Rebecca and Téa sit outside of the trailer waiting for Yugi and the others to return. Earlier as they were patiently waiting, they were surprised to see Rebecca's grandpa riding back on her horse. His clothes were dirty and he seemed very exhausted. They led him inside to his bed where he could rest. As more time had gone by, Rebecca began to suspect that Yugi was led into a trap. How else would her grandpa be able to escape? The suspense was killing her as they both awaited their return.
As she types on her computer, Rebecca looks up when she hears the motor of a car approaching them. She closes her laptop and gets up, smiling when she recognizes Duke's light green convertible speeding toward them. "It's them!" she exclaims with excitement and Téa looks over in the direction that she is looking.
"See, I told you they'd come back soon," Téa says with relief.
Yami's head is lowered as they get close and closer to the trailer. He hears the happy and relieved voices of Téa and Rebecca and his heart drops into his stomach. So many things are going through his mind. The fact that he is the reason why Yugi's soul is locked away is awful enough. His eyes slowly scroll over to Cairo who is leaned up against the car door, unconscious. Has she somehow lost her soul to the Orichalcos as well by interfering? Would that even be possible?
And then there's the bit of information that Rafael revealed just before Yugi lost his soul to the Orichalcos. That Cairo is not only someone from his past, but she happens to be his daughter as well.
The car finally pulls up to its destination and Yami and the others, except Duke and a motionless Cairo, get out of the car.
"So does that mean you won?" Téa asks with a smile.
"Of course he did!" Rebecca says with confidence as she runs over to give him a hug. "My Yugi always wins!" She embraces who she thinks to be Yugi, but something seems different. His body is stiff, his narrowed eyes are in somewhat of a daze and his fists are clenched.
"How'd it go?" Téa asks, running over as well, before tilting her head. "Everything okay?"
Joey looks down and exhales. "Not quite. We've got a problem guys."
Téa turns to him, confused by all of the negative energy. "What do you mean?" Her eyes then land on Cairo and she gasps. "Cairo! Is she alright?"
Tristan looks away and shakes his head. "We don't know."
"What exactly is going on here?"
"Yugi didn't win," Duke replies.
"He's gone," Tristan finishes.
"What?" Téa starts to become even more confused. She looks at the individual with multi-colored, spiky hair and her mind cannot seem to grasp what is going on.
"You heard me," Tristan says lowly. "Yugi got beat, Téa."
She narrows her eyes in disbelief. "You're wrong! If Yugi really lost that duel, those creeps would have taken his soul with their freaky magic card, Tristan!"
"So…What's your point, Téa?" Joey asks.
"My point is, if he lost, then how can he be standing right..." She stops abruptly as she quickly begins to realize what has occurred. She turns to Yami and she gets a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "…behind me?" She is very familiar with the fact that Yugi and the pharaoh share the same body. And when she looks more closely, she realizes that the person standing in behind her isn't Yugi.
"Yugi? Talk to me," Rebecca presses on. "Why are you acting so strange?"
Yami sighs and looks over at her. "Rebecca. They got him."
"Got who?"
He hesitates before saying his name. "Yugi." His mind flashes back to the events that led up to Yugi losing his soul and he cringes. "I know. This whole thing's my fault. I'm the one that unleashed the magic that took Yugi away."
Rebecca narrows her eyes, feeling hurt and angry at the news that her beloved Yugi is gone. "You knew that card was evil and you still played it?!" she snaps. "If you really were a great pharaoh then you never would've did something like that to poor little Yugi!" Tears begin to fall as she sobs uncontrollably. "This just isn't fair! How could you?! I want my Yugi back! It should've been you! Not him!"
"Now hold on…" Tea intervenes and Rebecca wraps her arms around her, crying into her chest.
"I'm afraid Rebecca is right," Yami admits.
"What's done is done," Joey says, wanting to move on to talking about how they can get his best friend back. Having a pity party isn't going to help.
"I let everyone down. Especially Yugi. He warned me not to play that card…But my rage took control and he paid the price. "
The events keep playing through his head over and over again and Joey begins to become very agitated. He has heard enough. "You gotta snap out of it!"
"He's gone," Yami continues. "And it's my fault."
Joey snatches Yami by the collar to his surprise. "Get a grip, man!" he yells before punching him dead in the face. Yami hits the ground hard, rolling a few times before coming to a stop. "If we're gonna rescue Yugi, we gotta move ahead, not look back! So pull yourself together!" Yami slowly sits up and wipes the trickle of blood off his mouth. "What we gotta do is figure out who this Dartz guy is and where he keeps all these souls!"
"I've been suggesting that this whole time, but no one ever listens to me," Duke mutters and Tristan side eyes him before putting him in a headlock.
"No one needs your sly commentary right now, Duke!" Tristan yells.
"Down boy. Heel!"
"Let him go, Tristan," Yami says standing up to his feet. "This happened because I couldn't control my anger. And if we continue to fight amongst ourselves, the Orichalcos will destroy us."
Cairo groans and her eyes flutter open. Initially her vision is blurry, but after blinking a few more times and shaking her head, everything comes into focus. She holds her head and squints her eyes, the light from the sun too overpowering for her at the current moment. "Where am I?" she asks hoarsely and Duke quickly turns around.
"Hey you guys! Cairo is up!" he informs everyone and they all look to the car.
"We thought you were a goner," Tristan says. She glances up at Yami, seeing the pain and anguish on his face. It looks like they really were unsuccessful in saving Yugi. Not to mention she has gotten into a lot of trouble with the gods for interfering. She hops out of the car and straightens out her clothing and the crown on her head.
"Well the important thing is that you're alright," Téa says.
An idea suddenly pops into Tristan's head and he rushes over to Cairo to her surprise. "I just thought of something!" he says excitedly.
"Um…what?" Cairo asks hesitantly.
"Careful. Too much thinking and your head will explode," Joey says slyly, earning a glare from Tristan.
"Maybe Cairo can bring Yugi back!" Tristan suggests.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Téa asks.
"If I remember correctly, Cairo is a soul keeper!"
"A soul what now?" Duke asks raising an eyebrow. He is still not used to the fact that this little girl is capable of such things.
"So if that's the case, maybe she can use her abilities to bring Yugi back!"
"Oh! Good point!" Téa agrees as all eyes turn to Cairo who sighs.
"Unfortunately, I can't do that," she replies to everyone's disappointment.
"Huh? Why not?" Tristan asks, beginning to get a little frustrated. He has seen her send souls to the Shadow Realm, among other things that a normal person can't do. Why couldn't she bring Yugi back. "You mean to tell me you have all those powers and you can't do it?"
Téa scoffs at him and Joey jabs him in the shoulder. "Cut it out, man! I'm sure she has a good reason. We're just gonna have to find another way. And that's by finding Dartz."
"But she hasn't even told us why!" Tristan presses on. "I think she's holding out on us."
"Tristan," Yami says in a warning tone. He is going too far.
"Maybe she really isn't out to help us at all. She's just here to collect her souls and go about her way. Who's to say she's not just as bad as them? One of those guys did say she was evil. And—" Before he can go on, Téa swiftly slaps him across the face, having heard enough.
"Just stop it Tristan! Cairo has been a big help to us! Don't forget, if it weren't for her, those thugs would have caught us when they were chasing us down in the limo!"
Cairo looks down to the ground as she begins to walk away while Téa and Tristan bicker back and forth with each other. Yami seems to be the only aware that she is walking away and he frowns. "Cairo…"
She heads over to the opposite side of the trailer, separating herself from the group and she leans on it, folding her arms and thinking about her next move. She can't help but admit that apart of her is hurt by Tristan's words. But it's her own fault, she says to herself. She has allowed herself to get sucked in to their current crisis when she should have been focusing on one thing and one thing only.
From a further distance, Hasani peeks from behind a rock with narrowed eyes. He is surprised to see that the pharaoh is still standing despite his duel with Rafael. But it is apparent that Rafael has captured the wrong soul. He grits his teeth, anger filling him at the very sight of the person he wishes to take revenge on. They have gotten rid of Nubia with ease, but he vows not to let that happen to him. Not before he takes his revenge. And he isn't sure that he can wait around much longer for Dartz's minions to finish the job.
After everything has finally calmed down, they all sit inside the trailer to plan what to do next. Téa, Yami, Duke and Tristan sit at the table while Joey stands up near the kitchen counter.
"So they wanna rule the world. We've dealt with something like that before," Joey says casually.
Yami folds his arms and looks down with thought. "No, Joey. This time things are different."
"Yeah they're not just talking about wiping out all life on Earth," Tristan adds. "They're actually doing it."
"Well we know how to stop them," Joey says with determination and confidence in his eyes. "We've gotta go straight to the source. And destroy that secret weapon of theirs."
Téa gasps in realization. "You mean that giant eyeball monster that was in the sky?"
"And it's not just using monsters. It's using human souls to power up to wipe out the rest of us," says Tristan.
"Yeah and right now that thing's got Yugi. And I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna stand here and twiddle my thumbs. I'm gonna take action!" Joey exclaims.
Téa stands up and narrows her eyes, feeling like Joey is trying to rush into things with no plan. "Look Joey. I want to save Yugi too, but we can't do this by ourselves! We need help!"
"Well since they burned down my grandfather's laboratory, we have no evidence. Which means no one will believe our story," Rebecca says typing a few things on her laptop.
"We do have evidence! It's in those underwater ruins!"
Rebecca stands up and brings the laptop over to show them what she has found. "Well whatever was there isn't gonna help us now. Because someone has ruined the ruins. It's gone."
"They're one step ahead of us," Duke says as they look at the article Rebecca has pulled up.
One of the doors open in the trailer, revealing a healthy looking Professor Hawkins. "Don't give up yet."
"Grandpa, you're awake!" Rebecca says with relief, happy that he is looking in better shape.
"Take it easy," Téa advises. "You really should be resting."
"I'll be fine," he assures. "But I suspect they're trying to hide something."
"Makes sense," Duke agrees. "Why else would they destroy what's left of their city?"
"From what I translated from those ruins during my research, it seems this power hungry king drew his evil strength from this mysterious stone. And this stone drew its strength from another world."
"It's those rocks that they wear as necklaces and other jewelry, isn't it?" Joey guesses.
"I'm not sure. I wasn't able to translate everything."
"NO!" Joey yells with frustration, clenching his fist. And yet another roadblock has stopped them from getting the answers they need.
"Chill out man," Tristan says. "You'll blow a gasket."
"You guys don't get it, do you? Those Atlantis freaks are trying to cover something up about that ancient mega monster."
"Of course!" Duke realizes. "There must have been something written in those ruins about how to destroy that thing before it destroys us!"
"I get it," Tristan says before grinning. "Hey Joey! I guess you had your good idea for the year!"
"The ruins may have been destroyed, but there are copies of the inscriptions at a Florida museum where I was doing my research," the professor reveals.
"Perfect!" Tea exclaims. "So all we have to do is go there and translate the rest!" The professor nods with a smile.
"Ah yeah! What are we waiting for?" Joey yells with determination, turning to Yami. Finally after much pondering, it seems they have a breakthrough and now know what their next move will be. "Let's head to the sunshine state and find out the secret to beating these guys and save Yugi!"
"I'm right with you there, pal!" Tristan says, standing up from his seat. "You should probably sit this one out, professor."
"He's right," Rebecca says. "Traveling probably isn't the best thing for you right now."
"Don't worry. I'll stay behind and look after him," Duke volunteers.
"Okay. I'll book our flights and we'll take a train to the airport."
YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO
Night has fallen and everyone has gone off to sleep to prepare for their next venture. Téa sleeps curled up underneath a light blanket on the couch, Joey sleeps against the wall and Duke and Tristan share the bench near the table. Yami sits across from them with one leg stretched and the other one bent, holding his head in his hand. He just couldn't sleep. Not after the day he's had. He just keeps replaying the incident in his head over and over, beating himself up even more. He knows that continuing to mope will do him no good, but for now, he allows himself this moment to.
A creaking sound comes from the door and Yami lifts his head to the source of the noise. Cairo quietly steps in, closing the door behind her carefully before locking eyes with the pharaoh. Her eyes show no emotion as she begins to approach him. He watches as she makes her way over to him, wondering what she is planning to do. She does not break any eye contact with him until she is finally standing directly in front of him.
"Cairo," Yami says in a low tone. "What's wrong?" She takes one more step up to him and outstretches her index finger toward his Millennium Puzzle. She taps the eye in the middle and it begins to emit a bright glow. The only thing he manages to do is gasp and then suddenly, his world is black.
YGOYGOYGOYGOYGO
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