We do not own "Yu-Gi-Oh!" nor any of its characters.

This Chapter is rated M (not for children). Please continue on with caution.

"YugiOh A Time to Every Purpose"

Act II: Egypt

Chapter 28

Deep within the underground sanctuary shrouded in total darkness, save for one wick on an ornate golden candelabra...

"Do you believe in g-g-ghosts, Ryou?" A young girl's usually snobbish, know-it-all voice was small and slight within the darkened chamber, almost as small and slight as her petite frame.

"Spirits, you mean? Well, I must say, I do believe I've had dealings with one or two in the past myself, though I don't always recall how or what happened in those situations. And yet, I am a believer that there are otherworldly forces quite beyond our comprehension out there."

Gulp...That didn't help...

Rebecca Hawkins, a college graduate with a bachelor's degree in just about anything there was; a highly respected teacher and noted scientist at such an early age was definitely not the squeamish type whatsoever. She based her theorems on science and reality in logic and-

"EEK! Did you hear that, Ryou?" Rebecca's little body leaps up from the corner she and her lavender-haired companion were huddled alone together, close to the singular light in the room. (Not to mention the fact that the two of them were the only ones left conscious amidst the sea of fainted, passed out bodies of their friends. That was an eerie fact that both Ryou Bakura and Rebecca Hawkins had been trying hard to ignore.)

Dark, dank, and smelly corridors and frightening shadows cast by the dimming candlelight bounced on the ancient Egyptian statues and carvings on the walls, accompanied by the empty, soulless bodies-leaning and littered across the ground. The silence in the crowded room was almost deafening. And it all worked together to leave them both with a macabre taste in their dried lip mouths of something terrible to come...

"Did I hear what, Miss Rebecca?" Ryou whispers to hear in urgent, English tones. His own fear, though a bit abated by her trembling little body being thrown into his arms suddenly, at the sharp sound of a creaking doorway opening, and then the staccato sound of echoing footsteps resounding in both their keenly listening ears, as they clutch each other tightly. Neither one quite realized that they were embracing in such intimate, close quarters, for the fear that gripped them...

"That!" Rebecca hisses, like a frightened child in his arms, pressing even tighter against him. She soon buries her head into his chest, too overwhelmed by her own pounding heart in her ears, and hearing his, as the footsteps grow, ever nearer.

Gulp...

"Yes, I hear it now. Someone is coming." Ryou Bakura was, by no means, a girly man, nor a chicken, but he wasn't exactly Mr. Tough Guy either. But for this sweet girl, he would try to be. For Miss Rebecca he could do anything-even be someone bold and adventurous that he was not.

For Miss Rebecca's sake, I must do this!

"Who goes there?" In a precise, clipped voice (that only cracked once) Ryou orders a reply in his most commanding voice, as he stands to his full, five-foot-seven height, as if defying any wandering spirit from descending upon he and the young lady he was protectively holding to him in his arms. Rebecca felt completely under his control as Ryou lifted her crouching body up off the ground they were huddled in, as if she was weightless.

Oh, Ryou, you're wonderful!

Rebecca can't help this stray thought from entering her scared-silly consciousness. She gave her lavender haired crusader a pair of adoring eyes at his fiercely determined, but still so cute, face barking orders.

It was a look that the first intruder to enter the darkened sanctuary is also aware of, for it was the young girl in question's sole living guardian. Her own grandfather watched his own little Rebecca give some young man who was unknown to him, her most puppy dog love face in the darkness they were embraced in.

"Rebecca? What are you doing...here?" Professor Hawkins queries of his protege genius of a granddaughter. He was none too certain at this moment if he had educated the teenager correctly in some fields other than her blindingly quick climbed ladder into grown up studies...

"Gramps? That's my grandpa, Ryou!" Rebecca sings out happily, extricating herself from one man's embrace into another, more familial one. She merrily skipped over Yugi Motou's fainted body in the path to her 'Gramps.'

The symbolism in which the professor in Professor Hawkins pushes aside, as the flashlight he was carrying for their little group is redirected from Ryou's shielded-eyed face to scan the rest of the room, only to find many disturbing sights, littered across the floor, starting with Yugi Motou's prone figure.

"Yugi!" Grandpa Motou rushes to Yugi's side. He lifts both Yugi and Tea's intertwined hands, to check their pulses. "Thank Heavens! They're alive!" Grandpa announces, relieved.

"It's just as if they're all experiencing some kind of mass catatonic unconsciousness. It's weird." Karen comments as she checks pulse after pulse, once they had set the lantern up to enlighten a good part of the chamber. She marvels at the tall body of a man still holding a pretty little red-head in his arms, leaning against the far wall. Even in unconsciousness, he managed to still embrace the girl he obviously cared about.

"Hold on a minute...this is...Maximillion Pegasus!" The silver haired face of that particular man was etched on Grandpa's memory from past experience; and Solomon Motou was more than surprised to see his mug amongst the usual group of friends. Seto Kaiba, perhaps-the young man often joined Yugi's group of friends, more of late, now that he had this blossoming relationship with Joey Wheeler's cute little sister.

But rich, multi-million-dollar gaming tycoon, Maximillion Pegasus? This required further investigation. He had a bone or two to pick with the one-eyed loony.

"What's this? Arthur! He has-!" Grandpa had 'unintentionally' kicked Pegasus' arm out of his way clumsily.

Hey! An older man is allowed to kick a younger man, even when he's down! Especially if he's a mean younger man, anyway!

In doing so, he caused the man's head to tilt, his silver hair that usually obscured his face was flopped aside to reveal-

"The Millennium Eye! Yes, Solomon, if you would observe, many of these individuals are in possession of the Millennium Items that we believed were lost and buried beneath the rubble of the museum, under Ishizu Ishtar's care, three years ago."

"But...how?" Grandpa was well aware of his and his grandson's role in these mysterious Items of great power. He was aware of the danger and trouble that puzzle he brought home from his own archaeological expedition as a younger man had brought on his grandson, Yugi.

But at the same time, he was also aware of the bonded friendship between Yugi and that ancient Pharaoh that had changed the course of his timid and friendless grandson's life.

"If it's all right with you, Sirs, I believe I can explain...to the best of my ability, anyhow." Ryou Bakura's kind and modest voice was a reassurance to Professor Hawkins, and his polished English accent helped, too. Hawkins was proud of his own British roots.

But there was something else about those brown eyes of his...

"Oh, and do forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Ryou Bakura-"

"Bakura! You're Zane Bakura's boy, aren't you? Of course! The resemblance is unmistakable!" Professor Hawkins was referring to one of his fellow archaeologists, whom he had met on one of his Egyptian expeditions. He was a dark, blue haired Englishman who was always speaking about his young son's interest in his work.

"You're right, Arthur! I never did think about the boy's background before!" Gramps slits his eyes, studying Ryou.

"Yes, yes, I am." Ryou blushes under the attention directed at him. He and attention were two things that rarely intersected. His father was the only family he had left, now that his sister was gone, but was constantly absent from Ryou's life, in his own driven explorations of this foreign land.

"Well, I say! Your father is one of the finest, most dedicated archaeologist's I know, Ryou. I'm Professor Arthur Hawkins, one of your father's oldest friends, and of course, you must already be acquainted with Yugi's grandfather. I suppose you are one of Yugi's schoolchums?"

Ryou nods, both to the question and to Gramps, with a soft, timid smile.

"And this over here is Karen Morgan, one of my finest new students."

Karen nods to the boy across the room as she continues to study the others.

"Tristan and Duke, and little Miho, were with us for awhile, just a few minutes ago. But they thought they heard someone in a side corridor and decided to investigate. I think those boys got themselves lost again. Oh, well." Grandpa puts his hands up in the air, giving up on Yugi's friends by now.

"Losers..." Back to her old self, Rebecca rolls her eyes at the thought of them.

"So, what were you going to explain to us, Ryou? Please go on." Professor Hawkins gives his granddaughter's comment a disapproving frown. Rebecca immediately stands and straightens her skirt like a proper college graduate, professional lady, as if she didn't just call those 'gentlemen' by such a childish, taunting name.

"Oh, yes, Sir!" Respectfully, Ryou nods as he helps Grandpa lean Yugi and Tea up against the middle step. Karen had already taken care of most of the rest-sitting them up at least, against the nearest wall, though she had a hard time with Odion's big, bulky body, but at last, he too, was up.

"You see, it all started back in Domino City, at an art exhibition. I was supposed to meet up with Yugi and the others. But instead I met with Rebecca-eh, um, Miss Hawkins. There was some sort of bomb threat and-"

"That's where all the madness began!" Rebecca finishes his sentence. The two combined to tell the story to the eagerly listening gentlemen and Karen, in the candlelit darkness of the ancient chambers...

Travel back to an ancient time again...

Ever since her sickly, early youth, Serenity Wheeler was accustomed to being carried around by men-from her brother to her doctors to her friends. Little, lithe Serenity was never to be an unwelcome burden to carry around. At least she tried so not to be. Although her childhood was marred by an abusive father and divorced parents, Serenity still trusted men, believing even in the case of her drunken parent, that there was still good within their souls. A goodness, an inner light, that just needed to be nurtured and set free from the barriers their respective hearts put up as a defensive wall against the outside world.

Yes, Serenity's optimistic outlook on life, despite her family problems, despite her ill health and blindness, shined as a beacon of light within every darkness.

The sheltered darkness that once pervaded Seto Kaiba's heart was no exception, for her dazzling light had brought love into his soul.

Seto...?

Serenity slowly comes to, from her fainted unconsciousness. Her groggy mind automatically assumed that the man's chest she was tightly pressed against must be that of her boyfriend. She found refuge in his arms more often of late, and not always for any sickly reason exactly. It was just simply because he enjoyed holding her tight in his strong limbs.

And Serenity enjoyed it right back. Her Seto's tall form pressed against hers was such a comforting feeling...

But to Serenity's sudden, horrible realization, the feeling she was getting was NOT the one of comfort or gentleness, that her love gave to her constantly. No, this was a different feeling entirely.

Serenity was about to let out an ear-splitting scream in her fear of the unknown.

"Nn, unngh, unngh-Can't have any of that! Wouldn't want any unwanted trespassers discovering the hidden entrance to my most secret hideout, would we, my dear?" The voice was almost a familiar one but Serenity couldn't quite place it. It was so dripping with evil intent and a sneer attached to almost every word.

Nor did she care to, as a decidedly rough hand clamps over her mouth, tightening his grip around her now squirming body, until she submits to his powerful grasp.

In the pitch black darkness of the sleeping city, the man easily finds his way to his intended destination. He violently kicked in the door as a darkly cloaked servant of his quickly closes it, bolting it shut as to conceal this lair of darkness, this den of thieves, from the world once again, as he carries her deep into the catacomb, down a long flight of stairs.

Serenity tries to struggle in the ebony darkness again as her kidnapper offhandedly tosses her onto a soft mat of fabrics that might be called a bed. Her numbed legs quickly scramble to run, now that he had finally let her go. But her quick was nothing compared to the swiftest hands a thief had ever known.

He looks down at her, as the smile glowing in his eyes was a memory.

She had grown into quite a beauty since last they had met. But Serenity Wheeler's mind within Kisara's body was unaware of it. Kisara knew this Master Thief very well indeed. He though, was one who would never forget the day that ultimate power was given him-the ultimate unmatched power that gave him the promise of power to seek out the vengeance his soul longed upon the cruel world that had left him with nothing, time and time again...

I will have my revenge on this world that stole you away from me, Bekah...wait and see...I will have that power. She will give it to me again. I remember it well, that day...when I happened upon a white haired maiden stranded in the desert, under the unforgiving rays of the sun, where she was to die, if not for me...

In Adonah's memories...

The desert sands were hot and arid to the touch, especially upon the soft skin of the slip of a girl who was unaccustomed to travel in the unknown territories of the desert. She had not been here a long time, due to the fact that her hair was a strange shade of a light color in a dark land.

Kisara had never thought to return to these lands of her persecution, once she had made it safely back to her home in the mountains, with her people, after escaping her capture at the hands of those ruffians. All thanks to a boy's courage and caring-a boy named Seth.

It was because of him that she was able to leave Egypt and live-and it was for him that she would return to Egypta and perhaps die-for him. For that boy who she promised one day to repay his kindness.

Something inside her was telling her the time he needed her most was coming soon.

"I must...I must...get to you...Seth...You need me..." Something inside, a light within, continued to press her forward. However, there were limits to the body, even if the soul was willing.

"Oh! Ahhh..." There was an oasis in the middle of the desert sands. Kisara was certain and had been certain of it, for miles. But the closer she and her poor overheated horse drew to it, the farther it seemed to be. Kisara began to both doubt and falter. Her physical body was exhausted from both burning heat and weary travel.

Kanna, the old Arabian steed that was once his, all those year ago, he had given to her, was too, losing both strength and the will to go onwards into the illusionary nothingness, as both horse and rider succumbed to the elements...

He had managed to escape both prison and death several times in his young life already. The death defying Adonah Bakura's quest for wealth and power went hand in hand with his now growing thirst for blood and veangeance-a veangeance upon those who wronged his very soul, damning it to an overwhelming anger and seething revenge that day they killed his Bekah-and in doing so, they killed whatever good was in a young boy. His light dimmed into darkness for eternity, in that wretched hour of his love's loss.

For the spirit of goodness that was in Adonah had not an ounce of fight left, with her gone. When the interloping force of evil came and corrupted his sorrowful heart, his meaningless existence.

Good Bakura died inside with every thought, every memory. They were all stained in crimson blood. His heart was drowned in the thick red bile of those he killed, and the blood of the one he loved that began this nightmare, most of all.

Bekah...

It was becoming harder for him to see the pure beauty of her face, without the imagery of hot blood and cold death running down her sweet, plump cheeks. His imaginings of her death, though he never did see her dead body, all he could see was the blood some night out here on the lam. All he could smell, all he could taste, was the life's blood of his darling lover who had been slain by the foul devil of an old man who deemed to call himself her husband.

Hah! Husband! I was more of that to her that you, you old fool! I was the one her heart belonged to! I was the one she clung to so many nights of passion that you could not give her. I was the one she welcomed in as the father of her child-not you. Me! And I had my revenge, didn't I, old man? Didn't I?

His madness was spreading as Adonah dunked his entire head beneath the cool, oasis waters. His tattered prisoner's meager clothing and dirt-streaked body were cleansed in the streams but it wasn't water he felt submerged within. His sickened mind saw the clear, bluish hues of the swirling liquid surrounding him only as blood-redder and darker, and more disgustingly despised than any other substance in the world.

And yet, since that day, there was something growing within him that longed for it-lusted after the blood of every single man who had ripped Bekah from him. All he needed was the power to rain their destruction down upon themselves. And he was the one who was going to twist the knife-upon the guards that had dragged him away, the elders and priests who had sentenced him, and most of all, upon the Pharaoh and his family.

I will have my veangeance! For Your Majesty's orders for your guards to take me away when my Bekah needed me most! You will pay for her death someday! When I get up the power, you will pay! In blood!

Adonah Bakura rises his soaked body from the oasis waters. The waters were dripping off his muscular form, and the innocent boy turned hardened man in the darkest of way, for strife and despair had turned his vengeful heart black.

When his sadistic eyes rise above the water level, Adonah spots a strange vision indeed. A woman, for the length of her hair and the shape of her body, astride a horse far more brown than her pale, untanned skin showed him. But it was her striking color of hair-or lack of color to be more precise, that caught his attention first. There was certainly something about this female that captured his attention, as though there was some other presence within her...

No...

Adonah shakes off this strange thought. The chivalrous side in him-and yes, there were still a few drops of chivalry when it came to a woman-leaps from the water he was immersed in, like a lion stirred from his sleep, rushing, although dripping wet, in leaps and bounds, on the wind, to the fainting woman's side, arriving just in time to catch her descent from the horse, before her exhausted body fell to the sinking sands.

"I've got you." He whispers in a soft voice, that he had not used since...since that last night he was with his Bekah. It was a kind, compassionate voice that this master thief no longer knew existed within him. For the boy he was then, the one that Bekah knew and loved, was all but a memory. That boy, too, died on that day.

But though, now, there it was. A tiny smattering of compassion, a minute trace of kindness that lifted and carried the sun-exhausted girl to the oasis. There was a strange sense of recognition, that tingled his skin and ran through him as he kneeled with her delicate frame onto the banks of the shore. Tenderly, he lays her body down and looks down at the girl's semi-conscious form, her vulnerable pose. At the first touch of her bare skin to his, Bakura feels a new energy surge into his own body, as his arms wade her overheated body lightly into the oasis waters.

Carefully, he submerges the girl, without allowing her head to go under, as he walks into the water with her. Upon the touch of the cool water to her skin, Kisara wakens. She was startled to find a man so close to her, a man whose lavender hair and piercing eyes, combined with an aggressive masculinity, takes her tired breath away.

His eyes widen at the rush of energy he feels through his fingertips on her trembling cheek. Suddenly, all at once, he knows he must have her power.

"Who are you...?" Kisara's blue eyes open in shock.

"More importantly, my dear, who are you? And what secrets do you hold for me to discover...?" Adonah's voice goes all low. His eyes look her over and feel her energy, her power, as he basked in the energy her touch had awakened.

The wet droplets glistened so purely in his hair reflected the sparkles of the sun's last ray of light. Kisara felt so completely overwhelmed by his presence. His hot breath was sweet and alluring on her neck, as he begins to nibble it. She felt as if he was draining her very life force as he presses his body to hers within the swirling waters, cascading down both of them.

What was the fantastic aura of magic that surrounded this person, was the Thief's thought. Yes, she was beautiful to the touch and warm to the senses, much like his Bekah. But not as perfect as Bekah was. No one could ever replace his Bekah.

He was becoming a more dangerous man with each passing second. In his mind, he saw and felt only Bekah, feeling her again with each touch.

This is the energy I require! This is the pure power I must have!

Adonah was no longer concerned about being a gentleman-for a thief had no moral bounds, except for one-whatever you lay hands upon, is by rights, yours.

"Your energy is mine, succumb to me!" Adonah's greedy lust for power, lays his hands upon the white-haired, now unconscious girl, no longer struggling. Kisara was far too weak and overwhelmed to fight back.

This new level of evil inside him, spares her life, knowing that he might require her powers once again. He had stolen a portion of her powers and given her something in return...

Back to the present...(or is it the past...?)...

"I am going to have to tie you down after all, aren't I? And here I thought we could spend an enjoyable evening together-just like last time...Ah, well, all I wanted then was your energy. That's all I want again now..."

There was something sinister in the Thief's voice that Serenity definitely did not like. His lowly hissing voice in her ear spoke too familiarly to her, touching her like he had done this before.

But Serenity did not know Kisara's past with this man. He only reminded her of a snake in the darkness as she feels his now coarse and calloused hands expertly tie her arms over her head, to some sort of wooden post. He roughly shoves her down to the makeshift bed she was trying to scramble from.

Somehow he managed to see perfectly through the darkness, as if he were part of it. Serenity heard him snicker at her as he scoops up a thin piece of cloth and ties it around her mouth, tightening the knot as her eyes bulge at seeing his face so close and clearly. He lights a single candle and holds it eerily beneath their chins, alighting the evil intent in his eyes, and the helpless fear in hers.

His lifts the candle's flame close to her face in a veiled warning for her to keep absolutely still and silent under his will, smirking at her clearly shown fear of him.

"I had saved you before, and you will now offer me the rest of your powers, Priestess of the White Dragon! In fact, you will beg me to strip them from you before this night is done! I won't stop this time until I acquire all of it!"

Serenity's mind shrieks silently in the dim candlelight as her captor impatiently thrusts the candle down to the ground. His hands shoved her struggling body hard to the floor, as they begin to roughly touch her. Threats were in his maddened eyes as he begins violently tearing away her already meager clothing, clawing at her with anger and vengeance and power, and the need for more of it to fulfill his evil plots.

This White Dragon girl named Kisara would give it to him. So possessed with evil he had become, he cared for nothing else but raw power.

"Believe me...I do this only for power. One way or the other, I will possess every ounce of you-just as you gave it to me before. And you will scream for me to take everything-at my very whim!"

Looking into his eyes, Serenity feels like she's looking into that of an animal. She shrieks, blurring into tears, as she feels the overwhelming power of his body begin to press against her. He hisses in her ear taunts of submission and his teeth bite deeply into her earlobe as pain shoots through her.

He holds her shoulders and kicking legs down, as Serenity wishes she could just die rather than be marred by this evil snake's viciousness. He seemed to want something from her that she didn't even possess! All that was left for her screaming mind were the tears as strong, rough hands pull at her body.

The one prayer burning inside for her true love to come and save her, as she called out her Seto's name, over and over in her mind, in frantic hysterics, to rescue her innocence, even in another's body, before it was too late!

Seto! Seto! Seto...save me!

Seto...save me...Seto...

It was Serenity's soul crying out to her destined love-and her love hears her desperate plea.

"Serenity!" Seto Kaiba's fiercest voice was obvious in Priest Seth's more polished tones. He raced across the darkened room and kicked the Thief in the gut, from atop Kisara's bared body before Adonah even has time to register the High Priest's entry into his most secret lair.

Rolling over, Adonah quickly recovers. He lived on the streets a long time for this stuck up aristocrat to get another chance at the upper hand. Swifter than a serpent and just as wily, the Thief scoops up both discarded robe and the knife hidden within its folds, already slashing at Kisara's angry lover, as the Priest blindly attacks with crushing blow, after crushing blow with the only item in his hand.

It just so happened to be a Millennium one. The Millennium Rod's golden glint in the candlelit darkness caught the sneaky Thief's eye.

"Well, then, allow me to conquest something else that belongs to you, High Priest." Adonah says through clenched teeth. His sneer was as cruel as his lightning speed hands were fast, as they grab hold of the sought-after treasure and uses his running momentum to hurl himself and Seto to the ground. Both rolled in the dirt of the floor as they vy for superiority in the battle. Anger and fists were rising and the Thief, expert in hand-to-hand melee combat from all his youth's street fighting, ends up on top. His knife was quickly produced from his robe's cache of weapons.

Seto struggles to keep the silver dagger from plunging into his heart, but wily and determined, raw strength filled Adonah's quick wrist. He was a match for even this more muscular Seth's prowess, as the bony Thief's knife continues to press down, shaking against both their tensely struggling arms. But Adonah had the upper hand as he said. Gravity works with his downward push, and Seth loses control as the knife stabs dangerously closer to his chest.

With one hand, each grasp onto the Rod and the other hand locked onto the plunging knife. Keeping up the tension, Seto glances around when he sees his Serenity's naked form weeping silently. She was still bound and gagged on the makeshift bedding on the floor.

But she was saved-one look in her crying, yet crystal clear eyes that were now blue, told Seto that she was there and praying for his victory and his safety. She needed him to overcome the scum of the earth, who tried to, who DARED to-

"GRRRRR!"

With Serenity's pleading belief coupled with his now flaring anger, heroic Seto feels that surge of power course through his veins. His Millennium Rod, though useless against the Diabound Thief, begins to glow. The light of which blinds the Thief for a moment and that's all the time Seto needs to let go of the Rod and grab at the candlestick on the ground nearby.

Seto grinds the candle's flame deep into the Thief's open neck and into his hands as Adonah screams in pain, pulling back. His singed hand drops the Millennium Rod to the ground that he was greedily grasping, to instead cover his now blistering neck, and his equally blistering palm.

"ARGGGGHHHH!"

The Thief lets out a painstreaked bellow as Seto overpowers his weakened form and takes the knife from his hand, stabbing Adonah in his upper thigh to immobilize him, at least for awhile. The Thief cried out as he doubles over in pain.

Seto, satisfied that he was down, takes the bloody knife and rushes to Serenity's side, cutting her arms loose from the bonds, above her head. Serenity's arms drop over herself as Seto encircles his arms around her trembling body. He pulls her close in a strong, yet tender embrace.

"Are you-?" He whispers in her white hair, anxiously feeling her shoulders tremble against him relief.

"Seto, I knew you would come. I knew it..." Serenity breathed on his chest, crying wet tears against him as she faints in his arms-that safe feeling of holding him was back again.

"Master Seth! Have you located the girl! Ah! I see you have! All the thieves and ruffians have been nullified." Mahaad was a quick study and rather blase when it came to things concerning women. His cold, calculating eyes only scanned Kisara's naked, frail form, wrapped in High Priest Seth's arms as Seth rips off his cape and covers her with it.

"Including this one. I took care of...him?" Kaiba was certain that he had knifed and pummelled the Thief King enough to keep any sane man down for at least a few moments, when he left him, to untie Serenity. And yet- Adonah was nowhere to be seen.

"Who?" Mahaad's attention goes straight to his own Millennium Item-the Millennium Ring around his neck, which suddenly lights up in the darkness. It's five prongs shake to life as they begin to slowly point around the room.

Seto and Mahaad's eyes follow its trajectory, until the five points of the Ring point straight upwards. It was a moment too late for Mahaad, though. The tall servant of the Pharaoh went down under the Thief's dead weight that just dropped out of the sky. He drop-kicked against Mahaad's head and it was enough to knock the Egyptian man down. The Thief had hidden in the ceiling rafters above the Dark Magician as Adonah bites back the pain, used to doing so, of the burns and stab wounds that blasted High Priest had caused. He rises from his descent, not even feeling the pain stabbing in his upper thigh anymore. He was too elated from finally gaining his most sought after Millennium Item at last. He yanked the Ring from Mahaad's unconscious neck and flung it around his own. He stoops to pick up the discarded Rod as well, just for good measure, as he backs Seth and Kisara against the back wall, sadistically smirking.

"Thank you sooo very much, High Priest. Two Millennium Items and a dragon, dropped right into my proverbial lap, as well as my own private lap-dog. Adonah smiles evilly, pointing the Rod at Seth and his little girlfriend. The Millennium Necklace around his neck glowed brightly for its evil Master...