Seto smirked as his helicopter started its landing procedures.
He'd been watching the duel over in Tenku no Seiiki via the live feed, and to see Yugi wipe the floor with her opponent, even when he knew she was at one of her lowest points just confirmed in his mind that between her and the Spirit of her Puzzle, there really was no one better.
Except him, of course.
At least until the report came in that Yugi had collapsed shortly after her duel.
Early reports said she was breathing and her vitals seemed stable, but still he fired off a message for them to keep him updated and to get her on her feet as soon as possible, wanting to cut off any attempt to disqualify her on health grounds.
That sent, he turned his attention to the first finished view of Yama, which sparkled below him. The lights of the rides reflected off the glass gems embedded in the rocky surfaces of the mountainous mine based area, retracting light of rainbow hues across the paths. The grey-brown stone buildings were broken up with trees and bushes, granting glimpses of the tracks and trails of the various roller coasters that rose into the skies and dove down into the depths of what had once been the tunnels of the military base.
Glancing at Mokuba brought a rush of delight to his heart. The sheer joy and sparkle in his younger brother's eyes was everything he'd dreamed about when he'd been putting himself through hell and made it worth it.
On the other side of the helicopter, Marik's eyes narrowed as they passed over the stage where he and Kaiba were to duel. The sunken stage was surrounded by raised seating on every side and lined with golden coins. Statues of various dragons of Duel Monsters curled around clutches of eggs, defined the edges over the tiled arena floor, which was made up of scattered creams, yellows and browns. At any other time in his life, Marik would've been excited to duel in the dragon hatching grounds.
But his family had paid an unfathomable price for their entrance to Hekigan, and that tainted his vision of the theme park; twisting what should be a chance for joy and adventure into a boiling wrath.
His father had often spoke of the excess of the surface dwellers. How the demon's influence had turned what'd once been a world of those that cared about others and worked for what they had, into a selfish, cruel place where the poor suffered and the rich lived like kings, surrounded only by what made them happy.
And the Yama section of Hekigan was clearly catered to Kaiba Seto's tastes. If Marik hadn't seen the randomiser at work, he would've thought Kaiba had deliberately set himself up to duel here.
Instead, fate had determined that Kaiba's path ended here.
The helicopter landed at the top of the bowl, just behind the seating, in the shadow of the Blue Eye Ferris wheel. To their left rose the Burst Breath roller coaster whose white and pale blue track raced into the darkness of the skies above, while the Feather Storm spun to their right, the engineers doing one final test run of the pink, blue and green feather themed roller coaster before everyone was unleashed on the park after the final duel of Battle City.
Kaiba couldn't help but feel proud as he beheld the grounds of what'd once been his father's crowning joy. Hekigan was the realisation of his and Mokuba's dreams. Their real dreams. Untwisted by the monster his father had made him into.
Kaiba didn't even bother to acknowledge the press as he strode down the steps and into the hatching ground, Mokuba scurrying into a seat nearby, while Marik held his head high, planning to burn Kaiba and his theme park to the ground if it got him a shot at taking out the Pharaoh who'd cost him his sister.
Only for his brother to catch his arm before he could take the final step onto the false sands. Marik's anger burned brighter when he realised his brother's grasp was much weaker than normal and Rishid trembled with the effort of staying on his feet.
"I'm going to tear him down, Rishid, I promise."
"Just be careful," His brother begged. "Kaiba is a dangerous opponent and he carries a God card."
"I'm not afraid of his God." Marik promised, "I'm going to annihilate it. And him."
Concern-infused confusion flashed across Rishid's face, but the older brother let go, allowing Marik to step down into the bowl and take his place opposite Kaiba.
"This duel won't take long." Kaiba warned the reporters who were settling in the stands as he and Marik shuffled each other's decks and handed them back, "So don't get too comfortable."
"He's right, I'm going to burn him to the ground." Marik's countersnap made Kaiba's eyes narrow. "Him and everything he has!"
With that, he drew.
"I activate two Ancient Rule!" Marik's spell cards arrived on the field with little fanfare, but their appearance was a bad start for Kaiba. "Ancient Rule allows me to special summon level five or higher monsters from my hand, letting me call my Simorgh, Bird of Divinity and Dark Simorgh from my hand!"
Two huge birds arrived on the field, almost as tall as the stands. One a crowned figure with multiple wings, its shimmering feathers of white and pale green sparkling in the floodlights as its 2900 attack flashed up. The other, a two winged form with black and grey feathers who screeched at his opponent as its 2700 attack points were revealed.
"And I normal summon my Wind Effigy, which can be used as two tributes for a Wind monster, meaning next turn I can bring another storm to the field!"
A furiously swirling tornado, spitting feathers of a million hues spun into existence between the pair of birds.
"And that ends my turn."
Kaiba scowled. Marik's field was impressive, and if it hadn't been turn one, it would've wiped the floor with him.
But that didn't mean anything as far as Kaiba was concerned. He was the former World Champion and he was the one who would face Yugi in the morning and reclaim his title.
And no birds were going to stop him. No matter how powerful they were.
"I activate Polymerization!" He snapped, slamming the card into place, "Fusing the three Blue Eyes in my hand, to bring forth the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
The trio of dragons appeared on the field, their scales shining bright enough to blind for just a moment before they burst into stars that twinkled as they shot into the air, twirling around each other until they combined into a blazing sun that unfolded into a three headed, pearlescent scaled dragon that bellowed her fury at the monsters that dared to challenge her, her blue eyes blazing.
"Blue Eyes Ultimate, show him what true power is!"
The dragon unleashed a triple burst of lightning-infused energy that slammed into Marik's Wind Effigy, destroying it. The winds whipped up by the burst slammed into Marik, knocking him backwards and ripping away 2700 life points.
"You don't stand a chance against me."
"This duel is far from over and I've got more important people to rip apart," Marik snapped back. "I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards."
The two cards Marik drew made him relax a little. "I set a card face down and a card in defence mode. Your move."
"That's not going to stop me." Kaiba moved to draw. The moment his fingers touched the deck, earthen strength jolted through his senses. He knew even before he looked that the card he'd drawn was Obelisk the Tormentor.
But he didn't need it. Not for this weakling.
"Blue Eyes, blast his Bird of Divinity!"
The powerful pale green Winged-Beast recoiled as the powerful burst built up.
"I activate Icarus Attack!" Marik's call made Kaiba scowl.
The face down defence card suddenly flipped face up, revealing a tiny icy green bird with big red eyes that leapt into the air and soaked up the attack before slamming into the dragon. It erupted into a blast of feathers that consumed the attacking monster, sending it to the graveyard and leaving Kaiba's field wide open.
For all 5600 attack points of Marik's monsters.
"I'll put this face down." Kaiba scowled, more irritated at himself than worried as he slipped it into place, "Make your move."
"This duel is over! Simorghs! Blow him away!"
The inky black winds from Dark Simorgh merged with the shimmering white winds of Divinity and launched towards Kaiba, only to get caught in a portal that sucked up the attack, preventing it from reaching its target.
"How?"
"My Negate Attack stops your move in its tracks." Kaiba waved towards his flipped card, which slowly faded away. "I'm not done yet."
"Neither am I. I use Bird of Beginning's ability to bring it back in defence mode. And that ends my turn."
Marik was ticked, but not entirely surprised. If it was easy to defeat Kaiba, anyone would have done it by now, not just the Pharaoh. Still, he was determined to be the second.
"I play Monster Reborn." Kaiba smirked, noting that Marik was not only out of cards on the field besides his monsters, but had only one card. "To bring back my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
The dragon retook the field with a powerful snarl.
"You don't deserve to be in this tournament! You're no match for any one of your competitors and Blue Eyes will show you that! Destroy Dark Simorgh!"
The avian beast stood no chance against the pure fury of Kaiba's dragon. The light that consumed it, burned it to ashes and slammed into Marik, erasing another 1300 life points.
"You're done."
With only 1400 life points left compared to Kaiba's 4000, Marik's confidence plummeted. He wanted to crush Kaiba and move on, but his back was against the wall.
Then he drew, and the world changed.
His nerves burned as he beheld the false Winged Dragon of Ra he'd loaded his deck with.
He won, provided he wasn't about to be destroyed for his audacity.
"You're not the only one who can use Monster Reborn, Kaiba. I bring back my Dark Simorgh and tribute him, my Bird of Divinity and my Bird of Beginnings for the Winged Dragon of Ra!"
"What?!"
Kaiba couldn't believe what he was seeing as the three Winged Beasts were consumed in fire, which were sucked skywards and formed into a golden, glowing sphere. He'd known that the Ishtars had the third God, but he'd been informed that it was in the hands of the woman, Ishizu. The one who had gotten Yugi killed earlier in the day.
Now as Marik chanted something in a language that was both familiar and not and the words twisted Kaiba's heart, the sphere in the air unfolded.
Left staring at a great golden armoured mix of bird and dragon that was taller than the Ferris wheel itself, as the God card in his hand pulsed with fury, Seto couldn't help but wonder if he'd been told wrong, or whether Marik had duplicated his sister's card.
"Ra gains the attack points of the beasts tributed for it, meaning it has 5600 attack points!"
Marik's heart leapt in relief as the ruby red eyes of the sun's avatar beheld him for a moment and it spat a small flame that licked his skin, leaving him sore and in pain, but he was not immediately murdered.
Maybe, just maybe, this was a sign that he deserved to wield it after everything his family had put him through.
And after everything the Pharaoh had taken from his family.
"Ra! Destroy his dragon!"
The golden beast drew back, the flames building in its maw so hot that they could be felt even before they were launched. The nearest statue to it, a Red Eyes Black Dragon started to droop, its metal structure compromised by the heat.
Then Ra hesitated.
Nerves hit Marik hard. Was it refusing his orders?
No.
No it couldn't.
He deserved this. He deserved its power. Its strength.
It was his beast. His card. He had created it. HE had created the card that could fool Kaiba's anti-cheat detection. Ra was just another card. It HAD to listen to him.
"Ra," He snarled out, "I told you to…"
The Winged Dragon erupted into flames, infuriated at the lack of respect from one that had cheated to access it.
They rushed out, slamming into the dragonic statues and shooting upwards, forming a pillar of flames that encircled the two Duelists and swept under their feet, melting the soles of their shoes and burning everything it touched.
Barely able to breathe for the heat, Seto was forced to watch as his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon was incinerated. The flames raced forward sweeping over him with a heat and force akin to the bombs his father had taken him to see during his days under Gozaburo's thumb. He couldn't hold back the pained cry as they seared his nerves and burned his soul as 1100 of his life points were devoured.
Nor could he hear Mokuba's frightened scream of his name.
The flames continued to intensify as he fell to a knee, trembling in pain. His world spun, his vision blurred in and out, but he wouldn't let himself collapse like his opponent had.
He couldn't.
The Divine Beast was out of control. If he didn't rein it in here and now, it would burn through everything he and Mokuba had worked so hard to create.
But he had no monsters on the field and Yugi's fight against Osiris had been a cruel reminder that God monsters were immune to trap cards…
But magic cards worked for just one turn and that was his only chance now.
He staggered as his legs nearly gave out under him, refusing to allow this to be the end.
He would be the one to face Yugi in the morning. There was no one else worthy.
As his opponent shakily pushed himself to his hands and knees, Kaiba drew.
"I s… summon Sagi the Dark Clown." He called, bringing forth the creepy clown and watching as he wiped its brow, "And I tribute it to activate Enemy Controller."
Entering the right code allowed cords to erupt out from the game pad and wrap around the Winged Dragon who bellowed and fought but could not break free as it was dragged to Kaiba's side of the field.
The swirling vortex of fire died down as it was brought under Kaiba's control, leaving scorch trails along the sand tiles and the dragon statues drooping, allowing Kaiba to heave in the breath he hadn't been able to catch.
"Ra!" As he called the Divine Beast's name, something was rushing down the stairs, into the arena, "Attack Marik directly!"
"Marik!"
"Marik!"
Despite the cries of Marik's siblings, the Winged Dragon didn't hesitate. It unleashed a burst of flames that slammed into the already downed Duelist, ripping away 5600 life points and ending the duel.
Hanaq was at her brother's side in milliseconds, pulling the teen into her arms with a concern that Seto knew all too well as the holograms faded away.
"Marik? Marik!"
The teen did not respond, causing a stir in the watching crowds as they realised that a Duelist had collapsed, possibly as a result of the technology. After all, the early systems had caused someone with a weak heart to suffer a heart attack.
"Niisama!"
At Mokuba's call, Hanaq turned to glare at Marik's opponent. Her eyes narrowed and she bared her teeth as the younger brother rushed to his older sibling's side.
"I'm going to destroy you and everything you care about." She hissed out, her amber eyes glowing.
"You won't even make it past the mutt." He snapped back, darkness nibbling at the edges of his vision. He knew he wouldn't be on his feet much longer, but he refused to pass out in front of the woman who'd tried to destroy his tournament and his rival. "You are nothing compared to even the weakest of the finalists."
"You know nothing of strength, Kaiba."
Darkness erupted out from the woman and lashed out at the Kaibas. Mokuba, able to see that Seto was barely standing, darted in front of his brother whose eyes widened and heart skipped a beat.
He'd seen the harm the Shadows could do to a person. He'd seen Yugi get sent flying by a burst just like this one. He couldn't let Mokuba get hurt.
Seto lunged forward, pushing himself to his limits to protect his brother, no matter what it took, and his soul lunged further, his Ka taking the form of a huge white dragon with stormy grey-blue eyes that took the hit from the darkness, its sides and wings glowing with blue light as it snarled at Hanaq.
"I… I've called the medics. They'll be here shortly." Mokuba dared to step out from behind the dragon, but did not move further than its side. "They'll look after your brother."
"You can go with him if you like. And give me the real Winged Dragon of Ra. Since you won't be able to duel." Ba-Khu-Ra's voice drew Ishizu's attention away from the Kaibas and gave the pair a moment to breathe.
"Ishizu." Rishid moved to his sister's side, concerned, "I can look after him."
"Like you looked after him here?" Hanaq snarled as the medics swarmed the field, more concerned with the health of the competitors than the drama going on around them.
Rishid flinched, unable to defend himself. He was the one who worked with Marik on the fake cards, while Ishizu rarely touched them, to prevent her magic throwing a fit about cheating. That meant he should've been aware of what his brother was up to. He should've known about the fake Ra and stopped Marik before he could summon it.
But he hadn't known until the card had hit the field, at which point it'd been too late.
"Don't fail him again." Hanaq hissed, wanting to be with her brothers but wanting to erase the Thief Queen from the face of the Earth more.
Rishid and Marik were failing each other. That didn't mean she had to fail them too.
"I won't."
"Good." The dark spirit moved towards the stairs, dragging the Shadows in as she moved. "You, Thief, you've got a date with Ammit. Let's not keep her waiting."
The pair headed for the helicopter and the poor pilot that'd been mind controlled into landing in the wrong section.
The moment Hanaq and Ba-Khu-Ra were gone and the press in tow, shooed out by security, the Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon faded away, and Seto fell.
