Talons

Author Note: So I want to apologies now for taking forever and a day to update this fic. Basically after I had Oneesan Challenge Haga to a Shadow Game, I then went on to read the first couple of duels in the manga and realized just how badly I had screwed myself over and needed to work out how I was going to progress with Duellist Kingdom as a whole. Between that, running three marathons, working insane hours, being forced to take a loan to clear the debts in my name (not all of which were actually mine) and getting a promotion at work, which I’ve since given up because it gave me a serious bout of depression...it’s been a long couple of years. Then I’ve this is the first time I have actually had a chance to get a decent chapter out of Ennead in forever. I am very sorry for this and hope you can all forgive me and that the long wait has been worth it.

Thank you all for hanging in there with me,

Joey Taylor.

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“How, exactly, did you get us lost in a forest the size of a postage stamp?” Anzu demanded of Jou and Honda, interrupting what had been a rather interesting and extremely loud argument.

“It wasn’t me,” Jou protested, gesturing towards Honda, “He was the one who said, ‘It’s this way, follow me’ if we’d just stuck to the path we’d probably be neck deep in Duellists by…”

“Don’t blame me!” Honda snarled back, cutting Jou off mid sentence, “You’re the one who thought that this was a shortcut to the battlefield!”

“Will you two shut up?” Oneesan growled at the pair of them, ill amused by their arguing and the fact the fireworks signalling the start of the tournament had gone off at least ten minutes ago. She had been tempted to let the boys head off into the forest alone, but the there was little chance of them finding each other again when Anzu was the only one with a mobile phone and even it had no signal. So she had followed them when Jou had jumped the wall and headed into the forest.

Honda and Jou went silent. Neither of them were foolish enough to continue their tirade when the spirit of the Puzzle had demanded otherwise. She was their friend, but they both knew she had her limits and that it was a bad idea to push them. Not only would it make her mad and put her off her game, but she was vindictive and creative in her payback. She would never hurt them, that much was true, but Jou’s reputation had taken weeks to recover after the incident in the boy’s changing room the day Imori had been causing trouble, not to mention what she had done in response to Jou getting her little sister sick.

Anzu could not help but but smile. If it had been her who had asked them to stop fighting, they would have done so, but only after she had physically separated the pair. Poor Yugi would have been ignored entirely. For Oneesan however, they went silent and behaved like little angels. She needed to learn the long-dead Pharaoh’s trick.

“If it helps,” Bakura spoke up, holding her hand up now that she could be heard over the others and trying to ignore the amusement of the spirit who lived within her own artefact. “My Millennium Ring can locate people and places. I could probably lead us out of here.”

“Why didn’t you say that earlier?” Jou complained, wheeling on her as she pulled the Millennium Ring out from under her sweater.

“Probably because it was impossible to hear yourself think over the racket you two were making.” Anzu shot back, “I swear they could hear the pair of you back in Domino.”

Oneesan rolled her eyes as the boys started protesting that loudly, more interested in what Bakura was doing as the Ring’s angular points started glowing and pointing in the opposite direction to the way they had been headed. “Thought so.” She sighed, “Let’s go.”

Bakura nodded and started heading in the direction the Millennium Item was guiding them. Anzu and Oneesan followed, the spirit of the Puzzle becoming amused when neither Jou or Honda noticed that they were being left behind until the girls were nearly out of sight. Then they were treated to the amusing sights and sounds of the boys falling over themselves to catch up, literally in Jou’s case as he tripped over a tree root and tumbled to the ground and landed at Oneesan’s feet.

“Honestly, I didn’t think you’d expect people to kiss your feet nowadays, Pharaoh.” The spirit in question startled and frowned at the spirit of the Ring, who was smirking at her. “I mean I never did, but you had more than enough nobles who would do it for you back in Egypt. I’m surprised you want your friends to do it now.”

“I don’t. Also shut up.” Oneesan grumbled back at the Thief Queen. She knew the other item spirit was trying to wind her up, it was something Bakura was good at. It really did not help that Oneesan was fully aware that the other teenager knew more about her past than she was willing to talk about.

When Bakura smirked at her, she huffed and stalked off ahead, sure of the direction she was supposed to be heading in thanks to the blasted thief. The resignation she could feel from her little sister did not help her mood. She knew she was supposed to be getting on with the other spirit, if only because their hosts were friends and enjoyed their gaming evenings. They tried, they did. For the sake of their sisters and because Ba-Khu-Ra did not want her ‘landlord’ committing suicide for a second time to stop her from once again trying to kill Yugi. That did not mean they were particularly good at doing so and Yugi had gotten used to Bakura winding Oneesan up and them ending up leaving early.

She emerged from the trees to find a glass duel box like the one she had used to fight Kaiba at Death-T in the middle of a clearing. It was deactivated and empty, with no one around. Oneesan wasn’t entirely complaining. While she needed to start winning more star chips and soon, the empty box was a good opportunity. She entered the duel box to check out the holo-recognition table inside and tried not to be too smug when she realized that she had called it on why they had been dragged all the way out here for a competition.

The table had a map on it, this one part forest and part meadow. Ojiisan had told them that as of the boosters that had come out the day term had started, every monster in the game got a bonus on their type of terrain. A boost that was provided by 'Field Spell Cards.' The Island that Duel Kingdom was on had almost every field type going. She was pretty sure that there would even be somewhere on the island dark enough to count towards the 'Yami' field spell.

There was a soft beep and the door slammed shut behind her, making her mentally jump. When she wheeled around to look at it, the opposite door slammed shut too, trapping her within the glass duelling cube. She let out a frustrated sound and pounded on the glass door, trying to break it open. When that failed, she barged it. It would not budge, the lock holding firm against the slight weight of her Imoto-chan's physical form.

“What the...” She demanded, trying not to let Imoto-chan sense her panic as the walls went black, cutting any view of the outside and dropping the box into total darkness. She was terrified of the dark. Even now almost five months since her precious little light-souled sister had released her from her long imprisonment, she could not stand being in the dark and any semblance of calm started to flee as she realised that even her magic could not get the automated lock to unjam.

She felt Imoto-chan reach out mentally to soothe her panic and take over the body, trying to support her, only for a sudden, loud voice to startle them both.

“Yugi-girl!” Her panic fled, replaced by fury as she wheeled around to gaze at the holographic version of Pegasus that had appeared on the other side of the box.

“Let me out Pegasus!” She demanded, her hands balling into fists and her powers itching to be used on the  arrogant American businessman despite the fact he was not actually here in the box with her.

“Now, now, Yugi-girl, you and I have some things to discuss, don't we?” He asked, the smile on his face and laugh in his tone not matching the determined look in his one real eye.

“What do you want now?” Oneesan forced herself to calm down enough to have a civil conversation, not wanting Imoto-chan to take control of the body to talk with him instead, hologram or no hologram.

“You've cheated already, Yugi-girl.” Pegasus tutted at her, “Making an opponent insane before the games begin is against the rules.”

He knew. Of course he knew. She had not vanished Haga after all, he had ended up in the ship's infirmary. However, “Duellist Kingdom hadn't started AND he stole my cards and ripped them up, the Penalty was justified.” She snapped back, refusing to accept that she had been in the wrong when Haga had gone after her first.

“Oh I would agree, Yugi-girl, except that his duelling glove and Star Chips are missing.” Pegasus did not look amused now.  “Which means you took them before the games had begun.”

“Haga wagered them, just as I put mine and the Exodia cards on the line. The wager was fair and the Shadows didn't object.” Oneesan protested, realising he seemed determined to punish her for her actions last night and determined to try and prevent him taking any more souls, “Then he cheated and earned a Penalty. You didn't tell me we weren't supposed to wager them before the tournament began. It's not fair for me earn a Penalty for something I didn't know was against the rules.”

“I'm certain that I shouldn't have to tell you that Yugi-girl.” Pegasus huffed, “I'm assuming that you partly did it to make up for the fact you gave one of your Star Chips to that young man you invited to join you, Jonouchi Katsuya?”

“Don't you dare touch him!” Her voice turned low and dangerous, her hands clenching tightly enough that she felt the nails bite into her palms.

“Oh don't worry dear, I'm not going to disqualify him. I'm curious what you find so special about him. He must be very important to you for you to risk your Grandfather's soul on one Star Chip.” The laughter in his tone was back, “No, I have a much better Penalty for your cheating in mind. After all, I know what you fear more, after my last little jaunt through your mind...”

“You have no right to put a Penalty on me. I didn't cheat Pegasus, the Shadows wouldn't have let me make the wager if I had been cheating.” Oneesan bit out as she threw up shields around Imoto-chan's mind to protect her from whatever he might try. She could not trust that he could not use his magic through this holographic form when he had managed to do so through a video tape.

“You did, Yugi-girl, no matter how much you might deny it and you're going to stay here, in the dark, until after your little friend has started his first competitive duel.” The former Pharaoh's mind stalled at that, fear flickering across her features at the thought of being trapped in the dark for any length of time. Pegasus mistook it for fear for her friend and chuckled, “Oh don't worry, Yugi-girl. If he gets himself disqualified by the time you catch up to him, he'll be allowed to return to the ship, ready to head back to the mainland, along with all your other friends and if he wins, well he gets to continue competing. Either way you'll be released. No harm, no foul, am I right? After all, how good of a Duellist could he be if he needs you to hold his hand all the time?”

With that the hologram vanished, taking the only light source with it and plunging the Duel Box into complete darkness.

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“Man, I can't believe we're out of that forest.” Jou grinned as he emerged out of the forest into a huge meadow. “That felt like it took forever!” He paused as he saw Honda, Anzu and Bakura, who was hastily hiding her Millennium Ring back underneath her jumper. “Wait, where's Yuge?”

“She's not here already?” Anzu looked around, worried. There were plenty of Duellists battling away in the Duel Boxes spread across the meadow, but Yugi could not be seen amongst them, or among those watching the matches.

“I'll go and find her.” Amane reassured them, “You'd better get started Jou. You can't both wait to start duelling, you'll end up out the tournament because someone else got to the finals first.”

“But...” He hesitated, glancing back into the wood. He knew Amane was right, but Yugi was his best friend and Oneesan was just as important to him. If they were lost, as their friend it was his job to go and find them.

The debate was broken up by a loud, amused cackling going on from one of the Duel Boxes nearby, where Kujaku Mai was emerging, gloating loudly at her opponent.

“B...but you must have cheated!” The young teen was stammering, “You knew what cards you were going to draw!”

“Stop whining you baby.” Mai gloated, “If you can't handle my ESP then you shouldn't have challenged me, now give me the Star Chips and...” She paused when she saw them and accepted the golden stars without further gloating, ignoring the fact her opponent was crying as he headed for the docks in her haste to come over. “Jonouchi Katsuya, right?” She asked, looking him over.

“Yeah and you're Kujaku Mai, we met on the boat.” Jou nodded, wondering what she wanted.

She nodded before looking around, “Where's Yugi?”

“Not sure.” Jou could not help but be insulted at the way she brushed him off, “We got split up in the woods.”

“Oh really?” Mai's look went from a few seconds of concern to a small, smug smile as she turned back to Jou, “Well, why don't you duel me while you're waiting?”

“Seriously?” The blonde blinked, surprised she would want to duel against him.

“Why not? Yugi told me you were pretty good, so, why don't we duel? Two Star Chips?” She offered, holding up her glove and showing that she had four already so she could pay the wager.

“Don't even think about it, Jonouchi.” Honda snapped at him, “You only have two.”

“Yeah, and I can't get more if I'm not willing to risk them.” Jou bit back, though he glanced towards the forest, still concerned about Yugi's location. 

“She's a big girl, Jonouchi.” Mai chuckled, “What's the matter? Can't handle the thought of playing without her to coach you?”

“No! I'll duel you. Pick a box.” She smirked as he took the bait. He was a novice, no matter how much Yugi had taught him and without his friend there to give him hints and tips she did not think he would stand a chance against her.

“Sure.” She sashayed across to the same Duel Box she had used before, well aware that it was mostly set up to give her monsters a field bonus. If he was going to be foolish enough to let her pick the box, there was no way she would not take advantage. He would have done exactly the same.

“Bakura...can you look for Yuge for me?” Jou asked the white haired girl, his gaze following the tall, leggy blonde to the Box. “Preferably without letting your other self take a pot shot at her?”

“I'll try?” Amane offered, not entirely certain how successful she was going to be but aware there was a weird kind of truce between the Spirit of the Ring and the Spirit of the Puzzle for now. “Don't lose?”

“Ha. With everything Yuge's taught me she's not going to know what hit her.” Jou smirked, posing. Honda and Anzu rolled their eyes but Amane just laughed and shooed him away, able to hear Anzu and Honda questioning if this was really such a great idea.

'Landlord, let me take over.' Amane stiffened up as her Other's voice echoed around her mind. 'If the runt's gone missing, it could be Pegasus's fault and I can control the Ring better than you.'

'Her name is Yugi.' She reminded her other self, 'And you're not allowed to Challenge her.'

'I know, I know.' The voice sounded annoyed at that, 'You made that clear when you killed yourself to stop my attack. Now get out of my way so I can go search for her royal pain in the ass.'

Amane dropped out of control, giving the Thief Queen the reins. Bakura scowled as she turned back towards the forest and pulled the Ring back out. There was no way that the brat should have gotten herself lost if the Pharaoh had just continued in the direction that they had been going. The only things she could think of were that she had either gone in the wrong direction after she had stalked off or someone had deliberately distracted her.

Either way she was going to get scolded when Bakura found her. She raised the main body of the Ring so it was horizontal and level with her chest, “Find Mutou Yugi.”

The points started glowing and then floated off to the left a little. Thinking back to the route that they had taken, Bakura could see how the Pharaoh would have headed off in that direction. The ground had not been even and if she had not set herself back right after she had scrambled up one of the three ditches they had crossed she could have ended up anywhere. Knowing her she had run into a Duellist and gotten caught up in a game. 

She glanced back at the duel, which was just starting, then smirked slightly. There was a plus side to this whole mess. If the Pharaoh was this easy to separate from her friends, then when her Landlord did let her go after Yugi, she would know how to split the girl off from the trio of tagalongs.

“Now, little Yugi,” She mused as she  headed into the forest, “Where the hell have you gone?”

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The darkness was oppressive and weighed on her heavily as she went back to trying to get the door open. She had not cheated. Haga's Penalty had been fair. The Shadows would not have let her implement it if it had not been. That meant Pegasus was the one cheating. By keeping her here, Pegasus was deliberately trying to interfere in her chances to progress to the castle.

She was pretty sure she knew what he was up to. He had seen her fear of the dark when he had read her mind before. Combine that with the fact he knew he could hurt her by going through her family and friends and this would have been a pretty effective Penalty if it had been justified. The confinement in the dark would have her on edge. Then, if they were not there to support Jou during his first real duel here on the island, he would be mad at them, no matter the excuse. Especially if he lost. If Jou got mad at them, Imoto-chan would be upset. In turn that would make her feel guilty for stalking off ahead and getting herself caught up in this stupid trap.

It was all to do with mind games and no matter how much the darkness felt like it was dragging her down, no matter how much she could feel her hands shaking, she could not let it get to her. She had to stay strong.

She could feel reassurance tumbling down the link from her little sister, taking the edge off the never ending fear of the dark, born of three thousand years of confinement and pain. It helped her stay calm but left her a little embarrassed. She was supposed to be the big sister. The stronger, more confident one. A little thing like a pitch black box with little room to move, no way to hear anything outside and no exits...

The train of thought derailed as she felt Imoto-chan trying to snatch control away, the link flooded with worry and reassurance and she realised she was beginning to hyperventilate. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself and mentally pushed back, not wanting her little sister think she was too weak to handle Pegasus's trap. She felt her sister back off, though the concern kept pulsing over the soul bond as she felt the dark wall behind her, trying to find the door to see if she could force it open.

“I...It's fine...Imoto-chan...” Oneesan spoke, the echo of her voice as it bounced around the far too silent cube making her tremble slightly and making the fear start rising again, “I just need to figure out how to get out and I'll be fine.”

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Jou was not entirely pleased about being dragged into a Duel while his friend was missing but as he drew his first hand, he knew he had to try and remember everything she had taught him. Shizuka was relying on him winning the tournament and winning the prize money after all. He could not let her down.

“You know, Jonouchi,” Mai said as she drew, a smug look on her face as she checked her cards, “That you're massively out of your depth here, right?”

“Say what?” He looked up from his cards and scowled when he saw the look she was giving him.

“You don't have your mentor to guide you, you've never been in a Proper duel against a Real Duellist before and you clearly have no idea of the new rules or you wouldn't have let me pick the duelling field...now, ladies first.” Her Harpie's Lady took to the field, the Duel Box projecting the barely clad bird-woman on the opposing side of the field. “I summon my Harpie Lady, in attack mode. She's going to cut you right down to size, Jonouchi.”

“I have a question, Mai.” He glanced at her as he drew, watching a small box with Harpie Lady's  attack and defence points appear and the stats climb, glancing at the field and grimacing as he realised he had let her pick a Duel Box with a Mountain section to the field on the table. He remembered Yugi's lessons well enough to remember the field card rules from the new Booster packs. “Why do you duel?”

“Why?” Mai blinked at him, “What a stupid question.”

“Then you won't mind answering.” The boy retorted as he considered the cards in his hand and summoned his monster, Tiger Axe, who gained a boost from the Sogen, or meadow section of the field, causing his Attack points to match the Harpie Lady. 

“Well it's simple, I use the prize money to keep me living the good life. Clothes, jewellery, travel, I love it all!” Mai sniggered, just waiting for him to end his turn and wondering why he had summoned a monster that was weaker than hers, in attack mode, meaning next turn she could take his life points.

“Is that all?” He sounded disappointed in her, much to her surprise, “You duel for such selfish reasons as that? Then I don't feel guilty about doing this! Tiger Axe! Attack!”

The Beast-Warrior monster launched itself at the bird-woman, taking a slash at the screeching harpie. She flapped her wings and took off, easily avoiding the blade before taking a swipe at the warrior with her talons, destroying the Warrior monster below and decreasing Jou's life points by 390, the amount it's attack points had increased.

“My Harpies have the advantage over any ground bound creature.” Mai gloated, “Looks like you really are hopeless without Yugi to guide you.”

She was not wrong. That was a rookie mistake to make. One that had cost him almost a quarter of his life points. He needed to be more careful. Yugi would not have made that stupid a mistake.

But then Yugi was not here. He did not know where she was and when this duel was over and he'd doubled his Star Chip total, if Bakura had not found her, he was going to go looking.

In the meantime he just needed to keep his cool and try not to make any more stupid mistakes.

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There was no way out.

It did not matter what she tried or how much she struck the reinforced glass, she was trapped in the pitch black cube, it was heard to breathe, she could not see or hear anything and her own voice just echoed back to her.

And it was dark. So very very dark.

She was panicking. Her mind and emotions were in so much turmoil that she could not think straight. It did not help that she could sense something pushing at her mind, trying to play with her emotions. It was either trying to soothe or fuel her distress. In the frenzy that had taken control of her mind she could not tell which, but it was not helping her. It was too dark, too quiet and if she moved around too much, she tripped over the chairs or bumped into the table. She wanted, no she needed to get out of here.

She needed to see colour and sunshine and her friends again. She could not bare to be alone. She could not. Not again. She needed her sister. Even if she could not talk to her, just being able to feel her little sister's mind and soul resting against hers would be enough. She needed the light the girl brought to her life. She could not stand against the darkness without her. She just couldn't. “Imoto-chan...please...”

'Anesan!'

Oneesan's panicking mind stalled at the name, screamed in hope and desperation by her Imoto-chan. The word bounced around her mind as she froze, physically and mentally.

'Anesan, I'm still here! I'm right here with you! You're not alone!' Imoto-chan's voice continued, sounding like it was coming between sobs. The sorrow and desperation in the tone and emotions tumbling down the link made Oneesan stumble into one of the blackened walls and slide down it before sitting with her head resting on her knees. 'Please, don't let this beat you! Please, please hear me!'

“I...Imoto-chan?” Her voice trembled as she spoke, the words bouncing off of the walls. She did not notice this time, all her attention turned inwards.

'Y...you can hear me? You can actually hear me!?' Relief and delight bounced down the link, mingled with sisterly love and concern, the tears she could feel and hear slowing as her fear eased enough that she was finally was able to sense the girl's bright soul and brilliant mind again.

“Y...yes...I hear you.” She was rewarded for the reply by the sense of arms wrapping around her and squeezing in the best approximation of a hug that her wonderful light could manage over the link and for a brief moment, Oneesan was almost certain that she could see her little sister's spirit form hugging her.

'Anesan...let me take over. Please. I chased Haga, this is as much my Penalty as yours and I don't fear the dark as badly as you do, let me help...please?'

Oneesan mentally stalled. Was she being that pathetic?

'It's not weakness to need help, Anesan, but...we're sisters aren't we? Sisters look after each other...even if I'm the baby sister who normally needs protecting...Let me be the one to assist you this time, please?' Imoto-chan pleaded, her mental voice caring and a little sad. Oneesan hesitated for a moment, then stepped back, allowing her little sister to take control of the body.

'Imoto-chan...thank you.'

Yugi smiled at the hesitant words, spoken directly into her mind, glad her dark sister had calmed now that she knew she was not alone. “You don't have to thank me, Anesan. I'm happy to help.” She said as she felt for a chair and took a seat and slowed her breathing, able to feel the vice like grip around her chest easing as she did so. The air was a little stagnant but not enough that she was worried.

Pegasus would not do anything that would kill her. Not yet. He needed her alive if he was going to win her Millennium Puzzle from her. However there was no point wasting air when she was all too aware that she was not going to get out. If her sister had not been able to break out of the Duel Box during her mad, frenzied attack on the glass walls, then she was not going to be able to either and letting herself fall into panic would not help her or ease the Puzzle spirit's mental state at all, “Don't worry...I'm sure Jou will duel soon. Then we'll be allowed out.”

'It's not right for Pegasus to hold us here.' The spirit of the Puzzle huffed, getting angry as embarrassment at her freak out settled in. 'Haga stole from us! We were entitled to Challenge him! By giving us this Penalty, he's...'

A quiet beep cut her off, making Yugi sit up right and look for the door, which swung open all by itself. The black walls vanished, allowing the bright morning sun into the glass box. It flash blinded her but Yugi did not care. The door was open and they were out of the dark. Now they just had to find her friends and she could relax a little bit. “Come on, Anesan.” She said as she stumbled to the door, still blinking quickly and trying to regain use of her eyes, “Let's...”

“Hiding in the dark?” Yugi trailed off at the sound of Bakura's voice, the spirit of the Millennium Ring reaching into the box and pulling her out into the fresh air. “What were you...” She paused when she realised Yugi was looking to her left rather than at her, “You can't see me right now, can you?”

Yugi was not entirely comfortable with the amusement in Bakura's voice at that as the Thief Queen pulled away from her, leaving her mostly-blind in the middle of the field. “Flash blinded.” Yugi admitted cautiously, not wanting to admit a weakness to her, but needing the support for a moment.

“Gods above, below and sideways, you're fragile.” The Thief Queen's voice circled her as Yugi blinked the light out of her eyes, “You need to toughen up, brat, if you want to survive. Right now I could do this.,” Yugi let out a pained yelp as Bakura punched her hard enough to send her tumbling to the floor, before grabbing her collar and slamming her back against the reinforced glass wall, “And you wouldn't be able to...” Oneesan cut her off by seizing control. Her anger buzzed through Yugi's mind as she twisted free of the Thief Queen's grip.

“Leave her alone.” Oneesan glowered at the other spirit as best she could with her sight slowly returning. She could sense her little sister's shame and, frustratingly, acceptance of her own weakness. “Imoto-chan...”

“Imoto-chan.” Bakura emphasised the 'chan', “Little sister. She's not your equal. She's your pet. Your vessel. Without you she's nothing except bully fodder. Even you acknowledge she's weaker than you.”

“She freed me. She completed the Puzzle that held me captive. That means she defeated me before we even met. She's stronger than anyone realises, even her.” The Puzzle spirit snapped at the spirit of the Ring, relieved when her eyesight cleared enough to be left with just two irritating sunspots that danced in her vision, “I would suggest you don't belittle or threaten her again.”

“What would you do about it if I did?” Bakura challenged, her tone sharp but her look, amused.

“You don't want to find out. Now if you don't mind, I have some friends to find.”

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“I summon Kojikocy. He gets a power up from the meadow.” Jou played the monster in attack mode, confident that with the boost his monster got from the field power bonus, it's 1910 attack points would be enough to keep Mai's harpy at bay until he could think of something else.

“Nice try, little boy.” Mai chuckled, amused that he thought he could stop her so easily, “But I play my Electro Whip, raising my harpy's attack points by 300.” The harpy launched its attack as Mai laughed and Jou's points dropped again, the field power bonus vanishing when her airborne monster destroyed his ground bound one.

Jou could feel his hand shaking as he drew his next card. He did not have anything that could deal with her harpy in his hand and he was losing life points so fast that he would lose in just a few more turns if he did not think of something. His next monster, his Warrior of Gardna, fell just as quickly to a Cyber Shield boosted Harpie Lady with 2490 attack points.

“Have you learned your lesson? You're nothing but prey to me!” Mai crowed as his life points dropped to 810.

She was not wrong. He was pathetic. Without Yugi's advice he had made a stupid move and was now struggling to recover. He could not even think of how to do so. It was no wonder she had abandoned them the first moment she had had the chance. Her grandfather's soul was on the line and she could not afford to be tied down by some loser who was going to go out in the first round. He could not say that he blamed her. Even if she was the last person he had expected to just abandon her friends in a tough situation...was he really that useless that even Yugi considered him a waste of her time?

“Here's some advice for your next tournament, boy.” Mai was smug, just as sure of her victory as Jou was of his oncoming defeat, “You can't become a True Duellist and play with your friends at the same time. Today's friends are tomorrow's enemies. Duellists can't trust anyone but themselves. Yugi knew that, that's why she abandoned you to go fight her own...”

“Jou!” Jou's gaze shot towards the call, surprise seeping in when he saw Yugi running towards the duel box. “S...sorry...I'm here.” She gasped out as she stopped at the edge of the box.

He drank the sight in, wondering where the hell she had been, but relieved to see her. His eyes widened when he took in the light bruising coming up on her cheek. She had been struck by someone or something, that much was certain.

“You okay, Yuge?” Jou asked, rising from his seat to check on her.

“Don't.” Yugi shocked him with the bite in her tone, causing him to sit back down and double check that it was Yugi talking and not Oneesan, “You're still in a duel. And I know you can win.”

Jou stared at her for a moment, then grinned and nodded, turning back to the duel, confidence reignited as he drew. Yugi was here. She was safe and she was certain he could win. If Yugi thought he could win then he could win. She had never lied to him, had not abandoned him, and she was there, supporting him.

“R...right.” He considered his hand carefully. He did not know how to get around Mai's Harpy combination, nothing in his hand was strong enough to take out the vicious avian enemy facing him down, however he did have one winged monster in his hand. It was not strong enough to take out Mai's creature, but it would be able to hit hers at least if he could just draw the right Equip cards. “I summon Baby Dragon, in defence mode.”

The orange dragonet appeared on the field and snorted the tiniest flame imaginable at the harpy. She did not look particularly impressed and for a moment Jou's confidence quailed. Baby Dragon was not the strongest monster that he could have played but he was rapidly running out of options. At least if his dragon was in defence mode, he would not lose any more life points if it was destroyed.

“Is that all?” Mai sounded smug, still completely convinced of her total victory. “You must be running out of good cards.” He flinched at her comment, not entirely certain she was wrong. He knew he had some but they were mostly warriors and ground bound creatures. “Meanwhile I can play cards like this, Elegant Egotist!”

Jou paled as Mai's one overpowered harpy split into three overwhelmingly almighty bird women with the same powerups from the Equip cards as the first one.

“What?! Now there's more of them?!” His voice cracked as he stared at the army he now faced. Three harpies with far too many attack points. He was done. He could not win. He had nothing that could fly with enough attack points to take them out.

“I can't attack on the turn I play Elegant Egotist, so make your move little boy.” Mai chuckled, enjoying his panic.

Jou drew, his hands shaking. He could not win. He was done. The game was over and he had failed his sister. His Garoozis fell to the harpies even with its boost from the meadows and his life points dropped to just 120.

He was going to lose here. He had not even managed to get through one duel and he had already failed his sister. The prize money was so far out of his grasp that he might as well have not come along. He had not only let down himself and his sister, but Yugi too. She had given him her Star Chips in order to let him come and he had wasted them.

“Jonouchi Katsuya!” Jou's head shot towards the biting tone, snapped out by the dark spirit of the Puzzle. The edge in her voice, full of the cold fury that he had only heard from her when she was about to launch a shadow game. “Don't you dare give up.”

“But...Yuge...” He hesitated, still staring at Oneesan, unsure what she wanted of him.

“Don't you dare abandon your sister to the darkness!” Her tone was so sharp it cut through the desperation he was mired in, “You can still win this. Remember, something you can show, but you can't see.”

He paused, staring at her for a moment. He had promised Oneesan that he would never let her go back into the darkness, no matter what. He had decided ages ago that no matter what it took, he would protect her from that fate. Shizuka did not deserve any less from him. His little sister was as precious to him as his friends. More so in fact. To give up here and now, without fighting to the very last life point, after he had promised that he would return with the prize money would make him just as worthless as his no account, waste of space, alcoholic father.

But what did Oneesan mean? 'Something you can show, but you can't see?'

Then it hit him. She had given him a card the afternoon they had left Domino, or rather Yugi had. A card she had taken out of her golden treasure box. The very same box that she had kept the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle in while she had been completing it. The box he had stolen from Yugi the day before he had realised that they were friends, true friends, and come up with that corny line.

She had given him the Time Wizard.

Yugi had explained when she had given it to him that it could age up things like her Dark Magician and the Baby Dragon he now had on the field, making them more powerful. Other cards would wither and fade due to the passage of time. Because of it their attack points would drop drastically. He was certain that Mai carried almost no other monsters in her deck besides the Harpie Lady and once it was under the Time Wizard's spell, he would be able to wipe out all of Mai's life points easy as one, two, three.

“You might as well give up and hand me your Star Chips now.” Mai chuckled, “You've only got one turn to live.”

Mai's words did not affect him, he had a plan now. Even if the card was not in his hand right now, he had one turn. One turn to draw it and turn this entire duel around. He just had to trust in the cards, trust in them the same way he trusted in himself and his friends.

“YES!!” He crowed as he checked the card he had drawn. “Met my Time Wizard!”

“Time what?” Mai's confusion and Oneesan's smug chuckle was wonderful to hear as he played the card, causing the clocklike magician to appear in virtual form.

“Time Wizard, it zooms forward time, fast forwarding it by a thousand years! Turning my Baby Dragon into a Thousand Dragon!” The dragonet grew and aged, smoke billowing from the huge creature's nostrils as it faced down the aged, wrinkled and grey haired harpies.

“N...no...this can't be happening...” Mai stared at her harpies in horror, observing the fact that her creatures had dropped to just 1300 apiece, in comparison to the dragon's 2400.

“A duel's not done until the last card is played.” Jou smirked, trying to hide that he was rather disturbed by the sudden changes in the holographic harpies before him. “Now, Thousand Dragon! Attack, with Thousand Nose Breath!”

The smoke erupted from the dragon's nose, engulfing the entirety of Mai's side of the field, killing all of Mai's harpies and nuking her life points in just one attack.

“N...no...I can't believe I lost...” Mai was in shock.

“Mai, you remember how I asked what you fought for?” Jou asked her, watching as she sat back in her seat and pouted as she had to hand over two of her Star Chips.

“Yeah? What about it?” She huffed, ticked off as she watched Jou put the two stars into his cuff, trying not to wonder if she had lost purely because she had been playing fair and not using her aroma trick. In six months she had lost just two duels. Both of which she had been been playing straight. Was she that bad a duellist that she could not win without her scent tricks? Or had this been purely down to dumb luck?

“I have promises to keep Mai. People who are important to me. I need to win the prize money, in order to save my sister's eyesight. That's more important to me than any money or fame or cars. And I promised a friend I'd help her save someone important to her too.” He glanced at Oneesan, who nodded and smiled. “That's why I won Mai. Because I have people relying on me.”

“Well...if you're going to make it to the finals...I guess I'll see you there.” Mai stood and stalked out of the box, not sure how to respond to that and not wanting to consider that he could be right.

Jou sighed and stood too, swiftly exiting the box and going over to his friends, ignoring Honda's pointed comments about sheer dumb luck. “You okay, Oneesan? Where were you?” He asked Oneesan, watching her with concern and noting how on edge she was.

“I'm fine. It's a long story.” The spirit of the Puzzle shrugged it off and started heading for the other duel boxes in the meadow, “Now come on, I need to start earning Star Chips.”