Kujaku Mai looked around Domino International Airport as she stepped out of the arrival gates and was relieved to spot Anzu. She was holding up a giant version of a Harpie Lady card to make her easier to spot.

The blonde-haired, amethyst-eyed Harpie Duelist headed in the dancer's direction, shouldering her carry-on bag and pulling her wheeled suitcase behind her. "Hey, Mazaki. Please tell me there's somewhere with a drive-through on the way to yours."

"There can be a McDonald's stop." Anzu took the suitcase from the exhausted young woman who had just changed time zones several times and started towards the car. "Okaasan's keeping the car running for us."

Mai just nodded, having departed John Franklin Kennedy Airport over fourteen hours ago, in the early hours of the American morning and having not slept well thanks to turbulence the entire way. She just hoped that wherever she was going to be setting up for the duration of her stay was quiet. Domino was fourteen hours ahead of New York, and jet lag was hitting her hard.

"You came at just the right time. Yugi's getting out of hospital today," Anzu shared, noting that Mai was listing slightly and wondering if she was going to make it to the house before falling asleep.

"Meant to get here sooner, but I had to deal with some issues with an ex-boyfriend." The Harpie Duelist grumbled out the words, displeased at Jean-Claude Magnum's latest in his attempts to get her to marry him. This time, he had declared his love for her using a skywriter over the airport, successfully grounding all flights until the poor pilot he had duped into working for him, probably by way of a large bribe, had been grounded, and causing her original flight to be cancelled. "Mind if I start helping you with your deck tomorrow? I'm too tired to deal with a complete overhaul today."

"That's fair," the dancer allowed, a little disappointed but not surprised. "Will you be coming to the surprise get-together when Yugi gets home?"

"Entirely depends if I'm awake." Kujaku let out a huff as she shifted the bag on her shoulders. "I'd like to, but if you can't wake me up, then go on without me."

Anzu nodded and led Mai out to the car, where her Okaasan popped the boot and stepped out to introduce herself. There was a moment's pause as the older woman looked the Harpie Duelist up and down, minor disapproval on her features that was hurriedly schooled away as she asked, "Kujaku-san? I'm Mazaki Yui. We've set up the spare room for you."

"Kujaku Mai. It's a pleasure to meet you." Mai bowed carefully, reminding herself that it did not matter how tired she was or how much those sorts of looks annoyed her, politeness to your host went a long way. "I can put towards food while I'm here, if it helps?"

"We can manage, don't worry about that." Yui waved it off as she helped Anzu heft the suitcase into the car boot, wondering what was in it to make it that heavy. "Feel free to use our home like your own, within reason."

Mai's eyes flickered over the bengoshi kisho on her lapel, labelling the woman as an attorney, and nodded, suddenly understanding both that she needed to be on good behavior and that Anzu's family was better off than she had anticipated. "It's appreciated."

"Come on then. It's an hour's drive home, and I'm sure you'd like to sleep." The older Mazaki headed for the driver's door. Mai slipped into the back, glad for the soft interior, as Anzu slipped into the front passenger seat, and once seat belts had been applied, they drove off.

Mai did not make it past ten minutes before she had slipped into dreamland.

Kaiba Seto grimaced as he put in his earpiece, ready for the online meeting.

He preferred to interact with people face-to-face when it came to business matters, but apparently Tenma was 'too busy' to come up to Domino, and Mokuba had decided that instead of making it look like Kaiba Corp was at the beck and call of its business partner by having him go down to Tokyo, the digital meeting was better.

His brother was not wrong. He was still peeved at the CEO of Industrial Illusions for what had happened at Duelist Kingdom. If Kaiba Corp had not been so reliant on Duel Monsters for its projects, he would have severed ties already, like he had with the group of traitors on his old Board of Directors. However, even with the upcoming deal with Nintendo and Game Freak, regarding their Pocket Monsters franchise, he could not afford to tell the American company to shove off.

He did, however, have more leeway than he had previously had. Twenty percent of Industrial Illusions currently sat in his grasp. He had bailed out the other company by scooping up the stock that had been sold off by investors during the stock price crash.

It was selfishly satisfying to Seto that Duelist Kingdom had been a bigger mess for the man who had tried to take over his company than it had been for him, especially because his company had come out stronger from it. Kaiba Corp's stock prices had jumped up with the exhibition of the 'prototype' Duel Disk and the fact he had managed to make the finals of a tournament where only the best had been allowed to compete, proving his skills had not dimmed.

Of course it had also showed that Yugi's win over him had been skill, rather than sheer dumb luck, which he was not entirely happy about. However, he had plans to take his title back from her soon. He just needed to finish making the Duel Disk commercially viable, and then he was going to challenge her again.

As he slipped the earpiece in and connected to I2-Eye, the Industrial Illusions video conference server, he took a deep breath. Dealing with Tenma Yakko was never entirely fun, but he had a feeling that this time I2 needed Kaiba Corp as much as his company needed the American one.

Within moments of coming online, the computer started making the most obnoxious ringing noise. He glanced up to where his brother was sat off screen with notepad and pen, ready to make notes of anything that he would need to remember later. When Mokuba nodded, Seto hit the answer button.

"Kaiba Seto," the younger and more obnoxious of the Tenma brothers said immediately. "Thank you for finding the time to attend this meeting."

Just the fact that Yakko was being overly polite told him that whatever the meeting was about was important to the other man.

"What can Kaiba Corp help you with today?" Kaiba asked, sitting back and trying to hide his pleasure that he might have the other company over a barrel.

"Industrial Illusions will be running a publicity event in Tokyo, and we are inviting Kaiba Corp to take part," Yakko answered with a slight huff, "considering you might have something to show off by then."

"What exactly does this publicity event involve?" Seto refused to commit to anything until he had more details.

There was a pause, and then Yakko grimaced slightly. "Quite frankly, Kaiba, I don't know what my father was up to with Duelist Kingdom, but it has turned into an absolute nightmare for the company. We will be publicly apologizing for the disaster of that tournament and announcing a small compensation to anyone affected by that mess. That includes you and Mutou. We are hoping to present it to you both in person at the event, as well as formally announce Mutou as the Queen of Games and World Champion. We were hoping your Duel Disks would be ready so you could formally announce the release date, too."

Kaiba sat back, thinking quickly. "I have plans regarding the release that a flat date would interfere with."

"Oh?" Yakko tilted his head slightly, curiosity clear.

There was a moment when Seto hesitated, unhappy to announce his plans in case Yakko tried to steal them. Then he remembered that right now, Industrial Illusions would be loath to interfere because they needed to recover from the Duelist Kingdom disaster first. Plus he owned a fifth of their company, which was more than each of Pegasus's children did. They could beat him if they combined their holdings, but on a one-to-one basis, he owned more of Industrial Illusions then they did.

And that gave him the upper hand.

"I am running a tournament for top-ranked Duelists. Anyone ranked with four stars or higher will be eligible to compete. First come, first served for the first forty-eight Duelists, plus Duel Disks included with entry. Once the tournament is over, I will be releasing the system to the public."

Tenma nodded, thinking. "I can offer a small stipend from Industrial Illusions to assist in funding the tournament. Would you be against announcing it at the joint publicity event for both companies?"

Kaiba heard his brother let out a quiet, unamused huff but did not react to it. "I want full details of the event; I want safety and security guaranteed for myself and my brother, and I want to be the one to do the Kaiba Corp announcements."

"Safety? Kaiba, what makes you think you two would be unsafe?" Yakko protested, irritated.

"Maybe you should look into Duelist Kingdom a little harder before you ask me that question." His eyes hardened and his posture tensed as flickers of memory reminded him of how close he had come to losing his brother, and of all the hospital trips the younger Kaiba had required for the bullet wound to his leg. "If it cannot be guaranteed, I will not be attending and I will be recommending that Mutou Yugi does not either. Especially considering that she is in hospital right now. I can announce my event without risking the safety of my brother."

"Yugi has to attend. The Queen of Games contract requires that she attends at least one event chosen by Industrial Illusions each quarter." Tenma's tone was sharp in response to the ice in Seto's voice. "Unless she wants to lose the title."

Kaiba was pretty convinced that Yugi would not actually care if she lost the Queen of Games title if it ensured that none of her friends and family had to run the risk of getting their souls ripped out again, but he did not voice the opinion. Instead he coolly raised one eyebrow, "I hope you're planning on paying for travel and accommodation for your sponsored Duelist. That's your company's responsibility after all."

"Gekko is dealing with that." Yakko shrugged, "Industrial Illusions is fully aware of the asset that we have access to and will be doing our best to ensure full cooperation."

Kaiba snorted. The 'asset' in question was a rather stubborn teenager. Mutou Yugi would do what was best for her family and friends first and foremost. If that meant giving up her title, she would do it, and Industrial Illusions would lose the first female Duelist whose reputation they could keep on a leash. A leash that would have been easier to control if Crawford had been successful at ripping her soul out, but a leash nonetheless.

Not that there were no other female World Class Duelists; in fact there were currently three other highly-ranked options.

The Harpie Duelist, Kujaku Mai, a Prize Hunter who was semi-infamous on the circuit for using her looks to manipulate men, was rumored to be a cheat, had a poor attitude towards most male Duelist,s and was known to only go after the big ticket prizes rather than being willing to compete at almost anything. Plus she had been sponsored once, but had decided she did not like having to answer to anyone and bought her contract out so she could go independent.

The Kung Fu Duelist, Wong Vivian, who was supposedly the Asian Champion, despite Seto himself and Yugi both being better than her, was a model turned actress and was known to whine when things did not go her way and attach herself to anyone with money or influence, including himself more than once.

Then there was the Deck Burn Duelist and potentially soon-to-be North American Champion, Hopkins Rebecca, who was only twelve years old and still carried a teddy bear, causing some people to dismiss her as a child and not take her seriously. The occasional temper tantrum the girl threw when things went wrong only served to reinforce that view

None of those were options that particularly appealed to Industrial Illusions or Kaiba Corp, though Mai's recent attitude and behavior shift during her New York pro league duels was making her more appealing. Having Mutou under their thumb would give the creators of Duel Monsters a better chance to appeal to the greater female Dueling audience, which was a market that was sorely lacking saturation.

"If we agree to your terms, will you complete an exhibition match, photoshoot, and interview at the event for Industrial Illusions?" Yakko pressed. "We would share any photos taken so they can be used by Kaiba Corp, and you would not be expected to assist with set up except to ensure we have the microphone levels correct."

"Who would I be dueling, and would you expect it to be done using the Duel Disks?" Seto considered it carefully. He hated interviews and photoshoots, but at the same time he could see what Industrial Illusions was going for. The top two Duelists in the world coming together to promote the injured company would go a long way to ensuring a bounce-back.

"Yugi Mutou, and yes."

The chance to use the new system on Yugi first and defeat her publicly in a recorded event decided it for him. If he defeated her in her first public outing as 'Queen of Games', it would embarrass Industrial Illusions and prove that he was better than her.

"Fine." Kaiba nodded, internally excited, though he hid it well. "As long as the security conditions are met, I will attend, alongside my brother, and I will have my presentation ready for the event."

"I will email you the details once they're settled. Industrial Illusions will pay for your accommodation and travel since you are attending an event we are running," Tenma rattled off. "I thank you for your time."

With that Yakko ended the call.

"Will the Duel Disk be ready by then?" Mokuba asked, having stayed silent for almost the entire meeting.

"The final prototype is nearly finished, barring any unexpected additions to the game." His brother nodded, mind already elsewhere. "Start preparing a cost analysis of a three-day tournament, end of March to start of April, involving shutting down the entertainment district of Domino for two of those days. Include costs towards food and accommodation for competitors as well as stipends for businesses affected by the close-down. Also include bonuses for restaurants and cafes willing to provide a discount to competitors."

"Niisan?" Mokuba pressed, noting that Seto was considering the unpredictable winter weather in his choice of dates. Winter in Domino could be anything from six inches of snow in November to tee-shirt-and-shorts and the forecast was almost never accurate. By holding the competition at the end of April, the weather would start being more reasonable again, and that would be one less complaint competitors had.

Plus it allowed Kaiba Corp to focus on its holiday schedule without having to worry about running a tournament on top of it. While it would be a shame to lose the Duel Disk as a holiday release, standing out in the cold to duel would not be as appealing as using a brand new piece of technology to duel in the warmer weather. Demonstrating and announcing a Spring release date now would give Duelists time to save up, and the summer sales would be insane.

"Let's show Industrial Illusions how to run a roaming event competently, shall we?" Seto's smirk and slightly vindictive tone made his brother chuckle. "Plus a good event will push sales of the Duel Disk through the roof."

"Of course, Niisan." Mokuba grinned as he headed for the door and back to his office. "I'll have that ready by tomorrow evening."

"Good. Oh, and Mokuba?" The younger Kaiba brother paused and looked back over his shoulder. "Mutou's out of hospital today, so you can send that prototype to the Kame Game Shop."

"It's already there, Niisan."

Yugi had never been so glad to see the front of the Kame Game Shop as she was when the taxi pulled up outside her home. As her grandfather thanked the driver and paid the man, she picked up her bag and exited the vehicle.

She could sense the relief from her other self as she let herself into the currently closed shop and smiled, aware that her twin disliked the hospital as much as she did. She was just glad that now she was home, she would be able to cast a life point recovery magic card to fix herself up the rest of the way, and she could stop worrying about her voice giving out on her and her lungs aching.

'Imoto, listen.' The Queen of Games paused halfway up the stairs at her dark's call to pay attention. Low murmuring from the partly open door up ahead made her smile. 'Sounds like the others are here.'

'I'm not complaining.' Yugi smiled as she continued up the steps, noting that her friends' voices went silent and the light from the kitchen vanished when her foot landed on the squeaky stair halfway up, suggesting they had planned some sort of surprise.

She dropped her house keys loudly on the kitchen counter, noting that the living room had been dropped into darkness as well, and got herself a glass of water before she slipped into the main room of the apartment. Almost the moment she entered, the light got switched on and her friends jumped out. "Surprise!"

"Hi, guys." She grinned, happy to see Katsuya, Anzu, and Honda, and pleasantly surprised to see Amane amongst the group as she dropped her bags by the door and noted the coffee table had a stack of presents on it.

"Welcome home." Anzu crossed the room and hugged her, having left Mai snoring in the spare room of the Mazaki family's home after the Harpie Duelist had thrown a pillow at her. Yugi reciprocated happily, pleased to be home and just moments from feeling well. Once the dancer pulled away, Yugi took a seat and pulled out her deck.

"Give me a sec, guys, and then I'll be…" She paused when Amane put one of her hands over Yugi's.

"You might want to open my present before you cast that," the Ring Bearer informed her, passing over a wrapped object shaped like a bottle.

Even before she took it, she could sense the Shadows emanating from it. Unwrapping the gift revealed a gently glowing green drink that was labelled 'Emergency Provisions x 5'. When she glanced up at her friend, she found that Amane looked slightly embarrassed at the attention.

"I figured you would need that when you got out, and it's about time I stopped being afraid of the Ring." The white-haired girl shifted from foot to foot, not admitting how happy it had made the spirit of her item to be able to start teaching her how the magic worked.

"Thank you." Yugi really meant it as she downed the liquid inside, which turned out to be lemonade. She winced as the liquid flowed down her throat, releasing a magic that was not completely compatible with the human body, and causing a momentary ache in her stomach. It quickly faded, replaced by a pleasant tingling as the lingering injuries from her fall, the fire, and everything else were healed. It even felt that there was a little left over, should she receive further injuries.

Once she was clearly feeling better, the others swarmed forward with their gifts, leaving space on her left side for her grandfather to sit, while they ranged around the rest of the space. Amane backed up to grab the chair closest to the television, having given her gift already and sticking close to her bag, where the Millennium Ring lay hidden.

She slipped her hand into the bag to rest on the golden artifact, allowing her a weak connection to her other self but not creating a strong enough bond for the spirit to take control. 'Thanks for helping with the healing spell. And for giving me this time with my friends.'

'I promised you more chances to spend time with your friends safely, and I'm keeping my word. In more important things, I've been telling you that learning magic would be useful, have I not?' The Spirit of the Ring took advantage of the weak bond to watch through her sister's eyes as the girl who had helped them and nearly died because of it opened the gift from Anzu, revealing a new satchel to replace the bag that had burned up in the fire at the Black Clown.

Amane did not answer to start with. The Christian upbringing she had grown up with until the accident that had killed her mother and little brother told her that magic was bad and she should not consort with demons, like the one who was merged with her darker half's part of their soul. However, the many attempts to get rid of the demonic artifact had failed, and recent events had shown that even if she did not really want to acknowledge magic, she could not avoid it.

People would come hunting for her Ring, and if she did not start learning how to control it, they would take it and try to use it against the people she cared about. Plus she needed to learn more about the magical item if she was going to help her other self push back at Zorc long enough to prevent an 'End of the World' situation.

That and she had promised to learn magic in exchange for the Spirit of the Ring backing off a little, so she could spend time with her friends without worrying about the Thief Queen murdering them.

It did not mean she was entirely comfortable with it, but she had to believe that she would be forgiven for using magic if she was only doing it to help people and protect the Ring from falling into worse hands.

Even if the little voice in the back of her mind reminded her that by listening to her dark half, she was falling under the sway of the demon.

'I guess… you were right. It did help,' Amane admitted slowly, watching as the present from Yugi's Ojiisan replaced the gold bangle that had been damaged beyond repair. Amane mentally winced when she saw it, remembering that the bracelet had been broken when Yugi had used it to wedge a door open for her. 'And we did owe her.'

She felt her dark grimace at that. While the Spirit of the Ring no longer hated the Puzzle Bearer, she did hate owing anyone anything. 'Yeah, well, we're paid up now, so it's fine. You're still gunna learn, though, right?'

'I need to know more if I'm going to defend myself,' Amane responded, not completely certain that the debt was entirely cleared, considering they would not have escaped captivity as quickly as they had without Yugi's help, and they had had repaid her by nearly killing her. The Ring Bearer could feel her dark's pleasure flowing through her as she sat back and watched Yugi unwrap a huge ball-shaped present to find a Kuriboh plushy that was easily the size of her chest. The delighted noise she made as she hugged it tightly made Katsuya grin and glance at Honda, who smiled back, pleased they had pooled their resources to buy it.

As Doctor Mutou started dishing out drinks, Yugi turned to her, a pensive expression on her features as she asked, "Amane? Can I talk to Ba-Khu-Ra?"

The Ring Bearer frowned slightly but nodded and surprised the others by pulling the Ring from her bag and putting it on before mentally stepping back. The Spirit of the Ring took control easily. "What do you want, Runt? I'm not going to apologize."

"I don't expect you to. Before Otogi messed with us, I promised I'd summon the Dark Magician so we can ask him questions about Egypt since he was there." The Thief Queen's eyes widened at the reminder, having thought Yugi had forgotten. "Since Amane saved me from using energy casting a healing spell, I thought I'd give it a try."

"You sure, Yuge?" Katsuya worried, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"We want answers. I'm well enough to get them now." The Puzzle Bearer nodded at him, looking determined, before turning back to the Thief Queen. "If you're ready, of course."

"I'm more than ready to get answers from that prick." Bakura nodded, getting to her feet and circling around behind Honda, pretty sure that the monster would hesitate to attack her if she had a living shield. "It's about time Mahad answered for his crimes."

Yugi took a breath, drew a card from her deck, and briefly smiled as the top card was revealed to be the card she wanted, and then held it aloft, drawing power from the Puzzle as she called, "Dark Magician, I summon you in Defence Mode."

The Queen of Games was rather glad she was sat down as the world spun in time with the appearance of a swirl of purple and black energy in the middle of the room. It rose up and touched the ceiling for a moment before dying down to reveal the purple-armoured magician kneeling on one knee on the living room carpet, staff crossed in front of it.

Ginka, who had been sneaking over to Yugi's side, hissed loudly and ran away, startling the male spellcaster, who stood, blue eyes sweeping the room. When they rested on Yugi, he bowed deeply. "My Pharaoh."

Surprised he was speaking Japanese rather than Egyptian, but deciding that it made sense, after all, how could a summoned creature listen to its caller if it could not draw from the language of its summoner, Meisa took control and got to her feet.

She mentally supported her dizzy light and made a mental note that if they were going to summon high-powered monsters like this, they needed much more practice, as she called. "Rise, Dark Magician… or should I call you Mahad?"

The Duel Monster startled and looked at her sharply. "You remember?"

"No, but I've been informed." The Pharaoh gestured to Ba-Khu-Ra. When the dark monster's eyes followed her arm, his expression was not what the Thief Queen expected it to be. Instead of anger or hate, guilt and regret were clear on his features.

"Ba-Khu-Ra… I owe you and our Pharaoh an apology." He spoke softly, his gaze turning towards the floor, earning a surprised noise from Anzu, who had sat next to Yugi.

"What happened, Mahad?" the Spirit of the Puzzle demanded, her voice sharp. Honda and Katsuya glanced at each other, recognising the tone as irritation and confusion.

"I…" The Dark Magician gulped then looked up at her. "I failed you, my Pharaoh. I failed you, I failed Egypt, and I failed her."

The 'her' was aimed at the Thief Queen, who stepped out from behind Honda, confused and partly ticked that things were not going as she had always suspected they would.

"What do you mean?" Ba-Khu-Ra snapped out. "You tried to kill me."

"It all started with an assassination attempt on our Pharaoh…"

Three thousand years ago: The Palace of the Pharaoh, Khemet, Egypt…

"Once court is over, I need you to send the executioner to the throne room," the Pharaoh informed him as they headed for the room in question, ready to oversee the day's issues. "I gave my Uncle one chance, and he has thrown it away. If he will not assist with the memorial for Kul Elna and try to make things right, then he leaves me no choice. He was lucky I even gave him that, considering what he did to my father."

"I'm sorry…" Mahad nearly put his hand on her shoulder, but pulled back at the last second, remembering that he was not supposed to touch her in public, and the guards at the door to the throne room made this a public area.

"It changes nothing." The expression said that she did not care, but the heavy tone said it was a lie. "I always suspected he had no intention of making things right. This is just evidence of it. It does mean that heirs are a more urgent matter now, though. People will be uneasy if the only one available to inherit the throne after me is Seth. I trust him, but with his father's crimes public knowledge.."

Mahad did not respond to that. He did not need to. Seth knew the Pharaoh's secret and had not revealed it, even to his father, proving they could trust him, but his reputation was ruined until he could prove himself loyal to the throne. He had already made some progress on that by helping the Pharaoh bring his father in for judgement and protecting the ruler when the accused had lunged for her with a dagger.

Not that most people knew the worst of it. They were not aware that the crimes Akhenaden had been found guilty of were just some of what he was suspected of.

There was not enough evidence to prove that he had been deliberately offing his brother's children so his own could rule, but Akhenaden had been in charge of the information that had led to the deaths of the Pharaoh's older brothers during the war, had held back information that could have caused the royal twins to be rescued before one of them had been slain by Anubis, claiming that he had never received it, and had been on the same barge as the Pharaoh's little sister when she had somehow fallen into the Nile during the Festival of Sobek. There was probably some tie between the man and the disappearance of the Pharaoh's older sister, too, but there had been very little to go on.

Between those suspicious coincidences and the fact he had been the last person to see the Pharaoh's father alive before Akhenamkhanon's death, he could not blame the girl before him for her fury.

The deaths of every one of her siblings meant that she was going to have to provide heirs of her line herself, and if she wanted to do that, she was going to have to out herself as a woman.

That was something that could not happen safely until Akhenaden was dealt with. Permanently.

She had offered the man exile, and he had spat in her face. Thus execution was the only way forward. Considering he was convicted of treachery, mass murder, and regicide, and was suspected of much more, it was no more than he deserved.

The Pharaoh drew herself up regally and nodded to the guards, who pushed the huge throne room doors open.

And then everything went to hell. Four men burst out of the crowd by the doors, swords drawn. Mahad and the two guards leapt into action, managing to prevent three of the men from reaching their ruler. The fourth, however, ducked around the man who tried to get in the way and swung for the Pharaoh.

She drew her own sword and blocked the blade from reaching her stomach, only for the man to swivel around, shimmering dagger in his off hand, and try to stab her in the chest. The Pharaoh recoiled, twisting to avoid the blow and managing to avoid all but a shallow slash across her upper arm, before bringing her blade around and driving it into her attacker's stomach. The man dropped his weapons in his shock and staggered back, ripping her blade from his stomach with his movement as several other guards arrived, pinning the surviving assassins and searching them as the sounds of the panicking nobility finally seeped through.

"I need Isis and Karim. Now." Mahad heard the waver in his Pharaoh's voice as she made the order and turned to look at her, his expression paling as she stumbled over to the nearest pillar and used it to keep herself upright. "And get Seth to calm the nobles."

"My Pharaoh, are you…"

"My Pharaoh!" A guard cut off Mahad's concerned question as he showed the leader an emblem that had been hidden in the men's clothing. The Ring Bearer hissed as he beheld it.

It was the symbol of the Thief's Guild. Ba-Khu-Ra's guild.

The Pharaoh's eyes narrowed as she turned to the men on the ground, Isis and Karim already hurrying through the crowd to her side. "Who sent you?"

"Ba-Khu-Ra," the least injured hissed out as his comrades slowly bled out on the floor and the guards bound those who were not fatally injured. "We were hired by Ba-Khu-Ra."

Mahad frowned. He did not entirely trust the thief who had wormed her way into the Pharaoh's good graces back when the ruler had been a princess, but this sort of attack was not her style. If Ba-Khu-Ra had wanted to assassinate the Pharaoh, she would have done it herself.

His train of thought was derailed by the sounds of a pained moan, and the Pharaoh slipped down the pillar and sat on the floor, skin greying and gaze unfocused as she trembled in pain.

Poison.

He cursed under his breath and scooped up the injured leader, thankful that where she had fallen was out of sight of the nobles in the throne room, before running for the palace's House of Healing, hoping that they would know what to do.

"Mahad... Get Ba-Khu-Ra back… To the palace..." the Pharaoh gasped out between pained breaths as they moved. "This... wasn't her... Poison… not her style."

"I'll find her," Mahad promised, "but you need to rest now."

He did not need to press. It was a sign of how bad she felt that she just gave a slight nod and closed her eyes, leaning into him as he reached the healer's rooms. The moment the trained medics saw their Pharaoh in his arms, her skin now clammy, they had him lay her down and move back so they could work.

"Mahad." Shada, the Bearer of the Millennium Key, had apparently followed him to the House of Healing. "How is he?"

"I don't know," he admitted, watching the doctors work, "but I need you to guard him, with as many guards as you need."

"Where are you going?" The Key Bearer's eyes narrowed. "Isis and Karim are questioning the men now, and Seth is calming the nobles. You're needed here, to help protect our Pharaoh."

"He's given me an order. I'm to bring Ba-Khu-Ra in," Mahad said as he turned from the other Sacred Guardian to look at where the healers were trying to use leeches to draw out the venom under his Pharaoh's skin.

"I understand." Shada's tone was sympathetic, making Mahad turn back to him. "I'll protect our Pharaoh while you drag the traitor back."

"Thank you, Shada." He turned to leave and felt something metallic bump against his hand, making him stop as his head spun for a moment.

"Mahad, are you alright?" Shada asked, his voice echoing slightly in his head.

The Ring Bearer nodded, briefly leaning against the door frame to gather his bearings.

"You will want to take guards with you," Shada suggested, matching the sudden desire he felt, and making it seem like an excellent idea, "for your own safety in case the thief gets nasty."

"I will," the Ring Bearer agreed, having no reason not to trust the other Sacred Guardian, despite the fact Shada was not one of the few that knew the Pharaoh's secret. "Keep him safe while I'm gone."

With that Mahad headed for the gates, aware of where the Pharaoh had sent the thief on her latest mission for the palace and where he should be able to find her. The guards that were gathered by the gates, ordered there by High Priest Shada, were ready to go. Mahad noted that none of them were from the group that he had hired after taking over Akhenaden's role as Head of the Palace Guards, but he did not have time to worry about it. If he spent too long moving out, Ba-Khu-Ra would have moved on and he would have to hunt her down.

"Hold off on attacking Bakura. I will speak with her first," he ordered, looking around and noting that each one of the seven seemed to understand his orders.

He and the guards rode out, heading for the eastern edge of Khemet and the Thief Guild Hall that Mahad knew was there. He was not particularly happy to be breaking the thief's trust, but she needed to be brought in, so there was no other choice.

He was almost there when a child ran out in front of his horse and he was forced to stop in order to avoid running the child over, allowing the guards to get ahead of him. The terrified child froze in fear, like a sand cat who had been startled by sudden movement in the night, and Mahad was forced to dismount and herd the child back to his mother, frustrating the Priest.

The woman's grateful platitudes, given while stood in front of his horse, did nothing but frustrate the Sacred Guardian of the Ring, who pushed her aside as the sounds of a fight could be heard from the next street over. He reached it in time to see Bakura, bleeding heavily and desperate, surrounded by the men he had brought with him, snap and unleash the magic she had been learning from the Pharaoh.

The great serpentine Ka beast, Diabound, appeared. Half human, half snake, its grey, stone-like skin repelled any weapon the guards could strike it with as it swept them away with its tail, giving its summoner a chance to escape down the nearest alley.

Mahad gave chase after the stumbling, injured thief as her Ka beast ripped apart, devoured, and killed the guards, protecting its summoner. He caught up to her easily and grabbed her right arm without thinking. The pained yowl his actions caused made him let go, belatedly realising that the arm in question was hanging wrong in two places.

It was too late to apologize, though: Ba-Khu-Ra wheeled around and stole his sword from his belt, then drove it into Mahad's stomach with her good arm and wrenched upwards into his chest, terror, shock, and pain in her expression as she backed up. "Ma…Mahad. Why?"

"You need..." He staggered and fell to his hands and knees, the world fading around him as his life blood spilled onto the desert sands and leaked into a blade-damaged lung. "You need to return… to the palace. Pharaoh's… orders…"

"What?!" The thief's voice trembled. "I didn't order her death!"

Mahad tried to answer, but blood emerged from his lips instead of words. He fell the rest of the way, painfully landing on the dusty ground beneath him. He could not breathe; he could not explain or apologize. With death encroaching quickly, he did not even know why he had brought the men with him-he could have handled this alone.

He had to be there to help fix the mess he had made. That was all that mattered.

Modern Day: Kame Game Shop, Domino, Japan…

"…I used the last of my strength to cast the spell that would fuse me with my Ka beast." Mahad had not looked up from the floor since he began his story. "But I swear, Bakura, I had no intention of attacking you when I left the palace. They broke my orders."

Bakura was vibrating as she beheld the Dark Magician, hands balled into fists as she snarled out, "Do you have any idea what I had to do to survive?"

Everyone's head snapped in her direction at the pure venom in her voice. Katsuya moved between her and Meisa as her magic responded to her fury, Shadows flowing around her like flames.

"If I hadn't sworn a contract with Zorc, I would have died because of you," she hissed out, power causing her voice to echo. "I lost my afterlife because your men tried to kill me, and you're telling me it was a mistake?! That they were overzealous?!"

"I swear I ordered them not to attack you," the Dark Magician promised her, raising his staff as he realized he might have to defend himself, "but they weren't my men. I wasn't the one who hired them. They were…"

Before he could say anything more Bakura's control snapped and Diabound appeared, knocking over furniture and breaking appliances as it arrived. Before anyone could react the serpentine monster unleashed a powerful burst of dark energy, which struck the Dark Magician head on, disintegrating the spellcaster.

Meisa cried out in pain and slumped into the sofa as 2500 points' worth of life energy were ripped away with her Duel Monster's destruction. The serpentine monster turned towards the reeling Pharaoh, causing Katsuya and Honda to plant themselves in front of her, while Anzu darted towards Amane, who had managed to seize control, hoping that it would stop the creature, only to find it did not.

"Tell it you're okay. It's protecting you." Anzu took a chance on her hunch and pushed Amane in front of Diabound, causing the monster to pull up and stare at her.

"Diabound, it's okay." Amane's voice shook as she raised a trembling hand and put it on the arm of the humanoid part of the creature. "I'm not hurt. You can leave now."

"Are you sure?" Her eyes widened at the deep voice that emanated from the human head, then she nodded.

"I promise, Diabound. I'm not at risk here. You can go." She spoke softly and calmly, trying not to show how frightened she was.

The naga-like creature considered her for a moment longer, then nodded and bowed before vanishing.

"The hell was that?" Katsuya hissed out.

"Diabound. Sis… Voice's Ka beast." Amane gulped, able to sense that she would not be able to keep her dark side out of control of the body for much longer. "I need to go. I'll speak with Voice and try to calm her."

With that Amane fled before her darker half could emerge and keep damaging the place.

Sugoroku rushed over to Yugi, who had taken control of the body and was slowly, shakily pushing herself upright. "Yugi! Are you okay?"

"I… I'll be fine." Her voice shook as badly as Amane's had as she took in the sight of the destruction Diabound had caused. "I'll help clean up."

"You sure you're up to it?" Anzu pressed, worried for her as the Queen of Games took Katsuya's hand and got to her feet.

The nod she gave the others was a lie. She felt stretched and shaky, like she had spread herself too thin, which matched up to how she had felt after she had summoned Kuriboh without having enough energy behind it. Plus the world was rather blurry, and her head felt like it was going to explode, probably because of how much the recoil from the destruction of the Dark Magician had hurt.

She managed to push through it, though, glad that the healing spell Amane had given them had contained that extra boost as she helped right the living room as best they could.

Between the five of them with the mental support of her darker half, who felt as shaken up by Mahad's revelations as she was, it did not take too long. Once the living room was as fixed as it was going to get, Jii-san sent Anzu and Honda home and ordered Yugi to go to bed. She did not fight him on it, stumbling up to her bedroom and not even managing to get changed before she passed out on her bed.

Meisa slipped into control and slowly changed into their night clothes, everything that had been said rushing through her mind as she tried to ignore the ache that still ran through her from the Dark Magician's destruction.

Someone had tried to assassinate her and frame Bakura, then palace guards had attacked Bakura against Mahad's orders…

That was what had started the downfall of Egypt and the mess they were in in the modern day.

Who had hired the assassins? Had the guards been acting on their own or had someone ordered them to take any chance they could get to kill the thief?

She wanted to know, but she could not. There were no other sources of information. Not without getting in contact with her uncle again, and to do that they would have to talk with Crawford, who had not been seen since Duelist Kingdom.

She felt her twin's mind start to stir, disturbed from her exhausted slumber, and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, not wanting to wake her light. As she turned to slip back into bed, her gaze fell upon a small, wrapped package on their desk.

Confused since she had thought her friends had already given all their gifts, she stalked across the room and picked up the wrapped package. Relieved when there were no Shadows coming off of it, she checked the card attached and was surprised to find it came from the Kaibas. Half expecting it to explode or something, she hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should wake her twin, before deciding to let her sleep and unwrapping the gift.

Inside was a gold broach, a little bigger than she would normally wear, in the shape of a turtle made with clear and purple gems. When she flipped it over, she could see that it had a secure catch and a button that made the magenta eyes light up with a gentle glow for a few seconds.

It was cute. Not something they would normally wear, but she could see Imoto getting attached to it, since the Kame Game Shop's logo was a turtle. She suspected it was a gift from Mokuba rather than his brother, though. She attached it to the strap of their new satchel, planning to show it to Imoto in the morning, and went to bed, allowing the body to get the sleep it so desired.

Halfway across the city, on a private, heavily protected computer screen in a certain tower, a small dot appeared on a map the moment Meisa pushed the button on the back of the turtle.

A dot labelled Mutou Yugi.