Star Chips: Yugi: 6/Joey: 4/Sarah: 5

He knows.

He definitely knows.

I couldn't help but continue thinking about the duel that took place mere minutes ago, even though everyone else brushed it off as just a dream. I knew it was real, because of my relationship with the Shadow Games, so I was required to be burdened with its existence.

During that duel, I had an incredibly close interaction with the Pharaoh. I wasn't able to tell him everything right away, but he definitely had the feeling that something was off. And he knew I was somehow connected, because of how Bakura interacted with me specifically.

All because I spoke Egyptian right in front of him.

I didn't know what the other half of me was thinking, the part of my soul that was trapped inside my favourite card. She was the one who started talking to Bakura, he only followed. Sure it helped me in getting new information, but the others thought I had gone completely mad! Well, only in the dream. But the Pharaoh... he knew that it wasn't a dream. He knew it was real, and would therefore think about every part of it. He was bound to figure something out, maybe even connect some dots. After all of that, despite me wanting to keep my identity a secret for now, he knew that I was connected somehow.

Perhaps it was all for the best. At least it provided some evidence to the truth.

I followed after the others, as quick as I could. Joey was out in front, leading us the way through the trees. The trees parted and we were looking over another cliff, but this time, instead of finding a dueling arena in the water, we found one just off to the side, that was hiding in the shadows of the taller trees. Climbing down from one of the platforms, with a look of defeat on her face, was Mai. We rushed over to her.

"Mai! Are you alright?" asked Joey.

"It's too late..." she said dejectedly.

"What do you mean? What's happened?" asked Tristan.

From out of the shadows that were concealing the other side of the dueling arena emerged a large man with a scary face. Joey immediately set his glare on him.

"Who the hell are you?" Joey asked, approaching the man.

The man's straight line of a mouth curved up into a smirk. The sight of his laughing eyes gave me goosebumps.

"What's the deal, huh?" Tristan asked the man as he strode up next to Joey to give his pal some help with muscle if it ever came to a fight. "Do you like to mess with girls?"

The large man sized Joey and Tristan up, his chest measuring the width of two. He was gruff and large, with a build I could only imagine as fighters having. He was beefed, and I couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. His odd makeup and dangerous looking outfit, with his trenchcoat and bracelets fitted with spikes, didn't help make the encounter any easier. Even the others were a little overwhelmed to see someone like this being a potential dueler.

"It wasn't because she was a girl that I decided to duel her," he said. His voice was rough. "I duel only in the night, and she happened to be next to this little arena here."

"You don't look like a duelist," claimed Joey.

"On the contrary, I am." Then the man proceeded to show us these double-sized Duelist Gloves on both of his arms, and they were almost completely filled with Star Chips.

"I may not be a duelist that you lot are used to, but I am one."

"What kind of duelist are you?" I found myself asking before anyone else did. I couldn't help but be curious. What did he do that required all of those Star Chips?

"I'm the eliminating kind," said the man in a creepier voice than before, if that was even possible. Then he grabbed Mai's arm and held it up for us to see. He was showing her empty Duelist Glove.

"Just as you see here, I take all the Star Chips straight off of a duelist's glove!"

"Wait... but if you lost all of your Star Chips..." started Téa.

Mai looked down. I hadn't seen her so defeated. It was as though all the fight within her perished during this one duel. "It's true..." she said solemnly. "I'm disqualified. It all happened so fast... the way Panik duels... I just... lost it..."

"Mai..."

"And she was one of the easier victims," said Panik, roughly shoving Mai towards us, like she was trash that he was done with. Téa held Mai around her shoulders to support her while Joey stomped forward to confront the man for his rude gesture.

"Why you-" But before he could even reel back for a punch, Tristan was holding his friend back with Ryou's help.

"Wait, man! It's too dangerous!" said Tristan.

"I can take him!"

"He's twice your size!" added Ryou.

"Mr. Pegasus doesn't think this tournament is going fast enough in eliminating weak players," Panik continued badmouthing, even though Joey was still trying to go after him. "He needs only the strong to be left on this island for his finals."

"Shouldn't that be decided amongst the players themselves?" asked Joey, still maintaining his anger. "It's through our own duels that we determine who's strong enough to continue!"

"Yes, but it's too slow," said the man. "I remove all the weak duelists from the island in time for the finals, and take their Star Chips, just as Mr. Pegasus ordered!"

"Pegasus?" Yugi clenched his fists. "I should have known he would be behind this."

"There are Eliminators all over the island, defeating duelists," continued the man. "We build our careers on destroying opponents. We stalk the weak duelists... and then pull them into a duel! And when they lose, they're out, and we get a large paycheck in the end!"

"That's not right..." I said, sad to think that some people were cruel enough to do such horrible things to duelists and sell their time for money.

"That's the beauty of dueling." The man smirked. I wished that he would stop looking so creepy. It took all that I had to keep myself from punching him into the next millennium.

"That isn't dueling," said Yugi, standing his ground. "That's bullying, and I've had enough with bullies. There's only one way to stop them, and that's to stand up to them!"

In a swift moment, the Pharaoh took place of Yugi, and he stared Panik down.

"I'll kick you off the island this time, Panik," he said.

Panik guffawed at the Pharaoh's challenging statement. "You putting me in my place? Hah! The bounty on your head will be a bonus after I've finished with you! I wonder if Mr. Pegasus will add in extra cash for bodily harm..."

Hearing someone threaten to hurt the Pharaoh drove me past my calm stature. I was just about to step forward and give that man a piece of my mind - and my fist - when Mai's voice rung out.

"Watch out, Yugi! Panik's a ruthless dueler!"

"Your name is..." began the Pharaoh.

"Quite fitting, isn't it?" said the man with a hideous grin on his face.

"Distasteful."

Panik's smirk turned into a sneer.

"Ryou's right, Joey," said the Pharaoh. "I'll handle this."

"Yugi, you don't have to do this. You can walk away!" said Mai.

"This isn't just about you anymore, Mai," said the Pharaoh, turning towards her. "He and other Eliminators are kicking duelists off the island because they think of themselves as better than everyone else. They mustn't get away with such a thing. We need to set right by those duelists unfortunate enough to have run into these people."

"Yugi..."

"Besides," the Pharaoh stood confidently before Panik. "I don't scare easy, especially when I'm standing up for my friends.

"I'll get your Star Chips back, Mai."

"Worry about your own Star Chips first," said Panik. "Duels with Eliminators are all or nothing matches."

"Fine then." The Pharaoh wagered all six of his Star Chips. "But when I win, I expect to have Mai's Star Chips returned."

"If you win..." Panik said slyly, taking on the Pharaoh's challenge.

"Wait, are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Téa nervously.

"It seems as though Yugi's already made up his mind," answered Ryou. "We must do our best to support him."

"He's not one to stand aside when someone's been bullied." Joey watched the Pharaoh walk towards the arena. "I should know that better than anyone..."

I felt like there was a story behind that statement. I wondered what he meant by that.

The Pharaoh has decided on another duel... I also wondered what gave him the energy to duel so much. We had just finished one with Bakura of all people, and yet here he was, ready to duel again.

I suppose that was what made him so great in the first place: his determination to fight for just causes.

Both duelists claimed their sides of the duel arena and raised themselves up on the platforms. It amazed me how, right after a duel with Bakura, the Pharaoh was now going to duel an Eliminator to win back Mai's Star Chips. He didn't look the least bit exhausted from that trifling match. I suppose that was the advantage of being a spirit.

But I knew from experience that the drive to help someone we care about also gives us a burst of energy that could never be exhausted.

"You've never faced a duelist like me before," said Panik. He sounded intimidating. "There's going to be more to this duel than just mere strategy."

"I don't scare easily," stated the Pharaoh defiantly. "Say whatever you please, I won't be running away so quickly."

"He's ruthless, Yugi," said Mai. "He had me totally terrified!"

"I use what isn't normally noticed on a regular day," said Panik. "That way the duelists never see their demise coming! Buahahaha!"

"Ah... I see how you duel now." The Pharaoh crossed his arms. "You sneak up on duelists because you don't have the nerve to challenge them face to face. You don't have any honour as a duelist."

"I don't duel for the Star Chips or prize money," said Panik. Then we heard a click, the sound of a button being pressed, and shackles locking around the Pharaoh's ankles, holding him to the arena.

"I duel for the thrill of seeing fear swell up in my opponent's eyes!"

He then pressed another button and columns of flames sprung to existence on either side of the Pharaoh, trapping him between them.

"No!" I leapt forward, ready to thrust the flames as far away as my magic would allow, but they soon disappeared after surprising us.

"Yugi! Are you alright?!" called Tristan.

"He used those on me too..." said Mai, recalling the fearful moments of her duel when she was threatened by the same flames. The anger within me boiled. First, the Pharaoh was endangered, and then I learn that Mai was intimidated the exact same way. Panik had no sense of decency, as well as honour. He was the type of man to feed off the fear of others, and it disgusted me.

Without thinking, my body had started moving towards Panik, with fists clenched tightly and eyes narrowed. I didn't even realize where I was going and what I was going to do until Tristan grabbed me and pulled me back.

"Sarah, you can't take that kind of guy on your own!"

"I can most definitely do such a thing," I said, trying to get out of his arms. "He's a coward!"

Panik reeled his head back and chuckled horrendously. "I was warned of Sarah's temper, but I had no idea it was this bad!"

"Remove those shackles," I seethed, ignoring his comment.

"Yugi has agreed to the duel, so I'm afraid I can't release him from my conditions."

The smirk on Panik's face riled me up even more.

"Sarah, it's alright," said the Pharaoh. I could have ripped Panik apart right then and there, but the Pharaoh's hard gaze made me stop. I had orders to follow, whether or not he knew of them as such.

"I must fight him," he said. "I need to show him what a True Duelist really is."

Although I forced my body to calm down, my mind was still roiling. How dare Panik shackle the Pharaoh and force him into a dangerous situation. How dare he...

"Alright..." I said, complying to his wishes. Tristan, who still hadn't let go of my shoulder, cautiously removed his hand once he thought I wouldn't spring forward again.

"So, Sarah really does have a bit of a temper," he noted. "Just like back at the dock, when we were helping Hibiki. And before then when Yugi was dueling Weevil."

It was true. If I had to explain any of my faults, it would be the lack of control on my anger. I had to be extra careful around the Pharaoh, for disobeying him meant disobeying the whole kingdom.

"It's great that she's showing more emotion around us now," said Joey. "But she has a point; We need to get Yugi out of this duel! This is insane!"

"Yugi! Call it off!" said Téa.

But the Pharaoh just smirked at Panik. "Are you finished?" he asked Panik boldly, surprising us. "Because it will take more than cheap pyrotechnics to make me lose my cool."

"The last time a man had the nerve to talk to me like that, I broke him in half." Panik's eye twitched behind his cool composure.

"Enough of your arrogance," said the Pharaoh more seriously. "It's time to duel!"

LP: Yugi: 2000/Panik: 2000

"It's great that Yugi is confident," said Mai. "But he's never faced an Eliminator before. Panik has strategies that we couldn't even dream of."

"If anyone can teach Panik his place, it's Yugi," said Téa faithfully. I could tell that she was still very worried for her friend, but she believed in him so much more. I believed in the Pharaoh too, but it was my duty as Guardian to handle his foes before they got to him. These duels made my job twice as difficult. All I could lend the Pharaoh in situations like these was my support.

I realized quite quickly that I did not enjoy standing on the sidelines.

"Since fire doesn't faze you, perhaps darkness will." Panik set a card onto his dueling mat and waited for it to materialize onto the field. "I play Castle of Dark Illusions!"

A stone castle with numerous towers rose from the ground using a floatation ring until it was hovering over the duelists' heads. The kanji for yami was etched onto the black, circular jewel that was on the ring. It was certainly a creepy castle, probably one that would be filled with ghosts and spirits if it was real and built on a far away cliff somewhere. The Pharaoh did however look concerned for it but he tried not to show it. I think I shared his bad feeling.

This castle may just be the most important monster that Panik would play.

"And because I played this card during the night, it receives a Field Power Bonus." The castle's defence power rose to 2509, which was an incredibly high number. It was definitely going to be tough to beat.

"I'm not afraid of the dark," said the Pharaoh assertively.

"You would be, if you knew what was lurking inside it."

Suddenly, dark shadows began to creep up onto the field. Long tendrils stretched over the grid, covering every inch until everything was smothered by darkness. The shadows even wrapped themselves around Panik, hiding him within the depths of their abyss. We couldn't see Panik or his duel field, and from the look on the Pharaoh's face as he stared at his duel screen, he couldn't see the field either. The castle continued to float above the darkness, where it was all born from. The darkness made it much harder for the Pharaoh - he wouldn't know what he was attacking.

While Panik was hidden within shadows to hide his attacks, the Pharaoh was wide open and vulnerable. This cowardice infuriated me.

"Yugi, this is how he broke me!" To hear Mai say such words hurt. She showed herself as a strong and independent dueler, so to hear her say that really told us just how frightening Panik must have been.

"You hide in the shadows?" asked the Pharaoh. Despite his situation being dire, he appeared to be strong. It amazed me how the Pharaoh held himself together so well.

"I'm using Darkness to increase my monsters' strength!" said Panik proudly, overshadowing the true nature of his being.

"But now he can't see what's going on, on top of having to deal with strong monsters..." said Joey.

"He might think of defending for a while until he can come up with a sound strategy," I said. "It's not safe for him to attack monsters that he can't see - who knows how many Attack Points they have?"

"That's so sneaky..." said Téa. I agreed. I wondered how many Eliminators used this strategy, or may be using it right now against other duelists?

"I will summon Celtic Guardian in Defence Mode," said the Pharaoh, watching the monster appear on the field with his sword crossed over his chest as he knelt down.

"That's the end of my turn."

"I already have the upper hand," said Panik as he drew his card. "You can't see in the dark.

"Therefore, I summon this monster! Don't bother trying to squint - you won't be able to see him!"

Dark pixels shadowed over Panik's side of the duel field, but there was no light, and without any light, no one was able to see the new monster. Only Panik knew its identity - and therefore its strength.

"Attack the Celtic Guardian!"

Something flew out of the darkness and struck the Pharaoh's monster. Celtic Guardian roared out in pain before being destroyed. The Pharaoh's Life Points were safe, but he wasn't safe like this either.

"How is he able to have a chance of defeating that Eliminator if he can't even see his side of the field?" said Bakura. "He can defend to save himself, but he won't win this way."

"It's a cheap tactic," added Joey.

"He seems to enjoy hiding..." I said quietly. I wondered how the Pharaoh would get out of the darkness. It seemed unbreachable. We couldn't see Panik or his monsters.

"It doesn't help that the only monster Yugi can see has a Defence Strength of over twenty-five hundred," said Mai. She'd calmed down a bit, but her voice still wasn't as strong as it was before.

"Come on!" challenged Panik with a wide grin on his face. "Throw some more of your monsters at me! I can take them all down."

"Be careful of what you wish for," said the Pharaoh.

"Even your friends have given up on you," said Panik, trying to throw him off his game.

But the Pharaoh seemed to have everything under control. He placed a card onto his field. "I summon Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress in Defence Mode." The small blue dragon materialized before him, perched on his hind legs with his large wings covering his front.

"You can defend from one monster," said Panik. "But not from two."

Again, he summoned another monster that we couldn't see. The Pharaoh was dueling in the dark, where monsters were so easily able to hide.

"Admit it... you're terrified."

I tried to imagine myself in the Pharaoh's place. If I was faced with an opponent's field covered with dark shadows, then I admit that I would have been scared. Being terrified of the unknown was natural, and it wasn't anything to be ashamed of, but what Panik did was use that fright to make duelists feel helpless and alone. From everything that I've seen so far, the Pharaoh showed excellent courage, even when faced with impossible situations. This duel was no exception. Despite having the duel in his opponent's favour, from unfair rules that were meant to deter duelists away from the tournament, the Pharaoh put up a strong front. Even though he may have been a bit concerned as he thought about his next strategy, he remained objective.

"I told you," said the Pharaoh. "I'm not afraid of the dark."

"Yugi is so cool..." said Tristan, admiring his friend's stature and confidence.

"But how is he going to beat this?" asked Joey, still unsure about his friend's situation.

"Just have faith in him..." said Téa.

"If I had figured out a way around this guy, we wouldn't be in this situation," said Mai.

I watched as the Pharaoh's crimson eyes developed a bit of realization. If he got an idea from Mai's words or by staring at his cards, I didn't know, but he had an idea, and it was enough to let him do something else besides defend.

"I switch my dragon to Attack Mode," he said, and the the blue dragon pulled his wings back and flew up.

"Attack!"

A large fireball lit up the duel field, an attack from the Pharaoh's Winged Dragon. Even if it was brief, for a moment, we could see the two monsters Panik had hiding in the shadows. They were scary and huge, just like the man himself, but because they had higher Attack Points, the Pharaoh's monster couldn't do any damage.

As payback for being exposed, one of the monsters counterattacked and destroyed the Winged Dragon. Because the Pharaoh initiated the Battle Phase, and his monster had lower strength, he lost the round. He sacrificed his monster to see the monsters Panik had summoned.

All at a cost.

LP: Yugi: 1606/Panik: 2000

"It certainly doesn't seem worth it," said Panik. "Not when the darkness has eyes everywhere and you have none."

"I will think of something, Panik," said the Pharaoh, confident in his abilities. "Just you wait."

"Well... it was a good idea... but it wasn't enough," said Mai dejectedly.

"Don't worry about it, Yugi will think of something better next time," said Téa. She was definitely not having any of Panik's scare tactics. Despite his last attack bearing no fruit, she believed the Pharaoh would have a much better strategy during the next round.

I thought so too. We mustn't give up.

"I'd like for him to struggle more instead," Panik sneered.

"That's tough talk coming from someone who attacks from behind shadows," the Pharaoh countered. He was the exact opposite of struggling.

This infuriated Panik. "You think you have everything in control?" He slammed his fist against a button on his duel platform and flames shot up from beside the Pharaoh once again. I was this close to redirecting those exact flames back at Panik.

"I am the one with everything in control!"

The Pharaoh just stood there, totally unfazed about the fire this time. I knew that the Pharaoh was brave, but this was just insane.

What was he thinking?

"Not everything," said the Pharaoh confidently.

"You'd better think twice about making me mad with your incessant banter with the fire controls at my fingertips," seethed Panik. "I could roast you in seconds with just the turn of a dial!"

"Then that just proves how much more of a coward you are."

"After I'm done with you, you will be the one cowering in a corner."

"Not if I win and you lose." The Pharaoh held up a card but we could only see the back of it. "And this card will be the cause of your undoing."

I blinked. The Pharaoh had another idea?

"You lie!" shouted Panik. "That card is merely a bluff that you cannot back up!"

"Would you like to see for yourself?"

Panik's eyes narrowed.

"Why is Yugi telling Panik his strategy?" asked Téa.

"Because that's just what Panik does," replied Mai. "He makes his opponents panic, which leads them to making rookie mistakes.

"All a duelist can think about at that time is the fear that's creeping closer over them..."

Mai's eyes grew distant as she spoke. The darkness was frightening to begin with: not being able to see anything when someone knew they had the ability to without the dark could make them go crazy. Feeling it creep over, and smothering someone with its presence was even worse; that could scare them to death. Mai must have been close to either of those scenarios, and although the real outcomes were far off, she was definitely affected, one way or another. A strong duelist like her, to be torn down from her confident stand with a duel in the shadows... it seemed unbelievable. However, the evidence was right in front of us. Mai was defeated and her morale was down. All she could think about was the darkness that she had to face.

"You found the light," I said, trying to be helpful. "Even though you lost, you're so much stronger than that. You can certainly bounce back from this."

Mai's plum-coloured eyes met mine. She thought about it for a moment, before agreeing.

"I guess I did alright..." she said.

"Now Yugi is going to help put this man in his place," added Téa. "And we're all going to stand beside you."

"Guys..."

"Yugi doesn't look like he's panicking," said Ryou. "He appears to be quite confident."

"Prove to us that that is the card that will clench you the match," said Panik.

"I was thinking... why should I show you my card when you won't show me yours?" replied the Pharaoh.

Panik grew restless.

"But I suppose I should provide evidence after all."

"You don't have to prove anything to that slimeball, Yugi!" said Tristan. "He should learn the hard way that he's not a True Duelist!"

Despite his friend's words, the Pharaoh turned the card around and showed it to Panik.

"The card is Swords of Revealing Light!" said the Pharaoh. "Not only will it block your monsters from attacking, but it will also bathe the entire playing field with light, igniting the darkness, and making it disappear!"

"Hmph!" Panik scoffed. "You can't scare me with that card..."

"Really..." The Pharaoh smirked. "Then I will let you imagine when I might use this card. In five turns, I will defeat you."

"Five turns!" Panik was in disbelief. So were we, with the Pharaoh's precise confidence in his win of the duel within a handful of turns.

"Yes," said the Pharaoh confidently. "In five turns, I will make you see the light."

I looked up at him thoughtfully. What could he be thinking?

As the others exchanged curious looks, the Pharaoh summoned another monster. "For this turn, I summon Curse of Dragon in Defence Mode. And I also... place this card, faced down.

"Your five turns... start now."

Panik looked at the Pharaoh's mystery card with a nervous gaze. He was incredibly confident in the very beginning, but after the Pharaoh continued to show that he wasn't affected by the dark, he began to show signs of panic of his own. However, before it got out of control, he held it in and swallowed it back. It was then some things made sense to me.

Why would the Pharaoh spell out his strategy? Why would he place a card onto the field right after showing us the Swords of Revealing Light? Did he want Panik to think that the card he set was the one he showed us?

"Why would Yugi put the card out and not play it?" asked Téa, also confused by his friend's actions. It would seem obvious that one would play the card that would be disadvantageous to their opponent right away to steal the lead, but the Pharaoh didn't do that. Nor did he hide the card in the first place.

"I managed to make it this far too," said Mai. "But after a while, Panik has a way of getting to you, and making you slip up."

"Even now, Yugi doesn't look like he's in any sort of distress," I said slowly. Then I looked up at Mai. Mai caught my eyes and realized what I was about to say. She must have been thinking the same thing while wondering if Yugi's confidence was him losing it or him really knowing what he was doing.

"Yeah... that could be it..." she said thoughtfully.

"Care to fill us in?" inquired Tristan with an eyebrow raised.

"Yugi may not be fighting solely with his cards," I said.

Ryou blinked. "Oh! You mean his words..." he said.

Mai nodded. "It would make sense why he's doing the opposite of what he said, or making Panik think certain things are true when maybe they aren't."

"You mean, like what Panik was doing this entire time," said Téa. "He used the darkness to scare duelists, but Yugi's doing his own scaring?"

"That's so smart..." said Joey.

"If he can't fight what he is unable to see," I said, looking back at the duel. "Then he must fight with words. This will force Panik to panic as he thinks about what Yugi could be doing."

Panik laughed, breaking us out of our thoughts. "That was daring to tell me about your trump card! But it was a silly move to leave it on the field where it's exposed."

From his hand, Panik summoned another monster, but of course, it appeared within the dark. However, because of this card's effect, Panik identified the card.

"The Reaper of Cards doesn't only stalk the Graveyard," said Panik. "He also haunts the Duel Field in his spare time! And his effect comes in handy when pesky cards are put onto the field.

"He destroys all Spell Cards!"

A monster cloaked in black with a ghostly face and ragged arms holding a sharp scythe floated onto the Pharaoh's side of the field from out of the darkness.

"If that card turns out to be Swords of Revealing Light, then he'll be back to square one..." said Joey.

The Reaper swung back his large weapon and struck the face down card. However, the card never shattered. Instead, the monster was stuck poised in that position, with the tip of the scythe barely touching the face-down card.

Panik grew confused. "What is the meaning of this?!" he cried.

The Pharaoh chuckled, amused by his opponent's actions. I tried my best to contain my smirk. The Pharaoh did indeed trick Panik into thinking that the card he placed was his trump card, which would begin the counterattack he had planned.

"By making you think that I had placed Swords of Revealing Light onto the field, I forced you into playing a monster that might destroy it. I had a feeling you had a Reaper of Cards skulking around in your deck, and thought it best to take care of it right away."

"Are you saying that you didn't play the spell?" asked Panik, horrified that he fell into such a trap.

"Precisely. What I played wasn't a spell card, but a trap card! Spellbinding Circle!"

The card was flipped, and a ring of light in a hexagram pattern trapped the Reaper of Cards within its grasp. We cheered as it immobilized Panik's monster, and the look of utter astonishment was priceless on Panik's face.

"Way to go!" cheered Téa.

"You tricked me!" cried Panik, outraged, slamming his overly-huge fists against the duel platform.

"You brought this upon yourself," said the Pharaoh. "Your cowardly antics have become predictable. Now that such a powerful monster has been set aside, I can safely play my Swords of Revealing Light."

A face-down card appeared onto the field, but this time, we all knew it really was the Swords of Revealing Light.

"Hmph!" Panik huffed. "So what if you captured the Reaper? I have many other powerful cards in my deck, and each of them can bring you down just as easily!"

"I'd like to see you try," challenged the Pharaoh.

Panik was so angry that he began to shake with rage.

"Remember, you only have four turns left; four turns until I drag you out of the shadows and show you up for the bully that you really are."

"Grr...!" Outraged by the continued taunting, Panik launched the flames again. However, the Pharaoh simply stood there between the two burning towers.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" he asked.

The Pharaoh really was cool. I felt my heart beating fast with anticipation.

"Yugi's playing with fire," said Téa nervously. "I hope he knows what he's doing..."

"Yeah, he keeps pushing Panik," said Joey.

"That bastard needs a little pushing," said Tristan as he glared up at the shadowy half of the field. "He uses dueling as an excuse to practice his cruelty."

"At least Yugi's in a good position," said Mai. "By using Panik's own tactics against him with his words."

"All he has to do is push through with his strategy," I said.

"You cannot stall your turns, Panik," said the Pharaoh, watching his opponent's face show through the shifting shadows. Panik was trembling with rage or concern, I couldn't tell from here. I would have liked to think that it was from fright.

Eventually, Panik drew his card. Then his face contorted into laughter. "I've drawn a beast that you will be no match for! I summon King of Yamimakai!"

Another monster materialized onto Panik's side of the field, but again, because of the shadows, we couldn't see what it looked like or how powerful it really was. But this didn't faze the Pharaoh. He was just watching Panik rush to try and gain confidence in himself again.

"With the Field Power Bonus, this monster becomes even more powerful! Now, I attack your Curse of Dragon!"

Electricity sparked from within the mass of shadows before a shocking stream burst through it, straight towards the Pharaoh's dragon.

But something amazing happened.

Instead of hitting his dragon, the shock of electricity suddenly veered to the right and attacked the Reaper of Cards. Panik's trapped monster burst from the attack, and his Life Points plummeted drastically.

LP: Yugi: 1606/Panik: 0494

"He took out so much of his own life!" cried Joey.

"That's insane!" agreed Tristan.

We could see Panik's expression through the bright light of the explosion. He looked horrified at what had happened.

The Pharaoh smirked.

"Curse your Spellbinding Circle," said Panik wearily as he seethed. "It draws in all my attacks..."

"Your monsters don't sit well when they're out of the darkness, do they?" taunted the Pharaoh. "You should have known how detrimental that attack would be, and yet you still went through with it.

"I'd say that you're beginning to... panic."

Panik scoffed at that remark, but the Pharaoh wasn't finished.

"I now activate Swords of Revealing Light! Prepare yourself for your own demise!"

Swords emitting powerful rays of bright light shot down from the sky and covered Panik's side of the field. The darkness that was there dispersed, and Panik's monsters could finally be identified. He didn't have any shadows to hide behind anymore. Panik stared out at his field with such discontent, we thought he would disintegrate.

"Alright!" Tristan punched the air excitedly. "No one keeps Yugi in the dark!"

"Now he can see what he's dueling against!" said Téa.

"Not only did I use Swords of Revealing Light to reveal your monsters," continued the Pharaoh. "But I also used it to freeze them in their spots. Now they can't attack for three turns.

"And with that, you only have three turns until the end of this duel."

Now that we could see Panik more clearly than before, when we were catching his expressions and reactions through the wisps of shadows that went past him, we saw that one of his eyes had begun to twitch with annoyance. "You've managed to play your supposed trump card," he huffed distastefully. "We shall see how far it will take you."

"Panik's arsenal of monsters is terrifying," said Téa. The monsters were large and burly, just like their wielder, and their respective attack strength was indeed frightening to see. To think that they were all hiding within the shadows, waiting for the command to attack.

"Thank goodness we can see them now..." said Joey. "Although I don't know if it makes me feel any better."

"They're all powerful creatures!" said Panik proudly, boasting unnecessarily about his monsters. "They feed off the darkness!"

"You're stalling again," said the Pharaoh suddenly, earning him a glare from Panik's beady eyes. "Are you afraid to draw your next card?"

"Hmph." Panik drew his next card without hesitation. "Usually my opponents are weeping and begging at my feet at this point. You're a different case..."

"It's easier to be brave against something once you know what it truly is."

Panik's eyes caught onto what he had drawn, and instantly the smirk returned to his face. "Truly you will find the truth about your poor dueling skills and fake bravado this turn!"

"What makes you say that?"

"You can forget about beating me in three turns," said Panik. "For I have drawn Chaos Shield!"

Once Panik activated the spell card, all of his monsters switched to Defence Mode, and it raised their Defence Points by 300 each. The monsters had even more strength to them now.

"I can also combine this with Castle of Dark Illusions to form a shield over the entire arena!"

The floating castle shone against the night. A curtain of light dropped from its surrounding ring and barricaded Panik's monsters safely behind it.

"Great," scoffed Mai. "Now Yugi can't get to Panik's monsters."

The playing field looked heavily congested on one side now. Panik had all his monsters hiding behind a shield that fenced in his part of the arena, and the Swords of Revealing Light were also scattered about. Plus, the Defence Points of all his monsters were increased.

It seemed as though Panik was trying to build up the ultimate defence. He was cowering behind strong defending monsters and a shield that prevented his opponent from attacking.

"So when he's out of the dark, he shows his true colours," I said.

"Yeah, he's suddenly very concerned with defence..." added Mai. "Just look at his Castle's Defence Points now..."

It was an incredible 3200, and all his other monsters had defence powers of 2600. Did the Pharaoh have a monster strong enough to defeat them all? Even though Panik was cowering, he was doing a good job in making sure the Pharaoh had a hard time beating his monsters.

"Damn... if Yugi had a plan to defeat Panik, it might as well be thrown out the window..."

"Don't be so down, Mai," said Ryou. "There's more to Yugi than meets the eye. I'm sure he's got a way around this."

That's right... Suddenly, I felt a little lighter, not realizing just how stressed out I was about this whole duel. If the Pharaoh predicted that Panik would use the Reaper of Cards, then he would definitely have predicted this as well.

"Might as well admit defeat right here and now!" said Panik boldly. "Even though you can see my monsters now, there's no way you have a monster strong enough to defeat them all!"

"Not only are you a coward, but you use intimidation instead of skill to win your duels," the Pharaoh replied. "You try to scare your opponents into admitting defeat."

Panik's smirk fell.

"I figured out your strategy the moment I saw what kind of man your really are, Panik. I knew you would play Chaos Shield, a powerful defense card that would definitely be in the deck of a man who loves to hide behind something."

"Silence!" Now sweating from the Pharaoh's own intimidation, Panik was outraged.

"Your strategy involves nothing but hiding your scared self."

"That's it!" Panik turned a dial to maximum, and slammed his fist onto the button, emitting a large burst of flame that could have easily scorched the entire group had they been standing in the Pharaoh's place. However, the Pharaoh just easily moved out of the way, never once putting down his confidence. I myself was sweating nervously as the flames barely brushed past him. My fingers were curled into the palms of my hands so tight that my knuckles had turned white.

"Be careful!" cried Téa out of worry for her friend. I felt the same way, only able to provide support from the sidelines while the real fight continued on in front of me.

I felt helpless.

"He has it under control," I said, putting my faith in the Pharaoh before my helplessness. It wasn't easy, but I managed to pull my anger back.

"That's right," said Mai. "Yugi's using Panik's own strategy against him without the other knowing what's happening. It's a psyche-out war. The first person to break down loses."

"Panik looks like he's already losing it," noted Tristan. "But Yugi is just so calm..."

"Come on, pal..." said Joey encouragingly, more for himself. "You can win this..."

"I have more than one flame thrower, you know!" shouted Panik. "I can burn you to a cinder!"

"That would only prove that you are a coward," countered the Pharaoh. "Rather than try to win the duel honourably, you would try to make your opponent disappear. Instead of facing them head on, you would rather not face them at all, but still collect the rewards.

"Stop hiding and face me! Or I'll rip your pathetic facade away!"

"You're bluffing," said Panik.

"There's only one way to know for sure," said the Pharaoh. "Play the game. You only have two turns left."

Panik looked out at his field before looking back at Yugi, all the while his eyes were rapidly moving about, trying to find another tactic that he could use instead of what the Pharaoh suggested. The Pharaoh's eyes narrowed.

"Do you have the courage?"

"Will you after my next turn? I'll crush you and take away all your Life Points!"

Panik made his choice. Rather than duel honourably, he decided to stay behind with his old tactics. The Pharaoh wasn't going to let him go so easily after this.

"Panik is really shook up..." said Joey.

Mai nodded. "Psychology is only half the game in this arena," she said. "Yugi managed to single-handedly turn Panik upside down. Now he's the one sweating with fear."

"While you contemplate how I could possibly end you, I summon Gaia the Fierce Knight!" The Pharaoh played a card and the colourful warrior appeared atop his noble steed, brandishing a tall lance in each hand.

Panik guffawed at the sight of his monster. "You think that monster could defeat any of mine?" he said. "He wouldn't even be able to put a crack in my shield!"

"I also play this spell card," continued the Pharaoh, ignoring Panik's rambling. He was trying to make himself feel better by picking on any little thing he caught the Pharaoh doing. What he didn't realize was that once the Pharaoh put all the little pieces together, Panik was going to have a hard time making fun of his strategy.

The Pharaoh flipped over the third magic card he had placed down, and it turned out to be Polymerization. "I use this to fuse together my two monsters to form... Gaia the Dragon Champion!"

Both Curse of Dragon and Gaia turned into balls of light that then fused together into one. When the rays subsided, Gaia's horse was gone, but he was now on Curse of Dragon's back.

"With that, I end my turn," said the Pharaoh. Then he glared challengingly at Panik, his crimson eyes shining in the moonlight. "You're finished."

Panik didn't say anything about the Pharaoh's monsters this time. He was too busy looking back and forth between his monsters and the Pharaoh's trying to determine what the Pharaoh could possibly have in mind. He had three strong monsters safely tucked away behind a shield that prevented their death, and all the Pharaoh could do was summon a fusion monster. I think Panik was trying to figure out what about this strategy made his opponent so confident.

He drew his next card, and mouth curled up into a sort of half smile, as though he was sort of happy to see the card that he drew.

"I summon Metal Guardian in Defence Mode! This monster also receives a Field Power Bonus, which will render it impervious to any attack!"

"You're cowering again," said the Pharaoh. "But that was to be expected, considering your choices."

"Next turn, your Swords of Revealing Light will disappear," said Panik, forcing himself to ignore the Pharaoh's remark. "Then, I will strike you with everything I have!"

"It's too late," said the Pharaoh. "That was your last turn."

"What...!"

"By the end of this turn, you will be defeated!"

The Pharaoh drew his next card, but from his hand he played something we weren't expecting.

"I summon Catapult Turtle!"

A large green turtle with a catapult on its back materialized onto the field. It didn't have much attack strength, but it was the effect that would give the Pharaoh the win.

"Slow and steady wins the race," said the Pharaoh. "And with Catapult Turtle, I am able to win this duel just as I predicted I would five turns ago. I activate its effect!"

Gaia the Dragon Champion flew onto the turtle's back, setting itself down into the catapult. Panik glared.

"What the hell are you doing..."

"I am sacrificing my fusion monster," replied the Pharaoh. "By giving up half of Gaia's original Attack Points from my Life Points, I am able to challenge your defence!"

"Hah! All of my monsters have higher points!" said Panik. "And my Chaos Shield is up - you couldn't even touch my monsters if you had wanted to!"

"I don't plan on attacking your monsters," said the Pharaoh. "I'm attacking Castle of Dark Illusions!"

The group collectively gasped.

"I wasn't expecting that!" said Tristan, amazed by his friend's gutsy venture. "Will it work?"

"It's got to," said Téa confidently. "This is Yugi we're talking about!"

"Launch, Catapult Turtle!"

The machine revved and shot Gaia forward. Aimed for the Castle, Gaia the Dragon Champion turned into a beam of light, which struck the large black stone in the middle of the ring. At first, nothing happened. I was expecting the castle to come tumbling down but then I remembered that Gaia only had 2300 Attack Points and the Castle had 3200 Defence Points. It wasn't a stalemate at all, the Pharaoh sacrificed his monster to attack a stronger monster. Gaia was destroyed, but the Castle was still intact.

What was he thinking...

LP: Yugi: 0300/Panik 0494

Suddenly, just as I was thinking about how one monster could survive this situation while the other didn't, a crack emerged across the black stone. Then it webbed across the entire ring, before the whole thing shattered. The main part of the Castle was still intact, but the ring that was around it had disintegrated upon Gaia's impact.

The Castle was still there.

"Oh no..." murmured Joey.

"Well... at least he tried whatever was on his mind..." said Mai.

Something was off... I knew the Pharaoh wouldn't have done that without a reason...

And suddenly, I saw it. I couldn't believe it.

The Pharaoh had planned to have Panik destroy himself.

Panik stared at the Castle for a moment before he burst into a fit of laughter. "For all of your threats, about me having only five turns left in this duel, my Castle has remained unharmed! You've only knocked the flotation ring off!

"Now that your plan has failed, it's time to destroy you! I will show you what true horrors await in the dark!"

"Isn't it strange?" asked the Pharaoh suddenly. All confused and questioning eyes fixated on him.

"The flotation ring of a floating castle has just been destroyed, and yet... it's still floating."

Then all eyes went to the castle.

"It... it really is still floating!" said Joey. "But how is it doing that!"

"The Swords of Revealing Light..." I said thoughtfully.

The Pharaoh nodded. "The Swords of Revealing Light are holding the Castle of Dark Illusions up. Which is why it hasn't come crashing down after the flotation ring was destroyed."

"So what?" scoffed Panik. He still hadn't understood what that meant, and how accurate his opponent's count down really was. "It isn't going to come down anytime soon-"

It was then he realized.

The Pharaoh smirked.

"The duel is over," he said. "Once I end my turn, the swords will disappear, and you will watch as everything you built up comes crashing down!

"My turn... is over. And this duel is done."

The Swords began to flicker. Like a light being turned off, the swords disappeared, and the Castle began to lurch.

"No! My monsters!" cried Panik as he watched the giant castle crush them all as it slammed into the ground.

"Thanks to your Chaos Shield, they have nowhere else to go," said the Pharaoh. "You trapped your own monsters, with defence upon defence, only for it to be your downfall.

"You lose!"

"Nooo!"

LP: Yugi: 0300/Panik: 0000

"Alright! Yugi won!" cheered Téa.

"I don't believe it..." said Mai, still in awe as she watched Panik panicking while the Pharaoh still stood as confidently as he did before. "He kept his head up the entire time..."

"That's our Yugi!" said Joey, grinning excitedly for his friend.

"The Eliminator has just been defeated!" cheered Tristan.

Panik glared daggers at the Pharaoh and grit his teeth in anger. The malice on his face had me on high alert. He was very angry to have been defeated by his own game, and I was scared that this anger would lead to something else.

"I may have been beaten..." he said finally. "But I can still eliminate you!"

He slammed his heavy fists into the controls, smashing all the buttons to pieces and activating every single one of the flame jets around the arena. Everyone jumped back from the heat of the flames.

"Whoa! This guy's crazy!" cried Joey, holding his arms up to shield his face.

"Yugi!" called Téa.

Still shackled to the arena, the Pharaoh was now surrounded by the enormous flames. My instincts as Guardian moved faster than my mind could analyze the consequences of my actions. While everyone was blinded by the heat of the flames and the light that they emitted, I jumped onto the dueling field before the flames surrounded the entire arena.

In the eye of this inferno hurricane, Panik was laughing hysterically.

"You're finished! Burnt to a crisp! Nobody does this to me and lives!"

Concerned for the Pharaoh more than myself and Panik's madness, I hastily climbed up the raised platform. I was about to shout his name when I noticed that he was standing perfectly calmly before Panik. His Millennium Puzzle was glowing brightly.

It had saved him.

"It's a shame," said the Pharaoh. "You did all of this just for the thrill."

"You survived..." said Panik, shocked as he stared with disbelief at his opponent. "There's no possible way that you..."

"You've dueled your last," said the Pharaoh.

Panik's mouth opened and closed, trying to fathom the reality, when he saw me standing on the arena in front of the Pharaoh's platform.

"You...!"

I glared. "You threatened him..." I seethed.

Seeing two people survive his flame attack must have broken something in Panik's brain, because in a mad attempt to make us disappear, he pressed another button to activate a flame jet that was installed in his own platform. This one shot flames that extended all the way over the field, and with such power and speed that I was surprised the platform didn't burst from the pressure.

Finally, I could unleash my anger as I wanted to, with no one but my enemy to see their demise. I brought my two hands together in front of the attacking flames. As soon as it reached just above my fingertips, I immediately pulled my hands apart and the stream of flame broke into two, both of which I controlled the trajectories of. Instead of turning them around and setting Panik on fire, I released the flame pressure into the hurricane of flames that was still surrounding us.

Panik couldn't speak any words.

"I'll show you the real power of darkness," said the Pharaoh. The eye of Ra shone on his forehead, and he held out his hand, ready to perform the ultimate judgement on a man like Panik. This was going to be the second time that I would see it happen.

"Die within Oblivion!"

Panik grabbed his head as he yelled out in pain, as he was stripped from the world that he knew and trapped within his mind, forever circling the same scenario of pain and sorrow that he brought on his opponents. The shock of defeat and his punishment made him unconscious, and he fell to the platform.

"Die indeed..." To have the nerve of threatening the Pharaoh, and with an element that was in my control, it was a mistake that he would pay for with his life.

"Sarah," called the Pharaoh over the roar of the shooting flames. I turned around to see him looking down at me over his dueling platform.

I swallowed nervously. He most definitely sensed my magic energy, as well as witnessed the shot of fire that was aimed for his head split in two. Not only that, but he must have been trying to connect it all to what he saw earlier in the night, during our duel with Bakura. He must have a lot of questions, and even though the questions were what I wanted to answer for him since the beginning, I still felt uneasy about how the situation would progress.

The Pharaoh's crimson eyes locked onto my scarlet ones. I couldn't imagine what his first question would be.

"Can I trust you?"

I blinked. Of course... if I could answer this question and satisfy him, then all other questions would simply fall into place behind it.

I stood tall and answered honestly.

"Yes."

For a piercing moment, our eyes remained on each other.

"Alright," said the Pharaoh. He sounded confident in his reply, as though he trusted my word. If I thought about it, I did give him several instances where I, knowingly or unknowingly, gave him hints about my connection to him, regardless of whether or not I had wanted to. He may have wanted to trust in those hints, because they were so conspicuous.

"Let's get out of here."

"Right."

I pulled the flames from their jets, leaving a negative pressure behind that made the jets implode and instantly stop working. Then I forced the fire and all of its energy to disperse into the air above the arena, and away from the others. All that remained was heat, that soon turned to cold air by the night.

The shackles opened and the Pharaoh could finally get off the platform.

I was jumping off the arena on the other side when the others ran towards the Pharaoh. Finally, this duel was over, and I could breathe more calmly than before.

"Yugi! Are you alright?" asked Téa worriedly.

The Pharaoh nodded. "Yes, I'm alright," he replied. "But I cannot say the same for Panik."

"He'd better enjoy being knocked out," said Joey as he watched Panik's body come down with his platform. "Because he won't like us when he's awake."

"Your Millennium Puzzle has more power than we thought," said Tristan. I stopped walking around the far corner of the arena as I heard that. They saw the Pharaoh block the flames that were aimed towards him before the inferno erupted.

"Yeah, not only did it save you, but it saved all of us too," said Joey.

The Pharaoh glanced my way as I walked back towards the others. He knew he wasn't alone in knowing that the Puzzle could really have powers. Now the others had begun to catch on to its important existence as well.

"Yes... it seems to surprise us every time."

The more I thought about the way he looked at me as he said that, the more I wondered if what he said was also directed to me.

I seem to surprise him every time too.

"No need to worry," I said coming up from behind Joey. "We'll figure out the Millennium Puzzle soon."

The Pharaoh gave me a small smile. He knew that I had just done the same thing.

I think that may have eased his mind about who he was.

"Now that the duel is over..." I placed the eight Star Chips that the Pharaoh won into his hand. I had picked them up from Panik's glove when I was walking around the arena.

The Pharaoh knew what I was about to say and nodded.

"Mai, these are yours."

He held out his hand, offering the Star Chips to Mai, but the blonde shook her head.

"Thanks, Yugi," she said. "I appreciate what you did for me, but I fight my own battles."

"Yugi dueled for you," said Téa, upset that Mai wouldn't accept her friend's kind gesture. "He risked his life!"

"I know that," said Mai. Then she held back her frustration. If she didn't accept the Star Chips, then she wouldn't be able to participate in the tournament. She wanted to take them, but she didn't feel it was right.

"Your duel with Panik was incredible. You used his own tricks against him and won. Thank you, but... it won't be right if I just take them like this. I lost my battle with Panik fair and square."

"It wasn't fair though, Mai," I said. "Panik was using fear to win, not strategy. And Eliminators aren't part of the tournament."

Her violet eyes looked down. She still didn't accept it. She felt that if she couldn't defeat an Eliminator that was placed to defeat weak duelists, then she didn't deserve to be on the island, participating in this tournament.

"It was a rule on this island," she said. "Pegasus, the tournament host put it in place. No matter how difficult a duel might be, no matter what tricks may be used, in order to be a True Duelist, I need to be able to stand up to any of them."

"Seeking help isn't cowardly," said Tristan thoughtfully.

"Hey, there's no point in arguing if she doesn't want'em!" Joey grinned as he took the Star Chips from the Pharaoh's hand. The Pharaoh blinked and we watched Joey prance about excitedly.

"I'll just take them then! Free Star Chips!"

"That's not right either!" said Mai heatedly. "I can't believe you'd do that!"

"Why not? If you're throwing your dreams away, might as well put these Star Chips to use for my dreams!"

"You have no right to just-"

"You're right, Mai," said Joey suddenly. Then he gently placed the Star Chips in Mai's hands and smiled at her confused reaction.

"Don't throw away your dreams," he said with a warm smile. "Take your walls down for a little while, otherwise the people who are trying to help you have no way to lend you a hand."

"Wha..." Mai looked down at the Star Chips in her hands, and then back up at Joey again, disbelief in her violet eyes. "Really, Joey? It's really okay for me to take them?"

"Of course it is!" Mai then looked over to the Pharaoh, as if wanting confirmation, to make sure that she was really being given a second chance at this tournament. Perhaps all she needed was a little push. The Pharaoh smiled and nodded, upholding his word.

"Thank you..." she said.

Joey beamed. "I'm such a sensitive guy!" he chimed, feeling good about what he had done.

Tristan smirked. "Yeah, when you're not being a pain," he said.

"Which is... all the time," said Téa.

While Ryou added into the cheerful teasing, Mai approached the Pharaoh.

"I'll pay you back for what you did," she said to him. "In fact, I still consider these to be your Star Chips, so as far as I'm concerned, I still owe you.

"And when we finally do face each other in a duel, it'll be an honourable one."

The Pharaoh smiled. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Star Chips: Yugi: 6/Joey: 4/Sarah: 5

  ⬛