"I must confess, there has been a Tok'ra operative hiding out on Earth for many years, and he recently informed us about the Millennium Items. I believe he last told us that he was still trying to acquire all seven when you contacted him."
They all stared in silence at each other, wondering who the operative might be, until O'Neill piped up, "Who is it?"
"His name is Bakura."
Ryou had just finished singing another song when O'Neill, Sam, and Anise entered the Iso. room. Ryou jumped up immediately and bowed to the Tok'ra woman in respect, and then elbowed his yami. Bakura glanced up and his face filled with recognition.
"Anise," he said quietly, nodding his head in respect.
"Bakura," she answered.
"What are you doing here? I thought he wasn't coming yet."
"Anubis has hastened his attack. He will be here within a week."
"But I don't have all the Items yet! I only have two!"
O'Neill and Sam watched as the two argued back and forth for a few moments until it was too much. Jack stepped between them, halting their debate.
"Sorry for interrupting, but can this wait until we get back to the briefing room?" he asked. Anise and Bakura glared at him.
"You mean, you're letting me out of here?" Bakura asked incredulously.
"Well, when General Hammond heard you were the Tok'ra operative, he decided to overlook what you did yesterday," Sam answered.
Yami and Malik glared at Bakura as he entered the briefing room and sat down. Anise and Ryou sat on either side of him, and Jack and Sam resumed their own seats and waited patiently.
"Now that everyone's here, I'd like to know exactly who and what you are," Hammond said, staring straight at the white-haired yami.
"I am Bakura, spirit of the Millennium Ring," he answered easily.
"I think what the General meant was, how did you become a Tok'ra operative?" Daniel inquired.
"And how you were talking with them," O'Neill added.
"When I was alive in ancient Egypt, three thousand years ago, there were only two Tok'ra living on Earth, since we'd lost the Stargate at least a thousand years before. Both operatives were very old and wouldn't live much longer without a sarcophagus. One was in Priest Seto, who owned the Rod, and the other was in Priest Mahaado, who owned the Ring before me.
"When I killed Mahaado and took the Ring, his symbiote entered me. His name was Aasir. Aasir taught me everything he could about the Tok'ra before he died. He left this in my possession." Bakura took a small black ball out of his pocket and placed it on the table. "These are rarely used by the Tok'ra now, but an exception was made in my case. I made sure I knew where this was even after I died so I could keep informed about what was happening through the galaxy."
"Ryou, did you know about this?" Yami asked.
Ryou nodded and blushed. "Well, I didn't know for a long time, almost until Battle City was over, actually. Then once, Bakura lost control while he was talking to Anise and I found out. He made me swear to keep quiet, though. Until then, I thought he was just after the Items for power."
"But it turns out he's not," Yami said.
"No, I want them so I can help protect this pathetic planet. But I really am psychopathic. The Tok'ra only tolerate me because of how valuable I am."
"He is the only operative to have lived for more than three hundred years," Anise explained. "He is also the only one living on Earth."
"So when you wanted to go through the Stargate…" Hammond said.
"I was going to contact Anise from whatever random planet I was going to," Bakura answered. "I've been out of the loop for a few years, and I was getting worried since she was the only one I could talk to. Like, what happened to Lantash and Selmac?"
"Selmac took a new host several years ago and is quite well," the Tok'ra answered. "Unfortunately, Lantash and Martuf were killed sometime after that."
"But what about Jolinar? She and Lantash were mates, weren't they?"
"Actually, it's because of Jolinar that we met the Tok'ra," Carter answered. "She took me as host about seven years ago to escape from an Ashrak, but it followed us through the Gate and killed her. I can recall her memories sometimes, and that's how we found the Tok'ra."
"I'm sorry, Bakura," Yami said quietly.
"Okay, so now our whole world has been turned upside down," Malik said. "What about this attack I hear of? And what does it have to do with the Millennium Items?"
"Well, we thought the Millennium Items were some of the most powerful items in the galaxy," Bakura answered. "Especially when they're combined."
"We believed that until Bakura found out what you were doing," Anise continued.
"Except I didn't quite find out because that stupid dark side of yours beat me in that duel."
"But he found out enough for us to know that there is something more powerful than the Items."
"The Pharaoh's power," Malik said quietly.
"And the Egyptian God Cards," Bakura confirmed. "But I didn't learn enough about that for it to be much help. And Anise warned me that I shouldn't hurt anyone else to get the Items, so I obviously couldn't get the Puzzle. I wanted to go through the Stargate so I could inform her that most of them are in one place right now."
"But he was supposed to be in hiding so he couldn't tell you that."
"We've known for a couple of months that the Asgard don't have enough power to defend all of the planets under the Protected Planets Treaty, including this one. and from what Anise has told me about your adventures with the Gou'ald, they aren't very happy with you. That makes Earth a prime target."
"Don't the Tok'ra have anything that could help us?" Carter asked.
"No, but that doesn't matter," Anise answered.
"We have the Millennium Items, and Anubis doesn't," Bakura went on. "We also have Duel Monsters and the God Cards. That's more than enough power to defeat him."
"Except that we don't know how to use all of them," Yami said.
"No, you're the only one who doesn't know how to use your Item, Pharaoh," Malik said briskly. "Everyone else knows how to use theirs."
"It doesn't matter anyway," Bakura said. "I can't use the Eye. But the spell required to join their powers says nothing about being able to use each individual Item. We do need the Scale and the Key, and I don't know where those two are."
"Shadi has them," Yami answered.
"Not that son-of-a-bitch again," Malik whined.
"Damn, and he's still after me for taking the Eye from Pegasus, isn't he?"
"Yeah, probably."
"Well you know him better than any of us, Pharaoh. I bet you could call him."
"Me?! But…but I…"
"We need all seven Items. If that damn Shadi has two, then we either need him or them here. Otherwise, this world is doomed."
"Fine," Yami answered as he stood up. He walked a short distance from the table and called, "Shadi! Your Pharaoh needs your help!"
After about a minute, a turbaned man in pale robes appeared in front of Yami; he immediately dropped to his knees and bowed his head in respect.
"My Pharaoh, what can I do for you?"
"Shadi, we need the Scale and Key."
"What?!" Shadi looked extremely alarmed. "Pharaoh, I don't think that's a good idea. With that thief still on the loose–"
"You mean me?" Bakura interjected. Shadi was on his feet in an instant, anger filling his face and voice.
"You have no right to own either of your Items!" he exclaimed. "I demand that you–"
"UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION! I REPEAT, UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION!"
In an instant, Hammond, SG-1, and Anise were dashing down the stairs to the control room with the Japanese and Egyptians hot on the heels. The latter five were struck dumb for a moment as they saw the customary blue whoosh of the event horizon before the iris closed in front of it.
"Receiving Bra'tac's IDC, sir," said one of the men in front of a computer.
"Open the iris," Hammond commanded. Jack and Teal'c were already gone and in the Gate room almost before the iris finished opening. After a few moments, Bra'tac walked through and the Gate shut down. Almost immediately, the Gate started to activate again.
"UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION! I REPEAT, UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION!"
Bra'tac had just enough time to jump out of the way as the wormhole connected.
"Receiving Tok'ra IDC, sir."
"Leave it open," Hammond answered. They hurried down to the Gate room just as Jacob Carter and another Tok'ra named Malik(1) walked through and the Gate shut down. Sam hurried to embrace her father briefly, but they all knew something was wrong.
"Dad, why are you here?" she asked. Jacob smiled once at his daughter and suddenly gave over control to Selmac.
"Your world is in great danger," he answered, glancing around. He spotted Bra'tac standing close by and added, "No doubt that is why Bra'tac is here."
"That is correct," the elder Jaffa answered. "A few Jaffa loyal to our cause have informed me that Anubis has hastened his attack upon your world."
"We knew that already," Jack said. "That's why Anise is here."
"You misunderstand," Tok'ra Malik said. "The Tok'ra have received the same intelligence, but it was after Anise came to warn you. Anubis has hastened his attack further. He will be here within the hour."
It took about fifteen minutes to fill everyone in on all of the information, especially since Yami and Bakura had decided it was necessary that Kaiba, with his memories restored, be involved. He was pretty surprised that Bakura was actually a good guy, but so was everyone. They also discovered that it was very confusing to have two people named 'Malik' in the same place, even if one was a Tok'ra and one wasn't. Eventually, Tok'ra Malik left through the Stargate to inform the High Council that the situation with Anubis was being taken care of.
At 1500 hours exactly, Bakura, Yami, Malik, Kaiba, Shadi, SG-1, Bra'tac, and Anise headed toward the surface of the mountain to prepare for the assault, figuring that Anubis was most likely to attack the location of the Stargate instead of somewhere else. They had all the Millennium Items and the three Egyptian God Cards with them, as well as about a forth of the armory. They reached the surface with fifteen minutes left until the attack and headed for a clearing on the side of the mountain.
There, Bakura laid out all of the Items in a circle with the Puzzle in the middle and the God Cards around it. He stood next to the Ring and directed the others on where they should stand: Kaiba next to the Rod, Shadi in-between the Scale and Key, Yami next to the Necklace, and Malik by the Eye. SG-1, Bra'tac, and Anise stood around them in a circle as they were in charge of defending the Item holders.
"All right, when I begin the spell, you're all going to feel a little weird," Bakura told them. "It'll probably be like something is being pulled out of you. I'm not sure since I've never done this before."
"Wait, you've never done it?" Malik asked.
"No, but I know how. Trust me. All of you hold your hands out over your Item or Items."
They did as they were told and the Items began to glow faintly.
And then they saw the first death glider heading toward the mountain.
"Now, Bakura," Jack ordered from the side lines.
Bakura nodded and closed his eyes. "Oh Thoth and Isis, our lord and lady of magic, I call on thee! Provide us with the power of gods! Oh Set, our lord of chaos, I call on thee! Give our power the gift of darkness! Oh gods above, oh demons below, bind together the power of these sacred Items!"
The gold glowed brighter and each of the chosen felt a small tingling sensation throughout his body. As the death glider passed overhead, Bra'tac and Teal'c shot at it with their staff weapons, but the Five didn't notice.
"Give them strength to fight as one, give them courage to fight alone! I call on thee to provide us with the strength of the gods! I call on thee to give us the power of the demons! Join together the power of the Millennium Items for us to use to protect this world!"
Now several death gliders were flying overhead and the tip of a giant warship was poking through the clouds. One of the gliders fired on them and the shots landed so close to the group that the were showered with dirt; the two Jaffa on the ground shot that one down on it's next pass, and it landed a short distance away. None of the defenders noticed the bright glow behind them or the streams of energy flowing from each of the Five into their particular Items.
"Join our strength with that of the gods to protect your people! Unto us relinquish your magic so that we may protect your protectors! I call on thee, Thoth, Isis, Set, I call on thee!"
Each of the Items was floating about six inches from ground and the God Cards were slowly circling the Puzzle. Suddenly, Yugi and Ryou were forced out of their soul room and into the real world.
"We are the chosen seven! We are the protectors of the Earth! We are the keepers of shadow! We are Pharaoh Atemu, Priest Seto, Priest Shadi, Tomb Keeper Malik, Thief Bakura, Host Yugi, Host Ryou. We call on your strength to help us defeat our enemy!"
Each Item suddenly flew into someone's hands: Ring to Bakura, Rod to Kaiba, Puzzle to Yami, Necklace to Yugi, Scale to Shadi, Key to Ryou, and Eye to Malik. A golden beam of light shot out of six of the Items and the God Cards to the Puzzle, each beam fed by the person holding it. The Puzzle slowly filled with light and power from the other Items. An opal beam of light with a core of gold shot up from the Puzzle, knocking Yami to the ground, and hit the warship above them. There was giant explosion the rocked the earth as the warship was destroyed, but the beam continued through it and destroyed ship after ship in the sky. Afterwards, O'Neill told them there had been a total of sixty-three bursts of light that he could see.
When the last ship blew up, the opal beam reentered the Puzzle and dispersed to the other Items. The seven instantly collapsed to the ground.
1) Yes, there is a Tok'ra named Malik. He has curly dark hair and doesn't like the Jaffa very much. He's shown up every now and then. I love Tok'ra Malik.