Battle City Finals - Definitive Versions

by SF64Rules91

Enspired by the Battle City Edition of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, experience many of the Battle City Finals duels with improved writing and several changes. Thomas and his friends have arrived for the finals of Battle City. Thomas has "Slifer the Sky Dragon", Spencer has "Obelisk the Tormentor", and Marik has "The Winged Dragon of Ra". Who will earn all three "God" Cards and win it big?

28. The Final Battle of Darkness, Part 2

This story was done in collaboration between me and Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and we both own the OCs that are used in the story. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:

Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel

The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry

Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami

WARNING: These stories are rated either T (13-plus) or M (currently) for moments of violence, bloody moments, frightening moments, and some suggestive themes. Viewer discretion may be (or strongly is) advised.

---

Title: The Final Battle of Darkness, Part 2

Outside the Duel Tower, all was quiet and peaceful… but not at the very top with the sphere of darkness. No way, man!

(elsewhere…)

Inside the Shadow Realm, it was a whole different story… Dark Marik was holding up his retrieved 'Monster Reborn' Spell Card and showing everyone from Thomas and Emily to the audience down below the platform.

"Look carefully!" he ordered, "'Monster Reborn' has been added into my hand! And I'm sure you know what that means by now…!"

Thomas scowled weakly, but said nothing in response.

"It means I can Summon 'The Winged Dragon of Ra', once more!" rambled Dark Marik, adding his favorite card into his hand, "The gate to the underworld is finally here to take you away, Thomas Billinton!"

"Well, tell it to stay closed!" retorted Thomas defiantly, before gripping onto his chest and coughing up more blood—although he resisted the pain, "As long as I have cards in my Deck, and fire in my soul, I will fight on!"

"Such brave talk for someone on the brink of death!" boasted Dark Marik, amused. He then took another card from his hand and placed it sideways onto his Duel Disk, "Now, I'll let you meet a new playmate," On cue, a Monster Card called 'Granadora' materialized face-up on the field (sideways) "I Summon 'Granadora' in Defense Position!"

An aquatic reptile-like monster appeared from the card onto the field—mainly in a defensive stance (Level: 4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 700).

"This monster, like the rest of my fiendish beauties, has a special effect," stated Dark Marik, "During my Standby Phases, while this card is in face-up Defense Position: I must gain 1000 LP!"

"1000 LP?!" gasped Gordon.

"That must be to pay for that overpowered 'Egyptian God Phoenix' ability!" guessed James.

"Exactly!" laughed Dark Marik, "That means on my next turn, not only will 'Ra' return to the field again, but it will become the unstoppable phoenix in order to roast you alive, Thomas! They'll have to bury what's left of you in a soup can!" He then took a final card from his hand and slotted it into his Duel Disk, "I Set one card face-down and end my turn."

A face-down card materialized on the field near his feet.

"As long as Marik's dark half has that 'Immortal God Slime' on the field and protecting him, I can't get an attack off without getting hurt in the process," Thomas uttered to himself, weakly.

"But that's not the worst part," The voice of Emily spoke up, causing Thomas to look up at her silently, "If Marik's dark half takes any big damage, then there's a chance good Marik will die… We have to find a way to beat ONLY that dark half!"

"It won't be easy," Thomas reminded, looking to his hand, "Nothing I have will help us, right now," His current hand consisted of 'Ragnarok', 'Kuriboh', 'Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts', and 'Dark Magician', "What can I do…?" His thoughts were different, "I don't have much time left. Taking so much pain during the Shadow Game… for the sake of protecting Emily… has taken a much larger toll on me than I realized…"

A small x-ray of the inside of Thomas's body showed a badly-looking heart, beating irregularly.

"But…" thought Thomas, sweating while looking at his hand still, "All I have to do is hang in there just a little while longer, and it will be worth it. Marik's dark half will be gone. And Emily… Emily will be safe."

Below the platform, Thomas's friends were talking about the serious situation Thomas was in.

"Man, this is awful," groaned Percy.

James stomped the ground, "Dammit!" he swore hotly, "That dark half of Marik is just too friggin' powerful!"

"How's Thomas supposed to beat him?" complained Molly.

"He can barely even stand," added Henry.

Back on the platform, Dark Marik gazed at his GY excitedly while in his thoughts…

"Just wait one more turn, 'Ra'," he said, mentally, to the GY, "Then, we will finally eliminate Thomas and his little girlfriend once and for all!" He eyed 'Obelisk the Tormentor' and 'Egyptian God Slime', as both continued to gaze at each other hatefully with low growls, "Once 'Obelisk' is gone from the field, Thomas will have nothing left to stop me from finally killing him!"

Below the platform, Mavis (possessed) began to speak up once more…

"Thomas is hesitating to attack," she commented, "You can't see the darkness of the Shadow Game he and my dark half are fighting."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" questioned Percy crossly, "It's not about connecting the players to their monsters with a rope, like with me, isn't it?"

"No," denied Mavis (possessed), "They've both got someone important to them as sacrifices for the duel. When one duelist's LP hits 0, that sacrifice will be devoured by the shadows. That includes the portion of myself in Mavis's mind."

"But that dark half of yours doesn't care about losing you!" protested Edward.

"Of course, he doesn't. My dark half cares only for himself and what he wants, which is causing death and destruction. But my dark half knows full well about how much Thomas cares for Emily. That's why he made her Thomas's sacrifice," frowned Mavis (possessed).

Back on the platform, Thomas was looking reluctant to take his turn.

"What's the matter, Thomas?" called Dark Marik, "It's your turn, now!"

Still, Thomas didn't do anything. Light Marik, still captive and barely conscious, noticed this.

"Why doesn't he want to destroy me?" he thought to himself, "Especially after everything I put him through?"

A series of flashbacks ensued.

---

FLASHBACK

At last, Flashback Arkana held out one arm in a dramatic fashion like a stage magician would.

"And now prepare yourselves!" proclaimed Flashback Arkana proudly, "It's showtime! 'Dark Magician', attack Thomas directly!" As he announced the attack name, (Red) 'Dark Magician' obeyed the command by raising his staff and pointing it forth, "Dark Magic Attack!"

(Red) 'Dark Magician' fired off a powerful blast from his own scepter right at Flashback Thomas, striking and making him scream in agony as the air all around him fizzled and flashed in a multitude of colors.

(new scene…)

Suddenly, the mime began to speak normally…in a mixture of voices.

"We meet yet again, Thomas Billinton," said Flashback Strings, "I told you to beware the Quiet One, didn't I?"

"Marik!" cried Flashback Thomas.

"The time has come for me to face you directly!" vowed Flashback Strings, "And when I win, your life will be forfeited!"

(new scene…)

During the fateful duel at the docks, Flashback Percy (possessed) started to laugh insanely after activating a Spell Card called 'Hinotama'.

"Now be struck by the flames of Hell!" he exclaimed gleefully.

A huge fireball rained from the sky and struck Flashback Thomas, causing him to scream in extreme pain (LP: 2500 → 2000).

"STOP IT!" screamed Flashback Mavis, sounding like she was about to cry, "PLEASE, STOP HURTING HIM!"

But Flashback Percy only continued to laugh evilly, with even Flashback Emily joining in the laughter. As the two possessed teenagers laughed and laughed, an image of Flashback Marik appeared between them.

"Farewell, Thomas Billinton!" The Rare Hunter leader declared mentally.

END FLASHBACK

---

The flashback ended.

"I don't get it…" thought Light Marik, "Why does he still want to help me?"

Down below; despite breathing hard, Thomas was determined to take his turn.

"Remember, Thomas," reminded Emily gently, "our real enemy is Marik's dark half. There has to be a way to defeat ONLY him."

"I know…" winced Thomas, "It's…m-my…turn!" He slowly reached his right hand towards his Deck, intending to draw a card, "Please… Just a little bit longer… That's all I ask!"

A card was successfully drawn.

---

Turn Fourteen: Thomas Billinton (LP: 1000)
Deck: 46
Current Hand (5): "Ragnarok", "Kuriboh", "Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts", "Dark Magician", and "Spell Duplication"

---

Looking at the card he just drew in order to plan his (possibly) final move, Thomas slowly slotted it and another card facedown in his Duel Disk.

"I Set…two cards…face-down," croaked Thomas.

Two face-down cards materialized on the field behind 'Obelisk the Tormentor' and 'Dark Magician Girl'. Thomas then took, from his hand, and placed another card (Monster Card) sideways onto his Duel Disk.

"Finally… I'll also Summon 'Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts'…in Defense Position!" struggled Thomas, "I…end my turn!"

Appearing on the field was the familiar Beast monster (Level: 4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200).

"There," thought Thomas, "If this combo works as well as I'd hoped, Marik's dark half will be defeated for good," He then looked up at Emily, and put a sad smile on as a tear trickled down his cheek, "Emily… if I am truly meant to die, then I can at least die happy knowing that for once in my life, I 'finally' kept my word to you."

Emily noticed the look in her friend's face, and right away knew what he was thinking. And clearly, she did 'not' like the feeling at all.

"Thomas, no…" begged Emily, with tears in her eyes, "Please don't! Don't put yourself through anymore torture because of me! Just save 'yourself'!"

However, now that it was Thomas's End Phase…

"Whoa there! Don't forget that this guy gets an attack at the end of your turn!" cut in Dark Marik, with a look of pure excitement on his warped face, "'Bowganian', use your monster effect! Fire a bolt at Thomas and make his pain more worse than it already is!"

'Bowganian' eagerly raised its weapon in response to the psychotic man's request. Below the platform…

"If Billinton takes any more damage from the shadows to keep Emily safe," thought Spencer, with his eyes all bloodshot, "he could possibly lose his life!"

Everyone else watched on to see what would happen. Back on the platform…

"In the grand scheme of things, the darkness always triumphs in the end," ranted Dark Marik, "While I may have missed out on the chance to make Emily suffer, I can at least feel satisfaction that the 'real' victim is none other…" He (Dark Marik) pointed at Thomas, "…than you, Thomas!"

"What was that?" spluttered Thomas.

"In your desperate attempts to shield Emily from getting what she rightfully deserves for being too weak and pathetic to fight her own battles, the only thing you managed to succeed at was forcing her to watch you slowly kill yourself," scoffed Dark Marik. He licked his lips in a sick way, "And there's no 'greater' pain than that!"

"You're wrong!" dismissed Thomas, looking very aghasted, "I'm not… I'm not hurting Emily! I'm doing everything I can…to protect her!"

"Let's test your theory, then! Go, 'Bowganian'!" instructed Dark Marik, As he announced the effect name, 'Bowganian' fired an energized arrow from its crossbow-like weapon, "Bowgun of Hell Send!"

As Thomas awaited the inevitable to come, he gave one last look to the monsters he currently had on his field.

"In case I don't survive this," he pleaded mentally, as the arrow went through 'Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts' harmlessly, "please protect Emily and the others for me!"

At long last, the arrow struck Thomas through his chest.

"AUGH!" winced Thomas, taking a stumble back from the slight damage (LP: 1000 → 700), "I…!"

And as predicted, the shadows once again took their chance of striking down the boy, causing him to scream in 'extreme' pain.

"Yes… YES!" encouraged Dark Marik excitedly, "Keep it up!"

Poor Thomas could hardly stand. Every time he lost LP, Emily lost parts of her body to the darkness. Then Thomas had to give up parts of his life force energy to try and keep her replenished and alive. But now it was taking its maximum toll on him. Worst of all, he was also down to 700 LP.

"Got to…keep going," Thomas said to himself weakly, "I can't…let Emily suffer…anymore!"

Dark Marik laughed madly, "Oh… feeling under the weather, are we?"

"Shut…up…" Thomas managed to say, coughing up more blood in the process, "As long as…I keep…letting the darkness hurt me, Emily…will be…safe."

"Ha! You wish!" Dark Marik spat hatefully.

Below the platform, Percy got even more angry and turned to grab Mavis (possessed) by her shirt collar.

"Do you see what's happening now?!" yelled Percy in anger, "It's because of your dark side everyone is suffering!"

"Percy, calm down!" protested Toby, trying to pull Percy off.

"No… he's right," Mavis (possessed) sighed sadly, "All I've done is cause misery to your friends. He has every right to be angry with me."

"Damn right!" hissed Percy, "Now let my friend go, right now!"

"As you wish."

Mavis (possessed) felt her eyes droop down. When she opened them again, they were normal once again, just as Percy let go of her.

"Hey, what just happened?" blinked Mavis, "Where am I?"

A defeated Percy sighed and explained what Marik had done to Mavis and had said to the spectators.

"So, all this time Marik had a small piece of his power inside my body and soul?" pondered Mavis in bewilderment.

"Looks like it," confirmed Matt, "And so far, as you've been witnessing before becoming possessed," His (Matt) eyes were focused on the platform, particularly Thomas, "Thomas has been dueling that dark side while forcing the Shadow Game to hurt 'him' instead of eating away at Emily whenever he takes damage—with very little success."

"But if he keeps doing that," argued Mavis, "he could die!"

"That's exactly what Marik's dark side is counting on," said Michael grimly, before eyeing Thomas and Dark Marik on the platform, "He doesn't care what happens to the real Marik, but he also knows full well that Emily is extremely special to Thomas, and that's why he put her as Thomas's sacrifice."

"That damn snake!" growled Zack.

"What's worse," scowled James R., "is if Marik does lose the duel, then only his good side will be swallowed by darkness… the evil half will remain alive regardless."

"So, no matter what happens," pouted Gordon, "Marik's dark side will be staying, and someone will be Shadow Realm food."

Up atop the duel platform, Thomas felt himself beginning to lose consciousness.

"No…" mumbled Thomas quietly, struggling to stay awake, "Not now…"

But alas…because the blue-haired boy endured TOO MUCH of the Shadow Game's tortures to keep Emily from being devoured by the darkness, and the fact his LP were now dangerously low, the Shadow Game became more than he could ever 'hope' to handle. Dropping the remaining cards in his hand, Thomas began clutching his chest in pain as though he were having…a heart attack.

"NO!" Thomas finally screamed out in intense agony, all thanks to his critically wounded heart, "Not…yet! Just…a little longer!" He finally felt his heart stop completely from the lethal injuries inflicted throughout the whole match, "E-Emily… I…"

From there, he finally closed his eyes and slowly began to fall to the ground. Below the platform, the reactions were absolutely devastating.

"THOMAS!" Percy and the likes all cried out.

"NOOOOOO!" The adults (Discord, Spencer and Skiff's parents, and Ishizu) added in horror.

It was too late to prevent the inevitable from happening… Thomas collapsed to his knees and landed face-down on the platform, becoming completely motionless—a splitting image to what happened to Percy in the last duel with Dark Marik.

"Yes!" screeched Dark Marik in evil triumph, "What I've been waiting for has come at last… THOMAS BILLINTON'S DEATH!"

Silence filled the whole area for several seconds. Finally, after thinking the worst had actually come to pass…

"Get the doctors up here immediately!" ordered Mrs. Gresley (Boxford).

"Hold it!" The voice of Roland interrupted, just before anything more could be said or done, "I will give Thomas Billinton exactly one minute to get back up and continue the match. If he does not stand within that time limit… then Marik Ishtar will win the duel by default."

No one, and I mean 'NO ONE' (not even Spencer), was happy to hear that 'AT' all!

"Are you that stupid!?" accused Gordon, very enraged.

"Our friend is up there!" added James furiously, "Badly hurt!"

Back on the platform, Light Marik gazed at the fallen Thomas Billinton with a look of horror on what was left of his (Light Marik) face, knowing that all of this was his fault.

"No," thought Light Marik, full of nothing but regret, "This is all my fault! Thomas, I'm so sorry…"

While everyone off the platform was despairing over Thomas's death, a certain someone (who was still captured) was taking it far worse…

"Thomas! THOMAS!" screamed Emily, crying like no tomorrow due to Thomas dying and her being helpless to help him, "WAKE UP, PLEASE!"

But it did no good; no matter how much Emily struggled and wailed like a banshee, Thomas didn't move a muscle and remained motionless. It would seem Thomas Billinton had made the ultimate sacrifice… Below the platform, there was a lot of grieving going on.

"Is he…?" started Molly, but failed to finish as she burst into tears.

James had to hold Molly in order to comfort her even though it looked like he was crying, too.

"He just can't be-!" bellowed Percy, falling onto his hands and knees while beginning to cry himself, "Dammit!"

On the platform, only one person (or monster) wasn't showing any sign of regret or remorse for his actions just now…

"Yes, he is!" laughed Dark Marik, "Thomas Billinton is dead at long last—but have any of you noticed that none of the so-called holograms or the Shadow Realm have faded away?"

Dark Marik had made a very good point; 'Obelisk the Tormentor', 'Dark Magician Girl', 'Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts', 'Bowganian', 'Granadora', 'Egyptian God Slime', and all of the remaining Set/activated Spell/Trap Cards were shown to be still present on the platform. Below the platform, everyone calmed down long enough to notice that.

"He's right," confirmed Edward, "Everything's still the same."

"But why?" questioned Toby.

Back on the platform…

"That's because I want to continue this Shadow Game…to the bitter end!" teased Dark Marik, "You know, just to be absolutely sure."

Feeling that such a decision was against the tournament rules, Roland tried to intervene, but found himself silenced when he (Roland) remembered that Dark Marik had access to the Millennium Rod, ready to use it if necessary.

"Say or do 'anything' to ruin this for me," threatened Dark Marik, causing Roland to fearfully back down, "and it will be the 'last' mistake you ever make!" He then turned his attention to the rest of the audience, "Now, you will all bow before me now that I'm the new ruler of this world. Do so, and I may consider letting you all live long enough to see the dead boy's cremation by the flames of 'Egyptian God Phoenix'!"

Below the platform…

"Never!" roared Gordon.

"Got that right!" put in James.

"Yeah!" finished Henry.

Back on the platform…

"So, you all would rather act defiant even in the face of death… Very well," Dark Marik sighed emotionlessly, just before giving off a very sadistic smile, "But don't say I didn't try to be generous—I will enjoy sending all of you to Hell!" He drew a card, "Draw!"

---

Turn Fifteen: Dark Marik (LP: 700)
Deck: 39
Current Hand (2): "Monster Reborn" and "Surprise Attack from Beyond"

---

Upon seeing his drawn 'Surprise Attack from Beyond' Spell Card—which had been won from the Shadow Game with Montague—Dark Marik laughed evilly as the veins on his face became more noticeable.

"This is exactly what I need!" thought Dark Marik, "Once 'Obelisk' is finally off the field, I'll finish off the corpse and his girlfriend with the devastating One Turn Kill attack!" With that thought in his warped mind, he spoke aloud, "The darkness is my ally to the very end!" He held his new card out (without showing what it was), "With this card, I'm guaranteed to offer the three of you to the darkness!"

The audience below the platform stayed silent; did Dark Marik draw a truly terrifying card? On the platform, Dark Marik's Standby Phase began.

"First off, since we're on my Standby Phase, 'Granadora' will give me 1000 LP!"" reminded Dark Marik.

'Granadora's' eyes glowed all red, causing Dark Marik's LP to go up by 1000 as said (LP: 700 → 1700). He needed those extra LP very soon. Over with the deceased Thomas, 'Dark Magician Girl' slowly approached Thomas's lifeless body.

"Thomas…" whispered 'Dark Magician Girl', with tears falling from her eyes.

The female Spellcaster monster knelt down, turned Thomas over, and placed a hand onto his chest. She felt no heartbeat; only feeling a heart that was completely dead due to the constant attacks from the Shadow Game. With a look of determination on her face, 'Dark Magician Girl' closed her eyes and shed more grieving tears, kept her hand on Thomas's chest and added in her other hand, which caused her whole body to begin glowing all pink—it was a sign she was not about to let her friend, and potential crush, down.

"I won't let the darkness take you or Emily…" thought 'Dark Magician Girl', "I will save you, Prince."

(new location…)

Inside endless darkness, Thomas was currently conscious, sitting on the ground with his knees tucked close to his chest, feeling cold and all alone. As a result of his death atop the Duel Tower, he knew that he (Thomas) had lost the Shadow Game to Dark Marik. As a result, all of his (Thomas) friends and potentially the entire world were now going to suffer at the hands of Dark Marik.

"I… I've failed," thought Thomas, "I tried to stop Marik's dark side, but I failed to defeat him. Now everybody else in the whole world will suffer from his wrath, and it's all my fault; for not winning the duel, and for not saving Emily. I'm so sorry, everyone…"

He closed his eyes in shame as a tear fell from his eye. From there, poor Thomas prepared to be consumed by the darkness all around him—well, had it not been for one little detail…

"Thomas…!" The voice of Dark Magician Girl echoed, "It isn't over!"

The defeated Thomas stood up and looked around in desperation.

"Who's there?!" yelled Thomas desperately

Immediately, he was met by both Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl.

"Dark Magician? Dark Magician Girl?" stammered Thomas in surprise, "What are you two doing here?"

"We're here to save you, my Pharaoh," answered Dark Magician, "We won't let you be consumed by the darkness."

"You have to remember what you're fighting for!" said Dark Magician Girl.

"I 'know' what I'm fighting for…" replied Thomas, before sounding solemn, "But even that wasn't good enough… It only resulted in my death," He closed his eyes, "I've let everyone, including you both, down…"

"No, Thomas!" interrupted Dark Magician Girl, "I refuse to let you say something like that!"

Thomas looked up. Dark Magician Girl had approached him, gently laying a hand on the left side of the boy's face, and stared into his eyes while a kind, yet firm, look was placed onto her own face.

"You must not blame yourself for anything like this," countered Dark Magician Girl sternly, "You did not let anybody down."

"I didn't?" pondered Thomas.

"Besides, Emily and your friends aren't the only ones you're fighting for," Dark Magician pointed out, "You're fighting for your 'other' friends, too."

"Us," added Dark Magician Girl, referring to herself, Dark Magician, and others, "All of the Monster Cards in your Deck who fight for you."

To prove their point, the two Spellcaster monsters crossed their weapons together.

"Together, we will show you!" Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl offered in unison.

A magic aura spread from their weapons.

"Whooooaaaaa!" cried Thomas, covering his face as light filled the world of darkness.

(new location…)

When the light faded away, Thomas uncovered his face and gasped at what he saw.

"Wow…" admired Thomas

He was now in the middle of what looked like a village in daylight.

"Where am I?" Thomas asked aloud.

"You're in the Duel Monsters Spirit World," The voice of Dark Magician explained, "Now, go forth, and you'll meet your destiny."

Thomas walked forth through the village. It seemed to be deserted—completely clear of humans or Duel Spirits. Suddenly, he was greeted by a very overjoyed-looking Kuriboh.

"Kuriboh?" asked Thomas.

Kuriboh happily uttered "Kuri kuri!" a few times while floating around his human friend a few times before taking off nearby.

"H-Hey! Wait a minute!" called Thomas, before giving chase. Soon, he stopped when he saw something that surprised him, "What the-!?"

Many, many Duel Monsters were gathered and standing before Thomas in a wide open area… They were all the monsters he used in many of his duels, and ranged from the three 'Poker Knights', the three 'Magnet Warriors', 'Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts', 'Berfomet', 'Silver Fang', 'Archfiend of Gilfer', 'Feral Imp', 'Obnoxious Celtic Guardian', etc.. Surprisingly, both 'Obelisk the Tormentor' and 'Slifer the Sky Dragon' were there, too.

"My monsters!" realized Thomas.

"Do you see, Thomas?" encouraged Dark Magician Girl, walking up to Thomas, "Every single Monster Card in your Deck will be there for you, no matter what. You are never alone."

Slowly, Thomas walked towards all of his monsters, coming to a final conclusion…

"I'm… I'm not alone," he whispered.

"Yes!" reassured Dark Magician, "You're not alone. You have all of us fighting with you to the bitter end!"

The rest of the monsters nodded in agreement.

"Alright," mumbled Thomas, walking closer to his monsters. Finally, his voice took a confident turn once more, "Everyone, let's take that madman down once and for all—together!"

More light filled the area as everything faded to white.

(new location…)

Back in the Shadow Realm, the dead Thomas…started to stir.

"Huh?!" responded Dark Marik

"What?!" gasped Emily.

Dark Magician Girl opened her eyes, stopped glowing all pink, removed her hand from Thomas's chest, and backed away. Thomas's eyes…suddenly began to flicker open.

"NO!" screamed Dark Marik, surprised greatly with what was going on, "This isn't possible!"

It was all true. Slowly getting back to his feet, Thomas Billinton was actually…

"THOMAS IS ALIVE!" shouted Percy.

"Oh, thank heaven!" sobbed Molly happily, hugging James.

"I thought he was dead!" came from Carlie.

Back on the platform…

"Oh, Thomas!" wailed Emily, just as more and more tears came streaming down her face, "I thought we…'I'…had lost you forever!"

Meanwhile…

"How? How?! HOW?!" ranted Dark Marik, feeling fear for the first time since Percy nearly won the previous duel, "I killed you! How could you be alive after the shadows tore apart your heart throughout the duel!?"

Thomas stumbled as he continued to try and get back up, but 'Dark Magician Girl' quickly embraced the boy in a hug before turning and glaring at Dark Marik hatefully for daring to hurt Thomas while she was on the field; anyone who tried to hurt or kill her crush was an enemy in her eyes. Her glare seemed to further startle Dark Marik a little.

"He's alive, because he isn't alone," revealed 'Dark Magician Girl', addressing Dark Marik as he listened to her, "He has the spirit of all his friends AND the Monster Cards in his Deck that are fighting for him, and nothing you do can change that."

"Even then, he shouldn't have the strength to stand!" argued Dark Marik.

Finding Dark Marik's insistence to be nonsense, 'Dark Magician Girl' put Thomas's arm around her shoulder to help keep him balanced.

"In that case, 'I' will be his strength," vowed 'Dark Magician Girl'.

Slowly but surely, Thomas began to glow all pink and feel the friendship and love from each and every one of the monster souls from his Deck entering his body and especially his critically damaged heart, healing many of the wounds he sustained throughout the whole duel. From there, he and Emily both started glowing all white. Thomas soon fully recovered his strength. Once Thomas and Emily both ceased glowing all white, 'Dark Magician Girl' carefully went and let go of the blue-haired boy in order to see what would happen next—who then entered a dueling stance in determination.

"Let's finish this duel now, Marik!" announced Thomas, with a proud smile on his face. In his thoughts, he thought about his friends and the Monster Cards in his Deck, "Thank you… my friends."

Realizing his plans had been for nothing, Dark Marik fell to his knees, gripped both hands to his head, and screamed in a primal rage over the turn of events. Below the platform, all of the spectators cheered for both of their friends' recovery. Spencer, meanwhile, kept a neutral look on his face—yet was also pleased that Thomas was alive.

"As I expected from you, Billinton," thought Spencer, before smiling a little bit, "Even a Shadow Game can't seem to kill you."

Back on the platform, Dark Marik, after breathing hard from his roar of anger, slowly got back to his feet and sneered in disgust.

"So, you're relying on your silly monsters to help you, Thomas?" mocked Dark Marik, "How pathetic!" He smiled evilly, "Well, at least now I can try to burn you alive once and for all…" He took a card from his hand and slotted it into his Duel Disk, "From my hand, I'll activate 'Monster Reborn', and bring back an old friend who is 'dying' to return and destroy you!"

From there, Dark Marik folded his arms together and began to chant an ancient language. As he did so, a large image of the 'Monster Reborn' symbol appeared above him and rose higher into the sky, forming the body of 'The Winged Dragon of Ra'. Below the platform…

"It's 'Ra' again!" freaked out Henry.

"Way to state the obvious!" deadpanned James.

Back on the platform…

"Now, I'll pay 1000 LP," said Dark Marik, paying up more LP (LP: 1700 → 700), "This will transform 'Ra' back into its invincible 'Egyptian God Phoenix' form!"

As before, 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' suddenly burst into flames and showed off its 'Egyptian God Phoenix' form. In addition, upon losing more LP, more of Light Marik's body faded into the darkness.

"'Egyptian God Phoenix'…" muttered Thomas.

Below the platform, the whole crowd watched with horrified looks on their faces.

"Can I file this in the category of 'Not too good'?" gulped James.

"If 'Obelisk' goes, then Thomas will have no chance of winning the duel!" complained Carlie.

On the platform…

"Say goodbye to 'Obelisk'!" laughed Dark Marik, "'Ra', burn 'Obelisk' to ashes!"

With a mighty screech, 'Egyptian God Phoenix' obeyed and charged at 'Obelisk the Tormentor'.

"'OBELISK'!" Thomas and Emily panicked at the same time.

However, 'Dark Magician Girl' quickly looked over her shoulder at one of Thomas's four Set cards without even speaking a word, causing one of them (the one on the far left) to start flipping face-up. Just then, a massive explosion of fire filled and rocked the whole platform.

"Nothing you do will matter!" laughed Dark Marik, grinning in triumph, "'Obelisk' is dead!"

"What makes you think 'Obelisk' is gone?" The voice of 'Dark Magician Girl' retorted.

"Huh?"

When the smoke cleared, a face-up card was shown to be activating… It was the 'Monster Reborn' Spell Card.

"'Monster Reborn'?!" protested Dark Marik, "But that's not a Quick-Play Spell!"

Just then…

"You're right; 'Monster Reborn' isn't a Quick-Play Spell," The voice of Thomas agreed.

Dark Marik winced a little bit. The flames faded away enough to reveal Thomas, who had his eyes narrowed defiantly.

"Then how-?!" spluttered Dark Marik.

"When you sent 'Egyptian God Phoenix' to attack," explained Thomas, "'Dark Magician Girl' here activated my face-down card, 'Spell Duplication', which 'is' a Quick-Play Spell!"

"Target any number of Spell(s) in your opponent's GY that were activated this turn or during the previous turn; activate their effects as your own," Emily spoke up.

"And the only Spell Card I chose to activate…is 'Monster Reborn'!" finished Thomas.

Dark Marik's eyes widened, "What?!"

"And now take a look at the monster brought back!" 'Dark Magician Girl' pointed upward.

The flames and smoke both died down and revealed that shielding 'Obelisk the Tormentor' from the 'bombarding' attack was…none other than 'Slifer the Sky Dragon'.

"'Slifer the Sky Dragon'?!" bellowed Dark Marik, outraged.

"From using the effect of 'Spell Duplication'," continued Thomas, "I used the effect of 'Monster Reborn' to Special Summon 'Slifer' and shield 'Obelisk' and my remaining monsters from your 'Egyptian God Phoenix's' attack!" Enlarged images of the 'Obelisk the Tormentor' Effect Monster Card, the 'Slifer the Sky Dragon' Effect Monster Card, and the 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' Effect Monster Card each loomed in the background behind him, "If this card is Special Summoned in face-up Defense Position when an opponent's monster declares an attack or when my opponent targets another monster I control for an effect: I must change the target to this card."

Down below the platform…

"That was a very smart play, little Thomas!" praised Gordon.

"Yes, indeed," agreed Discord, "Without that Spell Card, Thomas would have lost 'Obelisk' right there!"

"To challenge 'Ra' with 'Obelisk' as a sword and 'Slifer' as a shield…" observed Spencer.

"Hey, Spencer!" exclaimed Mr. Gresley (Boxford), "Look up there!"

On the platform, the dead 'Slifer the Sky Dragon' fell to the ground and vanished, causing the furious-looking 'Obelisk the Tormentor' to let loose an enraged roar in form of "This is unforgivable!" in response. Below the platform…

"'Obelisk'…is angry," commented Skiff in bewilderment.

"That it is," nodded Spencer, before entering his thoughts, "And that anger is the key to unlocking 'Obelisk's' greatest ability… Can Billinton figure it out?"

Back on the platform…

"My phoenix returns to the GY," acknowledged Dark Marik. 'Egyptian God Phoenix' screeched and went back into his GY, allowing him to speak more, "But does this mean you think you've won? My Battle Phase has come to an end, after all!"

"Huh?!" flinched Thomas.

"That soon?" came from Emily.

"Yes," answered Dark Marik, "Just because the Battle Phase has ended, doesn't mean my turn has ended… This is going to be 'the' last turn," He then held out his final card ('Surprise Attack from Beyond'), "From my hand, I'll activate the Spell Card, 'Surprise Attack from Beyond'!"

The mentioned Spell Card materialized face-up on the field.

"'Surprise Attack from Beyond'?!" gasped Thomas.

"During my Main Phase 2: I must target 1 monster in my GY; I must Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position, then conduct my Battle Phase again," smirked Dark Marik.

"What?!" cringed Emily.

"A card like that should be illegal!" objected Toby.

Over with Spencer below the platform…

"Marik, you fiend!" thought Spencer bitterly, "Are you going to Special Summon 'Ra' again, and use it to finish Billinton off?"

Back on the platform, Dark Marik had overheard the complaints about his 'Surprise Attack from Beyond' Spell Card.

"Well, it is a legal card!" joked Dark Marik, before giving the command, "Come forth, 'The Winged Dragon of Ra'!"

Light (not flames) glowed from Dark Marik's GY as 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' returned to the field… This time, however, it was in its Sphere Mode.

"'Ra' is in its Sphere Mode?" blinked Thomas.

"Unfortunately, it is," boasted Dark Marik, "But that will change rather quickly. All I have to do is read the writing on the card successfully, and 'Ra' will once again be in its battle mode once more!"

He crossed his arms to both shoulders. Everyone below the platform watched as Dark Marik began to chant the hieratic text on the 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' Effect Monster Card. The sphere started glowing, responding, and then transforming. Soon enough, the sphere had transformed into the full Battle Mode of 'The Winged Dragon of Ra', who let out a loud roar.

"'Ra's' battle mode…" Thomas thought to himself, "And, if my hunch is right, it means Marik is about to perform THAT ability…"

"Behold, Thomas, I'm about to become one with 'God' once more!" gloated Dark Marik (LP: 700 → 1), just as most of his body began fading away again, "By giving up all but one of my LP, I can add them to Ra's ATK and initiate its One Turn Kill ability!"

Light Marik was shown to be only down to his eye now, while, after a moment of silence, Dark Marik was laughing insanely atop 'The Winged Dragon of Ra's' head (ATK: 0 → 699).

"Is it time?" Emily asked, looking towards Thomas.

"It is…" confirmed Thomas, "It's now or never!"

"Behold!" bellowed Dark Marik, "I have become one with 'God' once more!"

He began to laugh evilly once more as 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' let out another loud roar as it then prepared to attack and finish both of the opponents off. Thomas and Emily then both looked at each other once more…

"In this one moment, we can beat Marik's dark personality and 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' at the same time!" The two teenagers spoke in unison.

"And now, Thomas, as soon as I'm able to do so, I'll also Tribute all of my remaining monsters and I can add their ATK to 'The Winged Dragon of Ra's' ATK!" bragged Dark Marik, "By doing so, it will give me a grand total of 6899 ATK!"

He was right; the combined ATK of 'Egyptian God Slime' (ATK: 3000), 'Bowganian' (ATK: 1300), and 'Granadora' (ATK: 1900) would equal 6200, plus the original 699 would equal 6899 ATK for 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' more than enough to destroy 'Obelisk the Tormentor' and defeat both Thomas and Emily. Dark Marik's vein-exposed face then grew more excited as he entered the Battle Phase once more…

"But before the grand finale, do either of you have any last words you'd like to share with our 'dear' audience before I—or rather 'we'—begin the assault?" dared Dark Marik.

"As a matter of fact… we do!" replied Thomas, smiling grimly.

Dark Marik raised an eyebrow, "Hmm?"

"This is the moment we've been waiting for!" Emily began, "The moment you've shown all of us what you really are…!"

"Nothing but a coward who always hides behind his own 'God', relying on it to kill those before you instead of doing the deed by yourself!" added Thomas acidly, "'Ra' isn't a monster in this matter, Marik… YOU are!"

Dark Marik scowled in response, but said nothing. This allowed Thomas to continue…

"And now… face-down card, open!" announced Thomas, having pressed a button on his Duel Disk and holding his right hand out, "'Soul Taker', activate!"

His second face-down card flipped up and revealed itself.

"A Quick-Play Spell?" wondered Dark Marik.

Below the platform…

"Big Brother, isn't that card-?" began Skiff.

"'Soul Taker'… Target 1 monster your opponent controls; this turn, you can Tribute that monster as if you controlled it, and if you do, your opponent gains 1000 LP," revealed Spencer.

"That means he can get rid of 'Ra'!" realized Skiff, "It could work!"

Back on the duel platform, Thomas was explaining the effect of his Spell Card.

"I must target 1 monster my opponent controls; this turn, I can Tribute that monster as if I controlled it, and if I do, my opponent gains 1000 LP!" repeated Thomas, "This is the card that will allow me to triumph over your 'God', Marik!"

"You're…gonna Tribute 'Ra'?" grimaced Dark Marik (LP: 1 → 1001).

The effect of the 'Soul Taker' Spell Card created a giant tornado that engulfed the field.

"If Thomas offers 'The Winged Dragon of Ra', then Marik's dark half will be gone, too!" Matt was saying in realization.

"But wait, isn't 'Ra' unaffected by cards like those?" recalled Mavis.

Atop 'The Winged Dragon of Ra', Dark Marik would have to agree with Mavis's statement about his monster…

"But you're forgetting… 'The Winged Dragon of Ra's' eighth effect! My opponent cannot Tribute this card!" he reminded.

However, it turned out Thomas had something else in mind to Tribute—he then gave a slight smile to taunt his opponent.

"I never said I was going to target 'Ra'. My 'real' target is…'Egyptian God Slime'!" Thomas pointed out.

The effect of the 'Soul Taker' Spell Card immediately switched targets, going from 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' to 'Egyptian God Slime'.

"But why?!" demanded Dark Marik, "You bastard…! Why the hell would you take and offer my monster?!"

"How about seeing for yourself!" offered Thomas.

'Egyptian God Slime' was taken onto Thomas's field, where it and 'Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts' began to be crushed into dust by 'Obelisk the Tormentor', causing it to grow and become even more powerful than ever before. Everyone down below the platform gasped at what was happening.

"Take a look at 'Obelisk'!" jumped Henry, pointing upward.

"Its ATK is climbing higher and higher!" gawked Percy.

"Is it broken?" asked Ben naively.

"No," denied Spencer, "That's another ability of 'Obelisk'—the eleventh effect," On the platform 'Obelisk the Tormentor's' power climbed higher and higher and higher until its body turned purple with great power. Below the platform, he smiled with approval, "This is the key to 'Obelisk's' greatest ability! If this Attack Position card battles (Quick Effect): You can Tribute 2 other monsters; this card's ATK becomes ∞ during the Damage Step only."

"Behold, Marik!" shouted Thomas, "This is the most powerful ability of 'Obelisk the Tormentor'! Soul Energy MAX!"

"S-Soul Energy MAX?!" Dark Marik recoiled.

Obelisk the Tormentor let loose a fearsome roar as its attack stat finished going straight up. It was now listed as limitless (ATK: 4000 → ∞).

"Whoa!" cried Percy, "Infinite ATK?!"

"THIS DUEL IS DONE!" roared Thomas.

Dark Marik panicked for a moment, but wasn't licked just yet.

"Not yet," Dark Marik dismissed quickly, "I Tribute both of my remaining monsters and all but one of my LP!"

'Granadora' and 'Bowganian' both faded away in blue streaks, and Dark Marik grinned a bit as his LP took a hit (LP: 1001 → 1). 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' roared as it grew even more powerful than before (ATK: 699 → 4899). It then faced the supercharged 'Obelisk the Tormentor'.

"By doing so, I've made 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' stronger than before," continued Dark Marik.

"Even if you do that, it's still no match for 'Obelisk'!" rebutted Thomas.

"Then go ahead and attack 'Ra', boy!" challenged Dark Marik, as demented look appeared on his already warped face, "If you think you can win the duel with one attack, then show me!"

"'Obelisk', attack 'The Winged Dragon of Ra'!" thundered Thomas, doing just as his opponent asked, "God Hand Impact!"

'Obelisk the Tormentor' obeyed, roaring in a fury once more before charging both its fists and punching them forth towards the seemingly vulnerable 'The Winged Dragon of Ra'. Upon collision, there was a massive explosion that clouded and rocked the whole platform/tower…again.

"Not again!" whined James, bracing himself from the force of the attack.

"Did Thomas at least win this time?" quivered Henry, also bracing himself.

Back on the platform…

"Did it work?" pleaded Emily.

"We're about to find out," answered Thomas, upon recovering from the force of the attack.

When the arena stopped shaking, and part of the smoke cleared away, 'Obelisk the Tormentor' was shown…to be kneeling in great pain.

"What the-?!" panicked Thomas.

Back below the platform, everyone else was shocked to see this, too.

"'Obelisk' looks like it's in pain!" came from Mavis.

"'Obelisk's' attack should have worked!" protested Spencer, as his eyes became bloodshot.

When the smoke cleared, it was shown that 'The Winged Dragon of Ra'…had survived without a scratch.

"Surprise!" announced Dark Marik, still standing from atop his 'Egyptian God' monster's head, "You have lost!"

He (Dark Marik) started to laugh at the foolish efforts Thomas made to bring 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' down.

"But how?" exclaimed Thomas in shock, "'Obelisk' should have destroyed 'Ra'!"

"I activated my Set card," teased Dark Marik, pointing down towards the ground. Down below, there was a face-up Quick-Play Spell, "'Class System'!"

Everyone was shocked by the unexpected play by Dark Marik.

"'Class System'?!" scowled Spencer.

"That's one of the most broken cards in the whole game!" came from Michael.

"Marik was packing one of those for emergencies like this!" added James R..

"No fair!" objected Carlie.

Back on the duel platform…

"I must applaud the both of you… that was a really good attempt at attempting to beat my 'Egyptian God' monster—but thanks to this powerful Quick-Play Spell, my 'God' is safe from your own 'God'," explained Dark Marik, before focus went towards the 'Class System' Spell Card and then at 'Obelisk the Tormentor', "When my opponent's monster attacks my monster, and it activates its effect, and if that monster's Level is not higher than my monster's Level: I must negate that attack and effect!"

"Since 'Obelisk' and 'Ra' are Level 10…" grumbled Thomas.

"It means 'Obelisk's' Soul Energy MAX effect was cancelled out," concluded Emily.

"That's correct!" Dark Marik confirmed, chuckling evilly, "Now, there is nothing left for you to even do to stop my great beast! Thanks to 'Surprise Attack from Beyond', this is the final battle phase of your life, Thomas Billinton!"

Thomas scowled in frustration. Meanwhile, 'Obelisk the Tormentor's' ATK went back down to its original amount and its color went back to just blue (ATK: ∞ → 4000). Below the platform…

"It looks like Billinton missed his chance," thought Spencer grimly, "I should never have gotten my hopes up…"

Everyone else in the audience just couldn't believe it. Was Thomas actually about to lose to Dark Marik?

"Is this really the end?" frowned Zack.

"It sure looks like it," figured Michael gloomily.

"Oh, the indignity!" groaned Gordon.

On the platform…

"It's the final Battle Phase! 'Ra', destroy 'Obelisk' and everyone else atop this tower!" commanded Dark Marik, "God Blaze Cannon!"

'The Winged Dragon of Ra' finally went and fired an extremely powerful blast of fire towards 'Obelisk the Tormentor'. Dark Marik's vein-exposed face contained wicked glee at his impending victory.

"I win!" jeered Dark Marik.

"Are you sure about that?" Thomas suddenly asked, now smirking.

"What?!" gasped Dark Marik, losing his own smirk.

"Face-down Spell, activate!" countered Thomas, holding his right hand out as his third Set card flipped face-up and revealed itself, "'Magical Dimension'! If I control a Spellcaster monster: I must target 1 monster I must control; I must Tribute that target, then Special Summon 1 Spellcaster monster from my hand, then I can destroy 1 monster on the field!" Focus went towards 'Dark Magician Girl' as she winked and posed for battle, "The Spellcaster monster to meet this requirement is 'Dark Magician Girl'!" Focus then went towards 'Obelisk the Tormentor' as it was surrounded by a magical tornado, "And my Tribute is 'Obelisk'!"

"What?!" cried Dark Marik in surprise, "You would Tribute your own 'God'?"

"Yes! And by doing so, I can evade your initial attack!" confessed Thomas, as 'Obelisk the Tormentor' finished fading away in a magical tornado and causing God Blaze Cannon to miss, "Sacrifice Escape!"

Despite being initially surprised at the play, Dark Marik started laughing like a madman afterwards.

"Well now, I guess you wish to die more quickly than I thought," he commented teasingly, "Without 'Obelisk the Tormentor', you have no chance of beating me!"

"'Obelisk' has served me well," assured Thomas, closing his eyes briefly before opening them while filled with burning determination, "but now I must call upon my final hope."

"And what hope do you have left?" berated Dark Marik, "You've escaped my attack, yes, but I still can perform a replay and have 'Ra' attack again!"

"That's where you're wrong!" snapped Thomas, "I have the support of my friends! Both humans and the Monster Cards inside my Deck! And together, we will take you and your 'Egyptian God' monster down, Marik!" Just then, rising from the ground was a familiar golden, Spellcaster-shaped casket with chains, "And now, I'll Special Summon a Spellcaster monster from my hand in Attack Position!"

"What?!" grimaced Dark Marik in surprise.

The casket started to open itself up. It was shining white light on the inside.

"Come forth, 'Dark Magician'!" ordered Thomas, thrusting his right hand forth.

From there, the shining white light faded away, along with the casket. Once the light was gone, standing on the field where the casket originally stood was Thomas's purple-haired ace monster in all his glory (Level: 7/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2100). Below the platform…

"Now I see…" thought Spencer, again smirking with approval, "'Obelisk' was a decoy to Summon 'Dark Magician'. I'll admit it was a clever move, Billinton…"

Back on the platform…

"Now that I finally have both of my ace monsters out," said Thomas confidently, "they will be your ultimate undoing!"

Dark Marik suddenly laughed, "And what could those puny magicians do against 'The Winged Dragon of Ra'?" he asked mockingly, "You can't use 'Magical Dimension's' optional effect to destroy 'Ra' regardless because my monster can't be destroyed by card effects!"

"Then observe as I activate my final face-down card!" suggested Thomas, as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. From there, the only Set card left on the field flipped face-up and revealed itself, "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, 'Ragnarok'!"

"'Ragnarok'?" Dark Marik blinked, recognizing the card, "Isn't that-?"

"That's right!" interrupted Thomas, cutting off his opponent, "With 'Ragnarok' now activated, your 'God', 'The Winged Dragon of Ra', will finally fall!" Focus went towards 'Dark Magician', then 'Dark Magician Girl', and finally the face-up 'Ragnarok' Spell Card, "If there are any 2 of 'Dark Sage', 'Dark Magician', 'Dark Magician Girl', or 'Magician of Black Chaos' on the field: I must activate this card by banishing all monsters from my hand, Deck, and GY; I must negate the effects of all monsters my opponent controls and destroy them, and if I do, banish them!" He narrowed his eyes fiercely and pointed forth at 'The Winged Dragon of Ra', "Marik! Since you're currently fused with 'Ra', YOU will go alongside it!"

Dark Marik almost looked worried about losing at first, but then smirked with satisfaction.

"But once I'm gone, what will that mean for my weaker self?" he pressed playfully (not).

"What are you talking about?" growled Thomas.

"Even if you destroy 'Ra' right now, you'll leave me with only 1 LP! And, as you can also see at the moment, my dominant personality doesn't even have the strength to survive on a single LP!" boasted Dark Marik.

Emily then realized that Dark Marik had a good point. A 'very' good point, indeed.

"He's right!" admitted Emily, now speaking to Thomas, "Thomas, we can't go through with the attack! We could end up killing Marik in the process!"

"That's correct!" confirmed Dark Marik, not losing his smirk, "By destroying 'Ra', you'd be sacrificing the life of my dominant half!"

Thomas grimaced in horror at what he had been about to do; another unforgivable act (namely killing an innocent person). Dark Marik started to taunt his opponent over the situation.

"How ironic…" Dark Marik joked with sick amusement, "You're willing to let my weaker self die to defeat me… Especially after promising my Honorable Big Sister you would save him from 'me'!"

Thomas looked off the platform towards Ishizu, who had a look of pure horror on her face. She would potentially lose her younger brother forever if Thomas actually went through with his play to defeat Dark Marik and 'The Winged Dragon of Ra'…

"He's right…" thought Thomas, "I can't go through with my play to rid the field of 'Ra', lest Ishizu loses her brother in the process!"

"So long as I have 'him' as a living sacrifice," beamed Dark Marik, "I can never lose to anyone—especially to you!"

Below the platform, everyone else watching was horrified with what they've just heard.

"What a cheater!" complained James, "Using his own host as a living shield!"

"That bastard!" cursed Michael.

"How can Thomas win now?" worried Henry.

"He can't win at all!" The voice of Dark Marik exclaimed, causing everyone to look up on the platform. There was a look of pure cruelty and insanity on his vein-exposed face as he ranted on, "Not unless he is prepared and willing to kill my weaker half just to get at me! No matter what happens now, I'll be staying in this body forever! All while my weaker self will be gone, along with the boy AND the girl!"

And thus, the evil man began to laugh psychotically once more. Yes, this situation looked incredibly bleak for not only Thomas and Emily, but Light Marik as well.

(elsewhere…)

Outside the blimp, while all that was happening on top of the Duel Tower was ensuing, emerging from the aircraft was Ryan and Liz, and they were in the process of helping Odion.

(elsewhere…)

Back atop the Duel Tower and inside the Shadow Realm, Thomas was in deep trouble. He had both of his ace monsters on the field ('Dark Magician' and 'Dark Magician Girl') and a face-up Spell Card ('Ragnarok'), but that wasn't the reason why Thomas was in such a tough position. Not even close… The real reason why he was in such a tight spot was due to Light Marik (Dark Marik's offering) being very close to dying, and likely would die if Thomas did go through with his game winning move.

"So, tell me…" taunted Dark Marik, while still merged with 'The Winged Dragon of Ra', "Are you going to go through with your play…or not?"

Thomas knew that if he did, then Light Marik would possibly be killed. Unfortunately, he had also wanted to defeat Dark Marik and save Emily's life. What was Thomas going to do, now?

"I'm trapped," thought Thomas, "No matter what happens now, someone's going to be sacrificed to the darkness…"

Below the platform, James yet again swore aloud in frustration at the situation his two friends were in.

"Oh, for God's sake!" pouted James, "How's anybody supposed to defeat that guy if he keeps finding ways to save himself?"

"You really don't want me to answer that question," grunted Gordon in annoyance.

"I have an answer if anyone's interested!" The voice of Dark Marik cracked.

Everyone in the audience was silent and glaring at him in anger over the statement—but Dark Marik began explaining anyway for the kicks and giggles…

"The only way to destroy me is by destroying my weaker half in the process," insisted Dark Marik, before looking up at Light Marik, "That means no matter what you do, even if you destroy me while I am merged with 'Ra', both of us will die!"

Below the platform…

"That is a load of rubbish!" shouted Discord, "If Marik is sacrificed to the darkness when Thomas-boy goes through with his attack, then you'll remain alive no matter what happens in the outcome! You said so yourself!"

On the platform…

"How right you are, Mr. Crawford!" proclaimed Dark Marik insanely, "It's an absolutely brilliant strategy made by me…" His cruel smirk grew more widely wicked, "As you all can clearly see by now, no one can ever win against me in a Shadow Game—especially if there's an offering, like my dominant personality here, on the line!"

Dark Marik started to laugh maniacally once more at his own, seemingly brilliant, strategy. Yes, it was all looking very bleak right now for both Thomas and Emily. No matter what happened next, Dark Marik would win the Shadow Game in the end (even if he was defeated in the duel). It looked like it was all over for Light Marik, I'm afraid… Well, it would have been all over for Light Marik had it not been for one little thing…

"MASTER MARIK!" The voice of Odion screamed out.

Everybody on and off the platform looked nearby and became very surprised at what they saw. Staggering up from the elevator, and being helped by both Liz and Ryan, was a now conscious Odion!

"I SHALL PROTECT YOU!" promised Odion.

Up in the air, the eye on the remains of Light Marik's face widened.

"Odion?" he whispered weakly.

Back atop the platform, Thomas and Emily were both surprised to say the least.

"It's him…" uttered Thomas (LP: 700).

"Odion…" added Emily.

Below the platform…

"Odion!" cried Ishizu, shocked and relieved to see that her adopted older brother was back on his feet.

"What's he doing here?" questioned Percy, before noticing his sister and brother-in-law, "Liz, Ryan, you both brought him here?"

"He asked us to," relied Ryan.

"We were looking after Lady and Duck when we…" trailed Liz.

A flashback began.

---

FLASHBACK

Inside the medical room aboard the blimp, Flashback Ryan and Flashback Liz were both looking after Lady.

"How much time does she have to live before she could never wake up?" Flashback Liz asked her husband.

Flashback Ryan looked at his watch. Upon seeing the time, he got an upset look on his face.

"Over half-an-hour left until the end, I'm afraid," guessed Flashback Ryan.

Flashback Liz let out a sad sigh of her own, but then suddenly perked up like she heard a sound of a sort.

"Did you hear that, Ryan?" peeped Flashback Liz.

"What?" asked Flashback Ryan, "What's the matter?"

"I thought I heard movement," assumed Flashback Liz, looking to the doorway, "Outside."

(outside…)

Upon exiting the room, the couple found Flashback Odion struggling to walk through the hallway.

"That was Percy's opponent," exclaimed Flashback Ryan, "The fake Marik—no, Odion."

"What's he doing up?" Flashback Liz was wondering, "Last I remember, he was out cold."

"I…have…to save…Master Marik…" Flashback Odion, speaking weakly, groaned to himself.

Unable to stand it any longer, Flashback Liz and Flashback Ryan both ran over to the injured man.

"What are you doing up? You should be resting," stated Flashback Ryan.

"I…must…get…to…Master…Marik," urged Flashback Odion wearily, "I…must…save…him!"

"From Thomas?" blinked Flashback Liz.

"From himself."

While trying to continue on, Flashback Odion suddenly slumped against the wall like he was gonna faint again.

"Here, let us help you," offered Flashback Liz, kindly taking Flashback Odion's arm, while Flashback Ryan took the other arm, "We'll take you to the tower."

"Thank you…" Flashback Odion smiled weakly, "You're both…very kind…"

The two young adults took Flashback Odion under their shoulders and helped him along.

(outside…)

Outside the blimp, while all that was happening on top of the Duel Tower was ensuing, emerging from the aircraft was Flashback Ryan and Flashback Liz, and they were in the process of helping Flashback Odion.

"So, um, if you don't mind me asking," said Flashback Ryan, once he and Flashback Liz managed to get Flashback Odion outside the blimp, "Why do you want to save Marik from himself?"

"I am the only one who can help him keep his darker half at bay," panted Flashback Odion.

"Darker side?" Flashback Liz blinked, "What do you mean by darker side?"

As she and Flashback Ryan both continued to help Flashback Odion to the Duel Tower, the young Egyptian man began to explain more in detail about what Marik's dark side was.

END FLASHBACK

---

The flashback ended. Odion slowly moved forth towards the platform, but mainly to Dark Marik.

"I only hope I'm not too late," thought Odion, "I remember Master Marik's words before he faded away…"

On the platform, still on top of 'The Winged Dragon of Ra's' head, Dark Marik folded his arms and sneered upon seeing that Odion was still alive.

"Tch! So, you were alive all this time, Odion…" grumbled Dark Marik, "I suppose you're far tougher than I first anticipated! However, even showing your face around here won't actually make much of a difference to me," He then grinned evilly, "Do you know why that's the case? Because I won't be switching out for my weaker half anytime soon!"

Light Marik weakly looked down towards his servant/friend/brother.

"Od-ion…" The reformed Rare Hunter leader thought to himself weakly.

Odion continued to breath hard while weakly walking forth, much to everyone else's concern on Odion's ill health.

"Are you okay, Odion?" fretted James, looking concerned.

"Man, you can't even walk straight," James R. added in a worried tone, "Try not to overdo it."

As he walked towards the platform, Odion stumbled slightly and almost collapsed again.

"Hey!" Percy cried out, about to run over and help Odion before Ishizu stepped in to stop him, "Huh?"

"Let him be," requested Ishizu calmly, before looking in Odion's direction, "This is something Odion needs to do by himself."

"Are you sure?" pressed Percy, trying to speak up before Ishizu silenced him again, "What if he-! Huh?"

Odion, meanwhile, finally managed to reach the platform and looked up towards Dark Marik while still breathing hard. Dark Marik gave a snort of amusement upon seeing the carving on the left side of Odion's face.

"Keh! What a repulsive carving!" teased Dark Marik, "One that has no more meaning. My weaker half's mind is like a candle flame in the wind… He doesn't even have the strength to speak, let alone the power to live!"

He then started to laugh at his enemy, while Light Marik's lone eye watched. Below the platform, Odion, meanwhile, started to speak up in utter defiance.

"You're wrong… I know the real Master Marik can fight you and regain control of his body and soul," retorted Odion.

Back on the platform…

"Just look at him!" barked Dark Marik, looking to his left at his 'dominant personality', "Only a single fragment of him remains alive, and if I go down in this…" He kept on smiling dementedly, "…Shadow Game—so does he!"

That was true indeed; the single eye of Light Marik was all that remained of him, and was looking very weak by now. Either way, below the platform, Odion wasn't about to give up on his master just like that… Not even close! He'd be forever damned if his adopted brother was lost forever to the darkness.

"Master Marik!" called Odion, refusing to believe that Light Marik would die if Dark Marik were to lose the Shadow Game, "You have to regain control! The cruel fate of Tomb Keepers is what brought this tragedy upon us. Resentment towards the Ishtar clan…"

Another flashback began.

---

FLASHBACK

A remorseless Flashback Mr Ishtar began carving the symbols into Young Marik's back, all while the poor boy screamed in agonizing pain through the gag on his mouth.

"I know you've shown that sign of resentment to the laws of our clan," narrated Odion, as his Flashback self had with him another dagger in one hand, and a candle holder with another lit candle in the other hand, "Anger and hatred lying dormant within you is what created the evil that stands before us."

(new scene…)

Flashback Mr. Ishtar was armed with a whip and furiously cracked it onto Flashback Odion's shirtless back, making him scream in pain. It was a clear sign the absolutely livid Flashback Mr. Ishtar was torturing the young man until he died of blood loss. Flashback Mr. Ishtar then made it worse by heating a sword over a burning torch and digging it into the spots where Flashback Odion had been whipped. But when Flashback Odion collapsed, it allowed for Dark Marik to awaken for the first time. Young Dark Marik approached the nearby table and faced Flashback Mr. Ishtar.

"From now on, we're going to be playing by my rules," remarked Young Dark Marik.

"Marik! I order you to put down that Millennium Item! You're not ready to use them!" raged Flashback Mr. Ishtar.

The Millennium Rod glowed all gold and Young Dark Marik laughed quietly to himself.

"Well now, this item seems to accept me," The possessed young boy said snidely.

"Put it down!" command Flashback Mr. Ishtar, "I command you!"

Fed up with being told what to do, Young Dark Marik turned and glared at his Father in nothing but anger and hate.

"Shut up already!" barked Young Dark Marik.

"Marik, you-!" snarled Flashback Mr. Ishtar.

Young Dark Marik responded by aiming the Millennium Rod at his Father. Suddenly, Flashback Mr. Ishtar, glowing gold, was thrown by the Millennium Item's power into a wall.

"My son," groaned Flashback Mr. Ishtar weakly.

Young Dark Marik snickered before turning his (Young Dark Marik) attention back to Flashback Mr. Ishtar, knowing the perfect way to kill the old fool.

"And now, Father, it's time for you to meet your fate," grinned Young Dark Marik.

Suddenly, he removed the handle of the Millennium Rod and revealed a terrible secret about the item. The Millennium Rod was actually half rod—half dagger. Young Dark Marik advanced sinisterly towards Flashback Mr. Ishtar and readied the weapon.

"No! Stop!" cried Flashback Mr. Ishtar.

Despite his horrified pleas, they were all in vain.

(outside…)

Outside the tomb, Flashback Mr. Ishtar's screams echoed followed by Young Dark Marik's insane laughter.

(inside…)

Back inside, Flashback Mr. Ishtar was now lying in a pool of blood (some blood could also be seen on the walls). The scariest bit was the old man's back was completely skinned; mutilated so badly that it was enough to make anyone who saw the final result feel very sick. In Young Dark Marik's bloodied hands was a rectangle of skin that he (Young Dark Marik) removed from Flashback Mr. Ishtar's back.

"So much for him," Young Dark Marik chuckled sadistically, briefly approaching the seemingly lifeless body of Flashback Odion, "Say, Odion, you wanted proof of belonging to the Ishtar clan, didn't you?" He (Young Dark Marik) held up and dropped the rectangle-shaped skin, showing the markings that Flashback Mr. Ishtar had gotten many years ago, "Then here, take this with you to the netherworld," With that done, he decided to kill the immobile Flashback Ishizu next, "Now for you, Honorable Big Sister!"

"N-No, stop, M-Marik!" begged Flashback Ishizu.

Young Dark Marik ignored Flashback Ishizu's cries and began to approach with the dagger, intending to simply stab her to death instead of torturing like he did to his Father—well, at least until…

"M-Master Marik," The voice of Flashback Odion uttered.

Young Dark Marik stopped approaching Flashback Ishizu and looked towards that wounded older brother of his. Flashback Odion was actually still alive despite the severe loss of blood and the burning scars on his back.

"He's still alive?!" freaked out Young Dark Marik, turning his (Young Dark Marik) attention to Flashback Odion and raising the dagger up, "Why won't you stay dead?!"

Flashback Odion weakly raised his head, showing the markings on the left side of his face. Suddenly, Young Dark Marik dropped the Millennium Rod and fell to his knees in extreme pain. When he brought his head back up, Young Marik had his normal look back.

"W-What happened?" The young boy asked weakly, seeing blood on his hands, "Why am I covered in blood?"

END FLASHBACK

---

The flashback ended, and Dark Marik immediately grew furious at Odion's defiance.

"Be silent!" hollered Dark Marik.

Aiming the Millennium Rod at Odion below the platform, he (Dark Marik) fired a blast of energy at him. Odion was struck and sent flying back into the wall, leaving a nasty imprint on the stone wall.

"Odion, no!" cried Ishizu, scared for her older brother's safety.

But Odion merely stood back up and slowly walked back to the platform whilst speaking some more.

"Master Marik, you're trying to seal yourself into hopeless darkness,"Odion went on, "Even if you linger in that darkness, you must live on. It's not only the Tomb Keeper's fate, but the fate of all humans."

On the platform, the eye of Light Marik listened on, but Dark Marik merely flipped out some more.

"SHUT UP!" roared Dark Marik, aiming the Millennium Rod at Odion once more, "SHUT UP!"

Another blast sent Odion back again. The weakened young Egyptian man crashed into the railing…but thankfully didn't fall over.

"Humans don't live because they're looking for hope," reminded Odion, getting back up and walking over again, "They find hope because they live," On the platform, the lone eye of Light Marik listened on some more to his (Odion) passionate speech, "That is not just the fate of a Tomb Keeper, but of every human being!"

Light Marik's single eye widened with determination.

"Every human's fate…" he thought to himself, "I know what I must do, now…"

The eye immediately faded away. At that point, Dark Marik's anger with Odion had reached its breaking point…

"THAT'S IT!" Dark Marik screamed in sheer rage, pointing the Millennium Rod down at Odion once more—this time, in preparation to kill him (Odion), "PREPARE TO DIE!"

Suddenly, just before the furious Dark Marik could fire a more devastating blast, he felt something inside his messed up head trying to fight for control and brought a hand to his right side of his face while groaning in agony.

"Thomas, look!" exclaimed Emily, "Something's happening to Marik's dark side!"

Thomas looked and noticed that Emily was right on the button.

"You're right!" acknowledged Thomas, "It looks like he's struggling with something in his mind…"

Dark Marik continued to clutch his face whilst groaning in pain. Below the platform, Odion watched this happen, and began to speak again…

"That's it, Master Marik…" he encouraged quietly, "It is not through death that people go into the light. There is light only in life… You must fight that great evil within you with all your light."

On the platform, Dark Marik, still holding onto the right side of his face, screamed one last time while standing atop of 'The Winged Dragon of Ra's' head.

"WHY?!" wailed Dark Marik, speaking seemingly to no one, "You shouldn't have any strength left within you…!"

Upon taking his hand away from his face, Light Marik's eye was now attached to Dark Marik's left side of his face.

"Thomas, attack me, now!" commanded Light Marik, just as soon as he was able to speak.

"Marik!" announced Thomas.

"More like Marik's good half!" corrected Emily.

"Hurry, and call out your attack!" urged Light Marik, "Do it, now!"

"Keep quiet, you friggin' parasite!" snapped Dark Marik in pain.

Light Marik ignored his dark half, "You have to attack, Thomas!" he insisted, "I can't hold on much longer!"

"But…" Thomas started to argue, but got cut off.

"I've committed an unforgivable sin… A crime so unforgivable, that a Tomb Keeper like myself cannot be forgiven for it," remembered Light Marik, "It was my hatred for the Pharaoh that led to the creation of my dark side, the death of my Father, and the betrayal of my family's name."

Thomas and Emily both listened to the arguing between Light Marik and Dark Marik.

"Didn't I tell you to keep silent?!" The voice of Dark Marik growled, trying to keep in control, "I'm in control, now!"

"You've pushed me about for the last time!" The voice of Light Marik cut in, now sounding incredibly angry with Dark Marik, "You killed my Father and made me into a monster!" He sounded more and more determined than ever to stop his dark half, "Now, I'm going to make sure that you and I both pay for everything 'WE' have done…!"

Below the platform…

"Master Marik…" whispered Odion.

Back on the platform…

"Despite all that I've done, do you think someone like me can head towards the light?" wondered Light Marik, speaking to no one in particular.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" raged Dark Marik.

"Is there some way I can put an end to this never ending sorrow and hatred?" asked Light Marik, once again towards no one in particular (Odion, Ishizu, Thomas, Emily, who knows), before finally addressing Thomas in desperation, "Thomas, I'll find out in your next attack!"

"I said SILENCE!" ranted Dark Marik.

"Hurry and strike me down!" Light Marik requested one more time.

"Thomas… I think Marik is being serious in this," Emily said to Thomas, "He's betting everything we have in this final attack."

"I know," agreed Thomas, closing his eyes briefly, "I can…feel it in his heart."

Light Marik stared down with hope in his soul. He hoped that his former enemy could pull it off…

"Very well, I'll believe in your strength and give it all I've got!" thought Thomas, before speaking aloud, pointing to the face-up 'Ragnarok' Spell Card, and beginning the final play of the whole duel, "Here I come, Marik! I now activate the power of my Quick-Play Spell, 'Ragnarok'!"

As the final battle of the whole duel commenced, Dark Marik had become greatly panic-stricken.

"If there are any 2 of 'Dark Sage', 'Dark Magician', 'Dark Magician Girl', or 'Magician of Black Chaos' on the field: I must…" The voice of Thomas was saying, as focus also went towards 'Dark Magician', 'Dark Magician Girl', and the face-up 'Ragnarok' Spell Card before he was shown taking every Monster Card from his hand, GY, and remaining in the Deck, "…activate this card by banishing all monsters from my hand, Deck, and GY; I must negate the effects of all monsters my opponent controls and destroy them, and if I do, banish them!"

"S-Stop…it!" wailed Dark Marik, "Y-You can't…win!"

"Even a 'God' can't stop this!" thundered Thomas.

The sky started to turn all yellow as purple orbs floated out. Out of the first two orbs came the souls of 'Slifer the Sky Dragon' and 'Obelisk the Tormentor'.

"There's 'Slifer'!" The voice of James R. pointed out.

"And 'Obelisk'!" The voice of Michael added.

"More and more monsters are appearing!" The voice of Carlie finished.

The remaining orbs revealed to be the souls of Thomas's remaining monsters; 'Queen's Knight', 'King's Knight', 'Jack's Knight', 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon', 'Kuriboh', 'Magician of Black Chaos', 'Archfiend of Gilfer', 'Buster Blader', 'Silver Fang', 'Alpha The Magnet Warrior', 'Beta The Magnet Warrior', 'Gamma The Magnet Warrior', 'Valkyrion the Magna Warrior', 'Black Luster Soldier', 'Obnoxious Celtic Guardian', 'Big Shield Gardna', 'Giant Soldier of Stone', 'Sangan', 'Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts', 'Berfomet', 'Watapon', 'Skull Archfiend of Lightning', 'Magician's Valkyria', 'Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight', 'Feral Imp', etc.. The only monsters absent were the ones from the Extra Deck. Below the platform, everyone was amazed by what they were seeing.

"Look at them all!" commented Henry.

"There must be dozens upon dozens of monsters!" breathed Percy.

Back on the platform…

"The power of 'Ragnarok' evokes the souls of all the monsters I have ever used," explained Thomas, holding up many of his remaining Monster Cards, "Now, go forth, my friends! Take down Marik's monster, 'The Winged Dragon of Ra', here and now!"

The monster souls obeyed and charged into battle, with 'Dark Magician' and 'Dark Magician Girl' both leading the attack. Everyone in the crowd couldn't believe just how many monster souls there were, and more were still continuing to appear at a rapid pace.

"It's Thomas's monsters on parade!" admired Molly.

She let out a yelp as the souls of 'Kuriboh' and 'Watapon' both soared past her.

"This is amazing!" gawked Skiff, seeing souls of 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon', 'Skull Archfiend of Lightning', 'Jack's Knight', 'Buster Blader', 'Berfomet', 'Silver Fang', 'Feral Imp', and 'Big Shield Gardna', "Look at them all!"

Spencer kept a neutral expression on his face over this great show—although he was secretly impressed. Before long, the monster souls all started to approach the defenseless 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' (and Dark Marik).

"Stop it! STOP IT!" flailed Dark Marik in terror, "Call them off… CALL THEM OFF, RIGHT NOW!"

But it was no use at all; he was powerless to stop the play. 'Slifer the Sky Dragon' coiled itself around 'The Winged Dragon of Ra', as 'Obelisk the Tormentor' held the enemy monster down. Meanwhile, the rest of the much smaller monsters down below kept hold of 'The Winged Dragon of Ra's' lower body.

"Let me go! LET ME GO!" demanded Dark Marik, panicking.

Suddenly, 'Kuriboh' floated up towards Dark Marik and made a couple of taunting "Kuri Kuri!" sounds aimed directly at him before going back down to join his friends. The monsters all started floating towards the sky. Down below, 'Dark Magician' looked to his apprentice.

"Let's go," coached 'Dark Magician'.

"Right," nodded 'Dark Magician Girl'.

The two Spellcaster monsters leaped into the sky to join their allies in taking 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' down for good. Dark Marik was still wailing when 'Dark Magician' and 'Dark Magician Girl' both showed up, glaring intensely at him.

"Y-You two…!" uttered Dark Marik.

"Your reign of terror is at an end!" declared 'Dark Magician'.

"Never again will you try to hurt innocent people!" seethed 'Dark Magician Girl', "This is also for Thomas and Emily!"

'Dark Magician' and 'Dark Magician Girl' crossed their scepter and wand respectively and began charging a mighty blast. The sky unveiled a Spellbinding Circle-like hexagon, all whilst Dark Marik continued to scream in rage and horror.

"Black…" chanted 'Dark Magician'.

"…Burning…" chanted 'Dark Magician Girl'.

"…Magic!" The voice of Thomas finished.

The two spellcasters fired the blast, which consumed 'The Winged Dragon of Ra', as well as Dark Marik (and Light Marik).

"Odion… Ishizu…" thought Light Marik.

As for what Dark Marik was feeling, he was screaming all the way into the magical circle. The whole arena was soon covered by a bright light, and everyone below the platform covered their eyes. Finally, when the light faded away, 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' and all of the other monster-based souls…were gone. From there, 'Dark Magician' and 'Dark Magician Girl' both lowered themselves back onto Thomas's field. Below the platform…

"That…was way past cool…" admitted Gordon.

"You said it," agreed Henry, "Never have we seen so many of Thomas's monsters being used in a single duel…"

"But did it work, this time?" asked Percy.

On the platform, Thomas and Emily were both thinking the exact same thing about the use of the 'Ragnarok' Spell Card.

"Did…we do it?" pleaded Emily, "Is Marik's dark side finally gone?"

"I don't know," replied Thomas, watching the thick smoke on Dark Marik's field, "But… I can only hope we did the right thing."

As the smoke cleared, the two teenagers could see a silhouette.

"Could it be?" wondered Emily.

Once the smoke was gone, there 'he' was…

"It can't be!" gasped Matt.

"How's it possible?!" added Ben.

It was Light Marik. The reformed Rare Hunter leader was back in control of his own body.

"That's right," confirmed Light Marik, "I'm back."

Below the platform…

"Good Marik's alive!" rejoiced Mavis.

"But where's his evil half?" quizzed Molly curiously.

"Likely gone," answered Discord.

"Big Brother, does this mean Thomas wins?" asked Skiff, looking towards Spencer.

"No," denied Spencer, "Marik still has 1 LP left."

Ishizu and Odion both watched Light Marik proudly.

"Master Marik," Odion thought to himself, "you had the strength to live within your heart the whole time. That strength has allowed you to withstand the darkness in your heart and dispel your dark half."

Back on the platform…

"Thomas Billinton…" said Light Marik formally, grabbing and tossing his cape aside, "I still have 1 LP remaining. Because of that, the duel is still on!"

Thomas was about to speak up when Emily did that for him.

"Thomas, look over there near Marik!" noted Emily

Thomas looked and could not believe it. In the spot that Light Marik originally was as a sacrifice, was the eye of…Dark Marik.

"Where… where the hell am I?" groaned Dark Marik. He suddenly realized he was the offer and not Light Marik, "H-Hey! How did I get here?! What's going on?!"

Below the platform…

"That's Marik's dark half!" Zack stated in realization.

"Because good Marik was able to overpower him during the whole 'Ragnarok' sequence," put in James R., "the evil half has become the sacrifice instead!"

Back atop the duel platform…

"This can't be possible! There's no way my weaker self even had the strength to overtake me and take over the body!" thought Dark Marik, overcome with horror, "You must be kidding! Now I'M the sacrifice, and also stuck with 1 LP! What am I going to do?!"

Dark Marik, now realizing the situation he was in and knowing what it was like to be a living sacrifice instead of it being someone else, started to try and reason with Light Marik into helping him (Dark Marik) out.

"L-Listen to me, Master…" began Dark Marik, "You and I are the exact same! I've always thought of us as friends sharing the same body! You can be in control again, and we can also still win the duel with 1 LP! 'Kill' Thomas Billinton and Emily Stirling, please! It was all because of them you had to suffer from the terrible fate of the Tomb Keepers…" Thomas and Emily scornfully listened to his pathetic whining, "Get revenge for you and your ancestors! M-Maybe if we also gain the other Millennium Items, we—I-I mean 'you'—could become the new Pharaoh and rule this modern world!" He didn't let up with the appealing, "Just don't lose this Shadow Game, now… I beg of you!"

"You are the dark side that I created, spawned by my suffering as a result of the very same fate! You can no longer control my subconscious," refused Light Marik.

"But, Master! You don't understand…!" protested Dark Marik, "Thomas was the one who-!"

"NO!" glared Light Marik, "All of this was 'YOUR' fault! You're the one who murdered my Father and made me believe that Thomas's bloodline was responsible for it!"

"What?!" cringed Dark Marik.

"I will 'destroy' you with my own hands!" threatened Light Marik.

"Madness…" hissed Dark Marik, "Are you saying you'll kill yourself just to finally get rid of me?"

I'm afraid to say Dark Marik was wrong, very wrong… Light Marik had a better idea; he instead began to put the palm of his right hand on top of the Duel Disk. DarK Marik took notice of the action, and began to get very worried about it…

"Wh-What are you doing?! STOP!" cried Dark Marik.

"Marik…" whispered Thomas.

"I will not die," reassured Light Marik calmly, "The crimes I've committed will never be forgiven, but I will live on despite those sins… Bearing them like the carvings on my back."

Below the platform, Odion silently watched his master carefully, who, back on the platform, then addressed Thomas.

"And I'd like to chase the light of hope once again amidst the darkness of my destiny," The reformed Rare Hunter leader continued, "Thomas Billinton, I'd like to thank you for rescuing me in this duel. This Shadow Game is also over and done… in the only possible way."

"What?" blinked Thomas.

Light Marik closed his eyes as a series of flashbacks began.

---

FLASHBACK

Young Marik was chained onto a table while lying on his stomach while his own Father heated a dagger over a burning candle.

"The time has come for you, my son," The voice of Flashback Mr. Ishtar said calmly, as the dagger heated to a really high temperature. He held it up with a small, cruel smile on his face before he faced his chained son, "Today you shall bear the honor every Ishtar has held of guarding the Pharaoh's Tomb until the arrival of his chosen descendant."

There was a sinister gleam in his eyes. With that said, a remorseless Flashback Mr Ishtar began carving the symbols into Young Marik's back, all while the poor boy screamed in agonizing pain through the gag on his mouth.

(elsewhere…)

Hours later, Young Marik was lying on his bed by his stomach with bloodied bandages around his burnt torso. He was in a very bitter mood when Flashback Odion arrived to change the bandages. The whole room was in a mess.

"My life is over…" Young Marik muttered bitterly.

"Fear not, master. You're a Tomb Keeper now," Flashback Odion replied, walking into the room.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" snapped Young Marik, just before grimacing in pain, "Ouch… It hurts…" Suddenly, he (Young Marik) saw that Flashback Odion had his (Flashback Odion) face all bandaged up, "Odion, what's with your face?"

"I performed my own ritual since your Father would not allow me into the clan," said Flashback Odion, just as he undid the bandages to show his new markings, "You will never be alone again, Master Marik."

The sight of the markings on Flashback Odion's face seemed to have calmed Young Marik down.

(new scene…)

Flashback Mr. Ishtar, glowing gold, was thrown by the Millennium Item's power into a wall.

"My son," groaned Flashback Mr. Ishtar weakly.

"Marik!" objected Flashback Ishizu, "What are you doing?"

Suddenly, Young Dark Marik turned to his own older sister and used the Millennium Rod's power to slam her against the wall, too.

"Stay out of this, Honorable Big Sister!" snapped Young Dark Marik, before smiling madly, "You'll have your turn to get a bloodbath shortly."

"N-No. You're not Marik!" winced Young Ishizu, now stuck against the wall.

Young Dark Marik snickered before turning his (Young Dark Marik) attention back to Flashback Mr. Ishtar, knowing the perfect way to kill the old fool.

"And now, Father, it's time for you to meet your fate," grinned Young Dark Marik.

Suddenly, he removed the handle of the Millennium Rod and revealed a terrible secret about the item. The Millennium Rod was actually half rod—half dagger. Young Dark Marik advanced sinisterly towards Flashback Mr. Ishtar and readied the weapon.

"No! Stop!" cried Flashback Mr. Ishtar.

Despite his horrified pleas, they were all in vain.

(outside…)

Outside the tomb, Flashback Mr. Ishtar's screams echoed followed by Young Dark Marik's insane laughter.

(inside…)

Back inside, Flashback Mr. Ishtar was now lying in a pool of blood (some blood could also be seen on the walls). The scariest bit was the old man's back was completely skinned; mutilated so badly that it was enough to make anyone who saw the final result feel very sick. In Young Dark Marik's bloodied hands was a rectangle of skin that he (Young Dark Marik) removed from Flashback Mr. Ishtar's back.

END FLASHBACK

---

The flashback ended, just as Light Marik finally moved and placed his right hand atop his Duel Disk, thus causing Thomas to gasp in complete surprise at the action.

"He's…surrendering!" thought Thomas, "He conceded defeat… meaning his LP will drop to 0 automatically."

"The terrible fate of the Ishtar family lasted 3000 years," remembered Light Marik, "The tragedy caused by me shutting myself in darkness. I must put an end to it once and for all! By using my own hands, that will at least be some atonement for the sins I've committed."

"N-No! You wouldn't… YOU CAN'T!" shrieked Dark Marik.

"This will be the first step…into the light!" announced Light Marik, ignoring his dark half.

"No… please… DON'T SURRENDER!" Dark Marik bellowed in complete terror.

"Be gone!" shouted Light Marik, "Never take over me again, my dark side… You are dismissed!"

With one final scream, the remains of Dark Marik vanished into the shadows as the remains of Light Marik's LP automatically reached 0 (LP: 1 → 0).

---

DUEL RESULTS: Thomas Billinton wins by default!

---

"I've lost everything, Thomas… No, the descendant of the Pharaoh," Marik pointed out, "The Shadow Game…is yours!"

From there, Roland finally spoke up with the final results…

"Marik Ishtar has forfeited the final duel," exclaimed Roland, raising a hand high into the sky, Focus went towards Thomas as he (Thomas) listened motionlessly, "That means the winner of the match, AND of the Battle City tournament, is none other than Thomas Billinton!"

Suddenly, the purple fog of the Shadow Realm began to fade away.

"The duel…is over," assumed 'Dark Magician', looking at his apprentice.

"Our work here is done," added 'Dark Magician Girl', looking at her teacher with a smile.

The two Spellcaster monsters finally faded away due to the duel being over. Suddenly, Emily was released from her invisible shackles and started to fall onto the ground in an unconscious state… Fortunately, Thomas was quick to catch her.

"Emily!" worried Thomas.

As soon as the platform lowered enough, everyone that wasn't Spencer, Ishizu, or Odion started to climb up and approach their two friends.

"Is she-?" Molly began, but got cut off.

"No," interjected Thomas immediately, feeling a pulse on Emily, "She's only resting."

Slowly, Emily's eyes slowly flickered open. The first thing she saw…was Thomas smiling at her.

"Hey sleepyhead…" he greeted warmly.

"Thomas?" spluttered Emily, feeling a headache coming on, "W-What happened to me?"

"You had been captured by my destroyed dark half," revealed Marik, now walking towards the group, "He used you as Thomas's living sacrifice in the Ultimate Shadow Game," He (Marik) looked at Thomas "Thomas ended up almost killing himself just to keep you from being lost to the shadows."

Emily nearly freaked out upon seeing Marik and hearing of the actions from the final duel, but Thomas managed to somewhat calm her down.

"Easy there," soothed Thomas, "That's good Marik. His dark half has been destroyed forever."

"But," Emily spoke up, looking like she wanted to start crying, "after hearing what had happened, and how we—'I'—almost lost you…"

"Everything's alright," Thomas smiled comfortingly, giving Emily a very affectionate hug, "I'm here, now…"

Emily, now bursting in tears, immediately returned the hug while crying softly.

"He nearly threw his life away to protect me," she thought to herself, "Part of me wants to scold him for being so careless—yet how was his actions any different from 'mine'?"

A minor flashback dawned on the sobbing Emily, reminding her how she carelessly took the attack from Sailor John's 'Five-Headed Dragon', and how she unintentionally broke Thomas's heart. All because she allowed fear to cloud her better judgment… Meanwhile, Odion and Ishizu, meanwhile, both looked over to Marik.

"Marik… our future was not lost after all…" thought Ishizu, before looking back over to Thomas and his friends with a soft smile, "Thank you… future Pharaoh."

"Master Marik…" thought Odion, smiling, "I've finally done it."

Thomas, as he continued to comfort his crying friend, looked over to Marik with a smile.

"Marik, while you did lose this final battle, you were victorious in the duel against your heart," praised Thomas.

Marik nodded in agreement. It was then Percy spoke up…

"Um, I hate to interrupt this…sad exchange," remarked Percy, "But shouldn't we focus on one new detail?"

Thomas blinked, "And what's that?"

"YOU'VE WON THE TOURNAMENT!" James, raising his voice, jumped up.

Almost immediately, the rest of Thomas's friends began celebrating, too.

"We're so happy for you!" encouraged Mavis.

"Your second full tournament win!" cheered Edward.

Thomas smiled and immediately looked at his Deck, namely all of the Monster Cards he had there.

"Thank you, my friends," thought Thomas, "I could not have done it without each and all of you."

(new location…)

Suddenly, Thomas found himself alone in darkness…well, until souls of every single monster that was featured in the 'Ragnarok' sequence made an appearance in the darkness.

"M-My friends…" murmured Thomas. He then saw 'Dark Magician' and 'Dark Magician Girl' walking forth to address him, "Is something the matter?"

"Not at all," smiled Dark Magician, "But we called you here to tell you…"

"We're all so proud of you," put in Dark Magician Girl, "You have found the light in the end of the tunnel…"

The souls of all the monsters Thomas has ever used began to cheer and/or roar in triumph. Thomas Billinton was smiling more widely than ever before.

(new location…)

Back atop the Duel Tower, Marik was speaking to Odion and Ishizu.

"Big Sister…" began Marik, looking deeply ashamed with himself, "I… I don't know what to say."

"You've no need to say anything," assured Ishizu kindly, "I'm just glad you're safe."

"Both of us are," acknowledged Odion.

The three siblings embraced in a hug.

"For thousands of years, our family has suffered a cruel fate as we lived in the darkness," recalled Ishizu, "but it was your destiny to end it. You foolishly pursued revenge and brought along more tragedy. Perhaps we, the Ishtars, were assigned the duty of guarding the Millennium Items… so that the descendant of the Pharaoh could teach us that one message."

"Sister…" said Marik, as Ishizu listened carefully, "Do you think our family can escape the darkness and live?"

"The three of us, after all, are not just of the same tribe," added Ishizu, as Odion listened to the ending, "but as a family."

"'We'?" peeped Odion hopefully.

"Yes, all of us. And this includes you, Odion," confirmed Ishizu, smiling once more.

This was what Odion had been wanting all his life; to be part of the Ishtar family. Closing his eyes, a teardrop of happiness fell down his face.

"Thank you…" thought Odion.

"With all the sappiness aside," snorted Spencer, stepping forward, "Marik must now give up his rarest card to Billinton. And, with you as the official winner of the Battle City Tournament, you are now the Duel King of the Island of Sodor… I congratulate you on your win, Billinton."

"Thank you, Spencer," nodded Thomas, holding the 'Fiend's Sanctuary' Spell Card out, "I never would have won the duel without your help."

Thomas then tossed the 'Fiend's Sanctuary' Spell Card over to Spencer, intending to return it to him (Spencer). Sure enough, Spencer caught the card and pocketed it.

"Whatever," The silver-haired boy grunted, before glaring slightly, "But don't go thinking that the title of Duel King will be yours forever."

"I know…" frowned Thomas, but not negatively, "We'll no doubt have to face each other again soon enough."

"Now then," Skiff offered, "go ahead and take your prize from Marik."

Over with the Ishtar family…

"Marik…" urged Ishizu, "It's time for you to fulfill the final duty of our family."

"Right," agreed Marik, before walking over to Thomas, "Thomas Billinton, as I have lost to you in the final duel, I must relinquish control of 'The Winged Dragon of Ra to you'," He held out the 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' Effect Monster Card, "It's yours… Take it, please."

Thomas took hold of the 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' Effect Monster Card. He was now holding all three 'God' Cards in his left hand.

"I have all three 'Egyptian God' Cards," thought Thomas, "'Obelisk the Tormentor', 'Slifer the Sky Dragon', and 'The Winged Dragon of Ra'!"

"In addition," continued Marik, "all of the duelists who had fallen to the Shadow Games started by my dark half have been brought back to life."

"That's great news," smiled Thomas, "So Lady and Duck should both be fine."

Unfortunately, there was a 'third person' alive also.

"Don't forget me, too…" An image of Montague chuckled, who had appeared beside Thomas before fading away.

"Also…" finished Marik, taking off his shirt, "I must show you something else."

He turned around and showed the carvings that were on his back. Everyone that wasn't Ishizu, Odion, or Spencer couldn't help but grimace at the sight.

"Those carvings…" Molly winced.

"How awful!" worried Carlie.

"What kind of monster would do that to you?" gagged Ben.

Thomas gazed long and hard at the carvings, seemingly being able to figure them out.

"These are the same carvings we saw in the museum. So this is how the Tomb Keepers guarded the answers to all of my questions?" thought Thomas

"Those hieroglyphs contain a prophesied message," revealed Ishizu, "It was passed down from the first Tomb Keeper who served the Ishtar family," She began to explain the prophecy, "In the future, one will come… who will wield the three 'Gods' depicted on the stone slab. This will be proof that the descendant has been chosen," Thomas gasped as he listened to her, "That chosen one is you, Thomas. Soon, you will fulfill your destiny and all will be truly made right."

"And now, for the final act of my destiny, I surrender my Millennium Rod to you," accepted Marik, holding his Millennium Item out, "It's one of the Millennium Items my family risked their lives to protect. As of now, I have no more need for it."

Thomas gratefully took the item, and Marik also removed the Millennium Ring from around his neck.

"And take this, too," offered Marik.

"Thank you," accepted Thomas gratefully, taking the Millennium Ring.

Just then…

"Are you guys all done with the sappy talk?" demanded Spencer haughtily, "We've no reason to stay, now that the tournament's all over with. Now, everybody back to the blimp and get ready to go home."

"Why the rush?" demanded James harshly, "Maybe we'd like to celebrate a bit longer!"

"You're free to do so… if you want to sink with the rest of the island."

"WHAAAAT?!" James R., Zack, James, Gordon, and Percy exclaimed at once.

"I knew it…" sighed Thomas unhappily, "You're gonna go through with blowing up the whole island."

"HE'S WHAAAAT?!" James R., Zack, James, Gordon, and Percy freaked out again.

"Overly dramatic much?" Liz remarked to Ryan, sounding somewhat sarcastic.

"I'll say, dear," deadpanned Ryan quietly.

"I've planned to destroy it after the tournament ends no matter what," stated Spencer, "It's the only way to destroy my late Grandfather's legacy for good."

Skiff, Mr. Gresley (Boxford), and Mrs. Gresley (Boxford) each nodded, causing the rest of the group to finally understand Spencer's reasons for the tournament and destroying the island.

"I…guess we kinda get your point with that Grandfather of yours," figured Henry at last, "I'd be doing the same thing if I were in your shoes."

"Now, if you all want to live," Spencer remarked firmly, "I suggest you all return to the blimp and leave at once."

"No need to tell me twice," huffed Michael.

From there, Spencer, Skiff, and their parents all walked away, leaving everybody else behind.

"Come on!" whooped Percy, running towards the exit of the Duel Tower, "Lady could wake up at any moment!"

"Wait for us, Percy!" called Liz.

The rest of the gang immediately followed.

(elsewhere…)

Somewhere inside the Duel Tower, Spencer, Skiff, and both Mr. and Mrs. Gresley (Boxford) had arrived inside a new chamber.

"This is it," confirmed Spencer.

"Spencer…" cut in Mrs. Gresley (Boxford), "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"As long as this island and tower are standing," Spencer replied coldly, "our family will never escape from the curse of Gozaburo Gresley," With that said, he walked up to a large computer console of sorts, "Skiff? Father?"

Mr. Gresley (Boxford) and Skiff both approached the console also and started typing away.

"Preparations are almost finished," reported Skiff.

"Good," grinned Spencer.

"Imputing the password," came from Mr. Gresley (Boxford).

As soon as the code was put in, a device opened up to reveal a keyhole of some sort.

"One last time, Spencer," Mrs. Gresley (Boxford) said once more, holding out a key to the machine, "Are you absolutely sure?"

Spencer quietly took the key, inserted it into the machine, turned it, and punched in one final code.

"Farewell… Ghost of Gozaburo Gresley," thought Spencer, pressing a button.

With the code complete, the whole room began flashing red as a voice message was soon heard…

"Self Destruction sequence has begun… Sixty minutes until explosion," The computer declared.

(elsewhere…)

Back aboard the blimp, Percy raced excitedly into the medical room to see if his girlfriend was alright.

"Lady!" he called, expecting Lady Stone to be awake, "You're awake, right?"

(inside…)

Upon entering the room, Percy's happiness first turned to confusion, then to sadness. Lying in bed and still in a coma…was Lady Stone.

"No…" whimpered Percy, running over with a scream, "NO!"

"Percy! Is Lady awake?" The voice of Emily echoed.

The rest of the gang entered…and saw poor Percy crying over Lady's body.

"Percy?" whispered Liz.

"We were too late," sobbed Percy, "Lady's…dead!"

"It can't be!" wept Molly, "It just can't!"

"Percy…" apologized Thomas sadly, "I'm so sorry…"

Poor Percy didn't seem to hear… He only continued to cry and sob into Lady's chest.

"Oh, Lady! Please come back to us! Come back to me!" begged Percy.

Liz started to cry also, and Ryan tried his best to console his wife. Everyone else held their heads solemnly… Just then, the gang heard a sound.

"Huh?" wondered Matt.

"What?" realized Michael.

Over in the bed, Lady…was stirring a bit.

"She's waking up!" The voice of Mavis realized.

Percy didn't pay any attention at first. Finally, Lady's eyes flickered open.

"Ooh…" groaned Lady groggily, "Where am I…?" From there, she noticed Percy crying into her chest, "Percy? What are you doing?"

Hearing the beautiful blonde-haired girl's voice made Percy lift his head.

"L-Lady?" sniffled Percy, hoping his mind wasn't playing tricks.

"What happened to me?" muttered Lady wearily, "And why do I feel so light headed?"

She never got an answer from Percy, since he instantly tackled his love interest into a tight hug while continuing to cry out of happiness and relief.

"Oh, Lady! Thank God you're alive! I thought I'd never…" wailed Percy.

It was a joyous reunion for the couple while everyone else watched the heartwarming scene with smiles and/or tears.

"Man, I just love happy endings!" sobbed Gordon.

"Hey, Gordon, are you trying?" teased Henry.

Hastily, Gordon dried his eyes and put on a tough guy attitude to conceal the fact he was crying.

"N-No! Of course not!" denied Gordon, "I-I just got something in my eye."

Suddenly, a new voice could be heard from down the hall…

"Is anyone else here hungry, or is it just me?"

"That sounded like Duck," realized Mavis.

(elsewhere…)

Inside one of the rooms, Duck Collet was busy raiding the fridge. He didn't know what had happened to him, but apparently he was feeling very hungry all of a sudden. Thomas, James, Carlie, and Ryan had arrived inside the room at that point.

"DUCK!" Thomas and the likes all yelled.

"Oh… hello everyone," greeted Duck cheerfully, happy to see his friends, "The strangest thing has happened to me; I had just woken up aboard this blimp while starving—almost like I haven't eaten any since yesterday morning."

"Do you even know what happened?" pressed Thomas.

"Nope! Not really, Thomas," chuckled Duck, before taking a large gulp of milk straight from the carton, "I was in the city park during day two of the Battle City tournament when I suddenly blacked out and found myself here aboard this great blimp a day later."

Toby, Mavis, and Edward each showed up right here to join Thomas, Carlie, James, and Ryan in speaking to Duck.

"You really don't remember anything?" stammered Edward.

"Not a thing," shrugged Duck, as the group listened, "So, what all happened while I was blacked out?"

Yeah, that would take a while to explain…

(elsewhere…)

Outside the cockpit, some shocked voices could be heard from some of the suits…

"Are you serious?! Masters Spencer, Skiff, Jim, and Mistress Leslie aren't back yet?!" The voice of Roland raged anxiously.

(inside…)

Inside the cockpit…

"Where on Earth could they even be!?" Another suit, by the name of Fuguta, pondered.

It was then Thomas and the gang arrived.

"Is something the matter?" questioned Gordon.

"Master Spencer and his family have not come back yet," explained Fuguta.

"They're not?!" gasped Percy, "How come?"

"You don't think…he couldn't accept his loss and wished to just…kill himself?" figured Thomas thoughtfully.

"Rubbish!" countered James, "Even Spencer's not that stupid! Besides, that would also mean killing his parents and Skiff, too."

"Maybe they found another way off the island?" suggested Emily.

"We'd better go look for him just in case," offered Thomas.

And everyone else agreed to that idea…

"I guess it can't be helped," sighed Zack.

"But that Spencer is still a royal pain in the keister," grumbled James R..

The two suits turned to the main pilot of the blimp.

"Start up the engines," ordered Roland, "We'll need to be ready in case Master Spencer returns!"

"Starting up the engines," obeyed Pilot 1, flipping the switch.

(outside…)

Outside the blimp, the engines started to activate, but then it happened! The engines suddenly stopped all by themselves.

(inside…)

Back inside the cockpit, everyone heard the engines stop.

"What just happened?" shivered Henry, not liking the sound of the engines stopping like that.

"I don't know… Our fuel supply looks supposedly good, but something is still wrong," insisted Pilot 1.

"Oh, that's just terrific!" ranted James sarcastically, pacing around and trying to keep himself calm over the situation (and clearly failing), "Now we're ALL going to be blown to kingdom come because the engines decided to cough out on us!"

Suddenly, a loud shout could be heard from the main engine room.

"That's coming from the engine room," revealed Ryan, leaving the cockpit, "Let's go see what the problem is!"

(elsewhere…)

Inside the engine room, a mechanic was staring in complete horror at the mess.

"How…? Who…?" The mechanic cringed.

At that moment, the rest of the gang arrived.

"What in blazes happened here?!" demanded Fuguta, looking shocked at the state of the engine room.

Thomas looked around… There were trashed consoles, ripped wires spewing sparks, etc.. It was easily a mechanics' worst nightmare.

"Whoa! It looks almost like 'New Junk City' in here," joked Ben, which earned him a few glares before he retracted his statement, "N-Nevermind."

"Someone must have snuck in here when no one was around to sabotage the whole engine room," realized Discord.

"But who?" blinked Zack.

Thomas walked forward and observed the damage done to the place; the work seemed to be from a dagger and magic. It was then Thomas knew that there was only one person, or monster, who could wield such elements.

"Marik's dark half… Marik's dark half was the one who did the deed!" announced Thomas, "He must have come here to sabotage the controls just before the big duel began!"

"The evil half must have overheard Spencer's plan to destroy the island during his duel with Thomas in the semi-finals," worried Emily, "So he wanted to make sure that we all perished just in case he failed to win the Shadow Game against Thomas."

Yes, this looked like a very grim situation for the whole gang. Why? Oh, let's see… Spencer and the rest of his family were missing, Dark Marik had destroyed much of the engine room before the duel, AND, to make things even worse than they already were, there was a time limit counting down!

(elsewhere…)

Back inside the hidden room deep within the Duel Tower, the countdown had just reached 45 minutes.

"Forty-five minutes until explosion…" said the computer.

(outside…)

Outside the tower, it was quiet on Boxford Corp Island—well, almost quiet, had it not been for the fact that a time bomb inside the Duel Tower was about to go off, and something (or someone) else was also missing…

"Spencer!" The voice of Thomas hollered.

Sure enough, the group was outside hunting Spencer and the others down.

"Come on, Spencer!" called Percy, "This isn't funny!"

"Skiff!" exclaimed Mavis, "Where are you?!"

"Aunt Leslie! Uncle Jim!" yelled Gordon.

They were having no luck in finding the Boxford family.

"Well, we can't find them," grunted James, kicking at some nearby junk, "Now we're all going to die because the blimp's been sabotaged!"

"Spencer-boy and the others couldn't have gone far," assumed Discord thoughtfully, "This island isn't very big."

"Alright, we'll split up," instructed Thomas, "And meet back here in twenty minutes."

Everyone nodded and took off in different directions.

(elsewhere…)

Somewhere inside the Duel Tower, Spencer, Skiff, and Mr. and Mrs. Gresley (Boxford) were making some final adjustments to the console.

"Billinton…" thought Spencer, "I faced you atop this tower and lost."

A flashback began.

---

FLASHBACK

Flashback Spencer still couldn't believe everything he worked so hard to obtain was now all for nothing.

"My Battle City…" thought Flashback Spencer, "My hatred for that man Gozaburo… Standing atop of this tower, I was supposed to become the Duel King and rid my family of his curse forever… But now…" He (Flashback Spencer) envisioned Flashback Thomas standing atop of the Duel Tower in triumph, "Billinton… all I ever wanted was to defeat you fairly…"

The poor silver-haired boy tried reaching out to the tower, but it faded away before he could touch it. Before long, the ground beneath his feet collapsed and suddenly caused him to snap out of his vision.

"I-I've lost… everything…" Flashback Spencer muttered in complete defeat.

"Like for me… my goal to become a True Duelist…is Battle City! Percy, for instance, is still fighting to find that very place," recalled Flashback Thomas.

He cast a quick glance to his best friend, who looked a bit puzzled at first, but quickly flashed a smile. Flashback Thomas then took a quick glance down to his Duel Disk, where both the 'Dark Paladin' and 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' Normal Monster Cards remained. He picked up the latter card and held it up.

"'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' is no ordinary card," explained Flashback Thomas fondly, "its strength comes from the bond of my friendship with Percy, and it means that I never duel alone. To be frank, I would have lost to you if I didn't have it in my hand when you played 'The Flute of Summoning Dragon'. That is why I won. Because I had the support of my friends, along with the belief in the Heart of the Cards."

END FLASHBACK

---

The flashback ended.

"Spencer," The voice of Skiff cut in. He (Skiff) was trying to get Spencer's attention, "All the systems are set."

Spencer didn't seem to hear… He was still busy thinking in his thoughts over his loss…

"The power of friendship, huh?" thought Spencer, giving off a scoff, "That is just ridiculous!"

"Spencer?" The voice of Mr. Gresley (Boxford) echoed, snapping his son out of his thoughts. He looked affirmative, "Everything is set. The self-destruct sequence can no longer be deactivated."

"Very good…" accepted Spencer, "Now come, it's time for us to leave the island."

"Are we taking the blimp?" asked Skiff.

"No," denied Spencer, "We'll be taking a special jet I had prepared," He pushed a button on the console and caused a nearby elevator to open up, "This way."

(elsewhere…)

Back inside the cockpit of the blimp, the suits and pilots were busy trying to get the blimp to activate and take off.

"Come on… come on!" grunted Pilot 2. At first the blimp started to work, "Yes! We did it!"

However, then it stopped.

"You were saying?" deadpanned Zack.

Swearing in frustration, Pilot 1 bashed his hands atop the console.

"We can't give up!" spoke up Fuguta urgently, "Not while our jobs and lives are on the line!"

(elsewhere…)

Inside an elevator within the Duel Tower, Spencer and his family were riding it and waiting to get to where they were going.

"Battle City wasn't just a fight to become Duel King," Spencer thought to himself, "It was also a fight against Gozaburo as well."

A flashback began.

---

FLASHBACK

Young Jim, Leslie, Jessie, and Paul had all arrived at the mansion of Gozaburo Gresley.

"Welcome… to your new home," said Flashback Hobson, the butler, to the four kids.

"This is so amazing!" beamed Young Jim in amazement.

"My gosh! We're living a luxurious life now!" gushed Young Leslie.

It was then the kids' new Stepfather spoke up sternly.

"Listen up!" informed Flashback Gozaburo, "I never insisted on bringing all four of you here. Two of you were to become heirs to my company."

"Heirs?" quizzed Paul.

"Yes…" nodded Flashback Gozaburo, "There will be a time where I'll be gone, and the company will need to live on."

"So, who have you decided on?" blinked Young Jessie innocently.

Flashback Gozaburo smiled…in a cruel way. He was looking at two of the kids with interest—and they were Young Jim and Young Leslie.

"Us?" Young Jim and Young Leslie uttered at the same time.

"But of course," replied Flashback Gozaburo, faking kindness, "Jim, you seem to be a very intelligent young boy. And Leslie… you seem to care deeply for your friends."

The two kids, not realizing what they were getting into, both nodded silently—yet they felt uneasy about the whole thing.

(montage…)

Unfortunately, that proved to be a very big mistake on their part. How so? Because for the next several years or so, Young Jim and Young Leslie were both forced into an accelerated schooling program… and it was a complete nightmare to them.

"The subjects for today will be economics!" The mean teacher confessed, "Begin!"

They were even threatened with punishment should they slack off.

"So…tired…" Young Leslie bemoaned, about to collapse into a deep sleep.

Suddenly…

*WHACK!*

Young Leslie woke up with a slight shriek to the sound of a switch being slammed on the table. The action was shown to be done by her monster of a Stepfather.

"No slacking off!" snapped Flashback Gozaburo, speaking in a mixture of anger and glee.

"Y-Yes, Father…" The poor young girl whimpered, trying not to show any fear.

(new scene…)

Later on, Young Jim was outside the office of his Stepfather with something in hand. He knocked on the door.

"Come in," The voice of Gozaburo answered.

Young Jim opened the door and walked nervously in.

(inside…)

As expected, Flashback Gozaburo was seated at his desk with his back against one of his two stepsons.

"Yes, Jim?" began Flashback Gozaburo in a surprisingly calm and polite tone.

"Father, I-I have something I'd like to show you," greeted Flashback Jim nervously, "S-Something I've been working on for a while now."

"Well, let's see it then," offered Flashback Gozaburo, turning around and showing some surprising interest, "If they're worth my time, I won't have to kick you out."

Now feeling confident, Young Jim took out a folder containing some blueprints.

"They're blueprints," explained Young Jim.

"Blueprints?" quizzed Flashback Gozaburo, "Whatever for?"

"Virtual Reality Pods," continued Young Jim, handing his Stepfather the blueprints, "I'd been thinking of using them to make gaming much more fun…"

"Bah!" snorted Flashback Gozaburo, tossing the blueprints over his shoulder, "Games are nothing but foolish wastes of time and money! This company uses its time properly on creating 'weapons'!"

"Weapons?!" gasped Young Jim, clearly shocked.

"Yes, weapons!" confirmed Flashback Gozaburo, "This is a 'war' company, and we make our money by developing weapons for the military!"

Jim as outraged, "But that's… that's,"

"That's 'what'?" threatened Flashback Gozaburo, standing up from his seat.

"That's not right!" proclaimed Young Jim bravely, "Making money by hurting people!"

"That's the way of business!" snarled Flashback Gozaburo, "Now I want to hear no more of this gaming nonsense from you…or else!"

With a snap of his fingers, two suits came in with firm looks on their faces.

"Take Jim away," ordered Flashback Gozaburo, before looking through the blueprints, "You know, with a few modifications, these things would make 'great' training modules for combat."

"You can't do this!" struggled Young Jim, as the suits dragged him away. The last words he said to his 'Father' were as followed, "I'll get you for this, Father! I'll get you for this if it's the last thing I ever do!"

END FLASHBACK

---

The flashback ended.

"Now, this island will sink along with all traces of what's left of Gozaburo's horrid legacy," thought Spencer.

(elsewhere…)

Outside the Duel Tower, Thomas and his friends were all still looking for Spencer and his family.

"Still nothing…" grumbled Gordon, looking behind a large junk pile.

Eventually, after enough time had passed, everyone returned to the blimp.

"Anything?" pleaded Thomas hopefully.

"No sign of them," declined Toby.

"Cinders and Ashes…"

"Maybe they returned to the blimp while we were gone?" suggested Molly, "And the guys there managed to fix the engines, too?"

"I don't know…" remarked Edward, still remembering how badly wrecked the engine room looked, "The engine room looked like it was damaged beyond any hope of repair."

"What are we going to do?" worried Mavis, "The island's gonna blow up soon."

It was then the group saw Duck and Lady both running towards them.

"Guys!" called Duck, "Did you find them?!"

"No," denied Gordon, "And the blimp's been sabotaged and rendered unable to be repaired. Only way out of here now is to start swimming."

Suddenly…

"Wait just a damn minute…" interrupted James, getting an idea, "Wasn't there another vehicle here?"

"The helicopter with the medical team!" remembered Emily.

Everyone was looking at the copter nearby… Suddenly, the gang was glad Percy had fallen into that brief coma from losing his duel against Dark Marik.

"How much time do we have left?" Discord, looking at the suits, urged, "Quickly, how long until boom?"

"Five minutes, Mr. Crawford," replied Roland, looking at his watch.

"Quick, get everyone else aboard the blimp to the helicopter," requested Discord.

"At once, sir!" obeyed Fuguta.

The suits ran for the blimp, while the gang made their way to the helicopter.

(elsewhere…)

Inside a hallway aboard the blimp, Marik, Ishizu, and Odion were each waiting for take off when Fuguta showed up to give them the news.

"We must abandon the blimp!" commanded Fuguta.

Without a second to spare, the Ishtars left the blimp to join the others aboard the helicopter.

(elsewhere…)

Everyone had managed to get aboard the helicopter with a minute to spare.

"What about Master Spencer and his family?!" demanded Roland.

"We can't wait any longer!" argued Discord.

"We have to get out of here now!" added Ryan.

"But we can't leave them behind!" objected Fuguta, not wanting to leave his employers behind, "It's not right!"

"Dammit, man!" yelled James, "If you wanna be blown to kingdom come waiting for Spencer, then be my guest!"

There were no more arguments over the matter.

(outside…)

Finally, the helicopter started to take off.

(inside…)

Within the rescue helicopter, everyone was waiting for the end of Boxford Corp Island.

"Ten seconds!" announced Discord, looking at his watch.

"We're not gonna make it, are we?!" panicked Henry.

(outside…)

The helicopter got further and further from the island when, at last, it happened…!

(inside…)

"The bomb is exploding!" exclaimed Discord, becoming more and more anxious.

(outside…)

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

The tower began to explode and reduce itself to rubble, while the whole Island was engulfed in an explosion of fire. Fortunately, the helicopter was able to slip away before it was too late.

(inside…)

Inside the helicopter…

"Whoa…" breathed Henry.

"That was actually a cool explosion!" commented James.

Soon, the island was nothing but smoke. Inside the helicopter, everyone was looking out the big window at what had happened.

"Aunt Leslie… Uncle Jim…" fretted Gordon.

"Spencer and Skiff…" groaned Molly.

"Do you think they're," Toby started to say.

Suddenly, Percy looked out the window. Something appeared to be rising from the smoke. It was shaped like a very familiar dragon.

"Check it out!" admired Percy.

Everyone gathered to look out the window.

(outside…)

The figure emerged from the smoke…and revealed itself to be a roaring 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon'.

(inside…)

"'Blue-Eyes White Dragon'!" gasped Thomas.

(outside…)

But it wasn't the real thing. It was a jet that resembled the monster. Inside the jet, seated in three co-pilot seats were Skiff and both Mr. and Mrs. Gresley (Boxford). And in the main pilot seat was none other than…

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" cackled Spencer.

(elsewhere…)

Inside the helicopter…

"WHAAAAAAAT?!" freaked out Percy.

(outside…)

The Blue-Eyes White Jet flew beside the rescue helicopter.

"Hey, everyone!" The voice of Skiff greeting, talking through the radio.

(inside…)

Almost everyone inside the helicopter had an absolutely hilarious look of shock on their face.

"So, they… they made it in a jet?" blinked Henry, bemused.

"I don't believe it…" sighed Emily, pressing a hand to her forehead wearily.

"They worried us for nothing?!" complained James R..

"Oh, the indignity!" sulked Gordon.

(elsewhere…)

Inside the Blue-Eyes White Jet…

"Hey, Spencer?" pondered Skiff, "Why didn't they get on the blimp?"

"Something must have gone wrong," joked Spencer teasingly, "That or the blimp just didn't like them…"

(elsewhere…)

Back inside the helicopter, a highly miffed Percy stormed into the cockpit, grabbed the radio, and prepared to yell at Spencer.

"H-Hey!" objected Helicopter Pilot.

"You jerk! This is your fault for almost letting us get blown to kingdom come!" Percy raged into the radio.

"You nearly had us scared to death!" fumed Gordon, upon storming into the cockpit.

Even sweet-natured and quiet Molly was cross with Spencer.

"What do you have to say for yourself!?" The black-haired girl chastised.

(elsewhere…)

Inside the Blue-Eyes White Jet, Spencer had a small cheeky grin on his face, but said nothing in response. It was then Skiff spoke up with big news.

"We're not coming back with you guys," stated Skiff.

"Why not?" The voice of Gordon came from the radio.

"We're going off to begin work on our new amusement park," answered Mrs. Gresley (Boxford).

"To do so, we're heading for the American branch of Boxford Corp in the United States," added Mr. Gresley (Boxford).

"Meaning we won't be seeing all of you for a while," finished Skiff.

"I'll invite all of you to the park one day when it's finished," remarked Spencer, "However, I wouldn't go thinking this is the end of our 'relationship'… You all haven't seen the last of me!"

(outside…)

The Blue-Eyes White Jet started to fly away from the helicopter.

(inside…)

Inside the helicopter, Thomas watched as his rival started to leave.

"Spencer…" thought Thomas, "So… this is your new goal in life…"

(elsewhere…)

Inside the Blue-Eyes White Jet…

"Billinton…" thought Spencer, "Our battle is not over by a long shot!"

(outside…)

Just before the jet could start to make a u-turn, the two rivals flashed each other a nod of respect. Finally, it was time to go.

(inside…)

Inside the Blue-Eyes White Jet…

"Let's go!" commanded Spencer.

"We're off to America!" cheered Skiff.

From there, the jet then shot off into the distance and disappeared.

(inside…)

Back inside the Blue-Eyes White Jet…

"Spencer…" began Mrs. Gresley (Boxford).

"Yeah?" replied Spencer.

"You… you've made the right choice," smiled Mrs. Gresley (Boxford).

"Thank you, Mother," Spencer smiled back, "This is my future!"

Yes, it looked like Spencer had finally let go of his hate and moved on with his life. Where would that life take him? Who knows…

(elsewhere…)

Meanwhile, the rescue helicopter was still making its way back to the Island of Sodor.

(inside…)

Inside the helicopter, everyone waited patiently.

"Man, I can't wait to get home!" remarked James.

"Me neither," agreed Henry, "Wait until everyone hears about what we went through."

"A nice hot bath for me," proclaimed Mavis.

Thomas then looked over to Matt, Michael, Carlie, James R., and Zack.

"Thanks for coming with us," praised Thomas, "I'm glad we got to meet you."

"Likewise, Thomas," nodded Matt, holding his right hand out, "Maybe one day, fate will force us to duel each other."

"I'll look forward to it," accepted Thomas, "It's a promise!"

The two teenage boys shook hands to seal the deal. Finally, Edward could be heard calling out something to everyone…

"We've made it! We're back home!" rejoiced Edward.

(outside…)

He was right, of course. The helicopter was now approaching, and lowering down to the ground, the Island of Sodor. The group was back home once more!

(elsewhere…)

Minutes later, everyone had gathered in the harbor to see the Ishtar family off.

"It's all thanks to you," Ishizu was saying, gratefully, "Marik has been freed from the curse of darkness that has been plaguing his heart."

"I thank you for that, Thomas," came from Marik.

Everyone else smiled, but then Ishizu spoke on…

"We three will now take a new path… and rebuild the Ishtar family in a shining future," vowed Ishizu.

From there, Marik stepped towards Thomas, aiming to speak to him (Thomas).

"I apologize for all the trouble I've caused all of you," apologized Marik honesty, "But I'm especially sorry for blaming your bloodline for what happened."

"It's alright," reassured Thomas.

"And know that there will be a day where you will visit the land of Egypt," promised Marik, "When that day comes, I hope we will see each other again…as friends."

"That would be nice, indeed."

With that said, the two former enemies shook hands. Minutes later, Marik, Odion, and Ishizu were on a boat bound for Egypt…

"Goodbye!" called James.

"Have a good ride home!" waved Henry, "Take care!"

Soon the boat was out of sight. It was then Discord, along with his adopted kids, plus Ben,, looked at the Sudrian teenagers.

"Well, it's been fun, but Industrial Illusions can't run itself, you know," chortled Discord.

"Take care, Discord," encouraged Emily, "I hope we'll see you again, soon."

Discord looked like he was in thought so far. Suddenly, he gazed at Emily and gave her a wink.

"Hmm… Perhaps you all just might," joked Discord.

With that said, the creator of Duel Monsters and his adopted kids all left the harbor for the airport. It was then Ryan and Liz both looked towards the gang, but mainly towards Percy…

"As much as we want to remain on the island for a bit longer, it's time for us to go," bemoaned Ryan, "Liz and I have our journey to continue."

Percy felt very sad that his brother-in-law and older sister were both also leaving.

"You can't leave now," whispered Percy sadly, "we were just starting to catch up."

"I know, my little Percy…" responded Liz, looking very sad herself, "But Ryan and I were only here for the tournament, and now we have to leave for the next big city on our European trip."

The two siblings tearfully approached and hugged each other very tightly.

"I'm going to miss you, Liz!" sobbed Percy.

"And I'll miss you, my beloved Little Brother!" Liz wept.

Everyone else watched this heartbreaking scene silently, but Lady then walked towards her saddened boyfriend and laid a hand on his back.

"Easy, Percy…" smiled Lady kindly, "I'm sure you'll see your sister again."

Liz then looked to Lady, namely to once again apologize to her for hurting her that fateful night.

"Lady, I want to say… I'm so sorry for hurting you that one fateful night," apologized Liz sincerely.

"It's quite alright," accepted Lady, "You didn't mean to say those things. Besides, I deserved it a little bit…"

Before anything more could be said, a loud horn could be heard from the nearby waters.

"Well, there's our boat ride," sighed Ryan, "I guess it's time for us to depart."

"Take care, you two," prayed Edward.

Liz and Ryan both waved goodbye as they approached their ship bound for 'Calais - France'.

"Goodbye, everyone!" Liz and Ryan called out, waving.

"Bon Voyage!" exclaimed James.

"Visit again soon!" concluded Emily.

"I love you, Liz!" admitted Percy.

"I love you, too, Percy!" responded Liz tearfully.

With that all said, the boat departed from the harbor. Everyone continued to wave until the boat was completely out of sight… They knew that Battle City was all over with—or not; there was still one more thing to do. With that, the friends raced out of the harbor and headed home.

(elsewhere…)

Inside the Billinton household three days later, it was very early in the morning (5:00, that is). Thomas was inside his room, dressed, and looking over his Deck one last time.

"Today's the big day," thought Thomas, "It's time to keep that promise I've made with Percy."

A flashback began.

---

FLASHBACK

Flashback Thomas had just defeated Flashback Seeker, and Flashback Percy was handed a card.

"Here you go, Percy," said Flashback Thomas, "This card is yours again."

But to his surprise, Flashback Percy shook his head no.

"It isn't mine to take, Thomas," he refused.

"What?" gasped Flashback Emily, wanting to object, "But, Percy-!"

"Let him talk, Emily," Flashback Edward interrupted, "What do you mean by that, Percy?"

"I just can't take it—not at this time," replied Flashback Percy, "If I were to take it back that easily, I won't be a True Duelist. And 'Red-Eyes' wouldn't accept it, either," A thought bubble formed above him and revealed an image of Thomas and James before changing to a scene from his (Percy) duel with the latter, "You and James are both True Duelists…though you are one more-so. When I dueled James back at the San Francisco tournament, I was fighting mainly for myself," The bubble popped, and he looked dead serious, "That's why I came here. You guys always play honestly with any opponent. You really gave me a lesson—what I lacked is the player's self-esteem."

Flashback Emily and Flashback Edward both smiled as Flashback Percy went on with his passionate speech.

"'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' has always been my special card," confessed Flashback Percy, "He is and always will be my partner. That's why I can't take it now. If I did, then 'Red-Eyes' wouldn't be happy. Thomas, you can have the card temporarily," He looked into the Deck Zone of his Duel Disk, "Besides, I've prepared a new Deck for the tournament. With these cards, I'm still qualified to participate."

"That is true," nodded Flashback Edward.

"What about rare cards?" requested Flashback Emily.

"Just in case, I still have both the 'Flame Swordsman' and 'Time Wizard' both to wager," stated Flashback Percy, taking two cards ('Flame Swordsman' and 'Time Wizard') from his Deck and holding them both up to show Thomas, Emily, and Edward, "They are my last rare cards," He (Flashback Percy) withdrew the cards and continued addressing Flashback Thomas, "I want to become a True Duelist like you, Thomas. In Battle City, I must show you—when I win in this tournament, when I become a True Duelist, please accept a proper duel with me."

"Oh, Percy," praised Flashback Emily, smiling as tears fell from her eyes, "That was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard you say to anyone."

"I'll take good care of your 'Red-Eyes' for the time being," smiled Flashback Thomas.

Flashback Percy smiled back as he (Flashback Percy) and Flashback Thomas shook hands, sealing the deal.

"You are the best friend I could ever ask for," praised Flashback Thomas.

"Likewise," agreed Flashback Percy.

END FLASHBACK

---

The flashback ended, and the one card Thomas was looking at for the moment…was Percy's 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' Normal Monster Card.

"Percy deserves a fair chance to try and get you back," thought Thomas.

(elsewhere…)

Minutes later, after making some changes to his Deck, Thomas was sneaking downstairs into the living room towards the front door. He almost thought he would make it without being spotted by anyone, but I'm sorry to say Thomas was wrong on his part…

"Thomas?"

Thomas cringed, thinking it was his parents catching him… Thankfully, he saw it was only his twin sisters Annie and Clarabel…

"Are you going somewhere, Big Brother?" asked Clarabel tiredly.

"J-Just for a bit of a walk," lied Thomas hastily, "I'll be back within the hour."

The twin sisters nodded understandingly. With that said, Thomas hurried out the door.

(elsewhere…)

Somewhere in the middle of the town square, the rest of the Tidmouth Teens were waiting for Thomas to show up.

"The sun's nearly up," pouted Gordon.

"You think he forgot?" fretted Henry.

"Of course not!" Edward pointed out, "Just look at Percy's face, right now."

Gordon and Henry both did so, and were surprised at what they saw… Percy was smiling as though he (Percy) knew Thomas would come for their fated duel

"That look…" The voice of Gordon muttered.

"It's like…he knows Thomas will come," The voice of Henry added.

Gordon and Henry looked at each other in bewilderment. Suddenly, they heard Emily calling out to them and the others.

"Here he comes, now!" The voice of Emily echoed.

That got everyone's attention. Yes, slowly walking into the area was Thomas. He also had a look of determination and confidence on his face.

"The time has come…" thought Thomas.

Over with Percy…

"…to carry out our promise!" thought Percy.

Back over with Thomas, he grabbed hold of his jacket and threw it off, now wearing it like a cape. The sun was starting to rise as the two duelists soon faced each other.

"We've made it, Percy," commented Thomas, "We've survived the perils of Battle City."

"Yeah…" nodded Percy, "But even then… our own Battle City isn't over yet!"

"That's right… and I have something that belongs to you," recalled Thomas.

"Of course!" exclaimed Percy, clenching his right hand into a fist,, "And now it's time for me to try and win it back."

The two best friends readied their shuffled Decks.

"May the best duelist win, Percy," smiled Thomas, drawing his first hand (LP: 4000), "My best friend!"

"You too, Thomas," accepted Percy slowly, doing the exact same thing (LP: 4000), "Let's do it!"

The rest of their friends watched the upcoming match with smiles on their faces also. They were very happy that their two friends were able to keep their promise to one another. The rising sun was now all gold and such…

"IT'S TIME TO DUEL!" Thomas and Percy, with their hands drawn, announced at the same time.

---

Again, some site-related problems have forced me to split it all in two.