"Anubis! Seize this intruder!" Osiris bellowed, standing against his podium. "What is the meaning of this? The sacred seal has broken! Who are you, and why do you dare trespass on holy ground?"
Ryou gulped again. Anubis waved his hand, and massive chains appeared around his wrists and ankles.
"He cannot escape now." Anubis bowed.
"I'm not trying to escape!" Ryou shouted, glancing at his yami. Unbeknownst to him, the power of Osiris' attack was starting to wear off, and he was slowly regaining consciousness. "I am challenging you, Osiris. To a duel! For the soul of the thief Bakura!"
"Such insolence!" Anubis shouted, gesturing to the fallen soul at his feet. "Daring to challenge a god to a mere game! You are as audacious as this monster!"
"That monster is my yami!" he shouted back.
Slowly, Bakura opened his eyes. His first thought was that of total surprise. He still existed. His second thought was one of disbelief. Ryou was standing in front of the scale of judgment, arguing with the Lord of the Dead.
"…Ryou?" he whispered, unsure if this could possibly be real. His hikari, whom he had beaten to the point of being so timid and weak, was facing off against a god.
"He is Ryou Bakura, victim and host to the thief's spirit." Thoth answered, a different tablet appearing in his hands. "A kind and gentle soul, the subject of much tragedy, the fate of his bloodline."
"For breaching this gateway, you will lose your life!" Anubis shouted, tightening the grip on his staff.
"Not before I duel!" Ryou shouted back. "He's the other half of my soul. So I deserve a chance to speak on his behalf… and… and I have terms!"
Bakura no longer knew what to think. This was real, it just had to be. And given everything he had faced in his life and death, he was willing to believe just about anything.
"He is correct, Anubis." Thoth stopped the other deity from acting rashly. "He does have this right."
Ryou breathed a quick sigh of relief.
"Speak, then, living mortal." Osiris instructed harshly. "State the terms of this challenge. Now."
Ryou only nodded.
"I… challenge you to a duel." He struggled to keep his voice from trembling as it usually did. "And these are the stakes. If I win… then… then you have to set him free. You have to set both of us free. You will allow him to return to life, in his own body, so he can finish what he started… what… what fate started…"
Ryou was clearly afraid. His legs quivered, but he stood his ground.
"Preposterous." Anubis answered. "Osiris will answer to no such demand from a mortal!"
"If such a challenge is truly decreed by fate, then I cannot simply walk away." Osiris answered, forcing the jackal-headed deity to step aside. "But I have terms as well. When I win, you will be adequately punished. You will suffer the same fate as the one you have come here to fight for."
"No… Ryou, don't…" Bakura whispered, but his hikari could not hear him. "You don't want to do that. You do not want to do that."
"Agreed." Ryou answered, and held up his deck. A duel disk magically appeared on his left arm, just as it did for Yugi as he ventured through the pharaoh's world of memory. "Then it's time… to duel…" Ryou whispered, holding the duel disk at eye-level.
"May the challenge commence!"