For disclaimer, see the beginning of this story. Bastard.

I'd like to wish everyone reading this Happy Holidays, no matter what manner in which they celebrate (but the first person to complain about me not saying "Merry Christmas" gets slapped).

Beneath the Surface
by G.O.T. Nick

Chapter One: Battle the Darkness-Rally the Troops!

Nick sighed as his opponent took the first move. He had thus far encountered about twenty duelists, and not an ounce of skill between them. He planned to get in this one last duel, then go back to his apartment. It was 6:13 am. He and his opponent had drawn quite a crowd. Apparently this man had more dueling prowess than all the others in the dueling complex.

The burly man that was Nick's opponent examined his hand and smirked. Then he selected half of the six cards in his hand and proceeded to place them in his Duel Disk. "Two spell or trap cards facedown, and I summon the mighty Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000)!" he declared as two holographic cards appeared, brown backs up. This was followed by the materialization of a brown, eight-foot-tall gorilla, which roared angrily and beat its chest in challenge.

The man crossed his arms over his chest, and Nick took this to signal that the man was done. 'Pathetic…' he thought to himself. He could tell from the way the man seemed itching to take his next turn that he planned to simply launch an all-out assault. 'Alright then, I'll let you blow yourself out.' He drew, and after briefly looking over his hand, set two cards into his Duel Disk, then placed another horizontally on top of it. "Two cards facedown, and a monster in defense mode. End turn."

His opponent smirked confidently, and drew. "Ha!" he yelled triumphantly, "You're going down this turn! I summon a second Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000)!" Another ape, identical to the one he had summoned his last turn, appeared next to the original. Both bellowed loudly, beat their chests and clawed at the ground, eager to attack their opponent. "My Berserk Gorillas are forced to attack each turn due to their effect," stated Nick's opponent, grinning and fingering a card in his hand, "but before I unleash their power, I'll play Wild Nature's Release, which will increase the attack of my Gorillas by their defense strength (3000/1000 x2)!" The gorillas roared as their muscles expanded and their eyes, already bloodshot, glowed a blazing red color.

"Now, my mighty apes!" yelled the man with gusto and a sweep of his arm, "Attack!" Both beasts hurled themselves towards Nick, one pouncing on his facedown monster, which it ripped apart quickly. The other bounded towards Nick, but was stopped suddenly by an overly large tomato with a wicked face on its front. The gorilla hesitated only a split-second before it picked the vegetable up by its stem and pounded it against the ground, causing juice to burst everywhere.

Noticing his opponent's confused expression, Nick explained, "My facedown monster was Mystic Tomato (1400/1100). After it is destroyed in battle, it summons a Dark monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck in attack mode. So when the facedown Tomato was destroyed, I summoned a second one to block the next strike." A single card was ejected from his deck, and he caught it offhandedly. "Since the Tomato was in attack mode, my Life Points are decreased, but I also get to summon another Dark monster from my deck." (Nick LP: 2600) He slapped the new monster onto his Duel Disk, and a wooden marionette, resembling a Kuriboh, appeared in front of him, dangling from a set of strings. "This is my Marionette Kuriboh (300/200)."

His opponent did not seem impressed. "Big deal. I'll still beat you right here. I activate my facedown cards, both known as Beast Soul Swap!" Suddenly, both of his gorillas grew transparent, and shot back into his hand. Then, two strands of energy shot from the man's hand of cards, and two Berserk Gorillas stood, angry as ever. "Beast Soul Swap lets me return a Beast on the field to my hand, then replace it with another Beast of equal or lesser level. So I returned one Gorilla and replaced it with the third of the group, then returned the second Gorilla and replaced it with the first."

Nick nodded in understanding, thoroughly unimpressed. The combo was common amongst nearly all duelists who used primarily Beasts. The man frowned, angry that Nick was acting so casual about the action. "Not impressed, huh? Well, let's see what you have to say once I activate the quick-play spell, The Big March of Animals! This increases the attack of all Beasts on my field by 200 for every Beast on my field, so each of my Berserk Gorillas has 400 more attack points (2400/1000 x2)!" Nick remained calm, and yawned a bit thanks to his drowsiness.

This only assisted in making his opponent more frustrated. "Don't take me that fucking lightly, you punk! Berserk Gorilla, destroy his puny Kuriboh!" The immense primate hurled itself bodily at the small puppet, outright crushing it and sending splinters everywhere. Nick's Life Points plummeted (Nick LP: 500). Seeing the road open, the man thrust out his fist and declared, "Now my remaining Gorilla attacks you for game!" There was a short period of silence before the man realized that nothing had happened. "I SAID 'my remaining Gorilla attacks you for game!' "

"Spare your putrid breath," Nick told him, "your ape is under my control now." He motioned to the dazed-looking Gorilla now standing in front of him.

"But…how…" the man checked Nick's facedown cards, both of which remained set.

"My Marionette Kuriboh's effect" began Nick, "is that when it is destroyed in Battle, I can take control of one monster on my opponent's field. So, I chose the Berserk Gorilla that you hadn't attacked with yet. And, since the only card left in your hand is a monster you can't summon, I believe it's now my turn." He snapped a card off his deck and expressionlessly placed it on his Duel Disk. Immediately the Gorilla vanished in a swirl of lights, and in its place appeared a figure, mostly hidden by a red cape and hood. A pair of purple-gauntleted arms protruded from beneath the cape, and on the back of each gauntlet was an orb of a darker purple, with a triangular mark etched on their surfaces. The figure lifted its head, revealing a purple mask that hid all but the figure's eyes, one through a circular hole and the other through a pair of horizontal slits. "This is my Magical Marionette (2000/1000)," Nick declared proudly. It was the first time the whole night he had gotten the chance to summon his favorite monster. In all the other duels he had drawn his weaker Fire monsters, although they had easily been enough to defeat his opponents.

The man scowled, "Oh please, that thing's got the same attack points as my monster. It won't do you any good."

Nick chuckled at the man's naiveté. "Magical Marionette gains a counter each time either of us plays a Spell," he explained. "Each has two functions. For every counter my Marionette possesses, he gains 200 attack points, and I can remove two counters from him to destroy any monster on the field. So, I think I'll just start producing some counters." He pressed a button on his Duel Disk, causing one of his set cards to flip up, "My facedown card is Puppet Swarm, which allows me to summon four Marionette Tokens (0/0) to my field." A quartet of white marionettes appeared around the Magical Marionette. Each bore a pair of daggers larger than their own bodies, and sets of glowing strings connected them to the larger monster's outstretched fingers.

"Because Puppet Swarm is a Spell, Magical Marionette gains one counter (2200/1000)," stated Nick, "and furthermore, each Marionette Token can produce a counter to any monster with 'Marionette' in its title once per turn, so now my Marionette gains four more counters." The four puppets glowed, and sent pulses of energy through the strings connecting them to the Marionette (3000/1000). "And now for the finishing touch," Nick stated, waving to his facedown card, which flipped up, "Time Jump immediately sends the turn count ahead by three. That means every Marionette Token produces three more counters to my Magical Marionette (5400/1000)." An immense aura surrounded the puppeteer spellcaster as waves of power coursed through its body.

"I remove two of Magical Marionette's counters to destroy Berserk Gorilla," Nick continued. He cast out his arm, and the Marionette (5000/1000) raised both of its own, summoning a fifth puppet which flew towards Berserk Gorilla. "Mystic Puppet Slayer!" The puppet's blades flashes, and the Gorilla fell apart before bursting into crystalline bits. "You people just aren't worth my time," Nick said with disgust, "Magical Marionette, end it now!" The four tokens dashed towards his opponent, and whirled about him rapidly, entangling him in the strings that connected them to the Marionette. The puppeteer's gauntlets glowed brightly, and it sent volts of electricity coursing through the strings, shocking the man and ending the duel (Man LP: 0).

The holograms faded, and Nick's opponent fell, dazed, to the ground. Nick himself shut down his Duel Disk and zipped up his jacket before promptly leaving the building. 'None of them could really challenge me. The other three cards in my hand during that last duel could have stopped the last one in his tracks before he even began the assault, but were simply unnecessary.' He stopped outside the building and looked back inside it through a window. Many of those still inside were staring at him, and quickly averted their vision. 'They think I'm some ultimate duelist. Feh, if only that were true.' He began to walk off, while his mind wandered back to that tournament in Tokyo six months ago. He had done well against two champion-caliber duelists in the pharaoh and Joey Wheeler, but in the end only luck had let him beat the latter, and the former hadn't needed to use his full power to achieve victory. 'I have improved since then, but doubtlessly so have they. The pharaoh was able to defeat Youkai, but only barely…and then his superior dismissed him casually. I doubt I am strong enough to defeat him in a duel…'

The sun was rising. Snow was falling lightly on Akasaka. Nick smiled slightly. He had never seen snow before he had come to Japan. 'Damn, like I needed more pressure.' He chuckled lightly, 'So beautiful…and if we don't win, there won't be anyone who can enjoy something like this.' He brushed a few snowflakes off of his head, then pulled his jacket's hood up and shoved his hands in the pockets before briskly walking off. In spite of the fact that he admired the snow, this was weather much colder than he was used to, and he felt that his clothing was not apt to deal with it.

The sidewalks were still not very crowded yet. Nick's head turned consistently to both sides, a necessary motion, because the use of only one eye, combined with a lack of peripheral vision thanks to his hood, gave him a field of vision less than ninety degrees wide. But this did not stop him from noticing that he was being followed. He stopped walking suddenly, and tilted his head a bit. After a few seconds, he relaxed, and chuckled slightly, "When trying to be stealthy," he said openly, "it doesn't matter if you're invisible while making more noise than a sick elephant." He turned around, in time to see the form of a young Egyptian woman materializing. She was about five and a half feet tall, had long black hair, and wore white clothing, with a golden band around her forehead with a symbol of a golden eye upon it. She was frowning at Nick as if disappointed that he had been able to detect her, but her eyes were lit slightly in amusement.

"Hello, Isis," Nick greeted. For indeed, it was Isis Ishtar, former holder of the foresight-granting Millennium Eye, that now stood before him.

She nodded her own greeting, "Hello, Nick. How are you feeling lately?"

"Tired, as usual," he responded, and he turned and began walking to his apartment again, though more slowly. Isis followed him as they talked.

"Still having the dreams?" Isis queried.

Nick nodded. "The same every night. Like clockwork."

"I'm sorry," she said, "I can't prevent you from having them. Nor can I fully tell you what they mean."

"You don't have to apologize," he replied, "you've done far more than enough to help me in the past." He removed a hand from his jacket pocket and brushed his cheek, where the scars were hidden. He stuck the hand back in his pocket. "Now skip the pleasantries. You're never anxious to see me at this time of day, it's always me that comes to see you. So I'm assuming something's happened."

Isis frowned at the first comment, but found herself unable to argue the point. She nodded her agreement, then realizing because she was to Nick's left that he couldn't see the gesture, voiced it. "Yes."

"I figured," Nick commented, "strange, how our group never really seems to come together unless it's for a bad reason. Whatever. Maybe we can take care of that after all this is over." 'If we're still alive' he mentally added. But then he brushed away the thought and continued speaking, "Is it as bad as we thought?"

"Worse."

"Typical. Alright, tell me what I have to do."

Yugi Moto, fifteen years of age, picked up the phone on the first ring. "Kame Game Shop," he chirped brightly, "Yugi Moto speaking. Can I help you?"

On the other line, Nick had to smile a bit at the boy's light attitude. "How are you, kid?"

"Oh, hi Nick!" Yugi greeted enthusiastically, "I'm good, how-" he was cut off as his Millennium Puzzle glowed, and his voice was replaced by a deeper, more mature one.

"Is it time?" demanded the former pharaoh of Egypt, currently known as Yami.

"Yes," Nick replied simply, the pharaoh having abruptly ended the pleasantries. "Pharaoh, Yugi, gather your friends and tell them to meet today at noon at the entrance to Kaiba World. I'll explain everything there."

"Very well," Yami replied simply, and hung up without another word.

'He's as anxious as I am,' Nick thought to himself as he dialed in another number on his cell phone. He had already called Kaiba, and had convinced him to meet them as well. Nick guessed that Kaiba's reasons for joining them were in regard to vengeance, for the harm that had come to he and his brother during the tournament.

Nick waited, listening to the ring tone. This was the last call he would have to make. He heard a click in the middle of the fifth ring. A small pause, then, "What?"

"Giyan," Nick said, but it was not a greeting. The young man apparently didn't care about greetings at the moment, "I need you to get Yamato, Lin, Kirbin, and Term, and meet me at the entrance to Kaiba World in Domino at noon."

"So, it's coming, is it?" Giyan prompted.

'He's acting a bit strange…' Nick thought to himself. Giyan wasn't usually so quick to the point… "Yes," he replied simply.

"Sorry, Nick," Giyan stated, "but we can't join you."

Nick almost dropped his phone in shock. "What? What do you mean?"

Giyan's voice did not waver, was trapped in monotone as he spoke. "We aren't strong enough."

"Don't give me that shit!" Nick yelled. "I know we aren't strong enough, but that doesn't give you an excuse to hide you damned coward!"

"Don't jump to conclusions," Giyan warned, though his tone still hadn't changed, "we'll join you in time to help, but myself and the others have a few things to do first. If he try to help as we are now, we'll do you little good. We will join you, that I can promise, but this will take up to twenty-four hours. How long before you really need us?"

Nick sighed, but told him. "We'll join you as soon as possible," promised Giyan. Then there was a click, and nothing but a dial tone. Nick turned off his phone and tossed it onto his bed before falling on top of it himself. It was 7:00 am. He had five hours to get to Domino. He suddenly felt very tired, but pushed himself up off the bed to glance over at Shaun. He was still snoring loudly.

Nick huffed, and stood up. "Lucky bastard…" he muttered. He sat down on his bed. "I'll wake him up in two hours…"

The sun was almost directly over Yugi's head as he leaned against the stand of one of the multiple statues of Blue Eyes White Dragons at the front of Kaiba World. The young teen with star-shaped hair shuffled his dueling deck, while next to him, his slightly older and definitely taller friend, Tea Gardner, checked her watch. 11:56 am. So far, they were the only two who had arrived.

Unlike Nick, they had not been quite as idle the last few months. Rather, just days after the Tokyo Duel Monsters Tournament, a new enemy, known as Dartz, former king of Atlantis, had attempted to do what all of their enemies had done: take over the world. Technically, Dartz had meant well enough, having only wanted to wipe away all the evil upon the face of the Earth. Unfortunately, the ends did not justify his means, and so Yami, with the help of his friends and Kaiba, had been forced to stop Dartz and his dark god.

It was 11:57 am by the time Tristan Taylor arrived, riding a motorcycle. Riding on the back of his bike was Serenity Wheeler, who stepped off shortly before the older teen as the bike stopped. As both removed their helmets, a second motorcycle, guided by a skilled duelist named Joey Wheeler, parked nearby. The blonde duelist removed his helmet quickly, set it on his bike, and stomped towards his friend and sister angrily. As he reached Tristan, he grabbed the brown-haired teens collar with one hand, and held back the other in a clenched fist as if poised to strike him. "WHAT'D I TELL YA WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU GOT YOUR DAMN BIKE WITHIN A HUNDRED FEET'A MY SISTER?" he screamed in Tristan's face.

Tristan smiled uneasily, and held up both hands to guard his face. "I…think you said you'd let it go without resorting to violence…" Joey responded to this by growling and preparing to launch his fist forward before his sister stopped him.

"It was my idea, Joey," Serenity spoke up, "you were so slow getting out of your bed, I thought we'd be late if we didn't find a way to get your attention."

Joey gradually became calmer, and he grudgingly loosened his grip on Tristan's shirt before shoving him away. He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted like a kid half his age. "I was having a good dream…" he muttered in protest.

In any case, the three of them walked up to Yugi and Tea before the time became 11:58 am, at which time a teenager with long, spiky, white hair also approached. This was Ryou, a friend of the group that had gathered in front of Kaiba World by this time.

At this moment, the story is interrupted so that the author can discuss a matter with one of the characters…

"What are you trying to pull?" demanded Bakura, spirit of the Millennium Ring that young Ryou possessed. "You know damn well that you named that kid 'Bakura' in your last story, and instead of 'Bakura', I'm supposed to be Wraith!"

G.O.T. Nick stared at him evenly, and said, very calmly, "And why do you think the fact has changed since then?"

Bakura huffed, "Because you're a moron who wanted to write a name shorter than 'Yami Bakura' every time you referred to me, but didn't want to bother to go back to the Japanese names."

"That's a logical argument," commended G.O.T. Nick, "but you forget one thing."

"What's that?"

"I'm the author," reminded G.O.T. Nick, "and so the reason is whatever I want it to be. Meanwhile, I don't like that comment you made about me." He snapped his fingers, and an anvil appeared over Bakura's head. The large metal object fell, burying Bakura's face in the ground.

The anvil soon vanished, and Bakura said, "Actually, the reason our names have changed is because my name was actually 'Bakura' the whole time, and I was just trying to be confusing. Ryou, not liking the fact that we shared names, got his name legally changed like a little pansy."

"Much better," said G.O.T. Nick. And he started the story again.

As Ryou approached Yugi and the others, two people exited one of Kaiba World's various arenas, and approached them as well. These were the owners of Kaiba World, the brothers Seto and Mokuba. Seto, more commonly referred to by his last name, wore a long white trench coat, and carried a large metal suitcase. His younger brother was as tall as the elder's waist. Kaiba looked at Yugi and nodded in greeting, "Yugi." Then he turned to Joey, nodded in the same way, and said, "Mutt."

"Hey, asshole," returned Joey. It was 11:59 am.

"Alright," said Kaiba, "this better be important, and that guy better get here soon. I don't like to be kept waiting."

"The wait's almost over, Kaiba," said Yugi, pointing towards the sky to an approaching plane.

Kaiba snarled, "If he tries to land that thing here, I'll kill him." It was 11:59 am and thirty seconds when the plane was almost directly overhead. Kaiba shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun with a free hand, in time to glance a figure leaping out of the side of the plane. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me…"

The figure fell for several seconds, before they saw a parachute sprout from its back, allowing it to float gradually down to Earth. Kaiba huffed, "Senseless showoff…"

"Aw, don't be a bitch, Kaiba," Joey said with a grin, "you're just jealous 'cause you didn't get to make an entrance like that."

Six figures had gathered in a circle around a seventh. They bowed in its presence, fearing for their lives, which it could end in a heartbeat-or, perhaps more appropriately, a lack of one. The central figure turned slowly, looking over each of its subordinates. After looking at the last one, it stopped, and breathed in deeply. Its face immediately warped in an expression of disgust. It hated the air here…it was far too clean… But that would change soon, along with so many more of this detestable world's traits.

"You six have been selected because of the potential within each of you," it said, "and you have come to serve because you know that this is the manner in which that potential can be achieved. Each of you will track down and eliminate your assigned target, and in doing so you will achieve this potential, as promised." Its tone suddenly shifted, changing from matter-of-fact to somewhat more personal, "What you do with this newly achieved power does not concern me. Do with it what you wish, but succeed in the tasks I have given you, or your punishment will be great." It grinned brightly, but a malicious gleam lingered in its eyes, "Any questions?"

"Yeah," spoke up one, who the central figure's gaze shot to. It had apparently meant the question to be rhetorical. But the outer figure continued, "How can we be completely assured that this power you spoken of will truly be granted to us? And if it is when the time comes, how we can we be assured that the power will be capable of all you have said? Or that it will last beyond the tasks you have assigned us?" The central figure's gaze had become a glare by this time, but the speaker plowed on, "We don't even know your name, you've avoided telling us everything surrounding you, your background, your organization-"

"You wish to know my name?" the central figure cut the speaker off by lunging towards him, their faces only inches apart. From here the speaker could see the man's black irises plainly, along with every single follicle of his neatly combed black hair. His red tie drooped down, loose from the jacket of the man's black business suit. And suddenly the speaker wished he could go back ten seconds in time to stop himself from speaking, because the fear he had forgotten just long enough to ask those now seemingly idiotic questions had flared back, and was gripping him ten times stronger than before.

"My name is…" and the man said it, but it was not something simply spoken. It was not all in one language, and a lot of it wasn't language at all. It was screams of terror, moans of despair, and roars of anger. Beasts' cries were heard as the man's jaw moved and his tongue rolled, along with the cries of monstrous apparitions not of this world. His name was pure emotion, specifically negative emotion, and could not simply be expressed in words, though there seemed to be a few snatches of words here and there. His name was fear, his name was lust, his name was anger, his name was greed, his name was vengeance, his name was a sound of pure evil. His name was almost tearing apart the minds of the six surrounding him, who writhed about in pain as sound continued to come forth from his mouth. Most affected was the one immediately before him, who felt the pain of being consciously burned, eviscerated, frozen, crucified, and dissolved, all at once. The name was killing him.

Eventually the man stopped, and those about him gasped in the air that disgusted him so, the sound having choked the life from them. The man walked out of the circle and did not look back. He had things to do. But he said loudly, so that they could all hear, "But if you find yourself unable to address me in that way, you may call me Todaku."

Yugi, Joey, Serenity, Tea, Tristan, Ryou, Kaiba, and Mokuba sat down in various chairs as Nick stood in front of them, a large computer screen on the wall behind him. Nick had no idea why this room happened to possess such a convenience, but Kaiba seemed to be the kind of person to flaunt his wealth. The screen was currently lit up, displaying an image of a small Egyptian painting, centered around a single, bald man. "Four thousand five hundred years ago," Nick began, "Egypt was ruled by the pharaoh Djoser. This image depicts his chief minister and high priest, a man by the name of Imhotep. Imhotep is today renowned as one of the first practitioners of medicine, and is the first architect known historically by name." He paused here, and the screen behind him flickered, now depicting a tan step pyramid. "Imhotep was responsible for the construction of the first Egyptian pyramid, meant to entomb Djoser after the ruler's death. This Step Pyramid is located at Sakkara, however Imhotep's own grave has yet to be located."

The screen flickered behind Nick again, and now showed a tablet covered in Egyptian hieroglyphics. "This tablet tells a tale of an event that occurred just less than three thousand years ago," he stated, "a relatively short time after the creation of the Millennium Items. The Egyptians discovered a gate, a gate that led into a realm of darkness. At first the Egyptian royalty attempted to utilize this gate to achieve dark power. While each time they made such a venture, they succeeded, they also allowed forces of pure evil to come into the planet. Deaths mounted quickly, and soon the attempts to gain power stopped. After slaying all the dark beings that had to this point entered the world, the gateway was sealed away, and hidden where no mortal could possibly discover it."

Nick paused, and looked over the faces of each of the young ones present. At this time he realized that he was older than any of the others in the room, bar the spirits of the millennia-old pharaoh and thief, despite the fact that he was only nineteen. Kaiba was the closest to his age, and if not for the presence about him anyone might assume that the CEO belonged in high school. 'They're my responsibility now,' he thought to himself, 'if and when they die, I must bear the burden of their departure.' He took a breath, and continued speaking, "This is what the approaching darkness seeks," he stated, "it falls upon us to stop it. The darkness will attempt to open the gateway permanently, allowing the Earth to be infested by forces of evil beyond your imaginations. It will succeed in doing so if we do not halt it. The world would already be destroyed by now if the darkness did not need to fulfill a prophecy that the tablet also speaks of. It states that the temple in which the portal now resides contains six locks, each of which can only be opened by a destined mortal. These past six months, the darkness has been gathering those destined six. He found the last one mere hours ago."

"Wait," Tea spoke up, "you said the portal was hidden where no one could find it. Doesn't that mean that even though that guy found all six of them, they won't be able to get near the gate?"

"The prophecy said that no mortal could find the gate," agreed Nick, "but the darkness is no mere mortal. It will possess the power to uncover the temple in which the portal is hidden, allowing the destined six to enter it."

"Wait a minute," Tristan spoke up, "what's all this got to do with Imhotep? I mean, you sounded like you were just giving us a random history lesson at the start there…"

"The prophecy states that Egypt's greatest commoner was chosen to guard the gate," Nick responded, "that's Imhotep, the most powerful non-royal to ever inhabit Egypt. Thus explaining why his corpse has, to this day, not been found. Imhotep's body was removed from his previous burial site, and then buried with the gate."

"And where is that?" asked Yugi suddenly, "The darkness can uncover the temple, but how will it know where to go to do that?"

"Imhotep was buried in a remote location," Nick stated, as suddenly a map of Egypt appeared on the screen behind him, "however, the location was also selected in order to honor him. He is buried an equal distance from three specific points." He pointed at three different points on the map, and spoke their names as he did so, "Sakkara, the site of Imhotep's Step Pyramid. Giza, the site of Egypt's three greatest structures, the Great Pyramids. And finally, Thebes, which was the capital of Egypt at the time." After he pointed at the last location, three lines of equal length appeared from each location. The converged in an area some distance to the east of the Nile River. "Imhotep's grave, and the gateway to the realm of darkness, are buried beneath a magical veil, as well as the sands of the Arabian Desert."

"Then what are we sitting here for?" demanded Mokuba as he leapt out of his seat, "Let's get there and stop that guy now!"

"For one thing, the prophecy states that the temple can only be uncovered as the sun sets, Nick answered calmly. "Given that Egypt is seven hours behind Japan, we have about thirteen hours until that time comes. For another thing, we have our own prophecy to fulfill. The prophecy states that in order to stop the six destined to unlock the gate, the forces of light must send into battle six more destined mortals." He stopped, and took a breath. "Fortunately for us, we have a method of locating each of the six destined. The six destined to stop the gate from opening are said to wear precious charms. Specifically, these precious charms." At these words, he removed from his pockets five, small, glinting items. Each glowed with a faint aura. "Because the prophecy is close to being fulfilled, the charms are reacting. The closer they are to their owners' locations, the stronger they will glow."

The screen flickered again, and now depicted a map of Japan. Nick raised one of the several charms, and placed it over the screen. After Nick moved it around a bit, the charm glowed extremely brightly over the island of Shikoku. "In this manner, Isis and I determined the relative locations of the six we have to find. Shaun, who was flying the plane I arrived in earlier, is heading towards one of them right now." He lowered the charm, and turned to look at the gathered teenagers. "That leaves us to find the other five. Of them, three are located on the other side of the globe, which means the use of magic will be required to reach them in time."

At this mention of magic, Nick heard Kaiba finally scoff, but the CEO said nothing in contradiction. The idea of magic still seemed ludicrous to him, but it was getting extremely difficult to doubt its existence after all he had been through. Nick responded by turning to him and tossing him one of the glowing charms, which Kaiba caught, "Kaiba, because you've got the most resources, you'll be looking for the second-closest destined. They'll be in Shikoku, just as I showed you." He tossed Joey a second charm, "Joey, you'll be looking for the one closest to here."

Then Nick turned his attention to Yugi and Ryou. He walked up to Ryou and tapped the boy's Millennium Ring, which responded by glowing brightly. When the glow dissipated, Ryou had been replaced by the millennia-old thief Bakura, who looked temporarily astonished that Nick had forced him out of the Ring. But then he overcame his momentary shock, and lunged for the man. Nick wasted no time in striking Bakura hard across the face with a right punch. Bakura fell backwards to the ground immediately. "Alright, now that we've gotten that out of the way," Nick said as he grabbed Bakura by his collar and lifted him up off the ground, "I know you've got your own ambitions, but I also know you wouldn't like the world to end yet. As such, perhaps you should help us."

Bakura snarled, but nodded, and Nick dropped him. Bakura landed on his feet and dusted himself off, then wiped a small trickle of blood from his lip. "So, what is it you want from me?"

"As I said," Nick replied, "we need magic to find the three destined in North America. The pharaoh and myself are two of three people in this room who can use any form of magic. The third is you." He stepped away from the thief, then motioned to Yugi to come closer. The boy did so, and Nick requested that the boy grant control of his body to Yami.

Seconds later, Nick was speaking directly to the only two presences in the room older than himself, "I can teach you two a transportation spell, one that will allow you to teleport to any location on Earth. However, to limit the thief, I will only allow him to guide himself. I will initiate the teleportation for you, Bakura, and you will be responsible for reaching your destination. Think you can handle that?"

Bakura growled, wishing he could slit this man's throat. He was deliberately dangling this useful ability over his head just to deny it to him. 'Not yet…' Bakura told himself, 'I'll kill him later. For now, I'll put up with this insolent fool, just a little longer.'

"Yami," Nick said, turning to the pharaoh, "I will teach you the spell, and you will travel individually. It will take some time to learn the spell, but I think we can do it within a few hours." He turned back to the rest of them, and said, more loudly, "This meeting is over. If you wish to accompany your friends in finding those we seek, you may do so, but you must exercise caution. We face a force more powerful than any have seen before, and should you stand in its path, I cannot ensure your safety." He stopped, and took the time to look over each of them again. After several seconds, he spoke four parting words, "Farewell, and good luck."

The meeting ends, and those who attended it now must seek those with whom they will fight for the lives of the entire world. First to discover one of the six destined is Shaun, but before the strange teen can return to Nick and the others, the protector is attacked by a servant of the mysterious Todaku. Will the servant succeed in eliminating the protector before they can even try to halt the opening of the dark gate?

Next time: Power of the Dark Empire

This chapter ended up being MUCH longer than expected, but I'm happy with it. Plus, I got to use actual historical facts in my story. Wait a second…I hate history class! NOOOO!