After meeting at Yugi's house which is located in his grandfather's gaming shop, they huddle around a television. Yami and Teá had attempted to get answers earlier by going straight to Kaiba Corp., but there was a media frenzy going on and they were told to tune in to the news.
A news reporter reports, "In the last 24 hours, monsters have been spotted across the globe. These creatures are believed to be lifelike holograms associated with the popular game, Duel Monsters. We now take you live to Kaiba Corp press conference where gaming company president Seto Kaiba will make a statement."
An image of Seto Kaiba appears on the screen as he stands at a podium in front of numerous cameras and reporters."We've done extensive testing on our holographic simulation systems. Now I can confirm without question that these sightings are unrelated to Kaiba Corp. Our state of the art technology is working perfectly."
"He's covering up," Tristan says. "Who else has the equipment to project monsters around the world?"
"Unless of course those monsters out there aren't holographic projections at all!" Tea predicts.
"I was actually beginning to think the same thing Teá," Yami agrees. "Perhaps the force I felt in the museum somehow triggered the emergence of these creatures. Which could mean these duel monsters are real."
"Wait, are you trying to tell me we're under attack by actual monsters?" Joey asks.
"I'm not sure what to think right now," Yami replies.
A cry from the front of the game shop belonging to Yugi's grandfather takes them away from their conversation as they rush to see what is going on. Yami quickly switches over so that Yugi can have control. When they all get to the entrance, his grandfather is laying face down on the floor, a few papers were scattered around him after an apparent attack.
"Grandpa!" Yugi yells with concern as he goes to his grandfather's side.
"What happened Mr. Mutou?" Joey asks.
"Your cards…they took your strongest cards," his grandfather reveals to everyone's shock.
"The Egyptian gods?" Yugi asks.
"Who did this?" Joey asks clenching his fists, but he received no answer as Yugi's grandfather is feeling very distraught and shaken by the robbery. He growls and runs to the door. "I'll find them!"
"Joey wait!" Yugi calls after him.
Joey rushes outside and stops in his tracks when he sees none other than Obelisk the Tormentor standing at a distance in the middle of the city. "You guys might want to see this!" As the others run outside to see what is going on, the other two god cards by the name of Slyfer the Sky Dragon and the Winged Dragon of Ra appear alongside the blue monster.
"It's Slyfer and Ra!" Yugi exclaims in shock.
"What kinda knucklehead would steal all three Egyptian god cards and then summon them in the middle of the city for everyone to see?!"
A couple of loud motors quickly approach them and the light from the numerous motorcycles momentarily blinds them. A biker gang wearing duel disks sat in front of them.
"If you want those god cards back, then follow us!" one of them commands.
"And just a fair warning, we've been known to play dirty," another one says with a snicker before they drive off.
"Give me the god cards back!" Yugi yells before coughing from the smoke they left behind. "I guess we have no choice."
Cairo walks down the sidewalk that same night which were quiet compared to earlier that day. Things had finally calmed down after such a chaotic start to her mission. At least that's what she thought until she looks up and sees Obelisk standing in the middle of the city in all its glory.
"Obelisk? But how?" She hadn't seen that god in 5,000 years. The last time she saw it was when the pharaoh of her time was using it in a battle. That's when it hit her. Could the pharaoh be in that direction? It had been so long and the last time she saw him wasn't during the best of times. She takes a few steps forward and then stops. She knows that she isn't to interfere with anything, but she couldn't help but wonder if she would find him there.
"I'll just take a quick peek," she tells herself before levitating in the air and flying off into the direction of Obelisk.
As she makes her way, she feels the presence of evil and stops abruptly, floating upright in the air. She looks down at the sidewalk to see a man wearing a white tank top and baggy jeans and a skull cap. He twiddled a toothpick in his mouth and one of his hands grasped a pocket knife.
"Hm…" Although he looked suspicious, she isn't sure why she's drawn to this individual in particular. Telling by the knife in his hand, he seemed like the common thief. Her attention is brought back to Obelisk as its roars sound through the air. She watches as weird seal appears on its forehead and its eyes were filled with fury.
"That's strange…" She continues to fly forward to get a closer look. It was on an abandoned building and there appeared to be a group of people standing on the roof. She observes the bystanders, recognizing two of them as the guys that saved her earlier. Another is a tall girl with brown shoulder length hair. On the other side at a taller height of the building stood three men with various hairstyles. And finally in the middle there were two people standing within a blue seal. It is the same seal that graced the forehead of Obelisk.
"Is this a modern day version of dueling?" she asks herself as her eyes scroll to the man on the left. He is older compared to the bystanders. Her eyes then go to the right and her heart immediately drops into the pit of her stomach. "It can't be…"
She felt her body trembling and her heart pounding. There he was, the pharaoh, standing in the flesh, having a duel. There is no doubt about it.
It is him.
From the hair, the amethyst eyes that matched her own and the Millennium Puzzle hanging around his neck. His skin tone is different than the melanin skin she was accustomed to seeing, but it was him without a doubt. She slowly descends into a hidden part of the building where she can't be seen, but she could still see the duel. Her chest hurt and she places a hand on it, taking a few deep breaths to get herself together.
"Dad…"
She wanted so badly to run up to him and embrace him. She would apologize for what happened 5,000 years ago and beg for his forgiveness. But she knew it would be hopeless as he had no memory of his past, which is why he is on his current journey to restore those memories. As she stands to watch the duel, she had a nagging thought that she shouldn't be there. Her duty is to capture the evil spirits that currently wondered the earth and return to the shadows. But she couldn't help but linger to see the outcome.
Yami shields his face as his opponent sends another attack his way using Obelisk the Tormentor.
"Ah man! Now Yugi has no monsters on the field to protect his life points!" Joey says as Obelisk obliterates Yami's monster from the field.
"Pharaoh, the age of destruction is here. The earth shall be shrouded in darkness and your very soul shall fuel the force that devastates mankind," the man says with a smirk.
"What do you mean by that?" Yami asks, narrowing his eyes.
He chuckles. "A great beast is now awakening from its ancient slumber to complete what it began centuries ago. But before this beast can arise, it must absorb enough souls."
"Who are you and how do you know these events will come to pass?"
"Someone's got an awful lot of questions," one of the brown haired bikers says, looking at them from up high.
"Who do you think you are?!" Joey yells at them.
"Haven't you been paying attention? We're soul collectors," says the blonde haired biker. "As a matter a fact, I have two unfortunate souls in my possession right now." He pulls out two cards with the faces of two souls he had taken earlier.
Yami gasps in realization. 'They can trap souls in cards…Just like Pegasus did with his Millennium Eye,' he remembered from when he dueled at Duelist Kingdom in the past.
"You're through!" his opponent says with a confident grin. "There's no way you can take down Obelisk."
"Think again," Yami says. "I use monster reborn to bring back my Valkyrian the Magna Warrior! And now I will have them disassemble to attack Obelisk!"
"What?! But Obelisk has more attack points!"
"Yes but once I play my magic card Brave Attack, it will send my warriors into battle. The damage from each one of my monsters attacks get added together enabling them to bring Obelisk down as a team!"
"NO!" After each one of Yami's monsters attack, Obelisk is finally defeated. "This duel is far from done…" he vows.
Cairo folds her arms, narrowing her eyes at the three biker guys at the top of the building. "They call themselves soul collectors and they trap them within cards so that they can fuel this beast they keep talking about." She looks back at the seal that is currently on the field. "Which means they wouldn't end up in the realm that I'm from."
"Dark Magician Girl! Attack everyone of his monsters!" Yami commands and the blonde hair magician girl uses her wand to blast them all away, finally depleting the enemy of his life points.
"He did it!" Teá cheers, raising her fists.
"Now hand me those cards!"
"Never! The Egyptian god cards are ours!"
"We had a deal!"
The man takes the god card out of his deck and throws it to his gang up high as the seal starts to surround him. "No This wasn't supposed to happen! Please spare me master!" he begs and he cries out in agony as everyone looks in horror. The light from the seal became much stronger, shooting up into the air, taking the man's soul along with it and his body drops to the ground.
"Oh well. It's his own fault," the blonde hair biker comments.
"That old man was wrecking our style anyway," the brown haired biker chimes in. "Plus we know more about Yugi's dueling strategy."
"Let's go."
"Hold on! Give me back the god cards!" Yami demands taking a few steps forward.
"You didn't hold up your end of the bargain pharaoh. You have to defeat all of us, not just one of us," says the blonde haired one.
Yami growls in frustration as they walk away before turning his sights on the lifeless man that lay in front of him. He bends down and picks up a card that has his opponent's face on it. "It's true. Once he lost the duel, he lost his soul." Joey and the others join him on the platform that he is standing on. Teá's eyes set on a glowing object not far away from the man's body and she goes over to pick this up. "But where does this power come from?"
"Look Yugi," she says, holding it up. "I wonder if this has something to do with all of this." She hands over the necklace and he observes it as it glows brighter.
"I've finally found you pharaoh," comes a voice from the roof door's entrance and they all turn around to see a man with a skull cap holding a knife.
"Now what?" Tristan asks, exhausted from the long day they've had already.
"I've come to finally have my revenge!"
"Who are you?" Yami asks.
"The cause of your demise!" he yells, charging at him with the knife in his hand. "Prepare to die!"
"Yugi! Look out!" Teá yells with worry as Yami braces himself. Just as the man is about to attack, an explosion lands in between them, blowing everyone back onto the ground.
Joey grunts as he sits up, coughing a few times from the smoke. "What the heck was that?!" As the smoke clears, he gasps when he sees a little girl standing protectively in front of them. "It's you!"
Cairo twirls her dark wand and places it on her shoulder as she looks down at the man with the knife. Teá, Yami and Tristan finally come to after the blast. Yami helps Teá to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asks.
She nods before looking at the girl in front of them wearing the Egyptian clothes and the golden crown with the eye of Wdjat in the middle. "Yugi look!"
"I see it, Teá." He looks down at his puzzle and places a hand on it. "It's the same exact symbol."
"But who is she?"
"So…you've possessed the body of a human from the present world in order to seek your revenge," Cairo observes as the man stands up, gritting his teeth.
"Out of the way! He's mine!" He runs at Cairo with the knife, preparing to strike as she stands there calmly.
"Look out little girl!" Tristan warns as they watch helplessly.
"I guess I haven't made myself clear," Cairo says, her eyes beginning to glow purple as she outstretches her hand out to the man, causing him to freeze in his tracks from a spell of hers. She walks up to him and forcefully presses her palm into his chest, causing the soul to extract from the body. The red soul floats around frantically, looking for another body to possess.
"Is that…a soul?" Teá asks in shock, taking a step back.
"I knew it…That's definitely no ordinary kid…" Joey says.
"You know her?" Yami asks, turning his head to him.
"I saved her from drowning earlier today. After we pulled her out the water, she walked straight into the street and got hit by a car. But she walked away unharmed. The car is the one that took all of the damage."
"Say what?" Teá says with disbelief. "How is that even possible?"
With her wand, she opens up a dark portal, causing the wind around them to blow violently. "Time to go back to the Shadow Realm," she says with a grin and the spirit screams as it is dragged down, back to where it belonged. The portal slowly disappears and the wind becomes calm again.
Yugi appears next to Yami in his ghostly form. "Did she say shadow realm?" he asks and Yami nods. "But how? She doesn't have a Millennium Item."
"I don't know Yugi, but I'm going to get to the bottom of it," Yami responds in his head.
Cairo whips around to face the group, her eyes still glowing from her previous move and they all huddle close together, not knowing what to expect. She places a hand behind her head and chuckles, her eyes returning back to normal. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you if I did," she apologizes and they all breathe a sigh of relief.
"So you do speak English!" Tristan points out. "Why didn't you speak up earlier?"
She twiddles her fingers and looks down at her feet, a blush appearing on her cheeks. "I'm a little shy." Joey and Tristan both anime drop to the ground and Teá sweat drops.
Yami walks up to her and she jumps slightly, her heart beginning to pound again as he looks down at her. It is weird staring into those eyes of his after so long. Not to mention he is looking at her like she is a stranger. The immature part of her found it a bit amusing, but the other side of her couldn't help but feel a hint of sadness as well. He truly didn't remember her.
"Who are you?" he asks. "And how were you able to send his soul to the shadow realm?"
"My name is Cairo. And I'm the keeper of souls of the Shadow Realm," she reveals.
"What?!" they all collectively say in response.
"So you're able to send people to the shadow realm just like that?" Teá asks, blinking a few times, trying to process what the girl just said.
"That and much more," Cairo replies.
"I'm so confused," Joey says, holding his head. "Why is a little girl like you the keeper of the shadow realm and why are you wearing that Egyptian get up?"
"I've had enough soul talk for one day," Tristan complains, holding his head as well.
"How old are you anyway, Cairo?" Teá asks.
"I'm nearly 5,000 years old," she replies with a smile. "Give or take. I really don't know anymore."
"FIVE THOUSAND?!" they says simultaneously, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
"Alright, now I'm really confused," Joey groans, dropping down to sit on the floor in exhaustion.
"Wait, so does that mean you know the pharaoh?" Teá questions.
"I know a lot of things," Cairo responds vaguely and she turns to walk toward the edge of the building. "But I really must go. I have more souls to catch."
"What do you mean?" Yami asks. "What has brought you here from the shadow realm?"
"I'm not quite sure what has caused this disturbance, but a couple of evil souls have escaped and it is my duty to return them. Now, I really should be going."
"Wait!" Tea outstretches her hand, taking a few steps closer to Cairo. "What if you can help the pharaoh regain his memories?"
"Teá…" The thought had never occurred to Yami that this girl could have information on his past.
Cairo turns around, the back of her feet hanging off the edge of the building, her gaze more serious than before. "I'm sorry…I'd like to help you...but anything outside what I was originally sent here for…is none of my concern." She takes a step back, dropping off the building to everyone's shock and they all rush toward the edge to see where she landed. But she has completely vanished out of sight.
"So much for that," Tristan sighs, placing hand in his pocket.
Tea clenches her fist at her chest, a look of determination in her eyes. 'I'm not gonna give up. If she is retrieving souls then maybe she'll be around for a bit. She could talk to the pharaoh and help him out!'
Another chapter done! Let me know what you think so far!
