A/N: -headdesk- Oh gods, my brain has been officially fried. I don't know why, but this chapter was a total bitch to write. Probably because of all the translations... So, it took me a while to get this up. If anyone's confused, don't hesitate in asking me any questions.

Great (Anonymous review): I've been thinking a lot about this, but I've got most of their backstory in my head. Yami and Bakura aren't exactly Atemu and Akefia's lovers from the past. There's this whole, crazy, messed up reason, which I'm not going to reveal just yet. I've actually been thinking about writing a prequel telling this story after Circling is all up and finished. It'd be a tragedy, though, for obvious reasons...Any thoughts on whether or not I should do this?

Thanks to everyone else who has reviewed/followed/favorited this story.

Now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter~


Yuugi stood frozen in the doorway, mouth agape. The man seated on top of Malik's waist was practically Malik's twin. The only differences were that this man was taller, had a darker skin tone, his hair was spiking up in all kinds of directions, and his dark violet eyes were narrowed harshly, baring a slight tint of red in them. The look-a-like was taut, getting ready to slice the original Malik's jugular with that rod-dagger placed against his neck.

And Yuugi had thought Yami had been a little harsh.

A sudden pressure brushed past Yuugi and he rigidly watched as his own look-a-like stalked straight up to the almost murderer, yanking the blonde's hair in a non too friendly way. The man on top of Malik screeched, waving the dagger frantically at Yami, who easily dodged the wild blows.

"Mariku!" Yami growled, yanking the fellow's hair once more. "Ab!"

The man ceased his flailings and muttered something foreign under his breath. Apparently, though, Yami heard it and wasn't please, for he frowned deeply and tossed him onto the floor roughly.

This caused the man - Mariku - to burst. He stood and starting to shout into Yami's face and it was clear to the two others in the room that he was using some foul mouthed words.

While they argued in a dead language, Yuugi turned his attention to Malik. "Are you okay?" he asked in a hushed voice as to not draw unwanted attention. "He didn't hurt you, right?"

Malik shook his head, shifting into a sitting position. He warily eyed Mariku's angered form. "No, he just jumped me. It was strange, Yuugi. I was just looking over that rod he's got over there - it's the artifact ane gave me - and suddenly, some dark, weird, crazy stuff shot out of the eye symbol and - BAM - there was this guy...What was his name? Mariku? And who's he arguing with?"

Yuugi waved a dismissive hand. "I'll tell you later, but right now, I think we should-" His suggestion was interrupted by a loud thump coming from the second floor. Yami and Mariku were still bickering, not aware that something had just frightened the living daylights out of their look-a-likes.

"We have to check on Ryou." Came Malik's hushed voice, swiftly rising. Yuugi nodded, gently leading the way to the stairs, careful not to get into the way of the two Egyptians. Once clear, they scrambled to the first door and knocked loudly, praying for an answer.

Around a minute passed before a relatively calm Ryou exited the room. Malik and Yuugi both breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "You alright?" Yuugi asked after the albino closed the door behind him. "We heard a thump and imagined the worst."

Ryou shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, I'm fine, really." Something in his tone had the other two men on edge again. It was way too...cheerful. "I mean, a weird looking man had just popped out of the golden ring Ishizu gave me, and came onto me rather roughly, so I had to knock him out using one of the lamps. Other than that, I'm just peachy." He smiled apologetically at Malik. "Sorry about the lamp, by the way. It's kind of a mess in there, and that thing looked pretty valuable...I'd kindly pay you back and clean it once someone removes the man laying unconsciously on the floor."

Yuugi and Malik blinked slowly, processing Ryou's dialogue. Once it clicked, they gaped and Malik instantly ran into the room to inspect the damage, Yuugi trailing behind.

There, laying just like Ryou had described, was indeed a weird man. He was another look-a-like, this time of Ryou. Their hair was almost the same, save for the extra two horn-like locks placed atop his forehead. His skin was as ghostly as Yami's, angular features contorted in his unconscious pain. A golden ring with ringlets dangling from the sides was around his neck, the Eye of Horus staring at the ceiling from its snug place upon the ring's form. There was a bit of blood around the shards of glass surrounding the man's head, but no obvious wound was in sight.

As if alerted by an invisible trigger, the man's brown tinted red eyes snapped open to glare at both Malik and Yuugi, his gaze eventually trailing over to Ryou's barely visible form. A sly smirk made its way onto his face, but quickly dispersed once the shouting from downstairs became fairly obvious. Growling lowly, the man stood suddenly. The action made Ryou squeak in fear and the other two men flinch as if they were about to get hit. But who could blame them? This man radiated violence.

He stalked to the door, roughly pushing Ryou aside so he could pass. From the top of the stairs, he shouted, "gr, Kkwy, Mariku! Abi n Ab."

The shouts from below the floorboards instantly cut off at the words this man had yelled. Barely a moment later, both Yami and Mariku were bounding up the stairs.

"iTA." Yami spat, eyes ablaze. The next phrase was too fastly spoken for Yuugi to even begin to comprehend. It sounded like a question, though.

"xm. sy?" The white-haired man, apparently called iTA, answered. Yami turned his gaze towards Yuugi, and the smaller gulped at the intensity. The Egyptians suddenly switched to Japanese, probably noticing Yuugi, Ryou, and Malik's utter confusion.

"The one who looks like me is named Yuugi. He released me from the Sennen Box." Yami turned his gaze back to iTA. "That means you and Mariku are released as well until I seal us back, remember?"

iTA sighed deeply, turning his gaze to his own look-a-like. Mariku did the same, and soon enough, everyone was having a small showdown with their copies. Awkwardly, Yuugi raked his mind to come up with a way to get out of the hallway unscathed. And fortunately, one managed to pop up.

"Where's Ishizu? Yami says he knows her."

iTA and Mariku exchanged glances, then simultaneously turned to Yami. He was trying his hardest not to make eye contact with them. "'Yami'?" Mariku repeated, amusement clearly hanging onto his tone.

Yami waved him off. "Kkwy is too hard for Yuugi to say. He suggested the name." His gaze snapped over to iTA. "You better do the same. iTA is probably harder for them to pronounce."

"And what, oh Mighty One, do you suggest should I be called here?" iTA quickly snapped back, whipping his head around to do so properly.

Ryou cleared his throat, bringing all eyes to focus on his fragile form. "Uh, I've...I've always been fond of the name...Bakura." His cheeks dusted a slight pink at having attention for too long, ducking his head to hide it.

His Egyptian copy pursed his lips, head slowly nodding. "I guess Bakura could work." He shrugged. "Doesn't really matter, though, since we're only going to be here for a limited time anyways. For now, let's just go find Ishtar. She'll be better at explaining things."

And with that, they all gathered back down into the living room, a tense silence hovering over their heads. Thankfully, Ishizu was just in the kitchen, so they didn't have to wait long for her to show up.

"I take it you are all pretty confused." Ishizu spoke mostly to the modern day men, although some of her words applied to the Egyptians as well.

"You knew they were going to pop out at us and yet, you didn't give us a single word of warning to a potential heart attack! What's wrong with you, Nee-san?" Malik was quick to open his mouth and lash out at his older sister, something that Yuugi took as a good sign. It was when the man was quiet when something terrible was wrong.

Ishizu just shrugged, uncaring. "You wouldn't have believed me anyways." To that, they could all agree. She sat down on the couch, crossing her legs to add comfort. "Why don't we all take a seat? Then I'll begin."

Reluctantly, they all sat down. Yuugi found himself sharing another couch with Yami, while Mariku and Malik sat in nearby chairs. Bakura was sitting beside Ishizu, and Ryou was on the floor opposite to him. Yuugi noted that there was still plenty of room on the couch Ishizu and Bakura were inhabiting, but didn't bring it up. In actuality, he would've done the same thing.

The black-haired woman cleared his throat. "Now...where to begin?"


Ab: Stop in Egyptian.

gr, Kkwy, Mariku. Abi n Ab: Silence, Darkness, Mariku. I desire you to stop. (very rough translation)

iTA: Thief

xm. sy: I don't know. Who are they? (...guh)

Egyptian translations are probably incorrect, but I tried my best to search for the best ones I could find. If anyone knows of a good Ancient Egyptian translation site, please let me know.

Nee-san: Big Sister

Ishizu will explain almost everything next chapter, with the Egyptians adding their say a few times. I hope Yuugi, Malik, and Ryou's meetings with their darker halves pleased most of you.

R&R~