When Seto Kaiba had stripped away Gozaburo's power and had dismantled the century-old military company, he did more than spit on its memory by reassembling the pieces into a gaming industry. There are scars all over the world from the conversion. None of these scars are tainted with the same burnt ruins that the military KaibaCorp left behind, but they are still scars all the same.

Take the New Era subdivision on the outskirts of Domino. Empty and half built, this community had been the sign of a new age of militarism. With the genius Seto Kaiba ready to take the throne beside his stepfather, the company was preparing the homes for the ever-increasing KaibaCorp workforce.

That is until Seto Kaiba revealed his true goals for the company. In one swift takeover, waves of employees were cut from KaibaCorp's ranks and dreams of expanded militarism and growing communities ground to a halt. After all, why build new houses when the old employees no longer had the jobs to pay for them?

With this story in mind, an amethyst-eyed boy with star-shaped hair walks briskly at the front of his friends. An abandoned suburb that no one wants to touch because it still carries the name Kaiba. What better place to hide one of the abducted than in the graveyard of the city's baron?

Yugi blinks. He knows that he does not think in medieval references, so he glances inward. An amused flicker that vanishes behind a veil is all the teen gets in answer. Yugi sighs and turns his attention back outwards.

A black bird takes off from its hiding place in one of the obligatory foreign ornamental trees. Its dark, feathered body stands out against the light grey underbelly of the sky.

"And all we're missing are the ghosts." Joey grumbles. Due to the silence that had gripped the group on their way here, the blonde sounds louder than he should.

"Do you want ghosts? 'Cause we could just ask the next creeper that comes along to bring a few." Tristan's bite fails to conceal the nervous twinge in his voice nor does it hide the way that he glances at the reflective windows.

Yugi looks back to his friends. Most of them, except for Ryo who calmly surveys each building, keep shooting wary, expectant glances at every dark movement, like that will be the person to come running out of one of the houses. Even though Yugi remains unconcerned by the ghost town amidst his worry for Tea, sympathy still twinges up for his friends. This place is unnatural, a stillborn community that was left to rot.

With these thoughts in mind, guilt surfaces at the necessity that he is about to suggest.

"We should split up." The words are Yugi's own, but the idea only partially his. His Other Self had pointed out that it would take too long for all of them to search each house together.

Joey looks to Yugi with a twitch. "Split up?" Dread hangs in the air. "Wouldn't that make it easier for us to be picked off?"

"Joey, this isn't a horror movie." Tristan's deadpan earns him the attention of Joey Wheeler.

"I know this ain't a movie, but it's going like one. We even have the gloomy overcast and the creepy magic," Joey does not glance at the Puzzle. "All we need now is to run off into a zillion directions and then we're followin' the script."

"We wouldn't be travelling alone." Yugi responds. "We'd be in pairs, and because they have phones, Miho could either go with you or maybe Tristan, and Ryo with the other. That way, we really wouldn't be alone, and we could always call for help if we find Tea." It goes unsaid that if Yugi found Tea, he would not need to call for help.

They all nod once the reasoning sinks in; although, Miho's nod moves slowly, and she glances longingly at Ryo. Still, she says nothing.

"I'll go with Joey," Ryo says quietly.

"And I'll go with Miho." Tristan's words are easily heard.

Yugi nods, and before long, they have all separated. The small duelist sets off into what, with its completed houses, looks to be the most developed part of the community. In the back of their mind, his Other Self's mood contains more lightness than it has since the beginning of their friend's kidnapping.

"You seem calm." Yugi's confusion tints his words. The Lovely Two had cut off before they had gotten a precise location, and that worries him. Was it possible that Tea got hurt and that broke the connection?

"If anything severe had happened to her, we would know. The Puzzle's power is based on the unity of us and our friends." His Other pauses only long enough to make it obvious that he is answering Yugi's real concern. "If any of them were to die, it would resonate."

At that, Yugi feels his feet stop. It occurs to him, in that moment, that his Other may have suggested the split to guarantee that he alone would confront the kidnappers.

"You knew where she was the moment we got here." The wonder in Yugi's thoughts overrun his budding suspicions on why his Other Self would want to face this enemy alone.

"Well…" They start walking towards the average, bluish house on the mundane, shadowed street. "I didn't know precisely where she was. It was just a feeling, a hunch if you will, that she would be behind this door."

Said door opens easily.

"It's unlocked!" Yugi's surprise shows in the widening of darkening amethyst.

"My, how curious." With a glow of crimson, Dark Yugi strolls through the door.


Face half hidden by the curtain, Coppermine sits by the window. One hand rests on the window ledge. Occasionally, a tendon will twitch as if a few fingers want to tap on the ledge. But, they stay still as Coppermine peers out to the streets below. His mouth is drawn in a neutral line and his eyes draw the grey of the clouds into their green.

Nothing strolls along the sidewalk, yet Coppermine maintains a steady stare on the walkway. Any minute, the human shields he hired should come cruising down the street while smirking about the easy money that they will earn. Any moment, the Millennium Puzzle owner could amble down that street and force Coppermine to enact plan C.

Coppermine glances at his phone. The text to the hired help was sent the moment Klamath admitted to his stupid wager, so they should arrive any minute. A harsh exhale escapes Coppermine as he snaps the phone's lid shut. He did not want to hire outsiders; the responsibility of keeping them alive is too distracting for his tastes… But the chances of encountering the Millennium wielder face to face have grown too high.

A smudge of color catches the corner of Coppermine's eye. He leans back until most of his face hides behind the dull red curtain and only a single green eye peers out. The dash of color strolls so calmly down the street while Coppermine's pulse races so quickly. With the subtlest of movements, the same remote that Coppermine had turned on earlier appears in his hand. Before the Millennium wielder can turn the corner leading to the house, Coppermine presses a button, and multiple clicks that can only be heard by mice echo through the house.

Completely still, he holds his breath until the owner has disappeared past the front door of the average, bluish house across the street.


As his Other walks to the stairs, Yugi watches from eyes that refuse to look into the other rooms. Logic says that Tea could be in any room of this house and that Yugi should be searching every square inch of it. Yet, experience with his odd other half whispers for Yugi to trust the nonchalant way his Other Self strolls up the stairs and ignores everything else.

Yugi frowns at the nagging suspicion that his Other can sense exactly where Tea is located. The Other Yugi's lips twitch up into a smirk although the smirk lessens once they reach the top of the stairs. A tightness tugs at the edges of shared eyelids, and Yugi senses his other half's sigh of annoyance.

"It's not my fault that we haven't been sleeping well." A protective undercurrent flows through Yugi's thoughts, and his Other Self picks up on the message. It isn't Ryo's fault either.

The response is a shrug to Yugi's thoughts, and the smirk returns as their hand reaches for the bedroom door. Rest assured, the heaviness of his limbs will dissipate once the kidnapper is pulled into a Game. Shadow Magic is very rejuvenating after all.

Yugi ignores his Other's intentions and instead focuses past the opening door. As the Puzzle glints in the dim hallway, Yugi can sense her presence, but it is not until the door has been pushed aside that his heart leaps out of his chest. Painfully beautiful blue eyes stare right at him as Tea sits bound in a chair. Her hair is ruffled, but she appears alive and relatively well…

What is that on her face?

The smirk has vanished before Yugi can understand why, and his Other Self has turned towards the hall before Yugi has processed the look in his friend's eyes. The silent blue warning and fear flash through his thoughts while his Other Self half trips, half runs down the hall and stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, a walk that consists mostly of stumbles allows Yugi to realize what was on Tea's face. An ugly, black gas mask latched onto her face shines bright in his memory until that thought fades with the rest in a slump against the front door. Hisses of anger touch on Yugi's awareness even as the world blackens and drags both halves of his soul into darkness.

Their progress is impressive, actually. Most humans would have fallen before they even opened the bedroom door.


As he crosses the street, Coppermine considers himself kind when he switches off the small, battery-powered, gas dispensers in the house. He could have let the owner overdose on the sedative, but Yugi Muto is a child, and Coppermine would like to keep the traces of good conscience that he still has left. The man even opens the front door to allow for ventilation.

Fogged green catch a glimpse of a slumped tricolored head before Coppermine leaps back. Muscles tense while Coppermine waits for the Millennium wielder to look up, but only the soft breaths of sleep reach out to the man. A sigh escapes as Coppermine straightens from a crouch and forces his breathing to stay even. However, the gold eye of the Puzzle glints too much for the young man to be completely successful.

Against common sense, Coppermine shuts his eyes and shakes his head. Black hair shifts slightly at the small movement. He needs to keep his head. The Millennium owner is unconscious, so he can't do anything. The Item cannot either as long as Coppermine does not touch it. Besides, it's not like it can cartwheel at him.

A hum down the street causes Coppermine to twitch, but a quick glance loosens tense muscles. An SUV, a bit overused if one considers the large crack across its front window, cruises down the empty road. The familiarity of the vehicle causes Coppermine to shrug and to allow an amused smirk to slide back on his face. He waves the truck down, glad that he no longer has to face dragging the owner inside.


Yugi…

Seeing him run away from her had hurt, but it was necessary. If the tight gas mask had not been fastened to her face, Tea would have screamed for him to run. Sure, the dull ache of seeing her hope (even temporarily) leave her had wrapped around her heart, but that would have been nothing compared to the sharp knives of guilt that would have struck her if her role as bait had worked.

Tea stays still. Her ears prickle as she tries to discern where Yugi is.

Maybe he's already outside.

She screams when her kidnapper, his face covered with a remnant from WWI gas attacks, walks through the door. The bound on her mouth muffles the scream to a dulled noise but does nothing to hide the burning mix of fire and fear in her eyes.

The young man only glances at her as he walks over to the window. The sound of the pane sliding coincides with the liquid fire that crawls through the veins in Tea's arms, but, try as she might, magic refuses to blast out of her hands.

Come on, come on, Miho can do magic tricks and Ryo can heal himself!

Why can't Tea blast away an enemy to save a friend?

The man waits through two minutes of her struggling before unlatching his mask. Tea's follows soon after. Her attempts to bite him fail thanks to the ropes binding her.

"HOW DARE YOU. LET US GO."

He looks at her, those fogged eyes too tinted to reveal anything. Tea cannot tell if he is going to speak or not, but she glares at him all the same. Even the flame in her eyes brings forth no response. A thunk outside the doorway rips Tea's glare away. Her heart tears itself up her throat, but when she sees that it is an empty chair, the panic calms.

The man who slammed down the chair pulls her attention next. Scruffs of hair plaster his jaw and fit the torn jeans and leather jacket he wears. He leers at her, but she only meets it with renewed burning in her glare.

The goon scoffs and then looks at the fogged-eyed young man.

"Hey kid, you said you wanted him brought upstairs." The man's rough voice makes Tea bear her teeth.

"Yeah, just until I get out of here though. Then, you're supposed to take that piece of jewelry off and mail it to that address." Her kidnapper smiles a closed-eyed smile. "I even printed out the mailing labels and left them on the counter."

The goon frowns, but it is not clear whether he frowns at the order or the light tone.

"Why aren't you just taking it with you?"

Tea would give the goon IQ points if she were in a better mood.

"Customs are a nightmare to deal with, so I'm shipping the damn thing on a boat." The kidnapper grins. "Well, anyway, I got a few teens to distract while you and your wonderful crew get to work, bye now." The young man walks away from Tea, but-

"You're a coward."

-she is not letting him get away unscathed.

Before he moves past the goon, the kidnapper glances back. He shrugs.

"Yeah, and I'm still alive because of it. 'Cowards do survive' and all that." He walks out, not a single hint of remorse in his steps.