OMG! I'm so sorry guys! I thought I had posted this chapter 2 weeks ago! I apparently uploaded it onto , but forgot to post it. I'm so sorry. Anyways, my apologies for this. At any rate, I will post again Thursday to make up for this. I'm so sorry once again.

Moving along, time for reviews!

Raymond: Heh, the Gladiator Beasts were fun to play with. Writing this duel makes me wish I had enough of them for a real deck. But yes, the effects of the Gladiator Beasts is complicated. Thanks for the review!

Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Glad you liked seeing the GBs in action. They're very powerful, and quite resilient, plus a new one could come out in theory each turn. But yes, Darcia is starting to take it to Yugi, who is finding it more and more difficult to deal with those GBs. True, if Yugi drew the right cards, he could win, but he needs the cards first. Thanks for the review!

Metal Overlord 2.0: Yep, Darcia got the Gladiator Beasts, heh. Those monsters are incredible, and extremely hard to beat. They just keep coming back for more. Heh, cool about being fascinated with Roman Gladiators. I find Roman history quite interesting myself. But yes, these monsters are very unique and have few weaknesses it seems. Glad you thought I handled the GBs well in that first chapter. Yes, Purity of the Cemetery is a perfect addition to Darcia's deck. Like Raphael, he rarely has a monster in the Graveyard, so it's hard for Yugi to take that spell out. Heh, thanks for the comments, and for your review!

Well, that's it for this session. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I greatly appreciate all of them. Each of your comments are very helpful in my writing of these chapters, so thank you once more.

Anyways, I'm out for now. Enjoy!

Stats from previous chapter

Life Points:

Yugi 4800

Darcia 1300

Number of monsters on the field:

Yugi 1

Darcia 4

Number of face down spells/traps:

Yugi 1

Darcia 2

Number of face up spells/traps:

Yugi 0

Darcia 1

Number of cards in hands:

Yugi 0

Darcia 5

Current field spell:

Colosseum – Cage of the Gladiator Beasts (8 Spell Counters) (800 bonus attack and defense for Gladiator Beasts)

Monsters on the field:

Yugi Face down monster

Darcia Gladiator Beast Gaiodiaz (2600/1500), Gladiator Beast Laquari (1800/400),

Gladiator Beast Murmillo (800/400) (defense), Gladiator Beast Andal (1900/1500)

Spells/Traps on the field:

Yugi None

Darcia Purity of the Cemetery

Chapter 37

Staring at his deck, Yugi eyed the top card carefully before slowly picking it up. Before he could say anything, Darcia called out "Don't forget, Mr. Moto, you lose 700 life points thanks to my Purity of the Cemetery card."

Growling lowly while his life points drained away, Yugi bit back "I haven't forgotten."

Looking at his new card, he lightly smirked, saying "I think it's time that spell card of yours vanished. First off, I'll start this turn by placing a card face down. Next, I'll flip summon my face down monster, Morphing Jar (700/600)."

Rising up onto the field immediately was a blue jar with a strange black round creature with a long neck, a single eye, and grungy looking yellow teeth showing in a smile.

"When Morphing Jar is flipped up, we must discard our entire hands to the Graveyard."

Grunting with irritation, Darcia wordlessly placed all five cards in his hand into his Graveyard Slot, which silently sucked down all of them at once. "It's a good thing I held no monsters then, isn't it Mr. Moto?" he smugly commented.

"I suppose." Yugi bit out. "Next, thanks to Morphing Jar, we each draw five cards."

Both simultaneously picked up five cards at the same time, with Yugi smirking lightly. "And now it's time I show you what I'm truly made of. I activate my face down spell, Quick Summon! This spell allows me to have an extra summoning this turn, so I'll begin by summoning Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700)!"

Materializing onto the field in a flash was a dull gray magnet creature wielding a sword and a shield. Landing on the field, the creature let out a low moan.

"I'm not done yet, for I activate the spell Ties of the Brethren! With this card, I must pay 1000 life points, but in return, I get to special summon from my deck two monsters, level four or below, to my field in defense mode, so long as they have the same Attribute."

Pulling his deck out and sifting through it, Yugi finally found the cards he was looking for and slapped them horizontally onto his Duel Disk, saying "I choose these two, Beta and Gamma, the Magnet Warriors (1700/1600) (1500/1800)!"

Appearing next to the gray magnet creature immediately was a yellow round magnet creature with magnets for hands and feet, a set of magnets on the side of hit's head. Next to the yellow creature appeared yet another magnet creature, this one being pink with wings. Each instantly took up a kneeling stance with their arms crossed defensively.

"Summoning those weaklings won't save your life points, Mr. Moto." Darcia snidely pointed out.

Slightly smirking, Yugi asked "Who said I was defending myself? I plan to use them to take you down!"

"Not likely." Darcia replied in a huff. "None of your creatures have the strength necessary to even scratch my creatures. Murmillo is the weakest of my Gladiator Beasts, but he's in defense, so attacking it would be pointless, but that would be if you could. But you can't since the strongest of your creatures is in defense mode."

"We'll see, won't we?" Yugi smartly remarked. "Now then, since I have Alpha, Beta, and Gamma all three on my field, I can send them to my Graveyard in order to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!"

Each of the three magnet creatures let out a small moan and began to split apart. Slowly, the pieces began to form a new single creature. The creature had a sword, powerful arms and feet, a strong set of pink wings, and a yellow masked face with magnets on each side of it. Letting out a new moan, the creature took up an offensive stance.

Noting Darcia's grimace, Yugi called out "I'm not through yet! I sacrifice Morphing Jar to summon my Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!"

Lightning suddenly struck the field without warning, hitting the weaker jar creature, causing it to vanish in a flash. From the flash came a demon like creature made of white bone with red muscle surrounding most of its body. It's hands and feet had three claws, and on it's back were a pair of blue wings. The head of the creature had a pair of horns that pointed to the left and right, with it's head mostly looking like a skull. The creature's eyes were aqua colored and seemingly held much rage within them. It let out a low growl, seemingly challenging the other monsters on the field.

"Summoned Skull, strike down his Murmillo with Lightning Strike!"

Letting out a loud growl, the demonic creature raised both arms to the sides of it's body. Bolts of lightning instantly began forming around it's body. Without hesitation, the demonic creature shot a beam of electrified energy straight at the weaker sea creature, which howled out in pain while the electricity fried it to a crisp. In seconds, the creature shattered into millions of pixels, leaving only smoke behind.

"And now, Valkyrion, cut down his Gaiodiaz with Magna Slash!"

Charging forward with a glowing white sword, the magnet warrior raised it's sword and slashed out at the gray skinned creature, easily cleaving completely through it in a single swipe. The creature didn't even have a chance to howl out in pain before exploding into millions of pixels.

"With those two monsters in your Graveyard, your Purity of the Cemetery card goes to the Graveyard." Yugi informed.

Growling lowly while his spell card shattered, Darcia snarled out "You can't win! Why bother with this foolish attempt to win!?"

"Because I'm not about to lose this duel to you! Too many people are counting on me." Yugi firmly replied. "And I'm far from done this turn, so I activate Valkyrion's special ability! By sending it to the Graveyard, I can bring back Alpha (1400/1700), Beta (1700/1600), and Gamma (1500/1800) the Magnet Warriors in defense mode."

Breaking apart into the three monsters that created itself, the large magnet creature vanished, leaving behind in it's wake the gray, yellow, and pink magnet creatures, each in a kneeling stance sitting on a horizontal card image.

"I'm not done still, for I play my other face down, Magnet Reverse! This spell allows me to return to the field one Rock or Machine Type monster that went to the Graveyard this turn, so I revive Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850) in defense mode."

Reappearing onto the field instantly was the combination magnet creature with it's arms crossed and wings furled up.

"That does it for me." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 3100)

Grabbing a new card hastily, Darcia snarled out "You will not make a fool of me! I will crush you with all the power I have! Behold, I summon back Gladiator Beast Dimacari (1600/1200)!"

Rematerializing onto the field before Darcia instantly was ox warrior from earlier in the duel. It let out a light grunt while it's body glowed with a golden glow (1600 + 800 2400/1200 + 800 2000).

"With him back, I can now create a new Fusion Type monster. It requires that I have Laquari and two other Gladiator Beasts, which I do, so I send all three back to my deck!"

Vanishing one by one, the three warriors turned into golden dust. Without warning, a bright golden glow formed in their missing places, which slowly began fading. From the glow stepped out a new warrior, this one with wild long brown hair, a mask that covered his face that was reddish in color, a skin tight purple body suit covered with a green, blue, and yellow chest plate, tiger stripped shoulder pads, thick black boots, and a black and red battle skirt. In his right hand was an axe with a short handle that had a black blade with a golden edge. Over in his left hand, he held a golden shield made up of several hexagons. Fully on the field, the warrior let out a low growl while shifting his axe into an offensive position.

"Meet my newest Gladiator Beast, Gladiator Beast Heraklinos (3000/2800). And since he was just played, my field spell gains yet another counter, raising it's counter total to nine. That means he gains 900 extra points (3900/3700)."

Glowing golden for a moment, the masked warrior let out a low grunt while it's strength increased.

"With this monster, I shall grind you into dust. Attack his pathetic Summoned Skull with Crushing Slash!"

Charging forward at unbelievable speed, the masked warrior was quickly before the bone demon with it's axe pulled back above it's head. Without hesitation, the warrior cut cleanly through the demonic creature, making the creature squeal loudly before shattering. Still charging forward, the warrior raised it's axe once more and took a swipe at Yugi, cutting easily into his right shoulder and drawing a strangled hiss.

Smirking at the small amount of blood dripping off of his creature's axe, Darcia smartly said "I shall end my turn at that. The end is near, Mr. Moto." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Reaching up and clamping his left hand over his right shoulder, Yugi flinched from the pain flaring down his arm. Pulling his hand away and looking at it, he saw his own blood in it and grimaced. "I'm not used to these Shadow Games. When Yami was around, he could take more of the brunt of the assault and keep himself from being very wounded, but with just me, my body can't resist as much."

Letting out a small ragged sigh, he wiped his hand off and returned the remaining card he held in his right hand back to his left. Drawing a card from his deck, he looked it over for a moment before sliding it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot. "I set this and end." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

"Very well, Mr. Moto." Darcia silkily commented. Picking up a card, he calmly said "Time to wipe out more of your monsters, and this time it will be Valkyrion. Attack with Crushing Slash!"

Racing across the field, the masked warrior picked up speed and readied his axe for his assault on the magnet creature.

"Not this time Darcia!" Yugi fiercely declared while pointing at his face down card. "I reveal the trap Mirror Force, which will destroy your monster!"

Smirking, the dark haired man slyly said "Not quite Mr. Moto. You've triggered my monster's special ability by activating that trap. Upon activation, I'm allowed to discard one card from my hand to the Graveyard in order to negate your trap."

Watching Darcia place a card into his Graveyard Slot, Yugi could hardly suppress a gasp when his trap card shattered. Without warning, the masked warrior continued onwards and slammed it's heavy axe into the magnet creature, making it howl out in pain before shattering into millions of pieces.

"And then there was three." Darcia smugly remarked. "I believe that's enough for now. Go on Mr. Moto, make your pathetic move, if you have the guts to." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Glancing at the remaining card in his hand, Yugi frowned at it and drew his new one. Eyeing it, he softly smirked and said "I activate the spell Underworld Circle…"

"No you don't." Darcia smugly remarked. "I activate Heraklinos's special ability, forcing me to discard a card to negate your spell."

Watching Darcia place a card into his Graveyard, Yugi grimaced when his spell suddenly shattered. Lowly growling, he grunted out "That means that your monster can negate my spell and traps during either of our turns."

"You're catching on quickly." Darcia smartly replied.

Gritting his teeth, Yugi muttered "I end." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Picking up his new card, Darcia smirked tauntingly asked "You know this duel is over, right?"

"It isn't over till the last card is played, and last I checked, I still have some." Yugi defiantly fired back.

Shrugging, the long black haired man calmly replied "Very well, if you wish to fight till the bitter end, who am I to stop you. Heraklinos, crush his pathetic Gamma the Magnet Warrior with Crushing Slash!"

Without hesitation, the masked warrior quickly crossed the field and buried it's axe heavily into the pink magnet creature's shoulder and cut cleanly through. The magnet creature let out a small moan of pain instantly, but soon exploded, leaving nothing but smoke in it's place.

"Your move Mr. Moto." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Wordlessly, Yugi drew his new card and examined it for a moment. At long last, he placed the card onto his Duel Disk horizontally, saying "I summon Big Shield Guardna (100/2600) in defense mode."

Slowly materializing onto the field was a warrior with long black hair wearing a teal and purple shirt with no sleeves, orange pants, and had a huge shield that covered almost all of his body whom was kneeling.

"That's all I can do for now." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Grabbing a new card and smirking victoriously, Darcia smugly said "I'll begin by playing the spell Dark World Dealings. With this, we both may draw one card, but then we must discard one card."

Both simultaneously drew their new card. After a moment, each placed a card into the Graveyard Slots, with Darcia smirking once more.

"This duel is over for you, Mr. Moto. I activate the devastating spell known as Stop Defense! With this, I can switch the mode of your Big Shield Guarnda from defense into attack mode, leaving you wide open!"

Gasping in shock while his warrior stood up, Yugi clenched his right hand tightly. Seeing his reaction, Darcia darkly chuckled and said "It is over for you, Mr. Moto. Once I attack, you will receive 3800 points of Battle Damage, which will easily wipe out your meager 1700 life points. Winning this duel was far easier than I thought it would be."

Pointing at the weaker warrior, Darcia cried out "Heraklinos, obliterate his life points by destroying his Big Shield Guardna with Crushing Slash!"

Racing forward at breakneck speed, the masked warrior pulled back it's might axe and swung hard at the standing warrior. His axe struck the shield hard, sending sparks flying, but the shield of the warrior stayed off the attack. At long last, tired of grinding it's axe against the shield, the masked creature backed away, with confusion showing on it's master's face.

"Why is your monster still here!? It should be in the Graveyard and you should have lost!" Darcia growled out.

Smirking slightly, Yugi replied "Actually, you're wrong. You see, you helped me out just a moment ago. When I discarded that card, it was a monster known as Electromagnetic Turtle (0/1800). Upon it being sent to the Graveyard, I can end the Battle Phase of either of our turns when I please, just for once though."

"Why you…" Darcia darkly muttered with a fierce glare. "I end!" (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Glancing at his deck, Yugi fingered the top card but held off from drawing it. "If I'm going to win this duel, now is the time to do it. I won't last much longer at this rate. Come on Heart of the Cards, please, guide me!"

Picking up his new card, Yugi glanced at it and let out a strangled gasp of shock. Placing it into his left hand, he slightly smirked, making Darcia frown. "Why do you smirk? Is it because you know you've lost now, Mr. Moto?"

"Because I can now take you down, once and for all." Yugi confidently replied. "I hold the cards in my hand to win this duel and put an end to your ambitious dream of bringing back the Orichalcos!"

Sneering, Darcia smugly remarked "You bluff. Lest you forget, as long as Heraklinos is out on the field, you cannot play any spell or trap cards because I'll simply negate them with his effect by discarding one card. And I know for a fact that you have no monsters with enough attack points to repel him since he has 3900 attack points. Only a handful of monsters have enough attack points to beat my monster outright, and all are fusion monsters, so you winning is impossible!"

"We'll see about that." Yugi smartly retorted. "I'll start by sacrificing both Alpha and Beta the Magnet Warriors to summon Gandora, the Dragon of Destruction (0/0)!"

Both the gray and yellow magnet creatures each vanished in a flash, making way for a rapidly appearing black creature. The monster took form of a large black dragon with numerous red circular lights appearing along it's body, with most appearing on the sides of it's tail in a row on either side, one on each knee, a row going up it's thigh, another row running up the sides of it's abs, one in the center of it's chest, four on it's knuckles and up it's arms, another row going up either side of it's neck, a set on it's large scaled forehead, and a row on the edges of each of it's wings. The dragon had sharp clawed talons on it's feet and hands, with a large set of black wings on it's back that had spikes sticking out around the tops of it's wings and the bottom of them. Fully on the field, the dragon raised it's neck, revealing several large scales, one visibly on it's forehead. Letting out a horrific roar, the dragon spread it's wings and glared at the masked creature across the field.

Taking in the new creature Yugi had summoned, Darcia began darkly chuckling and eventually broke out into a complete maniacal laugh. Finally calming down a bit, he smugly said "That is your big plan!? That thing has 0 attack and defense points! If you had wanted to lose, you should have said so Mr. Moto!"

"Looks can be deceiving." Yugi countered with a smirk. "And I'm about to show you just how dangerous Gandora truly is. First of all, Gandora can only stay on the field for one turn, but that's all I need."

"Pathetic Mr. Moto. That creature isn't even worth Heraklinos's time." Darcia snidely remarked.

Lightly chuckling, Yugi replied "We'll see how much of your time it's really worth. I activate Gandora's special ability. By paying half my life points, he can now destroy every card on the field except for himself."

Slightly gasping, Darcia's smug attitude slipped away as he slowly said with fear in his visibly in his voice "Wait, that means…"

"That means that Heraklinos and your other cards, along with my Big Shield Guardna, are about to go to the Graveyard, leaving only Gandora on the field." Yugi finished. "Gandora, release your full power! Thousand Giga Rays!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon's numerous red circles began glowing bright red. Pulling it's arms in and then thrusting them out while spreading it's wings, the dragon roared in louder as thousands of red beams shot out from the circles. Hundreds of the beams first struck the stadium the pair were standing in, destroying it instantly, while more struck the two face down card images, shattering them completely. Another large set struck the masked warrior, which howled out in pain while it's body was assaulted by the numerous beams. At long last, the masked warrior could take no more and shattered into millions of pixels. A moment later, the warrior with a big shield let out a groan before shattering from the beams that struck him. After the numerous explosions, smoke filled the field, clouding the two duelists' vision.

The smoke soon cleared, revealing only the dragon on the field. Growling loudly, Darcia snapped out "You may have destroyed my cards, but you can't win! I'll crush you in my next turn, so don't think this changes a thing!"

"You're wrong Darcia." Yugi replied with a small smirk. "Whenever Gandora uses his special ability, his secondary effect kicks in. You see, for every card he destroyed, he gains 300 attack points. By my last count, he destroyed five cards, with four being yours and one being mine, making him gain 1500 attack points (0 + 300 5 1500/0)!"

Eyes widening while watching the black dragon's body glow with a bright red aura, Darcia took a step backwards, whispering "No, it can't be…"

"This duel ends now Darcia!" Yugi declared. "Gandora, direct attack him with Destruction Wave!"

Releasing a mighty roar, the dragon threw it's head back and opened it's jaws, causing bright red energy to begin filling them. Flinging it's head back forward while clenching it's clawed hands into tight fists, the dragon spat out a beam of bright red energy straight at Darcia. He released a loud scream of agony while the blast ground into him. At long last, the beam slacked up and revealed Darcia barely standing with steam rolling off his body and his robes smoldering.

In a weak mutter, he said "It can't be…"

"It's over Darcia." Yugi declared solemnly. "Your twisted plan failed. Now you will spend the remainder of eternity in the Shadows."

Taking a ragged breath while his body was beginning to turn into wisps of black energy, Darcia sneered and defiantly barked back "Even in my failure to destroy you, the power of the Orichalcos grows thanks to my own Duel Energy and soul. Soon, very soon, the stone shall once more be strong enough to conquer this world, and the Great Leviathan shall rise up again. You may have stopped me, but you can't stop the inevitable! I will live on within the great stone, so farewell Mr. Moto, till you are crushed!"

With one last maniacal laugh, the body of Darcia vanished, leaving only a heavily breathing Yugi to stare into nothingness. Watching his Duel Disk power down, he fell to one knee while trying to catch his breath.

"I stopped him, but this isn't over till this Lucifer is gone." Yugi remarked to himself. Weakly standing, he began reaching out with his Shadow Powers, trying to find any of his friends. Finding a familiar signal, he nodded his head and began walking off towards it, leaving the remains of the village he had been near behind himself.

--

Standing at the edge of a large clearing, Seto let out a heavy sigh. "Over all these years, I've lived through so many horrific ordeals. First there was Pegasus, with him taking Mokuba captive and later taking his soul, along with my own. Then there was Marik, who tried to take over the world using the power of the Egyptian God Cards. Not long after his attempt at taking over the world, Dartz showed up and nearly ruined everything once again. Bakura not long after that began his bid for taking over the world, but in the end, he was laid to rest once more."

Glancing up at the hazy sky, he mumbled in his mind "All of those events were horrific, but this one is the worst yet. How could someone take a child that is less than a year old and hold her captive just to get her parents to come after her!?"

Feeling his fists shaking in anger, he began to yell out to no one in particular when he suddenly heard a horrific shriek off in the distance. Feeling his blood freeze for a moment at the sound, he tried to analyze what the shriek belonged to, only to draw a blank. Several shouts and yells soon followed, intriguing him into what was going on.

Beginning to walk in the direction of noise, he soon found himself at the edge of another clearing with a small woods line shielding him from sight. Approaching, he heard the sound of clanking metal armor and the marching sound of an army. Reaching the edge of the tree line, he grumbled as a few tree limbs scratched his face slightly, but he pushed aside his irritation and brushed the branches out of his way.

Glancing out into the area, he saw that the clearing was actually a desert wasteland, filled with volcanic soil and dry vegetation. This didn't catch his attention as the sight of an army of around three hundred soldiers, all standing at nearly six feet tall, with all wearing black obsidian armor, with all wielding a weapon, whether it be a sword, a pike, a spear, or a bow with arrows, and all holding shields, with the archers having theirs on their back, with a skull symbol. All of the archers stood in the back, with all fingering their arrows and ready to release them.

Their opponent was a lone figure dressed in a tattered black robe, which revealed a black t-shirt underneath with tattered blue jeans. The figure's hair swayed slightly in the wind, which was long and brown, but was somewhat untamed due to the harsh elements of the world.

"VOLLEY!"

Turning away from the lone figure to the army, Seto instantly realized that one of the soldiers in the front of the army had shouted out the order. The archers immediately raised their bows and all released their arrows, sending them raining down towards the solemn figure. With only a mere six inches till striking the lone figure, the figure raised a hand and sent a wave of black energy at the arrows, causing each and every arrow to shatter in mid-air and fall to the ground in numerous splintered pieces.

Shifting uneasily, the army began to back up slightly. None had ever seen such a feat before, so none were sure how to deal with this.

Noting the lone figure's body was beginning to glow with a black aura, Seto's eyes narrowed on him. "He's using Shadow Magic! Could he be the one that kidnapped Arya!?"

Lowly growling while his fist tightened, he mentally made his mind up. "Once this guy is done with those weaklings, I'll deal with him myself."

Hearing a slight chuckle, Seto was awoken from his thoughts to see the man's aura was growing darker by the second. Without warning, the aura suddenly surged outwards like an explosion, tearing anything up in it's path.

Eyes widening when he realized the blast would reach him also, Seto quickly called up his own Shadow Powers and formed a barrier around his body. The wave of Shadow Magic slammed hard into his barrier, making him gasp out in shock and surprise as he felt his barrier wavering under the intense power that this person's blast had. At long last, his barrier and himself were thrust off of the ground and thrown back up against a nearby tree, with his barrier taking most of the impact. Immediately, several branches fell out of the tree and on top of him, covering him up completely.

After five minutes, the blast finally subsided, allowing him a chance to begin clawing his way out of the branches. Unable to do so, he growled in frustration and shot a blast of Shadow Magic up through the branches, allowing him to free himself at long last.

Taking stock of his body, he found he had a few cuts and bruises, but that was all the damage he seemed to have. Relieved he was alright, Seto returned to the edge of the tree line to only find something that chilled him to his core.

Before him was the scene of something that reminded him of his past life, in which he had witnessed the rampage of the Egyptian Gods. The barren wasteland was more desolate than before, with the ground plowed up from where the aura had been before, creating a small crater that was only five feet deep and was easily the length of two football fields now filling the area.

Glancing around, Seto couldn't suppress a gasp of complete shock when he realized that all of the soldiers that had been there were now gone. There was absolutely no trace of them, not even a shred of scrap metal from their armor. It was like none of them had ever been there.

Eyes widening, he saw that even though all the damage had been done, the figure the army had been attacking was still standing perfectly still in the spot where he had been before his display of power. He seemed completely unharmed, as if nothing had happened at all.

Sweat instantly slid down the side of Seto's face while his eyes focused on the figure. "If he could easily do this much damage, what chance do I stand against him!?"

"No! I can't back down! I'm Seto Kaiba, one of the original Shadow Court, and one of the remaining people on Earth with Shadow Powers! Whoever this person is could have taken Arya, so I must confront them and get her back, no matter what the cost is! She is precious to Illidan and Marie, meaning I can't afford to allow fear to control me now!"

Gathering all of his courage up, Seto began striding towards the lone figure. With only fifteen feet separating the pair, a low chuckle began filling the air, sending shivers up Seto's spine. Not giving into his fleeing thoughts, he continued onwards till the figure began speaking, which brought him to a dead stop.

"I didn't expect to meet you again, Seto." a cold voice called out with a touch of insanity mixed into it.

Eyes widening, Seto mumbled in his mind "I know that voice! But it can't be!"

"Illidan…" he whispered while trying to find more words. After a moment, he barely managed to say "I… I… I don't believe it."

Turning to face Seto completely, the figure revealed his identity. His normal dark brown eyes that held calmness and serenity were now red and full of malice and evil, while his normal soft features were now darkened and hardened.

With an evil grin plastered on his face, the figure replied "You better believe it."

"I'm going to count to five, and if you wish to not to fight with me, you had better turn and leave. If you're not leaving, I will not hesitate to take you out. I have a mission, and nothing, not even a former friend, will stand in my way."

In complete shock, Seto growled out "What's wrong with you, Illidan!?"

Coolly, Illidan replied in a low whisper "I'm warning you, leave now, unless you plan on obstructing me. Do so and you shall pay with your life."

"I don't want to do this Illidan." Seto remarked while trying to calm his anger.

Receiving his answer, the wild brown haired man raised his right hand to face Seto with black energy forming into a sphere in his palm. Grinning evilly once more, Illidan released the sphere of black energy straight at the man in his white trench coat. Shaking himself of his shock that his friend was firing a blast of Shadow Magic at him, Seto readied himself and pulled back his right hand. Pushing his Shadow Magic into his own right hand, he fired the fist forward, slamming it heavily into the sphere of Shadow Magic.

Instantly, he felt his fist straining against the power of the sphere, for it was far more powerful than he originally thought it would be. "I can barely hold this thing back. This kind of power, he never had it before! The only person I've seen have this much power before was Marie, and that's when she unleashed her hidden powers. Is it possible he's reached that level?"

Refocusing on the task before him, Seto pushed more power into his fist, allowing him to finally throw the sphere back at Illidan's feet, causing a hole the size of a bookshelf to form in the ground. Panting lightly, he glanced at his right hand, finding it smoldering and somewhat raw from the sheer force it had taken to stop the attack.

Angry, he yelled out "Illidan, what is wrong with you!? We're friends, why are you doing this!?"

"NOTHING IS WRONG WITH ME!" Illidan yelled back while forming another sphere within his right hand. "MY EYES HAVE BEEN OPENED! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH! ONLY I CAN STOP THIS EVIL, BUT IDIOTS LIKE YOU CONTINUE TO OBSTRUCT ME FROM MY GOAL!"

Watching Illidan release a sphere of energy, Seto realized it would be far better for him to dodge the attack than to try and block it like before. Rolling out of the way, he heard an explosion. Getting up, he saw that the trees behind where he had once stood were now ablaze.

"I can't beat him by myself! Hell, do I even want to beat him!? If he stays as he is, he's more of a danger to himself and anyone else that comes into contact with him than if I try to stop him. I'll just have to deal with him, somehow." Seto grumbled within his mind.

Getting an idea, he reached for his deck and drew the top card and turned it towards Illidan. Calling out in a booming voice, he yelled "Come on out Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Materializing in mid-air instantly was a white metallic looking dragon, with blue eyes, powerful clawed hands and feet, a long white tail, mighty wings, and short arms. Letting out a might roar, the dragon hovered above Seto while casting a glare towards Illidan.

Chuckling darkly, Illidan smugly remarked "That pathetic lizard is no match for me alone. Return it now before I crush it."

Receiving a no response from Seto's shaking head, Illidan lightly grunted and said "I see, well then, I shall crush your pathetic lizard with my own. Reveal yourself, Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End!"

Immediately appearing in midair above Illidan was a large black dragon with an orange mane, sharp clawed hands and feet, a large set of wings, and powerful tail. Releasing a roar, the dragon lowered itself just above it's master.

"Now then, you useless animal, crush his pathetic iguana with Chaos Blaster!"

The black dragon only remained airborne, not seemingly responding in the least to the command issued to it. Furious, Illidan turned a fierce glare towards the black dragon, yelling "You heard me! I ordered you to destroy that dragon!"

Glancing between the white dragon and it's master, the black dragon let out a remorseful roar and landed onto the ground next to it's master. In a remorseful, bitter tone, the dragon quietly said "Master Illidan, I cannot obey your command. Seto Kaiba has been a long time friend and ally, in the present and in the past. Why would you dare ask me to do any harm to him or his dragon?"

"DO NOT QUESTION ME!" Illidan snarled with anger flashing from his eyes, causing the dragon to wince visibly. "I AM YOUR MASTER, AND YOU ARE MY SERVANT! OBEY ME!"

Looking down at the ground and away from it's master, the dragon let out a light whimper. Surprised at the turn of events, Seto felt sadness for the dragon for having to obey Illidan in his current state.

Angered further by the actions of his dragon, Illidan heatedly yelled out "Fine, if you wish to defy me, you will pay a horrible price for it!"

Stretching his right arm out fully towards the ground while grasping hold of his right wrist with his left hand and hunching over, Illidan grunted out "SHADOW BLADE!"

Hearing a loud crackling sound of Shadow Magic, Seto's eyes widened a fraction while he mumbled to himself "I remember that… But he wouldn't use that on his dragon, would he?"

Black sparks of Shadow Magic began crackling underneath of Illidan right hand while he held it in a claw shape. Growling lowly while the energy continued to build in his hand, he raised himself up while the black energy began forming into a four foot blade extending from his arm that began at his wrist. Streaks of black electricity struck the ground from the blade while the air was filled with the sound of the electricity coursing up and down his arm.

"DIE!" he cried out while rushing towards the dragon. Looking at it's master with sad yellow eyes, the dragon made no attempt to move. Without hesitation, the dragon's master cruelly plunged the blade deep into the dragon's chest, puncturing it's heart easily. The huge wyvern howled in pain while it reared up and fell over onto it's side. Illidan stayed with the dragon, keeping the blade deeply nestled within the dragon's heart.

"STOP THIS ILLIDAN! YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" Seto screamed with anger seething out of his body.

Casting a glare back at Seto, Illidan coldly replied "This dragon is the one that disobeyed me. I have no use for weaklings who cannot follow simple orders."

Jerking the black energy blade out of the chest of the dragon, Illidan slid backwards five feet while the dragon wailed from the pain of the blade leaving it's body. With blood running out of it's maw, the dragon whispered "Master… Illidan… please, don't do… this…"

Glaring fiercely at the dragon, Illidan moved closer and kicked the dragon's head hard with his foot, making it whimper out in pain. Reaching the dragon's chest once more, Illidan growled out "What gives you the right to order me when you fail to obey my commands!?"

With his words said, he buried the black blade back into the dragon, making it shriek out in pain once more. Staring down at the one it called master, the dragon's pained yellow eyes met the red ones of Illidan. The dragon could have easily snapped it's jaws around it's master, but choose not to.

In a faint whisper, the dragon said "Please…"

Before it could finish though, the dragon turned into millions of tiny pixels, leaving only Illidan, Seto, and the large white dragon hovering overhead of it's own master.

Turning towards Seto while his black energy blade vanished, Illidan coldly said "That is your fate now, Seto Kaiba. You should have left me be, but instead, you choose to challenge me. It was nothing but foolishness, for now you shall die a horrific death."

Staring right into Seto's eyes, Illidan smiled evilly, sending a small chill up Kaiba's back while he added "I can see into the depths of your heart, Seto Kaiba. It has always been your desire to defeat Yugi Moto and myself, yet you have yet to accomplish that goal. The façade of fake grudging friendship that you've put up for all these years, it's so easy to see through it. I know things about you, Kaiba, that you yourself won't even admit."

In a flash, Seto was less than three feet away from Illidan with anger pouring out of his body. With all his might, he slammed a heavy right fist into the wild haired duelist's face, sending the wild haired duelist nearly off his feet, but he managed to steady himself and block a second punch incoming for him.

"WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU!?" Seto demanded angrily while spinning around to deliver a roundhouse kick with his left leg to Illidan's right arm.

The kick effectively pinned the wild haired duelist's arm to his ribs, but the force that was in the kick was not enough to harm the arm, but did manage to make his ribs crackle a little. This caught the attention of the wild haired duelist instantly, and in a single, graceful movement, he knocked the kick away and reached out, grabbing hold of Seto by the throat and hauling him into the air.

Roaring loudly from the air, the white dragon began building up white energy within it's jaws and readied itself for an attack till Illidan turned towards the dragon with it's master in hand and moved him so that he was shielding Illidan. "If you try any of that nonsense, your master will most assuredly die."

Seeing that the wild haired duelist was not lying while the hand on it's master's throat tightened, effectively cutting off more of his air supply, the dragon paused, allowing the white energy to dissipate into nothingness.

Returning his full attention to the duelist in his hand, Illidan coldly said "You should never have confronted me by yourself, Seto. Once I'm done with you, I will track down Lucifer and crush him completely till nothing is left. Upon doing that, I shall free my daughter from his clutches."

"If you had heeded my command earlier, you wouldn't have lost your life for no reason. I would have left you alone if you had left. Anyone who gets in my way shall fall if they do not move, so just remember when I finish killing you, that it was your own fault for dying."

"In my kingdom, no one will kill unless it is me, Illidan."