Ruriko: (peeks into the room) Hello? Anybody there?

VM: (pushes ruriko inside) sorry for the veryveryvery long update (sweatdrops)

Ruriko: Umm.... Uh, we have a surprise to make up for it... (looks at door and makes up mind) Do you all wanna know what it is?

VM:...i want to forget about it (slaps her forehead)

Ruriko: (drags in a huge metal case that is shaking) V.M., unleash the squirrel!!!!!

VM: umm....i'm not sure about this (she still pulls out a cardboard box that she was hiding behind her, she slowly opens it and inside is the most irressistably cute, and innocent squirrel)

A tan, blonde, and purple streak rushes out of the metal box and chases the squirrel.

Marik: SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Must catch and kill squirrel!!!!!!

Ruriko: (sighs) Oh, boy...... (watches and and eyes go glassy) I wanna chase it too.....(starts running) Wait up Marik! SQUIRRREEEEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VM: (sigh) oh well time to answer review (tooks out a lasso and caught them)

Ruriko: (shakes head vigorously) Yeah... right..... Reviews.... I forgot..... Uh, so........

Review Responses:
Osiris Lee = R.M.: Hey, I hate her, so I make her like a slut. V.M. Calls me the angst goddess, so I try to live up to my 'title'. And yeah, 'shrimplets' will be back soon. V.M.: yes we all pity grandpa, (shudders) yes, a shanky tea is scary, and sorry for the very long update we were really busy, hope you enjoy this chappie.
setokaba = R.M.: Interesting ideas... And I agree. If the hikaris just forgive and forget, it will be hatefully redundant and ludicrous on the whole. V.M.: well your pretty close, but i agree, it'd be pretty boring and cliché if the hikari's instantly forgive the yami's
Immortal Memories = R.M.: Just one thing to say... BINGO!!! Now, the question is, WHAT exactly will be their reactions? V.M.: well... yes they will; at first. keyword: 'at first'.
FREAK014 = R.M.: Angst is the order of business, and will remain so for the majority of the chapters. V.M.: tnx a bunch, but i think that they had their punishments, their conscience that has tormented them for years. (R.M.: THREE years, to be exact!)
Shinigami = R.M.: Oh, don't worry.... I will. I'm the lemon-brain in the partnership, so you can expect a lot more of those scenes. Oh, and the murder of the hikaris.... Without it, would there be any plot? V.M.: yup, it was part of the plot that there was no other way, if there was then this would be a different story. (sorry if i sounded pissed, we were repeating it for a while now).

Ruriko: So, now that I'm mostly sane, and we've answered the reviews - (Marik cuts her off by shoving a paper in her face) What?! (steams and turns red with rage)

VM: huh what's that (looks over ruriko)

Ruriko: (tries to grab the Assassin) WHAT THE FUCK?!?!? IS THIS A JOKE?!!??!?!?!?

VM: ruriko, calm down-

Marik: Huh? I thought it was called a flame?

VM: yup, how'd know that?

Ruriko: Who cares how he found out!?!??! What the fuck?!?!? abc-123 if you want to flame, flame about something NORMAL!!!! This is ridiculous..... Here's my reply: A. It's about some ancient EGYPTIAN spirits who live in JAPAN and took over the WORLD... Duh! Dimwit! We need the languages! B. VM and I agree - we need the humor. I tend to make scenes too serious, so it's a breather for the RATIONAL readers! C. Ever read a book? Geez! Caps lock means yelling! Expression isn't a crime! Stupid moronic dunder-head!

VM: down why dont ya

Ruriko: Sheesh! You'd think people with SENSE would flame... But only intellectual dummies do in this case! (sniffs) So, everyone, here's the next chapter. You all know the disclaimer and such, so we won't repeat it. R & R!!! And if you DO wanna flame, please, say something sensible! Enjoy the chapter, I suppose.

VM: pours cold water at ruriko cool down why dont ya?, anyway hope you guys enjoy this...sorry again for not updating

Renaissance
by Ruriko Minamino and Virtual Maiden
Chapter 5: The Chariot

"I can bring back your hikaris."

Neither Yami nor Bakura, or Marik could believe their ears. Was this some cruel joke? But how could it be? This was Shadi they were speaking to. He never joked.

Before even a minute of silence had settled, Marik – psychotic, high-strung Marik – sprang into action.

"What do you mean, you towel-headed freak?!" The blonde Spirit lifted Shadi up by the collar and started to shake him. "Answer me! What in Ra's name do you mean?!"

Shadi was turning purple from the pressure when Bakura snapped out of his trance and placed a hand on Marik's shoulder. "That isn't working, bone-head!" A pale hand reached up and took hold of Shadi's head and squeezed it. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?!??!? Can't you explain better than that?!"

A bolt of black energy appeared in the sidewalk at their feet and the Tomb Robber and Assassin dropped their nearly-strangled captive. Yami was standing with his feet spread apart, one arm half-raised with swirls of Shadow energy emanating from his fingertips. "You won't get any answers that way – both of you! Let Shadi breath a moment." The Pharaoh walked purposefully over to his two glaring partners and the mystic who was struggling to compose himself, sitting on the pavement with his white robes rumpled and his turban askew. Yami held out a hand to help him stand and – "EXPLAIN YOURSELF!!!!!" Pharaoh Yugioh started cursing and swearing and gesticulating in all the languages he knew, bellowing his head off and shaking the bewildered advisor with all his might. It can be supposed that he'd been spending too much time with a certain pair of psychopaths.

Marik and Bakura backed away, their faces twitching.

"Remind me never to get him that worked up," Bakura whispered fervently to Marik. The Assassin just nodded mutely and gulped.

=========================================

Five hours later, aboard the small jet Seto had sent to fetch them, the three yamis amused themselves in silence, an occasional sigh escaping their lips.

'I will return when you have made up your minds, my Lords…'

Those were the words Shadi had spoken when he'd finally taken his leave of the trio. And now, hours later, the question still remained. What was their decision? Did they – could they dare to – want their hikaris back?

"Well, this is one confusing dilemma, isn't it?" Bakura finally said, tiring of the prevailing silence, putting away the knife he'd been sharpening. He turned to the Pharaoh lying on a couple of seats, staring at the ceiling. "Hey, Yami, I'm talking to you!"

"Hm?" the crimson-eyed Lord simply turned his head to Bakura and sighed. "I heard you, but I can't really answer… I don't know what to think…"

The Tomb Robber stood up and glared at his other companion, the Assassin. The blonde was doing push-ups on the floor with his eyes closed and his brow furrowed in thought. "And what do you have to say about this?"

Marik appeared not to hear, but his movements slowed, and he rolled onto his back. "I miss my habibi," he said plaintively. His eyes were wide with innocence foreign to those dark violet depths.

Yami leaned on his elbow and regarded him. "So you want Shadi to bring him back?" The tri-color-haired Spirit's eyes were keen yet haunted as he spoke.

Marik shook his head. "I don't know… I don't know what to do. Ra be damned! I don't fucking know what to do!" He slammed one of his huge fists onto the floor and the plane seemed to tremble.

The albino Spirit slumped back down onto his seat. "Isn't this just great!? What in hell do we do now?"

"We get off the plane in France and think," Yami responded. "I don't think that this is the right time for a meeting. What has been revealed to us is all that matters now."

========================================

"Things just keep getting weirder and weirder around here, don't they?" Duke commented, swinging his long legs onto a coffee table. He grabbed some nuts and popped them into his mouth.

The Dice-Master-turned-Air Force Commander was lounging about in one of the less formal rooms at the Fontainebleau with Tristan, Joey, and Seto. It was barely an hour after the so-called Eternal Triumvirate had arrived in France and they had locked themselves up in the congregation hall. Needless to mention, Seto was pissed as hell and his companions were treading lightly on the subject.

"Oy! Seto, how long do you plan to sit there like a statue?" Tristan asked, snaking an arm around Duke and pulling him close while eyeing the CEO nervously.

He received no response.

Joey waved a hand in front of his lover's face. "Will ya snap out of it, moneybags?" If that old insult didn't bring Kaiba around, nothing would.

Fortunately – or maybe unfortunately – for Joey, Kaiba snapped out of his frigid reverie. "Snap out of what, may I ask? What is there to snap out of?" He stood up and paced the floor, steam starting to rise out of his ears. "I should have known it was too good to last! It was abnormal, those three maniacs actually functioning responsibly for more than a second! Just when I think they're going to do their jobs right, they have to go off for a vacation and come back lazy asses again. Those God-forsaken sons of a bi –!" he stopped mid-rant. His brother, Mokuba, had just walked into the room.

"Uh, hi, big brother," the raven-haired teen said, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. Mokuba was no longer a child, in thought or appearance. He'd grown taller over the past three years, and his hair had been cut so that it fell just a little below his shoulders. He was a rather serious young lad with a warm smile and innocent expression. Seto had already started training him to become the next head of Kaiba Corporation, since the brunette felt he could not serve as Chief Advisor and CEO of his corporation at the same time. It was time for Mokuba to make his mark in the world anyway.

"Hey there, Mokie!" Joey piped up, grinning and going over to ruffle the boy's hair. "Whatcha doin' here? I thought you were home studying with Serenity or something." He cast a sly glance to where Seto was standing with his mouth half-open and Tristan and Duke were snickering behind their hands.

"I came to visit. I ran into Marik on my way here, when I passed the main hallway," the boy explained, taking a small note out of his coat pocket. "This is for you, big brother." He handed the note to Seto, who was only beginning to regain his composure.

Glancing at the paper, Seto's ears began to steam. The paper was crushed in his fist. Duke and Tristan covered their mouths to mute their snickers.

"Uh?…. Seto? Love?" Joey spoke up hesitantly, placing a hand on his brunette lover's shoulder. He was curious about the letter, but didn't want to risk an explosion of the 'Seto Kaiba' variety. "What does the letter say?"

The CEO did not speak; instead, he thrust the paper at Duke and Tristan. "See for yourselves!" he grounded through clenched teeth.

Puzzled, Joey took the paper from Tristan and smoothed it out. Duke and Tristan peered over his shoulders. The note ran thus.

'Seto, just sort out through the documents yourself. Don't bother us. Just give us the important ones later, okay? We're very busy right now.

'From,

'Yami, Bakura, and Marik'

The three friends gulped simultaneously. The letter was bad – very bad.

"Easy now, Seto…" Tristan said, backing away slightly, nudging Joey and Duke to follow. "It's not the end of the world…"

Joey stepped on his foot as if to say 'wrong choice of words!" The blonde chose the perfect timing. Seto exploded.

"I KNEW IT! IT WAS TOO GOOD TO LAST! TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF PROPER LEADERSHIP, THEN WHEN THEY DECIDE TO GO FOR A LITTLE VISIT TO JAPAN, EVERYTHING BLOWS UP IN MY FACE!!!! DID THEY CHANGE? NOOOOO. THEY'RE THE SAME AS BEFORE – NO – WORSE! IF I WEREN'T HERE, HOW FOR FUCK'S SAKE WOULD THIS WORLD BE RUNNING? THOSE LOUSY, GOOD FOR NOTHING WHORE-MONGERING IDIOTIC SLOBS WOULD SEND THIS PLANET TO THE BRINK OF DISASTER! JUST WHEN I THOUGHT SOMETHING RIGHT WAS GOING TO GET DONE IN THIS WORLD, THEY GO AND RUIN IT ALL BY GOING BACK TO THEIR LAZY-ASS WAYS!!! THOSE GOD-FORSAKEN SONS OF A – !" It was just then, in mid-rant, that Seto realized that Mokuba was still in the room, gazing at him with huge, innocent eyes.

"Sons of a what, big brother?" the young boy asked.

For a long time, the room was silent.

Finally, the raven-headed Kaiba broke the uneasiness of the atmosphere. "It's okay, big brother. I don't need to know." Even if Mokuba was no longer a child, he still tended to use simple, somewhat babyish words.

"You weren't supposed to hear me speaking like that," Seto moaned into his hands as he bent his neck, resting his head and hands on Joey's shoulder.

Mokuba smiled brightly. "Who knows? Maybe Yami and the other two are working on a solution for the starvation in Africa."

Duke chuckled ruefully. "The day those three really think of anyone but themselves will be the day that Isis joins Mai on the ramps in Paris as a supermodel."

Tristan snickered. "Like that will ever happen!"

Seto groaned again and Joey patted his shoulders sympathetically.

========================================

Sitting around the oval conference table beyond the locked doors of the hall, Yami, Bakura, and Marik were idly tossing papers around and staring at the ceiling.

'Would he ever forgive me if he came back? Would things go back to the way they were? No… He would hate me…. Loathe me…' Yami thought mournfully, causing a cyclone of dark black energy to appear in the center of the table. The decorative crystal chandelier was sucked in and destroyed, but none of the Spirits even batted an eye.

"Oy, Yami," Marik said suddenly, looking up from his scribbles. He'd been busily covering both sides of a paper with repetitions of a single word: habibi. "Why are we just sitting around here doing nothing?" He blinked his eyes stupidly and caused the glass on a window to shatter when he put down his pen.

Bakura tossed a wad of paper at his head. "Could you get any dumber than you already are?" He clenched his fist and the large monitor positioned on one wall of the room cracked and smashed to pieces. "We're here to think!"

"Obviously, we're not getting anything done at all, though," Yami remarked quietly. "We have barely spoken in the past hour and our Shadow Powers are unstable because of our lack of focus. Need I remind you of the accident just after we conquered this world?"

Marik and Bakura grunted. Yami was referring to the bickering they'd done as soon as they'd gained control over all seven continents. They'd argued over territories and as a result, their Shadow Energy created a gaping hole in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It had taken months to repair the damage, and it was before Seto had finished grieving and agreed to become their advisor (and condemned himself to hell on earth).

"We might as well retire for the night." Yami stood up and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "We can talk again in the morning. One of you, have someone come in here to clean up. This room is a wreck!"

One by one, the Triumvirate dissolved into dark energy and reappeared in their bedchambers. None were interested in calling their concubines, and so, the Fontainebleau was peaceful in mere minutes.

In Yami's room, the tri-color-haired Pharaoh was dreaming of days gone by, a serene smile on his lips.

--- 0 ---

"I'm going to beat you this time, Yami!" Yugi declared happily, tapping his controller like there was no tomorrow. He and his ancient lover were sitting together in front of Grandpa Solomon's new television set, playing a new PlayStation game that was created by Duke's company.

The Pharaoh smiled benignly and looked at his hikari with nothing but love in his eyes. "Are you sure you want that, aibou?" A mischievous grin flashed on Yami's face and he dropped his controller, pinning Yugi to the floor in a passionate kiss.

The screen blinked 'DRAW'.

Yami released Yugi, smiling in satisfaction. The light was blushing as he sat up. "That was cheating, Yami!" Yugi pouted. "You made me lose my concentration."

"But that made us even, my little one," Yami said, flicking the television off with a single thought. "I wasn't even paying attention to the game. How could I, when there was a beautiful little creature sitting beside me?"

Yugi blinked innocently and looked at the floor. His face had turned a bright shade of red. "Do you mean the cat outside the window?"

"Oh, no… Something much more glorious than a mere cat." When Yami wanted to, he could be a very eloquent Spirit. "I was referring to the little angel of innocence beside me… The chaste soul that caged my very being quite a time ago, after rescuing me from my millennia of imprisonment."

"Yami, stop it! That's an exaggeration!" Yugi's face was positively burning. Suddenly, he found himself swept off the floor and in Yami's arms.

"I tire of the PlayStation, my aibou…" Yami stated, and Yugi could see the familiar glassy look of lust in the Spirit's eyes. "Why don't we go upstairs and play another game, hm?" Without waiting for a reply, he transported both of them into Yugi's bedroom.

"But what about the game? I promised Duke we'd finish it today!" Yugi protested as he was laid on the bed. He gasped as Yami leaned over him and started nibbling on his neck. "Mhhhmmhhhmmm… Yami…."

"I knew you'd see it my way…"

--- 0 ---

In another room in the huge palace, the Tomb Robber Bakura was tossing in bed, a chuckle escaping his lips as he slumbered.

--- 0 ---

"Kuraaaaaaaa!!! Stop it already!!!!" Ryou yelled as he ran around the living room, trying to get away from his suddenly playful, knife-wielding yami. He knew Bakura wouldn't hurt him – not anymore – but it was still disconcerting to have a grinning Spirit chasing you with a knife. "I still have to finish my homework!"

"Not a chance of that, tenchi," Bakura answered. "I know you did all the assignments you have due tomorrow. You just don't want to have some fun with me!"

Ryou turned at the corner of the hallway and ran up the stairs. He bolted into the shower and locked the door. "Hah! You can't follow me in now!"

Suddenly, there was a soft click and the bathroom door was pushed open. Ryou jerked up and pressed himself to the bathroom wall.

"You forgot that I'm a thief, Ryou. I can pick any lock that stands in between me and what I want!" Bakura smirked as he strolled into the bathroom at a leisurely pace. He no longer held a knife.

"And what do you want right now, Kura?" Ryou asked softly, lowering his gaze demurely.

The Tomb Robber grinned and leaned over his hikari. "Hmm… Don't you want to guess, tenchi?"

"Are you hungry? Do you want me to go cook dinner already?" Ryou suggested, tilting his head to the side.

"No. Guess again."

"Do you want to go out tonight? I think some of our friends are going clubbing."

"Still wrong. Try again, tenchi."

"Do you want to take a bath? I can get the tub ready for you if you want."

Bakura suddenly picked Ryou up and deposited him in the bathtub. "I have something better in mind…"

--- 0 ---

Meanwhile, in yet a third room, the psychotic Assassin, Marik, was moaning, his cock getting hard as he dreamt.

--- 0 ---

"Well, aren't you going to finish your lunch?" Malik demanded, looking down pointedly at his darker half's remaining vegetables. The two blonde Egyptians were sitting at the dining table, where Isis had left them previously, hoping that they'd be good for once while she attended to some business.

Marik sulked and dropped his head onto the table. "I don't like my vegetables!" he whined, sounding very much like a little child. "They're… DEVIL INCARNATES!" Marik protested.

The hikari blinked his lavender eyes in confusion. "Huh? Tea's a slut, but she's not a vegetable!"

The Assassin stood up and leaned over the table to look his light in the eye. "She isn't, but vegetables are like squirrels!"

Malik blinked. "Wait. I thought we were talking about Tea. Why are you babbling about squirrels?" He scratched his head. His yami was definitely confusing when he wanted to be so.

"I swear, habibi, one day, I will get rid of all devil incarnates in the world and we'll all be free and happy forever!"

It couldn't be helped. Malik started laughing. "You really are insane! Ra! Tea? Squirrels? And vegetables too? Devil incarnates?! Marik, you've been watching cartoons again, haven't you?"

"I am a loyal follower of the Looney Toons!" Marik said solemnly, making Malik fall to the floor, rolling and clutching at his sides in glee.

"Oh, Horus! Geez!" With much difficulty, Malik managed to stand. "Just finish your vegetables so we can get out of here before Isis gets back!"

A sly look appeared in the psycho's eyes. He picked a carrot stick off his plate. "And do I get a prize if I finish my vegetables?" He looked Malik up and down suggestively while he chewed on the food item.

The hikari purred seductively and ran a hand along Marik's chest. "Oh, I'll think of something…"

--- 0 ---

Marik's eyes flew open and he looked down at his sheets. There was a fair-sized tent underneath, in the area where his crotch was supposed to be. But that wasn't what mattered at the moment. The huge blonde leaped out of bed and grabbed his cellular phone, dialing one of the two numbers he'd miraculously memorized by heart.

======================================

Up in the northern part of the world, in a room dimly lit by a few candles, the scent of sex heavy in the air, two persons were lying curled up on a bed.

"… so the Irish minister is planning to cement an agreement with the defense secretary of Germany regarding the new code on smuggling of arms that that big-headed idiot Seto Kaiba put into effect last week," Tea concluded her report, sliding off the bed and donning her magenta underwear. "How stupid can people get? Those two idiots and my darling Yami couldn't possibly come up with all those complicated rules. It's that bastard of a brunette's doing! My poor sweet darling Yami could never stand such painfully hard work!" It had been three years, and even after everything that had happened to her, the brunette friendship freak still believed that Yami was madly in love with her and that they were destined to be married and to live happily ever after. She reached under the bed and grabbed her rumpled tunic and pants. Once she was dressed, she looked shockingly like her old self… the kind, innocent, friendly young teenage girl she'd been three years ago. "What have you got for me?"

Keith propped up his head in his hands and looked up at his brunette 'partner'. "I got a summons from the three dunderheads this morning. They want me to come to the former Vatican City for a meeting next week. I don't believe a word of it. They never really need to talk to anyone unless they want a beer or a new whore to play with. They've got the Kaibas and those other followers of theirs to do their dirty work. It's probably that that creep of a Chief Advisor who planned the meeting – a dumb formality, if you ask me!"

"Well, are you going?" Tea asked, perching on the edge of the bed. For some reason, she chose to ignore the fact that her lover had just called Yami a dunderhead and denounced him as a whore-mongering drunkard.

The bandit-turned-general snorted. "I might as well indulge them. Wouldn't want anything to put me at a disadvantage, would I? I don't know why the yamis keep me around at all, so I won't give Kaiba any reason to report me or something."

Tea looked up at the ceiling and giggled. "I want to come."

"Why?"

The slut leaned over her lover and planted a light kiss on his lips. "Simple. Maybe I can do some damage while I'm there." She reached under the sheets and her fingers started to trace patterns on Keith's back. "Besides, I want to see the Pharaoh again… Won't he be surprised to see me?" She patted the small, elegantly-shaped silver gun on the bedside table.

Keith chuckled evilly. "Oh, yes… He definitely will." He looked up at the seemingly innocent woman before him. He knew she was the farthest thing from innocent. "They all will…"

======================================

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Damn! Stupid phone's busy!" Marik cursed, and then dialed the second number.

It was busy as well.

"For fuck's sake! What in Ra's name are they doing right now? Ordering pizzas?" The blonde Czar threw the phone onto the floor and it instantly dissolved into a small Shadow Portal. He stormed out the door, forgetting the fact that he was only in his boxers and he had a huge erection. The Tauk gleamed on his neck and the Rod was clenched in one fist. Had the servants, cronies, and miscellaneous officials and supposed guards been in his way, they'd all have fled in terror. Such would have been the effect of his expression.

He rounded a corner and strode into the wide hallway leading to the circular antechamber of the Fontainebleau's main chamber. As soon as he walked into the oak-paneled corridor –

SMASH!

He crashed into something – or rather, someone.

"What in Ra's name did you do that for?!"

"Blast it, Assassin! Tomb Robber, weren't you looking where you were going?"

Yami and Bakura were sprawled underneath Marik's vast bulk, struggling to get to their feet while the tan blonde tried to piece out what had just happened.

"What are you two doing here?" the dark lavender-eyed blonde asked, rolling off his two disgruntled co-rulers.

Yami's who was wearing a dressing robe over his nightwear, stood and rubbed at his backside. "I'd ask you the same thing. I was trying to call you but your phone was busy. Bakura's was as well."

"Same story here," the Tomb Robber said, pulling up his pajama bottoms, which were threatening to fall off. He smoothed out his t-shirt and shook his head. "I had a weird dream and I made my decision."

"What dream?" Marik asked, pushing open the door to the antechamber and leading the way in. "I had a dream too, and I want to talk to you two about it."

Yami looked at the ceiling and chuckled. "If you two dreamt about your lights, I'm not surprised. It seems that we are in the same predicament." He smiled ironically and stretched out on one of the ivory divans scattered around the room, the perfect picture of a wise, benevolent ruler. "I think we should have know all along we'd come to this point."

Marik smirked and slung a hand over Bakura's shoulder, pulling him down onto the ornate couch in front of the divan. No words were necessary. Even he understood.

"It is because without them, your souls can never be whole." Shadi appeared with a pop, bowing low before coming closer. None of the yami's seemed surprised to see him at all. "I trust I have not intruded, my Lords."

"You did say you'd come as soon as we reached our decision," Yami pointed out, sitting up, his face deathly serious. "I will be frank with you, Shadi. If you cannot do as you say, I will be the one to destroy you – personally."

Bakura snarled. "Save some for me, Pharaoh. Shadi will not get off so easily if he's lying."

Marik nodded, grunting in agreement. "I want a piece of him too. It's either he delivers or dies."

The turban-headed mystic did not seem eve slightly fazed. "I can and will do it, if you so desire."

Yami looked at the fireplace, causing a great flame to blaze in the hearth, illuminating and warming the room instantly. "How long will it take, Shadi?"

"I need only wait for the next lunar eclipse."

"That's in three weeks!" Bakura exclaimed, counting with his fingers. "So close!"

Shadi nodded and Yami chuckled humorlessly. "It only stands to reason. We killed them at a solar eclipse, so it is by the lunar eclipse that they can be brought back."

"I need but one thing of you, my Lords, if I am truly to proceed." The former Keeper of the Millennium Items raised a hand in a gesture for silence.

"What is it now?" Marik asked impatiently. He glared menacingly at Shadi.

Shadi merely smiled. "Why, I wish to hear it from your lips. I wish to hear you utter the names that have not touched you lips in three years. I wish to know if you truly want what I offer to give."

Yami, Bakura, and Marik looked at each other and nodded, unconsciously straightening up where they sat. Simultaneously, they turned their heads back to Shadi.

Marik was first to speak. "I guess I've been stupid. I really thought I could live without my habibi. I was wrong." He looked into Shadi's eyes, all traces of insanity gone from his face. "Shadi, bring my Malik back. Bring my Malik back to me."

Shadi said nothing, and it was now Bakura who spoke. "I used to hurt him, back when he first unsealed me. And I gave my tenchi the ultimate wound when I took his life." The Tomb Robber's eyes were filled with conviction. "I want my Ryou. I want my Ryou back."

Silence followed, then, finally, Yami spoke. "I love my aibou even now, and the fact that he's gone and that I was the one who killed him is a perpetual knife plunged into my heart and soul." Crimson eyes glimmered with emotion. "I charge you, return my Yugi to life. Return my Yugi to me."

The former Keeper nodded, eyes steadily focused on the three tortured souls before him. He uttered the words that ultimately turned the cogs of fate once more.

"I will do as you command. I will bring your hikaris back to life."

TBC…
Ruriko: Okay, chapter five done, and I'm now calm again! So, obviously we all get what we want now! YEAH!!!! YUGI, RYOU, AND MALIK REALLY WILL BE COMING BACK!!!! Woo-hoo!!!!

VM: isn't that all we're waiting for?

Ruriko: (smiles wickedly) YUP! And that's why our dear Psychopath is here with us tonight!

Marik: (looks up from puzzle of a dead squirrel) Who? Me?

VM: yes you (ties him to a chair)

Marik: What the fuck are you tying me up for?

Ruriko: (smiles sweetly) Why, we need to interview you of course...So, yami no Malik, do you really want your hikari back?

VM: (gets a flash light and points it at him)

Marik: Of course I want him back!!!!!!!! Now let me go!!! (goes red and eyes get misty) I... miss him...

Ruriko: (sobbing and dabbing at eyes with tissue) So sweet..... I.... I'm touched.... I promise... We will bring him back!

VM: (nods head) we promised we will right?

Ruriko: (blows nose and looks at computer screen) So... here is what to expect next.....

Chapter 6: ?
The yamis have made their decision, and Shadi said he'd do as commanded. What will their friends say when they find out? What will the media report? Just who are (as the media asks) 'the Lights of the Eternal Triumvirate'? And above all... What will Keith and Tea do with the new information? Find out in the next chapter!

VM: Yup, we'll try and update faster (sweatdrop) anyway, review please!

P.S.
Ruriko: Right.... Since This is the first time I'm going to be back in a while, I might as well give ya'll the low-down on my solo fics...
- Seeing Eye to Eye May take a while, since I'm in debate about what I'm doing to Joey now... It's stored in a disk, but I won't touch it or edit it for a while - let alone post. Sorry for the inconvenience! If you have any suggestions, please, don't hesitate to let me know.
- Dances of Seduction will probably have a new chapter soon. I have a LOT of stories from friends again.... And I miss my Pharaoh! (pouts and sighs)
- Twisted Utopia will be the alternate to DOS. I mean, if I DON'T update DOS soon, it will be because I'll update TU, okay?

Oh, and frrm now on, we won't call the yamis 'World Rulers'. We'll use 'Eternal Triumvirate' instead. And Ryuuji Otogi will be called by his English-dub name instead: Duke Devlin.