4. Terms of the Game

Seto Kaiba sat in the study of his penthouse atop of the Kaiba Corp U.S. headquarters in the Financial District of San Francisco. Although the main corporate offices were still in Domino, he and Mokuba spent most of their time in San Francisco these days. The Kaiba Land theme parks needed near constant attention, and his proximity to Industrial Illusions headquarters also made it easier to keep up with licensing issues and holographic technologies involved in gaming, particularly Duel Monsters. Normally, he'd work in his office a few floors down, but it was Sunday, the day after New Year's, and the place was just too dead. In his home, he had Mokuba in the next room playing some J-pop hits too loudly on his MP3 player, and the background noise actually made it easier for him to concentrate.

After returning from London the day before, he'd been focused on end-of-year reports and market analyses. Kaiba Corp had done well the previous year, but not as well as it could have, considering its near monopoly on holographic gaming technology. The Schroeder Corporation had been creeping up on them ever since that second-rate Zigfried Schroeder had talked Pegasus into signing a deal with them, although this year's first quarter was sure to look better due to Kaiba's win at the British Open. Zigfried, he noted with satisfaction, hadn't even made it to the top eight, although his younger brother Leon had placed sixth. Still, it was a hollow victory without Yugi Mutou competing, and Kaiba couldn't help but feel frustrated. Yet another chance to get back his title from that runt snatched away from him. And then Yugi had actually had the nerve to call him this morning and ask for a favor. Over more of that ancient Egyptian nonsense, too.

Kaiba found himself grinding his teeth. After all that weirdness in Egypt three years ago, and that last Ceremonial Battle where the two Yugis had fought it out, decisively sending the past back to the past, he'd hoped that that would be the last of the blatherings about Egypt this, destiny that. But it had been a futile hope. The little dweeb had to go and become an archaeologist, focusing his entire professional career on ancient freaking Egypt. And then this business with Ramesses, yet another psychotic blowhard claiming ties to the ancient past. Kaiba would've given half his fortune and one of his Blue-Eyes cards to have steered clear of that mess. Well, okay, not his Blue-Eyes. XYZ Dragon Cannon, though. He definitely would've given that up to stay out of the whole Ramesses thing, but no, like always, they have to go screw with his company. And now Yugi wanted to drag him in further by having him take time away from his busy schedule to research death rituals.

Yeah, like that would happen.

And yet, here he was, thinking about all that stuff when he was supposed to be concentrating on market reports and figuring out how to leave Schroeder in the dust. Wait… wasn't there something he read in another report…? Leaning forward, he reached for the files, when he heard a commotion out in the living room and realized Mokuba's music was no longer playing.

"Seto's working! You can't just barge in there!"

"Watch me!"

Kaiba grimaced at the familiar voice as his study door slammed open and the voice's owner strode into the room like she owned the place. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Gardner."

She put her hands on her hips and stared down on him like a teacher about to assign him detention. "Seto Kaiba, you—"

"I tried to stop her, Nii-sama, but—"

"Okay, where do you want these?"

Oh great, Kaiba groaned inwardly as a weary-looking Joey Wheeler straggled in behind Téa and Mokuba, heaving a large box. This day was off to a fantastic start. Setting his jaw, Kaiba slammed both his palms down on his desk loud enough to make everyone stop.

"Would someone like to explain what the hell is going on? What makes you people think you have license to just walk into my home whenever you damn well please?"

"Don't look at me, I'm just the manual labor." Wheeler dropped his load with a grunt and collapsed onto a couch near the wall, jerking his head toward Téa. "This is her bright idea."

Kaiba glared at him. "I don't remember inviting you to sit."

Téa stepped into his line of sight. "You listen to me, Seto Kaiba. We need your help, and I'm not leaving until we get it. This is your responsibility as much as it is Yugi's, and you know it!"

Kaiba's cheek twitched. Ancient freaking Egypt again. He should've known.

Mokuba put his hands on his hips, matching Téa's stance. "Téa, I already told you, he's working! You and Joey have to go!"

Kaiba waved him off with his hand. "It's all right, Mokuba. I'll handle this. But next time don't let in the riffraff."

Téa's eyes narrowed. "Don't you blame him! Fight your own battles!"

He glared at her a moment, then looked past her to Mokuba. "I'll take care of this, Mokuba. Go back to your room."

"I'm not a little kid, Seto!"

"Mokuba!"

He gave Kaiba one more hesitant look, then left the study in a huff.

Kaiba looked up at Téa. "Speaking of fighting one's own battles, any particular reason Yugi sent his girlfriend to do his dirty work for him?"

She looked like steam was going to start pouring out of her ears. "I'm not Yugi's gofer. I'm here for my own reasons."

Kaiba folded his hands in front of him. "Listen, Gardner, I know you saved Mokuba's life on that island, but if you recall, I repaid that favor by saving your life, so if you think—"

She interrupted him with a grunt of exasperation, throwing up her hands. "Oh come off it, Kaiba! This has nothing to do with that! You know good and well that I didn't save Mokuba to ingratiate myself to you or to garner any favors. I care about Mokuba. And even if I didn't, I would've done the same for anyone. I was in the right place at the right time, nothing more, nothing less. And don't think I don't know that the same is true for you. You didn't save me from falling into that ravine because of some sort of payback. You did it because it was the right thing to do. And as much as you like to pretend otherwise, deep, deep, deep down in that cold, black little heart of yours, you actually care."

He raised his eyebrows at her, but said nothing. Wheeler, he noticed, stayed silent behind her on the couch. Kaiba templed his fingers under his chin. "You don't honestly believe I care about all this ancient Egyptian nonsense, do you? If you've learned nothing else about me in the six long years I've been forced to endure your company, I would have thought you'd learned this: I don't live in the past."

"I'm not talking about the past! You heard what Ishizu told us in London, that the… that Atem's and Seto's souls are in the Shadow Realm right now, and I know you know what that means."

"When have you ever known me to follow along with all this ridiculous mumbo-jumbo you and your little dork squad are so fond of chasing after?"

"Oh come off it! You know what you saw in Egypt! What you saw on that island! You know the Shadow Realm is real, that Dark Games are real."

"Whether I agree with that statement or not, I don't see how any of this is any concern of mine."

Wheeler snorted.

"You have something to say, Wheeler?"

"I'm not gonna waste my breath talking sense into you 'cause I don't think you have any. This is Téa's party."

Téa remained unyielding, her hands on her hips and her eyes fierce. "It was no accident that you felt it when the other Seto's body was attacked. Deny it all you want, but you're connected. You were there. You saw him."

"That may be, but he's dead. He's been dead for thousands of years."

"Well, then, maybe you missed the end of the Ceremonial Battle where his spirit was standing right there when Atem joined him in the afterlife. Their bodies are dead, but their souls… their souls are now trapped in the Shadow Realm. And we can fix that if we find that right ritual, but most of it's written in hieroglyphs or hieratic, and you're one of the few people we know who can read it. We need your help. To free them."

"Gardner, how many times do I have to say it? Just because some guy who live thousands of years ago looked like me doesn't make him my problem."

Rather than respond, she strode forward to the desk. Spreading her hands out on either side of her and splaying out her fingers, she leaned forward toward him. She couldn't get very close to him; the desk was too expansive for that. But he couldn't help but be impressed with the level of intimidation she was able to pull off. He had to consciously refrain from flinching or changing position, which would have indicated weakness.

"All right, so you don't care about the other Seto, fine. But what about the other Yugi, Kaiba? He was your rival, your peer, and don't think I don't know that means something to you. You were there for that last battle. You know what the rules were. Atem wins, he stays. Yugi wins, he goes. Well, Yugi won and Atem went and I know if there's anything in the world you respect, Seto Kaiba, it's terms of engagement. Yugi won, Atem went to the afterlife; that was the terms of the game. Only now someone's changed the terms, and you know who that someone is. The same someone who sank our ship and got Rex and Weevil to knock down that boulder on top of your brother. The same someone who's trying to muck with your company. He invalidated the terms of the game three years after the fact."

She leaned a little closer. "You say I haven't learned anything about you over the last six years, but I have learned this. You might not always play fair. You might pull some pretty low stunts to win. But you always honor the terms of the game. And the Pharaoh—Atem—he always did, too. His word was his bond, and so is yours. So if you won't help because you're connected to the other Seto or because you knew and respected Atem, then help us because Ramesses has violated the terms of the game."

When she finished, she straightened up and folded her arms, waiting for his response. He stared back at her in a silent battle of wills without so much as blinking. At length, he let out a slow breath. "You're not going to leave until I agree to do this, are you?"

She smiled in victory. "See, you've learned something about me over the last six years, too."

Joey had thought that after her victory over Kaiba, Téa's foul mood would improve, but she merely went from angry to sullen on their walk back to Illusions Tower. Frankly, he liked the anger better. At least then she was lively.

When they stepped off the elevator into the common room on the thirty-ninth floor, she immediately went to the seat she'd been sitting in before they left, grabbed the stack of books she'd been reading, and took them back to the elevator without saying a word.

"Were you going now?" Joey asked her.

"Out. Got a problem with that?"

Joey took a quick step back. "No."

"Couldn't talk Kaiba into helping?" Tristan asked when the elevator doors closed behind Téa.

"Actually, she did." Joey flopped down on the couch near where his now-cold breakfast was still sitting on the coffee table. He grimaced at it, no longer hungry, then looked around, noticing that Tristan and Serenity were the only ones in the room. "Where is everybody?"

Serenity put her book aside. "Mai went up to her apartment to work on Pegasus's French books. She said she had some French dictionaries up there or something. Duke went home to get some clothes and stuff since he figured he'd be staying over the next couple of nights. He's gonna bring some takeout back with him for all of us. Yugi and Sara are still in the library. They haven't moved all morning."

"So if you guys convinced Kaiba to help, why's Téa still in a funk?" Tristan asked.

Joey shrugged. "Hell if I know. She didn't say two words on the way back."

Serenity leaned forward, her voice hushed. "I know. I wasn't sleeping well last night, so I came downstairs to get some tea. Téa was up too. She was in the kitchen slamming things around, so I asked her what was wrong. At first she wouldn't tell me, but then she just sat down and started crying and spilled the whole thing. She and Yugi had a fight."

"What, like she finally let him have it for being all distant lately?" Joey asked.

Serenity shook her head. "No, it was worse than that. He was the one mad at her. She wouldn't tell me exactly what happened, but I guess he told her he wants her to back off, and that she's making things difficult for him."

Joey's jaw dropped an inch. "He… Yugi? Said that? To Téa?"

"Yup. At least that's what Téa said he said. It sounded like—" She shook her head. "No, never mind."

"What?"

She shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "I dunno, it almost sounded like she thought he was gonna break up with her or something."

Joey stared at her. "No way, that's just… no way. He's had a thing for her since, like, the dawn of time. I can't even—"

"I'm sure Téa was just being emotional 'cause they had a fight and everything," Serenity said a little hastily.

"Still, when was the last time Yugi blamed anyone for anything he could put on himself?" Joey shook his head. "It just ain't Yugi."

Tristan's face darkened. "He hasn't been acting normal since any of this happened. I'm starting to think there's more going on here."

Joey looked from Tristan to Serenity. "I think you may be right. There's something else you guys should know about, too. Mai's been having nightmares again. Ever since we left for Egypt."

Serenity's eyes widened in distress. "Oh, no, Onii-chan, really? Poor Mai! But… if they started when you left, why didn't she say something while we were still in London?"

Joey shrugged. "You know Mai. She still has trouble believing she doesn't have to handle everything all by herself."

Serenity ground her teeth in frustration. "Is that when Yugi started acting strange, too?"

Joey considered it a moment. "Well, he was pretty depressed when we left, but that wasn't strange, all things considered. It was the next day, after we saw the tombs, when he started getting kinda weird and moody."

"What could possibly be affecting Mai and Yugi both when they were a couple thousand miles apart?"

Tristan's eyes narrowed. "What's been with us the whole time we were in Egypt that we brought back with us?"

Serenity frowned. "Sara."

Tristan nodded. "She was awfully quick to volunteer to come, considering we're a bunch of strangers."

Serenity looked doubtful. "That wouldn't explain Mai's nightmares. At least not any she had prior to you guys getting back."

"No, but it's a place to start," Tristan said. "What do you say the three of us take a break from reading and do a little housecleaning, see if we can't find anything green and glowing? And I say we start with Sara's stuff."

By the time Duke returned with lunch, Joey, Tristan, and Serenity had thoroughly searched all of Sara's things in Téa's apartment, which Téa had left unlocked in her rush to leave, but they'd found nothing. No Orichalcos stones, nothing weird or creepy, nothing that gave any of them even a twinge of a bad feeling, unless you counted the twinge of guilt Joey felt going through someone else's stuff. All for a good cause, he told himself, but still, he would've felt better about it if they'd actually found something to justify the invasion of privacy.

They'd moved on to searching the common area downstairs for anything unusual when Duke showed up with three large pizzas. Yugi and Sara emerged from the library for the first time all day, and Joey went up to Mai's to get her to join them. He was concerned when he found her asleep on her living room couch, slumped over one of the French books.

"Hey Mai." He gently shook her shoulder.

Her eyelids fluttered, then she sat up quickly. "What?"

"Take it easy, it's just me. I came up to see if you wanted some lunch. Duke brought pizza."

She blinked and looked at him, disoriented a moment, then shook her head. "Oh, yeah, Joey. Sorry. I guess I dozed off while reading."

He sat down beside her. "I'm worried about you. You haven't been yourself today. Everything okay?"

"I'm fine. Egyptology in French isn't exactly fascinating stuff." She started to get up off the couch, but he gripped her arm, holding her back.

"Dammit, Mai, don't do this, okay? You're not fine, I can see that you're not fine, so quit pretending you are!"

She looked at him, a flash of annoyance in her eyes, but then it was gone and she sighed. "I know. I know you can tell. I just… damn. I don't want to let this keep eating me up every single time, you know? It's been over four years, Joey! Four years! Why does this keep coming up again and again? I've fought these demons already, and I beat them. I'm here. I'm surrounded by friends. I didn't run away. So why can't I get past this?"

"Because something keeps messing with us. Someone keeps messing with us. You're not the only one who's got some weirdness going on, either. Yugi's acting really strange, too. He had a fight with Téa last night."

Mai frowned, looking confused. "Huh?"

"I know; it's not like him. So something freaky is definitely going on here. Tristan and Serenity and I are gonna search the place, see if we can find any Orichalcos stones or anything else freaky. We'll figure this out, Mai, I promise."

A day of searching turned up nothing, however, and that night Mai's nightmares were worse.