13. The Millennium Items

"What's that?" Rebecca asked, and Yugi remembered that Rebecca hadn't known Bakura when he'd been possessed by his own Yami spirit from the Millennium Ring.

"It… it looks like one of the Millennium Items," Yugi explained. "The Ring that used to be Bakura's."

Rebecca's eyes widened and she took a step back. "Wasn't that the one with the evil spirit?"

"Yes, but he's gone," Yugi assured her.

"I thought you said all the Millennium Items are gone," Mai observed, stretching to see it over Yugi's shoulder.

"They are," Yugi replied. "This has to be a fake." And yet…. He examined the Ring closely. "It's a very good fake, though. I can't really tell by looking at it if it's real or not. It… it looks real." Was it possible? Could someone have actually dug them out again? How deep was that chasm they'd fallen into?

"It can't be real," Joey insisted. "Can it?"

"Is… did I do something wrong?" Sho asked looking worried.

In his shock over seeing the Ring, Yugi had forgotten Sho was there. "No, no, it's not your fault, Sho," he assured the younger boy quickly. "This just looks like something that once belonged to a friend of ours, something that was supposed to have been lost forever. Someone is playing a practical joke on us, I think. Who gave this to you?"

"It was that guy with the bug deck, the one you beat in the first round."

"Weevil Underwood!" Yugi groaned, putting his hand to his forehead. He exchanged a guilty look with Téa; they'd forgotten all about Weevil and Rex's food hoarding and never reported it to anyone. I'm letting Téa distract me from everything else going on again, he admonished himself.

"That's him," Sho confirmed. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted him. I saw how mad he got when you beat him, but he said he was your friend and that was all just trash talk for the match. Since he had that good luck charm you always used to wear, I figured—"

"Good luck charm?" Yugi gasped. "What good luck charm?"

"You know, that one you used to wear all the time, like an upside-down pyramid. I'd seen pictures of you from Battle City and the KC Grand Championship with it. He said you'd given it to him and he wanted to give you this thing to return the favor."

"No way he's got the real Millennium Puzzle," Joey breathed, furious. "I swear I'm gonna pound that little cockroach the next time I see him. Where the heck did he get a hold of a couple of fake Millennium Items anyway?"

"Did he have any more objects like this?" Yugi asked Sho. "A scale or a necklace or a rod or a small gold eyeball-looking thing or a sort of key shaped like an ankh, anything with an eye like this on them?" He showed Sho the Eye of Horus embossed on the Millennium Ring.

Sho shrugged. "I didn't see anything else. But you know, he did say something like 'there's plenty more luck to go around.'"

Yugi looked at Joey. "He's hinting he has more."

"Why?" Tristan asked. "What in the world would Weevil want with a bunch of fake Millennium Items?"

"That's the wrong question. First of all, we don't know for sure they're fake. Probably, but still, this Ring is very authentic," Yugi said, holding it up. "Professor Hawkins or Ishizu could probably tell just by looking if it's real, but I can't. Either way, though, the question is: how did Weevil Underwood manage to get a hold of two Millennium Items or high quality imitations?"

"He had to have gotten them from someone else," Téa replied.

"Who has those kind of resources?" Joey asked, and then they all said in unison, "Pegasus!"

But Yugi shook his head. "No, I don't think it was Pegasus. Remember how freaked out he was this morning? He said 'It may not be real,' remember?"

Joey's eyes widened. "You think Weevil showed him the Millennium Items he has?"

"I think that might be it. If a very realistic Millennium Eye turned up, for instance…"

Tristan whistled. "That'd freak Pegasus out."

"And if there's any chance they are real, then I'm afraid the Shadow Realm is probably already open," Yugi added, his heart sinking.

"So maybe that Underwood toad is the one working for our grave robber after all," Mai suggested. "Pegasus did say he was someone with a lot of resources."

"Weevil certainly isn't going to end up with something like this on his own," Yugi agreed, indicating the Ring again. "I really need to see the Millennium Puzzle, though. I'm positive I'll be able to tell if that's real or not."

"Yugi," Téa said, and he turned to see her eyes wide and her face pale. "Yugi, if he has the real Puzzle, then… could…?"

Atem. She's wondering if Atem could come back. Honestly, he had no idea. He just shrugged, looking down, not wanting to think about what that could mean, but unable to stop himself. What would happen to him and Téa if Atem came back again?

With great effort, he dragged his attention to Joey, who was questioning Sho. "Hey kid, where were you when Weevil gave you the Ring?"

"At the campfire last night. He pulled me aside and said he wanted me to do him a favor," Sho replied.

"Last night?" Yugi asked, surprised. This must have been after he and Téa saw Rex and Weevil. "If he gave you the Ring last night, why did you wait until now to give it to me?"

"He said to wait until just before your duel. Said he wanted to surprise you."

"He's trying to distract me from the duel. Maybe he's even hoping I'll back out to go searching for him."

"We start in just a few minutes, too," Rebecca pointed out.

"That doesn't make a lot of sense," Mai said. "Why would he want to show Yugi the Ring if he didn't want something from him, like challenging him to a duel or something?" She looked at Sho. "Did he tell you to have Yugi meet him somewhere or challenge him to a duel or something?"

"Nope, nothing like that," Sho answered. "He just gave me that thing and said 'Do me a favor. Give this to my good friend Yugi Mutou. It's for good luck.'" He turned to Yugi. "And when I told him it didn't seem like you two were good friends when you dueled him, he showed me the pyramid-thingy and said you gave him your good luck charm a couple of years ago and now he wanted to return the favor. Then he said something about there being a lot more luck to go around and took off."

Joey clapped Yugi on the shoulder. "Don't worry. You and Rebecca go duel. The rest of us can split up and start searching for the little freak. This section of the island isn't that big, so he couldn't have gotten far."

Yugi looked at Téa again. "Actually… Téa and I know where he might be. We saw him and Rex stealing food and hoarding it in a cave last night, probably right before he gave the Ring to Sho."

"What? Why didn't you say something?" Duke asked.

Yugi saw Téa's cheeks color and felt his own face get warm. He shuffled his boots in the sand. "Uh… we sorta forgot."

"You forgot? How could you—" Duke started, but then it seemed to click and he gave Yugi a crooked grin. "You dog!"

Resolutely ignoring his increasing embarrassment, Yugi said, "Téa, you take the others back to that cave. See if you can get some flashlights from the stuff we brought from the lifeboats."

"Wait a second," Téa protested, holding up her hands. "I'm not missing your duel!"

"We don't have a choice. We're the only two who know where that cave is and I think we should go after him as soon as possible. He doesn't know we know about the cave, so that gives us an advantage. We need to press it."

She shook her head. "No way. If you're going to go through with these creepy dark duels, you need to have your friends around you."

"What if Serenity and I stay and support Yugi and Becky and the rest of you can go?" Duke suggested. "Téa can show you where to go and if Rex and Weevil are looking to duel someone to get back the Puzzle, Joey and Mai can do it. Tristan can be the brute squad."

"Thanks a lot," Tristan snapped, though Yugi wasn't sure whether it was the brute squad crack or the fact that this proposal involved Duke and Serenity staying together that irked him. Either way, Yugi thought it wasn't a bad plan.

"That sounds good."

"No it does not sound good," Téa objected. "I am not going off into the woods while you duel, Yugi, not if there's even a remote chance that this is going to be some sort of Shadow Game."

He put his hand on her arm. "It'll be okay. It only will last as long as the duel does. I need to get that Puzzle as soon as possible, Téa."

Her eyes met his, wide with concern, but she didn't say anything.

"Besides, if you find Weevil quickly and get the Puzzle, you can probably be back before it's over," he added after a moment.

"Not if I kick your butt in the first few turns," Rebecca quipped.

"As if," Yugi shot back, trying to lighten the tension.

"It's not a joke!" Téa shouted.

"Téa, it'll be fine. Duke and Serenity will watch out for us. Go. Find Rex and Weevil and the Millennium Puzzle so we can figure out what's going on here."

Behind them, Nelson called out, "The quarter-final duel between Black Division champion Yugi Mutou and Yellow Division champion Rebecca Hawkins will begin in five minutes. Mr. Mutou and Miss Hawkins, please report to the dueling field."

"We've gotta go," Yugi told Téa. "Go. Find the Puzzle."

She nodded, but didn't look happy. "I have a bad feeling about this, Yugi."

"It'll be fine."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck," she said and then turned to Rebecca. "Good luck to you, too."

Joey and Tristan each wished him luck as well, Tristan clapping Yugi on the back and Joey clasping his hand. "We'll be back as soon as we find that creep," Joey told him. Then they wished Rebecca good luck as well.

Yugi held the Millennium Ring out to Joey. "Maybe you should take this. The real one would point to other Millennium Items when it got near them. If it is real, it would help you find them and if it isn't you'd be able to tell as soon as you got it near the Puzzle."

Joey looked at it like it might bite him. "Uh, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not be anywhere near that thing, not after the number the real one did on Bakura."

Mai rolled her eyes and elbowed Joey out of the way. "Give me a break, you big baby. I'll hold it," she said, taking the Ring from Yugi. Then she, Joey, and Tristan followed Téa toward the cliffs where she and Yugi had seen Rex and Weevil the night before, while he, Rebecca, Duke, and Serenity headed down the beach to the dueling area with a confused Sho trailing behind them. Kaiba and Mokuba were there, standing at the edge of the group that had gathered to watch the last duel of the day.

"Where's the rest of your little pep squad?" Kaiba asked, frowning as Yugi and his friends approached.

"They went looking for Weevil Underwood. Apparently he managed to get a hold of some Millennium Items."

Kaiba's eyes widened. "What?"

"I don't think they're real," Yugi quickly amended, "but he gave Sho Inoue a very realistic-looking Millennium Ring to give to me, and Sho says he was wearing something that looked like the Millennium Puzzle."

"What would a loser like Underwood be doing with fake Millennium Items?" Kaiba asked.

"I don't know, but Joey, Tristan, Mai, and Téa went to go find out."

"And miss your duel?"

"We need to get to the bottom of this. Weevil couldn't come across such high quality fakes on his own."

Kaiba glowered dangerously. "Good point. I'm still not convinced he and that Raptor moron didn't have something to do with that landslide that almost killed Mokuba and Téa and trapped us all here."

Yugi didn't answer.

"Forget about that," Serenity said, stepping between Yugi and Kaiba. "You've got a duel to think about."

"Right," he said. His gaze met Rebecca's. "You ready?"

She nodded.

"Rebecca, whatever happens—"

She shook her head, cutting him short. "I know." She then put on her Battle Face and switched on her duel disk. "Let's duel!"

Téa's bad feeling did not improve as she, Joey, Tristan, and Mai headed south past the stream toward the cave where she and Yugi had seen Rex and Weevil the night before. Her mind was reeling with the possibility of what it might mean if the Millennium Puzzle was real. With everything that had happened between her and Yugi over the past few days—over the past few years, really—she wasn't sure she was prepared to deal with the confusion even the possibility of Atem returning could cause. It made her feel very possessive of Yugi, her Yugi, like she suddenly might have to prove where her loyalties lay.

But no, he couldn't come back. We saw him go into the spirit world. Even if the Shadow Games come back, even if the Puzzle is real—which it probably isn't—he couldn't come back.

But this whole train of thought made her uncomfortable. Two years ago she would've jumped at the chance for his return, and now the very thought made her uneasy. Could it possibly be that after only two years she wouldn't want him to come back if he could? That she much preferred the simplified answer of viewing Yugi as both of them merged together than being forced to face the two of them as separate people? If Atem was Atem, then would Yugi then only be part of the person he was now? They were questions she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answers to.

Fortunately, reaching the cave offered her a distraction so she didn't have to think about it further. "There it is," she pointed, "behind that bush."

"That?" Mai said dubiously. "It's just a hole in the cliff."

Téa shook her head. "No, it's bigger inside. At least it seemed big, anyway. We couldn't really see much because the only light we had was the little one on Yugi's penknife."

"Well, these oughtta be good enough," Joey said, indicating the two large flashlights they had taken from the stash of ten that Evan kept in the cave. He held one and Téa held the other.

The reached the cave entrance and Joey motioned with his flashlight. "Ladies first."

"Oh honestly," Mai groaned, "what a chicken!"

"I am not, you take that back!" Joey shouted, but Mai had already gotten down on her hands and knees and was crawling into opening. Joey followed behind, then Tristan, and Téa last.

When Téa was inside, she straightened up, then gasped when she saw the cave illuminated by two strong flashlights.

It was cavernous.

"I thought it was big, but…" she breathed.

"Anyone else thinking of those tunnels at Duelist Kingdom?" Joey asked apprehensively.

"Yeah, Yugi and I thought the same thing last night," Téa agreed. She directed her flashlight to the corner where the food had been stashed. "Here's the food—" She stopped short when she saw the blanket lying empty on the ground. "It's gone!"

Tristan went over to examine the blanket. "They must've moved it somewhere." He straightened and directed his flashlight around the large cave. "Looks like there are some tunnels down at the other end," he said.

"Greeeeeeaat," Joey moaned. "It is just like Duelist Kingdom."

"Oh, quit being such a baby," Mai snapped.

"You know what," Tristan said thoughtfully, motioning for Téa to train her light ahead into the darkness. "If this is a tunnel, maybe it would take us back to the main part of the island where the rest of the passengers and crew are."

"First thing's first," Mai said impatiently. "Let's go see if we can find where Weevil got off to."

"WEEVIL! COME OUT, YOU LITTLE COCKROACH!" Joey screeched, startling them all as his voice echoed around the cave.

"Joey, SHUT UP!" they all yelled back.

"So much for taking him by surprise," Tristan groaned, smacking Joey in the back of the head. "Good going, lamebrain."

"Like he's not waiting for us to show up. Why else would he tell Sho to give Yugi that Ring?"

"Still, a little sneak attack would've been nice," Tristan complained, then smacked Joey again for good measure.

"Would you two stop it?" Téa chided, irritated. "Let's just see if we can find him or whatever he's trying to pass off as Millennium Items. I want to get back to Yugi's duel." She still had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach about Yugi and Rebecca dueling each other under the influence of some sort of darkness. "Mai, see if the Millennium Ring is glowing or pointing at anything."

Mai pulled the Ring out of her pocket. It was completely inert. She shrugged. "Either it's fake or the other Items aren't nearby."

They crossed the cavern, trying to stay close to the wall. At the far end, there was an opening, larger than the one that led outside. They were able to squeeze through it without crawling, and found themselves in another compartment, smaller than the first, but still quite large. They walked a few more steps before Joey shrieked, startling them once more.

"Now what's your problem?" Mai barked.

"Uh… I just kicked something and it doesn't feel like rock," Joey whispered, panicky.

Téa trained her flashlight at Joey's feet and cried out in surprise. Lying in an unconscious heap lay Pegasus.

"Pegasus!" Tristan cried as Joey knelt down beside him. "Is he okay?"

"He looks pretty pale and it's creeping me out. Looks like something out of one of those late night vampire movies," Joey replied, shuddering. "Man, I wish Serenity was here. She took some EMT classes last winter."

"He's not… this isn't a Shadow Realm thing, is it?" Téa asked, worried.

Joey shrugged. "I don't know. I don't remember anyone else in the Shadow Realm looking so pale like that. Oh wait," he said, pulling on Pegasus's arm. "Look, he's wearing a duel disk!"

"A duel disk? I don't think I've ever seen him duel with a duel disk," Mai commented.

"Well, it's not like there are a lot of dueling stages around here," Tristan replied.

"If he's got a duel disk, then maybe he was beaten in a Shadow Game," Téa said, hugging herself uncomfortably.

"But who?" Mai asked. "Somehow I don't think Weevil Underwood has it in him."

"Rex maybe?" Tristan suggested.

"I don't think either of them are good enough," Mai said, "and Pegasus, foppish act aside, is kind of a scary guy when he wants to be."

"You beat him in an Orichalcos duel," Tristan pointed out.

"You are not seriously putting those two idiots in the same league with me," Mai said darkly. "And anyway, that was a duel with a souped up evil magic card. This…"

"We don't know what this is," Téa said quietly.

"Huh. His deck is gone," Joey observed, looking at the duel disk. Téa saw that it was empty of cards.

"Okay, now stealing someone's deck? That sounds like something Rex or Weevil would do," Mai snorted.

"Check this out," Tristan said. He picked up something small, round, and gold from the cave floor beside Pegasus.

"The Millennium Eye!" Téa cried.

"Yugi was right," Joey nodded as Tristan took the Eye and shoved it into his coat pocket.

"So what do we do now?" Joey asked. "Keep looking for Rex and Weevil or take Pegasus back to the campsite?"

"We have to take Pegasus back, he needs that former navy medic—what's-his-name, Harrison—to look at him," Téa said, feeling more and more strongly the need to get back, Millennium Puzzle or no.

"Oh great, my favorite pastime, carrying around unconscious bodies," Tristan groaned. He looked around, then frowned. "Hey wait, look over there. There's a light coming from that opening. Maybe it's another way out." He stood up and headed that way.

"Hey, wait a second, you're just looking for an excuse to get out of carrying Pegasus!" Joey complained, but Tristan was already gone.

"Come on, Joey, we'll help you lift him," Mai said.

Together, Joey, Mai, and Téa got under Pegasus and heaved him up to sling him across Joey's back, but then a long whistle from Tristan stopped them.

"Uh, guys? You're not gonna believe this," he said, his voice low and sort of awe-struck.

"What, isn't that another way out?" Joey asked.

"Not exactly," Tristan said. "I think we're going to need to bring Yugi back here as soon as his duel's over. He needs to see this."