A Brief Note from the Authors: To everyone who's reviewed - thank you! To everyone who hasn't read our first story - um...you really need to read it first. And to all - we will continue to call Yami Bakura "Barak" because having to type "Yami Bakura" all the time is tedious. And Barak is a cool name. Anyway, on with the story!

Chapter 2

"Museum Mysteries- A New Beginning"

"Would ya look at this crowd?" Joey Wheeler complained, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his uniform jacket, "Why couldn't the stupid teachers wait a couple weeks before takin' us here?"

"I'm with Joey on this one," Tristan Taylor nodded, "It's gonna be a mad-house in there – like they really expect us to learn anything…"

"Oh it's not so bad," Tea Gardner said, shifting her purse from one shoulder to the other, "it's better than being in school, right?"

At that moment, Joey was bumped several times in a row by small children in a hurry, "Sure it is, Tea. Sure it is…"

Yugi just smiled. Everything was back to as normal as it could get between his friends. He turned to Bakura, who was reading something on a small piece of paper, "Watcha got there, Bakura?"

The white-haired teen blushed deeply and quickly stuck the paper in his jacket, "Oh, um…nothing…" he muttered.

"That wasn't from Athena, was it?" Yugi asked slyly.

Bakura immediately became immensely fascinated with the ground around his shoes, mumbling, "Maybe…"

"Better keep that away from Mr. Sayanato, or he'll read it to the class when we get back," Yugi told his friend, waving a finger warningly.

"Who's gonna read what to the class??" Joey asked, overhearing and pushing his way between the two boys.

Bakura sputtered incoherently, but was relieved of having to explain as the crowd suddenly became quiet and the sound of someone tapping on a microphone floated down from the steps of the museum. A woman in her mid twenties was standing at a glass podium, waiting patiently for the young people to settle down. Her green-blue hair fell lightly around her shoulders, highlighting the shine of the gold-bead earrings she wore, and her purple eyes glinted in the morning sun.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming," she said, smiling demurely out at them, "In all my travels I've never had such a fine turn out for my grand opening as this. Behind these doors lies my life's work…"

It took Bakura a moment to realize that the air seemed much cooler for some reason, flowing all around and through him... Wait, through him? The boy looked down at himself and saw his translucent, spirit form. Startled, he looked over and saw the distinct features of Barak now present in his body. Spazzing slightly, he tapped his yami on the shoulder, 'Ahem.'

"What?" Barak said curtly.

'What do you think you're doing?'

"Look," Barak said, refusing to answer directly, but instead holding up the Millennium Ring, on which one of its prongs was glowing and pointing up at the woman.

Before Bakura could reply, there was a loud cheer and he looked up to find that the museum owner had cut the ribbon blocking off the entrance doors. The crowd began to pour forward, past the smiling face of Ms. Chrysogonus and into the Egyptian museum.

As the group of friends started to move along with the current of the crowd, Yugi realized that one member was missing. "Hey, Bakura!" he called back, "Why –" he stopped short when he saw his friend standing outside his body, while the darker counterpart had control, "Barak??" Yugi said, confused, "What're you doing here?" Despite the fact that they were no longer enemies, Barak's appearance was never a very welcome one.

He glared down at Yugi and began to walk forward with the crowd, ignoring the question. Bakura hung back a bit, 'The Millennium Ring was acting up,' the kinder spirit told Yugi.

"Well I can see that…" Yugi said wryly, eyes following Barak as he caught up with the others.

"No," Bakura shook his head, "I mean it was pointing, just now, up at that Chrysogonus woman."

"Oh…" Yugi nodded, "So, does she have a Millennium Item? I know that there are more of the new ones that we haven't found yet."

"I suppose I'm going to find out for sure," Bakura said, "Whether I want to or not."

Yugi smiled sympathetically, "Let me know what you find."

"But don't get into unnecessary trouble," Yami warned, appearing beside Barak, "We don't need the boys getting thrown out."

Barak stopped in his tracks, his fists clenched, "I'm not looking for trouble, my liege. I know I cannot survive without my host."

Yami frowned, "I'm glad you've accepted that at least," he said, "But never the less, perhaps it would be wiser to do our searching in a way we cannot be detected."

"We…?" Barak repeated, scowling.

"That's right," Yami nodded, "I'm coming with you, and I'm telling you to leave the body to Bakura. It will be easier to explore in our spirit forms."

"Are you afraid, Pharaoh?"

"No…" Yami said firmly, "I just don't think it's wise to go half-cocked into something we don't yet understand. Perhaps there's no danger at all, and perhaps there is. I, for one, don't wish to chance landing my host in the hospital again anytime soon."

"Yes… you do seem to have a habit of that, don't you? Why don't you leave this to those that can handle themselves?" Barak growled, taking another step away from the ancient ruler.

"Because I don't trust you completely yet," Yami told him bluntly, "And anything involving the Millennium Items involves me as well as you."

The crazy-haired thief sighed, "Fine. We'll do it your way… this time." Barak closed his eyes and in an instant he had traded places with his host.

"Hey!" Tristan called, "Mr. Sayanato says to get your butts in gear and stay with the class!"

Yugi and Bakura both took one last look at their counterparts and then began their journey through the maze of people towards their friends.

Joey raised a quizzical eyebrow at his two friends, "What took ya, Yug?"

"Oh…nothing," Yugi lied, "Yami and Barak were just arguing, but don't worry – we broke it up."

"You should be more careful not to lose track of the class," Tea said, "If you got lost, we might never find you in this mob!"

"I'm not a little kid anymore you know," Yugi said defensively, "I'll be fifteen soon."

But they didn't seem to hear him, as the tour guide began to speak and their class started to move again. From just inside the door, Yami and Barak watched as the two hosts began to move onward again. Barak turned and began to walk off, heading right for the hallway he knew lead to the restricted section.

"Just what are you expecting to find, exactly?" Yami asked as he followed a few paces behind, something he did subconsciously so as not to make Barak insecure about his position as leader of the little expedition.

"A few answers, perhaps," the older sibling shot back quickly, holding up the now-translucent Ring. All five prongs were violently pointing towards the door that read 'Restricted Section', "You remember this place, I assume?"

"Yes," Yami nodded. It was this area that had held Ishizu's collection of artifacts most-directly connected with his past. He gestured at the door, "After you."

Barak turned around and looked back over Yami's shoulder, "This place has certainly changed from my last visit." It was true: Ishizu's many artifacts had been carefully arranged and ordered, this assortment was quite the opposite.

As if eager to show off everything, there was an enormous amount of material crammed into every place possible. Ancient items that were made of purest gold sat side-by-side with blood-stained old papyrus scrolls, labeled only as being related by being found in the same tomb and approximately from the same time period, "Why does a collector hide their most valuable possessions?" He walked right through the door, heading in the direction that the Ring was directing him.

"I'm not sure…" Yami said, beginning to head down the stairs after his half-brother, "Perhaps they don't realize the value of what they have."

When he arrived in the main chamber below the stairway, Barak's eyes narrowed as he looked out upon the center display. He folded his arms and began to walk around the room, viewing stone tablets that hung on the walls. As Yami came down the stairs after him, he nodded his head towards the back wall of the room. "How do you suppose that got here?" he asked.

Following the thief's gesture with his eyes, Yami's jaw dropped. In a tall glass case, on a silver mount, still with a small crack in one side, and shining dully, was the Millennium Shield.

Dumbfounded, Yami strode past Barak, coming to a stop inches in front of the glass case. He reached one hand through the glass, letting his fingers drifted through the surface of the Item. "It's dead…" he said after a moment, "The magic has been disbanded…or sealed away so deeply that even I could never find means to access it…"

"I doubt someone with your skills could ever access a magic so powerful anyway." Barak told his temporary-partner, more than a touch of coldness in his voice.

Yami frowned, "And I suppose you could?"

"Temper, little brother. Anger isn't becoming on you. I am merely stating a fact, after all." Barak smirked, looking back at his sibling through the corner of his eye.

Yami didn't answer, mainly because he was too proud to admit that his half-brother had a point. He'd mastered the power of the God Cards, but according to the book of scriptures Shadi had given him, he had once been much more powerful than he was currently. Something was still locked away in his past that he had not been able to tap into, and (though he would never admit it) it was starting to get to him.

Wanting to revert the conversation back along the lines of their main purpose, he began searching for a label in the case along with the Shield. "Strange…" he muttered, spotting a very inadequate one, which merely gave an estimation of the time it was crafted, and the time it was brought into the collection "Ms. Chrysogonus claims to have owned this for five years."

"It's a ruse. That particular Item was confiscated by the Egyptian authorities." As Barak was about to continue, both of them looked up as they heard the door at the top of the stairs open, letting in much more light than was necessary.

First only soft footsteps could be heard descending the stairs, then the Ms. Chrysogonus came into view, accompanied a tall, thin man with shoulder-length black hair and a suit of the same color. "These grand openings are always such bedlam," she was saying, "I want to thank you Chalie, for helping me get away – you always seem to know exactly when I need a moment to collect myself."

The man nodded, "It's my job to know these things, ma'am."

Seline ran a hand through her hair absent-mindedly, gazing around at the hidden collection. "Just look at them…" she said, gesturing around, "Aren't they gorgeous?"

"Yes, ma'am…" Chalie agreed, but he seemed distracted, and his eyes were traveling slowly around the room.

Seline crossed over to where the Shield was, passing right through Yami and Barak. "Such a shame this one's broken…" she said dolefully, "It would've made such a fine centerpiece…"

"Indeed…" Chalie said, then his voice became chilly, "I do not believe we should linger here much longer. You will be missed…and I sense that we are not alone as you may think."

Yami and Barak exchanged looks as Seline walked through them again. "Very well," she said, heading back up the stairs, "Has Basil reported any security breeches yet?"

"Not yet, ma'am," Chalie said, trailing after her, "everything has been running relatively smoothly this morning."

"Excellent…" Seline's voice faded away as the pair disappeared to the upper level once again.

Barak spoke first, "I believe it is time we returned to our hosts." There was no need for him to share the conclusion he had drawn with his half-brother: It was that bodyguard that was calling the shots. It must have been him who was holding the Millennium Item!

Yami gave the Shield one last look and then hurried after the Spirit of the Ring.

* * *

"There you are Yami!" Yugi whispered as the Pharaoh and the Thief met the students out on the steps of the Museum around 2:00 that afternoon, "Where've you been?"

'Looking around…' Yami shrugged, 'You can't imagine how frustrating it is having people constantly walking through you…needless to say we decided to wait for you out here.'

"That's cool," Yugi said, then added, "But I meant – did you find what was activating the ring?"

'No,' he sighed. Considering how much he and Yugi went through just months ago, the Pharaoh did not continue after that.

Yugi stared over at his counterpart, confused. There had to be more than that! But before he could probe into Yami's exploration adventure again Joey came over and sat down next to him, right on top of Yami, "Hey Yug, who're ya talkin' to?"

"Huh? Oh – Yami," Yugi said quickly, "And you're kind of, um, sitting on him…"

"Wha??" Joey leapt up and then bowed quickly to thin air, "Sorry about that!"

"It's alright…" Yugi said, watching as Yami stood up and walked around to the other side of him, shaking his head as if he was too used to this sort of thing, "You can sit back down now – he moved."

"He does know I don't mean to do that, right?" Joey asked as he warily sat back down again.

"Yeah, he knows," Yugi said, "Sometimes I think he just gets frustrated because not many people can see him."

"Wish there was some way to change that…" Joey sighed, "Anyway…what were ya talkin' about?"
Yugi glanced over at Yami, who was staring out at the crowd of people moving past them. He figured that since Yami had said it had been a false alarm, it would be alright to fill Joey in. "Well, he and Barak had thought they might find another new Millennium in the museum, but they didn't have any luck."

"Ahh well," Joey sighed, "That's kind of a mixed blessing, if ya ask me."

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.

"One the one hand," Joey began, "It'd be fun to have to fight off another item-wielding psycho who wants to take over the world. One the other hand, the last item-wielding psycho nearly killed us all…" Yugi's face fell at his friend's cynical words, and Joey noticed immediately. "Hey, sorry man," he said hurriedly, "I'm just kiddin', jeez. Seriously, though, I'm kinda getting' used to things bein' normal again, you know?"

"Yeah…I know," Yugi nodded.

"Sure it's boring... but it allows more time for personal lives, if ya know what I mean,"

Yugi sighed as his friend elbowed him once or twice. Things must still be going well between him and Mai, "No, Joey, I do not." He stated firmly.

"What're you talkin' about?" Tristan asked, coming up behind Joey and leaning on top of his head, "You don't have a personal life either. I doubt you've seen Mai since that plane ride!"

"That is not true!" Joey growled, shoving the other boy off of him, "I'm positive I've had more action than you – Mr. I-still-haven't-told-Tea-that-I-like-her!"

"Huh?" said Yugi.

Joey and Tristan stopped in mid-scuffle, both gaping at Yugi, wide-eyed, not having a clue what to say next. They were saved of the trouble of wracking their typically-Neanderthal brains, when Tea and Bakura joined the group.

"Are you two fighting again??" Tea scolded.

Both 18-year-olds instantly released each other, putting their hands behind their heads, and laughing nervously.

"Yup," Yugi told her, grinning, "I think it had something to do with you, didn't it guys?"

"No!" Tristan said a little too quickly.

"Of course not!" Joey insisted, "Don't know what you're talkin' about, Yug!"

Tea raised an eyebrow, quizzically.

Both boys, frantic to find something to shift the conversation to, spotted Bakura, standing a little ways off, reading a small piece of paper, and rushed over to him.

"What'cha got there??" Joey asked, leaning over Bakura's shoulder.

The British teen blushed and shoved the scrap back into his jacket pocket, "Nothing," he said.

"You've been obsessing over that thing ever since we left the airport," Tristan began, leaning in close to Bakura, "Let's see what it says!" In a flash, he had reached inside the teen's pocket and snatched out the bit of paper.

"Hey!" Bakura cried, reached for it, but his reflexes were a bit too slow, "Give it back!" he pleaded.

"In a minute…" Tristan told him, nose nearly touching the paper. A second later he burst out laughing, "Oh man! Joey you gotta read this!"

"This isn't funny Tristan!" Tea told him impatiently, trying to grab it from him, but he had already handed it to Joey, who began to read the note.

"C'mon Joey, give it back!" Yugi asked his best friend, trying not to notice how red Bakura was getting.

"Aww, man…you don't get good stuff like this everyday," Joey chuckled, "Here Tristan, keep it for posterity, or somethin'."

Tristan caught the paper and began playing keep-away with it with Tea. He felt a tap on his shoulder and had barely turned around when Barak's fist met his face and he went sprawling across the now-empty marble steps. The small scrap of paper flew out of his hand and fluttered down slowly. Barak snatched it and stalked off down the stairs.

"Aw, jeez…" Tristan moaned, clasping a hand over his face as he picked himself up, "I think he broke my nose!"

"Serves you right, you big jerk!" Tea snapped, "That was a horrible thing to do – you really embarrassed him! I thought you two had grown up by now."

Joey looked down at his feet, as Tristan tried to stem the blood flow from his nose with his sleeve. "I'll go apologize…" Joey muttered.

"I would wait a little while," Yugi said, "Until Barak cools off, at least."

"Yeah…probably…" Joey agreed, then shot a guilty at Tea, "Dunno what got into us…"

"I do," Tea said, "Whatever you were fighting about was too embarrassing to tell me, so you picked the easiest way to divert the attention from yourselves – by picking on someone else. Why don't you just grow up?" She turned on her heel and stomped off in the same direction that Barak had gone.

Once she had gone, Joey glared at Tristan. "This is all your fault, you know."

"My fault??" Tristan cried.

"Yeah," Joey said, "If you would just 'fess up already, we wouldn't hafta keep coverin' for ya!"

Tristan flushed angrily, then, unable to think of anything to say, turned away and left as well, still holding his sleeve up to his face.

"Well, that went well…" Yugi sighed, looking around at the near empty area.

"Boy…we really blew it today, didn't we, Yug?" Joey asked, sitting back down on the steps.

"Yeah…kinda…" Yugi said, joining him, "If only Tristan wasn't so stubborn…Tea wants him to come forward, you know."

"What?" Joey asked, "Whadda ya mean? She knows??"

"Oh yeah," Yugi said, "For a while now. I told her maybe she should be the one who confronts him, but she said that wouldn't be right. She wants him to be mature enough to actually tell her that he likes her before she'll ever consider going out with him."

Joey's eyes widened. "How do you know so much, Yug?"

"Tsuki tells me," Yugi shrugged.

"Huh??"

"Well, ever since Egypt, Tsuki and I have been e-mailing back and forth. And she told that Tea had been in touch with her too. I guess she needed another girl to talk to or something. So anyway, Tsuki keeps me updated on what Tea won't come right out and tell us," Yugi said with a little grin.

"You're my hero, Yug," Joey said, gazing at the youth with admiration.

"Come on," Yugi said, standing back up, "Let's go see if Bakura's alright."

"Sure."

And the two boys headed down the steps of the museum towards the street