~*~*~*~*~
"So you know where we're going?" Mokuba said in a rush, racing after the flying sprite.

A leaf-red head nodded. Blue fingers pointed ahead, toward a glimmer of silver and mist.

I know that mist. "We're getting close to the Graveyard." Mokuba swallowed. "Do we have to go in there?"

"Look out!"

A chilling howl tore the air in the wake of a dark scythe, slicing braided hair as an officer ducked. Gunshots tore into the shrouded specter from her fellow officers and two wide-eyed detectives.

Necklace of cards dangling under its black hood, the Reaper of Cards only raised its scythe again, and laughed.

"Hey! Reaper!" Mokuba pulled a taunting face as the skull swiveled his way. "Bet you can't get me!"

"Mokuba!" Detective Rafe yelled as the specter sliced down.

Why don't grownups ever think I know what I'm doing? "Dreamsprite, defend! Redirect!"

The sprite caught the blade between two hands, wrapped in the ghost of the Dark Magician's power. The Magician's shade smirked, and slashed out.

Wailing, the Reaper shattered.

"Hold your fire!" Rafe grabbed an officer's shoulder as the bony fiend fell into dust. "Avallone! Parker! Everybody, form up!" He stared at their unlikely rescuer. "Mokuba?"

Mokuba waved as he walked into the circle of graves, Dreamsprite hovering over his shoulder. "Hi, Detective Rafe!"

"W-where - what-" Avallone stammered, dark hair falling in a ragged cascade over her shoulders as they clustered near a leaning tombstone. "Is somebody there?"

"Hell, no, nobody's here, Rafe's talking to shadows again. Let's just keep our heads and try to figure this out, okay?" Henri shivered, beckoning in the other two officers with his free hand. "Gale, Hill - everybody stay calm, all right? Sandburg saw us get taken, and you know Hairboy'll come through - holy-!" His gun nearly aimed at Mokuba; jerked up at the last second. "Where the hell did you come from, kid?"

"Over there," Rafe pointed. "From that light. I told you."

"Rafe." Henri gave him a skeptical, shivering glance. "What light? It's pitch dark in here!"

"Dark?" Mokuba said, puzzled. It was twilight, sure. Stars were faint and faded overhead, just as he'd expect from the fog lacing the Graveyard's stone-studded ground. But dark? "Come on. We should get out of here before another Reaper comes by."

"They keep saying it's dark." Rafe reached out toward the sprite's red hair, smiled shyly as she giggled. "I don't get it."

"Yeah?" Henri objected, hustling past the last stone markers. "Rafe, I don't know where we are or how we got here, but I know you got hit on the head. We're not glowing, we don't have any shadows sucking us dry, and-"

"C-c-cold," Parker's teeth chattered. The officer shook his head, faint sweat shining at the edge of his blond crewcut. Tried to speak-

And collapsed on his partner like a house of cards.

"He's cold." Avallone swallowed, checking her partner's racing pulse. "I'm cold."

"Everybody, huddle together," Henri instructed, blowing on his hands. "Brian? Rafe, no-"

"I'm fine," Rafe insisted, layering his suit jacket around Avallone's shaking shoulders.

Yeah, but they're not, Mokuba knew. He could see the other cops' breath in the air, as if the temperature had dropped to winter frost in an instant. "It's the Shadow Realm. It pulls out your energy." Unless you've got enough magic to fight it. He touched his deck, reaching for that sense of power that was Yami.

//I'm here, little dragon. Call!//

"Red Medicine!"

A crimson-filled phial shimmered out of shadow, dropped as sudden warm weight into his hands. Mokuba tipped a little down Parker's throat, handed it to Rafe as the officer started to stir. "Make sure everybody gets some."

"What is it?" Blue-gray with chill, Henri scowled in suspicion.

Mokuba crossed his arms, giving the detective one of his big brother's looks. "Magic."

"Magic?" Henri looked ill.

"Henri, we are standing on the edge of a graveyard, in the shadows, and you are freezing. I would say now is not the time to argue with the young man." Rafe handed the phial over to Gale. "Were you snatched here too?"

"Uh-uh. We came after Corinna." Mokuba looked out into the bleak wasteland around them, frowning at a distant glimmer of moonlight on water. That's it. That's what we're looking for. "If we can find her, we can stop this."

"Corinna's doing this?" Henri repeated, incredulous. "Corinna Johnston? That kid's out cold!"

"Later, H," Rafe insisted, eyes tracking shadows the others obviously couldn't see. "You say you came in. Can you get us out?"

"Yugi can," Mokuba nodded. "But I haven't found Cory yet...." He looked them over, and a small fist clenched. "Dreamsprite! Take them to Yugi."

Autumn wings fluttered in protest.

"I'll be okay," Mokuba insisted. He snared Rafe's sleeve. "I saw where we were heading. I'll stay with Detective Rafe. I'll be fine."

The sprite sighed, but fluttered down to circle Henri's head. Settled on his shoulder, and pointed.

"You'd better hurry," Mokuba said matter-of-factly. "Yugi's holding the door open and he could really use some help."

Henri took point as Hall wedged himself under Parker's shoulder. "You sure about this, Brian?"

"I'm okay." The detective forced a confident nod. "Get going. While you still can."

Five cops stepped into the shadows, and were gone.

"They should be okay. The Shadow Realm takes your energy. Hits people who can't do magic really hard. But Yami can look out for them." Mokuba gripped Rafe's hand tight as he led them toward the scent of salt air, wishing he knew how to lend his own strength to the tired cop. He feels like Joey did after he summoned Milus. "How long have you guys been in here? Feels like you've been fighting the shadows for hours."

"I don't know. My watch stopped when the shadows ate it." Rafe swallowed. "I kept pulling them off, and the others couldn't even see them...." His voice cracked. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Mokuba reassured him. "Magic scares even nii-sama, sometimes." A shred of sound whispered past his ears. "Did you hear that?"

"Singing," Rafe breathed.

"Can't get no satisfaction
"From the facts?
"You better run, homeboy --
"A fact's a fact
"From Nome to Rome, boy...."

A chilly duet laced the air; one voice young and vengeful, the other ancient and pitiless as the sea.

"Something's with her." The detective touched his gun. "Is this going to do any good?"

"Maybe," Mokuba admitted. The Reaper hadn't been Corinna's Monster, just an ordinary denizen of this hazardous piece of the Shadow Realm. Corinna liked serpents. Bullets should work.

They stepped onto the gray sand beach, and Mokuba swallowed. Only I don't know if bullets will work on that....

Emerald and olive scales were curled around Corinna's translucent spirit, gold glinting off the Serpentine Princess' armored corset as the monster caressed her caller's hair with gloved hands. A serpent's fanged smile gleamed at them, all the more frightening for the lovely crimson lips that framed it.

"Of course," Rafe muttered, numb. "We couldn't have something simple and harmless to get past. Like Russian mobsters, or a Jamaican posse...."

"I'm not giving up," Mokuba said fiercely. "Cory?"

"Gonna kick some gluteus max...." Distant eyes drifted toward them, dark with hate. "Who are you?"

Never mind them, little one. We're so close now. Violet gloves combed through brown hair. So very close....

"I'm Mokuba." And he would not shiver, even though that chill whisper in his mind brought back memories of eavesdropping turned violent, when the Big Five had decided his brother had to perish. A homicidal Duel Monster. Nii-sama, I wish you were here. But Mokuba smiled, and indicated the detective with a shrug. "And this is Detective Rafe. You remember him?" Please, remember him.

"Hey, kid," Rafe nodded casually. But from Mokuba's angle, he could see the detective's hand ready on his gun. "Haven't seen you in a while. What have you been up to?"

Corinna giggled; a chilling laugh Mokuba hadn't heard since the last time Marik had been loose. "We're going to get him. Can't you see?"

Oh yes. Do see. The Princess swept a hand over the edge of the water, molding wave and foam into a glossy ring of elsewhere. See what we have wrought, from shadows, from vengeance....

"Please, stop!" Montgomery's thin voice was almost drowned by shredding metal, snapping jaws of meat and bread. "I'll do anything - anything!"

"Please. That's funny." Cory laughed again, but her spirit's eyes were wet. "I said please, I know I did. I said why, and stop, and none of it meant anything...."

"But it did," Rafe said gently. "It did, Cory. We know what he did. My partners are right there, ready to arrest him. Right now. All you have to do is stop and let them do it."

"He killed my dad!" Shadows rose up from the water, sifted out of the moonlight. "He killed my dad, and you didn't do anything!"

"But we know now," Rafe stepped forward, voice soothing. "He's going down for murder, I promise-"

Human law? The serpent laughed. Foolish mortal. You know you'll only let him walk free. And we won't let that happen. Will we, mistress?

"He tried to kill my mom! He hurt me!" Shadows darkened Corinna's eyes, set them ablaze with amber fury. "And I won't let him get away with it! Serpentine Princess, attack!"

Jaws agape, the snakelike Monster lunged.

Rafe ducked and fired, bullets spanging off patterned scales. Yelped as coils seized him. Struggled against scaled muscle, swearing, as the Princess licked her lips and raised claws to strike.

Attack must not be high enough. If he were a dragon, I could help, Mokuba thought frantically, searching his deck. I know dragons. My cards know dragons. Or a spellcaster - but he's not. He's a warrior. Like Joey. He's-

Of course.

"Dragonic Attack!"

Silver-blue energy swirled up around the detective, wreathing him in a dragon's misty form. The Princess slashed mist and flesh alike, hissing in fury as her prey's struggles started to loosen her coils.

And as long as he counts as a Dragon- "Mountain!" Mokuba called. "Dragon Treasure!"

Waves split around rising stone, shattering Corinna's watery mirror. A golden sphere dropped into the fray, shrinking until it slipped easily into the bleeding detective's pocket.

"No! You can't. I won't let you." Ashes swirled in the spirit's grip, forming an ominous, too-familiar Trap Card. "Dragon Cap-"

With one swift lunge, Mokuba clapped a hand over her mouth.

"You're - under - arrest!" Rafe pinned the Princess to wet sand, clicking on cuffs as he dodged her writhing tail.

The Dragon Capture Jar swirled back into ashes.

Whew. Mokuba relaxed his grip. "Look. Cory. Your mom's here, she really misses you-"

The screech of handcuffs snapping was lost in a roar of flames, as fiery comets smashed into Mokuba's chest.

Hinotama. Mokuba tried to draw breath past the pain, remembering how Malik had blasted Yugi with the deadly magic card. But - Cory didn't call it!

Corinna was shrieking too fiercely to summon magic, squirming free with teeth and elbows and kicking feet. "Princess!"

The creature snaked past her caller, jaws gaping impossibly wide as she coiled her tail around the young sorcerer's chest.

She broke a trap. She broke a trap. A monster can't do that- Too late, Mokuba felt coils cinch down. Can't breathe. Can't-

Arms snatched him free, cradled him against a merino wool jacket at a dead run. "I have," Rafe panted. "Good news and bad news."

Air. Air is good. "Yeah?" Mokuba croaked.

Rafe ducked a swipe of gloved talons, dodged a dead tree as the Princess and shrieking spirit slithered in his wake. "They're following us."

"What's - good news?"

"Ookazi!"

Red lit the world about them, flames closing in with lethal glee.

~*~*~*~*~
"W-why isn't this working?" Jenna's teeth chattered.

Yami spread a hand to the hospital's shadows, testing their heft, their ragged edges that were a reflection of Cascade's torn magic. "Your daughter is tangled in a web not of her weaving. Magic has been shattered here. The shards hold her fast, piercing her to the core of her hate." Yet it was more than that. There was a sense of presence in the web of magic, of malice older than the world's first dawn. Malice that had no place in the Shadow Realm, or in any realm ma'at held sway....

Demon. Yami gathered magic about him, feeling shards of memory pierce him with a chill of true fear. We face a demon, my own.

//I'm scared, Yami.//

Honesty demanded honesty. //As am I.// Crimson eyes narrowed. //But we are not alone.//

//I know.// He felt Yugi brace himself, shoving back fear to focus on this deadly duel. //Corinna. You think her name's close enough to Corinne for the Darkness to affect her?//

//I don't know modern names well enough to be certain, aibou. But gods help us if you're right.// Drawing a card from his deck, Yami nodded.

In his soul room, Yugi swallowed. //Yami... if you set that trap....//

//Our deck is built to fight, not capture. And there's a limit to how much even we can take.// The spirit sighed. //I won't use it unless we must.//

//I know.// Yugi's trust pulsed down their bond. //Set it.//

Trap facedown on the gurney, Yami placed a second card face-up. "Blue Medicine."

A blue-filled phial shimmered and shattered, spreading warmth across the shadows. Corinna's unconscious breathing eased. Jenna touched her cheek. "Cory?"

A flutter of wings caught Yami's ear as the Dark Magician aimed his lance at movement in the shadows. Dreamsprite's green glow lit a small host of uniforms, human eyes wild with panic as a half-dozen guns aimed his way.

"Holy freaking-"

"What the hell-"

"Is that-?"

"No shooting!" Jenna yelped, putting her body between the gurney and the likely lines of fire.

"Like the lady said." Henri Brown pushed his way forward, meeting the Magician eye to unyielding eye. "Who the hell are you?"

The Dark Magician arched a violet brow. Inclined his head toward Yami.

"A staunch ally, and a friend," Yami said frankly. "One I trust to the last." He held out an arm so the sprite could perch. "You left Mokuba unguarded?"

Dreamsprite winced.

"He made her go with us," Henri said in a rush. "Said we wouldn't last long if we didn't get out of here. Have to say I'm starting to believe him." The detective moved to grab Yami's shoulder, jerked to a halt as the Magician's gaze turned chill and warning. "He's got my partner!"

Ah. That explained the sudden draw on his power. Few humans could face a Duel Monster without magical aid. Much less a demon... though leave it to a Kaiba to try.

//He's brave.//

"Let's pray not lethally brave, aibou," Yami muttered. "Too much of his brother in him."

Help.... A whisper on the wind, the whimper of a child pressed beyond endurance.

Yami snarled. He'd felt Hinotama strike Mokuba. One direct assault in the Shadow Realm, on top of frantic spells... the youngling would never stand a second. Aibou!

//Mokuba!// And Yugi's will was entwined with his, two spirits moving as one as they flipped the trap face-up-

"Barrel Behind the Door!"

A gold-and-faience matchlock pistol materialized, lazuli-hooded serpent on the grip snarling as it sucked in Ookazi's flames-

And fired them back.

~*~*~*~*~
//Something's happened,// Ryou said suddenly. //Something big.//

Bakura nodded, trying to catch his breath. His hands were trembling as he chose three cards, set them face down. I must be out of practice.

//It's easier to kill than bind, yami. Why do you think cops pile on six at a time?//

Bakura snarled. //I despise cops, hikari.//

A wry chuckle tickled his bond. //I know. Ironic, isn't it?//

"I really, really hate Sinister Serpents," Mai growled beside him, urging her trio of harpies on as they grappled with three winged snakes. "They just keep coming and coming...."

The dome of shadows exploded.

//Mai!//

Ryou's terror threw him between Valentine and the blast of darkness, absorbing the force that would have shattered one new to magic. Damn you, hikari....

//Bakura? Bakura!// Cold fear gripped him, tried to pull him back from the dark. And failed. //Yami!//

~*~*~*~*~
Rough concrete biting into his palms. A chorus of groans rising from the heap of bodies where shadows had been. A serpentine hiss....

Ryou pushed himself to his hands and knees - and found himself nose to elegant, cold-blooded nose with a furious Serpentine Princess.

Eeek! //Yami, help!//

Silence in his mind.

And to think a year ago I would have been glad- "Flip!"

Lavender glue surged out of a sudden pit in the roof, snaring the Princess before her gloves could slash him.

"Lovely trap," Ryou muttered, dragging Mai's semiconscious form out of the monster's clawed reach. Kaiba was still standing, ignoring the smoke rising from shadow-seared clothing. His Blue Eyes snapped and snarled, holding Hyozanryu pinned; Ryou doubted a spear through the heart would break the sorcerer's concentration. No help there. "Yugi? Mokuba? Anyone?"

"Stake the girl out for the hyenas," a familiar voice cursed in a language lost millennia ago. "Chisel her name off the family tomb...."

Ah. Yami. In quite a temper, from the sound of it. And worse luck, in no shape to fight, Ryou realized, seeing tri-colored spikes shake as Yami tried to disentangle himself from steel and unconscious bodies.

Familiar violet robes bent over the pharaoh, gently lifting Yami clear. The Dark Magician glanced his way, cut sea-green eyes across in warning.

"Harpy Sisters!" Ryou called, ducking. Mai's creature, not his, but Bakura had lent them strength. Please!

The Princess smiled, fangs flashing white. Lunged-

Screeching, harpies descended; one on each arm, the third lifting the heavy tail to throw their enemy back into the sticky hole. Scraping glue off their talons, shapely wings spread before Ryou, willing to ward him with their mistress.

Corinna has four free monsters, I have three, Ryou calculated, eyes on the Serpents wriggling his way. I'm dead.

No. No. His yami had had a plan, before the blast. He knew it.

But I've never summoned a monster on my own... oh, curse it! "Bite Shoes!"

It hurt. Like fire; like fighting the pull of the sea at high tide. But he clenched his teeth and fought the magic into place, calling toothed ruby high heels into being.

Mai groaned, hands gripping his slacks as she tried to raise her head. "You've got to be kidding...."

Ryou grinned toothily. You've never met this fiend, Mai. "Flip Hyozanryu!"

Dark power misted from his Monster, forcing Corinna's diamond dragon into defense. Snarling, three Blue Eyes pounced and tore.

"Ouch." Mai shook her head. "But the Serpents!"

Oh lord. The smaller snakes were starting to shimmer now, shadows preparing to reform into stronger creatures-

One last card, Ryou told himself dazedly. Just one. "Non-Aggression Area!"

A wall of translucent violet slammed up, sealing the Serpents in with her Harpies, unable to escape.

"Got you." He sat down hard, trying not to fall on Valentine. "One turn. Make it count!"

"You got it!" Mai grinned. "Triple Scratch attack!"

~*~*~*~*~
"You carry those chemicals in your trunk?" Disbelief rang through Solomon's voice.

"Never know when you might have to make a volcano," Joel shrugged, heading toward the far side of the tattered SUV. "Or something else... damn! Where'd they come from?"

News choppers. Terrific. Blair squinted against the sudden downdraft from hovering rotors, hand clenched on Jim's arm as Megan crept toward the driver's side, where the Burger snapped and snarled. I hate this plan. I really, really hate this plan....

And Jim nodded, catching Joel's whisper. "Time to move."

Feet, don't fail me. They hit the SUV's back doors, Jim wielding a crowbar as Megan set up a hue and cry he could hear even over the rotor howl. "Hey! Beefless!" the Aussie called. "Is that mayo I see under that stale excuse for a bun? You're not flame-broiled, that's for certain-"

Jim's hands stuttered, mid-pry. "Connor's insulting a hamburger."

The Burger snarled. Hurled a shred of painted metal toward the inspector. The ragged shard whirled through wind, arced around and sucked upward-

No fool, the chopper pilot pulled a swift sideways hop, then climbed before any more projectiles could head his way. Blair could all but hear the reporters inside shriek in outrage.

"And it's working. Roll with it, Jim." Blair yanked on the handle, pulling the door clear of a lump of blubbering executive.

Shaking hands reached out. "Oh god! Oh god, you've got to-"

Jim pulled the bloodied suspect nose to flared nose. "Montgomery, do us all a favor and shut up." He jerked the man back. "And take off your jacket. Now."

"What?"

Blair swiped his strip of hieroglyphs through Montgomery's blood and sweat, yanked out strands of mousse-laced hair. Tied the whole bundle in a paper knot, and stuffed it into the pocket of the suit jacket his partner had just stripped off their yelping suspect. Let himself have one more deep breath, and a fleeting, man, I hope Solomon knows what we're doing....

Concentrate. Forget the jacket in his hands. There was no jacket in his hands. No blood. No hair. No spell-scribed paper. What he held was Montgomery, cursing and fighting and trying to get away-

"Megan, move! Blair, come on!"

Jim ripped cloth - ripped Montgomery from his hands, and flung him back into the SUV. Took his partner by the arm, and dragged him off the side of the road.

And the Burger was finally inside the SUV, tearing its enemy into bloody shreds.

Montgomery, Blair pictured fiercely as Jim dragged him behind the pickup's cover. Holding the image of blood, and pain, and screams. Montgomery inside, Montgomery dying....

"Down!" Joel ordered.

The blast shredded the SUV in a blaze of orange and white. Mustard and charred meat filled the air.

"Charbroiled Burger," Jim chuckled, flinging off bits of wilted lettuce. "Nice work, Joel."

Blair opened his eyes, regarding one very alive, very white-faced accounting executive.

Huh. It worked.

And passed out.

~*~*~*~*~
"Nooo!"

Blue Eyes soaring overhead, Seto ignored the translucent spirit to tear at tangled bodies. Let her bleed. Let her perish. All that mattered was... "Mokuba!"

"Nii-sama...." Cradled in dragon's magic and a groaning detective's arms, his brother clutched at his wrist-guard. "It's not a monster!"

No. The Princess' voice was chill and raging as a winter sea, echoing around Corinna's scream. A shaman's trick!

Darkness coiled out from her scales, evaporating Ryou's Adhesion trap like mist. Gloved hands tore Harpies from the air. Fanged jaws gaped wide, and feasted.

Not a monster, Seto knew, chilled to the bone as Mai's scream - cut off. He might not have Yugi's memory for every card invented, but he knew the Sisters' attack points. No four-star monster should have been able to do that.

"He got away," the spirit wailed. "No, no, no...."

He shall not! The Princess coiled toward the unconscious blonde Duelist, sneering at the fanged shoes Ryou had shifted to defense. The white-haired teen was staring at her in horrified fascination, shaking hands too weak to draw a knife, much less a card. Feed me, mistress. A forked tongue licked ruby lips. Grant me the last of your strength, and we shall have them all.

"The last of her strength, spawn of Sebau? A willing sacrifice, so you might finish what the necromancer began, and tear the way free for your dark cohorts to follow? Never!" Yami leaned on the Dark Magician, gaze pure, furious crimson. "Rain of Mercy!"

Seto lifted his face to the sudden, sparkling downpour. Drank in the strength of it; life and light and hope after the darkness. Forgive me.

*There is nothing to forgive,* a scaled voice rumbled in his mind. *Restore ma'at. Cast us against this darkness!*

"Wingbeat!"

Silver-white wings clapped down, gusting bright magic as one dragon vanished from the sky. The Princess' form shattered, scales falling away from a shape of twisting dark and blood.

Corinna's spirit screamed.

"Don't look!" Seto stood between his brother and horror, hearing the cop gag behind him. The necromancer's doing. I should have known. Yet... why did it seem so familiar?

Priest and Pharaoh. The creature's voice was still chill, but thick and rotten as a frozen midden. Worthless thief, dark and lostling as my petty little mistress. Dark tendrils snaked toward Corinna's petrified spirit. And none of you with the strength to stop me!

"Shadow Spell!" Green-edged darkness swirled around the demon, bound it in place as Seto jerked his hand down. That won't last long.

Yami snarled, limping into his reach. "Sedjem-en, Seth...."

Listen to me, Seth. The ancient words swirled around him, alien and familiar as the hand on his arm. We have faced this foe before. Fought it before. Won before.

Trust me. Memory fails us both - but trust me. Trust your heart.

Trust your heart, dark child? The demon laughed, rustling free of shadow. I know you, Seth! Your heart lies in three dragons. You have but two, and no strength to call another!

But there was another, Seto knew. Right beside him, holding Mokuba with all the strength human flesh and bone could muster. A dragon in mortal guise, but a dragon nonetheless.

Seto seized its aura. Bound it to him, to his Blue Eyes, to the endless power flowing from the Puzzle beside him. "Yours," he growled, seizing small fingers in a bone-crushing grip. "Strike!"

"Dark Magic attack!"

~*~*~*~*~
//Oooh, pretty fireworks....//

Bakura blinked, struggling forward as his hikari passed out. Helicopters were an annoying drumbeat to the north, weaving into ambulance wails from below. Mai was warm by his side, sighing in her sleep as the Rain worked on the worst of her wounds. And as for the rest of his fellow Duelists.... Drop me in Duat's fires. They actually did it.

At a cost. Pharaoh and sorcerer were a singed navy and violet heap on concrete, tangled around the younger Kaiba and a thoroughly spellbound detective. Alive, the rise and fall of their breathing was enough to tell him that, but well and truly out.

Well. This is an opportunity not to be missed. Bakura dismissed Ryou's Bite Shoes with a wave of his hand. No need for defense now; the demon was shattered to the four winds, dark shreds dissolving in sparkling rain. Not that he had eyes for it with the Puzzle glinting in his reach. And now, to take what is mine by force of will....

"I'm sorry." A spirit's thin voice on the wind, nearly drowned by the chopper. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it...."

Bakura jerked his head up, scowling at paired, hiccuping sobs. Mother and daughter. One whole, one divided into a limp form and a despairing spirit. The irony struck him. So close, and yet so far.

"Oh, Cory...." Jenna brushed her fingers across the still cheek. "Come home."

"Mom?" The spirit drifted on the wind, reaching out with intangible hands. "Mom, I'm right here. I'm sorry, I didn't know - I was scared, I-"

"It wasn't supposed to be this way!" Angry tears splashed onto limp brown hair. "I lost my Austell. I can't lose you too!" Jenna moaned, bending over her flesh and blood. "I want my daughter back...."

I want mewet back....

Bakura snarled at memory's echo. Ryou's. It had to be Ryou's. His hikari never had gotten over losing mother and sister in one fell blow. Not like me. I survived the massacre, I sought my revenge. I seek it even now-

Drops of pearl fell from a spirit's eyes. "I want to go home."

"Then go." Bakura cast out a golden cord of magic, using the Ring's strength to open the path for this wayward soul. I can't believe I'm wasting my time helping this child! "Now."

Sinking into her body, Corinna looked at him. "I know you."

The Ring's spirit snorted. "I doubt that." Gold shimmered and vanished; Corinna stirred in her mother's arms, murmuring sleepily.

"Cory!" Tears became an impenetrable, joyous babble; Bakura caught love, sweetie, scared me, and promptly tuned the rest of the mush out.

Now. Bakura dusted off his hands. To get what I came for-

A white-and-blue helicopter hovered overhead, KCDE News emblazoned on its side. Camera in full view of bodies, wreckage, and magic.

Isis, no!

Fangs bared, he snatched the Ring. "Forget!"

Light flooded the helicopter, and it turned absently away.

That... may have been too much, Bakura admitted to himself, swaying as the threat of public exposure veered out of sight. But I will not be denied. Not so close-

"Easy, there." Houlihan caught him as he tripped on fissured concrete. "I'd say you just about hit empty, young man." The shaky nurse efficiently ushered him back to the Johnstons, sweeping practiced eyes over the casualty-strewn rooftop as she set him down. "Stay put, okay? We're going to have to commandeer a whole waiting room for this mess, and I really don't need one more shock victim draining our plasma stocks."

How dare she. Amber eyes narrowed, shadows boiling in his blood. I am a thief and a stealer of souls. I am darkness. I am....

Tired.

Weariness didn't matter. He had revenge to execute. One well-placed knife, and the pharaoh would be short his most powerful ally-

"It was you!" A flurry of arms and hospital gown struck his chest. "Mom! This is my angel!"

"Your-" Bakura choked on the word. Separation from her body has driven her mad. Or she's been fay-struck. It's the only explanation. "Child, what are you doing?"

Young arms had wrapped around his neck, and a wet face was buried in drifts of white hair. "You didn't let me hurt him. I was just trying to hurt the bad guys, but he was there, and I couldn't stop the Ghoul...."

A sleepy giggle tickled his bond. //I'd say you have a fan, yami.//

Bakura shuddered at the thought. An innocent? Looking up to him? Gods forbid. Stop snickering at me and get her off!

Ryou only laughed.

~*~*~*~*~
"...And that's what you missed in the mayor's office, Captain," Agnes Houlihan concluded, making a note on her PDA.

"Duty, honor, courage," Simon Banks growled under his breath, pacing the wreckage of the hospital roof. "Going to take that motto and shove it down His Honor's throat...."

Much easier to think about that than how on earth half a dozen cops had ended up here, miles from their last known location. Much, much easier to think about stuffing brass and wood into the politician's gaping maw than about the impossible stories spreading like wildfire from the highway and museum.

Living bones, man-eating burgers... where did I miss the off-ramp that said "Twilight Zone"?

He was not going to think of how those stories would double once the hospital staff took a good look at what had been their helipad. Dust. Rubble. Scorch marks. Places where a surface that ought to be solid as steel had split like dried mud. "Your grandson did this?"

"Not alone, I'm sure," Solomon said wryly. The elderly man leaned wearily on the doorframe, rings under his eyes as if he'd stayed up all night. "Relax, Captain. It's over."

"Relax?" Simon helped the older man inside after Agnes, fuming his way to the elevator. And the mayor wants Kaiba to invest in Cascade? Hell, might as well ask the Marines to use downtown for a demolition range! "How the hell am I supposed to relax when a couple of teenagers let loose World War III?"

"Usually responsible teenagers," Solomon noted as they headed down. "Try to look on the bright side. You've made a major arrest. I doubt Montgomery will even think of calling a lawyer before he's completely incriminated himself."

No kidding. The VP was scared stiff. Not of Jim, which was the usual result of the sentinel and guide crossing paths with criminals. Of Blair. "How are my people?"

"Like I told you, Simon. They're fine," Agnes offered him a sympathetic smile as they headed for the room packed with blanket-wrapped cops. "So far it looks like a six-eight split; hypothermia versus exhaustion. Unless you count Cory, who's a little of both." She canted questioning brows Solomon's way. "You say it's energy drain?"

"Two different forms," the older man confirmed. "Your hypothermic patients suffered a passive energy drain. You might call it a bad reaction to hostile environmental conditions."

"An allergy?" Simon said, wishing he didn't believe it. Hang around Jim and Blair long enough, you learned all the nasty things a body could do to itself when something set it off. Hypothermia was a new one. But then, they'd never had living shadows on the menu before.

"In a way," Solomon acknowledged. "The others-" he hesitated.

"The others were getting hit by fireballs." Agnes winced. "They told me to stay clear."

"And you did precisely what you should have, Ms. Houlihan," Solomon said firmly. "From the sound of it, they had a narrow enough shave as it was."

Narrow shave, hell, Simon thought darkly, stalking into the cop and Duelist-filled room. If Sandburg ever scares me like that again-

"So if we can just pry this loose...." Blair hesitated as Rafe gasped, stilled his hand a half-inch above the detective's shirt. "Damn."

"You almost had it." Jim laid an encouraging hand on his partner's shoulder. "His scent slipped back to normal for a second."

Scent? Simon scowled Solomon's way. I'm not going to ask, I'm not going to ask....

"Okay." Blair wriggled his fingers, scooped them slowly toward Rafe's shoulder. "Maybe if I slip under here-"

"Don't." Rafe's face was white. He rubbed his chest, wincing. Huddled in his blanket and shivered. "Just - stop."

"Sorry." Blair tilted his head, eyes slightly unfocused. "Any ideas? Usually I could pry loose somebody else's energy, but this thing's digging pretty deep in his aura."

Blanket wrapped around him like a cloak as he perched in a red plastic chair, Yugi shook his head. "I don't think it's coming out."

"It better. Scent's getting stronger." Jim scowled toward the chestnut-haired teen curled on one of the cots jammed in a corner. Mokuba was snuggled in beside his brother, a faint smile touching his sleeping face. "What the hell did he do?"

"Um... it wasn't just Seto," Yugi admitted. "Mokuba and I - well, it was pretty hectic."

"Define hectic," Simon ordered.

Blair jumped. "Jeez, Simon-!"

Simon caught him, passed the anthropologist to his glaring partner as he wobbled. "You look like hell, Sandburg."

"Nice-" Blair yawned. "Nice to see you, too, Simon...."

Simon rolled his eyes. Tapped Rafe on the shoulder. "Brian. You okay?"

"I don't know." The younger detective shivered. "I feel weird. I just want to sleep."

"Any reason he shouldn't?" Simon looked his selection of experts over. Teenager, wiped out shaman-detective, and a sentinel who runs on instinct most of the time. I am screwed.

"No," Yugi said honestly.

"Yes," Jim bit out, shifting his snoozing partner to his other arm. "Told you. It's getting stronger."

"And none of us has the strength left to do anything about that, Detective." Solomon sagged into a chair. "Even magic has its limits."

Weary violet widened in alarm. "Grandpa-"

"Just stay put, Yugi. Don't think I don't know you should be as dead to the world as Kaiba." A gray brow rose.

The teen's cheeks flushed. "I'm okay." Violet eyes glinted crimson, faded back to amethyst weariness. "I am okay. At least for a little while. There's just something I need to tell - oof!"

"Gotcha!" Corinna crowed, striped sleeves wrapped around the smaller teen. "Did you hear that? Mom says they got him! They got him! Whee!"

"Urk," Yugi managed. "Great. Air-"

"Oh, wow." Corinna released the gasping Duelist, propped her elbows on the arm of Rafe's chair. "You've got a dragon!"

"She's been seeing things," Jenna tried to urge her daughter off. "We should be going-"

"But he does, Mom! Luster, sort of - only it's all black, with silver claws. Really pretty." Cory blinked at the detective. "Kind of small, though. Not like his." She pointed toward Kaiba.

"Dragon?" Rafe stammered.

Jenna blinked. "Does he have a dragon?"

"Oh, Seto definitely has a dragon," Yugi murmured. "Which means... oh. That's how to see it." He smiled. "You'll be fine, Detective."

Jim glared at him.

"He will. It just takes some getting used to," Yugi said defensively. Bit his lip, and turned to Corinna. "The night before last, I saw-" he hesitated. "Someone who knew you. He wanted you to know the key was with Faith."

"Saw who?" Jim asked pointedly.

"I don't know anybody named Faith-" Cory sucked in a breath. "Lady of Faith! But they said my Deck burned...."

"I still have your spare cards." Jenna took a cloth pouch out of her purse. "You're supposed to bring things to coma patients, and...." Eyes wet, she hugged her daughter close.

"I'm okay. And it's a side deck, Mom. Not spare cards." Corinna shuffled through brown-backed cards, came to a stop. "Mom?"

Jenna lifted a sticky yellow strip off the Lady of Faith. "This is a password." Her voice shook as she met Simon's eyes. "From the reference number, it's one of Accounting's backup data files."

"Backups." The captain took it carefully, voice gentle. "As in Austell's, before the books were cooked?"

White-faced, Jenna nodded. Swallowed.

"I think we just got motive, people." Simon nodded at Jim. "Park your partner somewhere to sleep it off. We're going to grab a judge."

Jim set his feet. "It's not my case."

"Then see if Henri's thawed out yet," Simon said, exasperated. "Better yet, grab Megan and Joel back from Bomb Squad; they know what Joel used, they ought to be able to take the scene from there. But you are coming, Detective." I'm not missing evidence on Questscape. Not this time.

"Fine. Sir." Jim scowled at spiky hair. "But just so we have the chain of custody straight -who told you about that card?"

Yugi sighed. "A ghost."

Jim stared at him.

The teen stared back, dark brow lifting as eyes shifted to ruby. "Don't tell me you're surprised, Detective. You've seen spirits before. It's in your nature." Lips twisted into a wry smirk. "Just as magic is in mine."

Turning on his heel, Jim stomped out.

And about the only thing scarier than a perp afraid of Sandburg is Ellison trying to be subtle, Simon thought, walking down the hall to the stairwell where he knew Jim would be waiting. "All right, Jim. Give. And if you think whatever it is will get you out of Questscape-"

"I don't," Jim cut in. "But I want to stop somewhere first, Simon. It's already been a few days and scents don't last forever."

Simon tapped his glasses up. "This is about the ghost thing, isn't it?" Man, he did not want to think about that.

Jim sighed. "How many spirits would have known about that password?"

"That's what I was trying not to think about," Simon growled. "Magic, monsters, ghosts...."

"That's just it, Simon." Jim frowned. "He was willing to tell us about the magic. And the monsters."

"But not the ghosts," Simon said reluctantly. "You think you know why?"

"I will if I check. If I'm right, then I know why Yami and Bakura keep trying to get us too mad to think straight. Poor kids." Jim sounded oddly thoughtful. "Simon, I need to tell you about a phone call...."