Pocky this time goes to hobbitfeet13 and HongMing.  In answer to your question, HongMing, no, Serenity isn't blind because this is an alternate universe and I said she isn't. ^_~ Okay, on with the chapter!

A couple new notes:

/Kaiba to Seth/

//Seth to Kaiba//

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!  Just a bunch of cards, ten issues of Shonen Jump, two booster tins, a bunch of games, two posters, a bunch of drawings, and… that's about it.

Egyptian Shadow Destinies: Chapter Five

School Can Be VERY Dangerous

It was all over the news that night – the appearance of the creature in the park seemed to be on every channel, and most of them seemed to have somehow found out that the monster was indeed a Duel Monster.  This, of course, caused all the paranoid people to freak out, all the psychics to predict the end of the world, all the stock market experts to predict a crash, all the police to try and control various riots, and all the normal people to roll their eyes and dismiss it as a freak accident or a case of mass hallucination.  Or at least, they tried to.  Even if it was a hallucination, they had yet to explain away why the slide was currently in two pieces.

Even stranger to the people was the fact that the monster had just suddenly vanished, for no particular reason.  Everyone had at that point run away, so no one had seen what actually happened.  There were no traces as to where it had gone.  Inquiries about the monster to anyone who might know about it turned out to be dead ends – Industrial Illusions claimed that they knew nothing about it, and that there was no way they would be able to create a real monster like that even if they wanted to, much less make it disappear without anyone knowing where it had gone.  Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp., the makers of holographic technology for the game, refused to comment, though a spokesperson for the company said they knew absolutely nothing about what had happened and pointed out that, if the monster had originated from Kaiba Corp., many more people would have seen it and there would be an incriminating path of destruction from the company to the park.  Later police investigations revealed nothing, showing that there was nothing there that could have created a real monster, just the usual holographic technology, none of which could have made the monster as real as it appeared to be.  With the police and government unable to say for sure what had caused the incident, the people of Domino City were left to try and make their own explanations.  Some said it must have been some natural gas that caused an illusion, some said it was just some prankster dressed up in a costume (but failed to mention that no prankster was that big or could swing an axe that heavy), and some said it was an invasion by aliens.  Joey Wheeler rolled his eyes at all of these ideas and turned off the TV, trying to think up his own explanation for what had happened.

Now, Joey wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box, but even he could put two and two together, even if he didn't end up with four.  The news said a Duel Monster had appeared in the park, and out of nowhere, Yugi just suddenly sprang up and asked about his dueling skills for no reason at all.  The first explanation that came to mind was that Yugi had had something to do with the appearance of the Vorse Raider.  His first thought was that Yugi was the one who had made or summoned or brought the monster into being, but he decided against that almost immediately.  The Vorse Raider had caused mass destruction of the playground, and Yugi wasn't exactly the type to be involved in that sort of stuff.  Heck, he didn't even stand up for himself!  That Yami kid might have something to do with it, though, since he shushed his little brother almost immediately after Yugi mentioned Duel Monsters… or maybe Yugi was in on it, too, and his innocence was just an act.  But then, if it was just an act, then why did they save Serenity?  Joey was sure that they didn't know he had a little sister, so they must have just found out when they rescued her.  And if they were bad and hadn't saved her, then they would never have come to his home, and they wouldn't have asked about Duel Monsters… which led him back to square one.

"Argh!  I'm so confused!" the blond yelled out suddenly, messing up his hair in frustration. "They seem nice enough, sure, but I know they've got something to do with it!"

"Joey?" Serenity asked, coming out of the kitchen to stare at her older brother. "What're you talking about?"

"Yugi and Yami," Joey answered. "I was thinking they might have a connection to this Duel Monster stuff that happened in the park."

"Really?" Serenity cocked her head. "They seemed nice enough guys to me.  Maybe you're just imagining things.  I don't think they would cause trouble like that on purpose."

"No, probably not," Joey muttered. "I guess you're right.  But maybe they didn't start the trouble.  Maybe they were the guys who got rid of the monster!  Maybe," he said, continuing along that train of thought, "they're secret agents for the government whose job it is to keep this stuff from happening and they messed up today!  And maybe Yugi found out about my awesome dueling skills and decided they might want to hire me!"

Serenity giggled. "And what're the chances of that, Joey?"

"Next to impossible," her brother muttered, slightly deflated. "Oh well.  It was a fun thought while it lasted." And as the two siblings laughed at Joey's overactive imagination, neither even guessed how close he almost got to the truth.
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As Malik and Marik rode up to the Ishtar home, they were greeted with an open front door and a very angry Isis.  Malik's sister strode up to them, glaring fiercely at the two boys.  Both of them winced.

"Just WHERE have you two been?" she snapped, looking angrily at the two. "You said you went to the park, but that was hours ago!  And then there was the report of the monster that appeared at the playground!  You should've called to say you would've been late!"

Malik flinched slightly. "Sorry, Isis, but it kinda slipped our minds.  We were talking at the park and then heard about the monster, and we started wondering about where it came from… I guess we lost track of time after the Vorse Raider appeared."

His sister's eyes narrowed. "Vorse Raider?  How did you know what kind of monster it was?  They only said it was a Duel Monster, but they didn't specify what kind."

Marik sweatdropped. "Well, we were there when it appeared, and that's what it looked like to us, before we got out of there…"

"And WHY didn't you tell this to the police?"

"We thought someone else might tell them, and besides, we really didn't want to talk to them!" Malik squeaked. "But they must know, if they said it was a Duel Monster."

"You were avoiding the police," Isis said calmly. "And you said you were there when it happened." Marik started to nod, but stopped abruptly when Malik elbowed him in the side sharply.

"Um… no?" the spirit said hopefully.  Isis didn't buy it for a second, though.

"You had something to do with it," she said quietly, glaring at the duo.

"No, of course not, Isis!" Malik said hurriedly. "Why would we do something like that?"

Isis studied their faces for a moment, then sighed and turned away. "Fine, don't tell me if you don't want to," she mumbled, walking back inside. "I don't believe you boys would do it anyway.  But what I do know is that you're involved in it somehow, and I plan to figure out what you have to do with it sooner or later."

Marik and Malik exchanged a quick glance and followed her in.  Marik whispered to Malik, "You'll have to tell her eventually, you know."

"I know," Malik muttered back. "I just don't want her to get involved in this before she has to."

"She will, all right," Marik said matter-of-factly. "Her only being the most respected priestess and diviner in all of Egypt in her previous life." Malik shot him a surprised look.

"And why didn't you tell me this before?" he hissed. "She IS my sister, after all."

Marik shrugged, grinning. "I decided to save it for later.  And she can take care of herself.  She IS your sister, after all." He walked off upstairs, chuckling quietly to himself, leaving Malik death-glaring at his back.
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Yami watched over Yugi's shoulder as the shorter boy separated the cards in his deck, counting out the number of magic, trap, and monster cards and adding and taking out cards where he saw fit.  He would occasionally give his lighter half a couple pointers and pick up some cards and read the text on them.  Seeing this, Yugi gave the Pharaoh a strange look.

"I thought your deck was exactly the same as mine, so why would you need to look at what the cards do?"

Shrugging, Yami replaced the card he had just grabbed. "Well, apparently not.  I guess the game has evolved a little since I last played it… I don't recognize some of the cards.  It's a bit more complicated now… it was so much simpler back when we played it.  I guess my advisors adjusted it a bit after we were sealed away.  Lack of a better thing to do, probably."

Yugi blinked. "So what you're saying is that your skills may be a little rusty?"

The Pharaoh looked slightly hurt. "I didn't say that.  The cards that Seth has haven't changed to fit this new era either, so I have all the skills… I'm just saying, if we want to catch him off guard, we may need to know a little more about Duel Monsters.  I could also use some new cards."

Yugi smiled slightly. "All right then… so have you heard of archfiends?"

"Nooo…"

"How about Spirit monsters?"

"Not those, either."

"All right then, we'll start with those.  They're a special type of effect monster that can't be Special Summoned, and it's returned to your hand at the end of the turn that you summon it.  They also have an effect that's activated when you Normal Summon, Flip Summon it, or flip it face-up… Here, let me show you…"

A couple hours and at least ten booster packs later, Yami had completely grasped the concepts related with the new cards.  As he sorted through his new cards and added it to his deck, Yugi realized that he'd spent half of his money already, sighed, shrugged, and decided to splurge the rest of it on booster packs for the other two spirits.  Lucky him that his grandfather owned a Game Shop.

Speaking of his grandfather… After modifying their decks, Yugi and Yami turned back to their lessons which had been interrupted, and decided to try bringing magic cards to life.  After a slow step-by-step process and several failed attempts to get just the right type of magic, some of which resulted in lamps breaking and a few toys being sent to the Shadow Realm, Yugi finally found just the right frequency of magic.  Sensing this, Yami told him and encouraged him to choose a magic card from his deck and try it out.

"All right then…" Yugi closed his eyes, focusing on the card and the magic type he had picked out.  Holding it out, he yelled, "Mystical Moon!" Hoping for the best, he opened his eyes, expecting to see nothing… but was contradicted by the giant yellow orb hanging in the living room.  Punching the air in joy, he yelled, "Yes!  I did it!" His happy dance was interrupted almost before it had begun with a gasp at the doorway.

Turning, both spirit and normal teenager went wide-eyed at the sight of a familiar old man, standing there and staring at them with eyes as wide as saucers.  Yugi's eyes also widened at the sight of his grandfather, and he squeaked, "Grandpa!  What're you doing here?" Noticing his grandfather's eyes on the moon, he quickly recalled it and turned back to the old man. "I can explain, really I can…"

"Well, it had better be a good explanation," Solomon Muto muttered.

Taking turns, Yami and Yugi explained about the cards and everything they knew about why the monsters were coming to life.  Grandpa took it pretty well, nodding every once in a while and making comments.  When they were finally done, he turned to Yami and asked, "So you say you were a Pharaoh in your life in Egypt?" Yami nodded. "Well, then who was I?"

"You were Simon, one of my advisors and close friends," the Pharaoh answered without hesitation. "You also taught me quite a bit about Duel Monsters."

At that, Grandpa smiled and turned to Yugi. "Well, how about that.  Does that sound familiar to you, Yugi?" The short boy grinned, understanding what he meant.  Turning serious again, Solomon said, "If you're really out to save the world, there is little I can do to help.  But I think there's one thing…"

"What is it?" Yugi asked, cocking his head to the side.

From one of his pockets, Solomon withdrew a small box, opening it to reveal a card in a plastic case.  Reverently removing the case, he handed the card to Yugi, winking at his grandson. "It's my most prized card.  Use it well, for I think you may need it."

Both Yugi and Yami stared at the card for a moment, struck absolutely speechless. "A… Blue-Eyes White Dragon," Yami muttered. "In Egypt, there were only three of those, and all of them belonged to Seth…"

"Did they now?" Grandpa asked, his eyes sparkling slightly. "Well, one against three can't exactly be considered a fair fight, but it'll even the odds a little."

Yugi nodded, slightly dumbstruck. "Thanks, Grandpa.  This'll help… a lot…"
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Walking briskly into his mansion, nothing struck Seto Kaiba as wrong at first.  Within a few minutes, however, he noticed that it was quieter than it should be: much more quiet.  None of the usual maids were around the place, except for the oldest one, who was sweeping around the upstairs bedrooms.  The chauffeur had obviously sensed that something was amiss; he had left hurriedly as soon as Kaiba exited the car.  And worst of all, Seth hadn't appeared to him at all since two days ago.  Normally, he wouldn't mind being rid of the so-called former high priest, but this was worrying him a little.  No doubt Seth would stir up any trouble that he could.

Sitting down to drink his coffee, Kaiba entertained the notion that the priest might have poisoned it, but dismissed the thought almost as soon as it came to him.  Seth needed him; he had said so himself.  So why would he kill his reincarnation?  But if that wasn't going on, what was?  Kaiba pondered that thought as he took a sip of his coffee.  When he was almost to the bottom of the cup, he concluded that maybe Seth didn't want to kill him after all; maybe he just wanted him to cooperate.  Well, there was no way he'd do that voluntarily, and the crazy priest knew that well enough.  But if he needed Kaiba's help, then just how far would he go to obtain it?  Most threats wouldn't get to him, and Seth knew it.  Most threats… except one…

The CEO suddenly realized what had been different when he had arrived.  No laughter, no being glomped around the waist, no "Hi, big brother!  I'm glad you're back!"  In other words… no Mokuba.

Standing up and shoving his chair aside, Seto yelled, "Mokuba?" No answer.  Trying to keep the panic out of his voice, he called again, "Mokuba!" Still nothing.  By now, the first signs of fear were starting to appear, and he allowed himself to panic slightly. "Mokuba?  Where are you?  Answer me!" Getting no reply, he bolted upstairs, heading for his little brother's room.  Throwing open the door, he searched the room.

The boy wasn't on the bed, taking a nap… nor had he been in the living room, watching TV when he had passed it.  The game room held no clues either… Kaiba collapsed on the couch in the loft, panting as he ran through all the possible places where Mokuba could be.  His thoughts were interrupted by a soft sound, the sound of a broom softly sweeping against the floor.  His first instinct was to kill the person who was keeping him from finding his brother.  His second was to ask her where his brother was.

Darting outside, Kaiba quickly located the maid.  Grabbing her by the collar and slamming her against the wall (and nearly giving her a heart attack in the process), he demanded, "Where is he?  Tell me where Mokuba is!"

The old maid stared at him in fright for a second before stammering out, "I-I don't know, Mr. Kaiba sir.  He left the house at around three-thirty and said he was going to go visit you.  I thought he came home with you."

Kaiba gave her a look of disbelief for a second before he removed his hand and let her crumple to the floor. "He didn't come," he said, half to himself. "Mokuba never made it to Kaiba Corp."

His head hanging slightly, deep in thought, Kaiba wandered back to the loft, pondering what he had just learned.  Who had taken Mokuba?  One of his business rivals, maybe?  Someone out for revenge?

A piercing cry interrupted this train of thought, and Kaiba looked up instinctively, wondering how whoever it was had gotten into the mansion.  The person screamed again, and this time he recognized the voice.  Kaiba's eyes widened. "Mokuba!"

The shadows in the corners lengthened until they enveloped the whole room in darkness, and a small video screen or something of the sort appeared before Kaiba's face.  It showed his little brother, struggling against the clutches of someone stronger than him.

"Let me go, you creep!" the boy was screaming. "My brother'll get you for this!  I know what you want him for, he told me!  And he'll rescue me without having to give into your demands!"

"I don't know about that," replied another voice, this one sending chills down Kaiba's spine.  He knew that voice, the one that sounded so much like his own… and he knew who it belonged to. "But I do know that your brother won't let anything happen to you.  And where I'm taking you…" he chuckled darkly. "Seto Kaiba can't follow.  He can't rescue you this time, little Mokuba.  And he'll have to listen to me if he doesn't want to see you dead." The same darkness overcame the two of them, and as they disappeared into the Shadow Realm, the scene faded and the shadows retreated back to their corners, leaving Kaiba staring at the place where his brother's face had been.

"Seth," he muttered, his voice colder than even his eyes. "You took him.  And I'm going to make you give him back.  I swear it, Seth."

Cold laughter began to fill the room, but still the priest was nowhere to be seen. "And is that with or without working for me, little Seto?"

As the evil chuckles continued, Seto dropped his head, staring at the floor. "I'm sorry, Mokuba," he whispered, hoping that what he was about to do wouldn't end up in total disaster.
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It was Sunday.  Yugi, having decided that Yami needed to spend some time out after he had an argument with the neighbor over Duel Monsters rules, chose to go to an all-day tournament and see just how good the Pharaoh really was.  It was also a chance for him to try out his new deck, new strategies, new cards, and practice what he had learned yesterday.  Yugi himself wasn't going to compete; he didn't want anyone to find out about him until later, and that was definitely not going to happen if they saw his new Blue-Eyes.

Of course, our spirit friends can't seem to go anywhere without a little commotion following, can they?  So it was that Yami ended up arguing with a referee.

"I'm telling you, he cheated!" Yami yelled, pointing at his opponent. "Look in his sleeve, he had a card hidden there!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I didn't see anything-"

"BELIEVE ME ALREADY, WILL YOU?  Geez, people these days!  Five thousand years ago they knew to respect their Pharaoh, it's either 'Yes, sir!' or you get your head chopped off, but nooo, these days everyone just has to argue with me!"

The ref glanced at Yugi. "What's he talking about?"

The boy sweatdropped. "Don't mind him, he spends a little too much time daydreaming that he's a Pharaoh of Egypt.  Right, Yami? …Yami?" He glanced around when he noticed that the Pharaoh wasn't on his dueling platform anymore; rather, he was on his OPPONENT'S platform. "Yami!"

The spirit ignored him.  He grabbed his opponent's left hand, the hand his Duel Disk was on, and tore his sleeve apart, revealing… nothing.  The Pharaoh sweatdropped. "Um… oops?  Sorry."

"Hey, he saw my hand!" the other kid yelled, pointing at Yami.  The spirit's sweatdrop grew bigger.

"Uh-oh… guess we'll have to start over again." He turned and started walking away, before spinning around suddenly and pointing at the boy. "Hey!  I saw that!  You just slipped a card under your Duel Disk armband thing!  You're cheating!"

Yugi sighed and facepalmed. "Oh boy… here we go again…"
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In another part of the tournament, two boys were dueling each other, and despite all his support in the audience, the taller one was losing.  The shorter boy, the one with slightly spiky red hair and green eyes, watched his opponent calmly, ignoring the fangirls that were booing him.

"Um… let's see now… I'll summon Wall of Illusion, in defense mode!" the taller boy yelled, placing the monster on the field.

"If that's all, it's my turn now," the redhead announced calmly, drawing his next card.  Without bothering to think about it, he summoned Thunder Nyan Nyan in attack mode without placing it on the Duel Disk and attacked the Wall of Illusion, his opponent's last defense.  Next, he attacked directly with Bazoo the Soul Eater, causing his opponent to scream in pain as the rest of his Life Points disappeared. "I win," he said.

The other boy stared at him. "What's up with that?  No attack should hurt that much, and to summon without using the holographic projectors… what's going on here?" He picked up a monster out of his Graveyard and held it up like the other boy had, to no avail.  He blinked. "I can't do it… what's going on here?"

As the officials rushed to the site to see what had happened, the red-haired duelist slid the Duel Disk off his arm, took out his deck, and tossed the gadget on the floor emotionlessly.  As everyone else tried to come up with an answer to the puzzle he had just presented him with, the reincarnation of Seth's second-in-command walked out the door of the tournament building, seeking a new challenge beyond what this place could offer.
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Rumor spread quickly that someone had summoned a monster without a card, and though many of the details were garbled or exaggerated greatly by the time it reached Yugi's ears, he still knew what to make of it.

"Yami!" he hissed to the Pharaoh, who had finally beaten his "cheating" opponent. "There's someone else here who can use magic!  He supposedly summoned a few of his monsters without using the holographic technology!"

Yami barely glanced at him. "It was bound to happen sooner or later.  There are many people in this world who can naturally use some type of magic or another, especially those whose roots can be traced back to ancient Egypt.  By that, I mean those who have been reincarnated.  What did he look like?"

"Well, apparently he had red hair and green eyes… but he didn't leave a name with the tournament officials."

Yami's eyes narrowed. "Zake."
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Yami won the tournament easily enough, proving to Yugi that he did indeed know what he was doing.  Along with that, they won a special promotional booster pack, allowing them to upgrade their decks a little, which would help a bit in their coming fights.  As predicted, the summoning of the real monster was on a couple of the news channels that night, but it was a little downsized.  Apparently, neither the sponsors of the tournament nor Kaiba Corp. wanted the public to hear too much about the incident, and to be truthful, neither did anyone else involved.

Yawning, Yugi turned to Yami. "G'night," he said, rubbing his eyes. "I guess we should be glad a monster didn't appear today, considering I have school tomorrow…"

"Technically, a monster did appear, but it wasn't a wild one," Yami pointed out.  Yugi mock-glared at him.

"Technically."

"Yes.  Well, anyway, have a good night, Yugi, and I promise not to bother you unless it's something very, very important."

"Sure, whatever.  Good night."
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Bakura made no such promises to Ryou, but although he didn't need it, the tomb robber liked to sleep whenever he could.  Best to get a bit of rest, so he could be completely energized if he needed it.  That was how, at 1:30 in the morning, he could be found sleeping in the guest bed in Ryou's house, tossing and turning and occasionally laughing in his sleep.  And who wouldn't, with the dream he was having?

They were in a desert somewhere.  Probably not the Sahara, since he hadn't seen any cacti in all the time he'd lived in Egypt.  Come to think of it, where'd he learn about cacti if they weren't in Egypt? …anyway.  Back to the dream.  So he dreamt he was in a desert with Yami and Marik, and surprisingly enough, they were having an argument.  At least, Yami and Marik were.  This time, it seemed that Bakura preferred to stay off to the side and laugh his head off at the pair of them.  And he had a good reason, too.  Not like he could've won an argument over whose hair was spikier.

So, Yami, being the King of Games and all, decided that they had to settle this with a game.  He pointed out two of the cacti, that amazingly enough looked exactly the same, so they were perfect for the contest.  Well, isn't that convenient?  Bakura pondered how this was for a while, before he shrugged and gave up, deciding that it was because this was a dream.

And the game?  There was only one way to decide whose hair was spikier: go up to one of the cacti and shove their heads against the spikes.  Somehow or another, our favorite white-haired tomb robber ended up being the judge.  He didn't mind anyhow.  All the better to witness the fun.  Plus he had one of those technological things.  Cameras, Ryou had called them.  All the better for blackmail.  Bakura grinned evilly.  This would be exciting.

The two contestants ran towards the cacti as fast as they could, heads down and ready to be stuck onto the spines.  They hit with all the force they could gather, and Bakura's laughter echoed above the cries of pain coming from the Pharaoh and the slave.  As they demanded to know who had won, the tomb robber rolled on the hot sands, unable to stop chuckling.  Deciding he needed to be punished, the two backed away from the cacti – or at least tried to.  They desperately tried to get away, their hair now stuck, each to a separate cactus.  As the tomb robber laughed even harder, their annoyed yells started fading away, along with the scenery.  Noticing this, Bakura stopped laughing and sat up, listening into the darkness.  Nothing, nothing that he could see or hear… but something that he could feel.  He concentrated on this something and realized with a start that it was magic – the magic that let a monster into the real world.

Bakura woke with a start, covered in cold sweat.  He sat bolt upright in bed, pushing his bangs away from his face as he searched with his instincts for the magic he had felt.  There it was – a few miles south of where they were now.  So it wasn't a dream after all.  Hurriedly getting up from bed, he went to fetch Ryou.  Their next challenge had come, and it couldn't have come at a worse time for the high school students than two in the morning.
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Yami and Yugi got there first, living closest to the center of the disturbance.  Ryou and Bakura arrived a few minutes later, panting slightly for having run all the way, and Marik and Malik arrived last, riding on Malik's motorcycle.  Yami glared at Malik.

"Did you HAVE to take that thing along and wake half the neighborhood?  They'll think we're up to no good."

"Sorry," Malik muttered.  After a short pause, he added, "I don't see it yet."

"You wouldn't," Bakura replied tersely. "What we all sensed was the beginnings of the spell.  The monster itself should be coming soon."

"Could we stop it before it emerges?" Yugi asked in a hushed voice.

Marik shook his head. "Not unless we want to waste a lot of energy.  It's way easier to just destroy it when it appears." Everyone, the teenagers included, suddenly drew in a sharp breath, having felt the monster they had been waiting for.

"It's here."
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Yami had been half-joking when he said Malik's motorcycle could wake half the neighborhood, but he was actually right.  Most people had just dismissed it as a passing vehicle and immediately gone to sleep, but there was one person who couldn't help but feel that he was missing someone.

Restless and unable to go back to sleep, Joey Wheeler climbed out of bed and pulled on a jacket and some jeans, heading outside for some fresh air.  When he got there, however, he was mildly surprised when he saw the motorcycle parked across the street.  What really caught his attention, though, was the three pairs of almost-twins in the center of the road, and the fact that half of them were in his class.

Darting behind a bush as close to the six as he could manage, Joey watched them, half in awe and half in suspicion. "Yugi and Yami Muto, Ryou Bakura, and Malik Ishtar…" he whispered softly. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
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At Yami's words, everyone reached for their decks and whatever weaponry they had, tense and ready for the fight.  Glancing at Ryou and Malik, Yugi quickly determined that they, too, had been practicing with their weapons of choice: Malik was holding his knives with a little more ease than before and Ryou's magical aura was slightly suppressed, but ready to be called into use at a moment's notice.

Seeing how ready the three "new kids" were, Bakura caught the gaze of the other two spirits and smiled slightly.  They nodded in response, and all three put away their decks and weapons and backed up a bit.

The three teenagers sent them surprised and confused looks, and Malik asked, "What are you doing?"

Yami smiled kindly. "You three have learned a bit about how to deal with these monsters, so we'll sit back and let you guys handle it this time.  You'll learn the value of teamwork this way."

"Don't worry, we'll step in before you get killed," Bakura smirked.  Ryou sweatdropped and paled slightly.

"Oh, thanks for the support, Bakura."

Malik grinned, raising one of his knives in a salute. "Don't worry, we can take care of this one.  Ready, guys?"

"As ready as we'll ever be." As one, the three turned toward the source of the disturbance, staring into the shadows and staying calm as the monster appeared.

Malik smiled slightly, recognizing it. "Bracchio-Raidius.  Level six, 2200 attack, and… that's all I know."

"That's all we need to know to beat this thing," Ryou breathed, his attitude suddenly changed. "I don't suppose either of you have any non-sacrifice monsters with over 2200 attack?" No answer. "Oh well.  I guess it was too much to hope for…"

"How about this?" Yugi said. "Ryou, you can distract it, Malik can summon a monster, and I'll sacrifice it.  Malik, you have figured out how to summon monsters, right?"

"What do you think Ryou and I spent all of yesterday doing?" the Egyptian asked sarcastically. "Monsters are the most important cards in the game.  We both now how to do it now."

"All right then… ready?" Yugi asked.  The other two nodded grimly.

"Ready!"

Ryou let his magic shine out as he summoned a ball of pure magical energy.  He threw the shimmering ball of blue-white light straight at the dinosaur, and smiled slightly as it roared in pain, shaking its head and turning its head towards him.  It barreled in his direction, but he summoned a shield up quickly and sat back as it tried futilely to break it.

"He's gotten good, hasn't he?" Bakura noted proudly from his spot on the sidelines. "Took him maybe an hour to master that one, and it's pretty tough to break, even for me."

"That sure says a lot," Marik said dryly.  He was rewarded with a smack to the back of the head.

Meanwhile, Malik had grabbed the first card in his deck that came to hand and summoned it. "Holding Arms!"

Yugi sweatdropped slightly. "That's a weak monster…"

"Hey, it works for sacrifice, doesn't it?'

Yugi nodded. "Right!  Sacrifice Holding Arms for Summoned Skull!" The fiend appeared from the card and would've roared, if the boys hadn't shushed it.  No matter how hard they were fighting, it was still two-thirty in the morning, and they might as well let the residents get their sleep.

At this point, Ryou gave up on sustaining the shield any longer and dropped it, jumping to the side as the dinosaur leapt at him.  He conjured up a couple magic ropes and draped them around the Bracchio-Raidius, watching as it tried to break free. "Hey guys, now's as good a time as any!"

"Right!" Yugi responded. "Summoned Skull, Lightning Strike!" A huge roar of thunder preceded the lightning, and the dinosaur barely had time to look up before being incinerated.  Everyone who was watching winced at the noise.  So much for letting people get their rest.

"Come on!" Bakura hissed. "We'd better get out of here before anyone comes to check out what was going on!" They were about to leave when someone cleared their throat behind them, and the group of six froze.  Yugi turned around, and his eyes widened.

"Joey?!?"

"I saw the whole thing," the blond replied. "Why didn't you tell me before that you were trying to stop those things?  I would've helped…"

"No," Yami said firmly. "You have to stay out of this.  It's our job, and it wouldn't be right for us to drag you into it."

"But I WANT to help."

"No," Yami repeated, but softer this time. "It wouldn't be right for me to let you get killed… again."

"Again?" Joey questioned, looking puzzled.

"Yes.  Destiny repeats itself, and this is one thing I want to prevent." People's voices, coming from the nearby apartment complexes, startled Yami out of his reverie.  He shook his head to clear it, and then turned to the others. "Come on.  We've got to go." The six departed the scene, leaving Joey to stare after Yami thoughtfully.
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"Note to self: NEVER fight at two A.M. again," Malik moaned the next morning, plopping down at his seat and putting his head on his desk with a groan. "I couldn't sleep at all after the incident last night.  How about you guys?"

The other two shook their heads, both looking as tired as Malik.  The Egyptian continued, "I don't care if half the city gets destroyed, or if the thing decides it wants to rule Japan: battles can wait until I'm well and fully awake and rested."

"It was on the news this morning, too," Ryou added. "They said another monster appeared, but didn't cause any damage… and they said six boys were also spotted on the scene." The three exchanged significant glances.

"Anything else?" Yugi asked, stifling a yawn.  Ryou shook his head, and he let out a sigh of relief. "Good.  No one can trace it back to us, then.  There are a lot of boys in Japan, so it's unlikely they'll figure out exactly who it was."

Malik sighed. "Well, if the attacks keep coming at night, they'll find out soon enough.  Wake me up when the bell rings." He closed his eyes and was asleep within seconds.

Ryou and Yugi were about to follow suit, but a hand on Yugi's shoulder stopped him.  He turned around to see Joey. "Joey?  Look, if it's about last night, then I can't help you.  Yami's a bit stubborn when it comes to things like this.  Sorry."

Joey shook his head. "That wasn't what I was going to ask about.  Sure, I still want to help, but what did he mean when he said that destiny repeats itself?"

Yugi shrugged. "Well, it's kinda complicated, but he's not really my brother.  He's the spirit of a Pharaoh who ruled five thousand years ago and who locked away the monsters in the first place.  Apparently, your previous incarnation died when fighting Seth, and he doesn't want it to happen again."

Joey blinked. "Well, if it's destiny, doesn't that mean he can't change it, no matter what he does?"

Yugi thought about that for a moment. "I'm not sure, but he definitely means to try." He turned to leave again, but Joey's voice interrupted him.

"So I guess that means I'll be helping out anyway?"

Yugi sweatdropped slightly, then nodded. "I guess, because if it's really destiny, then I guess we can't change it.  Just don't tell Yami I said this, though."

Joey nodded, grinning. "Never.  I'm sure Tristan would want to help out, too, if I asked him.  He would probably have a past life in Egypt too, wouldn't he?"

"I guess so, if you were Yami's best friend…"

"Great.  Now all that's left is to convince him that I'm not crazy."
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Their next class was P.E.  Not something you'd really like to do in the morning, especially if you were going on roughly five hours of sleep.  Yawning, Ryou decided that he'd better pay attention this time around: they were doing fencing, which would definitely come in handy.  He was good at magic and could summon the cards, but if nothing else, knowing how to use a sword would be useful in a tight spot.  He tried his best to listen to what the teacher was saying, and it worked pretty well.  It was otherwise for Yugi, however; he kept almost nodding off and Ryou had to poke him to make him stay awake.  Malik wasn't having any trouble at all, but that was probably because he'd slept through half of first period.  Luckily for him, he hadn't been caught.

The teacher paired them off to practice; Yugi and Joey were partners, as well as Malik and Tristan.  And as for Ryou?  He got Seto Kaiba.  Oh joy.

As the two faced each other, Ryou stared at Kaiba and wondered idly if the CEO would try to kill him.  They were supposed to be enemies, after all.  Of course, this was P.E., so it might be harder than usual, especially since the teacher would notice… at the signal to begin, Kaiba lunged at Ryou and started attacking with such vigor that the white-haired boy started to think that he did indeed want to kill him.  As he tried desperately to parry every blow, Ryou started to think that maybe he should have taken those sword lessons from Bakura after all.
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Malik and Tristan fenced regularly for a while, blocking and attacking without really trying their hardest.  As the two sped up their movements and started putting more effort into each attack, Malik noted that Tristan was pretty good at this.  He would be useful when fighting against the monsters.  The Egyptian didn't say anything, though, and it was a few minutes later when the brunette finally decided to breach the topic.

"Joey told me about what happened last night," Tristan said.

"And…?"

Tristan snorted. "I don't believe him.  I think he's lost it."

"Oh," Malik answered. "But if it was real?"

"There's no way it could be real.  It's just something you're all making up." Tristan answered calmly.

"Now, why would we do that?" Malik asked innocently. "We don't have anything to gain from this, and if you listened to the news this morning, they mentioned a lightning bolt that flew out of nowhere for no reason at all.  That was the Summoned Skull's attack."

"I still don't believe you," Tristan muttered.

"But if we weren't lying, and the whole thing was real," Malik asked, "what would you do then?"

Tristan regarded him thoughtfully. "I'd help, I guess," he said. "I wouldn't want the monsters to go rampaging around the city, destroying everything… and there's bound to be some people out there who would master them and use them for their own purposes."

"Exactly," Malik answered. "That's what we're doing.  So I guess we'll just have to take you along next time, show you what exactly we're doing.  Then will you believe?"

Tristan thought about that for a moment, then smirked. "Sure, why not?  If it is real, it'll make my life a lot less boring and a lot more fun."
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Panting, Ryou blocked Kaiba's next attack and barely had the time to move out of the way before the taller boy attacked again.  He had no idea how he'd ever lasted this long; his arm was getting tired and he had no time to attack Kaiba himself between parries.  This was probably going to be the only time he ever regretted not listening to Bakura.

The sword came down, aiming for his helmeted head, but Ryou swung his up and to the side in an arc, effectively blocking it, moving it, and leaving Kaiba open for an attack on his right side.  Not wishing to miss his chance, the white-haired boy lunged forward and attacked.  Somehow or other, the attack miraculously connected, and Kaiba was caught by surprise.  Seizing this opportunity, Ryou swung upwards and knocked the blade out of Kaiba's hands.  Caught weaponless, Kaiba could only gasp as the fencing sword was leveled at his throat.

"Very nice maneuver there, Mr. Bakura!" came the teacher's voice from behind Ryou, making both students jump. "I think you're a natural at this.  Now, it's time to go, so if you could take off the fencing suits and put everything away…"

Ryou barely heard her as he walked away, shaking his head to clear it of the sudden confusion he was feeling. "I beat Kaiba," he whispered. "Did I just beat Kaiba?"

An arm was suddenly slung over his shoulder, and he looked up to see Malik, fuchsia eyes sparkling. "Yup, you beat Kaiba," he teased. "You must be a natural at this.  Guess that comes from being Bakura's reincarnation, the tomb robber, the King of Thieves, one of the most talented blade fighters to ever walk the sands of Egypt-"

"Shut up, Malik," Yugi grumbled, walking up behind him and looking like the fencing had awakened him a little too much for his liking.

"Hi, Yugi.  Going to take a cold shower when we get in the locker rooms?" He was rewarded with two death-glares.  Malik just laughed and walked on.
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As he was putting the fencing stuff away, Kaiba noticed that there was still a duel going on, between a red-haired boy and a girl.  Upon seeing the boy, something stirred in Kaiba's, or rather, Seth's memory, and a voice whispered in his mind, //Go talk to him.//

/Why should I?/ Kaiba snarled.  Seth chuckled.

//Because I have your brother, of course.  You want to hear him?// Kaiba's mind was suddenly full of screams, in a voice he knew all too well.

Seto winced. /Alright, I'll do it.  What do you want me to say?/

//Call him Zake.  And ask him… ask him if he remembers.//

/Remembers?  Remembers what?/

//You… or rather, me.  And the life he spent working under me as my most loyal servant.//
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Lunchtime was a welcome relief to Yugi, Malik, and Ryou.  Not because they were hungry, of course, but because they could have a full thirty minutes of naptime without being yelled at by some teacher or another.

"I quote, 'Wake me up when the bell rings,' " Yugi moaned, throwing his backpack on one of the outdoor tables and cushioning his head on it.

"Don't count on it," Ryou mumbled. "I'm sleeping too.  What about you, Malik? …Malik?"

He was answered by a soft snore.  The other two sweatdropped. "Don't tell me he's already asleep…"

Malik was awakened roughly by a book hitting his head. "Wha-? Who did that?" He glanced at the textbook, which had Yugi's name on it, and glared at the shorter boy, only to see that he was asleep.  He groaned.

"Why do I have to wake you two up?" he complained.

Ryou cracked open one eye. "Because we woke you up in first period.  Now shut up and let us sleep." Before Malik had a chance to answer, the white-haired boy had dozed off again.

"Screw the bell," Malik muttered. "I'm sleeping anyway." But before he had a chance to try, a hand tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around.  His eyes widened. "What the-" he moved his head to the left, just in time to avoid the knife that had come at him.

Malik stared at the boy who held the blade in complete confusion. "Do I know you?" he asked, running through all the possible reasons this kid could hate him.  His mind drew a complete blank, except for one thing. "Wait… you're in my P.E. class, aren't you?"

The red-haired boy nodded. "My name is Zake," he answered, once again trying to stab Malik.  The Egyptian reacted quickly, rolling off the bench, grabbing the Swiss Army knife from out of his bag, and standing up again in one fluid motion.

"What do you have against me?" Malik yelled to Zake, who didn't answer.  By this time, a small crowd had begun to gather around the two, due to a couple juniors who were yelling "Fight!" at the top of their lungs.

Malik gave up on figuring out just why this guy was attacking him and concentrated solely on blocking his attacks.  He was determined not to attack until he figured out just what was going on here. "Are you working for Kaiba?" he demanded, dodging the knife as it stabbed at his left shoulder.  No answer. "What about Seth?"

A cruel grin spread over Zake's face, who looked delighted that Malik had finally figured it out. "Yes."

"Oh, that's it!" Malik yelled, finally deciding to go on the offensive.  The two were about equal in skill, so neither managed to hit the other; rather, they blocked all of the other's attacks, and all of their attacks were blocked.

The clanging of blades finally awoke Yugi and Ryou, both of whom sat up and rubbed their eyes, yawning. "What's going on?" Yugi asked, then caught sight of the fight.  That snapped him fully awake, and his eyes widened. "Malik!"

"Wha?" Ryou glanced up. "Whoa!  Malik, what're you doing?"

Joey and Tristan slid through the crowds to the table where Yugi and Ryou were sleeping. "He didn't start it," Joey panted, who had seen the whole thing. "The other guy attacked him first – with a knife."

"That kid – Zake – he said he was working for some Seth guy," Tristan muttered. "Heard of him?"

Yugi and Ryou gasped in unison. "Seth?"

Meanwhile, Malik and Zake were still battling it out.  Zake tried to stab at Malik, who dodged and slashed at Zake's hand.  A streak of blood appeared, and Malik's opponent dropped his blade.  Malik kicked it away before Zake could reach for it, and not quite knowing what else to do, he brought the knife to Zake's throat.

Behind him, Yugi gasped. "Malik!  What are you doing?!?"

Malik growled slightly. 'I'm not planning to kill him, it's just that I don't know what else to do!' "Alright, talk!  What's Seth up to?"

Zake smirked slightly. "I'm not telling."

Before Malik could do something he would later regret, three familiar figures pushed through the crowd.  Spotting who Malik currently had at knife-point, all three spirits gasped. "Zake!"

Yugi grabbed Yami's arm before the Pharaoh could do anything. "Yami!  What's going on?  Why're you here?"

Yugi's question was answered before Yami could even talk when a loud screech ripped through the air – a sound that Bakura recognized.

"A Blue-Eyes!" he hissed. "THAT'S the monster that we sensed?"

The huge dragon reared up above the crowds, screeching again as it powered up for a White Lightning attack.  Its mouth widened as it blasted away the track and soccer field.  Malik groaned.

"Aw, man!  Why couldn't it have attacked the school itself?" Yugi and Ryou sweatdropped.  None of them seemed to have noticed that Zake had disappeared, and Seto Kaiba was also nowhere to be seen.

"What is that thing?" Tristan gasped.  He and Joey were the only ones who didn't run away as fast as they could at the sight of the dragon, other than the spirits and Yugi, Ryou, and Malik.

Joey glanced at him, then returned his gaze to the dragon. "It's a Blue-Eyes, of course.  3000 attack." Tristan gulped slightly, and the blond grinned. "Hey, you wanted to see one of their battles, didn't you?"

Marik glanced anxiously at the teenagers. "Maybe we should take care of this one… it's Seth's signature monster, after all.  And it's one of his most powerful cards."

Yami shook his head, grinning slightly. "No, don't worry about them.  They'll be fine.  I know Yugi has a few tricks up his sleeve."

"I hope you're right…"

Yugi glanced at his two friends, grinning slightly. "I'll need two sacrifices this time around, and maybe a magic card to power down that Blue-Eyes or power up my monster…"

The other two nodded, also grinning. "Right!" Malik yelled. "Melchid, the Four-Faced Beast!"

"Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams!"

Yugi smirked slightly. "All right then… sacrifice both their monsters to summon my own!  Go, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"And I'll equip his monster with this magic card!" Malik added. "Black Pendant!"

Yugi's Blue-Eyes's attack power was raised by 500 points, more than enough to wipe out the other monster.  As the two White Lightning attacks collided and Yugi's dragon's attack ripped through that of the other Blue-Eyes, Joey turned to Tristan, smirking. "Now do you believe?  What do you think now?"

Tristan stared at the scene for a moment, stunned, before he turned to his friend, grinning. "I think I want to help too."

A few seconds later, there was nothing left to show that two Blue-Eyes had fought there – well, except for the fact that there was nothing left of the field but a large crater.

"Nicely done," Bakura commented, grinning.

"Since when have you had a Blue-Eyes?" Malik demanded of Yugi.  The shorter boy grinned.

"Since my grandpa gave me his yesterday.  I didn't know he had it either."

"You managed to defeat my dragon," a voice said mildly.  Everyone turned to where the Blue-Eyes had been to see three people standing there: Seth, Kaiba, and Zake.

"Kaiba?!?" Malik cried, staring at him. "Since when have YOU been working with Seth?" Kaiba snorted and decided not to answer.

Seth smirked. "I see you have a Blue-Eyes of your own… but you should know that it isn't a good idea to show off your secret weapon before the final battle.  I can assure you that next time, your dragon will fall."

"Whatever," Bakura said offhandedly. "I beat two of your dragons before, if you'll recall…"

"And then you ran away," Marik reminded him.  Bakura sweatdropped and laughed falsely.

"As much fun as this is, I must say that I'm sure we can all do better," Seth said calmly.  Yami blinked.

"What are you talking about?"

Seth gave them a cold smile. "This will be all over the news: the fourth real Duel Monster in three days that has appeared.  Soon, people will try to summon monsters themselves, and some will be able to do it… and then those who have… questionable… intentions will try and use them for their own purposes.  Needless to say, that'll cause a bit of chaos…"

"Not if we're here to stop it," Yami countered.

"Oh, but our battlefield will need a bit of upgrading… after all, battles in the real world are nothing compared to the strain of the Shadow Realm.  And if you're there, then who is going to protect the innocent citizens here in this real world?  Not your friends there, obviously.  Knowing the Pharaoh, he's too cowardly to risk the life of his friend again – especially knowing that he'll die." Yami scowled.

"There's no way you'll get us into the Shadow Realm, so there's no way you can cause chaos here." Marik pointed out.

Seth laughed. "Oh, we'll see about that, slave.  I have ways of making people do what I want… don't I, Seto?" Kaiba scowled at him, and Seth continued, "I guess we'll be going now.  See you… in the Shadow Realm." He, Zake, and Kaiba disappeared through a black portal that appeared behind him, leading into the Shadow Realm.

"What was he blabbering about?" Tristan wondered. "I mean, the Shadow Realm?  And what was Kaiba doing with that freak?"

"It's very, very complicated," Yami muttered. "What I'm more worried about is how he's going to lure us into the Shadow Realm."

"I don't know, but he obviously took something of Kaiba's, because there's no way they would be working together otherwise," Malik muttered, then blinked. "Something… or someone."

"That's right, Kaiba has a little brother," Yugi said. "So you think Seth kidnapped him?"

"Wait a minute," Yami said suddenly. "Someone's missing."

And as the others looked around, they noticed that he was right.  Instead of eight, there were only seven of them.  Seth had taken one of them with him to the Shadow Realm.
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I was thinking of making this two shorter chapters, but decided against it. ^_~ So who do you think was taken?  And someone has yet to figure out what the mystery card is.  It was featured in Shonen Jump once, and that's all I'm telling you.

Hit the pretty purple button down there and review!  Flames will be used to barbeque Seth alive!  Reviewers get ramen!