I'd been meaning to update this story more quickly, but I've been busy with a training for a new job over the previous month. The initial dialogue in this chapter, interestingly, was the hardest to figure out. Due to the Death-T manga storyline being incompatible with the anime storyline, the only manga I reference as canon in my fics are the stories before Death-T, and any one-off stories after Death-T that can stand alone. The rematch referenced in this was the one Mai asked Yami no Yugi for in Monophobia, and will be a bit more detailed in the next chapter.

Written while listening to "Parabola" by Tool.


"Mai," he replied carefully, wincing at the brightness of the sun, "step aside."

Mai's booted foot hit the ground. While he couldn't make out the expression on her face very well, the forward lean of her body, and the tightening of her hands over the handles said more than enough. "Oh, so I'm just an obstacle to you now?" Anzu gasped from behind Yami no Yugi. His fist clenched at his side as Mai continued, "You want to pass, you have to go through me."

"You oversaw this, didn't you?" He hissed, his fist wobbling as he recalled Locke's previous comments. "Or did you come to collect on it," he shook his head, "It doesn't matter, does it?"

Anzu stepped out from behind him. When he held up an arm to stop her, she pushed it aside, reminding him, "We're not in a duel. She can't do anything."

Cocking her head to the side, and placing a hand on her hip, she laughed. Yami no Yugi bolted forward at that, seized by anger at her reaction after the horrors of the day. The Puzzle glowed, and all the while she continued to laugh, and mock, and—

-anditwasn'theritcouldn'tbehercouldn'tbecouldn'tbecouldn'tbe—

"Pharaoh!" Anzu cried out.

He stopped short, breathing heavily. He placed his hand on the hood of one of the cars, and immediately retracted it, waving it out from the heat. Leaning his elbow upon it, he continued to breathe hard, staring at Mai. Shaking her head, she dropped her hand to point at him. "I was looking for you."

It felt like an odd dream, or perhaps a nightmare. The days after Battle City had flown by, the monotony of the modern age wearing one into the next. In a rhythm, the city streets came alive, cars racing by, and people walking. Surrounded by crowds, yet still an island, it was tempting, from time to time, to simply sink into this world, and step away from his goal of finding his memories. Marik was vanquished, Bakura had not been seen again, and Pegasus had bowed aside. There had been no other foe to face. Yet, his hand would pass through the knob of a door, or the branch of a bush, and he would be disappointed at his lack of autonomy. On occasion, he thought of seeing her again in the sunlight, long hair blown back as she sped down the road in her convertible, or puzzling over a new strategy, her deck spread out on the table before her.

Though, that hadn't been the extent of his fantasies, with others being more erotic in their content. A favorite of his tended to involve her pinning his wrists over his head in the backseat of her convertible. She'd laugh at how his helplessness made him blush as she straddled his hips, her low-cut white top unlaced, and lean forward, her long hair cascading over her shoulders, to kiss and suck on his exposed neck, his collar unbuckled. During one of Yugi's classes, Yami no Yugi had become bored, and accidentally allowed that image to creep into Yugi's mind. Yugi's surprise was signaled with a dropping of his pencil, his teacher sharply turning his head to demand, "Is there something you'd like to say, Mr. Muto?" Yami no Yugi had contented himself with remaining within his soul room for a few following days. Nevertheless, Yugi took a chance from time to time to rib him whenever a convertible happened to drive by.

He found he did prefer her, aesthetically speaking, in leather, but while he couldn't deny that, it was a miserable reunion. His suspicions about her rescuing him and the others had proven correct, though internally he'd tempered them with the fact that Mai was more of a closed off person, much like himself. Perhaps that was what made watching her duel with Jonouchi so agonizing, to say nothing of what she had endured alone.

In some ways, he felt self-reproach, thinking of her in such a perfectly conjured manner, while her reality had been, in fact, much darker. If only he had known…But then, Mai wouldn't have let him know, and he understood why. She would have regarded telling others about her overwhelming negative feelings as exposing a weakness.

Much to his chagrin, he found that perhaps he might have worsened that situation. That night in the park after Battle City had concluded, he'd hugged Mai, all pretenses of formality dropped for a moment. Barring Yugi, no one had been around to witness him in a rather vulnerable moment, or Mai, for that matter (not that she had known Yugi was there, and his counterpart hadn't been willing to tell her afterward).

It did frustrate him that she hadn't spoken to him about her plight, but, speaking quite frankly, it was out of the question. Mai wasn't foolish; especially considering what she alluded to him about in the park, Yami no Yugi could guess that she had had her suspicions anyway that Yugi and he weren't exactly two perfect sides of a single coin. However, it would be very jarring for her to comprehend that there was a separate entity dwelling within a single vessel. Frankly, he theorized that if he had not thrown himself into the fray to help her, Mai would have most likely not wanted him anywhere near her after what Marik had put her through. She would keep her distance from him until she could better understand him. Aside from that, it was awkward enough for Anzu, a close friend of Yugi since childhood, to ask him to talk to Yami no Yugi. For Mai, an outsider, it was unheard of. Relationships with the living were simply too complicated.

"You've found me," he replied curtly, "Now that you're satisfied, allow us to pass."

"I'm not," she stated.

Anzu shook her head. "Mai, we don't have time for this! The police here—"

Mai snapped, "I know why they're here, Anzu!"

Yami no Yugi's fists clenched. "You were in charge of this massacre, weren't you?" He growled through gritted teeth. In the back of his head, however, he sincerely hoped that he was wrong.

Mai shook her head, though it did nothing to alleviate his unease, as he wasn't sure what her negative body language indicated. "No, I wasn't 'in charge,'" she answered, "This was organized by the local police department. One of us has to check to see that it's finished."

Anzu let out a heavy breath. "You've done this before, haven't you, Mai?"

"This is the first time," she answered. At Anzu's dismayed reaction, she turned her attention pointedly back to Yami no Yugi, and added, "This isn't a massacre, as you call it. The people here aren't dead."

"Of course not," Yami no Yugi hissed, waving his arm, "Their souls have merely been ripped from their bodies to be fed to the Leviathan. It can't possibly be an awful thing, can it?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Sanctimonious as always, aren't you?"

Anzu started past Yami no Yugi. "This isn't getting anywhere. Mai, please, we have to get inside the station. Jonouchi and Honda will be in serious trouble if we don't!"

"You want to stop them from wiring their photos," Kujaku replied plainly, catching her off-guard. Anzu tightly nodded her head. "There isn't a point in it," Mai dismissed.

"What do you mean?!" Anzu exclaimed, waving her arms for emphasis, "There'll be a manhunt for them! Does seeking power matter so much to you?" She shook her head, and pointed at her. "Mai, you told me yourself, that night we spent around the campfire with you in Duelist Kingdom, that you felt nothing but disdain for those who sought money and power at the casinos. How are you any different from them now?"

"Anzu, do yourself a favor, and quit trying to talk about things you know nothing of," Mai reprimanded, "What both of you fail to understand is that there wouldn't be a point in stopping the photos from being wired. Don't you think that more than one town would be looking for the four of you?"

Yami no Yugi and Anzu exchanged a frightened glance as Mai continued, "This isn't like the Battle City finals, Yami no Yugi."

"Then why stop us, if this is inconsequential to you?" Yami no Yugi inquired, "We keep the photos from being run through Blackroot's telegraph. It shouldn't matter to DOMA that one town isn't broadcasting the message, if so many others are."

Mai shrugged, and glanced back over her shoulder to look at the station. A window opened, and an officer stuck out his head to look down at them. With a sharp gesture from Mai, the window shut again. Turning her head back, she replied, "It wouldn't matter to DOMA, especially with what is coming tomorrow."

"Then let us through!" Anzu insisted.

"No."

Engines revved loudly in the distance, catching the attention of the three. A police cruiser, followed closely by two others, bore down the road toward them. The front doors of the police station swung open, and out sprinted two female officers, their pistols drawn, and pointed past Mai's shoulders toward Anzu and Yami no Yugi.

Mai turned sharply on her heel. The Orichalcos stone about her neck glowed green. "Yami no Yugi!" She exclaimed, holding up her duel disk, "Get your deck!" He nodded, pulling it from his holster once more, while Anzu slipped her hand into her pocket. As the female officers screamed at Yami no Yugi and Anzu to show their hands, Mai spun back about, and ordered, "In the name of the Leviathan, put your weapons down!" The female officers hesitated, the seals on their exposed foreheads glowing brightly in the sun. "Are you deaf?!" Mai snapped, "I said put down your weapons!"

The pistols wobbled in the air, and were lowered, the two officers standing quietly before the doors. The cruisers slowed to a halt as Mai, three cards fanned out in her hand, placed one onto her duel disk. In a burst of light, the Harpie Lady, her form half-bent over, and her head tucked behind closed wings, appeared, floating a few meters off the ground at Mai's side. She rose, her wings parting, and her long, red hair whipping backward. She shrieked at the sky, and took flight, alighting upon the town hall's bell tower. She clutched at the structure with her talons, leering down upon the scene with red, glowing eyes, the seal standing prominently out on her forehead. The officers who climbed out of their cruises held their hats on against the burst of wind. Holding a card aloft, Yami no Yugi called forth Buster Blader, who stood stalwart before his master, his sword warningly pointed toward the police officers who occupied the cruisers. Anzu's Dark Witch was poised in the air, her dark blue wings beating at intervals to keep herself aloft, and her spear pointed down at the female officers standing guard before the station.

"Stand aside!" Called the first officer to leave the cruiser, slamming the door shut. His partner, a pair of handcuffs dangling from his hand, slid out of the other side. "These two are wanted for assaulting a police officer, and must be taken into custody!"

"How dare you!" Mai snapped, starting forward, "I am a horsewoman to Dartz, himself! I speak for him when I order you all to leave!" The officers hesitated, and glanced around at the monsters. The Harpie Lady leaned forward, and shrieked again, her one taloned hand upheld threateningly. "I won't warn you again!" Kujaku added.

Anzu glanced again to Yami no Yugi, who hesitated, but nodded. Anzu extended her hand to the side, catching the attention of the Dark Witch, who focused her gaze upon her mistress. Anzu pointed to the female officers, and held up her hand vertically. Dark Witch nodded, and turned her spear in her hands from an aggressive upright position, and to a more passive horizontal position, laying it across the palms of her hands. Yami no Yugi's hand twitched at his side, catching Buster Blader's notice. He twisted his finger about in the air, and the warrior responded by stepping back one leg, his knee bending.

The officers, however, continued to hold their ground, lack of sureness plain to see on their faces, and the seals pulsing on their foreheads. Mai, a lopsided grin on her face, dropped another card onto her duel disk, and took a few steps backward. Yami no Yugi and Anzu called out to their monsters as the ground shook. Harpie's Pet Dragon roared, stomping its clawed foot hard upon the ground, causing the cruisers to bounce, knocking down a few of the officers. Its chain cracked sharply against the asphalt, sending up a shower of white sparks. Its wings beat, rattling the window frames of the buildings surrounding it, and sending the humans around it backward a few steps.

The Dark Witch swooped down toward the female officers, and swung about, placing herself before the dragon. The officers spun about, and retreated into the building. The dragon, its jaw slack, inhaled deeply, and belched out a ball of flame, incinerating the Dark Witch, and blasting the doors forward. Screams of pain and agony sounded from inside as the doors fell inward, crushing one officer's legs, and setting the other officer's back and hair on fire.

Mai loaded her third card into her duel disk as the Harpie Lady swooped down from the bell tower. Anzu, her hands tearing at tufts of her hair in disdain at her failure, only noticed the Harpie Lady descending toward her by her vision growing dark. Glancing up, she gasped at the sight of the winged creature, now blurred as she split into two others. Anzu gasped, and broke into a sprint. It felt as if two blades were drawing down her shoulders as her feet left the ground, the fabric of her jacket and shirt ripping, and the backpack falling to the dirt, its straps broken. Blood dripped from the gashes to run down her shoulders as she twisted and flailed, punching the Harpie's face and breasts. The Harpie Lady retaliated by biting at her cheek, drawing blood as she flew back into the shopping district, Anzu grasped tightly in her talons.

At Yami no Yugi's command, Buster Blader darted toward the cruisers, and swung about, his blade barely blocking the next fireball. The warrior strained against the heat, his shoulders and knees buckling. "Mai, stop this!" Yami no Yugi cried out, "You'll kill them!"

"And why shouldn't I?" She hissed, "You saw what they did to this town!"

He shook his head in disbelief. "Mai, this isn't like you!"

"But it is like you, isn't it?!" She accused, causing him to take a breath in shock. She raised an eyebrow, her scowl at him deepening. "I've learned quite a bit about you since I last saw you. Not quite the hero you think you are, are you?"

Pain lanced through Yami no Yugi's shoulders, and he cried out as he was lifted into the air, twisting and screaming at the talons that tore through his uniform jacket and shirt. He coughed harshly from accidentally inhaling green feathers as one of the Harpie Sisters took to the skies with him. Below, the Harpie's Pet Dragon spun about, and swung its tail, knocking over Buster Blader, the police officers, and the cruisers as if they were children's toys. Yami no Yugi's eyes burned from the smoke that poured from the police station's doorway. Mai stood far below him, her blonde hair blurring from the tears in his eyes. Deciding against aggravating the searing pain in his shoulders further, he kicked out at the Harpie's taloned feet. She angled herself sideways, and released her grip on him. Yami no Yugi's heart leapt into his throat as he fell, kicking and hitting the air blindly.

The remaining Harpie Sister seized him by the tail of his jacket, swooping away with him bent over, his rear end rather humiliatingly exposed to the air. The buildings rose closer to him the Harpie descended, and Yami no Yugi, gasping at the pain the movement caused, held out his arms to block his face from scraping the roof of a building that was too close. At the last moment, the Sister swung aside, purple feathers falling, and dipped to be parallel with the ground, pitching him forward into the alley. He skidded to a halt on his elbows and knees with a groan, lurching on the ground to cough up the dust and dirt he'd inhaled by mistake.

Footfalls thumped over to him, and he looked up to see Anzu, with scrapes on her bare legs, torn sleeves, and smears of blood on her exposed shoulders and cheek, kneeling before him. "Are you all right?"

Shutting his eyes, he hissed in pain as he slowly sat up. "Flesh wound, I think." Leaning his head back against the wall behind him, he groaned partly from the pain, and partly from trying to find his bearings again. His head lolled to the side, and he cracked his eyes back open. "Are you all right?"

Anzu nodded her head, and gestured to the building behind them. An alabaster hoofed animal with red eyes and massive horns was painted on the side of it, along with the words, White Bull Tavern. A side door stood open. "I was able to go inside, and find a medical kit in the back office." She indicated where it sat on a crate of beer beside the door, and went over to fetch it.

Something scraped along the roof, and craning his neck at the noise, Yami no Yugi saw the wing of one Harpie Lady sticking out as she spun away from him. A pigeon flew over, only to shriek in fear as it was caught, gray feathers falling to lie beside Yami no Yugi. A few moments later, he winced at the sickening crunches of bone.

Anzu knelt beside him with the antiseptic, and he shook his head, holding out his hands for it, instead. "You had to patch yourself up on your own. It wouldn't be fair if I made you do it for me."

Anzu nodded, and allowed him to have it. Yami no Yugi pushed himself up with a grunt, and followed her inside, the afternoon sunlight casting gold streaks on the floor. A few bodies lay on the floor, or were collapsed on tables. A jukebox sung to itself. Fans lazily spun overhead. Upended bottles left dark stains on the floor. A payphone was set against the far wall, the phone book on the floor, and the phone off the cradle, periodically banging up against the shelf. The glass cabinets for the more expensive alcohol were broken, the bottle on the shelf shattered. Broken plates lay everywhere.

Anzu turned back to look at him as a shadow ominously passed over the light from one of the windows. "We can't leave, can we?" Yami no Yugi inquired.

She held up a scratched hand to confirm his inquiry. He sighed, rubbing at his shoulder, which already felt sore. "Which way is the men's room?" A disappointed look flickered across Anzu's face, but was quickly replaced with a blush. She cleared her throat, and pointed past the counter before turning to walk away.

Biting the inside of his mouth against the pain, Yami no Yugi shrugged off his coat, and hung it over the side of one of the stalls. The third stall down had a pair of legs trailing out from underneath it, while before the fourth was an overturned garbage can, and a body splayed upon the trash. His skin crawled at the sight. The shirt was a bit harder to remove, and he figured that he had torn a half-formed scab in doing so, judging by the blood that he felt seeping down. The jacket had taken more damage out of the two garments, the tail of it torn, and holes in the shoulders. The shirt had still managed to hold itself together despite its tears. As for his shoulders, thankfully he had only abrasions to worry about, though they were quite deep.

Taking a few paper towels, he hissed at the pain as he cleaned his wounds out, finding the situation rather odd. He'd been hit by both monsters and fists in the modern world, but lasting gashes were another issue entirely. He chided himself on being more careful with Yugi's body, and felt concerned as to whether it was an effect of recent events rattling his perception.

The medical kit lying in the basin of the sink, he braced his elbows upon it, and leaned forward, contemplating his reflection in the mirror, a snapshot between the red and blue graffiti on the glass. He also hadn't considered the idea of such an attack coming from someone he'd considered an ally. What Mai had become since their last meeting, he hadn't known the extent of, though this incident proved to be the most troubling. With a sigh, he covered his face with his hand. Rafael's accusations against him during their previous duel made a bit more sense in this context now. A chill raced down his spine, but he knew it wasn't because of his skin being exposed. He hated being out-maneuvered for several reasons, and here Dartz had seen him, somehow, during his most savage days.

Unfortunately, he knew that Mai's trust in him would be rocked now, as he, at one time, was starkly similar to Marik and Bakura. Though, given Mai's intelligence, she would have not felt completely at ease around him to begin with, hence her questions to him that night in the park. Still, it was a small consolation. He couldn't reconcile the events of today with the person she was. Mai hadn't been introduced to him as a necessarily ethical person at first, but she'd shown herself to be much more than a cheat.

She'd asked for a rematch that night in the park, and it had been close that following day, his and Yugi's life points sitting at a mere 100 before Mai could deal a death stroke. She'd appeared on top of the world in a moment, and he'd smiled at that, recalling her self-satisfaction during Duelist Kingdom. One last draw, however, swung the duel back around for five turns, leaving her at zero.

Loss was one of the hardest things he'd had to learn how to handle, and in fact, he was still learning. But part of it was that he had such few concepts to cling to, that losing any of them was unthinkable. How could he accept that something was no longer his, when he'd already been stripped of his very identity? He snapped his eyes open, and stood to full height, snatching his clothing. He couldn't go back there, not now.

Anzu was seated at the far end of the bar, contemplating a glass of water that she swirled in one hand, the ice cubs bumping against the sides of the glass. She put the glass down as he came over the bar, and asked, "Thirsty?" He nodded his head, and she smiled, reaching over to where another glass was already poured, and slid it across the bar toward him.

He caught it, and gratefully thanked her, sitting down beside her.

After a few moments of silence, Anzu sighed. "I hope she didn't kill those people."

Yami no Yugi shook his head. "The Leviathan would take their souls, as well. There wouldn't be a point in it."

"I'm not sure," she replied, setting down her glass, and balancing her hand on her chin, "Why wouldn't she just challenge you to a duel right there? There was nothing left to lose. She had you right where she wanted you. And why bring me here, as well? I can't duel as well as she can."

He took a long drink, and set the glass down, gathering his thoughts. "Do you think she has her own agenda?"

She nodded her head. "Mai's an outsider to DOMA, more so than the others are, but," she drummed her fingers on the bar, "I don't think that's all there is to it. I can only go off of what Jonouchi, Otogi, and Honda told me, but you were reckless while you used the Seal, weren't you?" He tensed at that, and she went on, "Your strategy was purely aggressive, and you wanted to end Rafael as soon as you could." Her fingers stopped. "That aggression wasn't just from the Seal. It amplified it, but it's always been there. Do you remember what Mai called you?"

He folded his arms, and conceded from the corner of his mouth, "Sanctimonious."

Anzu smiled sadly. "You don't like to hear it, do you?"

Gripping the side of the bar, he leaned forward. "Were you not there when I said that I would take all of Marik's anger on my back?"

"Of course I was," she replied tightly, her fist clenching on the bar, "I watched you suffer as you took the full extent of Ra's barrage to save Jonouchi and Mai that night. But what you need to understand is that this is a problem you have, and one act won't simply overturn it."

"You've hit me over the head well enough for my past, thank you," he replied, turning back to his drink.

Anzu sighed in exasperation. "You need to grow up."

He spun back around. "What?!"

She pointed at him. "You want to understand who you are, and to recover your memories. Part of accomplishing the former is acknowledging each of your flaws, and dealing with them accordingly. There are some that you have done this, others that you're working on, but there are a few that you need to know are not easily solved. Case in point, you tend to claim the moral high ground with others."

"It's fairly easy to do so, considering who antagonizes us," he insisted.

Anzu nodded her head. "I can understand that, but look at just what happened today." Her closed her eyes, and breathed hard. Opening them, she continued, "Yami no Yugi, I hate fighting with you, but this is something that you have to confront. I know that part of this stems from you protecting Yugi, and I can sympathize. I've been there myself."

Smoothing at his pant leg with one hand, he asked, "Did you feel angry with me when I came back without Yugi?"

"In some ways, yes," she conceded, "but in others, no. Why do you think I was worried, when I saw how Locke acted earlier?" She shrugged her shoulders, and eyed the intact bottles on the counter. "For a moment, I wished you hadn't been freed from the Puzzle. I wanted Yugi back with me," she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "It was that last duel with Marik in Battle City when I finally realized it at last. He was almost gone from me, you both were, and Malik possessed me at will. The whole affair was awful, really. I wanted to get Yugi down from there, and as far from Marik's grasp as I could." Turning back, she smiled sheepishly. "Silly, I know, but I wanted a life with him. I still do." Her expression sobered. "It was irrational anger, I'll admit that. For a moment, I couldn't believe that he again had to suffer because of you. However, I know you aren't so callous." She laughed. "As you can see, I've got some growing up to do, as well."

He leaned backward, bracing himself upon his elbows on the bar. "Take your time in doing so, Anzu. You have much more of it than I."

She took another sip. "Do you think she let Cross wire the photos?"

"It doesn't matter to her," he replied quietly.

Anzu turned her head. "That really bothered you, didn't it?"

He glanced at her from out of the corner of his eye. "Over the years, justice I have dealt has been mostly small scale in nature. That's finally smacking me in the face." Lifting a hand, he dropped it. "The world doesn't care; it runs on its own."

Anzu smiled sadly. "Welcome to the twenty-first century."

He folded his hands over his stomach. "If nothing else, Dartz will try to crush us with the sheer weight of this vast world itself. I can't help but think that has something to do with how Mai is acting, as well."

Before he could continue his point, the front door to the bar swung open, making Anzu jump. Yami no Yugi, however, merely frowned, and commented, "You certainly took your sweet time."

Mai tossed her head to one side, pulling the door shut behind her. "I had a few things to do on the way here." The Sennen Puzzle gleamed, and she acknowledged it with a crinkling of her nose as she walked further into the bar.

"Do you really see them, Mai?" Yami no Yugi inquired.

"The bodies? It's rather plain," she responded.

"The lives you helped take," he answered coldly, "with little regard, might I add."

Mai shook her head, her hand on her hip. "You're quick to judge, and you don't listen well. I didn't help to take them. I just came to see if it was finished."

"You knew of the attack, but you did nothing to stop it," he plainly stated, "That doesn't release you from guilt, not to mention how you took Pegasus's soul."

"He wasn't the only one," she replied, circling the bar, and grabbing the neck of one of the bottles to hold to the light.

"Mai, stop it!" Anzu cried, "You can't be this flippant! These are people's lives!"

Mai nodded her head at the bottle she had selected, and turned her back on the two, stepping deftly over the fallen bartender's body to search for a few intact glasses. Anzu stared after her in disdain, while Yami no Yugi felt something of a matter of latent understanding beginning to dawn on him at last.

The bright sun gleamed off two glasses as Mai held them up. "Oh, we're already drinking water," Anzu commented, waving them away. She withdrew her hand quickly as Mai slammed them down on the bar, the glass tinkling from the impact.

Popping the cork on the bottle, she turned it to the side, and poured dark liquor into both of the glasses. "We have to celebrate the fact that the King of Games still lives." She held the bottle to her lips, and took a swig from it. Smacking her lips, she thumped the bottle down, splaying one hand on either side of it with a smirk directed at Yami no Yugi.

He narrowed his eyes at her. He heavily doubted that Mai was going to try to get him drunk, otherwise his impaired judgment would give him a significant handicap. "Come on, have a drink on me, Pharaoh. Year's good." He moved the glass over with the side of his hand, refusing to look at it.

"The police officers?" He inquired quietly.

"Injured, but alive, all of them," she answered curtly, "The paramedics are attending to them. After that, their use to DOMA is over."

"What'll happen to them?" Anzu asked, worried.

"Their souls will be taken by the soldiers, and then the soldiers will move on," she answered, and Anzu's eyes widened at that, "Take my advice, kid, and drink. You'll need it."

Anzu numbly reached forward, and picked up the glass by the stem to raise to her lips. She grimaced at the bitter flavor, but nonetheless swallowed. "Why?" She croaked.

"Tomorrow is the last day for Earth as we know it," Mai explained, "Today, DOMA will begin the process early, and begin culling. When the Leviathan rises, it will shatter the Earth. Dartz has determined that, in order to reduce the suffering, and give the Leviathan further power to hasten the process, it's now time to take souls en masse."

"It'll be noticed," Yami no Yugi commented.

"There isn't a point anymore," Mai answered, "After tomorrow, nothing will."

He grasped his glass by the cup, and raised it to his lips, pausing for a moment. "Mai, that doesn't sound like you."

"Both of you have said that, and it's getting on my last nerve," she growled, "Both of you hardly know me, yet you make judgments as to what I might or might not do. If your reactions to my duel with Jonouchi showed anything, it was that you chose to see only what you wanted of me."

Yami no Yugi set his glass aside. "I'll concede to that, but don't accuse Anzu of it. It's my own ignorance, even if that isn't an excuse."

Mai locked her gaze on his. "Do you still see the world in black and white?"

"You seem to," he answered evenly, "You think that allowing the souls of everyone on this Earth to be taken, and for a new Earth to be formed, will provide salvation to mankind from suffering. You gamble on something that you don't even know to be true."

"You're one to talk," she answered pointedly, "At least I know what sort of world this is. Pegasus was nothing compared to the sheer low lives I've taken."

"But it's not just them, it's all of us!" Anzu cried out, "You can't say all of humanity must pay because of them!"

"I'm not," she responded, frustration clear to hear in her voice as the stone around her neck glowed for a moment, "Anzu, do you want to keep this world, knowing what goes on, even in our own city?" Anzu glanced at Yami no Yugi at that, and Mai went on, "The same city where a gun was put to your head, or where a bomber nearly blew up a ferris wheel that you were riding?"

Anzu shook her head. "You can't use those examples! You weren't there! Dartz told you about them!"

"They still happened," Mai insisted.

"They happened, yes, but outside of you using them as examples, I don't see any genuine care from you," Anzu argued, "The Mai I know wouldn't be like that! You are trying to justify this to yourself; nothing more, and nothing less."

"If I didn't care, I wouldn't be doing this," Mai answered slowly, as if Anzu was hard of hearing, "or would you rather this world continue as it is? A world where people like Yugi suffer? It can and will break you, Anzu, and little to no one will care."

She took a deep breath. "Then that's fine, Mai. If I expected anything else, it was because I wasn't old enough to understand."

Mai turned her attention to Yami no Yugi. "And what about you?" She asked.

He took another drink, and winced as the alcohol burned his throat. He noted that Anzu took a rather hard gulp herself, thumping the glass down and bracing herself on her elbow with a gasp. "I owe you an apology. Marik was created because of me," he responded.

Her eyes narrowed. "It isn't enough." She picked up the bottle to down another swig. "You saying sorry doesn't make up for the nightmares, for the wasted days and nights, and for the feeling that I would never be good enough, that I would never be strong enough. That duel with Marik stripped me of my pride, and I had to rely on someone else to help me," she pointed at him, "just like you once did."

The comment stung him, but he refused to take the bait.

"Well?" She asked, leaning forward, her hair falling over her breasts, "Isn't that what you've always wanted, Yami no Yugi? To be free of the Puzzle? You are now. I'll bet without Yugi around—"

Glass fell on the floor to shatter as Yami no Yugi stood up. Mai gasped as he grabbed the end of her dangling hair, and tugged her forward, her legs hitting the back of the counter. "Don't you dare!" He snarled venomously.

Anzu slammed her fist down on the counter, screaming, "ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU! IT'S JUST A CARD GAME!" Yami no Yugi and Mai paused to stare at her, her face red and her chest heaving. "I'm not going to lose anyone else, not over something so petty as this!" Anzu kicked her bar stool to the floor. "Mai," she hissed, "If you really want to prove how strong a person you are, then do it! Take my soul, not his."

Mai shoved Yami no Yugi's hand off of her hair, and narrowed her eyes at her. "That proves nothing, Anzu, and you know it. You aren't even worth my time."

"Wanna bet?" She withdrew her deck to slam down onto the bar. "You and me, right now," she glared over her shoulder at Yami no Yugi, who looked surprised at the deck's appearance, "with no interference." Turning her attention back to Mai, she continued, "I beat one of the Big Five while you were out cold. I can take you on as well."

Mai snorted at that.

Anzu smirked, and felt Yami no Yugi's hand on the side of her arm. She tried to shrug it off, only for him to grip it tighter. Feeling his nails through her clothing, she growled through gritted teeth over her shoulder, "That hurts!"

"You don't know what you're doing," he replied in concern.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm challenging Mai," she answered in annoyance, wrenching at his hand until he finally let go, "I'm not going to stand here, and watch you two destroy each other."

Mai shook her head. "Anzu, you should listen to him. This would be suicide for you."

"I don't see you powering your duel disk up," Anzu pointed out. Mai's eyes widened at that. "The Leviathan needs as many souls as it can take in order to eliminate all life on Earth, yes? Then why not duel me? I'm willing to go, and it'll be an easy win for you."

Mai's fingers twitched at her side, but she didn't make a movement otherwise. Yami no Yugi, realizing at last what Anzu was trying to do, backed up from the bar. "Mai, you might as well duel her, since you're playing with a handicap."

"What?!" Mai exclaimed, switching her gaze over to him, and fixing him with a fierce glare.

Folding his arms, Yami no Yugi shook his head. "That Orichalcos stone you wear. I wore it myself, and lost. You wore it while dueling Jonouchi, and nearly lost. If you insist on playing while wearing it, you aren't an adequate challenge for me." He indicated Anzu off-hand, who continued to stand resolutely before Mai. "Duel her instead, if you insist on wearing it. Take her soul if it comes down to it. Prove me wrong. If you want to duel me directly, then take it off."

"How dare you!" Mai snapped, swinging around the side of the bar in a fury. Yami no Yugi stared icily back at her. The next moment, his view was blocked by Anzu, who planted herself between the two of them, her arms spread. Through gnashed teeth, Mai hissed, "Move!"

Anzu shook her head. "You go through me first."

The Harpie Lady screeched, the window cracking under its claw outside.

Mai glanced over at her monster, then at her duel disk, and then back at Anzu. "Anzu," she began, her voice having a note of regret in it, "don't make me do this."

"I won't if you take the stone off," she replied, pointing back to the bar, "Take it off, and smash it. I'll let you pass."

Mai glared at her, the stone pulsing brighter. Raising her finger, she answered, "One final warning, Anzu. Move." Anzu held her ground, her fists clenching and unclenching. "You think you'll be with Yugi when your soul gets taken?" Mai hissed, "Is that it? You think you'll be with everyone, happily awaiting Yami no Yugi to rescue you? You're a fool. Yugi won't be there for you. No one will. I've been in the darkness, Anzu. You'll be alone, with no one to hear your screams."

"I'll take it," she challenged, though her voice shook.

"Don't make me laugh," Mai responded in annoyance.

"Then do it already!" Anzu snapped, "Duel me! Take my soul! Prove me wrong!"

Mai gnashed her teeth, and whipped her hand through the air to grasp at the Orichalcos stone's string. Tugging at it with an exclamation of pain, her eyes wide, she broke the string, the stone falling into the palm of her hand. She slammed it down upon the surface of the counter, and fumbled blindly about before seizing the neck of the bottle. Swinging it, she brought it crashing down upon the Orichalcos stone, liquor spilling all over the bar. Breathing hard, Mai collapsed onto a bar stool, slumping down over the counter as the stone pulsed weakly, slowly fading away into nothing.

The Harpies disappeared, leaving nothing but the sound of the desert winds outside, the music from the jukebox dripping of the alcohol, and Mai's labored breathing. Slowly, she pushed herself up, and twisted about to stare at Anzu and Yami no Yugi. Anzu took one step forward, but Yami no Yugi held out a hand to stop her. "Mai?" He asked tentatively.

Bracing her elbow upon the bar, and grimacing at the stickiness of the alcohol, she rose unsteadily to her feet, shutting her eyes as she shifted from foot to foot. Taking a heavy breath, she drew her hands forward, and flipped her hair back over her shoulders, opening her eyes. Pointing at Yami no Yugi, she demanded, "Now, that duel you promised me?"