.:."Yugi, what're you doing?" Joey calls to him from the side. " 'Ey look, Tristan!" he shouts, pointing to Alyssa who was hanging onto the branch still. The Seal had gone to the very edges of the circular plateau-she could not even take hold of the very edge of the earth. "Good idea. Let's ask her." He says to Joey. "Hey! Alyssa! What's goin' on down there?" "Idiot!" Joey says, swatting him on the back of the head. "We need to find a way to get her up." He says. "Well, do you have any bright idea? 'Cause I don't see anything around here long enough to stick out or throw to her." Looking around Joey nodded his head in agreement.
"Hey, just hold on! We'll figure something out!" he calls to her. Alyssa takes hold of the dead and grimy branch that she hangs on to. "Look what you've done!" she thinks to herself, blinking tears out of her eyes. "Now there's no way you can change it." Her mind continued, even though she didn't know what 'it' was.
"And now I separate KuriBabylon back into the five Kuriboh brothers." He says, "And thanks to the seal, they each gain five hundred life points. Next I put them back together as KuriBabylon, who again gains another five hundred!" he shouts as his words are actions on the field. "That's one powerful firball." Raphael says as it's attack points goes over four thousand. "Now, KuriBabylon, attack!" the Pharaoh says, thrusting a finger towards one of Raphael's Guardian monsters on the other side of the field. "Not so fast, Pharaoh! This trap card should stop your furball in it's tracks!" he says, revealing one of his face down cards. Suddenly a chain leaps forth and ensnares the advancing monster, holding it back.
"I end my turn" the Pharaoh says, gritting his teeth. "And now, it's my turn." Raphael says. "Go!" he shouts, and one of his monsters destroys one of the Pharaoh's. Luckily it was in defense mode, so the Pharaoh didn't lose any points this turn. "I'll place this facedown and end my turn. But don't forget, your KuriBabylon still can't attack." "I am well aware of the situation." He tells his adversary. "My KuriBabylon isn't the only thing I've left though. Now I play, Turtle catapult! Which allows me to sacrifice one of my monsters to hit you directly." He says. "And I choose, Queen's Knight!" he says, as his monster hops onto the catapult and is rushed forward, slashing at Raphael's life points. "Luckily for you, that's all I'm allowed to do. So I'll end my turn. That's all right though," the Pharaoh says with an evil grin. "Because next turn I'll use my canon to take away the rest of your life points."
"That can't be Yugi!" Joey says, balling a fist. "It is!" says a blue haired boy next to him as he pushes up his glasses. "He played that Orycalcos card and man did he change." Says his friend, a shock of purple hair protruding from underneath a hat. "Weevil, Rex. What're you two doing here?" he asks. "Oh, nothing." They say. "Well tell me all about this nothin' or else you're gonna pay!" Joey says, lifting up Weevil by his collar. "Easy, Easy!" he says, waving his arms in the air. "I'll talk! I'll talk!" he shouts. "Then start talking." Joey says, setting him back down on the ground.
The Pharaoh sent out his dragon thingy." Weevil begins. "Timeaus?" Joey asks him. "Yeah, that's it." The boy replies. "But that other one…the blonde haired guy, made it into this giant sculpture of ice. The Pharaoh needed five hundred more attack points and he knew that card would give it to him. So he played it. I don't blame him either." He said, pushing up his glasses. "He played it? Just like that?" Joey asks, snapping his fingers. "Well, no, that girl over there tried to stop him, but he just-" "Tossed her down like a rag doll." Rex cuts in. "Hey, I was telling the story!" Weevil says to him. "Buzz off!" Rex says back. "Wait, what happened after that?" Tristan asks. "Well, he played the card." Weevil began. "So he got his dragon back, right?" Tristan interrupts. "Don't interrupt me." The blue one says. "AS I was saying, he played the card and got his dragon back, but-" "But then the dragon disappeared!" Rex cut in. "I SAID DON'T INTERRUPT ME!" Weevil shouts. "Hold it! Timeaus just disappeared?" Joey asks, holding the two apart. "Yeah. The blonde one was like 'Oh, did I forget to mention? Timeaus and the Orycalcos don't' go together very well'." "And than the Dark Magician girl returned to his side of the field, but the Dragon just went away." Weevil finishes.
"Go, my Dark Magician girl!" They hear on the field. She looks back at the Pharaoh. "Go on. It's your turn now." He says to her. She nods and hops on the catapult. "No, not the Dark Magician Girl!" Yugi yells from his other realm. "What're you, nuts?" Joey calls from across the way. "It's over!" the Pharaoh shouts, but then he hears "REVEAL FACE DOWN CARD!"
Looking over, he sees Raphael is sliced by the dark magician girl, but still retains a mere one hundred life points. "He saved himself!" Tristan says, astonished. "Attack!" he yells to one of his Gaurdians, which destroys the turtle catapult. And next, you!" he says, turning towards the Pharaoh. "I play my Guardian Iatos," he says, placing a card down on the field. "Meet my favorite guardian." He says to the Pharaoh. "And I'll increase his power with the Sword of Reckoning!" he says, placing a card down on his duel disk, as It appears in the Guardian's hands. "This allows me to infuse the sword with the attack power of all the monsters in your graveyard. That includes your Jack's Knight, King's Knight…" He goes on, listing the monsters in the order they were sent to the graveyard as their ghosts drift into the sword, offering it their power.. "Your Queen's Knight, and your Dark Magician Girl. In total it is over ten thousand points." "No…" the Pharaoh says, taking a step back as he looks at the creatures. "What have I done?" he asks himself. "My Knights…" he says, seeing their forms turned livid when the Seal took them. "The Kuriboh brothers" he says, the five happy balls of fluff muting together into a glaring, moldy green KuriBabylon. "And…Dark Magician Girl." He finishes, her once happy face now sneering and wicked.
"Prepare to give up your soul, Pharaoh." Raphael says. "Iatos, now!" And Iatos lunges towards him as the Pharaoh stands. "Forgive me." He whispers before the powerful attack saps him of the rest of his life points. The seal glows on his forehead as it encompasses him. "Pharaoh, no!" Yugi shouts. Taking the puzzle in his hands, he beats on the barrier between them. "By all the power of the millennium puzzle" he says. "Let me free!" And he hits the window he'd been looking through with the point of the millennium puzzle and breaks free.
"That's it, Pharaoh." Raphael says as he comes closer and sees the Pharaoh, his shoulder slumped in defeat. "Don't even try to resist." The Pharaoh looks up at him, and then beyond him. "Yugi." He says. "I'm sorry."
"I know Pharaoh." Yugi says. "The world needs you right now…more than it needs me." "What?" the Pharaoh asks, confused. "It only needs one of us." Yugi says, looking up at him with his innocent eyes, tears forming slightly at the corners. "So I'm letting the Seal take me instead."
"Yugi? No!" The Pharaoh shouts, as the Seal passes from his forehead to Yugi's, and the green light descends. "Yugi!" he shouts, as he disappears.
The unconscious body of the pair slumps to the ground. Realizing that the battle is over, Alyssa reaches up and climbs onto the ledge. In the center of the field she sees the unconscious body of the Pharaoh.
"Pharaoh, no!" she shouts and runs over to him. She rolls him over to check his breathing. "I believe that is mine." Raphael says, coming over and removing the Seal from the Pharaoh's duel disk. "Fine. Now leave." Alyssa says, attempting to pull the Pharaoh's unconscious form away from him.
"I'll be taking that too." He says reaching for him as a helicopter flies overhead, dropping him a ladder. "No!" She shouts, covering his body with her own. "Leave him be!"
"Get off!" Raphael yells and pushes her off of him, hoisting the unconscious ruler over his shoulder. "No." she says, taking hold of the ladder as the helicopter lifts him off the ground. "Give him back!" she shouts, pulling on his shoe. "Hey buddy! Give that here or I'll really make life miserable for ya!" Joey shouts at him. "You all want this so badly? Heh. Take it then. I've got what I need anyway." He says and tosses the figure to those below. Joey catches him with a grunt as Tristan catches Alyssa, who had also been shaken off.
Stretching him out they call his name. "Yugi, wake up!" Joey says. "C''mon, Yugi, quit playin' around!" Tristan says, shaking him. They are so engrossed with making sure that Yugi/the Pharaoh are alright they don't realize Weevil and Rex as they hop onto the helicopter rope ladder.
The Pharaoh's eyes squeeze shut as he puts up a hand to his head. "Alright Yugi!" Joey shouts, pumping a fist in the air. "So how'd you do it, eh? Even I don't know how you could fool that thing into leavin' you be. So spill the beans, how'd you do it?"
"We were so worried, my Lord." Alyssa says. "I'm so glad to see that you're alright." "Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's cool. Now tell us the secret, tell us the trick, eh!" Joey says. "There is no secret, there is no trick. I didn't fool anything, Joey. They got him." The Pharaoh says, banging the ground with his fists. "Wha?" Joey asked him. "It should have been me!" The Pharaoh shouts, angry tears trailing down his cheek. "It was my fault…it should have been me!"
.:. Alyssa woke up to sunlight streaming onto her face from her window and her door. Her eyes squeezed tight and her nose scrunched up. It appeared as if she was blinking with her eyes closed for a few moments, before they closed real tight and opened up. She stretched out, flipped over, nestled her head back into the pillow and closed her eyes for another few moments, before finally opening them awake.
"Sleep well?" her mother came in, hearing her shuffle around in bed signaling her return to consciousness. "Yes…very well." she said. She rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling.
"Mama…" she began, "I remember going to the room to clean last night, and I remember being tired. But I do not remember walking back here." She says. "How did I get back here last night? Do you know?" she asked her. "Of course I know dear. He carried you back. You fell asleep while you were working." Her mother said, placing something in a drawer. "Who carried me?" she asked suspiciously. "The Pharaoh, dear." She told her, still rummaging in the drawers.
"THE PHARAOH!" she shouted, her voice raising as she sat bolt upright. "He carried me here? Himself?" she asked. "Yes, dear." Her mother said, still not looking at her. "Oh, he probably thinks I'm lazy now." She said, covering her face with her hands and flopping backwards onto the pillows. "He's probably saying 'No wonder they lost their house' right now!"
"Of course he isn't, dear. He knows you've just been overworking yourself." "No he doesn't." she mumbled as a few people came in with her breakfast on a tray. "What's this?" she asked as she sat up and they laid it out before her. "Breakfast in bed!" her mother announced. "Isn't it wonderful?"
"I guess…" Alyssa started, still not used to all the service. The attendants left the room then so that she could be alone with her mother. She gave in to her growling stomach however, and dug in to the plate full of hot food that lay before her.
"He really is a nice fellow." Her mother went on. "I was talking to him last night." Alyssa swallowed her food hard. "You what?" she said. "I was. Chatting with the Pharaoh. Me. Hmm." Her mother said with a smile. "But-" "Forget all that." Her mother said coming over to her and picking a roll off of what was left of the plate. "Relax and have some fun today." "I can't I have to go. Oh my goodness, my pail! My brush! I forgot them last night! They're probably still in that room!" she said as she hurriedly changed and began walking towards the front.
"I love you mom, but I've got to go. See you later bye!" she shouted as she pulled on her sandals and began hurrying towards the door. "I'm afraid you'll find it harder to…never mind." Her mother said as she saw her daughter rush towards the front. "She'll find out when she gets there." And went to check on her husband.
Alyssa reached the front door and opened it to see two burly guardsmen standing outside her door. "If you'll just let me slip past…" she said, attempting to get by them. "I'm afraid I need through."
"I'm sorry Miss, but we've been ordered to keep you in your suite. You are to spend your day resting." They tell her. "…What?" she asks them confused. "You must have the wrong person. I need to get through, so please." She says, trying to go in between them. "I'm sorry Miss, but they are the Pharaoh's orders. Now please, return to your bed." One of them says. "This is ridiculous!" she says, but turns around. "Mom!" she calls. "Have you any idea why I'm being locked up in a room like this?"
"Of course, child. It's because you are supposed to rest today. You are obviously overworking yourself and the Pharaoh wants you to be well." "But-" "Oh, don't bother." Her mother told her. "He can be just as stubborn as you, I am sure."
She returned to her bed then and found that the tray had been removed. She climbed back in and slept for a while longer. She opened her eyes again after what she had estimated to be about two hours sleep and reached for her brush to begin combing her hair.
A few minutes later she heard a knock on her door. "Come in." she said, expecting one of her parents. Instead, in through the door walked the Pharaoh, dressed and ready for the day. She gasped and dropped her brush, averting her eyes to the bedspread. "Good morning." He says to her. "Good morning, my Lord." She says to him in return, fiddling with the brush that she now held in her hand. "I came by earlier but you were still asleep." "How was your rest last night, my Lord?" she asks. "It was well, thank you, when I finally could." He said.
"I'm sorry." She said, her face an expression of embarrassment and sadness. "I did not mean for you to have to carry me. I apologize…normally I do not fall asleep when I am working, I promise you. If you had only woken me up I could have finished or at least walked back on my own and saved you the trouble-" "I didn't mind." The Pharaoh says, interrupting her. "It was nothing, really." He tells her. "May I?" he asks, gesturing towards the bed. "Of course." She says, scooting over as he sits with her.
"And how was your sleep?" he asked her as he sat next to her, his back leaning against the headboard. "Evidently very well if I did not wake as you carried me." She remarks. "Everyone needs a break every now and again." He tells her. "Is that why you've ordered me shut up in my room today?" she asked him bluntly.
"Oh." The Pharaoh said. "That." "Yes, that." She says to him. "You need to relax every now and again." He tells her. "If you keep working so hard…you'll burn yourself out. That's exactly what happened last night. Don't you see?" "Yes, I can see very well. And hear and smell and taste and touch and all those things." She says grumpily as he laughs. "It's only for one day. You need to rest. Granted, you can leave your room, but I know if I let you out of the suite you'll go straight back to work."
"So that is why you stationed those men there?" she asks him. "Yes, I take it you've met them?" she asks. "Yes. They told me I needed to return to bed. I would have tried to slip past them again, but the way they were looking at me I'd think they would literally pick me up and carry me back to it. I preferred walking."
The Pharaoh chuckles again and she turns a bit more scarlet. "You can visit the courtyard today as well." he tells her. "I just don't want you going off to your job. And don't bother trying to sneak out through other exits in the courtyard; there is someone stationed at every entrance and exit and they all know what you look like." She blushed furiously this time and merely said "Thank you, my Lord." As she turned away.
The Pharaoh watched her as she began brushing her hair again. He'd been right-the ends of her hair were al curled into corkscrews. Some were thick and some were thin, but when she finished brushing them her hair was endless waves of gold. The Pharaoh longed to reach out and take the brush from her hand and do the task for her as he remembered how sweet she smelled and how soft it was. But no, he let her be.
Sighing with this thought he made to stand. "Perhaps I will come and visit with you later?" he asks her. Putting down her brush she hesitates. "I would like that." She confesses after a pause. "Then I'll return at high noon, if you don't mind." He tells her. "Please do." She says nervously as she puts the brush down on one of the side tables. He opens the door and is exiting when she calls out "Thank you…again. For everything." She tells him. "It is I who should be thanking you, Alyssa." He says, and closes the door as her heart skips with the sound of hearing her name.
.:.Slowly (for once) Duke's car pulled in front of his driveway. "We were so worried." Tea says, as she and Rebecca slide out. "Where's Yugi?" she asks when she notices he isn't there. Behind the car comes the Pharaoh riding on Copernicus, Alyssa trailing after him on her own horse. They swing down and place their feet on the ground, none of the group looking at each other in the eyes. "Yugi!" Rebecca shouts and rushes over, giving the Pharaoh a hug. "I knew you could do it Yugi!" she says happily. "I'm sorry Rebecca, Yugi's gone." The Pharaoh says quietly. "Huh?" she says though, as she realizes this person that might look like Yugi is different.
"What do you mean?" she says, backing up. "What?" Tea asks. "They took Yugi's soul." The Pharaoh explains, his heart cloven in two inside. "But, shouldn't you be on the ground, not moving?" Tea asks him, confused. "Professor Hopkins has emerged from the trailer. "Perhaps it is best if we go inside, Rebecca." He says, understanding. "No!" She shouts. "I want to know! What happened?"
The Pharaoh sighs. "I lost control, Rebecca. I lost the duel, and Yugi gave his own soul to save mine." What? "So then…they played that card again?" Tea asks. "Not them, Tea. I did." The Pharaoh says. "What?" Rebecca asks. "You…you did this to my Yugi…a-and he gave himself up for you?" 'I'm sorry, Rebecca." Yami says.
"What? No!" She shouts, leaning onto him. "Why didn't you go? It was your fault! I want my Yugi back! It should have been you! It should have been you!" She shouts as she beats against him with her fists. The Pharaoh just stands there, blinking back his own tears of self loathing.
"That's enough, okay?" Tea shouts at her and the girl stops. "Look, what's done is done. What the Pharaoh did might not have been smart, but he did it nonetheless. Now stop crying and let's come up with a way to get Yugi back." She says, her face set.
"Right." Rebecca nods as the group slowly walks inside. "Hello, Pharaoh." Professor Hopkins says to him. "How are you, Professor?" Yami says, his voice low and quiet. "I'm doing well. Though I think that we should begin by letting me tell you about my latest research findings."
"As you know, I've been studying the city of Atlantis. I had found a new cave, full of new hieroglyphics. They led me to believe that what happened to Atlantis so many years ago may be occurring again today." He announces to the group. "What?" they all ask. "Ten thousand years ago there was a great war in Atlantis, the sides naturally Good versus Evil. Going through the hieroglyphics, I was able to piece together certain facts about this war, facts that seem to coincide and depict some of the very things that have been happening as of late in the world."
"And what are these similarities?" the Pharaoh asks. "Well, is seems that the Ancient Atlantians believed there were two worlds occupying the same space, but in parallel dimensions. One was the Duel Monsters world, the Other, our world. Strong beings could call forth the monsters from the other world into this one. However, when there was an abnormally strong power at work, known as the 'great beast' in these writings, the sky lit with rainbow colors."
"Like when we saw that eye in the sky." Joey says. "Precisely. That eye is a portion of this great beast, the same one that wreaked havoc and destroyed Atlantis so many years ago!" "But if that's the case, then what are we supposed to do now?" Tristan asks him. "It is said that there will return the three legendary knights, formerly turned into three legendary dragons. Only the chosen three can wield these cards." "Kaiba, Yugi, and I?" Joey asks. "No, Kaiba, the Pharaoh, and you, Joey." Professor Hopkins corrects him.
"But why then did my dragon disappear when I played the-" "You played the very force the dragons fought against, Pharaoh." Professor Hopkins said. "And Timeaus would not allow that force to control him. So, he simply left. Though I do say I don't believe he trusts his entire fate to you anymore." The Pharaoh sighs. "I understand."
"It should have been you." Rebecca says, throwing a pillow at him from across the room, which the Pharaoh doesn't even bother to block. Alyssa picks it up and is ready to toss it back at the child but the Pharaoh stops her. "No, leave her be." He says. "As you wish, my Lord." She says, and giving the girl a nasty look tosses the pillow to the side, returning to her seat beside the Pharaoh.
"Now, now, Rebecca." Her grandfather chides her. "The Pharaoh feels bad enough. There is no need to make him feel worse." He says. "So where is all this information, huh?" Joey says, trying to get off the subject. "I had copies of it in my house, but as you can see, they've been destroyed." "So there is no way to find this again?" he asks. "Actually there is." The Professor says. "There is a museum, in Florida, which has all the original data. If we can go there, you can find out everything you need to know."
"Alright!" Joey says standing up. "Florida here we come!" he shouts. "You do realize that that is on the other side of this continent, right?" Tea asks him. "Uh…Oh yeah. No problem, there's always one man that can give us a ride."
"Mr. Kaiba, there is a call for you on line one of the videophone." The secretary tells Seto Kaiba in his office at Kaiba Corporations. "Thank you." He tells his secretary, and turns on the line as she shuts the door. On the screen is one very large eye and eyebrow. "Hey, Kaiba!" Joey shouts. "Can you guys see me over there?"
"It helps if you step back from the camera." Mokuba says. "Oh." Joey says, and takes a giant step back. "Better?" "What do you want?" Seto asks, getting straight to the point. "Well, Kaiba, we need a ride." "So call a taxi." He says.
"Well, it'd be kinda hard to get a taxi to take us from here to Florida. Mind sending us one of those planes you never use?" "No." Kaiba says. "Kaiba we need your help." The Pharaoh says. "I lost the duel to a man named Raphael and he took Yugi's soul with the Seal of Orycalcos." "Don't tell me you believe that Seal of Orycalcos crap." Kaiba says. "You've seen it before?" Joey asks him, as the entire group is shocked. "That fool Alaster tried to do the same to me, only I don't believe in that kind of made up jabber. The seal is a joke, nothing more." He tells them. "But Kaiba-" the Pharaoh begins and is cut off. "Don't you start talking to me about destiny again." He warns him. "I'm not fooled by this at all. The only thing that happened when you lost is you proved you never should have won that title anyway. I'm the best at duel monsters. There's no way you could beat me in a fair duel." "He's done that plenty of times!" Joey says angrily. "Mere luck. When it comes down to skill I'll admit he has some but nothing compared to mine. I don't do charity work. This call is over." He says as he pushes a button on his keyboard and the screen goes blank.
"They…took Yugi's soul?" Mokuba says. "Seto, what if that happened to you?" he asks him, worried. "Don't worry Mokuba. I don't believe in that nonsense." "But what if it is true?" Mokuba persists. "Then I just don't plan on losing any time soon, so I've nothing to worry about.
"Man, I can't believe that Kaiba!" Joey says angrily. "After all we've done for him!" "What's that?" Tristan asks him dryly. "Aw, shut up." Joey says. "Now is not the time to be fighting!" Tea says, standing in between the two as they began pulling back fists and screeching them to a halt. "What else is there around her that we could use?" she asks Rebecca. "Well, there's a train station in the next town. You could use that. I can get you tickets for tomorrow."
"Perfect" Tea says.
Suitcases in hand the next day, Yami, Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Alyssa step onto the train platform. "We'll make sure to call you if anything turns up." The Professor says. "And we'll do the same, professor." Joey says, giving him a thumbs up and a wink. The train pulls up to the station and the conductor shouts "All aboard!" They begin walking towards it.
"Pharaoh!" Yami hears from behind him and turns to see Rebecca. "I'm still mad at you for what you did to my Yugi." She begins. "But you just worry about getting him back now, okay?" she tells him. "Yes, Rebecca. We'll find a way to get him back." He tells her. "You better." She says. "Or else I'll never forgive you."
The Pharaoh smiles slightly. "Goodbye, Rebecca." He tells her. "No worries, Pharaoh!" Duke calls to him. "I'll make sure that she and the professor are well taken care of." He turns as Rebecca begins walking back. "Ouch!" he hears her say. "Sorry, it was an accident." He hears dryly in Alyssa's voice. He turns and sees Rebecca rubbing her arm.
"Did you?" he asks Alyssa as she catches up with him. "I did nothing, my Lord." She says, stepping into the train. "The suitcase did."