Chapter 20 - Shadow Games Take a Whole New Level pt. 1

Sorry, I messed up the ending of my last chapter so it has been changed to follow the plot better. Forgive me for the error. I forgot there were two more duels in the finals, not just one so I flipped the orders. Now, onward!

"HOW COULD I LOSE TO THAT RICH PUNK?!" Jounouchi screamed.

"It's ok, Katsuya." Shizuka smiled at him encouragingly. "You fought your hardest and that's what counts."

"Eh, but I wanted to win my first duel for you, Shizuka. But that rich punk took it away from me." Anzu sighed.

"Pull yourself together, will you? There's no point in being a baby about this."

"If that's your idea of a pep talk, Anzu, it's a crummy one!" Jounouchi yelled. She sighed.

"Look on the brightside, Jounouchi, at least you fought a great duel Shizuka will always remember." Cat smiled at him. He sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Cat." Anzu frowned a bit at her.

"Hey guys!" Kay ran over to them.

"Hi Kay."

"And where were you? I assumed you'd at least be a part of the cheer commitee!" Jounouchi yelled.

"I was taking care of Odion. Besides, why would you need me to cheer you on, Monkey-boy?" she asked. He glared.

"WHY YOU LITTLE-" Honda grabbed Jounouchi's arms.

"Dude, calm down!"

"I take it he didn't win?" Kay asked Yugi. He shook his head.

"Nope."

"It was a close duel!" Kristen said. Kay looked at her watch.

"But...I left you guys less than a half hour ago. How long did his duel last?" she asked.

"Well..."

"Um..." Kay blinked.

"That short?" she asked.

"Let's just say that Obelisk was used in only three turns." Kay winced a bit.

"Ooh..."

"But Nii-sama fought hard and that's what matters!" Shizuka rooted. Mai nodded.

"Admittedly, he didn't too bad. He just had a really bad hand." Jounouchi sulked. Kay sighed.

"Hey, don't worry. You'll beat Kaiba next time."

"Since when do you encourage me?" he asked, little tears running down his face.

"Look, even though I pick on you, you're still a friend and I don't want to kick you when you're down. Besides, that Obelisk is nothing but a cheap trick."

"Oh is it now?" a cold voice from behind said. Kay turned to see Seto there. "I should have known you'd say something without thinking again, Simms."

"Beg your pardon? I already said I don't like those God Cards, Obelisk is no exception."

"Really now?"

"Yes really. What fun is it to just draw a card, play it, and say 'ha, I win. You suck.'? That's not skill! That's just stupid." She put her hands on her hips. "I designed almost half of the cards in this game and the point being to use them in synch and create strategies to make the game a challenge and fun, not just to play some strong monster and automatically win."

Kay shrugged.

"But, whatever."

"Hmph, do you really think I care?"

"No, I don't. But it's a shame because I thought you were one of the few people who really respects the game, other than Yugi. That's why you play one of my greatest card designs."

"Which card is that?"

"Blue Eyes White Dragon." Seto's eyes went wide.

"No way! YOU designed Blue Eyes?!" he asked. Everyone stared. Kay nodded.

"I went with my uncle to Egypt and saw a tablet with a dragon on it. That night, I had a dream of a blue and white dragon and so I woke up and sketched it then came up with stats and made it one of the most powerful monsters in the game. Uncle liked it and created it, but made it one of the rarest cards in creation."

"Wow..." Cat stared. "Why didn't you tell us this?" she asked.

"I never needed to. It's just family buisiness is all. And it's not really original, considering most monsters were depicted within ancient Egyptian carvings found in tombs of the great pharaohs."

"Hey Kay, there's one thing I don't understand."

"What is it, Yugi?" Kay asked.

"Isn't the Blue Eyes White Dragon your favorite monster?" Yugi asked. Kay nodded.

"It is."

"So why didn't you make yourself one?" Yugi asked. Kay was silent.

"Gah, I can't reveal my secret weapon! Not yet!" She shrugged.

"Eh, I don't duel enough and I don't want such a beautiful card to be gathering dust. Now, are we going to see Mai's duel or not?" she asked.

"Oh yeah!" Jounouchi cheered. "Let's go!"

"Race you, monkey." Kay took off running.

"HEY!" He ran after her. "GET BACK HERE!"

"Onee-Chan!" Adelinda ran after her.

"Come on."



Kay got up there first and Jounouchi followed her and doubled over, panting.

"Man...can't you...go...slower?" he wheezed. She smirked. Everyone else arrived. Seto and Mokuba stood next to Kay and Adelinda. Everyone else stood in a small crowd and Mai was on the dueling arena. However, Marik was not there.

"Where's Marik? The announcement was broadcast in every room!" Mai shrugged.

"Maybe he chickened out." The doors to the elevator opened.

"Or maybe not." Marik walked out.

"Oh, look. It's the walking, talking freak show with bad hair." Kristen looked at Tori.

"Um, nice way of putting that." Yugi frowned a bit.

"So, Kaiba."

"Hm?" He looked at Kay.

"You beat Jounouchi, right? Tell me, exactly how long did it take you?" she asked.

"Heh, I want to say ten minutes, but that sounds too long." Kay bit back a laugh.

"Wow, he's reached a new low." She sighed. "Oh well, the competition still doesn't frighten me."

"Oh is that so? Consider yourself lucky that you're even going to the last round."

"Just for that, I hope I can crush you first."

"Please, it'll be my honor." She glared.

"Great, they're at each other's throats again." Alex sighed. "Can't you two go ten minutes without fighting?" she asked. Kay and Seto looked at each other than back at Alex.

"No!" Alex sighed again.

"It's about time!" Mai said when Marik took his spot.

"This won't take too long." He chuckled evilly. "Prepared to be cast into the shadows."

"Elevate the playing field!" The field rose up. "Mai Kujaku, Marik Ishtar, ready your decks! This duel will now begin." They both placed their decks into their duel disks and activated them.

"So let's go!" Mai said. "I'm ready to show you what real dueling's all about." They each gained 4,000 lifepoints.

"Good luck." (Yes, he seriously said that without any sarcastic remark to it. I was shocked)

"Thank you. Now ladies first." Mai drew a card. "Hmm, not too bad. I play Dunames Dark Witch in attack mode." A monster with white, mechanical looking wings, violet hair, blue eyes, and a white and red dress appeared with 1800 attack points. "Take it away, sweetheart."

"Hm, starting things off quickly, are we? I see."

"Hey Kay, remember when uncle frist made that card?" Adelinda asked. Kay smirked.

"Yeah, for Halloween two years ago. And you wanted it for a costume." Adelinda blushed and smiled sheepishly.

"Mmm-hmm." Mokuba smiled at her.

"I think you would have looked cute, Addy-kun." She blushed more.

"Thank you, Mokuba." Kay smiled at them and Seto rolled his eyes.

"Now let's seet what my deck has for me." Marik drew a card. "Rather, us." (Dudes, at this part, he reaches around behind him. It's so weird! I looked in the manga to see why but I don't know. I can't tell if he was trying to get his millennium rod or his back just itched.) He looked at the card. "Excellent. Now I'll summon my Revival Jam in defense mode."

A monster made out of a gel-like blue subtance with a odd, blobby shape and what looked like black holes for its eyes and mouth appeared.

"And the magic card Jam Breeding Machine. The monster-producing machine will create one slime token for me with every passing turn. So I'd suggest you attack now before my slime creatures far outnumber you." Kay stared, pure shock and a little horror on her face.

"No way! This is not good." Everyone looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Honda asked. Yugi nodded.

"Kay is right."

"What's the big deal?" Duke asked. "That thing only has 500 defense points."

"Yeah, isn't Mai's witch strong enough to beat it?" Shizuka asked.

"With this specific monster, the points don't matter." Yugi nodded.

"It's indestructable?"

"What?! That's impossible!"

"No, Jounouchi, I'm afraid it is very possible."

"But how?" Anzu asked.

"You'll find out if Mai attacks."

"And then there's that Jam breeding machine." Kay nodded.

"I'm gonna bet Marik wants to use that thing to summon the Sky Dragon Ra."

"My move now. Now my Dark Witch, attack his Revival Jam with Spellbinding Flux!"

Dark Witch released a burst of black energy with silver sparkles in it that gave the impression of the night sky filled with stars. The random burst of dark energy splattered Revival Jam into blue blobs of plasma and silver sparkles.

"That's it for Revival Jam."

"Yeah! Way to go Mai!" Jounouchi cheered. Kay frowned. Marik smirked.

"Oh, is it?" he asked. The blobs of plasma all drew magnetically to a spot above Marik's hea dand formed a core of plasma which gradually grew bigger until it formed back into Revival Jam as if Mai had never attacked. "You'd better look again."

"What?!" Mai asked.

"Revival Jam is able to regenerate itself whenever it's attacked." Kay nodded.

"Marik's right, so just attacking is not enough, no matter how powerful a monster is." Yugi nodded.

"Right. When I faced it, even an attack from Slifer wasn't enough to destroy it." Everyone gasped.

"You mean even an Egyptian God Card can't destory that thing?" Jounouchi asked.

"No. Mai's going to have to rethink her strategy because she can't afford to waste time trying to attack it. The clock is ticking before Marik's Sun Dragon makes its curtain call."

Marik drew a card. "Now let's see...I'll play this, my Pot of Greed: a magic card that allows me to draw two more cards from my deck."

"We know, Marik! Just get on with it!" Kay yelled. Marik smirked.

"It appears our spectators are impatient." He chuckled evilly. "Now then, have you realized that this duel is far more than you can handle? Observe as my Jam Breeding Machine creates the first of many slime tokens."

A blue blob of plasma that sort of resembled Revival Jam appeared with 500 attack and defense points.

"And finally, I place this facedown on the field to render your attacks useless." He played a facedown card.

"Huh? What does he mean, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

"Marik must have thrown down a trap card that's somehow able to block Kujaku's attacks. We'll soon find out." Kay frowned a bit and looked to the field.

"Kaiba's right. Revival Jam has a series of trap cards that work beautifully with its ability to regenerate. I can't remember them out of th top of my head, but I think one can do just that: render all attacks useless by making Revival Jam a moving barrier."

"Onee-Chan, what's Marik trying to do?" Adelinda asked.

"I am not 100% positive but I do know there is a way to make Revival Jam the ultimate defense."

"How?"

"Make it block out any and all enemy attack."

"What?!" Jounouchi gasped.

"That beast is possibly the most powerful defense mechanism in all of Duel Monsters. Why else do you think it's such a rare card? If just anyone could get it, the game would be near impossible to win."

"Can Mai stop it?" Shizuka asked.

"Maybe. It's hard to destroy, but preventing Marik's trap is a simple enough task if she has the right magic card." Seto nodded.

"We'll just have to wait and see if Kujaku gets lucky."

"Well put, Kaiba." Mai drew a card.

"All right, tough guy, check it out. I play this, the magic card Harpie's Feather Duster. It blows away all your trap and magic card!"

Marik's Jam Breeding Machine and face down vanished in a powerful gust of wind and feathers. He straightened and smirked wickedly.

"Sorry, Marik, but I saw your dirty little plan so I swept it right up!"

"Yeah!" Jounouchi cheered. Kay smiled.

"Not bad, Kujaku." Seto smirked.

"Well, I guess she got lucky after all."

"Kind of like Jounouchi. You know, they do make a good couple now that I think about it." Seto sighed and looked at her.

"Do you care about anything other than who makes a good couple?"

"Yes, yes I do."

"Like?"

"The list is too long." He sighed again.

"Weirdo."

"I heard that, Rich-boy!"

"Hmph, like I care." She glared.

"Now my Dark Witch, the coast is clear so attack that slime token with Spellbinding Flux!" Marik's slime token burst and he lost 1300 lifepoints.

"Alright! Mai's already got the lead! Keep it up, Mai!"

"And now, to complete my turn, I tihnk I'll place one card facedown and that'll do it." She placed a facedown card on the field.

"Very well." He played a card. "I summon Melchid the Four-Face beast. Then I sacrifice Revival Jam and Melchid the Four-Face Beast to summon the Masked Beast Des Guardius."

A huge, strange monster with three blue masks on its face appeared with 3300 attack points.

"Two summonings in one turn?" Tori asked.

"Kay, isn't that cheating?" Kristen asked.

"Usually, yes. However, the Masked Beast Des Guardius can be special summoned by sacrificing Melchid the Four-Face beast and another four star monster."

"No way!" Jounouchi yelled.

"Mai!" Shizuka cried.

(Note: I have no idea if that is true. I just had to make something up because it makes no sense to either)

"Now attack, my Masked Beast! Destroy her Dark Witch."

"Wrong! Now I activate my trap card, Mirror Wall!" A blue and purple crystal wall grw quickly in front of Dunames Dark Witch and the Masked Beast hit it head on. "It attacks your beasy with its own reflection cutting its power in half!"

Masked Beast Des Guardius' attack strength fell down to 1650.

"Dark Witch, finish off his Masked Beast!"

The monster was destroyed and Marik's points fell down to 2550.

"Ka-blam!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "Marik's lost even more life points."

"Hold on, it's not time to celebrate yet." A strange mask flew out and landed on Dunames Dark Witch's face. Everyone gasped.

"Oh! Dark Witch!"

"Now Marik has control over Mai's monster." Dark Witch switched sides of the field.

"When it's destroyed, my Masked Beast leaves behind the Mask of Remnants which allows me to reshuffle my deck." Marik shuffled his cards. "But more importantly, I gain control of your Dark Witch. Next, I think I'll do away with your pathetic little trap as I play the magic card Remove Trap." Mirror Wall vanished. "Good riddance."

"Hmph." Mai frowned but seemed remotely unphased. Honda looked at Mai.

"Aw man! Looks like Mai's in some serious trouble out there. She'd better come up with something before Marik unleashes that Egyptian God Card."

"Hey, she's doing just fine, ok?" Jounouchi snapped. "I mean, take a look at the scoreboard, bozo. She's winning this whole thing."

"Wishful thinking, Jounouchi. But lifepoints are not always the thing to be concerned with..." Kay averted her eyes back to the field. "Marik took Mai's monster and destroyed her trap card, leaving her wide open. And if that God Card shows up, she's as good as dead."

Mai drew a card. "OK, Marik, you may have gotten a few lucky shots but that's over! Things are about to change."

"That's the spirit, Mai!" Shizuka called.

"Yeah, beat the cape off that weirdo!" Anzu yelled. Marik smirked.

"Indeed. Things are about to change much more than you know." He pulled out his millennium rod and everyone immediately looked worried.

"What's he doing with that thing?" Jounouchi asked, looking angry.

"I don't know..." Yugi whispered. "But it's not a good thing."

"Yugi, do you think Marik is planning to throw Mai into a Shadow Game?" Yami asked.

"Probably. And if that happens, who knows what the penalty will be. Remember what happened when you played Shadow Games with all those people? They became dillusional or whatever. Some died at the end and Kaiba fell into a coma. "

"True, but in comparison to what we've seen Marik done, my past shadow games are nothing."

"Yeah..."

(My first Yami - Yugi conversation this whole story! I'm so proud)

"Now listen to me, foolish girl, I'm afraid that practice time is over." Marik laughed evilly. "I'd like to take this match to the next level."

"I beg your pardon? Mind saying that in English?" Mai asked.

"Oh no!" Yugi cried.

"Oh yes! Let my Shadow Game begin!" A black, blue, and purple fog appeared on the field.

"This can't be happening!" Yami, who had just switched out, exclaimed.

"I'm scared, you guys!" Shizuka cried. Adelinda hugged Kay.

"Onee-Chan, what is going on?"

"I don't know." Kay narrowed her eyes. "There's so much darkness and evil in the air, I can almost feel it. It's as if it's nothing but chaos and horror everywhere."

"What's with this fog?" Mai asked. "This is not part of the game! What have you done, Marik?" she cried, fear and panic taking over her face.

"Welcome to the Heart of Darkness."

"It's just as I feared!"

"What, Yami?" Cat asked.

"This is a Shadow Game."

"A shadow game? What's that?" Alex asked.

"It's a sinister game in which the loser of the duel must pay a heavy price."

"Like what?" Tori asked.

"Sometimes they are punished with illusions that correspond to their sin that upset whoever challeneged them to the game. Other times it's their soul."

"You mean their life?"

"The soul is different. If it's taken away, your body is a hollow shell. Your body lives, but you die."

"How horrible!" Yami nodded.

"There are various other punishments. Death is a common one. But perhaps the worst is death through mind torture."

"What?!" Jounouchi asked.

"Your mind is locked in a powerful state of hypnosis where you experience undescribed terror as you are tortured until you finally die, completely suffering."

"We have to save her!"

"There's nothing you fools can do."

"Mai! Forfeit the match!" Yami yelled. "There's more at stake than you know!"

"Yugi, have you completely lost it? I've worked hard for this. It'll take a lot more than some creepy fog to scare me off."

"But Mai-"

"No buts, Kay. I've got a duel to win."

"Mai!"

"Listen everyone, I appreciate your concerns but my mind's made up. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself, now please stay out of this."

"Well then, that's that. If there's one thing about Mai, once the girl makes up her mind there's no way to change it." Anzu nodded.

"Jounouchi's right. We'll just have to hope she wins and fast."

"You ready, Marik?" she asked. He laughed evilly.

"I'm always ready for a shadow game."

"All right, here I go." She drew a card. "I place one card facedown and I summon the Unfriendly Amazon!"

An amazon warrior appeared ont he field and raised up her sword. She had 2000 attack points.

A glowing rope appeared from her Amazon to her.

"What the heck is with this rope?" She asked. Marik snickered.

"Confused? Don't worry, it will all be made clear very soon." Mai frowned.

"Whatever. Unfriendly Amazon, attack the Dark Witch with Soaring Slash!" Unfriendly Amazon jumped up into the air and brought her sword down on Dunames Dark Witch who vanished. Mai smiled then gasped.

She looked at her chest a shrieked.

"Blood?!" Marik smirked as he lost 200 lifepoints.

"Heh heh, I see my little game has startled you." She screamed. Everyone stared.

"Mai, what's wrong?" Jounouchi yelled. Mai fell to her knees and took shaking breaths.

"It hurts..." she moaned. She was bleeding from the chest, but nobody could see any blood. Maik laughed.

"Your friend is experiencing the overwhelming pain of her monster's demise."

"MAI! SNAP OUT OF IT!"

"There's nothing you can do to save her, you fools. Each player is connected to their monster by a lifeline. So when one feels pain, so does the other."

"THAT'S INSANE!" Marik snickered.

"Call it whatever you want. Your little friend is history! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

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