A few things of note: Yami has his own body in this fic. It is to be assumed that this happened months prior due to the final duel between him and Yugi. Also, I typically don't call him Atem. The name "Yami" has stuck with me soooo…yeah lol

Also, "Bakura" is Yami Bakura because I'm lazy. You'll see what I mean in chapter 2. He also has his own body because reasons.

And for the sake of the story, all Millennium Item bearers have their own respective items (but Yami Marik no longer exists)

Anyway…. here is the first chapter.


"Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." John Donne

Chapter 1

The hospital wasn't someplace anyone would have wanted to spend their Friday night. The room felt as cold and lifeless as the occupant in the bed. The bleak walls did nothing to improve Yami's mood, although at this point, he doubted that anything would. He had been sitting by Yugi's bedside for three hours at least…his tears had dried up at this point but the overwhelming sorrow still lingered like a poison.

It had been eight hours ago, that they had gotten that devastating phone call of the incident… and about Yugi. Someone had found him on the side of the road with multiple stab wounds to the chest. Nobody knew why or how it all happened, but either way Yugi died only an hour ago due to his injuries. No one had even properly said goodbye…

Sadness spread through everyone like a virus. He, Joey, Tea, Tristan and Grandpa just sat in the room not speaking nor moving, their misery creating a cloud in the room so thick that it was practically visible. Nobody spoke much and none of them would look at each other for fear of breaking down completely. Yami however continued to look at everyone for signs of change and to see how they were holding up since they came in. Tristan was standing in the corner with his head hung low staring at the floor. Tea was sitting in the chair next to Tristan, and she was still sobbing with her head in her hands. Piles of tissues was littered around her feet.

Yami looked to his direct left at Joey who was in the chair next to him. He was staring at Yugi's lifeless body with a look of defeat on his face, mixed in with shock. Unable to look at him for fear of breaking down again, Yami looked around the room for Solomon. He didn't seem to be in the room, so Yami assumed he walked out at some point during the night. Nobody had really paid much attention to each other either until now…

Suddenly a hiccup from Joey caught Yami's attention. Joey clenched the sheets covering Yugi and shook in what looked like anger. Then abruptly he stood up, letting go of the sheets, and while silently cursing to himself, Joey quickly walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Tristan looked up after Joey left, his eyes bloodshot, and with a quick nod to Yami he followed Joey out of the room.

Yami brought his eyes back to Yugi. Now that the sheets were moved slightly, he could see the blood stains underneath his shirt. The sight of it made Yami want to start crying again, but he held it in…mostly because Tea came to sit next to him. As she did so, Yami put the sheets back the way they were so she wouldn't have to see.

"Why would anyone do this?" she sobbed, dabbing a tissue against her eyes. Yami looked at her and saw how miserable she was. She probably looked the worst, but on the inside, everyone was mostly feeling the same. "Why did this have to happen?"

Yami didn't answer her mostly because he didn't have one. There were no eye witness of the event and no security cameras pointing in that direction. The police didn't have much to go on, so Yami wasn't very optimistic that they would ever find who did it and why.

They sat in silence for another ten minutes before Tea stood up.

"I can't stay in here anymore…I'll go crazy. Are you coming?" she hiccuped. Yami hesitated.

"I'll stay for a few more minutes. Go and wait with the others…I will join you soon."

Tea nodded and exited the room, but not before giving one last glance at Yugi. Once the door closed, Yami allowed more tears to fall.

This whole thing bothered him more so than the obvious. Yugi wasn't supposed to die…not yet. They were supposed to live together for years to come. That's what Yami expected when he got his own body but now it seems it wasn't meant to be. Yami glared down at the Millennium Puzzle hanging around his neck. It was useless now. What purpose did it serve? It was able to animate monsters and control them, and it housed his spirit for 5,000 years…but it couldn't bring Yugi back to life. Yami had half a mind to take it off and throw it out the window, but a sudden thought stopped him.

What if it could bring Yugi back to life?

Yami grasped the pyramid shaped item and stared at it, his breath caught in his throat. Could it be possible? Pegasus had once tried to take the Puzzle because he thought it could help bring back his wife from the dead. Yami himself was supposed to be dead over 5,000 years ago in ancient Egypt, yet here he was in the twenty first century living in Domino City…all because of this item.

Well there was no hurt in trying, Yami thought. Besides, he had an overwhelming desire to fill the hole in his heart and his soul. He needed his other half back…his partner.

Yami had no idea what he was doing but decided to wing it. He focused on the power of the Millennium Puzzle and projected it towards Yugi, willing him to wake up…and to be alive. Yami thought about all of the good times they had together and all of the times they helped save the world from destruction. He projected those positive feelings into the Puzzle hoping to get more of a result out of it. A few minutes passed with him doing this and the Puzzle seemed to glow in response. After a few minutes however, Yami stopped. The glow died and he looked at Yugi expectantly. To his immense disappointment, there was no change in Yugi. He looked as lifeless as ever.

His hopes snatched away from him as quickly as they came, Yami abruptly stood up with a new wave of sadness overwhelming him. It was stupid for him to think that the Puzzle could bring back the dead. There would be no getting Yugi back. If the Puzzle couldn't do it…what could?

Before exiting the room, Yami glanced one more time at Yugi, wishing to all the stars in the sky that things could have turned out differently.

"I'm sorry…" he said and closed the door behind him. The sound echoing in a powerful finality that Yami heard echo to all corners of the building.

Two hours later Yami found himself looking through Solomon's old photo albums in Yugi's room. He had felt the need to stay in there tonight to ease his broken soul but so far, being in there only seemed to make it worse. Old memories continued to crop up to make his loss feel that much more painful.

Strangely, there came a point during Yami's grieving when he stopped feeling emotions completely. Try as he might to try and feel some sort of sadness-for he felt that he needed to grieve-however, he had no more tears to shed. Yami briefly wondered if there was something wrong with him but at the moment, he didn't care.

Yami thought back to earlier when Joey, Tea and Tristan had stopped by on the way home. The three of them were broken and Yami wished that there was something he could do to fix it all. They talked for a bit before heading home. Joey and Tristan were staying at Tristan's place but offered to walk Tea back to her place. Yami had watched them go, saddened that he couldn't say anything to make them feel better. He felt like he should have been able to do something...anything

But Yami felt as broken as they did...probably more so.

Solomon behavior was the biggest surprise. Maybe it was because he was older or maybe it was because he was used to death. Either way, he was taking the loss of Yugi better than anyone. Of course, there were a couple of times where Yami would walk into a room and find him crying in the corner but when Solomon knew anyone was watching, he put on a brave face and tried to cheer everyone up. With a pang, Yami realized that Yugi would have been doing the same thing.

Yami closed the photo albums and decided to go back downstairs. He found that being in Yugi's room to be more distressing than he thought. When he got downstairs, he wasn't surprised to see Solomon sitting on the couch with tears running down his face. He was staring at the floor but not really seeing it at all. Yami cleared his throat as he came down, causing the old man to look at him in surprise.

"Oh…what are you still doing up?" he said wiping his eyes. Yami sat next to him on the couch.

"Same as you I suppose…"

Solomon nodded slowly and stared at the floor again. Neither one of them had gotten dressed for bed probably because both of them realized that there wouldn't be any sleeping tonight. Yami almost wished he could sleep tonight though. Maybe when he woke up, it would have all been a really long nightmare.

A small sound from behind him caught Yami's attention. It almost sounded like someone came inside the game shop. He brushed it off thinking it was just noise from outside. The shop was closed and the door was locked.

However, the sound of footsteps came closer and Yami gave into his curiosity and looked in the doorway behind him. Maybe Joey or the others decided to come back?

Yami's breath caught in his throat as he beheld the figure in the doorway. It couldn't be…this was impossible…

"Y-Yugi?!" Yami choked out.

It was true. Yugi was standing in the doorway looking tired and worn out to the point of pure exhaustion, but alive. He panted and leaned against the door frame and looked at Yami and Solomon tiredly.

"H-hey guys," he said in between breaths. This caught Solomon's attention and he looked as well.

Yami and Solomon stared at Yugi for a full minute in a state of shock.

Yami got up from the couch and took a few wary steps forward. "Yugi? Is that…is it really…?"

Before Yugi could answer, Solomon rushed forward quickly and pulled Yugi into a rib cracking hug.

"Ow…Grandpa-"

"Sorry Yugi,"

Solomon let Yugi go, but put his hands on his grandson's shoulders and looked at him in the face as if trying to see something, shaking his head in disbelief. After a moment of that, Yami stepped forward to look at Yugi as well. He was still in shock. Did the Puzzle actually succeed in bringing Yugi back to life? It must have…because Yami knew that he was dead. There was no denying that, but…is that really what happened?

A thought then occurred to Yami. What if this wasn't Yugi but some sort of trick? What if whoever killed Yugi in the first place was hatching some sort of scheme and was using a puppet that looked like Yugi to distract them from something? Thoughts like this swirled around in Yami's head, but as he looked at Yugi, they disappeared. When Yami looked into Yugi's eyes he saw the look of determination and bravery that he always admired about him…nobody else had that in their eyes and it couldn't be reproduced. This was really Yugi…he could feel it.

Tears formed in Yami's eyes and suddenly, it was as if a switch turned his emotions back on again. He felt the tidal wave of emotions rise up to his throat and he had to choke back a sob before hugging Yugi like his Grandfather.

"Welcome back partner." His voice quivered and he felt like crying again but held it in for Yugi's sake. Yugi nodded and sighed, almost in relief.

After he and Solomon got over the shock of seeing Yugi in the doorway, they had him sit on the couch, mostly because he looked close to falling over. Yami wasn't sure what it felt like to be brought back to life in that way, but maybe it drained him somehow.

Solomon went in the kitchen and got a glass of water. When he gave it to Yugi, he downed it in one gulp.

"Thanks," he said shakily handing the glass back to Solomon. "…What time is it?"

"It's one in the morning," Solomon said putting the glass down and sitting next to him on the couch. He got the blanket that was draped over the side of the couch and put it over Yugi's shoulders. "Here…you're freezing."

"Yugi, what in the world happened?" Yami asked. "What do you remember?"

Yugi looked down in thought. As Yami looked at him, he suddenly became alarmed at how pale he looked. The ashy color of his skin had not changed since he died and although Yami could see the real Yugi behind his face, his eyes reflected pain and dullness at the same time. Yami wondered if it was permanent or if he would get better in time.

"I don't remember much except…pain. I knew that I died…it was weird. Then there was this…warm, golden light and suddenly I woke up in…in an empty room…"

"A golden light?" Solomon blinked in confusion. "That sounds odd. Maybe that has something to do with you coming back?"

"Maybe…but it felt…familiar."

Yami stiffened slightly. He knew what that was…it was the Puzzle's energy. Yami was going to mention it but stopped himself. Something felt wrong about telling them that he brought Yugi back to life, even if he wasn't sure if that's what really happened. Coming back to life wasn't natural and he was afraid what Yugi and the others would think if he told them what he tried to do. So, he kept quiet about it.

"Do you remember who did this to you?" Solomon asked looking serious. "Who tried to kill you?"

Yugi stared at him for a second as if he hadn't thought about it since he came back. He looked down in thought and shook his head.

"I don't remember."

"Nothing?"

"I remember a pain in my chest and I remember dying…that's it."

"You don't even remember who the person was or why they did it?" Solomon asked, his voice shaking. Yugi visibly winced at the question and shook his head.

"I can't seem to remember much of anything about it. It's all kind of a blur."

"Wait a minute," Yami said realizing that Yugi still had blood on his shirt. "What about your wounds? Are they still there?"

Yugi blinked in realization as if the question never came to his mind. He gingerly lifted up his shirt and Yami had to stifle a gasp. The wounds were still there all right. Four stab wounds were prominent on his chest, all in different spots. They were scabbed over but a large single bruise was forming over his entire chest, purpling where the stab marks were.

"Yugi, why didn't you say anything? I hugged you too hard," Solomon said looking guilty.

"I honestly didn't think about mentioning it." replied Yugi. Solomon raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything about it.

"Wait," Yami said as Yugi lowered his shirt again. "If your wounds never healed…then how…?"

Yami found it hard to finish the sentence. He wanted to ask how he was still alive but he found that it sounded ungrateful, even if he didn't mean it that way. It just didn't make sense. In theory, if the wounds never healed then when he came back to life, then he should have died all over again.

"I don't know but it doesn't feel as bad as when I died. Maybe they did heal a little?" Yugi said. Solomon stood up.

"Let me get the first aid kit so you don't get an infection," he said and he walked out of the room. Yami looked at Yugi. He still looked very tired and Yami guessed that he had very little energy because small movements caused him to look like he was going to pass out.

"Yugi, are you alright? I mean, really?" he asked.

Yugi looked thoughtful for a second.

"Well I'm alive, so I guess that's good." Yugi shrugged.

"Yes I noticed. I mean besides that." Yami said.

"Yeah I'm fine…tired, but alright."

"Well I can't imagine that coming back from the dead would feel very good," Yami said. "So if you feel anything weird…you know, more so than normal…you'll let us know?"

Yugi nodded as Solomon came back in with a small white box with a red plus sign on the lid. He opened it dumped a numerous assortment of bandages and antiseptics onto the couch as if he wanted to use all of it.

"Alright, let's patch you up Yugi," Solomon said.

As Solomon got to work, Yami went into the kitchen. He felt bad about calling everyone this late at night, but this was important. Grabbing the house phone, Yami dialed Tristan's cell phone number. Surprisingly, he answered almost right away.

"Hello?" he said. He didn't sound like he just woke up.

"Tristan. Is Joey still with you?" Yami asked.

"Y-yeah….why?"

"I need you both to come over right away. It's an emergency."
"Why, what's wrong?"

"Uh…" Yami hesitated. How could he say it without sounding like a bad joke? Or a prank? He laughed aloud at the thought. "Well…um…Yugi's here…and-"

"…What?" Tristan sounded confused. Yami could hear Joey in the background asking what he said.

Yami couldn't help but chuckle. He must sound delirious or something and would be astounded it the two of them took him seriously. Nonetheless, he repeated himself again, not knowing how else to put it.

"Yugi's here…"

There was a pause.

"Yeah, I think Yami's lost it…" Tristan said to Joey. "This isn't funny…" Yami rolled his eyes.

"Tristan please just…come over. Both of you. I'm calling Tea too."

And before Tristan could reply, Yami hung up the phone. He hesitated before calling Tea because he felt that he should handle the situation differently with her but wasn't sure how. Yami dialed her number regardless but she never answered and it went to voicemail.

After the beep, Yami decided to leave a vague voice message. "Hey Tea…look, I know it's late and you might be asleep, but this is important. It's about Yugi so if you could come over as soon as you can…that would be great. It's an emergency…. bye."

Yami put the phone back feeling awkward about calling them like that. He just hoped that the three of them would get here soon. Yami didn't want them feeling depressed any longer than they had to.

By the time Yami walked back into the living room, Solomon had just finished bandaging Yugi's chest and Yugi was pulling his shirt back over him.

"Is everything alright?" Yami asked as Solomon started to pack away the supplies.

"Oh yes, everything is bandaged." he said closing the first aid kit. "But once the dust settles, we're going to have to get you to a doctor young man."

Yugi just nodded looking up at Yami. "Were you calling them?"

Yami looked at him surprised considering he never mentioned contacting their friends before doing so. Maybe he was just that obvious.

"Yes. I told them to come over but if either one of them didn't think I was crazy, I would be surprised."

Solomon chuckled which made Yami feel a little better. "Oh boy. Let's just make sure not to give anybody a heart attack, alright? I've had enough trips to the hospital to last me a lifetime."

Within a couple of minutes, there was a loud knock on the front door. Yami went to answer it. When he opened the door, Joey and Tristan stood there looking slightly annoyed.

"Alright, what's going on?" Tristan said as they walked inside. "What have you been drinking?"

"You guys got here fast," Yami pointed out, ignoring Tristan's question. Joey shrugged.

"We didn't actually make it back to Tristan's yet. We were taking a walk…"

Yami nodded, understanding.

"Follow me," Yami said closing the front door and leading them into the living room. Yugi and Solomon looked up nervously as they entered and Yami stepped off to the side so that they could see.

Joey and Tristan froze upon seeing Yugi and the silence in the room was so absolute, you could hear a pin drop. And then Tristan slowly walked forward.

"Yugi?" he said uncertainly as if he was afraid it was just a puppet.

"Hey Tristan…" he said then looked at Joey. "Hey Joey."

"No…no way," Joey said looking ashen faced. He looked more frightened than Yami had ever seen him. "There's no way that's Yugi. This is a trick…or…or something!"

"Joey," Solomon said walking up to them. "If this was a trick, it would be the worst trick ever played. How could we have pulled this off?"

"Yugi's d-dead!" Joey choked slightly as he said it. "That can't be him…that's impossible!"

"Guys…" Yugi said sternly. They all looked at him but his eyes were set for Tristan and Joey. They stared at each other for a full minute before Tristan relaxed.

"My god…" he whispered. He walked over to Yugi and sat next to him, tentatively putting a hand on his shoulder to give himself proof. "I don't believe it…you're alive…"

Joey followed his lead although slower and sat down on the opposite side. Yami and Solomon looked on nervously. Joey seemed unsure until Yugi looked at him in the eyes again. The blonde seemed to relax looking on in awe.

"Shoot…Yugi…" Joey said before breaking out in tears and giving Yugi a large hug. "You were…I thought…but you were!"

Joey pulled out of the hug, hands still on his shoulders and looked at Yugi quizzically.

"You were dead. How in the hell…?"

"That was my next question." Tristan said wiping his eyes but sounding upbeat. "Not that I'm complaining or anything…but you were dead Yugi. How did you manage to come back to life?"

"I don't know…all I remember is dying then coming back…that's all."

At the word "dying," Joey started to look angry. But then, he pulled Yugi into another hug, tears streaming down his face like never before.

"I'm sorry Yugi," he moaned. "The one time you needed help…the one time that being there for you would have mattered, and I let you down. I'm so sorry…"

"Joey…" Yugi said sternly. Joey pulled out of the hug again looking ashamed of himself. "What happened was not your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. What happened, happened…and there's no use beating ourselves up for it. Alright?"

Joey sniffed then nodded. "Yeah I guess…"

Yami looked on in awe. Here was Yugi who was killed and had just risen from the grave, calming those around him when it really should be the other way around. Yami would have thought that Yugi would be a little more insecure about the whole thing but he was taking it in stride, trying to make everyone feel better about the situation. Yugi really was amazing…

His thoughts were interrupted by Tea walking into the room, which surprised him because he didn't hear her coming in. She looked distressed, tired and shocked all at once as she beheld Yugi. However, in a few seconds, she shrieked, dropped her purse and sprinted right over to Yugi. Tristan scrambled to get out of her way and just in time too. She ran right over to Yugi and hugged him without hesitation.

"T-tea!" Yugi said in surprise. Tea sobbed in his shoulder.

"I…I should have known better!" she said between gasps. "I knew I shouldn't have doubted…you always find a way to get out of trouble, don't you?"

"I…what?"

"I don't think anything can get the best of you…not even death." she pulled away giving him a watery smile. "How did you do it?"

"Tea, I don't know how I came back…"

"Then someone else did it." Tea said matter-of-factly. She took a deep breath, calming herself. "Either way…I'm glad…"

"I'm not."

Yami whirled around to see the source of the voice behind him. To his, and everybody else's surprise, Shadi stood there looking as same as ever. His white turban stood snugly on his head, and his even whiter cape billowed as if a breeze just shook it. Yami only had seen Shadi a limited number of times but even from those small amounts of experiences, he knew that Shadi looked unnerved. As Guardian of the Millennium Items, Shadi never really showed himself unless needed. So as Yami stepped back to behold the newcomer, a pit started to form in his stomach. What was he here for?

There were a few seconds of silence before anyone spoke.

"What do you mean you're not?" Joey said wide eyed. Luckily everyone was used to these kinds of things happing, so having someone randomly appear in the middle of a living room wasn't enough to surprise anyone now. "What are you doing here?"

Shadi didn't answer right away. Before stepping into the room fully, he bowed to Yami while muttering a formal greeting in ancient Egyptian, and then proceeded to stand before everybody. He looked directly at Yugi.

"While the loss of a wielder of a Millennium Item causes a great disturbance throughout the plane of existence, a soul brought back from the dead is even worse. This planet is starting to go awry. Everything that I worked for is now coming undone."

"W-wait….what are you trying to say?" Solomon said looking wide eyed.

"I'm saying," Shadi said a little slower. "That Yugi's resurrection has caused the balance of this world to become off kilter."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Millennium Scales. Normally when Yami has ever seen the item, both sides of the Scales were perfectly balanced. Now however, one side sat up higher than the other as if something was weighing it down.

"As we speak, a volcano is erupting in Ethiopia. An earthquake just ended in Europe leaving thousands dead. A tsunami is heading towards Africa and will drown a quarter of the country's population by tomorrow…and I'm afraid that, that is only the beginning."

"Woah, hold the phone," Joey said looking at Shadi with a shocked expression. "You're saying that all that stuff that's been happening, is because of….?"

"The dead cannot be raised." he said putting his Scales back in the pocket of his drapes. "Doing so causes cataclysmic events such as those. Leaving them be will only cause it to become worse. Soon the sky will rain fire and demons will walk the earth."

Everyone sat in silence letting the words sink in. Yami was trying to figure out what Shadi meant by that last part but Solomon however looked annoyed.

"That can't be right," he said picking up the remote to the TV and turning it on. They had avoided the tv for the past day for fear of seeing Yugi's news story on the headlines. However, the first thing that came on once the picture came into focus was the wreckage of an entire city due to an earthquake. The newscaster was explaining how a building completely collapsed and the death toll was, at the moment, in the low hundreds. The news story then switched to an active volcano burning away people's homes and forcing them to flee. Then, a live video feed slipped through of a person burning to death in the raging flow of lava. Solomon just looked at the screen with his mouth agape. "Oh…"

Shadi stepped forward and the TV shut itself off causing everyone's attention to switch back to him.

"In order for this world to live…Yugi must die."

"No…no way!" Joey said beating everyone from voicing their similar opinions. "There's no way we're gonna let that happen!"

"That's right!" said Tristan.

"He just got back!" Tea said standing up in defiance. There were still tears in her eyes but she looked determined. "Isn't there another way?"

"Guys…"

Yugi spoke softly. He was looking at the Tv screen in horror as if it were still on, playing horrific images of people dying due to the apocalyptic events. Yugi then shakily sighed and then tore his eyes away from the screen to look at everyone with wide eyes.

"If all this is really my fault…I can't let it happen anymore."

"What?! You can't give up!" Joey said loudly. "We're not losing you again!"

"People are dying!" Yugi said looking frightened. "A lot of them…all because I'm sitting here…I-I can't live like that…and if I continue to live, then eventually no one else will either. It's…for the best…"

"Stop…" Yami finally said. He tried to keep quiet to see both side's input but he should have known who's side he would choose. If he lost Yugi again, it would probably destroy him the second time. He looked at Shadi. "Please…there has to be another way. Is there…anything else we can do?"

Shadi looked at him with wide eyes as if shocked by his words. Then, as if realizing what the pharaoh must be feeling, his eyes softened.

"There may be another way," Shadi said. Everyone in the room was on full alert. "However, this would mean that you would have to sacrifice many more lives in order for this to work. That was something I was trying to avoid."

Yami blinked. "…more lives?"

"The longer it takes for the balance to be fixed, the more people will die. Are you willing to take the lives of all those people in order to save one person?"

At that, Yami hesitated. As much as he wanted Yugi to stay, would his conscience allow him to take lives in order for that to happen? Not only that, but would Yugi allow it? He looked at his partner, and their eyes met. Yami knew what he would say.

"I…I can't do that…" Yugi said looking down at the floor. "Not if more people have to be killed…"

"Now wait a minute," Solomon spoke up, looking from him to Shadi. "Now Yugi, you were given a second chance for a reason. I'd hate to see you waste it. Now what does this plan of yours entail exactly?"

Shadi looked uncomfortable and instead of answering Solomon's question, looked at Yami.

"Pharaoh, Canada is going through deadly flooding as we speak. Do you really want to risk-"

"I see no harm that can't be undone, in voicing your plan." Yami said cutting him off. Shadi sighed.

"If all of the Millennium Items and their bearers were to gather, they could, in theory, use the combined power of all of the Items to balance out the world once more. The energy would be stabilized and the global catastrophes would stop."

"Wait, really?" Tea said wide eyed.

"Yes. You would be surprised at what the Items can do," Shadi said giving a sideways glance at Yami.

Yami immediately felt nervous. Did Shadi know that it was he who brought Yugi back to life? Were there more consequences? He tried not to think about that as Shadi went on.

"However, in the time that it would take to have everyone gather to one spot and use the items, more people will have died. The longer it will take to fix the balance, the harder it will become."

"It shouldn't be that hard, how long do we have?" Joey said.

"…I can only give you three days at maximum."

"Woah, wait guys," Yugi said looking at everyone wide eyed. "You can't seriously be thinking of doing this?"

"Why not?" Tristan said looking determined.

"Because of all the people that are going to die! The planet is falling apart!" Yugi said starting to sound angry. "This is wrong…I-I shouldn't be here!"

"Yugi," Yami spoke up looking at him. An idea just occurred to him as he listened to Joey and Tristan speak. "If anyone were to find a loophole and find a way to save everyone, don't you think we would do it?"

Yugi looked at a loss for words for a second but then found his voice albeit it was shaky. "But what if you don't?"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take."

Yugi looked thunderstruck as Yami shifted his gaze back towards Shadi.

"Will you allow us to do this?"

Shadi hesitated then nodded. "I trust you Pharaoh. Know that when you need all of the Items gathered, you will have my full cooperation. But also know this: if you have not gathered all of the bearers within those three days, I will have to take it upon myself to end Yugi's life…for the sake of the world."

Then, everyone blinked and Shadi was gone.


So it is rare that I actually enjoy one of my chapter endings, but this is one of them. Thoughts? Ideas? Send them my way!

Yugisrose