It had only been six months since Death-T, and yet Kaiba was unsurprised to find that the 'Big Five', his key investors and former Department Heads, had turned on him. When the company had gone from a weapons manufacturer to a game business, he had made them redundant and they had only remained on his board of directors because he had no choice. They controlled too many shares to just be 'disposed of'.
With him in a coma and a buyer with very deep pockets interested in the company, it would have been all too tempting for them to screw him over and sell the company out from under him. It was something he would have considered himself. He would be dealing with the issue permanently once he had recovered his brother from Pegasus's grip.
It was infuriating that the security he had assigned to protect his brother had kidnapped him and handed him over to Pegasus. He had thought his background checks had been thorough enough to avoid something like that happening. Being wrong grated on his nerves. As much as his brother occasionally drove him crazy, he would do anything, anything at all, to ensure Mokuba's safety.
And right now, he could not be certain how safe his brother was.
While he could be certain the little Yugi would be protective of Mokuba and 'Oneesan' could be a dangerous creature when cornered, he could not trust them to protect him from Pegasus's scheming. Nor could he trust that his brother would be sane when he reached them. As long as Mokuba was smart about what he said and did, he would be okay, but he had always been impulsive. Seto worried that his brother would earn himself a new Penalty before he could reach the island.
It did not help that he did not like Yugi or her older sister. He could not entirely hate them when he had been the one who had antagonised them, and he was certain that in Oneesan's eyes, her Penalty had been an act of mercy. That did not mean he was entirely grateful for it. Her 'mercy' had resulted in the kidnapping of his brother and an attempt on his life, not to mention the near-crash of his company.
He was not entirely certain why Yugi was on the island. It was possible that it was because she was a strong duelist and worthy of a place in the tournament. He was more certain that it was because, if he was reading the stock prices right, Kaiba Corp. had started crashing after his public defeat at the hands of Exodia. Until then he had had a reputation for being unbeatable and his gaming company had been building off the back of that reputation and the resulting popularity.
Losing would have been bad enough. Losing to a relative newcomer was worse. Losing to a girl... Well, the damage had been drastic, and he would need to defeat her soon in order to claw back some of the dignity her sheer dumb luck had stripped from him. Pegasus clearly planned to crush her before he could do that.
He saw movement in the reflection of his screen and moved quickly enough to avoid the fist that was heading for his face, rolling off the seat and into a fighting position, only to come face to face with a loaded gun.
"Sit down, Kaiba." His supposedly loyal goon smirked at him as Seto retook his seat, his mind racing through escape methods. "You'd have been better off staying in your coma. You wouldn't have felt a thing. Now, however..."
"Let me move my cards." The older Kaiba brother pulled a spare deck out of his inner breast pocket, a plan already formed. "I don't want to get blood on them."
"Lord of the Cards to the end." The mook chuckled. "Now die!"
Seto's timing was perfect, letting a card slip in time to slip into the firing pin, preventing the weapon from firing and giving Seto a chance to disarm the man, earning himself a handgun and allowing him to force the thug out of the helicopter and into the ocean below.
"You, too." He pointed the gun at the pilot, glowering at the man who had not moved to assist him. "I can fly this copter, I don't need you."
The pilot did not even hesitate, reaching under his chair for a pack that Kaiba knew contained an emergency life vest before bailing out. Seto did not care one way or the other. He did not care to protect the life of traitors, but at the same time, he would not go out of his way to kill them either. Their own strength and fortitude would determine whether they survived until a ship passed this way.
In the mean time he settled into the pilot's seat and put himself back on course for Duelist Kingdom.
If he had his way Mokuba would be at his side by sunrise and Crawford would be eating crow by breakfast.
Yugi was exhausted as she started collecting firewood. It had been a long day and a lot of walking on top of a rather disturbed night's sleep. She wished there was cover she could sleep under, but she was just looking forward to curling up under a tree and getting some well-earned rest. Jou and Mokuba were helping, thankfully, while Anzu, Bakura, and Honda gathered water, and Anzu had some instant hot chocolate in her bag that she was looking forward to drinking.
'We're going to need to talk to Bakura about her food, aren't we?' Yugi asked her elder sister as she gathered up a bunch of twigs.
'Unfortunately.' The spirit of the Puzzle was just as happy about that as she was. 'And we're probably going to have to make a deal with her.'
Yugi sighed at that. They had no idea what Bakura wanted from them in exchange for a share of the food she had brought with her but there was not really any other choice. Pegasus was not feeding the duelists on the island and Jou had left the food they had packed at home on the kitchen side. If she wanted to eat she was going to have to make a deal with the Queen of Thieves.
"I could pay her." Mokuba's offer startled Yugi, her tired mind wondering if he had somehow read her thoughts, only to hear Jou reply and realise that the pair of them had been talking while she had been distracted.
"You can try. I'm not sure Bakura would be that easy to bribe, though. She's a bit..." Yugi let out an amused sigh when her friend trailed off, looking for the right words. "Challenging."
The younger Kaiba brother frowned. He was not as naïve as Jonouchi seemed to think he was and he had already seen the girl's golden ring hanging from the rope around her neck. "Challenging like Oneesan?" heasked, a little concerned that the other item holder was also possessed.
"Yes, but better looking and with the ability to plan ahead." Yugi jumped and wheeled around at the sound of Ba-Khu-Ra's voice. The Thief Queen looked far too amused at her shock as she emerged from the nearest trees. "The water's back in the clearing. I need to talk to Yugi, so shoo."
Jou hesitated, much to the amusement of the Spirit of the Ring, looking at the girl in question for a 'yea or nay.' When Yugi nodded, he started to herd Mokuba away, only for the boy to shake his head and speak up.
"I don't think we've been introduced," he amused Bakura by stating. "I'm Kaiba Mokuba, Kaiba Seto is my Oniisan. You are?"
"Thief Queen Ba-Khu-Ra." The spirit in question smirked at him. "You'd be wise to stay out of my way."
"Normally, yes. I assume that you're as capable of death and destruction as any other item holder," Mokuba allowed, staying remarkably calm considering that he had no idea what she was capable of, "but I have a business proposition for you."
Bakura was interested despite herself. The boy's blunt attitude and lack of obvious fear intrigued her. That and she was highly amused at the way Yugi had flinched at his words. "I'm listening."
"You have food. I have money, or I will do when I get back to Japan." He did not mince words, too hungry and tired himself to be bothered with niceties. "You share what you've got with the rest of us for the rest of our time on the island and I'll make it worth your while."
"How much?" the Thief Queen asked, clearly considering it.
"A hundred thousand pounds. British." Mokuba threw the number out there like it was nothing. Yugi's eyes widened as her mind, trained by the conversions she had to do when ordering from abroad for the shop, automatically did a rough conversion to Japanese Yen. That was nearly a million and a half yen. It was an insane amount of money. She was not the only one who thought so. Back during his gang days, robbing English and American tourists had always been a quick path to a substantial amount of cash so Jou was fully aware of how much money was being offered.
Bakura watched the younger Kaiba brother for a few moments, considering him carefully and trying to decide if he was being honest. "You realise if I agree to this, there won't be any backing out? Either you give me the money when we get back to Domino, or I'll Challenge you?"
"I'm not going to default." Mokuba's eyes narrowed, his tone irritated. "Do you want the money or not?"
"Sure." She tossed her bag at Jonouchi, who caught it and staggered, surprised by the weight of the rucksack. "Why don't you two start cooking? I still need to talk to Yugi." When Jou hesitated she huffed, "Privately."
The older teen glanced at his friend and when she nodded, her eyes turning red and her height shifting slightly, he nodded back and herded Mokuba, who was trying not to look too curious, towards the clearing they were planning to camp in.
When they were gone Oneesan turned to look at the Thief Queen. "What do you want, Bakura?"
"So rude." The spirit of the Ring looked amused as she circled the Pharaoh. "I was going to offer my assistance, but I don't know whether I should now."
"Why would you help me?" The spirit of the Puzzle scowled, not trusting the other girl.
"I have no interest in helping you. It's your brat I want to talk to." Bakura's smirk widened as Oneesan's scowl deepened in response to her words.
"You won't hurt her again, I won't let you." She had not forgotten the punch earlier in the day and the Pharaoh had no intention of giving the Thief Queen a chance to hit her sister a second time.
"I'm not planning on punching her again. That would be boring." That earned Bakura a huff. "If you really have to know, the Puzzle will be mine. No one else is allowed to take it from you, so I have absolutely no intention of letting the pair of you walk into this battle with the American jerk without you and your runt coming up with a better idea than just duelling him head on."
The Pharaoh's scowl softened slightly as she tried to hide her confusion. The spirit in front of her was her enemy. They both were fully aware of that. Yet now Bakura expected her to trust her enough to let her help?
'Anesan? Listening to her won't hurt. Let me talk with her. We don't have to take her suggestion into the duel with us and she does have more experience with the Millennium Items than we do,'Imoto-chan's voice sounded in her mind, causing her to pause. Her sister was much more willing to trust than she was, and while she could sense the girl was wary of Bakura, she was willing to at least hear her out.
'Alright, but if she tries to attack you, I'm Challenging her.' She heard her sister's sigh as she stepped back, allowing the girl control of the body once again but did not respond to it other than to stay in the corridor between their soul rooms, close to the exit to the body in case she was needed.
"What's up, Bakura?" Yugi asked, trying to look more with it than she felt.
"So how screwed are you when you're in contact with the Shadows for any length of time?" The Thief Queen's words made her wince and had Oneesan mentally grimacing, wishing she had not said anything to the others on the boat.
"Honestly? Without you using it against me?" Yugi asked, pausing to think when the other item holder nodded. "I don't know. I'm able to use them a little bit, but I've never been out during a Shadow Game before. The closest I've gotten is when Shadi," and she made mental note of Bakura's expression when she said his name, wondering why it was a weird mix of guilt and amusement, "decided to use a shadow based healing spell on me and it knocked me out for a few days."
"Trust him to be incompetent. Being dead hasn't improved his skills any." The Thief Queen snorted, but did not give Yugi a chance to respond before she smirked. "In that case the first thing we need to do is..."
"Yugi?" The pair of them wheeled around to look at the speaker, only to find Mai was watching them, confused.
"Hi, Mai." Yugi heard the exasperated sigh Bakura let out as she greeted the other duelist. "This is my friend, Bakura Amane."
"Friend is a strong word right now." The Thief Queen's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked the other duelist over, clearing trying to decide if she was a threat or not. Much to Yugi's surprise and Oneesan's amusement, Mai did not give an inch, staring back just as coldly as Bakura was staring at her.
"If you're not her friend then I have no interest in you. You're not a duelist either, so you're a waste of my time." At Mai's words Yugi felt Oneesan step into 'ready' position, from where she could slip into control at any moment, and was not surprised in the slightest. Bakura seemed to bristle at the dismissal and for a moment the younger Mutou sister was almost certain she was going to launch a Shadow Game.
Silence ruled the deepening darkness around them for a few brief seconds. Then the Thief Queen smirked and backed up a couple of steps, "Fine. We can conclude our business later, Mutou. I'll go catch up with the boys. The food should be cooking by now."
At Yugi's brief nod the Thief Queen slipped into the darkness, almost seeming to turn invisible as she hit the darkest shadows under the trees. The girl turned back to the other duelist and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about her."
"You have the weirdest friends." Mai grimaced. "I was wondering how you were doing." She held up her glove, revealing eight shining gold stars in the band.
"Jonouchi has eight, too," Yugi said as she held up her own, showing off her six. "But I'll catch up tomorrow."
"I'm surprised." Mai looked it, too. "A duelist of your calibre, lagging behind?"
"There's been... issues." The girl sighed as she felt her older sister back off and relax. "A couple of my Star chips got stolen and I had to win them back, plus people keep avoiding me." Mai let out a sharp laugh at that.
"Yeah, that'll happen when you get a bigger name, don't let it get you down. Just keep playing the sweet and innocent card and the vultures will come. They always do." Yugi was not sure how to respond to that, but luckily she did not have to as the more experienced duelist smiled, an honest, amused smile. "So, do you have actual food or is it all dried travel rubbish?"
"Not a clue," Yugi admitted with a laugh, "but you're welcome to join us either way."
Mai hesitated for a moment, uncertain. Yugi found herself reminded of her own uncertainty whenever she was invited to play games with people or join them at lunch time. She had been alone for so long and the invites before she had solved the Puzzle had been jokes that had hurt so badly that even now, when she knew that people actually liked her and wanted to get to know her, she found it hard to accept those invites.
"I promise, I don't want anything from you," Yugi swore. "Night has fallen, so it's too dark to see our cards properly. For tonight, at least, come and join us as a friend."
There was another moment's hesitation, then the older duelist nodded. "Sure, but if your food is awful then I reserve the right to cook my own."
"That's fair." Yugi nodded, making sure she still had all the wood she had collected. "Come on, camp's this way."
Bakura was frustrated as she slipped between the trees, the darkness of the ever progressing evening covering her like a shroud, allowing her to move silently and undetected as she moved into a perfect position to spy on the runt and her friend. Or possibly her rival, the Thief Queen was not entirely sure. Not that it mattered. Either way the blonde had interrupted what had actually been an important conversation.
She had not been lying when she had said that she refused to allow the Millennium Puzzle to fall into the hands of the stuck up jerk who was trying to muscle in on her mark. She had spent too many thousands of years waiting for the arrogant cow that lived inside the stupid golden pyramid to be reborn so they could finally finish what they had started so many years ago.
What she had not counted on was how badly the Pharaoh had had to damage her soul in order to seal her and how different their available power would be. In theory it should be great news for her if the Pharaoh could not access all of the immense power she used to possess.
In practise it was impractical.
Without the power she had possessed when she had created the damn seal that kept the Shadows locked up, there was no way for the spirit of the Puzzle to break it. As much as it would please the dark powers she had made a deal with oh so long ago for the Pharaoh to die here and now, it would not help anything. She had no clue how to break the seal and that meant until she got what she wanted, until she got her hands on all seven of the Millennium Items and worked out how to break the seal herself, she had to look after the Pharaoh and her blasted vessel.
Which unfortunately for her included making the sure the Runt survived the upcoming Shadow Game. Something she could have started working on if that other duelist had not shown up.
Yugi needed to be stronger. She was a pure light, just like Ba-Khu-Ra's Landlord was, which meant she was never going to be entirely safe while the Shadows were active. In fact she would always be more susceptible than a normal person. However as she got older and wiser she would get mentally and magically stronger. Plus the more practised she was at handling the darkness, the longer she would last in a Shadow Game.
The problem was there was not much time and if she was honest with herself, the Thief Queen was not the best person to make Yugi stronger. She could not trust herself around the vessel or the spirit that often borrowed it. Not with how much anger she still harboured over the betrayal she had suffered so many millennia ago. A betrayal she still did not know the reason for or understand and probably never would unless the spirit of the Puzzle managed to regain her memories.
Her best option was to put a bunch of obstacles in the Pharaoh's way and let the pair grow through adversity while she got on with her primary objective of obtaining the Millennium Items. She was pretty certain that no matter how good the security was on the castle, she could probably get in, rob the place blind, find the perfect spot to pick off Pegasus after he lost to the Pharaoh and get back by sunrise if she left now. She was tempted to take out the ruler of this little kingdom now, but she just needed to find a way to start building the Runt's strength while she was gone.
Movement in the trees made her pause and turn to see what was daring to stalk their way. She smirked as Yugi and her new friend narrowly avoided being seen by a huge brute of a man wearing a Dueling glove with over 30 star chips attached who seemed to be using the darkness as a cover, much like she was.
Bakura recognised a bounty hunter when she saw one. They were generally huge, deliberately imposing, violent, and dumb enough to be manipulated. She had yet to meet one that could best her. This one would be no different. She could use him as a weapon, pointing him in the right direction to run head first into the Pharaoh and then they would be too distracted to notice her slipping away into the night to explore.
Now... how best to redirect the brute and ensure that the Pharaoh would fight him?
The food had been surprisingly good and Yugi was thanking whatever Gods would listen that Mai had, somehow, managed to pack a portable shower. The fresh, relatively warm water felt good and the shampoo and conditioner Mai had let her borrow smelt really good. She had not realised how much she needed a few moments of peace and quiet until she had stepped behind the curtain and Mai had chased the boys and Bakura away to wash up the plates and cutlery that she had leant them to eat off of.
Today had been intense. With everything that had happened, she felt a little overwhelmed. Not that she could let it show once she stepped back out into the forest. She had a feeling Mai had known from the way she had been watching her and though she had extended the shower offer to all the girls in Yugi's party, it had been Puzzle holder herself who the Harpy duelist had been looking at when she had spoken. Still Yugi had let the other girls go first, figuring that if there was not enough water, then she could go without. Not that that had been an issue thanks to Mai's bribing the boys with chocolate to haul the water they needed.
"You alright in there, Yugi?" Mai's voice sounded curious. Yugi sighed slightly as she wondered how to answer.
The truth was that she was not. Not really. There was so much riding on the tournament that she was nervous and the Thief Queen hovering around like some kind of vulture, waiting to swoop the moment she showed any signs of weakness was not helping her mood in the slightest. She knew the other item holder, or rather the spirit within her Ring had been trying to help. For purely selfish reasons, but she had been offering her help. That did not help much.
The worst part of it was that Ba-Khu-Ra confused both her and her Anesan. They knew she was dangerous and that if given the chance, she would kill them and take what she wanted. However at the same time they had this odd feeling of sadness and confusion that settled in around her. Much like the way they had 'known' Kaiba could be an ally, they 'knew' that Bakura should be one and the fact the Thief Queen was against them confused them.
The only thing Yugi could think was that, back in Egypt, something had gone very wrong and they had ended up on opposing sides for some reason. Not that Bakura had any intention of filling them in on the specifics.
"Yugi? Did you fall asleep?" Mai called, a little louder, making Yugi giggle slightly.
"No, I'm awake. Sorry, I'll be out in a minute," the girl answered while trying to dry her mess of tricoloured hair.
"It's fine, take your time. You looked like you needed it." Yugi winced at that.
"That obvious, huh?" She sighed as she paused in her actions so she could hear the other duelist properly.
"Eh, I was nervous during my first tournament, too." Yugi blinked at that, surprised. Mai never seemed to get nervous. "I have a question for you, though."
"Oh?" Yugi was curious as she wrapped her hair up in her towel so she could get dressed.
"Why bring Jonouchi?" Mai's question made her frown. "Anzu mentioned he made it here because of you. Why bring an opponent onto the island?"
"Because he's my friend first and a duelist second," Yugi explained as she pulled on her t-shirt, slipped her belt and deck holster into place, and reminded herself to grab the Puzzle from Jou, who had it because she had not wanted to leave it where Bakura could get her hands on it while she showered. "We look after each other. We both have a lot riding on this tournament, so we both need to be here." She smiled slightly. "And the rest of my friends came along to support without my input."
"It must be nice... having people who care about you enough to get into this sort of trouble." Mai's tone was a little wistful.
"That's what friends do," she told the older duelist as she stepped out from behind the curtain, rubbing the towel, trying to finish drying her hair. "Look out for and stand up for each other." She hesitated briefly, then added, "Mai, I'd like it if... I mean, can we..."
"If you're about to ask if we can be friends, Yugi. Don't." Mai held up a hand. "Tonight we can be allies, but tomorrow the duelling starts again, and while I want an all-female final, if you're in my way I will take you down." Her stare was cold and harsh, but Yugi did not back down, which seemed to cause the ice to melt a little. "I'm going for a walk. Make sure the boys don't steal my sleeping bag."
With that Mai stalked off, leaving Yugi alone, confused and wondering if she had said the wrong thing.
She did not have time to go to find her friends to ask. The sounds of a helicopter landing nearby overwhelmed the peaceful night, interrupting it rudely as the pilot set it down on the other side of the trees.
Yugi hurried to see who it was and froze as Seto Kaiba stepped out, brown haired, white suited, and clearly not happy to see her. She bowed slightly, politely, not wanting to antagonise him on top of everything Pegasus had planned, but she was not surprised by the first words he spoke to her.
"Where is Mokuba?" the CEO snapped out, grabbing a briefcase out of his helicopter before stalking towards her, his gaze searching her briefly and his eyes narrowing when he saw she was not wearing the Puzzle.
"He's with my friends, as is my Puzzle," Yugi answered quickly. "I can take you to him. We might have some leftovers from the meal we had earlier at camp."
"I'm not hungry, I just want my brother." The elder Kaiba's ice cold tone would have made her wince if she had not been able to hear the concern underneath it.
"He's safe, I promise." Yugi tried to sound reassuring. "Follow me."
Author Note: The Ennead series isn't dead. I promise. It's just a little slow between updates. Thank you for sticking with me.
