"So… what are you planning on doing, Kaiba? Bakura isn't exactly known for keeping his word," Atem said. He, Serena and Kaiba were all in the latter's office. Kaiba gave a small smirk.

"No, but I have his cards. Cards that he wants badly; the two Graphas and Dreadroot. He knows that if he ever, ever destroys my Dragons that he'll never see his again either. The both of us are rather forced to not try and screw the other over," Kaiba replied. Atem glanced at the clock. 7 PM.

"…Seto?" Serena began timidly. Kaiba turned and looked at her, his expression unchanging. "I… I never got a chance to say it earlier, but thank you for-"

"Don't worry about it. KaibaCorp has a company policy and impressive record of employee safety. Far as I'm concerned, you're KaibaCorp security for this tournament. Just enforcing policy, that's all," He said, trying to sound indifferent. Serena couldn't help but smile at Kaiba's horribly failed attempt to keep his tough image up.

Atem sighed. "I guess our best plan will be to just show up, see if Bakura brings his whole brigade and see if he wants a fight or a fair trade," He said. Serena held up a finger.

"What about the other Scouts? Or Joe-"

"I don't give a damn what has to be done, I am NOT going to owe Wheeler any favors," Kaiba interrupted vehemently. Atem smiled despite himself and Serena narrowed her eyes.

"Now you listen to me, Seto Kaiba. Your prized monsters, your childhood companions are in the hands of multiple people that have no problem doing anything and everything to get their evil way. You think Bakura is just gonna give you Blue-Eyes White Dragon back to you? Hell no. I guarantee he's got some trick up his sleeve. We need every person we can get to back us up!" She lectured, advancing on Kaiba and putting a finger in his face despite being shorter.

"Serena has a point, although she could do it without the finger pointing," Aten added. He pulled his phone out and dialed. The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. Finally, he got Amy's answering message. "That could be a bad omen," he muttered. "Amy isn't answering her phone. He dialed again. Rang once. Twice. "Hello? Joey? Weren't you supposed to meet with the others?" He paused. "…We're at KaibaCorp. We'll be leaving in about an hour for Domino High. How far are you out?" Another pause. " …You did what? Oh for… Do you even know the guy?" More listening. "You'd better hope so. Well, we'll see you shortly," Atem finally finished before hanging up.

"Apparently, Joey never met with the Scouts. They never showed. Joey assumes something's wrong, he's already headed this way," He said. Kaiba sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What were you talk about at the end there?" Serena asked. Atem sighed.

"Joey, ah… kind of hotwired a motorcycle. He thinks it belongs to Valon, a former enemy of ours. He was under the Orichalcos' influence. Not sure how Joey knows it's his bike…" He explained. Kaiba snorted.

"You're right; he'd better pray it belongs to Valon and not some burly Hell's Angel," He said. "Although that fight would be rather amusing," he added as an afterthought.

Five minutes later they heard tires screeching to a halt in front of the building. Looking down out the window, they saw Joey pulling an amazingly smooth sideways skid to stop right next to Kaiba's personal car. "That mutt is SO damn lucky," Kaiba muttered as they watched him run in.

"OK, so give da rundown. What da hell happened?" Joey panted as he got off the elevator and pushed his way into the room. Kaiba raised an eyebrow, vaguely amused. Then his face turned stone-cold serious.

"Did anyone tell you what happened this afternoon?" Joey shook his head. "Well, what you need to know is that I stole Bakura's strongest monsters, Dragons as it happens, from his deck. He got one back, but I still have the rest. He replied by having Queen Beryl barge in here and steal my deck," He said.

"Wow. Seriously… Alright den. We go, find Bakura and kick his ass until he gives the deck up?" Joey suggested. Atem sighed.

"Bakura left a note. We're to meet in… an hour," Atem said, looking at the clock. Joey nodded, then thought for a second.

"So… What're we gonna do when we get dere? Just hand him da Dragons and hope he's feeling honest?" He asked with a derisive snort. For once, Kaiba agreed with him.

"I honestly don't know," Atem admitted. "I doubt Bakura will be alone. It will not be wise to engage in physical combat; not only will he have even numbers, he'll also have one Grapha and the rest of his Dark World monsters to Summon against us," He said.

"Well, Domino High is clear across town. We'd better get rolling if we wanna make it on time," Joey pointed out. Kaiba nodded.

"For once, he actually has a point. Joey, you have your bike. Rest of us'll take my car," He said. Everyone nodded in agreement and took off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"They had better show," Bakura muttered, leaning casually by the door of the high school. A snort from above him made him look up.

"And what the hell exactly are you going to do if they don't?" Lita was pissed. Not only had they been ambushed on their way to their hotel, they were now tied up on the sides of the clock tower, Neflite and Jaedite standing guard. Next to Lita were Yugi, Rei, Tea, Mina and Tristan. Beryl was in the small room directly below the clock itself.

"If they don't come. Sailor Venus will be the first to drop," Beryl answered. Around her was a red button that was wired to a small spinning saw resting on the ropes holding them on. One press of the button and someone was going to fall ten stories.

"Don't worry. As long as everyone cooperates, I'll have what I want and have no use for you," He said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he heard screeching tires and his eyes widened as of all people, Joey flew overhead on a motorcycle, the others shortly in tow in Kaiba's vehicle.

"Bakura! We're here! Release them and we'll talk business," Kaiba demanded. Bakura grinned.

"You really shouldn't make demands right now. I have your Dragons, you have mine. I have your friends and no qualms about doing whatever I have to do with them," He said.

"Yeah? You forget; I have The Wicked Dreadroot. And unless there's some spell on it to make in indestructible, I'd say we each have each other rather by the balls here," Kaiba shot back. Bakura considered this.

"True… I would suggest settling this the old-fashioned way, but you'd need your deck to do that," He taunted. Kaiba opened his mouth but was interrupted.

"I think I can solve that problem," Serena said, "Besides, I owe him a favor and you the ass kicking of the century," She added. Bakura shook his head.

"Just as Kaiba is currently unable to duel, I don't have my entire deck. However… Hold that thought," He said before leaping with inhuman ability to the roof. He made his way up the clock tower and began talking to Beryl. It seemed as though they were having a brief discussion.

"Alright then! Here's the deal! Beryl will duel in my place and you will duel in Kaiba's stead! However…" Bakura trailed off. Serena narrowed her eyes. "You will duel on this tower. Around the edges of the tower will be your friends, each tied onto the tower. Each of you will be wired to a device via your Duel Disks. This one," He said, holding up a wire even as Serena made her way up the tower, "connects to each of these boxes. The life points hit zero, it sends a signal that'll set these blades spinning," He said.

That stopped Serena's ascension up the stairs on the outside of the tower cold. Playing with her friends' lives like that? "…And if I win?" She yelled up as she continued her climb.

"Beryl's Duel Disk is wirelessly connected to the lock on that safe by the school entrance," Bakura said, pointing downward. Kaiba looked and ran up to the safe. "Hold you horses. If I see any of you tampering with that safe, I'll kill each of these Scouts at my whim," He threatened.

"How do I know you have my real deck inside that safe?" Kaiba asked. He had sufficient rights to be suspicious; Bakura was not known for his honesty.

"Can I finish please? Beryl, if you please," He said. She nodded and pressed a button specially attached to her disk and the safe opened. "Do NOT try to run off with your deck, Kaiba. Not if you value their lives," Bakura warned. Kaiba nodded and reached in, pulling out a small metal box. Inside was indeed his deck, his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons stacked on the top. Kaiba fought down the urge to make a break for it.

"Place the Grapha cards in that box," Bakura instructed. Kaiba gave a rueful smile and nodded. Of course, it made sense. To the winner would go all of the spoils. He placed the dark Dragons in and replaced the box, shutting the safe.

Serena jumped up to the top of the tower to stare down Beryl and Bakura. "How can we be sure you'll keep your word? Your track record isn't very good in that regard," She said. Bakura nodded.

"No, it certainly hasn't. But this game would be no fun if it wasn't a fair one. I'll tell you what: Jaedite, Neflite!" They looked up. "Get down there with their group and do NOT attack," He said. They tilted their heads in confusion but did as told. "I thought you might want some collateral," He told Serena before creating a minute portal that took him down to the front door of the school. He fished around in his pockets until he finally pulled out two revolver pistols. Everyone tensed and Bakura grinned.

"Calm down, fools," He said before pointing the guns at his two partners, whose eyes widened.

"What are you doing?!" Beryl demanded from the tower. Bakura sighed impatiently.

"Giving them collateral," He replied before handing one gun to Kaiba and another to Joey. "There. If something fishy happens, you'll be able to take down half of our number," He said before shoving the two Negaverse captains forward. The two newly-made gunmen grabbed the pair.

"Bakura…this doesn't need to end so violently," Atem said.

"Quit your bitching, Pharaoh. If your girl wins, all is well and your group will be free to go," Bakura said over his shoulder with a smirk before stepping back into the portal, warping to the tower again. "Let's start this up," He said, hooking Serena's disk to the death wire and flipping a switch on Beryl's special disk.

Beryl narrowed her eyes at Bakura. The collateral bit had not been discussed. She was angry beyond anger that he had put her best people in certain mortal peril should Joey and Kaiba decide they wanted to pull the trigger. She could feel the lack of power coming from the pair; they couldn't use their telekinesis to get themselves free.

Serena looked cold, just as she had in her previous duels. This time, though, it was not an evil possession. It was a calm, collected rage. She would save her friends and help Kaiba now, but she would get her hands on Bakura if it was the last thing she did.

"DUEL!"