Kori: Hey there, if this chapter seems familiar, it's because I can't write duels very well, so I'm using the manga for reference. I'll try not to use it too much though.

Disclaimer: I do not, have not ever, and will never own YuGiOh

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Shattered: Chapter 6

Marik rushed to the top of the blimp and out onto the dueling platform.

Bakura stood there, a smirk on his face and a duel disk on his wrist. Wind whipped his wild hair around.

Marik glared at him and searched the deck for Nicole. It was dark and hard to see, as if Bakura had already called the shadows. "Where is she?" he growled at his old partner.

Bakura's sadistic smirk widened. "Are you sure you want to see her? She's not so pretty now."

"Where is she?"

Bakura shrugged. "Suit yourself." He waved a hand and some of the darkness lifted to reveal Nicole. She was floating ten feet in the air, shackles around her wrists yanking her arms above her head. Dark stains dotted her clothing and the same liquid dripped down onto the floor.

Her eyes fluttered open, then her head snapped up as she saw Marik. "No, Marik," she screamed. "It's a trap. Don't listen to him-" She was cut off by one of the shadows that surrounded her. It dove toward her and through her. She screamed and coughed more blood. Another shadow wrapped around her mouth, muting her.

Marik took a step toward Bakura. "Let her go, she has nothing to do with this."

Bakura shook his head sadly, as if Marik were an ignorant child. "I think you'll find she is, Marik. And that is a distraction that neither of us can afford. I'll give you a chance though." He held up a hand towards Nicole and curled his fingers towards himself. The dark shackles dragged her to him, though she struggled. Then she moved in front of him. In front of Marik.

"Send her to the Shadow Realm," Bakura said. "I'd do it myself, but I'm not the one who would be distracted by that. Do it, and all will be forgiven. They're all going to die anyway."

Marik frowned. This seemed to easy. He held up a hand, shadows swirling to his command. He looked at Nicole. She was crying, limp and defeated. She knew he would do it, she expected him to do it.

Marik let the shadows dissipate. "No."

Bakura tilted his head. "Are you sure? This is your last chance."

"No. I won't do it."

Bakura sighed and sent her back to where she had been. Then he started laughing. "Now we do things the hard way, my favorite." He lifted his duel disk.

Marik lifted his. "I suppose this is a Shadow Game. What are the rules?"

Bakura thought for a moment. "Hmmm, whoever loses dies. That covers everything, yes?"

"What about her?"

"Oh, her. She's attached to life points."

Marik nodded. His life points, most likely. He couldn't lose then.

"Lets duel," they both shouted.

"I'll go first," Bakura said. He drew and smirked as he looked at his hand. "I lay a card facedown and summon goblin zombie in attack mode!"

Marik smirked. Had Bakura forgotten that Marik knew all about his occult deck? This duel would be easy.

He drew. This wasn't a great hand, but it was good enough to beat Bakura. "I play facedown card and summon Drillago." He smirked. Bakura wasn't even trying. "Do my bidding. Attack the enemy monster!" The drill creature rushed at Bakura's zombie, but the albino simply smirked.

"Reveal trap card," he shouted. "Fearful Earthbound!"

Marik barely blinked. So, a trap card.

"Look at your feet," Bakura yelled at him.

Marik looked down. Sharp teeth were coming out of the ground all around him, a mouth about to swallow him whole.

"Every time your monster attacks, you lose five hundred life points," Bakura laughed. "Try to get out of this one!"

Marik's eyes widened. 'I can't stop my monster from attacking,' he thought.

Drillago rammed into the zombie, wiping it out in a flash.

"Fearful Earthbound, chew him up!" Bakura shouted.

Marik laughed. "Sorry to interfere with your plans, but I activate Trap Jammer, which renders your Fearful Earthbound useless."

Fearful Earthbound disappeared in a whirlwind, leaving Marik untouched. "Now take a look at yourself, Bakura."

Bakura looked at his shoulder, his eyes wide with surprise as he saw that it was no longer there, his arm left floating in midair.

"Looks like it was you who was bitten," Marik smirked. "You lost life points from my attack. Whenever you lose life, your body is eaten away."

Bakura nodded. "I see…" Then his sadistic smirk came back. "This is going to be fun!"

Marik frowned. "Not quite," he said glancing at Nicole. None of her body was gone, so her life must be attached to him. "It's your turn again."

Bakura drew. He smiled as he looked at his cards.

"Careful Bakura, I know your occult deck inside and out."

Bakura frowned, then his eyes widened and he tilted his head, as if listening to something.

Marik knew that his alter ego must be helping him, telling him all about, Marik's deck. Unfortunately for them, Marik had made many changes.

"Discussing strategy with Malik?" Marik said. "Well, let me tell you something, it's futile. There's no way on Earth you could beat me."

Bakura's eyes snapped back to Marik. "Your turns are numbered, Marik. Soon I'll blast you apart with your own other half's advice!"

Bakura looked at his hand again. "I lay two cards facedown and summon Gelina in defense mode."

"That means it's my turn." Marik drew a card. Damn it, the Ra ard wasn't in his hand.

"I play the Card of Sanctity spell card," he said, drawing another card.

Bakura drew a card as well.

Marik growled to himself. He still didn't have it.

Bakura laughed. "So you want Ra that bad? Then I'll grant your wish. Face down card, activate, Dark Designator. Now what ever card I name goes to your hand if you have it. And I name the Winged Dragon of Ra!"

Marik's eyes widened. What was Bakura playing at? He found Ra and put it in his hand. He looked at Bakura carefully. Wait…What about his other facedown?

Bakura laughed again. "I hope you enjoyed your reunion, because it's over. Trap card activate! Multiple Destruction! Now we both have to discard our entire hands."

Marik's stomach dropped. He had to send Ra to the graveyard?

Bakura's face went serious. "Ra's attack and defense are determined by the total number of attack and defense points of the monsters used to summon it, but if it is summoned using Monster Reborn, it's attack and defense will be zero!" He smirked. "So come on Marik! Discard your hand!"

Marik growled and put his hand I the graveyard reluctantly.

"Of course, there are some risks," Bakura said. "When this magic is activated, I lose some life points, but that's a small price to pay to defeat God! It's just a few pieces of my body!" The lower part of his chest disappeared, along with the elbow of his other arm.

Marik frowned, there was nothing he could do. "Turn…end…"

Bakura smirked and drew. "I play one face down card and sacrifice one monster to summon the Puppet Master, Controller of the Dead." A giant jester-like zombie rose behind Bakura. It's rotting face loomed above the field, eyes lolling and bloodshot. It's mouth hung open, revealing blackened and missing teeth.

"The moment Puppet Master appears, it's special ability goes into effect, and I summon three monsters from the graveyard."

Strings attached to golden rings on the monsters fingers. At the other end were three almost see through monsters.

More of Bakura's body disappeared. "I lose a thousand life points, but no one ever said it was easy playing with dead things." He laughed loudly and licked his lips. "Now a special summoned monster cannot attack the turn it was summoned, but next turn…you will die."

Marik laughed as he drew his next card. It was exactly what he needed.

"What are you laughing about?" Bakura asked.

"One turn kill," Marik said. "Ra's special ability that not even Malik knows about. Take a good look Bakura, it will be your last.

Bakura's eyes widened.

"I play the spell card Monster Reborn and summon to the field, the Winged Dragon of Ra!"

Bakura smirked. "Didn't you hear what I said? Without a sacrifice, Ra is useless. It's attack is zero! Plus, it disappears at the end of this turn! I'm safe!"

"You were never safe, Bakura. From the moment you took her." He pointed to Nicole. Then he began to chant in Ancient Egyptian, calling on Ra's powers and giving his life points to the great dragon. He knew his life points would be gone, all but one. He didn't dare look at Nicole.

"Now you die!" he screamed. "Ra, attack!"

Flame erupted from Ra's mouth, engulfing Bakura. One the attack was over, Bakura began to laugh as his body disappeared.

"What's so funny?" Marik snapped. "I won, she's safe-" he cut off as he looked at Nicole, her body hidden by a wall of shadows. "What?"

"I never finished explaining what life points she was attached to. In truth it was both of ours. If both of us reached below 1000 lifepoints, her soul went to the shadow realm. As for me, I am the darkness, so I'll be back, but she isn't so lucky." As the last of Bakura's body disappeared, so did the shadows around Nicole. Her body dropped to the ground with a sickening thud. Marik rushed to her side.

Bakura had to be lying. She couldn't be gone. He shook her shoulders. "Nicole, wake up!"

She was covered in small gashes that still bled sluggishly. Marik looked at his hands, they were red with her blood.

He heard footsteps coming up the stairs to the deck. He jumped away from her body, aware of how it looked.

The entire gang of the Pharaohs 'friends' burst out and stared at him.

Marik put his bloody hands into fists and glared defiantly at them.

Ishizu stepped out from behind them. She pressed her hands to her mouth. "Marik."

The Pharaohs brunette friend stepped forward and the others tried to hold her back. "How could you?" she screamed. "She wasn't even a duelist! How could you murder her?"

They thought he had done this. Of course they would. Marik kept his face blank, but he felt sick, very sick.

"I didn't-" he started to say, but it was just a whisper. "I didn't kill her," he said, louder this time. "She's not dead." He glared at them. "She's alive." He felt something prickling behind his eyes. He was lying. This was his fault. He'd let himself get too close and then he couldn't protect her.

He pushed past the accusing faces, and into the blimp. Once they couldn't see him, something inside him broke and he let the first tear he'd ever cried fall. It slipped down his cheek and fell onto his bloody hands, leaving a single clear spot on the red gloves he now wore.