DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters are the creations of Kazuki Takahashi.

Tournament of Shadows
Chapter 7: Questions and Answers
by Shadow's Mirror

It was one o'clock on the third day of the Domino City Treasure Quest Tournament and the first duelist had just made it to the place where the last stage of the competition was to be held.

The cameras were in the lobby of the auditorium, eagerly recording the moment when Nyc signed in to officially claim her place in the finals.

Of the thirteen duelists still in the competition, only the first eight to make it to that location would go on to duel each other to decide the tournament's ultimate champion.

Once the duelists made it to that point, they could do whatever they wanted until the morning of the fifth day of the competition, when the finals would begin. Nyc apparently had quite a few things that she wanted to do, judging by how quickly she slipped out of the auditorium after the signing.

- - -

If the fans watching the live coverage of the tournament on TV expected Nyc's claiming of the first spot in the finals to be followed by anything very interesting, they were doomed to disappointment.

Unless 'very interesting' was defined as 'an hour of Yugi alternating between getting his game on and getting his backside handed to him on a platter', of course.

Eventually though, Yugi did his usual 'draw exactly the card needed to win' thing and the duel was over with him still on 30 lifepoints.

Hardly exciting, really.

But more exciting than the half hour of the live coverage show that followed.

With no one left dueling, the show's director decided to fill in some time with a montage of the duelists searching for their next matches.

Unfortunately for the director, his camera crews were only able to track down six of the remaining duelists to film for it.

First off, Isis and her two brothers, along with a tall, bald man with an ornate tattoo over one side of his face, were shown finishing off a very leisurely late lunch at a small street café. They were up to the dessert course, with Malik and Marik sharing an extra large chocolate and banana ice-cream sundae with two straws in it, while Isis was delicately eating a triple layer double fudge vanilla nut slice with extra cream and strawberries. The tattooed man was sipping a raspberry parfait.

Next was Weevil, who wasn't on the screen for long as he was rather busy at the time of filming. He didn't smile for the camera, but he did scream out 'don't just film me you idiots, help me!' to the camera crew as he ran past, a particularly large pink poodle yapping at his heels.

When Rex came on the screen, he was looking rather bewildered in the middle of Domino City's main park, in the centre of town. He had a street map and was turning it every possible way, clearly lost. The camera stayed on him only for as long as it took Rex to notice them and trot over. The last thing recorded for his part of the montage was "Hey, do you guys know where this place is? I can't seem to find it on the map."

Which just left one more duelist to provide some entertainment for the rapidly declining audience.

Cut to Mai.

Oddly, the twenty-five minute coverage of Mai shopping caused the audience numbers to not only return to what they had been at the end of Yugi's duel, but to double.

The shopping centre also reported a swell in sales figures later that afternoon, when a large number of females descended on the place in a mad rush to grab the bargains that Mai had shown them how and where to find.

- - -

Fortunately for credit cards all over Domino City, Bakura and Evien both located their next duels within minutes of each other, putting an end to 'Mai's Shopping Spree Show'.

For Bakura, it was his last qualifying duel for the finals, so he was taking this one a little more seriously than he had all the others.

He barely toyed with his opponent before beginning to steadily chip away at the man's lifepoints with a series of simple, but effective, plays.

But despite both duels starting at the same time, and Bakura's being a fifth level match while Evien's was only a fourth, it was Evien's duel that got most of the live coverage for the half hour that both battles lasted for.

Normally, Evien was all smug smiles and arrogant attitude before and after a duel. He usually started off a duel in the same way, but became more serious as his opponent took away more of his lifepoints. But this time... Evien was serious even as he stepped up to the dueling area.

From the first round, Evien's attacks against his opponent were brutal and merciless. The first monster he summoned became a tribute for a more powerful one, and then he hammered the man round after round. Only the official's quick thinking and strong defense line-up saved him from losing the match within a few turns.

He managed to get one of his stronger monsters onto the field and took out Evien's, only to have Evien play a trap card. It destroyed the official's monster and took a chunk of his lifepoints with it!

Evien's smile as he summoned another powerful monster and activated a magic card that enabled him to summon another one as well in that same turn, was barely noticeable by his opponent, but the sharper eyed among the audience watching the duel on the live coverage shuddered at how cold and cruel the smile was.

It was the smile of someone who was taking his opponent down... and enjoying every minute of it.

When Evien finally reduced his victim's lifepoints to zero, his smug smile returned.

When he read the clue that would lead him to his last duel, his smile widened even further.

He hurried off without even bothering to ask the official how everyone else was going.

If he had asked, he'd have learned that Weevil had just started his fourth level duel, while Bakura had just won his match and was on his way to the location for the last stage of the tournament.

He'd have also learned that while Nyc had already claimed the first spot in the finals, Seto Kaiba had just claimed the second.

- - -

Yugi stepped into the auditorium's foyer ten minutes after Kaiba. Surprisingly, the brunette was still there, talking with one of the officials off to one side of the room and frowning heavily.

The diminutive duelist signed the registration book under the two names already there, claiming the third spot in the finals, then crossed to where Kaiba was now standing alone, still frowning.

"Seto? Is something wrong? You look troubled." He looked knowingly at his friend and rival. "Is it because Nyc was the first to get here? I know you don't like her much." There were a few officials moving around so he was careful to keep his voice down.

Kaiba shook his head slightly. When he spoke, his tone matched Yugi's. "My personal feelings for her have nothing to do with it. As it happens, the past few days have made me... reconsider... my initial opposition to her and the others being a part of this tournament." He looked as if he'd have rather undergone a month of nightly dinners with Pegasus while wearing a dress, complete with violin serenades and goodnight kisses, than admit that much.

Yugi smiled very sweetly. "You saw their duels on the recap shows."

A soft sigh escaped Kaiba and he nodded very slightly, just once. "Even if I had not, I did some checking on the four of them. What I learned from that..." He scowled. "I cannot deny that they have earned the right to be here." He looked at Yugi and his voice lowered further, despite there being no one close enough to overhear. "Which is why I cannot ignore what happened today."

A very sad look crossed Yugi's face as he nodded. "I know. Bakura called Yami about it, earlier. They're both really worried." He looked at Kaiba. "Have you found out anything else about it?"

"No." The brunette teen frowned. "Only that their situation is not quite the same as that of the four children who were found earlier this morning."

At Yugi's startled look, Kaiba nodded. "When I heard the description of how and where the girls were found, I jumped to the same conclusion as you and... the others..." He managed to say it with only a small wrinkle of his nose. "...likely did. The four children were outwardly uninjured, but unconscious. They have not awoken and they are not responding to any sort of stimulus. The doctors are saying they are in comas. On the other hand, the three duelists were all physically injured." He ignored Yugi's horrified gasp and kept speaking. "My security chief informed me that it looks as if all three of them were forcefully thrown against the alley wall. Their lack of consciousness is due to their injuries. They are expected to awaken sometime tomorrow."

He and Yugi traded knowing looks, but it was Yugi who put their shared thought into whispered words. "So they were put out of action for just long enough to make them lose any chance they had of making the tournament finals."

Kaiba scowled, obviously thinking the same thing and not liking the thought at all. "I suppose I do not need to tell you to be on your guard." He glanced at Yugi.

"He's ready for anything." Yugi quietly confirmed. He didn't clarify who 'he' was, but the irritated look that Kaiba gave him made it clear that he knew exactly who Yugi meant. "It's the others I'm worried about."

Kaiba spoke very softly. "I have already made arrangements to have one of Kaiba Corp.'s security teams assigned to the tournament tomorrow, however I have also made the suggestion that the live television coverage be expanded to include keeping a camera crew with all of the duelists. To record their emotions as they realise that they will either make it into the finals or not."

A slight smile curved just the corners of the brunette teen's lips. "The director personally agreed. He believes it will make for a 'more dramatic' show."

- - -

The live coverage show had another twenty minutes to kill between Yugi's addition to the finalists and Rex beginning his fourth duel, but this time the director had something ready. As well as showing a few of the more amusing parts of Weevil's ongoing attempt to pass the fourth duel level, the audience was treated to an interesting montage of some of the best plays of the day.

It wasn't quite as interesting as the duel that followed, however. Rex played his fourth match more cautiously than he had dueled so far in the tournament. That caution resulted in some rather good combo attacks and several dinosaurs being seen for the first time in any of his battles, as he finally managed to get some of his strongest monsters onto the field.

Apparently, he had been serious about this duel being not just for himself, but also for the three girls who had been knocked out of the tournament. He had never played better.

The audience watching the live coverage show was treated to a whole half hour of Rex dueling, except for a few minutes when Weevil lost his second attempt at getting through level four. After that half hour, the scene cut to the auditorium to show Bakura signing in as the fourth finalist. That in turn was followed in quick succession by Isis beginning her fifth duel and both Marik and Malik starting their level four matches.

Within a minute of that, the live coverage focused solely on the 'twins' and their incredible duels.

Less than twenty minutes later, Weevil's win of his third attempt at level four was completely overshadowed by Marik's stunning single-turn decimation of over half of his opponent's lifepoints, which won him the match.

Malik's win a few minutes later was rather less impressive, as he had been content to simply take out a little of his opponent's lifepoints with every round, but it was still just as decisive a win.

The car that screeched to a stop in front of where Malik had been dueling was the same car that had driven away from Marik's duel with a similar screech. Marik poked his head out of the rear passenger window and waved cheerfully. "Brother Malik! We have to hurry. Sister Isis will be finishing her duel soon."

Marik was right. Isis won her level five duel barely ten minutes later, just as the car screeched to a stop in front of the carpark where her match was being held.

As she smiled and thanked the official for a wonderful game, her brothers jumped out of the car and ran to hug her.

Malik beamed brightly at her. "Isis! Odion went over the speed limit four times! I think he should be punished for being naughty but Marik says our handcuffs are still on the penguin."

Marik nodded. "I like oranges, Sister Isis." He pouted at her.

Isis seemed to be able to follow the conversation perfectly well as she nodded and gently patted their heads. "Malik, I will scold Odion severely for breaking the speed limit and I will call the zoo first thing tomorrow and ask them to kindly return your handcuffs. Marik, we will stop at the store on the way home and get some oranges to have for dessert tonight."

With both boys satisfied and happy, and Odion unknowingly driving himself into an even longer lecture on road safety later that night, the little family headed off with yet another squeal of tires.

At the same time, Joey arrived at the location of his fourth duel.

The official nodded to him in greeting, then frowned as she noticed how quiet and sad he was. "Um... are you ready to start?"

"Yeah." Joey nodded and managed a small smile. "Sorry. I was just... thinking about some stuff." He smiled a little more brightly. "Let's duel."

The live coverage didn't show the start of Joey's duel, as it coincided with the last few rounds of Rex's duel and the director believed the end of a duel was usually more interesting to watch than the opening moves.

Rex's duel certainly ended quite impressively, as his most powerful dinosaur squished one final opposing monster and took out the last of the official's lifepoints.

But when the coverage switched to Joey's duel, the audience was left baffled as to how he had managed to get four monsters on the field and two magic cards in play, in only five minutes.

They were left even more baffled fifteen minutes later, when Joey used Monster Reborn to summon Mystic Horseman, a monster that he had apparently summoned and sacrificed at some point during those initial turns of his duel.

Fusing Mystic Horseman with the Battle Ox that he had waiting resulted in the appearance on the field of Rabid Horseman, which had just enough attack strength to defeat the monster that Joey's opponent had been using against him.

One attack each from the other three monsters on Joey's side of the field and the match was his.

As Joey went to congratulate the official on a great game and get his prize card and the clue to the location of his last duel before the finals, the third day of the tournament officially ended.

- - -

Shortly after dinner that night, Yugi and Yami were sitting on Yugi's bed. Yami was in his physical form and they were sorting through the cards that they'd received through the tournament as prizes, debating if any of them would work better than the cards already in their duel deck.

The opening of a shadow portal barely four feet away from them had Yugi gasping in surprise, but Yami merely arched an eyebrow and scowled heavily. When Bakura stepped through the gateway into the room, he growled at him. "You might have called first. You startled Yugi." Then his scowl deepened into a frown. "You look terrible."

"Gee... thanks. Just what I needed to hear right now." Bakura groaned as he flopped inelegantly down onto the floor while the portal vanished. .

"Bakura!" Yugi blinked in surprise and then slipped off the bed. "I will get you a drink of water or... something." He eyed the yami worriedly as he headed for the door.

Bakura smiled faintly. "Water would be great. Thanks."

As soon as the Light was gone, the white-haired yami looked seriously at the former Pharaoh. "Have you noticed how hard it is to control the Shadow Magic right now? I only used it to make two portals and do a bit of skulking in some shadows and it's pretty much exhausted me." He scowled. "Whatever is going on with it... it's definitely getting worse."

Yami nodded, frowning slightly. "I had noticed that, yes. I have tried asking the cards about it, however..." His frown deepened.

"Let me guess. All you got was vagueness and evasion. Me too." Bakura sighed. "Guess we're going to have to get more insistent, if we want any real answers."

"Indeed. Let us leave it for tonight, however. I doubt that you came here solely to speak of that."

Bakura smiled a little. "You're right. That's not why I came. It was just something I felt the need to rant about by the time I got here."

He looked up as Yugi returned with a tray of glasses and his smile brightened into a genuinely happy grin. "Yugi, I honestly never thought I'd be so happy to see you. Ever. Thanks."

As they all sipped their water, Bakura got down to business.

"I've just come from the hospital."

Yugi bit his lip. "Avril, Rina and Callie are...?"

"Fine. Still unconscious, but that won't be for much longer." Bakura sipped his water as Yugi smiled happily. "Wish I could say the same for those kids."

Yugi's smile faded as he nodded. Yami frowned. "Kaiba told us as much. Did you learn anything?"

"I got a few answers. There's just one little problem." Bakura sighed.

"Which is?" Yami arched an eyebrow and sipped his own glass of water as he waited.

Bakura scowled. "Every answer I got tonight leads to at least two more questions."

To be continued...