Flash Duel

by Mega Ghost

When the particle accelerator exploded, lonely Yu-Gi-Oh player Jack Harper is suddenly in possession of a real Millennium Item. But when he discovers he has the power to summon flesh and blood duel monsters with their own minds and personalities, he decides he's in for more fun than he's ever had in his life. That is, until Yami Bakura appears, as real and alive as anyone else.

7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Two years earlier...

Inside of the Hudson's Roofing Tar Industries complex, a small time hitman named Clay Stanley and one of his goons were holding another man, Joey Monteleone, over a rail above a pit of boiling tar.

"People think of tar now as mainly a roofing product." Clay said. "Fun fact, its also been used as medicine and flavoring for candy and liquors. I bet what you're thinkin' right now isn't 'yummy,' is it? What I hope you're thinking is, 'Wow. Clay is serious about wanting to know where I put that money. I think I'll give him that account number now so he doesn't drop me into this vat of boiling tar."

Joey Monteleone groaned desperately beneath his tape covered mouth.

"Hmm. I'm sorry, what?" Clay asked as he ripped the tape off.

Monteleone urgently said, "Central City Bank, account five-four-six-three-seven-two-eight. Please. Please pull me up now. I'm so sorry-"

Clay pushed Monteleone out of his goon's grip and Monteleone fell sixty-feet, head first into the molten sludge.

"I thought you said you weren't gonna kill him." Clay's goon said.

"I say a lot of things."

Outside the complex, Clay and his goon approached a waiting car.

"Where's Joey?" The waiting driver asked.

"Wishing he were somewhere else. Let's go." Clay said.

At that moment, they heard a boom and looked up to see the light of the particle accelerator explosion.

"Get in the car, let's go!"

They piled in and drove off as the shock-wave of dark matter passed over Hudson's, and the vat of tar inside.

OOO

Two years later...

In his house, Joe West was having dinner with his daughter Iris, and his son, Wally. Joe and Iris had learned of Wally's existence only a few weeks earlier when Francine, Joe's ex-wife had come back to the Central City. After a choppy start, the three had started to develop a rapport.

"I didn't think about how many crazy things police see." Wally said.

"And can't un-see." Joe said.

"You always wanna be a cop?"

"Yep. My dad was one, he was my hero, so... I never thought of being anything else. What about you?"

Wally said, "No, uh... I wanted to be an astronaut."

"Wait, that's what Barry wanted to be." Joe said.

"Really? Well, probably not for the same reasons. Going to space is like the fastest a human being can go. So, it was either an astronaut or, like- Have you heard of scramjets?"

Joe grunted a "no."

"Okay. They're like supersonic on oxygen, dude. It's nuts." Wally said.

"You're right. Not the same reason as Barry."

"You are really all about the speed, huh?" Iris asked Wally.

"Yeah, I mean, it's what I love."

"Is that why you're still drag racing?"

The mood then instantly flipped from happy to awkward.

"You are, aren't you?" Iris asked. "Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"Yeah. For the people that race against me. Sure is."

The two siblings stared each other down for a moment.

"Look, thanks for the hang, but I gotta go." Wally said as he stood up.

Joe stood as well. "It's early. Don't leave yet."

"No, I got some stuff to do. I'll see you later."

Wally walked to the front door and left.

"Why'd you do that?" Joe asked his daughter.

"'Thanks for the hang?'" Iris asked back. "Is he your son or your age-inappropriate buddy?"

"Look, I know the dynamic is weird. I'm just trying to figure it out."

"From my perspective, it seems like you're ignoring something that could, oh, I don't know, get Wally killed." Iris said.

"The fact that Wally even wants to get to know me is the big win here. So, in the future, could you try not chasing him out of the house?"

"Look, Dad, I'll play along if that's what you want. But, which 'you,' exactly, are you trying to let him get to know? Because the person that I saw tonight? I don't recognize that dad.'"

Joe said nothing. He didn't have an answer to that.

OOO

Jack Harper was standing on top of S.T.A.R Labs, waiting for Mana and the monsters he'd sent out to search for Bakura to come back. It had been the better part of four months since he originally joined Team Flash and almost three full months since Mana had joined him on the team.

Things had been better on the team since Mana had come onboard, but they were still far from ideal. Jack could tell perfectly well that Barry distrusted him and Mana almost entirely, despite their efforts with the Weather Wizard, the time aberration version of the Reverse-Flash, and most recently, the Turtle. It was all making Jack start to increasingly dislike Barry. At best, the two were civil to each other during team meetings, but almost constantly at odds about how to handle things on a mission. The fact that Barry had started to show the same kind of hostility towards Mana was not helping the situation either. Once Bakura had been dealt with, he was thinking of maybe taking Oliver Queen up on his offer to go join Team Arrow in Star City. He'd spent less than a full day with those guys and, with the one exception of Cisco, he still liked them better then everyone on Team Flash.

The search for Bakura was also not going well. Neither Jack nor anyone else on the team had heard from him in months. Despite Harry and Cisco using all the technology available to them, which they had insisted on doing, they hadn't found so much as a trace of the evil spirit.

The lack of activity from Bakura was greatly worrying Jack. He knew that Bakura would not stop until he either had Jack's Millennium Ring, or was defeated. The lack of movement from him could only mean that Bakura was carefully plotting his next move. At that point, Mana flew in from the city and landed beside Jack. She was wearing her Dark Magician Girl outfit.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I couldn't detect even a hint of the magic from Bakura's item."

"It's alright." Jack said.

Silver Fang then leaped up onto the roof near them. He barked once to give his report.

"Really? Not a single scent?" Jack asked loudly.

Silver Fang gave a low whimper.

"No. It's not your fault, pal. Don't mind me."

Jack looked out at the city. For the first time in his life he understood the true meaning of the phrase "waiting is the worst part." He had no idea when Bakura was going to strike. All he knew was that when Bakura did make his play, it wouldn't be any good for anyone.

"Where are you?" Jack muttered.

OOO

The reason no one could find Bakura inside Central City was for the simple fact that he was not actually in the city. He had set up a base of operations inside the very same abandoned industrial park that Jack had used to train years before.

Bakura was right then leaning over a table, looking down at the many cards he had recently amassed. For the past several weeks, Bakura had been ambushing people outside of gaming shops, freezing their bodies and stealing their cards. He had not banished any of them to the shadow realm in order to avoid laying any kind of trail that Harper and the others would be able to follow back to him. Bakura was very pleased with his results in that endeavor. He'd assembled a number of cards with effects he'd never of dreamed of.

At that moment, Zoom sped into the room. The two had an amiable alliance, but neither was without their own agenda. Both men had been spending the last four months constantly tap-dancing around each other. Both men were intrigued by the other's powers and both had been consistently trying to learn as much as possible about said powers without the other catching on.

"Harper has his monsters out looking for you." Zoloman said as he removed his cowl.

"So, he's finally given up on Flash and his tech-idled cohorts ability to track me down." Bakura said, thinking out loud.

"You sound almost glad about that."

"Very much. In order to take Harper's Millennium Ring I must first defeat him in a duel. The rules on that are very clear. There is no way to do it without openly challenging him."

"So, when is this plan of yours for Harper going to happen?"

"The day after tomorrow." Bakura said. "If all goes according to our individual plans, by this time Saturday, we'll have all the powers of our enemies!"

OOO

A while later, Bakura stood in the middle of a construction yard at Hudson's Roofing Tar Industries. He was looking down at a specific point in the concrete. The effect of one of his stolen cards had accidentally allowed him to divine what was hidden here. Bakura pulled a deck from his pocket and picked a specific card out of it.

"I activate 'Miracle Dig.'"

In an instant, a section of the ground in front of him simply vanished as if it had never existed. A mass of boiling, bubbling tar rose up out of the pit by its own accord and placed itself on the ground six feet away from Bakura. The tar reformed itself into Joey Monteleone. Monteleone looked dirty and ragged and angry.

"I'm free. I'm finally free." Monteleone muttered to himself.

"You're quite welcome." Bakura said.

"You let me out? How? Why?"

Bakura sneered. "The 'how' and 'why' are not important. What is important is what you're going to do with this new freedom."

This made Monteleone's face grow even angrier.

"I'm going to find the people who killed me and make them pay. You have a problem with that?"

"None whatsoever." Bakura said.

Monteleone then turned back into tar and swiftly oozed away.

"All according to plan." Bakura thought.

OOO

In Cisco's lab inside of S.T.A.R Labs, Harry Wells was developing a way to steal Barry's speed, a job demanded of him by Zoom in exchange for his daughter's life. Harry was recording his progress into an audio journal in his high-tech wristwatch.

"Journal entry one-fourteen. Turtle's brain. What I learned from Turtle's brain matter and, the Reverse-Flash as it turns out, has allowed me to complete a device that, when installed inside the Flash's suit, will let me harness his speed, so that the next time he taps into the Speed Force..." Harry sighed. "I can begin the collection. I wish there were another way, but there's not."

Barry then walked into the lab. "Oh, hey."

"Hey."

"You're here late."

Harry nonchalantly covered the device with a paper of written calculations.

Harry said, "As are you. Shouldn't you be out... Doing whatever it is twenty-six-year-olds do on a Thursday night?"

"Um, I am recently single." Barry said.

Barry's girlfriend, Detective Patty Spivot had recently left the city. It came about when she discovered on her own that Barry was the Flash, and, after she'd tried to get him to tell her, he'd denied it.

"Ah." Harry said.

"So, I thought I would tackle the breach problem, and see if I could figure out some way to close them. Looks like you had the same idea."

"Right." Harry lied. "I work better alone."

"Ah, no. Haven't you heard the expression, 'Two head are better than one?'"

"No."

"Must be an Earth-1 thing." Barry said.

Jack and Mana then walked past the lab.

"Oh, hey guys." Mana said cheerily.

She had not given up on trying to make friends with everyone on the team, Barry included.

"Thought you guys had left." Barry said coldly.

"We're going now." Jack said. "To a romantic dinner, and then home to have a loving night with each other cause we're still together."

"Yeah, well you enjoy that. Hope Mana's card doesn't slip off or your powers that she couldn't exist in this world without don't fail." Barry responded.

Each of them gave a forced smile which did nothing to conceal the animosity they were feeling.

"Right, so, we're gonna go. See you guys later." Mana said before pulling Jack along with her.

Barry glared angrily at the spot they'd been.

"Anyway..." Harry said, changing the subject. "You aren't able to help me. Your earth has yet to create CFL Quark Matter, and so it would take you too long to catch up on the science. So, I'll do it by myself."

"This science?" Barry asked, holding up a text book.

"Yes, that science."

Barry smiled. "Watch this."

He used his powers to speed read through the book in his hands and another within seconds. Harry stood there, his body language conveying vast irritation.

"That's annoying." Harry said.

Barry slammed the cover down on the last book. "Wow. All right, I'm all caught up. For the next, like, thirty minutes, give or take. Looks like I missed one, though."

Barry moved to try to read the paper covering Harry's device. Harry clamped his hand down over it.

"All right, you can assist. But I'm in charge."

"Yeah, you're in charge." Barry said.

OOO

Seventy city blocks away, underneath a bridge, more than two hundred people had gathered with their cars for the street race event of the night. Wally was there, talking with a few of his racing friends. Several cat calls and wolf whistles got his attention.

Iris was walking in dressed in booty jean cutoffs, black stockings, a faux fur collar leather jacket, and a white t-shirt. She had also dyed the ends of her hair purple to complete the look. Wally looked away from her, covering his eyes, clearly upset.

"What the hell are you doing here? Aside from trying to send me to therapy?" Wally asked.

He started to walk away and Iris walked behind him.

"I told you I did some research. I thought it would be a good idea for a story for the paper. Plus, I thought this would be a great way for us to really get to know each other. I mean, I want to know what's so great about this that you can't let go, bro."

Wally turned to face her. "No one here is eager to get their picture in the paper, you got me?"

"In which part of the paper? The part where they put the mug shots or in the back, in the obituary section?"

"Yo, why don't you just take a page out of your dad's book, let me do what I'm gonna do, okay? I don't need a big sister."

"I know, you're gonna need an undertaker." Iris said.

"Last race of the night, people!" The organizer announced. "Our reigning champ, Tail Lights!"

Everyone but Iris applauded and hooted for Wally. Iris gave him another disapproving look.

"Oh... What? No 'good luck?'" Wally asked as he got into his car.

He turned the engine of the car over and pulled up to the line. Iris took her phone out of her back pocket and stealthily took a picture of the organizer.

OOO

In a garage filled with expensive sports cars, Clay Stanley's same goon from two years earlier was standing guard and watching the news on a small TV. The anchorperson was talking about the construction happening at Hudson's. He turned off the TV and stood up to leave when he heard a sound like liquid churning out in the adjoining space. Taking a few steps, he saw nothing but what looked like a puddle of oil on the floor.

"Guys! Clean up before you leave." The goon complained to no one.

He turned to go back for a couple things. Monteleone rose up out of the puddle and reformed his human shape. Hearing the sound of it, the goon looked back and saw him.

"Two years!" Monteleone shouted as he walked towards the other man. "Two years I was trapped in the ground, in that blackness. I couldn't see, I couldn't feel, but, I could still hate."

"Joey?"

"Did you ever wonder what it felt like when you dropped me in that vat of boiling tar? Since I went in head-first, I actually felt my ears and nose burn off. The pain of my eyeballs searing was unimaginable. But it was the way that it burned down my throat as I tried to breath that I thought was really special. But why tell? Why don't I just show you?"

Monteleone turned his right hand into a red-hot, enlarged gob of tar and smothered the goon's face with it.

OOO

The next day the police had been called and had shown up at the garage to investigate the murder. Seeing him, Joe moved to intercept Barry.

"Barr, you good?"

"Yeah. You know, it's weird Patty's not here."

"Just not for the same reasons, but I miss Patty, too."

"What have we got?" Barry asked.

Joe said, "Victim's name is Daniel Burge. Not exactly a boy scout, but managed to buy this garage two years ago. It looks like he was dipped in a volcano."

Barry knelt down beside the body and pulled the sheet back.

"Oh, yeah. Actually, the depth and uniformity of the burn pattern is something you would see if the body was covered in something like lava but with a lower burn temp, and an added chemical characteristic."

"The fire investigator didn't find a secondary accelerant." Joe said.

"Yeah, he probably wouldn't, with a meta." Barry stood up. "Alright, I'm gonna take a sample back to S.T.A.R Labs, have Cisco run some tests."

"Maybe get Jack on this one, too. Not crazy about the idea of someone burning people to death like this." Joe said.

"Yeah, I don't know about that."

"Come here." Joe said.

He pulled Barry around to a private corner.

"Look, Barr, I know you're having a hard time trusting Jack, but you got to get over it. Just look at how he helped with Savage, the Turtle and the Reverse-Flash." Joe said.

"You know what I saw in all those cases? Jack being able to conjure what was basically a black hole, Jack being able to overcome Turtle's power when even I couldn't, Jack and Mana taking down the Reverse-Flash with an ease I wouldn't have thought possible. I'm starting to think that maybe they don't have any hidden agendas, but I'm not taking my eyes off-"

Barry didn't finish. He was frozen with his mouth in mid-sentence, and not just him either. Every man and woman in the garage were all stilled in the same way.

Jack and Mana walked into the garage, the Millennium Eye glowing on Jack's forehead. He had frozen everyone's mind with his Millennium Ring.

"Jack, are you sure we should be doing this?" Mana asked.

"Mana, you know we don't know where Bakura is going to strike or how he might go about it. We have to check everything, no matter how feint the possibility. And we wouldn't be able to get in here without me putting everyone on pause. Especially this dick." Jack said, pointing at Barry.

"I guess you're right."

"Now, let's see what happened here."

Jack then drew a hand of six cards, the one he wanted coming up as the fourth card from the right.

"I activate 'Past Image.'" He said.

With a flash of magic, all of the police in the room vanished and the scene changed and showed them exactly what happened the previous night. The vision ended and everything in the garage returned to how it had been.

"Well, I guess Bakura really didn't have anything to do with this one." Mana said.

"I'm not sure." Jack muttered.

He and Mana walked back through the garage to the spot where Monteleone entered in tar form.

"I've just got a feeling."

Jack knelt down and touched the spot. Sudden glimpses started to show before his eyes. He saw a flash of Bakura, of Monteleone, and one of Zoom. Jack then stood up swiftly.

"What did you see?" Mana asked.

"Just pieces. Bakura, the meta guy, and Zoom. Bakura's got something to do with this, Mana. There's no doubt about that now."

"You know what we have to do now to find out more. We have to unlock the full potential of your Millennium Item."

"I know." Jack said.

He'd been putting this off for the past few months. He knew it would be necessary in order for them to defeat Bakura, but he didn't want to become some overpowered freak like in a cheesy anime. What he hadn't told Mana was that he had a strong feeling that all of the powers would be easily accessible for him.

"We should probably get going so Barry and the others don't notice the time discretion when you unfreeze them." Mana said.

Jack nodded. Before they left, Jack happened to see Barry in the distant corner.

"I'm sorry, I know this is childish, but I have to do it before we leave." He said.

Walking over, Jack stood in front of Barry, took a pen out of his pocket and proceeded to draw a silly mustache on Barry's upper lip. Mana stood to the side as he did this, embarrassed but still keeping herself from outright guffawing at Jack's prank. When he had finished, Jack had put an ink mustache, glasses, and beard on Barry's face and the words "I'm the Flash" on his forehead. He stood back and observed his work and exhaled with satisfaction.

"Okay, now we can go." He said.

Jack and Mana walked out of the garage together with their arms wrapped around each other's waists. As soon as they were well past the exterior police barrier, Jack released everyone from his mind controlling magic.

"-them." Barry finished his sentence.

Joe stared at Barry with his mouth slightly agape.

"What? Why are you looking at me that way?" Barry asked.

"Uh, Barr, I'm not sure how it happened, but you might want to get to a bathroom pretty quick." Joe said.

"What?"

Barry took a step away from Joe and looked at his reflection in the window of one of the garage cars.

"What?! Oh! Come on!" He quietly groaned. He turned back to Joe. "You see what I mean?! This has to be Jack. He must have frozen us to come in here and do this!"

"Barr..." Joe forced down the laugh he felt coming up. "I know this isn't really a good example of his responsibility, but I'm sure he's got a good explanation."

"I don't care what his explanation is. This is ridiculous and unprofessional, and after I've been trying to warm up to him. I'm getting out of here before someone sees this."

Barry took a quick scan to make sure no one was looking at him and super-sped out.

OOO

Inside the S.T.A.R Labs primary control room, Harry finished and activated the device designed to steal Barry's Speed Force. He sighed deeply. Despite how annoying he found them most of the time, Harry had developed a fondness for Barry and most of Team Flash. He truly did not want to carry out Zoom's orders. The elevator doors in the outer hall opened and he heard Barry and Cisco exit the lift.

"See? Now click here. Bam! That's my app. The app just went live." Harry heard Cisco say.

He stood in front of the Flash suit, making the final mental preparation for what he had to do.

Out in the hall, Cisco went on. "So, you can sync up all social-media postings about meta-human activity. Somebody sees something cray in Central City? I get an alert about it."

Their voices were getting louder. They were coming closer to the control room.

"Yo, man. You have too much time on your hands." Barry said.

"Oh, I thought you were going to say it was cool."

Harry took the lightning-bolt symbol off of Barry's suit, placed the device on the underneath and reattached the insignia.

"I'm just saying, you can't judge me. Kendra's still trying to figure out her whole 'past lives' thing, and, besides, didn't your girlfriend just break up with you?" Cisco asked as he and Barry walked into the control room.

"Yeah?"

"Pretty sure she just did."

"Hey Harry." Barry said. Speaking to Cisco again, he said, "Wait, so if that app gives you eyes and ears all over the city, then why don't we just use it to find Zoom and Bakura?"

"Cause it doesn't work like that. It's not constantly monitoring everything in the city, and even if it could, we'd either have to have someone watching at all times or spend several more weeks programming it to be able to recognize meta-human activity."

As the two friends continued talking, Harry looked over at the crest on Barry's suit again, still considering the implications of what he'd just done.

OOO

Joe West walked into his daughter's office at Central City Picture News and right up to her desk.

"Hey, baby." Joe said and kissed the top of her head.

"Hey."

"Looks like you're working hard."

"I am. I'm researching a story. One that you'll find interesting, actually."

Iris picked up an opened a binder for her father to see.

"This is Curran Roberts. After his head went through the windshield of his hot-rod, he was in a coma for six months." She turned a page. "This kid, he died. He wrapped his car around a tree at one-hundred-ten miles per hour. They were all street racers, Dad, and Wally could be the next one."

"What do you want me to do, Iris? Lock him up?" Joe asked.

"Or stop the races."

"Look, I learned a long time ago, you can't stop your kids from being who they are."

"Really? Why won't you be his parent, Dad? What are you so afraid of?"

"All right, you're right." Joe said. "I'm afraid. I'm afraid he'll reject me. Us. Look, the last time I confronted him about the races, it didn't go so well, remember? And I need it to go well with Wally. I mean, after all these years lost, I want him in our lives. Let me get him to trust me. Then I can do something about it."

"Okay." Iris said.

OOO

An hour after she and Jack had checked out the crime scene, Mana was walking up to the museum where she had her part-time job. Her boss, Dr. Lawrence, had called her thirty minutes before asking her to come in and advise on a new display they were planning for the ancient Egypt wing.

As Mana walked up the front steps of the museum, she suddenly had a strange feeling. It was a feeling of spontaneous unease and unrest. A chill ran up her spine and seemed to lower her overall body temperature. Mana had the distinct impression that she was being watched.

She stopped walking and started to turn slowly, scanning the crowd. She tried to ascertain if any of the hundreds of people within her frame of view were looking at her. Mana saw the typical assortment of hipsters not doing much, business people hurriedly shuffling along the sidewalk, cabbies waiting in their driving seats for a fare, but no one triggered any alarm bells in her mind. Deciding that it had just been a weird sensation that came out of nowhere, Mana turned back and continued walking up the stairs.

The second she reached the summit of the steps, she knew her forewarning had been correct. Leaning against the side of the arch at the front entrance was Bakura. He had a snide sneer on his face. His cruel, brown eyes seemed to be laughing, although there was no sound coming from his mouth. He straightened up and slowly stepped nearer to her, stopping a full ten feet away,

Within a second, Mana magically called forth her Dark Magician Girl staff and readied herself for whatever might happen.

"Please. You and I both know you're not going to use that. You don't want to risk ruining the little life you've built here with that foolish mortal of yours. One magic blast and it's all gone. And for all that, we both know it wouldn't even phase me. Compared to mine, your magic is beneath even contempt. Also, you wouldn't want to risk harming these poor, innocent fools surrounding us." Bakura said.

"I'm willing to risk it if I have to. I won't let you harm Jack."

"You can't save him. From the moment his Millennium Ring came into being, he was destined to end by my hand."

"Jack's stronger then you give him credit for, and he always has me, the Flash, and all our monster friends." Mana said.

"Oh, yes. Harper has you, and he befriended several moderately powerful duel monsters, but do you really think you can depend on that fool the Flash for aid?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it." Bakura said. "Ever since Harper joined their little group, there's been almost nothing there between him and the rest of them but distrust and growing hostility. I know you've seen it. In all these months, have you and Harper ever even socialized with them apart from that one time in Star City? That fool Allen thinks Harper's powers are too mighty for him to possibly be anything but a villain. He's just waiting for an opportunity to be proven right. Can you honestly say that you believe if it were up to Allen to save Harper from me, he would?"

Mana was about to automatically answer "yes," when her mouth closed. She had to admit it. She truly did not know if Barry would save Jack's life if that situation presented itself. She thought that Cisco or Joe West would, but with Barry, despite how hard he worked and fought as the Flash, she really didn't know. Mana then shook her head to try to clear the thoughts away.

"You're just trying to get in my head. To make me doubt Barry and the others." She said.

"You can believe what you like, but let's not quibble. I didn't come here to fight." Bakura said.

"Then what do you want?"

"We all know this can't conclude until Harper and I duel again and a clear winner is decided. Besides, I'm growing weary of this world. All I want is for you to tell your boyfriend I'll be waiting for him."

"Waiting for him where?"

Bakura laughed his evil laugh. "That's for him to figure out. That is, if he can control his Millennium Item even half as well as he should be able to."

Bakura then casually walked on past her and down the stairs. Mana watched him as he went, never taking her eyes off of him until he rounded a corner and was lost from view. She exhaled a huge breath of relief. After pausing a moment to collect her thoughts, Mana took her phone out of her purse and dialed a number.

"Jack, it's me. Now, try not to freak out when I tell you this."

OOO

In Cisco's lab inside of S.T.A.R Labs, Barry was just sitting around, waiting to possibly help while Harry was busily scribbling equations on his clear whiteboard.

"Okay... Oh God, oh God, oh God." Barry muttered to himself.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

No, I just, I can't remember, is the helicity of a particle left-handed if its spin and motion is the same or opposite?"

Harry started to answer. "It's-"

"No, hold on! I got it, hold on, I'll find the answer to that."

Barry then super-speed read through the book in front of him again. He looked up at Harry with a satisfied smile.

"Opposite. I knew that."

"You know, that's really annoying." Harry said somewhat intensely.

"Ah, you know, just gotta recharge the old short-term every once in a while."

Harry turned and went back to his equations.

After a moment, Barry said, "You know, this feels like old times."

"Okay." Harry responded absently without looking back.

"Yeah, I mean, I know, obviously, this our first time working together but I am learning a lot from you. The last Wells was a real mentor. He believed that I could do anything, made me believe it."

"Okay." Harry's irritation with Barry was growing.

"He opened up whole new worlds to me. Guess he really was like another father, almost."

Harry's aggravation reached a peak and he took the rag he'd been using to erase on the board and threw it at Barry's head. It didn't hit Barry. Harry hadn't entirely meant it to.

"Stop it, all right?" Harry said.

"What?"

"I did not ask for your help, okay? I certainly did not ask to be your mentor!"

Harry turned back to the board.

Barry said, "Okay, relax, I was just talking about-"

"You know what, I have a kid already, I don't need another one. So scram, let me finish this by myself."

He turned his back on Barry.

"All right."

Barry stood up and slowly walked out of the room. He walked the short distance to the primary control room, finding Cisco at the computer station. Cisco saw him come in and started speaking.

"Hey, I ran your crime scene sample six ways to Sunday- What's wrong with you?"

"I just..." Barry shook his head. "Nothing. What's up?"

Caitlin walked into the room from her medical lab on the opposite side.

"Two thing, very strange." Cisco began. "One, definitely meta-human cell in the oil."

"And two, he didn't die from his burns. It was suffocation." Caitlin finished.

"Suffocation?" Barry asked. "That makes sense, actually. The burns indicated that the body was covered in something."

"Cross-referencing O2 levels in the organic matter, I found a direct match to animals trapped and preserved in an asphalt seep. The guy was fossilized." Cisco explained.

Barry said, "So whoever killed him is like a walking tar-"

"Tar Pit." Cisco interrupted. "Mmm. Too slow. It's okay." He patted Barry's shoulder.

"So, he's basically drowning them in tar. God, that's a horror show. Why did he target Daniel Burge?" Barry wondered.

A chorus of intense, operatic voices then suddenly sounded. Cisco picked his phone up from the console.

"Oh, that's my meta-human social media app." He looked at the phone. "There's an attack in progress, Sixth and Bell, downtown."

Barry groaned slightly then quickly flashed into his suit and ran out.

In Cisco's lab at the same time, Harry's device activated and it began to subtly siphon Barry's powers.

OOO

Barry super-sped across the city, arriving at the scene of the forthcoming attack. Jack and Mana then appeared a second later, her hand on his arm, her having teleported both of them there. Mana was wearing her Dark Magician Girl outfit, and Jack was in his regular clothes, but with a bandanna over his face for a mask.

"Cisco called us." Jack said.

"Whatever." Barry said.

They all three looked forward and saw Monteleone approaching Clay Stanley.

"Remember me, Clay?"

Clay Stanley experienced a flashback to that night.

"We killed you."

"I bet right now you're not thinking... 'Yummy.'" Monteleone said.

"You guys seeing this?" Barry asked.

"Oh, yeah. We see it." Caitlin said over the coms.

Monteleone made a flaming ball of tar in one hand and hurled it at Stanley. Barry rushed in, grabbed Stanley and took him to safety forty feet away from Monteleone.

"All right. Any ideas?" Barry asked his friends.

Before they could answer, Jack swiftly drew a hand, looked at the cards, and played a trap.

"Go 'Ice Rage!'"

Four monumental, pointed stalagmites of ice erupted from the street underneath Monteleone, forcing him up, off of his feet as he rose. Mana then used her powers to reshape and reform the ice into a small prison cell to contain the man. Inside the cell, Monteleone blew up his heat as much as he could, melting the ice and escaping. Monteleone oozed onto the ground. Mana aimed her staff for a magic blast, but before she could fire, Monteleone slipped away through the crack of a manhole cover.

"Never mind." Barry said into his coms with a combination of disappointment and frustration.

He looked at Clay Stanley and grabbed onto the lapels of his jacket.

"Hey, buddy. I've got some questions for you. Let's go."

He dragged Stanley away with him. Jack and Mana started to walk away from the scene but were then quickly set upon by the several civilians who had been standing around watching. As they were inundated with questions and the onlookers closely invaded their personal space, Mana saw the discomfort of the situation in Jack's eyes and flew the both of them out of there.

OOO

Inside Cisco's lab, Harry disconnected the attached container vile from his device and looked at the Speed Force he'd just stolen from Barry.

"You're coming home, Jesse. You're coming home."

OOO

"All right, so Tar Pit... 'Tar Pit,' that's what we're calling him?" Barry asked Cisco.

"That's right." Cisco answered.

Barry, Caitlin, Cisco, Mana and Jack were all in the primary control room to discuss the team's newest opponent.

Barry went on, "Tar Pit was after one Clay Stanley. Stanley, as it turns out, is a suspected hitman that the C.C.P.D has been trying to track for a while. But they haven't been able to make anything stick."

Cisco then chuckled.

"No pun intended." Barry said.

"Do we know why he was attacked?" Caitlin asked.

"Didn't you guys hear what Tar Pit was saying to the guy?" Jack asked. "Sounded to me like a mocking taunt, like he was throwing the guy's words back at him. Stanley's probably got something to do with him being a tar meta-human."

"Well, we can't be sure." Barry said a bit condescendingly. "Stanley wouldn't answer any of my questions. He was pretty scared."

"When a hitman is scared, you know something's wrong." Cisco said.

"Mana and I can get him to talk." Jack said.

"Oh, let me guess: You'll either mind control him to tell everything or threaten to have Red-Eyes or some other monster eat him or something if he doesn't cooperate." Barry said coldly.

"Actually, all it would take is a simple truth spell and he'd be unable to lie or not answer us." Mana said.

"Thanks, but I think we'll solve this the real way." Barry said.

"Anyway..." Jack groaned, his irritation with Barry growing. "Tar boy isn't our only problem right now. Bakura's finally shown himself."

Cisco then stood up, suddenly nervous. "He has? How? When?"

"He confronted me a couple of hours ago in front of the museum. He wants what he's always wanted: To duel Jack and take his Millennium Ring." Mana said.

"Well, where's this duel supposed to happen? Bakura is dangerous, but not like Zoom is. Maybe we could set a trap for him." Caitlin suggested.

"We don't know. Bakura apparently expects me to use my millennium powers to figure out where he is somehow. I guess he wants to test me." Jack said.

"Yeah, well, we can deal with your fictional character enemy after we stop Tar Pit from killing anyone else." Barry said and then turned back to Cisco.

Jack then put a hand on Barry's shoulder and yanked him back around to face him.

"I don't think you're taking this very seriously. In case you haven't figured it out yet, Bakura has the same power with the cards that I do, but unlike me, he's not gonna be so picky about the effects he starts activating if he isn't dealt with. How would you deal with a never-ending lightning-storm over the city? Or a level ten earthquake? Or maybe he'll just summon a giant fiend monster to start destroying everything. Your meta-humans may be able to take a few lives or demolish a building or two, but Bakura could easily wipe out everything without breaking a sweat if he wanted to."

"Yeah, I guess he could. With the same powers as you have." Barry let that hang.

"Yeah. He and I do have the same powers. Powers that would let me take care of Bakura, Zoom and your other little low-threat enemies with nothing more than five cards."

"You want to stop Bakura so much? The why don't you just take your made-up girlfriend and get out there and do it?"

"Gladly." Jack hissed lowly.

The two men glared furiously into each other's eyes for another moment before Jack turned and stormed out. Mana quickly ran up beside him and matched his stride.

"We are going to put that dick in his place if it kills us!" Jack told her.

In the control room, Barry exhaled with aggravation and turned back to see Caitlin and Cisco staring at him.

"Don't say it. I know. I said I was gonna try to trust him and not be dismissive and I was a real asshole just there. Let's just move on. Cisco, did you get an ID on our meta-human?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm running it through five different facial-recognition systems right now, so it should take just a minute."

A photo and police report file on Monteleone then appeared on the monitor in front of them.

"And there it is. Who's the best hacker in the world, people?" Cisco asked.

"Felicity Smoak." Barry and Caitlin said together.

Cisco looked at them seriously. "What is wrong with you two? That's not friendship."

Caitlin spread her hands apart in a way that said, "What are you gonna do?" She then said, "Our meta-human's name is Joseph Monteleone."

"Oh, he looks friendly." Cisco said.

Barry read from the file, "Monteleone was reported missing... Surprise, surprise, the night of the particle accelerator explosion."

"And what's the connection between Monteleone and the two victims?" Caitlin asked.

"Like Jack said. Monteleone had to have been thrown into tar to get those powers, Clay Stanley is a hitman, therefore Stanley and the other guy are probably the ones who threw him in. You shouldn't antagonize him so much. He and Mana actually had me come to dinner at their place last week. They're good people." Cisco said.

"Yeah, I'm trying. Anyway, we should make sure of the connection. I'll call Joe, have him run background checks on all three guys." Barry said.

"Okay. I'm gonna run some tests on the tar sample. I'll see if I can find his weakness." Caitlin said.

Barry and Caitlin then walked away. Remembering something, Cisco lightly jogged after Barry and caught up to him in the hall.

"Hey. You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Why?" Barry asked back.

"You're going slower than normal. You clocked in at fourteen-hundred-fifteen miles an hour."

"I'm sorry. How fast do I normally run?" Barry asked with a smile which showed he didn't believe there was a problem.

"Fifteen-hundred. Are you getting enough to eat?"

Cisco moved his hand to feel Barry's temperature on his forehead, but Barry pushed it away.

"Yes! Yeah, dude, I'm fine. Seriously. The difference seems negligible. Fast is fast, right?"

Cisco responded with a cock of his head and the two said "goodbye" and parted.

OOO

Inside his dingy, seedy office, the man responsible for organizing the street races Wally attended was watching a NASCAR race on a small TV.

"Just overtake him, you idiot."

Iris stepped into the office through a door of hanging beads.

"Clark Bronwen?" She asked.

"Who's asking?"

He then looked up from counting his money and instantly gave Iris his undivided attention.

"You're that chick was hanging around Tail Lights."

"I'm a reporter for CCPN. I want you to stop holding the races." Iris said.

Brownen scoffed. "Sweetheart, unless you can find me another way to make five grand a night, it ain't gonna happen."

Iris took several folded sheets of paper out of a pocket of her coat and moved closer to Brownen around his desk.

"Here's a preview of the exposé that I am planning to write." She placed the paper in front of him. "You are the star of the piece. I had a little chat with some of your previous associates and dug up some revealing details about you. Such as the gambling rings you run or the thefts you've been involved with. I'm sure the CCPD will be interested in this one."

"You're forgetting something in here." Browned said unfazed as he stood up and stepped closer to her. "Aggravated assault. You think you're the only one who can play this game? I can find out where you live, what you eat, when you sleep, every little detail about your life. Hmm? Publish that trash, we'll see what happens to you."

Iris looked stone cold into the man's eyes.

"This entire conversation is being recorded and sent to Central City Picture News. If you or any of your people lay a hand on me, my colleagues will send this to the cops immediately."

Brownen then got right into her face.

"Get out of my office."

He gave a shove to her back and Iris walked out.

OOO

An hour later, Wally West strode up to Iris at her desk in the news office.

"You got a death wish?" He asked.

Iris rolled her eyes and turned away from the coffee machine to face him.

"You are not the first person to accuse me of that, so maybe."

Iris walked past Wally.

"Going down there? Threatening them? These people, Iris, they live in the dark, they're cockroaches. Except they don't scatter when someone turns on the lights. They're looking to bite." Wally said.

"If they are so dangerous, Wally, then why are you in so deep with them?"

She walked around him again, forcing him to turn to look at her.

"I'm not." He said. "I can stop when I want."

"So why don't you? You said that you were only street racing to earn money for Francine's medical bills. Well there are no medical bills anymore, she died, so why are you still doing it? ...Look, I am not gonna pretend that Francine meant to me what she did to you, but in the short time that I got to spend with her, I saw what kind of person she had become. She was smart and kind and loving, so, I can't even imagine how much you miss her."

Wally gave her a moderate glare. "You don't know what I'm feeling."

"Well, let me tell you how I feel. I know that you are trying really hard to convince everyone that you are a badass, but I know that you are a good kid, Wally. And you didn't get that way raising yourself. You had a single mother who cared for you. So my dad and I care whether you wrap yourself around a tree or get shot by one of these gangsters. Having someone care about your well-being cannot be a new sensation for you."

Iris then stepped away and returned to her desk.

"Show up there again and I won't be able to protect you." Wally said before leaving.

OOO

Down on the S.T.A.R Labs training course level, Jack and Mana had set up a safe environment for Jack to attempt to force his powers to work and follow his orders so they could locate Bakura. How they'd prepared for the operation had been simple. Mana had used her magic to create several walls of mattress like, rubbery cushions to form a semicircle around them in case any magical discharges might occur and fling them. For the same possibility of unexpected discharges, Jack had activated a trap card called "Safe Zone" to establish a barrier around them to protect the rest of the building.

The two of them were then sitting cross legged on the floor in front of each other. As she looked into his face, Mana thought about how Jack's face hadn't changed from the look of angry resolve since his confrontation with Barry.

"Okay, we are going to do this, find Bakura, go catch Bakura, deal with asshole Barry's meta-human after that and rub it right in his stupid face." Jack proclaimed.

"Jack, before we start, I'd like to talk to you. I know Barry can be very rude at times and its been trying for you, but don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit? That you're taking this a little personally?" Mana asked him.

"Of course I'm taking it personally." Jack answered bluntly. "Not only did Allen insult you again, which, by the way, I'm gonna introduce him to Blue-Eyes White Dragon if he does that again. You know me, Mana, I'm not an egotistical man, but every time he disregards the Millennium Ring, or says something against a duel monster or even underestimates how dangerous Bakura is, he's not only being stupidly dense, he's disrespecting everything I'm passionate about, everything I've built my life around. That's why we have got to produce a concrete win for shadow magic, to shut him up once and for all."

Mana thought about that for a short minute and then gave Jack a small smile.

"I understand, Jack. Let's do it."

The two held out and took each other's hands. Jack activated the magic of the ring, the Millennium symbol illuminating with golden light. The same symbol then alighted on his forehead. Mana's job during this was simple. She was Jack's anchor, tethering his mind to his body in that time and place just to make sure nothing could happen to him while he explored the depths of his own power.

It started out slowly. Jack probed the feelings within his mind that he typically associated with using his powers. When he used his powers over the cards, he always felt a slight rush of adrenaline, a high, as if he were spontaneously creating something. When he would summon a monster, for just a split second, it felt as though they were linked together. He would get a briefest sense of that monster's mind and personality.

Jack then focused on the last time he'd gained a vision of the future. The first time it had happened, it had caught him by surprise and literally knocked him off of his feet. As it had happened, he had felt out of control, but also that the vision had come from himself. He concentrated on those feelings and replayed his memories of the first vision, thinking this would trigger something.

As Jack and Mana sat there, nothing at all happened for almost twenty minutes. Jack was just about to give up on the exercise when he suddenly found himself hurtling down the same tunnel of streaking colors as he had the first time. He quickly emerged out of the tunnel, but found that it wasn't nearly the same as his first vision. The first time, the vision had been a coherent display of some future event which Jack could clearly see; just as with Ishizu's Millennium Necklace from the show.

This time, however, many different disjointed images flashed before Jack's eyes. The pictures went by so quickly, he could barely make any of them out. The only things he was able to see clearly were images of himself in some kind of odd outfit, Mana, fighting, and a sign which said "Pier 57."

Jack then opened his eyes and looked at Mana. Her emerald green eyes were staring back at him. Jack smiled slightly.

"I think I found him."

"I assume we aren't going after him right now."

"No. I'm not pissed enough to be stupid. We'll go do some reconnaissance first."

OOO

In one of the labs on a higher level, Barry was working on some equations on the clear whiteboard. He then noticed Harry happening to walk into the room.

"I'm just going over some research." Barry said.

"Ten-year-old determination." Harry muttered with a smirk.

"What?" Barry faced him.

"When my daughter was ten, her science teacher had her do a project. She spent every waking hour tinkering, perfecting her solar-powered oven. Anyway, ten-year-old determination. You remind me of her."

Harry sighed as he checked something on the computer.

"Did you scold her as well?" Barry asked.

"Yes."

"Look, I know that this has been hard for you. But you're not in it alone."

"Yes, I am, Allen." Harry said. "As much as you all want me to be part of your team, that's never going to happen. I'm always going to be a father first. And one day, Zoom is gonna make me choose between you and my daughter, and every time, unblinkingly, unflinchingly, I would choose my daughter. I will betray you."

"That's binary thinking. It doesn't have to be either-or."

"Life is either-or. Yes-no. Black-white. Love-hate. From the dawn of time, till this moment right now."

Harry turned away from Barry to the desk behind himself.

"I guess I just have more faith in you than you have in yourself. And by the way, I came up with an idea, or... A notion, rather, on how we could close the breaches for good." Barry said as he handed Harry several stapled pieces of paper.

Harry looked it over, flipping the pages. "This is... Who wrote this?"

"You did. Yeah, the other you. He was evil, not stupid. I think the answer might be in the electromagnetic insulator of the quark matter. Like I said, we are a team."

Harry glanced away and back quickly, his eyes showing his surprise, his embarrassment for the things he'd said earlier, and how impressed he was.

"I'm gonna look over this." He said before starting to walk out.

"I'm gonna stick around, run some computer sims on the formula." Barry said.

"See you later." Harry said.

"Yeah, sure."

OOO

Harry stood in an isolated part of town, waiting. Five feet to his right, a breach opened and Zoom leaped out, landing right in front of the other man, his blue lightning sparking all over his body.

Harry pushed the front of his coat aside and took out the container holding Barry's speed, loaded into a syringe gun.

"Drink up." Harry said and tossed the gun over.

Zoom caught it, trembled with excitement and then jabbed the needle into his arm. As the booster of power took hold, his exterior lightning intensified and his head and arms jerked to and fro at super-speed for several moments. A guttural growl emanated from his throat as it subsided.

"Had enough?" Harry asked.

"Not even close." Zoom said in his deep, rasping drawl.

"Give me back my daughter and I'll get you the rest."

"You're not in a position to negotiate."

"You won't kill me." Harry said. "And you won't kill my daughter. Because if you do, then you won't get what you want."

"I don't need to kill your daughter..." Zoom shot out his hand, grabbed onto Harry's shoulder and began to lightly crush it. "I can torture her, bring her right up to the edge of death, so I can do it again the next day, and the next. Bring me the rest of Flash's speed."

Harry groaned and fell to one knee after Zoom released his grip. Zoom looked down at him for a moment and then sped away.

OOO

Jack and Mana were walking down the length of Pier 57 at the Central City docks. They weren't worried about the possibility of Bakura or anyone else spotting them because Jack had activated the trap card "Camouflage." It wasn't completely perfect invisibility, but they were hidden enough by the magic that no one from a distance would be able to tell they were there, and they had no intention of getting too close to anyone.

They weren't entirely sure what they were looking for. All they really knew was that Bakura was in one of the buildings somewhere near the pier and that they had to find him in order to come up with a plan ahead of time.

Even though Bakura had sort-of proposed a straight up duel between himself and Jack, neither Jack nor Mana believed he actually meant it. Just showing up at Bakura's location could possibly count as accepting his challenge, and then it would be far too easy for Bakura to do something to pick them off before they could respond.

"Jack, are you sure we're in the right place?" Mana whispered into his ear so they wouldn't be detected.

"Seventy-percent." Jack responded just as quietly.

They proceeded forward for several minutes until Jack saw something which looked familiar. A particular pattern of broken glass in a window caught his eye. It was just like one of the images he'd seen in his vision. Jack pointed the building out to Mana and they moved closer to it. The building was a warehouse which, despite its appearance of being fairly new, also had an aura of emptiness.

"Go up, take a closer look." He whispered to Mana.

She nodded and used her magical staff to levitate herself twenty feet above Jack and look through the window. She instantly saw Bakura inside, sitting on a conveyor belt, leafing through a deck of cards. Having confirmed they were in the right place, Mana used her staff to take several magic pictures, capturing a complete layout of the interior of the building.

Bakura then looked up at the window in her direction. Mana swiftly floated back down to Jack.

"I think Bakura sensed me. We have to get out of here."

She put one arm around Jack's waist and then flew off with him just as Bakura stepped outside where they had been.

Jack and Mana landed on the ground at the main gate of the docks.

"Great job, baby!" Jack congratulated Mana and wrapped her into a hug.

Mana hugged him back and the two shared a passionate kiss, their systems on an adrenaline high from nearly getting caught.

"We've really got him now. All we have to do is come up with a plan."

"And then we face Bakura, beat him, and we'll have saved the world." Mana said.

The two then started to stroll back home.

"Should we tell Barry and them about this?" Mana asked as they walked.

Jack's face then fell. "Absolutely not. The douche would either make out like its inconsequential or insist on getting involved and screw up our strategy."

Mana said nothing in response to that. They walked in silence for several minutes.

"Mana, what are we even doing with those guys?" Jack suddenly asked her.

"You're the one who joined their team. I just followed you."

"I know. Its turned into one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. I can only stand three out of the six of them and we only really like Cisco. Should have taken Oliver up on his offer to join them or just gone after Bakura by ourselves from the start." Jack said.

"I'll admit, I really haven't liked seeing this angry side of you that Barry brings out."

"Well, that won't be a problem for much longer. As soon as we've dealt with Bakura, we're done helping that pack of ingrates."

"I still think we should maybe tell someone at S.T.A.R Labs before our fight. Just in case we don't win, they'll know they need to pick up the slack."

Jack sighed, considered her point for a moment and then nodded his head.

"We'll tell Cisco, and only Cisco."

"I agree." Mana said.

"Let's walk home instead of flying or anything. It'll give us a better chance to think on the plan."

Mana agreed and the two started to leisurely proceed home.

OOO

Monteleone was sitting in a vacant apartment he'd oozed into through the plumbing since the day before. He'd had to take a lot longer then he'd both thought and liked for his meta-human body and powers to recover from the frigidly cold attacks inflicted on him.

Monteleone was in a murderously foul mood. How dare those people, whoever they were, get in the way of his revenge against Clay? How could they defend such a low and awful piece of dung like him? If they had any idea the kind of person Clay truly was, what he was capable of, what he had done to Monteleone, they'd be cheering him on to avenge himself.

Hearing a distinct creaking of the floor from a distant part of the apartment, Monteleone stood up from where he'd been sitting against the wall. He moved through the empty rooms and halls carefully, but swiftly, looking for whoever must have come in. Coming into the living room area, he saw someone standing in front of the distant wall, staring out the window.

"Whoever you are, you picked the wrong place at the wrong time to break into." Monteleone said.

Bakura casually turned around to face Monteleone, his standard snide sneer plastered on his face. Monteleone instantly relaxed significantly.

"Oh, it's you."

"I see you've been making yourself at home." Bakura said. "Could possibly use some drapes and a plant or two."

"Hey, uh, you have no idea how I appreciate you letting me out of the ground, but I have to ask, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, that's quite simple. You see, its time for you to fulfill the next part of my plan. Making sure those fools who work with my enemy are not able to aid him, tomorrow night or ever again." Bakura said with a tone of sheer dominance.

"I don't work for you! I won't work for anyone ever again!"

Monteleone lunged for Bakura, turning his arms to red hot tar to burn him to death. Bakura stood motionless, unafraid. When Monteleone was about a half a foot away, Bakura's Millennium Ring glowed and Monteleone's body froze where it was. His mind was still free and active, but he was totally unable to move.

"You seem to be laboring under the misapprehension that I'm giving you a choice in the matter." Bakura held a single card up in front of the man's face. "I assure you, I am not."

OOO

"Breach implosion reactor." Harry said.

"Sorry I asked." Joe said.

Jack and Mana stepped into the primary control room the next day just in time to hear the tail end of whatever that conversation had been about. Joe, Barry Iris, and Harry then all walked out. Jack and Barry shared a small scowl to each other as they passed.

"Hey, Cisco." Jack said.

"Yeah?"

"Mana and I found Bakura. We're going after him tonight. Just thought we should let you guys know in case... well, you know."

"Ooh!" Cisco jumped out of his chair at the control desk. "Before you guys go out there, Jack, I've been workin' on some hero stuff for you I think you're really gonna love. Come with me."

Cisco giddily ran out of the room. Jack turned and looked at Mana and smiled before following. Mana started to follow herself, but Caitlin put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Hey, Mana, can we talk for a minute?" Caitlin asked.

"Yeah, sure, Caitlin."

The two young women each took a desk chair and sat down across from each other.

Caitlin spoke, "I know we haven't really talked much since we met, which is kind of weird considering how many months we've known each other."

"Yeah. I've felt weird about that sometimes, too." Mana said.

"I know part of it must be you feel kind of alienated from our team based on Barry's behavior and some of it must be you're just used to it being just you and Jack against the world. I just want you to know that I don't feel the same way about your powers and what you actually are as Barry and Harry do. I was actually somewhat a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh when I was a little girl. I used to think you were the coolest of all the monsters."

"Thank you." Mana said politely but with a touch of disquiet in her voice.

"Anyway, despite whatever might happen with Jack and Barry, since we're two of the only girls on the team, I'd like it if we could be friends."

"I would to." Mana said. "In fact, I was going to go shopping tomorrow. Would you like to come? We could get a coffee and talk."

"Yeah, I'd like that." Caitlin said.

They then stood up and in a friendly, but a bit formal way, shook hands.

"I'll text you tomorrow for when we should leave."

"That'll be great. Now, you better get going or you'll miss Cisco's big unveiling. And believe me, he's been geeking out about showing you two this stuff for a while." Caitlin said.

Mana laughed, nodded to Caitlin, turned, and left the control room. She walked the short distance to where she knew Cisco's lab was, but they weren't there. Not knowing where they could be, Mana took her phone out of her purse and called Jack's. It rang and rang, but he failed to answer.

"Jack must have left his phone at home... again." She thought.

One of the only things Jack was ever forgetful about was remembering to take his cell with him when he left the house. While it was not devastating in any way, it made it nearly impossible to get hold of him if she needed to. It was one of the few things that Jack did which really irritated Mana.

Mana tried calling Cisco, but his phone rang on the desk to her right. She then stepped out of Cisco's lab, decided it couldn't be too hard to find them and just started to walk and look for them.

After five minutes of walking, she found herself in the S.T.A.R Labs lounge area. The next place she found herself was one of the power dampening meta-human cells within the pipeline. Ten more minutes of walking later, she inadvertently walked out an emergency exit door of the facility into the parking lot. Mana groaned and went back inside.

"Why haven't I learned the layout of this stupid place? This is ridiculous!" She thought.

Eight minutes of walking later, Mana ended up down in the primary pipeline.

"All right, I've had enough of this."

Mana materialized her magic staff, reached out through the ether and found the signature of Jack's Millennium Ring, and used her powers to teleport to him. She popped in with Jack on her left and Cisco on her right in the small, interior garage facility of the building.

"Hey, there you are." Jack said. He stepped over and sweetly kissed the top of her head. "I was starting to get worried about you."

"I got lost. This place is way too big."

Cisco chuckled lightly.

"What's so funny?" Mana asked.

"No. I'm not laughing at you, really I'm not. That just reminded me of something. I got lost consistently for like five months when I started working here." Cisco said.

"So, Cisco, what exactly did you want to show us?" Mana asked.

"Okay, what I have for you guys today could possibly be my greatest triumphs yet. My pièce de résistance. I give you achievement number one."

Cisco bent down and opened up a crate next to his feet. Jack and Mana looked in to see what looked like a glimmering suit of armor. It was both black and dark blue in three vertical stripes running all down it's length and had a symbol of the back of a Yu-Gi-Oh card on the chest.

"Say 'hello' to your Deck Master suit. Never mind about that name for now. Let me tell you about this. Since you can't dodge bullets like Barry can, your suit is made from a very special titanium, carbon-fiber composite. It should make you totally bullet proof as well as provide shielding against most kinds of energy attacks. In addition to that, I've included a small layer of rubber within the suit for electrical insulation, and, a highly sophisticated temperature stability control function, so no matter whether Bakura tries to freeze you or throw you in a fire, you'll be at optimum temperature. On top of all that, it's got slots along the belt for you to carry up to SIX decks at once, so you never have to worry about not having the right card. And these..." Cisco held up what looked like a pair of sunglasses. "These visors are so cool. Bulletproof glass, large enough to obscure any and all facial recognition software, and, they have a built in system that can link with your duel-disk to tell you the card at the top of your deck without you having to draw and look at it."

Jack ran the tips of his fingers along the shining metal of the suit.

"Wow, Cisco, that's impressive." He said.

"I also came up with the paint job myself. That's the same shade of blue as Yugi's jacket from the show."

"Okay, I admit it, this part of your comic book, superhero stuff I don't think I hate." Jack said.

"That's high praise from him." Mana said.

"He hasn't even seen the best part yet." Cisco said.

Cisco walked over to something large which was hidden by a sheet.

"Now, I have been working on this since almost immediately after you started working with us. Partly for you, partly because I've always wanted to, partly cause I thought Red-Eyes was kinda conspicuous, but mostly because once I got the idea, I just really couldn't stop myself."

Cisco ripped off the sheet, and underneath it was an exact replica of Yusei Fudo's Duel Runner motorcycle. Jack's mouth actually gaped open and he fell to his knees as he marveled at the beauty of the bike.

"Yeah? You like that, right?" Cisco asked. "I've taken painstaking measures to make sure this is as authentic as possible to the one from 5D's. All right, I created a mechanism wherein you can place your duel-disk in the bike, wristband and all. There's a small, vice like card holder just in front of the throttle so you don't lose your cards if moving at high speeds. And on top of all that, she's fast. She's got a custom engine, designed and built by yours truly. Two-thousand cubic-centimeters, one-hundred-twenty-five foot-pounds of torque, top speed of two-hundred and sixty-five miles per hour, and she's all yours."

Jack stood up and moved over to the motorcycle. He felt the curving arch above the seat, the leather upholstery, the twist of the throttle. He looked at Cisco, awe still filling his face.

"Well?" Cisco asked.

Jack then quickly pulled Cisco into a huge hug.

"Cisco! Man, this is the greatest gift anyone's ever given me! This is literally a dream come true!" Jack shouted happily.

"Okay, buddy. Okay. I'm glad you're happy."

Mana then said loudly enough to be heard, "So, should I go reserve a room for you two?"

Instantly getting the joke, and not liking it, Jack and Cisco pushed each other away and stood upright and tense.

"Hmm! Thanks, Cisco. I like it." Jack said stoically.

"Good to hear." Cisco said in the same tone.

Mana giggled at their display.

"So, uh, it's got biometric security. Just put your thumb on the scanner on top to start it." Cisco said.

"All right. Mana... let's go bag us a bad guy."

OOO

Fifty-five minutes later, Jack and Mana, both in their battle outfits, pulled up to the warehouse building, riding on the Duel Runner. Jack lowered the kickstand of the bike and he and Mana dismounted. He nodded to her and Mana used her powers to create an invisible barrier dome around the whole warehouse to keep everything both inside and outside of the dome during the coming fight.

They stopped just outside of their chosen side door.

"We have to make sure Bakura doesn't have any traps waiting for us before we go in." Jack said.

Mana nodded and held out her staff towards the building. She sent out a magic pulse of invisible light which passed through every nook and cranny of the warehouse and then returned, giving her a complete mental picture of the interior.

She looked at Jack. "He has at least four different trap cards ready in waiting throughout the building, but with his power, he could have more that I can't detect. There aren't any where he is, but, I think we should use 'Harpie's Feather Duster' to clear out all of them before we go in."

"We do that, Bakura will sense it. We'll lose the element of surprise. We can avoid the ones you sensed easily enough. We just have to try to stick to the plan. Once he's captured, we'll have no more worries."

Mana nodded her head again and the two stepped through the door into the warehouse. It was pitch black inside the warehouse hallway. Mana raised her staff and alighted it with a soft glow for them to see. The walls of the corridor were lined with small crates and pieces of equipment which looked to be meant for catching fish, gutting fish, and preserving fish.

"You should probably summon out the monsters now, Jack, to be safe. We probably shouldn't bring out any who are too powerful. We don't want any stray blasts getting away to hurt or kill someone."

"Right." Jack said.

He pulled his whole deck out of the duel-disk and fanned out the cards in his hands to look for the monsters he had decided earlier he would call upon, the monsters he and Mana had gone over the plan with. With Mana's card in play, Jack only had four remaining monster zones he could use, so he had chosen what he thought to be the most fitting possible of allies for the fight.

"I summon Flame Swordsman, Valkyrie Brunhilde, X-Saber Anu Piranha, and Skilled Blue Magician."

Jack and Mana moved slightly deeper into the hall to give their friends room to stand as the two warrior, fairy, and spellcaster class monsters all emerged out of the shimmering light of summoning.

"Hello, everyone. You all know who we've been up against for a while now. We've found Bakura and tonight, we're going to take him."

"I will stand with you, my friend." Flame Swordsman said.

"My swords thirst for battle." Said X-Saber Anu Piranha.

"I will show him the fierceness of the Valkyries." Declared Valkyrie Brunhilde.

"No one shall harm any of my fellow spellcasters while I draw breath."

"Thank you, my friends." Jack said to all of them. He then looked at Mana. "Let's do it."

OOO

At the same time inside S.T.A.R Labs, both groups of Harry and Barry and Joe and Iris were returning. They all entered the control room at roughly the same time. Cisco and Caitlin looked up from the computer station monitor as they entered.

"You're all back. What happened?" Caitlin asked.

"Well, Dad and I watched the street races for nearly forty minutes, waiting to see if Tar Pit would make a move on Brownen. Nothing. All that happened was Wally won a couple races." Iris said.

"Illegal and dangerous as it is, I gotta say, my boy is damn good at it." Joe said with pride.

Iris shot him a disapproving look.

"We're still gonna do something about it." Joe told her.

"Huh. That's weird. According to his pattern, Tar Pit should have been there to get his revenge." Cisco said.

"Well, Harry and I had a productive night." Barry said. "We found out his breach implosion reactor works and we used them to close ten of the breaches around the city. Not much, but it's a start."

"Anyway, all of you are just in time for the main event. The duel of the century. Jack and Mana versus Bakura. This is going to be effing epic!" Cisco enthused.

"I've got better things to do." Harry said and left the room.

"Making kinda light out of a life or death fight, aren't you Cisco?" Caitlin asked.

"I don't see it that way because Jack and Mana are gonna cream him. I've got every confidence."

Not making anything further out of it, Joe and Iris then stepped over beside Cisco to watch the feed from Jack's suit. Overcome by curiosity and guilt for how he'd acted, even Barry went over to watch. He figured watching the fight would at least be supportive of the two and start to make up.

Unnoticed by any of them on the security feed, Monteleone was approaching the exterior of the building.

OOO

Jack, Mana and their troop of monsters all entered the main, open area of the warehouse. It was nearly as dark there as it had been in the hallway. Only a slight amount of exterior light was managing to make its way in through the high windows, and it was nearly completely failing to provide any illumination.

The six fighters made their way cautiously into the space. While they could not yet see any opposition, a growing feeling of unease was encroaching on them. It was a feeling of being surrounded. They then all froze as Bakura started laughing.

"Welcome my friends. I'm so pleased you could all make it." Bakura sneered from somewhere in the dark. "Harper, I'm pleased to see you mastered your shadow powers enough to find me. It will make it all the more enjoyable when I banish you to the shadow realm."

"Come out here, Bakura! You wanted this fight, well here I am!" Jack shouted.

The group saw Bakura step into a minuscule beam of light.

"Yes, here you are. But the odds are so against me, so uneven. I think I'll need to take care of that." Bakura said.

"I don't think so!" Flame Swordsman declared.

He dashed forwards at Bakura and swung his blazing sword at the man. Bakura effortlessly flipped backwards, out of harm's reach and up onto a catwalk high above all of them. He gloatingly glowered down at them.

"Now then, as I was saying." Bakura said.

He took a deck out of his pocket. Mana fired a blast of magic from her staff to try to stop him from summoning his monsters. Bakura shoulder-rolled to the right, dodging the shot. He drew the top seven cards from his deck and held them up in one hand.

"I summon all of these!"

Bakura's monsters appeared throughout his side of the room. They were a combination of five fiend type monsters and two insect types. They were the Summoned Skull, a huge, muscular kind of skeleton with bat wings on its back. The Doomcaliber Knight, a fiend knight brandishing a serrated sword and shield and riding atop a gigantic winged horse. The Infernity Archer, an eight-foot tall creature dressed in dull, black, metal armor. The Terrorking Archfiend, a frightening monster which looked reminiscent of an abnormally large man without any skin and whose bones had formed protectively around his musculature. The Reaper of the Cards, which appeared to be the stereotypical idea of the Grim Reaper, a large scythe included to complete the picture. An ugly, tremendous spider with only six legs and three eyes called Jirai Gumo. The last one was the Millennium Scorpion, a six-legged insect which looked like its exoskeleton was made of precious jewels.

Upon seeing Bakura's monsters, Mana quickly ducked behind Jack's back to hide, a cringe of fear on her face.

"Dark Magician Girl, what's wrong?" The Blue Skilled Magician asked her.

"Mana doesn't really like insects." Jack said.

"I hate bugs! I hate them!" Mana shouted loudly. She then let out a large exhale and stepped out from behind Jack. "All right, I'm back. Just caught me by surprise. But, I'm not fighting the bugs!"

Bakura laughed his laugh. "It doesn't matter. They'll be coming for you soon enough. Now, go my slaves and tear them apart!"

Bakura's monsters all began to charge towards their enemies.

"Damn it, we walked right into this! Everyone, protect each other, and be careful!" Jack directed them.

His friends then rushed into the fracas as well. All twelve monsters collided in the middle. Flame Swordsman immediately locked blades with Reaper of the Cards and also kicked the Millennium Scorpion in the side.

X-Saber Anu Piranha slashed her swords at Terrorking Archfiend's body. It blocked her swings with its bony protrusions and then punched her in the stomach and then in the head. X-Saber blocked a third punch and jabbed the hilt of her left-hand sword into Terrorking's gut.

Mana flew high into the open space of the room, twisting and dodging away from Infernity Archer's dark-energy arrows. The arrows were coming quite close to her head, zipping past by mere inches. Infernity Archer was firing at least three arrows at her every second. Mana had to constantly keep moving through the air to avoid being hit. She fired back with her light-pink colored magical blast. Due to her swiftly aimed shot being taken at only a glance of her target, she missed by a good eight-feet. Her attack simply exploded a hole at the base of the far wall.

Skilled Blue Magician used his staff to absorb the lightning attack fired at him by Summoned Skull and redirected it at the oncoming Jirai Gumo. It struck the spider, making it utter an ugly squeal of pain. Skilled Blue Magician then spun his long staff over his head like a helicopter rotor and struck it with a burst of magic energy into Summoned Skull's chest.

The last two monsters, Valkyrie Brunhilde and Doomcaliber Knight were duking it out above everyone's heads. Each were using their flying horses to soar at and slash at each other with their swords as they passed. The two were about evenly matched, so each were attempting to get around to the other's flank to inflict a decisive blow.

Hearing a loud clanking sound, Bakura turned his head to see that Jack had climbed up onto the catwalk with him. He looked hard at Jack's hero suit.

"I didn't think you'd go in for the superhero ridiculousness of those fools." Bakura said.

"Maybe they're rubbing off on me." Jack said noncommittally.

"We'll soon fix that." Bakura said and held up a card.

Jack drew several cards from his own deck and the two enemies began a duel within the duel.

OOO

"Oh!" Cisco shouted. "Did you see that?! Did you see the blue magician just throw Summoned Skull into the spider?!"

"Look at that! Mana just hit the archer monster with one of her blast things." Iris said excitedly.

"And the Valkyrie woman just hit the other flying monster off his horse." Caitlin said.

"Man, this stuff is just... unbelievable." Joe said.

"Hey, look. Jack's fighting Bakura now, personally." Barry said a bit somberly.

All five of them quieted as they saw Jack and Bakura's brawl begin. They watched as Jack played a card which created some kind of sonic boom that hit Bakura and knocked him off of the catwalk.

Paying so much attention to the battle, none of them noticed the security monitors showing Monteleone squeezing himself in through the crack of an emergency exit door.

Monteleone, under the control of Bakura's card, knew what he had to do. He had no choice but to follow the orders given to him. Bakura had given him several magical enhancements to ensure his victory. Monteleone made his way quickly but silently up through the building.

Passing easily through all the security barriers, Monteleone stepped into the chamber which held the core of the particle accelerator. He took two of the cards Bakura had given to him and snugged them into the corner slits of the outer casing. He then raised his hand and, used the new, temporary powers given to him by his taskmaster.

"Activate these cards on a thirty minute delay." He said in a dull monotone.

He then turned and left, the combo trap of the cards "Acidic Downpour" and "Induced Explosion" set in place. Monteleone then went went up several levels in the elevators, and, as he approached, he faintly heard the sounds coming from the control room.

"Come on, sword woman!"

"Nice one, flame guy!"

"Jack just got hit!"

Monteleone moved closer and closer to all of them. He took out the last three cards given to him, one trap card, and two very special cards which were integral to Bakura's plan. As Monteleone went by the open door to Cisco's lab, Harry happened to look up and saw him. Harry then returned to his work, did a quick double-take, scrambled for a second to grab his Earth-2 laser rifle and darted into the hall.

"Hey!" Harry shouted.

He fired the gun at Monteleone, but his aim was off and it only grazed Monteleone's shoulder. The sound of Harry's shout and rifle blast captured everyone else's attention and they all quickly piled into the hallway to find out what was happening. Instantly recognizing Monteleone, Barry super-sped back into the control room, dressed in his Flash suit and came back.

Harry and Joe had their guns trained on Monteleone. Caitlin and Iris dived back into the control room for safety. Cisco, unsure whether or not he could help with his powers, stood half in and half out of the doorway.

"I don't know why you're here, but you made a big mistake. I'll be taking you right to jail, now." Barry said.

"Ba- er, Flash, look at his eyes. Look at his face." Joe said.

Barry did as Joe said and saw the glazed over, vacant look in Monteleone's eyes, the slack expression of his face. This made Barry tone down his superior hero body language a bit.

"Hey pal, are you alright? We can help you. Do you need a doctor?"

Monteleone said nothing and lifted the trap card up to eye level.

"Activate 'Skill Drain.'"

The card glowed, Barry started to run at Monteleone, but, a tenth of a second later, Barry's speed was gone. His momentum interrupted, he fell hard onto his stomach. Monteleone made a ball of red hot tar in his hand and threw it at Barry. Barry barely managed to lift himself fast enough to dodge it. Monteleone then threw a ball of tar back at Harry, knocking his laser gun out of his hands. Barry got to his feet and went back to the others.

"My... my powers are gone." Barry said.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Joe asked.

Monteleone turned the full length of his arms into disproportionately large hands of super heated sludge. Joe fired a bullet at him, but Monteleone simply put his tar hand up and all the bullet's energy was expended passing through the gunk. It fell harmlessly to the floor as it exited his hand.

"Run?" Barry suggested.

Barry and Joe turned and ran at normal, human speeds. Cisco dived into the control room. Harry knelt down and began to pry his gun free from the tar covering it. Monteleone followed Cisco, and, inside the control room, watched Cisco, Caitlin, and Iris run from the computer station to Caitlin's medical lab. The three did all that they could, grabbing Caitlin's beakers, test tubes and other instruments and throwing them at Monteleone, barely fazing him.

Monteleone hurled huge globs of tar at the three of them, his programming and own lack of empathy keeping him from caring if they all died or not. Harry then charged into the control room with his tar stained laser rifle and fired it. The shot hit Monteleone in the left side of the back and sent him into the wall. Harry pelted him with blast after blast, pinning Monteleone to the wall as he defended himself with his tar hands.

"Go! Get out of here!" Harry shouted at the younger people.

Iris, Caitlin, and Cisco all ran out of the lab and control room. Harry shot at Monteleone twice more and then followed to look after them.

OOO

At the same time, as the others had seen on their screen, Jack was hit by a triple shot of energy from Bakura's trap card, "Brilliant Spark." The jolt struck him in the chest and sent him flying back into the rear wall. Thanks to Cisco's suit, however, Jack hardly felt both the attack and the collision. Jack got to his feet, drew a card, looked at it, and played it.

"Go 'Thunder Dragon's Hundred Thunders!"

A flurry of a hundred blasts of both electrical and sonic properties showered down from the ceiling. They struck not only Bakura, but also his monsters, eliminating both Infernity Archer and Doomcaliber Knight from the duel, sending them back to their own world.

After it was over, Jack heard gasps that gave his stomach a slight turn. He saw that two of his own monsters were being defeated. Terrorking Archfiend slammed X-Saber Anu Piranha's head down into the floor, making her vanish. Skilled Blue Magician was then also ejected by a combination lightning-blast from Summoned Skull and then a venom laced, gouging bite from Jirai Gumo.

Bakura's five remaining monsters then all redoubled their efforts on Jack's remaining three. The Jirai Gumo spider joined Millennium Scorpion against Flame Swordsman, Reaper of the Cards and Terrorking attacked Valkyrie Brunhilde, and Summoned Skull, who was much more powerful than she was, attacked Mana. To help them, Jack swiftly removed his deck and changed it for another.

Bakura stood up and walked towards Jack. "Now then to finish thi-"

"Nightmare binding!" Jack shouted, activating his spell card.

A huge, mindless, ogre type of monster materialized, wrapping Bakura in a coil of chains and holding him off the ground. Jack then went back to helping his friends, drawing more cards. As his new deck was filled almost exclusively with equip spell cards, cards designed to increase the power of monster cards, he instantly had the ones he needed.

"'Magnum Shield' on Flame Swordsman! 'Sword of Dragon's Soul' on Valkyrie Brunhilde! 'One-Shot Wand' on Mana!"

The cards took effect and Jack's allies each instantly had a new weapon. Having a spontaneous idea to aid them even further, Jack then focused his mind intensely on two of the enemy monsters, reached out with the power of his Millennium Ring, and, just as it had worked on the Yu-Gi-Oh show, he magically grabbed hold of Jirai Gumo and Terrorking Archfiend and held their bodies frozen in place.

Valkyrie Brunhilde took advantage of the opportunity, slashed through the Reaper of the Cards' cloak, kicked it in the head and then had her Pegasus horse kick it as well, making it vanish from the fight.

Flame Swordsman blocked a strike from Millennium Scorpion with his new shield, used it to forcefully shove the insect back against a piece of machinery, and pinned it. He lifted his sword above his head, placed it tip first down into the gap and let loose an inferno of fire. Millennium Scorpion lasted twenty seconds before it's resistance dissipated and it disappeared.

Bakura then used his Millennium Ring to brake free of Jack's spell card and scowled at him.

"Summoned Skull! Kill Harper and end this!"

Summoned Skull obeyed, turning away from its fight with Mana and charging at Jack. It flew down at him, aiming to impale him with its claws while also charging them for a lightning attack.

"Jack!" Mana yelled.

She swooped down to intercept. Summoned Skull was closing the gap. Just before it reached Jack, Mana intercepted the monster and grabbed its hands, taking a horrible shock. She held on, the electrical energy burning her muscles and making them subtly twitch and dance. Despite all the pain, Mana summoned her strength, turned herself and Summoned Skull around in accelerating circles and then through it right at Bakura.

The monster hit the floor hard, kicking up a small cloud of dust that obstructed everyone's view of the scene. It took several moments, but as the dust settled, they saw that Summoned Skull had not vanished and that Bakura was standing there with no greater injury than a deep, bloody tear down his leg. His expression was still somehow quietly amused.

"Well, now that you're all weakened enough, I believe it's time to bring out my true heavy hitter." Bakura took a single card from his pocket. "I activate the 'Cycle of the World' ritual spell and sacrifice the Summoned Skull, Terrorking Archfiend and Jirai Gumo in order to summon Demise, the Supreme King of Armageddon!"

Bakura's three monsters all dematerialized, and in their place rose a twenty-five foot tall creature with thick, black armor, devil like horns on its head and shoulders and a massive halbernd ax in its hands. Bakura heartily laughed. Jack, Mana, Flame Swordsman and Valkyrie Brunhilde all stared up at it, eyes wide, chests panting with exhaustion.

OOO

Back at S.T.A.R Labs, things weren't going much better. Monteleone was relentlessly pursuing the targets that Bakura had assigned him. Cisco, Iris, Caitlin and Harry were running through the halls of the building, Harry continually firing backwards at Monteleone to slow him down.

In their panic, they'd initially gone the wrong way from all of the best rooms they could have barricaded themselves in and had spent the last several minutes making a long loop back to the one place they knew they'd be safe from Tar Pit.

Monteleone was creating and throwing scalding blobs of tar at them as they ran. Just as the four reached the correct hall, two things happened at once. Barry and Joe came back to find and help them, and, Monteleone threw a hunk of tar that hit Iris on the shoulder of her coat. It immediately started to sear the skin of her neck.

"Iris!" Joe shouted.

Harry then stood rock still and fired his laser rifle repeatedly at Monteleone while Joe also shot his conventional pistol at the meta-human, the crossfire preventing him from moving while he defended himself.

"Get it off! Get it off!" Caitlin shouted at Iris as she and Cisco helped rip the coat off of her.

They successfully peeled it off and threw it aside. Cisco then ran down the hall another twenty feet, waved his hand in front of the wall and opened up the Time Vault, a secret room where Eobard Thawne kept his Reverse-Flash suit and other things during his time among them.

"Go! Get inside!" Harry shouted at them.

The girls and Cisco all entered the Time Vault, but they did not shut the door.

"Harry, come on!" Cisco yelled.

Harry didn't budge. He pressed on with his barrage of laser shots. The rapidity of his shots increased. All of his frustration with the Zoom situation, his resentment for giving in, his anger at himself for what he'd done to Barry was coming out as he shot at Monteleone. Harry started to inch his feet closer to Monteleone, wanting to do some real damage to him.

"Harry!" Barry shouted.

Harry glanced at him without letting up.

"Go! Protect the others! We'll take care of him!" Barry said.

Harry fired a last shot, then, coming out of his rage, he turned and ran back into the Time Vault. The impenetrable, futuristic door shut behind him. The first of his targets gone, Monteleone turned and looked at Barry and Joe. He still had the two very special cards Bakura had given to him in his left hand.

"How exactly are we gonna do that?" Joe asked Barry.

"I'm workin' on it." Barry said.

The two turned and ran again as Tar Pit began to chase after them.

OOO

Demise, the Supreme King of Armageddon approached Jack, Mana and the others. Despite the limited space Demise had to move within the thirty-five-foot tall room, its footfalls were thunderous, each one causing what was almost a mini earthquake within the building.

"Jack, if this fiend launches its strongest attack, it could wipe out the entire continent, at least! The field I set up won't be able to contain it." Mana told him.

"We'll have to reinforce it then."

Jack changed out decks from his duel-disk again, but looked through the new one for the card he wanted before placing it in the deck slot.

"Activate 'Dimensional Barrier!'"

Outside, a second level was added to Mana's field.

"There, that should probably keep any attack from getting out." Jack said.

Demise then swung it's huge ax down at them. Mana, Jack, Valkyrie Brunhilde and Flame Swordsman all dived backwards, rolling for thirty feet by the wind created by the swing.

As they all climbed to their feet, Mana said, "Jack, if this monster gets hold of you, it'll kill you almost immediately. You have to try to get out of its reach. Leave this to us."

"Mana, that thing's way out of your class. You're going to need my help in this fight."

"And you'll help better if you're keeping out of its reach and giving us support."

Jack hesitated a second, then nodded and drew several cards for something to help. One of them was a trusted dragon monster he could call upon.

"I summon Ancient Dragon."

The tan colored, fifteen-foot long dragon appeared and Jack jumped onto his back.

"Give me a lift up, pal."

Ancient Dragon flapped his wings and elevated the both of them high enough that Jack's head was only a few inches from scraping the ceiling. Jack then began to shout down orders to his allies.

"Ancient Dragon, give them some cover fire! Brunhilde, Flame Swordsman, go for its joints, its eyes, its groin area! It might not have a weak spot, but those are the most likely! Mana, you're the fastest flyer, keep it distracted!"

Even though he couldn't see it, Jack sensed them all acknowledge his commands and get to it. From his high perch, Jack could barely see his monsters and the fight. All he could really make out were Flame Swordsman's fire spouts, Mana's magic blasts, sparks from Brunhilde's swords, and an outline of Demise's ax.

Jack drew a card to aid his troops, but as it turned out, just in time to save himself. Demise's huge hand was rushing towards him in a fist. Jack barely had time to play the card.

"Attack Reflector Unit!"

A number of mirrors attached to scaffolding then appeared, floating in midair, absorbed the fist, and sent a ghostly version of it back that hit hard into Demise's head.

Jack panted, knelt down on one knee, taking just a second. As he looked out at the fight, a memory dashed through his mind and he realized he'd seen all of this before. The darkness, the dragon he was on, the flashes of light from the attacks. It was all exactly the same as the vision of the future he'd had just before Bakura first appeared. It had been true and accurate and he was witnessing it now, both for the first and second time. Jack forced himself to think, to remember the vision, to remember what was about to happen next. He then remembered a blast of energy. A split-second later, it shot out at him.

"Down!" Jack shouted at his dragon.

Ancient Dragon swooped down, barely avoiding the blast, but, as they descended, Demise reached out its hand and smacked them down to the floor. They crashed, Ancient Dragon returned to his own world, and Jack rolled until his back collided with the remains of a machine.

The next part of the vision then occurred. Bakura triggered a card which caused a gale force wind to swirl around the room, knocking Valkyrie Brunhilde and Flame Swordsman into the walls, finishing them off and sending them away. Mana was able to resist the winds, but was then caught by the light side of a strike from Demise. It was low impact enough to not weaken her to the point of returning to the Dominion of the Beasts, but it was strong enough to make her crash down to the floor about forty feet away from Jack. She wasn't completely unconscious, but at the moment, she was far from well enough to stand and fight.

Jack fought through the pain in his body and climbed to one knee. Before he could stand, he felt Bakura's foot kick him in the back, pushing him down again. Bakura then kicked him hard in the side, making him turn over onto his back. Bakura stomped his foot down on Jack's chest and smiled down at him smugly, evilly, with a vainglorious look of victory in his eyes.

"I believe I'll finish you myself." Bakura said to him. He then looked at Demise, the Supreme King of Armageddon. "Thank you, my faithful servant. Your services are no longer required."

Demise's card glowed in Bakura's hand and the tremendous, world ending monster vanished. Bakura sneered down at Jack again.

"You've lost, Harper! You're about to die. All your foolish friends are about to die. In moments, I'll have more power then I ever dreamed of. Power to accomplish anything! And it's all thanks to you."

Jack said nothing. He simply smiled back at Bakura with a smug look of his own. Bakura scowled with consternation.

"What is this? Why are you smiling?!"

"Because I know you something you don't!" Jack laughed out. "You made a big mistake sending your monster away!"

Half a moment later, a breach burst open behind Bakura, blue and golden light spilling out of it, alighting everything. A blast shot out of the interdimensional portal and nailed Bakura in the back, sending him flying off of Jack and slamming down ten feet away.

As Jack looked on, he saw the silhouettes of people just starting to form in the breach. He could see that there were seven in total. He watched them get bigger, take on form and shape, and as he did, he smiled. It was a childlike smile of wonder, awe, and incredible enthusiasm. It was the same smile he'd seen himself wearing in the vision.

"No freaking way!" He yelled.

A voice then sounded from the breach. "Bakura! We will not allow you to spread your evil to this defenseless world!"

The seven then stepped out of the breach, onto the floor, and Jack, Mana and Bakura could all see clearly who they were; the Pharaoh Atem, Joey Wheeler, Téa Gardner, Tristan Taylor, and Seto and Mokuba Kaiba. Floating just above them was the Dark Magician.

"Bakura, come back with us quietly. You cannot prevail!" The Pharaoh declared.

Jack then turned over on his side and looked back at Bakura. The look on his face was the most smug the world had ever seen. Bakura glowered back at him, infuriated.

"Blind luck has saved you this time, Harper! But it won't save you the next!"

Bakura then took the deck from his pocket, pulled a card from it, and disappeared in a flash of light. Jack dragged himself to his feet. He was feeling exhausted and elated at the same time. He walked over to Mana as quickly as he could and helped her to stand. Jack had to put her weight on his shoulders and help her walk due to her injuries. The two of them then shuffled over and stood in front of the seven others. Pharaoh Atem removed the Dark Magician card from his duel-disk as they approached.

"I don't believe this. Ate-" Jack stopped himself, thinking he shouldn't say the Pharaoh's real name in case they were from a point when he didn't yet know it. "The Pharaoh, Yugi on the other side of the Puzzle, Joey, Tristan, Téa, even Kaiba and Mokuba."

"Uh, you know us, guy?" Tristan asked.

"He's quite familiar with all your work." Mana said.

Atem looked at her closely. "Dark Magician Girl?"

Tristan, Téa and Joey all grunted a "huh" sound and then looked at her just as closely.

"Hey! This is the Dark Magician Girl!" Téa said.

"If you all don't mind, I prefer to go by 'Mana' these days."

"I don't understand. How is it you're here?" The Pharaoh asked.

"That's quite a long story. For now, suffice it to say, more time has passed then you know since you and I last saw each other, Pharaoh."

"While I hate to interrupt the introductions, would somebody mind explaining what I just walked through, why Mokuba's here instead of KaibaCorp Headquarters and what nonsense you geeks have dragged us into this time?" Kaiba asked in his signature dryly superior tone.

"Seto Kaiba, ladies and gentlemen. A man of da people. Always ready with a kind word and selfless motives." Joey said sarcastically.

"Look Wheeler, just because you and your little gang like to go around believing you're playing hero, saving the world from magic doesn't mean I have to buy into it."

"That's enough, Kaiba. You're here because your presence was required to help save this world from evil as you have been in ours." The Pharaoh said.

Jack couldn't help but smile widely as he watched this. These were his lifelong heroes and idols and they were here, real and in front of him and they were just like they were on the show. A second later, the radio in Jack's suit crackled on, the sound broken up by bursts of static.

"J... Ja... Jack. Jack, Mana, can you hear me?"

Jack touched the side of his visor mask. "Cisco?"

"Jack! Gideon, it works! Jack, listen, Tar Pit is attacking us here at the lab. He somehow used a Yu-Gi-Oh card like you do and Barry and I don't have our powers. Harry, Caitlin, Iris and I are safe inside the Time Vault, but Barry and Joe are still in trouble. We don't know what Tar Pit's after here, but we need your help, guys."

"All right, Cisco we'll be there quick as possible."

The communication ended and Jack looked at the group.

"Guys, a friend of mine just called for help against this powered guy. Mana and I have to go, and you guys need to come with us. Once it's done, we can explain to you about where you are, Bakura, and everything else."

"Hold up a second. No offense man, but we just met you and now you're asking us to get into a fight with you? I mean, we don't even know if we can trust you." Tristan asked.

"You can trust him. Please believe me. Jack has nothing but the best intentions towards all of you." Mana said with conviction.

They all looked at her for a second, then Atem nodded and smiled.

"Alright, on your say-so, let's go." He said.

"If it's good enough for da Pharaoh, it's good enough for me!" Joey said.

"Let's get 'em!" Téa said.

"Who am I to go against the group?" Tristan said with a smile.

They all then looked over at the two Kaiba brothers.

"Why should Mokuba and I go anywhere with you losers?" Kaiba asked.

"Cause we're in an alternate dimension and you got no money or lackeys to boss around here." Joey said.

Kaiba considered this a moment, grunted in disgust and took a step closer to all of them, acknowledging his assent.

"Good. But, how exactly are we going to fight whoever this is that has superpowers?" Téa asked.

Jack smiled. "Well, if what I think's happenings happening, then I've got a good idea what to do. Here's the plan."

OOO

Joe and Barry were still running with Monteleone hot on their trail. They were just coming down to the pipeline and meta-human cells level. Their idea, what they thought was their only hope, was to get Monteleone into one of the cells and dampen his powers.

As they ran, Monteleone threw a glob of hot tar that hit Joe in the back. He rocked forward, smacked his head against the floor, and fell unconscious. Barry instantly knelt down beside him.

"Joe?! Joe?!"

Joe didn't move or awaken, but he was breathing easily and evenly. Barry looked up to see Monteleone coming closer and closer. He picked up Joe's pistol and fired a few rounds, but, as Barry didn't have the proper training in handguns, his first two shots went wild and the one that actually hit was stopped by Monteleone's tar hand. Barry then stood and ran again.

After a couple more minutes of running, Barry came to one of the cells. His plan was to activate the cell and drag both himself and Monteleone inside. He would be trapped with the other man for a while, but Monteleone would be neutralized and everyone would be safe.

Barry stood just in front of the open door to the cell and waited. Monteleone came and strode towards him. Barry was ready to execute his plan when Monteleone reached down, touched the floor, and made a wave of tar quickly spread out over the floor and close around Barry's feet. The tar solidified before Barry could do anything, effectively trapping him. He could not budge his feet a single centimeter.

Monteleone approached. His eyes were still as glassy and vacant as they'd been through the whole ordeal. He held up his left hand and took one of the special cards, placed it in his right hand, and held it steadily as he moved closer. Barry saw that the card was blank with nothing but a starry night background where the artwork would normally be and had no writing on it. The card began to glow. Barry had no idea how or why, but he got the sense that if Monteleone touched him with that card, it would all be over for him. He tried again to break his feet free to move, but it was no use. Monteleone's hand and the card were only a few inches away when Barry saw someone put a hand on Monteleone's shoulder.

"Excuse me, pal." Tristan said.

Tristan then grabbed Monteleone tightly and threw him back down the walk up to the cell. Joey was waiting at the mid point of the ramp.

"Bada-bing!" Joey punched him in the chin with a left. "Bada-boom!" He uppercut Monteleone in the stomach, sending him further on.

At the bottom of the ramp, Téa used her dancer's agility to put a spinning-kick into Monteleone's head and send him out into the hall. Waiting at the end of the chain were the Pharaoh Atem and Jack with their arms outstretched, palms open.

"MIND CRUSH!" They shouted together.

Their combination magic attack struck Monteleone, decimating both Bakura's control over him and all of the hate and malice within the man. Monteleone fell to the floor out cold. Jack, the Pharaoh, Téa, Tristan and Joey then all walked up the ramp to Barry.

"Bet you're glad to see me, for once." Jack said.

OOO

Ten minutes later, after Barry had been freed and several of them had helped to carry Joe up to the control room, Barry opened up the Time Vault. He found Harry waiting with his laser rifle trained on the door.

"It's okay. It's all over." Barry said.

Slowly, the four inside the vault exited and all proceeded back to the control room.

"Barry, are you alright?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Joe's okay, too, but you might need to check him for concussion, Caitlin."

Caitlin nodded at him.

"Man, I thought one of us was gonna get it for sure. How'd you stop Tar Pit, man?" Cisco asked.

"You're gonna have to see this to believe it."

The five of them entered the control room and saw the other eight all standing and sitting on the other side of the room. Caitlin immediately walked over to her medical lab to check on Joe. Cisco's eyes widened as they traveled over the new faces and he started to recognize them.

"Wait aren't all of you- Oh my God! Seto Kaiba!"

Cisco ran over, practically knocking both Harry and Iris down in the process. He stood a few feet away from Kaiba and looked at him with a kind of reverent awe.

"Mr. Kaiba, I'm your biggest fan. I think you're the most amazing duelist of all time. Seeing you make inventing and technology look so cool as a kid is what made me want to be a scientist in the first place. Could I please shake your hand, sir?"

Kaiba was taken aback for a moment, but then dawned his most arrogant smile.

"Well, at least there's a finally a geek who has some taste around here." Kaiba said.

He stuck out his hand and Cisco shook it giddily.

"Kaiba?!" Joey shouted from a few feet away. "What are you droolin' all over him for you?! You got my pal, Yuge here, and me! I'm Joey Wheeler, da Godfather of Games!"

"Uh, you're the what of games, Joey?" Yugi Moto asked.

He and the Pharaoh had switched back once the fight was over.

Cisco looked over at him. "Oh, hi Joey. Nice to meet you too."

"Ah! I get no respect." Joey said resignedly.

Jack smiled. "I respect you, Joey. I think you're twice the duelist Kaiba is."

"Yes! Thank you! Jack Harper, my new best friend, folks!"

Jack then stepped over to Mana. She was sitting in a desk chair, using her healing magic on herself.

"How are you doing?" He asked her.

"Felt better, but a couple of treatments, I should be okay. Jack, listen, I'm sensing a magical presence in the building that isn't you, me, or the Pharaoh."

"Bakura probably had Monteleone plant cards for some kind of contingency plan. I can take care of that, no problem."

Jack changed his decks out and drew the top card, knowing it to be the one he wanted.

"I use 'Harpie's Feather Duster' on S.T.A.R Labs."

A gust of wind and light-green feathers washed throughout the entire building, disabling Bakura's trap mere minutes before it was set to go off.

"All right, I think it's time we all got some explanations. First off, who are you kids and what are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"They're more characters from the show 'Yu-Gi-Oh.'" Barry said.

"The what show? And why did you just refer to Yugi?" Téa asked.

"I'll explain that later, Téa." Jack said. "Why don't you guys just tell us how you came to be here."

Yugi spoke, "Well, we were all standing in front of the Millennium Tablet in Egypt when Shadi the ghost, who is the protector of the Millennium Items appeared and told us that the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring went to another dimension and we had to bring him back or else he'd destroy that world and the Pharaoh would never be able to fulfill his destiny. He used his powers to open some kind of portal and told us the future of everything rested on what we did."

"So, we rallied ourselves, the Pharaoh came out, we stepped through and found ourselves in the middle of that fight with this guy, Jack, here." Tristan said.

"And what about, you, the tall guy and kid Cisco just gushed over?" Iris asked.

"I'm Mokuba Kaiba, and this is my big brother, Seto. I don't know about him, but I was down in my office working out some of the details for our second KaibaLand amusement park build sight when I suddenly found myself walking through that tunnel of, whatever it was beside Seto and the rest. Even had Seto's briefcase in my hands. It was weird."

"And I was in my office, running my multi billion dollar company when this latest garbage began." Kaiba said.

He was lying. He wouldn't let any of them know he'd been looking at Pegasus' Millennium Eye, given to him by Bakura, and had been contemplating whether he should fly to Egypt as he'd been told.

"Now, since these idiots can't play a single duel without claiming magic and saving the world, would someone like to explain to me what's really going on?"

"Finally. Someone I might be able to actually work with." Harry commented.

"Just save it rich boy." Joey said. "It's all real, and you know it. What I want to know, Jack, from the little you and Mana told us it seems you got a lot of the same powers as Bakura, Yuge, and some of the others. How's that?"

Jack held up his right hand for them to see. "I get them from my Millennium Ring. Its an item that I don't think existed in your world. Gives me the powers of all seven items."

"Well, that explains why Bakura's after you." Téa said.

"No kidding. That evil spirit will stop at nothing to get his hands on all the items." Tristan added.

"So, what exactly are you all going to do?" Barry asked them.

"Shadi said our destiny relies on getting Bakura back to our world. I guess that means we're here until we can catch him." Yugi said.

"You're all going to need some help." Mana said. "Both with acclimatizing to this world and stopping Bakura. Neither one is too simple. I suppose they could stay with us, Jack."

Jack turned and smiled at her. Mana smiled back. She'd suggested it because she knew Jack would volunteer their home anyway and she didn't want him to feel awkward about it. She knew he was going to want to spend as much time as he possibly could getting to know them. She also thought it'd be nice to have more people around who would really understand the two of them.

"You sure about that, man?" Joey asked. "The four of us with you two? We wouldn't want to impose. Can't say about Mokuba and Captain Smiley, though."

"We got plenty of room, Joey. It'll be fine. As for the Kaiba brothers, I'm sure Kaiba probably has enough emergency cash in that briefcase of his to cover a hotel for a while."

"Of course I do. If you think we're bunking with you dorks, you're insane." Kaiba said.

"Well, I guess that's all settled then." Téa said.

"Hold on! Nothing's settled. I don't even understand what's happening here." Barry said.

"It's simple. They'll stay with us, we'll all focus on catching Bakura, and you guys can go back to your meta-humans and other criminals like you were before." Mana said.

"And I'll be going along with this nonsense just as far it takes to get Mokuba and I back to our real lives." Kaiba said.

"How magnanimous of you." Tristan said sarcastically.

"Well, we should probably all get going. Lot's to explain and we got to get you guys settled over in our place." Jack said. "Mana, think you can walk?"

Mana nodded. "I'll need to treat myself some more when we get home, but I should be alright by tomorrow."

She held out her hand and Jack helped her to her feet.

"Since we've only got a motorcycle, the six of us will all have to walk back to the apartment. Won't take too long. Although, I will have to take a second to get out of this getup on the way out, though." Jack said.

"Oh, by the way, how was the Duel Runner?" Cisco asked.

"She handles like a dream. I swear, I'm in love. I'll use the 'Teleport' to get her home."

Cisco beamed victoriously.

As Yugi, Tristan, Mana, Joey, Jack and Téa all walked out, Yugi turned and looked up at Jack.

"What's a Duel Runner?"

Jack smiled. "You're gonna love it, man. I promise."

After they'd left, the remaining members of Team Flash all looked at each other.

"So, I guess Jack has his own team now." Barry said to no one in particular.

No one responded directly to that. Too much had happened within the past hour for everyone to process everything. Harry walked up to Kaiba.

"Mr. Kaiba. Harrison Wells. PHD in both mechanical engineering and theoretical quantum physics. You need any scientific expertise in your attempts to get home, I'm the one you come see. Oh, and the rest of them can help as well."

"We'll see. But, based on what I can see in just this room, it looks like this world is woefully lagging behind in technological development. Now, let's go Mokuba. We have to find a hotel."

Kaiba then began to leave with his little brother trailing behind.

"Nice to meet all of you. Hope we can all be friends." Mokuba called back to the others as he left, carrying the heavy briefcase in font of himself with both hands.

A moment later, Caitlin came back out into the main room.

"How's Dad?" Iris asked.

"He's awake now. He's got a mild concussion, but he should be fine."

"That's good." Barry said. "I guess things just changed again."

"Yeah. They just got even more awesome!" Cisco enthused.

OOO

Bakura walked into the main living area of his hideout in the industrial park. Zoom was waiting for him inside the room.

"Well?" Zoom asked.

"It didn't work. Harper received some unexpected reinforcements."

"And what of the meta? The one you released. Did he prove helpful in your fight?"

"No." Bakura said. "He was no match for Harper's powers."

"That's odd, because I was watching S.T.A.R Labs tonight, and I could have sworn I saw that man slipping into the building. He didn't look quite in control of himself."

"How strange." Bakura said blandly.

"Yes, especially since you said you'd be using him in your fight against Harper." Zoom said.

"If you have something to say, then say it."

Both men just stared at each other, each knowing perfectly well that Bakura had attempted a betrayal, that he had gone after Barry's powers himself. Neither acknowledged this betrayal at the moment, though. Both were thinking the other could still be manipulated into being useful in their own plans.

"I suppose I could have been wrong." Zoom said.

"Yes, of course. We are partners, after all." Bakura said.

Zoom then sped away without another word.

OOO

Jack unlocked the front door of the penthouse and the six of them stepped through in single file. As they came into the living room and could see the view, the furniture, and the many glass cases of cards, they were all impressed.

Joey whistled loudly. "Dang. Not too shabby, man."

"Yeah. I thought you were like, one of us, but this is closer to what I'd expect Kaiba to live in. How do you afford this place?" Tristan asked.

"Well, being the world champion duelist for eight years straight tends to pay pretty well. Come on, baby." Jack said as he helped Mana over to the couch.

"Wow! Jack, you're the world champ of this dimension?" Yugi asked.

"Jack's the best duel monsters player on Earth." Mana said proudly as she started to apply her healing magic to herself again.

"Folks, I think I feel challenge coming on." Joey said.

"Yeah, Jack, we should have a go at it too. I'd like to at least have a couple duels for fun in between all the fighting." Yugi said.

"I bet the Pharaoh would like to get in on this too." Téa said.

Yugi paused for a moment, then smiled. "He says he'd love to."

"So, what do you say Jacky boy?" Tristan asked. "You think you can take on my pals here in a duel?"

"Are you kidding? I've been waiting for this my entire life! Get ready for the toughest duels you'll ever play. And, if you guys want to look through my card collection, maybe find something to strengthen your own decks, any card you want, it's my present to you." Jack said.

As the guys went on talking, Téa sat down beside Mana on the couch.

"So, from what I gather, I guess you and Jack are like a couple?" Téa asked.

"Yes."

"How exactly does that work?"

"It isn't easy sometimes. He has to keep my duel monsters card active on his duel-disk at all times for me to be in this world. Makes it tricky sometimes for him to charge it, sometimes we can't go through doors together because of it, and we always have to ignore people looking at us like we're weird." Mana said.

"Yeah, I have some idea about how complicated and difficult it can be to have feelings for someone from another world." Téa said.

"Hey Téa, I was going to go with Caitlin, that girl with the brown hair you saw tonight for coffee and shopping tomorrow. Would you like to come with us? Since we're going to be spending a lot of time together, we should try to be friends."

"I'd love that! You have no idea how badly I need female friends." Téa said. She then looked out at the guys. "Hey, guys."

The guys all looked at the girls.

"So, how are we going to do the sleeping arrangements?" Téa asked.

Jack cleared it up quickly. "Well, Mana and I sleep in the master bedroom. Téa, you can have the second bedroom so you have some privacy. Yugi, Joey and Tristan, I'll leave it to you three to decide who gets the couch and who sleeps on the floor."

"Duel for the couch! Winner gets it!" Joey then shouted.

"Hey! No fair! I'm not even a duelist!" Tristan shouted.

The two began to bicker and argue and put each other into head-locks. As the scene progressed, Mana saw an enjoyment and sparkle in Jack's eyes that she'd never seen before. He was literally having his greatest childhood dream come true, and she couldn't be happier for him.