https://youtu.be/coDP_yI2vHw

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"What do you mean Yugi's not with you guys?" Mai asked with a surprised look on her face, "I figured he'd be with you guys since you guys are his friends."

"Yeah, but Yugi said he gotta check on someone before he meets with us in the main quarters." Joey shrugged, not seeming to care much as he put more food on his plate,

"I can't help but worry though," Tea nodded as she looked at the entrance door, "It's not like him to just leave us like this...maybe he wants to spy on Marik-"

"The darn bozo is standin' over there lookin' all chump." Joey sneered at the cloaked man standing on the sidelines,

"I mean come on Tea, think about it," Tristan leaned towards Tea's ear, "The poor guy has the world's fate in his shoulders. Let him sit for a while by himself-"

"Who wants to bet he's with (y/n)~!" Mai chirped out loud with excitement in her voice,

"Oho, now that you think of it.." Duke smirked as his hand cupped his chin, "...didn't (y/n) and Yugi go on some date or something?"

"He did!" Mai gasped, "I completely forgot about that! They did!"

"Oh come on now." Tea rolled her eyes as she looked at Mai and Duke, "They're friends. Nothing more."

"Oho~" Mai inched closer at Tea with a smug look on her face, "Are you by any chance jeal-"

"Don't finish that." Tea sneered in reply, "I'm not jealous, it's fact."

"Since when?" Mai asked with a cocked eyebrow,

"Because there's no way Yugi would like someone he's just met like that." Tea snapped her fingers with rolling eyes, "He literally just met (y/n)-"

"Aw come on would ya stop it with that?" Joey groaned as he put his food plate down, "(y/n) didn't just meet us, Tea." His fingers quoted, "Sure, we saw her at Pegasus but that was like, whatta month ago? If we thinkin' like that then I guess I shouldn't see her as a friend then huh?"

"Wh-" Tea turned to Joey, "I-I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that we only met the girl. Why would Yugi all of a sudden be around her like she's someone extremely special?"

"I can't tell which is talking; the jealousy or ego?" Mai crossed her arms as she smirked at Tea, "The speed of someone getting close to another varies, you do know that right?"

"What-" Tea turned to Mai, "What do you mean by that-"

"What I'm saying is that everyone's different in how close they get to other people." Mai leaned forward, her smirk growing, "Take me and Joey. We met in Pegasus' tournament yet we talk more than probably when you and Joey met."

"Oh come on," Tristan stood next to Tea, "Mai, you're acting like Yugi and (y/n) are gonna walk in the room with their arms linked or something-"

And as if time couldn't be more ironic, the entry door opened. Everyone turned their heads to see you and Yami walk in, with arms linked.

Some mouths dropped at that very moment.

"...I take it back," Tristan mumbled,

"Well well well~" Mai smirked as she strolled over to you and Yami, "What's the arm hook up for?"

"Oh.." Yami looked at your arm, "Forgive me, (y/n), I forgot our arms have been together."

"I'm used to it now," You shrugged,

"Well, excuse me for a moment. Mai," Yami unlinked his arm with yours and looked at Mai with a smile, "How's it going?"

"Wh-" Mai blinked, her smirk grew, "How am I? How are you, Yugi? Look at you guys go linking arms~!" Mai smirked at Tea,

"Oh...we kinda just..." Your cheeks started to blush again and you stared at the floor.

"Kinda just..?" Mai edged closer to you with that very same smirk,

"...that was on me, Mai." Yami clarified, "I felt comfortable."

Mai simply stared at Yami in shock, as so did everyone else.

"That's my pharaoh," Joey mumbled to himself as he smirked. Yami simply sighed and took you by the arm over to a nearby table and sat you down.

"Stay here, I'll give you some water for that small headache, okay?" Yami whispered as he looked at everyone, who was still staring, "...Is everything alright?"

As if everyone just realized Yami's attention is now at them, they all nervously laughed and looked to the side,

"Aahaha...yeah....yeah all good Yugi!" Tristan laughed nervously,

"Yup, all good Yugi. Don't mind us. Seriously, don't." Duke smirked,

Tea didn't say anything, she simply looked at the floor. Even with one eye open, you weren't blind.

She was pissed.

With a raised eyebrow, Yami slowly walked over to get a cup of water. Mai soon accompanied him along the way.

You would've got up to ask Tea if everything was alright, but not only did you not want to mess with her as she probably hates you more, but your headache prevented you from getting up.

Since you heard that invisible roar and the Seal mumbling in some other language, your head was spinning and aching. Yami insisted on giving you a cup of water when he reaches the main quarters. Thankfully, it didn't take long before you made it to the main quarters only to find everyone staring at you. Such a nice welcome, don't you agree?

"Soooo, (y/n)." Duke slid over to you with a smirk, "Heard you met Yugi over at Pegasus' Island."

"Hm?" You looked at Duke, "Oh, yeah I did....Duke, right?" You asked as he nodded,

"Yup, the one and only." Duke answered as he leaned back, "...So, it hasn't been long since you guys met then?"

"Yeah....although..." You hesitated and stared at Yami as Mai appeared to be lecturing him about something, "...It feels like I've met him before."

"It does?" Duke's smirk grew, "Well, you know what they say."

"What?" You asked without looking at Duke,

"They say you feel nostalgic when you're with the one you lo-"

"Hey (y/n)!" A voice called out to you. Blinking, you glanced over to see Bakura smiling at you as he approached.

"Oh, Bakura!" You gasped, "How's it going?"

"Going well, sort of." Bakura shrugged his shoulders as he sat next to you.

"Yeah, I heard you were in the hospital for some time," You narrowed your eyes, "Are you alright now?"

"Yeah, I heard that too," Duke leaned forward and looked at Bakura, "Everything good?"

"Oh, yes!" Bakura nodded and gave a gentle smile, "I'm fine, no need to worry too much about me! How about yourself? You look rather pale, (y/n)!"

"Oh..." You blinked, "...just a small headache, no biggie." You shrugged your shoulders,

"Oh, should I get you some water?" Duke asked,

"Oh no, Yam- Yugi's getting me one." You politely responded,

"Taking a while for one cup of wa- Oh cause of Mai." Duke raised an eyebrow at her, who is still trying to talk to him while Yami looked...rather bored. He smirked and looked at you,

"Ima get her off his back...for entertainment purposes," Duke said as he rose from his chair,

"Entertainment purposes?" You scrunched your face and looked at Duke,

"What does that mean?" Bakura asked with an eyebrow raised,

"Oh Bakura.." Duke shook his head, "You'll find out very soon. Hold on." With that, Duke slid his way over to Mai and Yami.

"...I swear I don't know what's up with these guys so far." You shrugged,

"Well, you and Yugi are rather close..." Bakura sighed, "...oh sorry, not Yugi. It's you and the Pharaoh."

You felt a smirk come from his mouth as he said that. Your skin turned paler than how it was before, your blood running cold.

You completely forgot. This isn't the same innocent Bakura everyone claims he is.

"Don't even bother looking at my direction, you can merely listen." Yami Bakura hissed in your ear, his smirk growing, "I just wanted to let you know that once I duel with the Pharaoh, his Millenium Puzzle will be mine. You'll never see that Pharaoh ever again, and I'll make sure of it." He seethed as he leaned closer to you, "Who knows? Since you're so close with him, you'll blindly follow him wherever the puzzle goes, so just know the puzzle won't be the only thing mine, Mrs. Vessel."

Your heart dropped to the floor and your entire body went numb the moment he called you Ms. Vessel. Your head began to pound more than before as your throat tightened up.

How the hell does he know.

How.

How the hell does he know.

Both your eye and back stung as your fists clenched, unable to process anything at this point.

"Well," Bakura leaned back and gave you an innocent smile, "I hope you do well in the finals! I'll be cheering for you!"

You wanted to scream so bad. You stared at him in horror as he simply stood and walked away, as if he did nothing wrong. You couldn't hear your own thoughts at this point, you only stared at Bakura with your peripheral vision starting to get fuzzy. Your whole body began to feel fuzzy and numb but you felt warm hands touch your shaking ones. Startled, you immediately turned your head to see Yami, who looked very worried.

"(Y/n), what happened." Yami asked as he put the cup of water beside you and his knees resting on the floor.

What the hell could you say? Bakura indirectly told you that he knows you're the Seal? Or even how Bakura is gonna claim you?

Oh God, the mere thought of that made you want to throw up - and you haven't even eaten anything.

"(Y/N)." Yami's grip on you tightened a little as his eyes grew stern, "What happened. You can tell me."

You gulped and tried your best to stop shaking, "...He's..." You managed to speak, "....He's definitely here.."

"Who?" Yami asked,

"...B...Bakura." You responded. It didn't seem to take long for Yami to understand what you meant. His eyes narrowed and his grip on you tightened a little more,

"I knew it..." Yami hissed to himself as he darted his gaze to Bakura, who was innocently having a conversation with Joey. Suddenly the lights go off and the spotlight aimed at the center of the room. A giant ball appeared before everyone in the shape of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

'Kaiba and his dragon obsession...' You thought to yourself as Yami stood and gave you the cup of water.

"Drink this, it'll help." Yami whispered,

"Attention duelists and guests, the first duelists will be determined by lottery." A guard spoke up, "To ensure proper fairness, the chosen ones for upcoming duels will be random. We have assigned you all numbers from one to nine, and upcoming duelists will not know their opponent's identity until a winner has been decided in a current duel. I'm sure you all remember your number."

Ah shit...what was your number again? You bit your lip and stared at the floor,

"You're nine." Yami whispered, "Don't worry about a number, focus on calming yourself down." He said as he held your hand.

"All balls are evenly weighed to further ensure fairness. However, as there are nine duelists, the ninth number will be on the sidelines for now. Regarding number nine; Out of the duelists that will fight each other, before the final 4 are decided, number nine will duel one of the winners to determine either number nine or the number chosen to fight should be in the final 4." The guard explained, "Now, does everyone understand the rules?"

Great, so you're on the sidelines....again.

Well hey, at least you get to duel someone, and to be fair, he is right. Nine isn't an even number, after all, so they have to think of something...but does it have to be you?

Yami chuckled to himself as he squeezed your hand, "maybe fate will have us duel in this tournament."

You stiffened and looked up at Yami, a whiplash hit but you couldn't help but realize; Yami's been wanting to duel you for a while, even Yugi told you that. For the first time in a while, you smiled to yourself and looked at Yami's hand, squeezing it in return,

"Yeah...maybe." You nodded your head, not noticing Yami's smile growing warmer as he softly looked at you.

"Now, let us begin the lottery! The first duelist will be..." The guard glanced at the lottery machine as it pulled out a number, "....number 6. Bakura."

"Me....? Dueling first?" Bakura gasped,

"Are you sure you want to duel man?" Tristan asked,

"Yeah, you just got out of the hospital," Tea spoke for the first time in a while,

"Oh no, believe me, I'm fine! Nothing to worry about! It's just surprising that I'm doing first!" Bakura gently assured while laughing a little bit.

"Now stand by, the second duelist will be announced shortly," The guard sternly said as the lottery machine went off once more, "Know that once the second duelist has been announced, they are to immediately take off and start their duel." He warned as the lottery machine spat a number,

"And the second duelist is...Number 3. Yugi Motou." The guard announced,

You froze in place the moment you heard his name.

"The both of you are expectant to go to the arena up ahead to start the Battle City Finals. The rules still apply; the loser gives the winner their rarest card as the winner proceeds to round 2." The guard finished.

"Yami-" You tugged his hand. Yami's attention averted completely to you within moments,

"Yes?"

"...B..Be careful, okay?" You gulped,

"...I know." Yami nodded and firmly held your hands for a few moments. Then, he let go of you and headed over to a nearby escalator with a guard and Bakura. You slowly stood from your seat and finished your cup of water,

"The rest of you, come with me and I'll escort you over to the Stratos Dueling Arena." Another guard stepped up and guided everyone else.

"...Hey," Tea called you over, "Are you alright?"

"Hm?" You quickly looked at Tea, "...Oh...uh..yeah."

"Are you sure?" Tea asked, "You look scared."

"Oh...well.." You bit your lip, "...just nervous, that's all." You lied,

"You sure? You know you can talk to me if you need someone." Tea smiled, "I may not be much but I try!"

"Aha, I'll keep that in mind." You laughed a bit as you walked with everyone else to the top,

"I'm sure Yug' got this." Joey stretched as he walked up to the top, "I mean, he is da King of Games."

"Yeah, but I am worried about Bakura." Tristan frowned, "I mean, should he be really dueling right now?"

'Bakura should be the only thing to worry about, and not in the way you're thinking.' You thought to yourself as you took a shaky sigh,

"Well, I hope things turn out good in the end." You said as you and the others finally made it to the top. The arena was held higher than where you stood and Yami and Bakura were already in their positions. The cold winds went through your coat as you didn't dare to look down.

"Holy - this place is dope!" Joey gasped

"...it's freezing..." Serenity held her arms,

"Let me make this clear and quick; we are 4,000 feet in the air. If you can't handle the weather conditions, you don't belong here." Kaiba announced.

"Well dang, Kaiba," you rolled your eyes, "looks like you and Mother Nature are the bestest of friends."

"Seems really cool though, not gonna lie." Duke added with a smirk,

"Well, Yugi? Are you ready to lose it all?" Bakura asked,

"I think before we start the duel it's best to introduce who you really are." Yami sneered with his arms crossed, "It's time to stop playing around, spirit of the Millenium Ring."

"What?" Tea gasped, "The spirit of the Millenium Ring? Bakura still has it?!"

"That- How?!" Tristan was shocked, "I chucked it far away back at Pegasus Island! There's no way-"

Again, as if Time was Tristan's enemy, Bakura gave a dark chuckle as the ring appeared before everyone, around Bakura's neck.

"...I don't see the big deal though. What's around Bakura's neck?" Namu asked,

"Oh Namu...it's kinda hard to explain," Tea bit her lip as she responded to Namu, "That's...not really Bakura."

"What?" Mai's face scrunched,

"Yugi and Bakura both have ancient items in their possession," You explained, "Each item has a spirit dwelling inside; Yugi's is good, but Bakura's isn't. Right now, you're seeing the evil spirit possessing Bakura to duel Yugi."

"So Bakura's possessed? Kinda hard to believe." Namu's eyebrow rose,

"I thought that too for a bit, but it's true." Tea nodded her head,

"I just hope this evil spirit doesn't drag Yugi to the Shadow Realm, that's the last place you want to be." Joey bit his lip as he looked up at Yugi,

"I think it's time introductions end here, don't you think?" Yami Bakura smirked, "I think it's time to start our duel so I can get what I want." His eyes averted over to Yugi's Millenium Puzzle.

With that, the duel started without hesitation. It didn't seem like a fair duel to you, you watched Yami Bakura pull and activate cards that put Yami in a tight situation more than once. It was just as you feared, Yami Bakura was winning with all his advantages, even by not making it a Shadow game. Despite the creepy aura Yami Bakura created throughout the duel, Yami was able to persevere through as if there was a tight line. As Yami Bakura ended his turn, he gave a dark chuckle,

"You know Yugi, I forgot to add something earlier..." Yami Bakura sighed,

"Oh? What's that?" Yami asked as he pulled out his next card,

"...I forgot to add; when I said I'll be taking your Millenium Puzzle, I won't be just grabbing the puzzle's power." Yami Bakura smirked wide as his eyes slowly averted over to you.

You froze in place, the nauseating feeling returning once more. Joey immediately ran in front of you, shielding you from Yami Bakura's view.

"Take those words back, you creep." Joey hissed as Yami Bakura laughed,

"And what are you gonna do?" Yami Bakura scoffed, "Not even your friends will stop me-" His eyes went over to Yami and immediately shut his mouth.

Dark clouds slowly formed and hovered over the battle arena with lightning striking near Yami. Yami didn't move for at least a minute or a minute and a half, but it was obvious; 100% obvious.

Yami was pissed off.

Anyone could tell by how his crimson eyes glared daggers at Yami Bakura, as if death was lingering around ready to be ordered by the Ancient Pharaoh.

"...If you dare, take my Millenium Puzzle," Yami hissed with his voice dark, "....But don't even think of touching (y/n) with your dirty hands." He seethed as he put his new card in the air.

"I sacrifice the Dark Magician Girl, Gamma the Magnet Warrior, and Big Shield Gardna to summon the Almighty Slifer the Sky Dragon." Yami hissed as he slammed the red Egyptian God Card in his disk, the card appearing nearly threatening to Yami Bakura. Immediately after, the orange aura Yami Bakura created soon dissipated as if it's smoke as a bright white light scorned through and wings formed, the long tail surrounding the blimp. The white light took the form of a dragon that soon shaded the color red.

A full Egyptian God card stood behind Yami and before Yami Bakura as it gave a loud roar in reply to its summoning.

"Shit...." Yami Bakura nervously chuckled,

"Wh....What is that?!" Tristan gasped, "Joey what the hell is that?!"

"THE BIGGEST DUEL MONSTER I'VE EVER SEEN!" Joey screamed,

"...It's an Egyptian God card." You stared at the red dragon as it loomed over Yami Bakura.

For some reason....it's very nostalgic...as though you've seen this before.

"You're gonna regret talking about and to (y/n) like that, Bakura. Prepare yourself." Yami seethed as Slifer hissed, steam coming out of its mouth, "SLIFER, ATTACK BAKURA, AND HIS REMAINING LIFE POINTS."

And so it did. It attacked Bakura with no hesitation, wiping his life points clear to zero. Bakura's eyes rolled back as he fell to the floor practically lifeless.

"BAKURA!" Tea screamed as Tristan jumped on the arena to check up on him. With the help of Joey, you hopped on the arena and ran straight to Yami, who stood there taking deep breaths.

"Y-Yami-" You reached out to him and moments later he grabbed your arms,

"(Y/N). Did he touch you?" He asked, "Did he harm you before this duel? Are you alright?"

"I-I'm f-fine..." You winced at how tight his grip was, "And yourself?"

You've never seen Yami so stressed, his eyes were absolute fear and worry despite his dark expression moments earlier. He was taking deep breaths as he intensely stared at you, then soon pulled you close and gave you a tight hug.

"...As long as you're alright." He mumbled as he fell to his knees.

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Hey! I am so sorry I skipped most of the duel and dialogue throughout the battle. I didn't want to extend the chapter on something you guys already know the outcome of. I truly hope you enjoyed it though!

https://youtu.be/vOAe2BON9aI