Aoi: A new chapter! Aren't you— Akina what are you…?

Akina: I… I can't figure it out…. Why would someone have a French masquerade theme?

Aoi: well, I thought it would be fun to write so I—

Akina: wait you did that?

Aoi: well yeah, I wrote it so…

Akai: prepare to die! (Pulls out stilettos)

Aoi: wait are those the shoes or the knives?

Akai: BOTH

Eiko and Seto ran out to the car; Seto walked over to the passenger's side.

"I need to make a call," he said, pulling out his phone. He hopped into the car and Eiko followed. As Seto dialed, he turned to look at Eiko. She had a bit of a worried look on her face. "You do know how to drive a car, right?"

"Of course I do!" Eiko said, a bit offended. "I've just never driven a sports car, that's all."

"It's not that difficult," Seto said. "Just get us to the Game Shop."

"Okay," Eiko said as she pressed down on the gas and the car jetted forward as Seto waited for the other line to pick up.

Yugi sat in his living room while watching an old rerun when he heard the phone ring. He quickly hopped up from the couch. The number on the caller I.D. wasn't familiar, but he picked up anyway.

"Hello?" he said into the phone.

"Yugi," Yugi quickly recognized the voice; it was Kaiba's. "Yugi, I need you to get your idiot friends over there now! It's important." Kaiba said quickly, his voice tense.

"Ok… but what is this—"

"There's no time to explain," Kaiba said quickly, cutting him off. "I'll explain later, just—Eiko look out for the—" Yugi could hear the sound of things moving around.

"Kaiba?" Yugi said, wondering what had happened.

"Just get your friends over there now!" Kaiba yelled over the other end. The line went dead. Yugi just stood there. Should he believe Kaiba? After he had treated him and his friends? Yugi thought about it. 'If Kaiba cares enough to call me and warn me about something, than it must be important!' Yugi quickly dialed up a new number.

"Anzu? Yeah, it's Yugi."

Yugi, Anzu, Honda, Bakura, and Otogi stood outside of the Game Shop.

"Where is Jonouchi?" Honda asked.

"And Mai, for that matter?" Bakura asked.

"Hey, guys!" Jonouchi yelled as he ran up to the Game Shop with Mai following closely behind. "What's going on? Where's Rich Boy?" Jonouchi asked.

"He should be here soon," Yugi said. Suddenly, a red sports car roared up to the game shop, almost hitting the group. Seto walked out of the car, using the frame to steady himself.

"Hey, watch it, Rich Boy!" Jonouchi yelled, holding up a fist. "You could have killed us! Didn't anyone teach you how to drive?"

"Did you notice that I wasn't the one driving the damn car?" Kaiba said. Eiko opened the driver's side door and walked out. Seto glared at her. "You. Cant. Drive."

"I'm not that bad," Eiko said, looking at him skeptically.

"How. The hell. Do you have. A license." He said.

"If you two are done," Mai said loud enough for them to hear, "do you mind telling us what's going on?" she asked, her arms crossed.

Seto turned to look at the group. "We have a dilemma," he said, looking at the group seriously. "Eiko and I were challenged by Lune Crescent and Nouvelle Lune. Two duelists who said that they were working for an organization called Ward Sharier."

"Ward what now?" Jonouchi asked, confused.

"Ward Sharier. It means 'evil flower' in Arabic," Eiko explained.

"They were hired by someone—a man—but we don't know who," Seto said finally.

"And this has to do with us how?" Honda asked.

"I was going to ask the same thing," Otogi said.

"I have a feeling this group is not going to give up just because they lost two members," Kaiba told the group.

"What do you mean, 'lost two members'?" Yugi asked.

"When they lost, they became unresponsive, like they were in a coma or something," Eiko explained.

"Like with Jacob and Eddy!" Jonouchi exclaimed.

"Who?" the group asked.

"Jacob and Eddy, they're… they're some old friends of mine. Duelists, actually," Mai explained.

"Some friends," Jonouchi muttered. "They challenged us to a duel and when they lost they just fell to the ground like they were asleep or something!"

"Lune said something about limbo…." Eiko muttered. "Does he really mean where lost souls go to? That seems kind of harsh just for losing a game." Everyone looked at each other; they knew what Lune had really meant. The shadow realm.

"It doesn't matter right now," Seto, said. "What matters is the fact that there is someone who wants to take me down."

"You? They attacked us too, Rich Boy! It's not always about you, ya know!" Jonouchi yelled.

"How do you know those attacks were connected? They never mentioned being hired, did they?" Kaiba looked over at Mai. "You said you knew them, and I'm guessing over the years you've gained quite a few enemies, Miss Kujaku."

"Kaiba, stop!" Yugi exclaimed. Everyone looked over at him. "It doesn't matter right now; we should just know that there is someone out there who may want to hurt us. And we should be on the lookout for anyone that seems suspicious."

"I think Yugi is right," Bakura said. "Right now we should just assume that the four were part of the organization."

"Whatever," Seto said. He opened the passenger's side door and stopped for a moment. Quickly, he shut the door again and walked over to the driver's side. He moved Eiko aside and hopped into the driver's seat. The door quickly shut.

"I'm not that bad a driver!" Eiko said annoyed.

"Yes you are!" Seto yelled through the car door.

Seto sat in his office; he stared at the computer monitor.

"You're still here?" Akina asked. Seto looked up to see her standing in the doorway.

"I need to figure this out," Seto said bluntly. He had been researching Warda Sharier for hours. So far he had found very little, and whoever they were, they were very good at covering their tracks.

"Well, good luck. I'll be going now," she said, waving.

"Akina, do you think you could stay a bit longer?" Seto asked. Akina turned to look at him, a peeved look on her face.

"You know Kaiba, I wanted to be a fashion designer when I was younger. But no, I had to be a lawyer to please my parents."

"Then why are you working as a secretary?" Kaiba asked.

"Don't interrupt my story!" Akina scolded. "And now I'm working under a kid that's at least two years younger than me, and taking night classes at law school. That's right, Kaiba; I'm studying to be a lawyer. And you better be careful or I'll sue you quicker than you can say 'objection!'" she then stormed out of the room.

Kaiba just watched. "Goodnight, Akina," Seto said.

Akina popped her head in the doorway. "By the way, we're having sushi tomorrow. Do you want anything?"

Kaiba shook his head."It's fine. Eiko packs me a lunch," he explained.

"Aw, how cute," Akina said, smiling. "Well, see you tomorrow, Kaiba." Seto looked back at the computer monitor. His eyes widened; a grin crept across his face. He quickly picked up the phone. He stopped himself; Ward Sharier knew that he and Eiko had gone to that engagement party. Only certain members of Kaiba Corp knew that. If he used his private jet, it was likely they would show up. He slammed the phone down, rushing back to his computer to look up airline tickets.

Eiko slammed her textbook shut, her head lying against it, 'I could just fall asleep here…' she thought. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Eiko looked at the clock, which said 11:30.

Who in their right mind comes over at 11:30? Red questioned.

It's not very polite, either, Blue added. Eiko walked up to door and opened it. Akina stood outside.

"Akina?" Eiko said, confused. "Why are you—"

"Do you have an outfit to wear when you make Kaiba lunch?" Akina asked.

"No, I just wear whatever I wore that day. Why does it—"

"Come on!" Akina said, grabbing Eiko's hand. She dragged her through the halls. "We must get you a cooking outfit! Chanel preferably," Akina explained.

"Akina, I can't afford anything from Chanel," Eiko said.

"Oh don't worry, we'll just use Kaiba's credit card. I use it all the time." Akina stopped quickly. "Don't tell him that,"she said, turning to look at Eiko. Eiko nodded her head and they were off.

Seto opened the door to his house. Mokuba stood in the foyer, an annoyed look on his face.

"You just got back?" Mokuba asked. Seto was quiet, and Mokuba shook his head. "If you continue to work like this, you'll kill yourself," he told Seto.

"Relax, I'm going to be taking a bit of a break anyway," Seto walked passed Mokuba.

"A break?" Mokuba questioned. "You mean you're going on vacation?" he asked, running after Seto.

"I wouldn't call it a vacation," Seto said, brushing it aside. "Is Eiko here?"

Mokuba grinned deviously. "Yeah, she's here, in the kitchen." Seto wasn't sure why Mokuba was grinning. But he figured it couldn't be that important.

"Eiko?" Seto said as he entered the kitchen. Eiko turned around. She wore a white apron with frills around the side with a white dress under it with red polka dots. "Eiko, what are you wearing? I mean, it's very nice, but…"

"Akina got to her," Mokuba explained.

"And I'm glad I did!" Akina said, walking over to Eiko. "You see, I thought a 50's housewife look would be good for Eiko. But when I saw the apron I couldn't resist! It makes her look like a little kitchen princess!"

"Help me." Eiko said quietly.

"Oh, you'll thank me later," Akina said. She looked over at Seto. "So you're finally back from the office."

"What? You were at the office all night?" Eiko asked. "Seto, you know you can't do that! It's bad for your health."

Seto was quiet. "Could I talk to you…" he looked around the room "alone."

Mokuba and Akina left the room, leaving the two alone. "I was looking up Ward Sharier last night, trying to get information on them."

"And?" Eiko asked.

"Not much, but I found someone who said he knew quite a bit of information about them."

"Great! When can we meet him?" Eiko asked, glad that they could get this over with.

"We? No, you're staying here," Seto said firmly.

"What? Why?"

"I don't want you getting into this. It could be dangerous," Seto told her.

Eiko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Seto, because being your girlfriend hasn't ever gotten me into danger." She walked over to him, "Seto, I'm really freaked out by this. I mean, Lune and Nouvelle, they just slipped into a coma right in front of us, and we don't know why. And news flash," Eiko placed her hands on her hips. "I don't want you getting into danger either."

Seto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Eiko, because being your boyfriend has never gotten me into danger."

Seto looked down at Eiko. She had a genuine look a worry in her eyes. "I don't want you getting hurt," she said softly.

Seto sighed. "Fine, you can come." Eiko jumped up and hugged him. She pulled away, a smile on her face.

"So, when are we leaving?" she asked, "and where to, may I ask."

"Tomorrow, America. Don't you have work?" Seto asked.

"I have some free days," Eiko said. "And America?" Seto nodded and a big smile came across Eiko's face. "I've never been there, I'm really excited!"

Suddenly Red appeared standing in between Eiko and Seto. "I'm chaperoning, separate hotel rooms, and don't try anything while I'm at the hotel bar," she said seriously. "Blue can watch Mokuba,"

"I will teach him to be a gentleman," Blue said, sitting at a nearby table drinking tea. "Maybe you should stay and learn a few things yourself, Kaiba-san."

Seto took a deep breath. "I'm going to go pack; I suggest you do the same," he said, looking at Eiko. Eiko nodded and headed for the door. "Shouldn't you change first?" Seto asked.

Eiko looked down at her clothes."Right," she said and quickly ran to the guest room to change. 'This is going to be one long break' Seto thought to himself.

Eiko sat in her hotel room; Red was rummaging through the mini fridge.

"Yha know, I wish he had told us he was bringing us to Texas," Red said. "I would have brought enough money for a cattle prod. Hey, Kaiba is paying for everything, right?" Red asked. Eiko nodded. "Sweet, that means I can just take this," she pulled out a can of soda from the fridge.

"Red," Eiko said, smacking the soda from her hands. "These are expensive! Just go to the hotel bar; they're cheaper there."

"Fine Mom, god!" Red said in a teenage-angst tone. Red got up and walked to the door. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked when she saw Seto. "And why are you dressed like you just came off the set of Sons of Anarchy?" Seto wore a black tee shirt with a leather jacket and blue jeans.

Eiko walked up. "What's going on? And what's up with the outfit?"

"We're meeting the man who says he knows about Ward Sharier," Seto explained. "Put this on," he threw her a leather jacket; it was a lot like his, only more feminine.

"What? Are you meeting him at a biker bar?" Red asked as Eiko slipped on the jacket.

"Actually yes; it's called 'The Warthog'" Seto explained.

"Charming. As much as I would love to have a bunch of bikers try to up-skirt me, I think I'll just go pick up some rich guy at the bar." Before Eiko could object, Red was off. "Don't go blowing up meth labs!" she said, waving. Seto watched as she walked away.

He turned to Eiko."Where the hell did she get that idea from?" he asked. Eiko just shrugged and the two walked out together and headed towards the car.

The two walked into the bar. The floors and walls were both made of the same dark wood. There was very little light in the bar except from a few hanging lights. Some men were playing pool while others sat at the bar. A few of them looked at Eiko with a strange look,

Eiko clung to Seto's arm. "Do not leave me alone here," she whispered to him.

"Can do," Seto said. The two walked to the back of the bar where there were a few tables set up.

"So, do you know what this guy looks like," Eiko said as they scanned the bar for the man.

"Yes. Actually, I've met him before." Seto said.

"You have! Why didn't you—?"

"Eiko Tsubaki?" Eiko cringed. She remembered that voice.

"Oh please oh please don't be…" She slowly turned around to see Sean Jones standing behind her.

"Hey!" he said, smiling. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Eiko sighed. "Please don't tell me this is the guy," she said looking up at Seto.

"Where is your uncle?" Seto asked Sean.

"He's in the back; I'll bring you to him." Sean led them to the back of the bar. A lone table stood with a light hanging right over it. Sitting in one of its nearby seats was Bandit Keith, wearing his usual bandana and sunglasses.

"Well if it isn't Kaiba," Keith said, grinning. "And what do we have here?" Keith lowered his sunglasses, his blue eyes peeking though. "Miss Tsubaki," Keith turned to look at Kaiba. "Nice catch you got there; didn't know you had it in you."

Eiko felt sick. She sat down next to Seto. Keith told Sean to get him a beer. "You two want anything?" he asked. Seto shook his head.

"I don't drink," Eiko explained.

"Of course you don't, bright eyes," Keith said. He leaned back in his chair nonchalantly. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" he asked coolly.

"Ward Sharier. You said you had info on them," Seto said, jogging his memory.

"Ah, right," Sean came back with his beer; Keith took a long gulp before he continued. "Well let's see, they're an organization that takes quite a bit of interests in some of the more well known duelists. They apparently offer large sums of money to take down certain people. Not quite sure who though." Eiko and Seto looked at each other. "But anyways, no one's quite sure who's started the damn thing. They have some ideas were it was started though."

"Somewhere in Arabia, right?" Eiko said.

"Bzzzt, wrong!" Keith said. "Actually, a lot of people say Egypt."

"Egypt?" Eiko questioned.

"Yeah, you know, that country on the northern tip of Africa; sand, pyramids…"

"And those cat things!" Sean chimed in.

"They're called sphinxes," Eiko said. "And I know what Egypt is, I'm majoring in Egyptology."

"Well good," Keith said. "But I've also heard Germany might be where they started out."

Seto had a disappointed look on his face. "I was hoping you could give us more information than just the origin of the organization," Seto said.

"Heh, I do. But for you to believe it, we'll have to go on a little field trip."

"To where they're keeping the crazy people!" Sean said happily.

Keith smacked him on the back of the head. "Pardon my nephew, he is an idiot."

"I can't exactly disagree with you," Seto said.

"Why do we need to go to an asylum?" Eiko asked, confused.

"Ever heard of Sophie Breen, the daughter of that rich guy?" Seto and Eiko were quiet; they knew all too well who Sophie Breen was. "I'll take your silence as a maybe," Keith said. "Anyway, she recently was checked into there by her parents."

"What?" Eiko said, standing up out of her seat. "W-what do you mean, her parents checked her into the asylum?"

"Apparently they couldn't handle her anymore," Sean said. "From what I've heard, she's pretty messed up."

"You think you could say that with a bit more compassion in your voice?" Eiko said angrily.

"Calm down, girly," Keith said, taking a sip from his cup. "You think it's better for her to be stuck with a bunch of people who don't want her?"

"That doesn't make it right," Eiko said.

"Pff, when has life ever been right?" The group was quiet. "Well, answer me; when has life ever been right?"

Eiko couldn't answer; she sat down quietly, a defeated look on her face. "As I was saying, she claims that she started Ward Sharier," Keith explained.

"Are you screwing with me?" Seto asked. "'Cause I'm really not in the mood to be screwed."

"Do I look like a person who would do that?" Seto was silent. Keith finished off his beer and looked at the two. "Like I said, you need to see it to believe it. Luckily I've set up a visitors meeting with her tomorrow at twelve."

"We're going to see Sophie?" Eiko said. "Are you sure that's alright?"

Keith shrugged. "It's not like anyone else is waiting to see her." Eiko was quiet. "So it's done then; tomorrow at twelve."

Akina: (holding stilettos against Aoi's back) any last words, Aoi?

Aoi: yes. Tell Akai I love her.

Akai: I'm already married to Halfmoon Phoenix and you know it!

Halfmoon Phoenix: what? No you're not!

Akina:… Maybe I should just kill all of you.