A/N: Hi guys! Thanks for the reviews. Uh, I made a alight mistake in my author's note last chapter. This takes place in season TWO, not season three. Heheh. Oops.

Anyway, here's the second chapter. Enjoy!

Téa stood by Yugi's bed, worriedly awaiting his awakening. She had never seen him that angry, even when he faced the Marik-controlled Joey. It was like he had turned into a completely different person.

"Whadda you think set him off like that?" said Joey, voicing her thoughts. "I mean, Kaiba's one big creep but I never thought Yugi'd jump him. I never even heard him swear in my life!"

"Yeah, I know. It's – " Téa began, but she stopped when Yugi stirred. "Yugi?" she said, turning her full attention on him.

He started muttering. Téa only caught a few words. "Good thing… strength… have to… by myself…"

"What's he – "

But before Joey could finish speaking, Yugi sat up very suddenly, eyes wide open. He threw his Millennium Puzzle across the room, yelling, "No, I can't trust you!" The Puzzle shattered against the wall.

"Yugi, what'sa matter with you? That's your Millennium Puzzle you just smashed!" Joey exclaimed. Yugi showed no sign that he had heard him.

"Are you okay, Yugi? What's wrong?" Téa said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. He still didn't respond, only kept staring blankly at the puzzle pieces strewn on the ground.

"Aw man, this isn't good!" said Joey. "This is just like back in Duelist Kingdom, after he lost to Kaiba."

"Yeah…" Téa said distractedly. She also recognized the symptoms of the trance-like state he had sunk into. Remembering what it was that caused it last time, she began to put two and two together in her head.

Meanwhile, Joey walked around to the foot of the bed and crouched down until he was eye-to-eye with Yugi. "Hey Yug'! Hello, are you in there?" he said loudly, waving his hands in front of Yugi's face.

He was just about to try to shake Yugi out of his trance when Téa said, "It wasn't you that attacked Kaiba, was it?" She felt his shoulder tense up underneath her hand, and continued, "It was Yami." Téa didn't want to believe it – she had spent an entire day with the Pharaoh, and although he was darker and more intense than Yugi, she never thought Yami would do anything to upset him so badly. But when her words snapped Yugi back to reality, and he turned his teary gaze on her, she knew that she had guessed correctly.

"He trapped me in my own mind," said Yugi, with a fearful look on his face, "and nearly unleashed all the power of the Millennium Puzzle on Kaiba." He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he sat up straight and got off the bed, turning his back on the scattered puzzle pieces. "But I'm safe now. I don't intend to put that Puzzle back together anytime soon."

Joey and Téa exchanged concerned and bewildered looks behind Yugi's back. "But Yugi," said Joey, "I thought you needed the Millennium Puzzle to help beat Marik."

"Yeah. You and the Pharaoh need to stick together," Téa agreed. When Yugi said nothing, she continued. "When you start pushing your friends away, no one wins. A part of being a friend is being understanding, and forgiving. Everyone screws up sometimes, and you have to be willing to give second chances. There are times I feel like pushing the world away, because sometimes people do bad things. But you need to forgive. Just because you and Yami have hit a rough spot doesn't mean you should completely give up on the friendship."

Yugi was silent for several seconds, his hands quivering. Then he curled them into fists. "It does when it happens more than once. I can't trust him." His voice began to waver toward the end of his sentence. No one spoke for a few minutes. The silence was tense, and even more so once Yugi's ragged breathing calmed, becoming smooth and quiet. Téa racked her brain for something to say, anything to make him change his mind, or make him feel better. But for once, she was lost for words. Joey didn't speak either, though she figured this was more likely due to the fact that he knew less about the Pharaoh than she did.

Finally, Yugi broke the silence. "Well, I need to prepare for the finals now, if I intend to defeat Marik." His words were obviously a request for solitude. The last thing Téa wanted to do was leave him by himself, but as she opened her mouth to protest, Joey caught her eye and shook his head, and he began to speak instead.

"Alright, Yug', catch you later," he said in a casual tone. He softened his voice a little and said, "Just know we're here for you, man."

"You never need to face anything alone, Téa added. As she and Joey made their way to the door, she looked back to see Yugi's head turned partially towards them, in acknowledgement of their support. She spared one last glance at the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle before following Joey out the door.

Tristan waited outside Yugi's room with Duke and Serenity, feeling guilty for not wanting to go inside. Sure, he had given his excuses ("It'll be too crowded with me in there" and "You guys are closer to him than I am"), but the truth was, he was afraid.

Afraid of my own friend, he thought, and I feel like crap for it. He was shocked by the anger and violence Yugi had shown towards Kaiba. It just wasn't like him at all. Of course, he had yelled at Kaiba in the past, but he hadn't used such coarse language or rude insults, and he had never once used violence – against anyone, as far as Tristan could remember.

This anomaly, combined with the fact that Tristan and Yugi's friendship had started out roughly, made him anxious for his own safety, considering the power Yugi held around his neck. This line of thinking was why, when Yugi gave Kaiba a taste of his own medicine and was soundly punched for it, Tristan's were words were "What's wrong with him?" instead of "Are you alright?" He almost felt sick reliving these feelings. Luckily, he was distracted from his thoughts when the door to Yugi's room opened. As Joey and Téa emerged, Tristan caught a glance of Yugi. He was standing up just fine, it seemed, but his shoulders were tense and his hands were clenched. This sight did nothing to alleviate his fears, but he tried to act normal as Joey and Téa closed the door and faced them with solemn expressions.

"How's Yugi?" Serenity asked quietly.

"Well, sis, that depends," said Joey, sounding more subdued than usual. "Do you mean physically or mentally?"

Tristan was rather confused. He couldn't think of anything that might have hurt his mind. "What are you talking about?"

Joey was about to answer, but Téa glanced back at the door and interrupted him. "Wait, Joey. Yugi wanted to be alone. If he finds us all hovering just outside his room…"

"Oh yeah, good point," he conceded, scratching his head in thought. "Well… let's all go to my room, then. I doubt Kaiba planned on having you four here." He pointedly glanced at them all. "So, there won't be rooms for you guys yet."

The group all agreed with him (though Duke and Tristan expressed surprise at Joey's display of cognitive thinking, to which Joey responded irately). Several minutes later, they all made themselves comfortable in Joey's room. Serenity sat on one side of a small sofa, and Tristan immediately went to take a seat next to her, but Duke beat him to it, giving Serenity his most charming smile. Tristan scowled, and instead went to sit in a cushioned chair near the center of the room. Joey lounged in its twin, while Téa paced slowly beside them. They all helped themselves to refreshments from the mini refrigerator and began to inquire about Yugi again.

"Alright," said Duke, "so if he's been affected in more than one way… let's start simple. How's he dealing with that punch Kaiba threw him?"

Joey grinned. "Took like a man, he did. A little bruise don't stop Yugi Moto!"

"That's our Yugi!" Tristan exclaimed, his grin matching Joey's. His mood was lifted a little by good company (not to mention the pleasantly fizzy soda he held in his right hand). "Nothing phases him!"

"Well, I hate to ruin the good mood," Téa said, a somber expression replacing her smile. "But that's not entirely true." The brief lightheartedness faded like a fire doused by water.

"So, what Kaiba did… it affected Yugi's mind, too?" Serenity asked. Tristan glanced at her, seeing the confusion and fear shining in her hazel eyes. He wished he could be by her side to comfort her, but instead it was Duke who placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. He wrenched his gaze away, forcing himself to concentrate on Joey's response.

"Nah, it wasn't Kaiba's punch that got to him. It was…" Joey drifted off and looked at Téa. "You know more about it than I do. You explain."

Téa nodded, and continued where Joey left off. "It was the spirit of Yugi's Millennium Puzzle." A dumbfounded silence filled the room, but Tristan was quick to break it.

"But I thought that guy was friendly," he said. He didn't know much about the spirit, but he always seemed to be helping Yugi, not hurting him.

"We thought so too," Téa said, her eyes fixed on the floor. She had stopped pacing, but she was now fidgeting so much it made Tristan feel anxious just by watching her. "But from what Yugi told us… well, he said the spirit took over his body to attack Kaiba."

Tristan felt himself pale a little. Looking at the others, he saw that Duke's eyes were wide and confused, and Serenity had put her hand over her mouth in evident shock. It sounded like something from a horror movie. And yet…

"Why is he so upset about it, though?" Tristan asked. "Kaiba's had that coming for him since he started his little vendetta against Yugi!"

"I agree with you one hundred percent, buddy," Joey replied. "But the fact is, Yugi didn't want to do anything to Kaiba. The Pharaoh – the spirit – made him. And that's why he's such a mess right now."

"He betrayed Yugi's trust," Téa said softly, "by trying to use dark magic on Kaiba without his consent."

Serenity gasped. "D-dark magic?" she said shakily.

As everyone else sat in silence, Tristan wallowed in his black mood. Those Millennium Items and their damned shadow powers! he thought angrily. He remembered how much easier life had been before the Millennium Puzzle came along and complicated everything. Now he had been thrown into an ancient power struggle that went way over his head and made him feel helpless at times. Dammit Yugi, why'd you have to solve that Puzzle? Why didn't I stop Joey from giving him that last piece back?

Suddenly, he realized what he was thinking, and was immediately guilty for feeling such bitterness and anger towards his friends. He wished dearly that he could just throw these nasty feelings away so he could stand by them, supporting Yugi and Joey and everyone else.

But I can't… Tristan realized with another wave of guilt and confusion. He was suddenly unable to meet the gaze of anyone else in the room. I can't.

"Attention duelists," came a voice over the video intercom system, shattering the silence little brittle glass. It jolted everyone back to reality. "The Battle City finals are about to begin. Mr. Kaiba requests the presence of all finalists in the main hall."

Kaiba scowled when Yugi entered the main room. His habitually analytical mind noticed two things that were strange: the kid was alone, and his strange "Millennium Puzzle" thing was missing. Yugi returned his glare with a blank gaze that he couldn't decipher.

That annoying runt. And yet, that short moment of eye contact brought a fresh and vivid memory to the forefront of Kaiba's mind. He remembered the brief terror he had felt when a sudden anger had risen up in those eyes, when little Yugi had morphed into a formidable foe. And it wasn't the first time he had witnessed this transformation, he realized.

Could this mean that Yugi's story is true? He wondering, disbelieving. Could the millennia-old spirit of a Pharaoh really reside in his body? For several moments his head spun, as he realized how much could be explained by coming to this conclusion…

But no. Kaiba shook his head. He could not afford to be so distracted at such a time. Whether his views were flawed or not, he would stand by them until irrefutable evidence to the contrary presented itself – at a time when he had the leisure to ponder the matter thoroughly. As it were, he had to be ready to duel at any time, and so needed a level head.

I'm going to win those God cards, he thought determinedly. Flicking his gaze to Yugi once again, a flash of anger and confusion roiled through him. And then, I'll deal with Yugi. That is, if the shame of defeat doesn't crush him first.

A/N: Dun dun dun... so, how will Yugi hold up during the rest of the tournament? Will Tristan be able to reconcile his confused feelings? And what about Kaiba? Who will resort to drastic measures first? Hm...

Thanks for reading, guys! Please leave me reviews, tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, predictions for future events, and anything else you can think of!