https://youtu.be/7LH95oiiFF0

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"(Y/N)'S DUELING MARIK!?" Joey gasped as his eyes grew wide, "OH HELL NAWH, KAIBA YA CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"

"He'll send her to the Shadow realm if he duels her!" Tea gasped,

"If she loses." Duke added, "Isn't she a good duelist?"

"She is and I am not changing anything. (Y/n) will be dueling Marik." Kaiba sneered,

"Kaiba. Please reconsider this. This is far too dangerous for (y/n) to do." Yami shook his head,

"Don't get so worked up about her, she's not your girlfriend." Kaiba sneered in return, "She is fully capable of dueling Marik. Even if she loses, she'll still stand on her ground."

"But he'll make it a Shadow Game!" Tea retorted, "And when she loses, she'll be like Mai!"

"...Tea....that's if she loses." Duke reminded again, "You never really know if she's gonna win or lose."

"Um..." You chimed in,

"(y/n), don't worry, you will not duel Marik." Yami turned to you, "Kaiba, do the machine once more. She will not be dueling-"

"I don't see what the big fuss is." A familiar voice filled with malice spoke as he walked out of the blimp. Everyone froze in their positions, except Kaiba, and stared at the source to find that familiar tanned man with the Millennium Rod - his beige hair a mess with his Third Eye gleaming over everyone.

"Marik..." Yami hissed as he clenched his fists,

"Let's begin this pathetic duel already, it's me dueling her, right?" Marik asked,

"Yes." Kaiba nodded and glared at Yami, "(Y/n) will be dueling Marik, and that's final."

"NO SHE WILL NOT." Joey hissed, "Marik, duel me instead!"

"Joey!" Tea gasped,

"I'm tired of this." Kaiba rolled his eyes, "(Y/n). Duel him so we could move forward with the Finals."

Yami gritted his teeth at Kaiba and pulled you closer to him, "(y/n). Please, don't do this."

"If you're all worried about me making this a Shadow Game..." Marik smirked as he watched Yami tense up, "..I'm afraid this will be a normal game."

There was a long pause that ensued after Marik said that. Everyone stared at him in absolute shock,

"....whaddya mean a normal game?" Joey broke the silence with sweat going down his neck,

"I mean a normal game." Marik sneered in response,

"N....No Shadow Game?" Serenity's voice trembled as she watched Marik nod his head with a disappointed look on his face,

"No Shadow Game. Unfortunately." Marik shook his head with a disappointed tone,

There was an even longer pose that transpired after Marik's confirmation.

"....WHAT?!" Tristan and Duke screamed at the same time in absolute shock,

"A...A duel without a Shadow Game?! From Marik?! Is he on crack or something?!" Duke gasped,

"That's insane! That's not like Marik at all!" Tea shook her head,

"I know, I know~" Marik rolled his eyes as he grinned at the reactions of everyone around him, "It's a surprise that I am not having this become a Shadow Game~. I'd love to make it a Shadow Game, but I feel if I do, it'll end up becoming a lose-lose situation for me." He shrugged his shoulders,

"What?!" Yami gritted his teeth as he pulled you closer from behind him, "What do you mean a lose-lose situation?!"

"As much as I'd love to tell all of you right now, I don't think it'll like it very much," Marik answered as an evil smirk came from his mouth - his eyes wide with insanity.

You narrowed your eyes as your ears perked, what does he mean it'll not like it? What's it that Marik's referring to? Your mind raced to find some form of answer that slapped you in the face once you recalled an event with Marik, as he stared down on you after the duel with Mai,

"it's best to just be with the Pharaoh, little Mrs. Orichalcos."

Oh shit, you forgot he's aware of the Seal.

'That means...' you thought, '...when he refers to a lose-lose situation, it means that if he wins the Shadow game, out of defense the Seal will take Marik's soul if he tries to take me to the Shadow Realm; but if he loses, he'll lose his own soul to the Shadow realm' You concluded with a smirk, 'Times like these I feel quite blessed to have such a curse.'

"....Then I accept this duel." You nodded as Yami gasped and turned to face you,

"(y/n), are you sure?" Yami asked, "He could be lying to you."

"...No, I don't think so." You shook your head as you stared at Marik. It seemed Marik knew that it clicked with you, as his face fell and he looked serious for the first time in a while,

"Glad to know we're finally on the same page." Marik nodded and walked in your direction. Yami immediately turned back to Marik and wrapped his arms around you in defense; his teeth gritted and a quiet growl emitted from him.

"Hands off it, Pharaoh." Marik scoffed as Yami tightened his grip on you.

"She has a name." Yami hissed in reply,

"Y-Yugi, just let her go!" Tea came in. Yami's eyes darted to Tea with a surprised look,

"B-Besides, it's not gonna be a Shadow Game, so she's fine. Worst case-scenario she just loses and isn't in the finals anymore!" Tea surmised,

"Exactly." Marik rolled his eyes and smirked at Yami, "What's the issue? There are no lives at risk."

"....Yami," You whispered as you gently touched his shoulder, "...I should be good to go."

"Are you sure." Yami whispered, "I do not doubt your skill and smarts, it's just Marik. If he is lying to you and makes this a Shadow Game.."

"I'll figure something out if he is lying." You highly doubted Marik would be lying - he is literally the only person here who knows the whole side of you, there's no way he'd try to test the waters with the Seal; Noah and Dartz tried, and literally one of them is dead now and the other.....well, that's an issue for later. Yami paused and stared at you for a few seconds as if he's analyzing you. It was to a point where it just got awkward and you slowly took a step away from Yami. At times like these, he's rather unreadable. Eventually, Yami sighed and let go of you, his eyes glared at Marik as he stepped aside,

"...Make this a Shadow Game and you'll regret it." Yami threatened,

"Trust me, Pharaoh." Marik sneered, "This will be the only game without one, for my own sake." He spoke as his duel disk activated.

Your eye narrowed as your duel disk activated as well, and you walked to your respective distance from Marik in order for the duel to begin.

"The duel between Marik and (Y/N) has begun, now!" The announcer suddenly came forward as he loudly exclaimed. He took out a coin and held it so everyone could see, "Heads is (y/n), tails is Marik."

If that coin hits heads, I'll be the luckiest person thus far. You thought to yourself as you watched the announcer flip the coin and hold it in place once it landed on his palm. He slowly removed his hand and looked up,

"The coin is heads; (y/n) goes first."

You tried your best to hide a smirk, oh hell yeah the tides are in your favor at the moment. Knock on wood things go well.

"Looks like luck is in your favor, let's see how long that'll be~," Marik smirked as he shuffled his deck,

"Hopefully until this duel is over. Gets Yugi's burden off his back." You responded with an eyebrow raised as you shuffled your deck as well; putting it in your disk once you were finished.

"Let's duel, shall we~?" Marik put his deck in his disk with a smirk,

"Let's." You nodded as you took out four cards; Marik taking out four cards from his deck as well. Your four thousand points displayed on your disk, indicating the duel has begun.

"Draw," You pulled out a card from the top of your deck and glanced over to see what you've pulled.

You pulled the Hysterical Skeleton, you glanced up at Marik who was calmly staring at you.

"I place Hysterical Skeleton in attack mode, and with it, I activate the spell card Axe of Despair."

With activating Axe of Despair, the Hysterical Skeleton gains 1000 attack points, boosting his attack from 1500 to 2500.

With that, that was your first turn, and Marik simply smirked and had his turn.

It became rather much like that for the rest of the duel, Marik would cast spells that far exceeded yours in attack points, but you kept evading his attacks by strategically planning against Marik's game. This being done thanks to your level four-starred monsters and your traps that caught Marik's monsters on a whim. Not only that, but thanks to your summoning of the Spell Card Swords of the Revealing Light, Marik could not attack you nor your monsters directly for three turns. This saved you 600 life points.

"Alright, (y/n)!" Tristan shouted with glee, "Beat his butt!"

"She's got this, I knew it!" Joey smirked, "She's makin' sure Marik don't even get the chance to attack her!"

"You really think you're sneaky, huh?" Marik sneered, "You're pretty smart for someone who's been chained her entire life."

You quirked an eyebrow, "this coming from the guy who has a grudge on a dead man."

"My relationship with the Pharaoh is much different than yours." Marik tilted his head as he pulled a card from his deck, "For example. we're not binded the way you are with it."

Your blood began to boil at how bold this man is for talking about the Seal, "Then do me the favor and tell me, please." You gritted your teeth as you waited for Marik to finish his turn.

"Being forced to watch over his grave is rather tiring you know," Marik shook his head with a smirk as he placed the card facedown, "I place a card facedown, by the way." He side-noted.

"Then it's the same thing." You sneered, "On different terms, but the same thing."

"But in the end, it's built on a grudge, right?" Marik smirked wide, "I know you hate it."

"What are they even talking about?" You heard Serenity whisper to Joey. You forgot everyone was watching the duel, and to them, it's some cryptic conversation between you and Marik.

"....Mine works differently than yours." You took out a card from your deck, "It's my sworn duty, whereas yours is based on you getting tired of standing next to a coffin for no apparent reason."

"The Pharaoh's power speaks more than your precious duty." Marik sneered,

"If that's the case, then make this a Shadow Game." You snarked in reply with a smirk as you watched Marik's smirk fall. "Go on, do it. Raise that Rod and make this a Shadow Game."

"(y/n) are you crazy!?" Duke yelled out, "He's gonna do it and you'll be sent to the Shadow Realm if you lose!"

"...he won't." Yami narrowed his eyes as he watched Marik's expression.

"What do you mean?" Joey turned to Yami,

"I'm not certain he will. There's something going on there that we don't understand, and I feel it's because of whatever that is, Marik isn't making this a Shadow Game. If it weren't for that, Marik would've made it a Shadow Game a long time ago." Yami explained with clenched fists,

"Then what is it that's makin' Marik hesitate?" Joey asked,

"No clue." Yami shook his head,

"...The Pharaoh's power holds more value." Marik composed himself, "I misworded it."

"Sure you did." You rolled your eye and looked at your deck, "I cast Jinzo in attack mode."

The familiar bald-headed green masked man stood before you when you ended your turn. Kaiba flinched and narrowed his eyes,

"I didn't know you had Jinzo." Kaiba sneered. Realizing Kaiba's salt towards Jinzo, you laughed nervously and looked at Kaiba,

"...yeaaahhh...soooo.....I've had him for a bit...I just never really casted him..."

"Sure." Kaiba rolled his eyes, "Never cast it again for a while."

"Will do." Regretting you ever casted that, you turned back to Marik, "Now, I think it's time you show me what you're hiding over there."

Marik snickered in reply, "Don't even try to, before you attack with Jinzo, I want to ask you a question."

"What's that?" You asked,

"...why don't you tell them?" Marik asked. You froze in place when he asked, you had a hunch you knew what he was referring to.

"...tell them what?" You asked as Marik tilted his head,

"Don't try to be dumb on me now." Marik rolled his eyes, "You heard me. You're lucky enough I am respecting you by not screaming it out already."

'No, you're just scared of it.' You thought to yourself as you sensed the tiniest sense of fear from him. It's very small, as though something - or someone else - has it stored away from Marik's very essence. You remained silent as Marik stared at you,

"Well? You're apparently close to them, aren't you?" Marik asked, "Even back with the Pharaoh, and you're not telling them?"

"Tell us what?!" Tea came forward, "(y/n), what is he talking about?!"

"...Jinzo," You stared at the monster card, "...attack the face-down card."

"Avoiding the question now, are we?" Marik smirked as he watched the monster reach out for the face-down card, "that's fine, I get to obliterate you faster."

The moment the card turned and faced up, you turned pale upon seeing the yellow colors that emitted from that card. There's only one such card with those colors as the card began to shine,

"I sacrifice Lord Poison, Drillago, and Lava Golem!" Marik commanded as the three cards evaporated, "and now I shall commence with the summoning!"

He took a breath and began to speak in a different language that was somehow fluent to you,

"Great beast of the sky, please hear my cry. Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. Envelop the desert with your glow and cast your rage upon my foe. Unlock your powers from deep within so that together we may win. Appear in this game as I call out your name, Winged Dragon of Ra!"

With how you managed to understand that, you had no idea but you already knew what he was going to summon. A bright yellow light shined through the duel, as within seconds a yellow closed ball appeared and slowly cracked open. Within moments, you wounded up face to face with the last Egyptian God Card.

the Winged Dragon of Ra.

"Oh no! It's the Winged Dragon of Ra!" Tea gasped,

Yeah no shit sherlock, you mentally hissed at her,

"I activate Ra's effect and take away all my lifepoints up to 100 to gain more attack points to Ra so he can be much stronger than how he is now," Marik spoke as the effect activated.

"Now, where were we?" Marik smirked as he aimed his Rod at you, "Oh, right. Ra, destroy all the monsters and (y/n)'s life points directly!"

I was so close, you thought to yourself as Ra's power engulfed your entire side, your life points plummeted to zero within seconds. The moment you heard the final beep from your life points, you fell to your knees and stared at the floor in pure shock.

I was so close....

"The winner of the duel is Marik Ishtar!" A guard announced the victor as Marik smirked down on you.

Yami bolted to you the moment the victor has been announced; his knees falling and skidded over to you as his arms wrapped around you.

"(y/n)!" Joey called out as he ran after Yami and knelt on one knee, "Are you alright? I know a thing o' two bout Ra's attacks and it hits big time."

"It seems you lack more than just strategy, (y/n)." Marik sneered, "There's more to what you lack that I will forever hold superior to you." He laughed as he walked away from everyone else.

"Stay away ya creep." Joey mumbled,

"(y/n), are you okay?!" Duke asked as he rushed over,

"Y-Yeah," You nodded and stared at Marik's back, you never imagined being struck by an Egyptian God. If you ever told your younger self this, she'd be laughing at your face out of denial.

That Egyptian God is by far the most powerful monster card you've ever encountered.

"It's a strong one." As though Yami read your thoughts, he gently rubbed your back, "But as long as you're alive here and now, that's all that matters."

"Hold on, I think we're missing the elephant in the room." Tea sneered as she knelt in front of you, "What were you and Marik talking about?"

"Tea." Joey averted his gaze to Tea,

"No, no!" Tea shook her head at Joey, "Marik clearly knows something about (y/n) that we don't. If she's really a friend then shouldn't she talk about it with us too-"

"Tea." Yami pulled himself away from you and sneered at her, "If (y/n) is ready, she'll tell us."

You froze when you heard Yami say that,

"Wh- Yugi.." Tea narrowed her eyes,

"It is true that Marik knows something that we don't, but it's Marik we're talking here." Yami stared at her, "There's no way (y/n) would tell Marik of all people. He probably found out or knew without her knowledge."

"Yugi-"

"Enough." Yami's eyes closed shut with an annoyed expression, "Tea, I am not sure why you're so tense about (y/n). She's a close friend of ours, especially to me. I'm sure she'll tell us when she feels ready to. Yugi never told you about me until later over at Pegasus' Tournament, am I correct?" Yami sneered at her as Tea bit her lip in response.

"Yeah, don't worry 'bout it (y/n)." Joey placed his hands on your shoulders, "In some weird way, we understand, so don't get too worked up or stressed bout tellin' us what Marik knows or somethin'."

You could cry right now. You really could. But you were too shocked to even react properly to how everyone around you is taking all this. Tea is right, you were honestly expecting more of Tea's reaction in everyone. Yet here you are, sitting with such comfort you felt you never deserved for the longest time.

"If we're done with this worthless chatter, we've got finals to run." Kaiba ruined the moment as he sneered over everyone, "Now get in the tower."

"Wow, way to go party killer." Joey rolled his eyes and hopped back to his feet, "Augh, can't wait to finish these finals and duel whoever I want~!" He hummed to himself as Serenity followed her brother with a genuine smile on her face. It wasn't long before everyone got up and made their way over to the tower, of course, leaving you and Yami left to catch up.

"Let's head over, (y/n)." Yami lightly held your hands with a smile on his face,

Your lips clenched together and trembled, now tears threatening to fall. Do you really deserve such friends like these? Here you are, hiding half your entire being and everyone is fine with it? Why aren't they mad at you?

"...(y/n)." Yami interrupted your thoughts as he fully sat on the floor with you, "....expressing yourself entirely to friends can be hard. You feel in a sense, that if you showed everyone your full being, they would leave you or abandon you - or even treat you differently. Am I right?" Yami's head tilted, "I remember Yugi felt the same way back at Pegasus' Tournament, he never told anyone about me because he was scared he was going to be treated a bit differently...well before he realized I was even here with him, but nevertheless." He shook his head with a smirk, "It's understandable to be hesitant, but you can always talk about it with us when you're ready."

This man just took this duel to some psychological level that called you out on so many levels, you actually felt offended for a few seconds.

"Hey Yug', ya coming?" Joey called out with a giant smile on his face,

"Yes, in a second!" Yami assured in return and looked at you once more, "I want you to be comfortable with us, you know? Cause I really care about y-" He paused and soon you watched his face go completely red. He covered his face with his jacket and quickly shot to his feet,

"W....W...We really must be g-going..." Yami muttered,

You raised an eyebrow, of all times this man is flustered now?

"R...Right..." You nodded and got up yourself to find a tear falling to the floor. Realizing what was happening, you quickly wiped your eyes and covered your face with your jacket as well. You didn't want this easily-flustered man to realize he made you all emotional.

"...H...Hey, Yami?" You called out as Yami flinched upon your call.

"Y...Yes?" He squeaked in reply. Oh boy, he's really flustered. He's not even turning to look at you.

"....th...thank you." You mumbled. That was as far as you're gonna go. If you continue, you're gonna cry like a baby on the spot.

"N...No problem..." Yami gulped as he grabbed your hand without looking, "L....Let's go.."

You could only nod as you were quickly transported to the tower; of course with Yami taking deep breaths and calming down before he could actually get in. You quickly wiped your eyes and simply put your sleeve over your mouth so no one notices at all. You really didn't want people knowing you're being semi-emotional. In fact, you even kept a small distance as Kaiba explained the rules of a four-way duel. You watched Yami make his way to his designated spot to begin the duel, and just before the duel started, he stared at you with a pondering look before his cheeks went red and he sharply turned next to him - seeming as though he was briefly lecturing someone. Yugi probably said something.

That man is horrible at hiding how he feels. It's so painfully obvious that he sees you as something more than a friend.

'.....could he even love someone like me, though?' You pondered as you watched the duel commence, your eye slowly turning dull at the thought of Yami's reaction to the Seal or literally anything about you. '....he deserves better than someone like me.'

"He does."

'I'm not talking to you'

"I know." It sneered, "But I can't help but enjoy your depression. Maybe he prefers that drink-chick that got all mad at you."

'Tea?'

"Yeah, the drink."

'....did you call her a drink?'

"She's literally named after the drink."

You lightly snickered, that is true.

"As much as you want to stand around, you've got something better to do."

'Like what'

"He's coming. It's rising. You must claim what is yours."

'...What does that even-'

"Such a shame." Tea interrupted your mini conversation, "Really, I mean honestly (y/n) should've been up there."

"Yeah." Tristan nodded,

"Oh well." Tea shrugged her shoulders, "Would've made Yugi less stressed."

....this little bitch.

"....And she's a good duelist too." Tristan added,

"Hm? That too I guess." Tea rolled her eyes,

"I think she's a really good duelist, I mean, she did almost win." Serenity added, "If Marik didn't summon that Egyptian God, she would've won."

"But she didn't." Tea sneered,

'...are they talking as if I am not here?' You raised an eyebrow

"You talk as though you've faced enough duels." Duke narrowed his eyes, "and she's right-"

"I have." Tea huffed,

"...Twice." Tristan informed, "the second, you faced Mai. (Y/n) literally dueled two times more than you including Marik."

"Oh come on-" Tea sneered,

"I'm literally right here." You sneered and watched Tea, Tristan and Serenity flinch.

"Oh....you were quiet...so..." Tristan nervously responded,

"No no, it's fine." You nodded at Tristan and glared at Tea, "Talk about me all you want, it's fan behavior to me."

Tea glared at you before crossing her arms and resumed watching the duel.

"...bitchy drink." You quietly mumbled under your breath as you looked up at the duel to find it slowly reaching its conclusion. It wasn't long before the announcement was made.

Yami is to duel Kaiba, and Joey is to duel Marik.

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https://youtu.be/S7w6Fqa_Fn0