Yosuke's Masukukaja made it easier for Chie to dodge the dark fireballs, but Tomoe still got hit by one on the right side of its body. She could feel the burning sensation and feel the damage, but the adrenaline allowed her to ignore it. Even if she wasn't fighting, she was too distressed to care about pain.

It was also harder to fight without a healer, especially when she was used to having her best friend to support her, and that particular friend was lying on her back two meters away with a hole through her torso. Dojima-san had let her see some reports of murders, even if he knew he shouldn't show that to a kid. She had read about people dying from way less than that.

Another fireball coming from one of the Dark Magicians, and now the giant Shadow pointed his staff at her general direction. She could see the energy being concentrated on its tip.

"Guys, look out!" Rise warned them, walking backwards to avoid debris that Yosuke's Garudyne attacks were causing. "He's charging an attack!"

It was probably an Almighty attack, so even if Yu had Makarakarn ready, it would be useless. Still, it wasn't the end of the world.

"Behold, Abel-mizrain!" The Shadow yelled as he shot a continuous, gigantic beam of energy on their direction. Good news is, that wasn't an explosion. Bad news is it was still lethal.

Chie ran from the beam diagonally from where she was standing, summoning Tomoe to physically push her to the ground when it wasn't enough. She could feel the heat coming from the attack as it scraped her Persona, but she managed to dodge it just in the nick of time. Yosuke was trying to fight two of the Dark Magicians while diverting attention from Yu at the same time. Their leader, meanwhile, was trying his hardest to heal Yukiko. He was probably too tired to use his most powerful healing spells, so he was having to chip the damage away slowly.

Naoto was dealing with the last of the Dark Magicians while directly attacking Shadow Atem. She was too focused to help Chie in any meaningful way, but it was paying off: her opponent was clearly on the brink of defeat. It was using Agi skills almost exclusively, which were easy enough to dodge most of the time.

She yelled "Persona!" while shooting the card on mid-air, simultaneously hitting the Dark Magician and sending Sukuna-Hikona on its direction. With three swings of its sword, the Persona's Blight annihilated the apparition, which dissolved into darkness.

Now her attention moved to Shadow Atem.

"You'll pay for what you did."

"Subjects live to worship their Pharaoh, little one." The monster pointed his staff at Naoto, and she quickly moved out of the Ziodyne's way.

Chie went on to help Yosuke fight his two enemies, since he was getting out of breath. Having to protect Yu was taking its tool on his offense, but he was holding up surprisingly well.

"Can you take the one on the left?" He asked, trying to cast Diarama on himself.

"Oh, I can take both!" She tried sound optimistic, but her heart was still begging her to look back to check on Yukiko. But she knew that if she did that, she wouldn't want to fight anymore. Tomoe materialized itself by her side, naginata spinning wildly.

Before dodging the caster's attack, she felt the Power Charge's power running through her body. She ran forward with her Persona by her side, switching directions masterfully with months of experience. The monsters tried casting Makarakarn on themselves, but she wouldn't hit them with magic.

She jumped and used her speed to kick one of the enemies right on his head. At the same time, Tomoe applied a skillful Black Spot on the other enemy.

She could feel Yosuke's Garudyne coming from behind her back, and quickly rolled to the side to avoid it. Both enemies got caught up on the attack, hitting each other amidst the hurricane.

"Finish them, Tomoe!" Chie exclaimed as Tomoe got in position. "Wait for it… wait for it… NOW!"

When both Dark Magicians got in the right place, Tomoe's God Hand came crashing down from the heavens, smashing both on the ground. One of them disintegrated instantly, while the other tried getting up again. That one was killed by Yosuke's kunai throw.

Chie tried celebrating, but Yosuke turned around immediately and ran towards Yu.

"Is she okay?" The boy asked, summoning Jiraiya as he approached. "You're tired, I'll help you heal her."

Yu didn't say anything. His face was a dirty brown of sweat and effort, concentrating all his remaining energy on his Dia spells. Chie wanted to help, but she knew she had a job to do. Namely, helping Naoto.

A Megidolaon blasted some dirt on Chie's face, but she put her hand on her eyes and started running towards her friend. Shadow Atem was more resilient than they would like, apparently. The detective had no more bullets and was clearly exhausted from dodging his powerful attacks. Masukukaja's effect had also already left her body.

"Naoto-chan, tag!" Chie said, running at a fast pace. Naoto only had time to turn her head to face her before Chie passed by her. Hopefully this would work.

Power Charge had her in a fighter's high yet again, and Tomoe floated by her side as a silent guardian. To her surprise, Shadow Atem's right hand moved, and it was fast. She could only see the hand's blur as it crashed the ground in front of her.

The girl had no time to dodge, so she did the next best thing: she started climbing the Shadow's gigantic arm as if it were a very rough road. She only had one shot, and she had to make it count.

The staff was already charging up, and she knew one shot from that laser would be the death of her. There was nothing she could do about it, however. Good thing she had backup. Sukuna-Hikona's Vorpal Blade crashed with the staff's spearhead, diverting the beam and making the giant growl in pain. It was apparently part of its body.

Chie finally reached his shoulders. When she did it, she jumped. Her feet went straight for the man mask's nose. With an audible CRACK!, a fissure appeared on the Shadow's mask, and it screamed in pain, but Chie wasn't done. Oh no.

Tomoe was directly above the target. It was perfect.

"SUPER FINAL ATTACK!" Other than "ORA!" or "ATATATATA!", it was the cheesiest thing she could come up with. It sounded super cool in her head, of course.

The God Hand hit the center of the enemy's head with the strength of a small meteorite. She honestly expected its head to just crack open like an egg, but instead a black miasma started leaking out of it while the man-mask's eyes exploded. It was all darkness inside.

"Is It over?" Chie said under her breath, trying to regain balance on the trembling giant's shoulders. She decided to jump down and roll on her landing, but the creature's free arm suddenly came back to life and grabbed her in mid-air. "AACK!"

The head turned enough degrees that the dog's face was aligned as the center. Suddenly, the staff started to glow very brightly, which caused Chie and Naoto to close her eyes. When they opened it, the staff was gone. It had been replaced by a very large, very thick black book.

"My mouth is opened by Ptah" the Shadow said. The book's pages started to turn rapidly, as if haunted by a poltergeist. "My mouth's bonds are loosed by my city-god. Thoth has come fully equipped with spells…"

Chie didn't notice at first, but Naoto did. A purple circle of runes was spinning and slowly forming around the brown-haired girl. She'd seen those runes before.

It was a Mudo spell.

"CHIE! GET OUT OF THERE!"

The girl looked down, and saw the circle. She started struggling immediately.

"Protect me, Tomoe!" The Persona tried hitting the hand with its weapon, but the Shadow didn't react. It just kept saying its incantation.

"with which he opened the mouth of the gods. I am Sekhmet-Wadjet who dwells in the west of heaven, I am Sahyt among the souls of On." The circle stopped spinning when the incantation was done. The dog's eyes started glowing dark. "The Book of the Dead."

The Mudo black flames rose up to engulf the hand that held Chie. She expected to be burned alive, but instead all the felt was numb. The girl didn't feel when Tomoe dematerialized, all of her strength gone. She couldn't hear Naoto's screams, trying to get her attention. All she knew was that she had lost.

Chie passed out, not even sure of her last thoughts. The creature's hand dropped her like she was some kind of dead weight. Naoto was already running to catch her, of course.

This was bad.

"He's got another form after this…" she said, calling Sukuna-Hikona. She had to get Chie's unconscious body somewhere safe.

"Naoto-chan! It's not over!" Rise said telepathically. "I just finished analyzing this form; it's not as resistant to physical attacks as the other one! Just don't attack its right hand!"

"That's good to know, thank you Rise-san." I just wish the physical fighters weren't knocked-out.

"My hair is Nu. My face is Ra. My eyes are Hathor. My ears are Wepwawet. My lips are Anubis." What is he doing? "There is no member of mine devoid of a god, and Thoth is the protection of all my flesh." At the end of the incantation, a shield could visibly be seen appearing around the giant's body, and immediately becoming invisible.

"… Rise-san."

"Uh… yeah, that was some kind of Tetrakarn."

"Amazing."

"It's not my fault!"

She sent Sukuna-Hikona with Chie's body towards where the rest were, and dodged a Bufudyne skill. Apparently the spells had changed too. Again, amazing.

Naoto didn't have many options, since running away forever wasn't realistic. A desperate Almighty attack would only deplete even more of her already very low stamina. She could try attacking the monster physically, but Tetrakarn would hurt her, and she didn't know if she could take too much physical damage and continue fighting. Sukuna-Hikona had some very powerful physical attacks, but it was no Take-Mikazuchi.

I'm running out of time.

She looked around and saw Yosuke and Yu still at it. Kanji and Chie weren't being taken care of, but simply because there was no one to do it. Naoto could see Yu's Persona flickering in and out of existence, as if her leader was close to collapsing. This was a disaster.

"This is futile, child." The Shadow uttered. There was no hint of gloating on his tune. It was like a roar. "Submit, and your death will come quickly."

He's way more powerful than I thought he would be.

The team was too scattered, too beaten-up to fight properly. They were all exhausted and hadn't been able to rest for too long after too much damage. Even if they won that fight, there was no way they could go on to handle Bakura in such a state. She was consciously aware of all of those things.

Didn't change the fact that she had no choice other than to win. Because that's just what they did.

It was contemplating her resolve that she felt a warm feeling in her heart. Well, not exactly in her heart, that would be stupid: something around the general area of her chest was emitting heat.

She looked down and saw a fading golden silhouette, approximately the size of a pocketbook. Naoto had seen it before. She could see it right now if she looked up to the Pharaoh's Shadow. It was the Millennium Puzzle.

The warmth wasn't constant: it was more like a rhythm. A faint heartbeat that was clinging to the last threads of its life. Naoto was trying to understand exactly why was the specter of a magical item that she had left in her house weighting in her chest when she finally noticed what was happening.

"Atem?" Naoto called out, not really expecting an answer. It was the only possible explanation. The puzzle itself had no power, it was Atem that contained all of its magic in his very existence. If the puzzle showed up on her, then that meant Atem was still around.

It was less prominent in her mind than something like Himiko's voice would be, but she could still hear the man's words.

"Naoto…"

"You're alive." She was on the verge of being too exhausted to be excited about her friend being alive, but it still took a lot out of her shoulders. "Where are you? I saw him—"

"You're going to die."

Naoto felt a gulp rising on her throat, preventing her to swallow for a second. She could see the enemy changing up something that was probably an Almighty attack, and she wasn't sure she could dodge it.

"There's still time, still a way out. I know there is."

"There is. But you have to trust me."

"Keep talking!" A purple, black aura started growing around the Shadow's staff. This was no ordinary Megidolaon. It could destroy the entire pyramid.

"What do you propose?"

"You are too tired. Sukuna-Hikona is drawing your mental energy and spirit just by staying in the air. There is no way you can resist that attack in your current state."

"We agree." The inside of the Shadow's mouth started emitting a black light, and Naoto could almost feel an invisible timer about to go off. "I implore you to get to the point."

"My existence might be weak, but assuming we draw from different energies, then we could say that… I am not tired."

It took Naoto a second to understand what Atem was asking for. She closed her eyes.

"Your life is forfeit." The beast howled, taking one last second to call his attack: "Sins of Ani!"

Yu looked back and knew that there was nothing he could do to defend from that spell. It was as if he was facing Margaret all over again: the awesome power of a weapon of mass destruction, one sentence away from being unleashed at all times. Yukiko was finally healed, but that attack would take everything away in a flash. There was not enough time to get everyone who was knocked out to the exit, and there was no way to block an almighty attack of that magnitude without still taking a lot of damage.

That was it, Yu thought. It was all over. In his supposed last thoughts, he almost missed Naoto's new, golden aura.

"Naoto?"

He watched as Naoto's cap flew off her head and, for a moment, thought that the spikier than usual hair was a trick of perspective. Her posture was usually very straight, but there was something else about it that made her look uncanny: she stood as if her words could cause empires to fall. It was difficult to explain, but to Yu, Naoto now looked like an ancient queen.

That's when he noticed what was going on. He couldn't see her face, but he guessed he wouldn't find her normal stoic expression, or her calm and cunning eyes that complemented her demeanor so well.

He would find Atem's eyes.

This wasn't like last time. Atem and Naoto were occupying her body at the same time.

Maybe he didn't have enough power, still being linked to his Shadow. But that only meant that now they were twice as powerful.

Somewhere in her mind, she could feel Sukuna-Hikona's hesitance towards the man. Be nice, you. We're having guests.

"You don't have cards, do you?" He asked, almost playfully.

"No. But I believe I know where we can find some."

Yu watched as Naoto's hand pointed towards Yosuke's body on the ground. Duel Monsters cards started coming out of his pocket. Then from Kanji's, and then from Chie's. He felt his own cards abandoning him, and for a second, he actually wondered if Atem would be able to use their decks with as much majesty as he could use his. The cards gathered around the Pharaoh's vessel, orbiting around Naoto as planets orbited around the sun.

Before the explosion blinded Yu's sight, he observed as Naoto's hand reached for one of the cards around her, and held it between two fingers. He felt the heat of the explosion, but never saw Naoto flinching.

...

But the pain never came. No disintegration of atoms or any damage. The explosion was completely contained, trying its hardest to break through their defenses.

Naoto stared at the gigantic transparent wall that held Shadow Atem's attack at bay. It extended across the entire room, and seemed extremely solid. She knew what it was, because Atem knew what it was.

"Looks like you activated my trap card." She said, with a doubled voice. "Mirror Force."

The Shadow's golden eyes couldn't move, but she knew it was glaring at her. Maybe pleading. Even better.

"Take it ALL back!" With a movement of her hand, Mirror Force directed all of Sin of Ani's destructive power back to its sender. The creature screamed, bombarded from all directions by its own attack. She felt the strain of using a card, but noticed that it was less than she felt when her Persona took damage. It was similar, but not quite.

"You escaped?! How?!" The Shadow screamed, still being attacked by Sin of Ani. It was like seeing a city being bombarded during a war.

"I didn't have to escape, beast." Atem's voice spoke higher than Naoto's as he chose a second card. "Naoto completed my puzzle. Our link is stronger than any prison you can possibly muster. All I needed to do was to use our connection."

Wait, thought Naoto. That means you're still trapped inside your Shadow.

Focus on winning the fight. We'll deal with that later.

"Sukuna-Hikona, I give you: Dark Energy!" Her Persona started glowing with a black aura as it received a boost on its power. The velvet card spun rapidly in Naoto's hand as she smashed it. "ATTACK!"

The Persona flew through the air with speed the likes of which Naoto had never seen It using before. Its arrival coincided with the end of the barrage of attacks caused by Mirror Force. The Shadow didn't even have time to recover before Sukuna-Hikona got to its chest area.

Naoto's Persona joined its hands and unleashed a gigantic Megidolaon. The black energy spread like an eruption and hit the enemy in full. She could feel Atem's spirit rising in power as his Shadow's domain over his soul faltered. The giant body started crumbling like an ancient statue hit by missiles.

She felt Atem's presence leaving her mind, and watched as Shadow Atem exploded in a spectacular display of power. The black energy that formed the Shadow started leaving its body, which made for the disturbing imagery of the gigantic statue full of holes and breaches into its own existence.

"I… am the Pharaoh… I… am supreme… I… I…" It mumbled something more, but the detective couldn't hear it anymore. The enemy finally fell, transforming into fog before taking the appearance of Atem's form in pharaoh attire again. It laid down on the floor, utterly and completely defeated.

A stream of light connected the Shadow to Atem's real body for a second, and when it disappeared, the Pharaoh twitched, and then slowly got up. He had his soul back.

Naoto was relieved, but then she was on the ground. Her legs just couldn't handle her anymore. Sukuna-Hikona had disappeared as soon as that Megidolaon was cast. She needed a rest.

Which made her extremely glad to feel the warm feeling of being healed by Yukiko's Diaharan. She was lying on her stomach, but she knew her friend was finally fine. Naoto assumed she would give the others support right after healing her.

She looked around from ground level and saw Atem's figure making his way to them. He was lumbering, but he was definitely alive and well. The man let gravity sit him down by Naoto's side, offering his hand next to hers.

"Thank you, Naoto."

She smiled and shook his hand as firmly as she could in her state.

"Much obliged."

The calm was broken by a pained groan, and Shadow Atem finally got up. He was hurt badly, but his yellow eyes never faltered as he stared at Atem. He didn't seem angry, however. He always looked like he was waiting for something.

"You have to accept him, Pharaoh." Yu said behind both of them. He was sitting on the ground exhausted, and probably also last in line for healing. "Otherwise he'll just attack us again."

"I know you can do it!" Rise was there, too. Less bruised than the rest, but still in dire need of resting. "It's hard, but… it's worth it. I promise."

Atem didn't answer. He simply got up and walked towards his other self. They were at mere feet of each other when he started talking.

"I won't lie to myself anymore. I cannot deny the truth in your words." His voice sounded hoarse and tired. Each word took some effort to be said, but Naoto knew it wasn't a physical problem. Everyone on that room knew that. "I… I miss Yugi. I miss being a hero. I miss it every day."

The Shadow didn't even blink. He was silent, but his silence spoke volumes. Go on.

"When Yugi wanted to leave dueling behind, when he wanted to just stop, I… I didn't know what to do. I didn't want things to change so drastically. I thought we could do so much more. I could do so much more. And because of that… I left, and I tried finding someone else. Anyone who lived in crisis, anywhere that I could be… useful."

He took a deep breath. It wasn't easy putting raw emotion into words.

"Deep down, I suppose I am just afraid to be alone again. Alone in my Millennium Puzzle, where no one would ever care about me again. But… I am never really alone." A smile found its way to Atem's lips as he continued his speech. "All the friends I've made throughout my journeys, none of them really leaves. They stay with me for the rest of my life. I don't have to prove myself to them to be worthy of their love. My friends love me for who I am. They will never leave my heart."

He raised his hand, extending it towards his Shadow.

"But you already know this. You're me, after all."

Shadow Atem shook hands with his counterpart, and nodded his head in accord.

A glowing circle of blue light appeared around both, and Atem felt his energy coming back to him. His Shadow transformed in front of his eyes into an entirely different form.

It was a very tall humanoid in white and golden clothes. In its left hand it held a staff with an upside-down pyramid on its tip, and on its right hand it had a gauntlet adorned with a golden wing. Its face was a golden mask that looked like an eagle's face, and a great Egyptian crowd adorned its head.

"Heru-sa-Aset" Atem whispered the name of his Persona as it disappeared into the sea of his soul. The velvet blue card fell in his hand like so many other cards had done, but this one was very different from the ones he normally used.

His knees started to give in, but a freshly awoken Kanji was quick to grab him before he fell face first in the ground. They had obviously seen the effects of that process many times.

"Wow wow, hey there, man. I got you." The taller man said, sitting Atem down gently. "Yukiko's healing everything, so wait your turn. We can't go on unless we rest for a while."

He was aware of most of what Kanji said, but his consciousness faded away fairly quickly. Atem fell asleep on the ground by the Pharaoh's throne. He didn't know what would happen next, but at least that part of their journey was over.


"N-no way…" Teddie said, not really sure of what just happened. He was kind of good at this game, it… it made no sense to lose like that.

"That wasn't too bad, not too bad at all." Bakura's voice was so full of sarcasm and contempt you could cut it with a knife. "But alas, I win. And I believe you know the rules."

"Oh no… Sensei, please, h-" Teddie started screaming for help, but he didn't even get a full sentence out before his soul was sucked into a blank card. His body went stiff, still and hollow like a husk. Bakura couldn't help but laugh.

"I almost can't believe it was that easy." He got up, taking Teddie's soul-card with him. "Just what I was looking for."