Disclaimer: Put simply, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters. I do own (from this chapter) Tory, Akogi and Kontan.

Replies to Reviews:

T-Bone: Hoorah for Marik! It was kind of obvious that Tory held an Essence Item. More on that in this chapter.

AuroranWings: That sentence is...hard to explain. Just ignore it. Anyway, it's the good Marik! The evil one freaks me out.

Sylvia Viridian: Marik did kidnap Tory for a reason, don't worry.

Review Notes: NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism IS allowed, and I would actually appreciate it. This will help me to form the story better, but make it nice :D

MidnightBallad's Notes: Apologies for the slowness of updating. It is Christmas though, so I'm kind of busy. Hopefully you guys will keep reading, though! Chapter three begins...

Yay! I got an Egyptian ankh for Christmas!

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Chapter III:

Seto's Warning

Unknown location, unknown time

Tory's hand flew up to the Crest of Evergiving around her neck. What was Marik talking about? It wasn't the Essence Tauk! Tory didn't know where that was, but she certainly wasn't wearing it.

'Don't be stupid,' Tory fumed. 'The Essence Tauk is a necklace that would engulf the world in evil. And the necklace I'm wearing now does not do that.'

'You would like to think that, wouldn't you? But haven't you noticed that your Essence Tauk –'

'Crest of Evergiving.'

Marik gave her a very cold look, one that felled Tory to silence. He went on, getting to his feet and continuing his previous sentence. 'It appeared at the same time as your brother's Essence Rod.'

Tory spat, 'The Pharaoh created it.'

'But it was infused with the same evil power as the Essence Rod. You just haven't release the bad side of the Essence Tauk yet.'

This was enough for Tory. She climbed to her feet and shouted, 'What would you know about me or my Crest?! You weren't there when the Crest was created, so you wouldn't know a damn thing!'

'I know more than you think I do!' Marik shouted, his face tinged pink in anger. 'Once upon a time I was a tomb keeper, so keep that in mind!'

Tory went silent. She did not want to argue anymore. 'So...my Essence Tauk has a bad side that I haven't released. Did you really have to kidnap me to tell me that?'

Marik couldn't help but smile. 'Actually, as soon as I found out Akogi had the Scales and then found out you had the Tauk, I knew it wasn't a chance of luck. The Essence Items are being called back to Egypt by the Essence Puzzle, the master item. And I happen to know where another Essence Item is, I even have a photograph of it. But I couldn't just ask you to come to I? You'd probably think I was going to murder you or something.' He laughed afterward.

Tory folded her arms across her chest. 'Well, you could have asked nicely, instead of punching me in the head, or whatever you did to me, and then stowing my away to your little shack. I am a nice person you know, I don't need to be kidnapped to be asked questions.' She paused, gazing around the dingy, dark apartment. After a few seconds, she turned back to Marik. 'This other item you know about – where is it?'

Marik went over to an expensive-looking set of drawers in the corner, flicking on a lamp as he did so. He slid open a drawer, shifted through a few things, before taking out a leather-bound photo album. Marik flicked through that, before taking out a black and white photograph and walking over to Tory. 'Don't ask where I got it, just look.'

Tory took the old photograph gently and gazed upon it. The photo seemed to be of the United States Army, as each man was dressed in camouflage gear and holding sleek, black rifles and pistols. Tory scanned the photo for a full minute, before a man in it caught her eye. He was quite handsome, with spiky hair and a grin that was worth a million dollars. But his left eye caught her attention – in fact, his eye was made of some sort of metal, perhaps silver, and was shaped like an Egyptian eye. The Essence Eye.

Waving the photograph in Marik's face, Tory asked, 'Who is this man?'

'Kontan Oshitaka, a man of wisdom who had an unfortunate run-in with a certain Essence Eye – by now, I'm pretty sure he's willing to give it up.'

Tory thought about this for a bit. She had to get to Akogi, who was selling the Essence Scales, and then move on to Kontan without attracting too much attention from a certain teenaged millionaire.

Marik slid the photograph from between Tory's fingers. 'I can take you to both Kontan and Akogi, so we –'

Tory cut him off. 'We? Excuse me, I work with one other person, and one other person only...' Tory didn't look at Marik as she said the next few words. 'I'll have to ask him about it.'

'Alright then. See you soon, then.' Marik said, watching Tory leave. He smiled behind her back. It was not an evil smile – no, it was quite a different smile.

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Domino backstreets, 11:23 a.m.

Tory walked home in a certain state – bending over slightly. After Marik had thrown her against the hard, semi-wooden bed, Tory had felt something painful happen. She hoped that her back wouldn't play up when she went to see Akogi.

Tory wasn't too far from home when she heard a car driving slowly behind her. Frowning, Tory sped up, just a little bit. As if her day wasn't bad enough, it seemed as though someone else was following her. She heard the car pull up next to her, keeping at a steady pace so that it stayed by Tory's side always. Tory risked a glance out of the corner of her eye, and saw a steely-eyed Seto Kaiba watching her from behind the window. Tory pretended not to see him, and kept walking –

'Tory,' Seto said, his window sliding down. 'I know you can see me. And I know yourself and Yugi have found out about the Essence Scales. And I also know that Marik knows something about this too.'

Tory kept walking, as Seto's limousine kept driving slowly. 'Essence Scales?' she asked. 'What're you talking about?'

Seto's cold eyes narrowed. 'Don't pretend you don't know. I saw you leave Deblin's game shop, and I saw Marik drag you off the street.'

Tory's face broke into a grin, and she sped up even more, so that the driver of the limo also had to speed up.

'You're going to go after the Essence Items, aren't you?' Seto asked Tory with a satisfied chortle. 'Of all the people I know, Tory, I think you're the most predictable.'

'Get this straight, Kaiba!' Tory said, stopping. The limo's wheels screeched as it came to a sudden stop. Tory stepped in toward the window, eyes hidden behind the blue lens of her sunglasses. 'I want these Items together so that I may destroy them, seeing as my last plan didn't work. And I plan to destroy them so that you can't use them.'

Seto leant out the window and said acidly, 'It's a race, then. I'm going to New York tomorrow, so good luck trying to head me off.'

Tory played with the Essence Tauk between her fingers. 'I already have the Essence Rod – or part of it, at least – and the Essence Tauk. So far, I'm ahead of you, Kaiba.'

Seto gaped at the necklace hanging from Tory's neck. His eyes watched it like a cat watching fish in a bowl. 'The Essence Tauk? So, I guess that scumbag Marik told you. No matter, at least I have efficient ways to getting to New York. You, on the other hand, do not.' Seto began to wind his window up electronically. 'Good luck.' He said, as the window closed all together. The limousine sped up, leaving Tory alone in the streets.

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Yugi's House / Game shop, 3:40 p.m.

Yugi and Joey had gone their separate ways from the movies earlier that day, and now Yugi sat in his room, contemplating what was going to happen with the Essence Scales. He knew that Tory would want to go get them before someone else, but he didn't know how he and Tory were going to get to New York. Yugi didn't know Tory's parents personally, but he knew that they'd worry if their daughter went missing for quite a while. Yugi's own grandpa probably wouldn't even have second thoughts on it.

Yugi was still thinking over this in his head when his phone wrung. In surprise, Yugi fell off his bed, a large bruise quickly forming on his knee. Cursing and rubbing the bruise, he hopped over to the phone and answered it quite rudely. 'Yes, what?'

A tinny voice said, 'Oh, bad time, Yugi?'

'Tory? Where have you been all day?'

Tory sighed over the phone. 'Here and there. I...ran into someone.'

Yugi could sense, by the way Tory had told him, that she wanted him to ask about this 'someone'. Rolling up his pant's leg to inspect the bruise, Yugi asked her, 'And this someone would be?'

Tory hesitated before answering. 'Do you know a guy by the name of Marik Ishtar?'

Yugi spun around, as if Tory was behind him. In doing so, he whacked his good knee on the end of his desk, and he wailed, eyes watering. Tory sounded quite worried, and Yugi snuffled into the phone as he answered with a 'yeah'.

'He told me something today,' Tory said very quietly. 'He told me that...Yugi, can I please speak to Yami?'

Sighing, Yugi switched forms, in the flash of an eye, with the older, much more mature Yami. Yami was not exactly used to talking on the phone, but he tried his best. 'I'm listening, Tory.'

'Yami – when you created the Crest of Evergiving three thousand years ago, did it have any...problems?'

Yami was bewildered. He had created the Crest of Evergiving to perfection under the watchful eyes of one of his priests. 'What problems are you speaking of?'

'Is there a bad side to the Crest?'

Yami gazed out the window in thought. The sky was a pale blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds. 'There is a bad side to everything, Tory. Why?'

'Because Marik said that the Crest of Evergiving is really the Essence Tauk – and we all know that the Essence Items are evil.' Tory said, voice small over the phone. 'Before you speak again, there's more: Marik said he knows where the Essence Eye is, and that he can get us there. If we go looking for the Essence Items, Marik wants to come.'

Yami didn't know what to think. Marik was supposed to be a good man now that the evil spirit within him was gone. So what did he want with the Essence Items? Whatever it was, Yami knew he'd have to sit it out and wait. '...Why not? I do not know how we're going to get to New York, but perhaps Marik does. If he proves that he can help us and not steal the items from under our noses, I think that he has the right to come. Besides, he does have a Millennium Item (o), which makes him – in a way – bound to the Essence Items.'

Tory only said to Yami's words, 'Alright, but we have to leave tomorrow. Turns out that Seto's also after the Essence Scales. Marik will come to one of us about it soon.'

'It's settled then. It'll be our journey, Tory.' Yami knew that Tory would be going pink now. On the other end of the line, Tory smiled and did go pink.

'So it is...see you tomorrow morning. Goodnight, Yami.' Tory hung up the phone before Yami replied. Even though Tory didn't want to admit it, she knew that, deep down inside, Yami still cared about her greatly.

-End Chapter III-

MidnightBallad: Sorry, slow chapter update. Anyway, review, review! I'm glad that you all like the story so much. The plot will become faster paced later on, with plenty of action scenes – hopefully. Later!

- Happy Holidays!