Author's Note: Hi guys! I was unable to finish this chapter sooner because my time to write was pretty limited in May and the end of April because of projects and exams, writer's block, losing a part of this chapter, and difficulty uploading. I hope that you guys can forgive the ridiculous wait and any formatting issues. I had to submit by using the copy-n-paste method and I don't know what it will do to my formatting.

Thanks: Thanks to Yami Mayonaka,angiembabe, and lalalei. Your support is encouraging and helps me to find the motivation to get through particularly difficult chapters. Also, thanks to Draco'sfairmaiden for being my first set of eyes and my sounding board for new ideas.

-TheEagerScribbler

The Story so far: It's been twenty years since the Pharaoh has returned to the afterlife and life has moved on without him. When the spirit of the millennium ring returns and is ready to finish what he started Yugi and his friends are ready to do whatever it takes to defeat him and save the world, even if it means sacrificing everything that they hold dear. Yugi has survived a gunshot wound, the kidnapping and rescue of his daughter, a robbery, a penalty game, a shadow game, and a battle, and now he must watch his least experienced ally face the shadows. In order to defeat the spirit of the millennium ring each item holder must face their demons in a penalty game and she is no exception. Will Aiko, the reincarnation of Kisara, walk away from the shadow game with her soul?

Chapter 22: The girl and the dragon

Ryou's pov:

Ryou immediately tensed up and leaned towards the large television screen in his soul room. He had seen everything that went on while his Yami was in control but he was trapped inside the millennium ring. Not being able to come to his friend's aid when he knew every plan and watched every move that the spirit had made. In a way it was just like before, only this time he understood what was happening to himself. When he first received the ring as a gift from his father he had been told that a spirit was attached to the item and Ryou was foolish enough to be pleased. There was something thrilling about studying the occult, and to have real proof of its existence was more than he had ever hoped for. He had expected to meet the ghost of some nobleman in the Pharaoh's court, someone who had seen things that archaeologists could only put together using fragments of writing, objects, and their best predictions of how it all connected. He was disappointed at first when no ghost appeared. Instead it seemed that his bad luck only increased, but none of it ever seemed to anything particularly unusual-he was often guilty of losing himself in his own little world and getting lost, so suddenly finding himself in odd locations was annoying, but not entirely unlikely. One night he suddenly found himself standing in front of the bathroom sink with blood spatters all over himself and a knife in one hand and he came to the disturbing realization that there was indeed a spirit living in the ring, and that the spirit was a monster.

Once he became aware of the spirit's presence they could communicate. Sometimes he would accidentally receive fragments of the spirit's thoughts and he was struck by their sadistic nature. Most of the time he was the devil on shoulder. Strike first, the spirit would whisper when Bakura ran across a bully. I will no suffer a weak host! Other times he would urge him to lie his way out of trouble or steal objects that he desired. When Ryou refused he would rage. Why are you incapable of completing even the simplest task? There is nothing to lying, and people these days are so oblivious that you could hit them with a rock and they would hardly notice! As time went Ryou would often be yanked into his soul room with little warning. He was forced to sit and wait knowing that the spirit wanted his friend's puzzle and he would do anything to get it. That was a dangerous position to be in because the spirit was clever, determined, and sadist-a deadly combination. Further, he cared little for Bakura's physical well being and had no qualms about running his body into the ground. He would wake up with cuts, bruises, broken bones, and threats against Bakura and his friends if he did not comply.

This time things were even worse. He was a force of nature, and his powers had grown far beyond Ryou's understanding. Ryou was now imprisoned in the millennium ring with little reprieve. At times he managed to steal a few minutes there and there, but never more than ten minutes went by before power was wrestled away from him again. It was never enough time to stop the unspeakable things that were done using his name and his body. Kidnapping young girls, plotting Yugi's death, the torture of underlings who failed to carry out orders were on the list of sins that weighed on Ryou's conscience.

Now Ryou was watching him force a teenage girl to participate in one of his twisted games. He seemed to have some special vendetta against her. They had all been children when it all began, but watching him torment a kid because she happened to have some connection to the ancient past was even more difficult than watching his friends struggle. At least they had the skill and the experience to make it out okay, she had nothing but dumb luck and an item that she hardly knew anything about. She was exactly the sort of person that he had dedicated his entire adult life to protecting. Despite her seemingly timid nature she put on a good act. When she postured she reminded him a lot of someone that he knew.

"Let me guess, you're going to copy some bad horror film. Is that seriously the best you can come up with?" She spat. "I've got news for you-If someone like you had tried to pitch this for my last video game it would have gone in the trash where this stupid plan of yours belongs."

He could almost feel the spirit's amusement. "We'll see little Alice." Had he actually been paying attention to Bakura's reading habits all those years ago? The girl walked through the mirror and Bakura stepped in as well, and began to watch her on a security monitor that had manifested in the corner. She was in a town similar to Domino, but there were things lurking there that could never be found in Domino. Had his powers grown so much that he could create such a powerful illusion? The Spirit sensed Ryou's thoughts and smirked, "It's much more than that. I've recreated a world, her world."

"But why? Couldn't you have done something a little less complicated?"

"These are the images formed by the shadows within her, I merely facilitated the whole affair." He said dismissively. "That's the disappointing thing about these shadow games-the shadows do all of the work. But I have to say that I believe that this one will be most entertaining."

"Why? What did you do to her?"

"Nothing, I'm merely forcing her to face herself. Take a look." Ryou looked at the monitor and saw her running after a little tabby cat until she bumped into a card soldier. The card was a blank, regular monster card, but she seemed to recognize its face. The card reached out a hand and helped her off the ground. "I'm so sorry Miss, I was just in a hurry to meet the queen."

"Ko?" She asked in confusion.

"I'm late to see the queen and you must join me but…" He trailed off in thought, "You won't be allowed to see the queen unless you prove that you're worthy of her."

"The queen?"

"Sorry, that's just the way things are," he shrugged. "I don't make the rules."

"You just break them," she murmured.

His face turned red and his eyes narrowed, "I don't know what you're talking about."

For a moment the pair remained silently staring at each other, both waiting for the other to move. The girl was deliberating her next move. Each shadow game created a binding contract and leaving was not an option. She may have wanted to run, but Ryou knew from experience that she could not avoid whatever the spirit had planned so she may as well get on with it before the shadow realm sapped away at her strength. Apparently she realized this too.

"What do I have to do?"

"Fight me."

She stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"Am I never not?"

"All the time." She deadpanned. "If you're certain I need to do this…" she hesitated for a moment, but soon it was gone. Her eyes turned hard and her expression set. "I will. Tell me what I need to do."

"It's simple. You use your spirit-your ka to fight mine." The monster that appeared was not a duel monster. It was a green humanoid creature with shriveled green skin and claws as long as her whole hand from her middle finger to the edge of her wrist. It's teeth gleamed in the dim light as it flashed her a sinister grin. Ryou found himself wondering if the claws were as sharp as they looked.

"Oh no." She gasped. "Midori. But how…?"

The boy grinned wickedly. "He's yours isn't he? Figure it out."

"Why are you doing this?" She whispered. "How could you?" Betrayal was clear in her voice and it left Ryou wondering who he was to her.

Ko wouldn't meet her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just doing my job."

Ryou was puzzled when he saw that the illusion created by the shadows actually seemed to display regret. "The shadows are projecting the face of someone she holds dear," The spirit said in response. "It's a perfect imitation."

"It's time Aiko!"


Aiko's pov:

For the second time since Aiko received her item she had no idea what she was doing. There was so much wrong with her current situation that she couldn't be bothered to list all of them, but not knowing what she was doing was near the top somewhere between the knowledge that the only thing standing in the way of the apocalypse were seven ancient artifacts and a group of people only barely larger than a baseball team and the fact that her own creation wanted to kill her. Something wild and dangerous shone in the eyes of Midori and she knew that this was it-she was dead. The monster appeared at her side with one claw in the air poised to strike. She dove out of the way, but still took a swipe at her.

She cried out and clutched her arm. Its razor sharp claws cut deeply into her skin. Pain bloomed in her arm, but she had to work through it. There was no time to give into her pain. She needed to do something, but what? How was she supposed to summon her spirit? What if she couldn't? A doubtful voice in her thoughts whispered. What if she failed? Everybody seemed so sure that because she could turn into the Blue Eyes White Dragon in a past life that she could do it now, but what if she couldn't? Aiko couldn't deny some sort of connection to that girl's past, but she was still her own person, and she had never before shown sign of such an ability. Wouldn't she know by now if she had the ability to turn into a dragon? That was hardly something that she would forget about. She was no longer Kisara, she was Aiko.

As hard as she tried to come up with another solution she kept coming back to the blue-eyes. Maybe she really was crazy, but it was the only plan strong enough to hold up to Midori. Really it was laughable to think that her fate hinged on summoning a dragon. It maddening to think that the most ridiculous solution that she could come up with, which probably wouldn't even have worked was her only viable option. What else was there? Now all she had to figure out was how to do it. It shouldn't be too difficult right? An educated guess told her that it worked like the scales. She had to will it to happen.

Ok, in the meantime Aiko needed a plan. It was stupid to think that using her ka would help if she didn't have a plan. Coming up with a plan should be the easy part. She designed him. She knew his weaknesses inside and out. Midori liked to play with his food, which meant that she had a little time. His scales formed a type of armor that covered everywhere but his head, which was too strong to fracture without a seriously strong piece of steel, meaning that his only weak spot was his neck.

The monster lunged at Aiko again, and she was thrown backwards. His claws ripped through her more deeply than it did the first time and her side felt like it was on fire.

"Fight back dammit!" Ko yelled. "Fight back! You can't seriously be considering giving up so easily!"

Despair was replaced by desperation and the smallest glimmer of hope. She had to believe that she could do this. If she was really chosen by magic or some god that she did not even believe in, the spirit of the Blue Eyes rested within her. Aiko was anything but weak and she would not allow some criminal to end her life without a fight. However much the face that belonged to the person trying to kill her resembled her friend, it was not him. Bakura was the one who was really pulling the strings and she could not lose and risk taking the others down with her, so she had to do it now. If she didn't she'd be trapped there in the shadow realm until it consumed her. For the first time in her life she uttered a prayer despite knowing that it would fall on deaf ears. Give me her strength.

Aiko summoned the strength and felt a rush of power rise within her. A strong wind came from nowhere that brought with it a blinding white light. When the dust and fog from the shadow realm settled the Blue Eyes White Dragon stood in front of her in all of its glory. Never before had Aiko felt so powerful.

She made eye contact with the Ko look alike. "I'm sorry-" she started.

"Do it," Ko urged. "Go on, I'll be fine. Just do it!"

Aiko nodded gave the dragon her orders. "White lightning attack!"

Midori disappeared and Ko fell to his knees. "Good job Sky," He praised her in a pained whisper.

Tears began to trickle down her cheek without her consent."You haven't called me that since we were little. Now stop making me cry, you're not even real. I'll see you as soon as this thing is over." If she survived it.

"Sure thing. Listen, I'll be fine anyway, but you have to be careful. The queen is the real challenge."

"What does she want from me?" She was too late. Ko dissolved before her eyes, leaving her alone in the shadow realm, her blue eyes watching her curiously. What are you doing now? It seemed to say.

What was she even supposed to do with a creature that enormous? It would crush buildings and innocent bystanders if it did not go back to wherever it came from. "You can return now. Thanks for everything." It nodded and disappeared

Bakura must've had a twisted sense of humor because he had somehow managed to turn her world into a sort of wonderland. Each and every image in this city was designed by her and she knew it all like the back of her hand, yet something unfamiliar hung in the air. Now she was left alone in the eerily empty street with the shadows eating away at her nerves. If Ko wasn't the real task she wasn't sure if she could handle the 'real' challenge. No, she could do it, all she had to do was have confidence. Her friend Sarah used to always tell pretend to have confidence when she had none. "Fake it 'til you make it" actually seemed like good advice at the moment.

She needed to find the queen before the shadows began to get to her. "If I were queen where would I be…" she thought out loud. The Mayor was the highest authority in the town, so the queen must have occupied his manor. If Ko had been one of the cards then The Queen of Hearts had to be someone that she knew, but she was at a loss as to who it might be. Maybe it would be her mother, but that didn't seem right. She wasn't close to any of the aunts, so it couldn't be one of them. There was only one way to find out-meet the queen herself.

Aiko repeated the directions over and over again under her breath so she could not forget. The battle that she had just been in sapped away at her energy, and she imagined that blood loss and the shadow realm were already making things worse. The throbbing pain from her wounds did not go away despite that it all must have been some illusion. The pain still felt real. "Two lefts and a right and then I'll be there and this will all be over," she reassured herself. "I just need to make it until then." Could she? Aiko wasn't hit directly in the leg, but she suspected that she had sprained or broken something, so she limped down the sidewalk past run down buildings with bars on the windows and walls covered in graffiti. The bars were not a good sign. If Bakura had really stolen the world from her game then that meant that somewhere near by monsters were waiting for her.

What was she supposed to do now? Aiko was hardly in any condition to deal with a monster. Maybe could dodge it if she remembered exactly where she hid them. It occurred to her that it would be nearly impossible because they were programmed to appear at random. "Shoot!" she swore under her breath. As if to emphasize her point a tiny brown dog plopped down directly in front of her. "Double shoot!"

That was no ordinary dog. It was designed to draw players away from territory and was loosely based on a werewolf. It had the ability to shift into a massive wolf like beast with sharp fangs that could effortlessly rip through flesh and became even more deadly on a full moon when it's attack strength was enhanced. Aiko was hardly ready to deal with a such a massive pain in the neck but there was no way around it.

Aiko did her best to remember how to stop it. She designed the creature so she had the knowledge of how to defeat it, all she needed now was to remember the details...why couldn't she remember the details? Was it possible that she had too much information stored in her head about the game and for some stupid reason the very thing that she needed was what her brain chose to forget? Well, if all else failed she supposed that a blow to the neck would suffice.

Aiko knelt down, "Listen little guy, I'm not here to steal anything, I'm just trying to find the queen." she tried to say in a non threatening but confident way. To her surprise the dog didn't attack. It just gave a short yip and looked towards the road and then her, and then back to the road again.

"Do you want me to follow you?" She asked. The dog yipped again and then began to walk. "So you're my white rabbit...Does that mean I'm about to lose my head?"

She received no response, so she followed the dog to the queen, hoping that she could manage to hold herself together until it was all over one way or the other.

The path to the queen was a winding one filled with strange shadow creatures peeking around corners and within shadows. She shivered both from the cold and despair that were worming their way into her bones. Luckily none of the creatures of her own creation bothered her, although they too seemed to be watching. All of these creatures held the ability to rip her to shreds. Knowing that was intimidating, although she liked to pretend that she wasn't intimidated by anything. Her friends at school used to say that she'd sooner admit to committing a crime than admit that she was scared. What was the point of borrowing her own world for this? She wondered. Why did her go through the trouble to pluck all of this from her mind instead of finishing her off quickly? That's because he likes to play with his food before he eats it, she thought darkly.

The dog suddenly broke into a run and came to a skidding halt in front of a large brick building that was secured by a gate with two guards on either side of the entrance. Aiko would recognize the building anywhere-it was the mayor's house.

The dog yipped to the guards, who resembled the main character of the game. "What business do you have here?"

Aiko cleared her throat and tried to project confidence. "I've been told that the queen wants to speak to me."

They looked at each other. "Name?"

"Aiko."

"Do you know that name?" The soldier on the left side of the gate asked the soldier on the right. Aiko hoped that The Kaiba brothers had a better team than these two...whatever they were.

"I dunno. Hmm…" He narrowed his eyes in thought, "Now that I think about it, that name does sound familiar. Hey Danny, I think we should let 'em in. I think they're tell'n the truth."

"You know, I think you're right. She's the one. Let her in!" They opened the gate and walked up to the front door.

A man who looked like Seto Kaiba's body guard opened the door and bowed. "I see you've arrived on time. She will see you now."

Jet black marble floors and creamy white walls made up the interior of the building. Everything was perfectly polished and she could see her own reflection. This was not her own design but she had to admit that it had an interesting effect. It was harsh and humbling all at once.

"Walk quickly please. We're wasting time," the man abruptly clipped. She picked up the pace.

He stopped outside of the door to the throne room and impatiently motioned for her to enter.

She opened the doors that led to her destiny with a hammering heart and breath caught in her chest.

Aiko walked up to the throne with her eyes glued to her feet and then knelt in front of the throne.

"You may rise," she said.

Aiko rose and looked up. She very nearly fell back to the ground in shock. Really she should have expected it, considering the nature of Bakura's shadow games, but she had been wrapped up in trying to survive that her was not operating at 100% efficiency. Aiko was the queen, but she was dressed in half black and half white in a way that was reminiscent of something that she could not put her finger on.

"I have summoned you because your weakness is a liability. The others may tolerate your shortcomings but I won' you truly possess the courage than you may leave this place, but if you fail you will lose your head." Maybe she was wrong. The queen looked like her, but she didn't speak like that.

"What would you like me to do?"

"You're a gifted girl and have a great mind, but even a mind as sharp as yours is dulled by human weakness, so your must prove your worth by finding your way back here. Once you do you will be given the opportunity to earn your prize." With the snap of the queen's fingers their setting changed. Instead of the beautiful sitting room they were suddenly outside on the street. Each building had a deck and unmarked boxes littered the ground. In a way it reminded her of the platform style video games that were popular not so long ago when retro style games came back into vogue.

"You should have no trouble navigating this world if you are truly as knowledgeable as you claim you are. After all, this is your territory, is it not? If you have trouble even with this challenge, then perhaps it is for the best that you fail. What good is a life in which there is nothing that makes you special? Losing your purpose in life is a fate worse than death." It was funny what being one wrong move from death did to a person. She should have frozen in place or been hyper aware of everything that went on. Instead, Her thoughts turned from the terrible situation that she was in and towards her father. Yuto Sato loved his family-at least Aiko thought he did-but he would tolerate nothing less than excellence. Sometimes when she was little her father would see something on tv and shake his head. He'd say, "A life with no meaning is not a life worth living. Prove your worth to world before it leaves you behind." He wasn't much fun to watch tv with, but maybe he had a point. What was the point of living without a purpose?

Maybe the queen was right. Whether she won or lost didn't matter because if she won she got to leave and if she lost then she deserved to be stuck in the shadow realm. Someone as useless as her would only slow them down.

This was her chance to prove her worth to the world. Aiko almost relished the challenge. Now she finally got a chance to show what she was made of.