A Dangerous Encounter

Yami and Emily continued to run through the streets in search of Joey, Tristan, and Téa until their path was blocked by two Rare Hunters named Lumis and Umbra. "Going somewhere?" Lumis asked. "If you want to rescue your friends, you'll have to get past us first."

"And that's no easy task," said Umbra.

Emily was beginning to lose her patience. "Listen carefully," she started softly, "We will get past you!" she finished with her voice raised.

"Sorry, but we have strict orders from Master Marik," Umbra was telling her. "The only way to get by us is for your boyfriend to defeat the both of us." Lumis and Umbra decided who would face Yami first by playing Rochambeau. Just then, Kaiba and Mokuba came by. Kaiba insisted it would be a double battle. This was a double header for the Rare Hunters. Defeating Kaiba and Yami meant earning both of their Egyptian God cards.

"Please be careful, Kaiba," warned Emily. "Rare Hunters can be very cunning."

"I don't need advice from you, Briar. These fools have no idea who they're dealing with."

"It'll be okay, Emily," said Mokuba. "Yugi and my brother can take these guys." Trusting his words, Emily joins Mokuba and watches the duel from the sidelines. She was still worried. Kaiba was a good duelist, but she wondered how he would fare against a Rare Hunter.

Kaiba made the first move by playing Pot of Greed to draw two cards from his deck. After that, he summoned Lord of Dragons in attack mode. Next, he played two Flutes of Summoning Dragon and brought four Dragons into play. There was Hyozanryu, a Dragon made of adamant and of course, his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. As much as Kaiba would love to unleash his dragon flare, he wasn't permitted to attack on his first turn, but he had the patience. Lumis made his move by playing a monster in defense mode. It was Yami's turn. He began by placing two cards face down.

"Is that the best you can do," asked Kaiba. "If so, then I can't wait to battle you myself."

"Let's just end this," Yami told him.

"Very well, and then you and I can have our duel."

"First, Emily and I need to make sure our friends are safe." Yami ended his turn by summoning Kuriboh in defense mode.

Umbra took his turn by playing a monster in defense mode and a card face down. Now that all players had taken their first turn, Kaiba was free to attack. He was ready to end this duel. He sacrificed his Blue-Eyes White Dragons and summoned Obelisk the Tormentor. Everyone stared at the divine monster in awe. To raise his monster's strength, Kaiba offered his Lord of Dragons and Hyozanryu. It was powerful enough to not only destroy their monsters, but to also take out their life points. Not even Umbra's hidden trap could stop Obelisk. Kaiba laughed triumphantly. "Victory is ours! You two are finished!"

"We appreciate your assistance, Kaiba," said Yami. "Now Emily and I can find our friends."

Emily got up and ran towards the Rare Hunters. They were still shaken from the attack, but she didn't care. She grabbed Lumis by the neckpiece of his cloak. "Now tell us where our friends are," she demanded, but Lumis just groaned. Emily growled and gently set him down.

"Hey, Yugi," Kaiba called, "don't think about leaving without your prize. Here, your locator card."

Yami took the card. "We have to find our friends."

"Yugi," Kaiba said again.

Emily turned back. "Did you not hear us? We told you, our friends are in danger and need our help! You can't have your duel now!"

Kaiba was aware of the situation. "I know. So I'll help you find your pals. And then I will get my duel." He turned to his little brother and told him to contact headquarters and use the satellite system to trace Joey's location by his duel disk. He was certain the others would be with him. And together, they went on their way to find everybody.

Marik was riding his motorcycle as he was making his way through Battle City. His Millennium Rod was emanating a little bit of its magic, making it slightly detectable.

The Cobalt Star shard around Max's neck began glowing. "Do you feel that?" Max asked her partner. "It's the same dark energy that was controlling Bandit Keith."

"Yes," the spirit of the Millennium Ring. "I also sense another Millennium Item approaching."

The evil spirits didn't have time to discuss plotting an attack. Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Solomon all showed up. "What's up, guys?" Tristan asked. "Checking out some duels?"

The evil spirits eased their control a little bit to convince everyone that they were talking to their friends. "Oh, hey, guys," Max greeted. "How's the tournament progressing for you so far, Joey?"

"Great. I already scored four locator cards. All I need are two more and I'll enter the finals."

"Well then, you'd better catch up," Max said, showing six locator cards. Everyone was amazed to see that she had already become a finalist. The finals were still a long way, so she decided to take it easy and enjoy the rest of the competition. "By the way, where are Yugi and Emily?"

"We've been looking all over for them," Téa answered. "I bet Yugi's kicking some serious butt."

"Doesn't it bother you, Téa?" Max asked. "Emily's your best friend, but she doesn't let you know where she and Yugi are or what's going on. It shouldn't be fair that she gets to see Yugi in action and you don't."

Téa admitted that she was a little jealous, but Emily did tell her that Yugi had been facing some dangerous opponents lately. Emily was just one of those kinds of people who believed that the less you know, then the better off you'll be. But she was doing it because she didn't want to endanger her friends after hearing Téa admit how scared she was about the thought of Yugi competing and having to face the return of an ancient evil. That was why Téa decided not to let it bother her.

Joey spoke up and asked, "Can you imagine it, me and Yugi dueling in the finals together in the rematch of the century?"

Max chuckled. "I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself."

Téa called for everyone's attention. There was a poster announcing a show at the Domino aquarium with a special guest. What surprised them was that Mako Tsunami was that special guest. Joey decided to challenge Mako to a duel and headed to the aquarium.

While they all started heading out, the evil spirits came back in control. Play your games while we prepare to rule the world, they warned. They decided to locate the Millennium Item they were sensing earlier.

As the spirits felt the force becoming stronger, they stopped in an alley. Marik was riding his motorcycle and stopped before he could run Max and Bakura over. He got up and removed his helmet. "You two are in my way."

"You have something we seek," the evil spirits said, showing him their treasures.

Marik's eyes widened. "The Millennium Ring and a shard of the Cobalt Star."

The evil Max crossed her arms. "You're the dark force whose presence we've been sensing. Give us your Millennium Item and you may pass."

"I see that the two of you are somewhat familiar with the ancient ways," said Marik. "Why do you want my Item?"

"If you must know," the evil Bakura was saying, "we are collectors. And once we obtain the seven Millennium Items, we shall obtain a power strong enough to rule the entire world."

"So we shall ask you once again to hand over your Millennium Rod," his partner demanded.

Interesting, Marik thought to himself. Whoever these people are, they have some knowledge of the ancient scriptures. Fortunately for me, they don't know everything. For he who possesses the boundless energies of the pharaoh will control a power stronger than the seven Millennium Items. "My name is Marik," he finally said.

"We don't care," said the spirit of the Cobalt Star shard.

"What if I told the both of you that I possessed some knowledge of certain secrets? You can have my Millennium Rod if you want. But before I hand it over to you, the both of you must do something for me in exchange. You see, I am somewhat of a collector myself. And once I possess what I desire, the Millennium Rod will mean absolutely nothing to me."

Max tightened her eyes. "Why should we help? We can take your Millennium Item by force as we've done to others in the past."

But her partner held up his hand and suggested to hear Marik out. Clearly he seemed more interested than she was. "Go on."

"I know the whereabouts of several other Millennium Items," Marik was saying, "including the Necklace worn by my sister."

The spirit of the Millennium Ring grinned. "Perhaps there is a way we can work together and help each other to get what we want."

His partner couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What? But why should we cooperate with him?"

"Trust me," he said softly.

Marik grinned back. "You've made a wise choice. With our combined power, no one in the entire world will be able to stop us!"