A/N: So, I was able to get this chapter up quicker than I expected. I apologize if you were expected some insane amount of action at this point, but I'm afraid I just couldn't make that happen. Not yet, anyway. It would have been too soon, for my tastes. Being just the second chapter, I felt that it was important to establish just where we were in Battle City, state the relationships of the characters, and get inside Tea's head a bit more.

A huge shout-out and thank you to my first and only reviewer, Merciless Ruby. You're pretty much amazing and awesome, and I thoroughly appreciate the support. I vow that even if one person likes this story that I will complete it to the best of my ability.

Disclaimer: If I created Yu-gi-oh, why would I be on a fan fiction site spouting out random ideas for free? Wouldn't I just add it to the series and make more money? Hm... well, yeah, probably.

Chapter 2: Speculations

By the time Téa finally achieved slipping into the embrace of sleep, it was 5:30 in the morning only to have her alarm clock violently declare that she needed to get dressed and go to school thirty minutes later. Groaning, a hand shot out of the covers, fumbling blindly around her dresser to locate the source of that dreadful blaring. Knocking over a few miscellaneous items in the process, it finally discovered the position of the clock to jab the miraculous invention of the "sleep" button. Once the noise ceased, the hand flopped off the dresser and slid back under the covers where the groaning mass turned over to find rest again.

This process happened two more times every ten minutes until the fourth time, when, strangely, the blare of the clock changed into thunderous, agonizing poundings! Disoriented, the hand stretched out once more for the source of the noise when a shrill voice rang into the room, effectively jolting Téa awake.

"Téa Gardner! Get up right this instant or you'll be late for school!"

Téa was nothing but a light blue blur --- the color of her spaghetti-strapped pajama top and assorted-blue plaid pajama pants --- as she flung the covers off her lithe form and sprang forth in the general direction of her closet. For once she appreciated the fact that Japanese schools typically require students to wear uniforms, thus saving her wasted time in finding a suitable outfit. While grabbing the blue and pink attire assigned to the female population of Domino High School, she jogged through her door and across the hall to her bathroom as she called to her mother, who had made her way downstairs after Téa's wake-up call, "Yeah, Mom, I'm up! Be down in a few minutes, I'm almost ready! Promise!" She could almost hear her mother's unbelieving snort of cynicism as she, her beloved daughter, tried to downplay the situation to sound as if she weren't at fault. Well, what else is a teenager expected to do? Take responsibility for their actions? Pssh. Yeah, okay. She'll try that next time. Maybe.

And, why not, let's add an 'lol' in there for good measure… She smiled sardonically. No, it was never a good thing for her to become sleep deprived if what she reduces to is talking in chat speak in day-to-day conversation. Closing the bathroom door with a snap, she decided that a hot shower was most definitely in order if it would jump start her mind into thinking… not so retardly… Oh, yeah, a shower is undeniably needed right now. I don't even think that's a real word… Her one regret was that, being that she was incredibly behind in her schedule, she would have to settle for a five-minute, fast-as-lightning, military shower. Sighing audibly as she adjusted the hot and cold knobs of the stand-up porcelain shower, she sat back, dulling thinking to herself, My life is a dark abyss… Especially if recent dream sequences are taken into account…Why can't the universe go bother someone else for a change, like it's mom? Or something. God, I really have it bad, don't I? I'm thinking 'Your Mom!'jokes… to myself!

Shaking herself out of her (pathetic) reverie, she quickly undressed and jumped into the shower, pulling the curtain behind her. Once she was finished, in just four minutes mind you, she dried herself off with a white towel hanging from the typical plastic railing found in most bathrooms, slipped on her uniform, and proceeded to tackle drying and untangling her damp hair. Once that task was completed, she quickly brushed her teeth, utilized her Listerine mouthwash, and applied the scant amount of makeup she needed in an average day. She felt very fortunate that she did not need to deal with as much makeup as other girls sometimes had to, seeing as how she was blessed to be free of most skin problems. Oh, sure, she'd get the occasional pimple or skin blemish now and again, but who doesn't? Once again, though, they were rarely ever noticeable. Instead, she paid the most attention to her eyes, since she believed they were her best feature, and focused on applying blue eyeliner on the edges of the eye, a tasteful blend of eye shadow, and the right amount of black mascara to give her baby blues a little pop! She made sure not to go overboard with it; she never really had liked the Gaara-like Hilary Duff look, anyway; it didn't match her skin tone.

She returned to her room only long enough to pull on her shoes, grab her purse and book bag , and glance at her digital clock currently blaring 8:06. She rushed downstairs into the kitchen where her mother had her back turned to her as she faced the stove. Not even a second after she skidded through the door-less entryway, the toaster resounded with a ding! and shot two pieces of fairly browned toast into the air, which Téa caught on reflex…and promptly threw down towards the counter since they were still searing hot. As she made small sounds of discomfort, the girl could only think sarcastically how, if that shower hadn't woken her up, scorching pieces of bread had!

"You really should learn to be more careful with yourself and your surroundings, dear," her mother reprimanded gently as she turned around to hand Téa a paper towel for her to carry her soon-to-be-hastily-eaten breakfast. Watching her daughter's fevered maneuverings around the kitchen to get to the front door, she continued her motherly duties of assisting her only child, stating, "Your friend, Yugi, called while you were in the shower. I told him you were running a little late and that he didn't have to wait for you if he needed to get to school earlier. He said that he didn't mind and to still meet up with him in front of the game shop. So polite and well-mannered. He always is; Tell me, why is it you haven't asked him out again?" She finished on an innocent note, too innocent, with a small grin on her face.

Hearing this, Téa felt the heat and blood rush uncontrollably to her cheeks and tripped slightly on the welcome mat located right in front of the door. Just wanting to get as far away from the conversation as possible, she wrenched open the door and stepped out, sputtering, "Mom! I've told you! It's because of…stuff! Just stuff, nothing else. 'Kthanksbye!"

Gah, why does she always do this at the most inopportune times, at least for me? If there's one thing I know, she must never, under any circumstances, find out about that…blind date that Yugi tricked Yami and me into. I'd never hear the end of it.

And with that, the flustered girl pulled the door to and began the short sprint to Yugi's grandfather's game shop, munching on her toast when she could. The rapid succession of her morning had left the whole affair in a haze, and since she sped away so abruptly, she did not hear her mother's short laugh and exclamation.

"Oh, of course, 'stuff.' How easily I forget these things."

Her sweet smile was short-lived, however, as a cloud of doubt and worry hung over her once again. She was deeply concerned for her daughter, but she could not for the life of her place what was wrong. The ominous feeling had begun to consume her shortly after Téa had gone to bed the night before. Something was off,and it didn't spell good for any of them, her especially. Call it a woman's intuition or, even deeper and more precise, a mother's intuition, but somehow Julia Gardner knew that something serious, for better or for worse, was about to befall her daughter and there was nothing she, Julia, could do to prevent it or help her. Pausing in her dishwashing endeavor, she bowed her head in respect, praying to God to grant Téa with the strength and wisdom she would undoubtedly need to overcome her looming adversity.

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Darting through a crosswalk to the next corner, Téa was focused on dwellings of her own. Quite frankly, she felt…overwhelmed. So much had been happening lately that she didn't know how to sort it all out. With the closing of the Duelist Kingdom tournament, Yugi, Téa, Jonouchi, Honda, and Ryou had all believed that things would quiet down, but what resulted was the exact opposite. Practically the day Sugoroku Mutou, Yugi's grandfather, was released from the hospital, he was accused of stealing a Blue-Eyes White Dragon card and challenged to a duel by the American Duel Monsters Champion, Rebecca Hawkins. Because of Sugoroku's frail condition (losing one's soul for a period of time could do that to a person), Yugi dueled in his place and won, kind of, in a roundabout way and not without some grief.

Around two weeks after that, a rival game shop had appeared with its owner, Ryuji Otogi, causing a "disturbance," as Jonouchi had called it in less eloquent words, at their school. Jonouchi's jealousy had driven him to challenge Otogi to a duel where they put on the line Jonouchi's pride and Otogi's game shop. She had thought it was typical male stupidity and secretly believed that Jonouchi's punishment was befitting: he was forced to wear a dog suit after he lost. But then, Yami had come to his aid and beat Otogi at his own creation, Dungeon Dice Monsters, and regained Jonouchi's honor.

Sure, the events had caused some unnecessary drama and stress, but she would gladly take them a hundred times over than the alternative that had occurred just days afterward. The brunette and her tri-color haired best friend had been walking to school when they were accosted by a fortuneteller in a black robe. They had indulged him since clairvoyants and "supernatural" beings did not usually have much in the way of business in the Domino area. He offered to tell Yugi's fortune by holding an object dear to him. Already, Téa had been able to tell that something about the guy had seemed distinctively…wrong. His voice, while sounding slightly familiar, had sounded as if an underlying voice were speaking in the same tone at the exact instant he was: two voices resonating smoothly from one mouth. It was unsettling, to say the least, but before Téa could say or do anything to warn Yugi, his good-intentioned naiveté had forced him to take leave of his senses: he gave the stranger his Millennium Puzzle, of all things!

Honestly, she had felt like one of those helpless, disbelieving viewers forcing themselves to sit through an old horror movie. No matter how loudly or forcibly she yelled at those way-too-easy-to-kill kids to not go into the "abandoned" shed to see if it had been their friend, Billy, making those ghoulish noises and not, say, a horde of flesh-eating zombies, no good came of it. Always, they still go in there and see that there is no disturbance and decide to celebrate by having a brief, but steamy, make-out session that ends with them becoming decapitated. What she felt, therefore, when the cloaked fiend kicked over the table, effectively blocking easy pursuit as he stole away with Yugi's puzzle, was nothing short of déjà vu…except without anything to do with a make-out session; that would have been too awkward for words.

Matters only worsened when Yugi gave chase to the menace, pleading with her to find Jonouchi and Honda so they could assist with his capture. In desperation, as well as a profound loss of what to do on her part, she complied, and, after briefly running into Ryou, explaining the situation to him, located them (shockingly) already at school. In order to get away, they told a bare-faced lie to one of their coaches, moving him enough that he allowed them to skip class without consequence. As if to taunt them, they discovered that the thief had left signs with pointed arrows leading the way to Yugi's location, but the bastard had arranged them so that their directions made no sense; they ranged from pointing straight down to the ground, directly up towards the heavens, and diagonally across a building. In this confused mess, the three desperate teens wasted time fruitlessly trying to make sense of it all. Fifteen minutes quickly passed into thirty when they finally came across a series of storage houses, one of which that had erupted in flames.

Téa had felt her heart stop at the thought that Yugi was trapped inside, for whatever reason, she knew he was. Without a second's hesitation, she whipped out her cell phone, punched in the number for the fire department and hospital, and in a somewhat shaky voice, rushed to explain their situation. Meanwhile, Honda and Jonouchi had taken it upon themselves to find an entrance into the warehouse, frantic enough were they to risk injury to themselves if it meant saving the life of one of their dearest friends. They displayed this insane passion best when they managed to break the door down and merge themselves into the choking tongues of flame that were rapidly devouring everything in sight.

They had been in there for what felt like a century, but in reality had only been a few long, dreadful minutes, when she heard the sirens resound closer and closer to her position until they finally skidded around the corner to stop some feet from her form. The men and women in uniform took no time to emerge from their vehicles and rush to action, some readying the ambulance beds, others unraveling the gigantic hose that would send tons of unrelenting water pressure onto the building with the intent to forever extinguish the flame.

Truly panicking now, she rushed to the nearest one, a kind-looking man with a brown mustache in a firefighter uniform and informed, or rather screeched at, him that now three of her friends were trapped inside. Wasting no time, he set his jaw, signaling his crew to begin preparations for a record-time rescue when, miraculously, three soot-covered forms emerged from the crumbling stack. The doctors were quick to react but not enough to beat Téa's speed as she sprinted to them, knees almost failing her in both fright and relief.

Hauling the four of them into the emergency vehicle, the doctors sped them away to Domino General Hospital to asses the damage. Jonouchi and Honda were incredibly free from harm and were released to go. Yugi, however, was not so lucky but better off than he could have been. He suffered some minor burns and lung damage from all the smoke he had inhaled and had to stay the night for observation. He wasn't released for two more days before the doctors were satisfied.

In that time, Yugi was able to relate to them what had happened. He had pursued the cloaked man all the way inside the abandoned warehouse where there was a dueling platform set up.

"Like the ones from Duelist Kingdom. Don't ask me how it got there, though," Yugi feebly joked. "As long as Pegasus didn't come with it, it's fine. It's a mystery all by itself, anyway."

It was there, Yugi continued, that the man challenged Yugi to a duel for his Millennium Puzzle, which was chained to a closed hook on the side of the raised platform where a duelist lays his cards on the playing field.

"The connection was so weak, I couldn't communicate with the Other Me at all," he stated, sadly.

"It must be painful," Téa sympathized, "to be torn apart from another part of your soul."

"But, wait," Jonouchi cut in, loudly. "Why'd that creep go through all that trouble to steal your Puzzle and drag us all half way across friggin' Domino just to duel you for it? I mean, why bother? Why not just take it and run?"

"I agree. There's not much sense there for it." Honda concluded.

"I can't be sure," Yugi mused, slowly, "but, maybe, in a weird, twisted way, it had to do with an honor code of some sort. Or, at least, as much honor as one can have after stealing someone's most prized possession."

Moving on to the actual duel itself, Yugi began, "I was doing very well for myself, but it was strange…the monsters he played, machine-types, and the strategies he used were familiar. Improved, but familiar. That's when I knew it, just who I was facing: Bandit Keith."

"Are you serious!?" Jonouchi cried. "What the hell, man!?"

"I can't believe it! I thought we were rid of that scum after Pegasus's tournament," Honda fumed.

Téa remained silent. Wide-eyed, disbelieving, but silent. There was something that didn't make sense here, but before she could express it, Yugi continued with his story.

After he had identified him, Keith removed his hood and showed his face. He told Yugi what happened after Pegasus ejected him from the island. He was tossed about through the waves of the treacherous, tumultuous sea with only a plank of wood to give him hope for survival. Finally, after what seemed like days, a ship sailed near his position and, spotting him, rescued him from the surf. After recovering, he set out for Domino City with the full intent of locating Yugi Mutou and exacting revenge.

Against the odds, Yugi won the duel, but Bandit Keith freaked and, rushing across the dueling platform, grabbed the Millennium Puzzle and smashed it to pieces. When it appeared that he was going to attack Yugi, out of nowhere, Ryou slammed into him, knocking him off the platform.

"Wow. I never would have thought it of Ryou to attack somebody for anything. Well, maybe that psycho spirit in that Ring of his would, but---"

"Wait, wait, wait," Jonouchi cut in from Honda. "How did he find that place before us? How'd he even know, anyway?"

"Oh, in the rush, I forgot to tell you. I ran into him when I was trying to find you two. I just told him the general picture of what happened, though. He must've felt inclined to help us, too. And, it's not really a surprise that he beat us to finding Yugi. He was a lot closer to his actual location than we were at school, and if nothing else, I've noticed he has an amazing sense of direction."

"Oh, you've 'noticed' him and his directional skills, eh, Téa? Ha-ha. Well, it took you a few years, but it seems you have finally jumped on the estrogen-dominated bandwagon of Ryou Bakura. Careful, though, Té, I hear the competition is fierce," Honda laughed, outright delighted for the opportunity to tease their boy-awkward friend.

"Alright, first of all, Hiroto Honda," Téa strained, teeth-clenched as she tried to ignore the heat rising to her face. "Ryou and I are friends, just friends, and as one friend to another, it's usually nice and expected to notice any good trait about them and praise them for it. Second of all, if you honestly think I'm the type of girl that would sell her soul to become a part of that ridiculous fan club of his, constantly hound him throughout the day to get his attention, like some two-bit floozy, and build a shrine in his honor, well, that really doesn't speak highly of your opinion of me! Third of all---"

"Okay, okay! I get your point! I'm sorry, I was just playing! Hones--"

"Wait a minute," Jonouchi interrupted. "What did you mean by 'estrogen-dominated bandwagon'? What, you don't mean that boys are pining after him, too?"

"Ha-ha. Well, of course they are, Jo. He's an okay guy, don't get me wrong, but you have to admit, he's a little effeminate-looking."

"Seriously?"

"Mm-hm."

"…Gross."

"Can we please get back to the story?" Yugi cried, thoroughly embarrassed, both at how they were addressing his friend and the jab Honda had teased Téa with.

"Oh, right, sorry Yugi. That's my fault."

"Right."

Finally getting back on track, Yugi relayed that Ryou helped him find the scattered pieces of his puzzle and, thinking all was well, left him alone just moments before the fire started. By that time Keith had regained his bearings and, in a rage, swung around a metal pipe at what seemed to be an invisible enemy, starting the fire by shattering the circuit breakers and wires into various barrels of oil.

"So, that explains the fire. It takes a special person like Keith to do something like that just because they lost a card game," Honda mused.

"God, is the guy a complete moron?" Jonouchi, ever the eloquent one.

"But then, I guess, in the end, he caused his own destruction," Téa said, softly. "Can you imagine? Burning yourself alive? How terrible."

"What're you talking about, Téa? The bastard made it out."

"What?"

"Yeah, he ran right past us when Jonouchi and I broke down the door. Hm. So, now, we can add 'coward' to his Most-Coveted Traits list, huh?"

"Really? I didn't even notice him come out…You don't think he'll come back and try this kind of thing again, do you?"

"I doubt it, Téa." Yugi smiled. "It's just a feeling, but I think we've seen the last of Bandit Keith."

"Which is good for him!" Jonouchi growled. "'Cuz, if I ever see that son of a bitch, I'll tear 'em limb from limb because of the crap he's put us through!"

"I guess that's supposed to comfort us, eh, Jo?"

"Damn straight!"

"Now, now, Jonouchi. I'm fine, really. You don't have to resort to violence on my account."

"Oh, don't waste your breath on him, Yugi. He's just itching to fight someone since he can't muster up the courage to ask out a certain voluptuous blonde duelist."

"Yeah, that's ri---What!? Honda! Wha-? You---bastard! Get over here! I'll tear you limb from limb! When'd you learn such big vocabulary words, anyway?"

Téa joined in the laughter with the others, but it was half-hearted. Fortunately, they were all having too much of a good time to notice. She just couldn't shake that feeling that Yugi wasn't telling them the whole story. It's not that he lied to them, no, Téa believed that all he said was the absolute truth; there were just a lot of holes he wasn't feeling in, like… why Bandit Keith? Why did he choose Yugi for revenge and not Jonouchi or Pegasus, the ones who had actually dealt him shame? How'd he even know about the Millennium Puzzle in the first place? As far as he should know, it is just an ordinary gold pendant, for the knowledge of the Items' powers were only known to the users and the ones closest to them. None of it made sense. I wonder if Ryou could tell me anything different, she had thought. It seemed, however, that Yugi had let it go and no one else suspected anything, so she decided to drop the subject in the hopes that her suspicions would fade with time. It didn't and it hadn't, especially not after what had occurred at the Domino City museum about a week ago.

The location in question had recently become the host of the illustrious Ancient Egyptian Exhibit. During Téa and Yami's, um, get-together, er, outing, uh, oh, fine, date (embarrassing…), they had decided to explore it in the hopes that Yami would remember something, anything, about his past life in Egypt. As they had walked through the doors, Téa had felt so optimistic that at least one or two mysteries about Yami would be solved (he had seemed so melancholy lately) that she was crushingly disappointed when there was nothing, literally nothing, about him anywhere. Nothing they saw triggered anything for him, and if she felt crushed, there was no knowing the pain and bleakness he was experiencing; it was like he never existed. They were about to turn back when Yami noticed a roped off door leading down into the basement of the museum. Get those make-out, perverted thoughts out of your head, girl! With a glance at her, telling her to follow, he proceeded as if pulled by an invisible force down the stairs and into the vast room below.

What greeted them was nothing short of shocking: a giant stone slab depicting hieroglyphics and Duel Monster-akin creatures with a young Pharaoh facing his opponent, looking uncannily like Yami if the hair was anything to go by with the Millennium Puzzle draped around his neck. She wasn't unobservant, but it was hard not to notice that the opponent also resembled, not someone close to her but someone she knew in passing, Seto Kaiba.

"I know who I am now," Yami had declared.

He took it much better than she had. Of course, when one finds out that one's best friend just happens to be a royal who's had their soul trapped in a golden, magical artifact for over three-thousand years, it can be a little hard to swallow in just one sitting. And that was when she appeared: Ishizu Ishtar, the mysterious woman in possession of the Millennium Necklace, the Item that can see the future. It was her message that unsettled Tea and has continued to do so ever since it was spoken. After introducing herself and her Item's power, she stated in unquestionable certainty that Yami had chosen the destiny of battle, and if he wanted to reclaim his memories, he would have to gather all seven of the Millennium Items. Assuaging their suspicions, she promised that she was not their enemy but could see that whoever was could wield the powers of the last Millennium Item. That battle would lead to his memories. Her parting words urged them to go to the city plaza to discover more.

"The rest is for you to find out," the ebony-haired Egyptian threw behind her as she walked out.

And lo and behold, greeting them at their destination was a horde of duelists, including the familiar faces of Mai Kujaku, Insector Haga, Dinosaur Ryuzaki, and Ryota Kajiki, who told them that they were hinted to come to Domino City after finding a strange riddle about where a new tournament would be hosted. All of this was confirmed when Seto Kaiba, in true dramatic fashion, descended among the crowd in a helicopter to proclaim to the entire city all the details and rules about the new tournament that would be held in a week.

As she rounded the last corner to the game shop and Yugi's house, she rested her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath and conceded; the board has been set and the pieces are moving. There wasn't anything she could do that could stop her foreboding feelings or the dangers associated with them, the dangers they would each soon face. She looked up from the street she had been staring unfocusedly at when she heard Yugi call her name and, straightening up, forced a smile on her face as they greeted each other. Seeing his face reminded her of what Yami had asked of her before the tournament was announced.

"Yugi doesn't know that we went to the exhibit today," he had said. "Please, don't tell him about what we saw and heard there. I don't want to worry him."

And not for the first time, Tea wondered if she was doing the right thing in saying nothing. Nothing about her suspicions and doubts with the Bandit Keith situation. Nothing about how Duel Monsters and Ancient Egyptians were connected. Nothing about the last Millennium Item and its wielder. Nothing about her dream and how she knew it wouldn't be the last time she would see those eyes again. No, nothing at all…

A/N: Please review! Please? No? Oh, come on! I've gotten over fifty hits already, so are you honestly going to tell me that you can't review? Well... If that's your attitude, I may just hold the next chapter hostage. MWAHAHAHAHA! Eh, we'll see...