Note: Yeah! Finally finished with the latest chapter! I've said it once and I'll say it again: Writing this thing is not easy! It took me some time to think of ideas to tie the plot together. It's times like this that I'm glad I got my brother around to help me. It's definitely worth it in the end. Thank so so much for all those reviews! Keep them coming! I need all the encouragement I can get! Anyway, on with the story: Our heroes encounter an unexpected Reaper encounter: the little sister of Jonouchi Katsuya! What will happen? Read and find out! Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 29: To Reap and to Sow

Everyone stared at Jonouchi in shock, especially Atem, who knew about Shizuka. How did his best friend's little sister get down here? In Kyoki? And as a Reaper? But now was not the time to answer that question, because Jonouchi was speeding right toward the Reaper, who was in the process of gulping down the used Nagi!

"JONOUCHI, WAIT! COME BACK!" Atem desperately shouted. But the sandy blonde did not hear him; so intent was he at making contact with the little sister he hadn't seen for so long.

"SHIZUKA!" He exclaimed when he finally reached the bottom of the stairs. Shizuka had finished her 'drink' and wiped her mouth with her arm when her frantic brother ran to her side and spun her around, gently clutching her be the biceps. In an instant, her glowing blank eyes widened with fear. "Shizuka, it's all right!" Jonouchi tried to reassure, "There's nothing to be afraid of!"

"Who—who are you?" she gasped.

Jonouchi stared at his sister in shock, but composed himself. "It's me! Jonouchi! Your big brother, remember?"

But Shizuka shook her head. "No… No! I don't know you! Let me go!"

"Shizuka calm down! I'm not one of the bad guys!" Jonouchi stated, although he was beginning to panic. Apparently his little sister wanted none of that. And as she tried to pull away from his grip, heartbroken tears formed in his eyes. "Please Shizuka! Why can't you recognize me?"

"BUTTERCUP, HELP!" Shizuka screamed, "HELP ME!" In an instant, the Big Bertha spun around, and when she perceived the supposed threat, the yellow lights in her helmet turned red. With an angry dolphin screech, she lunged toward her target.

"WHOA! HEY!" Jonouchi exclaimed in horror, releasing his grip on his sister as he frantically dodged the incoming drill arm. "YAAAH!" The drill struck the ground near the sandy blonde barely missing him by an inch. But that didn't deter the Hunter. She just yanked the drill right out. By now, Jonouchi was quaking. "M-M-Mr. Bubbles! I mean, Miss Buttercup! I-I-I'm one of the good guys!" The angry Hunter threw a punch at the sandy blonde, forcing him to duck. "I'm not here to harvest your friend! B-besides, she's my sister a-a-and I haven't seen her since she finished kindergarten!" But the large fist of the Hunter grabbed Jonouchi by the head and roughly tossed him to the other side of the yard. He was battered from equally rough landing, but otherwise unharmed.

"Anzu!" Atem shouted, "You have the Hunter Friendship plasmid! Get that Bouncer to calm down!"

"I don't think that's possible!" Anzu replied hastily, "The Hunter Friendship plasmid doesn't work if the Hunter is already in protective battle mode! And once they're in that mode, they won't stop until their attacker is dead!"

Kaiba shot a glare at the scene below. "If that's the case, then we have no choice but to put this Big Bertha to sleep!" And with that, he leapt gracefully toward the Bouncer, not even bothering to take the stairs.

"Kaiba!" Yugi shouted.

"Damn it!" Raphael cursed. "I don't care if he's the Splicer Killer, he won't stand a chance on his own!"

Anzu spun to her own Hunter. "Beta! We have to protect our friends!" Beta moaned in agreement, and the green lights soon turned blue. Anzu climbed onto the Big Daddy's shoulders. "Let's go!" she shouted. And the two of them leapt into the fray.

"I'm with you!" Mai added and leapt down. It was Kaiba, however, who made the first strike against the Big Bertha. He struck her on the arm with one of his gauntlet blades, slashing through the leather to make a large gash. The Bouncer screeched in pain and fury, forcing Shizuka to back away from the melee. In retaliation, the Hunter threw a side punch on the Splicer Killer, knocking him to the ground. She was about to thrust her drill into him when Beta fired his rivet gun.

"Sorry, but we have to do this!" Anzu shouted from on top and tossed her blade boomerang. It punctured into the Big Bertha's thick leg, blood gushing out of a grievous wound. But it only made the opposing Hunter even angrier. She bull-rushed into Beta, trusting her spinning drill into the Rosie's ribs before he could defend himself. The impact was enough to knock the diplomatic protector off her Big Daddy's shoulders.

"ANZU!" Jonouchi exclaimed as he watched her fall. The Bouncer pulled her drill right out of the wounded Beta, and as he collapsed to his knees she turned her attention toward Anzu. Anzu's expression became that of fear.

"ANZU! WATCH OUT!" Atem hollered. The Big Bertha raised her drill, and Anzu frantically rolled to the left to avoid the first thrust, then to the right on the second thrust.

"She's gonna be skewered like a shish kabob!" Jonouchi shouted, rising to his knees, "Do something, Mai!"

"The winds of my Cyclone plasmid can't lift a large enemy like a Hunter." Mai explained, before her lips suddenly shifted into a confident smirk. "But it can in Overdrive mode!" She lifted her hands up high and the power of her plasmid intensified. "PLASMA HURRICANE!" The powerful winds took the Big Bertha by surprise and in spite of her efforts to resist, she was lifted up into the air with a loud dolphin screech. Everyone watched as the cyclone spun the Hunter around and bashed her against the walls. When it was all over, she fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Kaiba slowly got to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth with his forearm. "Thanks. I'll take it from here." And as he stepped toward the struggling Bouncer, he willed the gauntlet machines to morph into drills.

Shizuka crept out of hiding from behind a crate, and her eyes widened in horror. "NO! DON'T!" she cried. But it was already too late. The Splicer Killer jumped up and dealt the killing blow, plunging his whirling drills onto the Big Bertha's back. "NOOOO!" she screamed in grief, and rushed over to her dead partner. "BUTTERCUP! OPEN YOUR EYES!" The Reaper wept bitterly, mourning the loss of her friend. While Kaiba walked away from the corpse with no tears in his eyes, the rest of the team looked on at the sad scene before them… especially Jonouchi, who couldn't help but feel sorry for his little sister. For all he knew, that Hunter was the only friend she ever had. Slowly, he approached her, and knelt beside her.

"Shizuka?" He stated, "We're very sorry. We didn't really want to do this, but we had no choice." He reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder.

But the Reaper spun around, and her eyes glowed with fury. "YOU BASTARD!" She shrieked, "YOU KILLED BUTTERCUP! YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!" Shizuka leapt up upon her fallen Bouncer, and the air around her literally grew cold; so much so that snow began to swirl around her, surprising everyone—even Kaiba! Then some of the snow swirled between her palms and formed into an icy sword. Then she grabbed hold of the ice blade, and leapt again with a scream of fury: this time toward Jonouchi, in an all out attack! The sandy blonde was taken aback by this unexpected turn of events, and he lifted his own flaming sword in an attempt to defend himself. The swords clashed. In the initial struggle, he was shocked to find that his fire did not melt the ice blade at all. Damn! Jonouchi muttered in his head, She's more powerful than I thought! Again and again, the Reaper swung her blade. Again and again, Jonouchi blocked her attacks. Aw man, what should I do? I can't hurt my sister! Eventually, he jumped away to avoid being cut cleanly in two.

"You calm down RIGHT NOW!" Kaiba bellowed, taking a step forward.

"Kaiba NO!" Anzu screamed, trying to stop him. But the Splicer Killer unleashed the ice spikes of his Blizzard plasmid onto the Reaper. But Shizuka saw it coming from behind, and she spun around. With a swish of her left hand, she forced Kaiba's ice attack right back at him. Startled, Kaiba quickly willed his machines to morph into sword blades and slashed the ice spikes to pieces before they struck him. He quickly charged toward the Reaper, and with a battle cry he sliced off both of her arms in one stroke! But soon the detached arms grabbed onto him by the trenchcoat.

"HEY! GET OFF OF ME!" Kaiba bellowed as the arms climbed upward on his body like a piranha desperate for prey. Before he voice any more of his anger, the hand of one arm covered up his face. The other arm wrapped around his right biceps to restrain it to his body, and immediately its hand clutched his neck. The hand began to squeeze hard onto the neck, and Kaiba struggled to breathe. Desperately he tried to pry the disembodied limbs off of him, but they were just too strong. He crumpled to the ground.

"Let him go Shizuka!" Mai hollered and ran over to grab Shizuka. She spun around, however, and struck her with a roundhouse kick. The violet-eyed shutterbug was forced to raise her arms to block the attack.

"MURDERERS!" Shizuka screamed in fury. She then attacked again, striking Mai with a headbutt as soon as her guard was down.

"Beta!" Anzu shouted, pointing to Kaiba. "Save him!" Without hesitation, Beta rushed to a struggling Kaiba and pried off the severed arms with his own incredible strength, allowing the Splicer Killer to breathe again. The Rosie tossed the arms to the ground, which immediately traveled back to their Reaper owner like a mix between an inchworm and a spider. Shizuka knelt down and allowed her right arm to reattach to her shoulder and heal. When that was done, she picked up her left arm.

"Buttercup was my best friend! MY BEST FRIEND!" she roared as she reattached her left arm, "We were there for each other in every battle we took part in! SHE WILL BE AVENGED!" The snowflakes returned with full force, swirling around her. Soon the snowflakes formed into a 'swarm' of small ice daggers.

"Shizuka… please! S-STOP!" Jonouchi begged, raising his sword in defense.

But the Reaper did not listen. Her eyes glowed with incredible power, and she thrust her hand outward. "ICICLE BARRAGE!" In an instant, the ice daggers flew outward like a fast paced explosion. As Mai, Kaiba and Jonouchi soon discovered, the icicles did not melt into sheets of ice on contact, but instead grazed at their flesh like serrated knives. They all screamed in pain. Luckily for Anzu, Beta had sensed the danger and quickly jumped in front of her to protect her from the icy projectiles, taking the majority of the assault. Yet in spite of that devastating attack, they still managed to prevent the barrage from plunging into their bodies and therefore killing them. Nevertheless, they were left wounded and bleeding. Jonouchi struggled to keep standing. There were tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Shizuka…" he whimpered.

"Ugh!" Kaiba grunted, "She's as powerful as Kisara! If this keeps up, we'll all be dead! We have to do something!"

"But we can't harvest her!" Mai noted, "That would prove to her that we're no different from the splicers! And besides, she Jonouchi's little sister! He would be heartbroken if she gets harvested!"

"…I know." Kaiba muttered. "Harvesting a Reaper is the last thing I want to do."

Back on the top of the stairs Atem suddenly shouted. "Anzu! Is there any way we can save Shizuka?"

"Well, since you mentioned it, there is!" Anzu replied, "The Restoration plasmid! It works on the Reapers the exact same way it works on the Scavengers! I know this for sure, because I was the first one rescued by that plasmid when it was created!" Atem's eyes widened with sudden inspiration.

"Yugi! Honda! Pegasus! Follow my lead!" Atem commanded, and with that, he leapt down to the 'yard'.

Yugi quickly understood what his friend was talking about and turned toward Honda and Pegasus. "You heard him! Let's go!" The Telekinesis wielder and the plasmid merchant both nodded in agreement and together with Yugi, they followed Atem to join their friends.

"Hey! Didn't your mother tell you it's not nice to throw ice at people?" Honda shouted upon landing. That grabbed Shizuka's attention. Burning with fury, She summoned his ice blade and charged toward him. But Honda was ready. As soon as she swung her blade, he quickly dodged.

"Oh my! Looks like someone wants to play tag!" Pegasus stated with a smug look on his face.

"You're it!" Blossom squeaked likewise.

"DON'T YOU DARE MAKE FUN OF ME!" Shizuka roared and once again swung her ice blade in a failed attempt to attack her new foes.

"ANZU!" Atem shouted to the diplomatic protector, "THE PLASMID!"

"GOT IT!" Anzu replied and tossed the second dose of the Restoration plasmid in question. Atem gracefully caught the bottle and hurried over to his childhood friend while the Reaper was distracted.

"Jonouchi." The Bolt wielder stated, holding up the bottle. "You want to save your sister? This is your chance to do it." He then proceeded to fill the syringe and plunge its needle into the sandy blonde's left arm, giving him the injection.

Jonouchi let out a brief yelp before he screamed in frustration, "STOP DOING THAT! I can inject plasmids myself you know!" In reply to the complaint, Atem simply yanked out the now empty syringe, earning yet another yelp from his friend.

"I know it'll hurt you to do this," Atem stated, "but I want you to go all out and attack your sister."

"WHAT?" Jonouchi hollered in terror, "N-NO! I WON'T DO IT!"

"Don't worry Jonouchi! Shizuka is a Reaper, so she won't be harmed! I'm only asking you to do this because we have to restrain her, and the only way to do that is to stun her. Once that is done… you know what to do with that plasmid."

For a while, Jonouchi just stood there, panting and staring. Then finally, he nodded and replied, "Anything to save my sister." In spite of all the pain, he lifted his sword. He turned his attention to his angry little sister, who was still making failed attempts to attack Honda and Pegasus. "HEY! SHIZUKA!" Jonouchi roared, "COME OVER HERE AND FACE ME! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT YOU, BUT YOU'RE LEAVING ME NO CHOICE!"

She spun around and the ice daggers of her Overdrive Ability. "SHUT THE FUCK UP! ICICLE BARRAGE!" Once more the barrage of icicles hurtled toward the sandy blonde. But this time, he was ready. He stood his ground. Just before the icicles struck, he put his sword diagonally in front of him like a samurai warrior. The steel of the flaming blade was strong, blocking a vast majority of the icicles and melting them into puddles of water. Some icicles scraped his right arm and leg, but those were the only additional injuries he got.

Forgive me Sis, Jonouchi thought, but I have to do this! With all his might, he channeled the power of his upgraded Overdrive Ability into his sword. "SPINNING INFERNO!" Once he formed his ring of fire with a spin, he tossed it right onto the Reaper. It came at her so fast that she didn't even have the time to react. She screamed as the powerful blast knocked her off her feet.

"Now Anzu!" Yugi exclaimed, "Grab her!" In a flash, he and Anzu pounced upon the fallen Shizuka, each grabbing hold of an arm and pinning her down so that she was forced to kneel.

"L-Let go of me!" Shizuka barked.

"It's all right Shizuka." Anzu stated calmly. The Reaper's eyes suddenly widened in surprise and she slowly turned toward the diplomatic protector.

"…Anzu? Is that really you?"

"Yes, it's me." Anzu replied softly. At that very moment, the wounded Jonouchi stumbled toward his sister.

"You see Shizuka? We are friends." Jonouchi explained. He collapsed on his knees before his sister. The coals of the Blaze Plasmid began to vanish as he prepared his first—and perhaps, his greatest—rescue. "Please… look at me! I know you can remember me somehow! And I'm here to save you!" Soon the white cracks of the Restoration plasmid spread out on his skin as he reached out lovingly toward the Reaper.

Shizuka stared at him in awe. Soon images filled her head… images of when she was a small child. In many of them, she was a playing with a little boy: a little boy who was awfully familiar. She suddenly gasped. Why didn't she recognize him before? "…Jonouchi?"

Immediately, Jonouchi took hold of his sister's head, cradling it in his hand. The cracks of white light spread onto the Reaper's skin from that of her rescuer. It was only then that Anzu and Yugi let go, allowing the sandy blonde to hold Shizuka close to him. With a determined cry, he lifted his head up high and let the Restoration plasmid do its work. Bright light filled the room and soon he gently tossed his sister into the air, allowing her to float gently down to the ground. When at last the light faded, she stood before the whole team. Her amazement was apparent when she looked over herself. Her skin had become the color of cream, and the blank orange glow had become irises of pure hazel. At her feet was the dead rapture slug. Its whole body was covered with swelling bumps and oozing sores… proof that it shouldered all of the Reaper's burdens, allowing her to use the Nagi without suffering the damage that comes with it.

She looked up at Jonouchi, and the two siblings stared at each other for what seemed like a long time. The Blaze plasmid returned to view on the skin of its wielder by that time, once more boiling the rivers of blood that covered parts of his body. Finally, the sandy blonde smiled… and fell completely to the ground as if drifting into unconsciousness. Shizuka's eyes widened in shock, before welling with tears. "JONOUCHI!" she cried and rushed over to her brother. Atem and the others came over to their friend as well; Raphael, Amelda and Varon had started running all the way down the stairs to do just that. The former Reaper lifted Jonouchi up in her arms, filled with incredible guilt. "Oh Jonouchi! I'm so sorry!"

Jonouchi opened his eyes and once more gave a gentle smile. "It's alright Sis. None of it was your fault. You were just standing up for a fallen friend, that's all."

"But—but I didn't recognize you!" Shizuka sobbed, "I even went as far as to hurt you! And now you're… you're dying!"

"Hey, no need to worry." Jonouchi reassured, "I'm not dead yet."

As if on cue, Yugi shouted to his fellow Mermaid Agents. "Guys! Hurry up and get the Nami serum! And a couple of bandages from the first-aid kit won't hurt either!"

"Yeah!" Mai added, "Get your asses over here before he really dies on us!"

"On our way Mate!" Varon exclaimed, taking out a first-aid kit from his pouch when he, Amelda and Raphael made it down, speeding toward their friend as fast as they could.

"I'll help out a little too." Honda added, taking out a syringe of Nami and proceeding with the first injection.

"And while we're at it, Mai, we'll fix you and Kaiba up as well." Varon noted to the violet-eyed shutterbug, tending to her wounds, "That chick really gave you a beating!"

"Well, she is a good fighter. I can respect her for that." Kaiba complimented as he got bandages wrapped around his right arm.

"Said the Refrigerator Boy who struck the killing blow on her Big Bertha." Jonouchi insulted with a smirk, earning a growl from the Splicer Killer. The sandy blonde returned his gaze onto his sister as Atem gave him another dose of Nami. "But really, we didn't mean to take away your friend. We didn't want to provoke either of you. It just that… we've been separated for about ten years! I just had to see you again! And… I guess I wasn't thinking straight." He paused to take a few breaths, before he asked, "Will you forgive us for what we did to you and your buddy?"

Shizuka gave a small smile, though her eyes misted with more tears. "After risking your very lives to make me human again, why would I not?"

"… Glad to hear it." Suddenly, Jonouchi closed his eyes and fell limp.

"JONOUCHI!" Shizuka gasped in horror. Right at that moment, the sandy blonde began to snore. Loudly. By that time most of his wounds were healed by the Nami serum. But not all of them. Fortunately Mai had healed enough to help bind the remaining injuries.

"He'll be fine Hon." Mai reassured, "He just needs some rest, that's all."

"Not to mention a small trip to the Vita-Chamber." Raphael added.

"And that counts for you and Kaiba as well." Amelda reminded the violet-eyed shutterbug.

"Thanks for the reminder." Mai replied.

"Well, in any case," Honda stated, standing up, "We better get back to business. Now that all the excitement is over, I'm gonna get on with making the Lazarus Vector." And with that, he stepped over toward the U-Invent Machine on the other side of the 'yard'. "All right… " He muttered to himself, and pushed some buttons on the Machine to activate it. "Let's set it to 'Lazarus Vector' and start mixing the ingredients together." He proceeded to pour in the distilled water carefully from the seven bottles, one by one. The computer on the U-Invent Machine began analyzing the contents being added. "Now we add the chlorophyll." Since that ingredient came in flasks, he wasn't as worried about spilling the contents as he was with the distilled water, so he emptied the flasks in a quick pace. Still, he did not let himself become reckless. Soon the two ingredients within the Machine began to mingle. Honda checked the screen. "So far so good. Now all we need is the enzymes."

"And what do we do then?" Blossom asked curiously.

"We wait for a few minutes for the brew to mix together." Pegasus explained for her.

"Oooh." The doll replied. "So it's like making soup!"

"That's right!" Pegasus replied happily, cuddling Blossom. Meanwhile, Atem and Yugi dragged the sleeping Jonouchi to a more comfortable spot.

"Is he always this heavy?" Yugi complained.

"Only when he dozes off." Atem replied as he gently placed his friend's head down. Once the sandy blonde was in place, the Bolt wielder then approached Shizuka, who had been watching. "Are you all right?"

"I… uh… I don't really know for sure." Shizuka answered hesitantly.

"It's okay." Atem reassured. "You've been through a lot. By the way, Jonouchi told me so much about you. In spite of the circumstances, it's good to finally meet you."

Curious, she asked, "How did you know my brother?"

"We met when we were in fourth grade." Atem answered, "We've been best friends ever since. Still, he really missed you a lot since you left. Why else would he rush after you?" The former Reaper smiled. "Now that I think about it," Atem stated, "How did you manage to get down here in the first place? And why? What happened?"

Once more Shizuka grew pensive. "You… really want me to tell you this? The memories I have are very painful to me." Right at that moment Honda proceeded to add the final eyedropper's worth of bee enzymes. Once all the ingredients were put together, he pushed a few more buttons on the U-Invent's computer.

"There! We're on our way." Honda announced, "This may take a while before it gets finished, though." He turned his attention to the former Reaper. "You know Shizuka, I think it would be best if you tell us about it. It's a good way to pass the time, and besides, it would help us understand you a little better." Realizing that all encouraging eyes were on her, Shizuka sighed.

"After my parents got divorced and I got separated from my big brother, my mother started dating a new man. As fate would have it, her new boyfriend turned out to be a trusted acquaintance of Ryu Mutou and he invited us to go down and live in Kyoki. Naturally, she accepted. Although she was sad about leaving without Jonouchi, she would do anything to go as far away as possible from our dad. So we set out at sea until we reached the lighthouse, and from there we made it to this city. It was the most beautiful place I ever saw when I first came here. True there were some troubles going on, but that didn't bother us. We were very happy down here… at least, for while we were. But then… some splicers attacked and destroyed our apartment, killing my mom's boyfriend in the process. Before we even knew it, we were homeless and struggling to survive in the streets. Mom had a very hard time earning enough money to buy food for the both of us. Finally in August of 2002, she became desperate. She took me to the doorstep of a certain orphanage… the Otouto Imouto Orphanage. Then she kissed me goodbye and left me there. I never saw her again."

"The Otouto Imouto Orphanage…" Pegasus repeated with a frown. "Wasn't that place founded by Dartz?"

"Yeah, I heard about that place!" Yugi replied, "That was where all the Scavengers used to live before the Shootout took place."

"You couldn't be more correct." Shizuka confirmed sadly. "It was at that place where my life took a turn for the worse. Yes, Dartz took me in. But before I was even assigned a room I was taken to Suchong's laboratory and converted into a living Nagi factory… what you now call a Scavenger." She went over to pick up the dead rapture slug. "Do you know how the rapture slug gets imbedded into the stomach lining of its host? Well… the host simply has to swallow it whole. It's a very painful process, because the slug is alive the whole time. Once it enters the stomach, it attaches to the lining and neutralizes all the stomach acids, thereby taking control of the host's entire digestive system. From that point on, the slug and its host will depend on each other for their mutual survival. The host no longer feels the need to eat or drink, as the slug gives them the nutrients they need. And as an additional bonus, the slug bestows upon its host the power of regeneration. In exchange for that benefit, the host must provide sustenance for the slug itself. It's as simple as that.

"I remember when I was forced to swallow this slug. It was awful. It was like a frog forcing itself inside your throat—a frog with small razor sharp teeth and covered with slime that burns like fire. Then the pain spread through my whole body. My skin turned a ghostly gray hue, and my eyes turned blank and began to glow. And although my voice remained the same as it always was, it now seemed to be accompanied by this low undertone… as though a demon was speaking whenever I do. It was scary." She paused for a moment, shaking at the very thought of that memory. "When it was done, I spent the rest of the month at the orphanage with the other Scavengers, induced to regurgitate the Nagi under mental conditioning. I met Anzu Mazaki during that time, and we became friends. But then after the Shootout on September 12 of that same year, Suchong and his team of scientist raided the Orphanage. Some of the Scavengers and Reapers managed to flee with Tenenbaum after the raid of her apartment. Unfortunately, I was not one of them. Along with many others, I was taken straight to where Ryu Mutou worked. Upon learning the presence of Scavengers like myself, Mutou wasted no time creating sketch plans for the Little Wonders School. The construction was completed a year later, and it has been my home up until this day. Since the Otouto Imouto Orphanage was no longer accessible, Suchong and Mutou decided to find a way to recycle the Nagi. That was how it got started, the job of harvesting Nagi from the bodies of the dead. Suchong and his cronies would bring the corpses of supposed traitors, and they conditioned us to use those hypodermic syringes shaped like pistols to extract Nagi from those bodies and take it into themselves.

"It wasn't until about a week before the 2006 New Years attack that they started sending the Scavengers out to the streets to search for the 'angels' on our own. The first Hunters were created for the very purpose of protecting us; Suchong and Mutou knew very well of our Achilles Heel. By then, however, I was no longer a Scavenger; I had become a full-fledged Reaper. As the years pass by, the slug would heighten the host's gift of regeneration. The host also gains the ability to use the raw Nagi in their bodies, transforming them into powerful and capable warriors. The price for such power remained the same, but the demand to pay it grows even higher… until finally, the symbiotic relationship is severed. This results in the death of the host. Many Reapers like myself had been trained in the arts of battle, to become super soldiers in the Kyoki Wars. We fought on both sides just so we can nourish the slug with the Nagi it demands and stave off the inevitable collapse of our symbiosis. But eventually, my Reapers could not escape death any further. Most were killed when the splicers exploited their weak points and harvested them. Others were slain when the slugs severed their symbiotic relationship. I managed to survive with the help of my Hunter companion. Even so, I just couldn't help but think about how miserable my life had become since I came to this city. Since my symbiotic relationship with the rapture slug is growing unstable, I knew that I was going to die at any minute. And I thought that, at this point… I would never see my brother Jonouchi again. So I forced myself to forget… just so I can cope." Shizuka was in tears by the time she finished her story.

Atem gently put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Shizuka. You don't have to worry about dying anymore. Thanks to Jonouchi's bravery, you are now free from the grip of the rapture slug. And I assure you, when this war is over we will give back the happiness that was stolen from you."

"You mean it?" Shizuka asked.

"Every word of it." Atem replied.

Suddenly, there was a buzz coming from the U-Invent Machine. "Oh!" Honda gasped joyfully, "The Lazarus Vector is finished!" The Telekinesis wielder rushed over to the station. "Finally! The moment of truth! Let's see how this baby turned out." Carefully, he removed the bottle containing a glowing liquid of a pale blue-green color.

"Well would you look at that!" Kaiba mused.

"I have to admit Honda Boy, you were superb on your first try." Pegasus complimented.

Honda began to cry gushing waterfalls, filled with pride. "Isn't it beautiful? My very first invention! My baby! Aunt Julie worked so hard for this moment! Sniff… If only she's around to see this!"

"She might as well be Honda, even in death. I'm certain she's very proud of you." Anzu stated with a smile. At that moment, Atem's Video Phone emitted its call. Raiden soon appeared onscreen.

"Well, by the sound of that U-Invent Machine and the looks of, uh… happy alligator tears, I'd say your friend Honda is the proud father of a beautiful Lazarus Vector." Raiden stated.

"You got that right." Atem agreed.

"Okay, now let's head back to the Langford Laboratory in Arcadia and put this baby to good use."

"Got it!" Yugi replied before Raiden ended the call. The League Leader turned toward his fellows. "You ready guys? Let's go and save Arcadia!"

"YEAH!" Raphael barked enthusiastically.

"You said it!" Mai shouted. The others voiced their agreement as well.

"We'll have to wake Jonouchi up first. Gimmie a minute." Varon noted, speeding over to shake the sleeping figure in question.

Shizuka turned her attention back to the Bolt wielder. She smiled for the second time since her liberation. "Thank you… Thank you for saving me."

"You should thank your brother." Atem replied, "He was the one who freed you from your misery. I only gave him the means to do it."

Shizuka nodded. Then she asked, "By the way… how did you and Jonouchi manage to find Kyoki? Not very many know it exists, so how is it that you're able to locate this city and come here?"

Atem scratched the back of his head over the awkwardness of the question. "It's a long story. We'll tell you on the way to Arcadia. That is… once Jonouchi wakes up."

Note: In the next chapter of Plasmashock, our heroes head back to the laboratory to save Arcadia using the newly-made Lazarus Vector. Once more, however, Ryu Mutou decides to interfere. Will they be able to overcome this madman's latest attempt? Until Next Time!