After three weeks of overtime, I curled into a nest of blankets and pillows on top of my bed. My room was bright, sunlight highlighting the game pieces scattered across my dresser drawer. I ignored the light best I could and curled my feet deeper into my nest. The cell phone rang. I considered chucking it against the wall. Bad enough that I had to work the next day when I should have been off, I wasn't going in on the only day I did have off. Having one day to hide in my nest was the only thing keeping me sane enough to function in society.

When I saw "Yugi" on the caller I.d. I resigned myself to answering the phone. Yugi was one of the few people I would always answer the phone for, although sometimes I wished he didn't know it. I snatched the phone and pulled it into my sanctuary before answering.

"Hi Yugi. I finally got a night off so if you're playing any games tonight count me in."

I heard a sigh on the other end. "I'm sorry Ryou . . . I called with some odd news."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is really wrong, but you should know – they're back."

I didn't need to hear who "they" were. "Both of them?"

"All three of them. They have their own bodies now." A brief pause and then Yugi continued, "They're all just kinda sitting here in my living room."

I had to take a moment to think of who the third one was. My best guess was Marik's alter ego. It didn't make sense, since the other Marik was never an individual, only a broken piece of Marik's psyche, but then again, 3,000 year old spirits appearing in Yugi's living room in physical bodies didn't make any damn sense either. So much for the door to the after life being sealed after the Ceremonial Duel.

I untangled myself from all my lovely sheets and blankets, and tripped onto the carpet when I tried to stand. Muffling a grunt, I spoke into the receiver, "I'm on my way."

"Okay, I'm going to call Marik."

"Probably a good idea. Hey, Yugi? You're okay, right? Are they trying to kill each other?"

"They're just sitting and looking confused. Even Atem won't talk much to me."

"Give me 15 minutes. Bye." I hung up the phone, tossed on yesterday's blue jeans and a clean t-shirt, and ran out the door.