Endgame (Part 2)

"Okay," Yuugi agreed, "We've talked it over, and we trust you, Shizuka. We'll skip our turn but? Our defense isn't the best right now. Bakura? If you have a strong card, could you use it for defense for the school?"

"I don't," Bakura answered. "I'll skip my turn."

"Then, it would be too risky. We need to guess," Yuugi told her, "and I'm sorry. Bakura? Use what you have after me. We have to trust in the heart of the cards for this one."

"He's right to a point," Kaiba agreed. "Not about heart crap, but about strategy. If he skips his turn, he could lose a battleship or two. However, I don't care about that, I care about Mokuba. His reckless 'I must try this' nature could hurt him."

Set shrugged. "This is strange. I don't understand either of your tactics, but I don't care. Take this one." He held out another Majestic Dragon card. 4500, at the location of the school.

"No way, that's cheating!" Yuugi tried to defend with his 2200 card, but the damage was still too great.

Bakura groaned. "I have no idea what it can do anymore. I summon Diabound in defense mode!"

Diabound? Bakura had a monster too. It was hard to tell, Shizuka couldn't see.

But the globe never turned all red, and something else happened.

Someone came falling down on Bakura.

———————-

Bakura winced as he tried to push the soul that fell. "I didn't know what would happen, but I didn't expect that."

Masika. She stood up. "No horse this time?"

"Ryder," Bakura smiled. "Look at that. Diabound summoned you away from Zorc." He looked toward Yuugi. "It won't last long, it's only reflexive."

"Anzu?" Yuugi whispered.

Masika only stared at him. "The exotic hair of Pharaoh?" She glanced back at Bakura, then back at Yuugi. She bowed, and then disappeared.

"Anzu!" Too short. She didn't even know him. She just recognized him as Atem. Not even Hikaru made an impression.

She wasn't Zorc. She was a completely different person. Bakura's full Ryder.

"For just saving your friends, you could be giving me less of a death glare," Bakura complained.

"That monster had some kind of holiness to it, that was cheating," Set confirmed. "Interference!"

"It was only my monster," Bakura said. "Not fused with Zorc or anything. Kul Elna's massacred rage was healed long ago."

Set growled but couldn't complain.

"If anything, you cheated!" Atem confronted Set. "You skipped Yuugi and Bakura."

"They both used words indicating they would skip," Set claimed in defense.

Shizuka knew it. "Then it's our turn." Shizuka looked toward Kaiba. "Send me to Mokuba. Trust me. I can do this."

"You are over 5000 points damage, that is too risky," Kaiba said to her. "No way."

"Please. I know it doesn't seem right to you, but this is right. This moment. I know it. I am not here to help save the world, I am here to save Mokuba," she said. "I don't know from what, but I can feel it. Something's wrong, he can't take the same path." She touched her chest where her heart had been. "I know the importance of a brother. I?"

She couldn't explain it but she knew. Before she even understood it. There was some part of her, that wanted Kaiba to be . . . happy. "I will save him, or you can hate me for all time for ruining you, and I will be yours to command for the rest of my life."

Kaiba ruffled his hair and grabbed the side of his head. "Your responsible for almost losing two battleships and players! I would have to be mad to listen to you." Yet? "It was all for it to be our turn." He sighed and put his arms down. "You had better pray to every god out there this works, or you'll never see daylight again from one of my factories."

"Whatever it takes," she assured him. "Please."

"Over 5000 points on my brother's head. You better not fail me, Mokuba means everything to me!"

"I know, and so did the gods," Shizuka said. "To make sure you keep fighting, Blue Eyes White Dragon and I, will save him."

"I don't know how, but I don't even know why you of all people were given Blue Eyes." It was clear he struggled with the decision.

"Trust in her, Kaiba," Atem said. "She isn't guessing. Her instinct knows. You must trust her."

Kaiba was silent only a few more seconds before his final decision. "I summon Shizuka! Attack Japan. Our orphanage directly!"

She felt it as it emerged. She could see from it's eyes. Blue Eyes. She could always see from the beauty of it's eyes.

Everyone found themselves on Earth again, miles away as Blue Eyes flew and screeched, trying to reach its destination.

"It will be okay, Blue Eyes," she whispered. "After this, protect Kaiba." She then held out her arm like Jounouchi loved to do for his best plays. "Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack!"

As the barrier dissipated from the air, a roar of fire descended within it.

"Now!" Shizuka disappeared.

Disappeared?

Set cried out. "Cheating, it's cheating!"

"It's not cheating." Bes appeared with his instrument. "Shizuka Kawaii used her power to control the Blue Eyes, but she changed the attack points midway into defense points."

Kaiba watched stunned as the dragon flew back to him.

"Mokuba was only grazed. Good thing too!" Bes announced. "That soul was split that belonged to him. You can't unfuse again, he'd be as he was, which would have made Bastet and Sekhmet angry. Now, off with you. Game over."