huh. i'm starting to get kaiba, and his feelings for sara. sometimes it seems like they're more possessive than anything, but for kaiba, it's okay. i'm reminded of the fic "my shield, my sword," by esama. it's prideshipping, but it's really interesting, and that sort of possessive love is very well portrayed. so much so that you don't take any offense to it at all. plus it's kaiba's pov, so it's that much more interesting for that. and it's an au. i've always had a fondness for au's.

is that really spiria's effect? i am SO using that!

i have those three cards: Unity, Yu-Jo Friendship, and Judgement of the Pharaoh. love 'em.

You missed out on more reviews because I couldn't stop reading in order to take time to write any!
Your mastery of writing duels is fantastic - the two and fro, the nearly winning with the last moment escape clause for each side, the clever use of tactics. It was better than anything the programme ever managed.
Once again I was really impressed by your use of so many characters without things getting confused. Everyone always had a role and a clear voice and reason to be there. Your very distinct characterisation of each individual person meant that, most of the time you could tell who was saying what without there being the need for attributations - and that's very skilful.
I really liked Marik and Bakura's pairing in this and Bakura's rediscovery of his inner strength (or psycho tendencies as it seems to be so close to teetering into!). They make quite a twisted little couple and, as someone who never really gave Marik much time before, you really made me like his character - that's what I call a dark sense of humour ;)
The ending of this section was spot on. How can you feel the true joy of victory without being forcibly reminded of the pain of loss? It's like a slap around the face, being reminded so harshly of the world outside magic and shadow realm business where everything can be fixed with a quick call to the Mystical Elf.

Jen

Ow. What a horrible way to end the Battle Phase. I kind of agree with Yugi about whining "but we won"... It would have been kind of cheep if he had just magically been healed, and I was expecting it, but, still. Painful.

Still, I think that this is my favourite part of the whole series. I'm really impressed by the way you manage to write duels so well. Btw, on the risk of asking a really stupid question, did you invent Reshef? He was a really cool and interesting duel monster.
I love how you wrote their interaction during the duel as well; especially the back-and-forth between Kaiba and Joey, because that's always been one of my favourite things in YGO, but also the interaction between Yugi, Joey and Mai, and everything else.
And Bakura's entrance was awesome!

The Kaiba fan in me is very annoyed by the way -he- almost ruined everything for them by getting Yugi to take the attack that was meant for him, but I can really see this happen: Kaiba isn't exactly all calm and stoic, and the provocation was well-chosen (though I'm sure Julius was really angry, too). I liked how he's jealous of the high priest, and agrees to help him for her sake...

I loved how you wrote Malik: you managed to keep the nastier part of his personality intact even though he's his post-canon self and not -evil- at all; I don't think I've -ever- read a fanfic that did that in a fully satisfying way.

I also love how you managed to bring back Atem without negating the meaning of the ceremonial duel and the canon ending. That's very impressive. I didn't think I'd be so happy to 'see' Atem reappear, but that part was awesome. I loved the interaction he has with Yugi and Téa, with Téa noticing that he's so young, and Atem teasing Yugi about her, and Téa not being sure of whom she's jealous, ...

I liked how the Egyptian's concept of the soul came into play in this, especially how it was their Sahu (about which I knew nothing...) that was in memory world (for example) and that is the part that appears when the duel monsters are summoned. It worked really well.

I'm naughty. Very, very naughty.
I had checked my email last night, right before i went to bed(round 9:45) and saw that you had updated. Instead of being patient, I grab my jump drive, copy and paste this chap into a word document, and read it upstairs on the computer in my room. There's no internet on that one.
I really wanted to read this chap.
Reaction: A mix of Aw and Wah. There was cuteness and massive bits of sadness at the same time. Arthur Hawkins was never a major character in Yugioh, and I don't think he ever appearing in the manga, but how you wrote made me get a bit attached and I felt sadder than i thought when they discovered his advanced altzheimers. The shadows just ate away at him...
I look forward to your next part. Keep writing!

While I'm sure "End Phase" will primarily cover the steps they take to get Atem and Seto basck to the afterlife, I hope we get some backstory about why Julius thought himself to be Ramesses reborn. Great series all around

Poor Professor Hawkins! *sniff*
Yeah for the tomb robber! I never thought I'd say that! Ah!
O.O Only 6 more chapters... I can't believe it... Even so - I LOVE THIS STORY! (as I say nearly ever review :P )
~Agent Malkere

Aww! Hugs all around! *glomps everybody* Can't wait for more! :)

O.O ACK! Must. Read. More. *twitch* *twitch*
As always, FRICKIN' AMAZING JOB! And I got to read 7 chapters in a row! :D You have no idea how much that improved my day! Gods I love this story!
~Agent Malkere

"Screw your little Kuriboh, Yugi; I have Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Okay why does that sound painfully familiar to LittleKuriboh doing a Kaiba? "Screw the rules, I have money!" (or my personal favourite) "Screw the rules, I have green hair!"

Can't wait for more! :)

And that would be Ryou, no?
I'm kinda speechless at these last few chapters. Wow, MyAibou, wow.
I feel like I was watching a REALLY good SG-! episode and then it goes and ends on a cliffie! I want more! And I don't want to wait 24 hours for it, either! But I'm being petulant. I'll wait. I have other things to read, anyways. Keep writing!

Wow,I have a lot of catching up to do!

Oh Kaiba, you stupid, stupid man; you took his bait. And poor Yugi - this is not good, not good at all.

Woo! Atem is here! Yay! And Ramesses is going to get his butt kicked! Update soon! :)

Sorry about the lack of reviews the past few days, but I'm home with family now, which means limited computer time, even more limited Internet time, and goddamn dial-up Internet, and opening dozens of windows with stuff to read later takes precedence over reviewing what I've already read. Suffice it to say that I'm just as impressed with Battle Phase as with everything leading up to it.