Chapter 14

Yuugi jerked forward with a pained cry, head banging against the helmet fitted loosely over it. He was breathing erratically, blood roaring and muscles taunt under his skin. Straining his eyes, he tried to see beyond the black glass of the visor to what was outside the virtual pod. There was a low hiss as the pod's cover lifted, letting in a burst of air. The helmet was pushed away from his head. "Yuugi, Yuugi! You okay, man? How're you feeling? Hey, speak to me!" Yuugi stared blearily at the fuzzy image before him: the sharp spike of brown hair, the angular face, the concerned expression.

"T-Tristan?" Yuugi muttered, trying to get his tongue to move properly. He felt so dizzy...

"Aw, man. This is bad, Joey. What the hell happened in there? I kept trying the system's controls, trying to get you guys outta that world as soon as I saw your bodies' condition going bad, but no matter what I did you guys wouldn't come back. And now Yuugi...I thought it was supposed to be virtual! So why is he in the same condition that he was in inside that world, huh? He should be all better!" Tristan tapped a button under Yuugi's armrest and removed his deck from the drawer that slid out, and then stuffed it in his pocket for safekeeping. He reached an arm around Yuugi's shoulder and Joey quickly moved to help, placing Yuugi's arm around his neck for support as soon as Tristan pulled him out of the pod.

"It wasn't just a virtual world, Tristan. It was a Shadow Game," Joey said darkly.

Tristan's eyes widened. "You mean...oh, man. Did you...did you..." he faltered and stopped.

"I'll explain it all once we get back, okay? I'll tell you and everyone else everything. But for now, we gotta get Yuugi outta here and back home. And for that matter, we gotta find my sister! We got her outta that place, so now she must be wandering around here somewhere." He picked up his pace and Tristan followed, and with Yuugi in-between them they walked out of the warehouse to the car waiting for them. Yuugi was having difficulty walking, seemingly unable to use one leg and the other was causing him some definite pain. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his eyes kept losing focus. His skin was far more pale than it should have been.

"Sorry...for t-the...trouble..." Yuugi said weakly.

Joey gripped his friend a little tighter to give him more support. "Don't you dare apologize, you idiot. You saved my life back there, buddy. And now we're gonna save yours. So try not to exert yourself too much, okay? No speaking. Just rest." Yuugi sighed in response and his head drooped forward. His eyes slid shut.

Tristan shot his friend a concerned look over Yuugi's shoulder. "Shadow magic?" He whispered. Joey nodded. "We'll save him. You can count on that." His tone took on a warmer edge. "Just like you saved your sister, Joey."

The response he got was not the one he'd been hoping for. "It was me who dragged Yuugi into this," Joey's voice cracked, "I'm the one who asked him to come. It was me. I did it."

"Joey—"

"Kaiba was right when he said I'd get someone hurt by rushing into things. Only he thought it'd be me...and it was Yuugi instead."

Between them, Yuugi's breath shortened and he stopped trying to walk altogether. There was a sudden increase in weight as Yuugi slumped forward in their grip, completely unconscious. Both friends could feel the slick icy breath of the Shadows, emanating from the man in-between them and working a way under their skin. Something wet dribbled down from the sky, landing on their heads.

It was raining.

xXx

Her fingers were going numb from the cold; she didn't have any gloves on and she could see her hands turning blue from the abrupt drop in temperature. Shivering, she continued on down the street, her breath forming a fog in front of her face as she walked. The area was unfamiliar to her, and she couldn't be sure if she shouldn't have turned left at that last crossing, or right. Was this place closer to the residential district or closer to the shopping district? She didn't know.

The rain started pouring down even harder, and she crossed her arms over her chest, trapping her hands against her body to try and heat them up a little. Her clothing was almost totally soaked through, and her hair was a mess on her head. She refused to cry (being lost and alone and cold and hungry and tired and scared weren't the most terrible things she could be feeling, she told herself).

Someone jolted past her on the sidewalk, causing her to trip and fall in a puddle. There was no apology, and she pressed her lips together hard to try and keep herself from breaking down. Her knees were stinging now, and looking down revealed a minor scrape on both of them. She dropped her face into her hands. "Oh, I can't take it anymore! What did I do to deserve this? Joey!" She cried.

A harsh rumble of an engine jarred her out of her depressing thoughts, and she raised her head to look at a man on a motorcycle. He tugged his helmet off, and she nearly sobbed in relief. "Serenity! I thought it was you! Thank goodness you're all right!" He held out his hand for her to take.

"Tristan!" Getting up, she rushed over and hugged him tightly. Her face buried into his wet leather jacket. "I'm so glad you're here! I have no idea where I am! I woke up all alone in some decrepit building in one of those pods, and I just got out and starting wandering around, hoping I would eventually figure out where I was. I can't remember how I had ended up there in the first place...it's like some pieces of my memory are missing. And I was so scared...oh, but where is Joey? And Yuugi...is everybody else all right?" She looked up at him, still trembling hard from the cold.

Tristan placed the helmet on her head and motioned for her to climb on behind him, which she did. "Everyone is back at the Game Shop. I offered to look for you while Joey and Yuugi headed back, since I'm the one with a vehicle. Let's get you over there, okay? And here, take my jacket. You're shivering. There you go. I'm sure they'll have some hot chocolate, so we can have that as soon as we get there, okay? Don't worry, Serenity. Everything will be okay." His voice was incredibly reassuring, and she wrapped her arms around his waist and sighed, her shoulders relaxing as the tension was released.

"Everyone's okay, right?" She murmured, a little worried.

He didn't respond for a moment, but instead revved up the engine and spun the motorcycle around, making her hold on a little tighter. "Sort of. We're gonna hurry back there, okay? People need to know that you're all right." With a surge the motorcycle sprang forward, switching lanes and picking up speed. They said nothing more to each other as they headed back to the Game Shop.

Serenity sensed that there was something Tristan didn't want to tell her. She knew something terrible must have happened, and she thought that it was probably far worse than he was letting on.

Perhaps it was because she could still feel the echoes of dark power whispering in her mind, whispering in some ancient language unfamiliar to her.

It might have been ancient Egyptian.

xXx

"Here, take this."

"Thanks."

There was something heavy and soft being placed on his chest, and he felt grateful at the heat that it brought, and it was easing the pain a little. The voices that he had heard did not speak any further, but there was the sound of a chair being scraped against the floor, signifying that at least one of them was still in the room. He tried to figure out who the voices belonged to by memory, but his head was aching and he couldn't think properly. Clenching his fingers, he tested out the strength in his hands and was glad to find that he could still feel every muscle moving in his arms. His eyes slid open.

A dark-skinned man with hieroglyphs covering one half of his face stared down at him. He blinked a couple of times and found his voice. "Odion?" He mumbled. Odion smiled sadly. One of his hands came up and adjusted a cool cloth that he suddenly realized had been placed on his forehead.

"Ah, so you're awake, Yuugi."

This voice came from behind Odion, and Yuugi tilted his head to try and see. The person stepped into his field of view, another dark-skinned man with lavender eyes and brilliant blond hair. "Marik?" Yuugi said in confusion, a note of question in his voice.

"Yeah. We finally got here, but too late, it seems. You made it back alive, but at a great cost. We've been keeping watch over you from the moment Joey brought you back from the warehouse, and your condition doesn't look so good, Yuugi. Even though we're performing a purification ritual to try and rid you of the Shadows running through your veins, it only seems to be holding them back somewhat. I don't know what we can do here to help you. This is powerful magic. This is the Rod's doing, and I know what it's capable of. I'm not sure..." he broke off, and did not seem to want to continue.

"You're not sure if I'll survive," Yuugi muttered pointedly. He understood only too well the danger that he was in. But he was distracted with thoughts of their enemy, and so for the time being he set aside his fears and considered instead the immediate future.

Odion and Marik exchanged a look.

Yuugi used the moment to glance at his surroundings. It was his room, with his desk cleared of its usual clutter to make space for a tray of food and a dish of ice and water. He could smell something spicy, and realized it was due to some incense being burned. There was a white cloth laid on the floor at the foot of his bed, and he could see the edges of it as well as the flame of the candles. Strange symbols were printed on the cloth. This was what they were using to try and purify him, then.

The door opened with a slight click and Kaiba appeared in the doorway. "Yuugi," he greeted.

"Kaiba," Yuugi sighed, "I—"

"Forget it," he interrupted, and then shut his mouth with a snap. His eyes flashed briefly with regret for his harsh tone. Kaiba eyed the two Egyptians hovering over Yuugi's bed, who eyed him back. There was a silent conversation between them, and then suddenly Odion stood and offered Kaiba his chair, which he took. Yuugi waited for the outburst he was sure was to come. "You tell me you'll wait before you do anything, and then you go back on your word," Kaiba began, and Yuugi flinched, "so I'm not able to tell you about the world that you just jumped into. You and Wheeler rush in and get yourselves hurt and finally end up saving his sister, but now look at you. Poisoned. And even this magic mumbo jumbo that the Ishtars are pulling doesn't seem to be working. So now what? You got yourself into this mess. It's completely your fault. Do you have some plan to pull yourself back out? Do you have some last turn half-baked strategy that always manages to bring you out of a tough spot? Well?" His glare seemed empty, and Yuugi didn't know what to make of the quiet tone and hunched posture. This wasn't the man he knew so well. Kaiba seemed...hurt.

Licking his dry lips, Yuugi reached up to pull the cold cloth from his forehead. Odion seemed about to protest, but Marik looked at him and so he said nothing. Breathing in deeply, Yuugi pushed himself up into a sitting position and leaned back into all the pillows that had been piled behind him. He stared at Kaiba. "I'm sorry, Kaiba. I'm sorry that all of this happened. I'm sorry the Rod came back. I'm sorry he came after us and started dragging innocent people into this. And I'm sorry it had to be Serenity, who saved Joey's life once, when I failed. Things were looking very bleak. I thought about all of you, about all of the people I cared about. I kept thinking about what would happen if it was a trap, and if we all decided to go in and then something terrible happened. After I thought about that I decided I couldn't let you guys get involved. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt. I didn't want Joey to go, either, but there was no stopping him. So yeah, we did get hurt. It was a trap. But we managed to get out again. I'm just...I'm glad I'm the one who was seriously injured. Better me than anybody else."

Kaiba hit him. Yuugi started in surprise, staring at Kaiba's raised hand with wide eyes. His cheek was stinging. "You always have to be the saviour, don't you, Yuugi?" he said angrily, "nobody else can handle this guy, is that it? Nobody else cares enough for Serenity and nobody else has the determination and the will to see this thing through to the end,"

Stuttering, Yuugi tried to break in, "No, no, that's not true, that's not what I—"

"The hell that's not what you were thinking! You never had any confidence in your so-called friends, did you? You never believed in facing problems with your friends behind you at all, did you? It was all a lie! You've been a good actor for all these years, Yuugi, I'll grant you that. I've always thought you believed in that power of friendship nonsense," he sneered, fingers curled into fists.

There was a gloomy silence for several breaths. Yuugi looked down at his hands and analysed the cuts and scraps he'd obtained, the dark lines of scars he'd gotten long ago. Long ago, when he'd stood in a burning warehouse putting together a precious puzzle in a desperate attempt to save the life of a dear friend. His hands trembled with his sudden comprehension of the situation. "Oh," he breathed, "what have I done?" He whispered in dismay.

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers and attempted to regain his icy composure. "Nothing," he replied, "you haven't done anything. Just gone and tried to save the world on your own again, just like usual," a wry smile was making its way up his face, and Yuugi looked up at him, and smiled in gratefulness at his forgiveness.

His smile broke as his current condition dawned on him. I didn't realize it was this bad. I'm starting to lose all feeling in my other leg, Yuugi thought miserably. The Shadows are slowly taking over my entire body. I feel so weak...

Marik stepped forward suddenly and took the damp cloth from the bed, dipping it in the iced water before setting in on Yuugi's forehead again. "Your temperature kept spiking all afternoon as your body tried to deal with the Shadows," he informed Yuugi, "which was why we had all of your extra blankets off earlier. But I think it would be best if we try to keep your temperature down now, even though you've been granted some respite. Rest, and have something to eat. Tell us if you feel any different at all, all right?" He looked concerned, and Yuugi nodded, settling back further against the pillows. Marik reached up and pulled the tray down from the desk, placing it on Yuugi's lap.

He looked down at the platter of food and felt the knot of throbbing pain deep in his abdomen. His stomach might not take the food it was offered, but he thought it would be best to try anyway. A sigh escaped his throat. "What happened to everyone else?" Yuugi asked, picking up the chopsticks.

Sitting down on the edge of his bed, Marik stretched out his legs as he answered him. "Your grandfather's downstairs with Mokuba eating dinner. Serenity went with Téa over to her house; she offered Serenity a place to crash since we think it would be best if everyone mostly stuck together. Joey's over at Tristan's with the same idea. Bakura went for a walk, but he said he'd be back within an hour. We'll go out looking for him if he doesn't come back by then. But don't worry, he said he'd stay within a few blocks."

Swallowing a mouthful of food, Yuugi brought up his next question with some degree of hesitation. "Did Joey tell you guys everything that happened?" Three separate nods. Yuugi was silent for a moment. He didn't know who to look at: Marik had an expression so torn and stormy that he thought he might start shouting from all the stress, while Kaiba simply looked lost. Odion was unreadable. "Are you guys okay?"

Marik's head jerked up and he stared at Yuugi with all the strength and purpose that he could muster. "We thought we destroyed him already. But I guess we failed terribly. Listen, Yuugi. Because I'm the one who created him, because I'm the one who's really behind all of this...I swear to you, I won't stop until he's defeated. I will help bring him down. My darker half. Please forgive me for everything that he's done."

"Of course he forgives you," Kaiba said exasperatedly, "that moron doesn't hold even one particle of bad sentiments in his entire body." Yuugi smiled softly at them both, and Marik relaxed. Kaiba's expression turned sour again. "But even though we got Wheeler's sister back, now that scum has Noah. I won't stand for that. There must be some way that we can defeat him," he rested his chin in one hand as he thought. And then he added in a low tone, "And you still haven't answered my original question, Yuugi. Do you or do you not have some idea of how to handle this?" He motioned at Yuugi's condition.

He winced mentally as he tried to figure out the best way to answer Kaiba's question. At length he decided he could say no less than the truth. "No, Kaiba. I don't."

"...Thought so."

They retreated to their own thoughts in companionable silence. Yuugi took steadying breaths and tried to block out the very real numbing sensation spreading through his body like a slow wave. Marik glanced up at him as he noticed that Yuugi was no longer eating. "Yuugi?" The concerned voice brought him out of his dark thoughts, and he laughed uncomfortably before raising the chopsticks to his mouth once more. Swallowing was difficult; his throat was unaccountably dry. Marik scowled, and looked over at Odion, who was staring at the candles on the floor.

All of the flames had gone out, even though there was still plenty of wax and wick left.

He sharply turned back to Yuugi, who was rubbing his temples with his eyes clenched shut. Marik stood suddenly. "You agreed to tell me if your condition worsened," he said crossly, and moved over to pull the tray off of his lap and put it on the desk.

Opening his eyes, Yuugi laughed again uneasily and forced a smile. "Sorry. I just realized that I had a headache. It's nothing, really, don't worry about it."

Marik stared at him for a long while and then looked over his shoulder at Odion, who was busy relighting the candles and chanting under his breath. Kaiba said nothing, but he considered Yuugi with a calculating eye. Then Marik said, "I may know of a way to heal you. And a way to defeat my darker half." Odion lurched forward and grabbed his arm in warning. Marik gave him a tired look. "I know what you think, Odion, but we have to let them know. So that at least they have a choice of whether to take this path or not. It shouldn't be our decision alone." He said sternly.

Standing up and pushing back his chair, Kaiba regarded Marik. "What is it that you haven't been saying? It's about that phone call that you received a while ago from Ishizu, isn't it? What did she say?" He demanded.

"Well," Marik began, sitting down on the bed again, "it was about the expedition that's still going on. The dig team has managed to uncover the entrance to one of the high priests' tombs. But that's not why she phoned. They've nearly restored the entire Chamber of the Millennium Stone. She said that they've dug down to the floor and are working at carefully putting back together the support pillars that once held up the ceiling. And that's not all. They removed all the dirt and rock at the back of the Chamber and found the Door."

Yuugi sucked in a breath, but Kaiba just snorted. "What does that have to do with anything? So they found the Door to the Afterlife. That's hardly a concern for us. It's not like it opens anymore." He said irritably.

Odion responded slowly. "She said that they found it completely intact. A little odd, don't you think? Most of the Chamber breaks down and the Door remains standing. So then, when the team informed Ishizu of their findings and had her come down to see for herself, she had a vision while standing in front of the Door." This had Kaiba's attention. Yuugi ignored the pounding in his skull and listened intently to what Odion was saying. "She said the Necklace brought her back in time to when the Pharaoh left us, walking through the Door into the golden light. When she snapped out of her vision, she said she thought the Eye of Wdjat on the Door was glowing faintly. And the Necklace, too." He stopped speaking and stared into the space in front of him, lost in a memory.

Kaiba's sarcastic response was not completely unexpected, but it still bothered Marik a little. "Oh, so Ishizu remembers something about the past and calls it a vision. Then she thinks she sees her magic necklace glowing along with some ancient Egyptian door. So she calls one half of her psychotic brother and warns him about it. This is terrible, we have to do something about it!" Kaiba mocked, "can you even hear yourself speak at all? Do you even realize the kind of ridiculous nonsense that comes out of your mouth?" Odion narrowed his eyes and Marik stepped forward angrily. "For that matter, this whole situation is ridiculous. We're fighting some bit of a soul that was supposedly mostly destroyed when a teenager beat you—" Kaiba levelled an amused look at Marik, "—in a card game. And now it's back because it had hid itself in some ancient Egyptian gold stick, captured a body, and it's now using it to rampage across Japan and threaten people with duel monsters in a virtual world," he sat down heavily, running both hands through his hair with a heavy sigh, "I hate ancient Egypt."

He had been somewhat worried about Marik and Odion, thinking that they would start yelling at Kaiba for his outburst, but to Yuugi's relief he found that they were both instead just glaring in annoyed silence. He started to laugh at the expression on Kaiba's face, causing them all to look over at him. "Sorry," he apologized, "I couldn't help myself. I guess this whole thing does seem kind of ridiculous. But it can't be helped, you know? And we've faced situations like this before. Maybe you should just...get used to it?" He suggested with a teasing smile.

"I'm glad you can still find something amusing in this whole state of affairs, seeing as how you're poisoned, Yuugi." Kaiba retorted, though there was no venom in his voice.

He winced, bowing his head in admission. Kaiba was right, it was not the time to be joking. "How is it that you think this information will help us, Marik?" Yuugi enquired wearily. The pounding in his head abated as he slid down to lay more comfortably in his bed.

Turning away from Kaiba, Marik hesitated a second before talking. "I think the Necklace was trying to tell us something. I think that maybe the Door is awaiting us, awaiting to be reopened. Because maybe we can't do this alone, Yuugi. Kaiba's right, only one Millennium Item can beat another. Ishizu is waiting for us in Egypt; she has the Item we need. But there's one last element that we can add to ensure our victory, don't you think? Because it wasn't you who beat my darker half before, was it?"

The silence was so profound that Yuugi could almost hear their hearts beating as well as his own. Kaiba was absolutely stunned. "You...what..." he gasped out.

Marik nodded. "I think we can bring him back,"

Yuugi jerked up, groaning a bit from the stab of pain that lanced through his abdomen. His voice was barely a croak, but Marik heard it well enough. "You really think the Door will open again...?" Yuugi said in shock, his head spinning from the sudden information it was being presented. Marik looked at Odion, and then they both nodded. "But...even so...even if it's possible...we can't! The Other Me is happy and doing really well in the Afterlife, I'm sure of it! We can't disrupt that, we can't bother him with our problems when he was finally able to obtain peace! He 'put down his sword', remember? He can't fight anymore," Yuugi cried out, distressed.

"Yuugi...with your skills as a duelist, you may have been the only one that could defeat him in a Shadow Game. But now that you're like this...and with Noah as his captive...we're at a severe disadvantage. And if we can bring the Pharaoh back to help us, well, it'll save your life, Yuugi. If he is defeated I'm sure the Shadows will dissipate from your body, since he was the source. Of course it is your decision. I think the Pharaoh would be able to return to the Afterlife once his business was finished here, if that eases your mind any," Marik explained. He could see the pain this information was causing him, and he put his hands on either of Yuugi's shoulders and pushed him gently back down. "You're causing yourself more pain. Just relax," he said soothingly.

Covering his eyes with his hands to avoid their gazes, Yuugi took several deep breaths. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Bring the Pharaoh back? Something deep within him felt like it was being squeezed uncomfortably, and he pushed aside the sudden yearning to see his best friend. The Pharaoh's happiness was the most important thing. "We can't..." he whispered, "we can't disturb his happiness," he was grabbed roughly by the front of his shirt and pulled forward suddenly. Yuugi stared in surprise at the angry ocean eyes that belonged to Kaiba.

"Even if it means you'll die, Yuugi?" He murmured lowly.

Yuugi's eyes widened, and then his expression melted. He gave Kaiba a sad look. "I'm sorry," he said only.

Kaiba dropped him back onto the bed and stalked away. "Then I'm afraid I'll be taking the decision out of your hands. I'll be more than happy to drag you over to Egypt and get this ancient Door open. It'll probably only answer to you, since you're his reincarnation. I'd quite like to see my old rival, anyway. And if he's going to help beat this nutcase of ours, then all the better. I'm going to call my private jet and tell them to be ready for the flight. If you don't have your bags packed by the time I come back, then I'll have someone pack them for you," he left the room with that parting remark, leaving the remaining occupants of the room a little startled.

"You can't!" Yuugi yelled after him, and then broke into a fit of coughing as his dry throat protested.

Odion offered him a glass of water from his desk, which he took, swallowing several mouthfuls. "You guys, please, you have to stop him. Convince him that it isn't right, that we should try to find some other way to beat this guy. I'm sure if we put all of our heads together we'll be able to come up with something. We'll go into the virtual world together next time, and Ishizu will be there with her Necklace. One Item should be able to defeat another, right? Right?" Yuugi pleaded in desperation.

"Even if the Item we're trying to defeat is the very one controlling the field we'll be fighting on? The very world itself? I don't know, Yuugi," Marik sighed, "I think we'd be better off with something else. Another Item, if at all possible. But since the dig team hasn't found any other Items, I think we're stuck."

He slammed the glass back down onto the desk beside his bed. "So you agree with Kaiba? That bringing the Pharaoh back is really the best thing to do? The best way to defeat your darker half, since he's beaten him before?" Yuugi asked angrily, feeling a little betrayed. Weren't they the ones who had protected the Pharaoh and his tomb for so many years? Wasn't keeping him in the Afterlife the best thing for him? What were they thinking?

Odion said firmly, "This is not about what we feel is right or wrong. This is about fate and destiny. The Necklace would not be giving our sister those signs for no reason. The future is upon us. We must accept it with both hands." This stopped Yuugi cold.

"Fate and destiny...huh..." he muttered unhappily. It certainly did not feel like fate or destiny. It felt wrong.

Marik gripped his arm and shook him slightly. "So what do you think, Yuugi? Are you okay with us asking him for help once more? To save Noah? To finally get rid of the last pieces of his dark soul?"

Yuugi shook his head. "I can't deny that I think he should remain where he belongs. That we should figure this thing out for ourselves," he considered Marik uncertainly, "but I don't want anybody else to get hurt. I can't deny that I don't want him back either. For so long, I..." he stopped suddenly and rethought what he was going to say, "I guess I'm just torn between trying to figure out what's best. The Pharaoh's happiness or everyone's safety? But it's not even as simple as that." He sighed, and Marik squeezed his arm sympathetically. Yuugi looked fleetingly at Odion, and then back at Marik. "You guys aren't going to leave until I agree, huh?" He questioned tiredly, but his lips were twitching into a smile.

Odion smiled faintly as well. "No,"

His head dropped; Yuugi clasped Marik's hand in his own and nodded in agreement. "Then let's do it, I guess. We'll go get the Other Me." His face looked torn between happiness and misery.

"I think it's high time they had a rematch, anyway," Marik grinned sinisterly, "because our duel never truly ended, now did it? I forfeited. So it's only fair that they get the chance to duel again," his tone turned darker, "and this time the Pharaoh will have a chance to finish him off for good."