"Seriously, Yuugi. Why are you wearing our school uniform? And the winter one at that?"

"Hey!" Yuugi twisted around in his seat, leaning over the top to glower at Honda, who was sitting right behind him in the next row. "Planes are supposed to get cold, right? And Isis-san said it's been a mild season over there."

"Yeah, a mild baking summer."

"Let it go, Honda-kun," Anzu said. She sat in the aisle seat just beside Honda, and it put her in the perfect position to add a poke to her prod. She ignored his answering 'Hey!' and smiled up at Yuugi. "You did bring some cooler clothes though, right?"

"I have a sleeveless shirt on under this."

"A black one."

"Well. Yeah."

"…"

"…I packed other clothes, too!"

"Eh, who cares?" Jounouchi huffed, and Yuugi flopped back in his seat to face his best friend, sitting right beside him in their row. He looked bored and impatient, flipping through his Duel Monster cards without even looking up. "If we get hot over there, you just have to strip down a couple of layers."

"Planning ways to get us kicked out of places already, Jounouchi?"

"Ah shush, Honda."

Yuugi snorted, then dismissed the conversation and looked to his other side.

To Atem, and his grandfather.

Sugoroku, sitting on Atem's other side, was already slumped in his seat with his eyes shut, a sleepy smile on his face, while Atem seemed to be struggling with his duffel bag, trying to stuff it under his seat even though it was clearly not built for it. The plane was humongous, sure, but Yuugi and his friends were in the first two center rows in coach, the tight space with nothing to see save a blank projector screen, clearly meant for the in-flight movie. And Yuugi and his grandfather and Jounouchi and Atem, they were in the very first row, so they'd likely have first dibs on the food cart, but there was no overhead storage.

And no room beneath their chairs for duffels.

Yuugi watched Atem struggle for a few more seconds before reaching over, catching his forearm and squeezing it still.

Atem stalled immediately, looking up to meet his eye as Yuugi shook his head. "I don't think you're going to manage that. You'll rip your bag."

"You know why I don't want it stored with the other bags."

"I know," Yuugi agreed, pinching his lips at the grim look on Atem's face. "But you're just going to draw attention demanding to keep it, and–" He leaned closer, mumbling so quietly that only Atem could possibly hear him. "Won't it be safer away from the other passengers? We're probably going to sleep on the flight, and you can't watch it the whole time." Atem was reluctant to let the staff even x-ray the thing at the security check. Yuugi doubted he would get a wink of sleep with the thing in easy grabbing distance of a dozen strangers.

Atem's features relaxed, but he didn't smile, turning back to the duffel at his feet. "You have a point," he admitted, tugging the bag up onto his lap… and reaching over his head for the leather cord of the Puzzle.

Yuugi stared, astonished as Atem unzipped the bag and dropped the golden Item onto a pile of rumpled clothes. "…Really?"

"I won't be able to watch it, right?"

…He was right. And while it was surely fifty times harder to swipe a hunk of gold hanging around someone's neck than to sneak a bag out from under their feet? It was possible. And even if they couldn't cut the cord or ease it off the sleeping pharaoh, someone might still eye the gold while Atem wasn't looking, and make plans for a more convenient theft once they reached Cairo. Try to corner him somewhere.

Yuugi scratched his neck beneath his chain and remembered tightness and pain, being pushed up against an alley wall and choked and yanked around a game shop. Remembered hanging by a hook, and decided he approved.

Atem was more than armed against such threats, had destroyed such threats before, but–

"Are you calling for an attendant, Atem-kun?"

Atem looked over his shoulder, finger still on the call button as he locked eyes with Bakura, leaning over the back of the pharaoh's chair. "Yes, I'm checking something, or whatever they call it with the carry-ons you store away. Why?"

"Well, if you could, would you ask for a water bottle?"

Yuugi glanced at Atem the exact second he looked at him, sharing a moment of mutual, mute surprise before looking back to their friend. "Already? But they probably don't have the drink cart stuff ready yet."

Bakura smiled, undeterred. "Otogi-kun asked."

Yuugi blinked, then leaned up over his own seat to eye the said teen, sitting beside Bakura.

Otogi was picking at something beneath his fingernail, but paused when the silence dragged on. When he noticed their attention, he shot Yuugi a grin. "They made me throw out my drink at security."

Yuugi blinked again, then looked at Atem, who merely shrugged.

When he looked back, Otogi was focused on his nails again.

Yuugi held his breath the whole way down the runway, clutching the armrests as the plane rumbled beneath him and smiling when the seat and ground gave a jolt, then went weightless, still vibrating with power.

Jounouchi must have been bracing himself, too, because he let out a gasp that was practically a yell and slumped in his seat as Yuugi tentatively released his grip on his armrests, all while Atem watched them, an eyebrow perked behind his glasses as he grinned. "You've both flown before. Why the nerves?"

Yuugi snorted, mimicking Jounouchi's slump. "Helicopters and blimps don't count."

"Why's that?"

"Because they don't."

"Mm- hmm."

"Exactly."

"Honda."

Yuugi paused his game boy and looked over his shoulder to see his named friend standing in the aisle, glowering back at Anzu. "What? I'm just going to the bathroom?"

"Put your shoes back on!"

"I've got socks, don't be so–" he tried to dismiss, but cut himself off when a flight attendant popped up right in front of him, a frown on his face.

"Sir, I'm afraid you need to wear shoes to move about the cabin."

"Er–"

It took half a minute for Honda to find his shoes, two to get them on, and five more to get to the bathroom and back again.

And when Yuugi glanced back an hour later, when their food was served? Honda still looked sour.

"Aren't you bored?"

Atem blinked his eyes open, staring at the movie playing right over their heads before turning to meet Yuugi's gaze. "What makes you think I wasn't sleeping?"

"Your face relaxes more when you're asleep."

There was a faint, swallowed cough behind them, and Atem peered through the crack between their seats to eye their friends: Honda and Anzu had headphones on, attention on the movie, while Bakura looked engrossed in a book and Otogi's eyes were shut, apparently following Sugoroku and Jounouchi's example and taking a nap.

Atem dismissed them, and looked back at his partner with a faint smile. "I was just thinking, aibou. Nothing serious."

"Mm- hmm."

"…Are you using my own words against me?"

"It's really not much of a word, you know."

"Rude."

Yuugi sniffed, but narrowed his eyes, saying without saying that he wouldn't be distracted by such shallow banter. "Seriously, you okay?"

Atem's expression went soft, but he kept smiling, steady in his gaze as he nodded. "I'm okay."

A grin slid across Yuugi's face, but fell as he looked down. "Okay."

Atem's hand twitched on the armrest, and he squeezed the thin metal. Fighting an impulse to reach out.

But he said nothing, and Yuugi didn't notice, going back to his game.

"How does your grandpa do it, Yuugi?" Jounouchi whispered, eyeing the older man with his eye mask and neck pillow on the other end of the row. Sugoroku was out cold, snoring away. And quite loudly. "It's been seven hours."

"I think he took a pill or something before we took off. So that he'd sleep through most of the trip."

"Oh… you don't think he'd still have some–"

"No, Jounouchi-kun."

"Hey."

Atem peeked one eye open, smiled at Yuugi, and shut it again. "Yes, aibou?"

Yuugi crossed his arms, frowning to hide a matching smile. "Me going to the bathroom was not an invitation for you to put up the armrest and lie down in my seat."

"Just keeping it warm for you."

"How sweet. Now get up. Before I think of a way to return the favor next time you get up."

"You're far too kind for vengeance, aibou."

"Try me."

Yuugi peeked an eye open, sleep-fogged brain registering an unexpected, warm weight on his arm. He looked to his right.

Atem was leaning on him, cheek to his shoulder. Eyes shut. Face relaxed.

…

Yuugi stared, bit his lip… and faced forward. Towards the projector screen. Saw the credits rolling through blurred eyes.

The movie was over.

"Mmmh!" Yuugi stretched his fingers towards the ceiling as the disembarkment started, standing up with a relieved smile as he looked around– and promptly sat back down, shaking Jounouchi's shoulder.

"Nghh!"

"Get up, Jounouchi-kun. You're in the aisle seat. And we're losing our chance to leave."

"Mpgff–"

"What'd he do?" Honda asked, scoffing down at Jounouchi as he passed down the aisle, exiting the plane. "Go back to sleep after we landed?"

"Jounouchi-kun."

"Just come out this way, Yuugi-kun." Yuugi turned to see his grandfather at the other end of the aisle, smiling as he indicated his way out. "You can follow me."

Atem, standing between them, looked askance. "Do you want us to leave him?"

"Of course not! The staff will usher him along eventually. Let's just go grab our things and wait where we can stretch our legs. We can even grab his bag for him."

He was right, but Yuugi still shot his friend an apologetic look as he shuffled along the seats and down the second aisle behind Atem.

Jounouchi's snores trailed them out of the plane.

"Are you sure it didn't fall behind that shelf there?"

"I looked. It's not there!"

"I still think someone could have taken it by accident. I thought three of the bags were yours until you checked."

"That is not a comfort."

"What the hell, guys?!" Jounouchi's voice snapped behind them, but Atem didn't look up, continuing to dig through the few carry-ons left on the pick-up shelf, looking– then shoving the last bag onto the floor.

Background chatter died at the sound of the violent impact, and Atem turned, locking eyes with Yuugi. "They're gone." The Items were gone, and his mind was a screaming blank. And if his partner wasn't right at his side, his eyes alarmed but mouth set, Atem was sure he'd be spiraling.

"Let's talk to the staff," Yuugi said, voice quiet and firm. "They have to have some way to deal with this. Or security cameras."

He was right. But Atem's fists still shook against his hips, tension burning in the joints. This was no mistake or accident. If they didn't find them–

"I beg your pardon, is something wrong?"

He looked past Yuugi to a lady in uniform, her shoulders tense and a smile stiff on her face. She was clearly there to smooth over everything. And Atem was happy to grind his teeth while Anzu dealt with it, jumping in to draw the attendant's attention to her. "I'm sorry, but my friend's bag is gone. He has some important valuables in there, and he was told to check it because of its size. But it's disappeared."

"I am so sorry, I didn't– let me just get the manager."

More waiting followed.

More standing around as Atem stared across the long room, the crowd and faces and shocking Cairo skyline laid out beyond a massive set of windows all a meaningless blur as he looked for something– anything that would explain what had happened.

There was no point in staring at the people, though. He had no idea who or what he was looking for.

The excruciating seconds ended when a man came back with the attendant and spoke to Anzu and Yuugi. Then he focused on the staff woman.

"You are certain it didn't appear in the video?"

"Yes," the attendant assured, and when Atem phoned back into the conversation, he saw her frowning at her manager. "There were a few bags that matched the description in the video, but I saw this group look at all of them before they were claimed. No one else took it, and there was no bag like that unaccounted for."

"Then it must not have ever left the plane. Who is responsible for clean up?"

"Kazumura-san. But he and the others went on break after we disembarked."

"Then they should be returning any minute now, shouldn't– ah!" the manager burst into a smile as he waved over an approaching man and woman, the pair wearing the same uniform as the attendant. "Perfect timing! We are trying to locate a bag that was not brought out to the pick-up area. We think Kazumura-san could help, unless either of you remembers seeing a black duffel bag somewhere odd?"

"No," the new man said, shooting the group an awkward, apologetic smile before facing the manager. "I didn't see it. But I didn't help with the clean up today. What about you, Suki-san?"

'Suki' shook her head, but immediately turned to look down the concourse. "No, Kazumura-san handled everything. But if you would like to ask him, he just went to the restroom. He should be right behind us. If we just wait a… yes, there he is."

Atem followed Suki's pointing finger just in time to watch a man in that same uniform exit the men's room.

And turn, walking the opposite direction from them.

A black bag slung over his shoulder.

…

Atem rushed forward, a chorus of outcries singing out behind him.

"Wait, sir! What are you–"

"Please, let security handle–"

"Atem-kun!"

"Atem!"

Strangers yelled and cried out shock around him, chairs, bags, children, bodies all threatening to fall in his way at any moment as feet stamped a hot, rumbling rhythm at his heels.

But he didn't look back. Didn't slow. There was no time– the violet hair of this 'Kazumura' kept popping into view over the heads of the crowd, but if he turned a corner or ducked to hide somewhere, if he got away–

"Atem!"

He gave in to Jounouchi's sharp cry and looked back, and saw he and Anzu and Honda were all right beside him, bypassing him, not to stop but to help–

And Yuugi. He was right there, at his elbow. Matching him stride for stride, eyes glued on Kazumura's back.

Jounouchi did a little jump over a suitcase and snapped, "He's making for the stairs!"

Atem whipped his head around, searched desperately, and– he was right. Kazumura had just reached a flight of stairs!

What was he doing?! There had to be security everywhere and closing in even as they ran and Kazumura was never going to get away with this! Going to a new floor would change nothing! Had he planned this ahead of time somehow? Did he have accomplices waiting for him? Why had he done this?!

It didn't matter.

Atem ran after him, Otogi and Bakura flashing in his periphery as he turned on a foot to swing around the rail and down the stairs after his other friends, his partner still right there, silent at his elbow, keeping up with every step.

Around them people were leaning against the rail or the wall, pressed back by Kazumura's descent seconds earlier. His rush cleared the way for them to pursue, and that little advantage proved to be gold when they slammed to the bottom of the steps and there–

"Stop!"

The man froze, his back to them, maybe twenty feet down the dim, tight hallway, white linoleum and white ceilings and badly lit signs on white walls giving the space a sickly glow. Waves of people who should have been walking to and fro lingered on either end of their confrontation, only a brave few daring to hug the walls and swerve around them as Atem stepped between and before his faster friends.

He stared, silently daring Kazumura to face him… until a commotion coaxed his eyes a little higher, and he saw people running towards them from the other direction.

The security was coming.

"Remain where you are!" one of the three– no, four officers yelled as they pressed passed the people blocking their way.

Before they could breach the crowd and reach Kazumura, they froze.

Everyone froze.

The world froze, stalling as darkness swept across everything. Shadows crept where they had no business being, leaving the strangers and security and everyone looking on, aware but paralyzed by means they could not understand.

Only Atem's friends remained unfettered, gasping and stumbling at his back. His friends, and his partner, and Atem himself, shuddering at the familiar tang of magic in the air.

Of shadows.

"Zorc."

The stranger turned, golden eyes flashing in a face Atem did not know.

A demon smiled. "I wanted to take out a few thousand souls or so before I looked at you again, but fine. That face is good enough."

Atem's teeth scraped as he unclenched his jaw and snapped, "What are you doing?!"

Zorc had the gall to laugh, mouth spreading in a grin that looked unnaturally wide on that face. "You're an idiot, pharaoh. Putting the Ring and the Puzzle together and then leaving them?!"

Of course.

"I may not have all seven, but I've gathered enough power from the Items that are here – especially the Puzzle – to taunt this stupid man into putting me on and stealing them. And since I had the chance– hehehe, did you really think I would do nothing while you saunter into Egypt to destroy me?!"

Of course. How had Atem not realized this would happen? Atem knew Zorc wasn't gone! That if he had time to recover, and the opportunity–

"I'm sorry."

Atem's teeth scraped again, but he couldn't turn. Couldn't look his partner's unearned regret in the eye. He could only hiss, "No. I should have thought of this. This was why I kept wearing it. I got complacent–"

"And now it's too late!" the gleeful demon proclaimed, beaming, and it was too late. The power Atem had used to stop him before – the power in his name – it wasn't at his fingertips anymore.

He had nothing.

And Zorc knew it.

Triumph shone gold in his eyes and it was too late– but Atem tried, anyways. He rushed forward as Zorc raised his hand and the Ring glowed on his chest and a storm Atem had never known outside of the world of memories was going to hit them and it would kill and his friends had no magic and no spirits to protect them. He had nothing but–

Power shone, smacked Zorc's attack away just before it reached him, and it slammed into the black fog around them. Out of control, that dark power splintered off as black lightning and bounced and jumped and rained down all around them.

It stung, but it did not kill.

And Atem stood right in the midst of it, hand outstretched, his brow burning bright.

Smirking.

Smirking into Zorc's baffled, enraged face. "What?!" He looked down, followed the line of Atem's outstretched hand… and stared at the duffel bag, its contents glowing through the fabric.

"I was in the Puzzle too, Zorc. I am connected to it just as you are."

"You–"

"And I have never had to touch it to use its power!" He just had to be close enough… and Atem hadn't been sure that he was.

But Zorc didn't need to know that.

Didn't need to know that Atem tried to touch a god or spirit, any spirit, and found only silence.

All Zorc needed to know was that he failed, and he spit out a scream and glared as Atem insisted, "You will not touch them. You will not touch anyone! Not while I am here!"

"You–" Zorc shook Kazumura's head, then threw out both hands, palms up, and the ends of his fingers sizzled black with a power Atem could not comprehend, but tensed to see, knowing– "Are you really so confident, pharaoh?! How far is that old betting spirit of yours willing to go?! Shall we find out? Shall we see which of us has more to lose?! Even this stupid man I'm using means nothing to me, but you– there are so many souls here! And so many that are precious to you! One bad bet and any one of them could end up caught in the crossfire! Which one do you think it would be? You want to make a wager on it? How about I try and aim for someone– let's see if I can guess who you'd hate to lose most–"

"What do you want?!" Atem screamed, desperate to deny the threat. To not acknowledge. "I screwed up by storing the Items together, but there is no way– You were decimated at that museum! You can't have regained enough power to endanger the world, so what do you–"

Zorc laughed. Laughed with such hate that Atem's words swelled on his tongue. "You." The crackling darkness simmered out, but it was still there, a banked fire in Zorc's eyes as he stared at Atem. That look raked down the pharaoh's spine, because he remembered– "I don't care about anything else! If I can't manage anything else, if I can't even finish it, I want to at least hurt you– tear you to pieces, body and soul. I can't believe I screwed up so badly that I gave you… but I will take it back. Make you see what you've done. You think this is your grand reward?! That you've earned the right to toss me and the Items and everything you were accomplice to aside? Claim your tainted throne and your tainted legacy and just walk off into the night? No. If you want your crown and your name back, Atem, you will take the blood that goes with it!"

…This wasn't Zorc.

Zorc was there, the only one capable of doing this. The only one who would want such useless darkness and destruction.

But it wasn't him talking.

It was the thief.

Not just a chess piece from a game between him and Zorc, but the actual thief.

Or, perhaps it was always him. Because the wild hate Atem saw in him was the exact same as in that game. The same hate he saw gleam behind Bakura's kind eyes.

This wasn't evil speaking. It was vengeance.

And it stuck in Atem's throat until the thief spit out, "If I can't take out the world, I'll settle for a city, and your friends, and you."

Atem recovered enough to glare. To remember the threats. "You won't. I won't let you."

"And how do you plan to stop me?!"

"Duel me."

Surprise flashed across the thief's face.

Then there was just hate again. "Why would I? Even if it destroys me to do it, I can still wipe you out directly! Or keep you here until your friends all die!"

Atem turned his head, just enough to look.

Saw his friends, his partner, tense and tight lipped and watching.

Strain in their eyes.

They weren't supposed to be here. They had no protection against such darkness.

And Atem's breath caught as he realized… no, it was just a faint ache. Nothing more. Easily dismissible.

But his head ached.

He– why would he–

He turned back, refusing to acknowledge it. "Because you want to."

The thief stared at him.

"You don't want to just kill me, do you? Or even hurt me. You want to humiliate me. To see me try and fight back, and fail. Prove how helpless I really am. You want to see me suffer."

And he would.

If Atem was right, and he was actually vulnerable–

"Mou hitori no boku." Atem looked back into eyes dark and heavy with concern, calculations running visibly through his partner's mind as he tried to understand– "Are you sure?"

No, he wasn't. He couldn't make this a proper penalty game, and he didn't trust Zorc to play it as one. There was no telling what would happen even if Atem did win, and the duel could sap him of everything and cost his friends – cost everyone – crucial time.

But if he let this degrade into a direct clash of Items? When he wasn't even wearing his, and Zorc clearly had some control of it?

They would die.

"Of course," he assured, comforted as his friend's shoulders relax and they smiled a bit.

But not Yuugi. He stared, and said nothing.

Behind Atem, the thief laughed.

"Fine, pharaoh. You want one last beating?" Atem looked back– and jerked around, eyes wide as his hands rushed out to catch what was tossed to him.

The Puzzle.

His heart burst, hope flooding his veins because his opponent hadn't thought– but the smile he hadn't bothered to form died as his efforts to reach for the Item's power were met with silence.

He looked up, seeds of despair already blooming into rage as he locked eyes with the thief.

The demon.

Whichever he was, he was smiling at him, one hand humming with golden power that slowly faded to black and then nothing as Atem watched.

Atem didn't know what he had done, but he had only been given the Puzzle because it could do nothing.

Zorc had control of it, too, and he'd used it to cut Atem off.

…Atem put it on anyways.

'Kazumura' smirked, as though amused by the act. "Then you've got it," the thief belatedly answered, waiting until Atem met his eye again and could see it as he raised an arm over his head, light playing across his sleeve before a duel disk was suddenly there, weighing it down.

He summoned an entire disk from nowhere, cards already in the deck slot! How–

Something touched his arm, and Atem turned to see his partner there, offering his duel disk.

He stared down it, surprised– then not, because of course. Yuugi had it in his backpack, and he'd found it at the bag claim before they noticed the duffel was missing.

A small miracle among insanity.

Atem accepted it, locking eyes with Yuugi, who searched his… and nodded, letting go.

Atem turned without any hesitation, strapping the device and inserting his deck and taking silent comfort in Yuugi's lingering presence at his shoulder as he stared down his opponent. "Let's duel."

The thief smirked, eyes laughing. "I draw first."

"Go."

Zorc cackled.

Yuugi flinched against the sharp metallic pang that played through the Duel Disk speakers when Obnoxious Celtic Guardian's attack on Zorc's facedown card revealed a Spirit Reaper, weak in defense but impervious to destruction. A Marshmallon without a bite.

Atem cursed under his breath, barely audible even to Yuugi, and he turned to watch as Atem considered the two cards left in his hand, both visible from Yuugi's position. After a moment's contemplation, he set one of them, and Yuugi smothered the urge to smile at his choice. He wouldn't give Zorc a single clue to Atem's plays.

Atem ended his turn, and Zorc didn't give a single pause as he rolled through his own actions, playing Lightning Vortex to clear out the pharaoh's monsters, summoning Nightmare Horse, putting Spirit Reaper in attack mode, then rounding it all out by stealing 800 life points.

The last move prompted Atem to flinch, and Yuugi shot him a quick, alarmed look. Since when did he… was this duel causing physical harm, like the one they had against Malik's shadow? Or… or was it something else? Surely Zorc would have taunted them with it if this duel directly harmed the pharaoh.

Yuugi didn't know, but he kept staring even after Atem recovered and smirked, discarding a card for Spirit Reaper's effect. "I expected you to clear my hand for me," he taunted, drawing a card– and Yuugi didn't bother hiding a smile that time.

"When I have no other cards in my hand," Atem called, throwing the card down on the disk, "I can special summon this: Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight!" And the monster sprang into being, its hooves echoing through the hallway as Atem added, "And I play my face down card, Pot of Greed, to add two cards back to my hand."

Yuugi could have laughed, a wave of amusement and admiration striking him even amid the tension in the air. Of course Atem would make such a gamble and win. Of course the cards he drew would be–

Atem turned his head, just for a moment, and met his eye, sparks flying behind his smile. "Thanks for the gift, aibou."

Yuugi bit back a grin, unable to squelch it fully as Atem turned back and– "I play Book of Moon, which sets one card face down. And I choose Spirit Reaper!"

"What?!"

"Why would Atem do that?"

"Just watch," Yuugi assured Jounouchi, keeping his eyes on the duel, not wanting to miss the moment Atem played the second card–

"I then activate the continuous card Spiral Spear Strike, which gives my Gaia card piercing damage and allows me to draw two cards anytime this effect comes into play against a monster in defense mode!"

"You," Zorc started to hiss, but no, he could do nothing as Gaia attacked, incapable of destroying Spirit Reaper but sapping 2100 life points from Zorc in the attempt. And Zorc didn't stagger so much as simmer, staring black fire across the field as Atem held up two cards: The ones he just drew.

"And in my second phase, I play Dark Magic Veil, which costs me 1000 life points."

Yuugi didn't imagine it.

Atem shuddered. Stepped back a half-step before reaffirming his stance, shoulders tense against the clear urge to shake.

And Yuugi stared, his stomach turning. He… but he couldn't be–

"That brings Dark Magician onto the field!" Atem spit, all of the vehemence back in his voice, but Yuugi didn't watch the play. He watched him, searching his face for answers that weren't there. "I can then play Thousand Knives, and destroy Spirit Reaper!"

That was a good move. Given the monster combo, Bakura was probably planning to fuse Spirit Reaper to Nightmare Horse the second he drew a fusion card. But Yuugi considered the thought only distantly, still focused on the pharaoh… until the dragging silence urged him to glance across the field.

He saw the smirk on Zorc's face, and tensed.

Why–

"Thank you, pharaoh," he breathed, lifting his Duel Disk so that all of them could see it as he played a certain card. "That is the third Dark monster in my graveyard, which means I can special summon this–"

The room shook with a low, menacing roar as a great black mass of shining silver appeared on the field, red eyes glowing through the gloom.

Yuugi's stomach dropped, because for a breath, he thought– he's taunting me. He's using Gandora to hurt Atem.

But it wasn't Gandora. There were no gems glowing red in the dark. Just great silver blades, and claws and spikes. And the name Zorc screamed was, "Dark Armed Dragon!"

Yuugi had never seen it before, but he knew this was bad.

"And with him, I can banish one dark monster from my graveyard to destroy one card on the field– and I choose Dark Magician!"

This was very bad.

The magician burst to pieces as Atem cursed under his breath, setting aside the card even as Zorc called an attack on Gaia, destroying him with a swipe of the dragon's claws and sending Atem's life points down by 500 points– then taking another 500 points with an attack by Nightmare Horse!

That was when Atem tripped.

Yuugi stepped forward and caught his arm. "Mou hitori no boku–"

But the pharaoh wouldn't look at him. He clenched his teeth against whatever pain he felt and snapped at that leering, smiling face, "Is this satisfying to you?!"

"No," the thing in the flight attendant breathed, smiling. "You don't look nearly horrified enough, pharaoh. Do you actually think you can defeat me? Or that I'll let your friends walk out of here alive after you fall?!"

"I think you know that a bargain struck over this power has to be kept!"

"And what bargain did I make for when you lose?! I can do whatever I want if I win!"

"…Then how about a new bargain?"

…Yuugi didn't like it.

There was a strange note in Atem's voice, and when Yuugi looked at him, he saw the wheels turning behind his eyes. Saw the thin, grim line of his mouth, and Yuugi didn't like it.

And he wasn't looking at Zorc, but he heard the incredulous edge in his voice as he scoffed. "Why would I humor that? I'm winning."

"No, you're not," Atem claimed, looking him right in the eye, unblinking as he tapped his cards. "You only have 400 life points left, and it is my turn, and I have the means to defeat you right here, assuming you have nothing in your hand to block me."

He was lying.

Yuugi saw his cards before he moved, and knew. It wasn't even a question of failing to see some way to use those cards to win. He couldn't. Atem's cards were all dependent on Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl, and he had no means to summon them in hand. He was stuck. He might survive another turn, might draw another lucky card, but he could not win without stalling for more time.

It was a bluff.

But Yuugi didn't let his face twitch. Didn't do anything to give Atem away as he went on lying. "I think it's in my favor, but you're right: I have more to lose if I'm wrong. So, why don't we change the bargain? Not a game, or a fight, but an exchange."

No.

Yuugi knew. He squeezed Atem's arm and knew because the pharaoh wouldn't look at him, wouldn't even acknowledge him as he stepped forward, out of his grip. "Take me out and forget the rest."

No.

"What are you saying, Atem-kun?!" Anzu cried from behind them, quickly echoed by protests from the others, but Yuugi– Yuugi said nothing.

And Atem didn't look back. "Let them go. They aren't the point to you. You say you want vengeance against me, but I'm not even the point, am I? Zorc wants to wipe away everything, get rid of me because I am in the way of that, but you– you want justice, don't you?"

…What?

The bleak denial in Yuugi's heart blurred in confusion as he looked across the field, to– was that not Zorc? Atem spoke as though he wasn't. But whatever it was, it stared at the pharaoh with flat, hateful, yet attentive eyes, and Atem went right on coaxing him. "Justice for the family and the people that you lost– you wanted those who took them from you to suffer the same loss, didn't you? But I am that family you would talk. I'm all that's left of those people. So all you need for your vengeance is me."

Yuugi didn't know what Atem meant, but he read intention in his words, and he hated it. Hated that there was reluctance and not refusal on the flight attendant's face. "You would actually surrender and sacrifice yourself like that, and just–"

A hard, clattering thump echoed down the hall as a Duel Disk hit the floor and slid a few feet across the speckled tile.

Yuugi stared at it, at the 700 life points still flashing on the display while beside him, Atem– "If this is what you will accept as justice, then you can have it. I will take that burden, and acknowledge it as just. I won't block you from attacking me. I know even you are bound to the rules of a Penalty, so if you swear on the Ring you will only touch me–"

"You can't just decide that on your own, Atem!"

"Would you think about us when you say stuff like that?! You really think we'll stand by and watch you die for us?!"

Honda and Otogi's voices snapped behind him, but Yuugi didn't look up. Didn't look at his friends. Didn't look at Atem.

He looked at the unknown person standing across the field, wearing that Ring and staring at the pharaoh.

There was surprise on his face. And consideration.

He was going to accept the deal.

He was.

So Yuugi stepped forward.

"Aibou." Atem spoke so quickly that Yuugi assumed he was expecting some move from him, but no hand and no words followed to stall him. There was only the echo of a footstep, and Yuugi didn't look back to see why.

He swept the Duel Disk up off the floor and turned to the Ring Spirit. "I can't let you accept that."

…The spirit's expression went flat.

"Aibou, this is my–"

Then Yuugi turned back and stared down the pharaoh, barely registering Jounouchi just behind him, keeping Atem back with a grip on his shoulder. "No. It may be your right to do this, and I don't understand what's happened between you two enough to judge it. But you will not ask me or any of us to stand by and watch someone assassinate you. Not for any reason. Not without trying to stop it."

"And what do you think you can do to stop me?" The protest burning on Atem's lips remained unsaid as Yuugi faced the spirit and his taunts, staring into derisive golden eyes. "I have no reason to accept your demands, and you have no means to stop me. Why would I accept a duel?" He asked the last with a mocking glance at the Disk in Yuugi's hands, clearly reading his intentions and finding them pathetic.

He was right. He had agreed to no deals with Yuugi, and he had no reason to accept. Nothing to lose.

And Yuugi had nothing save a hunch.

He let the Duel Disk fall back to the floor, turned around, and smiled at the pharaoh. Atem stared back with a breathless, screaming confusion, his lips tense and pinched shut, even when Yuugi reached out to him and grasped the leather cord around his neck.

Yuugi took the Puzzle.

Turned around, holding the gold tenderly between his hands, and looked the spirit straight in the eye. "I'll smash it."

The spirit's expression twitched, and the air went out of the room.

"I will smash it, unless you disappear. Right now."

"Aibou , you would actually–"

The horror in Atem's voice made Yuugi's fingers trembled, but he pressed them into the familiar gold until they stilled. Breathed, "It's not you," beneath his breath without turning around.

Except, it could be why Atem was there, alive. And if that was at all possible, Yuugi could never break it.

But Zorc didn't need to know that.

"And why should I care?!" the spirit snapped, and Yuugi glared through the tension in his throat.

"You're connected to this, aren't you? Mou hitori no boku should have been able to use it to stop you, but you did something to it. Are still doing something to it. So you're connected to it somehow. And if you are disconnected?" He was guessing, using logic on something that wasn't logical. But the flight attendant's face twisted with frustrated rage, and Yuugi knew he was right. "I bet, if I break it when you're connected like that, it'll do something to you. You'll be too weak to stick around." …He tilted his head, staring at the spirit with a sudden, calculating calm. "In fact, maybe I don't even need a deal with you. Maybe I should just do that."

"I'll kill all of you before it even touches the ground–"

"And then you'll disappear," Yuugi repeated, satisfaction filling him at the shock on the spirit's face: It made it easier to distance himself from his own dread. "And you can't be sure you'll get to Atem in the rush, can you?"

"Aibou, this is needless!" Atem screamed behind him, the words rolling up Yuugi's back and making him shiver. "Don't put yourself and our friends at such risk! If he just promises–"

"Shut it, Atem," came Jounouchi's voice, and finally, Yuugi's heart could beat again, swelling with gratitude for his friend. "You've made enough valiant sacrifices for one lifetime. You're not getting another!"

"Not while we have anything to say about it," Anzu backed, Otogi a breath behind her with spiked suspicions.

"Besides, why would we ever trust anything this guy says?"

But Atem wasn't done, and Yuugi could just imagine him shaking his head. "I'm going anyways, so–"

"Not like this!"

Yuugi turned.

Looked Atem straight in the eye, everything he had been holding back since Atem made that offer, raw and aching and desperate and terrible flashing hot across his senses as he glared at the pharaoh. "You are going to make it to the end of this. You will go in peace, to your people. You will go the way you wanted to, to where you need to be. I can accept that. I can let you go to that. But not this!"

Atem didn't answer.

The worst, most clashing emotions twisted across his face, and Yuugi couldn't watch.

He turned away, and glared at the spirit instead. "Otogi-kun is right. I think you're going to kill us anyways. I think, even if you take Atem's deal, even if there's some consequence to breaking your word, you'll decide after you've killed him that you aren't done after all."

He knew this person, after all. Knew that there was some humanity left in there, used and twisted countless times over by the darkness. But Yuugi had never seen that humanity overwhelm, or even disagree with the darkness before. And after so long, was there any real difference between them? Had the spirit and the darkness of Zorc blended so thoroughly that their desires were indistinguishable and–

"You're right," the spirit breathed, and Yuugi tensed, clutching the Puzzle close, as though to protect it despite his threats. "I want him dead, but I want all of you dead. You've all stood in my way far too much, especially you–" he hissed, glaring gold at Yuugi. "And all of it. I want all of it gone. Everything! Why should I settle for just one soul, whoever's it is? Or even ninety-nine?! I should take a thousandfold as many souls as were taken from me, whoever they come from, and if you think I care that I'll be trapped again in the process–"

"Please."

The spirit's gaze flicked to the side, towards the voice, and he stared.

Yuugi followed his gaze, keeping the spirit in his periphery as he looked at– Bakura.

Bakura was standing there, right beside Yuugi, his eyes wide and unblinking and beseeching as he spoke to the spirit. "That's not you talking, is it?"

…No one answered.

Yuugi and his friends and everyone held their breath, and the spirit just stared.

Bakura tried again. "Taking for the sheer numbers, and destroying everything, or just because we annoyed you– that isn't vengeance talking. It's destruction."

"You don't know what you're talking about," the spirit hissed, quiet indignation burning in his eyes, but Bakura just shook his head, determination smoothing out the tension on his face.

"You made me make that city, and the character cards, and write down everything you used to trap Atem-kun so that you could plan how that game of yours would go. How you'd defeat him. That includes everything about you, and I remember it all now."

Like me with the Puzzle, Yuugi thought, thinking numbly back to those early days, when the memories of all Atem had done when Yuugi wasn't yet aware of him came sliding back into his head.

Then, did Bakura know–

"I know why you've done all of this," Bakura claimed, seeming to relax in the face of the spirit's clearly rising ire. "Why you hate Atem-kun so much, and want to do this… but you've given up too much of yourself. If you win and then kill us, you'll use up whatever power you have, and be caught in the Ring again. And if Yuugi-kun breaks the Puzzle successfully or someone defeats you, you'll disappear then, too. No matter what, you'll end up back in the Ring, with Zorc, wallowing in the dark, forgotten and left behind– and your people will never be able to rest."

…Yuugi focused back on the spirit, his chest tight.

The person behind the flight attendant wasn't speaking. Wasn't even breathing by the looks of it. He just stared at Bakura, outraged, and aghast… and afraid.

Yuugi looked away, down at the Puzzle, and while he would not take back his threat, would not hesitate to use it again if need be, he felt… guilty.

"That's right." Yuugi looked back up and watched the wary-eyed spirit, even as he ached to look at Atem as he spoke behind him, his voice an exhausted, troubled murmur. "Your people are tied to the Items, aren't they? Their spirits. They're not just in that place. They're in the gold, too. And as long as the Items exist…"

Yuugi didn't understand. Not fully.

But he watched the spirit clench his hand, press the other to the gold of the Ring– and Yuugi's heart went out to him, simply for the look on his face.

The look beneath the hate.

"I'm sorry."

The spirit gaped at Atem, at his grim, simple words, and his voice was black thunder as he hissed, "Do you think an apology makes any difference?"

It didn't. Even Yuugi could see that. But there was still something there, a confusion beneath the spirit's anger.

He didn't want an apology, but he had never expected one, either.

"The ones who killed them are all dead," came Bakura's voice, drawing all of their attention back to him and his calm, unexpected center, his eyes fixed and kind on the spirit. "And the last person connected to them is here, telling you he knows it was wrong. That he regrets it, and that it never should have happened… so, what now? What do you really want of him? To see him suffer? Or destroy him? Destroy all of us? Make him go through what you went through? You wanted that so that he'd regret, right? But he already does."

It was the spirit who looked away.

The spirit who flinched first, the rage and frustration on his features doing nothing to change that he was listening. That he was listening to Bakura.

"What do you want?" Bakura breathed, eyes sad, words firm, calling on an answer. On a final word. Would they keep fighting each other, tear each other to pieces, or– "Not the darkness. Not Zorc. What do you want?"

The spirit looked back into Bakura's eyes, and something Yuugi couldn't quite interpret passed between them. Something laced with regrets, with frustrated, dark desires, and grief… and a reluctant peace.

Zorc touched the Ring.

Yuugi tensed for just a moment, panic climbing through his spine, but when the Item glowed, it wasn't like before. It was a dizzying white that shone, and when Yuugi blinked to look passed it, he saw it wasn't just the Ring. Atem's duffel bag was glowing, too, the Items visible through the open zipper a bright white too, and–

His fingers sparked.

Yuugi nearly dropped the Puzzle in his shock, but in a heartbeat it didn't matter, because the white light shining from the Puzzle's core hummed through the metal itself, and the Item shook. And flowed.

And dissolved.

Yuugi stared as the Puzzle turned to white sand beneath his fingers, the cord falling to the ground… and panicked.

He turned to check– it was just a dream, that meant nothing, it didn't mean– and missed it. Missed it as the other Items disappeared in bursts of white dust and the flight attendant's golden eyes shut and the man collapsed and the darkness cleared and the strangers around them stumbled with sudden freedom, as security rushed in and his grandfather came down the stairs and someone yelled questions and Bakura murmured, "He wanted to be free. They're all free," and his friends sighed and yelled relief, and then alarm, and none of it mattered because Atem had stumbled back into Jounouchi's arms, fallen to his knees despite support, and no– Had the Puzzle or the Items been keeping him alive?! Would he turn to nothing but sand in his hands–

Atem caught himself with a hand to the floor.

"Woah, man, are you okay?"

"Yes, just lost my balance for a moment," Atem murmured, rubbing his brow. "I… the Puzzle is gone."

"Well, yeah. It disappeared right out of Yuugi's hands there."

"Are you sure you're okay, Atem-kun?"

"Yes, Anzu-chan. Thank you," Atem assured, standing back up.

Aware.

Alive.

Looking at Yuugi, his frown instantly twisting with alarm. "Aibou?"

Yuugi swallowed.

Did nothing to stall the tears running down his face as he wrapped his arms around Atem's shoulders and pulled him close. "You're okay."

…Fingers ghosted over his hips. "Aibou–"

"No, you–" Yuugi fought for words, only to swallow them and press closer. Press his cheek against his. Not caring. Not caring what they looked like, that Atem's glasses poked him in the eye, that their skin stuck together from his tears or that Atem's touch was soft and sweet on him, and visible. Yuugi squeezed his eyes shut, pressed close, whispered, "I thought…" then gave up.

Just held on.

…Hands settled on the small of his back, keeping him there.

Keeping him close.

Deep underground, beneath the stone, the clan members moved about the great chamber, lightning torches, clearing away sand gathered on the stones, bringing in the Key and Scales to await the morrow, when all of the Items would be brought together by the pharaoh, and laid to rest in the tablet one last time.

Halfway across the room, the man carrying the two Items stumbled.

"W-what–!"

Two workers near the tablet looked up and dropped their tools, standing upright to stare in shock as the golden Items, glowing white, fell to the sands and dissolved to nothing before their eyes.

"What did you do?!"

"Nothing, I swear! I was only carrying them when they–"

"Look!"

The workers turned, following the pointing finger of a fourth worker to stare… and they all failed to breathe.

The tablet glowed with the golden outlines of Items that were not there. And beyond it, the eye upon the stone door shone with the same light, the crack in that door faintly glimmering, as if there was something behind it. As if it might open at any moment.

As if it were waiting.