I desire. My Guardian of the Sea, sing for me, dance for me...be mine forever!"

"NO!" May screamed. "Stop it! Just stop it! You're hurting me, Raphael!"

Raphael snarled as he brought his knife into the air. He was about to bring it down, preparing to land another scar onto the Goddess of Joy, when...

"KURI! KURI!" May opened her eyes to see Kuriboh appear before her eyes. Then, it began to charge toward Raphael, opening its mouth to chomp upon the Swordsman's arm. Raphael released his grip as May began to ran back to where Kaiba and Alister were dueling, turning her back once to see Raphael stab Kuriboh with his knife, causing the monster to disappear.

"Kaiba!" May cried, as she got on her hands and knees in exhaustion once she made it to the conference room. Her heart was beating against her chest as she took in some air. Looking up, she saw a HUMONGOUS airship with a face of some sort of action figure and had an outline that was made up of hundreds of turrets and cannons. The Seal of Orichalcos was branded on its 'forehead'. (2,500/2,000) -) (3,000/2,000)

"That looks familiar..." May said to herself. "Wait!"

Her mind instantly recalled the action figure Alister showed her back on the Paradius rooftop...it was a dead ringer to the monster.

"What is that thing?" she asked Kaiba.

"Air Fortress Ziggurat." Kaiba said in reply. "And that thing...is going to be a bit of a problem."

He turned around, seeing a silhouette tower over May.

"Look out!" he cried. May turned around, but it was too late. She yelped as she was lifted onto her feet when Raphael grabbed onto her wrist. May—despite feeling immense pain from the wounds in her arms—tugged and pulled as hard as she could...anything to get away from her attacker and away from what she knew would be more pain.

"It's about time you two showed up." said Alister, commenting on the situation. "Poor, poor girl. Your saviour is about to be destroyed by my monsters and his soul will be sealed away forever!"

"But there is one way to save him." said Raphael. "Just give me your Egyptian God Card and any information you have on the Guardian of the Sea, and I promise to stop this duel."

"How can I trust you on that?" asked May. "Dartz told me the way out in escaping Paradius, but he went back on his word and sicced you, Alister and Valon to attack me! My answer is no; you're not getting Ra, and you're not getting anything about the Guardian of the Sea from me. No matter what you do, I'm not going to give you what you want...I'll bite my tongue off and chew on it too if I have to! So please..."

Her voice began to crack as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Please...don't hurt me..." She whispered in a soft voice.

Raphael stayed silent at May's response; May stopped struggling and stood still, waiting for Raphael's response. Then, the Pokémon Coordinator was pushed down to the floor and forced onto her back, with Raphael stabbing his knife into her left sleeve. He then placed a boot onto her chest, making her unable to sit up. Due to the wounds Valon inflicted on her, and all of the cuts on her arms, there was no way for her to escape. She was doomed.

"Why are you doing this?" asked May, her mind in panic as she stared at Raphael with a scared look on her face. "Why? What have I done that's caused you to do this? I just want to help you...because the Orichalcos is taking over you. Look at yourself through that knife of yours! Stare into the reflection in that knife and ask yourself if what you're doing is right.

"Stare into that reflection, and then look at me...do you understand what's going on? The Orichalcos isn't helping you, it's going to kill you...it's going to cause more suffering than healing...it's never going to heal the pain in your heart...it'll just grow and grow and grow and convince you that inflicting pain will make it better. But it won't! So stop this! STOP THIS!"

May let out a small cry as she closed her eyes shut. Raphael just stood there...and then pulled the knife from May's sleeve and took it into his hands. Staring at the blood soaked blade, in front of him was his reflection...a stony face with green eyes. His expression softened...resembling someone realizing what he was doing was wrong. May cracked one of her eyes open, feeling hope swell up inside her body as it looked like he was going to break free...

But that small twinge of hope vanished when Raphael stabbed May's sleeve once more. And with one hand clutching May's wrist, the Swordsmen leaned closer to the girl, green eyes to blue. The scream in May's throat was stuck there asn May could only stare in horror of not knowing what Raphael would do next.

"You're hiding something." Raphael hissed at her. "And I'll find out sooner or later. I'll make sure the Pharaoh finds your unconscious body when I take your soul to the Orichalcos!"

"And how are you going to do that?" asked May with some fear in her voice. "What are you going to do?"

Raphael grinned at her, his eyes glowing that same shade of Orichalcos green. May's eyes widened as she stared into those eyes with horror...feeling herself paralyzed and unable to move.

"This." He answered.

May sighed a bit as the boot that was crushing her chest was gone...only for a fist to connect with her stomach. She gasped for air as she tried to use her right hand to grab onto the knife stuck to her sleeve. But as the hand crossed her chest, the boot came back, crushing it. The Coordinator grit her teeth, but bit her tongue so she wouldn't give Raphael his desire of having her scream.

Kaiba looked on in shock...in front of him, this girl was being attacked for no particular reason. It angered him; she did so much for him—helping steer the plane while he was dueling Alister, and protecting Mokuba from those bikers—why was she being treated like this? What could an innocent girl do to deserve this type of punishment?

"Alister." Kaiba growled. "Get your friend off of her! What goes between you and me doesn't involve her!"

"Aw, does the big bad CEO have a crush on the little girl?" Alister asked mockingly. "Well, say goodbye to her...and goodbye to the rest of your lifepoints!"

"You sicken me! She never did anything wrong and yet you try and harm her either way! Why?"

"She has what we need; the Winged Dragon of Ra. Without it, this world will continue rot and corrupt until there is no more light. So until we get what we want, we continue..."

May grit her teeth in pain as she felt her left hand be crushed by a second boot. She was scared and frightened...but at the same time, she was angry. Why did she have to go through this? What did she do to deserve this? She just wanted to stop this madness and save the Pharaoh. She wanted to return to Max and Mokuba and save all of the souls that were captured by the Orichalcos. She wanted to free the Swordsmen from what was hurting them, because they couldn't escape. And what did she get in return? These wounds, these scars, the fear of being killed and tortured to no end. It just wasn't fair...

It just wasn't fair!

Someone save me! She thought in her mind. I haven't done wrong...I never did! The Orichalcos is destroying them and they're gone...they're blind and can no longer see...someone...someone...I beg of you, stop them!

I'll help you... A voice echoed throughout May's mind. I'll free these men from their troubles...all you have to do is allow me to do so.

Really...you'd...do that?

Of course! The voice giggled. These men do not understand what we see...so we must show them what they should see. They must see eye to eye, see the deepest and darkest parts of their souls, going past the reflections in the looking glass...all you need to do is close your eyes, and say 'I accept'. Then concentrate on all of those thoughts, those thoughts of pain, suffering and your goal. Your goal of awakening these poor souls, that is what you wish...

May hesitated...but then let out a small cry as Raphael stomped on her left hand. Could she trust this voice? Could she let herself accept what the voice was telling her? But as Raphael began choking the young girl to death, it was clear...she had to stop this. She had to stop all of this and make them see the truth.

I...accept! May said in her mind, her mind fading into black. With every ounce of willpower she had, she concentrated on memories...memories of her crying and begging the Swordsmen to listen, screaming and falling to her death, and the realization that the Swordsmen could not hear her at all even though she wouldn't stop trying. She couldn't stop trying, she had to stop the Orichalcos once and for all!

That's it... The voice hissed into her ear. Feel the energy caress you, possess you, take over and comfort you...and release it...RELEASE IT ALL!

Raphael released his grasp on May's neck, the young girl coughing and sputtering for breath. She grit her teeth in pain, her eyebrows knitted into an expression of fury. Thoughts of her unable to reach the Swordsmen, being attacked again and again, being unable to stop all of these events from happening...

As these thoughts swarmed her mind, May let out an unearthly scream. Kaiba, Alister and Raphael stared as May muttered something under her breath...

And then pushed Raphael away with an invisble force! The blonde Swordsman fell onto the floor with a thud, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

"You evil man..." a voice hissed. "You shall pay for your crimes."

May grasped onto the knife with her right hand and removed it from her sleeve. She slowly got on her knees as a dark aura surrounded her. Her apperance began to change: her blue attire began to darken until it became a shadow black, and the white lining on her clothing became blood red. Even her bandanna got the change—being black with red dashes—and her Duel Disk also became an inky black color. She panted for breath as she opened her eyes, blue pupils being replaced with crimson.

The look of anger that was originally on the Pokémon Coordinator's face became replaced with a cheerful smile.

"Who...are you?" asked Kaiba with some fear in his voice.

May turned to Kaiba, still with that cheery smile on her face.

"Shadow," She replied. "Just call me Shadow."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"Did you hear that?" asked Max, as the four were still riding across the barren wasteland. "I thought I heard screaming..."

Mokuba felt his cellphone vibrate and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Master Mokuba, are you all right?" asked a voice.

"Roland!" said Mokuba. "Yeah, I'm all right. What's going on?"

"Master Kaiba and a friend of yours—who calls herself May—were on a plane that was about to crash into a mountain." Roland explained to the Kaiba brother. "I thought you were also on there too."

"Hold on, May's on the aircraft with Seto?" asked Mokuba. "Are they all right?"

"The two of them are fine." Roland answered back. "The plane barely skimmed the mountain side and it's back on auto-pilot. Where are you anyway?"

"It's a long story," Mokuba said in reply. "Look, send as many copters as you can to Seto and May's location...I have a bad feeling about this."

"Understood." said Roland. "I hope to see you soon."

"Me too." said Mokuba, before hanging up.

"What did you find out?" asked Téa.

"May's somehow on the same plane my brother's riding in." Mokuba answered. "So at least we know she's safe."

"I don't know..." said Max. "I feel as if she's in big danger...I hope she's all right."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"Well," said Shadow, looking around. "It looks like I made it just in time to see my blue-eyed knight in shining armor slay the evil dragon lord, who'll sweep his princess off her feet and take her to his castle where they will be together happily ever after."

She let out a laugh, a laugh that sounded sweet and melodious. Unfortunately, it only caused everyone else around her to have shivers fall down their spines.

"What have you done with May?" asked Kaiba. "Where is she?"

"Don't worry, my beloved." said Shadow, placing a hand on her chest. "She's all right... " She placed a finger in front of her lips as she whispered, "She's asleep."

Raphael slowly got on his knees, looking up to see Shadow grinning at him.

"Well, well..." She said with a sly tone in her voice. "Here he is...my 'supposed' knight in shining armor. Look at you, you're nothing but a coward who won't face the truth."

Raphael snarled and began to charge at Shadow. Shadow smirked and snapped her fingers...tendrils of darkness soon wrapped around his arms and legs, immobilising him. At the same time, the knife in Shadow's hand began to be wrapped in a dark aura, the blade soon colored black. She soon sheathed the dagger as she smiled at the trapped Swordsman.

"Isn't it so sad?" asked Shadow. "Here you are, inches way from reuniting with the one you love so much...but then it was taken away by cruel fate. Just like Romeo and Juliet, don't you think?"

"Get me out of here!" Raphael growled, trying to struggle away from the grasp of the darkness binding him. Shadow walked toward him, hands on his Duel Disk, and removed his deck. She then looked at them with curiousity.

"These look pretty old." She said, going through the cards. "You must've had it for a long time. But tell me...did you treat these cards well? Did you protect them from harm and from anything that could hurt them?"

"Of course I did!" Raphael replied. "They're my family, and I would never treat them badly."

"Really?" asked Shadow. "Okay, I'll believe you on that. But tell me this, have you ever thought to wonder if your monsters really appreciated your thanks?"

"What?" asked Raphael with some confusion.

"Let's hear what your Guardians really have to say about you." Shadow giggled, eyes scanning through the deck once more.

"Don't you dare hurt them!" said Raphael. "They're not yours to begin with!"

"You're right." said Shadow. "But they will be soon enough."

Shadow pulled out a card from the deck and showed it to Raphael. It was Guardian Eatos.

"Guardian Eatos, appear!" said Shadow. "Tell him the truth, and DON'T leave anything out."

Raphael stared in shock as he saw his faithful Guardian appear in front of his eyes. In her hands was the Celestial Sword, but she herself had a small frown on her face.

"Raphael," said Eatos. "You, a gentle soul...have showed nothing but evil and wickendess onto others. You say that you shall protect the Guardian of the Sea, but why does she get abused while we get treated like gods? Why does she have to go through so much bloodshed, while we go along unable to die as you give yourself up for self-sacrifice?"

"It's not like that..." Raphael replied. "Please...Eatos..."

"SILENCE!" Eatos screamed, causing everyone to look in terror. Eatos's eyes began to glow in a red light, the Seal of Orichalcos branded on her forehead.

"And what's worse," Eatos continued. "You corrupted me. Just as you were once innocent and pure, so was I. But now...now I am nothing more than a shadow of my former self, being used to bring out my wicked half...and I'm here to tell you that I can be wicked also!"

She grasped her sword and brought it down, creating a slash down Raphael's left shoulder, all the way down to his right hip. His clothes were ripped and blood began to fall down the giant laceration.

"Doesn't that make you feel so awful that Eatos feels that way about you?" asked Shadow.

"Eatos would never do anything like that!" Raphael snapped at her. "This is nothing but a trick!"

Shadow frowned as she pulled out another card.

"Guardian Grarl, appear!" She cried. And with that cry, the axe wielding warrior appeared, snarling at the blonde Swordsman.

"Raphael," Graral began. "With this axe, I slayed many foes alongside you. But with your knife, you tried to attack one innocent soul. No, you tried to kill an innocent girl in cold blood. You say that you are her saviour, and you say that you're going to purify the world from wickedness and corruption. But how can you save the world, when you yourself are full of corruption and hate?"

"Grarl..." said Raphael. "I didn't mean to..." He soon felt the front of the axe being rammed into his stomach, aggravating the wound Eatos created and only caused him to gasp in pain.

"Next two: Guardian Elma and Guardian Kay'est!" said Shadow, showing two more cards. Both of the Guardians appeared, each of them looking down at their master.

"Can you not hear the cries of the Guardian of the Sea?" asked Kay'est. "She cries out from all of the pain you gave her. She and every soul that you took by the Orichalcos, they all cry. They cry for release and escape. They cry because they can no longer be free...and you have yourself to blame. All of us attacked them, all of us chipped their lifepoints away, all of us being the ones who hurt them. And you showed no pity to them at all..."

"You who fight for what is right." Elma continued. "You who believe that the world is not able to change. It is you who do not change, it is you who does not look for hope. You continue to wallow in misery, you continue to wallow in thoughts that try to drown you in. You think that you are courageous...but you are nothing more than a stubborn fool in the end."

Raphael closed is eyes, trying to block out everything his trusted monsters were saying to him. No...these weren't his Guardians, they were nothing but illusions, so that meant they were spouting out lies. Shadow was only tricking him; his guardian wouldn't say that to him...right?

Shadow just giggled as she pointed at Raphael. Meanwhile, Kaiba and Alister were staring at the situation, ignoring the duel in favor of seeing the gruesome show. They could only watch as Elma delived a kick to Raphael's groin while Raphael was bashed in the head by Kay'est's Rod of Silence. The blonde Swordsman was trying his hardest not to show that he was in pain...but it was hard not to.

"Doesn't that hurt?" asked Shadow. "It should...but don't worry, it'll end soon enough."

Unsheathing the dagger, Shadow lifted Raphael's chin with her fingers, causing the Swordsman to stare at the psycho. Shadow grinned at him, shivers falling down his spine.

"And you know what's awful?" She continued. "It's that I, the Guardian of the Sea, is going to deliver the final of the blow."

"Please don't..." Raphael pleaded with her. "Don't...do this...I beg you..."

"Hmmm..." said Shadow, contemplating it for a minute, finger tapping his cheek. "On one hand, you were loyal to your monsters...but on the other hand, you did abuse a girl to the act of making her no longer be an innocent girl. My left hand said that you didn't hear the girl's words, but my right hand says that you can be caring and forgiving when you come to it. But it feels as if the stuff on my left hand is heavier than the stuff on my right...

"And after thinking over this issue, I guess in the end, I can clearly say that you are sincere...ly an idiot."

"Wha-?"

Shadow grinned the tip of the dagger pressed against the older man's chest. Raphael stared into thoes crimson eyes with fear as the young girl giggled in response.

"See ya!" Shadow said gleefully, plunging the dagger into Raphael's chest.

And the next thing that was heard was a scream of terror. Kaiba and Alister only stared in shock as Raphael collapsed, his eyes losing color, his skin turning pale...the shadows relinquishing and returning to where they came from. The Guardian monsters vanished as Shadow placed the deck into her waistpack. Then she removed the dagger from Raphael's chest and licked it while blood began to pool around him, still seeping from the wound Eatos placed on him earlier. Shadow also noticed this and ran her fingers through the red, sticky substance.

"Yummy!" Shadow squealed. "It tastes of sea salt...and with sea salt, it can be used for many delicious foods...ooh, I can feel it dance along my tongue...And his blood is also tasty...so dark and rich...perfect for an entree I had in mind..."

There was silence that smothered around the area. Kaiba and Alister had seen May, no Shadow as she was called, stab a dagger right into Raphael's heart without mercy. The site of an innocent ten-year-old girl having the intent of killing someone just made it frightening...especially if said innocent ten-year-old girl was laughing and giggling.

Shadow sheathed her dagger and nudged Raphael with her sneaker. There was no response from him, which was expected. The Swordsman's eyes showed a look of shock and fear, along with his mouth forever opened into that gasp, his skin colored like alabaster...Shadow just loved it.

Kaiba stared in shock...this girl, who did everything to save him, to save Mokuba, to protect the world from the evils of the Orichalcos—even if he didn't believe it—and now this evil person was there, parading around in May's skin, and unleashing her anger and wrath on her attacker. And while she did that, all he could do was just stare as May had to scream and unleash all of her fury on the Swordsman—the very same Swordsman who defeated Yugi in a duel. It sickened him.

This girl is nuts! Kaiba thought in horror. Was that all an illusion? Did she just really kill someone?

Shadow stared at Kaiba and Alister. "Well, aren't you two going to duke it out?" She asked. "Stop staring and duel! And please win my beloved knight..."

She sighed dreamily at Kaiba, who could do nothing more than shudder at the thought of being this girl's 'savior'.

Alister tried his hardest to calm down and focus on the duel. Whatever happened to Raphael didn't concern him; he deserved it after all. He looked onto the field: before the whole fiasco with May, er, Shadow and Raphael, there was his Air Fortress Ziggurat and two Robot tokens. Kaiba on the other hand had no cards in his hand or on the field, and 100 lifepoints. This duel was in the bag.

Suddenly, he heard something whirring. To the sides of the plane, four helicopters arrived. It was like some sort of rescue team.

"Ooh!" said Shadow. "It looks like the calvary's arrived. But it doesn't matter, as long as my knight shines through, then I'll feel safe. But then again..."

She pulled out a couple of cards from her waistpack and stared at them.

"Who's going to save the dragon when its kin is in danger?" She asked.

"May, I mean Shadow." said Kaiba, staring as one of the copters came close to them—with Roland staring through one of the windows. "Split up. This is too dangerous."

"No, Kaiba." said Shadow. "I'm sticking with you till the end. And besides, I have a special treat in store for everyone to see."

Those are Gozaburo's copters... Alister thought with anger. He is like his old man!

"KAIBA!" Alister yelled as the Orichalcos began to glow brightly. No, it did just more than that...its energy began to swirl out, shattering the windows of the plane, tossing the furniture about. Kaiba did his best to brace himself while Shadow just stared at the cards in her hand. The plane soon descended into the clouds, covering them from the site of the copters.

"You all right, Kaiba?" asked Shadow, the CEO giving a slight nod in return.

"Kaiba," Alister snarled. "Looks to me I was right about you all along! You're nothing but a heartless tyrant, just like your step-father Gozaburo! Why else would you use his private air force to protect yourself? Face it, you think it makes you strong? While you cause harm to inncoent people like my brother, Mikey?"

"You should speak for youself." Shadow retorted. "Kaiba never called these copters for help, someone else did. But I guess you're so busy on focusing on what you want to gain, that you never focused on what you had."

"What type of nonsense are you talking about now?" asked Alister.

Shadow grinned and opened a clenched fist to reveal something in her gloved hand. It was Mikey's action figure.

"What?" Alister gasped out. "But how did you...?"

He looked down to his pocket...but it was gone. His brother's action figure was gone!

"How did you?" asked Alister. "Give it back this instant!"

"I'd love to, really I would." said Shadow. "But now...I think it's time to give it back to its rightful owner."

"Thank you! Thank you for taking it back for me!"

Alister's eyes widened...it couldn've have been.

"Mikey?" Alister gasped out. As if to reply to that statement, Shadow stepped back, revealing a young boy with brown hair, dressed in some beige shorts and wearing a maroon striped sweater. His grey eyes glittered in excitement as he clutched the action figure.

"Thank you so much, miss." said Mikey. Shadow smiled and started to pat him on the head.

"Just call me Shadow." She said in reply.

"You wouldn't dare..." said Alister, before turning to his brother. "Mikey, don't listen to her! She's evil!"

"Excuse me, Shadow." said Mikey, pointing to Alister. "But who is he?"

"You mean you don't know?" asked Shadow. "That's your older brother, Alister."

"But that's not my big brother." said Mikey. "My brother isn't that...that evil..."

Alister just stared in shock. No...this had to be nothing more than an illusion. It was a trick of the mind.

"...is this supposed to be mine though?" asked Mikey, taking a closer look at the action figure. "This isn't my action figure at all, Shadow!"

"Really, it isn't?" asked Shadow with fake shock. "Tell me, Mikey...what did the toy you loved look like?"

"Sort of like those!" said Mikey, pointing to the Toy Robot tokens. "The action figure you gave me...is a piece of junk."

"Oh don't say that. This is the very same toy that are similar to those tokens that your brother has on the field."

"No it isn't! They're not the same!"

"Mikey..." Alister whispered in shock. "How could you?"

"If we're done here," said Kaiba, drawing a card. "It was my move. And I have just the card to take you down, Alister.

"I activate Soul Exchange! So now each one of us can choose a monster on our opponent's side of the field to sacrifice."

"Go ahead," Alister snarled at him. "Just try."

"You should be careful what you wish for, Alister." Kaiba said in reply. "It may come true."

"Fine." said Alister. "Use your Magic Card; it won't work on my Ziggurat anyway."

"That's why I'm using it on your two little dollies!" said Kaiba, pointing at the two tokens. They soon disappeared...

CRACK!

And a cracking sound was heard. Mikey looked at the action figure in his hand, a crack was on its forehead and went down its shoulders.

"...what's wrong with it, Shadow?" asked Mikey. "It looks broken."

"Well..it was pretty old." said Shadow, looking at two cards in her hand. "But if it goes on like this, once that action figure shatters...it's all over."

"It looks like the head and shoulders got affected." said Mikey. "Hey! It reminds me of a song I heard."

"Really?" asked Shadow. "What's it called?"

"...I don't know." said Mikey, shaking his head. "Maybe it'll come back to me in a little while."

"Now I can call my ultimate monster onto the field!" said Kaiba. "My Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

A burst of lightning erupted and soon flew into the clouds. It then shifted into the legendary dragon who let out a giant roar in response on being played. (3,000/2,500)

"It...looks like we're even now." said Alister, trying his hardest to ignore his brother staring at his burnt action figure.

"Looks can be deceiving." said Kaiba in response.

"You talk a good game, but deep down I know you realize there's no way you can win." Alister snapped back. "Think about it; our monsters are equal in attack strength only mine can't be destroyed!"

"Just go." Kaiba replied with some boredom.

Alister scoffed and drew a card from his deck. He then stared back at Mikey who was staring at the action figure in his hands. It had a crack going from the top of its head down to its left shoulder...and it happened when his Robot tokens left the field. If the cracks happened because there were no tokens...would they disappear if another one appeared?

"I'll place a card facedown." He announced. "And since my turn is done, I get one of these: another Robot Token!"

Another token dropped down from Air Fortress Ziggurat, crouching in defense. (0/0) -) (500/0) Alister looked at his brother once more...but the crack was still there.

"It's time to say goodbye to your robot!" said Kaiba, drawing a card. "Blue Eyes, send his tin can back to the trash heap with your White Lightning attack!"

The powerful dragon opened its mouth, releasing an or of white light which obliterated the token upon contact. Then, another crack appeared on Mikey's action figure, with small cracks going down to its waist.

"There it is again." said Mikey, his grey eyes starting become glassy. "Is anything wrong?"

"I don't know..." said Shadow, staring at three cards in her hand. "It must be broken."

"Mikey!" said Alister. "Don't listen to her! She's nothing but a horrid witch."

"Shadow's being nice to me!" Mikey snapped back. "I wish she was my sister than you were my brother!"

"But I am your brother!" Alister exclaimed. "Don't you see? It's me..."

Mikey stared long and hard into Alister's eyes. But all he could see was the red glow taking over his brother's grey eyes, and the Orichalcos on his forehead.

"Y-you're not my brother!" said Mikey, hiding behind Shadow. "My brother isn't a monster!"

"A monster?" Alister repeated. "Mikey, open your eyes! I'm not the monster, that girl is!"

"Am I?" asked Shadow. "Who's the one comforting your brother? Who's the one talking to him and making sure he's okay? And more importantly, who's the one acting all evil and claiming on destroying the entire world?"

"He's going to do that?" asked Mikey. He then started to cry. "Why Shadow? Why would he do such a thing?"

Shadow embraced Mikey as the young boy continued to sob.

"That man you see before you is not your brother." She whispered into Mikey's ear. "He is nothing more than an evil person who wants nothing more than destruction. But don't worry, Kaiba will protect us...he'll make sure that madman goes away."

"And will the real Dyna Dude appear to beat up all the bad guys after that?" asked Mikey. Shadow smiled as she nodded her head.

"Yeah, he will." She answered back. "He'll come, I promise. So...do you know the name of that song?"

"No..." Mikey replied, shaking his head. "I'm still drawing a blank."

"Take your time." said Shadow. "We won't be going anywhere."

Mikey is under her control...I have to make him see the light. Alister thought to himself. And I have to make him understand that this is for him.

"It's my move!" Alister announced, drawing a card. "This is your last turn, and Mikey...this is for you!

"I activate Toy Robot Box!"

A Magic Card appeared, revealing three of the Robot Tokens amongst a rainbow-like background.

"All I have to do is discard one card from my hand, which allows me to summon three more Robots!"

Discarding a card into the graveyard, three more tokens appeared on the field (0/0) -) (500/0 x3)

"Next," Alister continued. "I'll sacrifice one of these tokens so I can play Spell Canceller!"

One of the tokens vanished, and was replaced with some sort of machine with six arms and a tank with filled with blue liquid. It opened out a vacuum device in the front of its body. (1,800/1,600) -) (2,300/1,600)

"This monster prevents you from using any of your Magic Cards!" said Alister. "And it's my ticket to victory! Soon, everyone like you will be erased from this world!"

"But I thought you hated violence." said Kaiba.

"I do." Alister replied.

"That's a lie!" Kaiba snapped back. "It seems to me that you and your army of rejects plan to destroy every person who doesn't share the same lame ideas you do."

"You're wrong! We're saving Earth! 'Cause if people like you continue to exist, the whole world will crumble."

"How nice of you, But what if your brother was still by your side?"

"What's that?" asked Alister with some shock.

"Would you still try to wipe out mankind if that meant hurting him?" Kaiba asked once more.

"How dare you!" Alister yelled back. "It's your fault that he's gone!"

"Nice try." said Kaiba. "But don't you think it's time you accepted the truth?

"What truth?" asked Alister. "You better explain yourself!"

"As a brother," Kaiba began. "It was your duty to protect him at all costs and you failed, Alister! Your little brother was captured and it was all because of you. So stop trying to blame everyone else."

"Well said, Kaiba." said Shadow, clapping her hands. "It won't be long now until you defeat the dragon and end his pathetic existence once and for all!"

"You're going down!" Alister roared. "Ziggurat, attack Blue Eyes White Dragon with Sky Cannon Blast!"

Air Fortress Ziggurat targeted all of its cannons at the dragon, ready to strike.

"I can't watch, Shadow!" said Mikey, hugging the dark May. Shadow returned the hug...all the while Alister was glaring at Kaiba with an unfathomable rage.

"And unlike you, I'm going to save my brother...and then I'm going to send you to the pits of Hell for what you've done" Kaiba ended. "I'm going to win this duel no matter what! So why don't you watch and learn?"

Shadow blushed, hearing Kaiba's declaration to defeat Alister. She sighed dreamily.

Kaiba does love me after all... Shadow thought to herself. He really is my knight in shining armor!

"You were so busy ranting and raving, you failed to notice my Trap Card." The CEO continued. "I activate Tyrant Wing!"

The Trap Card opened, revealing the Blue Eyes White Dragon standing on the top of a cliff with its wings glowing in a white color. Then the wings of the real Blue Eyes White Dragon also began to glow white. The mighty dragon began to flap its wings.

"By adding this card to my Blue Eyes, I've given him an extra 400 Attack Points!" Kaiba addd. "And in case you're in too much shock to do the math, that means my dragon is strong enough to destroy your Ziggurat!"

"You can't..." said Alister, sweat pouring down his face.

"I won't let you endanger May's life like what you did back at that office building!" Kaiba added. "How dare you and your sick friends have the audacity to injure her like that! So now, Blue Eyes end this now!"

Blue Eyes White Dragon soon released a humongous stream of energy at Air Fortress Ziggurat, going through the machine. Seconds passed...then it started to explode, sounding like the shooting of hundreds upon hundreds of cannons. The behemoth of an air fortress moaned as it fell to the Earth into pieces, while Alister lost 400 lifeponts.

CRACK! CRACK!

Alister slowly stared down at Mikey and Shadow. This time the action figure was completely cracked...then it shattered into pieces, and fell onto the ground.

"No..." He whispered. "This can't be..."

"Hey!" said Mikey, ignoring the fact that his action figure was destroyed. "I finally figured out that song title, Shadow!"

"Really?" asked Shadow, staring at five cards in her hand.. "What's it called?"

"...Not telling you!" Mikey replied, sticking his tongue out playfully. Shadow laughed a bit at the response.

"You don't have to."She said once the laughter died down. "I know what it's called. It went something like this..."

She placed two fingers on each side of her head. And as she sang the first few words, she placed her hands to the parts of her body that was indicated.

"Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Knees and toes!" Shadow sang cheerfully.

"That's it!" said Mikey. "That's the song!"

This has to be an illusion! Kaiba thought to himself, seeing Shadow and Mikey singing the children's song as a duet. No one in their right mind would be so damn cheerful admist this chaos! Wait a second...the first cracks appeared when the Robot Tokens were sacrificed. Then another one came when Alister sacrificed another for that Spell Canceller. It shattered when Blue Eyes White Dragon destroyed his Ziggurat. It's just like what she did to Raphael; she's breaking Alister down by using something close to him, his brother's action figure!

"Eyes and ears and mouth and nose! Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Knees and toes!"

The site of Shadow and Mikey singing the ending lines caused fear to crawl down Alister's whole body. He couldn't believe it; his brother hated him, and the only thing to remind Alister of his brother was gone...A voice in the back of his mind kept screaming that this was nothing more than an illusion, but from what he was seeing...that little voice was lying to him.

"As soon as I crush your puny defense, you'll have no monsters." said Kaiba, waking Alister out of his dream-like state.

"Who needs monsters when I have the Orichalcos on my side?" asked Alister, trying to stay calm. "Once this plane crashes, the Seal will take all three of us."

"You mean five of us." said Shadow. "Don't forget, Raphael still counts—even though he hasn't said anything in the past couple of minutes. And if this plane falls, Mikey goes with you. You'll forever have the guilt of causing your brother to die alongside you! Doesn't thae mkae you feel awful? Having the thought of taking your brother down with you to your final resting place?"

"You know that you're going to lose so you're going to give up?" Kaiba added. "You're the biggest coward I've ever met in my life!"

"You're wrong!" Alister cried out. "I'm doing all of this to save humanity!"

"You're doing this because you're too scared to face the truth!" Shadow and Kaiba said simultaneously.

"You're nothing but a big meanie!" Mikey cried. "I HATE YOU!"

Alister froze. No...anything but those words...His brother hated him...

"No..." He whispered, tears starting to fall down his eyes. "NO!"

"You're just mad at yourself 'cause you let him down." Kaiba added.

"You're one to talk!" Alister screamed back. "You won't be there to save your brother once this plane falls. I have three monsters compared to your dragon. You wouldn't be able to save yourself and your girlfriend even if I end my turn right now."

"Then why don't you?" asked Kaiba. "All I need is one more turn; just give me one more turn and I'll save May and get out of this stupid mind trick."

Shadow smirked. Even my little game can't phase you, Kaiba. She thought to herself. How long did you know about it?

"What mind trick?" Alister screeched at Kaiba. "Don't you see it? My brother is with that evil girl! He hates me! And all I have left of him is gone!"

"...I don't see any of that." said Kaiba, staring at Shadow. In truth, he could see what was going on...but he wasn't going to tell Alister that.

"Are you blind?" Alister yelled back. "My brother's right there!"

"You must be the blind one because I draw!" said Kaiba, grasping on the top card of his deck.

This is it... thought the CEO. My last chance for victory...

You'll win, my savior...Shadow thought to herself. Now beat this madman...

"This duel is over!" said Kaiba, drawing the card. He then smirked, seeing what he had drawn.

"Now I play, the Fang of Critias!" He shouted, revealing the Legendary Dragon to the Swordsman. Playing the card, the purple dragon soon appeared above as the Tyrant Wing Trap Card started to disappear from Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"Then I fuse it together with my Tyrant Wing Trap Card to form Tyrant Burst Dragon!"

Critias grew larger and its wings began to glow white. But it didn't stop there...

"Last but not least," Kaiba added. "I'll combine that with my Blue Eyes White Dragon to form Blue Eyes Tyrant Dragon!"

The two dragons fused, resulting in a new fusion monster. It looked like a cross between the two dragons, having the same shade of blue as the Blue Eyes White Dragon, but the body structure of Critias. (3400/2500)

"Now my dragon, destroy all three of his monsters!" Kaiba shouted.

The dragon soon opened its mouth, rearing its head as a giant burst of white energy escaped. It hit all three monsters dead-on and ended with a beacon of light dissipating in the sky.

"I win." said Kaiba, seeing Alister's lifepoints go down to zero.

"Yay!" said Shadow. "I knew you would win!"

"Serves you right you bad guy!" said Mikey. "You're getting what you deserve!"

The Seal shrank as the two competitors soon found themsleves in the conference room.

"Mikey, come with me." said Shadow, grasping Mikey's hand and taking in front of Alister.

"Mikey..." said Alister, lifting his gaze to his brother. "Please...please..."

"What does he want from me, Shadow?" asked Mikey. Shadow, from behind her back, brought out her dagger. Kaiba noticed this.

"What are you-?" He asked Shadow, only for Shadow to turn around, placing a finger to her lips. The young girl then had her eyes on the young boy in front of her.

"Mikey," said Shadow. "Close your eyes..."

"Okay..." said Mikey, covering his eyes with his hands. Shadow lifted her hands in the air, her dagger soon poised for his heart.

"MIKEY!" Alister screamed, in a futile attempt to stop what was happening.

There was no scream as Mikey's mouth let out a small gasp...then Mikey's entire body fell onto the ground, his hands lowered, eyes wide and in shock.

"Mikey..." Alister whispered, his body trembling. "You...killed him..."

"...No I didn't." said Shadow. "Look..."

Alister looked down and saw Mikey laughing. His body shaking violently as he lifted his gaze at Alister. He had no eyes...but blood fell down his eye sockets and mouth.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Mikey asked, cocking his head to the side. "But now, it's time to go..."

"No...wait..." said Alister, seeing Mikey walking away. "Please...MIKEY!"

"Have a nice day." said Shadow, waving goodbye. Then...Alister let out a scream, his soul being taken away by the Orichalcos. His body slumped over and the Seal vanished. Kaiba stared in shock, trying to make sense into what he was seeing...Mikey was killed, yet he was walking and talking...no, this was a trick...

"Kaiba," said Shadow. "Wake up."

Kaiba blinked his eyes. Mikey was gone...all that was left was Alister's action figure and the dagger. Shadow pocketed the action figure and pulled out a couple of cards from her waistpack.

"What just happened?" asked Kaiba. "What did you do him?"

"Well, to sum it all up." said Shadow. "It went something like this. You see, I cast Alister in an illusion the whole time. It started with this..."

She pulled out a Magic Card, revealling some sort of voodoo doll, nails and hammer.

"A Bait Doll?" asked Kaiba.

"Exactly what it says on the tin!" said Shadow in reply. "And since the image is a voodoo doll, whatever happened to one side happened to the other. So, whenever a Robot Token or Air Fortress Ziggurat got destroyed or sacrificed, then the 'bait doll'—the action figure—would get damage."

"And that song," said Kaiba. "That related to the cracks!"

"Right again!" Shadow giggled, revealing four more cards: Psychic Armor Head, Black Hole Shield, Advanced Guard and Over Boost. "These cards also created the illusion of Alister's brother, indicated that by the time the doll shattered, Mikey would figure out the 'song' and that would be the hint. I was actually being nice to Alister; I gave him so many hints regarding the illusion."

"You mean that you yourself and the illusion of Alister's brother was a living Bait Doll." said Kaiba. "The dagger was the nail, you were the hammer, and Mikey was the doll himself. And since Bait Doll is used to force the activation of a Trap Card...then it was most likely used to bring out Alister's fear about losing his brother."

"The piece de resistance!" said Shadow, bringing out her dagger. "If I stab this dagger into the heart of someone, they don't die. Rather...they get send into their worst fears and will never awaken...unless I say so."

"And since Mikey was still the Bait Doll, when he was stabbed with the Fear Dagger, the effect went to Alister!" said Kaiba, piecing it all together. "He saw his worst fear of seeing his brother die! But wait a minute...where exactly did you get those Armor cards? May never mentioned having those type of monsters on her."

Shadow smiled at him, the smile telling Kaiba some sort of horrible secret that she was hiding.

"Not telling." said Shadow. "But even though you were in an illusion, as long as you had the mindset to say that it was nothing but an illusion, you would keep your sanity intact. Alister...wasn't lucky. Oh well..."

Suddenly the plane began to shudder.

"Come with me, Shadow." said Kaiba, grasping her hand. "We're going to stop this plane together."

"Really?" asked Shadow.

"You're the only one besides me who knows how to steer this thing." Kaiba said in reply. "Now let's go."

Shadow smiled as the two ran to the cockpit. The two then sat down and grasped onto the steering wheel, trying to pull it with all their might.

I'm going to save my brother...and I'm going to make sure that anyone who hurts his friend while I'm around suffers! Kaiba thought to himself. Alister, this plane won't crash!

Suddenly his Duel Disk started to glow...

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Yami noticed his Duel Disk was glowing. Max's was also.

"What's going on?" asked Téa.

Soon, bursts of light escaped both of the devices, along with two more that soon surrounded the plane.

"The Legendary Dragons!" said Mokuba. "It's helping Seto's plane land safely!"

"And Jirachi's also going to help it out from the looks of things!" Max added. "Look!"

Jirachi floated by, trying to use Psychic on the plane. Meanwhile, Critias and Hermos soon rested against the underside of the wings while Timaeus grasped onto the top of the plane. The aircraft soon descended near the lake, leaving a trail of dust in the air.

"Now there's something you don't see everyday."

"Joey!" said Mokuba, seeing Joey and Tristan to the left of them. Wrapped around Joey's shoulders was Rex's unconscious body.

"Well, what do you know?" asked Joey. "It's Téa, Yugi, Max and Mokuba."

"Isn't there someone missing from that group?" asked Tristan. "Hey wait, where's May?"

"Most likely with Seto." Mokuba replied. "I hope she's all right."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"Are you all right?" asked Kaiba. He turned to see Shadow panting for breath. She let out a smile all the same.

"I'll be going now." She whispered. "Whatever you do, don't tell May about all the carnage I've done...she'll do something crazy if she finds out."

Then her eyes closed. The black and red coloring started to fade, until it was replaced with May's original blue and white clothing. Stirring awake, May's eyes became a bright blue.

"What...happened?" She asked a bit dumbly. "I remember that I was pinned down by Raphael."

"He's been knocked unconscious." said Kaiba, quickly formulating an answer. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah..." May replied. "Say...what happened to Alister?"

"He lost." Kaiba stated simply. "Now help me get these bodies out of the plane."

"On it." said May, bringing out a Poké ball. "Blaziken, come out."

The sphere opened to reveal the powerful Blaze Pokémon. It soon followed May back to the conference room, where it scooped up the blonde Swordsman's unconscious body, blood on his chest and a deep cut going from his shoulder to hip. As Blaziken and May prepared to jump out of the plane, May shuddered at the look in Raphael's eyes...it was if he had seen something so frightening that he died of fright.

"...did something else happen?" asked May to Kaiba, as they walked back to the cockpit. "Alister looks...dead..."

Kaiba looked down at Alister's comatose body. She was right...those grey eyes were also full of fear, and his skin was the same color as Raphael's. Kaiba shuddered at Shadow's actions...it was too horrible to describe.

"It's nothing." The CEO answered.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"I hope May's alright." said Max. "And I hope Kaiba is too."

"Me too." Mokuba replied, just as the door opened.

"Oh, great." said Kaiba, seeing Yami and the others stare at him. He jumped down, still carrying Alister's unconscious body. Then May jumped out, followed by Blaziken. The two then placed the unconscious bodies of the Swordsman onto the cold and dirty ground.

"May, you're all right!" said Max, running up to hug his sister. May returned the hug. "I thought those guys took your soul away."

"No, they didn't." said May in reply. The two then released the embrace as Max noticed something different about his sister.

"May...why do you have those bandages on your arms?" He asked.

"...I don't want to talk about it." May replied, her smile replaced with a frown.

"Seto, you're all right!" said Mokuba, hugging his brother. "Did the copters come in time?"

"Wait, you sent the copters to find us?" asked Kaiba. Mokuba nodded his head.

"When Roland told me that May was with you, I had to make sure for myself!" Mokuba explained. "Didn't May tell you? She was kidnapped by Raphael."

"Who has been knocked unconscious." said Kaiba, pointing to the body in Blaziken's hands...but the look on his face told otherwise.

"So May, how did you get on the same aircraft Kaiba was in?" asked Max.

"Let's just say I wished for it, and it came true." said May in reply. "And Kaiba helped me steer the plane and contact Kaiba Corp. when the plane was about to crash into a mountain just before he dueled Alister in the Seal of Orichalcos. In doing so, it caused the auto-pilot to fail and then I called for help and, here we are.. "

"Wow, that's some story." said Max. "Say, want to have a duel with me before we head off?"

"Sure!" said May. "Just let me get my Gravekeeper's deck and...huh?"

As she was searching through her waistpack, she found three separate decks. This didn't seem right...she only had one spare deck.

"Is something wrong, May?" asked Yami. May pulled out the first deck and screamed.

"How did this happen?" She whispered. "This is Raphael's deck!"

Kaiba's eyes widened and turned around. He then recalled Shadow placing something into her waistpack after stabbing Raphael's heart with the dagger.

"This can't be happening..." said May. "What else is there?"

Max opened one of the pouches and pulled another deck out. Mokuba did the same and found something inside.

"This is Alister's action figure!" said Mokuba.

"And this deck must belong to Valon!" said May, seeing the Armor monsters in Max's hands.

"How did you get a hold on all of this stuff?" asked Max.

"I...I don't know..." said May, her hands trembling. Suddenly, she felt a pain in her head. Dropping the Guardian Cards in her hand, she grasped onto her forehead as memories began to play. The first set showed Raphael being bound by shadows, and his Guardian monsters talking to him before ending with a dagger stabbed into his heart. The second set showed her with a young boy with maroon hair who was holding onto the action figure that was cracking into pieces, which ended with her stabbing the very same dagger into the boy's heart.

"NO!" May screamed, once the memories faded. She felt sweat fall down her face as she looked at Kaiba. "What happened? I...and Raphael...and Alister...and that boy..."

"Do you want to know the truth?" asked Kaiba. May nodded her head in reply. "Very well...but promise me one thing."

"What's that?" asked May.

"That no matter what happens, you stay until I finish telling you what happened." Kaiba answered back. "You don't run off, and you don't scream. Got it?"

"G-got it." said May, gathering the Guardian cards and placing them into her waistpack once more.

Kaiba let out a sigh as he stared into the eyes of his audience.

"Here's how it all happened..." He began.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Joey: You did WHAT?

May: I didn't mean to, I had no choice.

Tristan: I told you we couldn't trust her! She's holding out on us.

May: You have to believe me, I had to do it!

Mokuba: Stop it you guys, she's just recovering.

Joey: Oh yeah, and I'm just about to knock some sense into her!

Max: Don't do it, Joey! Don't hurt my sister!

Shadow: You better listen to his advice, you fool. Or else bad things await.

May: Next time, "Between my Brother and Me" chapter 21-Without a Shadow of a Doubt

Shadow: I'm the one in control now! And all those who could harm me shall face my wrath!

May: Shadow, this ends now! I'll show you that I'm stronger than you!

Shadow: Really now? Can you be strong when confronting the ones who hurt you?

Max: What are you talking about?

Shadow: You'll see...you'll all see...