Anzu sadly dabbed away some sweat from Otogi's face as he dreamt, mind restless and face still pained. She looked to Yugi, and it was easy to see the worry on her face. He put his hand on her shoulder, knitting his brows but trying to show as little worry himself as he could.

They had no idea of what his mind focused on, but the Spirit seemed to have a sense. Yugi could feel an uneasiness in the Puzzle, as if it were trying to sort something out. What's wrong? He finally asked in thought, I am trying to reach him, as I have with Jonouchi and our other friends, before. Perhaps, if I help him, he may fill in the gaps that his mind has created. Partner... place the Puzzle in his other hand. Are you sure? Trust me. It will not be as clear as the Millennium Key allows, but I will be able to reach him. I must help him with the pain and darkness in his heart. I feel that there is something hidden in his mind that may explain what is causing this sense of darkness.

Yugi slowly took the Puzzle from around his neck, catching Anzu and Ryou's attention. They watched curiously as Yugi walked around to the other side of the bed, carefully turning Otogi's hand over and placing the puzzle on his palm. "Yugi?" Ryou asked, standing from his seat.

Yugi looked to him, then to Anzu, "The... The other me thinks he can help," he explained in a whisper.

Anzu gazed at the Puzzle, her heart fluttering as she admired the Spirit's kindness. Ryou looked tot he Puzzle cautiously. "Are you sure he ca-" he was cut off by a painful thump in his chest, and he looked down, lifting the Millennium Ring from behind his shirt. One scrying pendants on the Ring pointed forcefully in a direction, seeming to be northwest. Ryou anxiously looked to Yugi, who was eying the Ring. "Th-the Ring senses something!"

Of course, the dreading feeling he had been having must have been caused by whatever the Ring pointed to. Just as Yugi was about to speak, they heard a clamoring ruckus, caused by Honda staggering into the patient wing. He was sweating and out of breath, but desperate and frightened, "Y-Yugi!" he called, "Jonouchi's in trouble! Please, help!"

Yugi was caught in shock, and a chill settled down his spine. Go, said the Spirit, I will still be with you, in a way. Our link is strong enough for that. Now with determination in his eyes, Yugi nodded, "Okay! Show me the way!"

"I-I'll come too!" Ryou offered.

Honda turned, waving his hand for them to follow, "Come on!"


Each time the dice clattered against the board, Jonouchi felt his heart pump faster. A pair of threes faced up on the dice, and the clown said, "Thirteen, I wager," before moving his piece ahead. He was now seven spaces ahead, and one level down.

So far, he had wagered seven years of his life, and his soul felt some sort of hollow maturity, reflecting back on days of simple youth. It was still just as unsettling as before, and he took the dice with more reluctance. When he dropped them, he swore under his breath. Snake eyes. "... Nine, I wager." he frowned, moving his piece two spaces. He was far behind, now. If his luck continued this way, he'd lose just as the clown once had.

The clown took the dice, smirking devilishly behind the mask, "Not doing so well, boy. You may lose less years than I expected." He took the dice, and after a shake, tossed them down. Two pocks on one die, and one on the other. With a slightly bitter scowl, he said, "Sixteen, I wager," then moving his piece the three spaces.

Jonouchi eyed the dice, picking them up and shutting his eyes as he shook them, "... Come on..." he said quietly before dropping them down. A bright smile came over his face, while the clown's face grew more angry. Six pocks up on one die, and four up on the other, "N-Nineteen, I wager!" Jonouchi said before moving his piece. As he did so, he felt a loss of some of that energy, and a more dulled feeling of pain in his joints. When he thought about it, he would have been thirty-seven with these years being added to his soul. That was his father's age. The confidence and success he had felt just moments ago had dwindled to a sort of fear, wondering what it would feel like as he aged more and more in spirit.

The clown began to smirk again, seeing the look on Jonouchi's face, "All that age added, and now your bones begin to ache from middle-age. You feel as though you missed out on nineteen years of your life, don't you?"

"Sh... Shut up! Roll your dice!" Jonouchi snapped back.

He did as Jonouchi ordered, though his face remained annoyingly confident. He dropped the dice into the center of the board, smiling widely at his result, though it was hidden behind his mask. Two pairs of sixes were shown on the dice, and he said, "Twenty-eight, I wager." The age was shown in his movements, as his hands began to shake and tremble with weakness. Jonouchi watched him move the piece far ahead of his own, hitting one-fouth of the way into the next level. He swallowed nervously, looking over the board. His piece, once again, looked so far behind.


The Puzzle, resting in his hand, gave of a tingling sensation. He didn't notice it at first, deep in his uncomfortable sleep, but as the moments passed, he could feel a sort of presence, right beside him, offering him some form of guidance. Finally, in his fevered dreaming, he heard a voice, similar to Yugi's but far more confident and wise, "Otogi... Otogi, can you hear me?"

"... Yes..."

"Good. I am here to help you. You must remember, Otogi. Remember what pains you so," the voice said calmly.

Though he tried, the memories were so blurred. All he could even hear were murmured shouts with inaudible words, and all he could see were dark blurs and shadows, "I... I can't..."

"Your mind wishes them gone. These memories hurt you greatly, but you cannot escape this until you remember them! Please, Otogi, try! I shall aid you in piecing together the puzzle of your mind!"

Suddenly, he found himself, sitting on the floor, with a strange sort of puzzle in front of him. It was a puzzle of three-dimensional shapes, each with some sort of image on them. All the images were blurred and dark, and the faint and muffled sounds of shouting played softly in the distance, "W-... What is this!?"

"Do not be afraid," the voice said. A hand rested on his shoulder, and when he looked up, he saw the shadowy figure of Yugi – no – it was someone taller than Yugi, more mature in physique, and on his forehead was the symbol of the puzzle, shining with a golden light. No features of his face could be seen, but his eyes faintly glowed in the darkness. Otogi had heard the legends from his father, and they played aloud, for both present to hear.

"The Puzzle carries the Spirit of Games within it. The one who becomes its host will have luck beyond measure, and will never lose! It is what we need, Otogi! To defeat Sugoroku Motou, and to make him feel the pain he put me through."

The figure looked confused for a moment, but he could sense that Otogi disliked the memory, and did not agree with whatever it was that his father had planned, "The puzzle, Otogi. You must solve it to wake from this nightmare, and to know what truly happened to you!"

Otogi looked back to the puzzle, picking up a few pieces. Another memory played, reciting what he had heard so many times before.

"I have trained you to master any puzzle set before you. From birth I have raised you to solve the Puzzle and claim the Spirit of Games as your own! And in the end... You failed me."

The Spirit had known nothing of this, but the memories, echoing and chiming from any sort of stimulation, painted a very poor picture of Otogi's home life. Otogi, saddened, lowered the pieces, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Since you were only born to take revenge on the Motous, and you have failed, your life has no value to me!"

"O... Otogi..." the Spirit said quietly, stepping in front of Otogi was he quietly sobbed, "You cannot let the shackles your father put you in define you. You have the strength of heart to solve this puzzle, I know it! The past has no hold on your fate!"


"Are you sure about this, Honda?" Ryou questioned nervously, "This isn't legal..."

Honda quieted him with a shoosh, and slipped in through the back door of the Black Crown, where he'd entered before. Yugi followed after, and Ryou reluctantly after him. Honda led the way they had gone before, pushing the door to the DDD room open, "The section of wall is over there... I can't get it open!"

On the other side, Jonouchi's hand weakly held the top of his piece, moving it across the next ten spaces. He had wagered fifty years, and his body was feeling it. He was tired, weak, and aching all over. He wanted nothing more than to simply close his eyes and sleep. Yet, the clown didn't appear as affected, simply picking up the dice and dropping them down, "Sixty-two years, I wager," he said calmly, as he moved the piece along.

"W... Why aren't you feeling this way?" Jonouchi finally asked.

The clown smirked, shrugging, "I am far more trained to undertake dark rituals than you would ever be. Your weak soul is being crushed by the very weight of this game! I have nothing to lose, so I feel no fear!" he laughed out, "You might as well give up now, boy. Die a simple death of old age."

He was seriously considering it. The pain and tiredness were almost too much to bare. But then, though muffled and quiet, Jonouchi heard something that caught his attention, "Jonouchi!" a voice called, followed by two others calling the same thing. Yugi, Honda, and Ryou; his friends. A certain energy came back to him, even though he was still in pain and weak.

The clown glared at the wall, "That-! That Motou boy!" he growled.

Jonouchi smiled faintly, "My friends..." he reached for the dice, lifting them up and shaking them in his hand, "... I'll keep going, for them." He released the dice, and they fell to the center of the board. Both dice faced up with six pocks. He smirked as he lifted his head, though dread upon realizing how it would feel slowly built up in his mind, "S... Sixty-two years, I wager!" As he moved the piece, his body finally began to fall prey to the limits of age, and he hunched foreward, nearly knocking the piece over. After a moment of collecting himself, he carefully placed the piece next to the clown's, and leaned back in his seat. "T... There..."

On the other side of the wall, Yugi and Ryou both felt the dark presence of magic, sucking away life force. Yugi's eyes widened, and he placed his hands against the wall of the room, "J-Jonouchi!" he shouted.

Yugi... Jonouchi thought to himself, As long as you're here... I have faith in my luck... I can't give up now!

The clown looked furious with him, as well as desperate. With the sudden presence of Yugi, he seemed to lose whatever grips on his calm he had before. "Damn you!" he snarled, grabbing the dice angrily and shaking them in his fist. "I'll show you, you little brat! Then all of them will meet the same fate, one by one!" he began to cackle, throwing the dice down. As he did so, he lowered his mask in gleeful surprise. "Yes!" he laughed, pointing to the dice. Jonouchi strained to focus on them, but saw the number of pocks. Seven. "Sixty-nine, I wager!" the clown laughed loudly, moving his piece tot he very end of the spiraling levels. One more space, and he'd win the game.

Jonouchi looked at the board for a long while, dread and misery engulfing him. What were his chances, now?


Piece by piece, the puzzle was slowly coming together. The Spirit kept his eyes on Otogi, knelt down on one knee. Otogi's hands trembled as he did so, and painful memories, filled with spiteful words from his own father's mouth filled the air around them. The more pieces he put together, the clearer and louder they became.

"Revenge doesn't matter! It wouldn't have changed anything. It wouldn't have turned you back!"

"Look at me! Look at me, Ryuji! I'm a monster!"

He hesitated with the next piece, whimpering out, "I... I can't do this... It hurts..."

"Otogi, you must," the Spirit insisted, "It is the only way to heal."

Otogi shut his eyes, tears falling to the floor, "It never will! It's never changed!" Before he could continue speaking, they were both caught off guard by a sound that was not from Otogi's mind, but the Spirit's.

"Jonouchi!" Yugi's familiar voice cried out, and the feeling of fear and dread swept over each of them.

The Spirit stood straight, looking around, "P-Partner!?"

"That... That feeling..." Otogi's eyes widened, "The darkness... Anubis' Mehen!"

"What!?" the Spirit snapped his look back to Otogi, and the memories of the few times he had seen the acursed game flooded the room. "This game... I... I know it!" the Spirit shakily said, the barest hints of memories returning to him, "It drains the years of life you bet to move! Jonouchi is-!"

"You will inherit the Puzzle, Otogi. Then, you shall play Anubis' Mehen with Sugoroku to exact my revenge! Take what bitter years of life he still clings to!"

"No!" Otogi cried out, dropping the puzzle and covering his ears, "Father, no! Please!"

"Otogi!" the Spirit quickly knelt down, placing his hands on Otogi's shoulders, "Focus! You must unlock the memories your heart has sealed away! The puzzle cannot remain unsolved, or you shall face the darkness your father forced upon you forever!" He closed his eyes, trying to see through Yugi's.

The darkness around them slowly gained shade and shape. Yugi, Honda, and Ryou all stood in the room, trying to beat down the section of wall that kept them from Jonouchi. The Spirit stood up once more, leaving Otogi with the puzzle, which he shakily began to continue working on. He looked around the room they were in, searching for any details he could pick out to help them with. However, his connection was suddenly tested, when there was a loud and clattering noise, like people bursting into the room at once. The shock Yugi was placed forced him away, and the room became dark again.

He gasped, "Partner!"