Author's Note: Alright, since I'm going to be away on Friday, I'm going to just post this chapter now. Enjoy and I'll see you later.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Yami no Game

"Oh, my masters. You can kill me, for I have brought your destruction."

-The Controller

He stared at the screen in front of him, tipping his head to the side with a frown as he removed his hands from the molds in front of him. That wasn't supposed to happen, especially not from an unidentified point in space. He moved his hands to tap them against the table itself, not wanting to accidentally activate something in the game that he was running. He waited a few seconds before removing the headset from its place and walking down the row, resting his hand on a woman's shoulder.

"Hold on." He was put off by a raised hand, stepping back as the woman began her countdown. "Three…two…one...Alright." She took the headset off her head and turned to look at him. "I have fifteen minutes until the next game starts. What's up?"

"I've gotten an anomaly in my game."

"Really?" She stood up, following him back to his place and staring at the small screen. He watched as she blinked and leaned forward, absently admiring the way that her hair fell over the side of her face, creating a curtain. She was part of the reason that he had come here, following her in the dim hopes that their friendship could become something more.

He stumbled back a step as she stood up, glancing at the woman that was suspended in wires at the end of the room, giving a shrug. "I've never seen something like this before. Archive Six would be more help with this than me. But go ask the Controller, maybe she'll know."

"But," he looked at the woman at the front of the room, "she's not exactly-"

"I know that." The woman shrugged. "With the solar flare coming, she's going to be more out of it, but it's our only other choice."

He nodded before walking towards the front of the room, aware that she was heading for the back of the room. He shrugged off the uneasiness that was coming over him, reminding himself that he was the only one who could solve this. Everyone else was busy with their own games, handling the tricky job of timing them just right so that the people on Earth would continue to get their programming. He nodded at some of the people that he had gotten to know, some of them returning the gesture with a wave.

He focused on the Controller, his eyes nervously tracing the wires that fed into her body, her eyes moving like she was reading a screen. She couldn't see him, her mind consumed with the numbers and the programming that it took to transmit the games. But she could hear him, he knew that.

"Excuse me." He waited a moment to see if she would respond, frowning when the woman continued to mutter numbers. "Controller, there seems to be an anomaly in my game. I don't know where it has come from, but it could spread to the other games."

"Return to your station. There is no anomaly."

He stared at her before shaking his head and taking a step forward. "No. There is something wrong with the games. And if we don't do-"

"Archive Six is out of bounds!" He turned around at the Controller's shout, looking towards the room at the back of the room. The woman pulled away from the pad on the wall, glancing between him and the Controller.

"But the anomaly…"

"There is no anomaly, return to your stations." The Controller returned to her soft mumbling of the numbers, ignoring them again. The man turned back a shrugged before trudging back to his seat. There was nothing that he could do if the Controller didn't allow them to act. They were bound by her.

He flopped down in his seat, watching as the woman returned to her seat before he lifted his headset back into place with a sigh. It was almost time to begin the next game. This was the way that his life went, the same pattern everyday, but he was content.

But only if he didn't think about what he was actually doing.

The Pharaoh groaned, frowning as he felt wood under his cheek and fingers. He frowned and pushed himself from the ground, wincing as his back hurt. He pulled himself up using the wall, leaning against the wall before looking around the small space that he was in. Apparently, he was in a closet, painted bright white with a hardwood floor.

The Time Lord shifted away from the wall, swaying in place before determining that he was steady enough on his feet. He reached out for the door, blinking as it was swung open, a blonde girl staring at him before rushing him out. "Come one! You're going to be late!"

He was pulled from the closet, surprised by the force that he was steered into a hallway and then into a large room. He saw a tall man and an African woman before he was shoved forward, quickly looking around the room to see a small kitchen that sprung off of it, the room that he was currently standing in dominated by a red sofa. The Pharaoh rubbed a hand over his eyes before looking at the three humans in the room, listening as they talked among themselves.

"Is he another contestant?"

"It seems so."

"But it's already so close to eliminations! It's not fair! I am not losing!"

The Pharaoh rolled his eyes, beginning to pace around the room, aware that they were watching him closely. He continued to ignore them as their conversation dropped to low whispers, looking up at the ceiling, surprised to see cameras fixed high on the walls, tracking one as it swiveled around. While he couldn't remember what had happened up to this point, it was enough to know that he was being recorded. But what was the purpose of it.

A hand on his shoulder made him jump, the Pharaoh turning to look at the blonde girl who had led him from the closet. She gave him a shy smile before looking over her shoulder at the others. "Ignore them, they're just on edge."

"And you're not?"

She blushed. "Well, that's why I'm over here. You just came in and I wanted to know what they thought of me back on Earth."

The Pharaoh stared at her for a long time before shaking his head, looking away from the woman. "I didn't come from Earth."

"Then how were you chosen?" She rushed around to look at him, staring at him in a way that reminded the Pharaoh of Yugi. "The transmat just takes someone from Earth, whether they want to or not, but it doesn't extend beyond Earth."

"Takes?" The Pharaoh stared at her for a long moment before glancing up at the camera again, his attention caught. If he couldn't remember what had happened right before he arrived here and people were being pulled from Earth against their will, there was a good chance that something was going on. "Where are my friends?"

"Um, they could be anywhere in the station. They might not even be on this floor." The woman looked around the room that they were in before shrugging. "We have no way of finding them and no way of contacting them."

The Pharaoh turned around, staring at the black shapes that should have been windows if they had been a real apartment with a frown. There was no way to get to Duke or Yugi, which was dangerous considering what had happened to them. It was something just out of his reach, but something important. The Time Lord raised his hand to rub at his forehead, snorting as he watched the humans gather.

The blonde walked over to him, trying to take his hand, which he snatched away. She bit her lip and looked down at the ground. "You have to come with us, or we'll all be punished."

He stared at her before finally relenting, following her over to the sofa and flopping down on the floor, glaring at her when she tried to reach for him again. He was stuck in here and, while he would not get these three punished on his account, he wouldn't participate in whatever stupidity was going on here.

"Contestants," he glanced up as the voice came over the speakers, raising an eyebrows as the humans quivered beside him, "you have gotten this far, but only one can remain. Crosbie, you have been voted out of the house. You have forty seconds to say your good-byes and then, we're going to get you!"

The African woman glanced at the two others, the Pharaoh leaning back against the couch as she hugged the two and then walked to one of the doors in the hallway, directing his gaze to the screen that turned on, showing a brightly lit white room. He raised an eyebrow at the tears that were coming from the other two, shaking his head before turning partially to watch as Crosbie walked into view on the screen. "She's just going to be sent back."

"No. It's worse than that." The blonde girl jumped over the back of the couch to stare at the screen, looking like she was about to reach out to touch the screen before pulling her hand back, the other guy leaning over the back of the couch.

The Pharaoh stared at them for a long while before focusing his attention fully on the screen, watching as Crosbie settled into place, looking up at something at the ceiling before she closed her eyes. He shifted, leaning forward a bit as there was a faint hum in the background, like something warming up before there was a flash of bright light, the Pharaoh starting a bit as Crosbie was disintegrated into a pile of dust. The Time Lord blinked and looked over at the other two people who were sitting there, shaking his head in a mix of disgust and horror. "And you let them do this to you?"

"We have no choice, we'll get killed if we don't listen. Suzanna accidentally damaged something and she was sent out like that! We're trapped here as much as you are."

He looked away from the woman, staring at the screen that still displayed the brightly lit white room, his mind working furiously. If there were more games, then Duke and Yugi could be in the same danger. He winced and rested a hand against his forehead, a sudden headache flaring up before disappearing, leaving him shaking slightly.

He leaned back against the console, watching as Yugi and Duke caught their breaths from their mad dash back to the TARDIS after returning the Slitheen to her home planet. Of course, Duke had to stay and flirt with the planet's equivalent of nuns. The Pharaoh wasn't sure if Duke had managed to get the alien to sleep with him, all he knew was that Duke had come running towards them while he and Yugi were still talking with the nursery attendant. The next thing he knew, they had been running for their lives.

Yugi gave a breathy laugh, pushing away from where he leaned on the console before looking over at Duke. "You've got to control that libido of yours."

"If you would let me-"

"No." Yugi held up a hand, smiling to temper the rejection. But it was all just a part of the harmless flirting that went on between his companion and the Time Agent. And, judging by the looks that Duke shot him for the entirety of the flirting bouts, the Time Agent meant them to make him jealous. But the Pharaoh would not be swayed by that. He knew what was good for him.

He stepped away from the console, reaching for the controls, hearing Yugi bound over to his side. "Where to next?"

"1336. Kyoto, Japan."

"Back home again?"

"That Japan and your Japan are nothing alike." He gently pushed Yugi out of the way, the young man giving him the space to work. He watched as Yugi backed away from the console, freezing as a bright light began to filter through the TARDIS, glancing over at Duke to see him tensing as well.

Yugi glanced behind him before looking back at him, opening his mouth to say something as he was dragged backwards suddenly. The Pharaoh could only watch as his companion fought against the pull of the light, glancing back one more time before reaching out for him, the Time Lord unable to do anything as Yugi was pulled away from him.

"Hey," he tensed as the women laid a hand on his shoulder, "are you alright?"

"Yes." He stood up before walking back into the center of the room, forcing himself to stand still instead of pacing. He didn't trust these two people, even if they said that they had no real choice in this. At least they could have done something to prevent it. In any case, he didn't have the time to waste waiting around for something to happen. Even then it could be too late. The Pharaoh had the bad feeling that all of the games were as deadly as this one. "I'm getting out of here."

"But you just arrived, you can't be voted off yet."

He looked at the blonde girl with disdain, the look softening a moment later. Despite himself, he found himself comparing this woman to Yugi, both of them still stuck on a single path because the world offered them no way out. The Pharaoh shook his head, wondering when he had gone soft before he let out a sigh, his hand reaching inside his pocket for the sonic screwdriver. "Who said I was going to let them control my fate?"

The Pharaoh pulled out the sonic screwdriver and aimed it at one of the cameras, watching as it sparked before pocketing the tool again. He ignored the gasps of the two occupants of the room, rolling his eyes as the man started to mumble nonsense. The Time Lord walked over to the door that would lead out, staring at the white door. He had been brought here for a reason; there was no other explanation for whatever had taken Yugi being able to pass through the TARDIS defenses. There were precious few races out in the galaxy that actually knew how to get around the defenses of a TARDIS. And, because that number was so low, it stood to reason that Yugi and Duke were in danger.

The Pharaoh turned with a glare as the woman latched onto his arm. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I will not be held here."

"You have no choice!"

"There's always a choice."

"Pharaoh," he smirked as the voice came back on over the speakers, "you have broken the rules of the Big Brother house. You have forty seconds to say your good-byes and then we're going to get you!"

The door opened, the Pharaoh simply walking in. He saw the woman hesitate at the open door before rushing back to the screen, the Time Lord shaking his head as the door slid shut. Humans could be so easily fooled, they had the tendency to believe anything they were told. He crossed his arms over his chest and tipped his head up to look at the device that looked like a sprinkler system on the ceiling. That's where the disintegrator beam would come from…if it even came.

The longer that nothing happened, the wider his smirk got; the Time Lord finally giving a harsh bark of laughter, pulling the sonic screwdriver from his pocket. "Of course."

He spun around, pointing his sonic screwdriver at the door on the other side of the small room, watching as the door opened, revealing a large dark grey room. The Pharaoh pocketed the sonic screwdriver before walking towards the exit pausing when he heard someone rushing after him.

"Wait!" The blonde rushed from the small white room and out into the grey room. "I want to come with you. I could show you where the other games were…or tell you what's going on. I don't want to die like that!"

"Fine. Just stay out of my way." The Pharaoh brushed past her into the room, freezing as he recognized the architecture of the room, turning slowly in place. At first, he thought he was wrong, that there was no way that he could be here. But he forced himself to face facts. Everything told him that he was in the same place.

He had returned to Satellite 5.

The Pharaoh turned around, searching for the door that would lead to the elevator. Whether this was Satellite 5 or not, he had to get to a station where he could search for Yugi and Duke. He would worry about why this had happened a little later.

He began walking towards a likely candidate, staring at the handprint pad before pulling out the sonic screwdriver, beginning to work on overriding the controls for the system. The Pharaoh glanced up as he heard the woman walking around, hearing her gasp.

"You hear stories about this old thing, but I never thought that I would see it." He glanced back over his shoulder, seeing the woman smiling. "They say that it's been up here for over one hundred years, and that it once broadcast news." She gave a chuckle. "If only it still did that. Then we would have been safe."

The Pharaoh froze momentarily, standing up slowly as the doors opened, quickly keying in the number of the level that he, Yugi and Tomoya had landed on before, knowing that there was a computer terminal around there. He waited until the woman had stepped in before speaking. "What do you mean?"

"What…Oh, about the safe thing." She shifted so she was leaning against one of the walls, smiling at him. The Pharaoh turned his gaze back to the front of the elevator, sure that she was attempting to flirt with him. The problem was, he wasn't interested. "Well, this place used to broadcast the news until one day, about one hundred years ago, then it all just stopped. The Earth panicked and they sent people up here to check it out. Turns out, the reporters had decided to stop, saying that the system was corrupt. Well, people didn't like that so they wanted them all punished. That was the first instance of these games. A new company took over the Satellite; installed the systems and hired the workers. They were so popular that they started to take volunteers. And when the ratings demanded more…"

The Pharaoh didn't turn around to see her shrug, glaring at the door. So the humans had messed it up; they had taken all the innocent people and killed them all just because of what he had done. But that meant that he had helped create this world. He gritted his teeth and stepped out of the elevator as the doors opened, striding quickly towards where the computer would be. Well, if he created this world, then he could destroy it. He was the only one who could set time right, because this just felt wrong.

He frowned as he approached the computer, trying to get a handle on the feeling that he was experiencing. This place still felt wrong, but it was only now that he thought about it. There was something else resting over it, something calming and familiar.

Something Time Lord.

The Pharaoh shook off the feeling, knowing that it had to be false. There weren't any Time Lords left, so it was impossible. He just had to focus on the task before him, one step at a time.

He knelt in front of the computer, pulling off the front panel before staring at the inside, taking the sonic screwdriver out and searching through the wires before beginning. It would be a simple task to hack into the computer and search out the others. Out of all of them, Yugi would be the hardest to find because he was completely human, but the challenge made it interesting. The Pharaoh smiled to himself before turning on the sonic screwdriver and going to work.

He blinked, slowly opening his eyes at the sound of two female voices with a slight robotic tinge to them. Duke groaned and sat up, looking over as one of the robots as they rested a hand on his shoulder. "I told you that this was the perfect specimen."

"Hello ladies." Duke winced as his head pounded, giving it a shake before sitting up straighter. "Where am I?"

"That shouldn't be your first worry, honey." The blue and white robot spoke, wheeling across the room to pull a mirror more towards the stand in the center of the room. A stand that, Duke noticed, held a dangerous looking weapon. "Those clothes should be. What were you going for?"

Duke looked down at the black pants and the white shirt that he had on, giving a shrug. "What was clean."

"No, no." The purple and white robot moved across the floor, stopping beside him before helping him stand up, steadying him as Duke swayed. "The white just makes the black look tacky. Besides, you need something else, something special."

"Something leather."

"Oh, leather will work perfectly." The purple and white robot seemed to wiggle eagerly before bustling over to where some clothes were hanging on a rack. "Probably black. Now, what color would suit him?"

"Hm…definitely a color. He also needs something to keep those bangs out of his gorgeous eyes." The blue and white robot was behind the weapon, Duke tensing for a moment as it activated the gun, watching as a blue beam of light shot out and ran over his body, removing his clothes from him and leaving a slight tingling sensation. Duke raised an eyebrow and looked down at himself, giving a chuckle before glancing back up at the robots.

"Am I right in assuming this is some kind of show?"

"Yes."

"So I'm naked on public television?"

"Absolutely!"

Duke chuckled as the two robots spoke in sync, rocking back a bit on his heels, winking at them. "I can assure you that your ratings just went up."

The two robots chuckled before returning to their racks of clothes, Duke readjusting his stance and looking around the room, making sure to seem nonchalant. He didn't want those two picking up on any unease that he had, and he had no way of knowing what their sensors could pick up. Besides, it was not like him to actually show his worry in situations like this. It was much easier to flirt and pretend that he had no idea what was going on while he kept a careful watch on everything.

He could remember what had happened on the TARDIS, albeit some events were still a bit foggy, but he could blame the trasmat that was used to get them here. And it would have had to have been a strong transmat to penetrate the TARDIS. He was also on edge because he was separated from the others, which meant that he would have to look for them, a dangerous thing since he didn't know where he was.

Duke smoothed out his features, making sure to smile as the robots turned back to him, throwing a pair of pants and underwear at him. He slipped the articles of clothing on, one of the robots searching a shelf of shoes that she pulled out while the other continued going through a rack of shirts, eventually pulling out a vest and tossing it on the table that he had been laying on earlier. Duke was about to go and pick the vest up when the blue and white robot trundled back over and placed a pair of boots on the ground, gesturing for him to put them on.

He shrugged and bent over, listening to the conversation that the robots were having as he opened up the wrist strap, checking to see if it still functioned. While not at its highest capacity, which it hadn't functioned at for a while, it still worked. He smirked to himself and quickly set the technology to work, scanning for an alien with two hearts before quickly slipping on the boots and standing up.

"Red or blue."

"Definitely not blue…or green either."

"Red then." Duke caught the shirt that was thrown at him, slipping it on along with the black vest. The robots seemed to stare at it for a while before nodding, one returning to fiddle with something at a table while the other continued to circle him.

"It's one combination. Interesting."

He looked up as the robot by the table started speaking, raising an eyebrow as he guessed that would be a camera there. The robot by his side moved back to the defabricator and switched it on, dissolving his clothes again. Duke shivered a little in the suddenly cooler air, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting.

"Now it's time for the face off."

"Really?" Duke smirked and held up his hands like he was boxing. "Are you going to pit me against another opponent? I'm sorry to say that it would be no contest. He would lose."

"No, literally." Duke paled as the blue and white robot showed him one of her arms, the hand gone and replaced by a saw. He took a step back, glancing at the purple and white robot that had moved from his side, coming to join her friend in front of him. "Face. Off."

"Now, ladies," Duke held up his hands and smiled, "this face is completely natural. And I intend to keep it that way."

He lowered one of his hands, reaching down behind him. Duke held back a wince as he reached in, two fingers brushing against the cold metal there before securing a hold long enough for him to pull the slim weapon out. He kept his eyes focused on the two robots, wishing that he had at least bedded Yugi…or maybe the Pharaoh, then this would be easer.

With a practiced move, he pulled the laser to front, pointing the slim, short weapon at the two robots and watching them retreat, a smile crossing his face. Despite the slight discomfort, it was well worth it for this.

"But that's a Compact Laser Deluxe."

"Where on Earth were you hiding that?"

Duke gave a playful wince before shaking his head. "Honestly, you don't want to know."

Easily he fired off two shots, hitting his targets perfectly and watching the heads of the robots blow off. Duke smirked before tossing the small laser to the side, his eyes on the defabricator that was in a room; with a few adjustments, it could be a viable weapon. Another cold breeze reminded him of something more pressing to take care of.

He moved over to the racks of clothes, picking up a pair of black pants and a black sleeveless shirt, pulling both of those on before slipping a red vest over the shirt. Duke brushed his bangs out of his eyes, one hand closing the belt around his waist as he looked for something to keep his hair from getting in his way. He spotted a strip of red fabric, smirking as he tied it around his head.

Duke then moved to the large defabricator, circling around it before moving to the back of the weapon, fiddling with the knobs there before easily pulling it off the stand. A smile crossed his face as he moved towards the door. He shoved his shoulder against the pad there, surprised when the door easily opened up. The former Time Agent tensed before moving through the door, staring in awe at the large room that he found himself in.

Cautiously, he moved across the empty floor, easily identifying the elevator and opening it. He slipped inside, resting his new weapon in a position where he could get to his wrist strap, flipping it open and glaring at the piece of technology. It had done most of its job; it had found that there was an alien with two hearts in the place that he was in. But it had failed to give the specific location. Duke swore under his breath before slapping the device, a smile crossing his face when it gave a beep and then began to function. He leaned over and pressed the correct floor buttons before settling back.

The ride up to the floor that the Pharaoh was on was quick, but Duke was still nearly hopping in place by the time he reached his destination, slipping out of the doors as soon as they would allow him passage. He hit the open room at a run, dashing to where the Pharaoh was.

At first, he was thrown off by the presence of a blonde woman, but he relaxed when the Pharaoh seemed to be ignoring her presence completely, totally focused on the computer in front of him. Duke edged closer, surprised to hear a growl coming from the Time Lord, too used to the Pharaoh being in complete control of his emotions at all times. The Time Lord pulled free of the mess of wires, glancing back at Duke before looking at the computer.

"Your wrist device, I need something to interface with the computer."

"Can't you just hack into it?" Duke shifted his weapon to the ground, undoing the strap and handing it over to the Pharaoh.

"The system is complicated, too complicated for this kind of computer." The Pharaoh plugged a few wires into the device, staring at it before punching a few numbers in and frowning at what he got. "They've rigged it so that it's nearly impossible to get in."

"Impossible?"

"I said nearly, Duke." The Pharaoh snapped the words at him before looking up at the screen of the terminal, freezing at the words that he saw there. He sat up straighter, the action encouraging Duke to edge closer to read the words that floated lazily across the screen.

"Dark Game?"

"Yeah," Duke turned to look at the woman, watching as she glanced down at her feet, "it's the name of the company that owns this satellite."

Duke tipped his head to the side before wandering over. "Hello, Captain Duke Devlin. And you are?"

"Lynda Moss."

"Keep the flirting to a minimum."

"I was just saying hello!" Duke shot a glare at the Pharaoh, the expression softening a moment later. He couldn't be mad at the Time Lord, not when the Pharaoh was still worried about Yugi. In fact, he was worried about Yugi. He had seen first hand how dangerous these games were. And if Yugi was still in there…

He walked back over to the Pharaoh, having to jump backwards as the Time Lord stood up. The former Time Agent deftly caught the device that was thrown back at him, strapping it around his wrist again before picking up his weapon. The Pharaoh would only move like this if something had been found. "Yugi?"

"Floor sixteen."

"Sixteen?" Lynda walked over to the screen, gasping before grabbing onto Duke's arm and pulling him towards the elevator. "We've got to hurry! He's with the Anne-droid!"

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