When I came to, I found myself in a pitch black room, similar to the one I woke up in back at Death-T. Groaning, I sat up and looked down at my leg. Surprisingly, the tranquilizer dart wasn't in my leg. There wasn't even a mark of its existence.

Okay, that's kind of creepy...

"Hello, Roxanne."

I screamed as I jumped up to see Shadi approaching me slowly.

Speaking of creepy...

"What are you doing here, Shadi?" I asked, trying to not sound startled. "Where are we?"

"We are in your mind," Shadi answered emotionless. "You still haven't woken up from the tranquilizer yet. I used the Millennium Key to enter your mind."

"Wait...so we're in my soul room?"

"In a way, yes."

"So...why is my soul room black?"

"I think you can answer that yourself."

I stared at Shadi, a blank expression on my face. I really had no idea what he was talking about.

I was about to ask him what he meant when Shadi said, "So, do you still believe you belong in this world?"

"W-what? What kind of question is that?!" I demanded angrily. "Of course I belong here! Nothing bad has happened yet, has it? If so, enlighten me!"

Shadi shook his head and sighed.

"Nothing bad has happened yet, but the more you interfere with the events that are supposed to come, the more danger you put yourself in. What you have changed so far hasn't fully effected this world yet. But if I know you well enough, you have some plans for certain characters of Yu-Gi-Oh, don't you?"

I glared at him.

"So are you telling me that I should let characters that are doomed to suffer, suffer because that how it was meant to be? If I have a say in it, which I do, I won't allow it to happen!"

My gaze softened a bit.

"Just how much do you know anyway?"

Shadi avoided eye contact. "More than I should."

I stared at him, too intimidated to ask what he meant by that. Shadi turned to me, his image starting to fade.

"Be careful who you try to 'help,' Roxanne. You may end up making things worse for yourself and others around you."

He then disappeared completely and I lost conscious again.

"Roxanne, can you hear me? Roxanne, wake up!"

I groaned, my eyelids feeling extremely heavy. I could hear people's voices, trying to contact me. Though, I couldn't recognize the voices. I tried to open my eyes, but it felt like something was keeping them back. When I finally was able to open them, but my vision was blurry. Two people were looking down at me.

"Roxanne, can you see or hear me?" one of them asked.

"Err...kind of," I answered as I tried to sit up.

I felt dizzy as I tried to move. One of the guys held me until I got my balance. I stared into their eyes and recognized their face.

"...Yugi?"

Yugi smiled and nodded.

"Glad to see you are alright, Roxanne," he said with a sigh of relief. "You had us all worried."

"W-what happened?" I asked, rubbing my forehead.

"After Yugi beat that ventriloquist guy, we noticed that you were gone," Ryo said, sitting next to me. "We searched for you until we ran into Mai and Dinosaur Ryuzaki, who challenged Jonouchi to a duel."

I looked across from me to see Jonouchi showing off a card to Anzu and Honda, who didn't look impressed. Mai sat next to Anzu, rolling her eyes at Jonouchi. I narrowed my eyes to see that the card Jonouchi was holding was the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

Damn it! I missed the Ryuzaki VS Jonouchi duel! I can't believe I was knocked out and missed it!

Trying to hold in my frustration and disappointment, I smiled and said, "I guess he won, didn't he?"

Yugi nodded.

"He did, barely. If he didn't draw Time Wizard when he did, I don't want to know what could have happened!"

"You'll have to tell me about it later."

My gaze turned serious.

"So...how did you find me?"

"Actually it wasn't us that found you," Ryo answered. "It was-"

"It was me."

I turned to Mai, who took a bite of camp food from her plate.

"After the duel, I found you lying unconscious in the forest with the tranquilizer dart in your leg."

I looked down at my left leg to see a bandage where the tranquilizer had hit.

"Recognizing who you were, I took the dart out of your leg and put that bandage on," Mai continued. "After that, I brought you back to the gang. We've been sitting here for a couple of hours now, waiting for you to wake up."

She gave me a concerned look.

"How did you get hit with a tranquilizer anyway? You must have pissed someone really well to have that happen."

I turned away from everyone's gaze.

I felt humiliated as I explained to them how I chased down The Hair Guy. I left out the conversation The Hair Guy and I had though. It seemed like a thing that I needed to keep to myself. I didn't want to lie more, but it seemed like a reasonable lie.

When I finished my story, I could tell everyone was staring at me. I refused to look at any of them.

There was a long awkward silence until Yugi said, "Well, I'm glad you're safe now. Here."

Yugi handed me a plate of freshly cooked camp food.

"Ryo cooked this earlier. We saved you some in case you where hungry."

I smiled and took the plate. I began to eat it while everyone continued their conversations. When she was done eating, Mai stood up and stretched.

"Thanks for dinner guys, but I think I'll retreat to me tent."

She turned to me and Anzu.

"Anzu, Roxanne, you guys should stay in my tent as well. I hear that there is a creepy guy lurking around. It may be dangerous."

Jonouchi glared at Mai at that comment. I gave her a grateful smile and put down the rest of my dinner. I wasn't really that hungry.

"Thanks, Mai."

I stood up and grabbed my backpack that was put against a tree. I turned to the others.

"See you guys in the morning."

Mai pointed to where the tent was and I went inside. I sat my backpack down in a corner and used it as a pillow. Once I got comfortable, I closed my eyes and went to sleep. Even though I just woke up, I still felt just as tired as if I never slept at all.

I slowly woke as I felt like someone just punched me in the stomach. My stomach hurt like crazy, making it hard to stay in one position. Not being able to go back to sleep, I tried to sit up. Anzu was in the tent, laying down and relaxing.

She saw me sit up and glanced over at my direction.

"Roxanne, are you okay?" she asked concerned.

"No...Not really," I replied, trying to get myself comfortable. "My stomach is killing me!"

Anzu raised an eyebrow. "Was it something you ate?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. But I'll be fine."

Anzu was about to say something else until Mai entered the tent.

"Ah, Roxanne! Glad to see you're up."

She sat down between us.

"So, what where you guys talking about?"

"Nothing really," I answered, squirming around a bit. "So, how are your duels coming a long, Mai?"

"Really well," Mai answered. "I've already got five star chips. I'm halfway to the finals!"

"That's great!" I exclaimed happily.

Mai smiled. "You're a duelist too, are you not? Yugi told me you were earlier."

"I am, but I didn't enter the tournament. My friends had better reasons to enter. Besides..."

I gave a competitive smile.

"I want to make sure my deck is absolutely perfect before I enter a Duel Monsters Tournament. I want to be unstoppable!"

Mai chuckled. "That's the spirit! Maybe after the tournament, we can have a duel."

"That would be great! Though, I warn you I am good!"

Especially with Exodia on my side!

Mai smirked.

"We will see if Yugi was right about you. And speaking of Yugi..."

Mai turned to Anzu, her eyes glowing mischievously.

"I've noticed that someone had their eyes on Yugi. Right, Anzu?"

Anzu blinked.

"W-what!" she cried stuttering. "That's crazy! I don't have a crush on Yugi!"

Mai and I smirked.

"Relax, we're all girls here. There is no reason to get embarrassed. In fact, I told Yugi not too long ago to wait at the cliff up ahead. I told him that you wanted to talk to him."

Anzu's face turned completely red. She stared at Mai, unable to reply.

I chuckled.

"Come on, Anzu! You should totally go! It will be good for both of you!"

Anzu glared at me.

"Not helping Roxanne!"

I smiled. Anzu sighed heavily.

"I guess I should go see him, since Mai told him to wait for me..."

She then walked slowly out of the tent. Mai stuck her head out and shouted some words of confidence to her. I leaned back, knowing how Anzu and Yugi's date would turn out.

You'll be thanking Mai when this is over, Anzu.

Mai then turned back to me, her mischievously smile still on her face.

"Oh, don't you think I forgot about you, Roxanne."

I blinked.

"Ryo wanted to meet you at the small beach a little ways from the cliff," Mai explained. "He told me he hoped that you would be able to come. It seemed important."

I stared at Mai.

Why would Ryo want to see me? I groaned inside, knowing what he probably wanted.

I sighed heavily as I stood up.

"Okay. See you later, Mai."

"Have fun!"

She chuckled a bit. I gave her a puzzled look but I didn't question her.

I then walked through the woods, my stomach turning with each step. I hope this was going to be quick. I want to lie down as soon as possible. I step out of the forest to see a small beach. Ryo sat near the shore, throwing a small stone into the ocean.

"Hi, Ryo," I said as I approached him.

Ryo quickly turned to me, his face slightly red, but it was hard to tell in the dark.

"Uh...hi Roxanne," he said.

I nodded and sat next to him.

"So...how are you feeling?" Ryo asked, trying to start a conversation. "You left all of a sudden and I didn't know if something was wrong or not."

I sighed leaning back against a rock.

"To be honest, not that well. I'm very tired and my stomach is killing me. Don't know what I did to upset it."

I sat up all of a sudden, cringing at the pain. Ryo got out his backpack and took out some camp food from earlier. He offered it to me.

"I...noticed that you didn't finish you dinner, so maybe you're just hungry," Ryo advised. "Try eating this."

Desperate for the pain to go away, I took it and ate it slowly. It was quite good, having a bit of a smoky flavor to it. What exactly was I eating, I didn't know, but it was good enough for me not to complain. When I finished, I noticed my stomach had settled down a bit.

I guess I really was hungry...

"Uh...do you have any more?" I asked, slightly embarrassed.

Ryo smiled. "Not much, but you can have it if you want."

He took out the remaining bits food and I ate it in a split second. Ryo laughed. I blinked, blushing a bit.

"What? I was hungry!"

Ryo laughed even harder.

I sighed and turned to the ocean. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something glow inside of Ryo's backpack.

"Why did you bring the Millennium Ring with you?" I questioned, able to see part of the cursed Millennium Item sticking out.

Ryo turned to where I was looking at and picked up the ring.

"I...don't know," he confessed. "It's just...something told me I should bring it. I know it is dangerous, and I am being cautious of it."

I sighed heavily.

Why Ryo kept the Millennium Ring so close to him was beyond me.

"Uh...speaking of the Millennium Ring, I wanted to ask you about the other Millennium Items," Ryo continued. "You do know a lot about them, don't you?"

I avoided his gaze and nodded.

"I do, but I will warn you now that their history is very bloody."

Ryo gazed down at the Millennium Ring and then turned back to me.

"Why is that?"

"Trust me, Ryo, you don't want to know."

"Well, if you know you can't ignore it forever. Think of all the history that they contain! They obviously meant a lot to the Egyptians."

"And that's why they needed to be destroyed. All they do cause is pain and suffering."

"I could understand that, but-"

"Ryo!"

I glared at him, anger rising. He obviously didn't get it!

"Ryo, if you want to learn about them so badly, then talk to the Spirit of the Millennium Ring! He was there when they were created!"

I turned away, not wanting to continue the conversation.

Ryo stared at me but I refused to look at him. He eventually let out a heavy sigh and asked, "The Spirit of the Millennium Ring, you know a lot about him as well?"

I nodded.

"Then tell me; why did you help him? Why did you heal his, my, hand when he was doing all those horrible things?"

I was silent for a long moment.

"Because he was injured. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring has suffered so much in his past. He had gotten a fate that I don't think he really deserved. I want to help him, put his soul at peace."

Ryo stared at me thoughtfully.

"I…guess I can see what you are trying to say. Though it is a bit hard to believe."

He glanced down at the Millennium Ring.

"But perhaps...I can learn a lot through him, like you said..."

Ryo's eyes became distant as he stared at the ring. He then slowly put the ring around his neck.

I gasped. "Ryo, don't!"

But before I could do anything, Yami Bakura had already taken control of him. His hair stood up and Bakura smirked at me. I held my ground.

"You're more naïve then I thought," Bakura said coolly. "I didn't think I had that big of an impression on you. I don't know whether I should feel honored or amused."

He winked at me and laughed softly. I blinked.

"What's naïve about that? What's wrong in believing I can't help a friend?"

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "How am I your friend?"

I shrugged. "Why not? Wouldn't you rather be friends then enemies?"

"I've never had a friend in my life, and I never will," Bakura replied coldly.

I smiled kindly at him.

"Well, it's never too late to change. Ryo and the others would become your friend too if you let them."

"What do you mean by 'change?'"

Bakura narrowed his eyes.

"How much do you know about me? How do you know about me, the Millennium Items, the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle?"

I avoided Bakura's gaze.

"Like I said, I have psychic abilities. I can see and know future events, and some things that even happened in the past. With the information I possess, I want to help out as many people as I can. You and the Pharaoh are one of them."

"'The Pharaoh?'"

"Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, it's his name."

Or the name I can reveal.

Bakura stared off into the distance, deep in thought. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but I waited patiently for him to speak. After a long moment of silence, Bakura looked deeply into my eyes.

"You…really believe you can 'help' me, don't you? You…actually care what happens to me?"

I nodded sincerely.

"You and Ryo are my friends, like I said. If I can, I want to help."

Bakura stared at me, mixed emotions flowing through eyes. I smiled slightly.

I was getting to the human side of him. Perhaps I would be able to save him from Zorc.

Bakura then turned away from me. He smiled as he said, "…Maybe you do have a use. Perhaps being your…friend won't be so bad."

"And the answer is no," I said quickly, as if I could read his mind. "I'm not stealing the Millennium Items for you. I'm not helping you unlocking 'the Doors of Darkness.'"

Bakura's eyes widened.

"...Why do I have the feeling you're going to do more harm to me than good?"

I smirked. "If you continue to do evil, I will."

"I thought you were suppose to be my friend?"

"I am, but that also means looking out for what's good for you and the others."

Bakura rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, I could make out a faint scream in the distance. Bakura and I jumped up.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

Bakura nodded.

We then ran to the source of the scream. I knew what was happening.

Mai had just lost to the Player Killer of Darkness.