Author's note:

This is my English translation of the story I had written in Hungarian, my mother tongue.

I should have done this sooner, but better late than never: I would like to thank my beta readers, Hero Beater and Fluffy Pillow, for their invaluable input - Hero Beater doubly for giving me extensive, point by point criticism and proofreading. Without them, this story would be nowhere as good as it is right now. I owe them more than I'll ever be able to express. Thank you both, and please forgive me for not having credited you sooner.

DUEL AT DAWN

"Write that letter."

"But I don't want to…"

"Write it."

Ryou's pupils shrank and grew as he sat at his desk with a few blank sheets in front of him. He didn't even remember when he came to sit there. There was a small doodle in the corner of the top sheet, as if he had been merely drawing out of boredom.

"Do as I say."

He reached for the paper when a stab of pain made him flinch, as though something had torn into his hand.

"Your constant sketching is getting on my nerves. Throw that thing away."

There was a broken gleam in Ryou's eyes as his hand clumsily clutched at the sheet and crushed it into a ball, the tiny angel he drew in the corner lost between the tightly pressed folds. Ryou felt a dull pang in his heart, and the ball rolled away from between his fingers.

"Good. Now take an empty sheet, and write what I say."

Ryou took up his pen and began writing. He did not want to resist it anymore.

Be at the Northern entrance of Domino City Park at 6 am this Friday, and prepare for the last duel of your life. Don't even think about declining my challenge. If you stall me for even a single second, you will pay dearly.

Two identical letters were written and posted that same day once he penned the addresses in his neat, pearly handwriting: one for Yugi Muto, and the other, for Seto Kaiba.

Both parties had received their respective letters by the next morning. It reached Yugi at home, and Kaiba at his office. Yugi Muto had all but finished his toast by the time his grandfather brought in the morning mail and sat down to the table to sort it out – he was getting ready for school, and already had the upcoming classes on his mind.

"Water bill… gas bill…" his grandfather muttered to himself, setting down the envelopes one by one as if he were playing cards. Yugi mused on in reverie, seemingly not having heard him at all – he was so used to nothing but junk mail and bills in the mail that he didn't even ask if he had gotten anything. He held no correspondence with anyone, and expected neither letters nor packages; he thus kept daydreaming over his steadily cooling cup of tea, enjoying the calm of the morning.

"Electric bill… and what's this? …Well, would you look at that. Yugi! You got a letter."

"I'm sorry. Did you say something, Grandpa?" Yugi asked sheepishly when he realized he had heard his name. His grandfather shook his head with a lenient smile.

"You got a letter, Yugi," he repeated patiently and handed over the envelope. Yugi reached for it with a surprised smile. He had never received anything personal through the mail before, and the hand-written address drew him in, as though it had been penned by an old forgotten friend's hand. He could hardly wait to find out what it said and opened it with hopeful anticipation, but once he grasped its message, he grew pale and folded it with fumbling hands that then fell in his lap helplessly, his heart throbbing with a dull, fearful beat: somebody set a trap for him, and by the time he had read the message, the noose was already around his neck…

"Is something wrong?" asked Solomon, his forehead creasing as he watched his grandson. Yugi's eyes flashed at him alarmed, trying desperately to force a smile on his face and calm his elderly grandfather.

"Everything's fine, Grandpa," he fibbed, self-conscious. "…Somebody wants to duel me."

"Really? Who is it?" inquired Solomon, his features softening.

"I don't know," replied Yugi, hoping his voice wouldn't betray his anxiety. "It looks like I'll just have to wait and see," he said quietly, and pocketed the letter.

"Don't worry, Yugi. You are a great duelist and I have faith in you," said his grandfather, finally putting a real smile on his grandson's face. "However, it might be best right now if you started concentrating on getting ready on time," he added, pointing to the clock on the wall, and it finally dawned on Yugi that he only had a few minutes left to pack.

"Oh no! I'll be late!" he cried, sprinting to his room at once to pack his school bag. Solomon shook his head as he glanced after him, and grabbing his broom, he shuffled out the back door to tidy up the street before opening the Game Shop. His grandson was zigzagging about in his room in the meantime, gathering his things, and soon ran panting to the main entrance… only to nearly sweep Téa away, who was waiting outside, having decided to come by the Game Shop so they could walk to school together. Luckily, Téa sprang away just in time, and Yugi stopped in his tracks before he could get carried away by his own momentum, both of them gasping half spooked, half laughing.

"I'm sorry!" apologized Yugi, his cheeks tinted a soft red. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright. It's a good thing I have good reflexes," giggled Téa. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes… I mean… well… not really."

"What's the matter?"

"I'll tell you later…" said Yugi, trying to stall for time, but it was in vain. Joey and Tristan had just arrived as well (the Game Shop was on their way, after all), and Joey immediately got him in a headlock.

"What's this you're gonna tell us later, Yug?" he asked disarmingly, all of them staring at him now, and he knew there was nothing to be done but show them the anonymous letter. Téa grew pale as he read it out loud to them. Joey clenched his fists.

"Who could have written this?" asked Téa.

"I don't know…" said Yugi, his voice uneasy.

"Whoever wrote it, it's bad news," growled Joey. "There's no way a fair duelist would pull somethin' like this."

"Do you think it has anything to do with that ancient prophecy?" Yugi asked all of a sudden. "The one about the Pharaoh and the Millennium items?"

"Beats me, Yug," replied Joey. "But don't worry: we'll be there with ya, and we're gonna protect ya!" he swore with his fist in the air.

"Yeah!" chimed in Tristan at once.

"But guys, it could be a trap, and then you would all be in danger!" pleaded Yugi, but his friends were adamant.

"It's almost certainly a trap, but that's all the more reason for all of us to stick together," replied Téa. "We are your friends, and we won't let you go alone. You might need us!"

"Téa is right," said Tristan. "You'll be a lot safer with us."

"What do you say, Yug?" asked Joey, his fist still clenched, but now with an assuring smile on his face. Yugi looked up at him, a strange gleam in his eyes.

"…Thank you," he uttered, moved by the gesture, and as the fear clutching at his heart lost its grip, a wonderful warmth flushed over him: fervent gratitude that life had given him such great friends.

"Everything will be alright," joined in the Pharaoh inside his mind, his calm, deep voice instilling courage into Yugi's heart. "Whatever awaits us, we will face it together."

"You're right, Pharaoh," replied Yugi in thought and finally smiled. His friends smiled back at him, and from that moment, they escorted him around all week long to school and back again, so he could focus and prepare for what awaited him…

By the time the four friends headed off to school, Seto Kaiba was already in his office having coffee and waiting for his little brother to bring in the morning reports. Mokuba took this week off school to work for Kaiba Corp as Seto's right-hand man, and right now, he was sorting said reports by priority so that Nii-sama may look through them more easily. When he was finished, he arranged the pile of documents into a neat stack and headed over to his older brother's office. The secretary was waiting for him in the corridor, glancing at him with discernible unease.

"Mokuba-sama! Would you please take this, too?" she asked, gingerly holding out the recently arrived letter. She did her best to avoid disturbing her boss, especially with such trivial things as an anonymous, handwritten envelope that had passed through multiple screenings and still held no more than a handwritten letter. Mokuba eventually shrugged and took the envelope, and the secretary left with a relieved sigh. As much as she felt guilty about hiding behind her boss's little brother, it spared her so many headaches and crackdowns that, after a while, she just couldn't help scanning the corridor for him whenever she knew he would be coming in to work. Mokuba shook his head as he glanced after her, placing the envelope on top of the reports, and then knocked and entered his older brother's office. Seto was just finishing his coffee and browsing company correspondence.

"Here are the morning reports, Nii-sama," announced Mokuba, and offered him the neatly ordered reports. "Oh, and there's a letter for you, too."

"Thank you, Mokuba," replied Kaiba, relieving his little brother of the freshly printed stack, and then picked up the envelope as well, musing over the direction that was personally addressed to him. He tore a neat strip off the envelope and lifted out the letter, unfolding it with a sharp flick of his hand, and Mokuba watched with worry as Nii-sama's face slowly hardened, his eyes sparking furiously by the time he finished reading it.

"What is it, Nii-sama?" he asked nervously. His brother made no answer, but he did hand over the letter at once and waited for his little brother to read it. Mokuba stared back at him, not knowing what to make of it. "Who wrote this?"

"I don't know – there is no sender or signature. But it doesn't matter. I'll find out this Friday morning either way," Kaiba answered dryly as he glared into space, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Does that mean you're going?"

"I have to, Mokuba. Whether this is a personal threat or someone is trying to threaten Kaiba Corp through me, I owe it to myself and my company to go there and put an end to this once and for all."

"But you promised you would–"

"Spend Friday morning with you. I know," Kaiba finished his sentence, lowering his head. The threat didn't annoy him half as much as the idea that of what little free time he had, they just had to take Friday morning when he promised to spend it with his little brother before the morning meetings would confine him to his office for good. "I'm sorry, Mokuba. We'll have to reschedule."

"…Not necessarily," said Mokuba shortly, and their eyes met once again. "Not if I go with you, Nii-sama. You're going to win anyway, and then we can go and have breakfast together. What do you say?"

Kaiba couldn't help but crack a smile. He slowly leaned back in his chair, lacing his long fingers together.

"Alright, Mokuba. Fine by me," he replied, and his little brother left the office with a cheerful grin to tackle the rest of his vice-presidential duties. Kaiba' eyes followed him calmly. It no longer bothered him that somebody dared threaten him so underhandedly. He was slowly but surely consumed by the thrill of the upcoming challenge, and having reached a compromise, both brothers looked forward to it with a sense of pleasant excitement. Neither of them doubted the outcome. Kaiba because of his self-confidence, and Mokuba because he not only felt but knew that there was nothing Nii-sama couldn't do.

Come Friday dawn, both parties set forth to Domino City's largest park – Yugi and his friends on foot, and Seto and Mokuba Kaiba by taxi. The streets were still empty, the park looking deserted under the soft pink sky, lending a pictorial backdrop to the upcoming duel… and soon, both guests have arrived: Yugi and his friends, stage right, and the Kaibas, stage left.

"Yugi?" uttered Kaiba in astonishment when they finally spotted one other. Mokuba stopped by his side and stared at the arriving company in shock.

"Kaiba?" replied Yugi, thoroughly confused. They stared at each other as though they could not believe their eyes. A lot of potential suspects had crossed their minds to that point, but it was a sign of mutual respect that neither of them suspected the other of an underhanded, anonymous threat.

"I can't believe this! Just who do you think you are, rich boy?" Joey set upon him with his fists clenched. Unlike Yugi, he wouldn't have put anything past Kaiba. "What the heck did you drag us out here for?"

"What are you talking about, Wheeler?" retorted Kaiba. "I can't understand a word you're saying, although that could be because I don't speak dog…"

Fortunately, Tristan managed to grab Joey's arm in time to detain him from ill-advised close quarters combat. Kaiba eyed him with a sneer before turning to Yugi.

"I'm here because of this," he said, drawing the letter from the pocket of his white leather overcoat. Yugi unfolded it, a spark of comprehension in his eyes, and produced the letter's counterpart in return, handing it to Kaiba, who glanced through it with disdain and immediately gave it back as if not wanting to get his hands stained.

"Seto?" spoke up Mokuba. "If neither of you wrote that letter, then who challenged you?"

"It was I."

All six of them turned towards the entrance of the park. Bakura emerged from behind one of the pillars, eyeing them with satisfaction, a malicious smile in the corner of his lips.

"I see you've all come. I was hoping you would."

Kaiba immediately stepped in front of his little brother and readied his duel disk.

"Let's not waste more time, Bakura. I'm a busy man and I don't have time for losers, so prepare to duel."

Yugi could feel that the Pharaoh wished to take his place, and so he let him assume control of his body and retreated to the safety of his soul room. Yami then took his stance by Kaiba's side and he, too, activated his duel disk.

"I don't know what you want with us, Bakura, but it was a big mistake challenging both of us, because together, we will defeat you and put an end to your plans," he said determined, and both of them showed off their duel disks, decks at the ready.

"Wrong!" replied Bakura, and his Millennium Ring started to glow, a thick fog spreading over the entrance of the park. The Shadow Realm, realized Yami.

"Stop stalling with cheap tricks, Bakura!" growled Kaiba.

"I can assure you that this is no cheap trick. Now be silent, because he is my chosen opponent, not you," declared Bakura, pointing a finger at the Pharaoh. The Millennium Ring jolted about his neck as though it had come to life, and a blinding light swept over them for a single moment, only to be snuffed out as if it had never shone. Kaiba and Mokuba drew closer to each other, both staring upward in shock: Bakura and the Pharaoh were towering above them like giants, and a smooth, shimmering playing field began to form between them with fourteen card zones on each side. Bakura's Ring also detached Yugi, and he and his friends looked at the forming playing field in awe, and suddenly, memories of Duelist Kingdom returned, when Ryou had become possessed by the spirit of the Ring and trapped them within their favorite cards. They considered themselves very fortunate to have escaped that fate this time – they were all standing beside the playing field as the sole audience of the duel.

"What's the meaning of this?" Kaiba yelled to Bakura in anger.

"The Shadow Game has begun, me against the Pharaoh, and you will all watch as I defeat him and take what is rightfully mine!" replied Bakura, and then proceeded to completely ignore Kaiba, who was practically snarling at him.

"If you want my Millennium Puzzle, then you will be very disappointed, because I'm going to win this duel and protect my friends!" declared the Pharaoh, locked in a defiant stare with Bakura.

"You will lose, Pharaoh, and when I defeat you, your friends will go down with you!" snarled Bakura and he, too, inserted his deck into his duel disk. Yami's eyes flashed sharply as he placed a hand on his deck. His friends and Mokuba cheered him on. Kaiba stood aside, taciturn and morose, watching Bakura with utter contempt.

"Let's duel!"