No excuse for the extremely late update. Happy New years!

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Anzu blinked once, her vision blurred from the deep sleep she had been in moments before. Slowly she pushed herself up, the old mattress creaking beneath her as she kneeled on the bed sitting on the backs of her legs. She stared straight forward, not really seeing anything as her thoughts grudgingly worked their way through the haze of tiredness that had enveloped her mind.

Her glazed eyes slowly started to focus as she recalled where she was. Forcing her tired limbs to co-operate, she silently slid from the bed and looked out the cracked windows at the ruins below. This city had been her home, full of life and friendly faces and now it was nothing more than a pile of rubble with a few desperate madmen crawling in the cracks. Clenching her fist she took a deep breath and walked to the door of the room.

'I'm the only one who can do this' she told herself as she turned the handle.

Kaiba looked away from the window and out of his brooding at the sound of the door opening. Anzu and he stared at one another a moment in an awkward silence. They hadn't been very close before, despite the history they shared they were little more than acquaintances and without Mokuba to guide the conversation they were at a loss at what to say. Another moment passed, the wind outside having quieted down and the rain letting up to a light drizzle. Finally before the silence became too unbearable, Anzu quietly walked and stood beside Kaiba, looking out the window as she spoke.

"How long has Marik been in charge?"

The question caught him off guard but he understood that she knew nothing of the world as it was now with the exception of what he had told her. Looking out the window once more he answered

"It's been about four years now"

Anzu blinked slowly. Four years. Four whole long years had passed and yet the time she had spent in the shadow realm had felt like seconds. She had been about sixteen during Battle City so now she was in her twenties. 'That explains a lot' she thought simply. Honestly part of her felt like she was taking this too casually but she wasn't in a position to just sit around and mope about her loss right now. She had a mission, a mission she'd need Kaiba's help in doing.

"Where is Marik?"

Kaiba's brow furrowed, turning to look at her. Anzu kept her gaze straight ahead. The CEO's eyes narrowed; suspecting her intentions.

"You can't defeat him" he stated bluntly.

"I have to try" she replied determinedly

"If people with greater skill and resources couldn't defeat him what makes you thing you can?" he scoffed, eyeing her sharply. Anzu was silent, her eyes shutting. She could feel a tingling at the very back of her mind which she imagined was Malik trying to say something. She had thought maybe having him in her mind would be like having her own yami but it seemed he had said before that she could only speak to him in her soul room and vice versa. She would have to figure out a more convenient way of communicating with him but for now she would just have to put up with the tingly feeling and wait until she took a nap or went to sleep to speak with him properly.

"Other people didn't know about the items or their power. If I can get them away from him I can-"

"You can what?" he cut in arrogantly" Use them? Overpower him? Face it Mazaki you can't fight him on your own"

"I'm not alone" Anzu whispered softly. Kaiba's eyes narrowed, thinking she was referring to himself.

"I can't help you Mazaki. I can't abandon Mokuba and I will never allow his life to be put in to jeopardy" He turned completely, putting his only hand on to her shoulder and turning her to face him properly. His icy blue eyes softened ever so slightly "It's a miracle you're even here in the first place; you won't be so lucky a second time."

Anzu was surprised at the concern she heard in Kaiba's usually emotionless voice. It was rare for him to care for someone other than himself or Mokuba and while she knew she couldn't follow his advice she was flattered that he was worried for her safety. She covered his hand on her shoulder with her own and smiled sadly

"Thank you for caring Kaiba" she began, whispering so softly he could barely hear her"But this is something I have to do" Kaiba opened his mouth to protest but Anzu continued"I won't ask you to come with me or try and guilt you into helping me. I just need to know exactly what I'm going up against"

The room fell silent with only Mokuba's soft snores and the quiet wind outside breaking it. Kaiba was staring right into her eyes, her warm hand still covering his own as he considered her words. He wasn't quite sure why he cared but he didn't want her to leave. He knew Mokuba had been overjoyed when he found her again, letting her leave would only break his heart. But he couldn't force her to stay and he would never let Mokuba go with her on such a suicidal mission. He scowled; studying her face and remembering just how strong willed and determined she had been in the past. Nothing he said would convince her otherwise and he was reluctant to think so.

"Very well Mazaki" Kaiba sighed disgruntled, pulling his hand back and motioning to the couch she sat in earlier, opposite to the one Mokuba was sleeping on. She sat silently and Kaiba leaned against his desk once more, running his fingers through his hair.

"First of all you're a total fool for even thinking of fighting Marik. Four years ago he had enough power to be considered a God, now he has people worshiping him like one. He's in Cairo, ruling and destroying the world with his minions, people who duel in his never ending tournament in hopes of reaching a higher position in his court. I don't know exactly how his system works but as far as I can summarise duellist's come and battle some kind of guardian or gate keeper so they can advance to the next level. I don't know how many levels there are or how strong each gate keeper is but I do know that Marik's so called high priests are at the top" Kaiba paused letting Anzu absorb all this information before continuing "Most of what's left of the world's population is there, battling each other for cards, killing and stealing, doing just about whatever they can to survive"

"Why do they have to duel? Can't they just hide or do as you and Mokuba have been doing?"

"That's why I said most. Not everyone in the world knows how to duel and there are some countries that never even heard of duel monsters before. You may think when I say most of the population, I'm talking about an incredible amount of people but I'm not. Marik has sent whole continents to the shadow realm and ordered mass genocide in others. He's slowly destroying the world so people will have no choice but to play his game"

Mokuba stirred on the couch, groaning and squirming a moment before turning onto his other side. The room fell into silence once more as Anzu reflected on the gravity of this situation. She knew it was bad, Marik was a madman but it seemed his insanity had grown beyond anything she could imagine. Calling him a monster would be flattery.

'So how am I supposed to stop him?' she wondered dejectedly. Another tingle in the back of her mind told her that Malik was either trying to re-assure her or tell her he had a plan. She decided the latter made more sense than the former.

Anzu let out a long sigh. She couldn't say she wasn't scared, in fact the very thought of seeing Marik again made her blood run cold in her veins but it's not like she had much choice in the matter. Malik had brought her back so he could clean up his mess and while part of her deeply wanted to let him lie in this twisted bed he'd made she knew innocent people were suffering. If she had even the most miniscule chance of stopping Marik but just stood around and did nothing than would she really be any better than him?

Clenching her fist the brunette stood up, the determination that had been on her face minutes before had returned full fury, sparking in the depths of her clear blue eyes and burning strong into a mighty flame inside her heart.

Kaiba almost smiled, his own fire had dimmed after he had lost his arm and pride as a dualist, sizzling to ashes over the years as he watched the down fall of the modern world.

Seeing Anzu's face made the tiniest spark in his own heart.