Domino City - Japan
SG-1 got off the plane in Japan, if felt odd for the team to be doing recon on Earth since they didn't do that often. The group was visiting Japan to find out more about Ryou Bakura. Daniel and Teal'c were heading to the University to interview Ryou's teacher. Jack was going to talk with Ryou's family, and Sam was going to try to speak with Seto Kaiba. All thankfully spoke English so did not require translators to go with Jack and Sam though they both had a translator with them anyway.
Daniel Jackson walked through the university; he had already arranged to speak with the professor before he had left for Japan, he didn't want to waste a journey if the professor wasn't around for him to speak with.
"Dr Jackson, it's been many years," Doctor Lambert greeted him. "Last I heard was that you'd died."
"My death was greatly exaggerated," Daniel greeted his old associate. "I went off the grid to rethink everything. I did not realise I would be declared dead in the meantime." He lied. It was a lie he'd been required to tell for many years. He'd been declared dead more than once. "Do you know how much paperwork you have to fill out when you've been falsely declared dead?" Not about the paperwork part, that had been a nightmare and having to fill those papers out more than once.
"I can only imagine." Dr Lambert laughed. "You needed that time to yourself after what the Academy did to you. I did not support them, we all have our own theories that other believed to be outrageous. What are you doing these days?"
"I'm working as a consultant with the United States Military. I mostly work with other scientists, translations mostly." Daniel replied, not elaborating what he did.
"Talking about what you do now is not what you are here for." Dr Lambert replied, getting him back on track for his visit.
"No, it's not." Daniel confirmed.
"How did you manage to come across Mr Bakura? I knew he'd gone on holidays in America. I was concerned when he didn't return after the break." Dr Lambet asked.
"He accused the military of stealing this from him." Daniel pulled out a picture of the Millennium Ring.
"The Millennium Ring, I've seen pictures of Mr Bakura with that item before." Dr Lambert replied. "One of a kind. From what I've heard, he got it as a gift from his father. It's not uncommon for archaeologists to gift their children items from digs that honestly should be in museums. Is Ryou in trouble? I've never seen him play up before but was warned by his father and several other professionals that I shouldn't take him as a student. That he is dangerous."
"Everything should be fine, he is cooperating. But he cannot leave America for the time being." Daniel told the other man. "We are trying to find out more about his past, make sure he is who he says he is."
"What do you want to know?"
"How is he as a student?"
"Well behaved, did well in all his classes. His grades did slip slightly before the holidays, same with Mr Moto, he's Mr Bakura's closest friend at the school. I knew something was concerning both boys, what that something was they would not talk about it around me. Mr Moto hasn't been doing well in class since Mr Bakura went missing. Mr Bakura got along with all the other students especially the girls, he helps anyone he can in classes. I don't know any students or teachers who had any issues with him." Mr Lambert replied. "I know he has problems with his father, it's a shame his father was always a good friend of mine when we used to work together."
"Can I see some of his assignments?" Daniel asked.
"It's quite exceptional. He has a natural talent when it comes to translations, I suspect it may do with growing up bi-lingual." Dr Lambert handed over the papers written by Ryou. "I'm looking forward to the day he starts working in the field full time to see what he comes up with. He censors himself a lot, does not always puts down what he honestly thinks, instead putting down what he thinks a teacher would want to read. He seems to think that his theories will not be taken seriously. I've overheard him talking with Mr Moto several times."
Daniel didn't find out anything the files hadn't pulled up about Ryou. Ryou's assignments, on the other hand, were interesting. He had the makings of an archaeologist. Considering his father was an archaeologist as was his mother it wasn't too surprising. He knew of several children that had followed in their parents footsteps and that wasn't even including himself.
Daniel glanced over at Teal'c, who was now talking to a teenager with the most unusual hair Daniel had ever seen. There was no way his hair could be natural.
"Ah, that is Mr Moto. He's Ryou's friend I mentioned before." Dr Lambert pointed out. "Dr Jackson, please look after Ryou. I want him back in one piece eventually, he's one of my top students. I am glad to hear that he is well, I was worried. You should talk to Mr Moto, he would like to know his friend is safe."
"I'll let him know Dr Lambert," Daniel replied. "Thank you for your assistance today."
"If you need anything else, just ask." Dr Lambert replied.
"Are you Yugi Moto?" Daniel asked the young man.
"I am," Yugi replied. "Are you a Duel Monsters fan?"
"Ah, no I don't follow duel monsters. I'm an associate of Dr Lamberts. My Name is Dr Jackson." Daniel replied. "He mentioned that you are friend with a young man Ryou Bakura, I was hoping I could talk to you about him."
Yugi instantly turned to the defensive. "What have you done to him? You haven't hurt him have you?"
"He is unharmed. What do you know about this item?" Daniel asked showing him a picture of the Millennium Ring.
"That it is very dangerous and that if you have it, you should have left it where it came from. You don't know what you are playing around with" Yugi warned him. "Don't ever put the ring on. It will kill you and if it doesn't kill you, you'd wish that it had."
"Really, what makes you say that?" Daniel asked.
"It's a long story, do you have time?" He told Daniel.
Daniel confirmed that he did. He followed Yugi to a local cafe and listened to the University student told him the story of the Millennium Items. Yugi showed him pictures and tablets that told the same story. Those tablets had formally been held in the Domino Museum. Currently, they were in Egypt with Miss Ishtar. He needed to talk to her if he wanted to see the originals. He got a lot more information from Yugi Moto then he got from Ryou. Apparently, Yugi had owned the Millennium Puzzle, the upside down pyramid. He told him about completing the puzzle, fighting duels to keep ownership of his puzzle. That modern day duel monsters were created by Maximillion Pegasus based on an ancient Egyptian game.
He thanked Yugi for his time. "Your friend is safe; it shouldn't be too long before you see him again," Daniel told him.
"Keep him safe. Ryou and the items, stay safe from the items." Yugi told Daniel. "It was nice meeting you both."
Daniel nodded. It was time for him to meet up with Sam and Jack. He hoped they'd had a productive day as he did.
SG-1
Jack didn't like these types of trips. He preferred being in the action than telling a man his son was currently in military custody, and they had no clue when he was going to be released. Mr Bakura had agreed to talk with him right away.
"I don't speak Japanese, but I understand you speak English. I'm here to talk to you about your son Ryou." Jack told the man once they were both seated.
"What has he done this time?" Mr Bakura asked, not at all sounding surprised.
"He wandered into a top secret facility. Once the matter has been sorted out, we will let him go. He is cooperating with us." Jack told him.
"You are better off locking my son up and throwing away the key." Mr Bakura spat. "It would do the whole world a favour."
"What makes you say that? From what I have seen of your son, he's been pleasant and helpful. He was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time." Jack told him. That was not the full truth. Ryou knew exactly what he was doing when he broke into Area-51.
"He's not right in the head, he's a monster. He will seem entirely reasonable for months, even years on end. Then he will snap, and the monster will show itself." Mr Bakura shuddered at the thought of his son. "He can do things that aren't normal. Makes people fall into coma's. Coma's they never wake from. He carves statues of his victims and told me on more than on occasion their souls are trapped in the statues. He brings monsters to life, he can make hallucinations real. I know I sound mad, but it is all true. I tried to get my son help, but he is long gone. Only the monster remains now."
Everything Mr Bakura was talking about sounded his son had become possessed by a larval goa'uld.
"Can you show me these statues?" Jack enquired.
"They are not here, Ryou keeps them with him. They should be in his apartment if he does not have them on person." Ryou's father replied.
"Is it possible for me to see them?" Jack enquired again.
Mr Bakura handed over his keys."I can take you if you'd like."
Jack nodded, he followed the museum curator to the apartment Ryou lives. It was a modest apartment. One bedroom, small kitchenette, living area, and a bathroom. The apartment was filled with books and figurines and dioramas.
"He made most of those himself." Mr Bakura pointed out. He went into the bedroom, opened the cupboard and pulled out an elaborate Egyptian styled box from the back of the cupboard. "These are the ones I'm talking about."
Jack looked at the figurines, they didn't feel right. They looked just looked like the victims of comas that he'd seen in Ryou's file.
"Take them." The man offered.
Jack was surprised. He thought he'd have to find another way to get the figurines. The thought that someone could actually remove the soul of a person and place it in a wooden toy just seemed so unbelievable. But with what he'd experienced since the beginning of the Stargate programme, he knew not to discount anything anymore, no matter how insane it sounded.
He took photos of the apartment. Everything was so tidy for a young bachelor. Everything looked normal. Nothing even suggesting the young man was planning to break into Area-51. He picked up a book. Hand written in Japanese.
"Those are Ryou's journals." My Bakura told him. "Ryou's been keeping them since his mother died."
"Can I take these as well?" Jack enquired.
Mr Bakrua nodded. "Thank you for your help," Jack told him when he was ready to leave. He returned to his hotel room with the translator, he dismissed her after the boxes were unloaded and started organising the personal artefacts of Ryou's he'd taken. Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c still hadn't returned. He was the first one finished.
SG-1
Jack had dozed off after he'd finished sorting everything into different piles. He was awakened by Daniel and Teal'c returning.
"How did your meeting go?" Daniel enquired.
"The man's an arsehole, was all too happy to help incriminate his own son. The only good thing was, it was a cakewalk to get anything we needed. I have young Mr Bakura's journals, a photo album and most importantly figurines of his apparent victims. I've been matching them to the profile photos. There are extra's here to what we have on file, a lot of extras. What is in the box does not match the dimensions of the outside of the box. Teal'c, ever seen anything like this before?"
"I have not," Teal'c replied.
Daniel looked at the different figurines, talking excitedly about how they showed different periods of time and different cultures. "These can't all be from this time period. Some of these have to be centuries old. Possibly belonging to the previous hosts of the Ring Spirit."
Daniel and Jack updated each other on what they'd found that they. Waiting for Sam to return. When she did return she was with the woman Daniel wanted to speak with. Ishizu Ishtar.
YGO
Kaiba was looking up the file for Samantha Carter, the woman from the United Stated Air Force, who wanted to talk to him. At first, he thought it was in regards to his weapons technology which was no longer on the market. It wouldn't be the first time he had someone enquiring about the military technology that Kaiba Corporation no longer sold. Or interfacing his holographic technology for military purposes. Looking further, it was possible she was here to talk about Ryou Bakura. She worked in the location Ryou Bakura's duel disc had been broadcasting from for the past week. Whomever she worked for, it was top secret, and not even he could get through all the encryptions protecting their systems. He probably could get through them with time, but wasn't sure how much he could do without tipping off their systems. From the little he'd seen, it was unlike anything he'd seen previously.
He had to inform Yugi of what Ryou had attempted, and that it had gone wrong when Ryou didn't return from his holidays in America. How it had gone wrong - he still was not sure. Considering what he'd tried, many things could have gone wrong. He kept Captain Carter waiting for most of the morning. Testing her to see if she had the patience to wait around. Finding everything, he could before their meeting. He wanted to have the upper hand during their meeting. She was frustrated when he finally called her in.
"I'm a busy person Captain Carter, this better be important," he said to the woman in English.
"I wouldn't fly all the way from America to Japan if it wasn't important Mr Kaiba," Captain Carter replied. She glanced at his computer screen with her background history on it. He turned the laptop towards her. "I have my ways of finding out what I want to know."
"As do I Mr Kaiba," she replied. Pulling out his own file. "A fascinating read. It took longer to get your childhood records then your current records."
Seto picked up the file she had on him, flicking through it. She was good. No one else had ever thrown his own records back at him before. She had information from his childhood that he had difficulty gaining access to. His adoptive father had all his records sealed when he'd been adopted.
"What is it you want Captain Cater?"
"We recently caught a young man breaking into Area-51. We know that you're involved. I want to know why?" Carter accused him. She managed to bring up the training footage he'd taken of Ryou practising for his Area-51 break in. "I want to know what you gain by helping to steal ancient artefacts."
"If you had all your research, you would know that Mr Bakura previously owned one of the items he attempted to steal." He pulled up a picture of Ryou Bakura with the Ring. "Mr Yugi Moto owned the Puzzle." He pulled out the next photo of Yugi and the next one of Ishizu. "The Ishtar family have owned the necklace and the rod for many generations. It has been passed down in their line since the times of ancient Egypt. And Mr Pegasus previously owned the eye and did so for many years. The only two items not accounted to anyone was the key or ahnk and the scales. If you were to believe Ishtar, Yugi and Bakura they would have you believe they were in the hands of an ancient spirit called Shada who watched over the items, he judges those who come into possession of the items. If he believes are worthy to have the items you will leave you with them, if they are no he takes them back into his possession, the consequences of that are not always good, depending on the circumstances." Sam picked up the photos, looking over them all carefully. "If you paid attention, you would know that I paid for a dig in Egypt six years ago in the area those items were recently recovered from." He played the satellite footage he had of them loading the truck. "Those items were returned to the temple, their final resting place. They were not to be disturbed." He then showed them footage from the time Yugi completed the ritual. Placing the items back into the tablet.
"You've known from day one. How did you find out so quickly?" Sam asked him.
"Do you believe in past lives?" A woman asked. Sam turned to see who spoke. The woman from the photo who'd previously owned the tauk if the photographs were to be believed. "Those of us who have lived a past life with a connection to millennium items felt the disturbance of the millennium items. I am the reincarnation of Priestess Isis, who was the previous owner of the Millennium necklace. Seto Kaiba was the reincarnation of Priest Set. Yugi Moto is the reincarnation of the Pharaoh we served under, Pharaoh Atem. He is recorded in history and the unnamed Pharaoh between his father Pharaoh Aknamkanon and his cousin Pharaoh Set, formally Priest Set.
"What about this Mr Pegasus and Shada who Mr Kaiba mentioned having the other items?" Sam asked her.
"Pegasus is not a reincarnation, he was chosen by the gods to bring Duel Monsters to the era the Pharaoh and priests reincarnations had been reborn into. Shada was the former Priest, who held the ahnk. When he died, he became a spirit guardian of the Millennium Items. I am unsure if he has awoken when the items were disturbed. I saw him when I was a girl, just before I took ownership of the tauk. He judges all of us, even those of us who are destined to bear the items."
"What about Ryou Bakura, is he also a priest?" Sam asked.
"He is different from the rest of us. Ryou Bakura is the reincarnation of our enemy in our past life. The King of Thieves. What his name was in his previous life none of us know. His spirit is infused with the Millennium Ring." Ishizu told her the story of the Millennium Items and their creation. She told Sam about the Tomb Keepers clan who'd watched over the Pharaohs secrets for centuries, waiting for a time he would be reborn, and the items went to rest. "My clan are starting to question if the Pharaoh is the reincarnation. They believe we should have never handed over the two items our family has guarded for centuries."
"What she says is give Ryou back along with all seven of the Millennium Items and the tablet," Seto told her. "I lived through a lot of unbelievable times as a result of those items. I really don't want to deal with that nonsense again. Do you know how difficult it is to cover up monsters invading from a different dimension and pass it off as a holographic malfunction?"
"Haven't had that exact scenario, but close enough that I have an idea of what it is like," Sam replied.
"I know where Ryou Bakura is. If you don't hand him and the items over, I will recover them myself." Kaiba threatened.
"We can't hand him back yet. You have no idea what those items really are. They are dangerous as you say, but for a different reason. A classified reason." Sam replied to his threat. "We will keep you updated in the meantime. If you try anything, that will give us, even more, reason not to hand him back..."
He dismissed Captain Carter, not wanting to listen to her any longer.
"Captain Cater, my I come with you. I believe Dr Jackson wishes to talk with me. This will make it far easier if I go to him rather then he come to me."Ishizu requested.
Sam nodded. She knew that Daniel already wanted to speak with her, more now after listening to her story.
SG-1
"Daniel Jackson, I believe you wish to see the exhibit dealing with the Millennium Items." Ishizu greeted the man.
"I did, but I hadn't told anyone that yet." Daniel replied. "How did you know?"
"I have a gift in fortune, that gift if stronger when I wield a millennium item." Ishizu replied. "I had the exhibit moved back to Japan, it is currently at the Domino Museum. I knew you wished to look at the exhibit and that you would eventually come to Japan seeking answers. You do not have time to also go to Egypt to look at the tablets you need to see. Shortly you will be facing a large trial."
"Can you also summon monsters?" Jack enquired.
"I can, but it takes a lot of energy to do so," Ishizu replied. "Up until recently the shadows have been sealed. I could not summon them at all."
"Shadows?" Sam and Jack enquired at the same time.
"One of us will need to say here." Jack indicated to the stuff they had collected during the day. He didn't want to risk losing anything from Ryou Bakura. "I'll stay behind. You, three kids, have fun."
"You just don't want to go because it's a museum." Daniel teased. Sam nodding in agreement.
Ishizu brought SG-1 with her the-the museum for a more detailed explanation of the origins of Duel Monsters.