A/N: To the people wondering if Sophie is going to ever play a more active role in proceedings, I'm really amused. Because I've been planning several things for her in the Doma arc for about a year or so now. A few have been a staple thing for her character in my mind since I created her. So don't worry. I should also mention, 13LuckyWishes (I hope I remembered the right name), I should make it clear now that I have no issue with people using Sophie in things, just so long as I'm sent the link. 8D

~Ava

~XxX~

I had greeted Yugi's Grandfather politely when I'd arrived at the game shop, heading upstairs to their TV room and taking a seat between Teá and Joey and taking the proffered apple with a 'thanks.'

"So," I started, taing a bite and chewing it thoughtfully as we all waited for the Kaiba Corp rebuttal. "How much are you willing to bet that this is Bad News and that there's going to be more World Saving going on?"

Yami answered me from two places across on the sofa and looking burdened.

"I felt…a dark power sapping the strength of the God Cards from my hand." He exhaled heavily as Teá placed a hand on his shoulder in quiet reassurance.

"Not to mention the fact that the tablet encased itself in ice." Tristan pointed out dryly, shaking his head and eating from the packet of crisps in his hand. I smiled a little, despite the situation.

"It's nice to know that our best bonding times happen when the world is in danger. Everything feels so much more dramatic." I said, wiggling the fingers of my free hand at the TV as Joey laughed.

"It's always gonna be like this, guys. Might as well make friends, huh?"

Our laughter and banter ceased a few minutes later, when the Newscaster announced that the head of Kaiba Corp was about to make a statement. The slim line phone in my back pocket seemed to have more presence to me as we stilled, listening to Kaiba's calm and rational argument, the upshot of which was that it was not a Duel Disk causing the Monsters appearances.

"It's some kind of Magic isn't it?" I said the word 'magic' like I had once said 'Card Game.' I would have gotten a response had there not been an alarmed call from downstairs followed by a clattering crash. There was a moment where the five of us looked at each other before simultaneously bolting for the 'shop' part of the house.

~XxX~

"Grandpa!" Yugi was Yugi again and the first to reach his guardian, sprawled on the ground with broken games carelessly strewn around. Teá and Tristan assessed the damage to the shop as Joey, Yugi, and I helped the elderly man sit up.

"I'm sorry Yugi, I couldn't-" His voice shook with something halfway between pain and exhaustion and Yugi placed a hand over his Grandfather's, calming him.

"The God Cards?" He asked quietly, fearing the worst. The look he was given by his Grandfather told him all he needed to know. It told Joey, too, who glanced from Yugi to me and back again before standing up and running to the door.

"They're not getting away from me if I can help it!" He yelled over his shoulder as the door closed behind him, a rumble sounded from outside and light flashed through the windows.

"Sophie-" Yugi looked at me and I nodded, understanding. In the course of the past few months we had been back, I had joined the Health Committee at school and spent two lunches every week in the Infirmary. I could, at least, determine if Solomon Moto needed a trip to A&E or not. Yugi thanked me as I propped the elderly man up and the others ran outside to see what the hell was happening.

I led the man to his kitchen and helped him sit on one of the chairs, rummaging around my back-up messenger bag for my first-aid kit. I spent the next few minutes making idle chatter to test for mental awareness and dressing the minor wound on his head before shining a pencil light into his eyes and checking for concussion.

"I'm pleased to announce that I think you're fine, but you'll need someone to watch you for twenty-four hours. Just to be on the safe side." I frowned over my shoulder as I washed my hands in the sink and spoke again. "Who where the-" bastards "-people who were cowardly enough to attack you? Do you know?" Solomon shook his head and winced a little at the motion.

"They were thugs I'd never seen before." He answered before sighing. "This kind of attack doesn't bode well for you or your friends." I scoffed as I dried my hands on a tea towel, fetching two mugs from a cupboard and boiling a kettle.

"Things like this never bode well for us. Teá told me once about Pegasus. I'm sorry you had to go through that." He waved away my words with a hand and took the tea I proffered, blowing on it to cool it down.

"I cannot say I wasn't sore about it at the time, but Yugi got me back. He's a good boy, and will be a better man."

"A fantastic Duelist too." I said with a half-smile as I raised my mug in appreciation, as though it were a wine glass or a tankard of ale. I would have taken my first sip of it too, had Joey not run in without a word, grabbed me by the wrist, and dragged me outside and forced me to run alongside him before teling me what the hell was happening.

"Sorry Soph, but these guys have stolen the God Cards and want Yugi to duel them to get them back. We need you."

I felt something in me twinge at the idea I was now well and truly friends with these people and nodded forcefully as we ran towards some kind of abandoned building. Joey leapt onto a dumpster and clambered up onto the fire exit, holding down a hand that I took without question and pulling me up.

"I thought only people with a connection to the Pharaoh could use them?" I asked, slightly breathless as we ran up the metal stairs to the roof. Joey laughed and reached the roof first.

"No-one told these guys that."