"This is not the time for-" Kaiba's voice was the first to break through the fog of Yami's brain, and it was swiftly followed by Yui's shouts.

"HE HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG IN THESE LAST FEW YEARS!" Even as every other sentence was cut off by Yui violently coughing, she still refused to stop.

Yami shifted. He was on his side and felt horrible. Along with that cursed headache, his entire body felt as if it was filled with heavy static. Every single nerve and cell seemed to be simultaneously pricked as this bodily white noise weighed him down. It wasn't agony as his pain was before, but he certainly wasn't comfortable.

Yami then heard as Seto sighed and spoke in a detached yet threatening tone. "That doesn't change the fact that he is a liability. The government certainly wouldn't hide him anymore if it got out to the public what he did."

Yami's eyes popped open. He was lying on the couch in the living room. In front of him was Yui, currently being held back by Grandpa. Her face was tomato red and Grandpa's ghost white as she continued to rail into the stone-faced Kaiba. Roland was blocking the door leading to the shop. He was sweating up a storm as he watched Kaiba and this clearly crazy woman argue. Beside him was an emotionless Junior. Junior's eyes held no light as he silently watched the scene. His only movement would be the occasional glance at Roland, or more accurately, the door he was blocking.

"WHAT ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT?! MY HUSBAND IS A KIND AND SWEET MAN THAT HAS DONE NOTHING YOU CRAZED, DARK-HEARTED…" Yui went on, angrily defending her husband in the worst way possible. Yami then looked to Kaiba.

Seto stood firm, his arms crossed. Yami was surprised to see him staying here. Kaiba wasn't usually the type to stick around if he felt it was a waste of time. And being yelled at by a stranger was definitely something he would consider a waste. And why was he even here?

Sure, Kaiba would doggedly attack any flaws he saw in his company, especially if they had to do with his step-father, but coming in person, right now? It made no sense with the PR nightmare caused this morning by the duel spirits wreaking havoc with the holograms. Did Seto really see Junior as that much of a threat to make time for him? Yami then could only groan when he thought about it. While he knew Junior would never do anything to hurt KaibaCorp, Kaiba didn't. All the CEO had to go on was Gozaburo's records, which no doubt called Junior a crazed murder with a lot of KaibaCorp blackmail. Yet, that reasoning still didn't feel right to Yami. If that was the case, Kaiba could have merely sent his people or even Alister as he had threatened earlier to deal with Junior. Why did he come here himself?

Yami wanted to sit up but found his body still refused to move. That painful static that filled him weighed down every one of his limbs; he was immobile. As Yami began to slightly worry (because Pharaohs never panicked, thank you very much), he felt something new grow within him. His eyes fell on the Millennium Puzzle. It had been laid in front of him on the couch. The pyramid was in pieces, more pieces than just the apex being chipped off. Yami could only stare as he felt a now familiar dark pulse ripple through his body. But for once, a worse headache didn't follow. Instead, the eye on the puzzle briefly sparked, too quick for even the others in the room to notice. This was followed by dark flames erupting around the puzzle. It surrounded every separate piece with its dancing darkness, silently consuming the item. The others in the room didn't even glance at it. Then, the flames were snuffed out with a single click, and the stone parts pushed themselves back together. The puzzle was still covered with cracks, but it was whole once again.

With that click, all the static left Yami in a rush. Even his headache left him. Instead, the Pharaoh felt as the pain was replaced with an eerie, all-consuming chill. The earlier pains may have spread across his body, but they paled in comparison to how wholly this chill enveloped him. Yami felt like he had been plunged deep into a frozen lake. And yet, his body reacted like he was still at room temperature. He had no goosebumps, no raised hairs, not even the need to shiver. As Yami marveled at this new sensation, he realized he could move again. First, it was simply flicking his fingers, then he slowly raised his head.

Yui's shouting recaptured Yami's attention. Had her voice always been that... annoying? She clearly was making their situation worse. Yet, that woman just wouldn't stop. Didn't she know yelling at Kaiba would only make him treat Junior harsher? Grandpa, too, seemed to change. He was suddenly so weak in Yami's eyes, irritatingly so. He was smarter than this. Why would he let Yui continually dig the family into a grave? As Yami tried to figure out how to stop them, his eyes drifted to the other villain in the room. Kaiba suddenly had all of Yami's attention. The Pharaoh's mouth turned down into a snarl. Just looking at Seto made his blood boil. That man's, no, that boy who pretended to be a man. That boy's blue eyes were too familiar. Every part of Yami suddenly had the burning need to strangle that smug priest-

Yami paused. Priest?

Yami gritted his teeth and pushed against this chill, along with the thoughts it brought. He closed his eyes and tuned out the situation around him. He reached deep inside him and found a flame. The embers of what he could only describe as the determination to remain in control. Slowly he let it ebb out from his center, and the chill fled from it. While Yami would have been thrilled to completely rid himself of the cold, his body immediately collapsed onto the couch. Every place the ice left, the heavy static returned to. And the inability to move following that.

Yami almost wanted to laugh. It was going to be a balancing act then.

"Please, Ma'am!" Roland's voice broke through Yui's continued tirade. "What Mr. Kaiba was trying to say was we just want to focus on getting your boy to a hospital. Sure, we may have come for-, to talk to your husband. But that clearly isn't what is important right now."

"YEAH?! I KNOW THAT! BUT UNLESS YOU CAN FIX STUPID CURSED ITEMS, I DOUBT YOU TWO COULD DO ANYTHING-"

Yami then suddenly had a horrible feeling, separate from the war within his soul. His eyes flicked open and flashed to Junior. He saw as Junior slowly moved his hand to the junk box to his left, the same junk box the Mutos' had been slowly growing through the day. On top laid a few old awards, most from Yugi and Grandpa, and some scattered pieces of Grandma Muto's sewing kit. There Junior grabbed a large, crystalline trophy Yugi had won a while back. No one seemed to notice as he hid it behind his back, not even Roland, who was next to him. Yami then watched as those emotionless eyes narrowed. Yami recognized that look from the gas station. The twisted grin might not have been there, but the shiver that went down the Pharaoh's spine was the same. Junior started to raise the sharp-ended trophy, positioning it to strike Roland.

Yami felt as his body slowly responded to his fear. It felt like every message, every nerve impulse had to slog through the sea of static that filled him. He couldn't let Junior run! Yami let the ice spread through him once again.

"Dad…" Yami meant to yell, but it only came out in a whimper.

Junior's eyes suddenly widened. His whole body froze. Then, in a rush, he dropped the trophy and ran to Yami's side. Roland only then seemed to remember Junior. He didn't even see the discarded award, but he did misinterpret Junior's lunge to be aimed at Kaiba. He reached out and yanked Junior back.

Junior's eyes narrowed as a guttural growl ripped from his lips. He grabbed Roland right back and bent forward, enough to flip Roland over his shoulder. He threw Roland onto the floor and jumped over him to get to Yami's side. He then knelt down and took one of the Pharaoh's hands. His hands were scalding to Yami's senses. But Yami held on tightly, desperately. He used this new warmth as an anchor point to once again chase away the creeping ice.

"You're ok?" Junior asked. Yami was barely able to nod back. Then he fell back onto the couch, still clutching Junior's hand. "Not ok then." Junior breathed.

Junior closed his eyes and released a deep sigh. He then stood up and faced the others, letting go of Yami's hand in the process. Yami tried to hold on to the warmth for as long as his strength let him. But his arm eventually limply fell, landing right on top of the puzzle. Only then did Yami realize just where the chill had originated from. The pyramid felt like a glacier.

"You can stop trying to stall now, Yui," Junior said.

Yui paused in surprise. "But-" Junior silently shook his head, and Yui didn't continue.

Kaiba stood unphased in the same spot. To his side was Roland, still lying flat on his back. Kaiba looked less surprised at Junior's show of strength and more disappointed in his right-hand man. Roland then slowly got up, rubbing his head. When he got to his feet, he began to reach for his phone, but a no from Kaiba stopped him.

"It was an old plan we made together years ago if your father ever came after us. She would act like the angry housewife to distract while I… It doesn't matter now. Roland is right. We have to get Yami to a hospital."

"Wait!" Yami yelped. He was just as surprised as the rest of the family at his volume. He didn't think he had it in him compared to his last feeble attempt at speaking. But this time, he had willingly let the cold consume him.

…

Yugi couldn't help but stare at the magic barrier that surrounded the mountain top. It took up so much of the peak that Blue-Eyes couldn't even land.

"We really can't get to the Silents while they are sleeping." Yugi sighed. This was why he had spent the last few hours setting everything up below the mountain, but he still had held out some hope.

"Correct, even I cannot break through it," Blue-Eyes said as she soared by. The dark color of the bubble stopped Yugi from seeing inside. He couldn't even see the wishing well.

"Do you think they might have made a wish on it? The wishing well, I mean." Yugi yawned as Blue-Eyes began her descent down the mountain. She was a much better flier than Gandora, making the trip up and down the mountain quicker.

"Hm? Oh, I hope. I would love to see the wishing well curse them. But I doubt they would understand how to get it to activate. If Silent Magician did not know about the well beforehand, I do not think they would either. They might not even know it's the Wishing Well trap card." Blue-Eyes said.

Yugi couldn't help but look one last time at the peak before it disappeared behind the perfectly puffy clouds.

"You know I still have my wish. If we thought of a well-worded request, maybe we could end this all much quicker than planned. I could sneak up while the Silents are heading down and-"

"Do not even think about it. Even if we did not have thousands of years of horrible results from that well, it would still be putting you in a great deal of peril. I already think these ideas of yours are too dangerous. I will not allow you to put yourself in more danger on a tiny hope."

"We are already relying on a lot of hope. Hope that the Gandora and Silents see reason. Hope that the creatures in this domain don't hold grudges." Yugi sighed.

"Those hopes I feel better about betting on," Blue-Eyes grunted.

"I suppose." Yugi yawned. He was half-asleep at this point and was talking more to keep himself from nodding off.

Blue-Eyes fell silent as she began to carefully navigate what seemed like open-air beside the mountainside. She nimbly ducked and dived, looking almost to be dancing in the air before returning to her routine flight down. Blue-Eyes had masterfully avoided activating the trap card Yugi had put on this elevation of the mountain. Many such traps could only be avoided by flying in a specific way beside the mountain. Something the landbound Silents had no chance of avoiding, Yugi hoped.

"Thank you again for helping figure out how a human could set trap cards in this dimension. Though I suppose I shouldn't be calling them trap cards since no cards are involved here. Trap spells?" Yugi said.

"We duel spirits originally called them curses. Incantations mixed with physical items to cause some effect when activated. I believe it was the Egyptians that first referred to them as traps, and it has stuck ever since."

Blue-Eyes glanced back to see Yugi starting to slide off her in his barely awake state. She gently bumped Yugi to re-center him. "So why did you choose the Intruder Alarm - Yellow Alert trap for that elevation of the mountain?" She continued, trying to keep Yugi awake.

"Huh? Oh, it's so if the Silents come down with only the thought of fighting in their hearts, with no hope of convincing them, we'll be teleported immediately to them. We'll have both the element of surprise and our answer on what path we need to take. If they pass by the trigger point with some hope of peace, as I expect, the trap will break, and we'll have some warning that they're coming." Yugi sleepily explained. Blue-Eyes nodded, already knowing all this. She knew of each trap laid and Yugi's reasoning for each one. It was her magic that Yugi had to rely on to set all his traps. A human could only lay real curses in this world with the power of a spirit partner.

Blue-Eyes' thoughts were then directed towards a small cave on the side of the mountain. She immediately turned around and headed for it.

"Huh?" Yugi murmured, too tired to fully word a question.

"We may not be forced to sleep like everyone else, but we still need to rest," Blue-Eyes said as she landed in the cave. It was small, only about twenty feet deep, and the ceiling was so low that Blue-Eyes had to bend down.

"Hey, I recognize this cave," Yugi said as he clumsily slid off Blue-Eyes.

"You do?"

"Yes, Gandora took us here when she first snatched us from Giga," Yugi smiled. "Ok then, a quick nap and back to work."

"No, we sleep. You definitely need it." Blue-Eyes said as she started circling in one spot. Once happy with her bedding, she flopped down.

"But we still have so much to do!"

"Do we? We have set up all the traps you planned for. Have rough speeches already thought out for talking to your friends and for talking to Dark Magician Girl, the Gandora, and the Silents. There is little else we can do with everyone else sleeping, and us being exhausted would not help the situation in the slightest."

"Yeah, but we could still hammer out some more details. Like, what would we do if the domain inhabitants don't listen to us? Or what if the Knights decide they want nothing to-" Blue-Eyes used her tail to pull Yugi to her side and forced him to sit. As she expected, he immediately laid against her.

"Of all your strategies, I'm surprised you never considered your own health in them." Blue-Eyes chuckled. Yugi only vaguely grumbled at her as he finally fell asleep.

Blue-Eyes put her own head down. She'd wake him thirty minutes before everyone else awoke. Then they would race over to the clearing where Yugi's friends were. Convincing them of Yugi's plan wouldn't be hard. It is the next step that would be tricky. Convincing Dark Magician Girl.

It wasn't that Dark Magician Girl didn't want peace without selling out the Gandora. It's just as the domain leader it was Dark Magician Girl's job to be the voice for her people, even if she didn't always agree with what their voices were. Add on how the Gandora had hurt both her body and pride, and Blue-Eyes wasn't sure if their plan A would collapse before it began. Blue-Eyes then sighed. They then would just move to plan J. If Dark Magician wanted to help but couldn't for some reason, then plan K. If that didn't work, then plan R or C. And so on and so on. This alphabet of contingencies having been thought out almost entirely by Yugi.

Blue-Eyes curled closer around the sleeping human. Yugi was quite the little mastermind when given the time and incentive (something school seemed to have failed him in). She supposed that's why he was so good at dueling and games in general. He really was the King of Games when he wanted to be. Bad situations were never an obstacle for him. They were more like twists and turns on a labyrinth he was both building and navigating at the same time. He always seemed to know there was an exit for him, even if he had to construct one himself ten "turns" ago. Even with reading his mind, Blue-Eyes could barely comprehend what was going on in there when he got strategizing.

Blue-Eyes then used her tail to gently lift the puzzle still around Yugi's neck. It looked on the verge of collapsing under its own weight. The item had continued to gain cracks during their scheming, and Blue-Eyes knew it must have caused a great deal of discomfort for Yugi. Yet he never let on to it. He was too focused on saving his friends.

Blue-Eyes couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Good thing he had such a kind heart and didn't lust for power, or she would be truly worried for the world. She had already seen the repercussions of one dangerous Muto; she didn't want to witness another of Yugi's caliber.

No. Blue-Eyes decided that wasn't how she should have been thinking, especially at that moment. She chose to side with all Mutos, and she was standing by that pact. The ones that should be worried at that moment were the Silents and Gandora. They better be ready to play along, or they would end up in Yugi's very own shadow game.

…

"Yui's right, I don't need a hospital. There's nothing for them to do." Yami accepted the cold this time and used it to pull himself to his feet. It was clear that the others didn't want him to stand. Junior even tried to gently push him back. Yami ignored his attempts and instead used him for balance.

"Yami, I don't think-" Junior began to whisper.

"I said I was fine." Yami snapped. He was about to turn to Seto when he paused. Yami studied Junior for a moment, almost as if this was his first time seeing him. Then a strange thought entered Yami's head. He didn't recognize Junior. He knew Kaiba and Grandpa, and even Yui had some vague recognition. Yet, Junior felt like a complete stranger. Yami, naturally, didn't understand where these thoughts were coming from. Of course, he knew his family. He had known them for the last few years, even if Junior wasn't always around.

The priest, the vizier, the lesser wife, and… Ah, of course. The old fool couldn't make it, having given his soul in penance. So he sent his monster. What desperation.

Yami immediately tensed up. Those were definitely not his thoughts, yet they were spoken (thought?) in his voice. And was that chuckling he heard at the end? Yami immediately pushed back against any sense of cold in his body. The ice willingly retreated this time and was instantly replaced. Yami collapsed hard onto Junior.

"Yami!" His family gasped as Seto turned to Roland, ordering him to call an ambulance. Junior caught Yami and slowly placed him back on the couch.

"No!" Yami managed to shout. He didn't have a solid reason why he felt this so strongly, but he was absolutely not going to a hospital. Maybe it would somehow get in the way of finding Yugi or somehow leave Junior open to attack from KaibaCorp? Yami wasn't sure of even his own feelings anymore, but he did know one thing. He had to be strong. It was his job as the Pharaoh. It was his duty to his new family.

Yami let the cold return slowly, almost with a mental warning. Soon Yami found his limbs able to move again with no strange thoughts following. He once again got to his feet and faced Kaiba.

"Why are you here?" Yami asked in a low voice.

Seto looked perplexed as Yami fought to stand. "Why are you so against going to a hospital? You clearly need it, Muto."

"That's not what I asked," Yami growled. Everyone in the room glanced at each other worriedly, everyone but Kaiba, who kept his eyes on Yami.

"Shouldn't that be clear? You so kindly told me about the location of a dangerous criminal last night. Of course, I would come to see for myself." Kaiba said, quickly glancing at Junior as the man grimaced.

"No, there's more to it than that. It's not like to just come rushing over, especially with your company undoubtedly coming under fire with people still scared over the holograms. The last time monsters roamed free would still be too fresh in their mind for them not to be hounding KaibaCorp over the recent chaos. Yet, you take time to come here for a decade's old feud." Yami slowly spoke, every word somehow making him angrier at Kaiba. He tried to fight the venom, but he needed to be able to move.

Kaiba didn't speak at first, merely studying Yami. Then he turned back to Roland.

"Continue for the request for medical transport-"

"I said, no!" Yami shot back. He just couldn't think straight at that moment. Everyone somehow was making him so frustrated with their mere presence. Especially Kaiba. "If you won't tell me in words, then I'll just have to get the truth out in other ways." Everyone watched, shocked, as Yami stumbled over to the junk box and pulled a duel disk out. "You wanted a duel so badly last night; here's your chance!"

Kaiba paused, but that infuriating smirk soon returned to his face. "As you wish."