A/N: It's been a rough couple months, and things are still not great, but I'm doing better. Kinda. Better enough to write another chapter of this for you guys, and I'm so sorry that it took so long. I actually had to rewrite it a couple times. I've been branching out a lot in other fandoms lately (particularly on my AO3 account), but don't worry, Yu-Gi-Oh was the first anime to ever steal my heart, and I will be forever loyal to it.
This series isn't over yet, and I plan on sticking to this project until the very end.
The full deck-lists for the decks used in this chapter's duel are available in my "Deleted Scenes" collection. Because rewriting the story wasn't enough for me, I just had to go and create brand new decks for the characters to use as well.
"You don't think I'm too late to still have a chance at qualifying for the finals, do you?" Ryou asked anxiously as he and Marik walked back towards the city's center, having left Amane at home with his mother.
"Not at all. I'm sure there will be plenty of people still dueling. Dozens of people entered the tournament, after all. Surely they haven't eliminated each other that quickly."
"Yeah." Ryou breathed a small sigh, eyes darting around the quiet side-street nervously. The kidnapping incident had him on edge, the adrenaline wearing off and leaving him shaky and uncertain.
"Hey." Marik took Ryou's hand and pulled him to a stop, his friend turning to look at him curiously. "I'm really proud of you, Ryou. You did well in that duel, and I know it must have been hard for you."
Ryou blushed at the sudden praise, eyes modestly downcast as Marik's sudden, bright smile blinded him. Unable to resist the allure of his bashful boyfriend, Marik stepped closer and placed his hand on Ryou's cheek, angling his face slightly upwards so he could steal a small kiss. At least, he intended for it to be small and short, but when Ryou's soft lips molded to his, yielding yet eager, Marik accepted the invitation. He dropped his hand from Ryou's face so he could place both hands on his thin waist and pull him closer. Marik was never shy about being public with his displays of affection, but Ryou had taught him early on where to draw the line and why. This kiss technically violated the terms of their agreement, but they were the only ones on the sidewalk here, and Ryou wasn't complaining in the slightest.
"Ah!" Marik jerked back as searing pain ripped through his upper arm. The handle of a small knife was protruding from his arm, the sight of blood reminding him of things best forgotten. It made his stomach clench, but he truly felt nauseous when he saw a pale hand reach up to pull it out. Marik clamped a hand down over the wound, his fingers now slick with his own hot blood as he lifted his eyes to the twisted, savage features of—not Ryou, that was certain. The youth was just then turning away to shove the knife into the flower-box outside a neighbor's window. He casually dusted his hands off and turned around as the spirit returned control to his host, who gasped at once before rushing over to the Egyptian teen.
"Marik, what happened?" He reached towards the wound, then snatched his hands away. "Should I call an ambulance?"
"No, I'm fine," Marik assured with a half-hearted smile even as the color drained from his face.
"You're not fine, Marik!" Ryou snapped, too busy panicking to know what to do. When Marik started to lose his balance, though, he lurched into action, catching him and helping him sit on the ground before tying his handkerchief around the cut as tightly as he could. The pressure would help stop the bleeding. That's how that's supposed to work, right? It must have hurt when he bandaged the wound, but Marik didn't make a sound, merely grimaced in silence.
Just as Ryou was tying the final knot, his phone started ringing. He wiped his fingers on his jeans and was about to ignore the call when he saw that it was Ishizu. He answered.
"Marik's injured."
She already knew.
"Yeah…"
"Sugoroku will be there any moment now to take him to the hospital."
"Thank you, Ishizu." Ryou sighed in relief. Those powers of Ishizu's were quite helpful in a crisis.
"Please don't blame yourself for this, Ryou."
"Shouldn't I, though?" His voice broke. "I'm the one who left him alone and allowed this to happen."
As he grit his teeth against the pain, Marik wondered just how Ryou had perceived the incident. What explanation had the spirit planted in his friend's mind?
Ishizu was quiet for a moment before she answered, "Blame the man who stabbed him. I'll meet him at the hospital. Continue competing in the tournament. It's what Marik would want."
"But—"
"Will you let those men get away with kidnapping your sister?"
Ryou couldn't argue with that. Noah Kaiba was a criminal at large, and they were the only people who could stop him.
"Once he's at the hospital, we'll report it to the police."
"Okay." Ryou was too shaken to think clearly right now.
"Good luck, and be safe."
"Thanks. You too."
The remaining qualifying duels for the Battle City Finals blurred together in Seto's mind. He was on edge the whole time, but he was equally distracted, and unless he perceived an immediate threat, he was wrapped up in his thoughts.
He hadn't expected all the finalists to be his acquaintances, nor had he expected Marik to get mysteriously injured while Ryou was trying to qualify—and Seto couldn't rule out Noah Kaiba as an indirect cause of his injury. He also hadn't expected Ishizu to be a duelist, let alone a duelist good enough to qualify for the quarterfinals. Seto suspected her of cheating with the Millennium Necklace, but under the circumstances, he couldn't condemn her for it.
Milling about in some kind of reception or ante-room of the blimp with tables of complimentary food, the finalists waited for the quarterfinals to begin.
Each duelist had received a numbered ID card when they checked in at the KaibaCorp Stadium.
Duelist #1: Noah Kaiba, the mastermind behind the entire tournament, ensured that he qualified before anyone else.
Duelist #2: Mai Valentine, an old adversary from Duelist Kingdom, was the oldest and most experienced duelist here at twenty-four.
Duelist #3: Duke Devlin might prove to be the dark horse of the tournament, having never competed professionally before, yet qualifying with ease.
Duelist #4: Yugi Mutou, the champion of Duelist Kingdom, would be dueling to protect the title "King of Games."
Duelist #5: Seto fought to win back the Egyptian god-card from a sociopathic felon and to regain the title of champion he'd held only briefly.
Duelist #6: Joey Wheeler, the scrappy underdog, dueled beside his best friends for the same cause—and for the rare cards he acquired with each victory.
Duelist #7: Ryou Bakura, the Duelist Kingdom finalist who'd lost his nerve under pressure, now had a shot at redemption.
Duelist #8: Ishizu Ishtar, a complete unknown, was the last to appear, with her injured brother in tow.
They were all concerned about Marik's health—Ryou and Ishizu especially—but he promised that if he felt unwell, he would tell them right away and that he currently felt fine. The strangest thing was that Marik didn't seem to know how it happened. Either he didn't know, or he didn't want to tell.
Both were concerning.
"Are you not going to eat anything?"
Ishizu's soft voice tugged Seto out of his own musings and back to the present.
"I'm not hungry."
"You need to take care of yourself," she reminded him, voice soft and quiet as her eyes found Mokuba, talking cheerfully with Joey across the room.
"I do. But that makes me wonder if Marik's truly fit to be here." Ishizu looked slightly uncomfortable now that he'd brought it up, but that didn't stop him from asking, "If he was only discharged from the hospital an hour ago, shouldn't he be home resting?"
"If he looks like he needs to rest, I'll make him, despite any protests he may voice." Seto still looked dubious, so she continued, "They wouldn't have discharged him unless they were confident he was healthy enough to do so." Ishizu didn't need to explain herself to Seto, as if his approval held any weight in this situation, but still, she didn't want him thinking ill of her or her decision-making.
Before their conversation could progress any further, the duelists were called to gather around a lottery machine—one that would yield perfectly randomized results in pairing off duelists for the next round of eliminations. A KaibaCorp employee, introduced to them as Roland, operated the machine and read the results: "Duelist #2 and Duelist #7 will face off in the first duel of the Battle City Quarterfinals!"
"Me? I'm dueling first?" Ryou looked stunned to have had his number drawn already. He'd expected to watch at least one duel before it was his turn to battle for a place in the semifinals.
"This is going to be a walk in the park." Mai smirked, twirling her thick ponytail around one finger. "Prepare to be crushed, kid."
"Don't think I'm going to let you walk away with the duel that easily, Mai." Ryou tried to retort back, but he sounded nervous. He remembered how he'd choked up at the Duelist Kingdom semifinals, an embarrassing duel that Mai herself had witnessed. No wonder she thought he was weak.
Occupied with his thoughts, Ryou almost missed Seto's words of encouragement and Marik's warm smile. He almost forgot to smile back at them before he followed Roland's directions to the elevator that would take him to the dueling platform. Too anxious to appreciate the high-tech elevator or to wonder about the actual location of the duels, Ryou fidgeted with the chord around his neck keeping the golden artifact near his chest.
His deck was set, his strategy was proven, and he had friends cheering him on. Mai was talented, but so was he.
There was absolutely no reason to be worried. If he didn't advance, then one of his friends would, which would be for the best. If he couldn't defeat Mai, then he didn't deserve a chance to duel against Noah Kaiba.
As the elevator ascended, Ryou thought he could feel the air growing colder and a wave of icy calm washed over him. The tremor in his hands stopped as suddenly as it had started.
He could do this.
When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Ryou stepped out onto the platform and was suddenly hit by a gust of strong wind. He paused for a moment, but kept walking towards his spot. Mai stood across from him, but they were separated by several meters and Roland, the moderator and referee. A quick glance showed him where the other duelists and non-duelists were standing to watch the duel.
"The first duel of the quarterfinals will be between Mai Kujaku and Ryou Bakura!" Roland announced. "Duelists, please approach the center to shuffle your opponents' deck."
The two duelists obeyed, exchanging decks and shuffling them thoroughly.
"I sure hope you've improved your dueling skills since the Duelist Kingdom finals, or this is going to be a pretty boring duel," Mai remarked casually, smirking as she returned his deck to him. They exchanged decks again, sliding them into their duel disks with ease.
Ryou laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "I hope so!"
"Better or not, I want you to give it your all!" Orchid eyes glinted with excitement.
"I'll do my best!" Ryou agreed, and extended a hand to Mai. She shook it firmly, looking both amiable and competitive. Ryou thanked his lucky stars that at least this duel would be free of malice.
"Let the first duel of the Battle City Finals begin!" Roland announced, and the duelists released hands before parting to stand on their marks on opposite ends of the platform. The coin toss gave Ryou the first turn.
Ryou frowned at his starting hand, looking uncertain. "I summon Skull Servant in defense mode and end my turn," he said carefully, as if he expected to change his own mind at any moment.
"Really, is that all you've got?" Mai scoffed. "I lay one magic card face-down and summon my Amazoness Paladin in attack mode." She slapped down her cards and announced her attack on Ryou's card, sending it to the graveyard.
"Oh, oh dear," Ryou murmured with a slight frown, tapping his index finger against his bottom lip. "Good move, Mai." Though he praised his opponent, he looked discouraged. He drew a card from his deck—Effect Veiler—and added it to his hand.
"What's he doing?" Joey asked, aiming his question at Seto.
"I'm not sure yet," Seto answered thoughtfully. "I don't know how much of his deck or strategy is new."
"I guess we'll have to wait and see," Yugi added.
"Mai is obviously using an Amazoness deck," Seto continued. "It's not bad, and if properly balanced, it can be fairly strong. But it's not unbeatable. Ryou has a fighting chance."
"I set one monster in defense mode." Ryou delicately placed one monsters face-down, his expression anxious. "That ends my turn."
"If you want to have even a chance of winning," Mai called as she drew her card. "Then you're going to need to make a bold move sooner or later. Hurry up, kid, before I wipe you out."
Ryou seemed undisturbed by her words, swaying a little in place and discreetly reaching back to momentarily curl one strand of pearly hair around his finger.
"I summon Amazoness Spy, in attack mode!" The hologram brought the female warrior to life with a burst of color. "And I use its effect to summon—"
"Not so fast, Mai!" Ryou interrupted his opponent with a calm, teasing tone, almost as if he were singing the words. He waved a card from his hand between two fingers and, with a placid smile, explained, "I choose to discard Effect Veiler from my hand, negating the special effects of your Amazoness Spy." He slipped the card into his graveyard, still smiling. "That bold enough for you, Mai?"
"Well played." Mai looked smugly pleased that she'd be getting a real duel out of him. "Even so, my Amazoness Paladin gains one hundred attack points for its presence on the field." Her first card's attack points were now eighteen hundred. "And I play Amazoness Village, increasing both my monsters' attack points by two hundred," she announced, throwing the field spell card on her disk, but Ryou began clicking his tongue.
"Tut tut, Mai. Nice try, but by discarding my Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit card from my hand to the graveyard, I can destroy your spell card." He let out an uncharacteristically high giggle. "Too bad."
"He needs to be careful, or he'll use up all the cards in his hand during her turn," Yugi said, sounding concerned. Seto briefly glanced down at Yugi on his left, feeling concerned for a different reason.
"Continue with your turn, if you dare." Ryou smirked at his opponent, his face shifting into an expression it was unaccustomed to.
"You're not going to scare me into holding back, kid. I attack your face-down card with my Amazoness Paladin!" His monster revealed itself to be Wightprince as it was blown away and sent to his graveyard.
"Do you really think you can win a duel using monsters that have zero attack or defense points?" Mai mocked, following it with a laugh. Ryou's smirk remained, though.
"Because of Wightprince's special effect, I can send two monsters directly from my deck to the graveyard." The duel disk ejected two cards from his deck, which he slid directly into his graveyard.
"A lot of good they'll do you there! Go, Amazoness Spy, attack his life-points directly!"
Mai ended her turn with her four thousand life-points in tact, leaving Ryou with thirty-two hundred life-points.
"I draw." He looked at his card, eyes lighting up with mischief. "I activate the spell card Painful Decision from my hand, letting me add a monster level four or lower to my hand from my deck if I take another card of the same name from my deck and add it to my graveyard."
"I've seen him play from the graveyard before," Seto commented unbidden. "It's not uncommon with zombie decks. He seems to have the luck of the draw on his side for now, so Mai'd better make a move in her next turn, before he gets all the cards he needs."
That puts two Skull Servants, one Lady In Wight, one Wightprince, one King of the Skull Servants, and one Wightprincess in my graveyard. Perfect.
"I'm sorry that this duel is so short, Mai, but it was fun while it lasted."
"And what makes you so sure it's over?" She arched one perfect eyebrow at him.
"I summon King of the Skull Servants in attack mode." The cloaked skeleton sparkled to life, bony jaw clattering with disturbing realism. "And because I have six cards in the graveyard that identify as Skull Servant, that means he has six thousand attack points."
"No way!" Joey exclaimed, caught off-guard by the card's power.
"Attack her Amazoness Paladin!"
"Not so fast! I activate my trap-card, Mirror Force, which destroys your skeleton king."
Bakura's smirk turned into a sneer as his monster was blasted by it's own attack. Yugi and Seto exchanged a look of dubious concern.
"That's not Ryou," Marik murmured as he gazed at his friend with sad eyes, drawing his friends' attention.
"No, it's not."
Seto nodded concurrence with Yugi's words, then looked up at the femme fatale duelist.
"Be careful, Mai!" he called out. "Ryou's not himself right now!"
"If by 'not himself' you mean he's actually a competent duelist," Mai retorted dismissively, "Then yeah, he's not."
"Ya gotta listen to us, Mai!" Joey called out, Bakura's eyes now fixing on the blond and glaring daggers in his direction. "This duel isn't safe!"
"It's not anymore." Bakura finally dropped the act, any semblance of playfulness or innocence in his visage was gone as he straightened his posture and tilted his chin forwards, with the effect that he seemed to disdain everyone around him. "You've forced my hand." A bright light seemed to emanate from his chest momentarily as the dueling field was suddenly shrouded in thick dark clouds, the black fog curling around their legs like ghostly tentacles. "I was going to spare you, but now you know too much. I'll have to take this duel to the Shadow Realm."
"I thought we destroyed the Spirit of the Millennium Ring when we defeated him in Monster World." Yugi sounded both confused and disappointed.
"Apparently not." Seto wasn't surprised, though. Seth had known somehow that the evil spirit wasn't gone, so it was only a matter of time before he attacked again.
"Do you think Mai has a chance of beating him?" Yugi asked, violet eyes shadowed with hope.
"Do I think Mai has a chance at defeating an evil spirit with a magical artifact at a trading card game?" Seto gave Yugi a dubious expression. "I think the spirit has a clear advantage in this situation."
The sound of a small sigh caught Seto's attention, and he looked up to see Marik gazing at Mai's opponent with a melancholy expression, wringing his hands anxiously.
Marik must have known.
"I don't know what you're going on about," Mai shouted, looking quite serious. "But if you're done speaking nonsense, I'll take my turn now."
"Go ahead." Bakura grinned like a feral cat. "But be prepared for a duel like nothing you've ever seen!"
TO BE CONTINUED...