The Seventh Element

Chapter 8

Balance of Good and Evil

Yami was bust rifling through various clothes and other devices Ishizu has brought. Although Malik was a little- okay, very- reluctant to treat him like a child, they had brought out the objects to keep him busy while he and Ishizu looked up Duelist Kingdom. Yami turned a small round orb in his hands, trying to figure out what it did. He pressed a button on the side, and the orb sprouted 3 legs and lowered to the ground. Yami stared as a long claw came out of the top and reached to his hair.

"Here it is, Duelist Kingdom." Ishizu said, typing. "It's a resort planet, the most popular in the system, owned by some sort of radio DJ. There are detailed maps and an extensive history, everything we need to know." Malik grinned.

"Great work! Now we just need to get there." Ishizu shook her head.

"No chance of that. There's a charity ball scheduled for tomorrow night. The last shuttle there leaves tomorrow morning and is packed, except for 2 tickets that were given to a contest. And there are so many celebrities there, the place will be guarded like a fortress." Malik cured.

"We have to get there somehow." He muttered. "Yami." He stood up and looked at the man. The silver orb had clawed his hair into 4 large points, and was working on a fifth. "Well, you found the hair-styling droid." Malik muttered. Yami smiled as Ishizu turned to look too.

"I think that's a good look for him." She said as the droid finished. Malik shrugged and gave Yami a thumbs up.

"Thank you." Yami said brightly. Malik stared for a moment before jumping at the sound of a knock on the door. He gathered his wits and hurried to open it. He looked out at three visitors.

"Marriages?" He asked. Drake raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the two Bakura workers behind him.

"Not exactly." He muttered drying. "Mr. Bakura would like to see you." Malik furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Who?" He asked.

- - - - - - - - - -

The doors to Bakura's office opened wide, and Drake's escort brought Malik in, his feet dangling above the ground an inch. They dropped him to the ground in front of Bakura's desk, and Bakura turned from the window.

"Ah, Malik. Good to see you again." He snickered. Malik gasped.

"Ryou…" He whispered. "I remember you! You were trying to buy those parchments from my last month! Antique dealer, hah!" Bakura smirked.

"Oh good, you got your memory back." He waved his hand, and Drake and his escort left the office. "You're gonna need it Malik. Where are the Millennium Items?" Malik gulped. So, Bakura about the items. That explained a lot. Bakura was known for backdoor deals with the Mangalores. No doubt he was behind the attack on the freighter.

"I honestly don't know for sure." Malik admitted. "But even if I did…there's no way in the seven hells I'd tell someone like you." Bakura faked a hurt look.

"What? Oh Malik, why so harsh? What's wrong with me?" He asked.

"My order and I encourage the creation life." Malik hissed. "But you do all in your power to encourage the destruction of it." Bakura sighed and shook his head sadly.

"Malik Malik Malik….you are so mistaken. Allow to explain." Bakura pushed a button on the keypad set into his desk, and the office doors slammed shut. "Life and creation, which you claim to serve, are spawned by death and destruction." Malik snorted. "Confused? Let me demonstrate." Bakura reached under his desk and produced a martini glass, holding it over the desk so Malik could see.

"See this glass? Here it is. It's been created. But it does nothing. But once it is…." Bakura grinned and let the glass go. It fell to the floor and shattered into a million pieces. "Destroyed…" A strobe light came out of Bakura's desk and began flashing. A hatch opened in the side and produced 3 robots. One swept a mechanical arm with a broom and gathered up the shards.

"Now look as this lovely ballet of creation." Bakura intoned. The sweeping robot finished as the second produced a scoop and lifted the glass into a bag on its back "A tiny bit of destruction suddenly creates a need." The third robot sprayed cleaner on the spot where the glass had hit before running back and forth to scrub. "A need to replace what has been destroyed. A need to create." Their work done, the 3 robots retreated back inside Bakura's desk. A hatch opened on top, and a new martini glass with a martini in it rose to the top. A plate of fruit rose from a hatch next to it.

"2 parts red vermouth, 1 part gin. Delicious." Bakura said, picking up his drink. He plucked a cherry from the fruit platter and smiled at Malik. "Wasn't that amazing? So much…creation, put towards fixing destruction. Necessity truly is the mother of invention, and nothing creates a necessity for creation better then destruction. Destruction breeds creation, it's the way of universe." Bakura swirled his martini and sniffed. "When you get right down to it Malik, encouraging destruction is the same as encouraging creation. We're in the same business, we just have different strategies." Bakura winked. "Cheers." He gulped down his martini, and froze. Malik rolled his eyes and sneered. Bakrua's eyes widened as he dropped his glass to the desk. He stared at Malik and pointed to his throat, gagging. Malik raised an eyebrow. Bakura slammed his hand on the keypad, and doors of his office locked.

"Well this is an interesting turn of events." Malik mocked, walking around the desk. Bakura gasped for breath and hammered the keypad. Monitors dropped from the ceiling and quickly retracted. Pamphlets shot up out of Bakura's desk and scattered on the floor. Bakura groaned and searched for the right button. "I suppose a little bit of destruction, in this case, will indeed encourage creation." Bakura found the button he was looking for and pushed it. A cage descended to the desk, containing a tiny, elephant like creature with one eye. Bakura pointed down his throat, but the elephant creature just blinked. Malik sighed and knelt down by Bakura as the businessman's eyes rolled back. "See this? Your power and influence means nothing now, that you're at death's door." Bakura slid forward and gasped. "Your entire life of chaos comes to an end, all because of a single cherry." Malik shook his head. "It's pitiful. In the end Bakura, you're still just an ordinary human being." Bakura slumped down, and Malik sighed, standing up, He'd probably regret this. He grabbed Bakura by the hair, pulled him upright, and slammed his palm into the back of Bakura's neck. Bakura's head snapped forward as the cherry flew out and smacked the elephant creature in the eye. It squeaked and slunk back in the cage. Bakura gasped for breath and glared up at Malik.

"You…" He seethed. He stood up and grabbed Malik by the collar, hitting a button on the keypad on his desk. His office doors opened to reveal Drake and his escort. Bakura snarled and threw Malik into Drake. Drake passed the priest to the guards behind him. "You saved my life." Bakura panted, massaging his throat. "And I'll return the favor by sparing yours…for the moment." Malik glared.

"You are a bastard, Bakura." He hissed. Bakura smiled and shrugged.

"I know." He replied. He waved his hand, and the guards lead Malik away. Bakura lashed out and grabbed Drake by the collar, pulling him into his face. "I don't care what you have to do, spy on the president, cheat, bomb the UFHQ, I don't care. Just get me those Millennium Items. In one hour, you'd either better have them, or know where to get them. And if you don't, I will personally see to it that you die the most horrible, gruesome, painful death imaginable. Understand?" Drake nodded, and Bakura pushed him to the ground. Drake groaned as the office doors clicked shut before him.

"I gotta find a new job. I don't get enough hazard pay for this shit."

- - - - - - - - - -

"The salvage teams have reported back." Joey said. Kaiba nodded. "The Items weren't found. The Items were never aboard the craft at all. It was a ruse." Kaiba snapped his head up.

"What?" He growled.

"The Monocheawans knew that anyone who found out they had the Items would attack them. So they found someone else to guard them secretly." As Joey spoke, a cockroach climbed up the side of Kaiba's desk. A tiny satellite was on its back. Back on Earth, in a small, isolate room, Drake watched the monitor displaying the mecha-roach's vision and pressed the headphones he was wearing closer to his ears.

"Who?" Kaiba asked, leaning down under his desk. Drake piloted his mecha-roach to the top of the desk and listened.

"Her name is Plava Laguna, she's an opera singer. She's singing at Duelist Kingdom tomorrow at a charity ball." Drake pumped his fist in triumph. Kaiba sat up holding one of his shoes.

"Good." He sneered and slammed the heel of his shoe on the mecha-roach. Drake screamed as the feedback hit his ears, and fell back in his chair. Kaiba wiped the heel of his shoe on the edge of his desk. "I want your best operative on the job. Send your best man undercover to retrieve the Items and bring them back here. I want this entire operation kept quiet, understand?" Joey nodded and Kaiba slipped his shoe back on.

"Got it. Except…my best operative isn't a man." Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, if she's UFF she'll do." He grumbled.

"She's retired." Joey said. Kaiba growled.

"Shut up and get her on the mission already." He snapped. "What's her name?" Joey smiled.

"Her name is…"

- - - - - - - - -

"Tea Gardner!" The mail delivery beeped as a letter slid into Tea's mailbox. Tea looked up from her oden and pursed her lip.

"Huh. I got mail." She shrugged and went back to eating. The delivery man frowned. His Japanese flying-ship was parked outside Tea's window. Traveling restaurant were becoming a trend now. Tea was seated at her window.

"Shouldn't you open it?" He asked. Tea shrugged again.

"I will. Later."

"It might important." The man urged. Tea smirked.

"Yeah, like the last 2 important pieces of mail I got." Tea grumbled. "The first was from my ex Tristan, saying he was leaving. The second was from my best friend Serenity, saying she was leaving, with Tristan."

"Oh that's just bad luck!" The delivery man scoffed. "But rules of karma apply to all Miss. Gardner. Sooner or later, bad luck be balanced by good luck." He assured. Tea smirked.

"Really?"

"Yes yes, laws of karma! Since the last letter you got was bad news, karma dictates that this one will be good news!" The man smiled. "Come on, open it. I know I'm right, rules of karma! I tell you what, if it not good news, I pay for your meal out of my own pocket. Karma will be balanced either way!" Tea rolled her eyes and reached into the plastic delivery tube.

"Here, knock yourself out." She said, slurping her ramen. The man ripped the letter open and proudly read the three words there.

"You are fired!" He cheered. Then he realized what he had read. "Oh Miss. Gardner…I'm so sorry, karma not balanced yet…"

"Hey, I won lunch right?" Tea asked, finishing her meal. The man smiled brightly.

"Yes, you win lunch! Karma still not balanced, but getting better! Karma, Miss. Gardner, bad always be balanced by good sooner or later! The more bad things happen, the more good things will happen later!" Tea looked up at the INCOMING CALL light.

"Hold on a minute." She said. The man nodded and backed up to leave. Tea hit the PHONE controls and looked at the Caller Id. "Wonderful, it's my sister." She groaned. She hit SPEAKER PHONE.

"You selfish bitch, Mom never should pushed you out." Tea grinned.

"Hi Rebecca."

"Don't 'Hi Rebecca' me ya dumb braud, Mom says you haven't returned her calls, what's going on? You stay down on Earth when we move to the Moon, and you haven't called us since. I should've been an only child, no wonder Tristan left ya…" Tea ignored Rebecca and turned to the delivery man.

"My sis is a real whiner, see ya later!" She said. The man nodded.

"Miss. Gardner, fortune cookie!" He called, tossing her the treat. Tea caught it and frowned.

"I thought fortune cookies were Chinese, not Japanese!" She called.

"Ay who care, all counties same now!" The man replied, piloting the flying boat away. Tea closed her window and turned her attention back to Rebecca.

"Look, Mom's a wreck and could really go on that vacation with ya. I'd go with her, but being the bitch you are, you have to go yourself." She was yammering.

"What? What vacation, what the hell are you talking about?" Tea yelled.

"Oh, so now you wanna make us beg for a little kindness from ya?" Rebecca snapped.

"Beg nothing! I lost my license, I lost my job, I lost my cab, I've been held at gunpoint 3 times today, and I met the man of my dreams, only to have him point a gun at me too and yell as me for making a move." Tea complained. "I'll show interest in your lives when you show interest in mine, thanks for asking. Now shut up and explain to me what you're talking about." Rebecca sighed.

"So you don't know that you won a trip, to Duelist Kingdom for 2, accompanying Maxie Rhod himself for a full week? Are you really so dense that you don't know your life anymore?" Tea shook her head.

"I didn't win a thing. I would have been notified."

"Tea Gardner!" Tea turned around as a letter slipped into the mailbox.

"Your name has been on the radio non-stop for an hour now, idiot!" Rebecca yelled. Tea looked up at the door bell rang. She cursed at a mess of blonde hair she's thought she'd left behind in the UFF.

"Call ya back Rebecca." Tea muttered, flicking off the phone. She moved to open the door when she remembered the fortune cookie in her hand. She cracked it open and unfurled the paper message. "Karma balances all. Good actions will be balanced by bad actions, and vice-versa." Tea rolled her eyes.

"That does it, the next guy who mentioned good and evil is getting kicked in the balls." Tea grumbled. She hit DOOR OPEN. "Joseph Wheeler, long time no see. What's up?" Tea asked. Joey smiled.

"Tea Gardner, long time indeed. You're about to take part in a battle of good and evil." Tea narrowed her eyes and brought her knee up. Joey squeaked and fell to the floor. He clutched his privates and moaned.

"Nice to see you too. Come on in."