Wu Onehalf

by Maximara

Bringing Ranma and sisters. Will explain on arrival. - Genma' but Ranma was an only child so where did these sisters come from? Ranma-3x3 Eyes-Sailor Moon-Yugioh crossover.

25. Chap 25 Formation of the League

Chap 25 Formation of the League

Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi, 3x3 eyes (Sazan Eyes) is the creation of Yuzo Takada, Sailor Moon is the creation of Naoko Takeuchi. There are also a few other characters from other anime which belong to their respective creators. All are used without permission. This fan-fiction isn't intended for commercial use but is rather a tribute to Ranma 1/2, 3x3 Eyes, and Sailor Moon.

"We need to do WHAT?!" exclaimed Ranko.

"Emperor Hirohito or rather General Yamato says for political reasons he cannot be the go between for Earth and Sazan and right now we are the best he has to work with. Also he points out that the leaders of the world need here on Earth representatives of the various worlds we have contacted to talk to," said Amaterasu frowning as she reread the letter.

"That is crazy," ranted Ranko, "Neither you, Parvati, or me have the authority much less the right to speak for all of Sazan. The same goes Princess Tsurugi and the ShadowRealm. I am not sure it is even valid for Sailor Moon and the Moon Kingdom as her authority ended with her life 12,000 years ago and Neo-Queen Serenity comes from a now impossible future."

Choukai shook his head, "As General Yamato pointed out this is for political reasons. Politics and reason hardly ever go together."

"If this is an typical example you have that right. Look, we just defeated Pharaoh 90 a few days ago. Hotaru is still trying to sort out her feelings toward the other Outers. We have some new enemy killing people by destroying their dreams and at least one mind controlling kill happy Millennium Item wielding nutbar running around out there. You, Pegasus, Neo-Queen Serenity, and Oni regularly commute between here and the Sazan-Tendo house because we simply don's have room Earthside. And General Yamato now wants us to set up some sort of United Nations? Like where for one would we get or put a place that big in Japan? Space is a premium around here you know. Never mind that such a place would be a target for every overzealous demon hunting fruit loop out there."

"I take you are talking about that Section 13 Vatican maniac that tore through Hiroshima about a week ago?" asked Pegasus as he looked through his deck.

"Not just him. His antics got him in the papers but there are also isolated incidents that didn't but since my counterpart founded the KamiOni the membership send me incident reports," Ranko said pulling out a think folder and started leafing through it, "A married couple were making out when some demon hunting half wit shows up and attacks the husband because she thought he was raping his wife. Then there was the moron who tried to drive out the demons possessing people and instead put a couple in hospital as they didn't react well to our reality's Shinto wards. And those are just the home grown loons. It is a real mess."

"It would be. Don't forget that other world had since 1942 to adjust to Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as other realities. This world by contrast has gotten informational overload," said Pegasus as he pulled a card out of his deck. "This should solve your three main concerns," he said showing it to the assembled people.

"Castle of Dark Illusions?" asked Neo-Queen Serenity.

"Yes. The castle floats meaning not only does it not take up valuable real estate but a moving target is a little harder to hit. Also as level four monsters go it has a respective defense of 1930 which we can beef up with the magic cards Sword of the Deep-Seated and Reliable Guardian to 3130 more than enough to withstand an assault by a Blue Eyes White dragon. Just for added security we throw in Castle Walls trap card for a one shot 3630 defense," Pegasus said pulling out a little box.

"Impressive but if I remember correctly there are both trap and effect monsters that could damage it," commented Choukai.

"That is why we include Waboku which has an effect much like Negate Attack and Block Attack. For guards we have Wall of Illusion, Armed Ninja who has a Despell ability, and Magician of Fate just in case someone does get lucky and takes out one of the magic defenses. This should stop all but the determined from getting in," He said as he carefully put the cards into specific areas of the box.

Ranko rubbed her head, "Well I admit the idea has merit. Let's get this project under way," She said touching the Castle of Dark Illusions card and putting her Ki into it. Looking up she whistled, "Gads that thing is huge. I just thought of something though, all somebody needs to do is pick up the card and poof."

Pegasus laughed, "I know that your father has put the Princess of Tsurugi card face up in a safe place. I designed this box for a similar long term test on a far grander scale," he said pulling out a pane of glass from the bottom of the box. "This pane of glass holds down the monster cards while still allowing access to the magic and trap cards."

"I get you. We take the box up to the Castle and invoke the rest of the stuff there. That way the Castle in a sense protects itself. Ok well let's grab a Fei-Oh or Takuhi and get up there," said Ranko resigning herself to the latest in a long series of crazy ideas.

In the Juubangia district Ami smiled as she heard a familiar chirp. Tea gracefully dismounted from the Takuhi as Ami ran up to hug her. "I see your mother has not relented either," Tea said frowning.

"At least you can be yourself, Tea, even if you have access to the Sanjiyan Unkara spells that Ranko and Parvati were teaching us," said Ami.

Tea smiled sadly, "Like being able to call up Oni is being myself. At least a Takuhi has a lot less freak out effect than a Fei-Oh."

"Tea, I know you are not happy with Neo-Queen Serenity...," started Ami.

"But she meant well? Right just like she meant well in the 21st century with her let me cleanse your evil or I will exile you to the tenth planet Nemesis idea," spat Tea who then closed her eyes and sighed, "I'm sorry, Ami, I didn't mean to take it out on you," Tea then opened her eyes, "I am just not sure where Tea ends and Ami begins as every time I turn around one of your memories pops up in my head."

"I always wondered what Ranma/Ranko and Pai/Parvati go though. This was sure was not the way I wanted to find out," said Ami as she picked up a stone and tossed it.

Tea and Ami stiffened and looked in the direction of Nerima. "What in the world are they doing now?" asked Ami.

"I have no idea but it is big," Tea frowned, "While you and I have a strong affinity to the use of ShadowRealm magic it is times like this I wonder just how strong it is and if as a result we aren't even human anymore."

Back at the Tendo residence Cynthia Pegasus was having much the same thoughts. She rubbed at her arm and frowned as it felt more fleshlike. At this rate her husband would not have to move her soul to a ShadowRealm body. She turned her attention to Neo-Queen Serenity and Princess Tsurugi; neither one was taking the latest development well. Cynthia largely agreed with Ranko's assessment though for different reasons. Princess Tsurugi was fighter not a diplomat and worse she seemed to thrive on conflict. Then there was Neo-Queen Serenity; her idea of diplomacy had largely been either cleanse it of evil or keep pounding until it stayed down.

Cynthia shuttered remembering the vapid simple minded expression on the face of poor Yugi's father. Eclipse pointed out with much disgust that the man had been subjected to a more extreme version of Neo-Queen Serenity's cleansing. If that was even remotely close to what the people of Earth had been reduced to small wonder Wiseman had wanted to kill everybody he could get his hands on; better to be dead than live like that. Cynthia frowned that was one question that had never been answered; who had Wiseman been? Someone famous? Someone obscure? She just had to know. Turning back to the house she found Setsuna frustrating herself with the Time Gates, "Setsuna, I would like a favor," she said.

Setsuna looked up from the relay she was struggling with, "As long as it does not involve looking into the future of this world. Even since the ShadowRealm got involved I have become increasingly blind and deaf to the future of this timeline. Now the Gates are totally useless to look more than a day into the future for anywhere in this world."

"I want to go to Neo-Queen Serenity's future and see if there are any clues to who Wiseman had been."

"It would be an improvement over pounding my head into this temporal brick wall," said Setsuna as she gestured causing the image of Wiseman's chambers to form. "But I am coming with you, just in case Paradox is still lurking about."

Cynthia nodded as she and Setsuna stepped through the Time Gates.

---------------------------------

Diagrams and detailed plans littered Wiseman's quarters. Picking up one Cynthia frowned, "Looks like Wiseman was something of a technological wizard."

"Unfortunately it also looks like he subscribed to the pile method of filing. A pile for everything and everything in its pile," said Setsuna looking at another diagram, "Looks like he was working on some sort of portable hologram generator."

Cynthia noticed a desk over in a corner. Walking over she opened the top drawer. "Well here is something. Looks like Wiseman was a duelist before things went south," she said picking up the deck inside.

"Well if he was any good perhaps his deck will give us a clue," Setsuna said picking up a blueprint, "Because these plans sure are not."

"Nothing to distinguish his deck so far. Crush card, Sagi the Dark Clown, Waboku, Hitotsu-Me Giant, Dark Energy, oh no," Cynthia said paling.

"What is it?" asked Setsuna worried.

"I know who Wiseman was," Cynthia said as she looked through the rest of the deck pulling out three cards.

"Who was he?"

Cynthia simply showed the three cards from Wiseman's deck.

Setsuna blanched at the three identical monster cards. According to Pegasus there were only four cards of that monster and only one person had three copies of the Blue Eyes White Dragon.

---------------------------------

"Seto Kaiba? Wiseman was Seto Kaiba?" asked a stunned Pegasus.

"Looks that way," Cynthia said setting Wiseman's deck down.

"Just because he had Kaiba's deck doesn't mean he was Kaiba," said Joey, "It is one thing to be a cold hearted jerk but from what you said this Wiseman was a mass murder. That just doesn't sound like the Kaiba I saw dueling with Yuge."

"Who knows. Maybe the whole cleansing thing pushed him off the deep end," said Ranko giving Neo-Queen Serenity a dirty look who shuttered under the glare.

"Besides there were other things indicating that Wiseman was Kaiba. Plans and diagrams for hologram devices all over the place. Then there is this picture of a boy who I presume is a relation," said Setsuna opening the locket she had pulled off of Wiseman's body.

Pegasus looked at the picture and frowned, "One problem, this is a picture of a younger Seto Kaiba rather than his younger brother Mokuba," Pegasus looked up, "Looks like both you and Joey were right. Wiseman was a Kaiba just not Seto Kaiba," Pegasus put his hand to his chin, "My original plan for bringing my wife back involved kidnapping Mokuba as part of a powerplay by the five Board of Directors of Kaiba Corporation. Fortunately the chaos of the last month have kept them totally off balance so they have not done anything yet to implement it."

"Max-i-mi-lian Peg-a-sus" Cynthia hissed, "I thought you said you abandoned that plan."

Pegasus sighed, he hated it when his wife got mad like this, "I did. Unfortunately the people I was allied with have not. This latest development will knock them off balance again but I think they are getting to the point that may take direct and potentially fatal action themselves."

Ranko groaned, "Great as if we didn't have enough on our plate. We now get to play bodyguard to this Mokuba person who according to what we have here became Wiseman in one particular future."

Pegasus smiled slyly, "Don't worry the island of the Duelist Kingdom Tournament will be the perfect place to keep him safe and by having it at the time I originally planned it we can hopefully throw a monkey wrench into Paradox's blackmail scheme," Pegasus then got stern, "But be warned; I will have to appear to play the Big 5's game to the hilt to keep them from guessing that I am really working against them. As I stated there will be new rules in this Tournament and I have decided to add new cards as well. To keep it fair I can only give you the information the other contestants will have as well as a deck of 40 new cards. This deck," Pegasus said pulling out a sealed deck of cards, "will be given by me personally two days hence to the winner of the regional Championship between Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor. The new rules combined with these new cards will require everyone to rework their dueling strategies."

Pegasus then stood and pulled out two more sealed decks. "These are your additional cards and the new rules," he said pushing the decks toward Yugi and Joey. "A final warning, the player eliminators I will have to use to convince the Big 5 that I am still on their side are largely out and out creeps. Panik is mostly a bully and the brothers Mei and Kyuu cheat on the second part of their test. I know it is not much but it is the best I can do right now," finished Pegasus as he picked up Wiseman's deck and put it in his pocket.

---------------------------------

About a week later Pegasus smiled as one of the Big 5 stated that for their plan to succeed Seto Kaiba had to be taken care of permanently. "Gentlemen I anticipated this and my wife has ensured that Seto Kaiba will bother us no more," Pegasus said pulling out Wiseman's deck and fanned the deck so the Big 5 could see the Blue Eyed White Dragons in it. "She even brought back his deck as proof," The Big 5 congratulated him on his foresight and ruthlessness and let him go the next stage of the plan. Once outside the room Pegasus muttered, "Pity you fools don't realize that the next phase is to get Seto Kaiba to my island as well."

A little later Cynthia met him and asked, "How did it go?"

"As well as getting Mokuba to the island was. Those greedy fools bought the story hook, line, and sinker. How are our future contestants?"

"That is what I came to see you about. That Weevil Underwood got a hold of Yugi's Exodia cards and threw them over the side of the ship!" Cynthia said angrily.

Pegasus scowled "I read in that little slug's mind he was going to cheat. I didn't know he would go this far however. When Yugi gets to the island have Parvati find him as soon as possible with replacements for the Exodia cards he lost," Pegasus then smiled evilly, "Weevil doesn't realize it but he has lost already. If there is one thing that motivates Yugi-boy to win duels it is adversity and with the new cards I gave him he's turn Weevil Underwood into Weevil Underground, six feet underground that is," Pegasus finished laughing.

Cynthia shook her head at the bad joke, "How are our player eliminators handling the new rules and cards?" her husband asked.

"Well they finally got the point where they don't get their clocks cleaned every time they duel. I think the new rules and cards have really shook them up."

"They were supposed to shake everyone up. That was the whole point of them," Pegasus then looked at his wife, "Speaking of shaking things up how is the League of Otherworlds doing?"

Cynthia frowned, "The League of Otherworlds is even more dysfunctional than the League of Nations was. Right now its main function is finding all the groups known about in the other timeline and getting representatives of them. It is going to be a while before it is even remotely useful as a true political entity. Also Sailor Mercury has reported that there is slight increase in ShadowRealm Ki underneath where the Castle goes."

"I figured something like that would eventually happen as no use of energy is one hundred percent efficient and the ShadowRealm beings are living creatures able to generate their own Ki. That is why the Castle moves around over Tokyo in a small circle; it makes it less likely to create a large Ki build up in one area. It also gives us more time to spot and address any potential side effects," Pegasus said.

"We may have another more serious problem. Setsuna said that her probes of the future was picking up energies of what appears to be another Millennium Item here on the island. Unfortunately that was all she was able to get from the Gates."

Pegasus frowned, "The guards on the ship know what Shadi looks like from my painting of him and none of them had reported seeing him. That means we could have another Millennium Item wielder on our hands," Pegasus then put his hand to his chin, "Everything I have been told about Paradox makes me wonder if perhaps the woman is actually suicidal."

Cynthia suddenly turned to her husband in open mouthed amazement as he continued, "Think about it. She could stealthily go about getting playthings for her subjects and yet is flaunting her efforts in everyone's face. From the conversations our friends have related it appears she is moving her base of operations from the End of Time where she was virtually safe to one of the many possible 30th centuries. Finally she has gone after Tea and yet from what we have been told she claims to still have something left of the philosophy of Sailor Moon. I had Setsuna look into the past and she discovered Dark Yugi engaged a gun wielding punk in a duel of life and death because the punk tried to hurt Tea. Obviously the punk loss; burned to death in fact."

"Interesting theory but there is one thing missing from it: Why," Cynthia said "Why would Paradox go to such elaborate extremes if all she wanted to do was kill herself?"

Pegasus smiled, "Remember what Sailor Moon told up about her fight with Queen Beryl? Her friends were dead and she remembered having mortal wounds wishing for a normal life. The Ginzuishou granted that wish but it could not or would not let her escape from being Sailor Moon. What if it will not let Paradox use its power to kill herself or age? Some scientists say the universe has a minimum of 100 billion years of life left. Perhaps that is the real reason the Sanjiyan Unkara created the Ningen No Zou; it was to serve as a way for them to become mortal when the boredom of their immortality got to them. Paradox can't use it because she is a human given a Sanjiyan Unkara's lifespan by the Ginzuishou which they also created."

Cynthia frowned, "While I must admit that it makes sense I just have a feeling there is more to Paradox's latest plan then a desire to kill herself. I mean she must know of timelines that could totally overwhelm her. Why not go to one of those? No there is something else behind all this. The problem is finding out what that something is."

---------------------------------

'A shipfull of people to look for noble dreams in and the first I chose turns out to have the dream equivalent of a sewer.' thought CereCere. 'There is no way Pegasus would hide in that kid's head.' thought CereCere as she left Weevil's room. Walking along CereCere silently tried doors and again lucked out. 'Another unlocked door. Hmmm. pretty lady. Well let's see if her dreams match her looks.' thought CereCere as she opened a dream mirror and looked in. Again she was disappointed, while not the sewer of the last person these dreams were a superficial desire for material things. Unless Pegasus started slumming there was no way he would hide here either, so CereCere left Mai to her selfish dreams.

Walking the deck of the ship CereCere noticed a woman wrapping a boy on deck in her purple robe. 'Certainly someone who did such an action would have noble dreams' CereCere thought as she followed the woman into the hold of the ship where she curled up and promptly fell asleep. CereCere opened a dream mirror and looked in. She couldn't pull himself back out of the dream she found fast enough. Dream? Perhaps sick perverted twisted nightmare was a better description of what she had found. It was like someone had take every noble and pure dream there was, combined them, and then twisted the result into a perverted mockery of itself. Backing away CereCere saw a small old man sleeping beside some crates, certainly such a grandfatherly looking person had pure and noble dreams. Another dream mirror later CereCere stumbled around the hold trying to recover from what she had saw. She knew pure and noble dreams were rare but this was ridiculous. Fatigued from her efforts and what she had saw CereCere herself finally collapsed into a dreamless sleep.

Rex Raptor woke up shortly before sunrise and noticed that he was wrapped in a tattered purple blanket. Curious he unwrapped himself and realized the blanket was in fact a robe. Shrugging and not one to look a gift horse in the mouth he folded the rope up and put it in his backpack.

Down in the hold Paradox stretched and smiled as she remembered her dreams. She checked her bracelet to see if the hologram was still working and nodded. She then pulled out her dueling deck and frowned. Yugi's grandfather had always talked about the heart of the cards and with her skill in Duel Monster just above nil that was all she had to work with - the heart of the three duelists whose decks she had used to make her own. She then noticed Happosai in a corner muttering something out his pretty darlings. Paradox knew from other timelines it took a while for the little pervert to lose energy to where he was largely helpless and she had no desired for her to be near him when he woke up. Somehow the little gnome could sense her when invisible despite the best her pirated technology could do and she did not want to take the chance of him sensing her this close to her goal. Paradox quickly left the hold and mingled with the other duelists.

Two other people were thinking about how close they were to their goal. One was smiling sinisterly from the deck of the yacht he was on gripping his Millennium Rod as the yacht approached the island. The power he had sensed from the building that housed the delegates of the new League of OtherWorlds was incredible. Ishtar Malik figured that certainly that anyone wielding that kind of power would also have the God cards in their possession. Malik's only problem was keeping control over his puppet who actually owned this yacht; it seemed that the closer to the island they go the more effort it took to control his puppet. No matter he simply had to get close enough and he could use the lifeboat on board to go to the island itself.

On the opposite side of the island Malik's sister Isis nervously touched the torque around her neck as she stood on the deck of the battered ship she had rented. She had become worried when her ability to see the future started producing not one image but two. That worry turned into fear when she tried to see the future for the new League of OtherWorlds - that had like being in the electronics section of a department with every TV on and tuned to a different channel. Her fear grew as her probing of the events leading to the Duelist Kingdom Tournament showed her brother Malik approaching the island in the yacht of a man he had turned into a puppet. Her fear then turned to terror as past a certain point she could see nothing; not only for the Duelist Kingdom Tournament but for anything else. Either there was too much for her to handle or more frighteningly there was no future to see. Whatever the cause she had to get on the island and stop her brother.

---------------------------------

Parvati quickly approached Yugi "Pegasus found out what that Weevil creep did," said Parvati all three of her eyes showing her displeasure.

"That little Weevil is a real creep alright," said Joey angrily, "He even claimed he stole the secret rules for the Duelist Kingdom Tournament."

Parvati scowled again thanking Ranma for her martial art training as it was the only thing keeping her temper in check and Weevil Underwood out of hospital. "Sadly without clear proof there is little we can do about that. However we can replace what was taken from you, Yugi," said Parvati as she pulled out five cards.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Joey.

"Yes Joey, it is Exodia," Parvati said as she gave the cards to Yugi.

Yugi looked through the cards and gave Parvati back one. "Thank you Parvati. Joey was able to save one piece of my Exodia and I can only have one copy of each piece in my deck."

Parvati nodded, "You know ironically with the new cards and rules Weevil did not need to take such actions. The changes make it even harder to put Exodia together."

"Why is it ironic?" asked Tristan.

Parvati laughed, "Because slugs for brains has made Yugi angry with him. Kaiba Seto was the last idiot to make that mistake and look what happened to him," Parvati then smiled in a very unsettling way, "I think I will tag along if for no other reason than to watch Yugi pound Weevil into worm food."

Back at the castle the Harpie Lady Skyfeather was following Mokuba around. Mokuba was not happy about the situation that led to him to being here. First Pegasus sets up some shady deal with the Board of Directors of his brother's corporation and then realizing what a blunder he had made Pegasus up and decides to protect him by bringing him to this island and have ShadowRealm being guards around him. Mokuba did have to admit however that both the ShadowRealm beings and the people who summoned them were friendly enough. Skyfeather in particular was comforting in that she did not have the same will less expression the other ShadowBeings did. Finally Mokuba arrived as his destination - the area known as the lower arena.

Carved out of stone the lower arena as it was called was huge, twice the size of the hologramic arenas on the island. Pegasus revealed that it had been originally designed for a recreation of the original Shadow Games. With the revival of his wife Pegasus had allowed Ranma to turn the place into a sparring arena. Pegasus had convinced whose he had enlisted in his quest for ShadowRealm power to accept these Shadow Matches by letting them watch one; Pegasus pointed out that sparring with ShadowBeings caused their power and by extension whoever they followed to increase.

Right now there were five such ShadowBeings active: Skyfeather (Harpy Lady), Neo Thundersteel (Neo the Magical Swordsman), Gep (Mysterious Puppeteer), Liltha (Dark Elf), and the first monster Pegasus himself had summoned Atlant (Aqua Madoor). As far as the robed followers were concerned the reason there were only five was so they could better learn the new rules of the Shadow Matches. However Parvati had confided that the real reason there were only five active on the island was mainly due to the League of Otherworld which floated over Tokyo. They had all felt that until they had a better grasp of ShadowRealm Ki and its effects it was best to keep the number of additional recruits to a minimum. Another fact Parvati kept hidden from the acolytes but confided to Mokuba was that Skyfeather had actually sparred at the Tendo dojo regularly largely because she had been the first ShadowBeing to show genuine self will.

Watching intently chanting were the robed followers. Mokuba shuttered a little as these guys gave him the major creeps especially with their chant about soul sacrifice granting them power. Mokuba took some solace that he had the one ShadowBeing with true self will guarding him. On one side of the arena was Pegasus himself activating his Red Archery Girl card. "Hello Mokuba, taking a tour of the castle I see."

"Creating more guards for me, Pegasus?" asked Mokuba in an annoyed tone as the chanting continued in the background. Personally if he had to have a guard he would prefer it to be Skyfeather but even she had to rest and train. Perhaps Pegasus had figured out a way to make another self willed ShadowBeing.

"Actually only one new guard with this new magic card Power of Tao I just added to the game. Unlike Polymerization it allows me to create a fusion of monsters opposite to each other. And if my theory is right I will create the second most powerful creature in Duel Monsters," Pegasus said laughing. "The only problem is I am not a martial artist so I have to use the energy of two lower level monsters to bring anything level 7 or higher on to the field. Normally I would only use the cards at my disposal but there is card I require that I do not have a copy of. Fortuity Wiseman's deck does have the required card so I can go forward with this plan,"

Mokuba frowned as Pegasus activated Muka Muka then Armed Ninja and finally Rogue Doll. "Who is Wiseman? One of your Player Eliminators?"

"Hardly, little Mokuba," said Pegasus "He was one of the people exiled from Earth by Neo-Queen Serenity. I suspect his hatred of her combined with the energy of the Dark Crystal kept his soul from leaving his body, at least until Paradox pulled his soul of his body killing him."

"So who was Wiseman?" Mokuba asked as Pegasus pulled out two more cards.

Pegasus smiled. "When I tribute these four monsters to bring forth my two level 7s you will know. This level 7 is from my stockpile of cards. I tribute Red Archery Girl and Muka Muka and summon the Dark Magician."

Mokuba watched as Red Archery Girl and Muka Muka faded form the arena replaced by Dark Magician as Pegasus frowned, "You know in Greek mythology when Pandora's box was opened it was said Hope was kept in the box. But think about it; how could something kept in a box give people hope? The answer is it couldn't. What gives people hope is ignorance of the future and that was the final demon kept in Pandora's box," Pegasus then looked at Mokuba a sad expression on his face, "Wiseman was from only one future; there are many others. Are you sure you want to meet Pandora's last demon?"

"Cut the dramatics, Pegasus; I want to know," yelled Mokuba.

"As you wish. I tribute Armed Ninja and finally Rogue Doll to summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Mokuba stared at the ShadowRealm being in front of him as Pegasus put down the final card, "I use the Power of Tao and fuse the Dark Magician and Blue Eyes White Dragon to form the Gray Dragon Wizardess."

Pegasus and the robed figures shielded their faces with their arms while Skyfeather used her body to shield the shocked Mokuba from the wind that erupted. When it died down there stood a figure in a gray version of the Dark Magician outfit but the being in the outfit was a humanoid female version of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Pegasus looked down at the new card and broke into hysterical laughter, "It worked better than I could have ever dreamed. I have created something that can bring even the powerful God cards to their knees," Calming down Pegasus smiled, "Mokuba, may I present your new guard the Gray Dragon Wizardess, Mayuan."

"My brother, my brother was Wiseman," said Mokuba finally.

Pegasus sighed deciding that the truth needed to be told, especially as that truth would give his robed followers a sense of respect regarding Mokuba, "Mokuba you saw what Paradox did to Yugi's grandfather, right? I suspect the same thing happened to the bother of Wiseman via Neo-Queen Serenity and it was that action that pushed him over the edge into insanity turning him into a mass murder."

"My brother would never do anything like that," yelled Mokuba angrily.

Pegasus tossed Mokuba Wiseman's picture locket. "Wiseman had that around his neck. I hardly think your brother would have kept a picture of himself. No the only answer that makes any sense is that you were Wiseman."

---------------------------------

Parvati smirked as Weevil led them to a clearing. If Yugi was anywhere as good as she figured he was he already had worked out why Weevil had lead them to this particular area. Parvati frowned and wondered just how good Weevil really was if he had to resort to cheating as Yugi stated that they would use Tournament rules but only 2000 life points.

"Why should I agree to such terms?" asked Weevil.

"Because if you win you get not only my two star chips but my dueling deck as well."

Weevil smiled, "You'd risk your grandfather's deck under the new rules with a fourth of the life points allowed? That will just make squashing you that much easier so I agree. Let's duel."

Parvati smiled as Weevil's level 4 Killer Needle and Yugi's level 3 Mammoth Graveyard canceled each other out. When Yugi informed Weevil on how he figured out the land rules Weevil just laughed saying he knew all the secret rules. Parvati herself then laughed, "Yugi, I betting this baka is expecting his knowledge of the secret rules to allow him such easy victories that he forgot to pay full attention to the new public rules."

Nodding Yugi pulled another card and smiled at it. "I play Sorcerer of the Doomed in attack mode, this card face down, and activate the field magic card Blight Upon the Land."

"My forest, what is happening to my forest?!" screamed Weevil as his hologramic forest started turning brown and dying.

"Parvati was right, you were so busy looking for ways to cheat you didn't pay full attention to the new rules that were made public," said Yugi folding his arms, "Otherwise you would have known about the new field magic cards. Blight Upon the Land turns the entire field into dark wasteland giving all Dark, Fiend, Zombie, and Rock Type monsters a 300 point field power bonus."

Weevil scowled, "I'm no novice, Yugi; and I don't need my field power bonus to beat you. I play this card face down and this one as well."

Parvati frowned, 'Not good. If I remember correctly Weevil's specialty is insect cards and there is one insect card that could wreck some havoc on Yugi's monsters and it is a flip effect card to boot. And the second card has to be a trap or magic card.'

Yugi pulled his next card and smiled again, "I play one monster face down in defense mode, this card face down, and end my turn."

Weevil smiled "I play Larva moth in defense mode and equip him with the Cocoon of Evolution. In four turns he will undergo a startling transformation and change from harmless caterpillar to Great moth and lay waste to your monsters and life points."

Parvati shook her head, "You are gloating like a villain from one of those bad US horror films of the 1930s. And like them you will be defeated in the final reel. That is assuming you last to the final reel."

"Hardly," said Weevil smugly, "I flip over Attack Paralysis to put Yugi's Sorcerer of the Doomed in defense mode. I then turn over my face down monster to reveal Man Eater Bug who immediately consumes Yugi's face down monster and that ends my turn."

Parvati growled, "Yugi is in trouble. Attack Paralysis is the reverse of Defense Paralysis. As long as it is active Yugi cannot attack and he has only two cards in his hand."

"Is that one of the new cards?" asked Joey.

"No," said Parvati frowning, "Attack Paralysis is from the original rules, though it is still a royal pain to deal with even under the new rules."

Yugi drew his next card "I play Pot of Greed which allows me to draw two more cards. I now play Dain Keto the Cure Master which raises my life points to 3000 and tribute Sorcerer of the Doomed to bring forth Summoned Skull."

"If he could attack I would be worried," smirked Weevil as he drew his next card. Laughing maniacally Weevil proclaimed, "With this card I will send your Summoned Skull to the Graveyard, I call forth Jirai Gumo to attack Summoned Skull."

"You forget about my face down card Weevil," said Yugi in calm tone, "Castle Walls will add to my Summoned Skull's defense by 500."

Weevil laughed "Even with your field power bonus and Castle Walls, Yugi your Summoned Skull only has a defense of 2100 still less than Jirai Gumo's attack of 2200. So what if I have to risk half my life points to attack? He will still crush your Summoned Skull like so many dried bones! Attack roulette go."

Parvati grinned like a cat who just caught the canary. "Why you smiling Parvati? That jerk is about take out Yugi's monster," asked an annoyed Tea.

Glancing over at Joey whose face suddenly got an expression of stunned realization Parvati said, "Your friend Joey has just realized the same thing I did and..," Parvati then laughed, "Well look at that it landed on a skull. Now the fun really begins."

Weevil's jaw dropped as his Jirai Gumo disappeared into hologramic powder and his life points went down to 800. "What happened?!" he screamed echoing Tea's and Tristan's thoughts.

"Care to explain Joey?" chuckled Parvati.

"It has to do with the card rulings that were also sent to the contestants," said Joey smiling at Weevil's confusion. "The bonuses granted by Field Magic cards are cumulative. In other words if a Field Magic card's effects match a monster's attribute and subtype then the monster gets the bonus twice."

"I get it," said Tristan, "Because Blight Upon the Land effects Dark and Fiend monsters and Summoned Skull is both his attack and defense were increased by 600 not just 300."

"Right Tristan" commented Yugi as he pulled a card from his deck, "I play this card face down and end my turn."

Drawing a card Weevil smiled, "I tribute my Man Eater Bug and summon Kwagar Hercules. I will also equip him with laser cannon and finally blast your Summoned Skull off the field."

Yugi watch frowning as his Summoned Skull disappeared and drew his next card and broke into a smile, "This may come as a shock to you Weevil, but after finding new ways to cheat all you have found is a new way to lose."

"What are you talking about?! I just blasted the toughest you monster had on the field and you have don't have enough monsters left to tribute for anything powerful enough to stand up to my Great Moth even if they could attack. All you can do is delay my pounding of your life points until my Great Moth springs forth in two turns," fumed Weevil.

"You just drew one of the new cards didn't you?" asked Parvati.

"Yes I did," said Yugi as he slapped the card down. "I activate the quick magic card Poison of the Old Man and choose the direct damage option which takes out 800 of your life points."

Weevil stood there in shock as his life points went down to 0, "I didn't even get my moth out," he wailed. "This cannot be happening. I am a Regional Champion," Weevil groveled on the ground as Yugi collected the two star chips.

"You won your duels and got your title by cheating. Real duelists fight with honor," said Yugi as he tossed the two star chips up and down in his hand.

"Don't pay attention to this dueling disgrace, Yuge. I herby confiscate his dueling gauntlet."

"Just be thankful for the behavior you showed here that as an official of the Duelist Kingdom Tournament I don't confiscate your dueling deck and have you row back the mainland," said Parvati angrily as she noted one of the human guards approaching, "Get this excuse of duelist out of my sight," she said to the man.

A few minutes Parvati was still trying to reign in her temper, "I cannot believe that jerk," she muttered. "Even when we first met for all his flaws Ranma at least had a code of honor he followed and a deep desire to help others. Weevil was a bigger jerk than my brother ever could be and nothing to off set that fact."

"Don't let Weevil get to you, Parvati. He only cared for the prestige he got from winning no matter how he did it," said Joey.

Parvati chuckled, "In short he was a selfish little twit."

"You got that right. Now let's see about finding somebody decent to duel with."

---------------------------------

"You want to duel for half of our star chips, Contra?" asked Mai.

"Yes, Mai. The eight I already have puts me at an advantage. You have four. Given the uniqueness of my deck I believe it is only fair. Besides I only need two more to enter the Castle," said Contra. 'There is no way she could know that I simply went to several timelines and obtained the star chips from when a guard threw them away into the ocean and that she is my first real duel.' thought Contra aka Paradox.

Mai considered the offer and nodded as the arena surfaced, "Standard Tournament rules then, Contra."

Paradox nodded, "8000 life points. Four star chips for two," she said as she and Mai drew their five cards.

"You go first," said Mai not even looking at the cards she drew.

'I knew from the timelines I got the star chips from she was good but she is a little cocky to let me go first without even looking at her cards.' thought Paradox as she drew her first card and smiled at what it was. "I play Mysterious Puppeteer in defense more and these two cards face down. That ends my turn."

Mai nodded drawing another card without looking at closed her eyes and put her hands over her cards, 'What is she doing? I sensed no magic about her and saw nothing in the other timelines to suggest she had any kind of mental powers.' thought Paradox. Opening her eyes Mai smiled "I play this card face down and Harpie Lady in attack mode" Mai said flipping one of the cards and blinked as Paradox's life points increased to 8500. "What just happened?" Mai asked.

"Mysterious Puppeteer is one of the new cards. It gives me 500 life points for each monster summoned to the field by either player," said Paradox as she thought 'I knew I should have gone further back and watched the duels before those chips were thrown into the ocean. Right now the only thing keeping Mai from turning my Mysterious Puppeteer into Harpie Lady kibble is that in defense mode my Sojan field offsets her Mountain field bonus and I have a face down card. However I doubt that is going to last long. I better make the most of him while he is still out there.' thought Paradox as she drew her next card and flipped over one of the face down cards saying, "It's a real barrel of laughs with this trap card, Ultimate Offering. For 500 life points each I can do one extra normal summons, but thanks to Mysterious Puppeteer each additional summoned monster gives me 500 life points so each extra summons is actually free. This combo is a real laugh riot when you draw something like this card, Pot of Greed," finished Paradox as she put the card down and drew two more cards bringing her hand back up to five cards. "I summon Beaver Warrior in defense mode and use Ultimate Offering to summon Wall of Illusion and Green Phantom King in defense mode. That ends my turn and puts me at 9000 life points."

Mai frowned at the card she just drew. The more monsters that they both summoned the more life points her opponent got. The obvious solution was to take out Mysterious Puppeteer but with a face down card she could not just blindly attack. "I equip Harpy Lady with cyber shield and play these two cards face down."

"If I might ask why do you duel, Mai?" asked Paradox as she drew her next card.

Mai smiled, "For the prize money of course. To be able to get all the things I want without really working."

Paradox frowned looking at her card, "I see. That sounds like a very shallow reason to me. I duel not for the money or title but for my subjects; regardless of if I win or loose they will be the winners," Paradox then said "I tribute Beaver Warrior and Green Phantom King to set this level 7 monster and use the 500 life points to tribute Mysterious Puppeteer and Wall of Illusion to set this level 7 monster."

Mai frowned, this was getting serious. She drew a card and said "I play this face down and use Elegant Egotist to special summon Haprie Sisters in addition to my Harpie Lady already on the field.

Paradox pulled another card and smiled, "I have to admit Mai that the name I gave you is a play on the one I normally use. Contra Dickson is a corruption of the word contradiction which is a synonym for Paradox. The nice thing about being a time traveler is any card even unique ones can be in your deck. By the way you should feel honored Mai your harpies are about to get turned into feather dusters by a combination of the favorite cards of the three best duelists there ever were," Paradox said as she played the card she had just drawn and turned the other cards over.

In the Castle Pegasus was talking to Mokuba who was still a little out of it at finding just who they thought Wiseman had been. Suddenly a buzzer alarm went off. "What's going on?" asked Mokuba.

"Since that time traveling lunatic was trying to blackmail Yugi and his friend Joey into letting her have a Shadow Game with their friend Tea I thought it would be wise to set my monitoring system to look for any unusual cards and we just hit the mother load," said Pegasus as he punched up a dueling arena screen. "Good heavens. It looks like that megalomanic is using our own decks against us!" exclaimed Pegasus pointing to the screen, "The Dark Magician from Yugi's deck, the Blue Eyes White Dragon from your brother's deck and Toon World from mine," Pegasus then gave a rich deep laugh, "That combo may have been near unbeatable under the old rules but if this Mai Valentine is as good as I have heard we are about to watch Paradox get slapped around thanks to the new rules and cards."

Back at the field Mai laughed, "You know I was annoyed that Pegasus so drastically changed the rules and added cards to the game like crazy but now I am glad he did. Otherwise I would not be able to wipe out your monsters. Your attack activates my trap card Waboku which nullifies your attacks. Now I use my turn to first activate Despell to take out your Toon World followed by Raigeki which destroys all your monsters, Third I increase the number of my Harpies with another Harpie Sisters. Finally comes Megamorth card I just drew which since your life points are more than mine doubles one of my cyber shielded Harpie Sisters to 4900 and now all my monsters attack taking out your life points."

Paradox just stood there shocked for a moment and then shaking her head sat the four star chips aside, "Well that didn't work the way I planned at all. Looks like I am going to have to go over the alterations Pegasus did in greater detail. Thanks for the lesson in humility, Mai," said Paradox as she stepped down from the platform, "You know, Mai, I have wealth and power that make all the kings of earth look like paupers and it has not made up for the fact that I have outlived my family and all my mortal friends," Paradox said her back to Mai, "There are just somethings that all the power and wealth there is cannot buy," Paradox said sadly as she walked away.

Mai walked over and picked up the star chips. Something in the woman's voice worried her. It was like the voice of someone who had nothing left to live for. No, the pain was greater than that. Mai realized with a shock there had been no life in Paradox's movements during the entire match, no real excitement even when Paradox had thought she was about to win. Paradox was not living in any normal sense of the word; she was existing and she more wealth than Mai could likely dream of. Mai sat down on the edge of the dueling arena and started rethinking her own priorities.

Rethinking priorities and strategies was high on the list of Pegasus's things to do. The Big 5 would of course want Yugi to face Paradox for if Yugi lost they got Kaiba's corporation. They were perfectly willing to kill Seto and once his usefulness to them ended Mokuba as well so that the likely reason for such a duel would be to prevent a young girl from spending the rest of her life as a rape toy for a bunch of lust demons wouldn't bother them in the least. Pegasus shook his head and wondered just who was more the inhuman monster here Paradox or the Big 5 and where his own morals had gone for him to ally himself with such people.

Watching Paradox use a card that could only have come from his brother's deck had snapped Mokuba out of his state of emotional shock and got him worrying about his brother. Pegasus told him that they had let Seto 'find' information that Mokuba was being 'held' here at Duelist Kingdom and that the people behind this thought that Seto was dead. Pegasus had decided that the best way to keep tabs on what Seto was doing was with a ShadowBeing as he really could not trust any of his men. The transformation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki gave Pegasus a lot more flexibility as to what he could have follow Seto and keeping tabs on his was critical to keeping the Big 5 in the dark as to what was really going on.

Back in Tokyo enlightenment was the order of the day. Nabiki and Ling Ling were both bringing the cash hand over fist. Nabiki's only problem was than in about three weeks time she would be back in school relegated to doing smalltime stuff for much of the day; it was hard to go back to that after rubbing shoulders with some of these important people but there was nothing to be done for it.

Meanwhile in the Castle itself Ke Lun and Choukai meanwhile were both carefully monitoring the ShadowRealm Ki that the Castle was pumping into the environment. They had also elected to find out the long term effects of exposure to such Ki by living in the Castle. Other then picking up ShadowRealm Ki neither had noticed any effects but then again they had only been up here for a week. They had agreed that the delegates and staff for the League of OtherWorlds would be housed in the Sazan Palace. Unlike the UN the main function of the League was to give a place where the various nations of the world could come to establish treaties and trade agreements. Eventually far down the line the League would be absorbed into the UN but right now getting the League up to speed was the order of the day.

The biggest problem was that even in the other history most the peoples contacted were of the demon variety. The only sizable group of deities that had been found had actually been gathered together centuries earlier on Olympus by Apollo in his search for his fellow Olympians. And what a ragtag group it was, Loki along with the Norns (Verdandi liked how the Japanese did her as Belldandy) and few minor Norse deities, Ishtar (who made Aphrodite look like a prude) along with her fellow Babylonian the dragon goddess Tiamat (who seemed to continually swing from praising and wanting to hurt some mortal named Gygax), Egyptian deity Set who had become of all things a Taoist and his somewhat confused sister/wife Nephthys, and of course Apollo and what few of his pantheon he could find. The story they all told was much the same - they went on some journey and when they got back their fellow deities were gone. Strangely the lower realms had not been disturbed - King Hades still ruled Tartarus with Persephone (who wondered what happened in the brief six months she had been gone) and Hel still ruled her kingdom while the warriors of Valhalla basically did what they always did - kill each other, get brought back to life, party like a bunch of college kids, and then do it all again the next day. Choukai shook his head. There was no way that this bunch of dysfunctionals was in any condition to represent Earth so it had been back to the idea of getting human representatives without the League turning into a defacto duplicate of the UN and that goal was turning out to be way more complicated than first expected.

---------------------------------

When Ranma had started his training journey his goal had been simple--be the best martial artist of his generation. However Parvati, Pai, and Ranko had shown him that there was far more to that goal than his father had taught him. Simply giving some long important name to what was really a simple technique or using such obvious methods as saying 'Hey look isn't that...' in the middle of a battle as his counterpart did was not going to mean squat against some of the foes they could be facing.

With her time travel stunts Paradox had shown Ranma how one's views filtered the events around them. The Grandmaster and General Yamoto both viewed their worlds as better and grander than this one and yet it was clear there were many flaws they either could not see or worse would not see. The battle of the Valkyrie Warriors had shown that some of the dark views of the Fuhrer had been woven into the Grandmaster's Ganso Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu. General Hitler had warned in his book Unser Kampf that the concept of racially pure superman could be replaced by the continually improving martial artist, the concept of conquest could be replaced by protection, and intolerance toward the different could be replaced by intolerance toward any form of racial, social, or cultural purity. From what Ranma had saw he strongly suspected that Grandmaster walked that path. General Yamoto of the SDK praised the Ganso Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu and its sister Ryu even as much of eastern Asia continued to mired in what seemed like one bloody war after another for 40 years.

No like himself had done they were looking at their respective worlds from their point of view unable or unwilling to step back and see if they were really being objective. If Unser Kampf was any guide of the people Ranma had met General Hitler seemed to be the only one to be able to step back and really look at a situation. Even though the book was a strange mixture of Social Darwinism, Taoism, and Immanuel Kant topped off with a heavy dose of Sun Tzu it was not a hard book to read. In fact the book was so rich as to be read on many different levels: a commentary on Nationalism and ideas in Mein Kampf, an example on how to use martial arts in statecraft, a demonstration of how one person can change a whole society or even a world, and so on. Right now Ranma was thinking about the preface of the book: "In the end my sensei Saotome Ranma didn't stop us from being fanatical or crazy, he just gave us something better to be fanatical and crazy about."

That Paradox was both crazy and fanatical Ranma had no doubt. In reading the source material Ranma felt he had glimpsed on a part of Paradox's mind in the writings of Sun Tzu--'Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you. Probe him and learn where his strength is abundant and where deficient.' While Pegasus saw possible evidence of possible suicidal tendencies in Paradox's actions Ranma saw equally strong evidence of a larger plan. But as with Pegasus's theory Ranma's had a hole and it was also from Sun Tzu--'Subtle and insubstantial, the expert leaves no trace; divinely mysterious, he is inaudible. Thus he is master of his enemy's fate.' Paradox was about as subtle as a mallet upside the head, left traces of her actions all over the place like a puppy that needed to be trained to go on the paper, and was constantly yammering away when she made one of her grand entrances.

Tea had for whatever reason became a target for Paradox and the more Ranma thought about it the more he realized that it just did not fit. In fact Paradox's whole attitude toward the Inners did not make sense. They had been her best friends so why on Earth did she talk occasionally about her subjects having their way with them? Ranma frowned, something about that felt familiar but he couldn't... then his eyes widened as both he and Ranko suddenly realized why it felt so familiar. Ranma rubbed his head as he got up to find Cynthia and her husband Maximilian and tell them his theory. If his theory was right than Paradox's moral compass was more screwed up than Ryoga's sense of direction when he was in warm water form.

---------------------------------

Tea and her friends choice of direction had been rewarded as they had found a dueling arena. However the person there was sitting on the edge of it in deep thought. Tea walked up frowning and kelt next to the blond haired girl, "Hi I'm Tea. Are you all right? You look like you lose a duel," Tea said softly.

The young woman's head snapped up and she smiled sadly, "Hello I am Mai and no I didn't loose a duel but what my opponent said afterwords set me thinking about why I am dueling. I had told her during the duel I wanted the prize money to get all the things I desired without having to worry about working for it. She said that was a very shallow reason and then pulled a combo using the favorite cards of the three best duelists there ever were. When I beat her she said that she had wealth and power beyond all the kings that ever were but none of it could bring her friends or family back. I never heard a voice to full of pain and also so empty at the same time as Paradox's at that moment."

"PARADOX?!" exclaimed Tea and her friends.

"You know her?" asked Mai.

"Unfortunately we have had the displeasure," said Joey angrily, "That time traveling psycho wants Tea to play her in a Shadow Game and was trying to use my sister's failing sight and the soul of Yugi's grandfather as blackmail to get it."

Mai frowned, "Could you explain that in better detail?" she asked. Joey then gave a recap of their encounter with Paradox and the terms of her Shadow Game. By the time Joey was done Mai felt ill and was shaking like a leaf.

"If I had lost then..," she started.

"Then nothing," said a voice that sounded like running water. Turning the group saw Atlant the Aqua Madoor his faceless mask and long clawed hands adding to the imposing nature of his figure caused by his long sea green robe and sea blue hair fluttering in the soft breeze. "Ranma came up with a theory about why Paradox is after you Tea and it is one that makes a frightening amount of sense."

Parvati put her hand to her chin, "Well let's hear it."

"Paradox has lived with lust and another demons for millennia. What if she has forgotten how to properly interact with human beings? What if she has forgotten that while she may like that kind of attention that it is not normal for most women? In short what if Paradox has decided she needs a human friend again?"

"Atlant, just how many times did Ranma get hit in the head before coming up with this?" asked Joey, "Because that has got to be about the nuttiest idea I have ever heard. How could anyone think that being a plaything for a lust demon was normal?"

"How could anyone consider lopping off the heads of captured prisoners as a sport?" countered Parvati scowling.

"Look Parvati just because you have lived 300 years doesn't mean that you or your brother can dredge up examples out of the ancient past to excuse Paradox," fumed Joey.

"We are not trying to excuse anyone," Parvati said angrily, "My brother was simply trying to understand what is motivating Paradox," Parvati then walked over to Joey opening her three eyes her battle aura flaring into existence, "And I would hardly call 40 years ago in a place called Nanping, China the 'ancient past,'" she said glaring at Joey, "Oh that is right in this history you Japanese stuck your heads in the sand and ignored details of your history like that along with the comfort women, Baatan, and the rest."

Joey and Parvati glared at each other until Tea pushed her way in between them using a staff in her fight hand to separate the two. Parvati's expression changed to one of shock, "Tea where did you get that staff?"

Tea looked at Parvati and noticed a staff topped with what looked like a crescent moon in her right hand. Curious she pointed her staff at the ground and her Takuhi suddenly appeared cocking its head in puzzlement. "Parvati, " said Tea softly "what is happening to me?"

Parvati frowned, "I don't know. That was similar to a Sanjiyan Unkara summons but this staff," Parvati said running her hands over it, "is a ShadowRealm construct."

"Parvati, am I still human?" asked Tea frightened.

Parvati backed up in surprise at the question and narrowing her eyes turned her attention to Tea's aura. Parvati frowned as she related what she saw, "Tea, your Ki aura has accumulated a complex mixture of Sanjiyan Unkara and ShadowRealm aspects but it is still human. What worries me is that these changes extend into your very soul and that should not happen at all."

"Which means exactly what?" asked Joey.

Parvati sighed, there were times when she really hated this, "Simply put, while Tea is currently human she is changing. Into what I have no idea."

---------------------------------

Pegasus still had no idea as how he was going to meet the Big 5's request for a third Eliminator to face Yugi. He had briefly considered getting the dark part of Seto Kaiba from the ShadowRealm but given how hard Mokuba was taking the idea that in at least one future he had become Wiseman Pegasus quickly dismissed that idea; Mokuba had enough problems dealing with his own inner darkness without facing the dark part of his brother. Besides thanks to the new cards and rules just as had been true of Panik and the MeiKyuu brothers the dark part of Seto would likely get plastered all over the dueling arena. While Ranma and his sisters had learned a lot about the new version of Duel Monsters they were nowhere in the class of Mai, Rex, or Yugi.

As he walked pass sitting room of his castle Pegasus heard the deep voice of Panik, "Castle of Dark Illusions in defense mode."

"Very good my love but don't forget like you I too thrive in darkness," responded Liltha's amused tone. "I play Witch of the Black Forest in defense mode and the field magic card Yami to add to the fun."

Curious Pegasus looked in and saw Panik and Liltha playing a game of Duel Monsters. One thing they had discovered with the ShadowRealm beings was they had a deep knowledge of Duel Monsters. As a result Ranma had summoned Liltha as an advisor to help Panik improve his skill and Panik and Liltha had hit it off. In fact Pegasus couldn't envision Panik without Liltha at his side. As he watched them play Pegasus nodded; this was something he had not considered--a ShadowRealm being as an Eliminator. Quickly returning to his room Pegasus pulled out Wiseman's deck and one of the sealed Tournament decks. He had the cards and an idea on who to use them. The only problem was how to present the whole thing so the Big 5 would buy it. Then an inspiration hit him and he went to talk his plan over with this wife and Mokuba while they had lunch.

Ukyo looked up from her grill and saw some new customers. Leave it to Ramchan to point out a key flaw with Duelist Kingdom--other than the castle there was not one place to eat on the island. From Pegasus' projections the whole Tournament would at best last a week so her little place was nothing fancy. Pegasus had decided to pay her directly rather than worry about the duelists remembering to bring money to buy food with. But Ukyo was not just here to serve the duelists okonomiyaki, she also kept an eye out for people who did not belong here. Thanks to a laptop computer from Hiroshima Ukyo was also the place of last appeal if a duelist claimed their starchips had been stolen; as the rule book had explained only duels in the arenas counted and as Weevil had demonstrated there would be those that would cheat.

So far Ukyo had granted one appeal and discovered no less than three non registered duelists. Pegasus had decided to let the Tournament weed them out; if they were any good they would get the castle and if not then they were no concern. So far no one matching the description of Conrta Dickson had appeared but then again Paradox could have brought enough food with her that she didn't need to come here to eat. Ukyo smiled as she spotted Parvati, that meant among the group she was with was Yugi and she had some good news. "Hello Parchan, having fun?"

Parvati smiled, "Sure sister. Let me introduce you to my friends Yugi, Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Mai."

"Pleased to meet you, I am Ukyo," Ukyo then pulled out a pencil, "I imagine that you want to share a super size okonomiyaki. By the way Bellerophon says that Paradox has returned what she took."

"Who is Bellerophon?" asked Joey.

"It's a code we all worked out in case the Big 5 had hacked into the Industrial Illusion communication system. In Greek mythology Bellerophon was the person who captured and tamed the flying horse Pegasus," said Parvati.

"In short Bellerophon is really Cynthia Pegasus, right?" asked Tristan.

Parvati responded by smiling and tapping her finger to the side of her nose, "My dear Tristan that is a secret," Parvati said giggling while everyone else groaned, "Seriously you are right, Tristan. However the Big 5 are not our only problem. I am seeing far more ShadowRealm Ki than can be accounted for by the beings we have summoned and I sense no evidence of a rift so that means we have at least another Millennium Item around."

"You mean that Shadi creep is here?" fumed Joey, "Where is he so I can deck him?"

"As far as I know nobody has seen Shadi and from what I saw from being around Yugi and from our encounters it appears that each Millennium Item has a slightly different Ki signature. I have not sensed the type ShadowRealm Ki I senced in Shadi. So we likely have another Millennium Item owner about," said an elderly voice.

Parvati started rubbing her head, "I was afraid of as much, Happosai."

"We may have another problem," said the diminutive martial artist as he hopped into an empty chair. "During the trip here in my dreams I saw what looked like a circus performer. Normally I would have dismissed it but something just does not feel right about the dream."

Parvati frowned and after looking at Happosai for a moment muttered something under her breath. "Someone accessed your dreams, and from what Choukai described what he found examining the body of Mu Si I say it was someone similar to the person who killed Mu Si," Putting her hand to her chin and looking at her friends at the table Parvati said, "May I examine your auras?" After everyone nodded Parvati examined each person's Ki aura. When she got to Mai she frowned again, "Mai has the same evidence in her aura as Happosai does. This raises the ugly possibility that in addition to Paradox and an unknown Millennium Item owner we could have a being that kills through dreams running around loose on this island."

Happosai frowned, "If it is similar to what killed Mu Si than we have a new and worrisome mystery. Why am I and this woman still among the living while Mu Si is dead?"

Parvati thought and quietly said, "In the demon realms there are subgroups of some types that can only get nourishment from a limited portion of what their fellows can. For example there are vampires that can only feed on the blood of warriors or Guki that feed only on certain types of music. Perhaps our dream killer is a particular subtype, in other words it only kills people with certain kinds of dreams. However that is of no use to us because without knowing what the criteria is, everyone on this island is in danger."

"Correction, Parvati. Nearly everyone on this island is in danger. This woman and myself seem to be on the being's leave alone list."

"Point made but I do not like the idea of there being an unknown Millennium Item wandering around this island and its owner doing who knows what. If not for the absence of ShadowRealm Ki in you or Mai I would wonder if our dream killer and unknown Millennium Item owner were one and the same person. If she has not already I want Setsuna to look as far back as she has to and find out just who created these items and for what purpose. If we have that piece of information we may have a better idea on what we are up against."

---------------------------------

Maximilian and Cynthia were wondering if looking for the origin of the Millennium Items had been that good an idea as Setsuna looked horrid as she sat down. "Maximilian, Cynthia what I have to tell you is anything but pleasant," Setsuna said her voice wavering. "Let me begin by explaining how the Ningen No Zou works. When the Sanjiyan Unkara created it they put a little pit of their Ki into it. Each use added more Ki until after centuries of uses the Ningen No Zou became the powerful artifact it is today able to transform one form of energy into other," Setsuna paused and sighing continued, "The Millennium Items were an attempt by those in Ancient Egypt at creating something like a Ningen No Zou. The problem was they were created in part as a response to a possible immediate invasion which means the creator did not have centuries to power up the items and so used something akin to the old activating method of the Kunlun vessels."

Maximilian Pegasus narrowed his right eye, "Kunlun vessels were originally activated by a blood sacrifice."

"If only the method used was so benign," Setsuna said sadly, "This method was more along the lines the methods used by the Aztecs to placate their sun god, Tezcatlipoca."

"My dear God!" said Maximilian Pegasus softly, "You are talking about human sacrifice."

Setsuna nodded grimly, "It gets worse. The entire population of a village called Kuru Eruna was massacred and their remains mixed with the gold used to create the Millennium Items," Setsuna then steepled her hands as both Pegasi turned green, "but here is the weird part; the soldiers proclaimed they were attacking on the orders of Pharaoh Akunamukanon."

"What?! But Setsuna from what Egyptologists know there was no Pharaoh named Akunamukanon!" fumed Maximilian Pegasus recovering a little.

"And they are right," Setsuna said leaning forward, "Every time I tried to scan history for ShadowRealm energy I kept hitting a wall about 1340 BCE near the end of the reign of Amenhotep IV aka Akhenaten. Frustrated I finally decided to use the Time Gates combined with Ningen No Zou to follow the Millennium Items you and Yugi have back though time to the point of their creation. Which is how I found the events I have just related."

Maximilian frowned as his right eye looked down at the table before him, "So are you telling me that the Millennium Items are no more part of this world's history than the Moon Kingdom was?"

Setsuna shook her head, "I only wish that was the case. No the reason I could not see anything was someone had put up a barrier preventing me from sensing the Millennium Items from the timestream. The Pharaoh's name was proclaimed as the solders slaughtered the people so I think that was a ruse to prevent any possible survivors from cursing the Pharaoh as the ancient Egyptians believed a person's name had power. The problem is every time I try to look past that point I run into that blasted temporal wall again. However I was able to see briefly a book used to create the items and it radiated Sanjiyan Unkara magic. I think that the name I caught before the Time Gates flaked out on me was Book of Gods and Demons."

Maximilian tapped his finger on the table, "If this barrier is as powerful as you say..."

"How was I able to break it? In a sense I didn't--rather the combination of the Ningen No Zou and the Time Gates allowed me a punch a narrow hole or "window" if you will in the barrier. And I think that only happened because the Millennium Items are a flawed version of a Ningen No Zou," Setsuna slumped in her chair, "My main problem is figuring out how I break this news to Yugi."

"NO!" Maximilian Pegasus said slamming his hand on the table. "You are not to tell Yugi about this until you have learned more," Maximilian waved his finger at Setsuna, "It is exactly that sort of shortsighted thinking that created Kaiyanwang Paradox and I will not allow you or anyone else to go off half-cocked like some Hollywood cowboy and risk creating something just as dangerous in this timeline."

Setsuna let her head fall to her chest and chuckled, "You are right. Tsukino Usagi was an innocent until my counterpart pushed her over the edge and if we handle this wrong we could turn Yugi into something just as bad. At least Paradox returned Yugi grandfather's soul, which I might add kind of deep sixes your suicide by proxy idea."

"So what exactly can I tell my sister when Yugi is around?" said a voice from behind a curtain.

"Ranma, just how long have you been there?" asked Setsuna putting her head into her hand and shaking it.

"Long enough to understand why there seems to be a human soul in the Gray Dragon Wizard," said Ranma as he moved from behind the curtain.

"Did you say that my new fusion monster has a human soul?!" asked Maximilian in shock.

"Yes, she does," Ranma said frowning as he walked up and put his hands on the table, "at least in part. If not for the example of Skyfeather I would wonder if that is the reason she has self will," Ranma then sat down and the four of them started hammering just what to tell Yugi and how to get the rest of the information to Parvati/Pai.

Meanwhile Mayuan was having her own set of problems. The last thing she remembered had been giving up her soul to create the Blue Eyed White Dragon for the young man who had saved her life. Now here she was in a strange land with even stranger people commanded to protect the young boy named Kaiba Mokuba beside her. As she walked through one of the rooms with Mokuba something caught her eye. On one of the tables was a finely detailed painting with strange writing superimposed on it, but it was the subject of the painting that startled Mayuan; while he was wearing strange clothes it was definitely the young man who had saved her life.

"That is my brother Seto," said Mokuba. "I will be glad when he gets here and we can stop playing this cloak and dagger game with the Big 5."

"He is your brother?" asked Mayuan.

"Yes. Maximilian Pegasus says the Big 5 are getting nervous and we need a display of an Eliminator trying to defeat Yugi while Seto makes his way here to distract them. He has decided that you will be that Eliminator and that you will make your dueling deck from these," Mokuba as he gestured to a sealed deck and Wiseman's deck. As Mayuan sat down the buzzer alarm went off and the lights flickered. Frowning Mokuba ran over to a table and pushed a button on a box. "Maximilian Pegasus, what is Paradox up to now?"

"It's not Paradox. Someone else just used one of the God cards in a duel," came a worried voice from the box.

"Pegasus, just what are the God cards?"

"The God cards are three unique cards without which the game is not complete. In a way the God cards are the key that unlocks the full power of the Millennium Items and as such they were heavily protected. In fact I had several researchers die or go insane in their efforts to recreate the blasted things. I finally did recreate them but then I had the granddaddy of nightmares and decided to scatter them around Egypt," said the voice from the box which was followed by a female voice that said "You created overly powered cards and then let them back out into the world? Maximilian Pegasus no baka."

Mokuba shook his head, "Maximilian, the changes you have done to the game. Did they change the power of the God cards."

A laugh emanated from the box, "Certainly. But your guard is possibly the single most powerful thing against the God cards. That is why I gave her the name I did. But even without her card Wiseman's deck combined with the sealed deck I have provided has nearly everything she needs to pound the stuffing out of any of the God cards."

"Nearly everything?" frowned Mokuba, "What is it missing?"

"The same thing Paradox's deck was missing. You can have the best designed deck in the world but if you don't have good skill you cannot use the deck to its full potential. If we are lucky it may take a while for Paradox to understand that. Otherwise even with the new rules Yugi is going to have problems because part of his deck makes up hers."

Elsewhere Ishtar Isis was watching Yugi duel a boy named Maco with interest. 'Maximilian Pegasus' alterations have totally changed the way the game works.' she thought.

"The sea demands respect," said Maco as he played his Giant Jellyfish.

"Well said. It is a rare privilege to meet someone who truly understands my element," said the watery voice of Atlant.

Isis suppressed a shutter. Going to the ShadowRealm was one thing; bringing beings from it to this world was something else. Until the situation with the League of OtherWorlds she would have not considered such a thing possible. Now here she was watching a normal duel with a Aqua Madoor standing beside her. She watched as Yugi used Despell on his own Mystical Moon card beaching Maco's creatures and winning the duel. Maco took it in stride and Atlant offered any help he could in finding the boy's father who had disappeared in a storm years ago. Isis nervously fingered her torque as Parvati and Joey talked, "Exciting Duel wasn't it, Joey?"

"Exciting and at times a little nerve wracking," said Joey as Parvati laughed.

"When you live forever boredom is a real problem and I must say that I prefer nerve wracking to boring any day of the week."

"Yeh, yeh your people being used as the foundation of the deities of the world must have made things real boring," said Joey.

Parvati shook her head smiling, "I will admit that some of us likely played on others viewing us as deities or demons to the hilt but I was never one of those. Quite frankly the first 50 years of people either running away screaming or falling down in worship whenever I opened our third eye was annoying at best. At least I can mingle with mortals, there are some of us that can't. For example, if the physical descriptions are correct then of my Egyptian brethren only Isis didn't I believe the phase is 'stick out like a sore thumb'."

"I guess I am luckily that whatever I am turning into at least looks human," said Tea sadly, "It would be hard for be to continue to fit in if I had the head of an animal or green skin or something like that."

"Green skin? Tea, Parvati is a Sanjiyan Unkara not a Namik out of DrazonBall Z," said Tristan half jokingly.

Parvati laughed, "Tea is talking about my cousin Osiris, Tristan. According to the descriptions the Egyptians gave he did have green skin though in all other respects he simply looked like an athletic human."

"Tea we're not going to stop being your friends just because you are changing into something else," said Yugi.

"I don't think that is what is worrying her. Is it Tea?" asked Parvati frowning.

"No it isn't," said Tea sadness in her eyes, "What if whatever I am turning into has a much longer lifespan then humans normally do? Will I see you and any other human friends around me grow old and die before my eyes?" Tea said looking at Yugi.

"I know what you are going through, Tea believe me," said Parvati solemnly, "It is ironic that so many people want to be immortal but that is because most never really think it through. Eventually you would run out of new things to do and wind up existing rather than living. I think that is why my people created the Ningen No Zou--as a way to get out of the immortality they were born with."

"Parvati, look, there is Mokuba with two duel monsters and Ranma. I recognize the Harpie Lady beside him but what is the other monster?"

Parvati rubbed her jaw, "I have no idea, Joey. I have never seen that one before. Obviously female. Dressed like the Dark Magician but those wings denote her as some sort of dragon," Parvati then smiled, "Look at her eyes; she is like Skyfeather totally self willed," Walking up to the ShadowBeing Parvati bowed slightly "Excuse me. My friends and I were wondering what you were."

The dragonoid smiled, "I am the Gray Dragon Wizardess, Mayuan," Mayuan then looked at Yugi, "This is the one who beat your brother in a duel?"

"Yes, he is," Mokuba said.

"I am intrigued in your skills, young one and I want to see how good mine are as well. Shall we?" Mayuan said gesturing to the arena behind her.

Joey blinked, "But you are a Duel Monster!"

Parvati shook her head, "Actually the correct term is ShadowBeing, Joey,"

Mayuan smiled, "I sense that what you say is correct. Which should make our duel that much interesting. "

Dark Yugi surfaced, "I accept."

"Don't underestimate her Yugi," warned Ranma as the two players go into position. "Pegasus got this idea when he saw Liltha and Panik practicing. Mayuan has a natural aptitude for the game that more than makes up for her lack of skill."

"Very true, Ranma, but Yugi has faced the deck I am using before though I have made some improvements," Mayuan said smiling.

Ranma watched the duel while Ranko studied Yugi's aura as he dueled Mayuan. 'Thanks to the information Setsuna provided I can now make sense of Yugi's aura. It is in fact two auras, each representing a different soul.' Ranko thought to Ranma.

'The second soul being in the puzzle?' asked Ranma mentally.

'Yes. Ouch, Sagi the Dark Clown just took a bite out of Yugi's life points.' commented Ranko.

'True but Mayuan made a mistake in using a combination of the Negative energy generator and Yami to increase Sagi's attack strength. Yugi's strongest cards are both increased by Yami which includes his favorite, the Dark Magician.' Ranma smiled slightly, 'Yugi likely suspects whose deck Mayuan is using but until she actually uses one of the three cards unique to it he cannot be sure.'

'That was cute. Using Soul Exchange allowed Yugi to get Summoned Skull on the field and Sagi off of it. Had to give up an attack to do it though.'

"Well played, you're as good as Mokuba indicated," Mayuan said as she drew another card, "I play the magic card The Flute of Dragon Summoning which allows me to special summon up to two dragon cards from my hand and I use it to summon forth two Blue Eyed White Dragons."

"What?!" yelled Joey, "That means that is Kaiba's deck!"

Yugi drew a card and smiled, "Actually it would be more accurate to say that is Wiseman's deck, but even with the new cards and rules it is still vulnerable to Swords of Revealing Light."

Mayuan pulled a card from her deck chuckled, "Quite true, Yugi; but I can still set monsters some of which have powerful flip effects. I play this face down and end my turn."

Yugi nodded and drew another card, "You are correct that many of the new cards Pegasus added were effect monsters but he also added new spell and trap cards as well. I play these two face down."

Mayuan nodded as she looked at her new card, "Yes including this card," she said showing it to Yugi.

"Ground Collapse!" exclaimed Yugi frowning.

"Huh? What does that card do?" asked Joey.

"It eliminates two monster zones from being used. That means that as long as it is out there Yugi can only summon three monsters total," said Parvati.

Yugi smiled, "I activate Massager of Peace and play Queen's Double in attack mode."

"My master would have been frustrated if that combo had existed when you dueled him for tearing up your grandfather's Blue Eyes White Dragon. Messager of Peace prevents all monsters with an attack of 1500 or higher from attacking and Queen's Double is one of the few monsters that can attack life points directly. It is nearly as bad as having a Crush Card. Fortunately I made additions to his deck."

Ranma studied the rest of the duel as Yugi and Mayuan traded pleasantries. It was certainly a different dueling method than Panik or the MeiKyuu brothers used and Ranma found it more to his liking. Panik's posturing annoyed him and the MeiKyuu brothers habit of talking in rhyme drove him and Ranko nuts. Ranma knew from Liltha training Panik that a ShadowRealm being's knowledge of the game was strongest in their type and attribute. Mayuan was a dragon/spellcaster with both the light and dark attribute which gave her the widest amount of innate knowledge in the game of any single monster. Ironically while the 'Heart of the Cards' helped Yugi it had from what he was seeing had hindered Mayuan. Ranma nodded, from what he had seen Seto/Wiseman's deck had been built around the philosophy of raw power; get enough power over your opponent on the field and then pound the stuffings out of them. Mayuan had expanded Wiseman's deck along those same lines and it was hurting her.

Ranko mentally chuckled 'Yugi just played Mysterious Puppeteer. I think that is going to be one popular monster.'

Ranma nodded recalling that when Pegasus had brought up the record of Paradox's duel it had showed she had played that card as well. Given the access to all the timelines Paradox had it was unclear just when she had gotten the three decks she had had made to make her own. She seemed to know about some of the new cards but not others. Ranma than noticed Yugi putting Mask of Accursed on each of the Blue Eyes Dragons still out. 'Ouch, that means she is losing 1000 life points until she can get rid of those things.' mentally commented.

"You are good, Yugi but time to end this. I activate the Trap card Imperial Order," said Mayuan flipping over a card.

"My masks and Massager of Peace!" exclaimed Yugi as the hologram images broke up, "What have you done?" Yugi demanded.

"Imperial Order neutralizes all spell cards. As long as I can pay 700 life points neither one of us can play any kind of magic card," Mayuan then leaned forward and yelled, "Let's clear the field of those annoying monsters shall we? Blue Eyes White Lightning attack!"

Yugi smiled, "You are not the only one with trap cards. Mirror Force!"

"My Blue eyes!" yelled Mayuan as the lightning attack came back and blasted them from the field.

"Now to truly end this, I tribute my face down card for another Summon Skull and attack you with both which reduces your life points to zero."

Mayuan nodded, "Very good, Yugi. You have won and shown that your defeat of my master the first time was not a fluke but a testament to your skill."

Dark Yugi frowned, "You keep referring to Seto as your master. But he could not be the one who summoned you."

"Seto. Such a strange name my master now uses in an equally strange land," said Mayuan wistfully, "The truth is Yugi that like you I was born human but I was strange looking by the standards of my people and when a illness struck I was blamed. Seto saved me from being stoned to death. Later I found that my Ka and Ba would create a powerful guardian for him. It was the least I could do in repaying his kindness to offer my life and soul to form his guardian the Blue Eyes White Dragon," Mayuan then opened her wings, "Thanks to the magician called Pegasus I have been given an even more powerful guardian form to protect my master's brother Mokuba."

"Ka and Ba? Are those something like Ki?" asked Parvati puzzled.

"It is more along the lines of Hun and Po', sis. Only in the ancient Egyptians concept has what we call the soul broken up into seven parts," said Ranma his chin resting on his hand, "If you are interested sisters I believe Pegasus can fill you on the details and you can likely make more sence out of it than I could."

Parvati nodded, "Perhaps that is a good idea. I have been out of touch for a while and I imagine that Pegasus has some new information for me. Besides the Big 5 might start getting edgy if I stay with Yugi too long."

"The Big 5. That is your term for those who plot against my master," said Mayuan her voice and eyes cold. Turning toward Ranma she cocked her head to one side, "You said you are each other's Wu. What is a Wu?"

Parvati smiled, "Very simply put a Wu is a type of guardian. Different from you obviously but a guardian none the less."

"My sister and you can compare details on the way back to Pegasus'... palace," said Ranma chuckling.

Parvati nodded interested in her brother's choice of words, "Come Mayuan. We can exchange some ideas and knowledge."

Ranma smiled as Parvati, Mayuan, and Mokuba left talking to each other. Parvati was becoming less distant less cold toward others regardless of their mortal status. "I must say that was an interesting duel. I will be glad when Seto gets here and we can focus on dealing with the Big 5 rather than doing this smoke and mirrors stuff."

---------------------------------

CereCere was watching from a distance as she saw two duelists finish their duel. She had figured out that the dreams these people had revolved around this contest. CereCere could not believe her luck; the mortal humans would do her work for her. All she need to wait until the finalists entered the Castle and go through their dreams. Best of all the duelists thought she was something called a ShadowRealm being and she pretty much had full run of the island. CereCere looked into the sky and nodded. It would be a while before it got dark; more than enough time to see some more duelists and their dream mirrors eliminated.

Ranma watched as the run set in the west frowning. Ukyo little restaurant closed at sunset for the simple reason that aside from the arenas and Castle there were no lights on the island. It was easy enough to get turned around on the island in the day time so going any long distance at night was definitely not a good idea. Of course Ranma was wondering if this whole idea of playing around with the Big 5 and Paradox was a good idea. Not only did they have them to contend with but it seemed as if a whole bunch of other problems had come out of the woodwork. That the dream killer was here was bad enough and despite the presence of one of the three God card keys they had decided to get out every ShadowRealm being related to dreams or protection they had. Unfortunately they had worked from the assumption that there had only been one additional Millennium Item on the island. The way the ShadowRealm Ki of the island had rapidly spiraled up indicated that they in all likelihood had no less than five Millennium Items on the island. Things were rapidly spinning out of control and all they had was the vaguest idea what would happen if it all hit the fan.

His own life being out of control he could handle; this was different and dangerous. Misused the Ningen No Zou could destroy the world and since the Millennium Items were a flawed attempt at creating a Ningen No Zou the same applied to them. Of course Ranma had figured out that Parvati had spoken figuratively; for all its power the Ningen No Zou simply did not have the ability to turn the Earth into another asteroid belt like Sailor Saturn could. No the real danger from the Ningen No Zou was its ability to permanently breach the barriers between Inner Worlds. Without those barriers the people of Earth would be at the mercy of beings from other realities some of whom were not careful on how they treated their 'toys'.

Ranma shook his head and started thinking about the minor issue of what the little group was going to eat in the evening. The only one who brought anything was Tristan and his brainstorm had been a book about getting food from nature. That was fine provided you had enough light to go and find food. Then there was the little issue of what kind of food the book provided. Even with his Wu/Sanjiyan Unkara ability to eat nearly anything the thought of dining on earthworms was not high on his list of things to do. Ranma walked back to the group and they set down trying to figure out what to do.

While they talked Mai showed up. Turned out the girl had planned better than most of the other duelists and brought her own supplies. "Well I am glad somebody else planned ahead," commented Ranma as he went with Yugi to gather firewood.

Mai looked down at Tea, "You know there is a portable shower set up right over there. Just because you hang out with those boys doesn't mean you have to smell like them."

"You know Mai that sounds like something I would say. About as subtle as fishing with dynamite," said Ranma as he started breaking up the log he had brought.

"Don't you think you over did the firewood, Ranma?" asked Tea.

"Possibly but one thing I learned being around Pops is that you could never have too much of anything. Especially as he tended to steal anything that wasn't nailed down and then look around for a crowbar to pry up the stuff that was," Ranma paused and looked out into the darkness around them. "Skyfeather, what brings you out here?" Ranma asked casually.

The Harpie Lady walked into the clearing, "Skyfeather wanted to see how Tea doing. Like fellows and yet not like them. Very confusing," Skyfeather then walked up to Mai and smiled, "You specialize in our type of ShadowBeing; Skyfeather impressed by your skill."

Mai was taken aback. It was one thing to see her favorite card as a hologram but this Harpie Lady was a being of well flesh and blood. Yet Mai did not feel afraid for some reason. Reaching out she touched Skyfeather's wing. "Mai like Skyfeather's plumage? Sparring with Ranma make Skyfeather stronger than other Harpie Ladies. Nearly level 5," Skyfeather said cooing softly as Mai ran her fingers through the feathers of Skyfeather's wing. Mai had long considered friends as being an impediment to her winning duels but now she was not so sure. Paradox had seemed so empty and Skyfeather on the other hand so full of life. While Mai was sorting out her thoughts she noticed the sound of a helicopter.

"I should have known. That guy has an ego nearly as big as mine use to be and I should have figured he'd be this flamboyant," sighed Ranma shaking his head as the copter settled down in a clearing. The young man that stepped out was an older version of the picture he had seen in the locket from Wiseman's body. "Hello Seto Kiaba. Bout time you got here, what kept you?" quipped Ranma.

Seto narrowed his eyes, "You are Saotome Ranma the martial artist who found a way to cause Duel Monsters to appear in the real world."

Ranma shook his head, "Actually Kaiba the only reason that worked at all was due to the fact that Duel Monsters is based on something called the Shadow Games created some 3000 years ago, Pegasus-sama is a walking storehouse of ShadowRealm Ki thanks to his Millennium Eye, that energy went into the cards he handled, and my martial arts Ki techniques were able to activate that Ki," Ranma pulled out his dueling deck, "Without ShadowRealm Ki and a method of awakening it this is simply a deck of cards."

"Well regardless of how it is done I am not going to let anything get in my way," said Seto.

"Calm down Kaiba," said Ranma briskly, "I know that right now Pegasus is high on your 'who I want to introduce to Mr. Pain' list but this was the easiest way to minimize the damage from events he had originally set in motion," Ranma nervously scratched his head, "I fully admit that it was likely on par with some of Pop's original ideas when he was training me but we didn't exactly have time to come up with something better."

"Ranma is right," said a female voice. Everyone turned and was greeted by the figure of Cynthia Pegasus, "Just as you would go to any lengths to protect your brother my husband was willing to go to any lengths to bring me back from the dead."

Seto stepped back slightly, "Bring you back from the dead?"

Cynthia nodded, "From what he was told the Millennium Items combined with your hologramic technology would have been able to bring me back. Thankfully for all of us another method was found. Though" Cynthia continued looking at her left hand "there have not been some complications."

Ranma frowned, "I take it your are not talking about our Big 5 Kiaba Corporation problem."

"No I am not," Cynthia said as she walked up to a tree and punched it. Ranma and the others blinked as her arm went deep into the wood. "How bad?" asked Ranma.

"Not as bad as it could be. I am just incredible strong. You are going to have to train my husband soon Ranma otherwise we are going to have make some adjustments to our... love life," Cynthia said blushing red as a beet as she pulled her hand from the tree.

"I'll see what I can do once we have dealt with the Big 5," said Ranma angrily, "Those maniacs are way too ruthless for my tastes and the sooner we shut them down the better."

Cynthia nodded extending her hand "Come Kaiba-san. It's time to get you reunited with your brother and afterward my husband can go over just what your Big 5 were planning. Besides," Cynthia smiled, "the ShadowRealm being that is now guarding your brother wants to meet you."

Ranma watched as Seto and Cynthia walked in the direction of the Castle, "Seto reminds me of the way Pops raised me. Never depend on anyone but yourself. Don't show your emotions as it is a sign of weakness. I suspect that to some degree his childhood was as messed up as mine was," Ranma then shook his head, "Aggh, enough of that. Tea why don't you and Mai clean up while I help the outdoorsmen here heat up the food."

Several minutes later Mai was watching the little group cook while Tea got ready to shower. Beside her stood Skyfeather, "Ranma live on road with father for years. Use to ruffing it. Should be good food," Skyfeather said turning her attention to Mai. "Ranma said father only focused on making him good fighter. Father not allow Ranma to improve other skills. Skyfeather follow Ranma's advice; do other things beside duels. Skyfeather would like to be Mai's friend."

Mai looked into Skyfeather's green eyes. There was an eagerness to them and yet a tinge of loneliness which finally caused Mai to made up her mind. "I would be honored to call you my friend, Skyfeather."

Skyfeather smiled and gently hugged Mai cooing. Mai stroked Skyfeather's long red hair thinking about how it smelled like fresh lilies. 'Here I thought that being a duelist would mean forgetting about being friends with any fellow duelist. Now here I am friends with someone who is more a duelist than even the great Seto Kaiba could even dream of.'

"Eeepp," came Tea's voice from the shower

"What is it?" asked Mai breaking out of Skyfeather's hug.

"I hear rustling out there," said Tea covering herself with the towel Mai had provided.

Poking her head through the back part of the shower Mai looked into the inky darkness, "Well there is no one there now," she said.

Skyfeather closed her eyes and sniffed the air, "Just because Mai not see them does not mean they are gone," Skyfeather opened her eyes and moved away from the shower to one of the edges of the camp. "Come out, whoever you are. Skyfeather can smell you even if she cannot see you."

From the inky darkness stepped a young boy with white hair his eyes showing a kind of sadness. "Hey, its Bakura. And here I thought we might have something to worry about," said Joey.

Everyone finally sat down to eat. "So Mai, how many star ships do you have? Eight or nine?" asked Yugi.

"Don't think you can fool me with that nice guy routine, Yugi," said Mai sharply. "When we get to the Castle it is going to be every duelist for themself."

"Mai," said Ranma an edge to his voice, "That sounds like something my father would have said and I can tell you personally from 10 years of living that way it stinks. Friendships, social skills, and showing emotions were the short list of distractions in my father's eyes and anything that distracted from the Art was to be avoided or discouraged. If not for a fluke in this history I would have been little more than a living weapon. There are some advantages to sharing your body and mind with another person," Ranma chuckled tapping his head, "While she can be quite naive at times, even my sister Pai has no misgivings about this Duelist Kingdom Tournament. Just because I am good friends with Pegasus doesn't mean he will hold back in a duel with me any more than my friends Ryoga or Akane would hold back in a sparing match. I imagine Yugi didn't hold back when he was teaching you, Joey did he?"

"You got that right. But if he and his grandfather hadn't been tough I would not have the skills I do," said Joey.

"Exactly my point. Neo-Queen Serenity tried to make a perfect world in one particular 21st century by removing everyone's evil. She seemed to have forgotten that being a true friend means that you accept a person's bad points along with the good," Ranma sighed, "Which is partly why I think Paradox is behaving like she is. She is exaggerating her bad points in an effort to drive away anyone who would even think about becoming her friend because I think deep down she realizes that her moral compass is totally messed up from her living with lust demons for centuries on end."

"Personally I think the simpler explanation is that Paradox is just plain nuts," commented Joey.

"You know why don't we have a game not for starchips but some fun," said Bakura, "and to make it all like we are playing why doesn't Yugi use our favorite cards.

"Sounds like a plan," commented Ranma holding up a green card with picture of a martial artist on it, "Especially as Pegasus and I wanted to do some more field testing of my favorite card the Wily Sensei which I tried to base on a more honorable version of Pops."

"Well my favorite card is Cyber Commander," said Tristan.

"Nothing beats Flaming Swordsman," said Joey acting like he was cutting into something with a sword.

"Dark Magician hands down," said Yugi.

"Obviously Harpie Lady," smiled Mai as Skyfeather nodded.

"Magician of Fate," said Tea as she thought 'especially as it seems that I can some how summon her staff.'

"And I add my favorite card Change of Heart."

Everyone watched as their favorite card were put into Yugi's deck. "There is a little something I want to share with you all but Yugi especially," said Bakura as she he held he hands in front of him chanting something.

"I don't like this," commented Joey as something appeared around Bakura's neck. "That's a Millennium Item," said Yugi as Bakura looked up, "Yes it is and now to take us to the ShadowRealm."

Once in the ShadowRealm everyone except Skyfeather collapsed. Skyfeather started shaking Mai trying to wake her up as Bakura walked over to Yugi and reached down to get the Millennium Puzzle. But before he got far he found himself staring into the eyes of a very pissed off Ranma. "Alright mind explaining just what the blazes you think your are doing?"

"Claiming the Millennium Puzzle," said Bakura a little unnerved at the fact that Ranma was up and about.

"If you want my Puzzle that bad you are going to have to play me for it. As well as release my friends," said Dark Yugi.

"I agree to your silly request. But I should tell you this is a Shadow Game you cannot win," said Bakura with a wicked gleam in his eye.

---------------------------------

[Author's note: In the anime unlike the actual card game Elegant Egotist is a continual rather than normal magic card, cyber shield is used by all the same monsters, and Toons are immune from direct attack as long as Toon World is out on the field.