Okay, I am now targeting to put this fic on the TvTropes CMOA page!

Chapter 10: Yami

"You are the former vessel of the Thief King and last holder of the Ring of a Thousand Years." the old Arabic man murmured.

Ryou inwardly gulped. The last to address him as such had been a suicidal nutcase, having failed to find the Sennen Puzzle said to grant the wielder the knowledge and power of darkness, decided to turn towards the charm said to have led Alexander the Great to victory multiple times. Having been forced into police actions several times, Ryou was, needless to say, very wary.

"Fear not," the old man raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "I am merely curious. I am an ally of the Pharaoh by blood."

"Pharaoh? Oh, right," Ryou muttered, picking himself up from where he had landed upon stopping the Patroid. "Ow..."

I don't trust him.

You never trust anyone, Ryou inwardly thought as he dusted himself off. "And you are...?"

"I am Rashid," the old man bowed. "In the circles I move in, my title is the Gatekeeper, inherited from the former holders through the millennia to keep watch over the gates of the Outside."

"I...see," Ryou replied politely. "May I ask-"

Marik then came into view. "Damn, Ryou, don't run into the path of a bloody car... oh," he froze at the sight of Rashid.

"Tomb Keeper, Marik Ishtar," Rashid murmured. "How … surprising to meet you here."

"Elder Rashid," Marik stiffly replied. "Here on the orders of the Council again?"

"We take a common side this time, Keeper Ishtar," Rashid replied, smiling slightly in a bittersweet way. "Duties passed by blood through millennia."

"Mm," Marik hmphed neutrally. "And tall, dark and unconscious is …?" he indicated the wizard sprawled out unconscious in the arms of the floating Guardian Angel... he did a double-take. When did that-?

"The local wizard cum Warden commander," Rashid replied with a straight face. "Harry Dresden."

"You're trusting a straight wizard with this?" Marik's voice registered incredulity, deciding to ignore the monster in favour of the news. "They excommunicated us! No other wizard of that bunch would come for us, except you!"

"I assure you that Warden Dresden takes a far more lax stand with the laws laid down by the Council." the Gatekeeper frowned. "He has after all, been judged a potential warlock before in his teens, and after facing the Doom for ten years to have it lifted, took the burden again to save his current apprentice from his potential fate. He himself have danced with dark powers and would probably take a flexible view of this."

"If you say so," Marik was unconvinced to say the least. "Dresden, you say?" he added contemplatively. "Something to do with South America?"

"Yes," Rashid replied. "He started it."

"Ballsy," Marik muttered. "I think he'll be a joy to keep around. We should move him, right?"

"Er...Gatekeeper," Murphy said, having stood by the side since the start. "If you don't mind, how do we cover this-"

"Thank you for coming to this demonstration of Kaiba Corporation's Solid VisionTM hologram system!" the voice of Seto Kaiba boomed over the (miraculously) intact intercom. "We hope you enjoyed it! Have a nice day."

"Let us now seek aid for him," Rashid replied, lips twitching. "The young one over there looks like he needs it too."

"Guardian Angel Joan," Ryou whispered to a stunned Matthew Carpenter as he got up. "She's yours now. Keep her well."

"Mr Kaiba, if you don't let me go this instant I'll sue for assault and kidnapping, I swear-"

"Get in," Seto Kaiba grunted, a wide-eyed Mokuba shoving a gibbering Anderson secured with plastic ties into the rented limousine. Beside the KaibaCorp Vice-CEO was a tired and equally wide-eyed Diana.

"Hunter," he coolly greeted. "Got anything?"

The Duellist grimly nodded. "I had news from Mai. She and Joey managed to banish the Curse of Dragon, but were caught off guard by a swarm of Bladeflies. They are trying to destroy every one throughout the city as we speak. It will take time, though. Good excuse; Joey and Mai brought their DuelDisksTM along as well."

"Good," Kaiba nodded to his former PA. "Anything from Endymion?"

Having gone through the Memory World, Seto Kaiba had been unable to drown himself in a backward river in Egypt any longer, especially with Yuugi Mutou's out-of-control monsters and his own temperamental dragons. He had thus thrown his not-inconsiderable power, both financial and metaphysical, into making the best of the situation, including coordinating the various Shadow Realm establishments under the banner of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon Corporation and his own title as a reincarnation of the High Priest Set. In some twist of fate, his former PA had turned out to hold an aptitude for the game and for Shadow Magic, and now acted as liaison with the Magical Citadel and, by extension, the whole of Yami, where the Spellcasters and Fiends ruled.

Diana solemnly nodded. "Yes. Today a team of Allure Queens left the Citadel. Upon questioning upon return, they replied that they were commanded by Djer, or the Black Magician. The Black Magician himself claimed to be working for the Pharaoh and that as such the Allure Queens had to answer to a higher power than the Citadel or its Master Magician."

Kaiba scoffed. "I know Yuugi's not in contact with the blasted magician, or this mess wouldn't have happened. He's lying."

"No," Diana shook her head. "He said the Pharaoh. Not the Pharaoh's light. The Master Magician himself has reported this discrepancy, and that Djer had said master, not little master, as Djer usually refers to Yuugi. After that, Endymion broke contact at the same time the Allure Queens began withdrawing."

"There's only one that the blasted magician refers as master," Kaiba growled. "Turns out that he's not as dead as we thought."

"It gets worse," Diana replied. "Djer's last words before leaving was that 'the shadows' master will return for the light soon'."

"Cryptic magicians," Kaiba growled. "Hate the lot of them. I'll send word to Mountain, get Blue-Eyes onto his ass. Hunter, I want you to take Mokuba to wherever Bakura and Ishtar is now. With Mutou missing, the mutt chasing bugs across the city with his girlfriend, and a potential kidnapper, we need to secure Mokuba, and right now they're the people who'll keep him safe. I will...interrogate Anderson."

"Good luck," Diana sincerely replied. "Enjoy the torture."

"The Puzzle," the man hidden under the voluminous robe whispered, a voice that caused the young man to shiver slightly. "Is gone. Buried. But there are other ways to gain the power and knowledge of darkness, Yuugi Mutou. However, you already know it, don't you?"

"I understand not what you speak of," the young man replied. "The Items are gone, as are their previous wielders. Powers which you seek through the Items are no more."

"You underestimate it, judge of the shadows," the man replied. "The Shadows themselves have thwarted almost all attempts against you. The only reason we managed it was because of the solar eclipse and luck. Or perhaps, you have no power as inheritor, but knowledge...?"

"What do you mean?" the young man asked.

"The name," the man coldly said. "The True Name of the Nameless Pharaoh that was lost to time, such that even the Archive may not seek it through the troves of knowledge that is her mind. The name of the Pharaoh-god who once commanded the Darkness as his army. As the vessel you have heard it, as the inheritor you may use it. As its sole possessor, the Shadows are yours to command."

"I am not the sole judge," the young man tiredly replied, leaning against the bars of his prison. Three concentric rings carved into the floor and reinforced with metal and runes of imprisonment meandered around him, keeping him from the Shadows and keeping him prisoner. "And the Shadows are not mine alone to command. They were never mine to begin with. They are their own selves, neither light nor darkness. They hear their master when I ask them, not me."

"When All-Hallows' Eve approaches, we will hold a ritual," the man hissed. "I will get that name one way or another, if you wish to keep your life."

It was then that the young man smiled. It was the smirk of the demented, the insane, one that almost terrified the wizard to its resemblance to the face on the tablet. "You assume that I would wish to live...Mr Cowl."

"Castle of Dark Illusions just formed itself over Cabrini Green," Jounochi tiredly informed an anxious Ryou, half-lifting a tired Mai. "And I swear, I saw a swarm of pixies fly through Wacker."

"He's serious," Ryou worriedly replied, eyes unfocused. "The other Bakura is in my head. The other Marik is here as well, but..." Ryou shrugged, not seeing Mai's expression. "They say that the Pharaoh is trying to pull off a miracle. Marik's with an old man called Rashid who knew Shaadi, another man who's currently unconscious, two other teenagers and a cop trying to figure out what he could be doing and who else might be involved."

"Ryou!" Mokuba shouted as he and Diana ran up to the group. "Nii Sama is holding Anderson in protective custody. The assault team today was meant for Anderson. I think he has something to do with Yuugi!"

"I agree." Diana grimly nodded.

"Bakura says that whoever the kidnappers are, he thinks that they'll be after either the Puzzle, Yuugi or the Pharaoh's Name." Ryou winced again. "He says that this close to Halloween, it should be the Name."

"Why?" Mai asked, puzzled.

"True Names have power," Ryou explained. "That True Name can be used to control, summon, even bind the Pharaoh. And it helps that the Name contains the powers of the Dark Games, the Doorway to Death, and a lot of gods. That was why he used his Name in the original spell; it was a very powerful key and a power source."

Almost all present shuddered.

"Then why Halloween?" Joey voiced.

"It's the time when the barriers between the spirit world and our world are at the thinnest," Ryou elaborated. "Much easier to summon ghosts."

Joey shuddered. "Please don't be ghosts, please no ghosts..."

"Still scared?" Ryou snarked before he closed his hands over his mouth in horror. "I didn't mean it!" he screamed, muffled by his own hands.

"It all stems back to the missing Inheritor," the Gatekeeper noted from across the stainless steel autopsy table upon which I was slowly waking up on.

How morbid.

"It is obvious that for the monsters of the Shadows to mobilise to such a degree, the Inheritor must be hidden such that they cannot seek him." the Gatekeeper continued. "To hide from the darkness is difficult, but achievable only in select areas."

"A ley line matrix," another voice, this one young, replied in English. "With three concentric circles to imprison those who may call upon the Shadows from outside. One to stop spiritual forces, one to stop physical forces, and the last to stop those in between. Whoever they are, they really pulled out all the stops."

The Gatekeeper replied quickly. "Yes. Whoever they are, they have hidden him admirably. The next step would be to utilise him for something soon, since to maintain such a shield would merit nothing over the long term. Whatever they are intending will be concluded at All-Hallows Eve, almost without question."

"So, we would need help," the other concluded. "We need Duel Monsters to run around the city and see where they can't go."

"Well, he would most likely be above ground," the Gatekeeper pointed out. "I would have to go to Edinburgh again to get the ley line map from Wizard Listens-to-Wind, but he should be within the city area, theoretically speaking."

"Therefore, our options are limited to, oh, the greater Chicago area! How are we going to find one person amongst eight million?" the other snarled. Wow, that takes balls.

"Not really," I voiced out, aware that they were already aware that I was awake. "But can someone call Pizza 'Spress?"