Disclaimer: I still don't own Yu-gi-oh.

My notes: Yeah I'm an insomniac. Because the attention has been mainly Kaiba centered, in one form or another, I'm switching us back to everyone's favorite four-foot duelist. Because you know, it is called Yugi-oh, and not Kaiba-oh (though I'm sure many of you might want it that way.) Anyways I really liked that recent episode where they play with the idea that the Pharaoh could have been an evil king. Because we really don't know one way or another. I mean, from one perspective he could have been a good ruler. But from another, he could have been the most hated. Such is the nature of politics.

And I think I'm going to put up a website of some of my work. That is if I get around to doing it.

Disturbing Thought

"Yugi, is this the young girl you've been talking about?" Grandpa Moto asked as he inspected Nadia from head to toe. Though she was taller than the old man by at least two feet, she couldn't help but tinge a slight red, disturbed by the close assessment of the old man.

"Must you do that?" Teá asked.

"It's an evaluation of… uh character," he said as he took a prolonged stare at Nadia's chest. He was promptly hit by Teá, and immediately took a step back, grinning. "Well you seem to pass. So what exactly should I say when I write Professor Hawkins?"

Everyone watched as the old man went behind the countertop. "If you can get him to write me a Letter of Recommendation, I'm sure that would turn a few heads in my direction," Nadia stated, dusting off her uniform.

"You know," Grandpa started as he scratched his beard, "I haven't talked to Arthur in quite some time. Maybe I should give him a call." His eyes wondered around for a bit. "Hey you! Put that down!"

Joey quickly turned to face them, hands in the air. "I was only looking!"

"Of course you were." He turned to Yugi. "Will you watch over the shop? I think I will make that call."

Nadia was speechless. "You're going to call Professor Hawkins now?"

"Well yes. I'll even let you talk with him. If you'll excuse me a moment." Grandpa left the room.

"Wow Yugi, you're grandpa's the greatest," Nadia beamed.

"You say that now but try living with him. He can be pretty difficult sometimes." Yugi stated, smiling. He took a seat behind the cash register.

"Hey Yuge, can I get a deal for these booster packs?" Joey asked as he held a few packages wrapped in plastic.

"Didn't you get enough packs at the mall the other day?" Teá queried.

"Of course not Teá. Besides I didn't get any good rare cards." Joey stared at the boxes of booster packs. "How much for a box? Is there a discount?" he asked picking one up.

"There is a discount if you do buy a box, but they aren't cheap," Yugi said.

"Maybe you should ask Serenity for some money," Tea suggested teasingly. Joey's response was just a growl of frustration. It was quiet in the gameshop for a while as they could overhear Grandpa Moto talking on the phone.

Nadia was looking over some other card games advertisements, before turning to face Yugi. "Yugi, can I see the three rarest cards in all of Duel Monsters?" she asked.

"The ones I won in Battle City?" he asked.

"No the other cards you won," Joey said sarcastically as he rushed over to Yugi. "She means the Egyptian God cards." He gave Nadia a knowing look. "Don't you?"

"Of course," she said, leaning close to the blonde duelist. "So can I see them?"

"Well…" Yugi said as he laid a hand on his deck pocket. "I don't just show these cards to just anyone."

"Oh come off it. You showed them just yesterday to those kids who asked." Teá said as she playfully messed up his unique hair.

"Yeah but they wouldn't stop nagging me," Yugi said as he tried to, unsuccessfully, defend himself from Teá's attack. "Okay okay, I give I give!" as he fell to Teá's assault. "Here they are." He laid them each of them out so all could see.

"Amazing." The three beasts looked relatively harmless as three cards, despite their recent history. "So they really are individually colored and aren't like other cards," Nadia observed.

"Yeah. They aren't like normal monster, effect, trap, or magic cards. They really are in a class of their own," Yugi said.

Not necessarily, Nadia thought to herself. Ammemet the Devourer is red like Slifer. But what's the relationship between them? Will the other two Egyptian Demon cards match Ra's gold and Obelisk's blue? I must ask the master.

"You ever wonder what Pegasus was thinking creating these cards? I mean, with the Toon World card, it was just a very broken card. But these," Joey pointed, remembering his experience with the Winged Dragon of Ra, "they really change the dynamic of the game. They're completely unstable."

"Yeah but they've got their weaknesses," Yugi pointed out.

"And remember," Nadia said as she reached into her backpack, "that the Duel Monsters are based off monsters from Egypt's past." She placed on the counter black and white photos of the bas-relief carvings. Many were pictures of some very famous duel monsters. "Maybe he didn't have a choice in the matter. Pegasus found most of his monsters from the past."

"Geez Nadia, do you always carry those around with you?" Joey asked as he began paging through the photos.

Before she could answer, another voice chimed in. "Excuse me all," Grandpa Moto said, "but Nadia, I believe you wanted to talk to the Professor?" He held his hand over the phone's receiver. The red-haired girl rushed over with glee and started talking. Grandpa chuckled and led her upstairs for some privacy.

"These really do look like Duel Monsters," Joey said as he began passing some of the photos around. Both Yugi and Teá nodded as they too began looking through the pictures.

"Say guys, doesn't this photo look familiar?" Teá asked. She held it up for the others to inspect.

"Hey that's a picture of the stone tablet Ishizu showed us," Yugi said.

"Doesn't it look a little bit different to you guys?" Teá asked again., slightly breathless.

Both Yugi and Joey stared. "There looks to be something more at the bottom," Joey suggested.

"Yeah it almost looks like…No way!" Yugi exclaimed. 'Pharaoh!' he called out.

'Yes Yugi?' the Pharaoh asked.

'There's something you have to see,' Yugi said as the two merged bodies.

"Is that what I think it is?" Joey asked.

"I think it is, Joey," the Pharaoh said, breathless at what he saw. Below the chiseled depiction of himself and the High Priest, the Millennium Rod was engraved, like the Puzzle was above. And just like the Puzzle above, the Rod was surrounded by an inverted triangle composed of three distinct monsters. Each were circled in a black highlighter and written were the words 'Egyptian Demons.'

"So what do you think this means?" Joey asked, dumbfounded.

Later that evening,

Yugi stared up at the night sky from his bedroom window, looking the direction of Kaiba Corp. Tower. The alarm clock read 11:00. He sighed and let his mind wander.

'Couldn't sleep?' the Pharaoh asked as he emerged from the Millennium Puzzle.

'No, I can't.'

'What's on your mind?' The Pharaoh leaned on Yugi's bed.

'I keep thinking that maybe we were wrong in giving Kaiba the Millennium Rod,' Yugi voiced, remembering the look Kaiba gave them when he 'woke' up. 'I mean, if he's really the incarnation of the High Priest, then what if he's the great evil that we haven't faced? Kaiba's a lot more powerful and has a lot more money than Marik or Pegasus,' Yugi anxiously explained.

'Yes but he has helped us before…in his own fashion,' the spirit rebutted. Of course he shared his other's doubts. 'Besides we both overcame those two. I'm sure we could take on Kaiba.' He was thinking of something to cheer his partner up.

'Yeah but…I mean we know you and the High Priest fought a long time ago. But we don't know who won or even why you two were fighting.' Yugi said.

'Yes a lot of questions remain unanswered. Many of them lie imprisoned within the Millennium Puzzle,' the spirit said, cradling the object that lay around his neck. 'I've spent far too long trying to figure out where my memories are. There are certain things that I should be able to remember. Like my name.'

'Marik said winning the God cards was supposed to help.' He took them out and looked at them. 'But they seem to be broken or something. Ishizu said having them and the Millennium Puzzle would confirm you as the Pharaoh.' Yugi palmed the Puzzle in his other free hand. 'Maybe the Puzzle's supposed to see the God cards. I mean it does have an eye on it.' He waved the three cards in front of the eye design.

'Yugi, if it were that simple…' the Pharaoh started. He didn't finish his thoughts because he saw that both Puzzles were glowing. 'Maybe it is that simple.' He felt a tug on his being. He saw that Yugi felt it too. The tugging became a rough pull. Before either of them could respond, the two of them were pulled somewhere; it felt like they had been caught in the current of a river. They couldn't do anything except ride it out.

'Where are we?' Yugi asked after the ride finished and they were in the sunlight. It looked like the courtyard of some massive palace. There was a large crowd of people who looked very angry. Some were chanting, others were throwing stones.

'This seems very familiar,' The Pharaoh said. 'Yugi, look!' He pointed at himself, which only grew ever so strange every time he did it. He, the other him, was sitting upon a throne flanked by four stout guards. Did I really wear all that jewelry? he asked himself, noting how much his attire as Pharaoh was nothing like what he was currently wearing.

"Bring forth the traitor!" the Pharaoh commanded.

The High Priest strode out of the angry crowd, escorted by two guards. A cocky grin was on his face. "A traitor am I? After I have served the Great House of the Pharaoh for so long?"

The Pharaoh sat unfazed. "You stand accused of violating the sacred vows befitting a High Priest. You have been giving aid to the enemy. You have been caught committing acts of terrorism and formulating plans for open rebellion. How do you plead?"

The clergyman stood defiant. "Everything I have done was performed so that Justice would be done." He then pointed his finger at the Pharaoh. "Egypt will not tolerate a corrupt ruler, Pharaoh! The Gods have judged you unfit. Ra himself will send three demons that will rival even the Pharaoh's own monsters. What then will you do?" He turned to face the crowd. "Who will you turn to then when the Gods stop speaking to you? Who will provide grain and water to quench your starvation? Who continues to rob your children of their own future?" Again he pointed to the throne. "Will you continue to believe in him, even when he can't listen to the cries of his own people?" The angry protests grew louder.

"Enough!" the Pharaoh yelled.

But the High Priest didn't stop. "You see Pharaoh! You cannot even stomach even a partial truth. But while you sit in splendor and luxury, I have seen the sufferings of the people. I have seen the crimes carried out in your name. I have seen more than enough and it's driven me here, today, to say no more."

The Pharaoh on the throne was simply shaking his head. The Pharaoh with Yugi whispered, 'No...this can't be true.' His eyes were starting to tear up. 'Tell me it isn't true.'

'There has to be a reason for all this,' Yugi said, trying to sound hopeful.

"I vow today to see your tyranny come to an end. I vow to see Egypt restored to her former glory. And I vow to usher in a new age of peace and prosperity now and forever." At this the crowds cheered. "May the Gods grant me the strength and courage to see those vows come to pass." The High Priest abruptly turned from his guards and was heading towards the exit.

"Sethos!" the Pharaoh called out.

The tall priest turned briefly. "Your days are numbered," he said before leaving the courtyard.

Yugi and the spirit then found themselves back in his room. The Pharaoh was staring at his own hands. 'Could I…,' he started. 'Could I have really have been an evil ruler?' Small tears were streaming down his face. Yugi had no words for his alter-ego. All he knew was that the two of them were not going to get any sleep tonight.