Archive of Our Own ^beta

A deep rumble filled the chamber, echoing in the silence.

"What the...?"

"An earthquake!"

The floor beneath their feet began to tremble and shake as forces natural and unnatural fought to make themselves known. The twelve people present turned to escape the collapsing shrine, when a sound like a gunshot could be heard: the Millennium Stone cracked, dust streaming from its pores as though caught in an updraft. Deep fissures made way for smaller ones, and the great Stone crumbled, the seven Millennium Items falling into the abyss beneath it.

"The Items!" one of them shouted.

Another turned to pull at the boy's arm. "Yugi, let's go!"

The boy called Yugi hesitated, then turned to leave with his friends. None of them saw the thirteenth person in the room, an ethereal spectre watching them from above the crumbled remains of the Stone.

He was a dark-skinned fellow, tall and silent, and dressed in flowing white robes. A turban wound about his head, shadowing strange, empty blue eyes. Those eyes stared holes into the backs of the retreating humans—their owner had stopped considering himself human long ago.

So, he thought to himself, A new king has been crowned. A new heir to the legend. But what now, little Yugi? You have passed every test presented to you, and your predecessor has guided your way on the path to your destiny, but how will you fare alone?

His attention turned to another boy present, one with thick white hair and soulful brown eyes. And you, he thought, What will you do in the events to come? No longer overshadowed, your true power should begin to awaken. Of course, it would have anyway, given time. Each of the Items granted one wish, and his had not yet been fulfilled...

One by one, the man in the white cloak silently addressed everyone present, and even some who were not. None of them heard him, at least consciously, but all of them were marked by their connection to the pharaoh, and so were targets. In fact, hundreds of individuals in this time would be targeted, either directly or through more subtle means, but this group stood the best chance of fighting back. Lingering magicks made it possible for them to do extraordinary things—and the power would only grow as time went on...

From the depths of his folded robes, a slim brown hand reached out, completely unhindered by the falling rocks—indeed, the rocks seemed to go right through the man. There was a brief glow, and a shining golden key shaped like an ankh flew gracefully from the black depths below and into his outstretched hand. With a final groaning shudder, the shrine completely collapsed, and the man in white turned with a sigh. You have so little time... Prepare now, little king, and perhaps the world will come out of this relatively intact...

With a final glance at the rubble that was once the Millennium Stone he had guarded for so many centuries, Shadi closed his eyes and vanished.

There was still work to be done.

-o-

In a matter of seconds, the matter of centuries is no more. The pyramids have crumbled, the earth has shaken, the sands of time have shifted. There is no doubt, no question as to what has happened. The deception has failed, the trap sprung with no prey found struggling in its jaws. The Pharaoh is dead. The Items are buried. The Door is locked, and the Key is thrown away.

The Pharaoh has locked the Door behind him, and he is the Key and the Door will never open again.

The Keyhole still remains.

(Growgrowgrow. Power flowing, intoaroundthrough, ever stronger, ever faster, ever increasing in intensity as it thirsts for MORE.)

The Door swings both ways, it is true. The stage was set for invasion, but the Pharaoh barred its way, knowing everything at stake, protecting his friends as best he could, even unto death. Countless others have fallen/are still falling/will fall before it (falling like stars into the blackness between them), but none had proven this resilient. So many times they had brushed with it, but always fighting, always escaping, always somehow knowing. But not knowing, never truly knowing. They know nothing of what is in store.

(Peep through the Keyhole with the Eye, see see see watch what lies behindbeneathaboveeverywhere—)

The Door is locked. So it will seek a Window.

The Eye is the window to the soul, after all... and what a Soul I seek!

The last resort is called into play, the one option remaining to it. The Puzzle has been purged, the Ring all but useless. Only one is left (one that sees all, knows all, watches gleefully as they fall), but it will be difficult. Getting its previous bearer to seek the Puzzle, and its true memories, took all of its strength and cunning, and still it failed. (The lovesick fool was strong of mind, if weak of heart, but the early stages of the Game were set perfectly.) This time, the pawn will be replaced by a sacrifice much more powerful, much more intimidating, much closer to home.

A Door that will never open again needs no Key, and the Pharaoh has been flung from the ring, taken himself out of the game, and replaced anew.

The Keyhole has been crossed. The Door to freedom has been breached.

(Another day, another dawn, another Door—)

And this Door needs no Key. 

With a flash of the all-access pass Ryou had gotten him, Yugi Mutou rushed pass the reception desk and strode into the main hallway. This early in the morning, the place was nearly deserted. He passed a map stand (the museum was small, but complicated in its winding wings and hallways) on the way, but didn't even look at it. He knew exactly where he was going...

The "Tablet of the Nameless Pharaoh." The one thing in this building that never moved. Even though the original tablet had been returned to Egypt, Ishizu had somehow talked the curator—who happened to be Ryou's father—into leaving this copy on permanent display in the Domino Museum. Yugi wasn't entirely certain why he'd allowed it, as it wasn't a huge money-maker. Few, if any, people stopped to look at it; even the copy seem to have an aura of... repulsion. Like it didn't want to be examined too closely. Like it was trying to keep a secret, but was having a difficult time of it due to people always staring at it.

Yugi hid a small smirk. That much, at least, was perfectly true.

Rounding the corner of the gift shop and trotting down the stairs, Yugi swiftly arrived at his destination. However, much to the duelist's surprise, there was another person standing there.

He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, with thinning, mouse-brown hair tied back in a short ponytail. Deep-set amber eyes gazed thoughtfully at the tablet from their place over a razor-thin nose. He was a good head taller than Yugi, and rather lanky in build, but there was also a distinct slouch to his pose, making him seem smaller than he really was. His clothes were stylish, but rumpled, as though he had forgotten to change for bed last night.

This was a problem. This section of the Egyptian wing was nearly always empty, and those who did come here usually didn't stay long. But judging from the pensive way this man was staring at the pharaoh's tablet, he wasn't in any sort of hurry. Yugi, however, was. Holding back a sigh of disappointment, he turned to leave...

"Hello there, young man!" said a cheerful voice. The brown-haired man had noticed him. "Come to look at the tablet, have you?"

Yugi bit back a grimace as he turned to face the man. He couldn't just ignore him, but he really didn't like being in the museum—especially in this room—while there were other people around.

"I say, young man," the man continued, narrowing his eyes slightly. He had a distinct accent, though Yugi couldn't quite place it. Something European, maybe? "You look rather like the pharaoh on this mural, don't you?"

Yugi winced. He didn't like being in the museum with other people, and this was why. "So I've been told," he said, attempting to make his voice light.

The man smiled, then turned his gaze back to the tablet, and Yugi found himself looking too. "Such a fascinating period in history," the man mused, almost to himself. Then an excited twinkle came into his eyes. "And all because the history was erased! It's one of the world's greatest mysteries! All centering around a Nameless Pharaoh..."

"He's not nameless," Yugi corrected absently, staring at the image of the pharaoh. Then he blinked when he realized what he just said. "I-I mean..." he stammered, "Well, everybody has a name, right? It's n-not as though he never had a name, it's just that we don't know what it is." Yugi mentally kicked himself. If there was one thing he was absolutely terrible at, it was lying. Bluffing he could do, if he didn't have to actually say anything, but outright lying was another matter entirely.

He nearly sighed out loud in relief as the man smiled again. "Of course," he said, looking for all the world like an indulgent uncle, "You have not made a study of Egyptian mythology. They believed that a name holds great power over the named. The fact that there is no record of this man's name anywhere is very significant. A man can only find his way to the afterlife if he is remembered by those still living, and without a name, how could he be remembered?"

Yugi fought to keep his face perfectly neutral, though his voice grew rather quiet. "Maybe they remembered him through his deeds, not his name. Besides, someone must have remembered him if they made that," he said, pointing to the mural. "Someone must have cared a whole lot to carve that thing."

"Obviously," the man stated, "as the epitaph written here is signed, 'the Pharaoh's true friend.'" Yugi was about to ask how he could read that, when he continued, "It's like a riddle, or a puzzle, put together from scraps of information left behind from a purging. This Nameless Pharaoh is gaining popularity among history enthusiasts, all because they want to be the one to solve that puzzle." He turned to look at Yugi again, smiling warmly. "I've always liked puzzles. Don't you?"

A bit startled, Yugi nodded. "I love puzzles," he said, "and all kinds of games."

"It's good to like games and things," the man said. "They say that life itself is nothing but a game, and I think that is a good creed. Then one doesn't take life too seriously. Creation can't be had when one is too rigid about things." He grinned down at Yugi. "But it's much too early to expound on philosophy."

Yugi blinked. Exactly what time was it? Glancing down the hall at the analog clock, the duelist's eyes widened in horror. He had only meant to visit for a couple of minutes, but had stayed talking to this stranger for nearly twenty! "Um... excuse me," he stammered hurriedly, and bolted for the front exit. The stranger merely cocked his head in bemusement.

-o-

Crap, crap, CRAP! Yugi thought frantically. Joey is going to kill me if I'm late!

Running down the Domino City streets in December was by no means a pleasant experience. Bitterly cold wind whipped at Yugi at every turn, wind which his small jacket did little to stay. Mom said I should have worn a heavier coat... he thought, annoyed at himself. Luckily, being a smallish town, nothing was ever very far apart in Domino, so it didn't take to long to reach the big double doors of the subway station with only minutes to spare.

Inside it was only slightly warmer, and only because there was no wind indoors. Rubbing his hands together for warmth, Yugi looked around the small station and quickly spotted Tristan and Téa waiting at platform six. He joined them just as the train pulled up. Just in time, he thought.

"Hey Yugi!" Téa called when she noticed him. Her cheeks were flushed pink—probably from the cold. "Where've you been?"

"You're certainly cutting it close," Tristan added. "You realize Joey would have killed you if you were late?

"It crossed my mind, yes," Yugi said wryly as they stepped out of the way of the oncoming crowd. "Luckily there's no need to test that theory. Anybody see Joey in there?"

"There!" Téa pointed and waved, trying to get their friend's attention. Joey, head craned upward to see over the crowd, nodded to her and began walking in their direction, his younger sister Serenity in tow. Not the easiest of things to do, but after some careful navigation and no small amount of shoving, five friends stood in an empty alcove by the snack stand.

"Whew," Joey said, looking back at the slow-moving mass of people on the platform, "I forgot how busy the trains are this time of year. Both the trip there and back were more hassle then I remember. Tickets, crowds..."

"Did your mom put up a fight?" Tristan asked, taking Serenity's luggage.

Joey rolled his eyes. "She certainly wasn't happy about it. Apparently Serenity didn't tell her I was coming."

Said little sister crossed her arms. "Well she didn't tell me you weren't coming, so we're even. Besides, I'm sixteen now, so I can do what I like."

Some weeks ago, Mrs. Wheeler celebrated Serenity's sixteenth birthday... without inviting Joey. Needless to say, neither of the Wheeler siblings was pleased by this, so everyone got together and planned a second birthday party at the start of the winter holidays. They all chipped in to buy presents and party supplies, Ryou was baking a cake, and Joey had taken a train up to Kyoto to pick Serenity up for the party.

As they slowly made their way to the exit, Tristan raised his eyebrows. "I gotta say, Serenity, I'm impressed. Not many have the moxie to out-and-out defy their parents like that."

Serenity frowned, still angry at her mother. "Well, she deserved it. She's been treating Joey as if he doesn't exist!"

"And she still gave me a huge speech about making sure she was safe from 'that man,'" Joey added, scoffing. "As if I'd let that bastard anywhere near my sister."

Yugi looked back and forth between Joey and Serenity, at the identical expressions of righteous anger and belligerence on each of their faces. Some days it was nearly impossible to tell that the loud boy and sweet girl were related, but try to get between them, and they'd have no trouble reminding you. Forcibly.

"Apparently this sort of thing is genetic," he whispered to Joey with a grin.

Joey didn't have to ask what he meant. "Apparently," he conceded, shaking his head.

-o-

Having the party at Joey's apartment was, by unspoken consent, completely out of the question, so Téa had offered her place, a house in the outlying suburbs of Domino City. Having your own house was uncommon in Japan, as overcrowding made apartments the most affordable accommodation, so the building and property were small, but the warm furniture and bright family photos and awards decorating the walls gave off a cheery and welcoming air.

The family room filled up the heart of the medium-sized house. It was an L-shaped space, with a white wrap-around couch occupying the largest corner, and a matching armchair positioned next to it. A low, glass coffee table sat before them, and a television leaned against the far wall. The other half of the room was mostly filled by a large pool table, plus a few plush chairs. A large picture window filled up the front wall, giving a wide view of the front yard.

Duke Devlin sat casually on the couch, absently fiddling with one of the dice he always kept in his pocket and glancing out the window every so often. "Where are they?" he muttered to himself.

A white-haired figure stuck his head out from behind kitchen door. "If you're done decorating, you can come and help me instead of sulking," Ryou Bakura said with a smile. "Tristan beat you fair and square."

"We played rock-paper-scissors!" Duke exclaimed.

"And you lost," Ryou deadpanned. "Three times in a row, I might add. Tristan won the right to go pick up Serenity, and you got to decorate the house for the party. Now quit being a baby about it and help me clean up the kitchen."

Duke snorted. He was about to come up with a witty response to get out of it, when he heard the front door open. "Finally!" he breathed, bounding to the front door with his trademark grin. Knowing he didn't stand a chance of getting his requested help, Ryou merely rolled his eyes and went back to his cooking.

"Really, Tristan?" the sweet-voiced girl smiled warmly as the group walked in. "Wow, you must be getting really good then!"

The male brunette grinned widely, stowing his hand behind his head. "Yeah, well, it's nothing, re—"

"Serenity!" Duke gave his signature smirk as he took the girl's hand, turning her full attention onto him. "Happy Birthday! You look even more beautiful than I remember! But of course, memories could never truly do you justice. How long has it been?"

Joey and Tristan gave a silmutaneous growl of annoyance as Yugi chuckled lightly and closed the door behind them. He and Téa exchanged a look, and quietly made their way to the kitchen—partly to see how Ryou was doing with the cake, and partly because they wanted nothing to do with the exchange they knew was coming.

"Oh, hi Duke!" Serenity smiled even brighter, though there was an oddly mischevious glint in her eyes. "We were just talking about you!"

Duke blinked at that, his brow arching suspiciously. "You were?"

"Yes. Tristan was just saying how he managed to win against you at Dungeon Dice Monsters! You must be a really good teacher for him to be getting so good so quickly!"

Duke blanched. It was a backhanded compliment, to say the least. "He told you what?"

"Yep!" Sweeping in, Tristan's arm locked around his rival's neck. "That was quite the game, wasn't it? You face was priceless!" He grinned down at him. "Kinda like it is now."

With a growl, Duke quickly threw off the hold on him and glared at the taller boy. "You told her you beat me? At Dungeon Dice?"

Tristan crossed his arms. "Well, I did."

"You did not!"

"Did so!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!" Smirking, Tristan put a finger in Duke's face. "Last weekend at your place, is it or is it not true at your all Heart Points were wiped out?"

Duke blinked once, then growled, "Why, you sneaky little—"

"Is it or is it not true?"

"That didn't count!" Duke exclaimed. "I was just showing you how you could have—"

"Yeah, sure. Excuses, excuses..."

Joey put his hand on his sister's shoulder. She was still smiling as sweetly as ever, almost seeming to enjoy watching the pair go at it yet again. "Having fun yet?" he asked her.

Laughing, she turned from the other two and gave her brother a hug. "Always!"

Obligatory male posturing out of the way, the party went into full swing. Duke had brougnt a set of dice and a board to play his game, and insisted on a rematch right then and there. Tristan happily accepted, and they were kept occupied for a while. However, not too long after, an outburst of laughter was heard from Duke, followed by a slight curse from Tristan. Téa and Serenity looked at each other, eyes dancing with laughter, then went back to watching Yugi and Joey duel. That exchange went as predictably as the one before it, though Joey took losing better than Tristan did. Though that was probably because Yugi was a better winner than Duke Devlin any day.

Once the games were put away, Yugi and Téa took the opportunity to lay out some snacks and drinks on the coffee table while it was relatively clear. Many snacked idly as they spoke and laughed, careful not to eat too much so as to leave room for whatever piece of heaven Ryou was whipping up in the kitchen—it smelled delicious!

Not too much later, Ryou finally emerged with his creation, a shy smile on his face as everyone turned to him. He carried a round white cake that was at least two layers high, with impossibly smooth frosting that was decorated with pink and blue flowers and delicate circular ringlets of icing that looked like they'd fall apart at a touch. Sixteen white candles crowned the masterpiece, setting it alight in a golden glow.

Téa turned the lights down and started off in singing 'Happy Birthday,' the rest joining a beat behind her. With Serenity poised on the couch with a light blush on her cheeks, everyone clustered around as Ryou set his work proudly on the table as the song drew to a close.

"Make a wish, sis!" Joey grinned from where he sat on the arm of the couch, one arm draped over Serenity's shoulders.

"Oh, it's so beautiful!" Serenity squealed in delight and, before the poor boy could react, she launched herself at Ryou, enveloping the blushing Brit in a hug. "Thank you! I love it!"

"Yeah," Tristan remarked, leaning casually against the wall by the couch. "You really outdid yourself with this one, man."

"No kidding," Joey grinned, impressed. "I'm almost afraid to try and eat it!"

"Coming from Joey, that's the best compliment you'll ever get," said Duke.

Ryou's face was beet-red as Serenity finally pulled back, one hand stowed nervously behind his head as he attempted to chuckle lightly. "Y-yes, I suppose." He cleared his throat, nonetheless thrilled that everyone liked his cake. "You're quite welcome, Serenity," he said with a smile.

"C'mon, sis, make a wish!" Joey encouraged, "Before the candles start melting the icing!"

Serenity thought for a moment, then delicately blew out all sixteen candles with one breath.

By evening the cake was nearly gone. Duke, now cooled with yet another win under his belt, spent a great deal of time alternating between socializing and attempting to teach, not Tristan, but Serenity some of the finer points of DDM. After a while though, Serenity proclaimed herself to be more interested in Duel Monsters than Dice Monsters. Joey looked rather proud of her when she said it, though it was Tristan who made faces at his rival from behind her back. Duke looked mildly surprised at being shot down—it didn't happen often, after all—then immediately challenged Tristan to a game of pool. Everyone else simply rolled their eyes and shook their heads amusedly. Really, they all thought, it never ends!

Challenging Tristan to pool turned out to be a mistake, as the brunette's long arms gave him quite the advantage. Duke, to his credit, kept the scales relatively even by taking risks on trick shots and scoring most of them, but it was soon clear who the winner would be. Téa, meanwhile, got deep into a conversation with Serenity—it was a rare chance that either of them got any girl time, hanging out with as many males as they did.

"I mean," Serenity giggled, "do they even notice that they're just making fools of themselves?"

"Oh, they notice," Téa sighed exasperatedly, "That's kind of the point, actually. Whoever makes the other look worse looks better by comparison, and therefore gets the girl. Or whatever it is they're competing over, it can be anything, really."

Both girls jumped as a loud whoop interrupted their conversation. Tristan had finally sunk the eight ball, and was now taking great pleasure in rubbing his victory in Duke's face. "Losersayswhat?" he asked.

"Loser says Tristan," Duke countered.

Tristan blinked. "What?"

"Exactly."

From their corner of the couch, the girls sighed. "Someone needs to tell them that acting like idiots is not going to impress anyone," said Serenity.

Téa looked at her younger friend pointedly. "You could tell them, you know."

Serenity blinked, then looked at the boys. They were still exchanging insults, though it was really more friendly bantering. "I could," she admitted, "if it weren't so funny to watch." The redhead grinned impishly.

"You have more patience than I do then," Téa said, "If it were me, I'd have knocked both their thick skulls in by now!"

"Oh, come on. You've got to admit it's funny."

"It's funny. I'd still knock their skulls in."

"Somebody talking about me?" Joey called from across the room. He got up from his game with Yugi and sat down on his sister's other side. Serenity giggled.

"Yeah, Joey," Téa said loudly as Yugi walked over to join them. "We're talking about thick skulls that need knocking in, so of course we're talking about you." This produced another round of laughs from everyone. Joey simply crossed his arms and grumbled, "Nice to know I'm appreciated around here..."

"Oh come on, Onii-chan!" said Serenity, throwing her arms around her brother's neck. "You know we all love you!"

Duke, Tristan, and Ryou left the pool table and joined them on the couch. "Yeah," said Duke, leaning on his pool cue like a cane. "In that distant-cousin-you-really-can't-stand-but-put-up-with-anyway kind of way."

"Yeah, like you're not the obnoxious center of attention," Joey yawned. "You're lucky it's late, dice-boy..."

Téa reached over the side of the couch to part the shades on the window and looked out, smiling. "It's a shame it's so cold out. I like to be outside on nights like this." As though on cue, everyone turned to look. The moonless night sky was like black velvet, and pierced with countless points of brilliant white light that sparkled like diamonds. "I don't know why people complain about there being no moon out," she continued. "The stars are much prettier, and you can only see them when it's dark."

"Yeah," Yugi agreed. He hesitated a moment, then sat down next to the brunette. "You can never see them like this from the center of town, with the streetlights on all night."

"They're beautiful," Serenity whispered, staring out the window in awe.

Ryou sat down next to Yugi. "Some societies thought they could predict the future," he said. "They developed elaborate configurations of star and planetary positions to predict everything from events thousands of years in the future to the personality of a newborn child."

"What, like astrology? The zodiac?" Tristan asked.

Ryou nodded. "Mmm-hmm. The word zodiac means 'circle,' and the Babylonians had a system based on dividing a certain band of the sky into twelve parts. It's thought that whichever symbol was highest in the sky on the day you were born dictated the sort of personality type you'd have later in life. It's usually correct too."

Serenity was interested. "My birthday's September twenty-second," she said, leaning forward slightly.

"Then you're zodiac sign is Virgo, the maiden." Ryou thought it wise not to give the symbol's direct translation, which was virgin, in front of Joey. "You're probably very neat and idealistic. Pretty shy, but stubborn underneath it. You might have some difficulty making friends, but the ones you do make are for life." Serenity smiled at that last bit, and Téa winked at her.

"What about me?" Téa asked. "I was born on August eighteenth."

"Your sign is Leo, the lion. Enthusiastic, energetic, and optomistic." As Ryou said it, Yugi and Tristan both grinned, and Joey snorted slightly. Téa glared at them as Ryou went on. "You have a huge heart, plenty of charm and ambition, and can be as loud as you need to be to get your point across. Your ability to inspire people is astounding."

Joey was shaking his head, trying to conceal his laughter. "I always thought you were a wildcat, Téa, and now I know it!"

"Oh, shut up!" she replied hotly. "What's your birthday?"

"January twenty-fifth," he said, still chuckling.

"Um..." Ryou appeared to be thinking, "I'm pretty sure that's Aquarius. You might have desire for material gain, and want to move up in the world, but you aren't greedy, and ask only for your fair share. You work very hard for what you want, and often give everything you have for the good of others."

"Wow," Yugi grinned, "That is so you, Joey."

"Maybe..." the blond conceded. "What about you, Yug?"

"June fourth," he said.

"That one's Gemini," said Ryou, "the twins. Geminis often act like two different people at different times, one shy and the other outgoing, or one calm and the other prone to anger, or any number of polarities. Sometimes it seems like they have a split... personality..." He trailed off, realizing too late the significance of what he just said.

Every eybrow in the room shot up as Ryou's voice died, and a sort of stunned silence followed. Téa blinked and didn't move. Tristan and Joey cleared their throats awkwardly. Ryou flushed and looked down.

It had been four months since Atem had... departed, for lack of better word, but no one really talked about it. Actually, it wasn't so much that they wouldn't talk about it, more like they were waiting for the signal that it was okay to talk about it. Yugi had been very quiet for several weeks afterward, and even missed a few days of school. His grades suffered, but his grandfather was quick to vouch for him, saying there had been a "death" in the family, which was true enough, and the teachers went easy on him.

Téa, if anything, was worse off than Yugi, refusing to see any of them for several days after they had gotten home. None of them really knew what happened during those few days, and she emerged from her isolation as though nothing was wrong. They all knew better than to ask her about it, but were nonetheless concerned.

But more than that, even more confusing were days like this—days where it seemed like absolutely nothing had changed. Being that Yugi and Atem used to share a body, it was difficult to notice that one of them was gone, difficult to grasp the reality of the situation. Téa had a very clear concept of their differences, much clearer than any of the others, which was probably why she felt the loss as deeply as she did. But it was so easy for the rest to forget, because how could he be gone when he was still so clearly here?

Finally someone spoke. "I'm sorry," said Duke, trying and failing to hold back a grin, "but I just find that incredibly ironic."

The tension broke. Joey snorted at the joke. Tristan sighed at his friends' sense of humor. Ryou smiled in relief, glad that no one was upset. A light ripple of laughter passed around the room as everyone relaxed again.

Téa reached across the couch to touch Yugi's hand. Yugi looked at her sideways, and she flushed and jerked her hand back. He turned away as well, all but biting his tongue to keep from saying anything he wouldn't be able to take back.

It was a very brief moment, but it was there.

"Still," Serenity finally whispered, "Prescient or not, they're still some of the most beautiful things in the world." She turned to Joey. "It reminds me of that first night in Battle City, on Kaiba's blimp. Remember how we looked down at all the sparkling lights from the city? This feels just like that." She snuggled closer to him, and he put his arm around her in a proprietary sort of way.

Téa looked down for a moment, then jumped up, hands clasped. "Come on!" she said cheerfully. "Who wants presents?"

-o-

Once more, Yugi regretted the absense of a proper coat. This morning, at least, the sun had been out to warm the bright city streets. Nearly ten hours later, the sun was long past set, and the streetlights and window signs offered no warmth, merely a cool, emotionless illumination. Yugi shivered, tucked his hands in his sleeves, and walked on.

Everyone else had gone home shortly after the party ended, save for Serenity. She was staying the night at Tea's house—Joey had immediately shot down the idea of her staying under the same roof as their father—and would be leaving for Kyoto tomorrow evening. Yugi was heading home as well, but first he had to make a brief stop to make. A few turns and a shortcut down a side alley later, he found himself standing once again outside the doors of the Domino Museum. Hopefully the Egyptian wing would be empty this time, and Yugi could do what he had meant to do that morning.

Yugi figured that, since his other self didn't have a tombstone to visit, this would be the next best thing.

Peeking around the archway, he peered into the Tablet's antechamber, and sighed in relief as he walked into the deserted room. The Tablet really was a wonder of archeology. Its sheer size was enough to inspire awe in most people, and the intense scene depicted on it usually impressed the rest. Yugi wasn't here for that, though he could relate to the feeling. He came here for the sense of peace and privacy it brought, and the connection he felt here; the Tablet really meant something to him, and the room was his place. Others, like that man from this morning, regarded it as just something to wonder at and theorize about. Nothing but a big anomoly that needed an answer, or at least a reasonable explanation.

My entire life has been one big anomoly, he thought. But no easy answer is available in my case.

It wasn't as though he was depressed or anything—he wasn't. Atem was happy and at peace, and Yugi was happy and at peace with that knowledge. What he wanted, what he truly wanted, was to be himself, and live his life as himself. Wasn't that what he had fought for, along with Atem's freedom?

Only problems is, I don't know what "myself" is anymore.

And therein lay the heart of the issue. Sometimes Yugi felt as though his life was divided into three parts: before, during, and after his time with the Pharaoh. And during each part he was someone completely different. Before, he was a timid social pariah: shy, unmotivated, and trusting to a fault. During, Yami's personality was gregarious, confident, and daring, and the two meshed to create a new kind of whole. After...?

The lights flicked off and on. "Closing t— oh. Hey, Yugi," said the head of museum security, a burly man in his thirties called Saito. "You gonna be long?"

"Just a few more minutes," Yugi responded without looking.

Saito nodded understandingly. "I'll leave a guard at the front door to let you out when you're done."

"Thanks," Yugi muttered absently. He looked down, brows furrowed in thought.

I've never felt so directionless before, he thought. Even before I solved the Puzzle, I was always at least drifting in some direction or another. And when Atem was with me, I never stopped moving. Now I've just—stopped. He paused, and looked back up at the Tablet. The Pharaoh is gone, but so is the lonely child who released him. The person left in their place is... somewhere in between, but even that's not clear. And I can't move forward until it is.

Yugi stared at the Tablet, taking in every detail, every scratch and dent on its ancient and carved surface. Atem's image seemed to look back at him, the challenge he presented evident in both their eyes. Nothing offered him any answers.

With a small sigh, Yugi turned to leave.

"Hey, Bakura? Earth to Bakura! You in there?"

Ryou blinked and snapped out of his musings. "Yes?"

"It's your move."

"Oh. Yes, of course." After a quick glance at his hand, he laid a card facedown and ended his turn.

He had come here to Yugi's house earlier that morning after an extremely restless night. The wind had picked up again and howled and whistled through the trees all night long, promising foul weather ahead. There had also been nightmares he recalled only vaguely, but those didn't really come as a surprise. What scared him was the voice he'd heard laughing... after he'd already woken up. Ryou knew Yugi could tell something was wrong, but that was the nice thing about being friends with Yugi: he didn't ask until you were ready to tell him.

Yugi looked over the field. It was only a casual tabletop duel, but this was definitely not Bakura's best game. "You realize you've left Diabound wide open, right?" Either that or it's the most obvious trap set-up ever played. He looked at his opponent's facedown card, then sighed and attacked with Silent Magician. If the attack went through, he'd be that much closer to winning. If it didn't, at least the duel would be more interesting than it had been so far.

Ryou winced slightly as he placed Diabound in the graveyard pile. When played right, Diabound could be incredibly tricky, but his heart just wasn't in it right now. There was too much on his mind. He drew a card and bit his lip as he tried to think.

Yugi frowned. "Bakura, what's wrong? It's gotta be something serious if you're letting affect your dueling."

The albino sighed and put his head in his hands. "I just have a lot on my mind..." he muttered. Then... "Tomorrow's the anniversary of the day Amane died."

"Oh," Yugi said quietly. There wasn't really much else to say, not to that.

"Worst Christmas of my life," Ryou muttered, almost to himself. "Mum and Amane wanted to bring me home for the holidays, but the roads were icy... Father didn't even get up for New Year's, not after..." He swallowed. "I guess winter's never been a good time for me."

"When was it?" Yugi asked.

"Five years ago tomorrow." Ryou replied quietly. "She... she died on her birthday."

Yugi was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, Bakura," he finally said. "I know it's hard to lose someone you're close to."

"I-it's fine," he said quickly. Stupid nightmares. It doesn't normally bother me this much, not after five years! He did his best to smile politely. "Really, it gets easier as time goes on."

Yugi frowned at his friend, his eyes ticking back and forth between each of Ryou's. Then he smiled softly. "It does get easier, doesn't it?"

It took a moment before comprehension dawned, but when it did, Ryou cocked his head in thought. Yugi's relationship with his other wasn't something Ryou entirely understood, not having had the experience—or rather, not the same experience, not by a longshot—himself, but he knew they were close. And the Pharaoh had saved Ryou's own life on more than one occasion. Now that he thought of it, he'd never gotten the chance to repay him for that.

"Did the Pharaoh... Atem..." he hesitated, then began again. "You guys never really said goodbye, did you?"

Yugi got an odd look on his face—a strange mixture of sadness and contentment—before smiling fondly at the memory. "We said everything we needed to."

Ryou looked down and thought for a moment. "For my turn," he said slowly, flipping the card he had placed earlier, "I play Monster Reborn to bring back my Diabound, add Spirit Illusion to weaken your Silent Magician, and attack!"

Yugi's smile turned into a broad grin as he placed the spellcaster in his Graveyard. "Okay, now we have a duel!"

Ryou chuckled. Yugi was pleased about the strangest things, but that at least was something he could relate to. Both of them were cheered up at any rate, and that was cause for happiness no matter what the occasion. Then a thought occurred to him. "Where are the others anyway?" he asked. "Aren't they usually here over break?"

Yugi snorted, amused. "They're at Téa's house. Where else would they be?"

"Ah," said Ryou. That explained everything.

-o-

"She's not here."

Duke and Tristan blinked simultaneously, and Téa had an urge to laugh out loud at the spectacle they made. For now though, she had to put on her don't-mess-with-me face, if only to make sure everything went well for Serenity. "She's spending the day with Joey," she said sternly, "and I made sure they got out early before you two knuckleheads butted in."

Tristan deflated, the picture of male dejection. Even Duke looked crestfallen, and Téa once again fought the urge to giggle at the sight. "Aw, geeze Téa," Tristan whined, "What'd you do that for?"

"So Serenity could have a little family time with her only brother without it turning into some kind of contest for her attention!" She glared at them for a minute and, once she was satisfied that both were properly abashed, opened the door wider. "You guys wanna come in?"

Both shrugged. "Might as well," said Tristan. They walked inside, where leavings from the previous night's party were in the process of being cleaned up. Téa promptly handed each of them a black trash bag with a wink and a cheerful smile. They groaned.

"Where are your parents, anyway?" Duke asked as she walked away toward the kitchen.

"Vacationing in Hawaii," Téa called over her shoulder. "Second honeymoon. Staying there over the holidays as well, which is why I get to throw co-ed parties. They'll be back a little after New Year." She came back with a box of Hello Pandas. "So since you two have nothing better to do than chase after girls, you can help clean up in the meantime. Cookie?"

Both boys rolled their eyes and took a few snacks to much on during the cleaning process, while Téa began rearranging displaced furniture and crooked photo frames. After a while, Duke said, "Well, I don't suppose I really blame Serenity for wanting to get away from me for a while. No woman can resist my charms!"

"Dude," said Tristan, raising his eyebrows and looking pointedly at Téa, "Dangerous statement to make around her..."

Téa, however, merely sighed and put the box down. "You're lucky I know you're not really this conceited," she said wearily, picking up a mop, "or I might feel the need to take you down a peg or twelve."

-o-

Days like these were normally some of the best in Joey's life. He hadn't had his sister to himself since the previous spring, which, considering slight complication of not having seen each other in seven years, added to the insanity of the Battle City finals, proved not to be conducive to their bonding time. He had also seen her just after they returned from Egypt that summer, but that'd had it's own awkwardness, it being just after... you know. Today, however, had promised to be utterly normal, completely free of supernatural interference.

However, in the absence of a supernatural crisis, a perfectly normal one had to rear its ugly head just as he was heading out that morning.

"Joey?" Serenity asked, perplexed at his silence. "Is everything alright?"

Joey blinked, shook his head, and smiled at his baby sister. "Of course," he responded cheerily. "C'mon, you hungry yet? We can go off to that place over there. It's new, and I've been wanting to try it!" He took her hand and led her across the crowded street.

Serenity stared intently at her brother as they crossed. She'd wanted to spend some real quality time with Joey ever since... ever since Mom took her away, really. The previous night's party had been so much fun, and she finally got the chance to get to know Joey's friends—My friends too, she reminded herself—in a normal setting, completely free from magic and monsters and danger at every turn. Now her big brother was being oddly quiet, a different kind of quiet than he was just after he rescued Yugi at the pier, or when Mai was hurt in that Shadow Game, and certainly not like how he'd been at the beach all those years ago. This wasn't a guilty quiet or a determined quiet or a contented quiet. He was really upset about something, she just knew it. The fact that he'd said yes to a shopping trip today proved that his mind was very clearly elsewhere. She frowned, but said nothing.

The new diner was a rather gaudy looking place with obnoxiously bright colors and pictures of dancing chickens everywhere. Upon entering, Joey belatedly realized that this was where the old Burger World used to be, before business got so bad after that hostage incident. For a moment he considered turning right around and taking his sister somewhere with less history, but Serenity had already picked out a booth, so he went in after her, reassuring himself that lightning didn't strike twice.

A waitress appeared with a pair of menus, and Joey looked at his without really reading it. He doesn't know a damn thing about my life, he told himself firmly. He's just a—

"Okay, seriously Joey," a sober voice interrupted. Serenity had put her own menu aside and was looking at him intently. "You've got to tell me what's wrong."

He blinked. "Nothing. I—"

"Joey." Her voice left no room for argument. Joey sighed.

"Nothing important," he said at last, attempting to smile. "Nothing that'll stop me from enjoying my day with you."

"Well, what if I can't enjoy my day with you if I know you're upset?" Serenity replied gently. "We're a team, Joey. Even when we were separated, we were a team. Your problems are my problems, and I want to help you solve them. I want to be there for you as much as you've been there for me." Her green-hazel eyes were huge, and Joey found he absolutely couldn't resist them. He looked down.

"It's... stupid," he began haltingly, "When I was on my way out this morning, I accidently tripped over the trash can, and all the noise woke Dad up. He rolled off the couch, drunk as can be, and demanded to know where the hell I was off to at the unholy hour of nine in the morning." Mr. Wheeler had actually used slightly different words, but damned if Joey was going to repeat them in front of Serenity! "I lied and said I was going to school, 'cause he doesn't keep track of that sort of thing, and he just scowled at me and said it was about effing time I got a job and 'pulled my weight in this house.' Never mind that I've had a job and kept it for longer than he's ever kept one of his. Never mind that I'm the reason the debt collecters haven't come around in months. Never mind that I paid for your surgery while he pissed all our money away on drinks and gambling!" Joey didn't realize how loud his voice had become until the woman in the booth behind their's turned and looked at them. He looked down and realized his hands were clenched into very tight fists. He swallowed, and unclenched them with some difficulty.

When he said that... I just snapped. Joey would have cringed at the memory if he hadn't been so furious. Eighteen years of frustration and anger had poured out of him in the space of a minute, leaving only stunned silence and a broken doorframe in it's wake. He knew he would regret some of the things he'd said, but he really didn't feel like dealing with it right now. And if he was honest with himself, more than half of those things he'd regret were completely true.

"I just..." he said in a much softer tone, "I just want him to... I don't know, acknowledge my existance, I guess. God knows Ma all but disowned me—" Serenity frowned at that. "—so Dad's the only one. But I avoid him at every chance I get, and he doesn't give a shit where I go anyway. I mean, as far as he knows, I'm still involved in gangs! What kind of father just doesn't care like that?" And what kind of mother just leaves you with him? He noticed Serenity was looking at him strangely. "It's not important..."

"Joey, listen," she said in that voice of hers that was so quiet but still commanded your full attention. "It is important; it's very important, and I can't believe you would think otherwise. Actually," she amended, "I can believe it, but that's not necessarily a good thing." She paused, biting her lower lip in thought. "I don't know if I ever told you this, but that day when Mom took me to Kyoto, I cried for days afterward. Once I tried running away, to go back home to Domino, but Mom caught me before I even got out the door. She sat me down and told me that Dad was a bad person, and that I should stay away from him. I asked her why she left you with him if he was bad, and she just said 'Joseph can take care of himself.' Imagine that," she said with wry smirk that bordered on a sneer, "At the age of nine, she'd already decided that you were going to be just like him. Before we were even out of primary school, she'd already decided that you were a hopeless cause and that I needed protecting from the world. And she still clings to that, because she refuses to believe that people can change.

"You're different, Joey," she continued, her green-hazel eyes boring into him. "You're better than that. You are living proof that people change, and because of that, you know that other people can change too. Because of that, you never gave up hope that Dad might someday wake up and see the light, and so you stayed and helped him out to the best of your ability, because that's just the kind of person you are. When you paid for my operation... you have no idea the kinds of things Mom went through, all in an attempt to fit you into that label she'd assigned you. First she thought you were faking it. Then she thought you had stolen the money. Then she thought you were just going to dangle it in front of us, then snatch it away and laugh. But when you just handed it over, no strings attached... you confused her, Joey. So now she avoids you more than ever, because she simply can't process the idea that she might have been wrong about you."

Joey blinked, his mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out. "How do you do that?" he finally croaked.

Serenity blinked too. "Do what?"

"Tell me exactly what I need to hear."

She smiled, a touch of humor in her eyes. "I told you, Joey—we're a team. We stick up for one another, and boost each other up when the other is down. That's what family's supposed to be, even if some people have forgotten that." Her eyes grew serious again. "Don't you ever forget it, Joey, no matter what. Never forget that I will always be here, whenever you need me."

Joey couldn't hug her from across the booth table, but he did reach over and squeeze her hand. "I won't if you won't," he said. She smiled in response.

The waitress returned, and Joey ordered his meal with a much lighter heart.

-o-

They stayed out as late as they dared, delaying the moment when they'd have to say goodbye for as long as possible. But time and trains wait for no one, and soon the double doors of the station loomed ahead of them like the gates of another dimension. A place where Serenity could go, but Joey could not follow. And there was no guarantee they'd get to see each other again any time soon. With a matching pair of sighs and an exchanging of hand squeezes, they walked inside.

Predictably, Mrs. Wheeler was waiting for them.

"You two are very nearly late," she said frostily. "It's almost eleven, you know."

"Sorry, Ma..." Joey began.

"It was my fault," Serenity interrupted. "I wanted to see the places where Joey dueled during the Battle City tournament—" Joey thought that Téa had already given her that tour, but wisely refrained from mentioning this. "—and we got a little sidetracked when we got to the pier."

"Sidetracked how?" their mother asked.

"Oh, we just got to talking about the tournament at Duelist Kingdom. You know, the one where Joey won the prize money for my operation?" Joey was amazed at how smoothly his sister could lie—they had done nothing of the sort. "That was where the ship to the island launched, you know, and where Joey and his friends battled top duelists from all over the world just so I could see again."

Serenity seemed primarily concerned with making her mother uncomfortable, and she was succeeding. The woman was already fidgetting, clearly wanting to leave. "Well, I'm glad you two had a fun time," she said neutrally, "but now it's time to go home. Say goodbye, Serenity."

Serenity turned to her big brother, who had his eyebrows slightly raised, and winked. Joey chuckled and shook his head. When Serenity was mad at you, she made absolutely certain you knew it, and did so in such a way that you couldn't even reprimand her for it! Note to self, he thought. Do not piss off the sister.

Ignoring his mother's dissaproving glare, Joey pulled Serenity into a tight hug. "Come back soon," he whispered.

"I will," she said. "I promise." She hooked her pinky into his, and they both smiled.

It was gut-wrenching to watch the train doors close, and even worse to watch it slowly pull out of the station. For a moment Joey even had the urge to run after it like some cheesey romance film from the eighties, but he fought it down. He could wait.

As long as she was behind him, he could do anything.

-o-

It had actually been a fun day, despite the shaky start from that morning, and Ryou was sorry to leave the Kame Game Shop behind. Spending the entire day at a friend's house without fear of blacking out and waking to find that friend mysteriously comatose was still such a novelty to him, and he wanted to enjoy as much of it as possible. And there was still that small fear that none of this was actually real, that any minute he'd wake up to the same old nightmare.

I woke up from the nightmare, he reminded himself forcefully. The nightmare is done and over with. All that's left are some stupid memories that won't leave me alone.

Truthfully, he didn't feel like going home right now. Home offered him no comfort during the winter months, when all he could think about was where he should have been. He didn't have to go; it wasn't like he had anyone expecting him at home, except maybe his Monster World figurines. But he couldn't just stay at Yugi's house. Much as Ryou wanted to reclaim the time stolen from him, he was not so weak that he would cling to his friends like a lost kitten. No way.

The trees bent and rustled in the wind that blew through the city, making a sound like mocking laughter. Ryou drew his coat tighter and ignored it.

All the same, he didn't want to go home tonight. To him, the word home equated with the word alone, and that was the absolute last thing he needed right now. His father would be no help, as usual. He'd walled himself off from everything after his wife and favorite child died, travelling to various foreign countries in an attempt to distract himself from the sadness and grief constantly threatening to overwhelm his heart. He didn't even live in the same apartment as his son, and Ryou was fairly certain his father's telephone would be disconected, tonight of all nights. If there was one thing his father taught him, it was that some things had to be dealt with alone.

The howling wind was growing stronger, pulling at Ryou's coat and hair. The rustling trees were now groaning to stay upright, completely stripped of any remaining leaves. One by one, the streetlights flickered and died.

Just to top things off, it started to rain.

Ryou sighed his frustration. Gale-force winds, freezing temperatures, irrational nightmares, and now this. It was the middle of December, and there were ice crystals forming on his breath! It should have been cold enough to snow, but no, it had to go and rain and soak through his thoroughly un-waterproof coat, making him even colder. His mood growing darker by the minute, Ryou pulled his hood up in a futile gesture of protection, and began the long walk home.

Ryou...

The albino froze dead in his tracks, eyes suddenly wide open. There was no way, there was just no way...

A deep, amused chuckle echoed in the empty streets. Ryou whipped around wildly, searching for some sign, anything, that he was wrong. But the only things in sight were trash cans, dead street lights, and empty alleyways. "You're not real," he whispered, more to convince himself than anything. "You're not real!" Then, as if to counter that statement, a pair of eyes appeared in the darkness of one of the alleys. They seemed to burn in the night, a searing grey color that made the surrounding darkness appear even darker, little more than a black void. A horribly familiar voice ghosted across his ears, as though carried on the wind.

Don't go to sleep tonight, Ryou.

The eyes vanished as if they'd never been there.

Yugi had spent the remainder of the evening looking through his Duel Monsters cards. It was a habit he'd picked up back when he first discovered the game to aimlessly shuffle his cards and think. The rhythmic sound patterns relaxed him, and the flashing images on the cards cleared his mind. Occasionally he would pick up a card from the top of the pile and look at it, but mostly he just liked the way the cards felt in his hands.

He actually hadn't dueled—formally at least—in quite some time. Oh sure, he stilled played the game, he wasn't going to let himself be distracted from that, but he hadn't yet been able to bring himself to actually duel. Pharaoh or no Pharaoh, Yugi had never been a fighter, it just wasn't in his personality. He loved the mental challenge of coming up with new strategies to get around his opponents, but that was kind of dulled when there was the risk of someone getting hurt if he lost. Or if he won. There were still some pretty bad memories about those situations.

Pensive, Yugi fanned his cards out and wondered, once again, where his life was headed. The crazy life he'd led for the past three years plus didn't exactly allow for normal things such as school, grades, and a career, so where did that leave him? He was supposed to have spent his high school career thinking about his own future, not ensuring the world's future. Though, he supposed his own future wouldn't have even mattered if the world was destroyed, but he was still left in a bit of a bind.

A few days ago, he'd gotten a small lecture from his mother about the state of his grades, not to mention his attendance record. She hadn't said it outright, but Yugi knew she blamed Joey, Grandpa, and Duel Monsters in general for such misbehavior—Joey for being a bad influence and causing him to cut class, Duel Monsters for being a distraction and causing him to cut class, and Grandpa for encouraging both... and allowing him to cut class. Yugi snorted slightly. He'd never told her exactly where he'd been during Grandpa's "mysterious coma," and didn't intend to. There were some things that were best left unsaid, and really, it was better to just leave well enough alone.

He'd actually been very close to his mother in his childhood, but they gew apart as he developed an interest in his grandfather's old games, even stealing one of them off the storage shelf. And of course, he'd never really had a relationship with his father; as a pilot, the man was always flying off to this place or that place, never stopping home for more than a day or two, with many weeks in between. Yugi didn't know where he was currently—somewhere in the Pacific Islands. And his mother was off in Tokyo to visit her side of the family, so Yugi and Grandpa had the house to themselves for the weekend.

Yugi blinked and cocked his head. Over the pounding rain he could hear someone knocking at the front door. A peek out his bedroom door and a quick glance down the hall told him Gramps was in his room, likely asleep, so with a shrug, he padded downstairs to answer the door.

He was actually pretty surprised to see who it was. "Bakura?" he asked. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?"

His friend looked like he'd seen a ghost.

-o-

It waits in the darkness.

(Darkness of shadows, the shadow cast by the Light—)

The bindings on the Door fall away, strand by withering strand. The strands are woven into timelessness, into infinity, where the All That Is resides (what Is and Is Not—the same, and yet only existing for the sake of the other), and the spell that holds them together is crumbling with no living soul to support it. Piece by piece, it feels its full power returning. It plans the game out as it waits for the opening play.

Light and Darkness are drawn to each other, but only one of them will survive their meeting.

Soon.

-o-

Rebecca was about ready to throw her laptop at the wall in frustration.

Her dissertation on astrophysics was proving more difficult than previously suspected. She was taking a heavier courseload than last semester, and wasn't used to working as hard as she was currently. Her psychology Master's was well in hand, but unless she could think of a topic for this essay, she could kiss her physics degree goodbye. Rebecca's school life was not as easy as she made it out to be, not lately. She was always caught between being looked down upon by her professors as "the kid," and being pressured to be better than everyone, if only to prove herself. She could do something easy for her dissertation, god knew there were thousands of topics. But unless she could find something original, something new and exciting to attach her name to, she'd be known as simply "that kid" forever, never taken seriously until she was as old as Grandpa!

She sighed. No one ever said being a child genius was easy, and Rebecca Hawkins was living proof of such.

Calming herself down, she forced herself to think rationally. Perhaps she simply needed newer studies to research. Or, better yet, conduct a few studies herself. Maybe she'd find a pattern in the results, a macrotrend the adults had overlooked. She bit her lip. I seem to remember... hmm. In research mode now, Rebecca logged onto Ebsco and began browsing through the journals, searching for that one that tickled her memory.

It didn't take long before she found it—tweaking search engines was a snap compared to some of the programming she'd done. "Macrotrends in microphysics: Changes in core speed, solar output and Earth's relative location in the galaxy, and their parallels in recent history," she read.

All academic titles were like that. Professors were very wordy, she'd noticed.

She'd originally come across this article while staying with her grandfather in the United Kingdom one summer. He'd had a meeting with some of his colleagues at Oxford, so Rebecca had spent her time exploring the university's library. The article in question had come from an obscure Irish journal, but the title had intrigued her. New takes on history always did, what with what she knew about the... mistakes in most textbooks.

At the thought, she took a moment to glance out her window at the sky before pressing onward.

The article, written by a man called Jason Lugh, was actually quite interesting, and held all sorts of implications. The sun's journey through the Milky Way galaxy was causing shifts in the overall gravitational pull on Earth's magnetic field, which in turn were causing bizarre weather patterns and seismic activity with increasing regularity. "Since humans are also essentially electrical creatures," it read, "magnetic pulls will likely stimulate erratic electromagnetic behavior in the brain. This could cause personality changes, increases in violent tendencies, or even unlock areas of the brain that have laid dormant for millennia!"

No wonder this essay was in such an obscure journal. Everything presented was entirely theoretical, though there were statistical studies to back it up. Rebecca skimmed through the various historical trends that had been marked over the years, including the dramatic increase in technological advances in such a relatively short span of time. It was remarkably up-to-date, even citing some of Kaiba Corp's recent innovations.

She frowned. But maybe there is something there... She closed her eyes as her thoughts raced ahead of her conscious mind, the implications of everything she had read subconsciously cross-referencing with everything she knew.

"Hey Grandpa?" Rebecca called to the laboratory down the hall, "Can I have the password to the University's satellite?"

She could have hacked in, of course, but it was more polite to ask first.

Minutes later, she had pulled up the satellite's imaging equipment and began selecting filters to use. Infrared, thermal imaging, electromagnetic, radar... all wonderfully interesting toys to play with, and Rebecca amused herself for a few minutes by fiddling with the different settings. One showed the earth in a red glow of various heat bodies such as volcanoes or the sun. Another showed the ocean currents and predicted weather patterns. Another...

Rebecca leaned in close, blinked, and refreshed the screen. The same thing appeared.

"...Hey Grandpa," she said slowly, all thoughts of her dissertation forgotten. "Come and look at this."

-o-

Yugi stared at his friend, wide-eyed. "Are you sure?"

"You think I would mistake something like this?"

"No, I just... This is impossible." He thought for a moment. "Did you see him?"

Ryou looked up with something approaching a scowl, if such an expression were commonly found on his gentle face. "I recognized the Voice, Yugi," he said darkly. "Don't tell me I wouldn't after having that parasite in my mind for nearly six years!"

Yugi began pacing back and forth across his bedroom. There was no way this could be happening. It couldn't. There was just no way.

Ryou sat down on the edge of Yugi's bed, his breathing shallow and ragged. "Every time I think it's gone, it always finds some way to come back and haunt me..." He put his head in his hands wearily. "I can't take this anymore!"

Yugi stopped. Hesitantly, he placed a hand over his midsection as though reaching for something to draw strength from, but his searching hand only contacted the cloth of his shirt. This isn't right... He took a breath to steady himself, then turned to his friend. "What did he say?"

Ryou looked up. "Hm?"

"You said you recognized his voice, so he talked to you. What did he say?"

The albino blinked and looked down. Truthfully, he hadn't paid all that much attention to what the Voice had actually said; the fact that he was there had sort of eclipsed every other coherent thought. His brow furrowed as he tried to recall. "He said... He said not to go to sleep tonight." Ryou scoffed. "As if that would be a problem..."

Yugi tilted his head. "Why would he tell you that?"

"I don't know."

The young duelist began pacing again. "But there must have been something!" he insisted. "He must have said or done something to give you a hint as to what he meant. People don't just show up for no reason. There's always a reason behind this, always!"

Both of them jumped as a knock on the bedroom door interrupted their conversation. After receiving an invitation, Solomon Mutou walked in, clad in his blue pajamas and night cap. "Yugi," he asked sleepily, "who are you—oh. Hello Bakura. Staying the night?"

"Gramps," Yugi interrupted with a question of his own, "have any of the Ishtars called you lately?"

Solomon blinked. "No, why—"

"How 'bout Shadi? Has he paid a visit?"

The shopkeeper frowned. "I think I'd mention it if that man came around here again," he said darkly.

Yugi turned around and started pacing again, clearly agitated. "Yugi," Solomon said, stepping forward warily. A clap of thunder was heard. "What's going on?" he said seriously. "Is something happening that I should know about?"

Yugi looked reluctant to say anything. "I'm not sure," he admitted slowly. "There might be. Something really strange just happened, but I'm not sure if..." He fell silent and frowned.

"Yugi?"

"Shhh," whipsered, not Yugi, but Ryou. Both were looking down as though concentrating. "Listen."

At first no one could hear anything but the rain pounding on the roof. Just as Solomon was about to say so, he caught it: a soft, high whine buzzed in the air, growing steadily louder, rising above the sound of the rain and thunder. Every dog in the vicinity began howling as the noise suddenly jumped to an almost painful level. Squares of light flickered on in the darkness outside Yugi's window as neighbors rose in an attempt to silence their pets. "What is that?" Solomon whispered.

As if in response to his question, the whine abruptly grew louder, higher and higher pitched, until they were forced to cover their ears for the pain of it. The light above their heads suddenly shattered with a small tinkling sound, barely audible above the noise. People were shouting, car horns were honking, every animal in the city was going completly crazy, and all the while that whine grew steadily louder, almost beyond human comprehension. Yugi fell to his knees, thinking his head was going to explode.

Then... silence. Absolute, deafening silence, as though the sounds of the world had been shut off by a tap. For a moment, there was a disturbing sensation of drowning—a cold, suffocating feeling that surrounded him and didn't let go. A deep, dark chuckle was heard somewhere in the distance, and a chill went up Yugi's spine...

...and then the world exploded.

A violent tremor shook the earth, creating a visible ripple as the street pavement seemed to tear itself out of the ground. There was a crack, and Yugi's skylight window came crashing down over his desk, shattering into millions of splinters. Rain poured into the small attic room unchecked. Lightning flashed every few seconds, and the resulting blindness after each flash made it nearly impossible to see anything. Yugi could feel Ryou tugging on his hand, his shouted warnings inaudible over the now constant roar of thunder and trembling earth.

No... Yugi thought in a muddled haze. I can't—

"What's wrong with him?" Ryou asked frantically.

"I don't know," said Solomon, fighting to stay calm. He shook his grandson's shoulders, gently, and then a little less so as the boy refused to respond. "Yugi! Yugi!"

Amethyst eyes blinked suddenly, then looked the elder straight in the eye with an intensity that Solomon wasn't used to seeing in Yugi. This Yugi, anyway. "We have to leave," he said. "Now!" After a quick and habitual check that his deck was still in his pocket, young gamer shook off his grandfather's hold and strode quickly out the door, beckoning them to follow.

-o-

Time and distance are nothing to one such as this, but the final strand keeps its full potential hidden from it. It does not yet See, but it knows the King has escaped with his comerades as the Darkness swamped their residence. It also knows that this is no great loss.

For every Light, there is a corresponding Dark, for every Is, there is an Is Not,

(For every Life, there will be a Death—

and for every game, there is a winner.

much earlier than most are expecting it to come.)

-o-

The pop-up appeared in the corner of his screen with a small bell tone. Seto Kaiba looked to see who was calling, and groaned inwardly. "How did you get this number?" he asked the image on the videophone. As if he didn't already know...

"Who do you think wrote your new security system?" Rebecca Hawkins replied smugly.

This past summer, Kaiba had indeed taken Rebecca up on her offer to upgrade the security on his computer network—not his private system of course, but his business network had been broken into far too many times. Mokuba had talked him into it (and spent considerable time with the American girl while she was here), but Kaiba hadn't needed much persuading. Truth be told, his real strength lay in strategy and outwitting people, and learning whatever he had to in order to do so; Rebecca Hawkins was more focused in her talents as a computer genius and a scholar. However, the new system she designed had one drawback. Nigh impregnable though it was, she knew every password, and could break in whenever she pleased. Kaiba had been meaning to add a new layer of firewalls before the girl started annoying him. Too late, apparently.

"What do you want, runt?" he asked in a slightly resigned voice. "Do you know what time it is here?" Not that he'd been sleeping, or even intending to sleep any time soon, but she had no way of knowing that. However, annoying though the kid was, there was no denying that Rebecca was one of the few who even came close to matching Kaiba's intellect, and so he treated her with something approaching respect. He had been genuinely impressed with her performance in California, where she'd first hacked into Kaiba Corp, and first offered her technical assistance. Besides, Mokuba liked her.

"It's five o'clock tomorrow morning where I am," she said, "so don't complain. Now have a look at this and tell me what you think," All business now. She sent a digital file along with the message, and, after a quick scan for viruses, he opened it as she continued, "We sent it to a couple of meteorologists at Berkeley, as well as the Military Police over in Japan, but they don't know what it is either. I wanted to see what you thought."

What the hell...? He had to blink a few times before he registered what he was seeing. The file was an infrared satellite feed of Asia's east coast. All the landmarks were normal, but there was a swirling black mass that, if Kaiba didn't know better, looked like some kind of enormous hurricane. Glancing out the window behind him at the weather, he might have believed it, except that hurricanes didn't travel over land. This thing was crossing India and China with impossible speed, likely to reach Japan within minutes.

"What the hell is this?" he asked.

"We don't know," she responded quickly. "It's definitely not any kind of weather body. At first Gramps thought it was a glitch in the satellite's cameras, but I cross-referenced it with three other satellites with East Asia in their footprint, and they all said the same thing."

Kaiba pulled up the programs attached to his own satellites to confirm her information. "And it only shows up on infrared cameras?"

"And electromagnetic."

His eyes ticked back and forth across the screen as he absorbed the information. "There are solar flares going on," he said. "That that would cause anomalies in all electrical equipment."

"Yeah," said Rebecca, "but the chances of the visual anomalies being exactly the same on all the affected satellites are virtually non-existent. And the anomaly wouldn't be moving that way anyway."

Kaiba frowned as the dark body seemed to tighten it's focus—grow smaller and darker—as it reached Japan. Every instinct suddenly clamored for his attention. His ears were ringing for some reason, though he hardly noticed it. Alarm bells sounded and red flags waved. Something was definitely wrong here.

He picked up the phone and hit the second speed-dial button. "Roland," he said, "back up every important file immediately, and—" the line cut momentarily as an explosion of thunder coincided with a violent earthshake. The screen to his computer went black before restoring, now switched to emergency power. But that wouldn't last long. "Now, Roland," he barked. "And make sure everyone knows the safety procedures."

The ringing in his ears intensified to near-painful levels. Kaiba hesitated, then ignored it, striding out of the room to find Mokuba.

-o-

As Téa wandered slowly down the stairs to the kitchen, she wondered what she had done to deserve this.

Actually, her practical self reminded her, she had done plenty to deserve this. However, that was exactly what she was trying to avoid thinking about.

Insomnia was nothing new to her, not recently anyway. Trying to sleep at night gave the mind the annoying tendency to run through every detail of a person's life in an attempt to either bore itself to sleep, or else get the conscious mind to address issues that desperately needed addressing. Whether I want to or not, Téa sighed hopelessly.

She flipped the kitchen light on and started boiling water for tea in an attempt to occupy herself. Serenity had slept over the previous night, so Téa had an excuse to stay up until all hours yesterday. And today she'd kept herself busy with cleaning up from the party, though that had gone unexpectedly fast. Maybe enlisting Tristan and Duke wasn't such a good idea, not in the long run... She'd spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up her homework for over winter break, hoping to exhaust herself so she wouldn't lie awake tonight.

No such luck.

Sitting at the round table in the corner of the room, Téa leaned on her elbows and covered her eyes, attempting to shut out the world, and with it all the thoughts she couldn't deal with right now. Predictably, images flashed before her closed lids, and she knew that even if she did managed to fall asleep, she would invariably dream. Whether she would remember the dreams in the morning would be a matter of pure chance, but she always knew she had dreamed. And she could guess at what the dreams were about...

A high whistling sound was heard. That was fast, Téa thought. Or maybe she had just fallen asleep without knowing it? Maybe the work had tired her out more than she thought. She looked at the teapot on the stove... but it wasn't steaming, not even close. What was that ringing then?

What the...?

-o-

Serenity and her mother sat side by side on the train to Kyoto, not looking at each other, not speaking. Fights between them were nothing new, though there seemed to be only one topic for their arguments lately. At first Mrs. Wheeler put her daughter's tenacity down to her newly-healed eyesight, but the changes continued long past Serenity's return from Domino. It was as if the girl had been through a war, not a simple—albeit experimental—eye operation. It seemed as though exposure to Joseph and his friends had given the young girl a lifetime of experience and confidence.

Mrs. Wheeler still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

There had been nightmares. In the weeks after she first came home with her new eyes, she had woken in the night, shaking and crying, and her mother could only hold her as she choked out incoherent pleas. "Don't hurt him! Don't hurt my brother, please!" Serenity refused to elaborate on these dreams, and Mrs. Wheeler was left to wonder exactly what had happened that weekend, her mind throwing up visions of gang wars and beatings. When she voiced these perfectly understandable concerns, Serenity simply scowled at her mother. "Can't you trust him even a little bit?" she'd asked coldly. That was when the distancing started.

"Serenity," Mrs. Wheeler said softly. "You know I only want what's best for you, right?"

The girl's tensed shoulders seemed to relax a bit. "Of course I do, Mom." she said sincerely. I just wish that love extended to both your children, she thought. Then she frowned. "Do you hear that?"

Her mother looked at her strangely. "Hear what?"

Serenity shook her head as if to clear it. "My ears must be ringing or something..." She rubbed her temples. What was that strange pressure?

Then there was a shake, a rumble from the depths of the earth, and the pressure filled Serenity with the most incredible sensation. She was suddenly hyper-aware of every living thing around her—the humans on the train, the few stray insects that had snuck onboard, even the teeming life in the soil just outside the train's tunnel. The sounds of the world faded away, though she was dimly aware of her mother screaming. Pale blue and green lights flashed behind her eyes...

-o-

Joey aimlessly kicked a can down the dark side-alley that was the shortcut home. In spite of everything, he actually felt pretty good. He had his friends, he had his sister, he had Gramps... hell, he even had some spare money and a decent job! Where his father failed, he would pick up the slack. "That's just you, Joey," Serenity had said. "It's what you do." His smile broadened. Even the thought of Serenity, of the fact that he was appreciated and supported, never failed to brighten his mood.

Now all there was left to do was go home and face his dad.

He sighed. That was the one bit of darkness at the end of this otherwise perfect day. Chances were the man would be passed out on the couch by now, or out at some bar, but it was just as likely that he would be watching a game on TV and in a foul mood because the team he had bet on was losing. Well, Joey could hope for the former, and plan out what he would say in case of the latter in the meantime.

He wasn't going to run away. Serenity thought better of him than that, and he wasn't going to disappoint her.

Suddenly, the young duelist stopped in his tracks. What the hell?

Something had changed in the air. After years of dealing with magical nuttiness, you develop a sixth sense about that sort of thing, a sort of red light that tells you when something's off, and Joey's flared as the ringing in his ears intensified. Then some of the neighborhood dogs started making a ruckus, and Joey was pretty sure it wasn't just ringing; it was an actual noise, and he was forced to cover his ears for the pain of it. Stringing thoughts together was becoming increasingly difficult... He felt like he should be doing something, but gods, that sound! How the hell was he supposed to ignore it?

And all at once, conscious thought rushed back, and the world came crashing down.

Literally.

The walls of the buildings on either side of the narrow alley began crumbling inward as an earthquake of gigantic proportions shook them to their foundations. Architectural debris rained down in droves, smashing to the ground on all sides. Joey scrambled, dodging and diving in all different directions just to avoid being crushed. And through it all, one thought played itself over and over again in his mind...

My family. Are they alright?

Before he knew it, Joey had backed himself into a corner. He saw the shadow of the falling object before he saw the cinder block, and all thought and volition left him as he watched it come closer and closer...

"...Shit..." he breathed.

A hand suddenly grabbed his shirt by the back of the coller and jerked him roughly out of the way, causing the blond to land hard on his tailbone. However, he was beyond caring at this point. Joey stared in horror at the place he'd stood, frozen, mere seconds ago—the cinder block had smashed into rubble by the concrete. Had his head been in the way, he never would have stood a chance.

"Dammit, Joey!" huffed his rescuer. "How many times to I have to save your ass?"

Joey turned around and grinned, though it was a little forced. "C'mon, Tristan, what would you do without me?"

The brunette stood up and dusted himself off before offering a hand to his friend. "All the same, I wish you'd be more careful about where you hang out during an earthquake, dude. They say a couple of train tunnels caved in, this quake is that huge."

Joey stood up, and his legs almost didn't take his weight. "It's not like I knew there was gonna be a—" He froze, then gripped his friend by the shirt. "What about the trains?"

"One of the subway tunnels caved in right on top of an outgoing train," Tristan said, looking confused. "It was all over the news, at least while the TV's were still working. Didn't you—"

"Serenity," Joey whispered.

Tristan's eyes went wide "What?"

"I dropped her off at the train station, not ten minutes ago! I was just on my way home..." Joey shook his head, suddenly frantic. "We have to find her! Now!" He started to run off, but Tristan caught him by the arm.

"Joey, think for a second!" he shouted above another crash of thunder. "I've got my bike, I can take you wherever you need to—" The brunette was cut off as an aftershock sent another volley of debris raining down above their heads. They ran for cover as a thunderous roar was heard, different from the quake or the storm, and coming from a few miles east.

Joey was breathing heavily, which was odd for someone in his shape. Maybe the dust from the debris was getting into his lungs... except that it was still raining, so there was no dust. "What was that?" he asked to no one in particular.

Tristan stared in the direction of the sound. "I think—" He too coughed as though there were dust in the air. "I think one of the buildings just came down."

Joey nodded. It made sense, what with how shoddily the apartments in this area were built. His particular building was built in the 1950's, before most building regulations mandated shock-proof foundations. Japan was in the Ring of Fire after all. But then... the blond's eyes widened in horror.

"Joey," Tristan said as he realized it too, "Isn't that where you live?"

Joey took off at a dead run, or tried to. Another tremor sent him crashing to his knees, and it sounded like the distant building collapsed further.

Once again, Tristan had to stop his friend from taking off. Joey whipped around, easily shaking off his friend's grip. "Dammit, Tristan—"

"Joey, will you think about what you are doing?" he shouted. "It might not even be your building. Your dad might not even be home! You can't just go rushing headlong into danger without a thought for your own safety!" This seemed to ground the blond. His eyes lost their frantic look and his breathing slowed. Tristan took him by the shoulders. "Look," he said calmly, "I'll take you wherever you want to go, as long as you think about it rationally. We can't go in both directions, so you need to choose one and stick with it, and I'll help you out as much as I can, however you decide."

Joey swallowed. As always, where Joey was irrational, Tristan thought things through and put all the facts in a straight line. The train station was closer—he'd dropped his sister off not ten minutes ago—but Joey was almost certain the collapsed building was his own, though it was difficult to tell in the storm. And he didn't even know where his father was, while Serenity was right there... He had to make sure she was alright, but could he abandon his father to do it?

Another tremor nearly forced the pair to their knees. "Time to choose, man!" Tristan yelled over the noise, hopping onto his motorcycle and starting the engine.

Joey's expression hardened, and he vaulted on the back of the bike. "Domino Station, Tristan," he said. "Step on it!"

-o-

"Sssshh... destrkkkch... sshhopenkatcha... finddddch... ONE ZERO ZERO ONE... door of d —ksassh..."

"Dammit," Duke swore under his breath as he shut his cell phone. This was most definitely not good. The last time there had been storms like this was when Yugi and the others had taken a trip to the past, and before that when the Leviathan had gone on it's rampage. Both times the storm had an odd sense of wrongness to it, and Duke could feel the same sensation now. This strange feeling of dirtiness in the air, like trying to breathe in an oil spill or something. He had felt it as soon as he walked out of his house, and recognized it instantly.

Two things had been waiting for Duke the moment he walked in the door: a large manila envelope and an e-mail. The e-mail had, in fact, been flashing annoyingly on his desktop, with several of those weird pink rabbits jumping around and pointing at it. They also made it rather obvious who the message was from.

Parting the blinds and glancing out the window at the storm, the raven-haired teen frowned slightly as he considered his next move. With this kind of weather, it really wasn't a surprise that his phone was on the fritz, though it made things more difficult. Now he had to go see Yugi in person, and he really did not relish the idea of driving in that earthquake. Not that he doubted his skills, of course, but still...

Normally, Duke would be the type to just stick it out and wait for the storm to pass. It was the most logical course of action, but the letter had made it seem kind of important that the information go where it needed to as soon as possible. Fingering the sealed package in his hands, he frowned to himself.

"Dammit," he swore again. He got up, grabbed his keys from the table, and strode out the door.

-o-

Solomon squinted through the rain as he tried to see. There was... something hovering around the Game Shop like a dark haze, but in the stormy night with the lights shorted out, it was impossible to see what it really was, and every few seconds aftershocks of that earthquake would make everything shake and blur like a badly developed picture. It looked more like a curious lack of matter than anything, or even a hole in the air. He turned around to ask the two teenagers what they knew—because they always knew something—but stopped himself. Ryou was staring at the lack with a look of wide-eyed terror, and Yugi was hunched over with his head in his hands, teeth clenched and eyes tight shut. Both were shivering in a way that had nothing to do with the below-freezing temperatures.

"That's what I saw," Ryou whispered. "All around where the Voice was coming from... in the alley... it was the same as that."

The elder blinked. The Voice? He still didn't have all the details to the kids' adventures. This was something relatively new, though he had a vague idea what was meant by it. However, questions could most definitely wait.

"Yugi?" he asked, gently touching the boy's shoulder. "Yugi, are you alright?"

Yugi, who was quite possibly clenching every muscle in his body, he was that tense to the touch, shook his head wordlessly. "I..." he choked out. "We... have to get away from that."

There was no doubt as to what that was. But... "Where?"

"Anywhere," he gritted, "just as long as..." He paused, eyes suddenly open wide. "The others."

Ryou whipped around. "What?"

"No!" Yugi shouted hoarsely, not appearing to have heard. "No, I have to find them! I—argh!" He had started to run off, but stopped as he bent over nearly double, clutching his head in obvious pain.

If Solomon wasn't frantic before this, he was now. However, ever the adult in times like these, he did his best not to show it before the young ones in his charge. "Yugi," he said in a calmly restrained voice, gripping his grandson's shoulders once again. "Yugi, look at me. Tell me what's going on."

Yugi couldn't respond, it was all he could do to stay conscious. The pain, the shooting, debilitating pain like fireworks going off in his skull, coupled with wave after crushing wave of black abyss emanating from the house, demanded all of his attention. There was something in that darkness that stood contrary to his very existence, and something inside him fought for release as it raged against the darkness' presence. An eternity passed as Yugi battled against two opposing forces for control...

Glancing back toward the Game Shop, Ryou gasped. "Mr. Mutou," he said over the storm, "look!"

The void surrounding the building somehow loosened, then lifted altogether, dissipating and shooting off in all directions. Solomon craned his neck as a bolt of the stuff arched over the city and into the sky above, only to explode into needles of darkness that rained down like black threads that dissipated into nothingness before they touched the ground.

What is going on? he thought.

-o-

A bolt of lightning stuck the nearby telephone pole, and Téa dove under the table as every lightbulb in the house exploded at once, showering her with shards of broken glass. She could hear the walls and roof groan with strain as another tremor ripped through the city. Rain continued to pummel the house as it swayed with the vibrations. Téa tried to keep her hands from shaking.

Come on, she told herself sternly, You've been in earthquakes before! You live in freaking Japan, for god's sake!

But no earthquake she'd ever been in had ever been this violent! Against her will, the brunette winced as she heard the timbers creak, and braced herself against another aftershock. This time a loud crack was heard as the kitchen counter broke away from the wall. The forgotten tea-kettle crashed to the floor with a clang of metal on tiles, and boiling water spilled all over the floor.

Téa forced herself to think rationally. How many times had this been drilled into her in second grade? You had to get outside where nothing could fall on you. Or, failing that, lay down in a bathtub and pull a mattress over the top. She knew exactly what to do.

So why were her limbs refusing to obey her?

No no no! Strong! Be strong, you have to be! You have to—

Another tremor made the house shudder, and Téa set her jaw stubbornly. Focus. She had to focus on the present, or she'd never survive.

As soon as the shaking stopped again, she got up from her hiding place and bolted for the front door... only to find that it wouldn't open. The earthquake and pounding rain had warped the wood somehow, and the door was completely jammed. Panic threatened once again, but Téa squashed it down, calculating her options. All the windows on the first floor had long since been bolted shut after their home had been broken into several years ago. The big picture window in the living room had openings, but they were much too small to fit through. The door to their tiny backyard was of no use either. That only left...

The bathroom. Téa ran for the stairs as fast as her legs would carry her, ignoring falling picture frames and broken glass as she went. Half way up, she stopped. The rain was starting to let up, and there was a curious silence in the kitchen... save for a small hissing sound. She glanced around the wall at the source of the sound. A crack in the wall behind the stove revealed pipes and rubber tubing, most of it broken open from the abuse it had received from the earthquake. The stove was still on, though no flames rose from the burners...

Téa's eyes widened in horror at the smell permeating the air.

Gas!

Outside, another lightning bolt whipped down from the sky to strike the electric box on the phone pole. The electrical surge traveled down the wires into the kitchen, creating a small spark of discharge in the unused outlet by the stove.

That's all that was needed.

That spark traveled along the diffused gas in the air, setting it alight with the force of a small explosion as it went. Everything flammable was up in flames within seconds, and the very air seemed to shrivel as Téa was pushed back by the sheer heat. The only way to go was up. Up to a dead end. The pun was macabre and horrifying.

A tongue of fire traveled up the carpeted stairs to lick at Téa's ankles.

She screamed.

-o-

Joey and Tristan jumped simultaneously, and Tristan nearly lost control of his bike. He killed the throttle and swerved to a halt, and they stood deathly still in the rain.

"What the hell was that?" Joey asked nervously. He wasn't talking about the sudden stop.

Tristan rubbed the back of his right hand uncomfortably. It felt like it was burning. "I don't know," he murmured. The last time he felt something like this was in Duelist Kingdom, during Yugi's duel with Pegasus, only then it had been a sort of dull throbbing that intensified with every heartbeat.

Joey's eyes lost focus as he appeared to sink within himself, recognizing that old bond. "It's gotta be one of the others," he said softly. His jaw tightened.

Normally, Tristan would voice his own opinion on the matter at hand, especially when his friend was so clearly torn between friends and family. However, this decision was Joey's and only Joey's. It was, after all, his sister.

Seconds ticked by as the blond weighed his options. If we're getting this feeling, he thought, Yugi probably is too. Whereas I'm the only one who knows where Serenity is... It tore him apart, but... "Come on," he said finally. "We gotta find Serenity."

Tristan nodded once, and they were off.

-o-

Yugi froze, the war in his mind momentarily forgotten. "No..." he whispered.

The other two turned around. "Yugi?" asked Ryou.

Yugi's eyes were unfocused, as though seeing something no one else could. "Téa..." he whispered.

Ryou frowned, then noticed his friend's right hand twitching, and understood. "She needs help?"

Yugi nodded, panic rising. "We have to find her!" he said desperately. "Now!"

Solomon, who also knew of the children's bond, didn't like the frantic look growing on his grandson's face. "Yugi," he said calmly, "if your friends need help, we will help them to the best of our ability, but you have to stay calm and think things thr—" He was cut off as a pair of obscenely bright headlights cut through the thinning rain and nearly blinded all three of them. When their vision cleared, a familiar blue Mustang could be seen, its convertible roof drawn up against the rain.

"What the hell happened here?" Duke asked as he stepped out of his car. Once again he could feel that dirty sensation, though this was more of an afterimage, as though whatever had been causing the feeling had just left. "Someone wanna fill me in? I know this isn't a natural storm."

"Or a natural earthquake," added Solomon, right as another tremor shook them. "I know earthquakes," he said, "and they simply don't last this long, not when they're this strong. But what could cause something like this? It makes no sense!"

Yugi, who seemed stabilized for the moment, strode up to his friend. "All you need to know for now is that Téa's in danger. Can you drive me to her house? We'll fill you in on the rest on the way."

Duke didn't ask any more questions, he just nodded and got back in the car. The engine revved to life.

"Let's go!"

-o-

Téa slammed the door and began stuffing the cracks with clothes from her drawers to stop the smoke. Some part of her mind wondered why she'd gone to her bedroom instead of the bathroom like she'd originally planned, but the whole mattress-in-the-bathtub thing wasn't going to work in a fire. Either way, upstairs was the worst possible direction she could have gone. Fire travels uphill—Téa could already feel the door getting hot.

Thinking frantically, Téa searched her room for something, anything she could use. But use for what? she thought. She was backed into a corner. Wide blue eyes stared at the door as though willing it to stand firm, but grey tendrils of smoke were beginning to poke through. Unconsciously, she began backing away, knowing it wouldn't hold for much longer. And there was no place left to run.

Am I going to die?

It couldn't be. After everything—after Kaiba and Pegasus, Marik and Dartz and Bakura, after soul stealing and Shadow Games and multiple end-of-the-world threats—after all of that, she was to be done in by a simple little gas fire? Impossible!

Then again, the impossible had happened before. She'd seen it, helped cause it. Who was she to deny the possibility of anything?

The smoke trickling through grew thicker as it grouped on the ceiling in a congealed mass, and it was getting harder and harder to draw breath. In a fit of coughing, Téa instinctively stumbled to the window for cleaner air... and nearly kicked herself when she realized her own stupidity. The window! There was a flower trellis right underneath, easily climbable if she was careful.

Now more annoyed with herself than frightened, Téa unlatched the lock and pulled the window pane upward, and the repressed smoke began pouring out of its only outlet like a black curtain, drifting upward into the night sky. The barest sliver of a moon winked down at her from above. Encouraged, Téa bit her lower lip, hopped both legs over the sill, and began to climb down.

She might have gotten away unscathed, were it not for that final aftershock.

Téa closed her eyes and suppressed a scream as the wall supporting the window crumbled beneath her. Her stomach turned over as she felt herself fall aways, before her arms caught onto something and instinctively latched on for dear life as her legs swung free. She could taste blood, and knew she had bitten through her lower lip in the shock. Steeling herself, Téa risked opening her eyes a crack... and instantly regretted it.

She was holding onto what was left of the floor of her bedroom, hanging precariously off the edge. From what she could see from her position, the outer wall was completely collapsed, and the inner wall of her room was cracked from floor to ceiling. The outside air rushed in through that crack, fueling the fire on the other side, which in turn gained the force to finally burn through the reinforced bedroom door.

The blast of hot air was in stark contrast to the chill night breeze at her back. Everything in Téa's room began burning up at an alarming rate as the fire crept towards where she hung, helpless. Her dresser collapsed with a crack of weakened wood, various articles of clothing became so much blackened ash, and Téa let out a cry as her favorite Broadway poster was eaten away as though it meant nothing. Dark Magician Girl in the Moonlight... The poster featured a blond actress balancing gracefully in the arc of a crescent moon, one that looked just like the moon outside. She was supposed to see that play with Yugi, but then Battle City got in the way...

The poster burned through. Nothing was left but a black spot on a wall, and that was not likely to be there for much longer.

Téa closed her eyes against the heat of the flames. She couldn't cry, she promised herself she wouldn't, but something inside her cried out in pain and protest at the sight of the burning image. Pink and blue lights flashed behind her closed eyes, and Téa yelped in pain at the blinding headache that resulted. Her arms, trained to take the weight of various cartwheels and handstands, were weakening, and the shift in position made them lose some of their grip on the slick hardwood surface of the floor. She knew she couldn't hold on much longer, and from two stories up, she wasn't sure if even she could land safely.

"Téa!"

I...

"Téa, jump! We'll catch you!"

I can't do it. I'm afraid.

"Téa, let go!"

The fire seemed to blink at her with enormous crimson eyes. It was beautiful... and so near she could almost touch it.

She closed her eyes. A soft presence seemed to fill her heart with a warmth that spread all the way down to her fingertips. She took a deep, shuddering breath...

Whatever strength she had remaining abruptly drained out of her limbs, and Téa fell down into the waiting arms below.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Fire and wreckage crews must have come eventually, because the bright glow of the inferno that was her home eventually dimmed and died, and someone pressed an oxygen mask to her face. What Téa remembered most about that night was a small, bright presence that held her and refused to let her go. This presence filled her with a light she didn't even know she missed. Others came too, and their presences mingled with the first light, and made it even brighter. Like a beacon home.

Téa focused on that light, and opened her eyes.

-o-

Elsewhere in Domino, a young girl sat with green-hazel eyes open wide, her mind in a total lock. Her mother sat next to her, completely unaware of her daughter's turmoil and confusion. Nothing made sense to her anymore. It couldn't have happened, it was impossible... she wasn't even sure exactly what had happened, let alone why!

But it had indeed happened. A soft, quiet glow in the back of her consciousness served as a continual reminder of it.

"Serenity!"

She looked up. A tearful grin broke out on her face, and she looked at her brother as he fought through the crowds to reach her side. She found her arms reaching up to him, and they held each other in relief and fear and happiness. He had come. She was safe. They were together again.

But then, darkness and death and divorce could never keep them apart for long. Just like always, Joey was always there right when she needed him most.

-o-

It leaps, it dances, its very essence sings its joy into infinity. Oh, the wonders of being once again! To exist in such a glorious way that the whole world knew and feared your existence! To be the pebble retrieved from the bottom of the pool, cast again into the shifting waters, the tides changed and the ripples new and the rocks at the bottom not quite the same as the ones before. To exact a different change, produce a different outcome—

(The first wave has come, and the ripples that follow will set the stage.)

Be on your guard, little king... and be ready.

(More waves will come, and their ripples will devastate the world.)

We wouldn't want our game to end too quickly, now would we?

It begins.

(Again.)

Deep in the heart of Egypt, far beneath the desert sands, a Shrine lay in ruins.

This Shrine lay just under the small town of Luxor, which was currently recovering from a small earthquake. Its people were confused, as quakes didn't normally reach this far south. However, it was a small shake, and once a few minor repairs of building roofs were complete, they went on with their daily lives.

Underneath their feet, however, localized shakes continued, though none felt them. Beneath the high, vaulted ceilings of the Shrine of the Underworld, beneath the crumbled remains of the Millennium Stone, what could have been the molten heart of the world, it was so far down, an entity shook with passionate fury, desperate to get free. The power expended to draw attention to itself was nearly gone, and it was time to reset the rules of this game.

From between the cracks of the Stone, a golden glint (the Star of the Morning, the Light from which all shadows are cast) flashed in the darkness with a satisfied gleam.

-o-

Morning dawned on a completely different world.

Yugi sat impassively on the curb by what remained of Téa's house, replaying scenes from last night over and over in his mind. It had taken them over twenty minutes to get here last night; as the storm wore on and the damage worsened, people started panicking and crowding the streets. More than once Yugi was tempted to just get out of the car and run the rest of the way, but Grandpa convinced him to stay with the rest. But when he saw her there, hanging off the side of her house in her nightgown like some kind of ritual sacrifice... Yugi shuddered and didn't want to think about what might have happened if he'd been even a minute later.

The fire had long since died down, but what was left was simply a charred shell of a house, grey and crumbling. Half of it had caved in and fallen to the ground, though the living room and part of a bathroom were still erect, albeit black with ash. The flames had even scorched the sides of the too-near houses on either side, so they were by no means the only people waiting around outside their homes. The paramedics had come with the firefighters and made sure Téa was okay, but they couldn't take her to the hospital when she wasn't seriously injured. Yugi understood, even if he didn't like it. There were too many critically injured coming in as it was without bringing in every simple little trauma case, and there were only so many beds, so many doctors. Apparently there was already a body-count going.

They'd gotten a phone call from Joey and Tristan as soon as the electricity came back on. Tristan's family's apartment was perfectly fine, with only minimal damage from the earthquake, and Joey, Serenity, and Mrs. Wheeler were all alright. Duke was going to meet them at the subway station to pick them up, but was stopping home first to check on his store and make sure nothing was lost or stolen. Grandpa had gone home once he was sure all the kids would be alright, and didn't say anything when Yugi voiced his wish to stay with Téa. Ryou was the only one who hadn't gone home yet. He seemed afraid to.

Yugi frowned. With everything that had happened, Ryou's "problem" had been completely driven from his mind. But what could they do? Until the Ring Spirit showed up again, nothing. What puzzled the duelist most though was how it happened. Ryou had stated vehemently and repeatedly that he did not have the Ring, so how could its Spirit show up without an anchor?

Though it might explain why it looked so indistinct, like he said... but then... I don't know... The King of Games put his head in his hands, weary from more than lack of sleep.

"Yugi?"

Yugi froze momentarily as his heart skipped a beat at the sound of that voice. "Hi Téa," he said as evenly as possible. Gods, I came so close to losing her...

The brunette sat down next to him on the curb, clutching a thick woolen blanket around her shoulders. Much of the contents of the basement had remained relatively untouched, and she was currently wearing a few of her old clothes that were found down there. They were a bit tight and several inches too short at the cuffs, but wearable. "Are you alright?" she asked him.

"I should be asking you that," Yugi said, indicating the various half-healed cuts and burns decorating her face and arms. Shock and adrenaline had prevented Téa from feeling the injuries during the earthquake, but the fire and flying debris from the house's collapse did a lot more than she realized at the time. The worst of it was wrapped up in gauze, but it still made Yugi's stomach turn over to see her hurt. "You should be resting."

Téa rolled her eyes. "I've had enough resting, thank you," she said. "Those paramedics have been treating me like I'm made of glass. I think they're new on the job."

The corner of Yugi's mouth twitched. Heaven help anyone who treated Téa as delicate. Joey, Tristan, and many others before them had learned that the hard way, and chances were they wouldn't be the last.

"Now answer my question," she continued. "I can tell something's bothering you, don't think I can't."

Yugi sighed. "I just have a lot on my mind. A lot's happened in such a short time. It's like if I take in any more information, my brain'll spontaneously combust or something..."

Téa giggled. "Much as I appreciate the amusing mental image, maybe we can diffuse that early. Wanna talk?"

Yugi opened his mouth, and stopped. Why was Téa offering to talk out his problems when she clearly had much bigger ones to deal with? Unless... "Did they get ahold of your parents yet?"

The smile fell from her face. "No," she said quietly. "That was some big quake apparently, because aftershocks of it spread like a ripple around the world. Some pretty big waves hit Hawaii from the west, so their communications are still down. They don't know... when they'll be able to get through..."

Yugi looked at her as she staunchly refused to look at him, the implications of everything she didn't say running through his mind.

"But Tristan and Duke both offered me a place to stay until my parents get home, and so did your grandpa, Yugi. So it's not like I won't have anywhere to stay. And I'll still get my schoolwork done, and go to work and everything. And we have a pretty good insurance plan, so most of our stuff will get replaced, and our house will get rebuilt and everything. 'Course, some things you can't really replace, but—" Téa's stream of self-reassuring chatter was cut off as she felt her hand being enclosed in Yugi's slightly smaller one. And even though wanted desperately to just give in and sob on her best friend's shoulder, she didn't. She couldn't.

Crying would mean admitting it was real.

-o-

The subway station was one of the only buildings in the area that stood relatively unscathed. Though there were several cracks running from floor to ceiling, the structure itself was intact, which was more than could be said for several apartment buildings. When Joey and Tristan arrived there the previous night, everything was in complete chaos. People driven from their homes were crowding in the streets, and police lines with cops stationed around them were hastily set up to keep people from going into unsecured buildings. Joey nearly punched a poor cop out when he wouldn't let him into the station, it was only Tristan who pointed out that Serenity wasn't likely to be inside. Another guard had pointed them in the direction of a medical tent set up a few blocks away, which was where they had finally reunited.

Once the building had been declared safe, the subway station had turned into a shelter for everyone who had been forced out of their homes, or else had no where to go. Hastily set up cots lined the walls, covered in blankets, pillows, and what personal belongings people could salvage. Joey, Tristan, and Serenity were currently occupying one corner of the spacious area, Mrs. Wheeler having been convinced by the youngest to bring back some food from the vending machines—it was breakfast time after all, with no real stores open. Said youngest, exploiting the relative privacy they had at the moment, was explaining to the two older boys exactly what had happened on the train.

"I felt this sort of... ripple," Serenity said in hushed tones. "It was more than the earthquake, it was coming from inside of me. Well..." she amended as Joey and Tristan widened their eyes, "not really from me. More like it came from somewhere else, and was coming through me."

"Through you!" Joey exclaimed.

The girl shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't think of any other way to describe it. Some kind of power or energy went through me; I could feel it all around, I could feel everything with this weird... I don't know, hyper-sensitivity or something. That was when the tunnel caved in." She paused and bit her lip, wondering how to phrase what had happened. "Well, the first thing that went out was the lighting, so I couldn't see much of what happened. I know a really big piece must have landed on the engine car to short out the electricity, and they told us afterwards that most of it landed in front of the train. But the train kept moving forward, and crashed into the rubble."

Tristan nodded. That had been the news story, though there hadn't been time to get cameras to the scene before everything electrical went dead. That had been when Tristan decided to make sure Joey was alright; his own family's appartment was solidly built, he knew, but Joey was from the wrong side of the tracks. He had called his mother as soon as everything quieted down, and she had agreed to house the Wheelers until they found someplace else.

Serenity was continuing. "This is actually where it gets weird," she said, her voice lowering further, "and scary. See, the train hit the block. The glass in the windows shattered on impact and ripped through whatever flesh it touched. Everything suddenly lurched to a halt and a ton of people were thrown forward. Mom crashed into one of the poles and hit her head... and she fell to the floor, and someone else fell on her. I think she must have broken a few ribs, 'cause she started breathing really raggedly. I hit the front wall of the cabin sideways, and I felt my shoulder dislocate and my collarbone snap. That guy who fell on Mom, his head was bleeding pretty badly... There was just so much..." She shuddered to a halt, unwilling to relive those memories.

"But Serenity," Tristan said quietly, "you don't have a mark on you, and neither does your mom."

"I-I know," she replied, starting to shake. "But the minute everything stopped moving, the power that went through me... went out of me." She swallowed. "Me and Mom and that guy with the head wound and two other people near us... all of our injuries disappeared." The boys' eyes widened in disbelief, and Serenity began to tremble violently, her wide hazel eyes filling up with tears. "I... I felt all of it, and it h-hurt so much, Joey, and then it all j-just stopped, and I thought I d-died and... and..." Joey had taken the girl into his arms, where she sobbed against his chest.

"It's okay," he whispered softly. "It's okay. You're fine. I'm here. Thanks, Tristan." The brunet had gone and fetched a blanket from one of the cots, and Joey wrapped it around his sister's trembling form and hugged her tightly once more. "Everything's gonna be alright..."

"Mom said I imagined all of it," Serenity whispered. "But I felt it, I felt it from everybody. It hurt, more than anything I've ever felt before..."

Joey frowned. That might explain why Ma was jumping at shadows when we got here, he thought. He'd assumed it was just trauma from the wreck, and hadn't bothered asking himself why his mother and sister weren't harmed in any way. Gift horse-dentistry had never been a pasttime of his.

"It's okay Serenity," Tristan said, rubbing her shoulder a bit. "You were right to tell us this privately. Joey, do you think we should tell the others about this?"

The blond looked down at his baby sister questioningly, and she nodded slightly. She seemed very tired. Joey stood up with her in his arms, lifting up her small body easily, and sat down on the nearest cot with his back resting against the wall and Serenity curled up in his arms. It wasn't long before her breathing and heartbeat slowed to normal sleeping rate.

Tristan found himself feeling slightly jealous, but pushed it aside. This was not the time for that sort of thing.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Wheeler had returned. "Are you two boys—"

"Shhh!" They hushed simultaneously.

Belatedly, Mrs. Wheeler saw her sleeping daughter. "Oh," she whispered.

-o-

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away...

"Ishizu!" called a young voice.

Deep blue-green eyes rose at the sound, only to immediately drop back down to the documents laid in perfect order on her desk. A faint smile tugged at the Egyptian woman's lips, and she let the call go unanswered as she took a stack of papers and sunk back into her comfy office chair. Slowly, she flipped through the tedious bundle, pausing once in a while to jot down specifics on her notepad. A small bell tone from her computer signaled a new e-mail, and she place the pile of papers aside and clicked the file open.

"Ishizu!" the voice called again, louder this time, "Where's my deck? I can't find it anywhere!"

She chuckled faintly. "In your room," she called back without pausing in her work, "in the top drawer of the computer desk. Right where you left it, Marik."

Elsewhere, Marik Ishtar ceased his rapid digging through a pile of (no longer folded) laundry and proceeded back to his bedroom, where he had begun his search in the first place. "I already looked there," he muttered as he jogged back down the hall and ducked into his room. "That's the first place I looked. Does she think..."

He fell silent as he opened the prescribed drawer. There was indeed a familiar black vinyl deck case, sitting directly on top of a clutter of papers, right in plain sight. The blond Egyptian glared at the little case that sat mockingly in front of him, and a deep chuckling was heard from the doorway of the brightly lit room. Marik turned to see Odion leaning against the doorframe.

"That was so not there five minutes ago!" Marik protested, pointing at the contents of the drawer. The eldest Ishtar simply shook his head in amusement and proceeded down the hall. Marik was about to follow him when...

"Did you find it?" Ishizu called from her office.

Marik resisted the urge to groan. She was asking out of spite, he was certain. "Yeah, I found it," he muttered, annoyed.

There was no way his older sister could have heard him at that volume, but an amused chuckle floated down the hall anyway. Marik shook his head, smiled, and followed his waiting brother into the family room.

Since the chaos of Battle City, the Ishtar family had moved up in the world, in more ways than one. No longer was the clan hidden away in the tombs; their mission was complete, and there was nothing left to hide from. Their new home in Cairo was a large, brightly lit dwelling with so many windows and skylights that it never felt like indoors. Tapestries and pottery from various countries covered the walls, and Ishizu had a fully loaded office, lined with bookshelves, from which to do her government work.

She still kept contact with what remained of the Tomb Keepers, though keeping their secrets hidden wasn't as onerous a task as she thought it would have been. Surprisingly, most of the clan had opted to stay in the tombs, knowing no other way of life. Those few that rose to the challenge of freedom were incredibly loyal to the Head Family, and knew their duty.

The Rare Hunters had also been disbanded—again, an easier task than previously suspected. Those who had been mind-controlled or otherwise manipulated were quick to fall into the background once they stopped receiving orders, and those who had joined of their own will were either bribed into staying low or quietly arrested. There was very little press coverage over any arrests made—the only charges were petty thievery and extortion after all—and those who accepted bribes understood the value of silence. Marik had also kept contact with a few of those bribed members, just in case underworld connections were ever needed. Old habits died hard.

Strange as it seemed, the three of them had achieved a kind of peace. After a lifetime of "destiny" and "the family mission," it was nice to have relatively nothing to do. Marik, Ishizu, and Odion finally had the time and luxury to reacquaint themselves with each other after years of tension and mistrust. And despite the occasional outburst, they were happy with their lives.

"Odion," Marik called cheerfully, liking the fact that loud noises didn't echo as they did in the tunnels, "You got the duel mat set up yet?"

No answer. Marik trotted the rest of the way down the hall and rounded the corner to the living room... and stopped dead in his tracks.

Odion was there alright. And standing opposite him was a man Marik hadn't seen for over eight years.

As unmoving as a statue, the man in cream robes and a turban wrapped around his head glanced at each of those frozen before him. "Odion and Marik Ishtar," Shadi said without even a hint of expression. "I trust I am not intruding."

It was a statement that left no room to suggest otherwise, but Marik was far from caring. A snarl crossed his features and meshed with his most lethal glare, hands fisting at his sides. "You damn well are intruding! Get out of our house!"

"Marik, what's all the—oh!" Ishizu walked in from her office and immediately dropped the folder she was carrying. "S-Shadi." She seemed flustered for a moment, then collected herself before saying in a cool voice, "Can I help you with something?"

"No," Marik interrupted, staring daggers at the spirit, "He can get out of our house. Now!" The blond was clearly holding himself in check.

Shadi's firm stare slowly shifted to the youngest, his icy gaze drilling deep into Marik's lavender as though he could look past the boy's mortal body and see straight into his soul. "My presence here is not of simple disruption on your part, young keeper. There is a greater threat at hand." His gaze swept to Ishizu. "I bring warning.

"You bring a pain in the ass! Get out!" Marik gritted his teeth, not fazed in the slightest, save for anger. "What could you possibly have to say that would bring you here? Aside from being a manipulative bastard and nonchalantly destroying people's lives on a whim, I mean?"

Concern touching his face, Odion made a move to calm his young charge, but froze in place at Shadi's next words.

"The Millennium Items have resurfaced."

Everyone seemed to stop breathing. Ishizu's eyes widened as her breath caught, Odion stared at the Keeper in disbelief, and even Marik unclenched in surprise. The room turned deathly silent, save for the frantic pounding of three hearts, so loud in each of the Ishtars' ears. "W-what?" Marik breathed. Then he noticed something he hadn't before: Shadi was wearing the Millennium Key around his neck.

"You recall the small earthquake from this afternoon?" Shadi asked neutrally.

Ishizu nodded. "It was a small one, barely notable, as earthquakes are common in this part of the country. Why do you ask?"

Shadi leveled a cool stare at the lady, his voice darkening with each word he spoke. "That was no natural earthquake, it was caused by a severe disruption in the spiritual balance. Echoes of the quake swept worldwide in varying degrees of severity, but the source of the disturbance was approximately fifty kilometers south of here."

"In Luxor," Ishizu said quietly, her voice laced with dread as she feared herself to be right. "At the Shrine."

The Keeper nodded. "There is a new power building," he said cryptically. "To counter it, the balance must be restored. You must find the Millennium Items." Shadi looked at each of the siblings with that blank stare of his, and then his glare somehow softened. "This will be a true test for the new King. See to it that he is prepared." At that final word, his image seemed to become translucent, like a bad signal on a television, before vanishing entirely, leaving nothing but a ghostly silence to prove he was ever there at all.

Ishizu's calm mask melted away. Her legs threatening to buckle underneath her, she slowly sat down on the nearby sofa, every nuance of her posture betraying her fear and shock. "We have to do what he says," she whispered.

"What?" Marik whipped around, sending a glare to his older sister. "You're not seriously thinking of jumping when that bastard says jump, are you?"

"Marik, what choice do we have?" she countered, matching his glare with one of her own. "If raiders find those Items before we do, who knows what kind of trouble would be caused? At the very least, we have to keep them out of dangerous hands! It's our—"

"Don't even think of saying the word duty!'" Marik's words were short, sharp, and dripping with ice.

For a moment the two stared at each other, her not knowing what to say, and him not believing what he was hearing. Neither could break the silence, and the tension built to near unbearable levels. Finally, Ishizu's burdened gaze dropped to her hands in her lap, and Marik turned abruptly on his heels and strode out the front door with a loud slam! A piece of decorative pottery wobbled on its pedestal and crashed to the floor.

Ishizu winced, but made no move to pick up the pieces. She could only stare guiltily at her hands. She wasn't sure if this was the right decision, and did not pretend to be. But her younger brother had so many bad memories... and they had just started to be a family again...

A large hand touched her gently on the shoulder, and olive-green eyes smiled into her own stormy blue ones. "I'll go talk to him," Odion said quietly. Ishizu nodded and smiled weakly back. For all that Odion's strange relationship with Marik made her a little jealous, she was always immensely grateful for the man's stabilizing presence.

"Thank you, Odion," she said. He nodded, and strode outside after the youngest.

-o-

Outside, in the dim light of the moon and some outdoor lanterns, Marik was fuming. Around the side of the house was where he had all his auto parts set up as a sort of outdoor garage, and he came here often when he needed to be alone. He had brought out his beloved motorcycle and was sitting astride it, but did not turn it on. Much as Marik hated it, he knew perfectly well he wasn't going anywhere, not while that bastard was running around destroying lives.

The soul of the Pharaoh commanded this fate. You must find the Pharaoh!

A low growl rose from the blond's throat, and his knuckles turned white where they gripped the handlebars.

"Marik?"

Almost immediately, most of the boy's anger drained away, and his hands relaxed their death-grip on his bike. "Five years, Odion," he said in a dead voice. "Five years of my life were spent in nothing but hatred and vengeance, and it's all because of him."

"Master..."

"Marik," the blond corrected dully.

"Marik," Odion began again, "Perhaps Shadi meant well. Perhaps he truly meant only to help us."

The boy snorted. "That'd be a first. I don't know what that bastard's agenda is, but it definitely does not include our well-being." He looked at the taller man, a hardness in his eyes that made Odion's heart twist to see again. "Odion," he said, "Ishizu was unconscious, but you remember! Shadi was the one who showed up the same day my darkness did! He told me the Pharaoh killed my father! He manipulated me, and set me on a rampage that would destroy countless lives! This is just going to cause more suffering, and that son of a bitch damn well knows it!" The boy led out a huge sigh and slumped over the handlebars of his bike. "I really don't need this. Not then, not now, not ever again!"

Odion winced. He hated seeing the boy in so much pain. "Master—"

"Marik," he said again, a little more loudly this time.

"—however you might personally feel about this man, you cannot deny that his information is at least worth investigating. Shadi's information has proven valuable in the past—"

"When he's not out to instigate murder..." Marik muttered.

"—and he does have ways of knowing these things. And if he is correct, then there are people who should be warned, if possible. The appearance of the Millennium Items has always preceded some great tragedy, you know that. And—"

"Say anything about duty or destiny," Marik said suddenly, leveling a glare from under his sandy fringe, "and I'll... I..." He trailed off—there was nothing he could do to Odion, not really—and settled for intensifying his glare.

However, much as his keen lavender gaze was known to strike fear in the hearts of Rare Hunters and others in the teenager's employ, Odion always saw right through it. "I was going to say moral responsibility," he said gently. "Forget about Tomb Keepers and Millennium Items for a moment and look inside your heart. If you knew there was a threat to people you cared about, wouldn't you do everything in your power to try and stop it?"

The teenager's eyes softened, and he looked away. "I'm afraid, Odion," he whispered, pain evident in every nuance of his expression. "I can't help people, I'm not strong enough. I'm... corrupted."

Odion was silent for a moment, wanting dearly to reach out to his charge, this boy he loved like a brother. But he knew that pity would not be taken kindly, and squashed the urge. Instead, he said, "Do you know why I stayed with you all those years?"

"To suppress the the darkness within me," Marik answered dully. "To protect me from my own hatred. And to keep me from going... too far."

He shook his head. "That's not entirely true."

Marik looked up.

"It's true I stayed with you to protect you, but that was always my duty, no matter where your chosen path might take you. But suppressing the darkness had nothing to do with it. All I did was draw out your own inner light and keep it from being smothered. The rest of it—confronting your fears, overcoming your darkness, saving my life multiple times—that all came from you, Marik. You and the light inside."

Marik stared at his guardian, though his expression did not move. Words and emotions jumbled together in his mind, until only one thing seemed even remotely appropriate.

"Thank you."

Odion tilted his head, puzzled. "For what?"

"For saying that."

He frowned. "It's not a matter of simply—"

"I know," Marik interrupted. "But thank you anyway."

The taller man smiled. "I have always maintained that you do not give yourself enough credit for your accomplishments. You deserve every bit of it."

Too bad most of my "accomplishments" are things I'm not exactly proud of, Marik thought. But aloud he said, "Well, thank you for everything, then. You deserve it too." He paused and looked down. "So does Ishizu, even if I don't always show it."

"She's a little worried about you..."

Marik snorted. "She's got nothing to worry about where I'm concerned. I'm not gonna run off and do something stupid. I'm more worried there'll be no one to help her when she finally finds a problem that's bigger than she is, something she can't handle."

"Your sister is a wise woman," Odion said reassuringly, "and she knows, for certain now, that we two will always be here for her."

Marik looked down again. For certain now...

Odion didn't think Marik looked too convinced. "Master—"

"For the last time, it's Marik!"

The big man smiled. "What's that they say about old habits?"

"Well I killed mine," Marik countered, hopping off his bike to stand before his friend. "You said so yourself."

"Maybe you're just stronger than me."

Marik looked up at his long-time guardian, exasperated. "Stop selling yourself short, Odion."

He smirked, a rare twinkle of humor in his eyes. "Oh, but I need to," he said, "I'm much too tall as it is." It was true. Odion was well over six feet, and his muscular build and scarred face made for an intimidating appearance indeed. Marik's mouth twitched upward a few times before he finally gave in and laughed.

"C'mon, big brother," he said, walking back inside. "We've got some Millennium Items to find."

Odion hesitated before following, looking proudly after his charge, his brother, his friend.

If anyone can do it, it's you.

-o-

Rebecca hung up, twiddled a few settings, and tried again. The same repetitive-to-the-point-of-infuriating message played. She looked at her grandfather with apologetic eyes. "It's no good," she said, "I can't get through."

Professor Arthur Hawkins sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. News of the massive earthquake that hit Japan had made its way to TV stations worldwide, but it held a special significance for the two Hawkins'. They were currently trying to call Solomon to make sure everyone was alright, but a land line must have been cut during the shaking, because not a single call could get through. And Arthur knew Solomon didn't have a cell phone, and didn't know any of the children's numbers.

"The most we can do is leave them an e-mail," he said wearily, "and hope they get it soon."

Rebecca opened her laptop and pulled up her e-mail account. "I hope so," she muttered quietly, glancing at the still-open satellite feed program. Numerous black clouds now dotted the virtual map. Though most of them were very small, no bigger than a pencil dot, a few were relatively large, about the size of a fingerprint on the screen. None of them had moved since the earthquake ended. Rebecca couldn't put her finger on it—it almost seemed like the darkness was... waiting for something.

"We need to get to the bottom of this," she said.

-o-

Duke stood, hands on his hips, as he surveyed the damage. All in all, it definitely could have been worse. Because of that fire last April, the store's reconstruction had entailed all the latest shock-absorbing foundations. Plus it had been a huge attention boost, so sales had really gone up in recent months, and he could most definitely pay for all the necessary repairs. Not much had been stolen either, though that was probably due to luck more than anything else. Repairs were already underway.

He walked slowly upstairs, looking around as he went. A lot of dust had been released in the shaking, and a couple of the walls were cracked, but nothing that couldn't be easily fixed. And at the end of the hallway...

"Aw... dammit."

At the end of the hallway, just before the door to his bedroom, a blown-up photo of his parents on their wedding day hung in an ebony frame. It wasn't that big, maybe eight by eleven, but it had still fallen from its hook and crashed to the floor. Most of the glass was still intact, though the frame had broken at the joint. Duke bend down and picked it up, carefully brushing off stray shards of glass. James Devlin was a tall man with short-cut brown hair, a triangular face, brilliant green eyes, and a confident smirk. His wife Aoi had long, shining black hair, soft brown eyes, and the tiny frame of a gymnast. She was leaning into her new husband happily, and he had his arms wrapped around her. Looking at them, it was pretty clear where Duke's own good looks came from—he was the spitting image of his father, or was, before his father's "accident."

Duke frowned, then set the image down, leaning it against the wall. He'd get that fixed later.

Inside his room had had also faired pretty well, considering the number of breakable objects that were on display on various shelves. Different figurines and drawings of half-finished dice monster ideas lined the walls, along with several different books on computer programming and whatever else caught his interest. A few of the books had fallen over and landed sprawled on the carpeted floor, but the figurines had mostly stayed in place. Those that did fall weren't hurt at all, except for one with a long wand in its hand, which had snapped off. The lamp on his nightstand had fallen over and smashed into the clock radio, but that was the worst of it. The full-length mirror in the corner was completely unharmed.

Lazily, Duke began to pick up a few of the fallen books and game pieces. Automatically he glanced at the clock, before realizing it wasn't working. Well, either way he'd have to leave soon, as the others were expecting him back.

As he put the stack of books haphazardly back on the shelf, he noticed a flashing light in the corner of his eye. What? The clock was most definitely broken, so it couldn't be that. He turned around. The closet door was ajar, and the light was coming from inside.

Frowning, the teenager walked slowly to the closet door, wondering all the while what he could have put in there that would glow or flash. Mostly the space was used as a storage closet for old games he didn't want but couldn't bring himself to throw out. Of course, plenty of his childhood toys would have had flashing lights, but none of them, to Duke's recollection, had working batteries at the time they were put away.

He slowly pulled the closet door further open, and out fell... his dad's old Mayan board game. Duke blinked in surprised, then hesitantly bent down to pick it up. With the clawed hand sticking out of one end, two cobra heads out of the other, and the painted snake forming the game's circular "path," the so-called "Board Game of Death" looked exactly as Duke remembered it. But he didn't remember any glowing pieces. Even when his father used it on people who owed him money, it never glowed.

Duke turned the thing over in his hands. When it fell from its shelf in the closet, the game must have hit a few things on the way down, because some of the paint was flaking off. The light was coming from where some of the paint had chipped off, right over the central snake's eye. He frowned and looked closer, scraping off a bit more with his fingernail.

He flinched as a small electrical jolt went up his arm when he touched the eye. "Okay, what the hell is this?" he said aloud. Using the broken-off wand from one of the figurines, he peeled away the paint until he could clearly see the source of the glow, which had greatly dimmed since he had picked it up.

When he saw what it was, Duke nearly dropped the game in surprise and horror.

"No way. No freaking way!"

 

It was about 9 AM when Duke Devlin burst into the subway station's entrance-hall-turned-makeshift-shelter, breathless and anxious. There were many people coming and going through the large double-doors—policemen, health-care workers, public officials and, most commonly, friends and family of those left stranded. It didn't take long before the teenager's searching eyes found the people he came for.

"Hey," Joey called as he spotted Duke trotting over to their corner. "There's our ride!" He turned his gaze to the sleeping girl in his lap and nudged her shoulders a bit. "C'mon, sis," he said gently, "Nap-time's over."

"Joey, Tristan," Duke said as he reached them. "There's something you have got to see..."

"And you are?" said a stern voice from behind him.

Duke turned around to face a middle-aged woman with curled auburn hair wearing a threadbare but clean women's suit. There were worry-lines around her eyes and mouth, and it looked like she hadn't slept at all in the past thirty hours or so. Not that I have either, Duke thought to himself, but he realized that this woman could only be Joey and Serenity's mother. What he found was going to have to wait, apparently.

Like magic, all the stress from the previous night's events washed off his face, and Duke was the picture of a charismatic young businessman. "Duke Devlin, owner of Black Crown game store, at your service, ma'am," he said with a polite bow. "I'm here to take you and your family to where you'll be spending the next few days, if that's alright with you." Though his face was about as mature as he could make it, Duke smirked inwardly as the woman's eyes registered some surprise.

"Oh," she said. "Well, alright then." She began to gather her belongings as Serenity stirred in her brother's arms.

"Joey...?" she asked wearily.

"You awake, sleeping beauty?" he teased.

She yawned. "Yeah, awake enough. Are we leaving?"

"Yup."

Serenity yawned again, then sat up and pulled her coat on, sleep-messed hair falling untidily into her eyes. She was much more relaxed than she was before, but she always felt automatically safe when Joey was around. "Let's go then," she said cheerily.

The five of them made their way to the front doors and around the corner where Duke's car was waiting for them. Tristan parted company and left to find his motorcycle, which was covered up and parked on a secluded side-street. Already the place was less crowded than it was the previous night. Almost everyone left without a home had called friends or relatives, and most were already packing or getting picked up as they were. They reached the blue Mustang quickly, and Duke thought he'd be able to get out with relatively little trouble.

As the four of them piled in—Mrs. Wheeler in the passenger seat and Joey and Serenity in the back—Joey whispered to Duke over the front seat, "Dude, how'd you do that? With my mom I mean?"

Duke chuckled. He didn't have to ask what his friend meant: Mrs. Wheeler struck him as the type to make first impressions very quickly, and he knew that his ponytail, earring, and general punkish appearance would do little to gain the woman's much-needed trust. He was driving her home after all, and would likely be dating her daughter soon if he could just get Tristan out of the way, so he really didn't need her disliking him. However...

"Joey," he whispered back, taking care not to let Mrs. Wheeler hear, "You don't get to be a teenage entrepreneur without learning to be a politician too."

The blond pulled a face, then sat back in his seat, trying not to laugh.

-o-

Tristan Taylor's family's apartment wasn't their usual meeting spot but, barring Duke's store, it was the place that was the least damaged from last night's earthquake. Tristan was there already (his bike was fast, and he prided himself on his knowledge of backroads), and Duke had arrived at their pre-arranged meeting place with Joey, Serenity, and Mrs. Wheeler in tow soon after. Everyone had checked in with the status of their homes. Yugi's roof had completely caved in shortly after the glass window fell, though they were covered by Gramps' small-business insurance. Most of what they'd have to pay for was simply water damage from the rain. What little they could salvage from Téa's house was currently packed into several suitcases; she would be staying with Tristan's family, probably in his sister's room, until her parents could be contacted. Ryou still hadn't checked his own apartment yet, though his father had been called from his flat across town, and he was fine.

Mrs. Taylor was, they were all pleased to find out, a jovial woman, round and rosy, with Mesoamerican somewhere in her ancestry. She had greeted the lot of them with steaming mugs of hot chocolate on a tray, and Mrs. Wheeler seemed incredibly relieved to finally be in the presence of a competent and rational adult. Maybe it was just due to that fact, but oddly enough, the pair of them seemed to get along as friends almost immediately, and were kept busy conversing in the kitchen nearly the rest of the day.

Duke shifted uneasily, trying to look casual about the plastic grocery bag he had brought in from his car, and looked pointedly at the others, nodding in the direction of an empty room. Tristan took the hint and guided everyone (minus the adults of course) into the unused rec room, where everyone made themselves comfortable on the couch or the floor. Serenity stuck very close to Joey.

"What's up, Duke?" Yugi asked when the door was closed.

Duke, now that his mask for the adults was gone, looked more nervous than Yugi had seen him in his life. "This," he said quietly, pulling something out of his pocket. It was a tiny package wrapped in cloth, which he held in one hand and carefully unwrapped with the other. The tiny green stone revealed inside it was glowing softly, and pulsating as though alive.

"Holy shit!" Joey shouted, backing up against the wall.

"Shh!" Duke shushed him, hastily covering the stone and glancing at the door. No one came in.

Joey stared at his friend in shock. "Where the hell did you get that thing?" he asked in a strained whisper.

Tristan was also staring. "That wasn't what I think it was..."

Ryou and Serenity both frowned, feeling slightly out of the loop. "Whatever it was," the redhead asked, "do you guys mind filling us in on it?"

"Remember what we were telling you guys about that summer we spent in America, and the stuff that happened there?" Joey said. Both Ryou and Serenity raised their eyebrows in surprise.

Duke pulled out the package again, this time setting it on the floor in the center of the group. "It's Orichalcum," Yugi whispered. "But how did you get it?"

"It was inside of this," Duke said, pulling out a circular package from the plastic bag and unwrapping that as well. Everyone looked leerily at the snake design and clawed hand. The entire thing radiated creepy.

Yugi frowned. "Isn't that..."

"My dad's old board game, yeah."

"You still have it?" Yugi asked.

Duke nodded. "The firemen found it while you were in the hospital those few days, completely unharmed. I just never got around to tossing it, I guess."

Ryou, who remembered this story only vaguely, asked, "But what's that game have to do with anything?"

"It was right here," Duke said, pointing at the dead center of the game, where a winding snake formed its spiral path. There was a small hollow underneath the chipped-away paint of the snake's eye where the stone had previously sat. "That's where I found the rock. It was covered by the paint, but some of it must have chipped off when it fell from the shelf in my closet during the earthquake."

Yugi frowned, staring at the rock piece with an odd look.

"That's not even all of it..." Duke continued.

Joey shot him a look. "You mean there's more of these things?"

"That would actually make sense," Yugi said quietly.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Well," said Yugi, feeling slightly self-conscious, "Dartz told us the Oricalchos stones were flung up from the earth by a volcano ten thousand years ago, and fragments of it were scattered all over. It makes sense that pieces were picked up over the years and put into jewelry or architecture without anybody knowing what they actually were. I mean, they're a natural part of the planet's core—shards could have traveled all over the world, and there's no way Dartz could've collected them all."

Tristan and Ryou glanced at each other. "So these stones could be anywhere?" Ryou asked.

"I don't think anywhere," said Yugi. "Maybe in some really really old artifacts or buildings, or in wild, forgotten places in the middle of nowhere, but that's about it. Definitely nowhere industrialized anyway, not unless it was miles underground or accidentally embedded into cement or something..." Tentatively, using only two fingers, Yugi leaned forward and picked the jewel up. He held it in front of his face and eyed it critically. It was really very small, only about half the size of his little fingernail. "Dartz never said how big the original piece was, but how many could there be? Doma had a ton of stones in its possession, so there can't be many left."

Duke frowned, wondering vaguely why the stone didn't zap Yugi as it did him. "Facinating though this bit of exposition is," he said, "that's not what I was referring to."

"Hm?" said Yugi, glancing upward at him.

"I've got one more thing to show you guys..." A third package was brought out, this one much more ordinary than the other two. It was a simple manila envelope with Duke's name and address typewritten on the front. "It was waiting for me when I got home last night," said Duke, "along with an e-mail saying that I had to get the envelope to you. The e-mail was from Pegasus, and I'm guessing the package is as well."

"Pegasus?" Joey groaned. "Figures. We always get some kind of warning when something insane's about to happen. This one just came a little late."

"That man's always involved somehow, isn't he?" Ryou mused.

"He involves himself," Tristan muttered. Duke refrained from commenting out of loyalty to his patron, but couldn't help but agree.

Serenity leaned forward, eager to get a look. "Open the package, Yugi!"

Cautiously, Yugi split open the sealed flap and peered inside. He blinked. "Well it's definitely not a video tape," he said dryly, and dumped the package's contents onto the floor.

Littering the carpet were photographs. Dozens of them, depicting different stone temples of enormous size and scale. Great panoramas of scenery and jungle surrounded the giants of architecture, the tall trees dwarfed in the presence of the ancient structures. Some photos were close-ups of the magnificent detail work on the stone, upraised patterns casting shadows in what appeared to be lamplight. Others were views of long hallways or corners of rooms, every surface of their walls carved with murals. As they shifted through the pile of photographs, one in particular caught Téa's eye...

"Hey Yugi," she said softly, picking the photo up. "Does this picture look familiar?"

Yugi leaned over too examine it, and his eyes widened as he nodded. A great stone door covered in Egyptian writing, with an enormous Eye of Wadjet crowning the upper third. He would never forget that image...

Tristan leaned over as well. "Hey, I recognize that," he said. "That's the photo the Ishtars sent us before we all left for Egypt."

"The Door to the Afterlife," Yugi whispered.

"Hey guys," said Serenity, who was still sorting through the pile, "There's a note in here too." She unfolded the small card and frowned. "A very short note."

Duke looked over her shoulder. "It's a URL," he stated. He looked at Tristan. "You guys got a computer?"

"My sister's got a laptop I can hijack," the brunette replied. "She keeps it here for when she visits on weekends, but I know her password."

"Go get it then."

Tristan hopped up and strode down the hallway, and soon returned with a bulky and outdated but nonetheless usable laptop computer. He sat down on the floor with everyone and there was a small whirrr-ing sound as the machine came to life. "Gimme that note," he said, holding out a hand.

Duke complied, and Tristan blinked at the odd-looking string of characters. "You sure this is a URL?" he asked skeptically. "It doesn't even say www..."

"It's a URL," Duke assured him. "Trust me, there's more than one world-wide web. Pegasus might have bought a government site for all we know."

Tristan shrugged and carefully keyed the complicated address into a web browser, checking it twice before hitting Enter. After a moment of silence as the computer searched for the requested site, a relatively simple image appeared on the screen: in front of a sky-blue background, several winged horses were shown in various poses of flight, all flying around what looked to be an impenetrable fortress with a steel door. In the center of the screen was a small text box with a prompt asking for what was apparently the password to enter the site.

"Any ideas, anyone?" Tristan asked them.

"He wouldn't want to make it too hard," Téa pointed out. "Try Pegasus."

He did. A large red DENIED flashed across the screen, and the web browser exited itself. "He wouldn't want to make it too easy, either," Joey muttered.

"Try Alcatraz," Duke suggested as Tristan brought the page up again. "I know that program; he used that password for it before."

DENIED. The group let out a collective sigh. "I suppose it could be Millennium or some variation," Ryou mused.

"We don't even know if this thing is case sensitive," said Duke. "We could try different combinations of any of our ideas for hours and not get anywhere."

"Maybe the answer's in the photographs?" Serenity guessed, paging through the numerous pictures again.

Joey picked up a few pictures as well. "If that's the case, we'll never get it. We don't even know what this stuff is."

"The carvings look vaguely Aztec or maybe Mayan," said Téa, squinting at the indistinct images, "but I have no idea what they actually mean."

Yugi furrowed his brow, then took the laptop from Tristan and studied the background carefully. "I don't think the clue is in the photos," he said. "First off, there's too many of them for there to be a clue to something as simple as a password. And the photos don't have anything in common with the picture on the screen either. I think the answer is somewhere on the screen. Something only we would get the reference to."

"Well we already tried Pegasus," said Tristan, pointing to the various flying horses.

"Yeah, but everybody knows that reference," Duke said with a dismissing wave. "It's his name; anybody could guess that. What's something only we know?"

Serenity looked over Yugi's shoulder and studied the scene carefully, taking in detail as only one with new sight could. "What about that one?" She pointed to one of the flying horses set further to the back. It was difficult to make out, but it appeared as though that pegasus was wearing a saddle and bridle. Except there was no rider.

Yugi looked thoughtful for a moment, then typed in seven letters.

C-E-C-E-L-I-A

The graphics changed. All the winged horses fled as the scene panned forward to the castle door. The door opened, the castle disappeared, and everyone's eyes widened at the image inside.

"Anybody have any clue what that is?" Joey asked.

The group stared at the haphazard jumble of oversize black and white pixels and remained silent.

"It almost looks like it's out of focus or something," Serenity mused.

A thought struck Duke, and he pulled the computer into his own lap and fiddled with the internet browser's settings. When he was done and the screen refreshed itself, Duke grinned proudly and showed his friends the edited image. "It was just zoomed in really far," he explained. "This is the real picture."

The real picture was a black and white painting of a snake, and Yugi was eerily reminded of Duke's father's board game. The snake was twisted into a circle and biting its own tail. There were wings growing on either side of the snake's head, and in the center of the circle its body made was an odd little sketch: a sideways figure eight, cut lengthwise with a long slash, with three dots around the design, two above and one below. The snake itself was very well done, every scale standing out in detailed perfection. Yugi recognized Pegasus' artwork almost immediately.

Joey asked what they were all thinking. "...The fuck is this supposed to mean?"

He recieved a sharp punch in the arm from Téa for swearing. "I'm serious!" he protested. "Pegasus goes to all that trouble to send Yugi a message that he obviously doesn't want anyone else to see—or even to know that he sent in the first place, seeing how he used Duke as a go-between—and it turns out to be his latest drawing?"

"There's no way that this is it," said Duke, his eyes glancing around the page for some kind of clue, but finding none. "There's gotta be something here; he doesn't just do this for no reason..."

"Wanna bet?" the blond muttered.

Duke bit his lip, then pulled the flash drive from his keychain and saved the image file on it. "Whatever it is," he said, pocketing the drive again, "it's on here now. We can figure it out later, I think."

"Yeah," said Tristan. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm bushed."

Téa glanced at her watch. "Actually, it's not even noon yet..."

"And I'm gonna sleep 'til noon tomorrow. Got a problem with that?"

Ryou laughed weakly. "Yeah, seriously. Did anyone here actually sleep in the past twenty-four hours?"

Serenity raised her hand shyly. "I did, but..."

"But you needed it, Serenity," said Téa.

"We all need it," Yugi interrupted. "So let's all get some rest. We can figure all this stuff out in the morning."

-o-

It hadn't taken long for Ishizu to pull a few strings with the Egyptian government to get digging rights for this site, and even less time for Marik and Odion to put together an architectural team to help dig out the debris. It had taken the better part of the next day to dig in as far as the they had, but there was a reasonably clear path from the back door in the cliff-face behind the town, all the way to the back of the Shrine.

A lot had happened to the Shrine of the Underworld in just four months. Swinging his flashlight beam around, Marik noted several stalagmites growing amongst the rubble from the explosion, and his keen ears picked up the sound of water dripping, likely from the wells of the above town of Luxor. There was even some lichen growing in a few of the more isolated corners.

"Are we sure this is the right place?" asked Odion. It was eerily silent, and his deep voice was echoed and distorted. "It seems like it hasn't been visited in centuries."

Millennia, thought Marik. Maybe it's what would have happened to this cave, were it not for magical preservation. Now that the magic's gone, the cave has reverted to its original state.

"This is the spot," Marik said, peering around a corner to the end of the cave. "Odion, make sure they get those pillars set up by the entrance." No sense in getting ourselves crushed... "And send Ishizu down here once the tunnel's been declared safe."

The tall guardian nodded briefly, then backtracked toward the entrance of the makeshift tunnel.

Marik, alone once again, turned slowly toward the back of the cave. Unlike the narrow tunnel leading up to it, the actual Shrine hadn't really sustained much damage, either from the explosion of power from four months ago or the earthquake from yesterday. He looked around, panning his flashlight all around the spacious room. Likely the reason for the protection was the great Doors that took up most of the back wall—a large crack ran up the middle of one, and the damaged half had apparently fallen forward just in time to catch and support the collapsing ceiling. A good thing it had too, or Luxor might have turned into a giant sinkhole. Out of curiosity, Marik peered cautiously behind the broken Door, searching first with his flashlight, then with his hand, to see what was behind it.

Solid rock.

Of course it's solid rock, Marik thought bemusedly. But then... what was Shadi all hyped up for? The Shadow Realm's still closed.

Light footsteps behind him, along with another flashlight beam, warned him of his sister's approach. He turned and saw Ishizu, Odion following dutifully behind her. Marik marveled at the big man's ability to be completely silent, something Marik had never really gotten the hang of. Actually, the blond often made it a point to be noisy in overly quiet situations; the silence made him nervous sometimes.

"Ishizu, look at this," he said, indicating the thoroughly ordinary, if broken, Door. "There's nothing here. No Shadows, no magick, no nothing."

Both his siblings frowned. "It would seem," Ishizu said, looking carefully at the architectural marvel, "that the spell put in place here has simply vanished. But that can't be right..."

"Spell?" Marik inquired.

The Egyptian woman closely examined the detailed hieroglyphs decorating the Door. "The Seal on the Darkness. The one that keeps the Shadow Realm from running rampant in our own world. Do you see this here?" Ishizu pointed to a particular glyph, a sort of sideways figure-eight. It had a slash cut through it, lengthwise. "Spells need to be cyclical in order to work, otherwise the energy built up simply drains off and goes nowhere. This is the knot on the end of the spell, the one that ties all the magick in place. It's been slashed."

"But all the other cracks are vertical," Odion observed. "This one is nearly horizontal."

"Exactly," said Ishizu. "Meaning that it was no accident that this glyph was broken."

"So is the Seal broken as well?" Marik asked, frowning.

Ishizu began looking at the other glyphs, tracing them lightly with her slender fingers. "No..." she said at last. "This spell isn't the one tied to the Seal, this is the one that put the Door in place."

"Well we already knew that spell was broken," Marik said, indicating the solid rock-face behind the broken Door. "This Door doesn't lead anywhere anymore." But if the Seal isn't here, then where is it?

"Yes, but look," Odion said quietly, bending over to peer at the damaged glyph. "Look at the way this natural crack crosses over the slash. The real crack is deeper than the deliberate one, and goes sideways a little before continuing upward... which means that the spell was broken before the earthquake."

Marik blinked. "Which earthquake? The one last night?"

"The one just after Yugi defeated the Pharaoh."

"But how could that have happened?" Ishizu questioned. "The explosion drove us all out almost immediately. Even if they had the proper knowledge, there was no way anyone would have had time to find just the right glyph necessary to break the spell."

All three were silent as the full implications of the situation came upon them.

"Atem did this?" Marik whispered.

"Likely right as he was leaving." Odion nodded. "He caused the shrine to collapse upon his departure."

"But why?" Ishizu asked no one in particular.

Marik turned to stand over the yawning pit in the floor just in front of the non-functional Door. His flashlight barely reached the depths of the great canyon, but a tiny golden gleam winked back at him from somewhere in the darkness. "That's what we're here to find out."

-o-

"Actually guys," Joey shifted uneasily, "I've got something I gotta take care of. I'll be back in a bit..."

Serenity hadn't been happy about Joey leaving, but Tristan understood what he was after. Mrs. Wheeler was also suspicious, but there wasn't much he could do about that; he guessed she would always be wary around him, for one reason or another. But he'd put this off for long enough, and it was something he had to do alone.

It wasn't a long walk, even with all the detours he had to make around police lines and temporary camps. He'd long since memorized the way there and back, but it was a strange experience. The difference between the scenery and atmosphere of night and day was a little overwhelming; it was hard to believe he was traveling in the same general area. The sunlight streaming down between the rooftops seemed unusually bright compared to the living darkness of last night. Also, the skyline had changed since yesterday—his own building wasn't the only one that had collapsed, and he'd heard on the news that there was an investigation going on about the contractors of those buildings. Cutting corners in earthquake security was a heavy crime.

Along the way he passed various landmarks that were so familiar and yet so different. The police box near the corner of his street was no longer barely occupied but a meeting house that was continually shuffling occupants. People went in and out like it was a passing house or something; no one stayed for long, and everyone who went in bore grim looks on their faces.

Near the police box was a tree. Most of what little greenery that survived in this part of the city had been mutilated by the shaking, or else by the panicking mobs of people, but this one sheltered two children: a boy of about ten and what appeared to be his younger sister or cousin. Their parents were nowhere in sight, and the little boy held his younger friend protectively. His too-sharp gaze simultaneously warned people away and begged them to come and help them, but all the adults were busy with injuries or property damages.

Joey looked away.

He was still several blocks away from his destination when he began seeing the destruction. Most of the dust had settled, covering the street and sidewalk with a film of grey powder and what looked a bit like ash. Chunks of wood or mortar dotted the scenery in ever-increasing sizes. It wasn't long before he heard the sirens of ambulances and police cars at the scene. And rounding a final corner, there was no room for any more doubt: it was indeed his apartment building that had fallen.

Joey's legs walked him forward as though on auto-pilot, subtly increasing speed as he drew nearer to the main source of the wreckage. The teenager's mind was in a total lock—refusing to acknowledge what he was seeing and at the same time demanding confirmation. This wasn't real, this couldn't be real...

"Excuse me," he heard his voice ask as he approached a police officer surveying the damage and trafficking people around the area. "My dad lives here. Do you know if he's alright?" Joey had never had much luck talking to these guys, but the strangled voice in which he spoke made the cop look twice at him.

He spoke hesitantly. "So far we've only found three people alive at this site," he said in what was probably meant to be a tactful and professional voice. However, he only succeeded in sounding weary and frightened. Joey realized that this guy couldn't be too much older than he was. "There was a boy and his sister, and an elderly woman with a punctured lung. She's on her way to the hospital as we speak, though the paramedics didn't have high hopes. Everyone else was dead before we arrived."

Joey's eyes lost their focus as all strength suddenly seemed to drain out of his legs; he swayed on the spot for a moment before instinctively gripping the cop's arm for stability. Everything he knew, everything constant about the world he lived in was suddenly turned upside down.

What were the last words he'd spoken to his father?

He couldn't remember. In all the chaos and confusion and apprehension, he had forgotten precisely what had been said that fateful morning.

"Look, sir..." the cop was saying, "if you want I can take you to the morgue... They'll need you to identify his body..."

Somehow Joey was shaking his head. He swallowed and attemtped to speak, but no sound rose from his throat, so he settled for shaking his head again. Nothing he did could stop his hands from shaking along with it. The cop looked at him for a moment, then went back to his job.

It was in this state of mental paralysis that Joey found himself approaching the police box with the tree again. To his mild surprise, nothing had changed. People were still coming and going like bees in a hive. Some of the exact same people were still arguing with the officers inside. He realized it had only been a few minutes since he'd seen it last. A few minutes between entire lifetimes...

Those same two kids still sat under the tall maple tree. All its leaves had fallen for winter, but it was thick and sturdy, and the children huddled against it for what protection it could offer from the freezing December wind. Neither of them had a proper coat on, only thin jackets.

That guy called me 'sir,' was the first coherent thought Joey's mind threw up. It was something stupid and trivial to focus on, to use as a shield against what had happened, but for Joey it really was something extraordinary. When was the last time any sort of civil servant had spoken respectfully to a delinquent like him? Aside from Yugi's grandpa, any adult at all?

Without knowing precisely what he would do, Joey approached the two children by the tree. The boy tightened his grip on the girl in his arms, and she looked up at Joey fearfully. 'Don't come any closer!' his sharp eyes clearly said. Joey wondered what they'd been through to make them so mistrusting and hostile. He stopped moving.

Slowly, making it exaggeratedly clear that he bore no ill intent, Joey took off his jacket. It wasn't much better than what the children were already wearing, but it would be another layer, and it would keep them from catching pneumonia or something in this cold weather. Holding his hands palm-out, he placed the jacket a few feet away from the tree, then stood up straight, all the while looking the boy right in the eyes. They were a startling shade of grey, he noticed, cool and clear as the December sky above their heads.

Joey nodded once, then turned and walked away.

Not far from the tree was a side-street. Joey turned down it, though it was not the way he had come, pointedly not looking at the children behind him. However, once he was out of their line of sight, he stopped and peeked around the corner. There, looking at the coat in confusion, was the boy. After a moment of indecision, he slowly rose from his sitting position under the maple tree and, after glancing nervously in all directions as though fearing someone would steal back his prize, he quickly snatched the jacket from the street and hurried back to the girl. He gently wrapped her in the extra layer of clothing, and she smiled gratefully up at him.

One corner of Joey's mouth turned upward where he stood watching them. In all likelihood he hadn't really helped them much. Even if they were homeless—or were now anyway—someone would have picked them up eventually. There were places for kids like them to go for food and shelter, and with all the people running around, they certainly wouldn't have died. But in offering what small token of aid he could, Joey felt like the world had rightened itself a bit, like he had taken back some semblance of control over his life.

The walk back to Tristan's house wasn't a long one, but every step felt like the proverbial "journey of a thousand miles." Each footfall, an exact copy of the one before it, gave him something physical to focus on, and allowed him to take another step further. Walking home was something he had to do too.

After all, someone had to inform the rest of his family.

"It's not mine."

"Of course it's your's, Master!"

Marik shook his head. "Not anymore, Odion. It simply doesn't want me."

The three Ishtars sat around a circular table in Ishizu's office back in Cairo. On the table were five golden Items, each bearing a variation of the same symbol: the Eye of Horus. The Puzzle, which was miraculously still intact, sat gleaming in the center, surrounded by the Scales, the Ring, the Rod, and the tiny Eye. The Millennium Necklace already sat around Ishizu's throat, and the Millennium Key, the only one of the seven that did not display the symbol, was presumably still with Shadi. Marik and Odion were both staring intently at the Millennium Rod.

"But..." Odion began, "how is it not your's?" The tall man rarely showed emotion, so to see him almost upset like this was disquieting for all three Tomb Keepers. "The Millennium Rod has been destined for you since birth!"

There were constants in life, things that never changed no matter where you went or what you did. One of Odion's constants was Marik—Marik Ishtar is under Odion's protection. Marik Ishtar is cunning, quick-witted, and resourceful. Marik Ishtar is impatient and occasionally rash. Marik Ishtar is essentially good-hearted. Marik Ishtar is the chosen bearer of the Millennium Rod.

Now one of those constants was shattered, and it left Odion feeling shaky and uncertain. What other sureties in life would prove false? What else was going to change?

He shook the disturbed feeling off as Ishizu began fiddling with her cell phone, apparently deep in thought. "Now there is another to whom the Rod has given its allegiance," she said quietly. "The one who called up its power unconsciously, not even holding it at the time. The one for whom it was destined all along." She put the phone down gently. "But it's not time to call him just yet."

Marik shrugged. He didn't want an Item anyway. In his experience, only those with strong hearts could wield them safely, and he was pretty sure he didn't qualify, whatever Odion thought of him. "So what do we do then?" he asked. "We got the Items out of the Shrine. Now what?"

Ishizu frowned, trying to get a clearer image from her Necklace. But all she could see was an explosion of darkness, followed by an even bigger explosion of light. Occasionally there were flashes of familiar faces or glimpses of an animal of some kind, but nothing too specific could be made out. Finally she gave up for the time being. "Shadi said we had to make sure the 'new king' was prepared for whatever is ahead," she said. "I assume he was referring to Yugi."

Marik leaned against the wall, too restless to be sitting down. "So we get the Items to him, then?"

The female keeper placed her head in her hands, trying desperately to get more information. An expression of pained concentration crossed her brow as pictures flashed rapidly across the landscape of her mind like a movie without sound. Yes, there were definitely auras of golden light around what few faces she could make out, light that was generally associated with the power of the Millennium Items. "I think so. So far that seems to be what happens." She straightened with a frustrated sigh. "The only thing I can tell for certain is that the Items will find their chosen bearers once again, and that a journey will be taken. Everything after that is blocked."

"Can you tell where this journey leads?" Odion asked.

Ishizu was silent for a moment. "...West."

Marik snorted. "That's helpful..."

The woman shot her brother a glare. "No one would appreciate solid answers more than I would, Marik."

Marik was silent for a moment, internally kicking himself for once again letting his own annoyance at their situation make him behave like a jerk. However, he did not say anything to that effect, instead sitting back down in the unused chair. "Then let's take it one step at a time," he said, suddenly all business. "First, the Items have to go to their bearers. The Puzzle, Ring, and Rod are obvious..." The blond indicated each of the Items in turn. "...but we don't even have an idea of whom the Scales belong to. And Pegasus evidently has a habit of periodically dropping off the face of the Earth, because no one I contacted could find a trace of him."

Despite the frustrating news about Pegasus, Ishizu allowed herself a small smile, knowing that being useful was her brother's form of apology.

"Meaning the Eye is unclaimed?" Odion asked skeptically. "Or will it not be used at all? That seems to be the fate of the Scales, at any rate."

Ishizu sat forward again, leaning on her knees. "Everything's up in the air right now," she muttered, almost to herself. "Once we take these Items to Japan, the die will be cast, and will fall where it may. Everything following that moment will be out of our hands."

Her brothers hesitated in responding, and Ishizu didn't blame them. None of the Ishtars liked to feel out of control; almost their entire lives were based around events that none of them, not even Ishizu, could have foreseen. They had finally achieved some sort of autonomy in their new lives—of the Tomb Keepers but not beholden to them—but it seemed they were not destined to turn their backs on the desert's most powerful secrets just yet.

"Come," she said, standing up. "It is time for us to leave."

-o-

The next several days seemed to fly by in some ways, and crawl by at a snail's pace in others. With no more intelligence on the photos or the painting than they already had and long-distance communications cut, Pegasus' infuriatingly cryptic message went unsolved during this time. Instead, the group focused their attentions on a much more pressing matter: recovery.

Yugi's mother had rushed home from Tokyo the second the roads were cleared, very nearly hysterical and immensely relieved that her small family was alright. Tristan's older sister Hitomi and her fiancé had called from their flat in Shibuya the day after Mrs. Mutou arrived to say that they would be coming home as well. Téa, determined not to be a burden on the Taylors, elected to move into Duke's house when Hitomi arrived, but Mrs. Taylor would have none of it. She was accustomed to a large household, she said, and rather missed the noise when her daughter moved out and Mr. Taylor's parents passed away. It was a tiny bit crowded in the apartment—the family dog, an active German Shepard named Blankey, seemed to take up the space of three people all by herself!—but Mrs. Taylor seemed to get renewed vigor from all the people in her home.

Mrs. Wheeler wasted no time in making a surprisingly brief trip to the morgue to identify her ex-husband's body. The entire time she was very cool about the situation, ignoring attempts of comfort for her loss as though it were no loss at all, as though she were determined to finally close that chapter of her life. In many ways, Joey couldn't blame her. In many ways, he wished he could be as dispassionate. Serenity's memories of her father were few and blessedly vague, and she was only affected by the news inasmuch as it apparently upset her brother, even if she couldn't quite understand precisely why he was upset. Solomon, of course, had immediately offered the blond a home when he heard the news. Technically Joey would have gone to live with his next of kin, his mother and sister, but since he was eighteen he had the option of staying in Domino if he so chose. Solomon thought of his protégé as family anyway, and Yugi's mother didn't have any problems with it. Joey hadn't made an official decision as of yet, but the old gambler had a feeling he would choose to stay.

The storm from that night seemed to have broken the cold spell the city was under, because the temperature increased dramatically. It was still cold out, but no longer impossibly frigid. Little by little, Japan was picking itself up and dusting itself off, and it was illustrated in such scenes as Solomon, Yugi, and Duke helping each other clean out the Kame Game Shop (the latter of the two teenagers having been shuffling between all his friends' houses, since he had so little to do with his own). Solomon now knew about the Orichalcum Duke had found, as well as the mysterious reappearance of the Spirit of the Ring. Shortly after the Wheelers had arrived at Tristan's apartment, Solomon had confronted the children privately and gotten them to tell him everything.

"It's weird," Duke said as they worked, "but it all sort of makes sense. We were never able to get Dad actually diagnosed with bipolarism, even though I was certain he had it, simply because he didn't act bipolar whenever we went out. I always thought he was just being an ass around me, but it all was because of the game. Because of a little chunk of rock..." He trailed off for a moment, thinking of everything that went wrong in his father's life—and, by extension, his own life—before shaking the dark thoughts away. His father was safely locked away in a mental asylum, and had been for almost a year now. He picked up an ancient-looking game, a ceramic jar tied to a box and covered in numerous seals and sutras. "It's amazing none of this stuff got looted," he said "It's gotta be worth a small fortune, the stuff you've got stashed back here."

Solomon hastily took the rather volatile game from the younger's hands—the history of the Chinese Dragon Cards game was even longer and bloodier than that of Duke's board game—and chuckled once it was safely away. "I don't know if it's luck or something else," he said with an easy grin, "but we rarely have too many problems. The Fates just seem to be on my side!" Though it's possible that people stayed away because of that Darkness thing... he thought to himself. The elder recalled the odd scene he had come home too the first day after the earthquake: police and civilians simply shuffled on by, not even noticing the Game Shop, almost as if the place had ceased to exist for them. Solomon had to literally point the building out to a young officer to get him to include it in the census he was taking. After that there were no problems with anyone, but it had been a decidedly awkward experience.

"Save your talk of fate for ghost stories, father," said a gentle voice. Mrs. Mutou appeared in the doorway of the storeroom they were cleaning up, holding a pot of hot chocolate and several mugs. Her heart-shaped face was schooled into the stern but nonetheless amused expression she always bore when attempting to turn a discussion away from the supernatural. With an indulgent half-smile, she handed the pot to Yugi, who inhaled the aroma with a grateful sigh.

"You're the best, Mom," he said with a radiant smile, and embraced her in a one-armed hug.

The red-haired woman smiled more broadly, proud to have raised such a dutiful boy. Getting to be less and less of a boy of late, though... "Why don't you all take a break for a while?" she suggested kindly. "I know you're tired, and I could use the peace and quiet. The three of you make quiet a racket, you know."

Solomon smirked at his overly-practical daughter. "You should learn to make more noise, Sarah. If you didn't put our meals on the table I'd forget you lived with us!"

Sarah Mutou rolled her eyes. "You'd also starve."

Yugi stifled a giggle. It was an exchange his mother and grandfather were fond of, but for him it never got old.

"Hey," Duke piped up, "If we're taking a break, I'm all for it." And he promptly stood up and took his own mug off to the kitchen. Almost as an afterthought, he stuck his head back around the doorframe. "You guys coming or what?"

Yugi shook his head in amusement and followed his friend to the kitchen. Solomon shrugged at his daughter-in-law and walked after them. Sarah simply smiled and went back to the laundry. The men in her life were an odd bunch, but she wouldn't trade her life for anything.

Duke was already at the small television set situated on the kitchen counter, searching for a good news station. Yugi and Solomon sat down at the table with their mugs, the legs of their chairs making squeaking sounds against the newly-mopped floor.

"Ah, who says you can't enjoy the finer things in life?" Solomon said with a small sigh. "If there's anything finer than hot chocolate after a hard day's work, I haven't found it yet."

Duke smirked as though he could think of several finer things, but the news report caught their attention.

"Disaster has hit the southern half of Japan. Unseasonable magma activity in the Ring of Fire has caused an hour-long earthquake that brought the entire island chain to it's knees. From Domino City in the south and as far north as Osaka and Kyoto, buildings have toppled, trees have been uprooted, and a lightning storm coupled with gas leaks have caused house fires in uncountable homes. As of yet, the body count is nine hundred fourteen and rising. Reports of mass hallucinations and ringing ears during the disaster have conspiracy theorists running wild, but as of yet, no one has stepped forward to validate these claims..."

All three were silent for a moment, steam rising from the mugs clutched in their hands. "It's amazing how... detached they can make it sound," Solomon said softly. "No matter how long you live, no matter where you go, people always look at tragedy with that same indifference, that same apathy. They just think, 'Oh, how terrible,' and go right back to eating their dinner."

"Reporters are trained to be unbiased, Mr. Mutou," said Duke.

"What's there to be biased about? There's no two ways to feel about something like this!" Solomon sipped his chocolate and shook his head. "When people are trained to be emotionless in one situation, it invariably affects everything they look at. There's no reason for objectivity when there's only one way to see a total tragedy."

Yugi thought about some of the people he'd met in the past few years, and thought that might explain some things. "Still," he said quietly, "if you feel everything with the same kind of passion as if you were there, if you empathize with every tragedy so completely... there'd be no room for anything happy."

Solomon looked at his grandson carefully. "Yugi, that's not like you."

The duelist shrugged. "I'm just telling you how they feel about it."

"But you think they're wrong."

Another shrug. "You can't always save the world." Belatedly he realized the irony of that statement and giggled.

Duke was looking into space, uncharacteristically pensive. "We might have to, though."

The smile fell from Yugi's face as he leaned back in his chair, eyes unfocused as though lost in thought. "Yeah, it usually does fall to us," he said softly.

Falls to you, you mean, Duke thought, but did not say it aloud. I wonder why that is...

They all jumped at a light knock on the doorframe. "Yugi," said Mrs. Mutou, sticking her head in the door, "you have some more company."

Yugi raised his eyebrows. As far as he knew, all his friends were busy with their own homes and families. Téa and Joey were the exceptions, but his mother wouldn't bother introducing them if they came over; they'd just walk right in. The same applied to most of his friends, really, so who could be here? "Who?" he asked.

At that, a familiar platinum-blond head peeked around the door, followed by lavender eyes and a wry smirk. "Is it me," the figure asked as he set eyes on Yugi, "or have you gotten taller?"

"Marik!" Yugi jumped up to greet his friend, eyes alight. "What are you doing here? How've you been?"

The Egyptian firmly clasped Yugi's hand. "Been good for the most part. I hear you guys got hit by an earthquake?"

Duke moved to stand with them, matching Marik's smirk with one of his own. "Didja hear that on the news or see it out the window?"

The two exchanged a handshake and a grin. "Travel was a nightmare," Marik continued. "Even with Ishizu's connections, since it's so close to the holidays we had to lay over twice before we finally reached the Tokyo airport. From there it was two buses and a taxi down here to Domino, since all waterways and most flights are closed down after the earthquake and we couldn't bring my bike on a plane on such short notice. And don't even get me started on traffic..."

Odion trailed in after his charge, carrying a large steel briefcase in one hand and chuckling softly. "Such colorful language you used there too, Marik. Ishizu would have been cross with you."

The blond rolled his eyes. "What can I say? I have very little patience for morons."

Odion's mouth twitched upward in a half-smile. "You have very little patience, period."

"Speaking of Ishizu," Yugi said as Solomon waved them all into the living room, "where is she? Isn't she usually with you?"

"Sister's on an errand," Marik waved dismissively, "but that brings me to the purpose of our visit." His eyes suddenly turned serious. "Yugi, would you mind gathering everyone together? Most likely this will involve all of you, and I'd really prefer to tell this story only once..."

-o-

I. Hate. Lawyers.

Joey repeated that mantra again and again in his mind, and occasionally aloud, as he walked home with his sister. The majority of the morning and all of the afternoon had been just a few flames short of hell. He knew that the adults would likely spend hours with lawyers (the legal aftermath of a disaster was infinitely more complicated than the physical), but Mrs. Wheeler was the only one who needed her children with her on these visits. Not that she wanted to bring them, far from it, but apparently there were a few things that Joey, as a legal adult, needed to know.

"Apparently, Mr. Wheeler, your father left you a sum of money in his will..."

Joey still couldn't quite comprehend that statement, and it took several repetitions before it started to sink in. It wasn't the thought of his father possessing any measurable amount of cash that threw him for a loop, oh no. It was the fact that he hadn't immediately spent it, that the man showed any degree of foresight, that Joey had previously relegated to the side of reality labeled "Impossible." 'Course, that list had grown shorter and shorter in the past few years—about the only things on it now were flapping your arms and flying, two plus two equaling five, and Yugi actually getting mad at someone—but still! His father had money? Joey found himself quite unable to speak for the remainder of the meeting, which probably worked out for the best. The jackass they'd gotten for a legal representative treated all three of them with thinly veiled disdain, Joey in particular with outright condescension—hence Joey's newfound hatred of lawyers. Pompous bastards. For once he blessed his mother's unyielding stubbornness, or nothing would've gotten done.

As it turned out, the money was in an account that was opened only a week previously. A situation, the lawyer took great pleasure in snidely informing them, that put the sole recipient of the cash in a rather suspicious light. "Murder by natural disaster," Joey had growled sarcastically. "That's a new one." Following that, the guy seemed more determined than ever to follow every rule and code, no matter how insignificant or unrelated to the situation. They wouldn't even know how much was actually in the account for another few weeks, there was that much red tape to go through. It was originally only going to be a few days, until Joey pointed out that he was just making more work for himself out of spite. Then the number magically tripled, owing to complications with other liability damages and insurance claims they had made.

Yeah, he really hated lawyers.

On the plus side, it kept his mother occupied, which meant he had Serenity to himself until further notice. They stood very close together as they walked home, side by side. Her hand was always right next to his, sometimes brushing it as they walked, as though waiting for him to reach out and put his own hand in it if he needed to. But he never did. This wasn't her problem and never should have been.

Suddenly, stopped. "Onii-chan," she said, "You remember our promise at the diner?"

Joey fidgeted and didn't meet her eyes. "Yeah..."

She stepped into his line of vision and forced him to look at her. "Why are you breaking your promise, Joey?"

He bristled momentarily, then relaxed. "Look Serenity, I know where this is going, but don't worry about me. Seriously. This is definitely something I can handle on my own." It's something I have to handle on my own... He continued walking. Tristan's apartment building was in sight, just down the street.

Serenity sighed in exasperation. Really, he could be so stubborn sometimes! She trotted gracefully after him. "You expect me to think that our father's death doesn't affect you at all? That this past week has been completely ordinary? C'mon, Joey..."

Joey continued walking, though inside he suddenly realized a supreme irony and almost stopped. Some of his amusement must have shone on his face though, because Serenity wrinkled her nose at him. "What's so funny?" she asked

The blond snorted slightly. "It's just that, I'm so used to having stuff thrown at me that's completely outside the realm of possibility, it's the little things in everyday life that are starting to confuse me. They're weird because they're completely normal." He shook his head, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. "So much for taking things in stride..."

Serenity looked like she was about to say something, when...

"Joey! Serenity!"

They looked around to see Téa jogging towards them. Serenity shot Joey her This Conversation Isn't Over face, then ran to greet their friend. "What's up, Téa?"

The brunette took a short moment to catch her breath. "I was just coming to find you guys. Yugi called, and he wants everyone to meet at his house."

Joey raised an eyebrow. "Not that I mind or anything, but what for?"

Téa bore a look that suggested she wasn't quite certain she believed the news herself. "Apparently... apparently Marik's back."

"Marik?" the Wheelers asked simultaneously.

Téa nodded. "Yugi said he's got something to show all of us. Tristan went to pick up Bakura at his apartment, and I went looking for you two. Duke's already there."

Joey and Serenity glanced at each other. "Why do I get the feeling that all that weird normalcy is about to go down the drain?" the girl asked.

-o-

Ryou Bakura's apartment was very white. The walls were white, the kitchen appliances were white. The carpet was off-white. Most of the furniture was brown, but those had been hand-me-downs from various relatives Ryou didn't know (and he was fairly sure they didn't want to know him). The whole apartment just came that way, and he'd never found the time or inclination to bother changing it. The only splotches of color were in the protective glass cabinet that stored his spare Monster World figurines, and the Monster World set itself, kept on display in the dining room. Ryou didn't have any use for an actual dining room.

He toured the rooms in wonderment—and suspicion. The lack of damage was... really weird, in it's own subtle way. Ryou's apartment wasn't too far from Joey's and Tristan's, so there ought to have been more damage than there was. But there was nothing. A few Monster World figurines had fallen over inside their protective glass case, and there were a few papers strewn about as though in a wind, but absolutely nothing was damaged.

The first thing he checked when he walked in the door was, of course, the lockbox under his bed, and he'd nearly sobbed in relief at the sight of the familiar sheaves of paper all bearing the same heading. Dear Amane... The letters to his sister were what finally drew him back here, loath though he was to visit alone. Even the words themselves relaxed him, and for a moment he could pretend that things were normal, that the rug wasn't about to be pulled out from under his feet again, that he had some small shred of control over his life.

All at once, a soft chuckling came from everywhere and nowhere, and Ryou froze in place, one hand over the box's lid. "You know," an ageless voice ghosted across his ears and spun into his mind, "when I said 'Don't go to sleep,' I only meant the one night."

The albino's heart raced, though he did his best to keep his breathing even. He shut the box's lid with a loud metallic clang. "You're not real."

The Voice scoffed. "You should know by now that denial of a thing doesn't make it any less real. Just ask Kaiba."

Ryou abruptly stood up and whipped around, but there was nothing there. Nothing was ever there. "What do you want from me?" he shouted to the empty air.

It might have been dust motes in the sunlight, if sunlight was black. Dark particles gathered from random points in space and congregated to one spot at the foot of the small bed like iron filings drawn to a magnet. They floated and piled upon one another until a vague lupine shape could be made out, standing as high as Ryou's chest on all fours. Gradually it became more distinct—patched and matted black fur melded and swirled with tendrils of shadow on a nonexistent breeze, and claws like ebony scythes could be seen protruding from disproportionately long limbs. The ears were oddly feline-based, but the overall shape was definitely that of a wolf.

The eyes appeared last, that same searing grey color he remembered from the night of the earthquake. And although they were set into an elongated animal's face, they were decidedly, surprisingly, human. Not surprisingly, they held a trace of a condescending sneer, and the wolf's jaw dropped open in a smirk. "Believe it or not," it said, "I want to help. Now why haven't you been sleeping?"

One part of Ryou's brain noted that the creature somehow spoke with actual mouth movements and vocal chords instead of mindspeech. Another part—a rather stronger part—noted that the animal's white teeth stood out very starkly among all the black fur. He shook off both startlements and put the lockbox back under his bed. "Take a guess," he muttered bitterly. Maybe if he didn't look at it, it would disappear...

The wolf snorted. "Don't tell me you're afraid of little old me." Ryou turned to reply, only to scramble backwards as the being that was over there was abruptly and inexplicably here. "You've got bigger problems, boy," it whispered dangerously, "and I'm not talking about the damn earthquake."

Ryou could feel the animal's breath on his face: hot, damp, and undeniably real. He started shivering. "L-Leave me alone," he whispered.

If wolves could frown in annoyance, this one did. "Believe me, I don't want to be here any more than you do. Now will you accept my help or not?" Somehow, the way he pronounced here didn't imply a location.

Almost on their own, Ryou's eyes drifted to a long, angular scar shaped like a double-barred cross under the wolf's right eye, and his breath caught. "You're... You're Tozokuoh, aren't you." It wasn't a question. "The Thief King."

The grey eyes narrowed, and the wolf backed up a few steps. "My name is Bakura."

"My name is Bakura," Ryou said angrily.

The wolf whipped around to snarl at the boy. "Bakura was my name long before you were even born, I think I'm entitled to it! You've got another name. Use it!" Then, inexplicably, some of the tension drained from it's posture, and when it spoke again, it's voice was less harsh. "Ra knows you're entitled to that, at the very least..."

The length of silence was interrupted by a knock at the door. Both of them automatically looked in the direction of the sound, but when Ryou looked back, the wolf was gone.

He heard the door open and someone walk in and shout, "Hey Bakura! You here?" Ryou dimly identified the voice as Tristan's. He was still staring at the spot that the wolf had vanished from when the brunette found him.

"Bakura," he said, sounding a little breathless. "C'mon. Everybody's meeting at Yugi's house, and I'm supposed to... You okay, man?" Tristan frowned at his friend's silence and eyed him cautiously. "You look really pale."

Ryou nodded mutely, then swallowed and allowed his easy-going mask to slide effortlessly into place. "I'm fine, Tristan," he said with a gentle smile. "You said Yugi called everyone over? We'd better get going, then."

Tristan looked at him suspiciously, not believing the cheerful act for a second. He'd developed a knack for telling when something was... off with their albino friend, and he knew that something had Ryou seriously freaked out. After a small internal battle, he sighed. "Yeah. Let's get going."

-o-

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Rebecca and her grandfather paced the halls of the Berkeley University library. Or rather, Rebecca paced. Arthur was apparently engrossed in the very same article the young prodigy had been reading before this whole mess started. Every once in a while she paused her repetitive journey to glare at the man, more than a little annoyed with his relative calmness. She was finding it difficult to wait in the same room, let alone sit quietly in one spot.

Officially, they were waiting for more test results on the black mass the satellite picked up to come back. Rebecca could care less about the satellite at this point. Every third trip up the hallway and back she hit the Refresh button on her internet browser, hoping against hope that a new e-mail notification would show up. Whenever it didn't, as she knew it would, she would lightly touch the Ties of Friendship card she always kept on her person and fight back the torrent of panic and worry yet again.

Yugi... The petite blonde bit back her tears, then rounded on her grandfather. "Couldn't we just... fly to Japan or something? Anything's better than all this waiting!"

The professor let out the smallest of sighs, then carefully folded the article and removed his glasses to look at his granddaughter. "Rebecca, I already checked that option. All flights to and from Japan are either completely booked or grounded until further notice. We only felt a tremor here, but across the world it was a doozy of a shake."

"But this stupid testing is useless!" she protested. "We don't even know what that black stuff was, and yet you insist on—"

"I am running scans on the satellite images," Arthur interrupted in the calmest of voices, "because the way the darkness moved reminded me of the Shadow Realm."

Rebecca's pacing came to a halt. She had noticed that too, and that was what was troubling her so deeply. But silence was unbearable—even the sound of her own feet against the hardwood floor was less disquieting! She bit her lip, and her pacing continued.

They both jumped (Rebecca considerably higher than her grandfather) at the sound of Arthur's ringing cell phone. The young duelist shot her grandfather a look as he answered it with all the fake cheerfulness she'd come to associate with him talking to colleagues who didn't really respect him. Couldn't he just tell them they were busy?

"Arthur," she heard faintly in a decidedly Irish voice, though the accent was colored with something she couldn't identify. "You would not believe the remarkable experience I've recently been through!"

"Lugh, you old goat!" Arthur exclaimed, fairly startling his granddaughter with his sudden excitement. "Just the man I wanted to hear from!"

The voice on the phone sounded amused. "Actually, I believe you're older than me..."

Arthur stood up, too excited to remain sitting. If anyone could help them with this mystery, he knew it would be the Irishman. "Never mind that," he said impatiently, "Where are you? What country?"

"Japan, actually. You see, I was riding on this subway when—"

"Wait a minute!" Rebecca interrupted loudly. "Your friend's in Japan?"

"Well, over Japanese waters if you want to get technical." It was not at all surprising to either Hawkins that this Lugh person could hear Rebecca's loud voice. "I had a plane seat reserved from before the quake hit, so my voucher got me the first flight out. I had been meaning to contact you for a while now, but I've just been so busy..." He paused. "By the way your friend over there mentioned Japan, Arthur, I imagine you want to talk about the recent earthquake?"

Much to Rebecca's surprise, Arthur began his own pacing as he spoke quietly into the receiver. "You know as well as I do that there was some powerful magick involved in that quake," he said softly.

The reply was just as quiet, almost too soft for Rebecca to catch. "Indeed..." Lugh said, sounding like Arthur usually did when he was thinking. "But that is precisely why I'm going to Guatemala, specifically to the site of the old Tikal ruins. I believe may have some answers for you already, my friend..."

Joey blinked, incredulity in every line of his face. "They fell up?"

Under any other circumstances, the blond would have fully expected Téa to smack him for making such an idiotic statement, but she was too preoccupied with her own shock to even register what the others were saying. Instead it was Tristan who elbowed him as Marik sighed.

"Look," the Egyptian stated tiredly, "don't ask me about the mechanics of it; Ishizu's the magick expert in the family. The most I can figure is that whatever power caused the earthquake intended to loosen the earth in the Shrine to release the Millennium Items."

Joey's eyebrows refused to come down out of his hair. "That still doesn't explain how they fell up."

"Hey," Duke said with a shrug, "When in doubt, blame magic. That's how it usually works, right?"

"But what's any of this got to do with us?" asked Tristan, voicing what the rest of them feared the answer to. "All this Millennium crap was supposed to be done and over with when the—when Atem left. What gives?

Marik rubbed the bridge of his nose as though nursing a headache. "Don't I know it. Odion'll tell you how less-than-thrilled I was when Shadi told us about all this. But the thing is, we got them out."

At this, Yugi's head snapped up. "What?"

Marik gestured to Odion, and the scarred man placed the briefcase he was carrying on the coffee table between them and opened it. A soft illumination spilled out from the open case, bathing seven disbelieving faces in a golden glow. Inside the case, innocent as the day and deadly as any blade, were five of the seven Millennium Items.

For a moment, no one spoke. No one moved for fear of breaking the spell. The sheer surreality of it all had left everyone present confused... and oddly frightened. The presence of Millennium Items always heralded something bad, and bad things were always accompanied by pain and loss. They had—barely—survived a massive earthquake that had left two of their number homeless, only to have this thrown at them so soon after? And... if the Items were back, did that mean...?

Eyes wide, hardly daring to breathe, Yugi reached a trembling hand toward the source of the glow... only to jump back in surprise as a loud clatter was heard behind them. Everyone turned.

Ryou Bakura had stood up abruptly, causing his folding chair to tilt back and crash to the floor. He was now staring at the Millennium Items—one Item in particular—with an expression of such fear and revulsion it was a wonder he was still in their presence and not already gone. He was shaking his head wordlessly, trying to say something but having nothing come out.

"No," he finally choked out. He started trembling violently as he continued to shake his head. "No."

Tristan's eyes widened as he seemed to realize something. "Bakura..."

"NO!" Abruptly, he turned and ran out of the room, causing the living room door to slam shut behind him. Yugi heard the tinkling of a bell that signaled Ryou's exit out the front door of the shop. He let out a shuddering breath, and everyone released a collective sigh with him. The moment was broken, but the problem was far from solved.

"Marik," the King of Games asked slowly, "Did Ishizu get any visions when she took back the Millennium Necklace? Did she see all of us... with the Items?"

The Egyptian was still staring after Ryou's exit with a kind of empathy only he could possess. I knew this was a bad idea... His gaze sweeping to Yugi, he nodded. "Sister saw all of the Items being used in a confrontation somewhere, though many of the details were pretty sketchy. I asked her once, apparently the most she usually gets is flashes of scenes or sometimes symbolic images that represent something else. But she said she definitely saw you and Bakura with the Puzzle and the Ring."

Yugi hesitated, then asked in a soft voice, "Did she say which me was using the Item, or which Bakura?"

Marik frowned thoughtfully. "You know, that question didn't even cross my mind."

Joey put a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder. "He's not coming back, Yug."

Yugi's mouth twitched upward in the half-smile he'd been using more and more often lately. "Yeah, I know. You don't need to worry, Joey." Then the smile faded, and the duelist put on what the others had come to recognize as his 'game face,' the look he always bore when he was strategizing. "But the Items weren't supposed to come back either. Why are they here now?"

"Maybe to counter something else that's not supposed to be here," Tristan mused thoughtfully. He too was staring after Ryou's exit.

Yugi looked at the contents of the case again. The five Items were cradled in foam rubber slots in a configuration much like that of the long-gone Millennium Stone, each with a distinctly familiar golden glow that seemed to crackle with static electricity. Slowly, cradling it as though it were something precious, the King of Games lifted the Millennium Puzzle from its slot and turned it over in his hands, examining every contour and seam. He frowned. "That's odd."

"What?" Téa asked, speaking for the first time since Marik's arrival.

"The piece on the front. It's the last piece to go in, so it doesn't really have anything holding it there, aside from the little weight on the back. It's always sort of clinked in place when the Puzzle moves and it'd slide out pretty easily if you hold it the wrong way. But look..." He slowly tilted the Puzzle face forward. Nothing happened.

Marik was nodding. "I noticed that too, when we were getting the Items out of the shrine. I even tried pulling the front piece off, but it wouldn't budge. My guess is the pieces were fused together somehow."

Yugi frowned again, unsure if he liked this development. "When?"

The Egyptian shrugged. "Could've been anytime, really. Four months is a pretty long while to sit in a mile-deep crevice underground, not to mention the conditions under which they—"

"—Fell up," Joey interrupted.

Marik rounded on the blond. "You're starting to annoy me."

Joey put his hands up, palm out. "I'm just sayin'..."

Téa tilted her head, having barely heard that last exchange. "Yugi?" The others followed her gaze.

Yugi was staring at the Puzzle again. "There's something else too..." he muttered softly, almost to himself. He slowly rotated the Item, looking at it first from the top, then each of the triangular sides, and then the very bottom tip, tracing the seams of the Puzzle pieces as he went. Suddenly, as his fingers brushed the Eye of Horus on the central piece, a slight spasm ran up Yugi's arm and he blinked in surprise. Duke tilted his head at the reaction, his green eyes unreadable. Serenity gave a little gasp. The glow the Puzzle gave off quickly shrank and finally faded altogether.

"I think..." Yugi trailed off as his throat closed up. He swallowed and tried again. "There's something I need to check," he said, positioning the Puzzle in his lap and relaxing his posture. "I've only ever done this when I was asleep, but I think I—" Abruptly, his voice died off and his eyes lost focus. Physically there was no difference to be seen, but something about Yugi suddenly had its back turned. Téa's eyes widened and she reached out to him, but Marik held up a hand, shaking his head and watching the gamer intently.

"It's not wise to disturb him in this state," Odion said quietly.

"What happened?" Serenity asked in a small voice. "The Puzzle sparked, and then it changed. And what happened to Yugi?"

Marik narrowed his eyes briefly, then sat back with a small sigh escaping him.

"He's in his soulroom."

-o-

Every feeling you've ever had resides in your soul. Every thought, every emotion, every tendency and memory. It's all there, collected and stored. The culmination of these feelings, a unique combination for each individual, makes up your personality. The concept of a soulroom is the visual representation of that personality, and it takes a particular state of mind to become aware of it. The connection between mind, body, and soul is strong, but buried deep in the subconscious.

The Millennium Items were designed to, among other things, uncover and foster that connection. Yugi "awoke," so to speak, in a familiar room painted in bright colors and illuminated by a light that seemed to come from everywhere. Shaking off the disorientation, he slowly sat up and observed his surroundings. Though the place was bigger than he remembered, just as many toys and games still littered the carpet in confused heaps. One corner was occupied by a small television set to which several different game consoles were hooked up. Just to the left of that lay a slightly dusty Kaiba Corp. standard duel disk, a copy of the Dark Magician placed on the tray in attack mode. Off to his right was a set of children's building blocks arranged to form a castle, on top of which sat a gaudy, oversized crown. And just behind that, on a high shelf that was a new addition to the room, was a silver cartouche on a pedestal (though from that height Yugi couldn't tell if it was blank or not).

The duelist looked down and discovered that, like all the other times he'd been in this room, the Millennium Puzzle was hanging from it's chain around his neck. Though, now that he'd been parted with it for some time now, he wondered why that was. Was the artifact such an intrinsic part of his identity that even his inner self wore it? He held the Puzzle in his hands, but nothing felt different or wrong about it. In many ways it was like re-discovering a piece of himself. But when had a piece of himself been lost?

Yugi blinked momentarily, then chuckled softly. Well that's a dumb question... he thought as he stood up.

Looking around, everything seemed to be in it's proper place. In fact, he realized with a frown, it didn't seem like anything at all had changed very much. After a moment the frown faded, and the duelist sighed. He had thought his soulroom would be different, somehow, but everything was still... Wait.

His eyes widened as he noticed something that should have changed, that couldn't still be here, but was.

The door. The door that supposedly led to the hallway between Yugi's room and... and his. It was angular, unadorned, and painted bright yellow, but unlike all the other times he had seen this room, the door was tightly shut.

Steeling himself—this was, after all, what he had come to verify—Yugi swallowed the lump in his throat... and opened the door.

His heart nearly stopped at the sight of what was on the other side. It wasn't the hallway, but it was something he knew just as well.

Stairways leading to nowhere. Corridors without end. Doors that open over the same room you stood in. The labyrinth of the Millennium Puzzle was nothing but a spiraling, convoluted mess of choices and hidden memories. You could run for miles and only get a stone's throw from where you started, or you could take three steps and never find your way home again. This place was dissonance, this place was confusion, this place was him. And it was now a part of the mind and soul of Yugi Mutou.

Yugi sat down. His legs wouldn't support him anymore.

What could this possibly mean? When he had touched the Puzzle, when that spark ran up his arm, Yugi had felt something fundamental inside him... sort of shift, as though a couple of jammed gears were sliding back into place. The only thing he could compare it to was the feeling he got when the light from the Wadjet Eye shined on him from all directions, separating the Pharaoh from his host. Something had changed in the Puzzle too, whatever happened to it since that day, but the shift feeling in Yugi invoked a similar feeling from the artifact, making it feel much more like it had when he first completed it—alive, somehow. Inert, but alive. It was that feeling that had made Yugi wonder: if the Puzzle was back, had its former occupant somehow returned with it?

Atem wasn't here; he knew that the moment he set foot in this side of his mind. And he wasn't sure whether he was supposed to feel disappointed or relieved. There was clearly something going on, something dark if his instincts were correct... but the appearance of the labyrinth brought its own set of questions. Before, there was a hallway separating the two spaces, but now it seemed as though Yugi's room was just another chamber in the maze. And that, more than anything, proved to the gamer that his journey was not yet over. The Pharaoh's labyrinth of choices had been passed down to his successor, along with the title "King of Games."

Gods, why me? he thought desperately. I never asked for any of this! I wished to make friends, not to save the world! And yet, even as he formed the thought, Yugi knew that he was kidding himself if he thought he could just ignore this and pray for it all to go away. He had seen for himself the kind of carnage and destruction the Millennium Items and the Orichalcos and even Duke's board game could do, and he knew he couldn't just leave dark powers like theirs unchecked. No one deserved the kind of fate the Shadow Realm would grant.

I'm not a hero, Yugi thought sadly. I'm not the one that comes running when destiny calls. That was always you, Atem, not me. Even thinking back to the night of the earthquake, Yugi recalled with shame how he had fallen to pieces in the presence of that weird darkness. That was just confirmation of what he already knew: he was still just as weak as he was in the Duelist Kingdom finals; he hadn't grown stronger at all. But even I know that that doesn't let me off the hook...

Looking around, Yugi couldn't help but stifle a helpless giggle: the outside of his soulroom door was just as bright, sunshine yellow as the inside, and looked hopelessly out of place in the amongst the aging, moss-covered bricks that made up the floor and walls. But the laughter had a hollow ring to it as it bounced and echoed and was swallowed up by the crushingly empty corridors, and swiftly died away.

"I fought the Ceremonial Duel to prove to both of us that I didn't need you, even though part of me always will." Yugi spoke aloud to the confines of his mind, finding stability in the vocalization, purely mental though it was. "But we all thought things would be more... normal after you were gone. And I can't help but think that, if you'd known what was coming, you wouldn't have left." He hesitated, fighting back the tears he had never before bothered to keep in check. "I... I'm not you. I can't do the things you did. But it's gotten to the point where that doesn't matter anymore. Bad things are happening again, and if I didn't at least try..."

Yugi took one last glance around the cavernous maze, looking fondly at the stone walls and identical doors. So many memories... but reminiscing could wait for another day. He turned back to his own door.

"I'll do my best to pick up where you left off, Other Me."

-o-

It was a while before Ryou finally stopped running. He wasn't entirely sure where he was running to, but running away seemed the only possible course of action. As he slowed, his breathing harsh and ragged, a part of him noted in surprise that no one had followed him. The rest of him snorted in mild disdain. Of course nobody followed him. Why should they?

He kicked a nearby trash can, an unusual display of anger and unhappiness. However, he felt that this show of emotion was much deserved, given the circumstances. The can was empty, and it made a sound like crashing thunder as it hit the brick wall of the alleyway.

This was the alley where he had first seen the shadow-wolf that night.

He didn't waste his time wondering why me; he'd had his fill of such a useless question years ago. Nor did he scream at the heavens and curse fate; he'd only done that once in his life, it was that far out of his disposition. He only sat down on the overturned can, drew his knees up to his chest, and sobbed out his heartache without making a single sound.

He felt so dirty. At this point he didn't know whether to call it uncleanliness or impurity (or whether there was a difference), but it was fast becoming moot point. Either way it just. Felt. Wrong. It had felt wrong from the beginning... no, before the beginning: the series of events that made him hold the Ring more and more dear as it seemed to become the last tie of affection his father would give him, little knowing that the same artifact was the cause of the separation. Passing out in random places and waking in deserted alleys just like this one with no memory of how he got there. Sometimes he awoke covered in bruises and cuts. Other times the blood was not his own.

An involuntary shudder crawled up his spine.

Did I do something to deserve this, or is it just my fate to be used? That thought was never far from Ryou's mind, even after four months of freedom. It was a remnant of his life in primary school and middle school, when the other children avoided him and gossiped about him when they thought he couldn't hear.

"I mean, he's kinda cute, but what's with the hair?"

"He can't be an albino; albinos don't have brown eyes."

"Didja hear about his mother though?"

"The fortune-teller?"

"Yeah, her. I heard she's a real witch. One of those Wiccans, y'know?"

"Wow. Really?"

"No kidding. And his father goes to these creepy Egyptian tombs in his spare time and touches gajillion-year-old corpses. There's weirdness all over his family."

"Wow... D'you think maybe he's cursed or something, and that's why he looks and acts so weird?"

"Maybe."

Ryou buried his head further into his arms, determined to blot out the memories. That kind of talk had followed him everywhere, and it had only increased when he started missing classes with no explanation. Switching schools and moving around the country hadn't helped either, it only increased the outlandishness of the rumors—some of which might even be true for all he knew.

Fate, though, was not something he had ever really believed in. Likely it was a remnant of his mother's teachings, but Ryou had always imagined Fate to be some kind of universal excuse. If people thought it was fate that something should happen, then they would just go along with it, not even trying to make their own choices. So whenever that is it my fate to be used question popped into his mind, he did his best to push it aside.

D'you think maybe he's cursed or something?

It was getting increasingly difficult, though.

With a deep sigh, Ryou leaned his head back against the wall, turning his eyes skyward. Amane was his other teacher, and a continual source of inspiration. Her unfailing energy, enthusiasm, and strong sense of right and wrong proved to be his guiding light more times than he could count. If she were here, he knew what she'd tell him. Besides, no matter how much he ran away from tragedy, it just seemed to follow him everywhere. So was there really any point in running if he couldn't escape it anyway?

Maybe he's cursed or something...

More than anything, he wished his sister was there with him.

-o-

The second-hand on the clock might as well of been moving backwards. Téa recalled her mother saying something about watched pots never boiling, but this kind of silenced waiting tried even her patience!

Everyone jumped a little bit as Joey shifted to rest his elbows on his knees, making the couch creak. "Okay, I've been thinking about this," he began (naturally prompting a "That's a first," from Tristan, which Joey, to his credit, ignored), "and there's still something I don't get. Several things, actually. The most prevalent being, 'What the hell are we supposed to be doing here?' You said that whoever or whatever uncovered the Millennium Items also caused that freaky earthquake in the process, but you never said why. Are we even sure this qualifies as a bad thing?"

"Of course it's a bad thing!" Téa didn't realize her outburst until it was already said, and flushed slightly.

"Well, I mean besides the obvious," Joey amended, "Earthquakes and damage and... and stuff..." He too fell silent, not meeting anyone's eye.

Marik, however, was nodding. "Yeah, I get what you mean. And normally I'd say no, we're not sure, except for one thing..."

"Shadi," everyone said simultaneously.

"Yeah," Tristan agreed, "he doesn't usually show up unless it's already gotten serious."

"I still don't trust that bastard," Joey said. "You weren't there, Tristan, but Shadi came within a hair of killing Téa in a Shadow Game three years ago."

"What?" Serenity exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"He also saved mine and Duke's lives on the Battle Ship," Tristan pointed out.

"But if he's dangerous, how do we know if we can trust him?" the redhead asked.

"My point exactly," her brother muttered.

Marik leaned on his knees, once again looking stressed. "Believe me, guys, we went through the same questions back in Egypt. I've got my own history with Shadi, and following his advice is the last thing on my to-do list. But—"

"But it's not a matter of who told you or what you want," said a small voice. They all whipped around in surprise to see Yugi shifting his body upright on the couch. "It's a matter of doing what's right."

"Yugi!"

"Are you alright?"

"What happened, man?"

The King of Games took a brief moment to stretch his stiff muscles, apparently thinking very hard about something. "Last summer," he began slowly, "we got a call for help from someone we didn't trust or even particularly like. We didn't know if it was just a setup for a trap or not, but we did know that something very wrong was going on. So we went along with it. The same sort of thing's happening now. Shadi may only get involved when things are at their most serious, but Pegasus likes to make preemptive strikes. We've just gotten warnings and weird clues from two different sources of information, and that can't be a coincidence." He paused, his eyes suddenly widening. "And I just figured out who to send them to."

The two Egyptians present exchanged a look. "What about Pegasus?" Marik asked.

Yugi went to the bookshelf and pulled out Pegasus's package, which also had the flash drive with the file of the painting in it, and handed it to Duke. "Photos of something obviously pertaining to archaeology, along with a digital file of a painting. Why not just send the painting as a hard copy with the photos? Why go to all the trouble of putting it on a secure website?"

"Secrecy?" Tristan guessed.

The gamer shook his head. "I think there's more to it than that. What if there's some kind of coded message in the painting that can only be read—"

"In its digital form!" Duke exclaimed. "That's why it was zoomed in so far! Pixels only get so small, but if a single pixel is enlarged enough, it can be redesigned to carry a digital code! Hologram technology works the exact same way!"

Yugi grinned. "Exactly. And the photos in the package could either be a decoy to get us to figure all this out, or they could be a clue about exactly who to ask for help with this digital code."

Téa's eyes widened. "Rebecca," she realized. "Her grandfather's an archaeologist, and Rebecca's an even better hacker than Kaiba."

"Wait, let me get this straight," Marik interjected. "Pegasus sent you stuff about this? At the same time that Shadi came to us?"

"Like you just said," Yugi said with a half-smirk, "it can't be a coincidence."

Duke immediately stood up and walked to the other room, package in hand. "I'll ask gramps if I can borrow his computer, since the phones are still out. And Becky probably has her laptop on her, University students generally do..."

Yugi nodded. "If she's on, tell her I'll be there shortly."

Tristan tilted his head. "What for?"

"Something important I've gotta do first..." he muttered in reply. No one questioned him as he strode silently out the front door. Tristan hesitated only a moment before following his friend out.

Téa watched them leave. Something was happening alright, and not just to the world. She had never seen Yugi act this way before. He was looking at the situation completely objectively, even though horrible things were already happening, even though people close to him had already lost so much. That wasn't like him at all. Just what was he trying to do?

Or... maybe the better question was, who's shoes was he trying to fill?

Yugi...

-o-

Arthur had just hung up his cell phone, well satisfied. Rebecca, however, was a bit suspicious. "Gramps, if he knows so much, how come I don't know about him?"

The professor smiled kindly at his granddaughter. "Rebecca, I've introduced you to plenty of my work friends on our travels, but your attention span is admittedly short." The girl flushed as he continued. "As it happens, Jason Lugh is someone you've not yet met, mostly because I haven't seen him in a few years myself." He shook his head slightly in amusement. "He has a tendency to wander, that man."

Rebecca wasn't convinced. "If he knows so much about the Orichalcos, then where was he last summer?"

Just then, with a melodic bell tone, three famous words appeared on Rebecca's laptop. "I've got mail!" she shrieked in delight, and immediately clicked the proffered link, internally cursing the less-than-stellar university internet connection.

The e-mail, which was indeed the one she had been waiting for, was irritatingly brief.

"Everyone's fine. Earthquake hit pretty hard, but none of us are hurt. Get your instant messenger up (don't use a land-line connection, but make sure the stream's secure) and we'll be on in a little bit. Meantime, have a look at the file I sent and see if you can find a digital code embedded in the pixels. Duke."

Arthur frowned as he read over his granddaughter's shoulder. "A digital code?"

"What the heck are they asking about hacking for?" the blonde muttered, confused and more than a little indignant. Nonetheless, she clicked open the attached file, out of curiosity at the odd request if nothing else. "Those boys are getting a serious lecture when I get ahold of them..."

-o-

Tristan wondered vaguely if Yugi knew where he was going, but if the tri-haired duelist's purposeful strides were anything to go by, he already had a plan of action in mind. That was something he'd noticed about Yugi: he either had everything planned out or went in without a clue. Though, maybe 'was thrown in' was better phrasing, because he usually tried to avoid awkward situations where he could only sit clueless, unless he was forced into them. Granted though, when he figured things out, he did it very quickly. Yami or no Yami, the kid was endlessly adaptive, and you couldn't keep him down for long.

Funny how he still thought of Yugi as somehow younger, when he was so clearly the leader of their group.

Though, as he followed his friend, Tristan couldn't help but wonder what was going through his head. Of course he was wondering what the future would hold, but he also thought Yugi was wondering about the Puzzle, and what its reappearance might mean for him. He was fairly sure Yugi was secure in his identity as—well, as an individual, but doubtless he wondered what would happen if he once again placed the mystic Item around his neck. Even beyond the identity issues, there were problems with his own confidence in his abilities, as well as problems on a more... personal level. But of course, being typical Yugi, he wouldn't even consider his own problems until everyone else's were settled.

He knew where they were going now. This was the short way between Yugi's and Ryou's houses. Granted, Ryou did live a fair distance away, but if a few side-streets were crossed, it was definitely walkable. However, Yugi was now taking the time to look around instead of walking so quickly, so it seemed that Ryou hadn't actually made it back to his apartment yet.

Suddenly Tristan heard something, and apparently Yugi did too, because he lifted his head and froze for a moment before turning and taking one of the nearby side-streets at a jog. The brunette followed at half speed. He wasn't much good at the whole talking/comfort thing, but he was very concerned about Ryou, and hoped he wasn't right about why he was acting so strangely.

Yugi found their friend sitting on an overturned trash can, his back against a wall and his slightly reddened eyes turned blankly skyward. He walked slowly towards him, but it was Ryou who spoke first.

"This is where I saw him that night," he said softly, not moving. "Just a black hole in the air on a black night, and nothing's been right since."

The gamer tilted his head. "You can't possibly think you're to blame for all this."

Ryou scoffed. "How can I be blamed for something I had no say in? Look over there." Yugi followed the direction his friend was pointing in, and saw the remains of a single-steeple church with boarded-up windows at the far end of the alley. It looked like it was in the process of being repaired, though no one was working on it right then. "That's the last place I remember before waking up in Egypt with you guys," Ryou said quietly. "The Voice chased me here and took me over, even though the Ring was nowhere near me. I have no control over anything that happens to me, and no matter what I do, I just end up running around in bloody circles!"

Tristan, watching from behind a corner, furrowed his brow in thought. He'd never seen Ryou that bitter... but then again, he'd rarely seen him without his cheerful mask on either.

The albino leaned back again, a small, choked sigh escaping him. "It was like... like sleepwalking, sometimes. My waking hours were just a haze of fear and false memories. Most of the time I never knew when I had been controlled, but it was worse when I did. I'd wind up in dark alleys with cuts and bruises I didn't remember getting, sometimes covered in..." His throat constricted, and he swallowed. "After I left my family, I had to move around a lot." Unconsciously he began rubbing a spot under his shirt where, Yugi knew, there were five small, round scars arranged in a half circle.

"Why didn't you ever come to one of us?" Yugi asked. "I'm not sure what we could have done, but you wouldn't have been alone."

Ryou shook his head. "I don't think I could. After the whole mess with Monster World, ever since Duelist Kingdom... the Voice was done taking chances, I think. Even when I was in control, it was always right there, watching every move I made. Whenever it occurred to me that I should maybe get help or something, it started... whispering to me... and no matter what I did, I always got distracted, or somehow forgot. I let it control me even when I was awake..." His eyes bored into those of the duelist across from him. "Yugi, I think it's been following me."

The King of Games blinked his surprise. "What?"

"Whatever it was I saw in the alley that night. I've been feeling... something ever since then, but today in my apartment I saw it." Briefly, he described his encounter with the shadow-wolf in his apartment. "It's still following me," he said, his voice turning desperate as he seemed to draw further into himself. "Watching me. With or without the Ring, I can't escape it."

Yugi frowned. "Why was he talking about wanting to help?"

"Because that's what it does," Ryou snapped bitterly. "That's how it kept getting me to put the Ring back on and renew it's power over me. It'd keep saying things like 'I've changed,' 'I want to help,' 'Give me another chance.' It made me trust it again, and I always did. And I always regretted it. No more."

"Bakura..."

"But none of that seems to matter, because even when I think the Ring is gone, it still somehow follows me home. It won't leave me alone, Yugi. None of this will leave me the hell alone!" His words steadily rose in volume and ended in a choked sob that seemed both angry and terrified.

Yugi sat down, his enormous violet eyes boring into those of his mild-mannered friend. "After all," he said softly, "it's not as though you asked for any of this. You just wanted a normal life with your friends and family, not to be on call for whatever supernatural disaster that happens to strike."

Ryou pulled his knees up closer, not looking at anything in particular. "You think you underst—"

"No," Yugi interrupted. "Just because we're in the same boat, it doesn't mean I can even begin to understand what you've been through. But I can be there for you anyway."

Standing silently around the corner, Tristan was beginning to feel guilty for listening in on what was obviously a very private conversation. Though he was glad to get some answers about Ryou's odd behavior, they weren't what he was hoping to hear. If the Spirit of the Ring was stalking around again, he'd definitely have to keep a close eye on their albino friend. In the meantime...

"There you are!" he said loudly as he quickly rounded the corner as though he'd been running. "We were wondering where you guys ran off to. The others are pretty worried."

Yugi turned to smile wryly at him, and Tristan felt the tips of his ears burn. Yugi, at least, had known he had followed them. Ryou, however, began staring at the brunette, eyes going impossibly wide as he suddenly realized something. "Tristan!" he exclaimed.

"Uh... That's my name."

"No—I mean yes, it is, but that's not what I meant. I think you can help me."

Tristan blinked, and wondered if Ryou had known he was there too. He wouldn't put it past either of them, really. "How?"

Ryou stood up to face him. "You're always the one who knows when there's something wrong with me. Even when he fooled the others, you could always tell."

He hesitated. "Well, not all the time. I am pretty observant, I guess, but..."

Yugi stood up and dusted himself off. "More so than the rest of us, Tristan. You just have a habit of keeping quiet when you notice things."

"That's not all, either. I think..." Ryou paused, looking like he was thinking really hard about something. "Tristan, I think he was afraid of you."

For a moment, Tristan was certain he'd misheard. "...Excuse me?"

Yugi's already large eyes were now the size of saucers as he understood. "Tristan, he's right!"

"No, no..." The brunette said, shaking his head. "Come on, guys..."

"Think about it!" Yugi said earnestly. "Whenever it's been us up against the Ring Spirit, who's the one of us he always takes out of the action first?"

Tristan blinked. Who indeed? He tried to remember each of their engagements with the Other Bakura. The war in the Memory World, their time together on the Battle Ship, the Battle City preliminaries, the time the Spirit helped Yugi in the Black Crown game store, their encounters at Duelist Kingdom... and, of course, their brief trip to Monster World. In each occasion, the Other Bakura either deliberately avoided Tristan's notice, or else took the brunette out of play altogether. There were times when luck or circumstance affected things, but each time the majority of the Ring Spirit's initial attacks were directed at...

"Me..." he said slowly. "But... he's just picking off the easier target, Yug. It's not anything—"

"I don't think so," the King of Games responded. "The Other Bakura was a lot of things, but impulsive wasn't one of them. He had everything meticulously thought out from the moment he met us, and he never stopped planning. Even when dueling, it was more his style to take out the threats first and cause more damage later."

"Well what's so special about me, then?" Tristan exclaimed. "I mean, yeah, I could probably kick Bakura's ass in a physical fight—no offense," he added with a nod to Ryou, who shrugged. "—but that hardly makes me a threat to someone with magic. In that department, I've got nothing."

"What you've got," Yugi said matter-of-factly, "is a great deal of common sense. When the rest of us get so immersed in magic, monsters, dominions, and destiny, you remind us that the real world still exists. You wouldn't believe how important that is, Tristan. After all the stuff we've been through, it's because of you that we walk away sane."

He started to argue, but Ryou stepped in. "Please," he said, "All I'm asking is that you point it out if you notice me acting weird. I've been trying to keep an eye on the clock to see if I lose any time or fall asleep without my knowledge, but it's not something I can keep up. I'll go insane from the paranoia before I accomplish anything this way."

"But—"

"But nothing," a Brooklyn-accented voice interrupted, "We'll all help."

The three of them turned. By ones and twos, every one of their friends appeared around the corner, all of the people who Ryou knew called him 'friend' and stood by him when no one else would.

"J-Joey, Téa, Marik, Serenity, what are you all doing here?" Ryou stuttered, confused by the mass of familiar teenagers who had suddenly joined the three.

Joey flashed him a toothy grin. "What? You thought we'd just stand around and let Yugi and Tristan do all the work?" The blond laughed. "It's not happening, Bakura—when Yugi's got your back, you know you're worth fighting for."

"Why do you think Tristan and I followed you in the first place?" Yugi said, turning back towards Ryou. "We've all seen how you bottle things up when things get rough, and we're done letting you do that to yourself."

Ryou was speechless for a moment. "I..." He swallowed. "P-please, guys, I know you're trying to help me, but I don't think there's anything you can do." He kept his face lowered, staring at his fists. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful for the offer—on the contrary, just knowing they were there helped him to stay afloat more times than he could count, and he wasn't about to take that for granted now. But he wasn't about to let his insecurities and fears out in the open either; he had learned time and time again that it usually meant dragging innocent people into a fray he didn't know how to fight. "I really do appreciate the offer, but I don't want to burden anyone—"

"Bull," Tristan interrupted, making up his mind. "What was it you were telling me just now? Even if you think the other you is coming back, this isn't something that one person can handle alone. I don't know if there's anything special I can do, but it's a proven fact that, as a group, we're unstoppable!"

Marik stepped forward. "Withdrawing doesn't solve anything, Bakura. Maybe you think you're protecting the people around you, but it isn't going to stop those people from caring about you." The Egyptian smirked. "Odion and Ishizu beat that into my head quite thoroughly when we got back to Egypt last spring."

"And it's time and past we did you the same favor," Téa finished. "We're not going to let you isolate yourself, Bakura. Not again."

Once again, it took him a moment to regain enough control to trust himself to open his mouth. "You... You guys don't understand! It's dangerous to be around me! Bad things happen to everyone I get close to! Maybe one or two people might go unnoticed by whatever curse I'm under, but—!" He cut himself off abruptly, realizing that he hadn't regained control after all. "I just don't want to see more friends get hurt because of my weakness," he finished quietly.

There was a long silence.

"Bakura..." Téa began softly, "We already know all that."

Ryou started. He genuinely hadn't been expecting that answer. "But... But if you know the risks, then why are you still here?"

Joey smirked. "Take a guess, man. We're here for you, win or lose. If your darkness is coming back, we'll kick its ass just like before!"

Serenity kneeled down before him, her green-hazel eyes wide and solemn. "It's like Marik said," she said, "Running away from your problems doesn't solve anything. But if you face them head-on, especially if you have friends and loved ones around you... You won't believe the things you can accomplish, just knowing there are people there, ready to support you whenever you need it."

Téa smiled. "Couldn't have said it better myself." She turned toward Ryou, extending a hand. "Pardon the obligatory friendship speech, but that's the sort of thing that happens when you hang around with us."

For a long moment, the albino hesitated, staring at his knees. "Would..." he finally began in a choked voice, "Would you guys mind calling me Ryou? I-It's just, I know that w-whenever you think of 'Bakura,' you think of... of him..." He trailed off, more than a little confused and uncertain. It was, after all, a very loaded question.

There was a pause... and Yugi smiled. "Sure we will, Ryou."

A choked breath he didn't know he'd been holding escaped the albino, and a huge weight on his shoulders seemed to have miraculously lifted. And this time, Téa didn't wait for him to take her hand in return; she simply reached down and pulled him upright. Her face, however, was quite serious.

"Listen, Ryou," she said, "We've known you for a long time. We've known about your problems with darkness for a long time. We've also ignored it for a long time."

He started to protest, but Yugi cut him off. "Just because we were busy with the Pharaoh's memories doesn't excuse us from ignoring what was right in front of our eyes."

"I can't tell you how many times I considered saying something," Tristan said, "but you always seemed fine. So I just let it drop."

"But you're obviously not fine, so we're not letting you isolate yourself anymore," Joey finished. He smirked again. "We just haven't gotten around to cornering you about it until now."

Ryou was utterly speechless. "I... I don't..."

Tristan cut him off before he could protest any further. "I'll keep an eye on you like you asked, but only if you stop acting like you need to do everything on your own. Deal?"

The albino nodded slowly. Once.

It was good enough for them.

"So now that that's settled," Joey said, stretching his arms casually, "What's say we all head back home, huh? We still have to figure out what to do with the Items Marik brought over. Keeping them all together's dangerous."

Yugi nodded, remembering the numerous break-ins and would-be thieves he'd encountered in the weeks prior to their trip to Egypt. "We'll figure out something for the Ring, since Ryou doesn't want it. Apparently Shadi took back his Key, although that still leaves the Scales unattached. Ishizu has the Necklace again, and..." The gamer blinked in realization and glanced at Marik. "You're not taking the Rod?"

"Hell no," was the prompt reply.

"Then what are we supposed to do with it?" Yugi mused. "The only other one its ever shown an affinity for is..." His eyes widened.

Marik suddenly smirked rather widely, an unspeakable amount of mischief in his eyes. "That, my friends, would be the purpose of Ishizu's errand."

The alley went silent for a moment as every person there absorbed what was just said.

Joey threw his head back and laughed. "Oh man, I'd pay to see that!"

Ishizu Ishtar had never been unduly bothered by cold. Though Egypt was infamous for the searing heat of an unforgiving sun, desert nights were far more chill than most would expect or believe. So although she wore only her usual attire of a simple-yet-elegant cotton dress and a few veils as she walked across the courtyard to the Kaiba Corp. office building, she was quite comfortable in the brisk Japanese December air.

One thing she was not wearing was her Millennium Necklace. Not yet, anyway.

Atrium security guards gave her leery glances as she walked in, but let her pass, probably because her form-fitting dress was ill-suited to hiding a weapon. The briefcase she carried looked like that of any other businesswoman, albeit somewhat smaller, but it too was dismissed as unthreatening once she went through the metal detectors with it without a problem. From there, it was a simple matter to lose herself amongst the bustling business people as she headed for the top floor. As exotic as her appearance was compared to her current surroundings, Ishizu knew how to make herself unnoticeable.

The final obstacle was a mousish secretary outside the door of her destination, typing up a report of some sort. There and only there did she resort to using a touch of magick; the woman's gaze suddenly became focused entirely on the screen in front of her, completely to the exclusion of all else, and Ishizu slipped by unnoticed.

The door clicked softly shut behind her, and the man at the desk at the end of the room looked up.

Ishizu put on her best gentle smile. "Hello, Kaiba."

The CEO was silent for a moment, and the Egyptian woman could almost see the gears turning over in his mind. "Can I help you with something?" he finally asked tightly.

"Yes you can, if you so choose." She paused. "It's been a while."

"Not long enough. What do you want?"

"I do hope the recent—"

"What. Do. You. Want." Kaiba's voice grew a fraction louder, and Ishizu's smile grew a fraction wider. Neither nuance was noticible except to the other.

"A favor," she said.

"Not interested," he deadpanned.

No, of course not. Ishizu began to walk forward , though not directly towards his desk, choosing a more diagonal route instead. "Actually, I'd like to give you something."

"A favor with a gift as down-payment. Now why does that sound familiar?" He turned back to his work, an obvious dismissal. "Get out of my office, Ishtar, or I'll call security and have you thrown out."

Ishizu smiled again. Come now, you can do better than that. "I've no doubt you can remove me from your office yourself if you so chose, with or without the firearm the hidden under your jacket."

Kaiba didn't bat an eye. "Then why, pray tell, are you still here?"

She didn't miss the tone underneath the sarcasm; he honestly did want to know. Good, she thought, he's taking me seriously. The next step in this conversation would be a risky one, but necessary to ensure his relative safety—self-sufficient or not, there were a number of inherent dangers in what she was trying to get him to do.

"Do you recall our duel in the Battle City finals?" she asked him.

"What about it?"

"You were fully prepared to attack me with Obelisk, but something caused you to change your mind. What was it?"

The sound of rapid typing stopped as Kaiba's face turned unreadable. Instead of responding, however, he drew himself up to his full considerable height and stepped toward her, eyes glinting like daggers. "You think you can waltz in here and act like you can manipulate me into any which way you please," he said in a dangerously low voice. "I am informing you now that you are sorely mistaken. You've played this game with me before, and I put up with it because you had something I wanted. At this moment, however, having you, your fairy tales, and your entire psychotic family anywhere near me is the very last thing I want, so why don't you save us both the headache and cut the crap."

Underneath her annoyance at the jab at her family, Ishizu was actually somewhat surprised at this. He's resorting to intimidation tactics, she thought to herself. What could that mean, I wonder?

It took a moment, but when the answer hit her, her eyes grew round and she very nearly gasped in shock.

"What do you know about this?" she asked quietly.

"I should be asking you the same question."

"Something happened to you on the night of the earthquake. What—"

"None of your damn business," he interrupted, turning to face the window. "And if you don't already know, then I have no reason to keep you here. Get out."

There was no indication that he had let something slip other than a slight tightning of his jaw, but she caught it. So he's the one looking for answers? she thought. Interesting...

Ishizu had had plenty of experience in dealing with powerful men. There weren't many female Secretary Generals in Egypt, a largely Muslim country, and none who had risen to power as young as she had. There was a fine art to making people do what you want them to do, all while making them think it was their idea in the first place, and Ishizu Ishtar was an expert. Seto Kaiba, while extraordinarily talented in his own fields of expertise, was no different than any of the slick, smooth-talking Egyptian politicians who thought they could intimidate the young, unmarried, token female in their midst. She knew how to handle the CEO of KaibaCorp. before she even met him, and although he proved more of a challenge than she was used to—a challenge that, if she was honest with herself, she rather enjoyed—one way or another, she always got the result she wanted.

Kaiba knew better than to think he could intimidate her just because she was a woman; he thought himself superior because of his intelligence, his skills, and his history as a self-made businessman, not because of his gender. If he was trying to intimidate her now, it was because he didn't want her to notice something. And there were only two things with which he was not completely open in every regard.

He had tried a similar tack with her when they had met in Egypt, and she had opted for a more blunt approach because of it. If this was a similar situation, then it called for a similar response.

Since he was no longer sitting at his desk, she approached it, placing her briefcase on one corner of the desk while keeping her hands on its handle. Not too intrusive, but letting him know I won't take no for an answer. "As you doubtless already know, there were some odd electromagnetic anomalies in the atmosphere on the night of the earthquake a few days ago. These anomalies have been the subject of investigation of government-funded researchers worldwide. The whole thing has been kept out of the news as of yet, but there's no telling how long that's going to last, particularly with the handful of private researchers who got their hands on the data—including scientists funded by KaibaCorp."

"If you're asking me to keep my mouth shut about the runt's e-mail, you of all people should know better than that. I know how to keep things tucked neatly under the rug."

"On the contrary, I wish your research well, and hope you find answers for all of us. In the meantime, however..." She slowly opened the two latches securing her briefcase shut and pulled out a sheaf of papers. "You've heard that the same earthquake had aftershocks that spread around the world, a fact that is already stirring the conspiracy theorists I might add. But the actual seismological data—comparative data for each country affected—hasn't been released outside of an emergency meeting of the UN two days ago."

Kaiba looked at the papers she was offering him, and frowned. "You don't have the authority to release that kind of information to civilians."

"Since when have you cared about rules?" Ishizu asked quietly.

He hesitated a moment more, but finally his curiosity—and the fact that he knew Ishizu wasn't the type to risk her entire career on a whim—overcame his pride, and he took the sheaf gruffly out of the woman's hands.

It wasn't long before he understood.

"This is... impossible..." he muttered, flipping the pages back and forth to double- and triple-check the information. "Two epicenters at the exact same time? But Egypt and Guatemala barely had a tremor! And yet..."

"And yet it's clear that the shakes spread out from those two points, growing in strength and intensity as it went instead of weakening," Ishizu said grimly. "If you'll notice, the wave pattern emanating from Egypt follows the exact same path the electromagnetic anomaly took, and at the same time."

Kaiba nodded. He had noticed, though he didn't want to believe it. "Has anyone come up with a plausible explanation?"

"Many, though none of those who have done so had access to the electromagnetic data as well. When the two graphs are compared, all the theories so far prove useless," the Egyptian woman replied.

The CEO immediately began running the pages through a fax machine, and Ishizu didn't ask where he was sending them. As Kaiba himself had pointed out mere moments ago, they understood each other in the importance of discretion.

Seto Kaiba and Ishizu Ishtar were both highly motivated, highly intelligent people. When they spoke, it was not in steps, but in leaps and bounds as the smaller steps were considered understood and bypassed in favor of the conversation's ultimate outcome. Despite the tension and general dislike between them, or perhaps because of it, there was also an unspoken mutual respect. Likewise, it was automatically understood that they would be exchanging information until the mystery was solved.

Why Kaiba was being so (relatively) cooperative was still a mystery to Ishizu, but she was fairly certain she would figure it out eventually. She always did.

"There is..." she began slowly, "one other thing."

This time Kaiba showed no reaction whatsoever, indicating that he was either too deep in thought to pay attention (highly unlikely, as his survival instincts and very slight paranoia would never allow that), or that he already had an inkling of what she wanted and didn't want to show it (for any number of reasons).

Regardless, she lifted the object in question from her briefcase and placed it lengthwise before him on his desk. The Eye of Horus adorning the head of the Millennium Rod winked sightlessly at the ceiling between then.

Kaiba looked at it for a moment before raising his unreadable gaze to Ishizu. "You brought a weapon into my office?"

The Egyptian woman's expression was carefully impassive, though inside she was holding her breath. "As I pointed out earlier, you seem like the type keep one or two handguns on your person, which would be more than enough to prevent any attempt to unsheathe the blade concealed inside the Rod—assuming, of course, that I had any interest in using it on you, which I do not." She tilted her head slightly. "If, however, you consider this item to be a weapon for another reason entirely—"

"Take it and get out."

"It is a gift. Doubtless you will want to study it."

He twitched. "What makes you think—"

Ishizu cut him off, filing his defensiveness away for later analysis. "An alloy that can sneak past metal detectors, Kaiba. Check your security cameras if you don't believe me; I walked through each one of them with no problems at all." She smiled gently. "I know there have been problems getting Duel Disks past airport security, what with the rise in terrorism in recent years. I'm sure you could save your consumers a great deal of hassle, and strengthen your company's reputation at the same time."

Of course, there was no possible way he could replicate the material, but Kaiba didn't need to know that.

"I repeat," the CEO growled after a moment's hesitation, "we've been through this song and dance before. Am I to assume you'll want this back after a given period of time?"

"No, Kaiba," she said softly and sincerely, the smile falling from her face, "The Millennium Rod is yours by right."

Once again, Ishizu watched as two opposing instincts clashed inside Kaiba's head. On the one hand, he couldn't let such a golden opportunity pass him by. On the other, he knew better than to assume there was no catch to this.

"What do you want from me?" he asked after a long moment of silence.

"Nothing," she replied simply.

"Why don't I believe you?"

"A number of reasons that neither of us probably care to go into right now."

Another long pause. A few birds chirped outside the window.

"...I don't want it near Mokuba," he said finally.

Now that was quite an admission, but Ishizu thought it best not to press the matter. "The Millennium Rod is a tool, Kaiba. A very powerful tool, but nothing more. It will no more harm your brother or any of your loved ones than you would."

Kaiba didn't respond, but neither did he make any move against her. The home stretch was in sight.

Ishizu closed up her briefcase and picked it up off the desk, holding it by her side once more. Praying that this would work, she took a few steps back. "All I'm asking is that you keep it in your possession, Kaiba. Do with it what you will—lock it in your deepest vault if you want to. Just don't let it fall into the wrong hands." She paused. "I'll keep you informed on any new information that comes my way."

Without giving him a chance to reply, she turned on her heel, walked out of the office, and closed the door behind her, though perhaps a bit more quickly than she'd intended. The mousish secretary from before gave her a strange look, as she did not remember this exotic woman entering the office, but allowed her to pass without comment. Once she had reached the hallway once again, Ishizu waited, listening intently.

Nothing happened.

After a moment or two, she breathed a heavy sigh, but didn't know whether to be relieved or nervous. Even with restricted information as an incentive, Seto Kaiba was never this cooperative. Ishizu had expected him to ask many more questions about her presence in Japan, or at least about Marik—though she suspected his inability to openly and seriously discuss the supernatural prevented that. However, she had expected more than this from him.

Somehow, she had the feeling that she had been very, very lucky.

-o-

Kaiba watched her go with a mixture of amusement, contempt, and—though he wouldn't dare admit it to anyone but himself—anxiety. A skeptic he may be, but not a fool; he had seen with is own eyes what the Millennium Items were capable of. More than once, he had experienced their wrath firsthand. While he wasn't entirely convinced that the mind-control aspect was real, as that could've been accomplished with a few drugs and simple brainwashing or hypnotism, he knew better to think that the Item lying so innocently before him wasn't capable of of more devastation than most could cause with an Uzi.

The Millennium Rod is yours by right...

He had a sneaking suspicion as to why Ishizu had come to him with the Rod instead of, say, her brother. She was a woman who put a lot of stock in "destiny," and regardless of whether said destiny was of benefit to her and hers, she would follow it because she lacked the conviction to believe in anything else. Though she had not had her Necklace on during their little interview, it was logical to assume that, if the Rod was somehow back, the other Items were as well. Which meant that he would soon be hearing from Yugi and his cohorts.

Fantastic... he thought with an internal groan.

Kaiba did not care how the Items were somehow excavated from that cave, nor did he care why Ishizu felt the need to hide her Necklace from him. Perhaps to keep him from connecting this to Battle City, which was pure idiocy in Kaiba's opinion: of course he would remember the fiasco that was Battle City.

He scowled at the thought. Battle City and its similarities to the night of the earthquake were the main reason Kaiba hadn't immediately thrown Ishizu out—that and the hope that she might have been somehow responsible for one or both, or at least provide him with a few answers.

The shakes continued as he strode quickly down the hall. The ringing in his ears had not yet subsided, but he ignored it as he touched the communicator on his overcoat's collar. "Mokuba," he barked. "We're evacuating the building; get yourself out now."

"Gimme a minute," the slightly digitized voice of his sibling replied. "I'm getting the memory cards from the central computer."

The elder Kaiba's frown deepened. Though he knew Mokuba took company matters very seriously—despite popular belief, the title of Vice President wasn't for show—the kid wasn't taken to making enormous detours in a dangerous situation. Then a thought struck him: the dome-like room where the main computer was housed was made of reinforced titanium and supported with steel pillars. Nothing short of a nuclear holocaust would cause that room to collapse, and even then the warhead would have to land right on top of it.

"Good," Kaiba instructed, "Stay where you are. I'll meet you down there."

"Gotcha."

Another shockwave tossed the CEO against the wall right as the conversation ended. He winced and rolled with it, using the momentum to propell himself in the opposite direction he had previously been walking—to the stairs on the north end of the building instead of the south end. The south stairwell opened up near the front exit of the building, and would likely be heavily populated with panicking employees. The north stairwell was most likely to be empty, and he could reach the ground floor, and subsequently the basement where the central computer was held, more quickly.

Halfway down the staircase, he stopped and shook his head to clear it. That damn ringing was getting so loud, he couldn't even hear his own footsteps! He kept moving, but further down, it happened again, and this time it was as though an electrical current ran from the crown of his head all the way down to his feet. He leaned on the railing with both hands, fighting to keep his blurring sight from closing off entirely...

"Seto!" A child's footsteps were coming from below. Kaiba fought to call out to them, but the words would not form.

There was an agonized scream of grief that turned into an achingly familiar roar, and then there was only white...

The CEO scowled at the memory. There wasn't much he remembered about what happened during the rest of the night, and that fact alone annoyed him. However, he had already exhausted all possible rational options—there were no drugs in his system, hallucinogenic or otherwise, nor were any foreign gasses released into the building on the night of the earthquake or at any time during the weeks previous. Much as he hated it, there was only one other explanation... one that was increasingly likely if Ishizu and the Millennium Items were prowling around.

Ishizu... There had to be something she wasn't telling him; there always was. That woman, infuriatingly frank though she was about topics he'd much rather ignore, was never without her own agenda, and Kaiba was determined to be ahead of her this time. Astoundingly quick on the uptake though he was, Seto Kaiba did not appreciate being intentionally left in the dark.

Quite purposefully, the CEO took the Millennium Rod in one hand and looked it over. The gold shone brightly, almost as though reflecting light that wasn't there, and Kaiba resisted the urge to drop the thing, because he was not afraid of a metal stick, goddammit!

And he wasn't afraid of the tall, blue-robed man in the Memory World either.

-o-

"You're not going to believe how stupidly simple this was."

Duke blinked. "Excuse me?"

On the computer screen, Rebecca's image nodded as she worked. "See, since it's kind of a large painting. There's a lot of pixels to run through, and it's not as easy as I make it sound to extract and then translate the information from every one of them. So since you said it was from Pegasus, I thought I'd take a look at the painting as a whole." On the side of the screen, a smaller copy of the painting appeared next to the girl's face, and everyone crowded around to look. "I started with the symbol in the center," she said, "because it's based on the mathematical symbol for infinity, except with a slash through it and a few dots surrounding it. There were several methods of decoding that could have referenced—either via the slash through the infinity mark, indicating a non-infinite, possibly closed system which likely referenced the edges of the canvas, or via the three dots around the design, for which there could have been any number of codes—but none that I could think of worked for pixel extraction, so—"

"Can we cut the techno-babble and get to the point?" Joey interrupted, looking as though he had a stomach cramp. "I can't keep up when you start doing that..."

Even Duke couldn't help but agree, and he corresponded with Becky regularly. "I thought you said it was simple," he commented.

"Well, simple for me," the Rebecca replied with a shrug. "Then again, I am brilliant. But if you insist, I'll cut to the chase." The image on the screen zoomed in several inches and readjusted the detail. "You see how the individual scales of the snake are all stuck out on an angle? Each one reflects light in a different way, and that was where I found your code."

Duke grinned. "Binary?"

"Binary," Rebecca confirmed with a grin of her own.

Ryou, who was sitting near the back, gave a low whistle. "I knew he was an amazing artist, but that level of detail..."

Joey squinted and leaned forward to better examine the image. "I don't get it," he complained. "How can the scales reflect light differently if they're all on the same flat screen? Or canvas. Whatever."

Marik rolled his eyes. "Because the objects in a painting have to be illuminated by some sort of light source in order to give it a more natural, three-dimensional feel. A skilled artist can imagine a light source somewhere beyond the boundaries of the image and shade those objects accordingly."

All the teenagers, including the pre-teen on the video screen, paused to stare at the Egyptian.

"What?" Marik asked, looking around at his friends. "Oh, come on! Hieroglyphs and murals were the primary way the ancients communicated and recorded history!"

"Aaanyway," Rebecca said after a moment, "It took a bit of searching, but as it turns out, the binary code hidden in the shading was also quite simple. It just said E-Y-E."

" Eye..." The English word was not difficult to pronounce. "You mean the Millennium Eye?" Yugi asked, tilting his head.

"That was my first thought too, but eye was all there was. So, for lack of any other leads, I started extracting pixels from the snake's eye, and lo and behold!"

Another window appeared, this one as an internet browser. On it were the confirmation codes for an online purchase of airplane tickets.

A long silence passed.

"Okay," Joey said in a low voice. "Am I the only one who's hearing some serious alarm bells?"

"I don't like this," Téa agreed. "Not at all."

"It gets better," Rebecca said with a mirthless smirk. "See, this is what I was working on when you all finally got back to me. I haven't looked at all of them yet, but so far, every one of those tickets were bought individually, at different times and dates throughout the past month, and from different computers!"

"Somebody wants to avoid making connections..." Ryou commented quietly.

Yugi thought for a moment. "Where do these flights go? And where do they leave from?"

"They all go to the Mundo Maya International Airport in Guatemala, and all but two of them leave from Narita International—and are on the same plane, actually."

From his position near the back of the group, Ryou's eyes widened slightly and, unnoticed, he picked up the brown package that had been left forgotten on the couch and began shuffling through the photos inside it.

Téa frowned. "And the other two?"

Rebecca hesitated. "The other two... well..." she looked towards the edge of the screen for a moment, nodded, and looked back at them. "The other two leave from San Francisco."

"...San Francisco," Yugi repeated in a monotone.

The blonde swallowed and nodded. "It'd be a bit of a drive, but I think it's safe to say that those two are meant for my grandpa and me."

Tristan frowned. "And the others are supposed to be for us?"

"Yeah, now I really don't like this," Joey said loudly, his nervousness and concern getting the better of him. "Marik said it best: we do not just jump when people say jump, not for no reason!"

"How many tickets are there?"

Serenity's quiet voice almost wasn't heard above her brother's din, but everyone stopped dead and looked at her.

Tristan was the first to realize what she meant, and Joey was only a split-second behind him. "Oh no," said the Wheeler. "No. You are not getting on that flight, Serenity, not while I have anything to say about it!"

"Well then, it's a good thing you don't have anything to say about it," the redhead shot back, "because if something's going on, I refuse to be left behind in the dark!"

"I am not bringing you to some foreign country, Sis!" Joey protested. "You're too young!"

Serenity scoffed and gestured to the screen. "Rebecca's younger than me, and I didn't see you protesting against her going."

Joey blanched and backpedaled slightly. "Well, Rebecca... sh-she's—"

"What?" Serenity asked in a deceptively sweet voice. "Intelligent? Capable? More worried about your safety than I am?"

"Sh-she's not going either!" Joey finally erupted after a moment of sputtering. "None of us are, not until I see proof that... that..." He trailed off, wondering how to finish that sentence. Proof that all of this weirdness is really magical in origin? We kinda already agreed that is is. Proof that the weirdness will affect us? It already has, and that's no real excuse anyway, not while Yugi's around. Finally, he hung his head in his hands, defeated and hating it, but not for the reasons he thought he did.

"...As it turns out," Rebecca interjected in a cool voice after a moment's silence, "there are exactly twelve tickets listed here, not counting the two that leave from my end."

Téa did a quick headcount. "Even if we include Ishizu and the Kaibas, that's still one too many."

Joey had a feeling he knew who the last ticket was meant for, but did not voice his opinion out loud. Instead, he said, "Forget the number. Why bother with this at all? What's in Guatemala that's so important that all of us have to be there?"

"I think I know," said Ryou's quiet voice. Everyone turned.

In the albino's hand was one of the pictures in the package, a very distinctive one. It showed a pair of tall, ornate doors that were covered in glyphs and crowned with the Eye of Wadjet.

Tristan frowned. "I thought we were going to Guatemala, not Egypt."

"If we're going," Joey swiftly corrected him.

Ryou exchanged a look with Marik, who glanced at Odion, then turned to the others. "Actually, that Door isn't the one in Egypt," the Tomb Keeper said.

Cue collective huh?

The Egyptian boy again rolled his eyes. "Trust me, nothing in the Egyptian underground is secret from a Tomb Keeper. I was formally introduced to those doors right after my initiation, and spent more time than I'd care to think about studying them. Those—" he gestured pointedly at the photo, "—aren't them."

"I realized it when you mentioned Guatemala," Ryou said softly. "One of my father's largest projects was a comparative piece on different equatorial societies, since similar mythologies often crop up in remote places during the same relative timespan."

"Like how Egyptian and Indian societies both built pyramids," Téa suggested.

Joey groaned. "Don't even talk to me about India..."

Téa ignored him. "So what's different about them then?" she asked.

Ryou shrugged. "As it happens, Mesoamericans built pyramids too, though they were far from the most famous structures, or even the most spiritually important to them. As for the Door..." he pointed to a spot on the photo—at a circular indent at about chest level between the two halves of the Door that looked almost like a locking mechanism. "For starters, this wasn't on the Egyptian one."

Marik blinked for a moment, then frowned. "Ryou, let me see that for a minute." The albino handed the photo over, and Marik squinted carefully at the glyphs. "Dammit," he muttered, "I can't make them out..."

"Well you wouldn't even if the photo was clearer," Ryou pointed out, "since they're some Mesoamerican pictograms and not Egyptian."

"I'm not trying to read what they say. I'm trying to see a particular sign. It'd be about here." He pointed to the spot corresponding the place where he and his siblings had found the slashed infinity mark on the Egyptian Door... and then remembered he hadn't explained about that bit. Ra, Ishizu's better at this exposition stuff than I am... he thought wearily.

So, out of necessity, Marik told his story again, but with a bit more detail—this time focusing on the conclusions they had come to about the Egyptian Door's actual purpose, and why it collapsed. Téa watched Yugi's face very carefully when it was revealed that Atem was most likely the one who destroyed the Shrine as he left. The gamer twitched slightly, but no other reaction was noticeable, and she finally turned away with a sigh.

"But I can't tell if the Seal on this Door is broken or not," Marik concluded, "so there's no telling whether or not this is the actual 'Door to Darkness' everyone's been so hyped about."

"'The Door of Darkness has been opened'," Yugi muttered quietly. Everyone looked at him, but he shook his head dismissively. "Just something Ya—Atem used to say."

Ryou frowned. "Now that you mention it, the Voice talked about the Door to Darkness all the time. It was like... its ultimate goal, or something."

"Did he happen to mention anything specific?" Marik asked.

He shook his head. "That's just it—I don't think even he knew exactly where, or even what it is. He spoke of it kind of existentially, as if it were an idea rather than an object." He paused thoughtfully. "Though, considering that this Door has been brought to our specific attention, I wouldn't be surprised if... if this was it."

Duke let out a low whistle. "How's that for laying down a big one?"

"So I guess this door needs closing?" Rebecca put in, tired of observing.

"Which brings us back to my original question," Joey interjected, "Why us? And even if there happens to be a reason for that, then why all of us?"

"Whatever it is," Serenity muttered, "you're not leaving me out."

"For the last time, you are not coming, Serenity!"

"It's in case something goes wrong," Ryou whispered suddenly.

Joey paused mid-rant. "Huh?"

The albino's eyes ticked back and forth as he thought rapidly. Regardless of the amount of time he had spent "under the influence", as it were, Ryou was and always had been a duelist—and that meant he was a strategist. In particular, his mind thought in terms of the story that might be presented. "Tristan said it not twenty minutes ago: you... we're... strongest as a team. If something is expected to happen, wouldn't it make the most sense to have everyone together?"

"Meaning... something is expected to happen," Duke said slowly. It wasn't a question.

And how could it be? The bouts of weirdness they endured came in waves, and like the strange earthquake each wave grew stronger than the last until everything that was previously thought solid, whether physical or ideological, was torn to the ground. Each wave went further and further afield of their circle, impacting more and more of the surrounding world, and the more they tried to keep the magic contained the more it spread. The trip to Egypt was supposed to close the lid on Pandora's Box once and for all... but if it hadn't, and the pattern held...

There was a consensus, or at least most of one, without anyone else saying a word.

-o-

The problem, as it was wont to be, was parents. Solomon usually covered for them in situations like this, usually by facilitating whatever cover story the kids had agreed on. But that couldn't last forever—frankly it was never meant to—especially so close on the heels of a disaster like that which Domino had just suffered. Even a week later people were still missing, and the adults wanted to keep their families close by.

Joey realized, on some level, that the others probably privately thought him lucky for never having had to deal with that.

Joey wanted, on some level, to knock their stupid faces in.

Serenity was arguing with their mom. It wasn't loud—neither of them were the type to raise their voices—but every sentence had all the force of a slap to the face. Whatever had happened to Serenity on the train, it seemed to have shaken loose a lot of resentment, as well as that Wheeler family stubbornness. Joey was trying not to watch them, but it was difficult, especially when he frankly wasn't sure who he wanted to win. If Yugi said they should go, he'd go, no question. But Serenity following along after him? That he wasn't so keen on, and as much as it made him grind his teeth to hear his mom list all the reasons they shouldn't be together, she might also be the only one who stood a chance of stopping her daughter.

But that was, like so many things, out of his hands.

He found himself sitting next to Téa, idle and hating it. Like him, she had little to do in the way of preparation for a trip. Like him, she had no option but to go as she was, with few to no possessions to her name. Joey at least still had his duel disk and cards, and other important keepsakes he was in the habit of keeping on his person. Anything Téa had valued had gone up in smoke.

"You alright?" he asked. She seemed startled by the question.

"I mean, as alright as anyone could be expected to be, under the circumstances. Mostly I just want to get moving already."

"And you're really sure this is even a good idea?"

"Of course not. But I am sure it's the only idea we have, other than just waiting around, anyway." She frowned. "Though I can't say I'm not worried, especially... after. I mean, all this Shadow Realm business when we thought it was over? And it's just Yugi this time."

"And us," Joey said immediately. Nothing "just" about the little guy.

She smiled again. "And us." Then she glanced at him sidelong. "Why do you ask? Kind of unlike you to be second-guessing whatever ridiculous adventures we tend to get swept up in. Why the sudden hesitation?"

Joey wasn't sure how to answer that. He had fought for Serenity, for Mai, for Yugi, the people he loved most in the world. He had also fought for himself, spending all of Battle City chasing some sort of platonic ideal of what he thought a real Duelist should be. Fighting for the world was a little fuzzier as a concept - Joey always got thrown into world-saving by accident, and generally was only informed of the stakes when he was already in way too deep. In lieu of anything else to say, he shrugged at her.

Téa turned away, looking instead at her hands clasped in her lap. "I kind of always wondered how you did it, to be honest. Most times it's all I can do not to just grab my loved ones and run. But everyone I care about kept running toward danger, so I had no choice but to follow. If I didn't, and something happened, something I could have stopped if I had been there..."

Joey thought of Serenity, who right now wanted to follow Joey into danger so badly that she was braving their mother's wrath for it. He had gotten hurt while she wasn't there with him, plenty of times, but it had only ever struck him as a good thing that she didn't have to see him go down. Battle City was traumatic enough for her...

But who was the one who saved your life at the pier when the anchor went down? asked a treacherous part of his brain.

Out of the corner of his eye, Joey noticed Mrs. Taylor inch her way into the conversation to place a hand on Mrs. Wheeler's shoulder and say something Joey couldn't make out. Whatever it was it caused his ma's face to tighten, then fall as she looked down.

"What's different for you now?" he asked. Téa looked at him, startled. "If we've really switched places, what's got you all gung-ho about saving the world?"

Téa appeared to think about that, then smiled somewhat wryly. "I dunno. Less to lose?" Or nothing to come back to...

They sat together in silence—she in too-tight clothes dredged up from years in storage, he in too-loose clothes borrowed from Tristan.

Téa still didn't know where her parents were, and wanted desperately to receive news. Until then, to keep from worrying herself sick, she spurned herself into action. That was a course of action that Joey understood very well.

Joey, on the other hand, knew exactly where his parents were. One of them was in this very apartment, quietly resenting him for everything he was. The other was dead, never to scream at him or belittle him or hurl empty beer bottles at his head ever again. And the only thing Joey felt—when he allowed himself to feel anything—was relief.

He stood up, fists clenched, fast enough to make him dizzy. He recognized the adrenaline that came with panic and fury, and squashed it down as much as he could.

Téa was looking at him. "Joey...?"

Joey forced himself to grin at her. "I should probably go check on Yugi. Don't wanna be around for Ma to blame when Serenity gets her way after all."

-o-

Ryou dug through his closet for any last minute additions to his suitcase, and froze when his hand reached one item in particular. It was a long black trenchcoat of roughened leather with a black canvas lining to keep its shape. On some odd impulse, he stood up and tried it on. It fell to just a few inches above the floor in his bare feet, but otherwise fit surprisingly well for something he hadn't even realized he owned. He turned to glance at his reflection in the mirror—

(long ghostly hair that stood on end like demonic horns, falling around a thin and shadowed face and predatory eyes—)

Ryou blinked and took a step backward, and then it was just him again, wide-eyed and breathless. The collar of the coat had popped up as he put it on, casting odd shadows on his face. He folded it back down, and the effect was reduced. He looked more like himself now, if a little sharper-edged than his usual wardrobe would have suggested.

He swallowed and tried to shake the tension out of his limbs, but it was hopeless. He was terrified all over again.

A small weight in the jacket's pocket gave the boy pause. Reaching in, he was not surprised to find a deck of Duel Monsters cards stashed in there. He flicked through them, recognizing a few but completely unfamiliar with the rest, and began to understand where this coat had come from.

A shudder ran through him, as did the urge to rip the coat off and find a cremation furnace to chuck it in. But he remained still.

The Voice, that otherworldly force that lived under his skin, had taken so much away already—his friends, his family, entire swaths of his life just cut away while his back was turned. It turned toys and games Ryou had once loved into weapons he could never look at again without seeing the blood that stained them, but the cards were especially potent. These cards had killed.

That was probably the worst thing about it: the twisting of things that were innocent and fun into tools for evil. And yet it occurred to Ryou that his most successful acts of defiance occurred when he worked within that framework and deliberately untwisted them—or at least they had until the Voice stopped trying to work with Ryou and just worked around him instead.

He had been sneaky, so the Voice became sneakier. Maybe instead of shying away from this mess entirely, the only way out was through.

Ryou re-pocketed the deck, stubbornly smoothed his collar down across his shoulders, and grabbed the handle of his suitcase as he walked out the door. It was probably just as well, he thought grimly, that he was hitching a ride with Marik to the airport. Two birds with one stone and all.

The lights in the immaculate apartment switched off, and he did not look back.

-o-

Ishizu was already back at their hotel room when Marik and Odion arrived, but did not greet them as they walked in, nor did she speak to them for another hour afterwards. It was immediately obvious why—her eyes were closed, hands lifted to about face level as though she meant to peer through them, and the torque at her throat faintly glittered. The male Ishtars exchanged a glance, and elected to leave their sister alone while they went about their business.

As Marik finished the last of his re-packing (the youngest Ishtar tended to sprawl, even just over the course of a couple days), his sister lowered her hands and sighed.

"I don't understand why it's behaving like this," she murmured. "My Necklace has never fought me like this before!"

"Interference?" Marik inquired, spinning a card lazily in his fingers.

"Or a turning point," Odion suggested.

Ishizu shook her head. "Nothing's blocking me—just the opposite in fact. What I am able to see has never been clearer. But no matter how much I look toward the future, all my Necklace will show me is the past!"

Marik tilted his head at her. "What exactly are you seeing?"

The woman scowled slightly, trying to recall the images. "Flashes to Duelist Kingdom, of all things. Shadow Games cast by the Millennium Eye, something about a specific card... And, for some reason, Yugi's Dark Magician. That one I see over and over."

"Yes, but that's been on your mind for a while, Ishizu," said Odion.

"Wait, really?" This was news to Marik. "Since when?"

"Oh, a few months now." She waved her hand dismissively. "But I've no clue as to why, and it hardly seemed important."

The three fell silent, pondering.

"I also keep seeing the tombs," Ishizu continued, though very softly. "But not like we remember them—back when the clan first started. But it's just the history we were already taught, I don't know why my Necklace would show me that..."

"Began by a priestess of the Nameless Pharaoh, who was with child of a great guardian spirit..." Marik intoned, rolling his eyes. He flopped backwards onto the stiff hotel bed, gazing resolutely at the ceiling. "Honestly, I'm pretty sure half of those legends were made up just to make us think there was a point to our shitty lives."

Ishizu looked sadly at her baby brother. She took a breath to speak—but was immediately distracted by a jolt of awareness, like electricity in her spine. Her gaze snapped to the door, and immediately afterward, there came a knock.

Odion raised an eyebrow at his sister, then opened the door to allow in... Ryou Bakura.

Marik rolled himself back into a sitting position. "Hey Ry. We're about ready to get moving if you are."

Ryou flushed a little at the informality—yes, he'd asked them all to call them by his first name, but he still barely knew the Ishtars! Then he steeled himself.

"I've decided to take possession of the Ring after all," he said all at once, trying not to shake.

He had come in expecting them to be shocked or horrified, to try to talk him out of it. But Ishizu just sighed and nodded once to Odion at his questioning look toward her. The tall man opened the steel briefcase from before, lifted out something golden and round, about six inches in diameter, with darts hanging off it like a dreamcatcher, and extended it toward Ryou without a word.

It glowed faintly in the albino's sight, a dense bundle of potential energy in a fist-sized coil. Even its arrows weren't hanging as straight as they ought to have been; instead they hovered at the slightest of angles, as though lifted purely by anticipatory tension.

"Not that it's any of my business," Marik's voice cut through the air, and Ryou whipped around. "But can I ask why?"

Ryou swallowed, and did his best to meet the other boy's eyes. "Because staying away from it won't help." At the Egyptian's quizzical look, he continued, "I said before—the Voice follows me no matter what I do, and whether I'm within miles of the Millennium Ring or not. There's no point in staying away, and besides, it's—" He stopped.

Ishizu finished for him. "Your's?"

He nodded.

Her mouth quirked up at the corner, just slightly. "It's a call, of sorts. We've all felt it, in our time. Even Kaiba."

"Yeah, I never did get to ask you how that went," Marik interjected, looking at his sister. "You were kinda preoccupied when we got back."

"He has it, at least. Even the gods cannot tell what he'll do with it, but I'm confident the Rod couldn't be in safer hands. I'd suggest leaving him to his own devices though, at least for now."

Marik leaned back again, tucking his hands behind his head. "Better him than me," he said firmly.

"Ryou?"

Odion was still holding out the Ring.

After a moment longer, Ryou took it from him.

The anticipatory power he'd sensed was gone the moment he touched the gleaming gold, though whether vanished or expended somehow, he couldn't know. He cautiously ran his fingers along the curve of the circular rim, the angles, the raised eye design. He listened, with his ears and his mind, very, very hard.

Finally he let out the breath he'd been holding in a huff and looped the Ring's soft cord around his neck, allowing the Item to rest flat against his chest. Its darts swung briefly with the movement, making a few low-pitched clinking sounds, and were still.

"If everyone is ready," Ishizu reminded them, "we can be off."

Ryou went quietly back out the way he came. Ishizu and Marik hefted their bags and followed him. Odion closed the briefcase and locked it securely before proceeding in their wake. It contained only the Scales and the Eye now.

-o-

Joey was sitting on the futon in Yugi's living room, shuffling aimlessly through his cards and not really paying attention to the television screen, when the jingling of the store's front door bell cut through the white noise insulating his brain.

Mr. Mutou answered. "Can I help you, ma'am?"

"Is Joseph here?"

Joey flinched and suppressed a groan of frustration. Whatever it was that Ma had followed him all the way to Yugi's house to say, he was very certain he didn't want to hear it!

She appeared in the doorframe, Gramps at her shoulder like a cheerfully oblivious shadow.

"Joseph, can I have a word, please?"

Joey ground his teeth, scrubbed at his hair, and remained silent. Mrs. Wheeler entered the room anyway to stand a few feet in front of him.

"I just wanted to let you know that the legal issues with your inheritance from your father are just about sorted," she said. "It had to do with a separate account his parents had set up decades ago for his own inheritance. Of course he cleaned that account out decades ago, but it remained open, and tied to the family name, and—well, here." She handed him an envelope. "This is what they've been able to find out."

Joey opened it and began reading, the knot in his stomach drawing tighter by the second. "I don't believe this," he hissed. "Fucker gambled money he didn't have, got lucky, put his winnings in the wrong account by mistake, and then got so drunk he forgot about it?"

Mrs. Wheeler's mouth tightened. "I'm shocked that his behavior would surprise you by now, Joseph."

Something inside him broke with a crack like a bullwhip. "Surprised?!" he shouted, rounding on his mother. "No, Ma, I'm not surprised at Dad. I'm surprised at me for believing for even one single second that Dad might have possibly given a damn about me or my future! Shouldda been obvious, since he never even believed I had a future, and neither did you!"

Behind them, Yugi rushed downstairs at the sudden shouting, pausing halfway down the staircase when he saw who it was. Across from him, in the doorway to the shop, Mr. Mutou appeared to be in a similar state of shock.

"Joseph, that's not—"

"YOU LEFT ME!" he roared, past all caring. "Wrote me off! Just drove away without a single look back! You left me behind with him, and you knew what would happen when you did!"

Every bruise, every cigarette burn, every cut on broken glass bottles from the last ten years must have shown on his face, and for a long moment neither of them knew what else to say. Joey's adrenaline was spent, and his whole body trembled as the fight-or-flight burst left his system. So this, he thought distantly, was the reason he avoided speaking to her. He didn't need this. Nobody needed this. A breath he'd been holding escaped him, and he turned—

"I'm sorry."

He flinched at her words, a full-body spasm. It was the worst thing she could have said. It was the only thing she could have said.

"I got some stuff to do," he ground out. He didn't. He just wanted her gone.

She nodded, face carefully blank.

Joey turned away before she could say anything else, and focused on his breathing. After what seemed like a very long time, he heard the jingle of the shop door bell open and close once again.

The envelope she'd given him was still in his hand, though significantly crumpled from a fist he hadn't known he was clenching. A bank account number, some extra forms to fill out, an amount in yen with a respectable number of zeroes on it... And yet just looking at it was revolting to him. This was supposed to be his? This was supposed to make anything better at all?

"...You alright, Joey?" Yugi's small voice made him jump.

"Uh, y-yeah!" The blond quickly scrubbed his face and plastered on a grin. It came out lopsided, like any further and his face would crack. "I, uh. Don't know what came over me..."

"Think nothing of it, my boy," Mr. Mutou said as he came back into the living room. The old man placed a hand on Joey's shoulder. "Now if you're both ready, you kids have places to be."

-o-

Airlines had gradually resumed regular business just a few days before. According to some overheard chatter at reception it had taken the better part of four days to reseat and reschedule everyone who had been delayed by the closings—that process had finished just in time to get them seated with no delays at all, to exactly no one's surprise. At this point in his life, Yugi wasn't sure how he felt about fate, but he recognized what it felt like when it was present. At the very least, the abrupt convenience and smoothness of their trip reassured him that he wasn't headed in the completely wrong direction.

Tristan, Téa, and Serenity had been dropped off by Mrs. Taylor. Serenity immediately pulled Joey aside and started whispering something to him while he seemed unable to meet her eyes. Duke joined them not long after, clutching his carry-on bag with great care. Ryou arrived with the Ishtars, and it was like a composite flashback to Battle City to see him and Marik side by side. Marik was dressed as colorfully as ever, but it was Ryou's appearance that gave the group pause—the tail of a long black duster flared out behind him as he walked. Most of the group recognized that coat very well, but were pleased to see that Ryou seemed to take a very different shape inside it than Bakura had.

Yugi went to meet him, and felt a flash of trepidation when he saw the gleam of gold under the fastenings of his friend's coat. Both of their Items were now void of ancient spirits, whether they were kings, thieves, or godlike demons, and they both knew it. But that didn't erase what happened back when they weren't.

He looked up at the albino. "You sure?" he asked quietly.

Ryou swallowed, then nodded once.

Yugi nodded back, then looked around him. "And the rest of you? Are you guys sure you wanna—"

"Don't start, Yug'," Joey said, some good humor creeping back into his voice. His grip on Serenity's hand was very tight, but there was a smile in his eyes. "After all we've been through together, what's one more adventure?"

"What about you, though?" Téa questioned. "Are you sure you'll be alright with this?"

"Bit late to change my mind if I'm not, Téa..."

"Yugi!" she insisted, blue eyes boring into him.

He sighed, and looked right back. "The Door of Darkness, sealing off the Shadow Realm... it's what Atem died for. And I can't leave it unfinished. I just can't."

Strangely, every single one of them looked like they understood, even Ryou. Even Marik, while his siblings were by his side. Joey and Téa, who were already hurting so badly, would stand by whatever he chose to do, and of course Tristan was right on their heels. And wherever Joey went, Serenity followed, determined to help no matter how frightened she was. Mai was absent, as were the Kaibas, but Duke was already texting Rebecca to let her and her grandfather know their schedule and when to expect them—the Hawkins' would arrive in Guatemala several hours before they did—and for a moment Yugi pictured the communication as a line of light wrapping halfway across the world.

The gamer couldn't help but smile at the image. Their bond of four was a tangible force, they all knew that now. But it wasn't isolated anymore. Now it was a powerful circle at the center of an ever-growing web of connections, spanning continents and generations.

It was kind of intimidating, but also strangely reassuring.

They boarded the plane. Almost none of their seats were next to each other due to the tickets having been bought at different times, but it seemed just as well. All of their minds were gearing up for something serious, though they had no way of knowing what that might be. Flying off into the unknown had no right to be as familiar to them as it was, but here they all were anyway, without any possible doubt that it had to be done. There was a kind of belief in that—whether in themselves or in each other, whether or not they were afraid, they all believed this was for the best, and took the necessary step.

And that's really all it ever comes down to, Yugi decided. A leap of faith.

The plane's wheels left the ground, and carried them into the clouds.