The man's Duel Disk activated.
"You better be ready" the man snarled.

"I am." Bakura said, drawing his hand. "I'll be nice and let you have the first turn."

"Thanks but no thanks. I rather have you to start first" The man replied.

"All right then," Bakura replied, drawing his first card. "I summon the Haunted Portrait in attack mode. I end my turn."

When the duel was in full swing, another duel was about to begin. Kasanagi was already on stage ready to sing. Aka (who was now wearing the sigil as another necklace and out of Nefe's soul room) was sitting next to Melhana, fulling her in about what happened.
"And until Ashleigh's back with us, I'm temporally bonded with Nefe" Aka finished, "But I still wondering why they want Ashleigh's heart for?"

Melhana was tapping her lower lip in thought. "You said that Neferhenta told you that Ashleigh's heart was made of crystal...that right there screams that she's got some kind of power in it that Kamiri wants." She replied.

---

Kasanagi stepped up to the mic as the music began. The song that she had for this performace was the one that made her famous; Chain Girl.

"Yeah, and it's not just her powers. We totally need more information" Aka replied, before Kasanagi began to sing.

Melhana nodded. "Yeah, I know." She replied. Just then her dog tags burned. "Ow!"

"Who is it this time?" Aka asked, concerned about the pain.

"It's Ryo...he's in trouble," Melhana said, a worried look on her face.

---

"GAGGHHH!!!" Bakura yelled as the direct attack hit (Bakura LP: 2000). He looked down at his side; a red stain was spreading down it. "What the--how did you start a Shadow Game?!" He demanded.

"You should know about us about now, but still is slow to catch on. We are infused with the shadows and anything that connects to it. I end my turn by playing 3 face downs" The man replied, his life points still untouched.

Bakura drew. Dark Necrofear.... he thought, remembering what the Theif had done when he'd been possessed in Battle City. No, I'm not going to us it. Not yet. "I place to cards face-down and summon the Headless Knight in attack mode. I end."

"I activate my trap Continue Turn. This card force my opponent to continue his move in the phase order where he or she left off and by the end of his or her turn, loose 1000lp. And I believe it's your Battle Phase Ryo Bakura" the man said.

Bakura gritted his teeth. "Fine. Headless Knight, attack his Nuvia the Wicked!" he said, knowing what was about to happen.

"You just don't learn. I activate Divine Wind! Meaning I don't take any damage if you were going to use a quick spell that is, and redirect your attack right back, causing you to take more damage than before" the man said, but how he said it sounded familiar. Quite familiar.

Bakura screamed as he was hit with 2900 points of damage. Breifly his Life Points hit zero, but they were replenished from the attack when he activated one of his traps. However, it didn't mean that the damage done to his body physically wasn't done. In fact, his heart--already weakened by a condition he'd had since before high school--at first stopped, nearly making Bakura black out as he was sent to his knees. Now it was beating erratically, and he was clutching his chest even as the trap card was revealed; Nutrient Z.

"I...." He gasped, amazed that he could form words through the pain in his chest. "I...activate the...trap card....Nutrient.....Z. It gives me 4000 extra Life points......after your attack......." (Bakura LP: 3100) He coughed, holding his free hand to his mouth. He tasted something metallic. Blood, he thought in horror. Another cough, until he was in a coughing fit, his body rebelling against the damage he'd just taken.

At this rate....it'll be a miracle if I survive the duel.... He thought as his vision started drifting in and out of focus.

"You got lucky this time, but next time, you won't. And I do feel a bit generous today. If you surrender, I'll spare you life but you must tell me where your love one is" The man replied, "You going to Main Phase 2 or what?"

Bakura glared at the man. His vision was still swimming. Not good. I've got to end this quickly. he thought. "I'll never tell you where Melhana is. And I'll never surrender." He said coldly. "I play another face-down and end my turn. Your move."

"If you wanted it that way, I activate another trap called Replay Trap. That means, I can use any trap which was played in the turn ended with the same effect or damage, depending on the card. And I choose Divine Wind. Say hello to another 2900 worth of damage" the man said, "last chance to change your mind."

Once again, Bakura screamed in pain as he took another 2900 points of damage. (Bakura LP: 200) This time, his coughing turned into hacking, bringing up more blood than he was sure was natural. Between each fit he was gasping for air, his already weak heart protesting every step of the way. Finally, the one thing he'd been dreading happend.

His heart stopped.

Bakura's breath caught in his throat, he couldn't breathe. The pain in his chest was too much, causing his hand to tighten on his shirt. His vision was swimming, getting dark around the edges. No...god, no...just, please, let me finish the duel..... He thought. He let out one last hacking cough, blood spraying on the ground, before he blacked out.

---

"AGH!" Melhana yelled, grabbing her dog tag pendant. By now they felt like they were on fire. Her eyes went wide as she felt them suddenly go ice cold, way too fast than nessicary. "No...no no no no no!" She was saying. "Aka, I'm going to go find out what's wrong with Ryo. Something's happening to him, something bad. Something really, really bad." She got up, and left the bleachers to go to the lounge, where her helmet was.

Oh, Ryo, what's happening to you? She thought in worry. She felt the dog tags again. They were still freezing.

"Ok. Be careful" Aka said.

---

Then then enmity finally left the man and he fell to the ground. He wrapped around Bakura's body, just before he passed out.
"I told you, if you surrendered, I'll spare your life. But you have to be stubborn and turn down my offer" it said. Then the man glowed, and his true idenity was shown.
"I won't allow you to kill him. You took over my body, duel him and other to serve your purpose, but I won't allow you to let him die" he said, and using his staff, blasted the enmitiy. Just before Melhana arrived, the man took Bakura, who was now covered in his own blood and chanted a spell, hopefully to start up his heart again. That's when he heard a motorbike.
Please let it be Melhana he thought.

Melhana stopped abruptly, her Ducati skidding slightly to the side as she hurridly stopped. She pulled her helmet off and dropped it on one of the handlebars before running to her finacee's side. "Ryo!" She shouted. She was horrified to see that he wasn't moving, and his skin was white as a sheet. He was also bleeding from the side and had a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth. She took his face in her hands, chills running down her spine as she felt how horribly cold Bakura's face was. "C'mon, Ryo! Please, wake up! RYO!"

She finally looked up into the face of the man kneeling beside Bakura's prone form. "Atem...?" She asked. "Please, don't tell me you did this....."

Atem pointed at the enmity.
"It did it. I have no idea why but Kaimiri sure loves crystal. He nearly encased me in it, taking control of my body. When it left, I was able to break free. I'm trying to get his heart to start up again but it's not going well. The spell requires both a combat mage and a healing mage to make it effective. Are you up for it?" he asked.

"I'm not a healing mage though," Melhana replied. "My power's more aligned to combat." Tears were threatening to pour from her eyes by now. "Oh, please...Ryo, wake up...."

Atem slapped Melhana in the face.
"Do you see any other combat mages around here? And I meaning the spell which involves a part of a combat spell for extra strength! What's wrong with you?" he growled angerly, "You want Bakura back or not?"