It was six AM by the time the three teens had calmed down, and by this point they decided it was completely pointless to attempt to sleep. Marik's card sat firmly in his 'charge's grip, while all three sat on the couch in idle conversation.

'Idle conversation' however, abruptly took a turn to slightly more serious matters when Bakura suddenly turned to Atem with a serious stare. "Which reminds me," he said as he ended the conversation Atem had started on the 'Dark Magician'. "When I was in the shadow realm, we came across a fairly... Interesting spellcaster," he said, smirking as he recalled the meeting. The smirk faded however, as he got to the point. "Childish, took a liking to Kaiba of all people... It resembled a small Dark Magician in a way." Sitting up, he turned to face Atem completely, Malik listening in curiously. "Oddly enough, when we offered it a trip back out, he refused."

Atem blinked, before chuckling. "Kaiba? I can't really see how that happened, but in any case..." He froze suddenly, frowning. "...Odd." He put a hand to his chin, the frown deepening as his eyes narrowed in thought. "Normally when offered such an escape, a duel monster would be more than happy to take it. Did it mention why not?"

The thief shrugged. "As if I could figure out half of what it was trying to get across- from what I can tell, all it did was play games and annoy Kaiba. There was never a single word spoken," he added, before giving the ex-pharaoh an odd look. "In fact, I don't think it COULD speak."

He frowned, Malik still listening in as the latter attempted to figure out exactly where this conversation was going. "Interesting... Perhaps it was an illusion; sometimes the 'body' is an illusion cast by a duel monster to avoid close contact, hence the reason for a lack of a voice. If there was no shadow, that could be another indicator, although..." The teen fell silent a moment, before adding another idea. "What did his eyes, or face look like? That could also help."

The answer was given almost instantly. "Large, round eyes," he said as he leaned back against the couch to put an arm around Malik, "The irises were a violet-red colour, but the rest of his face was shadowed..." He frowned, almost moving his arm again but deciding against it. "Come to think of it, there was no shadow, not even in the folds of his clothing... Just on his body..." In fact... The frown deepened, and he turned to Atem. "To tell the truth, the kid looked almost like Yugi..."

At this, Malik jumped, before hopping off the couch to the other's surprise. "I... I'll be right back," he said with a tense voice, rushing up the stairs and leaving the 'Marik' card behind. "Get everyone down there when they wake up," he added with a shout, the others blinking as he left.

"Now what could that have been about..." Bakura narrowed his eyes as a sudden thought came over him, before he shook it off. Turning to look at the clock on the wall, he blinked. Eight already? That would mean-

Footsteps came down, and a familiar head of white hair poked into the room. "Good morning..." He rubbed his eyes, before jumping at the sight of Atem. "Ah... You're alright then, Atem-san?"

He nodded, rubbing his head. "Quite fine actually... Though I didn't wake up until a short while ago." There was a laugh from beside him, and the source of it grinned.

"Hah! I've been up all night, and I'm not tired at all..." Just as he said this however, he gave a yawn and scowled. "..."

Ryou smiled. "I can see that... Ah-" He stumbled as Malik pushed past him, slamming a large book on the table and flipping through it rapidly. "Er... What's that?" As he leaned over, the others followed his gaze.

The blond said nothing for a moment, before speaking. "The book of records containing the ritual I used to bring Atem back," he said continuing to flip through. "I might have found a loophole... Ryou," he shouted, the albino jumping. "What are the others doing?"

"Er... They're helping me make breakfast right now..." The others blinked, Malik staring at Ryou expectantly before the latter sighed. "Right... I'll see if we can bring the food down here when it's done then..." He disappeared upstairs, leaving Atem and Bakura to turn back to Malik.

It was the ex-pharaoh who spoke first, though he didn't say much. If anything, he was simply repeating what he'd heard so as to make sure he'd actually heard it. "A... A loophole..?"

He nodded. "Yea," he said, still flipping through. "A loophole." The teen paused as he reached the page, biting his lip before speaking again. "I'll explain when everyone's in here..."

"I see..." Atem turned away, watching as Malik carried the book to his lap and sat back on the couch, the teen leaning into his partner. "Ah, if I may Malik," he began as he caught a glimpse of Marik's card again, "Would it be too much trouble if I summoned him?" As the others gave him incredulous stares, the ex-pharaoh clarified. "I think it might be good to make a better impression on him... Leaving him in a card will only increase his hatred towards us," he continued, "And besides; we have more than enough spell cards if he tries anything." As he said the last part, he smiled, watching as Bakura turned to his partner with a slightly worried (Though fairly hidden from Atem's view) look.

The blond nodded, before handing Atem the card. "It's fine," he said, taking a deep breath. "As you said, we can handle him now."

Another nod, before Atem held the card towards the opposite couch. "Iw, The Fabled Spirit Token!" The card, like with Joey's earlier in the evening, quickly evaporated into a mist of sorts, scattering to the other side of the room to form a small, yellow-gold imp in an outfit almost identical to Malik's own. He turned, glaring with large pupil-less eyes as the spines on his head raised to give the imp a slightly more feral appearance. He did not give Atem a chance to relax from the summon of course- in fact, he instantly jumped at the ex-pharaoh with his ridiculously large teeth bared and primed for the teen's face. Atem quickly threw an arm up, wincing as the teeth sunk into it. "For the love of Ra!" He shook the arm, Marik's body flopping against the pressure of being shaken in a rather comical 'waving' motion. "I understand you're mad but is this really the time!"

Marik dug his nails into the arm, before removing his teeth to speak. "GIVE. ME. MY. BODY. BACK! GIVE IT BACK NOW YOU CUNT!" He attempted to bite him again with a screech, before finding himself thrown across the room by the force of his target's waving arm. "AAAAAHHH!"

His charge laughed, Bakura grinning as well. Deciding not to let this go on too long however, the ex-tomb keeper began searching his pockets for another 'Spellcaster's Illusion'.

"Stay away from me," Atem shouted at the hissing imp with a glare. "This form IS your body, and Malik is your CHARGE! It doesn't work the other way around," he added somewhat bitterly as he rubbed his bleeding arm.

At that moment Joey came down with a plate of bacon, placing it on the coffee table before looking at the imp with a raised eyebrow. "What th' hell's goin on down here... And what is that thing?"

He was quickly answered as Marik attempted to fling itself at Joey this time. "I AM NOT A THING, FOOL! I am MARIK! AND YOU WOULD DO WELL TO REMEMBER IT YOU FUCKER!" As the teen quickly scooted back with a shout, Malik tossed a card over to the imp.

"Here," he said with a smirk, "Catch!"

The imp did so, albeit with a glare. Soon enough, energy wrapped around from the card, and he smirked. 'Pocketing' the card, the now human Marik crossed his arms as he leered at Atem and Joey with the face he'd had during Battle City. Considerably happier in it (Given that he was no longer shouting profanities), he grinned maliciously, now his usual 5'9'' in height... Not taking the hair into consideration. "Hello there, MUTT."

Joey growled, not helping the image in any way as he clenched his fists. He quickly grinned however, when he remembered that, like himself, Marik was also under an illusion. "Tch! At least 'm taller than you in reality! Guess this makes tha' card of yours compensation!"

The grin on Marik's face grew, idly sparing a glance at the others before turning back to Joey. Atem, for the moment, was moving past to get some bandages for his arm, while Bakura was simply glaring at him wholeheartedly. Good. "Well, that doesn't matter right now, does it dog?" He moved over, easily slipping his arm past the teen's own block to pull him over by the throat. "Once a mutt, always a mutt! And is it just me, or do you smell even more like a dog than I remember?"

"Put him down, Marik." The former imp turned, scowling as Malik mimicked the expression with crossed arms. Getting no response, he continued. "I said, put the mutt down."

For a brief moment, the teen held him there, watching with idle curiosity as a cloud of dust appeared at his side. He dropped him, sneering before the expression quickly turned into a grin. "We'll talk again Mutt..."

As Marik moved to turn to Malik, the cloud shouted a few curses of his own at him. He ignored them, instead opting to hold his grin as he moved to place a hand on his charge's cheek. "Malik," he said with an eerily sweet tone, "My you've grown..." The hand was quickly snatched by the teen's partner, clutched in a tight grip that threatened to break bones.

"Don't touch him, scum," Bakura said with a snarl, before finally throwing the hand to the side. "Or believe me when I say that not even being a fragment of his soul will save you from what I have in store." For a moment, the pair continued to glare at each other in silence, before a loud, accented voice distracted all three.

The source of the voice, namely the dust cloud, was currently fussing over Joey as the teen struggled back to his feet and gasped for air. "Hey kid, kid you alright there?" He wrung his hands, a nervous smile on his face. "Yea... Sorry about not doin' anythin... Somethin' just told me that stabbing this guy in the face wouldn' do much..." He grinned, before adding, "What with him being an imp an' all..." He looked to his charge for some sort of approval on the matter, apparently taking the look of confusion as a go-ahead. "Alright then! NOW!" He turned to Marik, who raised an eyebrow at the smoke cloud. "YOU sir, have made a baaaad decision! No one crosses Grim's charge," he shouted with a flare. "NOOOOOOO ONE!"

The teen chuckled, giving Grim an amused, if not threatening look. "I wouldn't talk to the one who managed to seal Zorc into the Shadow Realm like that, 'bug'."

"Marik..." As Malik sent a glare at his 'other', Bakura scowled.

"Please," he said as he crossed his arms, "As if you could have done that without the aid of the God card."

As they said this, the shadow merely huffed. "Oh yea pal? Big words from a guy who's really only a foot tall! How about the guys who helped to KILL Zorc?" Ignoring the fact that they had failed to finish him off completely, he continued on. "Yeaaaa, that's what I thought! My kid's the best! Don't you ever think otherwise!"

Marik also scoffed, smirking. "And what exactly ARE you? A small cloud of dust tied to a worthless mutt, or something even more pathetic?" His grin gained its usual crazed and threatening tone, and he continued. "Give me one reason why I should even think of being frightened by you..."

Before the cloud could respond, Joey rubbed his head and interrupted. "Grim... Please jus' stop talkin'..." Huffing, the cloud complied, before footsteps from upstairs distracted him.

"Oh shit!" He hurriedly reformed into the sword at Joey's side, vanishing from sight into the illusion.

Again, the teen shook his head. "Maannn I am never gettin' used tah that..." As he sent a look at Marik, Joey blinked- Malik was currently holding him back, while Malik himself was in a protective hold from Bakura.

"Hn!" Marik's grin remained in place, before being replaced by a frown. "If my charge wasn't here right now, mentally cursing my existence," he began, Malik blinking at the mention of a 'mind link'. "I'd have you sliced up into MY breakfast... Hehehehe..." With that, he moved to sit down on the couch, the other two following as a result- It was plainly obvious that Malik, for his part, was not much enjoying the position of 'meat' in the sandwich of overprotective 'spaz-machines'. Particularly since Bakura and Marik had once more resumed their constant glaring.

Joey merely swallowed, before attempting to regain some confidence to speak. "Y-Yea..?" He suppressed a shudder, at the very least forcing the illusion to cover it for him. "Well, I bet I'd have you in slices before then!"

"What are you talking about Joey?" He jumped as Tea's voice came from behind the basement door, her tone clearly indicated that while it hadn't been much, she'd at least heard the last part. "I've heard you say things along the lines of beating people to a pulp, but since when have you used a knife?"

"Nyehh..." He didn't have much to say to that really...

The teen merely rubbed his head, as Tea walked in with plates and silverware. "And who's that other voice, he sounds almost like- AAAUGGH!" The woman stumbled as she attempted to regain her hold on the plates, eyes wide as she spotted Marik. "H-How! How are you even here?" As the 'protector' merely laughed madly, Malik face-palmed. Typical... Reaction...

Beside her, Joey took the plates and laughed nervously. "Haha... Yea... My thought's exactly.." As he put the dishes on the coffee table, he made sure not to look at Marik at all before turning to Tea with his nervous smile still in place. "But yah know, he hasn't done anything yet! Er... 'Sides tryin tah strangle me I guess..."

Bakura scowled, shaking his head. "Just bring the rest down here," he said as he rolled his eyes. "Atem will probably explain the rest, given that he seems to know everything anyways..."

Tea merely shook her head, running back up the stairs as she ignored Joey. "Oh my god..! I have to warn the others!" She barreled past Atem as the Egyptian in question came down with a plate full of eggs, stumbling slightly.

Coming down and holding the platter almost protectively, he laughed. "Well... That when better than expected..." His injured arm was currently tightly bound, but otherwise he seemed to be showing no reaction to being in the same room as the reason for the injury. Deciding not to waste time, He put the platter on the table before grabbing the plates and dishing up the food. "Sit down, Joey," he said with a grin. "The food will get cold!" As he passed plates to the others, he soon sat down with his own and eagerly dug into the eggs and bacon.

While Joey rubbed his head, Marik merely blinked. He looked at Atem, eyebrows raised for a few moments, before looking at the rather filled plate of food he'd just been handed. Back to the 'pharaoh'. Then the food. Pharaoh. Food. Pharaoh... He smirked, picking up his fork as he surprisingly began to eat using some manners. "I could get used to being served by the pharaoh," he said with a grin, Atem merely shaking his head.

"I'm not a pharaoh..." As Joey took a seat beside him and grabbed his plate, he blinked and turned his attention to the stairs. You couldn't hear much, but if you listened closely, there was a loud, panicking cry of 'WHAT!' from the others upstairs.

As the stampede of footsteps made their way down, Malik sent a warning look to his other-half. The protector merely shrugged, a look of faux-innocence in place. "I won't hurt them if they don't tick me off," he said matter-of-fact-ly.

Across from him, Atem laughed. "Ah, but just what would bug you right now besides the obvious," he began with a smile. "Because I have a feeling that if screaming is involved, we might have to switch rooms."

Marik merely scoffed, before stuffing a piece of bacon into his mouth. "Cheh! You'll see what pisses me off when it happens, 'Pharaoh'."

While Atem went back to his food muttering something about not having that position for a good 3000 years, Joey growled. "Yea, but I bet Malik wouldn' appreciate that at all, would 'e?"

Another scoff. "My charge will deal," he said as he smirked, Malik glaring at the teen.

"No he won't," he retorted, before the door flung open for the two girls to come in with Ryou; Mai had of course, returned to her hotel the night before. He turned, deciding not to bother waiting for Kaiba given previous experiences with the CEO. Besides, he decided as he switched his plate out for the fairly hefty tome of spells. Ignoring the frozen shock that the girls had as they stood there, he coughed. "Alright, now that everyone is here-"

He was interrupted by Tea, the others remaining in either a shocked silence or in Ryou's case, a more confused one- he'd never met Marik after all. "Not to be rude or anything," she started with a shaking tone, "But what is HE doing here?"

The target of the question grinned. "I remember you... Do you remember anything from when my charge posses-" He was cut off by his partner, a hand flung over his mouth rather quickly.

"Just shut up for now," he said with a glare. "I'm trying to talk. Anyways," he said as he ran a hand over the book he was holding. "As you know," he said nervously, "I performed a ritual last week that brought the FORMER pharaoh back from the afterlife." He said 'former' with considerable emphasis, looking at Marik for a moment before continuing on. "A ritual that seemed to take the life of Yugi in payment," he finished, the others growing silent as the topic of Yugi was brought up. The teen took a deep breath, those across from him pausing as they ate to pay attention. "As I was listening to a conversation between Bakura and Atem however, something was brought to my attention." Another breath, as well as a swallow as he went on. "As you know, in Duel Monsters a monster is often sacrificed to summon a more powerful one to the field. When this happens, the sacrificed monster is sent to the graveyard."

Atem's eyes widened as he caught on to what Malik was trying to say. "Duel monsters," he began with a tone almost meant to reassure himself, "Originally came from the Ka in a soul... The form that spirits take in the after life. So when you mention the rules of summoning, are you saying..." Beside him, Joey frowned in confusion, as did most in the room. Bakura in the meantime, looked over Malik's shoulder at the book, forgoing the glare he was constantly sending Marik for a moment as he too looked at the pages in mild curiosity.

"Yea," he said as he re-read a few lines to double check. "The book states that who ever has been sacrificed will travel, soul only, to the realm of eternal darkness. When I read this before, I had interpreted it as 'death'," he began, before closing the book. "But after the conversation, I realized that the 'Realm of the Dark' was originally another name for the Shadow Realm." a relieved smile came over him, the teen taking another deep breath before finishing. "If I'm right... Then I think that the magician that Kaiba was being followed around by in the Shadow Realm was actually Yugi's Ka!"

As Joey grinned at the prospect of Yugi being alive, Atem merely sat there, as though dis-believing. "He could be... Alive..."

While those thoughts ran through his head, Tea frowned; she'd paid more attention to the conversation than just the possibility of Yugi still living. "Hang on," she said as she held a hand out. "Kaiba?"

Serenity blinked, looking at Tea with wide eyes as Ryou did the same. "Tea," Ryou said with a raised eyebrow. "You... Did catch what Malik said about Yugi didn't you? You realize what this means right?" He didn't mean to be rude but... It was one of those things he didn't think should be skipped over.

"Well," she said as she shook her head. "I had a feeling, I mean..." The woman held an expression of worry and disbelief, still talking. "I knew it couldn't be true, that he just couldn't be dead but..." The expression died and returned to her look of confusion. "Kaiba?"

Joey rolled his eyes. "Yea yea, Kaiba, we got it! He went to the shadow realm, now can yah just shut up and listen about Yugi?"

The woman did so, staring at Joey a few seconds before Bakura rolled his eyes. "Oh calm down Mutt..." The thief turned to Tea, before smirking. "To answer your question, 'your dog' contracted Shadow Sickness, but thanks to Kaiba, and yours truly, he's fine now." The smirk grew at the woman's increasingly confused expression, while Malik merely groaned.

"Greaaat, thanks 'Kura!" He shook his head, sending him a weak glare. "Now they're gonna start freaking out about him too!"

Across from him, Joey scowled as well. "I was kinda hopin' tah keep that quiet," he muttered, before angrily taking a chunk out of his bacon.

Atem merely laughed, apparently not at all phased by the invasion of his friend's privacy. "Well," he said between bites of egg, as he allowed himself to be distracted by both the meal and the prospect of Yugi being alive, "At least now there aren't any real secrets between us all..."

From the side, Ryou took his eyes of Marik before crossing his arms. "So then," he began, the others turning to him as they realized he was still there, "I suppose some of us will need to return to the Shadow Realm then, right?"

As the girls continued to stand in silence (They never had been really involved in this before, it was all a little much now that they were...), Malik nodded. "Yea... I'm still pretty new with this whole 'Ka' and 'soul' thing, so if Atem could help..."

He was cut off, Atem still holding his wide-eyed stare as he nodded. "I would gladly help with this, Malik."

Ryou nodded, moving over to the couch. "If it's not to much trouble, I'd like to help as well..."

"Heh," Joey said with a grin. "And you can count me in too!"

Serenity balked. "Nii-san? I thought you passed out in the Shadow Realm last time!" As the others nodded, Joey turned his attention to convincing his sister to let him go. Meanwhile, others involved continued with their conversation.

"You'll need to come too Bakura," He looked over at the thief, both he and Marik grinning as the teen groaned.

He held his head in one hand, sighing. "Do I really HAVE to go in there again?" At the nod he got in response, he huffed. "Very well... But I'm doing it for the sex, not for Yugi," he said with a smirk. "Something tells me there wouldn't be any if I refused.." Tea and Serenity quickly blushed as Malik grinned in response to that, before hurriedly muttering about leaving the kettle on upstairs and leaving the room.

Joey groaned. "Maaannn stop scarin' my sister!" As Malik merely shrugged, his other-half laughing loudly now, Bakura scoffed, as if to say 'She probably knows anyway, given her usual company'.

"In any case- if you need me, you'll need a certain too-rich CEO as well." As the others nodded, Atem coughed. "Hn?" They turned as the ex-pharaoh coughed, blinking as the sight of Kaiba leaning against the door frame came into being.

The teen snorted, his arms crossed as he stood there. "Will you now," he said in response to Bakura's statement, before his eyes drifted to Marik. He frowned, eyes narrowing. This guy... Now what was he doing there?

Marik chuckled, his grin widening as he leaned back on the couch. "You're burning a hole through me, 'Seto'," he said with a laugh. "Keep that face too long, it'll freeze..." He seemed to be in a remarkably better mood having eaten 'real' food for the first time in a few years again- though even if he hadn't been, the lack of profane speech and constant shouting was still a plus.

He frowned, not moving from where he stood. "You don't even have the right to THINK of me by that name 'Marik'." As a few of the others jumped slightly at Kaiba using someone's given name for once, he ignored them. The fact was, he couldn't think of any degrading nicknames for Marik, so he didn't care to bother for the moment. "And not to change the subject, but what exactly is it that you morons need me for anyways?"

"If you were listening," Malik said as he rolled his eyes, "Then you'd know we were putting together a plan to rescue Yugi from the shadow realm."

The CEO raised an eyebrow. "The nerd? And how did he manage to get stuck in there," he said with slight humor. "Assuming it has nothing to do with duel monsters for once."

The others fell silent, Kaiba's eyes narrowing when the subject he'd brought up turned out to be oddly serious. Atem found himself breaking the silence, coughing to draw the attention of the others to him. "Actually," he said as he put his dishes down, "I thought the plan to be fairly obvious. It would be almost identical to how we retrieved Bakura after all. In fact," he said, looking at the ceiling in thought for a moment, "I would say the only difference is that it places him in the same condition as Joey."

Ryou blinked, looking at the blond a moment. "Erm... Pardon me," he said, "But what condition are you talking about?"

The teen shifted a little, before Atem sighed. "You mind as well take the card off," he said with a sad smile. "You'll have to do it before we enter the Shadow Realm anyways."

He frowned. "Yea yea, I got it..." Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out the 'Spellcaster's Illusion' card before dropping it, Marik instantly grinning while Ryou jumped. "Hnnn... Here I was gettin' used to havin' my body back," he muttered, crossing his arms.

As the image of the armored and fairly small dog appeared, Marik roared with laughter. "Oh, this is rich! The mutt really IS a mongrel! AHA!" Though he was quickly quieted down by his charge, he continued to grin as he stared, Joey visibly shrinking under it.

"What... What on earth..." Ryou blinked a few times, turning to the others for an explanation. To his surprise, it was Kaiba who answered.

"Shadow sickness," the teen stated bluntly, moving over before he fixed a stare on the others. "And do you plan on leaving any time soon, or should I just leave you morons to find him without my apparently 'much needed' help?" Idly, he took a seat on one of the chairs to grab a few cards out of his briefcase. From what he'd gathered, spells worked plenty well in that 'world', and given the 'power level' Joey had, he wasn't about to let HIS mutt get squished by anything with an attack level above 1000.

Atem sorted through his cards, nodding at Kaiba's suggestion. "We'll leave soon enough," he said as he flipped through them. "I don't think that searching for only his Ib will work this time however, so I need to find something..." He trailed off into a self-aimed mutter. The teen was pulled out of it when Marik came over, eying the multitude of cards with a raised brow.

"You have nightmare wheel," he asked with hidden curiosity. The trap card was clearly based on a torture device and something that he had in his own deck- he didn't expect for Atem to have them. "And 'Spell of Pain' too," he added with a nod. Bakura and Malik turned to look at the pair from where they were leaning into each other, the two raising an eyebrow each.

Bakura sat up, Malik moving away as the thief as well turned to Atem. "That reminds me, where did you get all of these..." He narrowed his eyes, watching as Atem pulled a few together into his hands before pocketing the rest.

"Well," he said with a nervous stare, "When I was pulled out of the fields, I was borrowing a grimoire from someone..." He swallowed, before laughing nervously. "Later, when I was in this body, I found that all of the spells had transferred into cards..."

The thief smirked. "Well well, to think that even the former pharaoh could be capable of theft. I'm almost 'proud'," he said with a grin. Marik as well had a similar expression, though that was likely more because of his attitude towards 'New Atem' than anything.

As it was, Atem stood up with a more serious expression. "If everyone's ready, I have something that should prevent us from being separated this time around... Though I'm not sure how we'll find Yugi..."

There was a scoff, and the group turned to Kaiba. "Just open the door already," he said with a sneer. "I have a fairly good idea as to where he'll be."

Atem stared a moment, before shrugging. "Alright then..." As he watched Bakura put a protective arm around Malik, he suppressed a laugh- Marik was currently rolling his eyes and pretending to puke behind them, though the protector's expression had grown livid when the duo moved in for a kiss. Holding his hand out to the wall, he let out a nervous breath. "SEN," he cried, the familiar tear in space appearing before he turned soul release on himself once more. As he prepared the next spell card, he turned to Kaiba, who was currently staring with slightly wider-than-the-norm eyes. Marik as well was staring, now that he had the time too, though his stare was more intrigued and possibly plotting than anything...

For a moment, Kaiba and Marik said nothing, the CEO blinking a few moments before turning his head as if to say 'Screw this, nothing really surprises me anymore.'. The protector however, grinned. "Pfftt... Oh... This is even better than the Mutt..." He was quickly thumped on the back of the head by Malik. "Tch! Hey!"

"Trust me," he said in a whisper, "If you're about to say what I think it is, wait until we're in the Shadow Realm." Malik was answered with a grumble, but an agreement to do as told nonetheless as Atem held the card towards the group.

"UNITY!" The card vanished, nothing apparently happening besides that. Atem stood off to the side of the portal, holding a hand out. "After you," he said, before waiting for everyone to go in. Bakura and Malik hoped in first, after first exchanging unseen glances. Almost immediately after this, Marik followed them, dropping the card right as he hoped through to avoid being seen. They were then followed by Joey, as well as Ryou, before Kaiba jumped in after the pair with an unreadable expression on his face. Finally left alone in the room, Atem gave one last look around before hopping in, the gate closing behind him to leave an empty room with messy dishes and scraps of food.

The rescue mission was officially underway.