BEFORE YOU READ - JUST A QUICK WARNING

[This chapter contains some mild description of mild body horror/mutilation. So if any of that bothers you, I suggest you proceed with caution -"Oh yeah, NOW she warns us." Yeah, well shut up you little shits.]

Anyway, I finished my exams, and started my second semester at uni... I guess you could say it took a while for me to get this up hahaa

Man this fucking thing went through so many edits... It would have been finished earlier, but I wasn't satisfied with the duel and I changed so many things. Also, some of the cards I have Lorna use are a nod to a certain lesser known duelist ;) See if you can figure out who.

So without further ado -I present to you my chapter thing.

Enjoy (also, read the bottom Author's Note for some important crap)

All I could feel was pain. I couldn't differentiate or identify it; it was all pain to me, something that I, in my sheltered life, had never felt before. It was a raw sort of agony, the kind that wouldn't end, or rather, the kind that wasn't done being inflicted. It was the pain you feel when someone stabs a knife through your heart, the red-hot fury that surges through your body just as the knife breaks through sensitive skin and penetrates deeper, just before your skin grows accustomed to it, accommodates it, makes it a part of you. After that, the ache is duller, more familiar. It's like some sick part of you decided to challenge it, to boldly, insolently ask for more.

And then there was that crawling…

My heart was thudding in my ears, but if I concentrated hard enough, I could almost swear I could hear the chomping of millions of tiny mouths as they ascended slowly, an erratic chomp… chomp chomp chomp… chomp… chomp chomp…

Each bite reminded me all over again of just how mortal I was, and it was taking way too long for them to stop… just as it took way too long for me to realize that they had stopped long ago, leaving my whole body paralyzed, save for my arms, my neck, and my head. It wasn't long after this deduction that I finally comprehended the finality of death like I'd never comprehended it before.

I may have spoken earlier about my parents' religious beliefs, that my body was supposedly connected to the earth, which meant that when I died, I would return to her and be born anew. I supposed it was too late to acknowledge the fact that I didn't actually believe a thing they told me. My death here would be meaningless, just as my life was.I felt like a walking, talking sham. Though, I guess looking at my life points, the sham would be over soon.

*riiiiiing* *riiiiiing*

*riiiiiing* *riiiiiing*

… huh? Where was that coming from? It was familiar too… like somehow I had heard it before.

In a voice that didn't sound the least bit surprised, Viola spoke. "Looks like your phone is ringing." Her head was facing right -well, at least my right-where she had been chasing me earlier. "Too bad you're a bit tied up right now. They'll have to leave a message."

That's right… I dropped my purse on the sidewalk earlier and that is my phone! Who could be calling me right now? Joey? Yugi? Téa? I had just left Tristan so chances were that it wasn't him calling to ask about me. What were my friends doing then anyway? I couldn't imagine. Was Yugi dueling that magician guy yet? I knew that Téa was going to end up kidnapped later. I just couldn't remember anything that happened this season.

*riiiiiing* *riiiiiing*

*riiiiiing* *riiiiiing*

It didn't take long, however, for the ringing to stop, and we were left with the sound of my labored breathing and the chomp-chomp-CHOMP-ing. And it was my turn again…

"I wonder who that was," she said, her leer spreading across her face, turning her into more of a predator than a human being. "Why don't you try getting it?" Her pixie lips opened wide and she let out several dignified laughs.

I pushed Viola and her stupid face to the back of my mind and dragged my arm through the thick air and taking a card off of the top of my deck. Card of Compensation…I sighed and nibbled on my bottom lip in agitation. Yet another useless card… It was like my deck had an abundance of them, especially today. None of my cards could match hers and she was always on top -always.

The only small mercy was the fact that I gained 200 life points in my Standby Phase, forcing the demons to seek sustenance lower and revealing a bit of my chest. However, looking down, it didn't seem like I had been shown any mercy at all, with the way my skin glowed a venomous red where it had now been exposed. My shirt had all but disintegrated on account of the leech demons and my once olive complexion was red and blistering, my flesh sweltering.

I swallowed a sob, not wanting to get an earful about how pathetic I was from the enemy. Viola… I hated her so fucking much… I didn't care if she died; in fact, I wanted her to die -WHY WOULDN'T SHE JUST DIE?

Now… Card of Compensation…. Card of Compensation… what the fuck was I supposed to do with a stupid card like Card of Compensation? Sure, it could allow me to draw two cards, but that was only if I could meet its activation conditions, which required that I somehow send it to the graveyard from my hand. And what card did I have that could do that? Yugi insisted that I put it into my deck though… something about never knowing when it might come in handy…

What would Yugi do? What would he say?

'Have faith in your deck.'

'Believe in the Heart of the Cards.'

'Honor your cards… '

Argh! No, no NO! I wasn't Yugi. I didn't have an unstoppable deck and airtight strategies. I had my lame deck and I had Viola kicking my ass with my own cards. And I had myself… just as useless as the deck I was using…

'Lorna?'

'Oh my gosh! Is she okay?'

'Lorna can you hear us?'

'Hang in there! We're right beside you!'

What? Who's there?

My eyes were tightly shut, and all I could see were colors and dancing lights, but also large shadows. I slowly brought my hands to my face and forced myself to open them. Two shadows with colors and vague faces came into vision, and it took less than a minute for two familiar faces to come into focus.

"J-Joey? Téa? What are you doing here?" I moaned, feeling a sharp pain go through my chest as I inhaled.

And just like a dream, they were standing right there, like my distress had summoned them here. Was I hallucinating? Or had my friends really found me? Her face in a mask of horror and her jaw as tight as humanly possible without fracturing bone, Téa was there, maintaining a safe distance from me (and who could blame her really?) and tightly grasping her flip phone, wide open and on someone's contact screen.

Joey was standing much closer, grimacing, his hands balled up into fists, glaring back and forth between myself and my opponent, looking like he was unsure whether to deal with me or punch Viola in the face. "Don't worry. I'm gonna get you out of this!" he declared with resolve, bounding determinedly towards me.

Viola's shrill shriek of laughter could be heard as he approached. "Well, isn't that cute!"

I glanced down at my blistering skin and the demons clinging to my body and Joey's rough, calloused fingers just inches away from me, and screamed hoarsely at him. "Don't fucking touch it!" But the soreness that exclamation caused me was all for naught as his hands grasped at the leeches with full intent to tear them off of my skin. His hands wrapped themselves around one large chunk right under my right arm and pulled. I let out a raspy moan as it felt like I was being flayed alive, every nerve in my abdomen screamed at me -or were those the demons crying?

Fortunately, the torture lasted for a mere couple of seconds because Joey immediately jumped away from me, as though repelled by a strong force. His face was twisted in such pain that I felt my eyes water at the sight of him -I caused him that pain. He had his hands cradled over his chest, leaning over, his eyes shut and his mouth hissing profanities.

"I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…" I told him, feeling my words hover through the air, carried by the non-existent breeze, only to fall unsuccessful to the ground at his feet.

"I'm… fine…" he grunted through his teeth.

"This is a Shadow Game… isn't it?" Téa asked before she began to rummage in her purse for something to ease Joey's pain.

I nodded my head slowly and brought my gaze to Viola, with her infuriating smug face, her two small rosy lips set in a long smile, looking like the angel of death in long robes and dark hair. I'm going to kill her, kill her, kill her. "I'm losing," I whimpered. "Help me."

Téa was bandaging Joey's hand when she spoke -good old Téa; she always came prepared. "Lorna," she said, her voice vibrating with power and confidence. She sounded like strength and carried her tone with gusto. "You can do this. We believe in you." Her eyes met mine and her firmness made my own eyes blink away timidly. "We won't let you lose this."

"Lorna…" It was Joey's words I heard this time. "Look at me." I turned my head slowly in obedience, to see him flashing his teeth at me, grinning like he had just won the lottery, but that was just his usual smile. Wasn't he worried about me? Wasn't he terrified? "I know you can win this, alright. I'm not just saying this to make you feel better. You have a really strong hand. Just figure out how to use it. Remember, even if a card doesn't seem all that great, think of it from your opponent's point of view, and you'll realize that there ain't no such thing as a useless card."

Think of it… from Viola's point of view?

I looked down at my hand and tried to cast my cards in a new light. Card of Compensation, eh? ARGH! What the fuck was I supposed to do with this hand? Literally nothing in it could help me. I had one monster, and three spell and trap cards

Fucking hell, Lorna. Do I have to spell it out for you?

Wait, what? That wasn't my brain. That definitely wasn't my brain. I mean, yeah, my brain was a fan of messing with me, but it was never that in-your-face about it. What was going on?

Well, it's nice to hear from you again too, Lorna.

V-Voice? Is that you?

Yeah. It's been a while hasn't it?

Well, its personality did a complete one-eighty, but I suppose talking to me at inopportune times was just like my old friend. Where have you been this past week?

Making sure you got entered in this god-forsaken tournament. What else?

So that means that you were that woman that -

No, no, no, no, no. Stop right there. Of course I wasn't. I'm a disembodied voice. Do you even know what disembodied means?

… Right… sorry. Well -um… Duel? Let's kinda circle back to what you were about to tell me.

Yeah, first of all, about that trap card you're planning on using -toss it aside for now. You should know by now that dueling is all about knowing how to make the best out of your hand, even if you can't see the right combination right now. I mean, have you even watched this show?

Well, I mean, kinda… when I was eleven, but I wouldn't really watch it for the duels, though. I just watched it because I thought Kaiba was sorta hot…

Ugh. Say no more. My point is that to get the advantage, your opponent should not be able to see your moves coming. And as far as I can tell, you've been pretty clear about the fact that you have no idea what you're doing in this duel -boogers, snot and all.

Ahahaaa… yeah, I guess I have.I suddenly felt very conscious of my opponent's disdain and the nauseating hint of pity in her eyes. I must have been quite the sight, sobbing, whining and feeling sorry for myself as I tried to hold my own in this duel, watching Viola manage my deck even more masterfully than I ever could. Sorry…

Nah, don't apologize just yet. I think your opponent feels sorry enough for you that she just might have let her guard down. You might be able to use this to your advantage.

And my reply made me so sick, but I couldn't do anything about it. I was weak.Tell me what I need to do. Help me.

Of course, Lorna. What are friends for?

Friends indeed…

First of all -see that Divine Wrath card in your hand? Set it down right now.

Divine Wrath? That was a trap card that would be triggered when my opponent activated a monster effect. Why would the Voice make me set that? I sighed, feeling unsure of myself, but doing as I was told regardless. It wasn't like I could actually win this duel on my own anyway. I mean, judging by how well I'd been holding up before my friends came, I was clearly not meant to be a duelist.

Now discard Card of Compensation and special summon Smile Kid.

Are you kidding? No, I can't do that. If she attacks me-

She won't be attacking you

How do you know? I countered, feeling nauseous all of a sudden. I didn't put much faith in my own dueling skills, let alone enough faith to actually argue against this move.

She won't. Trust me.

I hesitated, but obeyed, sending my Card of Compensation to my graveyard. "I'm going to…" My gaze met the gaze of Kristya, his crimson eyes glowing dull in their sockets, sending a menacing look my way, a look promising to take every last one of my 700 life points as soon as he got his hands on me.

"You're going to what?" she replied, sounding less like my opponent and more like a condescending adult talking to a young child. She threw her head back in laughter for what seemed to be the hundredth time in this duel.

"I'm going to special summon Smile Kid." I set the card down on my duel disk and glanced away to my left. I couldn't even face my own friends. I wasn't dueling like Yugi taught me. I wasn't trusting my cards; I think I never did trust my cards -I didn't trust them any more than I trusted myself. I was fucking pathetic. I didn't want to die though…I didn't deserve to win this duel, but oh,God, I didn't want to die.

Viola covered her lips with her fingers and giggled, her voice echoing in the alley, bouncing through my ears as though the walls were playing ping pong with the sound. "Oh, how unfortunate, abomination. Have I told you about Kristya's special ability? It prevents either of us from special summoning any monsters… but it's not like you really have anything that could destroy Kristya anyway."

My hand froze over my card, feeling the color drain from my face, a cold, empty feeling filling the pits of my stomach. Had I been tricked?

Divine Wrath…

Divine Wrath? Wait. This card could be triggered in response to my opponent activating a monster's effect, just as Viola was doing. It then negated that effect and destroyed the monster. I was finally going to get rid of Kristya! That was why I had to summon Smile Kid!

"You just triggered my trap card!" I exclaimed, flipping Divine Wrath face up, just as I had been told..

"Wh-Wha… How did you draw a card like that?" she sputtered, her face taking on an expression of panic, one that she was making for the first time in our duel. I guess it was safe to assume that she knew exactly what my trap card did.

A blinding beam of light split the heavens and enclosed Viola's monster, Kristya, in a scorching hot, white carapace. It was like Zeus himself had released his heavenly anger upon Kristya and smote him with a bolt of lightning, evaporating his armor and leaving nothing of the monster but dust.

"Alright, Lorna! That was a great move! You destroyed her monster!" Téa exclaimed, clapping cheerfully. I slowly turned my head to look at her, only for her to give me a warm, encouraging smile.

Joey leapt forward and gestured ecstatically with his fist. "And that pipsqueak of a monster she's got defending her is gonna be cakewalk for a pro like you!"

I let out a disheartened chuckle. "Right… Pro…" I could feel sweat pouring into my blisters and I didn't know whether I was shivering or shuddering anymore.

"Ha!" Viola defiantly blurted. "You may have successfully defeated Kristya, but he's not gone forever! When Kristya is sent to the graveyard, I can send him right back to the top of my deck."

Now, can I trust you to take over from here?

No, you can't. I'm so scared… I can't think.

If there was ever a time to let out a long exasperated sigh, for the Voice in my head, this was it. It wasn't like I could actually ever tell what it was thinking or feeling by the way it spoke, because when it spoke to me, it was almost like it wasn't even a voice at all. It was like a thought in my mind, with a mind and personality of its own. However, this time, I knew that this voice was benevolent. It wanted to take care of me, and I needed someone to take care of me right now, since I couldn't take care of myself. I mean, before I came to Domino City, I sat on the internet, doing nothing for hours- sorry, days on end, and if that wasn't the perfect model of self-neglect, I didn't know what was.

I'll take care of you, Lorna. I promise.

Thank you.

Now, since you discarded Card of Compensation, you're allowed to draw two cards. Why don't you go ahead and do that?

I hesitantly reached out for my deck for the fifth time since this duel began, feeling the inside of my palms dampen and the hairs on my arms rise. This draw was probably my most important draw since I came to Domino City, and though my luck had a tendency to run out at the worst times, I was determined not to fuck this up. I had to live. I wasn't ready to die.

The cards were now in my hand, joining the lonely spell card in my hand. I had drawn a monster, Iofiel, and a trap card, Mirror Barrier,and although they weren't much, I was confident that the Voice would help me. It promised to, so it would know exactly what to do.

Since Smile Kid was special summoned, you can summon that monster you just drew and set down the other two cards.

"Iofiel?" Viola remarked, examining the monster closely, like she was trying to recall something. Sure, with 1000 attack points, Iofiel wasn't that great, but the Voice had a plan; I was betting my life on that fact. "Let's see if you know how to use it."

"Oh, I can definitely use it," I replied confidently. "By sending one of my one-star fairy monsters from my deck to my graveyard," I skimmed through my deck for a card to send to the grave -Zeriel was a one-star monster… perfect. "I can activate Iofiel's special ability, making it gain 1000 attack points and raising its attack to 2000 points!"

I could see Viola stiffen, and I almost wanted to see her terror. It was scary, like nothing would satisfy me more than to see her suffer. However, my hopes were shot down when she glared icily at me, and in that icy glare, I almost believed that I was truly an abomination. But I was going to live no matter what.

"Do your worst."

"I intend to, Viola."

Barely in the scope of my attention, I could hear frightened whispers. "L-Lorna…" It was like pillows were covering my ears and those whispers were unwanted, uninvited background noise when what I really needed to hear was the sound of my victory.

"Iofiel -attack and destroy Smile Angel!" I ordered, watching as my fairy struck her down. "Your move."

Viola: 2550

Lorna: 700

She swiped a card off of the top of her deck. "First, I'm going to summon my Archlord Kristya again! The great thing about Kristya is that whenever he gets destroyed, he just goes back to the top of my deck, and since you destroyed my Smile Angel, I also have enough fairies in my graveyard to summon him right from my hand. Because I summoned him like this, I get to take one of the fairies in my grave and add it to my hand. I think… I'll choose Smile Angel." The fairy I had just destroyed materialized once more on my opponent's side of the field, along with a monster which had caused me plenty of grief throughout the duel. Kristya was back…

"Is that all?"

"Not by a long shot!" She grinned maliciously. It looked so ugly on her. "You may have been able to destroy my monsters for a little while, but your Smile Kid is in attack mode with no attack points to speak of. This duel is over -now!" She pointed to my monster, he long bony fingers paler than they were at the start of the duel. She was just as much of a corpse as I was. "Smile Angel! Attack her monster and take out the rest of her life points!"

My lips were moving of their own accord… It was okay… I was used to it. "Not so fast! I activate Mirror Barrier. This protects my Smile Kid and then sends your attack right back at your monster! You also can't attack him for 3 whole turns… Not that you'll be around that long."

Smile Angel's blast collided with the transparent shield that had formed around my small fairy. He looked on solemnly as the blast flew right back at the attacker. I wondered what he was thinking at that moment. Was it that Smile Angelwas his big sister? Was this betrayal to him? Well, too bad. Viola had already crossed that line with my Agent cards facing off against each other. The angel's attack burned her, causing her to squeal and shudder before her whole form disappeared.

"Kristya!" she shrieked, "Attack her Iofiel!"

The larger monster charged towards mine, the magnesium flames of his attack blinding me. The pillar of light slammed down onto my monster and I didn't need my vision to know that my monster wouldn't survive the attack. When the smoke cleared, the only monster on the field was Smile Kid, idly staring around the alleyway in his little bubble of protection.

"What? Why is Kristya gone?" the now hysterical woman cried out, her arms shook in front of her as her pupils darted around the empty field.

"It's because I activated Light of the Master right before your attack hit me," I clarified, holding up the spell card so that she could see it and then sending it to my grave. "This card gives my monster 400 attack points for each fairy I have on my side of the field. It may not have protected my monster, but it gave it just enough attack points to take your monster down to the grave with it."

"You're forgetting something," she interrupted, her mouth a thin line, trembling in rage, fear -it was all the same to me. "My Kristya can't die. He just goes back to the top of my deck."

"Well, then I'll make sure he's gone for good… My turn!" I announced. "Draw!"

Monster Reborn! Just the card I needed!

"I'm going to activate Monster Reborn and bring back an old friend of mine…"

"Iofiel -" Viola began with a scoff.

I cut her off with a wag of my finger and a smirk. "No, not from my graveyard -from yours… Now, hand over your Agent of Judgement - Saturn."

She looked like she was about to puke, standing on the other side of the field with her pale face, her pale hand fishing clumsily in her graveyard. Reluctantly, she threw over her Saturn and I caught it with ease. You would not understand the rush of power I felt as I set her card down on my duel disk and watched it appear before me -my treasured Saturn.

"Attack her life points directly."

I briefly caught a strangled gasp from my opponent, and scowled, keeping my eyes on my own monsters. I gazed on with pride as Saturn prepared his attack and launched himself at my opponent, nearly knocking the wind out of her and eliciting a hideous scream. Now, she understood how I felt. Now, that bitch was getting a taste of her own medicine.

Viola: 150

Lorna: 900

I was so close. I could feel my legs aching for release. They were stiff and paralyzed, but the pain was still there. It had been there the whole time, squeezing and easing, making sure that I never quite got used to one kind of pain for too long.

"I can't die now..." she breathed. "I'm not… ready…"

The fog was thicker now. I could hardly hear her speak, let alone whisper. I didn't need to hear her, though. I needed to win.

The demons were still ascending her body, dealing the 2400 point damage to her skin, when she reached for another card. She didn't need to look to know it was Kristya again, but this time, she couldn't summon it. She set a monster down in front of her and ended her turn.

I quickly drew a card, but I didn't care what it was. This was the turn in which I would win the duel, and my life. She may have set a card face down in front of her, but she knew just as well as I did that I didn't need to destroy her monster to win this duel.

"Lorna, stop! That's enough!"

Before I could activate Saturn's special ability and end this, I was interrupted by a strong voice -too strong to be Viola's voice since she was more corpse than human now. It was none other than Téa, standing in the middle of the field between Saturn and Viola, holding her arms out protectively.

"You can't do this," she told me, her eyes digging fiercely into my own. Why would she protect Viola of all people? That bitch wanted to kill me and she deserved what she was about to get. "You're not being yourself, Lorna."

"You... you haven't learned a thing from this, abomination, have you?" A raspy voice broke into the argument, drilling into my ears like a mosquito. "I may die here, but your fate is sealed."

"Shut up and die, Viola."

"Lorna!" Téa yelped in alarm. Her eyes glistened as she stared at me, looking less determined and more pained.

I didn't want to hurt her. Téa was my friend. This was a shadow duel and these were real monsters. If I had Saturn wipe out the rest of Viola's life points, Téa would be collateral damage, standing foolishly in the middle of the field. "Get out of my way, Téa. You'll get hurt."

"You don't need to do this! You can stop this duel now and you can both live!" the brunette exclaimed, stepping back and getting closer to Viola. "Viola, you can end this, right?"

I didn't want to give that bitch a chance to answer. "I'm warning you, Téa. Get out of the way or Saturn's attack will hit you."

"No, I won't."

It was my life or hers…

"Saturn, attack."

And I valued my own life so much more.

"Téa!" someone shouted, but I didn't know what happened next. All I knew was the dark hand that was choking me, pushing its way through my lips and down my throat. The dark hands grabbed at me from all sides, covered my eyes, and tugged at my limbs. All my senses had been dulled, and I was floating on darkness and oblivion.

Welp... that's that then. After 495435 drafts, this chapter is finally done. I'm not completely satisfied, but this is as good as it's gonna get, unless you wanna wait another 3 months.

Anyway, the next chapter will be another 3rd person chapter since Lorna is a bit indisposed and needs some time to recover. I shall call it "Lumen II" and if you're clever then you already know what it's going to be about.

Okay, so remember last chapter I said I was thinking of changing up the title? Well, here's the thing - I know some of you have grown attached to the title "Mary-Sue-Gi-Oh!" (including myself) so I've decided to keep that title, but add a subtitle. The subtitle will have a darker tone to it so that the title and subtitle contrast a bit since this whole mess of a fanfic can change tones so quickly.

So here's the deal, the new title will be "Mary-Sue-Gi-Oh: (THE SUBTITLE)"

And I've put up a poll on my profile with potential subtitles. It would be SUPERSPECIALAWESOME if you went over there and voted for the subtitle you think is the most suitable. (They all sound like gibberish but they're meaningful, I promise)

AND NOW FOR SOME SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION

For all you horror lovers, I've started a new Yu-Gi-Oh crossover with Corpse Party called "THETA", so check it out if you're interested in that kind of thing! The great part is that, even with no knowledge of Corpse Party, you can still enjoy the plot. So PLEASE give it a chance! I'm really excited about it.

I mean, you'll be on my profile voting for the subtitle anyway, so might as well enjoy yourself while you wait another 5 months for me to update ;D