A/N: Chapter 7. Yep, I'm posting them very quickly. I have a deadline I'd like to meet, and I'm not likely to meet it, but one can dream, can't he? Anyway, in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the increased speed with which I post, as well as the chapters to follow. Seeya!

Wolf: Easy on that wooden table, it's an original. And you just might get your wish on seeing more cameos.

Lumen: Just waiting for the other shoe to drop, aren't you? Well, take a look, then tell me what you think.

Mira: Would you believe the brush wasn't planned? The entire trip to the exhibit was out of the blue, after I remembered seeing it on the show. Glad you liked it.

Skraku: Looks like everyone liked the fluff. Here's your update!

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1:45 a.m.
BCT -7 hours 15 minutes
--

Monica felt quite comfortable between the sheets of her hotel room's bed, but she couldn't get to sleep. She felt far too giddy.

Everything is finally starting to work out for me! she thought. I finally have someone in my life who I truly care about, I'm in one of the biggest Duel Monsters tournaments in the world and I've got exactly what I need to win it...

A small smirk passed over her face. Watch out, Seto Kaiba. You want the Blue-Eyes cards back, you're in for a rough ride, even with those sacrifice rules. There are other ways to bring out a Blue-Eyes.

She snuggled into the blankets. Sheesh, but I wish I could sleep! I'm going to need it! I can't go out there all tired. Sleep, Monica, just sleep...

Her eyes drifted shut, and her thoughts became slower. Her imagination became lax, her breathing regulated.

And then she felt it.

There was someone in the room with her.

More than one person.

Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up to full attention. The blankets flared around her in her wake as her head cranked around, looking for the intruders.

There were four of them. All were dressed in long, dark robes, making their outlines effectively impossible to determine from a distance. They all wore hoods which masked their facial features, save that they all sported ragged white beards. They all stood at the foot of her bed, but as soon as she sat up, they moved in pairs to each side of the bed.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice low and fierce, masking her fear.

"We are your captors," one responded. "And so shall we remain until we receive what we have desired for so long."

She stopped hearing at the word "captors". She drew in a sharp breath and opened her mouth to scream–

The man closest to her on the left was lightning-quick; he leaned down, reached out with both hands, grasped the back of her head with one, and clamped a cloth over her nose and mouth with the other.

Her hands shot up to his wrist, looking to pry it away from her face, but one kinsman on each side of her bed reached out with two hands to grab hold of each of hers and pull them away. The remaining robed man pinned her ankles to the bed.

The cloth didn't stop her from emitting desperate cries, but she could tell very quickly that that wasn't the intent, anyway; she could smell a foul, sharp odor in the cloth, and with burning clarity, she knew that there was some sort of drug in it. Ether, maybe... or something similar... it doesn't matter what it is, I know what it's for, they're trying to knock me out... somebody help!

But her cries did not extend even as far as the door, much less past it, and there was nothing she could do but squirm uselessly as the effects of the drug began to take their toll. There was no other way for her to breathe; she had to do it through the cloth.

What... what do they... want... with... me...?

Her struggling slowed, and then she became still as she fell into the blackness of oblivion. Her eyes rolled back, and her mind made one last, desperate plea.

Kyle... help... me...
--

2:00 a.m.
BCT -7 hours
--

Kyle shifted around in his sleep. He was exhausted, between the plane ride to Japan and the company he'd kept. Theoris, having already slept for thousands of years, felt no need to rest, and so he watched Kyle dream.

Until Kyle became friends with Monica, I never was sure what the phrase "shop 'til you drop" meant. After today, however... Theoris found himself slightly amused. He felt for Kyle, of course, but he also felt gratified at being able to figure out another facet of what Kyle called "pop culture".

He felt something.

Dark magic... dark magic approaches here...

He felt a spike, a surge of some sort. He couldn't identify it, nor could he explain it... but he knew that this place was no longer safe.

Kyle, wake up.

"It is too late, Theoris."

Theoris would have snapped to attention if he still had a body. As it was, the voice and the words both pierced him with a sense of dread.

"You are too late now. You cannot stop us. Now we will take what has been denied us for thousands of years."

He could sense them. There were four of them, surrounding Kyle's bed, one at each corner.

A bolt of panic went through him; there were no options left.

The Millennium Shield must be protected... even at the cost of my existence.

The Eye of Horus glowed on Kyle's forehead.

The pendant vanished, transformed into pure energy, and reappeared mounted on its owner's right arm.

Kyle's eyes opened. The pupils glowed gold.

The four magicians moved as one; their arms rose, and auras of different colors – red, blue, green, and purple – surrounded them.

Theoris bolted to Kyle's feet on the bed and thrust his foot into the pit of Red's stomach. Red crumpled around the foot, but Theoris didn't take any further action; instead, he whipped his leg around and struck Green in the face.

Kyle's body flashed with blue energy, and Theoris flew back into the closet door. The flimsy wood splintered and cracked.

Theoris felt his concentration slipping. I cannot maintain control for long...

He tackled Blue before he had a chance to execute another attack. His finishing blow was a quick strike across Blue's face with the edge of the shield.

KYLE, WAKE UP! Theoris got to Kyle's feet as quickly as he could, but it wasn't fast enough for his body to avoid the flash of energy, this time from Purple. He crashed into the radiator; the edge of the shield banged against the window.

A red streak of energy flew over Kyle's head, and Theoris ducked, desperately trying to maintain control long enough for Kyle to wake up. He could feel the teen's mind starting to register things, but not nearly at the speed he needed.

"You cannot stop us, Theoris! Your power – your spirit weakens even now!"

KYLE!

The red streak struck the curtain, which was instantly set ablaze.

Theoris...?

Kyle, get up! The magicians have found us! They are trying to take the shield!

What?!

Theoris felt the surge of Kyle's mind as he got back to his keeper's feet. In a split instant, he showed Kyle everything he needed to know.

The Eye of Horus shattered.

Kyle's pupils darkened.

He charged forward and threw a merciless punch at Purple, not worried about grace or speed. His knuckles made brisk contact with Purple's nose. A sharp crack resounded throughout the room. The magician cried out and fell back. Kyle also grunted; the hit had done his knuckles no good. He resolved to make his blows open-handed.

He glanced down at his right arm. Or... with this...

Red had gotten back to his feet by this time and was throwing more energy around. A burst headed for Kyle's face; he barely had time to bring the shield up to block. The burst splashed against the shield and bounded onto the bed. Like the curtains, the bed was also set to fire.
Kyle spun around and slammed the shield into the magician with the force of a roundhouse punch. The magician crashed into the closet door in much the same manner that Theoris had just moments before.

The entire bed was in flames now, as were both of the curtains. The overhead sprinklers could barely contain the blaze. Kyle couldn't feel the fire or the water; his focus was entirely on the four intruders.

Upon the downpour and the shrieking of the fire siren, the magicians all turned their heads up to face the winking alarm. They hissed angrily.

And then, as if they were nothing more than a massive mirage, their forms warped and faded from view.

With a simple thought, Kyle returned the shield to its place on his necklace; then he grabbed his suitcase and moved as quickly as he could to get out of the room. Thank the powers that be that I had the foresight to leave all my possessions in my suitcase!

And with that thought in mind, he raced into the hall and down the emergency stairwell.

What had happened here tonight certainly warranted its use.

--

As it turned out, taking his luggage with him hadn't exactly been the smartest thing he'd ever done. It didn't take the authorities long to figure out it had been his room, and when he'd been questioned about it, he simply said that he'd come back to his room to find it in flames. He was subsequently berated – quite seriously, at that – for being foolish enough to go back inside and grab his luggage when he should simply have run to safety.

Nevertheless, he stuck with that story – to tell them the truth would probably only get him locked up in a psych ward. Can't have that. The police were suspicious, as they had a right to be, but since Kyle had apparently done nothing wrong, they didn't really have a reason to incarcerate him.

The fire was contained eventually, but in the meantime, the hotel's residents were all lined up on the sidewalk outside, most of them wearing pajamas or blankets around their shoulders. They were all muttering to each other about the possibility of some duelist going nuts and wanting to off the competition.

Kyle couldn't help but wonder at that thought. Is there really so much fear in the dueling community that duelists would go to the lengths of killing someone in order to keep them from competing?

From what I have seen, Kyle, your world is quite full of people who would do just exactly that.

Mm. How're you doing in there? Must not have been easy to control my body for that long.

I am much stronger now that I was when we first met. It shall not take me long to recover. I worry more about you.

Ehh, I'll be fine. Kyle flexed his fist, which was swelling slightly from where he'd punched the magician in the nose. Though I wonder if somehow we had that coming. We were warned things would get a whole lot more dangerous really soon.

Perhaps, in a way, such an event was bound to happen, yes. However, this contest is apparently featuring a multitude of people, both duelists and observers... and in a city of this magnitude, among people more numerous than the buildings here, it would likely be that much more difficult for them to find us. Therefore the competition can be conducted without their interference.

Let's hope so. But somehow, I'm doubting it.

--

7:54 a.m.

BCT -1 hour 6 minutes

--

Chubs yawned and looked at the clock.

"Cripes," he muttered, and he rolled lazily out of bed. He had about an hour before the tournament began, and he hadn't even had breakfast yet. At least Kaiba had the foresight to bring all the duelists to Japan a week ahead of time to get past the jet lag... I can't imagine even attempting to compete when I'm jet-jagged...

Chubs actually had never been out of the U.S. before, but for this, he'd been perfectly willing to make an exception. Besides which, Monica and Kyle are going to be there, too. And the company on the way out of Indiana wasn't so bad, either. He just hoped he wouldn't have to run into that company in the competition this morning.

He turned on the TV as he picked through the drawers – in which he'd put all of his clothing, since it seemed a shame to not use them when he was going to be here a week – but frowned as he heard the CNN report in English relating to the hotel Kyle and Monica had been staying in. Something about a fire in one of the duelists' rooms, the room a complete loss, the duelist himself unhurt – as were all the others.

He breathed a slight sigh of relief as he donned a looser T-shirt and his favorite cargo pants. Good to know. I wonder what caused it, though.

"In related news, the Battle City Duel Monsters tournament being held in Domino and sponsored by Kaiba Corporation is slated to begin at 9:00 a.m. sharp, local time. Many duelists are already prowling the streets in search of their first competition. While some are simply looking to do well in a high-profile tournament, most are seeking the title of 'King of Games' – a title taken by Yugi Moto, a local resident and a virtual unknown in the dueling community until defeating such top duelists as Seto Kaiba and Maximillion Pegasus himself."

Chubs whistled. "Better steer clear of him, then." He pulled his deck case out of his suitcase and looked over his configuration several times, scrutinizing it more each time. Is there anything I'd possibly want to take out or swap?

He finally shook his head. Nah. Some of it might be repetitive, but it's good. There'll be plenty of Fire attribute monsters coming along eventually.

He picked up his duel disk box and pulled the device out. He'd toyed with it over the past week, it was true, but there was so much to learn about it that he couldn't help but be fascinated. If nothing else, this thing will most definitely mark me as a duelist.

And hopefully, a worthy opponent.

He slipped his left forearm under the binders, and then pressed the button to lock it tightly in place. It clicked and held to his arm quite comfortably. He put his deck in his pocket; for the moment, he had no need to insert it in the disk, unless he wanted all of his cards to fall out.

And I'd really prefer to keep all my cards, thank you.

He left his room and headed downstairs.

First order of business: find something to eat.

Second order of business: duel my heart out.

--

10:12 a.m.

BCT: In Progress

--

Zack sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he continued to stroll up the sidewalk. Several kids gawked at him – or, more specifically, at the duel disk on his arm and then at him – but he paid them no mind. He had three locator cards now, but there was no one to celebrate this particular victory with. He'd heard the fire had been in Kyle's room, but he'd also heard that no one was hurt, and for that, he was thankful. I hope Kyle still has some clothes to change with, though, or else he's not going to be exactly a rose on the plane home...

He moved across the street, lost in his own thoughts... but when he looked up, his thoughts became deadly focused.

Oh, crap.

She was standing there, her expression one of a predator waiting to pounce.

"So," she said, deceivingly innocent and cheerful, "How are you liking Japan so far, Zack?"

"It's a refreshing change of pace from the shop," he answered in an attempt to sound nonchalant, his expression wary. "Though I'm feeling a little homesick."

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much. You're going to be heading back home very, very soon."

He rolled his eyes. "Let me guess... you're just the person to send me there. Too bad for you I'm fresh out of Labyrinth Brothers these days."

"Why does everyone assume I've only got eyes for the Brothers and Guardian? Or have you forgotten my deck's theme? You've got a number of cards that interest me, and so long as you're here, you're fair game." Jade smirked.

Zack raised an eyebrow. "I figured all your attention would be focused on finding Kyle and dueling him. He's here, you know."

"Of course I know. Zack, I can tell you what seat of what airline he had on the way over. Don't insult me."

He crossed his arms. "Then why stand here shooting the breeze with me? The longer you delay a duel with him, the more likely it is he'll have even better cards."

Jade elected not to respond in words, but instead raised her left arm and activated her duel disk. From each side, two small holoprojector pods ejected, gliding to a stop and lighting up.

Zack didn't flinch, but instead sighed. "Someday your stubbornness is going to end up being your downfall. But if you're so intent on dueling me, I guess I'll have to show you what I'm worth."

He took a few paces away from her, then fired the launchers on his own duel disk. The field plates snapped together and locked into place. "And I'm worth quite a bit. Let's duel."