DISCLAIMER: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine.

The Rescue

The Pharaoh watched the city pass by through the window. Shamee was sitting on the floor of the chopper, looking like she was asleep. The point was that she was simply focusing on the wound in her side. There was an old trick that most people weren't aware of to heal. Shamee was using that. It was a form of meditation, in a way, as the modern world would call it.

Mokuba's computer beeped. 'The Rare Hunters' hideout. We're just about eleven miles away. I know exactly where those creeps are keeping Téa. And Joey should be nearby. We'll get them both outta there in no time.'

'I'm concerned with more important issues,' Kaiba said. 'Like finding the third Egyptian God Card.' That statement made both the Pharaoh and Shamee look at him. Great Gods, didn't he know when to stop? 'Tell me, who exactly is this Marik? He leads the Rare Hunters but what else do you know about him?'

'Simply put, he's Ishizu's possibly-insane younger brother,' Shamee said.

'Ishizu?' Kaiba looked at her. 'You mean that woman at the museum?'

'Well, think about it, Kaiba.' Shamee looked out the window across the cabin. 'Her job was to hide the God Cards. She wouldn't seriously have given one to you if she was just trying to get them back, would she? She could have just told you they existed, omitting the fact that she had one of them, and you still would have set up this tournament.'

Kaiba stared at Shamee. His thoughtful look made it clear that he was considering what she'd said and saw the sense in it. He would have thought the Rare Hunters had all three and set up the tournament to get them, completely unaware that Ishizu had one. That said, she had to have an ulterior motive. Kaiba closed his eyes. 'So you know why I set this tournament up in the first place.'

'Of course I did,' Shamee said. 'Why else would you set up a tournament?' She paused. 'And while we're on the topic, about that Ra card.'

'What about it?' Kaiba asked.

Shamee fixed him with a hard look. 'Marik might lack the ability to tell the difference between blackmail and just ticking off dangerous people, but he isn't a total idiot. He already lost one God Card to Yugi. He won't be so stupid as to lose the second in the same way. I doubt we'll see the Winged Dragon of Ra until Marik decides to come out of the shadows and face us properly.'

Kaiba made a "hmph" sound. 'All that tells me about Marik is that he's Ishizu's brother. I need more information than that.'

The Pharaoh looked out the window again. 'Well, unlike Sharee, I've never actually seen his face. But I know he possesses a Millennium Item, much like my own Millennium Puzzle and Sharee's Millennium Bandanna.' It was rather a pain too. Sharee had said he had a rather generic appearance.

Kaiba made an irritated sound in his throat. 'Those again? Spare me the bogus magic-talk, Yugi.'

Now it was the Pharaoh's turn to be irritated. 'Kaiba, you have already experienced the great power of a Millennium Item firsthand.' Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Kaiba's face tightened either in disgust or rage. Perhaps it was both. Looked like he needed a little push. 'Or have you forgotten about Pegasus and his Millennium Eye?'

YGO

'That was just a cheap trick!' Kaiba insisted.

Despite what he said, Shamee felt the fear and anger boiling in his heart. She'd never actually been around Kaiba while they spoke of this. Now, feeling what was in his heart, a theory began to occur to her. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it before. After all it was "an old trick" that Sharee's family had been using for generations.

What if Kaiba wasn't a sceptic?

Mokuba sure wasn't. He was quick to protest to his brother's statement. 'But, Seto, Pegasus did use his Millennium Eye to trap us.'

'That's enough,' Kaiba said. 'Just drop it, Mokuba.'

Shamee looked at Kaiba to read his expression. He was afraid. It was probably less of the fear of what could have happened to him and more of what could have happened to his little brother. Kaiba simply never wanted a mention of the Shadow Realm ever again. If that was true, he didn't have much hope.

'You can believe whatever you choose, but I assume you my Puzzle is no trick.' The Pharaoh looked at Shamee. She knew what he was asking her.

Shamee sighed. 'Oh, why not? The worst he can do is deny it.'

Kaiba looked at them. 'What are you two on about?'

'How to put this?' Shamee considered for a moment. 'Kaiba, you've noticed how when Yugi and I enter conflicts our voice and our heights seem to change?'

Kaiba paused. 'What are you saying?'

The Pharaoh answered that one. 'She's saying that we're not exactly who you think we are.'

'At this present point in time, at least,' Shamee added. 'The Millennium Items we hold allow two souls each to co-exist in one body. On one hand, yes, it's Yugi Moto and Sharee Pertinicle. On the other, Sharee shares her body with me. Five thousand years ago, I was the Right-Hand to the Pharaoh.'

'And I was that Pharaoh,' the Pharaoh said.

'That's a lie!' Kaiba insisted. 'Do you honestly expect me to believe you?'

'Well, why not?' Shamee asked. 'It's no coincidence he looks exactly like that Pharaoh on the carving. Do you have any idea of what the actual odds of that are?'

Kaiba froze.

'What are the odds?' Mokuba asked.

Shamee closed her eyes. 'I'd say ten billion to one.'

'It's true, Kaiba,' the Pharaoh said calmly. 'At one time we lived in Egypt. It was there I ruled as Pharaoh.'

'As Pharaoh?' Kaiba demanded.

'No way!' Mokuba insisted.

Kaiba definitely looked spooked. 'But it can't be…Your Pharaoh story's not true! There's just no way! That Ishizu woman told me the same lie at the museum.'

YGO

Kaiba seemed to shake off his shock and he chuckled. 'You, Pharaoh? What a joke. I spoke to that crazy woman also, Yugi. But, unlike you, I didn't buy into her story.'

Shamee smirked at him. 'Then it might interest you to know that rock was tested scientifically and it, along with the carvings on it, really is five thousand years old. That thing is completely genuine.'

'What Ishizu said was true,' the Pharaoh said. Kaiba's stubbornness really was a pain in the neck sometimes. 'I know who I must stop. And I'll never forget the day I first heard his name.'

YGO

'So let me get this straight,' Mokuba said. 'Marik wants to rule the world? And he thinks getting all three Egyptian God Cards will give him the power he needs to do it? I guess that explains why he's going through all this trouble just to get his hands on them.' He definitely believed.

'That's ridiculous, Mokuba!' Kaiba insisted.

'Huh?' Mokuba looked at him.

Kaiba addressed both ancients now. 'You two, do me a favour and stop corrupting my brother's mind with your lies.'

'For the love of all that's holy, Kaiba!' Shamee rubbed the bridge of her nose before she glared at him. 'Whether or not you believe it is irrelevant. Whether or not we believe it is also irrelevant. What's important is that Marik believes it. You've seen the kind of lengths he'll go to for the power that he believes is there.' She noted, with satisfaction, that Kaiba took on the mannerism of a stubborn child who'd just been scolded for stupidity, and knew that he was wrong.

'You've heard Marik's plan, Kaiba – firsthand,' the Pharaoh said. 'Remember?'

YGO

Kaiba sneered. 'Using magic powers to control peoples' minds. I bet you still believe in the tooth fairy as well.'

'Marik's powers are very real and very dangerous,' the Pharaoh said. 'And now that he's captured my friends, there's no telling what he plans to do with them. We have to locate my friends as soon as possible and get them away from that madman.' The Pharaoh's fist clenched. 'Before it's too late.'

YGO

'We're only two miles from our target, guys.'

Shamee had been sort of enjoying the silence before Mokuba spoke. She opened her eyes again and looked at the others. Neither the Pharaoh nor Kaiba had budged an inch. It was an interesting theory she'd stumbled upon but she had no way to prove it. Time would tell, she guessed. One day Kaiba wouldn't be able to deny it.

'Good,' the Pharaoh said. 'Then it won't be long before we find Téa and Joey.'

'I'm tired of hearing about your friends, Yugi,' Kaiba said. 'Especially that hack, Wheeler.'

Shamee rolled her eyes. There went the silence.

The Pharaoh looked at Kaiba. 'Joey has become an extremely skilled duellist, Kaiba. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he had already qualified for the Battle City Finals.'

Shamee chuckled, thinking back on a few incidents. That was funny.

Mokuba looked over the pilot's seat and out the front window. 'Look, the Rare Hunters' hideout. It's just up ahead.'

Kaiba gave his order to the pilot. 'Begin our descent immediately.'

'Yes, Mr. Kaiba,' the pilot said.

Shamee stood up as the Pharaoh wrapped a tense hand around the chain of his Puzzle.