Almost finished...this is the official next-to-last chapter!

...So, hopefully it doesn't suck.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

Claimer: What DO I own? The list is so long...if I invented it, it's mine - how does that sound?

…

The Millennium Rod flared with power at the same instant Yami realized his dangerous proximity to the priest. The mage-demon leapt back to a more defensible position - or tried to.

Yami's body froze before he even began moving, the power of the Millennium Rod holding him in place like a vise.

"And then there was one," Seto smirked.

Rightly determining that Yami was no longer a threat, Seto turned his back to his captured prey and faced Bakurah, Millennium Rod at the ready. The necromancer-demon cursed and bolted, Seto already hot on his heels.

While Seto chased Bakurah down - the fiendish one was trying to get to the edge of the plaza and to safety, but the priest was just fast enough to keep Bakurah from getting away - Yami squirmed and struggled against the magic that kept him held fast. Unfortunately, it was completely resistant to his efforts, and the mage-demon had nothing else to work with.

"We're here for ya man, don't ya worry Yam'," came an unexpected voice, "We'll think'a somethin'…"

Yami was startled to hear Jou's voice - in the heat of battle, he'd pretty much forgotten all about the mortals' presence, sans Yugi, of course. He couldn't move his head to look, but hearing Rosa's whines and being able to feel how Yugi's concern had spiked alerted the mage-demon to the fact that his half-self had come over to join Honda, Ryou, and Jou in their efforts.

Frustration drove Yami to struggle even harder to break free, despite the total lack of success his struggles were achieving.

Long minutes passed - from the sounds of things, Bakurah was giving Seto one hell of a run - and the realization that Yami was trapped for as long as Seto was going to hold him here settled in Yami's mind. That was a fate Yami did NOT want to contemplate, fueling a new wave of rage and fear.

Yami HATED this, being pinned and helpless like this almost made the Hellpit seem attractive - at least in the damned pit he could MOVE - but being trapped like THIS made Yami's more primal instincts scream with intermingled fury and terror.

'Don't think that!' Yugi pleaded, easily picking up on Yami's fear and desperation, 'Listen to me, please! It's going to be okay, I promise.'

If the situation weren't so dire, Yami would have found this role reversal almost funny. Despite the panic demanding he do otherwise, Yami tried to calm himself and believe what Yugi was saying.

The voices of the other mortals weren't providing much in the way of assistance.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"Maybe we should try and break that evil-metal-stick-thingy?"

"But how would we manage that?"

"Shaddup, I'm trying ta think here -"

"Crap - INCOMING!"

The mortals scattered as Bakurah nearly plowed into their group. The necromancer-demon skidded to a halt the barest instant before plowing right into one of them - Ryou, Yami thought it was. That was the only one that fit - if it had been any of the others, even the thorny Rosa, Bakurah wouldn't have bothered with so much as trying to dodge.

Unfortunately, however well-meant the gesture was, the pause in his escape was to be Bakurah's undoing. The necromancer-demon lacked even the chance to curse before Seto's power flared. Yami winced as he saw Bakurah's body become enveloped in light, leaving him just as helpless as Yami was.

"This nonsense is going to end here and now, you pathetic excuse for a piece of vermin," Seto growled as he approached, going slowly so as to savor his victory, "I plan to take great pleasure in your final extermination."

"No! I won't let you have him!"

With no further warning, a bright light flared to life. It was eerily similar to the one still coming from Seto's Millennium Rod, but it was emanating from a completely unexpected source. The whole group watched in amazement as the beams of light coming from Ryou reached out and surrounded Bakurah. The glow of Seto's power vanished almost instantly, releasing the necromancer-demon.

As soon as Bakurah had stumbled forward to freedom, the light faded away. This revealed it's source, which had been somewhere in the vicinity of Ryou's chest. Yami could barely see it at the angle he was forced to look from, but in retrospect, the mage-demon realized, the magic's source had been the most obvious thing he could have imagined.

Hanging from a cord around Ryou's neck was a gleaming golden object. It was a round, flat ring, with five fat metal prongs dangling around it's edges. A flat pyramid in the center supported the main ring, and dominating the center of that was an elongated Sennen, staring out plain as the daylight.

Seto openly gaped, something akin to horror and shock warring on his features.

"How…"

The priest seemed unable to speak beyond that one word. Bakurah merely chuckled, though there was a strange edge to his voice. The fiend had moved forward the second he had discovered his freedom, and was standing behind Ryou now, a hand placed on his shoulder in a fashion best described as proud, though Bakurah did still look unusually rattled. Of course, being pinned like THAT, even briefly, would have definitely played hell with the tomb-robber's state…

"I can't imagine why you'd think you could understand it anyway," Bakurah finally sneered, "Let's go straight to the throat of the matter - your little Rod may have some useful tricks, bastard priest, but thanks to the power of MY Forsaken Item, things will not be going so easily for you anymore."

"…You have no claim to it," Seto slowly retorted, regaining his previous confidence more with every word, "I'm not blind, fool. I can see it hanging around the boy's neck. If you were it's master, it would be around yours. You are still no match for me, animal."

"Around my neck?" Bakurah chortled, sounding strangely amused, "Now who is the fool? It IS around my neck!"

Bakurah laughed, a strange light coming into his eyes.

"Perhaps I should thank you after all," the necromancer-demon continued, still laughing, "After all…without your little seal leashing him to me, I might have lost track of the boy after lo these many years…"

"Spare me your nonsense," Seto growled, "What madman's drivel are you babbling now?"

"It's very simple, though I doubt you'll understand anyway, idiot that you are," Bakurah said slowly, "The Millennium Ring is mine because the boy is me. I won't explain it again, fool, it's not that hard - besides, it is not as if I'm the only one to be so fortunate!"

Upon completing this statement, Bakurah began laughing hard, the sound growing louder and more maniacal with every second. Ryou was blushing red with embarrassment, but appeared otherwise unsurprised. If Yami could have moved, his jaw would have dropped in flat astonishment. Thankfully, Yugi was there to do that for him.

"Is that true, Ryou?" Yugi exclaimed.

"Yes…" the pale-haired mortal said.

Abruptly, Ryou's eyes flickered between Yami and Yugi, realization dawning.

"Oh! Does that mean you…"

"ENOUGH!" Seto roared.

As if that wasn't enough of a reminder that the priest was dangerous and yet-to-be-defeated, Seto released a wild wave of magic. With a thunderous CRACK, a powerful shockwave knocked everyone else away, leaving only the still trapped Yami to face Seto alone.

"This time I will make certain that you will not be coming back," Seto hissed softly as he raised the Millennium Rod yet again.

The feel of the power holding Yami in place slowly began to change. Instead of merely being held, unable to move, a strangely painful lethargy began crawling over the mage-demon. It took Yami a moment to realize exactly what Seto was doing - it felt like he was slowly being crushed, but the sensation was inward, directed towards his power and his life-force. And the power doing the crushing was…

Seto was draining his life with the Millennium Rod!

Cursing his helpless state, Yami thrashed against his prison with renewed vigor. As the drain increased, even the attempts he made to move became more and more difficult to carry out. Yami could feel his entire body slump against its restraints as he lost more and more energy and magic with every passing heartbeat.

Seto spoke again. This time, the priest's words were quiet, directed towards himself. Yami couldn't quite make them out…by this time, the drain had stopped actually hurting him any more, but he was so tired…he fought to stay alert, feeling as his mind lost focus and his thoughts wavered.

He had to stay awake, he had to…but he was so…tired…

A sudden presence, a bright and surprisingly vibrant and alive presence, flooded Yami's mind, startling him back to near-full awareness. He could feel the presence - Yugi's presence - shudder as the drain began to affect him, but Yugi's mind was being buoyed by something that resisted Seto's efforts.

'You're not going anywhere,' Yugi said, 'Focus on me, okay?'

Distantly, Yami thought he heard Seto yelling something. The power of the drain seemed to increase, but Yami could feel himself actually beginning to regain his energy as Seto's magic began to fail. How was Yugi actually managing to defeat the power of Seto's Forsaken Object was beyond Yami's knowledge, but…oh.

It was strange how the answer was so simple.

The Puzzle was the keystone, wasn't it?

As if that realization was the final trigger needed, the power of the Millennium Puzzle surged forth. It radiated through Yami's body and scattered Seto's power over him as sand scattered on the wind. Still mostly drained, Yami landed on his feet with a hard jolt and nearly lost his balance, but Yugi was with him in body as well as in mind and gladly supported him.

With his attempt to finish Yami off ruined, Seto looked angry enough to attempt the killing with his bare hands.

Catching sight of the gleaming golden Puzzle that dangled from Yugi's neck, however, left Seto staring in flat astonishment, his normal composure lost completely.

"Where…how…where did you get that?" Seto demanded.

Yugi ignored the question, instead focusing his concern on Yami. The mage-demon assured his half-self that he would be fine now, watching Seto through narrowed eyes warily in case the priest tried something else. Seto didn't appear to be much of a threat at the moment, clutching the Millennium Rod with a hand that was white-knuckled and shaking, but Yami really didn't feel up to taking chances anymore.

'He's scared of us,' Yugi said over the bond, sounding surprised.

'Of course he is. He's bonded to the Millennium Rod,' Yami reasoned, 'That puts him as much under the command of the Millennium Puzzle as the Rod itself is, which is quite a bit.'

'…He thinks we'll use the Puzzle to take revenge on him? …Do you need to have revenge?'

Yami blinked down at the serious face Yugi was presenting him with, startled by the question. It was a valid concern, and Yami thought carefully over his response.

Perhaps before this point, Yami would have wanted the priest to feel some of the suffering he had inflicted, but right now…

Now, for some reason, Yami didn't really care what happened to Seto. All he wanted, at the moment, was for the priest to leave him alone. It was an odd feeling.

Yugi nodded, understanding without Yami needing to formulate a response in words.

"Seto-san," Yugi said, this time speaking aloud.

From the tone Yugi was using, it sounded almost as if he was testing how the name sounded on his tongue. Seto barely failed to conceal a flinch, before giving his response. It was very blunt.

"So, how do you plan on killing me?"

When Yugi mutely shook his head at that, Seto's eyes went wide. The priest's gaze flickered toward Yami briefly, but the mage-demon kept his features impassive, revealing nothing.

"It's been long enough, Seto-san," Yugi said, drawing Seto's attention back towards him, "It's time to stop being angry now."

"…As if you even know of what it is you speak," Seto retorted, with only a moment's faltering.

"I don't have to. You can let it go now. We just want you to leave."

Seto opened his mouth, though judging from his face, the priest had no idea what it was he was about to say. Yugi waved a hand, cutting Seto off before he even started.

"Go home, Seto-san."

Seto drew himself up, and Yami tensed, fearing that the priest would indeed lash out now that he was backed into a corner.

Instead, Seto seemed to collapse in on himself just as quickly. Then he started walking past Yami and Yugi, towards the edge of the plaza and the city beyond. Seto paused only briefly, seeming to debate on something. Then the priest quickened his stride until he had vanished completely from view.

…