It turned out Yugi's Ka beast wasn't the Red Dark Magician (ironically enough that turned out to be Ryou's), but rather Seth's second favorite shadow summon.
Yugi's Ka was Dharc the Dark Charmer. Considering his ability was to control Dark oriented creatures, it was surprisingly fitting. Strangely enough, prolonged exposure to Yugi and Seth was giving Dharc a power boost, because he was almost ready to unlock his Familiar-Possessed form.
With Dharc on the field, Yugi could take control of the Pharaoh's Dark Magician and sacrifice him for Satellite Cannon, taking him out of the equation.
And after two freaking months of listening to the dumbass pester him about what he was planning, Yugi was at his wit's end and ready to tie the Pharaoh up throw him inside the Scavanger's Daughter, and give Bakura and Seth the go ahead to start cranking the wheel.
(If you don't know what this is, simply put it's an archaic torture device which is pretty much the opposite of the rack. Instead of pulling your limbs apart it crushes you slowly.)
Yami was naturally very, very concerned when he happened to look in Yugi's room one night and found several ancient and extremely painful implements of torture in the room hiding in the shadows. While it still looked like someone had thrown up a kid's toy store in there, the fact that the torture devices were even there worried him greatly.
Particularly when on closer inspection he discovered they were part of Yugi's dreams...with him as the test subject. Though when he saw Yugi he didn't know which scared him more.
The torture devices...or the S and M fetish gear with him tied to any number of ways to die slowly and painfully.
Yami really should have seen this coming when Yugi started to wear leather more often...
When Bakura saw how the Pharaoh reacted to Yugi's dreams of late, he started laughing...like a hyena...on crack.
Yugi didn't seem repentant at the least.
"So Chibi, you about ready?"
"I've been ready for over a week. I have my deck assembled, Grandpa's old one is in my other pocket, and I am more than eager to get rid of that damn Pharaoh."
"Is it true that on the very likely chance he gets his own body that your Grandpa is making him get his own apartment?" said Seth gleefully.
Yugi smirked.
"Since I'm leaving for Egypt for a year, he said that the idiot has to get his own place to stay since he had no intention of dealing with all the nutjobs after his title. Coincidentally, Seth, could I duel you for Slifer? That way I can put him in my deck and kick Yami's ass and I won't be completely outgunned if he tries to bring out Obelisk or Ra."
"Sure. Just make sure it's in your deck not the one the Pharaoh will be using. I'll duel you for it back once this is over, just in case."
"Like I would be that nice to the prick."
Yes, hanging out with Seth and co had added to Yugi's list of swearing rather well. He could now cuss the Pharaoh out like a drunken sailor and a woman who worked at an Ancient Egyptian whorehouse when cheated out of her pay.
When asked by Yugi how Bakura got so good at it, he shrugged and said "The Ancients were a hell of a lot more creative and they didn't rely on those pansy ass swear words you use today. When they were pissed at you, you knew pretty damn quick, and that was before they started throwing things at you."
Which explained more than it didn't about why Bakura didn't hesitate to use what he considered minor swear words liberally enough to give nice old ladies a coronary.
Yugi was chucking the Puzzle into his suitcase so they could get to Egypt without getting into trouble over the rather large hunk of metal with the eye of Horus on the front.
Seth, whenever it was brought up about air port security, would curse quite strongly about the Taliban making it harder than it needed to be to load his knives and poisons onto his own plane, despite the fact he could have chucked it all in the Shadow Realm and saved himself the hassle.
He didn't like relying solely on his magic to defend himself. Neither did Bakura, who carried enough knives to be considered a small armory.
That being said, sneaking past air port security was a bitch and a half for the ancient thief. Which was why half the time Seth simply paid off the guards to look the other way.
The rest of the time the idiots tried to feel him up, so he gutted them and changed his appearance. Just because he had the looks of what most girls would call a 'bishie' and happened to be openly Bi did not mean he enjoyed getting felt up by overweight guards who couldn't even put up a decent fight before he killed them!
Because he wasn't wearing his Puzzle, Yami had no idea that Yugi was taking them to Egypt and directly to the remains of Kul Elna, where the souls trapped in the Items would finally be put to rest.
Once Shaadi felt the presence of the other six Items, he would have to show up to find out what was going on...at which point Seth would steal the Scales and rob him blind.
One way or another, this ended today.
Yami woke up when Yugi put the Puzzle on again. It took him a moment to realize where they were.
"Yugi, why are we in Egypt?"
Yugi ignored his question and took the Items Seth handed him, placing each one in the slab beneath him.
When he got to the Eye, he felt someone show up. It was Shaadi.
"What is going on here?"
"Seth."
Seth gleefully bashed Shaadi on the head, and he was out cold. Embodiment of the seal or not, he was going to feel that in the morning. He swiped the Scales and tossed them to Yugi. Kaiba, Mokuba, Ryou, Isis, Marik and Malik were all going to bear witness to this duel. Bakura was making sure that they weren't interrupted by any sudden appearances of the Cheer Squad.
He wouldn't put it past Ra to try and bring them here directly to support his precious Pharaoh.
"Yugi, what the hell is going on here?! Why are we in Egypt and WTF is Shaadi doing here?!" demanded Yami.
The twitch in Yugi's eyebrow became more pronounced with each demand. Soon, soon he would be free of having an bloody Pharaoh sharing brain space with him and all his demands. The man was less than useless outside a duel, his fan girls were insane, and half the crap he was dragged into was his fault!
He pulled off the Puzzle, shoved it into the corresponding space and with no little sense of satisfaction said clearly in Egyptian "I claim right to succession as Ruler of Shadows. May the Gods favor the winner of this duel between Yugi Muto and the Pharaoh Atem."
Yami...no, Atem, was thrown out of the Puzzle with a great deal of force and he looked bewildered. In his pocket was his deck, which he had fiddled with the night before and replaced a card or two before going back to sleep.
In Yugi's hand was his own deck, and he looked rather pleased with himself.
"Yugi, what the hell is going on? Why are we here?"
"We, Pharaoh, are here to put an end to your reign and break the seal on the Shadow Realm. I've put up with your nonsense for far too long, and I intend to kick you out. I don't know if you'll be here when this is over, and frankly I don't give a shit either way."
"Yugi, exactly how much time have you spent around Bakura and Seth?"
"More than you. They tolerate me and they don't throw knives, curses or hexes in my general direction when I show up. That reminds me... Bakura, Seth, Marik, Malik and Ryou! When this nonsense is over, the first four rounds are on me!" said Yugi.
"WHOOHOO! FREE BEER!" cheered the others. Kaiba sweatdropped.
"You know the offer is always open for you and Mokuba to join us," said Seth.
"Mokuba is too young to legally drink," said Kaiba.
"I know, but the British mages happen to have something even he can drink without the cops getting on our ass."
"Whoohoo! Free Butterbeer!" said Mokuba with a grin. Seth gave him a thumbs up.
"What is Butterbeer?" asked Kaiba giving Seth a look. Yugi had already started the duel, and they were more or less there as emotional support and his cheering section for when he kicked Atem's ass from here to the ever after.
"A drink with less than two percent alcohol sold to thirteen-year-old children and is considered a good way to warm up on a cold day when warm?" said Bakura.
"Less than two percent? Are you sure?"
Seth handed him a bottle, and sure enough there on the label it said the alcoholic content.
"What sort of alcohol is in here?"
"We're still trying to figure that one out, to be honest... Ooooh, he just played Satellite Cannon! Nice! And here comes Maha Vialo!" said Seth.
"So far we've excluded rum, whiskey, bourbon, tequila, scotch, vodka and absinthe. We're still looking at regular beer made of hops, but it's a real pain in the ass trying to figure out which ones and what brand. Sweet, look at the bastard's face! Bet he wasn't expecting Izanami!"
"What?" said Kaiba, finally paying attention to the duel. Atem was down five hundred life points, and Yugi kept using pot shots at him to keep him from getting more than one monster on the field. Sure Atem had Big Shield Gardna, but that wouldn't last long with Satellite Cannon on the field, especially since Yugi was saving it for any real threats.
Plus there was the fact that he had somehow managed to get Slifer out within the first five turns, and Atem was actually sweating.
Well, that and there was the fact that for some reason both of his God cards ended up near the lower half of his fifty card strong deck whereas Yugi had roughly a forty-five card deck and already had some heavy hitters out.
Atem really wasn't expecting Yugi to abandon the Egyptian gods and go straight for the Shinto set...or the Satellite Cannon, which by now had roughly 7,000 attack points and was perfectly prepared to annihilate both his god cards if he tried to summon them.
Then again, Yugi had noted with disgust that he had been relying too much on his powerful cards to end the duel and his luck of the gods to get him out of a situation instead of actually practicing for scenarios like this.
Seth was watching with glee as Atem was getting his ass handed to him by Yugi...right until he noticed Shaadi was waking up. It had been an hour after all.
"What is happening here?" asked Shaadi with a groan.
"Yugi challenged the Pharaoh for the right to rule the Shadows and said his true name to make it official. When he wins, the Items will be destroyed and the souls set free to the afterlife where they belong. We aren't sure if Atem will get a body or not, but either way he won't be our problem anymore," said Seth flatly.
"No! He shouldn't duel the Pharaoh now! He has to defeat the Dark One who forced the Pharaoh to seal away the realm at the cost of his name!" said Shaadi in horror.
"You mean Zorc? We took care of that problem years ago. As for his name, all the Pharaoh had to do in order to get it back was simply ask. It wasn't like I was keeping it a secret from him," said Seth amused.
"Yes, but the fact you can't stand him would have been a problem," said Kaiba dryly.
"He could have asked Yugi. Bast knows I told him months ago."
"But, but, but...!"
"Face it Shaadi, the Pharaoh was getting too demanding for the poor kid. And don't think I didn't notice those spells on that damn hunk of gold which would make his personality more dominant. Yugi decided on his own that he would learn how to stand for himself, and he rarely wore the Puzzle for the past six months," said Seth.
Shaadi slumped, defeated. It was clear how this would end. Yugi had spend months preparing for the duel, instead of having it dropped on him. Seth knew full well that Yugi would have to duel the Pharaoh within a month of speaking his name aloud. Which was why he had only written the word, and Yugi had sounded it out in his head.
And since Yugi wasn't leaning on the Egyptian Gods, who would obviously favor the Pharaoh more than his descendant/reincarnation, he had learned to fight using his gods, from before he became embroiled in a fight that was thousands of years in the making.
"Besides Shaadi, don't think we didn't see where your little 'Memory World' was heading. If we let Yugi in there, it would only serve to make the Pharaoh stronger and we won't allow that when he has enough trouble keeping him in line," said Seth flatly.
"He brought out Obelisk! BURN BITCHES, BURN!" cackled Bakura.
Seth turned back to the duel, and cheered Yugi on as he had the by now 15,000 attack point strong Satellite Cannon obliterate Obelisk the Tormentor, who was barely 4,000 points strong.
It was massive overkill, and it also ended the duel.
Yugi grinned as his cheering section went nuts...right before the two of them were pulled up to see the gods.
Ra was not happy, but Bastet was purring.
"It appears to me that the judgment is final. Clearly Yugi Muto is capable of handling the Shadows on his own," she purred.
"Agreed. Atem, it is time for you to stand down as King of Shadows. However, in the spirit of fairness we shall give you a choice. Do you wish to live out the remainder of your life as a mortal once more, or to ascend to the afterlife to see your people?" asked Osiris.
"If I stay in the mortal plains, would I still be able to see my people once I die again?"
"Of course. This would just give you time to live your life like a normal Magus. At best you would be putting off death for a hundred years or so."
"In that case I wish to stay in the mortal world," said Atem.
"Just to be clear, Atem, Grandpa said you'll have to move out once we get back. He doesn't want to deal with the crazies that go after you, and since I won't be living in the shop for the next year or so he doesn't want you nearby without a buffer," said Yugi flatly.
Atem clearly was surprised by that news.
"I already had an account set up in your name, and it has about two million dollars US currency in it, so you should be able to live off that until you can get on your feet."
"Yugi Muto, as the new King of Shadows, you shall be given full authority over the Shadow Realm and if need be, the ability to merge with your Ka beast. We wish you the best of luck...and please, try to keep Horus from causing too much trouble," said Osiris.
Yugi saluted the god, and they went back.
Seth took one look at Atem, cocked his right hand back, and hit the man with a right hook.
"Damn. Bakura, I'll pay you when we get home alright?" said Seth with a scowl.
Bakura snickered.
"Let's get the hell out of here before this place collapses. Now that the Shadows have released the souls inside the Items, our family should be at peace," said Seth.
"You mean those Items?" Mokuba asked innocently.
Seth followed his finger, and his eye twitched.
"#$%^&*(). Yugi, could you ask the gods to release the souls?" he said, eyebrow twitching rampantly.
Bakura hefted the Ring up. Because of his good behavior, he had been given a body as well...Malik had one too, since they had long since gotten used to his presence.
"I don't sense the souls in here."
"Fine, then could you ask them to reclaim the damn Items? They were made of the bodies of our village," said Seth.
That got a reaction out of the gods, as the entire room began to shake and crumble.
"Now that is more like it," said Seth.