The bell above the entrance chimed as Marik and Ryou stepped inside. They'd all agreed-Bakura and Kek grudgingly-that it would be better for Kek and Bakura to wait outside until Marik and Ryou broke the news to the others.

Bakura leaned against the side of Ryou's car while Kek admired Marik's bike. He spared the door a glance over his shoulder before mounting it and fiddling about.

"This is way nicer than the one we stole for Battle City," Kek commented. "Looks like he's installed upgrades."

Bakura shrugged. All motorcycles looked pretty much the same to him.

Leaning forward on the handlebars, Kek grinned at him. Bakura waited for him to say something, but he just kept staring with that creepy smile glued on his face. Finally Bakura lost his patience and snapped at him.

" What ?"

Kek shrugged. "I was just thinking. Marik seemed pretty laid back about me being back, didn't he?"

Bakura's brow furrowed. "I suppose."

Kek's face turned pensive as he ran his fingers over the handle's textured grip. "Do you think he forgives me? For-well, you know…"

"You mean taking over his body and trying to kill his siblings?" Kek frowned, nodded. "You'd have to ask him."

The door chimed again and Marik reappeared. He frowned as Kek dismounted, a hand gravitating to his hip.

"You get so much as a scratch on Quinn, and I'll beat your fucking face in," Marik told Kek matter of factly.

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Quinn?"

Marik smiled, walking over and petting the seat as if he were soothing an anxious cat. "Yeah. It's a red and black Harley. She was always my favorite Batman villain."

Bakura shook his head, a small smile pulling up the corners of his lips.

"So, are we invited to the party?" Bakura asked.

"Yeah. Come on."

Kek and Bakura followed Marik inside. They walked to the back of the shop and up the stairs that led to the apartment above. All eyes turned to them as they topped the steps. Bakura immediately spotted Atem in the middle of the group, and he froze when purple gypsum eyes locked with his.

Atem looked as he had in Ancient Egypt-mostly. The toasted almond complexion and royal superiority complex were just as Bakura remembered them, but seemed at odds with his outfit of tight, dark blue jeans and a plain white wife beater-which presumably he'd borrowed from Yugi.

"Don't you ever stay dead?" Bakura remarked. Kek cackled.

Atem smirked at them both. "Someone's got to be around to keep you in check."

Bakura snorted and crossed his arms.

The room was immediately divided: Yugi, Téa, Joey, and Tristan crowding around Atem while Marik, Ryou, Bakura, and Kek stood together.

The tense silence stretched on, and Yugi sighed. "I'm going to assume you guys aren't here for the welcome back party."

Bakura glanced at Ryou. "I thought you were going to explain the situation."

"I...wasn't sure where to begin, honestly."

"What's going on?" Yugi looked at Ryou as he asked the question, but it was Marik that answered.

"Actually, we were hoping you could tell us."

"Yugi texted that the gods brought you back," Ryou prompted Atem.

"Yes. Because I gave up my first life to help restore balance, they agreed I had earned a second chance."

"Well, obviously Bakura and Kek are back, too," Ryou pointed out. "Do you know why?"

"Of course." Atem said.

" Of course ," Bakura mocked, glaring at him. "Alright, Pharaoh Know-It-All. Enlighten us."

Atem inclined his head, a smug quirk to his lips as he stared down Bakura. "They pulled you out because I asked them to."

" Liar !" Bakura roared. Everyone in the room jumped.

"It's the truth." Atem swallowed, but held Bakura's irate gaze. "It didn't sit well with me, you-either of you-being trapped there while I was in Aaru. After all, both of you also played your parts to restore balance. Eternity in the Shadow Realm seemed...a harsh reward."

"So you did it out of guilt?" Bakura demanded. Atem nodded, and Bakura relaxed a fraction. "There really is a first time for everything."

Atem pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "I didn't exactly expect a 'thank you,' but you could try being a bit more gracious. After all, if it weren't for me, you'd still be trapped there."

Bakura held a hand to his chest dramatically. "Oh, my apologies , your Highness. I didn't realize I had to bow and scrape because you did the decent thing for once in your fucking life !"

"Bakura..." Marik said in quiet warning, eyeing Atem's darkening expression. He laid a hand on Bakura's arm, but Bakura shook it off.

"I hate to break it to you, but your selfless gesture was wasted," Bakura snapped.

"I'm beginning to see that," Atem replied coolly.

"No. You really don't." Bakura's hands began to shake at his sides, so he shoved them in his pockets. "Your True Death was the final component necessary to seal the Shadows," he said, suddenly quiet. "It shouldn't have been possible for the gods to pull Kek or I out. The only reason they could was because you came back."

Atem's anger faded to confusion. "I don't understand."

"Your return to the living broke the seal," Ryou explained. "Which means Zorc is also free, to a limited degree."

"And he's not too happy I slipped through his fingers," Bakura added. "He's going to come for me, and thanks to the pact I made with him, when he does, there won't be a damn thing I can do to keep him from dragging me back."

The room was silent in the wake of this revelation. Tristan was the first to break it.

"So let me get this straight. There's a demon coming to call in the marker on your soul, and you want us to help you stop him?"

"Essentially," Bakura said.

"You're insane!" Joey shouted.

"True, but that doesn't change anything."

"We saw that freakazoid in Atem's memories," Joey said, "and I gotta tell ya, I ain't too keen on fightin' somethin' like that."

"Well, obviously we're not going to fight him," Marik corrected, a calculating grin stretching his lips. "We're going to trick him."

Téa tilted her head. "How are we going to do that? I'm no demon expert, but aren't they masters of deception?"

"At least he won't expect it," Ryou said.

Kek chuckled. "Surprise only goes so far, Snowflake."

"You want me to seal him back up again," Atem guessed, addressing Bakura.

Bakura nodded. "Preferably before he takes me with him."

"That won't be easy. Last time took three thousand years, and I had to die-twice!"

"Things are a bit different this time." Bakura sighed. "Last time Zorc was more powerful, drawing power from the souls of Kul Elna that were bound to the Millennium Items. Those souls were released when you returned the Items to the Tablet, so the only power he has is what he was created with."

Yugi's eyes sharpened. "What do you mean, 'created with?'"

"Zorc Necrophades was born from the Shadow Realm itself. All of us here have experienced the Shadows, at least peripherally, from participating in and observing Shadow Games." Everyone nodded.

Téa shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "Ugh, just talking about it makes my skin crawl!"

"Try living it for five years," Kek muttered.

Marik glanced at Kek before staring at the floor.

"The Shadows aren't merely magic and darkness," Bakura continued. "There's an intelligence at work there-a sentience . Whatever that awareness is, it's responsible for Zorc's creation."

"How do you know all of this?" Atem demanded. "Not even the gods are sure how Necrophades came to be."

Bakura laughed cruelly. "It took a near apocalypse for the so-called gods to pull their heads out of their asses and actually pay attention to the people that worshiped them! They weren't even aware the balance of life was in peril until it was almost too late. Forgive me if I don't have as much faith in their divine wisdom as you do."

"You didn't answer my question."

"While you were blissfully comatose in the Puzzle for three millennia, I was in the Shadows with Zorc. He fucked with my memories and made my existence hell-but he didn't realize that while our bond allowed him to pull things from my head, the bond worked both ways."

"You read Zorc's mind ?" Joey asked, mouth hanging open.

"Not actively, no. Not the way Marik read minds with the Rod. It was more that knowledge just sort of...came to me. It was never anything substantial, but Zorc used our connection often when torturing me, and I had three thousand years to piece things together."

"And he never picked up on what you knew?" Yugi asked.

"Why would he? He was only interested in memories and thoughts that he could use to break me. Besides, it wasn't until I lost our final Shadow Game in the Memory World and got stuck in the Shadow Realm the second time that I fully realized how I could use the knowledge to my advantage-and by then it was too late."

"Well, it ain't too late now," Joey pointed out.

"Yeah," Tristan agreed. He punched a fist into his other hand. "So how do we beat this freak?"

"I've been working on that," Bakura admitted. "It's not going to be easy, and if we're going to pull it off, we're going to have to work together." His eyes once again caught Atem's. "For the time being, I'm willing to call a truce."

"A truce?" Atem smirked. "Does this mean you no longer hate me?"

"Oh, I still hate you," Bakura assured him. "I just hate Zorc more."

"So I'm the lesser of two evils."

Bakura slowly returned the smirk. "Your words, not mine."

"Alright." Atem held out his hand, and Bakura stared at it as though it were an asp.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Why?" Bakura wondered.

Atem sighed. "Because I think if things had turned out differently, we would have gotten along."

"If things had turned out differently," Bakura replied harshly, "we most likely would have never met."

Atem's hand remained outstretched, unwavering, as if he'd hold it out the rest of the night to make his point. The awkward silence was back, and Bakura let it continue for several uncomfortable seconds before slowly raising his own hand and walking forward.

Atem's grip on his wrist was firm, but not overbearing, and Bakura matched the pressure.

"Now," Atem said, a smug grin forming. "Was that so-?"

Faster than anyone could react, Bakura tugged Atem forward and brought up his fist so that Atem's face slammed into it. Yugi and his posse swarmed around Atem as he knelt, blood pouring from his nose, and Bakura backed away, hands held up in surrender. Atem ignored his friends, staring with comical astonishment at Bakura.

"You punched me!"

"That was uncalled for!" Téa shouted, mothering Atem and holding out a box of tissues.

"No," Bakura argued, " that was three thousand years overdue."

"You dirty snake!" Joey stood and rolled up his hoodie sleeves. "That's a filthy trick! Why don't ya try hittin' on me an' see who ends up on the floor?"

"Don't flatter yourself. You're not my type."

Joey growled and took a step forward, but Atem held up a hand to halt him. Standing up, Atem set aside the wad of saturated tissues.

Atem raised an eyebrow, then winced as it sent more pain through his nose. "Now that you've broken my nose, does this settle things between us?"

Bakura shook his head. "Not even close-but help me pull this off, and I'll think about it."