Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Silenced Legacy ❯ Shadow Prisoner, Part 1 ( Chapter 7 )

Episode #7- Shadow Prisoner, Part 1

MG and Yami Yugi stared Yami Marik down, disgusted by his presumed actions. Yami MG felt especially angered. "Your energy signature overwhelmed Miranda's mind. I will not take that sitting down!"

"Then take it lying down." Yami Marik crossed his arms, "I suggest you lay down and play dead."

"Marik enough!" Yami Yugi shouted.

"Silence Pharaoh!" Yami Marik roared back, "This is between me and the Swordsman." Yami Marik took his attention off of Yami Yugi and back at MG, "Well, shall we begin the Duel? You know I've been waiting for this day for a very long time." His voice dwindled down in volume.

"First tell me, where is Miranda." MG demanded.

"I thought she'd be in the Millennium Sword since you're out. But I suppose you don't feel her energy signature, do you?" Yami Marik teased.

"Tell me where she is you psychotic freak." MG demanded coldly. Yami Marik just smirked.

"You think I'll tell you voluntarily? That's a laugh." Yami Marik mocked, "I think I'll put it in as our wager. If you win, I'll tell you where Miranda is. And if I win, you must surrender her to the Rare Hunters!" MG thought hard about the stakes. She first glared at Yami Marik, then turned around to Yami Yugi. He just nodded and MG turned back to her opponent.

"I accept your challenge." MG agreed to the terms and prepared her Duel Disc. She shifted her eyes to Millennium Sword. She couldn't feel the energy signature she was looking for.

'Heh heh, what a fool. It appears she has to rely on Miranda's expertise and knowledge of our cards.' Yami Marik fiendishly thought, 'But with her in the Shadow Realm, there is no way for the Swordsman to reach her. Matter of fact, there's no way for Miranda to ever escape the Shadow Realm.'

"First move is mine!" Yami MG drew her card, 'I can't feel Slifer in here. But I should, unless when Miranda swapped me, she took Slifer with her.' "And I begin with Sonic Bird in attack mode." She called and an eagle with a jetpack appeared on the field, "And when I summon this monster I can pull one Ritual Magic card from the Deck to my hand. This ends my turn, now you make yours." MG masked her caution with determination. 'Miranda, where ever you are, hold on.'

"OK, have it your way." Yami Marik drew his card, "I summon The Bistro Butcher in attack mode!" He declared as a goblin butcher opposed Sonic Bird with a mean hook and knife. "Attack, make the appetizer out of that bird!" The Bistro Butcher attacked and MG lost the 400 Life Point difference in their attack, "Unfortunately, when the Bistro Butcher makes any damage to your Life Points, you draw two cards from your Deck."

'Point proven.' MG drew her free cards and started her turn, 'Solemn Wishes, Marie the Fallen One and Fire Sorceress...this might work.'

"Come now, you already know you can't win. No matter what strategy you pull." Yami Marik grew impatient quickly.

"Alright Yami Marik, this turn I play a magic card, Graceful Charity. I draw three cards and discard Sinister Serpent and Marie the Fallen One." MG played her second turn of the Duel, "Next, I'll place the Fire Sorceress in attack mode and lay two trap cards faced down."

"Hmmm," Yami Marik looked on to my strategy, "I see, you're trying to use the Fire Sorceress for when you recover Life Points you'll damage mine."

'How'd he!?' MG thought in shock.

"Surprised, are we?" Marik smirked again, "I thought you knew Miranda well enough to know each and every one of her strategies. I guess I'm the only who knows how her mind ticks when it comes to warriors and swordsmen like you."

"Marik..." MG growled to herself.

"Now that it's my turn, I'll play this magic card, Mystical Space Typhoon." Yami Marik revealed his magic card, "Mystical Space Typhoon will allow me to destroy one of your trap cards; let's say, your Solemn Wishes!" Yami Marik declared and one of MG's trap cards was destroyed by a typhoon, "Now, Bistro Butcher, attack her Fire Sorceress now! Slaughter cut!" Yami Marik finally attacked and MG lost 500 Life Points but drew two more cards by the effect.

'Time to go for another tactic. And Yami Marik didn't bother to do anything about my Marie so I gain the 200 Life Points.' MG thought as her Life Points increased to 3300. She drew the Ceremonial Bell, 'This will work, hopefully...' MG prayed and pulled three cards from her hand. "This turn I play one monster in defense mode and two trap cards faced down." MG called and the cards assembled themselves.

'MG's doing all she can but Yami Marik just finds a way to counter right on the spot.' Yugi captioned.

'Somehow this is becoming very familiar...' Yami Yugi thought, 'Of course, it's just like our Duel against Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom.'

'Another well thought-out technique by Miranda again, I see.' Yami Marik thought, 'I can't leave anything to chance.' He drew his card and began his play, "This turn I summon the Gemini Elf in attack mode." Yami Marik summoned his monster, two female Spellcasters.

"Sorry, but I was hoping you'd throw out a monster like that." MG revealed one of her trap cards, "Activate the trap card, Gravity Bind!"

"You set a trap for me?" Yami Marik shocked.

"Yeah. The Gravity Bind trap card limits the monsters attacking. Any monster with star levels four or higher cannot attack." MG explained as beams of light came out of nowhere and surrounded them in every direction, "But wait, I also activate another one of my trap cards. I activate the trap card Ominous Fortunetelling, on everyone of my turns I can take one card at random from your hand and guess what it is. If I guess right, you lose 700 Life Points."

"MG, all right." Yami Yugi complimented.

__________

Marik woke up in the Shadow Realm, feeling more drained than before. 'What happened?' Marik thought to himself. Soon he remembered the evil that was contained by help from Odion was released and sent him to the Shadow Realm. He shifted himself to stand in the fog of the Shadow Realm. Darkness flooded his vision until he saw a dim, red glow in the distance. 'A God Card? Here?' He pondered and treaded towards it. Before he continued on, he found the Millennium Rod on the ground. He snatched it up and followed the light.

Every step, the glow grew brighter. He finally got a clear view of the source, the God Card Slifer the Sky Dragon was suspended in the adverse abyss of the Shadow Realm. 'An opportunity comes so rarely...' Marik thought in greed and grabbed the God Card. Before he took it to himself, another one has got a hand on it. Slifer stopped glowing and Marik could see who had a hold of the card first. 'Miranda?' He thought, though not in vengeance. Just as the card, the possessor was suspended in the Shadow Realm. The body was dressed in black with a sword in its sheath on the left hip and motionless... Only breath and a heartbeat.

'Her soul has been ripped to shreds.' Marik thought and rested the body in his arms. He brought it down to the ground as traces of the Shadow magic drifted over the lifeless shell like a creek, "How... How could this happen. 'He' was only supposed to take me." Marik mumbled under his breath. He took the arm, which had the God Card and took it to himself. "Slifer, I beseech you. Give her soul back and release us from the Shadow Realm." Marik prayed and small red lights began to gather. The card started to glow into a light again.

The red lights moved in closer towards the still-breathing corpse and were being absorbed into the chest. Marik kneeled as the last bits of light were collected. "Miranda? Miranda wake up." Marik shook the body to awakening.

I finally came to. My first sight was Marik; I was in his arms! 'What the hell?!' I thought. I jolted from his grip but he caught my right wrist. Something heavy forced my hand to dangle when he got my arm.

"Miranda, it's all right." Marik stated quickly and something told me I had to believe him. I stopped my struggling and he released my wrist. It still felt like a weight on my hand, but I've been getting stuff like that all the time, usually from my attraction to ghosts. I still ignored, it usually takes five minutes for the "weights" to go away.

"Marik, where are we?" I asked after seconds of hesitation. Marik looked up as small cracks of purple lightning blew by occasionally.

"We're in the Shadow Realm. I was here first and I found you with your soul completely isolated from your body and Slifer in your hand." Marik answered and handed Slifer back to me.

"And you used Slifer to not only revive me but also to give us away out of here, right?" I concluded.

"How did you know?"

"Just because I was 'dead' doesn't mean I couldn't hear you." I cracked a smile. Then changed back to a longing expression, "But how did we end up here?"

"How could 'He' do it? 'He' was only supposed to take me." Marik grumbled.

"'He?'" I repeated.

"My second spirit. Since your victory over Odion, the spell was broken and 'He' was set free." Marik explained further, "But I don't understand is the circumstances of 'His' freedom that led us into this condition."

"What do you mean?" I asked, but remembered to keep my guard up.

"The only way 'He' could have gotten free is when Odion's incantation was broken, 'He' had someone else to take his place in a set of shackles." Marik answered, "Thanks to Odion, he was a prisoner in the Shadow Realm. But over time, he has figured out a way to break free. He's using my body, yet..." Marik paused. He looked to his gold bands on his arms but saw nothing, "I'm not in his shackles." I took a glance to my wrists and saw thick, black shackles with chains down to the ground. Those were the weights on my wrists!

"No way!" I shouted, my voice echoed in the distance.

"Maybe the reason of your swap with 'Her' this time around wasn't 'Her' fault nor yours, 'He' just replaced 'Himself' in the shackles with you, forcing 'Her' out." Marik explained, "And there is no way to get you out of here without the incantation." He admitted in a downward spiral of voice.

"What?!" I panicked.

"Miranda, settle down." Marik said. I breathed deeply and looked at my surroundings again. Faint to my vision in the Shadow Realm, a small disturbance was a cloud that swirled vertically.

"You said you wanted to get out of the Shadow Realm if I'm not mistaken..." I trailed off and Marik looked in the same direction. He got up and took only several steps towards it. "Marik, wait!" I called back and got up to my feet, the chains clattered with the movement.

"What?"

"You said 'He' got you in here." I recapped, "What's going to happen when you go through that? Will you and 'He' be two different people?" I bit my tongue, thought of a mistake in my speech, "I mean, will there be you and 'Him?' I mean..." Marik covered my mouth out of my rambling.

"I know what you mean, Guinaldo," Marik uncovered, "and yes 'He' and I will no longer be one and the same. But I promise you, I will get you out of here."

"And how can I keep you to your word?" I asked.

"I said I wanted to Duel you in the Finals, I will keep to that. Wish me luck and stay out of trouble, I'll be back." Marik finished and stepped through the vortex flawlessly.

"Stay out of trouble?" I repeated, "What do these look like?!" I shot my hands to the air, showing off the shackles.

__________

So far, MG's strategy was working well. With Ceremonial Bell, Gravity Bind, and Ominous Fortunetelling on the field at the same time, she managed to tie the game at 1000 a piece. Yami Yugi, Tea and Joey still watched on the sidelines as the Duel raged on to its final turns. MG was behind no guard except her Gravity Bind and Ceremonial Bell and Yami Marik protected his Life Points with his Summoned Skull.

'This is it, everything rides on these last few turns.' MG thought to herself and drew her card, though she still gains 200 from Marie the Fallen One, 'Yata-Garasu, perfect!' MG found her strategy to end the Duel. "This is it! I play Yata-Garasu in attack mode!" She declared as a crow appeared.

"What do you think you're doing?" Yami Marik boomed, "That card will get you nowhere."

"It will after I play this card, Raigeki." MG replied a lightning bolt crashed on his Summoned Skull, "Now Yata-Garasu, attack his Life Points directly! Spirit Restrict!" MG declared battle as the crow took several flaps of it wings and took 200 Life Points away from Yami Marik.

Yami Marik began his turn and his evil grin flashed, "This is working all too well. I summon Injection Fairy Lily!" He called as his monster appeared, a fairy with a giant needle.

'This can't be good.' MG thought.

"Now allow me to explain how this particular monster works. After paying 2000 of my Life Points I can increase this monster's attack to 3400." Yami Marik briefed.

"But you don't have even 1000 Life Points left to do it." MG reminded.

"I played Numinous Healer after the attack from your Yata-Garasu, it increased my Life Points by 1500." Yami Marik revealed his trap card.

"Now you have 2300!" MG gasped.

"Correct! Now my Angel of no Mercy, destroy her crow and the rest of her Life Points!" Yami Marik was almost ready to declare battle when another dark vortex opened up behind him. MG could sense the familiar energy signature and for once in all her years, was relieved to be saved. Yami Marik jolted a glance back behind him.

"Your actions end now!" a familiar voice boasted through and the Duel Discs were disabled. Marik pierced through the dark portal with the Millennium Rod at hand and rage abound.

"But...but how?" Yami Marik stepped back.

"Don't play me for a fool. I knew you longer than Miranda and you replace yourself with her in your sick chains?!" Marik roared. He grabbed his Yami by the chain of his collar and threw him back through the portal. The others watched with wide eyes, even MG felt the lost energy signature through the vortex. Marik rushed in after him with Yami Yugi and MG behind him.

I waited in the Shadow Realm as weaker spirits surrounded me, hoping for that one chance that if my soul doesn't make it, the first will have my vessel. A shock went through my 'sixth sense' as Yami Marik came into the Shadow Realm. His Duel Disc shattered when he landed next to me. I looked back up and Marik lunged in anger with the Millennium Rod as a dagger, I shuffled aside as they continued their fight.

MG and Yami Yugi came up from behind me. "Miranda, you all right?" MG asked with relief.

"Would you consider this all right?" I showed them both the black chains. We looked on to the battle, Marik had given himself an advantage with the Millennium Rod.

"Marik's finally confronting the spirit of the Millennium Rod." Yami Yugi side commented.

"Like this...?" MG questioned his last statement.

I was speechless, watching silently on the fight Marik and is counterpart took themselves into. 'Marik, he's fighting the spirit. But...that's not the way to take on something like this.' I thought in terror. To my enemy, crazy I know, 'Marik, please stop.' I prayed. Marik was now losing the battle, not blocking or evading his Yami's attack. 'Marik, it's my fault. Please stop... Marik.' My thoughts trailed into guilt and Slifer reacted to it. I got up to my feet with Slifer glowing red in my hand, MG and Yami Yugi noticed the reaction.

Marik and Yami Marik separated from combat for a short while when Yami Marik saw Slifer's glow. "Slifer is mine!" Yami Marik proclaimed and charged for me. MG prepared to draw the Millennium Sword as Yami Marik came in for the kill.

"Miranda!" Marik cried and that's when I lost it. All Hell broke lose with my soul as Slifer returned with full force. The split second Slifer appeared my body stood motionless, almost trusting Slifer that no harm would come to me. Slifer's coils surrounded me but little enough for me to see the damage.

Yami Marik stopped short of his charge, far enough for Slifer to open its bottom set of jaws and launch a power energy wave. The light shot through the Shadow Realm and the impact knocked everyone off their feet. I didn't blink, I couldn't. My whole body was frozen in that explosion-I didn't even react to the attack.

The blinding light soon faded off and my body was able to move again. I was still standing but the only thing I could remember was when Slifer came to life and when it returned to the card. I looked only straight ahead of me, Marik was recovering from some sort of impact. He got up to a stand and looked at me, my eyes gaze a frightened glare back at him.

"Miranda, are you all right?" Marik asked when he came up to me. We both kneeled to the ground but I was still mute.

Finally, I rested my head on his chest. 'Marik, I'm sorry...' I thought. Marik embraced me lightly and Yami Yugi and MG came up.

MG picked up one of the chains and looked at the links' lead, "So you haven't broken these yet?" She asked and tried to slice the chains with her Sword. The chains resisted, "I guess that gives me my answer."

Marik was hesitant to enter another conversation, he was still trying to comfort me of my trauma. "MG, take Miranda's place in the tournament." Marik stated.

"What?" MG popped, "This is Miranda's first tournament and you want me to take her place?"

"Miranda cannot enter the tournament-let alone escape the Shadow Realm." Marik argued, "I have the only chance of Miranda's freedom. If I find the same incantation that Odion had, I'll be able to free her from the Shadow Realm." He explained. MG was about to argue back but Yami Yugi got her by the shoulder.

"MG, this might be the only way to free your partner." Yami Yugi agreed with Marik, "I know this is crazy but we'll have to trust him to his word." I heard everything and got off of Marik's embrace. I looked back to Yami Yugi and MG.

"If I'm going to be stuck here..." I finally spoke up, "Yugi, you can use this for the tournament." I handed Yami Yugi Slifer. "Even if we're enemies, there's always a one in a million chance we have to trust on one another." I turned over to Marik and we got up to our feet, "Marik, I'm going to believe you about freeing me. After all, we do have our appointment we need to keep, right?"

"Of course, I'll get on it." Marik nodded. MG and Yami Yugi accepted the conditions and exited the Shadow Realm, leaving me with Marik.

Marik stood beside me until the vortex vanished in the dark mists, then led me to the Rare Hunter base in the Shadow Realm. My chains followed me with its jingle every step. I seated myself and leaned on one side of the throne. He left me there without a word and I gazed around my new surroundings, torches lined the aisle with gold shaded columns in front of the throne and a glass case was in front of it. I couldn't look without seeing my infinite chains leading into the Shadow Realm.

I sighed and got to my feet, the chains clattering every step of my browsing. My curiosity got me to see what was in it, a card laid in the center of the light blue velvet. 'The Winged Dragon of Ra...' I thought and gazed on, 'This is the third God Card.'

Soon it felt like a bit of memory was revived in me. But it happened so far in the past, as if it was MG's memory. I could see the exact same dragon as the God Card, terrorizing a desert village. The gold dragon laid the city in ruins, hundreds suffered in its quake of destruction. Even I was in the city as the civilians rushed past me. I looked up and saw Ra continue its rampage, on its shoulder was the possessor or the God Card, Marik as a young boy. Yami Marik possessed him. Realizing it, it wasn't MG's memory.

I zoned back out just when Marik returned. He saw me next to the case and a look of disappointment shadowed his face. "It'll be a while before I can find the incantation, Miranda."

"So I could tell." I replied and stepped away from the case. Marik just shook his head and left again, the precise moment my 'sixth sense' acted up again. 'What in the world?'

To be continued...