"Please stop doing that," Cassie muttered when Aria lifted up the blanket she'd tossed over her.

"Stop screaming every time one of the EGCs is summoned and we won't have to."

"EGCs?" Cassie said.

Martin chose that moment to call out, "Egyptian Ya-Know-Whats. We decided it was safer to not even say their names anymore, less you have a violent reaction."

"I will NOT have a violent reaction!" Cassie complained. "You take that back or I will beat you! Love and tolerate, you bitch!" She shook her fist at Martin.

"…right," Sally said slowly. "The blanket doesn't matter, anyway. Marik can't summon his EGC anyway."

"You don't have to- wait, really?" Cassie blinked. "What happened?"

"Brom figured out that the easiest way to deal with a god is to send it to the card graveyard from the hand. Card Destruction." Sally shrugged. "I don't follow much of the game-" She ignored the stares the others gave her, "-but from how the announcers were reacting it had been a rather big deal. He used Card Destruction to send both their hands to the graveyard."

"Its actually a really smart move," Martin commented. "The EGCs have protections from being targeted… but that only activates in the graveyard or on the field. In the hand… not so much."

"Doubly so in that Marik can't bring it back easily now," Caesar pointed out. "The targeting protection is now activated… if he tries to summon it to the field with a spell or trap it will be destroyed the next turn. Same if he tries to add it to his hand… it goes right back to the graveyard."

"So he's trapped," Cassie said slowly. "He'd have to be able to clear Brom's side of the field completely AND have a resurrection card."

"And Brom doesn't look to be willing to let up any time soon," Martin commented. "I think he's going in for the kill."

~MC~MC~MC~

Ishizu held her hands out in front of her, eyes shut as she channeled Shadow Realm magic into the Millennium Necklace. She refused to use a television or a computer to watch the duel her brother was having with the Death God… that was a mockery of the ancient and noble practices of the Shadow Games. No… it was better to observe it as her ancestors might have, using their inner magic to peer well beyond what their mortal eyes could see.

And what she saw… was shocking.

'How is this possible?' she thought as she saw The Winged Dragon of Ra roar out in protest from the card graveyard, demanding to be released. 'Ra is the mightiest of the Egyptian Gods… the glorious sun made physical! And yet here it is, trapped within the depths of the underworld, unable to ascend!'

She knew it was possible for an Egyptian God to be held back. The Pharaoh had managed to do just that, after all, in his duel against her brother's puppet, Strings. But that had been different. The Pharaoh was the true holder of the Egyptian God Cards, able to bring forth the dragons that had been blessed with the powers of the divine to aid him in battle. Of course he should be able to defeat one so easily! And yet to witness Brom being able to do what even the Pharaoh hadn't been able to? To be able to force an Egyptian God Card to not even be summoned? Confined to the card graveyard?

'Is… is it because he is a god himself?' she thought to herself before instantly dismissing such a notion. 'No… no that can't be. Even if he is an immortal the pantheon of Egypt is far mightier than some lonely death god who abandoned his post! There must be something else at work here… especially if my brother is the one wielding Ra. He may be a traitor that must be put down for disgracing our family but he is still of the blood of the Servants of the Pharaoh and thus has been given some manner of blessing to wield their power.' Her brow crinkled in thought. 'Has… has Ra abandoned my brother? Is that it? Has his actions caused The Winged Dragon of Ra to see him as unworthy and punish him? I can not imagine one of the great dragons of Egypt being willing to so humble itself… but perhaps my brothers actions have forced it into such a situation.'

She turned her eyes onto the field of Brom Bones. His Wights were standing there, a morbid parade of the dead. It was if he were mocking the fall of Ra with his monsters, setting up well wishers and mourners of rot to herald the fall of the Sun God.

"And now," Brom said in his deep steady voice, "it is time to deal with what remains on your side of the field. I will start by having my Wightprincess attack your final Disciple of Ra."

The little skeleton girl held her bony hand to her mouth, giggling before moving across the field towards Marik's final Disciple. She looked at him for a long moment before moving to kick him… before suddenly lashing out with her hand, punching him in the stomach. The formerly silent monster let out a groan of pain, doubling over, and Ishizu nearly lost her connection to the duel she was so enraged by the disrespect that Brom was showing Marik's monsters. Yes, her brother was a disgrace himself, and would suffer greatly for his actions against the Pharaoh, but he was still of the line of the Tombkeepers and thus due far greater respect. Especially from a foreign devil like Brom Bones.

'Yes, perhaps that is it. He is not a god… he is no Anubis or Osiris. He is a demon wrapping himself in the cloth of divinity to try and hide what he truly is!'

"And now… the final curtain," Brom rumbled, pointing at Marik's final monster. "King of the Skull Servants, sweep over that Guardian Slime."

The Wight let out a shrill laugh before racing foward, rushing down his pile of bones even as skeletal bits sent dark energy to him, powering him up and causing him to glow a sickly purple. Swinging an arm at Marik's slime mother the King of the Skull Servants let all the world know its mirth as it brought 5000 attack points to bear upon it.

The Guardian Slime twisted, shifting as its goo suddenly formed into hundreds of different pieces that barely clung together, over which a single long piece of ooze formed.

It had become a copy of the King of Skull Servants.

"When you attack Guardian Slime it is able to mimic your monster completely. Meaning my new King of Slime has 5000 defense modes, able to easily bat away your attack!" The King of the Skull Servants found itself bounced back across the field. "You won't be touching my lifepoints so easily, Death God. Does that bother you? Make you gnash your teeth together in outrage that I outwitted you so easily?"

"You didn't outwit him, Marik," Edwin Chaos called out and Ishizu's face twisted in disgust that the man was still alive, able to fill the ears of the Pharaoh with his poison. "You used a single card to halt him." He paused. "Come on, you're better than that."

Ishizu… frowned at that. It almost sounded as if Edwin Chaos was disappointed in her brother, rather than angry.

His words, his promise, that he spoke in the shared mindscape echoed back to her before she dismissed them. She didn't need saving or help. It was the world that needed saving! That needed to be guided off the path it had been maundering about like a lost child! Not her!

The image of the duel suddenly disappeared from her mind when one of the machines she was crouched beside let out a shrill whistle, breaking her out of her concentration. Ishizu huffed before focusing once more, ignoring the grime of the small alcove she had tucked herself in and the steam that was making her sweat. Littered around her were wrappers for the food she had stolen and her duel disc sat off to the side, surface dull and grimy.

Ishizu placed her hands next to her necklace and focused.

~MC~MC~MC~

"I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing that I think Marik could still win this," Yuri muttered to me in annoyance. "I wish Brom could just defeat him and be done with it."

I shook my head. "As much as I wish that too Marik isn't going to go down that easily." I watched as he drew his next card. "But he is in trouble," I said softly. "His entire deck clearly revolves around the Winged Dragon of Ra… that means that all he can really do is stall until Brom makes a mistake. And at this level of dueling that is never a good strategy."

Renard folded his arms over his chest. "So you think that Marik can't win?"

"I didn't say that," I commented. "There is a chance there is a card or two that could bail him out." Mentally I added, 'I never even heard of these Slime Monsters… Marik is using cards that weren't in the anime or in the real world before I got sucked into this dimension. So he could have another one or two that surprises me. And there are things like Sphere Mode and Immortal Phoenix… I'm not sure if he has them but if he does…'

What was really throwing me off though was it seemed like the Winged Dragon of Ra had been… watered down. Brought to the actual card from my world, rather than the impossible threat it had been in the anime, where Marik would drop his pants, wiggle his fist up between his cheeks, and pull a new ability straight out of his rosebud.

'In the anime and manga he would have claimed that… I don't know, the sun rises in the east each day so the Winged Dragon of Ra now has a resurrection ability that allows it to always return. And that it also gives him a blowjob and tells him he's a big brave boy.' I let out a huff at that. 'Fucking anime… Ra was broken as shit.' I looked at Marik as he went over his cards. 'But not here. Its powerful, yes… but its not the impossible beast it was in the show. It can be brought down to size. Be defeated. And that is a problem for Marik because unless he thinks of something… Brom is going to win.'

And while I didn't say it to my friends… that concerned me greatly.

Marik was a madman with a magical weapon. When one boiled down everything and distilled to the purest sense who Marik Ishtar was, he was a madman who had gotten hold of a relic that granted him great power. One he had learned about, yes, but hadn't actually respected. Or rather respected those he used it against. What he wanted, despite his claims of revenge, was more power. Power bred power. A man who had a thousand dollars, free and clear to do with as he wished, would always want another thousand. Just as a man with a million would want more. A mayor dreamed of being governor. A governor a President. A President a King. A King an Emperor.

'Even I'm guilty of that,' I thought as I looked down at Gleipnir, feeling the weight of the Millennium Key within my chest. 'Power gathers power.'

And the Egyptian God Cards were just another item of power that Marik could claim as his own.

An item of power that BROM could claim as his own.

The gods. The ultimate source of power. I knew what Selene wanted with the Egyptian God Cards: to drain them completely of their power and force that strength into my body. To turn me into a god like her and then abandon the Earth entirely. It had been, apparently, Endymion's goal in the past. Their grand scheme.

'What exactly does Brom want then?' I thought as Marik ended his turn after doing nothing, his Slime monster turning back into its Guardian Slime form. 'What would he do with the power of an Egyptian God?'

I didn't know if I wanted to know the answer.

~MC~MC~MC~

"You think you have this victory secured, don't you?" Marik said to Brom with a taunting smile. "But I'm afraid you are quite wrong. No… you have gained nothing with your moves to build up your King of the Skull Servants. Because as you can see my Guardian Slime is able to protect my lifepoints against anything you throw at it! So keep attacking! Send your King against me again and again and again! It won't work!"

Brom considered Marik for a long moment.

'Do you think Marik is right?' Yugi asked the Pharaoh. 'Is it impossible for Brom to get around the Guardian Silme?'

'I don't think so, Yugi,' The Pharaoh said. 'In Duel Monsters I have come to see that there is nothing that is impossible. If one believes in their deck then they can always find a way to get around impossible odds.'

"Who are you trying to convince of that?" Brom said, startling Yugi and making his think for a moment that Brom had somehow heard his thoughts. But then he realized that he was talking to Marik.

"What is that?" Marik asked.

"All your boasting and your claims of grandeur and strength and all the rest. Who are you trying to convince? I doubt it is me."

"I am not trying to convince anyone," Marik said with a dark smirk. "Merely stating a fact."

"No… no you aren't doing that." Brom reached up and rubbed his chin. "Why are you so desperate for validation from me?"

"Are you going to make a move or talk in riddles?"

Brom shrugged. "I can duel and talk. You were the one speaking while doing nothing. Still… Wightprincess, attack the Guardian Slime."

"A pathetic move," Marik said. "At least attack with your King of the Skull Servants! It might have a chance!"

'Hmmm,' the Pharaoh murmured.

'What is it?'

'I think I just spotted the flaw in Marik's plan… and I believe Brom has too.' The Pharaoh watched as the Wightprincess happily skipped over to the Guardian Slime, giggling when it twisted to look exactly like her. The two began to mimic each other's movements, mirror reflections of the other. 'Yes… Marik is in trouble, that is clear.'

'What do you mean?' Yugi asked.

'Look… the Slime has taken the form of the Wightprincess… but it hasn't STOPPED taking her form.' Yugi watched as Brom's monster returned to his side of the field.

"Oh!" Yugi said aloud. "The Guardian Slime can only take one monster's form once per turn! So by turning it into Wightprincess it can't turn into the King of the Skull Servants!"

Brom smiled. "Yugi is correct, of course. You were once more trying to convince me to attack your monster with my King, in hopes of stalling for time. But I rather quickly saw through your plot and decided not to accept it." He tapped his duel disc. "And now my King of the Skull Servants is free to attack your Guardian Slime in its Slime Princess form."

Yugi watched as the King of the Skull Servants raised his hands up, the mound of bones he was standing up sending forth a stream of femurs and ribs at the Princess Slime. The monster tried to scramble away only to be struck, shattering into pieces.

"You keep trying to convince the world of so many things, Marik," Brom said with a casual shrug. "It isn't because you want us to know these things… and I don't think its because you want us to believe them either. I think, deep down, you want us to validate you."

"Validate me?" Marik said with a laugh. "Why would I care what you pathetic little creatures think about me?"

"…why indeed?" Brom asked, ending his turn.

"Man, I don't know if what Brom is doing is getting to Marik," Tristan stated, "but if it were me I think he'd be in my head right now."

Tea nodded, hugging herself. "He seems like a nice guy and he's never really rude when he's talking to you… but it feels like he's just digging his fingers into the little cracks in your skin and tearing it open to get inside and worm his way around."

'That does make him a dangerous duelist to go up against,' Yugi thought to himself. 'Duel Monsters is just as much about reading your opponent and understanding them as it is the cards you play. So many of our duels have been won by pressing someone's buttons and getting them to do what we wanted.' He thought back to Weevil and how he and the Pharaoh had been able to get him to move against them just as they wanted in order to trap him and defeat him. 'Brom understands people so well… he is able to torment them with just a few simple words and get them to make mistakes.'

'Yes… Marik does much the same,' the Pharaoh stated. 'Though I feel that in this case Marik is finding it near impossible to able to deal with Brom in such a manner.'

Marik frowned at he looked over his hand before setting a single card on his side of the field. "This will do enough to protect me. Make your attack! It will not matter!"

Brom was silent as he looked over his own cards, considering his hand carefully before finally nodding his head. "Yes… I do believe that you have done something that will harm me. But I am ready to try and spring your trap. Let us see what you have hidden. Wightprincess, attack Marik directly."

The little girl skeleton let out another giggle before waving to the King of the Skull Servants, blowing him a kiss. Then she was skipping once more towards Marik's side of the field, laughing without a care in the world.

'So either Marik activates his facedown now or he takes 1600 points of damage,' Yugi thought. 'I wonder what he'll do.'

'I don't think its as simple as that, Yugi,' the Pharaoh responded. Before the teen could ask his partner what he meant however Marik smirked… and held up a card… from his hand.

"So focused on my field that you never considered what I might have drawn! I summon forth Juragedo in attack mode!" On his side of the field a strange demonic creature appeared. It had a ball-like bottom rather than legs and feet and its eyes stuck straight out from the sides of its head, connected to its skull but just a few bits of flesh. With its oddly proportioned limbs and segments that went from hideously thin to gruesomely thick it was clear to Yugi that Juragedo was a creature that could have only been born in the underworld, unable to come about naturedly. "This fiend can appear suddenly on the field during either battle phase and when he does the holder who brings him forth gains 1000 life points!" (Marik-5000)

"And that monster is stronger than Brom's!" Tea declared.

"He needs to call off the attack!" Tristan added.

But Brom… did no such thing.

"Wightprincess… attack Juragedo."

Marik cackled at Brom's declaration. "Fool! You destroy your monster in a meaningless gesture!" The Wightprincess continued to skip towards his fiend, showing no fear even as the demonic creature lashed out, scattering her bones about with a simple sweep of its hand. (Brom-3900)

Brom… merely shook his head.

"Did you know," he said calmly, "that I make many of my patients pay up front for multiple sessions? Some might believe that I do that because I want their money at once. That greed drives me. I assure you it is quite the opposite. It is because I want them to get the full care their need. The… full… care. You see so many people go to a doctor or a chiropractor or a psychologist and after a few sessions believe that they are fixed up enough and that they can stop. But just because you feel good doesn't mean all the damage and pain is gone. No… pain hides. It likes to tuck itself away so you believe it gone, only for it to return again. By forcing them to pay for their sessions up front I ensure that they go to all of them… so that they continue to see me and we can deal with the trauma and the pain that torments them."

Marik merely scoffed. "And what does that have to do with me?"

"Merely that you, like so many of my clients, believe that something is gone… when it is not."

And with that the Wightprincess let out a giggle, her bones rattling and trembling before they began to skitter across the ground.

"My Lady In Wight protects all my monsters, preventing them from being destroyed by battle. So all I lost was 100 lifepoints… which was more than enough to see just what else your Fiend could do before I attacked with my King of the Skull Servants." Brom tapped his Duel Disc and the King let out a shrieking laugh. "And now I will do just that."

Marik though quickly thrust out his hand. "Reveal my facedown card: Ultimate Divine Beast! This card allows me to summon one Divine Beast Monster from my graveyard and then force your monster to attack it, protecting my Juragedo and my lifepoints! So come forth Winged Dragon of Ra!"

The monster appeared on the field but the terror and awe that it normally brought forth was long gone at the sight of it.

'Its like seeing the sun die,' Yugi thought, staring at the divine beast with pity and sadness. Ra's wings were drooping, golden feathers falling down to the ground. It could barely even manage to lift its head up, eyes sunken in their sockets. It did not stand on its feet or fly majestically in the air but rather just laid on the ground, letting out weak gasps as it struggled to breathe. Its golden form was tarnished, light unable to reflect upon it as it once had and its fires dimmed. 'This… this is wrong,' Yugi thought to himself.

Brom must have agreed because he merely closed his eyes as his King of the Skull Servants attacked the Winged Dragon of Ra, not so much destroying it as putting it out of its mercy. The dragon didn't so much roar as let out a cry of relief. "Doleo nobilis," he murmured before looking up at Marik. "Does it not bother you at all that you forced such a glorious being to perform such a weak action?"

"The Winged Dragon of Ra is mine to command, as is my right by right of conquest and ownership."

"One can not own the sun," Brom argued.

"Save a god?" Marik taunted. "God of Death…"

"If you think I own death, that I claim it as my own, then you show how little you know of me, my kind, and the world at large Marik Ishtar. I suppose a lesson must be taught then."

"There is no lesson you need to teach me, fool," Marik declared brashly. "I have already learned the sole rule of this world: the strong dominate the weak. If the Winged Dragon of Ra is so powerful and so deserving of respect as you claim then it can stop me itself." He threw out his arms. "I am stronger than the Winged Dragon of Ra! It knows this by obeying my commands! That is proof enough that I am correct in doing anything I wish to it! So save your blather about morals and the rights of creatures such as it… you should instead be preparing for what will happen when I best you, Brom!"

Brom though merely shook his head. "You keep making such claims, Marik… and yet you have done little to actually defeat me. Though… perhaps you will. Perhaps you will beat me this day and kick me out of this tournament." He stared the Egyptian man down. "It will not bring you the happiness you seek. You will still be tormented by your father's actions… how he refused to show you the love that you should have been given. How he did not allow you to grieve for the mother that you never got to know. How he denied you so much in your life because of his obsession in pleasing a dead man that, even now returned, has no interest in servants bowing to him."

"That last one truly does bother you, doesn't it?" Edwin suddenly said, drawing attention to himself. "It is so much easier to hate the Pharaoh when he is some faceless figure on a throne, demanding that you press your forehead to the cold floor and praise him. Revolutions are made on such things. Not so much on 'cruel leaders' who spend half their time hiding in a puzzle while their partner snogs his girlfriend."

"EDWIN!" Tea cried out, smacking him on the shoulder.

"What?" Edwin said with a teasing smirk. "You are very pretty. If Yugi isn't kissing your toes every day and thanking the non-card and non-my-girlfriend gods for letting him date you then he is a fool!"

Yugi blushed at that, ducking his head down against his shoulders.

"But," Edwin said, turning back to Marik, "that's exactly what the Pharaoh is like. He is NOTHING like you expected… and you hate that. I can tell. You want him to be cruel and vicious."

"He is weak," Marik stated with a sneer. "He doesn't understand the power he has and that makes him unworthy of it!"

Brom though 'tsked' at that. "Those that scream about power tend to be the ones that least deserve it. I have seen how you behave against the weak… it doesn't make you strong, Marik. It shows how small you truly are."

"You wish to speak about being small?" Marik taunted. "Let us talk about you, Brom Bones! You say you are a God of Death! Assuming any of us believe that you must have been one of the weakest and most pathetic gods there ever was. You hold the power of life and death within your hands and what do you do? Try and help the mentally addled with their sob stories and problems! Ha!" He jabbed a finger at Brom. "What little help you may provide them, and I doubt it is much at all, is wasted on the likes of them! People like that don't deserve to be saved! They deserve to suffer! For they are weak!"

"The powerless. The damaged. The broken. Those are the ones you are so quick to attack." Brom narrowed his eyes. "And I think we all know why."

Marik didn't say a word, choosing instead to switch it Juragedo to defense mode and summon a second next to it, ending his turn.

"Well, if you would prefer to duel…" Brom said with a casual shrug. "We shall duel. I start by activating the Book of Life." On his side of the field an ancient Egyptian tome appeared. "With this card I am able to bring back one Zombie monster from my graveyard to the field."

Yugi frowned as he saw a second Lady of Wight, the first one that had been sent to his graveyard early on in the duel, appear on his side of the field. 'Why would Brom due that?' he wondered. 'By bringing out that second Lady in Wight he reduces his King of the Skull Servants down to 4000 attack points. Now, if Marik is able to get the Winged Dragon of Ra onto the field it would be a complete match for the King of the Skull Servants.' He studied Marik and Brom's side of the field, trying to see what Brom had noticed that he hadn't. 'Bringing out the Lady in Wight doesn't add anything… maybe a bit of protection for his Wightprincess and his King of the Skull Servants from being destroyed. But I don't know if that is worth bringing her onto the field. So… what could… wait!' Yugi looked not towards the monsters on Brom's side of the field… but the spell card. 'The Book of Life… could it have another effect?'

Brom gestured at the Book of Life. "Now, in order to use the Book of Life… a payment must be made. A monster from your graveyard must be banished from the game."

'That's it!' Yugi mentally cried out.

"As such," Brom declared, holding out his hand, fingers spread out wide, "I banish from your graveyard the Winged Dragon of Ra!"

"NO!" Marik roared. "YOU CAN'T!"

"I can… and I have!" The ghostly image of the Winged Dragon of Ra appeared yet again, letting out a solemn cry before it faded away. "You will not be using that monster as a crutch for a second more. You will need to beat me on your own, Marik. Let us see if you can do just that."

~MC~MC~MC~

Seto frowned as he sat in his office, turning away from his keyboard where he had been typing. While he had planned to focus entirely on the duel with the way that the two fools kept blathering on and on about meaningless things he'd been able to allow his focus to move elsewhere.

'Who cares about their delusions,' Seto thought, watching the live feed even as the CCN footage with commentary played on the TV next to him. He was recording everything to go over later but at the moment he wanted everything unfiltered by opinions. 'What matters is what Brom was just able to do.'

He knew the North American Champion was a powerful duelist. He was able to utterly overwhelm his opponents quickly with his deck, despite how weak his monsters appeared. Wheeler had struggled against him (not much of a shock in Seto's opinion) and now Marik was close to falling to him.

'Especially with him figuring out how to defeat Marik's god card,' Seto thought to himself, watching as the Egyptian brat had a melt down over the banishment of the Winged Dragon of Ra. 'That was rather clever of Brom,' Seto admitted… with a bit of annoyance, if he were honest. 'I never considered trying to attack the monster when it wasn't on the field. My focus was on dealing with it when fully summoned… not trying to eliminate it before it had a chance to even appear. But that was a bold move by Brom…'

Seto glanced at his own decks.

'I will be facing Ishizu. As it should be. I have the chance to reclaim Obelisk the Tormentor from her, proving that I deserve to hold its power. Everything I have considered for my duel against her has been focused on how to take down Obelisk once he appears on the field.' He had several strategies, including just being stronger than it (using cards to beef up the Blue Eyes White Dragon and its fusions) to ensuring it couldn't be summoned by removing the monsters needed to send it to the field (even if Marik was showing that there were cards that would work against that strategy) to taking inspiration from Yugi by locking her out (such as using her own cards against her, based on the examination of her deck he had done and Odion's mention of her 'Exchange of Spirit').

But now Brom was offering a new path. To eliminate the card from her hand. Perhaps even from her deck. And then banishment.

'Yet Ishizu is probably seeing the same thing that I am right now… if she isn't watching her brother flounder in this duel then she is a fool. She'll see exactly what I am and realize she needs to come up with her own counters.' He narrowed his eyes at that. 'It is a dance… each of us knowing what the next is doing and seeing who can take the next step before the other.'

Seto looked over deck again.

'Ishizu has seen the Blue-Eyes Deck in action… she hasn't seen my ABC Dragon Deck yet. That makes the latter a far more powerful deck, as she won't be able to play her 'I can see the future' mumbo jumbo. But… I am far more confident with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It got me most of my wins in Battle City. Is it smart to abandon it now?' He frowned as he reached out and touched the deck… only to pause. 'But… I also altered it to work with Obelisk the Tormentor. It will take a lot of work to refigure it to work without it, let alone then determining how I can use it to take down the Egyptian God Card. ABC only needs a few tweaks to be ready… hmmm.'

On the live feed he saw that the two duelists were FINALLY going to do something.

"Now then, I will attack your final two monsters, eliminating them from the field and removing with them your last defense." Brom tapped his duel disc (Seto had noticed he was as demonstrative as others were when it came to dueling) and his Wightpricness and King of Skull Servants launched themselves at the Juragedos, shattering them into pieces. "And I end my turn."

"So be it," Marik stated, drawing and instantly letting out a laugh as he saw what he had draw. "Ah! The perfect weapon to begin setting up your downfall! I summon in defense mode my Reactor Slime!"

A new silvery slime monster appeared on the field, its lower half the standard slime that all were used to at this point. But the upper half was the true focus, for it was a great metal industrial reactor, churning with energy.

"The Reactor Slime may not seem like much but it is a powerful tool in bringing about the crushing defeat of those that oppose me. Each turn it will produce 2 Slime Tokens to populate my side of the field in defense mode!"

As he spoke the Reactor's seal began to tremble as goo leaked from it, forming into two small slime blobs with menacing little grins.

"…cute little guys, aren't they?" Brom said.

"What?!" Marik snapped. "They are not cute! They are the pieces that will lead to your defeat!"

"Cute things can lead to defeats," Brom reasoned.

"No they can not!"

"Aw, give them a chance," he said, wiggling his fingers at the two slimes like he was waving to a baby.

"AAAAaaarrrgh!" Marik snarled. "Mock all you wish! Let's see what happens when I do this! I set one card face down on the field and activate Slime Barrier!" A continuous spell card, showing a wall of slime, appeared on the field. "When this card is in play you must attack Slime Tokens first and then I can determine which Slime monsters you attack after that."

"Hmmm… very interesting," Brom said. "Building barrier to keep me from attacking you." He shook his head. "But… will it be enough?"

"Oh, I assure you it will be more than enough. For you see Brom I have stood here as you, like all others in the world, belittled and mocked my goals! You believe you are better than me because of your station! Your blood! But I am the one that rose from the dirt to stand where I do now! Nothing was handed to me… all I had I had to claw for and seize. Same as with this victory! For all your talk of harming me you haven't managed to make a dent in my lifepoints. In fact I still hold 1000 more than what I had at the start of the duel. For such a skilled duelist you are doing a poor job countering me. Could it be even your deck knows you are a fraud?"

"Do you often believe that things such as cards are alive and have thoughts and feelings? That they judge you?"

"Enough of your talk!" Marik declared and for once Seto found himself agreeing with the man. "If you have a move then make it. You will not be able to convince me otherwise that I am wrong. All you have done is merely proven to me time and again that the only way I can have freedom is to defeat you!"

"A man who believes constant war is his only choice for freedom… isn't free at all," Brom stated before drawing his card. "But if that is how it must be… then it must be. I tribute my Wightprincess and my first Lady in Wight."

The two monsters at once collapsed onto the ground, like puppets whose strings had been cut and left to tumble to the ground. But rather than merely collapse Seto saw that their boney forms didn't shatter but remained, falling to pieces. The arm bones, leg bones, skulls and ribs and all the like tumbled and clattered on the duel area, rolling about before they began to come together, forming into a new pile… and from the ground more bones were slowly wiggling free of the dirt. More and more bones slowly rose up and joined the original ones and soon it became clear that they were creating something new.

The skulls twisted and locked into great leg bones that shook themselves free of the dirt.

The arm bones twisted and joined with others to form a massive rib cage.

The ribs of the two smaller Wights instead fused with great arcing segments to form wings.

And from the earth a giant skull was pulled free, a blue glow coming from the empty eye sockets as the beast finally stood up.

Seto stared in shock at the monster that Brom had summoned.

"I tribute them to summon forth the Blue-Eyes Wight Dragon."

~MC~MC~MC~

Author's Notes: While in real life Ultimate Divine Beast wouldn't work on Ra I am allowing it JUST for this duel and this world.

~MC~MC~MC~

CHAOSVERSE OMAKE

The Beast had changed since they first met. Though still technically a prisoner in his castle, Belle had seen the kindness and gentleness that lay beneath the surface. She no longer hated him, and she no longer feared him. Yet, if only for a moment, the old fear resurfaced as he led her back to where things had been at their worst: through the west wing, to the room with the mysterious rose in the bell jar. His room.

The rose was visibly wilting, and Belle was tempted to ask about it; the Beast clearly cared greatly for the enchanted flower. But the Beast barely glanced at it before taking a large hand mirror from the table and turning to her, still smiling warmly.

"This mirror will show you anything. Anything you wish to see," he explained.

Bewildered at the turn of events, Belle took the mirror into her hands.

"I'd like to see my father, please," she said hesitantly. Immediately, energy surged brightly in the mirror, and she winced at it. When she opened her eyes, the image in the mirror had changed, and she gasped.

Her father stood in a structure that she recognized immediately. But before she could speak, a dark voice came from the mirror.

"I have kept my word to you. Now, will you consider believing what I have to say?"

"I'm sorry," Maurice responded. "But Belle is my daughter. I can't let her remain the prisoner of that beast. Goodness knows what he's done to her already!"

"Maurice."

"We've been over this, Chaos," Maurice said, and Belle gasped again as a scaly monster stepped into the frame. "I judged you by your appearance and name, and I fully admit I was wrong. You saved my life, and you've led me here. But that beast is a monster inside and out."

"Because he's lived most of his life without someone who will stand up to him. Would you blame an orphan for not knowing better than to behave like a beast because his parents weren't around to teach him? Because that's what you're doing."

Hearing this, the Beast stepped around to see the mirror himself, and his eyes widened.

"The stable," he uttered. "He's here. But who is that?"

"I don't know. But I want to find out," Belle said firmly.

The two exited the room swiftly, the mirror never leaving Belle's hands.

…

Hoping to run out the clock before Maurice ran out of patience, I continued speaking.

"You must have gathered that this castle is enchanted. There's more here than meets the eye."

"That isn't any concern of mine right now!" Maurice thundered, the horse Philippe wincing at his voice. "I came here to save Belle because nobody else will help me! Are you not going to help me either?"

"I am trying to," I responded calmly. "You—"

The door opened, and we both looked to see the stable doors open. And there stood Belle in her golden dress and the Beast in his blue suit. Almost instinctually, I moved in a well-practiced motion and knelt, bowing my head.

"Your Highness," I greeted. Predictably, the Beast froze in surprise.

"Belle!" "Papa!"

The two humans did not, however, father and daughter embracing wholeheartedly.

"I've been so worried about you…my goodness, look at you. You're beautiful."

"Thank you, Papa. But you don't have to worry about me; he's not a monster. He's my friend."

Maurice stammered for a moment, at which point the Beast finally spoke.

"Raise your head, who are you?"

I obeyed, looking him in the eyes.

"I am Chaos, royal vizier of the kingdom of Tirulia. I was passing through the other day when I found this gentleman attempting to wander through the winter weather with no provisions and little protection."

"He's been nothing but helpful," Maurice said. "He healed me and guided me back here, though he insisted it was only to give me Philippe back."

"Independence to choose where he would rather go without feeling strong-armed by a dragon," I added. "Of course, the question now is, what do you say, Your Highness?"

The Beast looked at me again suspiciously, and then towards Belle and Maurice. He closed his eyes.

"I…won't force you to remain here any longer."

"What? What did you say?" Belle asked.

"I release you. You're no longer my prisoner. Go home with your father."

"I…thank you. Thank you so much," Belle said, clasping his paw.

"But…why?" Maurice asked, flat-footed at the Beast's change of heart. "You're letting her go just like that?"

The Beast looked back with a hint of anger in his eye, but it settled down to mere sadness as he closed it.

"Well, not to cut this goodbye short, but you would be better off remaining here."

All attention turned back to me as I slowly stood up, putting on a grave expression as I stared at Maurice and Belle.

"Before I came looking for Maurice, I overheard a disgusting plan in your home village. You two are perhaps the only ones there who don't look up to Gaston like an idol; they'd be happy to see him get anything he wants. And what he wants more than anything is you as a wife, Belle."

"I'm aware," Belle said sourly, and I noted the Beast's sudden tension fading at the disgust in her voice. "He has another thing coming if he thinks I'm ever going to say yes."

"Unfortunately, he plans to coerce you. After Maurice broke into the tavern and begged for help about the beast in the castle that had kidnapped you, Gaston decided to use that against you. He's bribed the head of the local asylum to imprison Maurice unless you agree to marry him. Even now, they're watching for you two to return to the village."

The Beast was growling, but Belle and Maurice seemed even more furious.

"Are you certain of this?" Maurice asked.

"Well, you don't have to take my word for it," I answered, gesturing to the mirror in Belle's hands. Her eyes widened, and she brought it before her eyes.

"Show me Gaston," she growled. I blinked slowly to shield my eyes from the flash of magic, and Belle and Maurice both looked with expressions of distaste. I don't know what exactly they were seeing, but I was sure I wasn't missing anything important.

"Still no word from LeFou?" Gaston's voice sighed.

"He's still at attention outside their house," the voice of one of those triplet girls said. "Honestly, I don't know where Belle and her father got to."

"Hmph," Gaston grumbled. "Well, they'll show up soon enough."

"And we'll be ready to fetch Monsieur D'Arque as soon as they do," another girl said.

"It's ridiculous that you must blackmail her," the third sister sighed. "That girl should be falling over herself to accept your proposal."

"True. But all that matters in the end is that she'll be mine," Gaston chuckled.

The image seemed to fade, and Belle visibly fought the urge to smash the mirror in anger.

"That is absolutely despicable," Maurice said in disgust. He looked at the Beast, then at me, and shook his head in bewilderment.

"Beast, I have two people whom I trust vouching for you. But your first impression left something to be desired."

The Beast exhaled, looking to the side.

"I have no good excuse. I've been angry at everything for as long as I can remember…until I got to know Belle better."

"Papa, when I first came here, I didn't want anything to do with him either," Belle admitted softly. "I tried running away the very first night, but when I ran into a pack of wolves, he saved me. I only changed my opinion of him because he changed himself first."

"I don't know what I can do to compensate for how I treated you. But I am sorry," the Beast said, barely willing to meet Maurice's eyes. "And my castle is open to both of you as long as you wish to stay."

Belle barely hesitated to step back up to the Beast, clasping his paw in her hands.

"There's nowhere I'd rather be," she answered.

"Belle…" Maurice began, the bewilderment growing.

"If you have something to say, Belle, there is no better time to say it."

All attention again turned to me, and I looked from the Beauty to the Beast.

"Your Highness, that applies to you as well. Say it," I encouraged him softly. For a minute, he only stared. But slowly, he turned back to Belle.

"I…love you, Belle," he said softly.

Belle blinked slowly, then smiled softly and leaned in closer.

"I love you, too," she whispered.

The Beast barely had time to smile before something bright and colorful struck the ground nearby. Then another something. And then several more.

"Wha–What? What's—?" Maurice asked, looking at the glass-like beads falling everywhere.

"I told you, Maurice: there was an enchantment on this castle. And it has now been broken."

I smiled as the magic began surging around the Beast, forcing Belle to release him. The suit, surprisingly, stayed perfectly intact and tailored even as its occupant shrank down from a hulking hairy beast to a normal young man with long blond hair. As the magic left him, he looked over his hands with a euphoric grin, and I knelt on the ground once more.

"Welcome back, Your Highness."

…

The castle celebrated the curse breaking and the Master's engagement for the rest of the night. As morning broke, I approached the prince in the ballroom, where he and Belle had shared many more dances over the past few hours. He seemed slightly tired, but the high from finally being human again wasn't fading anytime soon. I nodded respectfully as I drew nearer.

"Your Highness, as I said, I was only passing through. I must be on my way now."

"You said the kingdom of Tirulia?" he asked.

"Under King Eric and Queen Ariel, yes," I answered.

"I'll see you again soon, then," he said, smiling softly. "I owe you a great deal."

"Less than you think, Your Highness. I only sped up the process."

"Well, regardless, I'm free, and you have my gratitude." His smile melted away into a curious expression. "I must ask, however, are you under an enchantment of your own?"

"By choice, Your Highness. I can return to being human whenever I desire, but there are advantages to being like this."

He nodded slowly. "Well, to each their own. Best of luck with your journeys." Then he sighed, taking on an ugly look. "The only problem left to deal with now is that Gaston fellow."

"I have an idea, actually. If you'll allow me to use that mirror?"

"All yours," the prince nodded. I smirked as I brought the glass before my face. I could have just gone after him myself. But this just seemed so much more poetic.

"Show me the Enchantress."

(Thank you to the Patient One for writing this omake)