During Anzu's funeral, Morana surveyed the group carefully. Lot's of people had gathered in the graveyard, to mourn Anzu and her parents, but Honda as well. The police had already been informed, and they were investigating the murders, but as usual, there wasn't a most useless thing to do. Honda's funeral took place right afterwards. The rest of them were just looking like statues the photographs of their so dear friends, whose graves were next to each other. No one could utter a word. The marble of the tombs was so cold… It was the beginning of the end, wasn't it? They had always been together. Now the rest would have to follow… But they didn't want to die. Not just yet. The prospect of dying was so dreadful, so intimidating! All the things they hadn't experience yet… And it was so gruesome! So grotesque! Shizuka had thrown up so many times, she almost fainted. Everybody was so lost… They all had the same empty look in their eyes.

"Are you sure it's alright for you to take place in this?" Scott showed up beside Morana. "After all, you're the one who didn't get there in time to rescue them."

"I don't have any obligation of that kind." She retorted coldly. "And I'm not attending. I'm just standing away."

"Oh well, sure, whatever." He shrugged, not believing her even for a second. Morana had still feelings for them. He just knew it. "Why are you here then?"

"I want to talk to them when all the other people will leave. Here. Above Anzu and Honda's graves. Only then they can realize what's really going on."

"A carnage." He murmured. "I don't think we can stop it on our own, Mora."

"Why, are you afraid?"

"Not at all. Just stating the facts." He thought about it for a while. "Anyway, why don't you let Rin slaughter them? You don't even like them… as you say."

"It's my duty to protect innocent people from becoming sacrifices. No matter who those people may be." She was stony, but Scott could tell the hue of hatred her voice had taken. He smiled. It satisfied him. "Let's go. It's just them now." They both disappeared from their spot, to show up next to the group the other second.

Atem turned and looked at them, but said nothing. He didn't want to say anything, he just wanted them out of his sight. Yuugi could not talk either. The constant sobbing would never let him. Mokuba and Shizuka were in the same condition. Otogi and Mai didn't even bother, besides a fleeting gaze. Bakura, Malik and their Yami's hadn't even bothered to come. Jounouchi looked at Morana with so contemptuous eyes, that she felt pure hatred boiling inside her. She gritted her teeth. For a reason, she hated Jounouchi more than any other, even more than…

"What do you want, you useless brats? Don't you have work to do, vampires to kill, other lives to destroy?" Kaiba Seto. He remembered… He remembered when Amaya had told him something like that, back in those happy years. Of course, he'd never forget. It was so difficult for Morana to control herself, but she miraculously managed to. The fact that Isis was beside him wasn't helping her either.

"Shut the fuck up Kaiba." She just stated. "I'm only here to warn you."

"Well, apparently, that didn't work so well for those two." He indicated at the graves. "You don't have to tell us things we can't conclude on ourselves. Rin is after us. Probably she wants to clear up her past, so she can continue living like the beast to her heart's content. Isn't that right? Well, I think we pretty much caught up on that. Your job is to kill her, yet Anzu and Honda are dead! You're useless, and I'm not fucking going to trust you!"

"If you think that I'm going to take any shitty orders from you…" She shook her head, she didn't have time for this. "Fine! Do what the fuck you like! But I have to tell you on their graves: If you don't run away, you'll regret it! You'll end up just like them!" She pointed at the tombs.

Atem walked towards her. She was prepared for another one of his speeches. Instead of that, she almost received a slap. She grabbed his hand before it would touch her cheek of course, but it was a huge shock either way. Scott got immediately ready to attack.

"Go away." He whispered, with the blond bangs covering his eyes. "Traitors will always be hated."

Morana honestly wanted to kill him. She was the traitor? She? Oh how much she hated them all! How much she wished they would just die, burn in hell! Why was it still affecting her that much? What they were thinking of her… She hated them! She turned away, grabbed Scott and disappeared. She had no idea there were still so many emotions inside of her. And she hated that the most.

In Rin's hideout

The evening had just fallen. Rin grabbed herself a glass of blood. She was, well… Satisfied. Happy, in a way. Poison Pink, Perky Blue and Sickly Green had just been summoned, and now they were kneeling in front of her. The feeling of power was making Rin even more excited than usual.

"As you know, I came to Domino for two purposes." She started. And not only them. "One, kill the Green Mafia Boss. We already accomplished that well." Poison Pink let out a small, deranged laugh in that. "Second: We have to eliminate all the ties to my past. Only then I can rise up above every other vampire, and we can build our Empire, acquiring power that's beyond imagination! That, and I want to see them suffer." She added at the end. Pink and Blue laughed, along with her. "So now… There are some people I want dead, but I have no interest in killing them myself. I can leave that job to you, right? Do it well."

"I can assure you, my queen, that we'll make your desires reality, even if it gets us killed." Sickly Green declared seriously.

Rin smirked. "Good. Now: Poison Pink, I'll let you handle Otogi Ryuji. He's a womanizer, you know what to do." Poison Pink winked. "Perky Blue, I'll let you have Shizuka. I was indecisive between her and Kujaku Mai, but yeah, it'll be more fun to torture someone who will actually put up a fight. That bitch Anzu was worth only for teaching Pharaoh a lesson." Rin tossed her hair behind gracefully. Atem's screams were still echoing in her ears like the finest music. "And you, Sickly Green… I think I'll make a gift to my old friend and have you eliminate Isis Ishtar." Green nodded. "Do your jobs without being noticed, swiftly but also painfully. Got it?"

"Yes, my Queen!" All of them chirped in unison and disappeared. Rin looked up at the sky. So tonight would be a moonless night… One of her favorites.

Back to the hotel, Scott was trying to calm Morana down, but being not such a considerate person wasn't helping the situation at all. "I thought you didn't care anymore about them. Why are you so angry?"

"Because they always degrade me!" She threw a fit. Damn, she was always so composed, until she met them! "They are always, always…" Fortunately, the knocking on the door interrupted her. Morana suddenly remembered who she was. She was the Suffocator. No matter what they'd tell her, she shouldn't mind them. Let them die like that, if that's what they want. She took a deep breath, and she was her usual, cold self when she opened the door. She faced Isis Ishtar.

"Good evening." The Egyptian woman greeted them. Scott waved his hand, while Morana arched an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here? I thought your fiancée would like you to stay away."

"I came to consult you." Isis was serious. "I believe that only you know how we can protect ourselves from Rin. So please, tell me."

"There's nothing more I can say. Run away."

"If Rin really wants to eliminate us, that won't prevent her from searching us to the end of the world, am I wrong?"

"I'll deal with her. That's what I do." She was Morana, the Suffocator. Of course she'd have to deal with it.

"I got it." Isis bit her lower lip and nodded. You refuse to help us further. She turned to leave. "Oh, just for the record." She said, having her back towards Morana. "We're not really engaged. Not that it's any of your business…"

"Then you are even more pathetic." Morana shut the door closed.

"Look who's talking." Isis mumbled. She sighed. There wasn't anything left for her to do there. She walked out of the building, quite depressed. The new situation was more dangerous than usual… She turned right in the corner.

"Well, hello there." It was the last thing she heard. Everything tuned green…

"Morana! Outside!" Scott sensed it. Both of them jumped out of the window to the empty, dark street, ready to fight. Scott motioned towards the dark, right alley.

Isis's body was hanging by the wall. Sickly Green had finished the job rather quickly, given the fact that it was so close Morana's house. She had grabbed Isis and shoved her back into the wall, where her head was pushed through a big nail. She was literally pinned in the wall. Blood was dripping from her head down to her shoulders and body… It was like a really rare piece of art.

"Where to now, Scott?" Morana asked, more or less indifferently.

It took him some minutes to sense it. "Oh… To that blond boy's house… Jounouchi, was that right?"

"Oh…" Morana just said. "Well, it's not like we're in a hurry." She shrugged and just walked.

Why do you hate him that much? What did he do to you?

"Onii-chan! Onii-chan!" Shizuka was so scared… She didn't want to die! Perky Blue grabbed her by the hair. Jounouchi was tied up on the table, he couldn't move.

"Stop!" He cried. "Stop, why are you doing this? Stop!" Tears started streaming down his face. Shizuka was crying too. She didn't want to die! She was so young, she didn't want to die!

"Onii-chan…" Perky Blue stuck her tongue out to mock him. "Your sister loves you so much, she would even give her heart to you!"

"NO! STOP IT! STOP IT!" The screams were tearing him apart.

Why I hate him so much?

Perky Blue delved her hand into Shizuka's chest. The girl stopped crying abruptly. Her eyes doubled in size. The pain… A choked sound escaped her lips. Jou stopped screaming too. The shock was just too much. He thought for sure… This was a nightmare. He'd wake up. He'd wake up soon, right? There was no way this was happening… They would all go to the beach tomorrow, right? Like they had promised… He was just loosing it, it wasn't real! It wasn't real!

Because he's just a loser dog.

Perky Blue withdrew her hand, removing in the process Shizuka's heart. The body stopped moving, the eyes were vague. Perky Blue licked the still beating heart gaudily in front of Jou's disbelieving eyes. Then she approached him… She came really close… And let the blood drip on his face, between his eyes.

A loser dog, and yet…

She knew, she learnt afterwards. She learnt that back then, Kaiba had bitched her off in order to save Jou. So it was okay to make her hate him… It was okay to hurt her feelings, if it was for saving Jou? Was it okay to hurt her like that, to crush her, for someone else's good only? When she arrived outside Jou's door, she knew that she was already too late. He was alive. Cute little Shizuka wasn't there anymore. Cute little Shizuka…

…He cared about him more than he ever cared about me.