"Next time, don't stop me from kicking his sorry butt!" Joey shouts at Cairo as they all stand outside of Yugi's house. Cairo watches as he growls, kicking over a small trash can. Everyone's emotions are clearly high after coming face to face with their old foe. And while Cairo already had her suspicions of Marik with the antics he's pulled so far, she had no idea that he, her father and the others actually had histroy. What are the odds that she would be paired to work with one of her father's greatest adversaries?

"Calm down Joey!" Téa yells. "I know we're all upset about seeing the bad Marik again, but don't take it out on Cairo!"

"Yeah, I'm sure this is all out of her control," Yugi assumes.

"Well it's definitely not fair that she got to mop the floor with Marik and we couldn't, that's for sure," Tristan grumbles, crossing his arms as he stands alongside Joey.

"This partnership is the doing of the gods," Atem says, leaning on a light post with his hands in his pockets. "So Cairo has no choice but to work with him."

Cairo frowns. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset everyone. I didn't know who Marik really was up until just recently. And I certainly didn't know there were two versions of him."

Téa places a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "It's okay. We're not mad at you. Right guys?" She shoots a threatening glare over to Joey and Tristan.

Tristan rubs the back of his head. "R-Right!"

"Yeah…" Joey exhales. "Sorry for yelling at ya Cairo."

"Marik had abilities that he's never had before," Atem brings up. "Where did that come from?"

"I can only assume the gods granted him that in order to keep the souls in check. But obviously he's abusing that power," Cairo responds. "With what the 'good' Marik has told me, I wouldn't be surprised if Yami Marik pulls a 'Dartz' and shares some of those abilities with the released souls." When she first came to the present world during the Orichalcos crisis, Dartz gave the escaped souls of Kul Elna abilities to face off against Cairo as well. Some proved to be very powerful foes that gave her a run for her money.

"That wouldn't surprise me one bit," Yugi agrees.

"At the moment, it doesn't seem like the souls will be too tough to beat, even with whatever power boost Marik is giving them," Cairo guesses based off the fact that her father was able to go against one with no problem at all.

Joan groans loudly. "Why can't you just do away with that guy and send him back to the Shadow Realm where he belongs? He's just gonna cause all sorts of trouble if you don't!"

"Trust me, if I could, I would have done that the moment he tried to frame me for theft and got us both thrown in prison."

Téa's eyes go big. "Wait, that's why the police were pursuing you when you first got here?"

"What a jerk," Tristan shakes his head.

"I really need you to be careful," Atem says, walking up to her. "You may be required to work with him, but that doesn't mean he'll do the same. From now on, no more running off by yourself."

"But I've always captured souls on my own," Cairo points out. "And I can't afford to wait around for help. One must be quick and diligent in order to capture them."

"What I said isn't up for debate," Atem says sternly, putting Cairo off guard.

Yugi exchanges looks with Téa, Joey and Tristan who also sense a potential disagreement brewing between Atem and Cairo.

"It's getting late," Téa says, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "We really should be heading home."

"Yeah you're right," Tristan quickly agrees.

"See ya later guys," Joey says with a slight wave and the three of them leave.

Atem glances up at the sky as the clouds begin to gather, signaling an oncoming storm. An uneasy feeling overcomes him and he can't tell whether it's because he's already anxious or if it's a sign for what's possibly to come. There is a cold breeze that even makes Cairo hold onto her arms, rubbing them to keep herself warm as she watches Yugi slip inside the house. Then she hesitantly looks to her father's feet, sensing his disapproving gaze. And sure enough when she gets the courage to look him in the eyes, she is right.

"Why do you insist on doing everything on your own?" he asks.

Cairo twiddles her thumbs. "Mom says I get that trait from you," she replies shyly.

Atem's cheeks briefly go red before he clears his throat. "Look…I know what you're up against when it comes to Marik. And I just don't want you to get hurt." Telling by her puzzled expression, it doesn't look like she quite understands why he is so worried. Maybe it's because he knows the extent of what Marik will do to harm people. Or the consequences of Cairo not heeding his warnings just as she did 5,000 years ago, changing her life forever.

"But I'm—"

"Not buts Cairo." Feeling himself starting to lose his composure again, he closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath, then exhaling. He's not going to get anything across to her by getting upset. He has to remain calm.

He reopens his eyes, gazing down at her while she looks at him with her head tilted to the side. "I lost my memories when I sealed my self away 5,000 years ago. And even though I have fulfilled my destiny and most memories have come back, there are things I'm sure I still don't know. Including about you."

Cairo stays silent.

"When it comes to those small little details, I have to rely on Mana or what you tell me. Because when you and I reunited in this world, I've only known you to be this powerful, extraordinary child, who is wise beyond her years and cares very deeply for others."

He looks back up to the dark sky and continues on. "And when I got a glimpse of you in the past, you were still strong, not hesitating to protect others. But…my mind goes back to that day…when you bravely tried saving Aknadin after Bakura ambushed him in his tablet shrine. And you were kidnapped."

Cairo turns her head away, staring down to the concrete sidewalk, knowing where he is going with this.

"And then…shortly after that incident, the Dark One…"

"It's okay…" Cairo cuts in, her gaze still elsewhere. "We both know what happened. No need to speak any further on it."

Atem nods understandably.

"It's something that I think about constantly," Cairo goes on. "How my life might have been much different had I just listened and stayed in the palace."

"Cairo…"

"So I hear everything you're saying…" she continues, turning her head to look at him. "…And I'll be careful. As you said, you know Marik more than I do."

Atem nods again, feeling a bit relieved. He anticipated this discussion turning into an argument, but he's glad they were able to see eye to eye.

Now they just have to continue to stay on guard.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

The following day, Marik stands on top of a building watching the events happening below. Crowds of people gather on both sides of the sidewalk behind barricades as a parade progresses down the middle of the street. There are various things on display, from floats, oversized balloons and marching bands with dancers accompanying them. People of all ages cheer excitedly while munching on their favorite snacks as music fills the air.

He grins, believing this to be the perfect time to put his plan into action.

His eyes scroll to his right at the neighboring building where three figures stand, waiting on his command. Panik cracks his knuckles as well as his neck while the other, wearing a red suit and a striped mask, silently gazes upon the citizens of Domino. The third stays in the background, the sun blocking his bulky appearance.

Looking to the red-suited individual, Marik smirks. The masked man will be key in his plan to find Cairo's weakness. For he is a sorcerer as well.

After exchanging looks, they simultaneously nod their head before getting into their positions within the crowd.

Téa stretches her arms over her head, inhaling deeply before exhaling with a smile. Wearing a yellow tube top and red skirt, she is more than ready to conquer the hot weather that comes with attending a parade. "It's a beautiful day! Don't you think, you guys?" she asks, turning to look over her shoulder. But her face soon goes into an annoyed glare when she sees Joey and Tristan stuffing their faces with hotdogs while carrying other snacks under their arms.

Joey's head pops up, blinking a few times. "You say something Téa?" he mumbles with food in his mouth.

Téa scoffs and quickly whips around to avoid the gross sight. "Don't talk with your mouth full!"

Being shorter than most, Yugi hops up and down, trying to look over people's shoulders at the parade. Finding that to be unsuccessful, he bends down a little to view it in between the small spaces of the people standing side by side. "This doesn't seem fair," Yugi grumbles, glancing at an unfazed Atem who has managed to find a clear spot to view the parade with no issue at all.

"What is the point of this?" Cairo asks, covering her ears from the loud trumpet noises that pass by from a marching band. "Some sort of entertainment? For who?"

"For everyone!" Téa giggles. "It's just a way for people to get out, shop, eat and have a good time! Don't tell me they didn't have parades in Ancient Egypt."

"Nothing of this magnitude."

"We're gonna grab some more food!" Tristan announces.

"Yeah, we'll be right back!" Joey exclaims, just finishing up his last hotdog.

As they dash off, much to the annoyance of Téa who slaps her forehead, Cairo finds herself wanting to go with them. At least it would be away from all of the chaos. But she made a promise to her father that she'd stay close by.

A dark presence nearby brings her attention elsewhere. She scrolls through the crowd, searching for the soul she senses. Another light jolt hits her and she narrows her eyes, sensing a second soul. And then a third. Taking two steps away from her father and the others, she stops herself. She wants to pursue them. She could easily alert him as to what she's sensing so they can both go.

'But then again…' she thinks to herself, seeing the great amount of people in each direction. 'I should lay low. Maybe the souls won't try anything.'

Joey drools as he gets handed a large tray of pizza, whereas Tristan only has one slice on his plate. A drop of sweat goes down Tristan's face. "You really have room for all that?"

"Don't underestimate the power of my stomach!" Joey declares proudly with his fist in the air.

"You think the others will be mad we didn't get them anything?" Tristan asks as he and Joey begin to make their way back.

"Nah! If they wanted something I'm sure they woulda spoken up!"

A scream suddenly rings out, brining their sights to the middle of the street where a rather large mans stands in front of one of the vehicles hauling a large float, punching his large fist into the hood, causing a small explosion in the process.

Joey squints his eyes at the man, trying to get a good look at him before gasping with realization. "Hey Tristan, does that guy look familiar to you?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Tristan replies. With his strong build, mischievous grin and familiar clothing, there's no doubt about it. "It's the guy from Duelist Kingdom!"

"Panik?" Yugi says from another area, squeezing between two people to get a better look alongside Atem.

"You're right," Atem says, narrowing his eyes. "An escaped soul at that."

"No way!"

"Ugh…he caused so much trouble at Duelist Kingdom," Téa says with disgust, remembering how he used to bully and torment weaker duelists, stealing from them. Not to mention his duel that almost left Yugi and the pharaoh incinerated.

"You know this soul as well?" Cairo asks.

"Yeah and he means trouble," Yugi tells her.

'Are all the souls released old foes from this period of time?' Atem asks himself, watching as Panik tears through the pink colored float before picking it up and throwing it to the crowd to everyone's horror.

But right before it is about to hit, it stops in midair. Atem, Téa and Yugi look to Cairo, suspecting that she is the cause of the float coming to a stop. But to their surprise, she stands with her arms folded and staring forward at a certain someone who has just walked in the middle of the street.

Atem turns back around and gasps, seeing that Marik has surprisingly stopped the float with his hands stretched out towards it.

"He's helping?" Téa blinks.

Seeing his first attempt at causing destruction has failed, Panik goes dashing at Marik, engaging in hand to hand combat, with Marik going more on the defensive. Police officers attempt to intervene, holding out their tasers, but Panik picks up a nearby rock, flinging it up to an enormous inflatable float up above, puncturing it and causing it to fall on the group of officers. A panic soon ensues as parade goers run in different directions, yelling and tripping over their own feet as they try and get away.

Cairo grunts, feeling people bump into her and rush past her on all sides, separating her from the others. Yugi tries his best to step out of the way as fast as he can, his shoulder occasionally hitting someone.

"You guys? Where are you?!" he calls out.

"Yugi! Atem! Cairo!" Téa yells, tensing up and bracing herself as people run into her too.

"Not good…" Atem mutters, shielding himself.

In the midst of Marik dodging Panik's attacks, they manage to damage other floats and vehicles. Marik grits his teeth. "I would have expected Cairo to jump in already," he mumbles to himself. He glares at Panik. "Is that all you got?"

Panik growls, looking for something else to throw at him. That's when his eyes land on a semi-truck parked nearby and an idea comes to mind. Running over, he lifts it up, letting out a low growl and hauling it over his head toward Marik who dives out of the way. This leaves it completely open to hit innocent bystanders, including that of a father and his child.

"Daddy!" the girl cries as her father huddles over her protectively, shutting his eyes and preparing for the worst.

Cairo quickly appears in front of them, leaping up and catching the truck in midair, setting it safely on the ground. The father finally opens his eyes, relieved that he and his daughter are unharmed, but shocked at who saved them.

"Go now," Cairo says as she walks forward to the battlefield. As much as she tried to obey her father's wishes by not rushing in alone, she has no choice. Just as she reaches where they are, Marik gets sent flying, landing right next to her feet.

Cairo sighs heavily, peering over at him. "Being a good guy is clearly not in your blood," she remarks, regarding the people that were almost harmed and Marik's failure to stop it.

"I'm aware of that. How about you?" he shoots back slyly as he wipes the corner of his mouth.

Seeing them both distracted, Panik comes charging in their direction, picking them both up by the back of their clothing and slamming them to the ground. But he isn't done yet as he starts running, dragging their faces through the concrete.

'Having to work with Marik is really throwing me off,' Cairo says in her head, feeling the rocks and gravel hit up against her face. Nevertheless she doesn't flinch, internally measuring Panik's strength.

'He's taking this too far,' Marik thinks angrily, grunting and gritting his teeth as the skin on his face gets scraped up. Then he suddenly feels himself being thrown into a concession stand while Cairo is thrown into a row of parked cars.

Atem helps an old woman up, allowing her to get to safety as Téa and the others join him. "Everyone okay?" she asks.

"All good here!" Tristan responds.

"Yeah, but Cairo is on her own out there. Marik just got whooped and it looks like he's out cold," Joey observes, finding it somewhat satisfying seeing his old foe in a heap of food and napkins.

"But she'll be fine, right?" Yugi asks with uncertainty.

Atem brings up his diadhank, studying it for a moment. He doesn't know what will happen once he activates it in this world, or if it'll even work for that matter. But he has to try. He raises his hand, causing the panels of the diadhank to expand out as he calls forth a certain monster that he believes will be able to handle Panik with ease. "Dark Magician Girl! Come forth!"

At the sound of his summon, the diadhank begins to emit a golden glow and the icon of the Dark Magician Girl appears on the slate. After waiting a few moments though, the light fades, but the image of the Dark Magician Girl remains.

"What's this…?" Atem asks, wondering why she hasn't appeared. He begins to think that he should have summoned Dark Magician instead, especially since he's never summoned Dark Magician Girl with his diadhank before. But it slipped his mind with him being in this present world, subconsciously believing he would be able to summon any monster that would typically be in his deck with his diadhank. And now it appears it has completely malfunctioned with the image of Dark Magician Girl being frozen there.

"Do you think it has something to do with you being in the present world?" Yugi asks.

"I'm not sure," he replies, still staring down at the image of the sorcerer, wondering how he'll be able to help Cairo now.

"I knew I recognized you guys from somewhere," Panik says, going over to the group, grinning evilly. His eyebrow soon raises when he sees Atem and Yugi standing side by side. "But I don't remember there being two of ya!"

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Tristan yells.

"Watch yourself squirt. My business is with those two soul keepers but if any of you think about interfering, I'll pulverize you!" the large man threatens. "In fact, when I'm done with them, I think I still will!"

"Still gotta get through me," Cairo says dryly, moving her neck from side to side and seemingly unharmed despite Panik's brutal attacks. She calmly walks in his direction and he grits his teeth angrily.

"How are you still standing little girl?" he growls.

"Seeing as though your attacks were quite weak, it's no wonder I'm still standing," she replies bluntly, crossing her arms as she continues to approach. "I only didn't retaliate initially because I wanted to calculate how much power I would need to use against you."

"You talk a big game for someone who hasn't managed to land one single—"

Cairo swiftly crouches down, swinging her leg at his ankles so that he loses his balance. Then with her back facing him, she swings her foot backward, kicking him square in the jaw and sending him up in the air, all without using her hands. Lastly, she jumps up above him before slamming both feet into his gut, leaving a crater in the road when his body goes crashing down under the weight of her attack.

"Doesn't look like she needed help after all," Joey says, rubbing the bottom of his nose with his finger.

"Just sucks that the parade was ruined because of this guy," Téa pouts.

Crouching down, Cairo gazes at Panik who lies in a daze. "Whoever is giving you these power boosts is doing a terrible job," she comments. "Not that I'm complaining. Makes my job easier."

"And just who is giving you the power boosts?" Atem questions, stepping up beside Cairo.

Panik grunts, discreetly reaching into his pocket. "Wouldn't you like to know?!"

Cairo's fist glows purple. "We would, actually," she says threateningly.

"I've got news for ya. I'm not saying a thing."

"Very well. You've overstayed your welcome here anyway. Time for you to go back."

"You first!" he yells, throwing a round object at her. She catches it with ease, not understanding what it is. Her head tilts as Panik covers his ears while Atem's eyes widen with horror.

"It's a bomb!" her father yells.

Cairo turns her head to look his way. "A what…?"

"It goes kaboom like one of your energy blasts!" Joey explains roughly.

Without another word, Cairo whips her free hand toward Atem, Téa, Yugi, Joey and Tristan, blowing them back to a further distance as Panik laughs, scrambling away to a safe location. Just as she places a shield around herself, the flashing green light suddenly turns red, and in a blink of an eye, goes off in her hand. A blaze of fire emits from it, engulfing the entire bubble around her in flames.

"Cairo!" Atem yells out fearfully, shielding his eyes.

Once the initial explosion is over, she releases the shield and the area around her is filled with smoke. She doesn't know what part of her body has sustained damage, telling by the sting she feels in her arm, she can only guess that's where. "What a nuisance…" she comments to herself, not noticing the tall silhouette of a man appearing behind her, wearing a top hat and a spunky suit and mask. His fingertips graze her head, but it's enough for her to notice as she whips around, only for no one to be behind her.

In the split moment, something changed. She shuts her eyes, fighting the tingly sensation in her head that overcomes her all of a sudden. 'What was that…?' Did the second soul she sensed earlier try and sneak up on her just now? And where is the third?

Panik snickers as he crouches behind a toppled car after her took cover from the bomb. Not wanting to be caught, he makes a run for it while the smoke continues to clear.

By the concession stand, Marik uses this time to slip away, grinning mischievously from ear to ear. He catches sight of the other soul slipping away after they just carried out an important part of his plan and he snickers. "And now I wait…" he says, fading into the darkness.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

AN: What do you think the mystery soul has done to Cairo? And who is it? Let me know in the review section and I'll see you next time!