A Quick A/N: A few of you asked us a while ago what the complete set of New Millennium Items were. We've invented them now, so here they are:

1) Shield – steals souls, and emits powerful energy blasts, can block attacks from any one Millennium Item (normally it can't do all this stuff, but when fueled by the magic of other Items, it can)

2) Hourglass – freezes time in small amounts

3) Sword – depending on the user, cuts either the evil or good out of a person

4) Earrings (like the Kai's in DBZ have) – hypnosis

5) Cat (statue of one, with one eye) – transforms the holder into a feline (depending on the person, transformations range from kittens to saber-tooth tigers)

6) Staff – can summon up natural disasters on a moderate scale

7) Mirror – if held up to someone, the holder takes on the outward appearance of that person, also can reflect the attacks of other Items

Chapter 26

"The Morning Of"

The rest of the day passed without further incident and the group hit the sack early, though none of them got very much sleep. Yugi spent half of his night worrying about the coming day. It wasn't the competition that struck fear in the heart of the Japanese youth, but the stakes that they would face. Yami was distant and quiet all night, reviewing the past day's events in his head, trying to think of a way to keep his friends out of danger while still freeing the trapped souls of Shadi and Weevil, but to no avail.

It was a solemn morning, and Yugi dressed and retrieved his dueling materials without a word to his counterpart. They both understood that there was nothing to say. The younger counterpart of the pharaoh quietly tiptoed over to Joey's bed, and gently began to shake his friend awake, "Hey… Joey! You have to get up! It's already 7:30 and the tournament starts at 10:00! We still have to go and check on Weevil and Void…"

With a groan and a stretch, the blonde-haired 17-year old awoke and sat up, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, "Mornin' Yug…"

Yugi smiled slightly, "Morning Joey."

The older boy put an arm around his friend, "Don't look so somber, pal! Everything'll be all right, you'll see. I promise…"

Yugi looked away, but felt his spirits rise slightly, "Thanks Joey."

Joey yawned loudly, "Don' mention it." He pulled his cloak messily over his head and struggled with the large piece of fabric for a moment, finally getting it over his head. His usually chaotic hair was even more frazzled than normal, but Yugi didn't say anything. Besides, it would probably be funnier if that sort of detail was brought up by Mai…

* * *

Ten minutes later, all four of the boys were downstairs at the breakfast buffet, and though Yugi thought he would throw up if he ate anything, the boy conceded that he was more likely to throw up just by watching Tristan and Joey eat. Bakura obviously had Yugi's mindset, and seemed to be nervously fingering his Ring every-so-often, and when the others moved on to the pancakes, he had to excuse his self to use the restroom.

"Ya know," said Tristan through a mouth-full of scrambled eggs, "You should really eat something, Yugi. You'll need all your strength for today…"

"He's right you know," said a familiar feminine voice, and the three boys glanced up as Mai, Tea and Tsuki slid into the booth, "Did the two bottomless pits leave any breakfast for the rest of us?" Mai asked.

Bakura, who still looked a bit nauseous, murmured, "No."

"Didn't think so," Mai said, grinning at Joey.

Joey swallowed hard, looking at her uneasily, "…What…?"

"Nice hair, hon," she said, reaching up and tousling the blonde mess on top of his head.

Joey reddened slightly and jerked his head out of her reach indignantly, "And just what's wrong with it?"

"Forgot do gel it this morning, didn't you?" Mai said, pulling a bottle of hair gel out of her bag and pouring a bit into her hands. Joey tried to slide away from her, but ran into Tristan, who refused to budge before he was finished eating. So Joey sat rigid as Mai worked, trying to tame his hair.

Tea folded her arms, scowling disapprovingly as Tsuki giggled. Yugi forced a smile and Tsuki noticed. "Hey…are you okay, Yugi?" she asked timidly.

Yugi glanced over at her and was about to lie and say he was fine, but a different voice cut him off. "How do you expect him to be okay? Anyone about to face what we are would not be called human if they weren't worried." They all looked up from their various activities to see Athena standing at the end of the table, with Bakura beside her.

If it was possible, Yugi thought, Athena seemed in even worse shape than he was. There were dark circles under her eyes and strands of her dark hair hung loosely around her face. Her expression was grim and she was clutching her bag tightly. Yugi assumed that the Hourglass was tucked inside the bag.

"Oh, Athena!" Tea said, "Where'd you go last night? You just sort of disappeared."

"I retreated to the rooftops, to meditate," Athena said, as she and Bakura joined them in the booth, "This land makes meditation difficult, I must say. So many sad memories…"

Yugi, Tsuki, and Bakura didn't want to push this subject on her, but couldn't very well think of anything else to talk about.

"Well," Mai said loudly, sensing the tenseness of the situation, "It's only quarter after eight now. What do you all want to do until we head down to the pyramids?"

"I wonder how many people actually managed to make it to the finals, besides us, I mean," Joey said, prodding at his now-sticky hair.

Yugi sighed and stood up, "I don't know Joey, but I don't think it will do us much good to worry about the other competitors. Anyway, I'm heading down to the hospital to check on Weevil and Void."

Tristan stood up next to him, "Good idea! Maybe that will help you guys to loosen up a little."

* * *

Across dimensions, Shadi was sitting on a cold stone floor in a large dank room. There were no windows or doors, and the only light came from a few small torches that burned blue fire that were positioned on the stone walls. Lying in front of Shadi was the soul of a small boy with blue hair and glasses. The boy had not stirred since he had arrived, and Shadi had begun to wonder just what sort of spell Jetsu had used to banish him to this place.

The Egyptian set his turban in his lap and ran a hand over his dark, bald head. He was sore and tired. He knew Jetsu had taken him from this place briefly – he could remember the struggle as he had tried to use the opportunity to escape. Of course he had failed. Jetsu's magic, now fueled by two Millennium Items, was much too powerful.

But hope was not all lost. In a sort of dream-like haze before he was returned to this prison, Shadi had glimpsed the Pharaoh and his counterpart. No doubt Jetsu was after the Puzzle as well. The Pharaoh had never been defeated before, but then, Jetsu was in a completely different league than all of the Pharaoh's previous enemies.

Shadi sighed, twisting his turban over and over in his hands. It will take all of the Pharaoh's strength to overcome this threat…and perhaps not even that will be enough…

* * *

Upon exiting the hospital about an hour and a half later, it was quite apparent that nothing they did would lift the eerie sense of foreboding that hung over the group of friends. Void had awoken, obviously still exhausted but even in that state it was better than Weevil. Though his heart and brain still functioned normally, it was palpable that the true Weevil Underwood no longer resided in his body.

Rex Raptor was in a state of mild shock and hadn't said a word to them when they enter until they left. Dark circles ringed his eyes, revealing a lack of sleep that had probably originated from of contemplation of his even lonelier imminent future.

Realizing they could do nothing to help the patients, the group poured out into the street, drenched in early morning sun. It was an unfitting beautiful day, with a cloudless blue sky that failed to lift anyone's mood. As the streets began to slowly repopulate, Yugi stopped in his tracks so quickly that Joey bumped into him.

"Hey! What gives, Yug?" the older boy asked.

"I just thought of something," Yugi said, "Don't you think we should warn Kaiba about what really going on? He's qualified for the finals too, you know."

"Do we have to…?" Joey said scowling grudgingly.

"It's only fair, I guess," Mai said.

"But how're we going to find him?" Tea asked, "He could be anywhere!"

Athena turned to Bakura, "Did they say Kaiba?? As in Seto Kaiba?"

"Yes," Bakura said, "Naturally he's here. He's one of Yugi's top rivals."

Athena nodded curtly, thinking to herself, To care about the welfare of a rival like this…the Pharaoh is truly as noble as he is skilled…

It only took a few minutes to find Kaiba's hotel, and as they were about to enter, the front doors swung open and Kaiba strode out, tailed closely by Mokuba. The younger Kaiba brother had chosen to don an Egyptian robe of pale blue, but the older one had blatantly refused, and was wearing all black, as if daring the heat to bother him. The two of them noticed their visitors instantly and their reactions couldn't have been more opposite. Mokuba broke into a wide grin and hurried over to them, while Kaiba scowled and folded his arms across his chest.

"What're you guys doing here?" Mokuba asked, "Shouldn't you be heading over to the Tournament Pyramid??"

"Well, that's kind of why we came," Yugi said, "There's something I thought you should know before competing."

"What now, Moto?" Kaiba snorted, "Make it quick. I've got a tournament to win."

A little annoyed, but determined, Yugi delved into a brief overview of the outlook of the tournament, using the double duel with Terra and Blitz as a reference Kaiba could understand. He finished, "So I just thought I should warn you that this one might get dangerous. You heard what happened to Weevil, right?"

Kaiba cocked an eyebrow, "Underwood? No. What happened?"

"I heard," Mokuba said, "He's in terminal condition at the Al Karnak Hospital, right?"

"Yeah," Tristan said, "It was this Jetsu guy. Blasted him clear out of the Pyramid."

Yugi thought he saw shock flicker across Kaiba's face before he frowned and said, "And you're sure about all this?"

"Of course we are!" Yugi said.

"We've seen him!" Joey said.

"Well," Kaiba said lightly, "Thanks for the concern, but I can take care of myself. No nut-job is gonna keep me from taking first place."

Athena pushed to the front of the group, "Jetsu is not to be taken lightly! You best take heed of the Pharaoh's warning. Or suffer the same fate as Mr. Underwood."

Fire burned behind Kaiba's blue eyes and he leaned closer to Athena, so they were nearly nose to nose. "I don't know who you think you are, but you obviously don't know who you're talking to!" he spat.

"How dare you!" Athena cried, "You little–"

"ENOUGH!!" Yugi shouted and everyone turned to look at him. He looked a bit surprised at himself, and then said, "Kaiba, I don't care if you don't believe me. I just wanted to give you fair warning. Now, we've got a pyramid to get to. Come on, guys." He turned and headed back down the street.

"Yeah," Joey sneered, "See ya 'round, Kai-bitch!" Athena spat at Kaiba's feet and then turned to follow the rest of the group.

After they had dissolved into the now growing crowd, Mokuba let out a small whistle, "Ooh…dis."

"Whose side are you on??" Kaiba asked, annoyed.