Disclaimer: Same ol', same ol'. Don't own Yu-gi-oh. Sorry this took so long.


He watched wordlessly as Anzu stormed out of the room, his eyes narrowed. For a long time he did not move, eyes trained on the door, his thoughts whirling. He would not make a move until he knew exactly what he was going to do, and that would take time…time he really did not have at the moment.

She thinks to steal the glory away from Me. She thinks to take prince-sama's death for her own. She thinks she can just toss Me aside and I will sit here meekly, awaiting her triumphant return. She is a fool to think she does not need Me to complete her quest.

Absently, almost as if gaining confidence by its presence, his hand dropped to stroke his Ring, coaxing it into a sickly glow. She did not have a chance, he knew, without the Sennen Items to back her up. Prince-sama may be drawn in by her charade at first, but he wasn't stupid. Ultimately, she would fail. Without his intervention…well, who knew how she would wind up? He did not know if the Pharaoh had the nerve to kill a girl, let alone one who had been his friend.

He glanced back towards the bed and noticed Shizuka staring at him, her wide eyes shining with tears. He felt torn once more. He could not, would not, sacrifice this chance, for he may never get another one. She was integral to the plan he had forged, his winning piece in this eternal chess game, and there was always the possibility that she would not survive her use. Once a soul was removed from its body, he had no way of knowing if he would be able to force it back; he had never bothered, before.

He could not seem to escape her gaze. His pretty little pawn…

No plan was so solid that there was no room for revision, he decided after much deliberation. No use in spending everything; after all, death was final, and would negate any further use of the tool.

"Stay here," he said sharply. "Don't leave this house, no matter what. I will come back for you."

Her expression changed, but he looked away quickly, not willing to dwell upon such things or look his apparent newfound weakness in the face. He had important matters to deal with. The result of over 3,000 years of planning was about to unfurl, and he planned to remain standing at the end of it all. To finally acquire all seven Items and watch as the Pharaoh's life spilled away…

He could hear them, giggling and laughing and livelier than they had been in a long time. If he shifted the focus of his eyes, he could see their nearly transparent shapes floating around the room restlessly, a few swirling around the kit and playing with her hair. Even they seemed to realize that soon, one way or the other, everything would be over.

He suddenly threw back his head and laughed, a peculiar gleam flashing through his crimson eyes.

Time to show the vixen how we really play the game.

Laughing to himself, he strode out of the room, and the swirling masses followed.


Anzu took a deep breath as she stood outside of the Game Shop, trying to focus her thoughts. This was it. All of her hard work would be ending here, today, this very evening, within the walls of Yuugi's own home. She would finally have her revenge, cast the boy down in the one place he felt safest.

She was nervous without Shizuka here to support her, but confident enough in her own abilities that she would be able to turn this around for the better. She could not risk her friend's health, and was sure that she could handle this herself. After all, she had not planned out Ayumi's demise, and that had gone rather splendidly.

She closed her eyes briefly and then opened them again, resolve settling across her features. She had to keep a tight leash on herself, for a while at least; after all, the poor boy needed to be consoled after the brutal murder of his girlfriend, and who better to soothe his fears than the girl who stood by his side through all of his fights?

Anzu realized she was smirking and quickly wiped it off her face, settling back into a more concerned expression. She was becoming a rather talented actress.

Here we go.

Squaring her shoulders and preparing tears of worry, she opened the door to the Game Shop and called out for Yuugi.


She knew she had been told to stay where she was. She knew he had not wanted her to put herself in danger, even though it obviously pained him to change his plans. She knew he did not really care for her, not the way Anzu did, and that he only saw her as a useful little tool.

She thought of her friends, those who had agreed to help and those who had not. She thought of the look on Honda's face when Bakura's monster tore him to shreds. She thought of the determined expression Otogi had worn as he promised to get her out of this increasingly dangerous game.

Who else had been approached? Who else had been coerced into helping, or else silenced so as not to betray them? What other deaths lay on her shoulders for the simple weakness of giving in to Anzu's feverish desires?

That was why she was following Bakura, staying far back so he would not notice, though she had a feeling he already knew. That was why she was determined to go to the Game Shop and stop the both of them before more lives would be lost. Her onii-chan would never have wanted anything like this to happen, never in a million years.

Her hand slid down to her belly and she frowned, fighting away the nervousness that threatened to send her running back to Anzu's house to huddle in the bed and allow events to simply fly past her again. She had been passive for too long. She could not allow this to happen. She was no longer drawn in by the sweet picture of avenging her onii-chan's death and Anzu's jilted love. Reality had finally crashed in, awakening her to the world around her.

Her onii-chan would never have wanted his best friend to die. He never would have wanted her baby to be born to a world of death and destruction.

Stubbornly, she kept walking.


He frowned as he approached the seemingly dark Game Shop, the only light appearing from the upper floor. He had no way of knowing whether or not he was too late, but he could not just stop and give up. He had come too far, risked too much, to just turn his back and walk away.

His fingers closed on the doorknob and pulled, brows furrowing when the doors did not budge. Locked.

He almost laughed. What had he expected, to just waltz right in and blast the Pharaoh to pieces? It was not as if a locked door could stop the great thief king however. Pulling a few thin metal pieces from his pocket, he worked at the lock for a few seconds before hearing a tell-tale click.

Grinning, he let the door silently swing open.

I'm coming for you, prince-sama…


Anzu could not stop a smile from blooming as she held the sobbing Yuugi to her chest, stroking his back and murmuring empty words into his ear. His wide, trusting eyes had not seen right through her, as she had feared.

The time to act was growing close. He was becoming weaker and sleepier with every passing cry, and soon she would strike.

She held him close and rocked him like a child, humming a wordless tune.

"I c-c-can't believe this!" He pulled away from her far enough to look up into her face, his cheeks and nose red. "W-why would anyone want to kill her? She was s-s-so sweet and pretty!" With another sob he buried his face in her shirt.

Her eyes narrowed, darkening angrily. So sweet and pretty, huh? Sweeter and prettier than me?

For a moment she lamented leaving Shizuka behind. This would all be so much easier if…

No. No, she had to focus on the here and now.

Her eyes glanced at the clock.

Soon, now. Very soon.


He smirked as he stood in the doorway, unnoticed by the room's two occupants. Anzu was holding the boy almost tenderly as he cried like a little baby, though her gaze could have cut steel.

No more waiting, prince-sama! Your time is up!

He cackled madly, delighting in the way the two sprang away from each other in a panic, their eyes falling on him simultaneously. They cried out his name in unison, making him laugh even harder. His eyes glinted as he freed the Rod's blade.

"I have waited a long time for this," he rasped as he advanced on the shocked pair.

The Pharaoh wasted no time in taking over his aibou's body. He stood up and placed himself in front of Anzu, the Puzzle glowing brightly. If only the silly Pharaoh realized how stupid that move was.

"I won't let you harm her," he said in his deep voice.

"I think you have your priorities mixed up," he giggled pleasantly, licking the edge of the blade and sending a powerful blast of magic at him. He smirked unpleasantly as the blast caught the Pharaoh by surprise and bound him in place, coils of darkness holding him tightly and pulsing in time with the Ring.

Ignoring Anzu, the thief sidled up to the one-time Pharaoh, pressing the blade against his neck but not piercing the skin. "I have waited so long," he said, shuddering in pleasure as he drew a thin line of blood and elicited a pained gasp from the bound boy. "I think I will take My time with this."

Anzu made as if to lunge at him, and he spun and thrust the Rod at her almost absently. The Item glowed and threw her against the wall, holding her pinned there. He leered as she squirmed helplessly.

"I told you not to dismiss Me so easily," he drawled as he licked the Pharaoh's blood from the blade. Grinning, he turned back to the boy. "Shall we begin?"

They were all startled into silence as one girl's voice shouted, "Stop!"