Chapter 7

"Trouble From The Ring"

"It was the strangest thing," Mai said, "One minute there was a full-grown woman sitting there, and the next she was a little girl." She was describing the events of her afternoon to the group, as Yugi had asked how she'd wound up with an odd number of mini-items.

"That is strange," Yugi said.

"Actually," said Tea, "It sounds a little bit like you, Yugi."

"Huh?" Yugi asked, looking a little nervous, "What do you mean?"

"She means it sounds a lot like you and the Spirit of you're Puzzle," Joey said, "Come to think of it, I can't believe we never saw the difference between the two of you, in the beginning."

"Guys!" Yugi said quietly, "Maybe we shouldn't be talking about this right now…" He pointed a finger at Mai.

"Don't worry about me," she said, noticing his unease, "I know all about you're Egyptian friend."

"You…do…?" Yugi asked.

"Please, after the whole ordeal at Kaiba's tournament, how could I not?" she shrugged, "So you think this girl has the same kind of thing going on?"

"Maybe," Yugi said, "Did you see anything that looked like a Millenium Item on her?"

Mai shook her head, "Not besides the mini-ones," she said, "But she did have a backpack with her. Maybe she kept it there."

"That's probably it," Joey said, "Not all the items can be worn, after all."

"We probably should check it out," Tristan suggested.

"Yeah," Yugi said.

Then a low rumbling sound was heard and they all turned to look at Joey, how had one hand on his stomach. "Uh…can we get somthin' to eat first?" he asked, grinning sheepishly, "I'm starvin'!"

"You and your stomach, Wheeler," Mai groaned.

"Sure – why not?" Yugi said, "I always think best after I've eaten anyway."

"All right! It's chow time!" said Tristan happily. He and Joey rushed inside the Hotel, with Mai, Tea and Yugi following after.

As Yugi and his friends continued to walk, one person remained behind, unnoticed. Where Bakura had been just seconds before, now stood the Spirit of the Millennium Ring, grinning evilly to himself, 'So, one of the Millennium Items resides with a little girl?!? I wouldn't have thought it possible for anyone to be so careless, but these mortals can be that foolish.' The now-freed thief entered the hotel. No one would stop him from taking an item from a meager child. He pulled out the Millenium Ring from under his shirt, and it began to point upwards. Grinning maliciously, the ancient burglar began the long climb to the top of the hotel…

* * *

Inside the Hotel's Restaurant, the group was sitting at a booth with Joey and Tristan on one side, Mai and Tea on the opposite side, and Yugi on the end. "Hey guys?" Yugi said, in between bites of his odd Egyptian dish, "Have any of you seen Bakura?"

Joey and Tristan were far too busy stuffing themselves with foreign food to give any notice, but Tea and Mai glanced around.

"He was right behind us when we came in here," Tea said, "Wasn't he?"

"Where would he have gone?" Mai wondered.

"I dunno," Yugi shrugged, and then thought to himself, 'I sure hope his Spirit isn't causing any trouble…'

* * *

Standing just outside a door on the top floor, Yami Bakura looked down at his ring once more, which was violently pointing at the door. Reaching for the door knob, the white-haired freak only took slight notice that it was locked. Turning harder, the lock mechanism inside the door broke and he stepped into the room cautiously.

Little Tsuki Date was sitting on the couch in the living room of her family's penthouse suit, with her Duel Monsters cards spread out over the coffee table. She looked up as she heard the doorknob turn, "Mama? Papa?" she said.

She walked over to the door and was going to unlock it, when the lock was broken and a white-haired stranger stepped inside. She got hit by the door and fell backwards onto the floor. She looked up at the strange man, frightened. "Wh-who are you?" she stammered, "What do you want?"

Still grinning like a madman (which, uh… he is), Yami Bakura looked down upon the small child, "It is of no concern to you what I am called, but what I want is… your Millenium Item!" He ran a hand through his long, spiky white hair, as if bothered by what must come next, and tried to make himself look more friendly (that's a task, isn't it?), and knelt down to look at her, "Unfortunately, I must win it from you in a duel in order to truly access the powers it possesses. So, little girl, would you like to play a shadow game with me?"

Small children could be either fooled by friendliness, or intimidated by fear. The spirit of the ring preferred the latter method, but he now knew of the ancient writings that spoke of a true power being unlocked by a fair win. What a foolish concept, but if it were true…

"Ah…A what?" she asked nervously, backing away.

Yami Bakura stood up and took a step towards the child, "A shadow game. A game played by the ancients of this very country, used to determine who would hold more magical power. I'll wager my Millenium Ring on a game of Duel Monsters. And you could place your Item on the line," He smiled at her, trying not to let the greed he was feeling show on his face, and pulled out his deck.

"Duel Monsters…?" she said, "But…I've never been very good at that…and what item are you talking about?" She scooted a few more feet away, and her back hit the side of the couch.

His smiled flickered for a second and he recovered. Getting the true power of her item couldn't possibly be worth this aggravation. The evil spirit's eyes grew cold and he stared down at the girl, "Your Millenium Item. My Ring tells me that you have one. Right over there..." He pointed towards her backpack, where his Ring was still aiming.

She made a quick grab for her backpack, clutching it protectively to her chest. She could feel the scale through the fabric, but what did he want with it? Her parents had told her that it was made of real gold – he probably wanted to sell it. "No! You can't have it!" she said, scrambling to her feet and pushing past him out the door and into the hallway.

Taken aback, he let her get out of the door- a mistake, "Get back here!" He ran after her, and managed to grab her arm before she turned the corner, and began to chant an ancient Egyptian spell, that would take them to the Shadow Realm.

"Let go of me!!" Tsuki cried, frightened tears stinging her eyes. There was a bright flash of light from the backpack that she still had a death grip on and as the blinding light vanished, Dedi stood, where Tsuki had once been. Still worn out from her duel with Weevil, she stood tall, trying not to show her fatigue.

Shocked by this change, Yami Bakura stopped murmuring to himself and backed up a step, "Well, well…what have we here?" His eyes looked her up and down. The skirt that the girl had been wearing hadn't left, and it was very short on this much taller woman. The shirt sleeves were also tight and short, and she seemed to be breathing heavily, which made her chest rise and fall. This was the spirit of that item? It must be the Scale, "The pharaoh's loyal lover, eh? Nice tits, whore," He folded his arms over his chest; he had nothing to fear from this one.

But he couldn't have been more wrong. The woman reared back and punched him dead in the face, sending him to the ground. "First you threaten my vessel, and now you insult me?" she spat, standing over him angrily, "What gives you that right, miserable street rat?" She remembered this man – he was a notorious thief…and very rude. But she was weak now, and the adrenaline that was powering her now was bound to run out soon…

He got up holding his hand to his face, his nose bleeding. But he began to laugh softly, "Was that the best that you could do? If it was, then you should just hand over the Scale now. Your vessel refused to duel me for control of our items because she knew that you were no match for me. I almost felt sorry for that little girl, having to live with such a loser."

Dedi frowned, "My vessel and I have no business with you. She doesn't have to duel for her item if she doesn't want to."

* * *

Down in the restaurant, Yugi felt his Puzzle start to vibrate. He looked down at it, as it started to glow. "Huh?" he said, and instantly transformed into Yami, the Spirit of the Millenium Puzzle.

Yami got up from the table roughly, "I have to go," he said and dashed out of the room, leaving the others all thoroughly confused.

"Huh? Hey, Yugi! Wait up!" Joey called as he and Tristan abandoned their food and took off after him.

"Where are you boys going?" Mai said, as she and Tea also leapt up from the table and followed after.

Yami dashed through the hallways, he could sense Millennium Magic at work, and had a bad feeling that Bakura's Spirit was up to no good!

* * *

He took a threatening step toward Dedi, a malevolent look in his eyes. He could tell that she had been previously weakened and that would give him all the advantage he needed, "You don't have a choice in the matter! You can die at my hands and I'll take the item, or you can fight for it in a duel!" Yami Bakura grinned savagely, "Either way works for me…"

Dedi didn't budge, but she was worried, any moment now she would lose control again and she didn't want to leave Tsuki to deal with all this.

But at that moment, Yami appeared at the end of the hallway, white cloak billowing around him as he skidded to a halt at the scene. "Spirit of the Ring!" he cried, "What's the meaning of this?"

Yami Bakura didn't even look up. The annoying pharaoh was interfering again, but not this time, "Stay out of this, Yami! This has nothing to do with you! I've already issued my challenge here! The ancient scriptures say that not even the pharaoh could interfere with Millenium challenges…" He looked up at Yami with intense abhorrence, "SO BUTT OUT!!!!!"

Yami was a bit taken aback. Butt out?!? How dare he!! "I won't allow you to hurt this…er…woman…" Yami had stridden nearer to them now and the person Bakura's Spirit was threatening was distracting him. He felt himself go red as he looked her over. There was something about her that was very arousing, and he couldn't seem to shake it. He forced himself to look away from her, and faced Yami Bakura once again, "You've got to stop living in the past, Bakura."

Dedi, for her part, was staring at Yami wide-eyed. Just like so many years ago, her beloved had come to her rescue. But he didn't recognize her…his memories had been hidden from him. The thought of this hurt. "Yami…" she said softly.

Yami was startled. She knew his name. "Huh?" he turned to look at her, and felt his cheeks go red again. Just looking at her was making him so uneasy. He didn't like it. Not one bit.

Yami Bakura couldn't believe what was happening? Didn't they realize that this wasn't the time for a moment?!?! Seizing the instant, Yami Bakura ran towards the woman and slammed into her with his shoulder. Surprised, she fell to the ground, and the evil Bakura grabbed the backpack. Instantly, Dedi became Tsuki, who was once again disoriented. Laughing nastily, the spirit of the Ring made to run off with the Item, already feeling his power beginning to grow.

And he ran straight into Joey, who'd been climbing the stairs after Yami. Joey was thrown backwards into Tristan, who hit Tea, who hit Mai! And they all wound up in a heap on the hallway floor.

"Joey! Get the backpack!" cried Yugi, who'd willed himself to take control of his body once more.

"Eh? Right!" Joey said, quickly trying to pull the backpack out of Yami Bakura's hands.

"No!" Yami Bakura cried, holding tight. Then Tristan hit him hard over the head and he fell forward, unconscious.

Joey yanked the backpack out of the Spirit's hands and stood up. "Thanks, Tristan," he said, helping his friend to his feet.

"That's what I'm here for," Tristan said.

Tea and Mai struggled to untangle themselves, as Yugi looked down at Tsuki. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

In response, Tsuki jumped up and wrapped her arms around Yugi's neck, "You saved me! Thank you so much!"

"Um…you're welcome," Yugi said, blushing.

"Yeah, sure, he saved her," Joey muttered.

"What are you complaining about?' Tristan said, "She's just a little kid."

"True," Joey nodded, "And hey! Now we've got something to rag Yugi about!"

"Is that the girl you were talking about?" Tea asked Mai.

She nodded, "That's her all right – in her little-girl form."

There was a slight lapse in the talking, which made for an awkward silence.

Tea's voice broke up the odd scene, "So… what exactly happened here?"