EPILOUGE. THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

It's all a game of this or that.
Now verses then,
Better off against worse for wear.
And you're someone,
Who knows someone who knows someone I once knew,
And I just want to be a part of this.

The road outside my house,
Is paved with good intentions.
Hired a construction crew,
'Cause it's hell on the engine.
You are the dreamer and we are the dream.
I could write it better than you ever felt it.

- Hum Hallelujah by Fall Out Boy


The aftermath of the final duel against Isis had mentally and physically exhausted Atemu and Yugi, giving them a good reason to immediately leave KaibaLand by means of Atemu's magic. With that they appeared in Yugi's room at the Kame Game Shop where she promptly stashed the shirt wrapped dagger in the box that had held the Millennium Puzzle before Atemu pulled her into bed and both promptly fell asleep without a care, ignoring the need for a shower. With Yugi missing in action the crew at KaibaLand was lucky that Mai returned in time to take control and handle the announcing of the winner of Battle City but she decided to put the award ceremony off to the next day due to Yugi's absence, using the excuse that Yugi was suffering from duress which was not far from the truth.

The final duel of Battle City was one that had everyone present on the edge of their seats. Katsuya Jonouchi, who had first appeared in the Duelist Kingdom semi-finals and took second place, went up against genius Kaiba Seto, owner of KaibaCorp and only beaten by his friend Motou Yugi, and won. The duel went on for so long that both duelers only have two or three cards left to draw on and Jonouchi won by the pure luck of drawing Monster Reborn and summoning one of the two Blue-Eyes-White Dragon from the card graveyard to finish off Kaiba. There was no anger, no insults, but that duel cemented a bond between the two duelers and dispelled several dark thoughts the other once had.

That lasted till Jonouchi seen his sister Shizuka hugging a blushing Otogi to death, happy about her brother's win. Luckily the blonde's sister complex did not have a chance to fully kick in seeing Shizuka had let go of the blushing black haired boy and tackled her brother in a hug while babbling about how exciting it was to watch him duel in person. Kaiba chuckled at that picture as Mokuba came to stand by him, grinning because he could see that the damage done by their stepfather was fading with the slight widening of their circle of friends. Both brothers had than jumped when they heard a shout and watched as Jonouchi began to chase around Otogi while Shizuka giggled, when asked she said that Otogi asked her brother for permission to take her out on a date.

After the awards ceremony, which was publicly covered on the news the next morning and broadcasted the faces of Jonouchi and his sister all over Japan, things in Domino City had settled down with the end of Battle City. A few people attempted contested the winner, since he was connected to Yugi, but they were easily picked a part and shown the error of their ways. The other event that took place after the ceremony was Yugi pulling Kaiba away from the crowds of people and explaining what happened when Yami asked him to help out with the blood tests, the teenage CEO was grateful for Yugi's honesty, considering they had been friends for so long, but he was surprised by Sugoroku's involvement in everything that had happened. By mid-afternoon Youko, who was showing off her new wardrobe by showing up dressed in a light purple sundress and sandals, and Malik arrived at KaibaCorp headquarters and met Yugi before all three had a sample of their blood drawn and sent out to a lab.

To the ire of Atemu, who had yet to return to his present day identity of Saitou Yami, Mai and Strings had stopped by to steal Yugi away for a nice dinner and a long discussion. When he looked back on this he decided that he was actually glad they spared him, since Strings was a fashion designer and artist of another branch and Mai was into any sort of attire that she thought looked good. In reality, he was missing the discussion that would be splitting up the remainder of Yugi's free time between helping Strings with her senior project and Mai's project that turned into Yugi's senior project. That was an error on his part but he just didn't know it yet, the poor guy.

Bakura Ryou was adapting rather well to the change of events after Battle City, namely the fact that Thief King Zuka— as he came to call his Yami when angry or annoyed— now had a physical form. He immediately began wrecking havoc on the man-turned-spirit for all the issues he had caused in the teenagers mind and enjoying the fact that he now had someone he could take his frustrations out on. In turn Zuka just cackled or took said 'frustrations' in stride with a demented grin and devious gleam in his gray eyes since he relished the fact that Ryou was not the young man he first fell in love with in Ancient Egypt. The Thief King liked when things changed for the better, so long as it benefited him in some way, and this time around things did and he would not be bad mouthing a gift that the Gods indirectly dropped into his lap despite the curse of being in darkness for so long. He now lived in a world that had new challenges and delighted in the fact that no one was a true mirror of the past.

One lazy day, a few days after the Battle City finals, he had gleefully pulled a pouting Ryou into his lap while they watched Hudson Hawk, a movie that Jounochi lent to them to unwind from the tournament. He would never tell the others, in fear of losing his image as a badass thief that was far above the emotional or sentimental shit that was characteristic of a woman or weak men, but he was pleased with the changes to those he considered trusted allies or friend. He still didn't like the Pharaoh, but after seeing Yugi in action Zuka was giddy over the possibilities of how much trouble she could get into with her newly discovered powers. Turning this thoughts from Yugi he glanced down at his now sleeping lover turned Chibi-Hikari and smirked, the change of personality in Ryou's rebirth was welcomed by him since it saved a whole mess of reprogramming and time. He would turn his Chibi-Hikari into a thief soon, since the boy was on the right path, and together they would wreak havoc on all the people that owned the valuable shiny objects and showed them off way too much! Pushing that thought away for a late night dream, his musings turned to the issue named Ishtar Malik and Amun, the Spirit of the Millennium Rod, since he did not know much about either. Than again, variety is the spice of life so he could figure that puzzle out later when the dust truly settles.


A/N: Usually I do not like to do these sort of chapters, but there wasn't really anything that needed to be expanded on since there is a sequel that will have its first chapter up by the end of this month. There is an interlude after this, which I am using to explain a few things... such as Beryl and Youko's friendship as well as a small introduction to the Sailor Scouts and their past. If I can write it well enough, it will give a bit more insight into Youko and set up the time frame for the Sailor Moon section.

Sorry for the unannounced hiatus.

Oh yeah, Hoshiko Megami pointed out that the Trio is not so 'psychotic' and I am glad that you pointed that out! ^.^ The answer to that, I found when thinging about would happen in the next part, is that it will be a progressive corruption prodded into being by Zuka (Yami Bakura) and by the middle or end of the first part they should be in that mind set again.