5. Terms of Engagement

"Come on guys, it's after six, time to pack up and get going."

Mai groaned and swatted at the hand shaking her shoulder, which she knew must belong to the obnoxious cheerful voice. It should be a capital crime to sound that bright at six in the morning, she decided.

"All right, I'm awake already!" a second voice, much more annoyed than the first and right next to her ear grumbled back.

"Okay," the cheerful voice replied. "Pack up and grab something to eat. We leave in less than an hour." The hand finally stopped shaking her shoulder and she opened one eye to see the silhouette of someone with very spiky hair retreating into the gloom.

"Morning," the voice in her ear said, significantly less gruff than a moment ago.

Turning her head in the direction of the sound, she realized she was lying curled up against someone's chest. The voice, then, must belong to the chest. Along with the hand stroking her hair. She knew she should probably be concerned that she didn't know where she was or how she got into this… interesting position, but the hand on her hair felt so good and the arms around her so warm, she gave up trying to clear her groggy brain. "Mmmmm," she mumbled, closing her eyes again and nestling further into the chest.

"Hey, no going back to sleep," the voice laughed as the hand on her head gave her a playful shake. "We gotta get up."

"Mmmm, 'kay Joey," she muttered, only realizing who he was after she said his name. Joey Wheeler, that's who this is. For one brief instant, that knowledge thrilled her. Then, abruptly, the memories of the night before came flooding back. Her eyes flew open and she sat up quickly with a gasp.

"Hey, you okay?" Joey asked, alarmed. He sat up alongside her.

She saw that his eyes were wide with concern. "Yeah," she nodded, "yeah, I'm fine. I just remembered what happened last night." She looked down, embarrassed at how rattled she'd been by her nightmare. No, nightmares, plural, she remembered. First the usual one about the Shadow Realm, and then the one where she'd relived the Orichalcos duel with him. The worst thing she'd ever done to anyone and here he was, holding her in his arms to comfort her while she slept. She felt pathetic.

"You sure you're okay?" Joey asked again, his hand tracing a line down her arm.

"Yeah," she pulled back from him slightly. "Yeah, just a little embarrassed, that's all."

"Don't be," he told her. "It was the Millennium Ring. Really did a number on you."

She frowned and looked at him again. "That's right, I remember. So… does that mean it's the real deal?"

Joey shrugged, but he looked troubled and she knew it wasn't just about what had happened to her.

"Joey," she asked with concern, "just how bad are these Millennium Items?"

"I… I can't say they're really bad," he shrugged again, seeming to struggle for words. "Well, the Ring was pretty freaky and messed with Bakura big time. And Pegasus's Eye. And the Rod, of course," he added, giving her a pained look. Marik's Millennium Item, she remembered then. The one that had sent her to the Shadow Realm.

"Oh yeah, that was bad," she agreed.

"But the Puzzle…."

"The Puzzle was good," she finished.

"No. The Pharaoh was good. And it was good that the Puzzle brought him into our lives. The Puzzle itself…" he shook his head. "A lot of people died to create those Millennium Items, Mai. They should never have been created, but they were and they were used to do some pretty amazing things, both good and bad. When we went into the Memory World, we helped the Pharaoh do what he couldn't do alone the first time around and then it was supposed to be over. The Pharaoh went to the afterlife and the Millennium Items got buried and that's how it should be. They should've stayed gone."

She looked at him, puzzled. Did "they"refer just to the Millennium Items, or did he mean the Pharaoh, too?

It occurred to her then for the first time how painful it must have been for him—for all of them—when the Pharaoh had gone. He'd been their friend and Joey loved his friends with such devotion. While she'd been off nursing her wounds after the Orichalcos disaster, wallowing in guilt and self-pity, he'd been saying good-bye to one of his dearest friends.

She'd not really thought about it before because Yugi was still here and so to her their group of friends seemed the same as it always had been. The only consideration she'd given it at all was when she'd taken the Puzzle's absence as a sign that they hadn't forgiven the Pharaoh for his own Orichalcos transgression and therefore assumed by extension that they would not forgive her, either. As usual, it was all about her and her pain. Never once did she think about how it must have affected him, to lose a close friend like that. She suddenly felt very small and ridiculously self-absorbed.

"It must've been hard," she said at last, "losing your friend." When he looked startled by her words, she added, "The Pharaoh, I mean."

"I…" He shrugged helplessly. "It was, but it was right, too. It's hard to explain." He shook his head. "But I never really had a totally clear concept of him as a friend separate from Yugi, you know? I don't think any of us really did, so it was hard to really feel like he was gone. Except Yugi, of course, and—" He stopped abruptly, as if he'd stumbled into a thought he didn't want to consider. Then shaking it off, he stood up and said, "We need to pick up our stuff and go get some of those delicious rations for breakfast."

"Joey," she said, standing up beside him and putting her hands on his shoulders. "This trust and friendship thing? It works two ways. You've been such a good friend to me these past few days." The words felt too small, like they weren't enough to encompass how she felt about him and everything he'd done for her. "Better than I deserve. I want to be that kind of friend to you, too."

"You are, Mai," he assured her quickly. "You saved my life."

"You keep saying that like it was some grand thing on my part, Joey. It wasn't. It was something I had to do. Especially after everything I'd done to you—"

"But we've moved past that," he insisted before she could even finish.

"Okay, but in the meantime, you've been a really great friend and I don't know that I've been the same for you. I've been pretty self-absorbed. I never even stopped to think about what it must be like for you, the Millennium Items coming back all of a sudden."

"Nah, it's not hard on me. It's Yugi's issue, not mine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Joey, last night…" she started then looked down, embarrassed again. "I really appreciate everything you did for me last night. You know how hard it is for me to admit I need… anyone, really. But I think I'm getting better with that." She looked back up at him. "Thank you."

He rolled his eyes in self-reproach. "Never woulda happened in the first place if I'da taken the Ring when Yugi asked in the first place. Stupid."

"Forget about that," she told him. "I just… I want you to know how much it means to me to know that you're here."

He looked at her, his expression solemn. "Mai, I really…." He trailed off as her eyes met his. God, those deep brown eyes. She could lose herself in them.

Time seemed to stretch as she stood close to him, hardly able to breathe, drowning in his eyes. Finally, she whispered in a ragged voice, "You really what, Joey?"

"I…" he started, but stopped again, seemingly at a loss. His eyes closed and he moaned "Oh man," as her hands on his shoulders tightened until she was gripping his jacket, pulling him toward her as she leaned in toward him. "Mai—"

"Don't say anything," she whispered back, "just—"

"Come on, come on, let's get a move on," a voice called out, startling them. Mai and Joey flew apart just as two granola bars thudded onto the ground at their feet. Mai looked in the direction they had come from to see Evan hurrying by.

"There's your breakfast," he said, barely stopping. "Eat quickly 'cause we need to get moving."

Joey bent down and scooped up one of the granola bars with savage swipe of his arm. He also grabbed the blanket they'd been sleeping on. "I can't stand that guy," he muttered through clenched teeth and Mai couldn't help but wonder with some irritation if Evan had interrupted them on purpose.

"Joey," she started as he got back up, but was interrupted again, this time by a shrill voice calling out from across the lake.

"Well, if isn't the so-called 'King of Games' and his pathetic band of wannabes. We've been waiting for you."

Mai and Joey exchanged looks. "Weevil," they growled in unison.

Joey and Mai ran down to the lake where the others had already gathered, coming to a stop beside Yugi. Across the inky water in the dim light of the torches they could see two silhouettes. Even in the gloom Joey could tell it was Rex and Weevil.

"Weevil!" Yugi called out in his game voice. "I believe you have something that belongs to me!"

"Finders keepers!" Weevil shouted back.

"What is he, six?" Joey heard Serenity mumble in disgust.

"Just his IQ," Duke answered.

Weevil started walking slowly around the lake toward them, Rex trailing behind him. "What, Yugi, no thank you for the little present I gave you? I thought you had better manners than that."

"Just cut to the chase, you cockroach!" Joey called out in irritation. "What do you want?"

"Nothing from you," Weevil replied in disdain. "My fight is with Yugi."

Abruptly, Kaiba pushed his way between Yugi and Joey to stand at the edge of the lake in front of them. "This is getting boring. You two and I have business to settle first. Are you or you not the ones responsible for almost knocking my brother off that cliff when we first got here?"

Weevil merely cackled. "That's for me to know and you to find out, Kaiba."

"That sounds like a challenge," Kaiba warned, activating his duel disk. "If you want a challenge, then let's duel!"

Weevil cackled again as he and Rex rounded the bend and reached their side of the lake. Stopping about a hundred feet away, he shook his head. "I'm not interested in you, Kaiba. I came here to duel Yugi! He has to pay for cheating in our tournament duel!"

"Okay, I've heard enough," Evan cut in. Like Kaiba, he pushed through the crowd and stood beside Kaiba just in front of Mai. "You two are coming with us back to the camp."

"Of course," Weevil said, "but only if we lose in a duel."

"Oh for the love of…" Evan groaned. "I'm not messing around here. There are seven of us to two of you, and that's not even counting the women, and I'm pretty sure each of them could kick your asses too, even the kid, so let's not play games here."

"Hey!" Rebecca protested at the "kid" remark, but Weevil merely gave Evan a bland look.

"Then Yugi won't get what he came here for."

"Enough, Weevil," Yugi growled, his arms crossed. "Do you have my Puzzle or don't you?"

"Your Puzzle?" Weevil replied, his eyebrows going up in an exaggerated show of mock surprise. "Your Puzzle? I have a Puzzle, but I don't believe it's yours. Unless I'm mistaken, you left it buried under a temple in the Valley of the Kings!"

"That's funny, I don't remember seeing you there," Tristan called out over Joey's shoulder. "How would you know about that?"

"You'd be surprised at the things I know."

"I'd be surprised if you knew how to add two and two," Kaiba retorted, "and I believe I've already issued a challenge. If you want to duel Yugi, fine. You and Raptor against the two of us."

"No… wait!" Rex cried out, but his words were slow and thick as if he was having to fight to speak. Joey frowned, realizing that this was the first time Rex had spoken since the two of them showed up. Unusual for Rex. "I'm here to duel Wheeler," he said finally.

"Bring it on, lizard brain," Joey shouted, taking a step forward and activating his duel disk."

"And I already said—" Evan started to interject, but Mai reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, cutting him off him. Joey clenched his jaw but didn't stop her.

"Evan, let them handle this," she said. "We told you back at the camp that we're looking for more than just Rex and Weevil. We need something Weevil has."

"Actually, we still don't know if Weevil has it or not," Yugi observed, commanding but icy calm. "You still haven't fully answered my question, Weevil. Do you have the Millennium Puzzle or don't you?"

"Oh, the Millennium Puzzle," Weevil said, making a show of pretending to finally understand Yugi's question. He took off a backpack he was wearing and started fishing around in it. "Would you be referring to this?" he asked with a smug grin as he produced a gold chest.

Joey recognized it immediately as the box Yugi had kept the Millennium Puzzle in before he'd finished putting it together. "That's a fake!" he cried out, incensed on Yugi's behalf. "The Millennium Items were buried, but not the box. Yugi still has the real one!"

"It's at Professor Hawkins's house in Cairo," Yugi confirmed, unmoved by the sight of the box. "And Sho described the Millennium Puzzle as it is when put together. It wouldn't fit in that box unless it was in pieces. Why would you take it apart, Weevil? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you couldn't put it back together again."

"One question at a time," Weevil snipped. "Are you sure your box is in Cairo? When did you see it last?"

"I had it with me on the dig. It was in my luggage. Professor Hawkins was going to pack all my things that I didn't bring on the cruise and ship them back to Domino for me."

"You didn't unpack it yourself?" Weevil grinned.

"No…" Yugi said slowly.

"Weevil, what are you getting at?" Joey asked impatiently.

"I'm pointing out that some rather important things disappeared from your luggage between Al Bawiti and Cairo—"

Rebecca gasped at that and Joey saw her and Yugi exchange startled looks.

"Yuge?" he asked.

"Our passports," Yugi breathed, then turned back to Weevil. "What do you know about that?" he demanded.

Weevil snickered in glee. "I told you you'd be surprised at what I know. But as usual, you're missing the whole point. Did you see your box after you arrived in Cairo, or are you assuming it's still in your luggage?"

Joey could tell by Yugi's expression that he hadn't seen the box after arriving in Cairo. "He's right. We turned our luggage upside down looking for our passports and I never saw the puzzle box," he mumbled, through clenched teeth, growled, "Weevil, you claim that the Puzzle is no longer mine because I lost it in the Valley of the Kings, but if that box was stolen from my luggage as you are implying, then it does belong to me and I want it back."

"I already told you, finders keepers. If you want it, you'll have to duel me for it." He gave Evan a meaningful look. "And if you'd rather not duel, the box is going into the lake." To illustrate the point, he reached back with his arm as if he were going to throw the box into the water. "Good luck finding it in the dark," he added.

Yugi remained impassive at the bluff. "Open it first. I want to see if the Puzzle is inside."

"I don't think so," Weevil replied, shaking his head as he lowered his arm. "First we duel. Me and Rex against you and—"

"Me," Kaiba interrupted.

"NO!" Rex insisted. "Wh… Wheeler duels or the deal's off."

What's wrong with him? Joey wondered.

"And what are you bartering with that you get a say?" Kaiba scoffed.

"How about this?" Rex replied stiffly. Pushing Weevil out of the way, he reached into the backpack and pulled out a gold staff with a fist-sized ball as its head. There were two gold wings protruding from the head and it was embossed with the Eye of Horus. The Millennium Rod. Mai gasped when he saw it and Joey clenched one hand while he reached out for her hand with the other.

"Interesting," Yugi said, seemingly unmoved, but Joey saw his fists clench as well. "And would you care to share with us how exactly you managed to get in your possession four Millennium Items that were buried in a pretty deep chasm and my stolen puzzle box… assuming it is real as you claim."

"Four?" Weevil asked with a malevolent smile. "Who said we only had four? I know where all seven are. Well, five," he amended, "seeing as you already have two of them. You did get the Millennium Eye from Pegasus, didn't you?"

"Weevil, where are the other Millennium Items?" Yugi demanded.

"You'll only find out if you beat us in a duel," Weevil insisted.

"Fine, then let's stop blabbing and get to it," Joey said, letting go of Mai's hand and moving forward before Kaiba stopped him, his arm outstretched.

"I told you, this is my battle," Kaiba insisted. "You can sit this one out, underdog."

"Kaiba," Joey growled.

"No, no, NO! We're dueling… we're… Wheeler! I wanna duel Wheeler, not Kaiba! Wheeler, or no Millennium Rod!" Rex stammered.

Joey saw Evan flash Rex a furious look, then turned back to Joey, Kaiba, and Yugi. "I think this whole thing is absolutely insane, but if we're gonna do this, shouldn't the best two duelists here do it so we can get it over with? You two do both share the World Championship title, don't you?"

"Now wait just one minute!" Joey shouted, fed up with Evan and his interference. "I'm in the top four, same as Kaiba, and I've never once lost a duel to either of those two yahoos. Yugi and I beat them in the first round. I'm perfectly capable of doing this!"

"Joey's right, Evan," Mai put in helpfully. "Even he can beat Rex and Weevil."

"Oh, thank you so much for your support," he snapped at her.

"Sorry hon, friends off the field but always competitors on the field," she winked at him.

"Kaiba, this fight is mine and Joey's," Yugi said.

"They attacked my brother and Téa!" Kaiba argued to Yugi. "That makes this our fight."

"I never said we did that," Weevil said coolly.

"Besides, I choose my opponent and I choose Wheeler," Rex asserted, as if trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

"Kaiba, we can stand here and argue all day or we can get on with it," Yugi said. "Just let Joey and me finish this!"

Kaiba glowered at all of them for another moment. "Fine," he relented, then grabbed Joey's arm. "But you better not screw this up, Wheeler."

Joey yanked his arm free in a huff. "Would you give it a rest already? I can duel circles around these nimrods and you know it, so lay off."

Joey stepped up beside Yugi, who turned on his duel disk.

"Good. Now let's set out the terms of this little battle," Weevil said. "Tag duel, Asian rules. When one player loses all their Life Points, the whole team loses."

Joey glanced at Yugi. Though confident he could beat either Rex or Weevil—he had never lost to either one yet, even back when he was a novice—there was a part of him that knew he was not Yugi's equal and hated to bind his friend's success to his own. He would have been much more comfortable playing under North American rules, where one teammate could continue on alone after the other lost. Yugi, however, seemed to have no such reservations and agreed immediately.

"And when we win, you both retire from dueling. Permanently," Rex added, suddenly sounding more like himself again.

"Whatever," Joey scoffed impatiently.

"Fine," Yugi agreed. "And when we win, you give us my box, the Millennium Puzzle, the Millennium Rod, and the location of any other Millennium Items you know about."

"And you return the provisions you stole and consider yourselves in custody until we're rescued," Evan added.

"And tell us about what happened on the cliff and everything you know about this cave and why we're here," Kaiba chimed in.

Weevil grinned at Kaiba, a malevolent look in his eye that bothered Joey. "Now that's going a bit too far when all we're asking them to wager is their dueling careers. But…" he looked back at Yugi and Joey, "we could make this more interesting. Let's say that every time Rex or I lose Life Points, we have to answer one question."

"What's the catch?" Joey asked.

"Every time one of you loses Life Points, you have to attack the other."

"Say what?" Joey cried and Yugi looked taken aback as well. "I'm not attacking my own teammate!"

"Oh, don't worry, I don't mean for battle damage or Life Points. Just for fun. A direct attack from one of your monsters. They are, after all, only holograms, right?"

"You call that fun? You sick little freak!" Joey exclaimed.

"Listen you moron," Kaiba said, and Joey whirled around to defend himself until he realized the moron in question was Weevil. "The duel disks don't work that way. They're programmed to recognize the rules and commands consistent with the game. Attacking someone directly for no reason is not part of the game. Especially attacking a teammate in tag dueling."

"Oh really?" Weevil replied, his voice silky. Something felt very unnatural about the way he was talking and Joey shuddered. "Let's review, shall we? In Mokuba's duel against Jacques Rousseau, Jacques attacked Mokuba with Tyrant Dragon and then Mokuba summoned Spirit Ryu after the duel was over. In Joey's duel against Mako Tsunami, he called a direct attack on Mako with Red-Eyes Black Dragon after the duel was over. Yugi was ready to attack Kaiba—who wasn't even competing at the time—with his Valkyrion and Dark Magician after his duel with Rebecca was over. Are any of these moves part of the game?"

"You weren't at any of those duels!" Duke shouted out. "How do you—?"

"Haven't we already established that I know many surprising things?" Weevil said snidely.

"Listen you little worm…" Duke began, then Kaiba jumped in as well. While they were arguing, Serenity caught Joey and Yugi's attention.

"Something's wrong," she said, her voice tight.

"Ya think?" Joey said. "Something's always wrong with those two."

"No, I mean… they're not really here."

Joey looked at her. "Say what?"

"What do you mean, Serenity?" Yugi asked.

"It's like the same thing I felt from Pegasus, only different. It's like they're still in the Shadow Realm but not really."

"Okay, that makes no sense whatsoever," Joey rolled his eyes at his sister.

"No, I think I understand," Yugi said quietly. "Something's off, especially with Rex. It was like he had to fight with himself just to assert he wanted to duel you, Joey. Why would that even be a question? He's always hated you more than anyone."

"Something's controlling them," Serenity said.

"The Millennium Items," Yugi agreed. He looked at Joey. "What the Ring did to Mai, it's the same effect these Shadow Games have been having on us. This is going to be a Shadow Game, Joey. That's why Weevil wants us to attack each other."

Joey looked at his friend. "Then forget it. I'm not attacking you in a Shadow Game. No way."

"I don't know if we have a choice. We need answers."

"So we kick their asses and shake them when it's over."

"If it's a Shadow Game, there might not be anything left to shake when it's over."

Joey gaped at him, Mai's Shadow Game against Marik springing to his mind involuntarily. "Yuge, none of the other duels—"

"Pegasus," Yugi pointed out.

"YUGI!" Weevil called out, interrupting them with a start. "Questions for us, direct attack for you at every Life Point loss. Do we have a deal or don't we?"

"How do we know we can trust you?" Yugi asked. "We have no reason to believe anything you tell us will be the truth."

Weevil pulled his deck out of his duel disk and started shuffling through it, pulling out a single card and inserting it into the field slot on his duel disk. A giant Eye appeared over their heads, similar to the Eye of Horus, but not quite the same. Its iris glowed red with blue markings around it and illuminated the cavern in an eerie red and blue light. "The Eye of Truth," he announced.

"We know what it is," Joey snapped, but he and Yugi looked at each other in confusion.

"What are you doing, Weevil?" Yugi demanded. "That's a trap card, not a field magic card."

"Details, details," Weevil muttered. "Down here, we make our own rules. As long as the Eye of Truth is in the field slot, it won't work like it usually does, letting me see your hand and giving you a thousand Life Points every turn you have a magic card in your hand. Instead it will compel every player on the field to tell the truth."

"You're kidding, right?" Joey replied, skeptical.

"See for yourself. Try and tell a lie."

"Fine," Joey said. "Weevil Underwood is…." He intended to say my very best friend. It was in his head, it was on his tongue. But when the words popped out of his mouth, they were, "…a loud-mouthed cheating jerk."

Weevil glowered at him. "The truth… from a certain point of view, anyway."

"Thank you, Obi-Wan Kenobi!" Joey shot back, but he looked at Yugi. "I tried to say something else, but I couldn't."

Yugi nodded and turned back to Weevil. "Have you ever cheated at Duel Monsters, Weevil?" he asked.

Weevil opened his mouth, then closed it, then replied, "Yes." As soon as the word was out of his mouth, he glared at Yugi in fury. "Are you happy now? Stop stalling. Do we have a deal or don't we?"

Yugi looked at Joey, who shrugged in response. He turned back to Weevil to answer, but then Téa said, "Yugi wait," and reached out for his arm.

Yugi and Joey both turned back to look at her. "Yugi, this is a bad idea. You shouldn't be dueling at all, not down here. It's going to be worse than up above, I can just feel it."

"I know," he conceded. "But I don't know any other way to find out what's going on."

"And if you get all dark again and can't come out of it?"

Joey looked behind her where the rest of their friends were gathered. His eyes sought Tristan's. "Tristan. If we get weird and don't come around when it's over, knock it out of us, okay?"

"Dude…"

"Hey, better you than Rich Boy," Joey grinned, jerking his head toward Kaiba.

"I'll slap you two around," Duke offered. He'd tried to make it sound sarcastic, but Joey could hear the concern in his voice.

"I'm waiting!" Weevil called out impatiently.

Yugi and Joey turned back to Weevil. "We accept," Yugi consented for both of them.

"Joey—"

Joey turned to see his sister standing beside Téa. He waited for her to say something, but she just nodded at him and gave him a small smile. Then Mai took him by the elbow and he faced her.

"I'm so tempted to ask you a question or two while that Eye of Truth is on the field," she grinned. He felt a twinge of panic until she winked. Then she sobered. "Kick their asses, Joey."

"You know it," he promised. He held her gaze a moment longer, then turned to face Yugi.

"Let's do this, buddy," he said.

Yugi gave a nod of his head. "We can beat this, Joey. Those two and the Shadows." They clasped hands, then bumped their fists together and turned to face Rex and Weevil.

"Let's duel!" they said in unison.