Life after Puzzle Part Seven B

"What happens if I lose?" Atem asked.1

Kaiba smiled, "Well, Duke gets his contract. That will get him off my case. As for Yugi, I'm not sure what I'll do with him."2

"Duke? What's he got to do with all of this?" Atem asked.3

"The only way Kaiba would give me a contract was if I first, got you here to duel him, and second, if he won," Duke said as he stepped out of the shadows. He walked up and stood next to Kaiba.4

"YOU kidnapped Yugi?" Atem asked, he took a step forward.5

"It was nothing personal, just for a good cause," Duke said. He looked at Kaiba and noticed his hair was sticking up again. He reached up and pushed it back into place.6

Kaiba turned and grabbed Dukes hand again, "I thought I told you not to do that."7

Duke treaded his fingers through Kaiba's and smiled, "Ya know, you're cute when you're angry."8

Kaiba gasped and his face reddened. He let go of Dukes hand and stared at him. Duke continued to smile and walked away.9

(Yugi, did you see that?) Atem thought.10

(Yeah, I did. Kaiba seems shocked! Wait, you don't think...) Yugi wondered.11

(Yeah, I do,) Atem said, a smile on his face.12

(They like each other!) Yugi and Atem said at the same time.13

(They just don't see it yet,) Yugi thought.14

Atem nodded and looked at Kaiba, "Kaiba, stop stalling, and let's do this."15

"I'm not stalling," Kaiba snapped.16

"Let's duel!" They shouted togther.17

The duel disks activated and they each drew five cards. 18

"I'll go first," Kaiba said. He drew a card.19

"First I'll play King Tiger Wanghu in attack mode. Then I place a card face down. I'm done," he said.20

"My move," Atem said. He also drew a card, "I'll play Beserk Gorilla in attack mode and destroy your tiger! Go Beserk Gorilla!"21

The gorilla attacked and destroyed Kaiba's tiger. 22

"I place one card face down and end my turn," Atem said.23

"My turn," Kaiba said, "First I activate my Goblin Renewl. This card gives me a thousand life points. Next I play Axe Raider, but he won't be there for long. I sacrifice him to bring out one of my Blue Eyes White Dragon and destroy your Gorilla!" 24

The Blue Eyes appeared on the field. It attacked and shot a beam of light at the gorilla. 25

"Errr..." Atem said as the blast lowered his life points by a thousand.26

"I end with that."27

Atem drew a cad and gasped. It was the Golden Box of Sealing that Yugi had played on him. Atem smiled.28

"I play the Golden Box of Sealing. I place one card inside. You know what this means, whatever the card is, we won't be able to use it," He said.29

"I know what it does. Get on with it already!" Kaiba said.30

"Fine. I summon my Dark Magician Girl to the field. Then I activate my spell card: Sages Stone. This card allows me to summon my Dark Magician," Atem said, "I end my turn."31

"I'll go," Kaiba said. He drew a card and smiled, "First I summon my X,Y, and Z cannons. Next I'll sacrifice them to summon my X,Y,Z Dragon Cannon. But I won't attack now. I'll wait to destroy what's left of your life points."32

Atem drew a card and smiled. He'd drawn another of Yugi's cards.33

"I play Maha Vailo. Then I play Magic Formula. This raises it attack by two hundred points," Atem said.34

"That's still too weak for my blue eyes!" Kaiba said.35

"I'm not done, or don't you know about Maha Vailo's hidden power?" Atem asked.36

"What hidden power?" Kaiba demanded.37

Atem smiled, "For every spell card in my graveyard, Maha Vailo gains an additional five hundered points! Like these two." 38

He placed two cards in the graveyeard. Maha Vailo gained 1500 attack points.39

"I'm done," Atem said.40

Kaiba drew a card. He placed one monster face down and ended his turn.41

Atem drew his card. He grinned, for it was the last card he had borrowed from Yugi's deck, and the last piece of the puzzle. 42

(Wait, I know those cards!) Yugi thought.43

(You should, they're yours,) Atem replied, he smiled, (I borrowed them. I also have your deck with me. I brought it to bring me luck, and it must have worked. I just drew the last card I needed to win this duel.)44

(Which one?) Yugi asked.45

(You'll see,) Atem replied.46

"I pass this turn," Atem said. The grin remained fixed on his face.47

"My turn then," Kaiba said, a grin appeared on his own face, "I sacrifice my dragon cannon to summon another of my Blue Eyes, and since two are already on the field, I can summon my third Blue Eyes White Dragon!"48

The two dragons appeared on the field. 49

"Next I play polymerization to create the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" 50

The dragons didn't move. Atem's grin got even bigger.51

"What? Why aren't they fusing?" Kaiba demanded.52

"Because of this!"53

The Golden Box Atem had played earlier opened to reveal the Polymerization card.54

"I placed this card inside, which means you can't fuse your dragons togther," Atem said.55

"Fine! Next turn I'll destroy you with all three of my Blue Eyes! I end my turn," Kaiba said.56

"There is no next turn for you, Kaiba. I'm finishing this now," Atem exclaimed, "Starting with this!"57

He threw down a card on to the disk.58

"Dragon Capture Jar!" 59

The dragons disappeared into the jar.60

"Noooooo! My dragons!" Kaiba yelled.61

"Next I play Dark Magic Ritual," Atem said, "By sacrificing my Dark Magician and my Dark Magician Girl, I can summon, The Dark Magician of Chaos!"62

The two magicians disappeared, opening the doors of chaos and allowing the Dark Magician of Chaos to descend from the sky.63

"No, it can't be!" Kaiba exclaimed.64

"It can, and it is! Now Kaiba, prepare yourself, because this duel is ending!" Atem said, "Mgaician, Maha Vailo, attack Kaiba directly!"65

The two monsters attack Kaiba and his life points dropped to zero.66

"NOOOOOOO!"67

"Now release Yugi, like you promised," Atem said.68

"How can I have lost to you AGAIN?" Kaiba asked.69

"Kaiba, your moves are so familiar to me, as are mine to you. Only this time I had Yugi's heart in my deck, for the last three cards I use were his. The love he had for them, and me, allowed me to win this duel. I know that you may have finally learned to love your cards, but you still have one other to love first, other than yourself. Maybe then you'll beat me," Atem said. He walked over to Kaiba and stood in front of him, "Now will you please release Yugi?"70

Kaiba nodded and the door to the cage popped open, "Wait, Atem, who do you mean?" 71

"You already know," Atem said. He walked away. Kaiba stared after him as confusion and frustration filled him. 72

Yugi sagged against the door of the cage and waited for Atem. He was really weak from whatever it was they sedated him with.73

"Are you ok?" Atem asked.74

"I'm really weak," Yugi murmered.75

"Let me carry you," Atem said.76

Yugi nodded and let Atem pick him up. He rested his head against Atem's shoulder. They walked away to meet up with the rest of the group.77

"I really do love you," Yugi whispered.78

"I know, I wouldn't have won that duel if you didn't," Atem said. He smiled down at Yugi.79

"Yugi, are you okay?" Tea asked as the group ran up to them. 80

"Yeah, just a little weak, that's all. I'll feel better after I rest," Yugi replied.81

"We'd better get you home then," Miho said.82

"Wait, this feels familiar," Joey said.83

"What does?" Tristan asked.84

"Oh ya know, encountering danger, saving the..." Joey grinned at Yugi, "Damsel in distress, and saving the world."85

"I think you're right, it does feel familiar," Yugi said as he grinned at Joey.86

"Yeah, haven't we done this before?" Tristan asked.87

"I'm pretty sure we have," Tea said.88

"Well, back to the good old days," Joey said.89

"Yes, except with a few differences," Atem said.90

"Yeah, we'll have to try harder to tell you two apart," Tristan said.91

"Maybe not," Joey said.92

"Why not?" he asked.93

"Well, one way we can tell them apart is that Yugi will always be shorter than Atem, no matter what he does," Joey said.94

"Hey!" 95

The group burst up laughing as they headed back to Yugi's house. Atem smiled down at Yugi again and pulled him close. The group picked some more on Yugi's height as they walked. Yugi noticed Atem's movement and tightened his arms around his neck as he yelled at Joey for the fifth time.