Chapter 4: - Seeking Light
Considering they'd jumped out of a door in the middle of the sky, landing was a lot easier and a lot less painful then Joey had expected.
Oh of course he had to be the one to land wrong and end up flat on his face, but then, by this point he was used to being the comedic relief when things were getting a little too serious, so he wasn't too angry when Yugi and Hermione chuckled at him as he picked himself up, though he could have done without Seto's sarcastic, "Nice landing, mutt."
"Yeah, well..." Joey's retort died on his lips as one of the many citizens of the town they'd landed in walked straight through him. "Okay that was weird..."
"They can't see us, can they?" Hermione asked, watching the busy town in work around them.
"It's probably a good thing." Yugi said, looking around himself and wondering where Shadi had gone, "People don't normally just fall out of the sky."
"No, I suppose you're the only one crazy enough to willingly jump off a building." Joey snorted, remembering something Yugi had told him about.
"In my defence Kaiba jumped too." Yugi said, remembering the escape from the virtual world too.
"Yeah, and no one ever said Rich-Boy was sane either."
"My psychological welfare is well documented, mutt." Seto snorted, having always considered himself saner then the rest of the group he hung around with. "And I am nowhere near as crazy as the lot of you."
"How much did you pay the psychologist to write that on the..." Joey trailed off when a teenager around Serenity's age was chucked out of a nearby tavern and hit the floor, a crowd swiftly swarming around her.
"You're not welcome here!" A huge man with an imposing girth snarled, "I have no food for your type!"
"Please, just a crust..." The teen pleaded, her white hair almost grey with dirt, tears in her blue eyes.
"It's strangers like you who've brought this chaos down this on our heads!" Another man spoke up, picking up a stone.
Seto was moving as the man pulled his arm back to throw the stone, and, as the stone left the man fingers, the CEO, who had acted on a feeling he couldn't possibly explain, attempted to block the stone with his own body.
"Protego!"
A barrier appeared around the CEO and the teen and the stone ricocheted off and struck someone else in the crowd.
"Damn Kaiba," Joey growled as they joined him in the middle of a growing mob, just as surprised by the CEO's actions as Seto himself.
"You know her reincarnation or something?"
Seto didn't dignify Joey's question with a response, only nodded at Hermione, whose shield was currently protecting them, and wondered if her shield spell, while he was relieved it had worked, wasn't going to cause more problems than it was going to solve, as two more stones ricocheted off of the shield before the crowd stopped throwing stones and started murmuring something about magic.
"What's going on here?"
The crowd parted, revealing two rather important looking men and at least three men in uniform with swords.
"Bloody hell..." Joey gaped, looking between one of the men and Kaiba as the shield spell fell, "Is that...?"
Seto was horribly aware of who the man who stepped towards them looked like and, as he stepped through Seto the pair of them locked eyes, just for a moment or so, then the man, who was carrying the Millennium Rod, had walked straight through him and was helping the girl to her feet.
"Thank you." She murmured, glancing at Hermione only briefly, as one of the Millennium Item wielders told the other that the girl had a Ka so powerful that the Millennium Scales couldn't measure it properly.
"Come with me." The one who had stepped through Seto said to the girl, "You'll be safe with us."
"Alright." She nodded, accepting the priest's hand, but stepping around the group rather than walking straight through one of them.
They watched the priests leave and the guards split up to stand guard, but none of it quite registered in Seto's mind.
There was no denying that the priest who had helped that teenager and had been carrying the Millennium Rod had, in fact, been him...
"Seto?" Yugi asked cautiously, almost warily, wondering what was going through the CEO's mind considering he'd always denied any link to the Millennium Items or Yami's past...
When Yugi got no answer, Joey sighed. "At least we know wand magic works here."
"I suppose it's because we're outside the rules." Yugi considered, "Or there might be some other reason..."
"So what? We're invisible, can't touch anyone or anything, but we can still cast spells?" Joey demanded.
"Apparently."
"I don't think we're invisible to everyone." Hermione spoke up, watching Seto like he was a bomb about to explode. "That girl seemed to see us."
"The priests could see us too." Seto finally spoke up, ignoring the worried look on Yugi's face and the wariness on Hermione's face, refusing to talk about the fact that there HAD been a priest who looked like him within Yami's court, "They just ignored us."
"I can imagine seeing spirits who look like yourself and your King would be pretty disconcerting." Joey snorted, not stupid enough to prod the CEO, whose temper was legendary, about the priests or the girl, "But what does that mean? Anyone with a Millennium Item can see us?"
"The girl didn't have one." Yugi said softly.
"How could you tell?" Hermione asked, confused since she didn't think Yugi had gotten a good enough look to tell.
"I can sense them, even without the Puzzle."
Joey wheeled around to look at Yugi carefully. How had he not noticed that Yugi wasn't wearing the Puzzle? "When did you take it off?"
"If you hadn't noticed, Wheeler," Oh yeay, crotchety Kaiba, this would make this trip sooo much fun... "He hasn't had it since we entered the Puzzle." He looked around, considering the surroundings, "And it makes far more sense that those with magic can see us where their Muggle companions cannot, like the ghosts of Hogwarts."
"Wait, so we're dead?" Joey yelped.
"We were never born in Yami's time... well... not us us anyway, so we can't BE dead here." Yugi sighed, "And besides, we're outside the rules, we're probably not meant to be seen by any non-player piece."
"Wait, so this is like a giant version of the Monster World game?" Joey asked, "With player characters and NPCs?"
"I believe that's what Yugi just said." Seto growled, "Now can we get past all this time wasting? You have a name to find, and I have a Tomb Robber to defeat."
"Hey, I'm not stupid!" Joey growled at him, "I just want to know, if this is a Monster World game, who's the Game Master? Because someone has to control events..."
"You know what, Joey?" Yugi said, eyes widening, face paling slightly, "That's not the most reassuring thing you've ever said."
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Draco woke far later than usual, the warm light of mid morning waking him. He stared at the light in confusion, and glanced across to the other bed where his sort of brother tossed and turned.
"Ryou?" Draco asked, crossing the small space between the beds.
"Go 'way 'Kura." Ryou muttered, pulling the pillow over his head.
Draco hesitated. "Are you sick?" He asked curiously, sitting beside his almost brother. "I bet it was the fish last night. I told you..."
Magic lashed out, followed by a fist, and Draco wasn't sure which hit him as he went flying across the room. He crashed into the bed, and cursed the narrow hardness of hotel beds.
Draco reacted, rolling the rest of the way off the bed and taking cover behind it, panic roaring in his ears. Ryou had hit him. Ryou had Hit him.
Bewildered eyes were watching him. "Draco...?" Ryou was shaking. There was no ring. No sharpness behind the eyes. "I think. I think you should go."
Draco stared at him.
The wild magic pulsed. Shadows. He could almost feel them stirring.
Draco's eyes flickered to the door behind Ryou.
Bakura was dangerous. Deadly dangerous. Purposely dangerous.
Ryou wasn't. Ryou was the puppet. Ryou was controlled.
Only now Draco couldn't remember why he had ever thought of the other boy as 'safe'.
"Leave!" Ryou hissed, and Draco scrambled around the room, staying as far away as he could.
Falling out into the hallway, an older woman watched him bemusedly.
"Room service, with compliments." She said, handing over the tray into Draco's unresisting arms, and placing a card on top the tray.
Watching her leave, Draco slid the card off the tray. Then glared at it.
There was no way he was going back in that room.
Sliding the tray around the door, Ryou could have it if he wanted, Draco read the card.
Then read it again.
Another taunt. He screwed it up, and then started tearing the card apart.
She knew where they were. She always knew. Always managed to track them down. But if they stopped trying... Bakura would not be pleased.
They were meant to be hunting her. Instead of running, or hiding or responding in any rational manner, she treated it like it was a game.
Like she was so far beyond them that they had no hope of catching her.
She should be running in terror. Living in constant fear.
"I've been told that walls tend to be harder than fists." A familiar female voice told him.
He spun, and stared at her. She was here. Now. In front of him.
He reached for his wand and came up empty.
His wand!
"Did the hounds of hell chase you out of your room? I didn't think anything less would make a wizard forget his wand." She shook her head, "Even then I bet most would have grabbed it without thinking. Tools of power are like that."
Options. What was he meant to do? What could he do? Ryou was meant to be here...
He couldn't hold her.
"So... Breakfast?" When she didn't get any response, she poked him in the head. "Hello, any one in there?"
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Yami was sat on the throne, listening to his priests' debate about some nuance of some law or another and not understanding why it was taking so long to find Bakura. In Yugi's time he had been easy to find, especially when they didn't want to find him.
Perhaps that was the problem, perhaps they were trying too hard to find him and when they stopped looking, the Tomb Robber would show up...
He hadn't seen Mana in days, she'd been practising her magic with a passion she hadn't had before Mahado's death, when it had seemed like she'd have forever to learn what was needed, and no one else in the palace was a friend like she was and Mahado had been.
He was knocked out of his brooding by an explosion from outside.
"My Pharaoh." A guard appeared in the doorway and ignored all the rules and protocols by addressing Yami directly without proper introduction, "Bakura's within the palace walls..."
Yami didn't need any more information. Bakura had killed enough of his people already.
He rushed out of the throne room, heading for the great gates, where Nen and his men, backed up by Mana's magic, were fighting Bakura and Diabound.
"Bakura!" Yami bellowed as he exited the palace, passing Nen as he did so, catching the Tomb Robber's attention.
Bakura smirked at the Pharaoh and fled.
"Not this time." Yami darted towards the stables, mounting his horse quickly, without a saddle, and chased Bakura out into the city.
"Think you can stop me? Pharaoh?" Bakura taunted as Diabound struck, causing several buildings to collapse, his voice somehow carrying over the noise of the wind as it passed Yami by and the cries from the villagers whose homes had been destroyed.
"Osiris!" Yami bellowed, envisioning Slifer the Sky Dragon and relieved when it appeared. The God monster kept low, spreading its wings out to protect the town.
"You can't protect them forever, Pharaoh!" Bakura cackled as Diabound opened fire.
The blasts struck Slifer, causing the God monster to bellow in pain and Yami to flinch as the pain echoed through him.
"You won't hurt anyone else, Bakura!" Yami snarled back. "Slifer, THUNDER FORCE ATTACK!"
The Divine creature, as angry as his summoner, blasted the Tomb Robber's fiend.
Except that it missed.
Diabound vanished into the darkness, leaving Slifer glaring furiously at the empty spot it had been in.
Yami looked over his shoulder quickly as he heard the ground shake.
Something was churning up the sands, heading towards him…
'It's in the ground!' Yami realised, sending his horse into a gallop to try to escape, far too aware that it was catching up, even as Slifer streaked towards him to try to protect him…
"Die." Bakura cackled as Diabound leapt out of the ground and swiped at him.
Osiris, without prompting, blasted Diabound at short range, not killing the fiend but wounding it heavily and knocking it far away from the Pharaoh.
Too close…
Diabound, who'd taken off after his Master, who had now reached the outskirts of the town, flew through the darkness, far too close to the city for Yami's liking.
"Slifer! To me!"
They couldn't catch the pair, but they could mitigate the damage.
Diabound managed to destroy a few more houses before Slifer sent it scurrying and got its body between the city and the fiend again.
'For a better world, for the good of the people! That's your creed, isn't it Pharaoh?' Bakura thought, sniggering, 'Well, let's see how long you can stand between us and them…' "DIABOUND!"
Slifer bellowed again and this time Yami tensed up, taking a deep breath to dispel the pain.
"You're trapped, Pharaoh!" Bakura sniggered, "Your dragon moves, I'll blast the city!" Diabound got above Slifer, "One blast from Diabound will annihilate your God!"
Yami scowled. From Diabound's position it had a perfect shot, Slifer would never survive, not unless…
"Diabound, White Lightening Attack!"
"Lightening Strike!"
The God was faster, using its own attack to push it straight up, turning in mid air so he was facing Diabound and a second Lightening Strike blasted the fiend, interrupting the attack that had been coming.
This time it was Bakura who felt his beast's pain.
"Slifer, pull Diabound into the air!" Yami ordered, trying to get the battle away from his civilians, knowing that his dragon would be stronger in the air and hoping he could hit Diabound before it vanished again. "Attack!"
Diabound was gone before Slifer's attack could hit and something within the city exploded.
"LEAVE THEM OUT OF THIS, BAKURA!" Yami bellowed, furious.
Bakura muttered something, but Yami didn't catch what it was in time to help his God monster, who was blasted by a White Lightening Attack that forced a pained cry from both Pharaoh and beast.
Bakura's laughter caused the Pharaoh to raise his head and scowl at the Tomb Robber, who had stopped on a ridge and was cackling wildly and posturing as he claimed that this destruction was the 'will of the Millennium items'.
Even as Bakura talked Yami was formulating a plan. Slifer was heavily injured, Yami could sense that one more blow would kill the God monster, and if Slifer went there would be nothing between Bakura and the town…
Yami took off the Puzzle, causing Bakura to focus on him completely.
"So you're surrendering?" Bakura sounded amused.
'Just a few more moments…' Yami thought, as Slifer closed in from above, preparing to blast Bakura. Then a purple flash caused Yami to freeze up, fear crossing his features and Slifer to stop mid attack.
Diabound had appeared out of nowhere and his claws were inches from Yami's face.
It was over.
Yami was going to die…
"Even the swiftest of Gods can't move a muscle while his master is held hostage." Bakura smirked, enjoying the sight of the Pharaoh's fear. "I can't gain all of the Millennium Items while you still live."
Yami swallowed hard. Was this how it had ended? Was this how he'd died all those years ago?
"Die."
Yami cringed, closing his eyes, knowing what was coming.
Bakura's scream wasn't it…
The Pharaoh's eyes flew open, revealing Duos, Seth's Guardian Spirit, who had cut off the hand that had been within striking range of the King.
If Yami wasn't mistaken, relief crossed the Kaiba lookalike's face, but it was gone by the time Yami was done reassuring his priests of his safety and putting the Puzzle back on.
While this was going on Diabound vanished into the darkness again.
Yami swayed on his horse, exhausted, before straightening, hoping none of his priests had seen it, as Seto ordered the men with him, and Yami noticed Nen wasn't among their number, to evacuate the city, while the cavalry went after Bakura who had vanished with his beast. The only reason they knew he was still around was because Shada's Ka got blasted by a Spiral Wave attack.
"My Pharaoh, you're not well." Shada had and with his words, Seth and Kalim turned to give Yami a concerned look, "The Sky Dragon is badly injured. Please, return to the palace and leave this to us priest. If the Sky Dragon dies, your life will be in danger."
"No." Yami shook his head, trying to shift the dizziness, "I'll fight till the end! That is the duty of the Pharaoh!" For all his brave words, Yami wasn't sure how long he could hold on, Slifer was drawing from his strength and the weaker the God got, the weaker Yami got…
Shada tried again, reminding Yami that, as Pharaoh, he was the embodiment of a God and his light was what the people looked to.
All his words managed to do was remind Yami of his hikari and the amount of times Bakura had harmed the boy because of his desire for the Millennium Items and how hard Yugi had fought in the Capsule Monster's world to protect everyone...
Slifer, obeying Yami's silent command, wrapped itself around the remaining Ka beasts, shielding them.
Kalim couldn't understand why the Pharaoh would send his divine creature to be a shield for their creatures, but Seth figured it out as Bakura's bellow could be heard.
"Diabound, attack!"
The blow struck the God monster head on, disintegrating it.
Agony ran through Yami as he coughed up blood.
"Duos!" Seth, worried about his Pharaoh but unable to risk missing the opportunity to strike, bellowed up to his Ka.
His Ka struck at the point that the attack had originated from.
Events passed him by as the Pharaoh attempted to stay upright on his horse.
Seth's attack missed, striking a minor Ka rather than Diabound.
Yami's plan had failed, the King had nothing left to summon with and the tide of battle was now on Bakura's side.
"We can't defeat it while it hides in the darkness." Kalim growled.
'Ra…' Yami thought weakly, eyes closed, having trouble drawing breath. 'But my Ba is…'
"Yami!" He was hearing things, he had to be, but he opened his eyes, hoping beyond hope that his friends weren't really there and in danger with him.
"Y…Yugi?" Yami asked weakly as his hikari moved to his side.
Yugi wasn't the only one there; Joey, Hermione and Seto were there too… he had to be hallucinating…
"Sit up, Yami." Yugi murmured, giving him a small smile.
"I'm…" Yami wondered if his priests could see his friends, or whether it looked like the loss of so much Ba had affected his mind.
"You can still fight." Yugi promised, "You left half of your soul with me." He took Yami's hand.
It was no illusion…
It WAS Yugi…
Power rushed through the Pharaoh, as together they called on the strongest of the Gods, whose light pierced even the darkness of the night, as if it was midday in the desert, revealing Diabound.
"ATTACK!" Bakura's voice screeched.
Diabound opened fire on Ra but Seth was ready for it, shielding the God with Duos' sword, protecting his King and the ghost who looked so much like him, the priest able to sense the power radiating from the spirit who seemed to have his own guards.
Never mind that one of them looked like him…
"Thank you, Seth." Yami nodded towards his priest, "Ra, attack!"
The incredibly powerful God Monster shifted into its unstoppable phoenix mode and rushed at Diabound, leaving fire streaking across the sky in its wake.
Diabound never stood a chance.
The intense flames burned the fiend to ashes.
Somewhere, at the same time Diabound died, Bakura, the Tomb Robber, died with him.
It was over.
"Pharaoh did it!" Cheers rose from the people around them, "Our living God destroyed the darkness!"
'Not I.' Yami thought, smiling at his partner, who looked tired but happy, 'Ra destroyed Diabound and I never would have summoned him without Yugi…'
The Pharaoh gazed at his friends. How they'd gotten here was beyond him.
"You do see us, don't you Yami?" Hermione asked, biting her lower lip, a habit she'd picked up from Kari.
'Yami… that's my name in Yugi's time…' Yami thought sadly as he nodded and smiled at her, glad, for once, that Yugi's mind wasn't bound to his at that moment, 'Even here I still don't know my true name…'
"Looking fancy. If you'd worn that to the Yule Ball, you'd have had more dates then you'd've known what to do with." Joey chuckled.
Yami snorted in amusement, still trying to work out why they had come. Not that he was sorry they had done, but he couldn't work out how they had gotten into the world that appeared to consist of his memories from Egypt.
"Are you alright, Yami?" Yugi asked, concerned for his injured dark.
"I believe so." Yami nodded, amused by Kaiba's surliness. "I take it you wanted to deal with Bakura?" He asked the CEO who just scowled.
"We should go." Yugi backed away from his dark, letting go of Yami's hand, dismissing Ra and causing the Pharaoh to frown in confusion.
"Yugi?"
"We're not here to interfere in your memories. Not really." Yugi said, looking, not embarrassed but unsure whether he'd done the wrong thing in saving his dark, if he'd messed up something important, "We're here to find your name."
"You'd do that for me?" Yami asked, surprised, though he supposed he shouldn't be.
"Of course, we're your… what the hell is that?" Joey demanded, looking up at the sky, where night had fallen once again and a demonic form had superimposed itself over the night sky.
It's been a long time Pharaoh. A voice echoed through the minds of everyone present, Though you don't remember me.
"Who are you?" Yami demanded, cantering a few steps forward and placing himself between the apparition and Yugi.
My name is Zorc Necrophades. I rule this world of memory.
"There's your Game Master, Joey." Hermione murmured.
'Game Master?' Yami wondered, but Zorc was speaking again.
Your friends have changed the course of history. You've even defeated my Bakura. This I can't allow. Not yet. Such a pity, but your reunion with your heir ends here. Behold my power…
The demon Game Master threw out his arms and a howling wind started up that had them throwing up their arms to defend themselves.
Memory Reverse!
Time started flowing backwards as Yami grasped his hikari's arm instinctively, not knowing what was going on, but feeling like he should.
Diabound reappeared, Ra left taking the re-summoned light with him, Yugi was torn from Yami's grasp and vanished back into the darkness of the night, along with the rest of Yami's friends from the modern age…
And once again pain wracked the Pharaoh as he spat out blood.
Time stopped rewinding just in time for Osiris to die a second time.
In the time it took Yami to recover, Seto's beast had been struck down.
The Pharaoh sent his horse into a gallop.
The only way to stop all this death now, was for him to stop Bakura…
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They were supposed to be meeting up with Mai at the Kaiba Land Asia theme park, where there was due to be a Battle City style Duel Monsters Tournament starting in three days time that Yugi and Yami were supposed to be taking part in… if they reappeared, but they'd missed Mai at the entrance and the park was heaving with summer tourists, so while they'd phoned the blonde Duelist to find out where she was, they were having trouble getting to the arena.
Cub… Wolf stopped and sniffed the air, his fur standing on end.
"I know, Wolf, I know." Harry placed a hand on the unhappy Gold Winged Wolf's head. It wasn't just the crowds, who appeared to think that Wolf was a tourist attraction that was bothering the Winged Beast, Harry could feel the currents of Shadow flowing in a way that he hadn't since the last time Yugi and Yami had been practising monster summoning and even that hadn't flowed as thickly as what he was sensing.
It wasn't helping him keep his promise to Sirius to focus on something other than the battle that Yugi and the others were currently involved in, but it was allowing him to see who out of the people around him were touched by the Shadows like he and the non item wielders were.
There weren't many, in fact the ones he most commonly sensed the Shadows weaving around were Duelists he recognised, either from tournaments he'd fought in this summer or memories handed down to him by the Kings of Games, past and present.
He wondered if this was what his friends sensed when the magic was flying thick and fast during one of their tournaments, or whether they knew how to block it.
"Harry!"
`Speaking of Shadows weaving around a Duelist,` Harry thought as he considered the blonde who'd helped him all summer, `I don't think I've ever felt Shadows that thick.` Not that he had much experience, considering that he'd only really started sensing the Shadows since he'd been accidently linked to Yugi and Yami.
"Hey Mai!" Harry weaved through the crowd and joined his friend, "How are you?"
Mai snorted, "About as on edge as you are." She said, amethyst eyes scanning the crowd (more than once this summer Harry had wondered if Mai was related to Yugi in anyway since he was the only other person he knew with eyes that colour), "You feel it, don't you."
"I wasn't expecting this concentration of Duelists until tomorrow or Wednesday." Harry nodded, wondering if it was the magic telling her or Duelist instinct, considering Yugi and Joey had told him multiple times that Mai wasn't magical.
"Well, at least we know people are taking this seriously." Mai said, paused, looked at Sirius and said, "No." Before turning back to an amused Harry, "Though I do wonder how many people are going to go after Yugi this time."
Harry, who had believed the tales Yugi had told him about tournaments he and the others had competed in long before he'd been able to see the memories backing them up, shrugged. He had a funny feeling that the people who'd been muscling Duelists out of tournaments and the weirdoes he'd bumped into so far were going to be nothing compared to the insanity that was going to hit over the next few days.
"When are we meeting up with the others?" Mai asked, reminding Harry that the others had been supposed to be meeting up with them this afternoon, but that had been before Hermione's parents had decided to take her to Japan and Yugi and Yami had decided to go today, before their nerves broke.
"It depends." Harry's tone told her volumes.
"The tournament hasn't even started yet!" She protested.
"I know, I know." Harry threw up his hands, "But…" He looked around. "Can we take this somewhere private?"
Mai frowned, it was that bad? "Sure, there's a café around here that does private rooms for Duelists. We can talk there."
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"Get out of the way, Bakura!"
They needed to get past. With time rewound Yami was dying, without Yugi's help he'd be defeated by the ancient version of the Tomb Robber, while the modern version had stepped into their path, and summoned two bodyguards, blocking the path to Yami.
"I can't let you help the Pharaoh." Bakura shook his head. "Only I get to change time."
"You're not Bakura…" Yugi realised, drawing his wand, "Who are you?"
"I'm about as close to the Bakura you know as you're going to get." 'Bakura sniggered, "What would you say if I told you Zorc sealed part of his soul into the Ring five thousand years ago?"
"You're…" Yugi's eyes widened in realisation.
"That's right, I'm Zorc Necrophades." The white haired Duelist gloated.
"Bakura, Zorc, I don't care. You're the one who hurt Mokuba." Kaiba stalked forward, a Duel Disk appearing on his arm without anyone summoning it, "And for that you will pay."
Zorc looked amused as he called his own Duel Disk, which, unlike Kaiba's, grew out of his arm. "I like these modern diadums." The Shadow demon commented, "They're so much easier to use then the ones the Pharaoh and his priests have."
"Stop talking and duel me." Kaiba snarled. "Once you're out of our way, Mokuba will be free and we can go save his royal pain in the ass."
"You'll never reach him in time." Zorc snorted. "Alright Seth, it's time to duel."
"My name is Seto Kaiba." The CEO snapped as he drew his first hand, smirking at the cards within it, "And you will regret ever messing with my family."
Oh of course he had to be the one to land wrong and end up flat on his face, but then, by this point he was used to being the comedic relief when things were getting a little too serious, so he wasn't too angry when Yugi and Hermione chuckled at him as he picked himself up, though he could have done without Seto's sarcastic, "Nice landing, mutt."
"Yeah, well..." Joey's retort died on his lips as one of the many citizens of the town they'd landed in walked straight through him. "Okay that was weird..."
"They can't see us, can they?" Hermione asked, watching the busy town in work around them.
"It's probably a good thing." Yugi said, looking around himself and wondering where Shadi had gone, "People don't normally just fall out of the sky."
"No, I suppose you're the only one crazy enough to willingly jump off a building." Joey snorted, remembering something Yugi had told him about.
"In my defence Kaiba jumped too." Yugi said, remembering the escape from the virtual world too.
"Yeah, and no one ever said Rich-Boy was sane either."
"My psychological welfare is well documented, mutt." Seto snorted, having always considered himself saner then the rest of the group he hung around with. "And I am nowhere near as crazy as the lot of you."
"How much did you pay the psychologist to write that on the..." Joey trailed off when a teenager around Serenity's age was chucked out of a nearby tavern and hit the floor, a crowd swiftly swarming around her.
"You're not welcome here!" A huge man with an imposing girth snarled, "I have no food for your type!"
"Please, just a crust..." The teen pleaded, her white hair almost grey with dirt, tears in her blue eyes.
"It's strangers like you who've brought this chaos down this on our heads!" Another man spoke up, picking up a stone.
Seto was moving as the man pulled his arm back to throw the stone, and, as the stone left the man fingers, the CEO, who had acted on a feeling he couldn't possibly explain, attempted to block the stone with his own body.
"Protego!"
A barrier appeared around the CEO and the teen and the stone ricocheted off and struck someone else in the crowd.
"Damn Kaiba," Joey growled as they joined him in the middle of a growing mob, just as surprised by the CEO's actions as Seto himself.
"You know her reincarnation or something?"
Seto didn't dignify Joey's question with a response, only nodded at Hermione, whose shield was currently protecting them, and wondered if her shield spell, while he was relieved it had worked, wasn't going to cause more problems than it was going to solve, as two more stones ricocheted off of the shield before the crowd stopped throwing stones and started murmuring something about magic.
"What's going on here?"
The crowd parted, revealing two rather important looking men and at least three men in uniform with swords.
"Bloody hell..." Joey gaped, looking between one of the men and Kaiba as the shield spell fell, "Is that...?"
Seto was horribly aware of who the man who stepped towards them looked like and, as he stepped through Seto the pair of them locked eyes, just for a moment or so, then the man, who was carrying the Millennium Rod, had walked straight through him and was helping the girl to her feet.
"Thank you." She murmured, glancing at Hermione only briefly, as one of the Millennium Item wielders told the other that the girl had a Ka so powerful that the Millennium Scales couldn't measure it properly.
"Come with me." The one who had stepped through Seto said to the girl, "You'll be safe with us."
"Alright." She nodded, accepting the priest's hand, but stepping around the group rather than walking straight through one of them.
They watched the priests leave and the guards split up to stand guard, but none of it quite registered in Seto's mind.
There was no denying that the priest who had helped that teenager and had been carrying the Millennium Rod had, in fact, been him...
"Seto?" Yugi asked cautiously, almost warily, wondering what was going through the CEO's mind considering he'd always denied any link to the Millennium Items or Yami's past...
When Yugi got no answer, Joey sighed. "At least we know wand magic works here."
"I suppose it's because we're outside the rules." Yugi considered, "Or there might be some other reason..."
"So what? We're invisible, can't touch anyone or anything, but we can still cast spells?" Joey demanded.
"Apparently."
"I don't think we're invisible to everyone." Hermione spoke up, watching Seto like he was a bomb about to explode. "That girl seemed to see us."
"The priests could see us too." Seto finally spoke up, ignoring the worried look on Yugi's face and the wariness on Hermione's face, refusing to talk about the fact that there HAD been a priest who looked like him within Yami's court, "They just ignored us."
"I can imagine seeing spirits who look like yourself and your King would be pretty disconcerting." Joey snorted, not stupid enough to prod the CEO, whose temper was legendary, about the priests or the girl, "But what does that mean? Anyone with a Millennium Item can see us?"
"The girl didn't have one." Yugi said softly.
"How could you tell?" Hermione asked, confused since she didn't think Yugi had gotten a good enough look to tell.
"I can sense them, even without the Puzzle."
Joey wheeled around to look at Yugi carefully. How had he not noticed that Yugi wasn't wearing the Puzzle? "When did you take it off?"
"If you hadn't noticed, Wheeler," Oh yeay, crotchety Kaiba, this would make this trip sooo much fun... "He hasn't had it since we entered the Puzzle." He looked around, considering the surroundings, "And it makes far more sense that those with magic can see us where their Muggle companions cannot, like the ghosts of Hogwarts."
"Wait, so we're dead?" Joey yelped.
"We were never born in Yami's time... well... not us us anyway, so we can't BE dead here." Yugi sighed, "And besides, we're outside the rules, we're probably not meant to be seen by any non-player piece."
"Wait, so this is like a giant version of the Monster World game?" Joey asked, "With player characters and NPCs?"
"I believe that's what Yugi just said." Seto growled, "Now can we get past all this time wasting? You have a name to find, and I have a Tomb Robber to defeat."
"Hey, I'm not stupid!" Joey growled at him, "I just want to know, if this is a Monster World game, who's the Game Master? Because someone has to control events..."
"You know what, Joey?" Yugi said, eyes widening, face paling slightly, "That's not the most reassuring thing you've ever said."
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Draco woke far later than usual, the warm light of mid morning waking him. He stared at the light in confusion, and glanced across to the other bed where his sort of brother tossed and turned.
"Ryou?" Draco asked, crossing the small space between the beds.
"Go 'way 'Kura." Ryou muttered, pulling the pillow over his head.
Draco hesitated. "Are you sick?" He asked curiously, sitting beside his almost brother. "I bet it was the fish last night. I told you..."
Magic lashed out, followed by a fist, and Draco wasn't sure which hit him as he went flying across the room. He crashed into the bed, and cursed the narrow hardness of hotel beds.
Draco reacted, rolling the rest of the way off the bed and taking cover behind it, panic roaring in his ears. Ryou had hit him. Ryou had Hit him.
Bewildered eyes were watching him. "Draco...?" Ryou was shaking. There was no ring. No sharpness behind the eyes. "I think. I think you should go."
Draco stared at him.
The wild magic pulsed. Shadows. He could almost feel them stirring.
Draco's eyes flickered to the door behind Ryou.
Bakura was dangerous. Deadly dangerous. Purposely dangerous.
Ryou wasn't. Ryou was the puppet. Ryou was controlled.
Only now Draco couldn't remember why he had ever thought of the other boy as 'safe'.
"Leave!" Ryou hissed, and Draco scrambled around the room, staying as far away as he could.
Falling out into the hallway, an older woman watched him bemusedly.
"Room service, with compliments." She said, handing over the tray into Draco's unresisting arms, and placing a card on top the tray.
Watching her leave, Draco slid the card off the tray. Then glared at it.
There was no way he was going back in that room.
Sliding the tray around the door, Ryou could have it if he wanted, Draco read the card.
Then read it again.
Another taunt. He screwed it up, and then started tearing the card apart.
She knew where they were. She always knew. Always managed to track them down. But if they stopped trying... Bakura would not be pleased.
They were meant to be hunting her. Instead of running, or hiding or responding in any rational manner, she treated it like it was a game.
Like she was so far beyond them that they had no hope of catching her.
She should be running in terror. Living in constant fear.
"I've been told that walls tend to be harder than fists." A familiar female voice told him.
He spun, and stared at her. She was here. Now. In front of him.
He reached for his wand and came up empty.
His wand!
"Did the hounds of hell chase you out of your room? I didn't think anything less would make a wizard forget his wand." She shook her head, "Even then I bet most would have grabbed it without thinking. Tools of power are like that."
Options. What was he meant to do? What could he do? Ryou was meant to be here...
He couldn't hold her.
"So... Breakfast?" When she didn't get any response, she poked him in the head. "Hello, any one in there?"
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Yami was sat on the throne, listening to his priests' debate about some nuance of some law or another and not understanding why it was taking so long to find Bakura. In Yugi's time he had been easy to find, especially when they didn't want to find him.
Perhaps that was the problem, perhaps they were trying too hard to find him and when they stopped looking, the Tomb Robber would show up...
He hadn't seen Mana in days, she'd been practising her magic with a passion she hadn't had before Mahado's death, when it had seemed like she'd have forever to learn what was needed, and no one else in the palace was a friend like she was and Mahado had been.
He was knocked out of his brooding by an explosion from outside.
"My Pharaoh." A guard appeared in the doorway and ignored all the rules and protocols by addressing Yami directly without proper introduction, "Bakura's within the palace walls..."
Yami didn't need any more information. Bakura had killed enough of his people already.
He rushed out of the throne room, heading for the great gates, where Nen and his men, backed up by Mana's magic, were fighting Bakura and Diabound.
"Bakura!" Yami bellowed as he exited the palace, passing Nen as he did so, catching the Tomb Robber's attention.
Bakura smirked at the Pharaoh and fled.
"Not this time." Yami darted towards the stables, mounting his horse quickly, without a saddle, and chased Bakura out into the city.
"Think you can stop me? Pharaoh?" Bakura taunted as Diabound struck, causing several buildings to collapse, his voice somehow carrying over the noise of the wind as it passed Yami by and the cries from the villagers whose homes had been destroyed.
"Osiris!" Yami bellowed, envisioning Slifer the Sky Dragon and relieved when it appeared. The God monster kept low, spreading its wings out to protect the town.
"You can't protect them forever, Pharaoh!" Bakura cackled as Diabound opened fire.
The blasts struck Slifer, causing the God monster to bellow in pain and Yami to flinch as the pain echoed through him.
"You won't hurt anyone else, Bakura!" Yami snarled back. "Slifer, THUNDER FORCE ATTACK!"
The Divine creature, as angry as his summoner, blasted the Tomb Robber's fiend.
Except that it missed.
Diabound vanished into the darkness, leaving Slifer glaring furiously at the empty spot it had been in.
Yami looked over his shoulder quickly as he heard the ground shake.
Something was churning up the sands, heading towards him…
'It's in the ground!' Yami realised, sending his horse into a gallop to try to escape, far too aware that it was catching up, even as Slifer streaked towards him to try to protect him…
"Die." Bakura cackled as Diabound leapt out of the ground and swiped at him.
Osiris, without prompting, blasted Diabound at short range, not killing the fiend but wounding it heavily and knocking it far away from the Pharaoh.
Too close…
Diabound, who'd taken off after his Master, who had now reached the outskirts of the town, flew through the darkness, far too close to the city for Yami's liking.
"Slifer! To me!"
They couldn't catch the pair, but they could mitigate the damage.
Diabound managed to destroy a few more houses before Slifer sent it scurrying and got its body between the city and the fiend again.
'For a better world, for the good of the people! That's your creed, isn't it Pharaoh?' Bakura thought, sniggering, 'Well, let's see how long you can stand between us and them…' "DIABOUND!"
Slifer bellowed again and this time Yami tensed up, taking a deep breath to dispel the pain.
"You're trapped, Pharaoh!" Bakura sniggered, "Your dragon moves, I'll blast the city!" Diabound got above Slifer, "One blast from Diabound will annihilate your God!"
Yami scowled. From Diabound's position it had a perfect shot, Slifer would never survive, not unless…
"Diabound, White Lightening Attack!"
"Lightening Strike!"
The God was faster, using its own attack to push it straight up, turning in mid air so he was facing Diabound and a second Lightening Strike blasted the fiend, interrupting the attack that had been coming.
This time it was Bakura who felt his beast's pain.
"Slifer, pull Diabound into the air!" Yami ordered, trying to get the battle away from his civilians, knowing that his dragon would be stronger in the air and hoping he could hit Diabound before it vanished again. "Attack!"
Diabound was gone before Slifer's attack could hit and something within the city exploded.
"LEAVE THEM OUT OF THIS, BAKURA!" Yami bellowed, furious.
Bakura muttered something, but Yami didn't catch what it was in time to help his God monster, who was blasted by a White Lightening Attack that forced a pained cry from both Pharaoh and beast.
Bakura's laughter caused the Pharaoh to raise his head and scowl at the Tomb Robber, who had stopped on a ridge and was cackling wildly and posturing as he claimed that this destruction was the 'will of the Millennium items'.
Even as Bakura talked Yami was formulating a plan. Slifer was heavily injured, Yami could sense that one more blow would kill the God monster, and if Slifer went there would be nothing between Bakura and the town…
Yami took off the Puzzle, causing Bakura to focus on him completely.
"So you're surrendering?" Bakura sounded amused.
'Just a few more moments…' Yami thought, as Slifer closed in from above, preparing to blast Bakura. Then a purple flash caused Yami to freeze up, fear crossing his features and Slifer to stop mid attack.
Diabound had appeared out of nowhere and his claws were inches from Yami's face.
It was over.
Yami was going to die…
"Even the swiftest of Gods can't move a muscle while his master is held hostage." Bakura smirked, enjoying the sight of the Pharaoh's fear. "I can't gain all of the Millennium Items while you still live."
Yami swallowed hard. Was this how it had ended? Was this how he'd died all those years ago?
"Die."
Yami cringed, closing his eyes, knowing what was coming.
Bakura's scream wasn't it…
The Pharaoh's eyes flew open, revealing Duos, Seth's Guardian Spirit, who had cut off the hand that had been within striking range of the King.
If Yami wasn't mistaken, relief crossed the Kaiba lookalike's face, but it was gone by the time Yami was done reassuring his priests of his safety and putting the Puzzle back on.
While this was going on Diabound vanished into the darkness again.
Yami swayed on his horse, exhausted, before straightening, hoping none of his priests had seen it, as Seto ordered the men with him, and Yami noticed Nen wasn't among their number, to evacuate the city, while the cavalry went after Bakura who had vanished with his beast. The only reason they knew he was still around was because Shada's Ka got blasted by a Spiral Wave attack.
"My Pharaoh, you're not well." Shada had and with his words, Seth and Kalim turned to give Yami a concerned look, "The Sky Dragon is badly injured. Please, return to the palace and leave this to us priest. If the Sky Dragon dies, your life will be in danger."
"No." Yami shook his head, trying to shift the dizziness, "I'll fight till the end! That is the duty of the Pharaoh!" For all his brave words, Yami wasn't sure how long he could hold on, Slifer was drawing from his strength and the weaker the God got, the weaker Yami got…
Shada tried again, reminding Yami that, as Pharaoh, he was the embodiment of a God and his light was what the people looked to.
All his words managed to do was remind Yami of his hikari and the amount of times Bakura had harmed the boy because of his desire for the Millennium Items and how hard Yugi had fought in the Capsule Monster's world to protect everyone...
Slifer, obeying Yami's silent command, wrapped itself around the remaining Ka beasts, shielding them.
Kalim couldn't understand why the Pharaoh would send his divine creature to be a shield for their creatures, but Seth figured it out as Bakura's bellow could be heard.
"Diabound, attack!"
The blow struck the God monster head on, disintegrating it.
Agony ran through Yami as he coughed up blood.
"Duos!" Seth, worried about his Pharaoh but unable to risk missing the opportunity to strike, bellowed up to his Ka.
His Ka struck at the point that the attack had originated from.
Events passed him by as the Pharaoh attempted to stay upright on his horse.
Seth's attack missed, striking a minor Ka rather than Diabound.
Yami's plan had failed, the King had nothing left to summon with and the tide of battle was now on Bakura's side.
"We can't defeat it while it hides in the darkness." Kalim growled.
'Ra…' Yami thought weakly, eyes closed, having trouble drawing breath. 'But my Ba is…'
"Yami!" He was hearing things, he had to be, but he opened his eyes, hoping beyond hope that his friends weren't really there and in danger with him.
"Y…Yugi?" Yami asked weakly as his hikari moved to his side.
Yugi wasn't the only one there; Joey, Hermione and Seto were there too… he had to be hallucinating…
"Sit up, Yami." Yugi murmured, giving him a small smile.
"I'm…" Yami wondered if his priests could see his friends, or whether it looked like the loss of so much Ba had affected his mind.
"You can still fight." Yugi promised, "You left half of your soul with me." He took Yami's hand.
It was no illusion…
It WAS Yugi…
Power rushed through the Pharaoh, as together they called on the strongest of the Gods, whose light pierced even the darkness of the night, as if it was midday in the desert, revealing Diabound.
"ATTACK!" Bakura's voice screeched.
Diabound opened fire on Ra but Seth was ready for it, shielding the God with Duos' sword, protecting his King and the ghost who looked so much like him, the priest able to sense the power radiating from the spirit who seemed to have his own guards.
Never mind that one of them looked like him…
"Thank you, Seth." Yami nodded towards his priest, "Ra, attack!"
The incredibly powerful God Monster shifted into its unstoppable phoenix mode and rushed at Diabound, leaving fire streaking across the sky in its wake.
Diabound never stood a chance.
The intense flames burned the fiend to ashes.
Somewhere, at the same time Diabound died, Bakura, the Tomb Robber, died with him.
It was over.
"Pharaoh did it!" Cheers rose from the people around them, "Our living God destroyed the darkness!"
'Not I.' Yami thought, smiling at his partner, who looked tired but happy, 'Ra destroyed Diabound and I never would have summoned him without Yugi…'
The Pharaoh gazed at his friends. How they'd gotten here was beyond him.
"You do see us, don't you Yami?" Hermione asked, biting her lower lip, a habit she'd picked up from Kari.
'Yami… that's my name in Yugi's time…' Yami thought sadly as he nodded and smiled at her, glad, for once, that Yugi's mind wasn't bound to his at that moment, 'Even here I still don't know my true name…'
"Looking fancy. If you'd worn that to the Yule Ball, you'd have had more dates then you'd've known what to do with." Joey chuckled.
Yami snorted in amusement, still trying to work out why they had come. Not that he was sorry they had done, but he couldn't work out how they had gotten into the world that appeared to consist of his memories from Egypt.
"Are you alright, Yami?" Yugi asked, concerned for his injured dark.
"I believe so." Yami nodded, amused by Kaiba's surliness. "I take it you wanted to deal with Bakura?" He asked the CEO who just scowled.
"We should go." Yugi backed away from his dark, letting go of Yami's hand, dismissing Ra and causing the Pharaoh to frown in confusion.
"Yugi?"
"We're not here to interfere in your memories. Not really." Yugi said, looking, not embarrassed but unsure whether he'd done the wrong thing in saving his dark, if he'd messed up something important, "We're here to find your name."
"You'd do that for me?" Yami asked, surprised, though he supposed he shouldn't be.
"Of course, we're your… what the hell is that?" Joey demanded, looking up at the sky, where night had fallen once again and a demonic form had superimposed itself over the night sky.
It's been a long time Pharaoh. A voice echoed through the minds of everyone present, Though you don't remember me.
"Who are you?" Yami demanded, cantering a few steps forward and placing himself between the apparition and Yugi.
My name is Zorc Necrophades. I rule this world of memory.
"There's your Game Master, Joey." Hermione murmured.
'Game Master?' Yami wondered, but Zorc was speaking again.
Your friends have changed the course of history. You've even defeated my Bakura. This I can't allow. Not yet. Such a pity, but your reunion with your heir ends here. Behold my power…
The demon Game Master threw out his arms and a howling wind started up that had them throwing up their arms to defend themselves.
Memory Reverse!
Time started flowing backwards as Yami grasped his hikari's arm instinctively, not knowing what was going on, but feeling like he should.
Diabound reappeared, Ra left taking the re-summoned light with him, Yugi was torn from Yami's grasp and vanished back into the darkness of the night, along with the rest of Yami's friends from the modern age…
And once again pain wracked the Pharaoh as he spat out blood.
Time stopped rewinding just in time for Osiris to die a second time.
In the time it took Yami to recover, Seto's beast had been struck down.
The Pharaoh sent his horse into a gallop.
The only way to stop all this death now, was for him to stop Bakura…
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They were supposed to be meeting up with Mai at the Kaiba Land Asia theme park, where there was due to be a Battle City style Duel Monsters Tournament starting in three days time that Yugi and Yami were supposed to be taking part in… if they reappeared, but they'd missed Mai at the entrance and the park was heaving with summer tourists, so while they'd phoned the blonde Duelist to find out where she was, they were having trouble getting to the arena.
Cub… Wolf stopped and sniffed the air, his fur standing on end.
"I know, Wolf, I know." Harry placed a hand on the unhappy Gold Winged Wolf's head. It wasn't just the crowds, who appeared to think that Wolf was a tourist attraction that was bothering the Winged Beast, Harry could feel the currents of Shadow flowing in a way that he hadn't since the last time Yugi and Yami had been practising monster summoning and even that hadn't flowed as thickly as what he was sensing.
It wasn't helping him keep his promise to Sirius to focus on something other than the battle that Yugi and the others were currently involved in, but it was allowing him to see who out of the people around him were touched by the Shadows like he and the non item wielders were.
There weren't many, in fact the ones he most commonly sensed the Shadows weaving around were Duelists he recognised, either from tournaments he'd fought in this summer or memories handed down to him by the Kings of Games, past and present.
He wondered if this was what his friends sensed when the magic was flying thick and fast during one of their tournaments, or whether they knew how to block it.
"Harry!"
`Speaking of Shadows weaving around a Duelist,` Harry thought as he considered the blonde who'd helped him all summer, `I don't think I've ever felt Shadows that thick.` Not that he had much experience, considering that he'd only really started sensing the Shadows since he'd been accidently linked to Yugi and Yami.
"Hey Mai!" Harry weaved through the crowd and joined his friend, "How are you?"
Mai snorted, "About as on edge as you are." She said, amethyst eyes scanning the crowd (more than once this summer Harry had wondered if Mai was related to Yugi in anyway since he was the only other person he knew with eyes that colour), "You feel it, don't you."
"I wasn't expecting this concentration of Duelists until tomorrow or Wednesday." Harry nodded, wondering if it was the magic telling her or Duelist instinct, considering Yugi and Joey had told him multiple times that Mai wasn't magical.
"Well, at least we know people are taking this seriously." Mai said, paused, looked at Sirius and said, "No." Before turning back to an amused Harry, "Though I do wonder how many people are going to go after Yugi this time."
Harry, who had believed the tales Yugi had told him about tournaments he and the others had competed in long before he'd been able to see the memories backing them up, shrugged. He had a funny feeling that the people who'd been muscling Duelists out of tournaments and the weirdoes he'd bumped into so far were going to be nothing compared to the insanity that was going to hit over the next few days.
"When are we meeting up with the others?" Mai asked, reminding Harry that the others had been supposed to be meeting up with them this afternoon, but that had been before Hermione's parents had decided to take her to Japan and Yugi and Yami had decided to go today, before their nerves broke.
"It depends." Harry's tone told her volumes.
"The tournament hasn't even started yet!" She protested.
"I know, I know." Harry threw up his hands, "But…" He looked around. "Can we take this somewhere private?"
Mai frowned, it was that bad? "Sure, there's a café around here that does private rooms for Duelists. We can talk there."
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"Get out of the way, Bakura!"
They needed to get past. With time rewound Yami was dying, without Yugi's help he'd be defeated by the ancient version of the Tomb Robber, while the modern version had stepped into their path, and summoned two bodyguards, blocking the path to Yami.
"I can't let you help the Pharaoh." Bakura shook his head. "Only I get to change time."
"You're not Bakura…" Yugi realised, drawing his wand, "Who are you?"
"I'm about as close to the Bakura you know as you're going to get." 'Bakura sniggered, "What would you say if I told you Zorc sealed part of his soul into the Ring five thousand years ago?"
"You're…" Yugi's eyes widened in realisation.
"That's right, I'm Zorc Necrophades." The white haired Duelist gloated.
"Bakura, Zorc, I don't care. You're the one who hurt Mokuba." Kaiba stalked forward, a Duel Disk appearing on his arm without anyone summoning it, "And for that you will pay."
Zorc looked amused as he called his own Duel Disk, which, unlike Kaiba's, grew out of his arm. "I like these modern diadums." The Shadow demon commented, "They're so much easier to use then the ones the Pharaoh and his priests have."
"Stop talking and duel me." Kaiba snarled. "Once you're out of our way, Mokuba will be free and we can go save his royal pain in the ass."
"You'll never reach him in time." Zorc snorted. "Alright Seth, it's time to duel."
"My name is Seto Kaiba." The CEO snapped as he drew his first hand, smirking at the cards within it, "And you will regret ever messing with my family."