Skin

by Usagi Squared

Jonouchi Katsuya will always look out for his friends, no matter how weird things get. That means he will keep on fighting, whether facing maniacs with freaky powers, monsters from a childrens game, or the fact Kaiba's a girl. Wait, what? Warnings inside

105. Chapter 104

Dusk and Dawn

---

It was hard really, to remember what happened after the battle was over. The arena had lowered of course- it had to, if any one was going to get off. But even with shouts of safety and patience, the still moving arena was hardly enough to keep them from swarming their friend as he slowly shook himself off, with himself and Honda already scaling the side of the lift with wide grins. The 'light' Yugi had retreated to within the puzzle for a moment to recover from the duel, 'catching his breath' in a sense. The one in control however, the 'other', was turning toward them with an expression that slowly grew from dull shock over what he'd successfully done and into a warm and successful smile. They'd made it through after all. The shadows were gone. The sun, though no longer in the center of the sky, had returned to shine brightly in a blue sky.

They'd won. It was all over.

All of it.

"HahaHAAAA! YEA," he shouted, already running to knock the boy over in a bear hug as the arena locked onto the ground. There was a short choking sound as his friend attempted to respond, soon deciding against it as Katsuya continued to laugh. "HAHA! Y' DID IT! Y' did it," he cried, "Y' did great..!" He pulled back, hands on his friend's shoulder's a moment before the blond moved for the others to come over. "Man... That out there..."

Amazing. It was amazing, it was... "You're the greatest duelist in the world now," Otogi complimented, bowing his head somewhat as he approached with the others. "Congratulations..."

"It's been a long haul," Honda added with a nervous laugh. Hahaha...

Long haul eh? "Tha'... That doesn' even cover it," he responded with a similar tone as he held back a shudder. "Tha'..." He sighed, shaking his head and looking back to his friend. "You alrigh'," he asked a little quieter, worried glances moving toward the boy.

He nodded, smile still in place. "Shaken," he said calmly, a short sigh escaping him. "But otherwise fine; both of us are," he added. "Ah... ...But Anzu," the boy continued with a cough, the woman in question jumping somewhat as he turned to her. "What about you? Now that Malik has his own body-"

"Eh?" Anzu blinked, turning from where Arabic chatter from behind had distracted her. "Oh! Oh, me.. I'm... I'm fine," she said with a slight laugh, rubbing her neck before coughing. "Just fine..!"

"Are you sure," Shizuka asked worriedly. The elder of the girls blinked, and the younger continued. "During the match... I almost thought you'd gone into shock," she warned with a swallow, shaking her head. "Especially after you passed on Malik-han's message. After that you were almost white pale," she said, "So... When you say 'I'm fine'... Are you sure?"

Anzu stared a moment, almost turning to look behind her again before looking to the others and nodding once more. "I am," she said calmly, taking in a deep breath. Her voice didn't waver in any way, despite the attempts to look back again- still, they weren't completely sure... But they again held their tongues."I'm still missing a few memories," she was adding with a light laugh, shaking her head. "Probably from before Malik got in there, during when I was captured but... I'm fine now," the woman repeated. "I..." There was a short sigh, Anzu glancing at the ground for moment. "...I'm more worried about him," she continued, looking back toward where Malik now stood.

The Arabic had stopped Katsuya noticed. Now all there was on the other side of the field was awkward silence, the wind blowing Ishizu's shawl over her shoulders as she hesitantly prevented herself from pulling her younger brother close for a hug. She'd done that once already, that much Katsuya knew- she'd even climbed over the moving arena to do it, the thought of being able to reunite with her brother after so long too much to ignore. It was enough that she'd even allowed herself the freedom of falling tears. And in the back of his mind worried cries in Arabic had filled the air, with a thousand apologies coming between them, with a thousand phrases he shouldn't have understood, one after another after another.

Evidently, his mind liked to fill in the blanks when it came to things like this. 'For thousands of years,' Ishizu had said, Katsuya idly wondering why he was catching a glimpse of the past rather than the future for once in his recently hectic life, 'Thousands of years... Our family has lived in darkness. Malik... There is no need to apologize any more,' she whispered honestly, her brother merely staring back in confusion. 'Darkness was our destiny, as was it your destiny to end it. Hate is never eternal- And revenge should never last as long as it has within our line, or for even a single life time,' she continued, tears still dotting her eyes even after they'd seemingly dried out. 'Perhaps our family was assigned the duty of this guardianship so that we could learn that...'

'But... Can our family live like this,' her brother had asked, staring at the ground again with quivering eyes himself. 'Out of the dark... Can we...'

'What kind of question is that,' she asked him, smiling as she shook her head. Her brother looked back up, and the woman continued. 'The three of us, we are tomb guardians, are we not? No matter where we live, that won't change. We are family,' Ishizu told the two, both Rishid and Malik staring with momentary shock before gaining their own expressions of guilty confusion and grief. 'We will always be family,' she continued, a few tears appearing in even Rishid's eyes at the words, 'And as long as we have that bond anything is possible...' Anything was possible...

Anything... "Nihan," Shizuka asked, the blond shaking his head and turning to his sister. Eh? Katsuya blinked, looking toward the others as they turned to stare. "...Nihan," she repeated, "Are you alright? You've been staring off for a few minutes and-"

Ah? He'd spaced out again? He blinked a few times, receiving nothing but a blank look from his sister as a result. Hah. ...Greaaaat... He shook his head, laughing somewhat. "Hah... Yea," Katsuya eventually decided, "I'm fine..! Trus' me, I'm..." ...Fine.

...Family. 'Family' was a damn important thing he thought to himself, looking toward Anzu as she again forced herself not to look over at the others. Thanks to how divided his own had become when his parents split, he knew a hell of a lot about that. It hurt like hell to be excluded from your family but... What did it mean then..?

When you had the memories of a family that you couldn't be a part of?

As it turned out, Malik was wondering the same thing. Which was why soon enough, the awkward silence that came from staring at the family and at Anzu's jacket cloaked back was broken. "...Anzu," he called out, turning from his siblings as the woman in question jumped. The others almost stiffened in a similar response, eyes widening somewhat from where they'd been talking about what happened next, about what this meant for Mai, and for Bakura. Silence came through the air and again the Egyptian spoke, stepping forward somewhat to look at the one he'd shared a body with under an hour before. "Anzu... For what happened during the match..."

She shook her head, smiling. "It was nothing," she told him, cutting him off quickly. Her arm had absently rose up to rub her shoulder, as though nursing a stinging pain and she winced somewhat she continued. "I didn't want your words to go unheard... So I..."

Malik stared at her briefly, as though about to say something else before pushing it from mind. "...Anzu," he instead decided. "On the way back... I want to talk to you, alright," he said, the woman staring in response as her friend smiled. "Until then... For all that happened, please know that no matter what, I-"

"You don't need to apologize," Anzu told him, again cutting the Egyptian off. A small smile came over her face, a few bits of the expression almost seeming to come from someone other than herself as she spoke. "I understand... The fight is over right," she continued, turning from Malik to Yugi as the others came near. "The champion receives the ante, and we... ...And you," she corrected, "You complete the final part of being here..."

The woman turned her gaze to the ground after that. And as Malik nodded the others stared, still silent while they watched the Egyptian carefully pull from his dueldisk the God card that had been promised. "That's right," he said with an almost curt nod. "The time has come. ...The traps and spells cast on your friends have been broken," the teen continued, "And they'll regain consciousness soon... If their body allows it," he added quietly, looking down with considerably guilt at the thought of Ryuzaki's current condition. "For now... This is yours," he said clearly, the ring around his neck seeming to gleam almost deceptively as a card was handed forward. "The Dragon of the Sun... Ra." The 'prize', Katsuya told himself blankly.

'And mine as well,' he thought he heard a familiar voice whisper, a faint and faded wisp of smoke shooting through the air. For a moment he thought he caught a glimpse of white mist shooting from the ring around Malik's neck- he almost wondered what it was...

But in the end it vanished so quickly that he shook it off as a strange trick of the light. Nothing, Katsuya told himself as Yugi slowly and quietly took the card. It was nothing, nothing at all and...

"The three God cards," Yugi whispered, misting to his partner's side as the 'darker' half slowly placed it in his hand with the two other's he'd pulled from his deck. "Hnnn..." The cards were slowly slipped into the deck holder at his side, before another voice took their attention.

"Osiris of the skies, Sutekh of the earthen Obelisk... And the God of all, Ra," Malik began, the others looking back to him as he pulled his duel disk off. "These three cards hold the key to regaining the Pharaoh's memory... And in addition to that," he continued, hands hesitating only briefly over his shirt. "...The 'King's Memories'," Malik said with a swallow. Briefly, Anzu's grip on her shoulder tightened- her hand twitched somewhat even, as though attempting to do something herself, but in the end she and Malik both traded a look as the latter moved on. "Look closely," he finally said, his siblings both stiffening somewhat as he carefully pulled the black shirt off to leave the Millennium Ring dangling around his neck. "These are the carvings that will guide you to the next step..."

As Malik turned around the crowd immediately froze, a sharp intake of breath heard over the air as thick and cracked scars came into view. "Oh god," Shizuka whispered, a few of the others even looking away from the sight as they gagged. "All those scars..." Carved with cruel precision, left to scab and crack under the years while simultaneously being cared for meticulously lest a single line blur. There had been no mistakes in the carving of memories...

Not that he could read them, he thought almost wryly. "These hieroglyphs," Ishizu began almost with a whisper, "Contain the words of a prophecy passed down from the first tomb guardian, who served under the royal family in the time of the nameless pharaoh. It was her last vision before death," she continued, "And it was following this that, according to records, the Millennium Items were sealed away. 'Come the time far beyond the sun will arrive he with the powers of the Gods in his hands,'" she began, closing her eyes momentarily. "'By the Gods you shall know him, and by the Gods he will know you- for he is the one in whom the Pharaoh's soul resides...' Yugi," Ishizu stated. "The God Cards you hold now are proof of your power. They are proof that the time has come... For the King of Egypt to recover the memories of the past. And within the remainder of this carving," she went on, looking to her brother as the teen shifted somewhat awkwardly, "Lies the instruction on your final steps before the end." The...

The end..? "...You can read the hieroglyphs, can't you," Anzu said somewhat quietly, her friend merely nodding as he stared at Malik's back. The woman stared for a moment, her gaze growing slightly dim as she continued. "...You can understand them then," she asked, again rubbing her shoulder. Well...

Not in the way that she could, if that was what she was getting at. Nonetheless the boy nodded, still staring as his vision seemed to grow clouded. "Yes... ...And no," he said carefully, fingers twitching somewhat as they brushed over the cards at his side. "More like a feeling... A vision of sorts, I..." He shook his head, carefully closing the case at his side as Malik turned back around.

"My duty isn't yet done," the Egyptian said almost stiffly, pulling the cord holding the ring up and over his neck with a swallow. The Millennium Rod was next, the small flame on his shoulder slinking over to the golden staff as it was pulled from the belt-loop it had been stashed in, both objects balanced within his hands and shimmering in the sun. "Here," he continued, holding the items out toward the boy. "The Millennium Rod; like the tauk, our clan has watched over it for generations... And now, as it should be, it is yours. I also leave you with the Millennium Ring," he told him, both items glowing brightly as his friend hesitantly reached out to take them. "No doubt that it's better in your hands..." Yep. That was probably right but-

Wait, the blond thought stiffly, eyes widening for a moment. Why the hell did the ring seem to suddenly be glowing differently..?

Ishizu's voice pulled him from his thoughts, the group watching as Malik replaced his shirt before turning their attentions to the woman. "Yugi," she began, bowing her head somewhat in thanks. "My brother is now free of the darkness that plagued you before... You have my thanks in addition to his own on the matter."

"Breaking the darkness was your own doing," Yugi responded, his smile becoming a smirk. "Not mine... ...But what will you do now," he continued curiously, his lighter half having seemingly whispered the same thing in his ear seconds before. "Now that all of this is over... What will you do?"

"Well... The details of what comes next are a little 'foggy'," answered the woman, seeming to try and make a joke out of the answer. "But whatever we do, it will be on a new path rather than the one that led us here. We will remain here to rebuild what has been broken down in our wake... After all, the 'Ishtar Family' has nothing but light to follow now."

"No doubt that we'll return home at some point though," Malik added somewhat 'cheerily', Anzu catching herself half-way through an agreeing nod as Katsuya stared. "But even before then... If we could speak as friends," he began, only to cut himself short as he caught the uneasy looks from those behind his former enemy. "...I..."

The crowd shared a few looks, before a number of them shook their heads and smiled. Heh. "What're y' talkin' abou," Katsuya said with a smirk, arms crossed. "Aren't we friends already?"

The Egyptian blinked, staring somewhat owlishly. "Ah-"

"He's right," Yugi continued, Malik's eyes widening somewhat as he looked over the group for any traces of the deception that he expected to see. "What you said on the field in our match... That doesn't matter, not now. We were friends the moment we left the 'Virtual World'- understand?"

"It'll take time for the wounds to heal of course," Anzu added from the side, her friend turning to stare in response. "Trust..." She bit her lip, an odd look coming through her face before she shook it off. "...It doesn't heal that easy," the woman forced out, "But in the end... What we have now, what we have here... I think that's a start," she decided. If not 'everything', it was a start.

Now then. "Well," Katsuya said with a stretch, rubbing the back of his neck as the others turned. "I dunno about you guys, but I think I could use a snack 'r somethin'... Not t' mention," he continued with a grin, "When th' others wake up, don't y' wanna see 'm?" A number of the others brightened at the mention, whatever remaining gloom on the air seeming to vanish immediately.

"That's right," Shizuka added, "And the hospital helicopter should be here any minute, that's our ride home isn't it..?"

The blond nodded, each of the others muttering their own affirmatives as he turned to the side. "Hehehe... Yep! Whaddya say we leave this place in the dust, neh Seto-ch-" He froze, looking to where the woman and her brother had been standing moments before. Nothing but empty space... "...Eh..."

"Ah... ...Kaiba's gone," Honda muttered, blinking a few times. "But where..."

A sudden click took Katsuya's attention, the blond turning to where Isono now stood with a radio. Obviously no one would have heard that, he thought in the back of his mind, but what was he talking abou-

"TH-THIRTY MINUTES," Isono abruptly shouted, his panic evident even from behind. Another click from the radio and the crowd jumped, turning to face the man with a somewhat owlish stare. For a moment, he merely stared at the radio in his hands in silence, nervously adjusting the tie around his neck as he tried to breathe. Finally he turned around, another nervous swallow meeting the air as sunglasses were slowly removed and folded over in his hands, eventually finding their way into his breast pocket. "...I... I have just been told to pass the message from Kaiba-sama," he began, taking a stiff gasp of breath, "That with the conclusion of the finals of Battle City... The tournament is officially over. Mutou Yugi takes the title 'King of Duelists'," he went on, the boy in question raising his eyebrow, "And the tower outlives its usefulness... Further more... In... Half an hour," Isono choked out, "The entire structure will be vaporized by high power explosives..." Wh...

What... Shocked silence came in response to the statement, before it was followed by thundering heart-beats and panicked mutterings. "You... Are you completely out of your mind," Honda 'laughed', shaking his head. "Are... You're going to blow up the TOWER!"

"Jonouchi," Otogi said rather flatly, "Your girlfriend is completely insane."

Yea, yea she really was and- "Gh-" He stiffened turning on the teen at his side with a snarl. "Otogi...! She ain't my girlfri-" This wasn't the time, it really wasn't. "AUGGGH!" The blond groaned, pulling at his hair a moment in frustration. "Why th' hell did she pick NOW t' be a sore loser..!" Of all the times..! Why NOW! "Gh... An' you," he continued, pointing accusingly at Isono. "Why th' hell didn' y' say anything..!"

The look on Isono's face was, needless to say... Fairly torn. In fact, it almost made him wonder if the man shouldn't have left his sunglasses on for the sake of preventing his own humiliation. "I... N... No... No one told me..." The radio began to shake in his hands, the others staring for a moment in shock. ...Well. That was always... Pleasant. The amount of time they had to complain however was next to nill thanks to Seto's 'incredible' timing- and as the sound of a helicopter came over the distance, there was little else to do other than run for the tower stairs as fast as possible...

And pray that Seto and Mokuba would be waiting for them there in the end.

---

She'd left just moments after Malik moved to hand Ra over to her rival rather than staying behind to warn them in the end. Originally she'd thought of saying something. Perhaps reminding the boy just who would defeat him in the end, or simply giving him a grudging title and being done with it. But doing so would remind the blond that she was there.

And she didn't want to do that right now.

Yugi had won after all. Against all odds, as he always had. He had won and yet she was still surprised despite it being 'nothing new'. And walking down the stairs and eventually entering the lift to the basement she found herself caught in a mix of emotions. Most were expected, if not disgustingly familiar. She felt rage... She should have been on that field, beating Malik into the ground. She felt hate... She hated Yugi for defeating her again, and again as he always had, something she wanted to grind back into his face with everything in her power. And then there were the 'other' emotions.

Despair. Hopelessness. She never would beat him would she, a small part of her asked before being squashed back down into the back of her mind. Ishizu's words and and endless song were filling her mind, along with all the cries and shouts from the field...

But she had a job to do the woman reminded herself, pushing the thoughts from mind. She had a tower to destroy and a plane to 'catch', and as Mokuba rushed ahead of her she found her gaze drifting over to the windows on the side. "I'll unlock the hangar lift," he told her, looking back with a large smile. "Alright?"

The woman nodded, watching Mokuba do just that before again staring out through the window at the bottom of the tower. There was nothing but rubble outside... Littered with steel and concrete from an older time, piled on top of gathered gravel, steel, soil... Maybe the occasional dandelion even, she noticed dully. Hn!

By the time this island went up in flames it would probably leave a real one behind at this point. Not that it mattered now- What needed to be done would be done though she told herself, arms crossed as she waited for her brother to access the lift. The symbol of all that remained behind them, of the pain under Gozaburo, and of the hate remaining... It would crumble into the seas and nothing would be left behind, save perhaps a lump of burning soil.

This was her last look at this tower.

And she was already sick of it. "Nee-sama," Mokuba was saying from behind her, his sister dully acknowledging the sound. "The password's been put in. There's forty five minutes left until detonation, should we wait for the helicopter to make sure it gets here on time..? We could always re-start detonation time if we had to run an abort code." True... But the helicopter should have arrived by now. Nonetheless she nodded, turning to follow her brother into the lift as she spoke.

"Isono's been given notice to tell me when it lands," she said calmly, not looking to the boy at her side as she watched the floors move past through the elevator glass. "If it hasn't left this island by five-minutes-to then I'll cancel the detonation." She wasn't a murderer after all. Not anymore...

So if it came to it, she would postpone the destruction. Not that it would. After all.

Everything worked out for 'that guy', didn't it? Whether for her rival or for that blond 'mutt' that she'd left at the top of the tower, it all worked out for those two, allowing them to come through any challenge of their relatively unharmed regardless of what happened. They'd 'won' their matches in the end- either officially or unofficially, they'd won.

They had the right to celebrate. They had the right to dance on the top of what would soon be a ruined tower before leaving for their homes as they bragged about whatever it was they had succeeded in. She however, did not.

But what was it that Yugi had said up on that tower she thought to herself, the lift slowly moving downward as he eyes dimmed. Those words... The things he'd spouted instead of announcing her defeat as he normally would have. 'Hatred is a dead end'. 'All you'll do is bring pain to those around you.' Those things...

Not ten minutes after her duel she'd proven him right hadn't she, the woman thought to herself dully. Magic and shadow games and the 'power of friendship'... It sounded like the recipe for a children's comic to get people to figuratively kiss and make up instead of going after each others' throats as they instinctively would. The sort of thing Mokuba would watch on a Sunday morning. Heh...

It was almost funny... And yet...

This was the story of their god-damned life. All of Yugi's opponents, all of his fights since the moment she'd woken up from that coma... Pegasus with the Millennium Eye, Malik with the Rod, Bakura with the Ring, Ishizu with the Tauk. Millennium Items and Ancient Egyptian ghost stories and despite all the facts pointing to it never being real the facts nonetheless seemed just as insistent on making them impossible to fake. Yugi fought for 'his' memories. He didn't fight for a prize, or for gratification. He simply fought so that at the end of the day he could go back to being a 'normal' kid playing cards in the corner of the classroom with his friends.

She herself had been fighting for years. Fighting against the monster that was Gozaburo, until even after death she was still gathering the anger to unleash on whoever crossed her wrong. And like the 'shadow games' that Yugi constantly brought to the field, so too was her own reasoning and hatred doing all it could to destroy her now. Pulling her apart and going so far as to pull ghosts from the past to her mind at each turn she took. Hell... For all she knew it was that very hate that had allowed that 'ghost' to even exist as it had mere moments before, erupting in a pillar of flame that threatened to devour all she knew. She'd destroyed that ghost she reminded herself, fist clenching somewhat. Destroyed it completely...

But how, she wondered, her brother shouting a loud 'come on' as he ran from the now stopped lift into the hangar, had she done that. And more importantly, had she really done that in the end? 'Defeated' him, the man that seemed to almost embody her 'darker side' even now? Mokuba had asked if she could drop it all just like that and go back to times when she smiled, times when life didn't involve a drive to surpass everything before her, a drive to simply win, at all costs...

Times when the simplest thing didn't send her off the edge, when she could actually act like a 'normal' person, or at least enough to come across as more than some iron-clad CEO. There were times when that image was needed after all...

But those times weren't needed in her house, when she was with her brother. They weren't needed when she was outside of the office. They weren't needed when she was with...

Him...

Had she really defeated those dark and gnawing feelings inside she wondered, carefully picking up the locket she wore around her neck and clicking it open. All that anger, all that loathing that held her back from her win, the thing that prevented her from understanding the brother that stood before her now. That held her from seeing past her own illusion of a win to find the real way forward, to find...

Her dream.

'Where do I go from here,' she asked herself in the back of her mind, eyes moving from a slowly fading photo of her brother from years before. She'd lost this time- so what now? She would leave in the plane with Mokuba, return to work... Yugi would go back to school, and the 'Mutt'...

She'd rather not even touch that subject right now, she thought to herself, closing the locket over in her hand. 'Where do I go,' she'd wondered back then, on the day they'd entered the orphanage. They'd pulled it off after all- they'd bought her lie and entered her into the system as a young boy, but what was there to do following that? School, games, sleep and hiding. Always hiding, something she'd had to become used to even back then.

Yet somehow she'd brought herself to smile through those days. And on one of those days long ago... The woman continued to stare at her locket, fingers slowly closing over it as her gaze dimmed. That was when she'd decided her 'dream', the childish dream that she'd managed to twist into 'Death-T' in the years that followed. And she could remember its origin clearly now... They'd been building a sand castle to start with that day. In the end though, they'd gotten bored and expanded. Roller coaster tracks rose around the structure, soon enough accompanied by spinning cups and mid-way games... An entire park made of sand soon sat before them. It had taken hours of course- but her brother's smile had been worth it in the end so after all their work was complete she'd sat back and smiled.

'You know what,' she'd told her brother that day, dusting grit and sand from her palms as the boy stared. 'When I grow up I'm going to build amusement parks just like this, all over the world!'

Her brother blinked, face instantly shifting into an expression of surprise. 'Ah..! Really, nii-sama?' She'd nodded.

'Yea... But not out of sand,' she continued, smirking. 'Real ones. Ones where kids like us, kids who don't have parents can play for free.'

'So... We can play together then,' Mokuba asked, eyes wide. 'We can build them and play together?'

'Yea!' Yes... That...

That was the road to a dream she'd taken back then... A road that now lay buried in the rubble left behind in Gozaburo's wake...

Perhaps then, when this tower crumbled to dust... When this tower, like the 'self' that she'd had before all of this, before that fight with Yugi, was shattered into pieces...

"Nee-sama," Mokuba's faded voice called out, pulling her from her thoughts. "Nee-sama," he repeated almost worriedly, "Are you coming..?" Again she turned, blinking slowly before giving the boy a confident nod.

...Yes. She was. "Hold on a moment," she said quickly, a slight buzz coming over the radio on her coat. "There's something I need to do first." Notice had arrived of the helicopter's descent. It would take approximately twenty minutes for the comatose patients to be loaded and for the vehicle to take off- leaving very little time to do so. For that reason they would not delay in loading the passengers and taking off. "Isono," she began clearly, passing her message onto the man. "I want you to tell Yugi something... Tell him that just for now, I'll let him take the title 'King' this time. I'll re-claim it some other day... He won't be giving anyone else the honor. Until then," Seto continued, "Now that the tournament is over this tower has no use. In exactly thirty minutes," the woman warned, eyes briefly glossing over the timer at the side, "This tower is rigged to set off a series of heavy explosives. Make sure everyone is on the helicopter," she told the man. "And that no one waits... The helicopter leaves within twenty five minutes, understand," Seto demanded. "You have thirty minutes until detonation."

"Th-Thirty minutes..!"

"Understand," she repeated loudly, a choking noise coming over the end.

"Of course... Of course Seto-sama," the man said carefully, likely wiping sweat from his brow with the words.

Hn. "Good. Then there is nothing else to talk about. Good bye Isono."

"AH- But, S-Seto-sa-"

-click-

The radio clicked off, and she again found herself staring away from the jet that would take her and her brother out of the room rather than toward it. Out toward the lift they'd taken downward, and toward the computers that were now feeding live film of the outside to the screens now. "Nee-sama," Mokuba asked again, looking toward his sister worriedly as he stood by the door. "Nee-sama... Are you alright..?"

"I'm fine," she said flatly, the response almost coming too quickly. Perfectly fine. She would put all of this behind her as promised and she wouldn't look back. She wouldn't even glance in that direction.

'I live, an' we'll go back t' what it was b'fore,' he'd said. They'd forget about everything that happened and move on with their lives. Well... Not this time, she told herself stiffly. 'Before' might have had its good moments but the fact was there was plenty that wasn't and plenty to be rid of. She would do as she promised- and she would die before she broke that promise a second time. She would not make her brother cry on her behalf again, mark her words...

'Before'... If she was going to 'before' it would have to be long before all of this Seto told herself. Of that, she was certain. For all she knew the 'road' to her dream went both ways even. Behind, to memories of when her brother was happy, to when she started it in the first place. Skipping over all that happened in between, over where she stood now. More importantly than that however, she would have to go ahead. To whatever light was there. To 'victory'. To...

To...

'More than anything'

One thing...

'I really...'

Just one thing...

'I love you.'

To that road..- "Nee-sama," her brother asked, the woman shaking off her thoughts once more as she climbed into the jet to take her seat. "Hey..." He paused a moment, allowing his sister to sink into subconscious motion before speaking up again. "Are we still going through with this..?" Ah...

She turned, pausing from where she'd been about to start setting up the switches for the jet. With the 'plan'... "...We are," she finally said, before resuming her set up for take off as turbines roared and an engine began to heat. "We might stay at the hotel in San Fransisco a little longer than planned however," she went on, her brother staring almost curiously from behind. "After my meeting with I2 I plan to go over a few things concerning KaibaLand." A number of things in fact...

"Ah- KaibaLand," Mokuba repeated, Seto nodding in response.

"Yes... But we can decide on that later," she continued. "For now," Seto told the boy, looking back for a moment, "Make sure you're comfortable; we have a long drive."

Again her brother nodded, a smile on his face. "Alright nee-sama. But don't space out like you did coming down," he continued with a laugh, "I don't want us to crash..!" Eh? Space-ou-

"Hn! The only one who 'spaces out' like that is Katsuya," she hissed, only to stiffen as her brother let out a somewhat shocked gasp. ...What. What was it? "...Mokuba?"

"You... You called Katsuya-nii by his..." The boy instantly grinned as he threw the shock from mind, his older sister sighing as she gripped the controls to her jet. Oh joy... "Heheheee..! That's never happened before Nee-sama, what's with the sudden change? Tell me, tell me..!"

No. "Gh- I'll explain later." If she wanted to. Which she didn't.

"Please," her brother offered, only for Seto to stiffen further.

"I said later," she forced out, flipping another switch with a bit of extra force. "We don't have time right now!" And by the time she did he had better have forgotten about it!

"Alright," Mokuba decided. "But during the flight..." She said 'forget' damn it! His sister decided to ignore that final comment, instead continuing to flip the switches around her in a subconscious fashion as her mind drifted from the anger buzzing about it at the moment. 'Katsuya'. Not 'Jonouchi' it would seem. 'Katsuya'. If her brother caught that than the use of the term certainly wasn't something she was avoiding very well.

...'Katsuya'. First name basis with an idiot duelist like that... Hn! For her to even think of being on those kind of terms with that 'mutt'...

It was pointless. It would only end in misery, just as it had on the field she thought before pushing back the acknowledgment of any concern from mind. She didn't need to think about this Seto reminded herself, flipping yet another switch with a well hidden growl. Not before an important and likely ground breaking meeting with Industrial Illusions. Not before she finalized whatever plans would follow, not before she spent the next few hours flying a jet with her brother in it. Not before she finally managed to get some sleep after this hellish past few days. She would leave... That was all there was on the agenda now. She would leave... And after giving this some proper thought rather than bothering to scramble it in with everything else on her plate she would address it again.

There. That worked. That was what she would do, she assured herself, flipping the final switch with a quiet sigh. That...

"...Hah..." Damn it all. She could almost hear that idiot blond telling her off for 'running away'. And by this point, even if she was moronically considering the idea of changing her mind, it was far too late.

Five minutes until detonation she noticed, her brother already sitting in his 'ready to sleep after an hour of flight' position. Five minutes...

And she still couldn't figure out what to say to that stupid 'mutt'.

---

"Damn it damn it damn it damn it DAMN IT..!" The first thing they'd noticed in their rush to escape the doomed tower was that the elevator down was out of order- the lights inside weren't working, and the door was effectively welded shut with the lack of power. It wasn't a fatal issue of course; they'd still have time to reach the copter at the base of the island.

It was more his worry about who might not have gotten there by the time they did that was keeping him in a sour mood. "Gh... Damn that 'Kaiba'," Honda was muttering under his breath, skipping every second step as he rushed down the stairs. It'd taken them long enough to climb these things after all; doing in reverse just made it worse. "Can't she show at least a little restraint when it comes to 'getting over' things!"

"Ah- She," asked Rishid from behind, only to be drowned out by other, more loudly voiced complaints.

"It's Kaiba," Otogi offered in response, the die-shaped earring swaying with each stair he pushed off. "What did you expect?"

"How about a less childish response," Malik grumbled, before receiving a swat from Anzu. "Ow! Hey..!"

"This isn't the time to complain," she snarled, "Just pick up the pace and get to the chopper!"

"We're going, we're going..!"

"Ah..." Again, Rishid shook himself, looking to the teens ahead of him curiously. "...When did you two meet, Malik?"

"Long story," they both responded, Rishid blinking somewhat owlishly as his sister shrugged and sighed. "Explain later!"

"I'm sure Kaiba-han will want to know herself," Shizuka added from ahead of them, breathing somewhat laboured as they passed the middle of the tower. "Unless," she muttered dryly, "You think she didn't see that chanting, nihan..."

"Ehhhhh..."

"Chanting," Rishid asked.

"Again," a majority of the group called out, the obviously confused Egyptian frowning somewhat in response, "Later!" Thankfully, this was enough to quell further questioning.

Katsuya grit his teeth nonetheless however, hopping down another series of steps as he took the lead for a few moments before falling back yet again. "Gh... Righ' now I'm more worried abou' where th' hell she is," he muttered. "Vanishin' like tha' and givin' us a warnin' from the shadows..!"

"You... You don't think..." The blond turned, staring as the floating figure of his friend misted into existence on his side to frown. "You don't think that she's going to let herself sink with this island... Do you..?" D... What... That she'd...

Die..? As Katsuya paled the other Yugi shook his head, almost scowling at the question alone. "No," he growled curtly, the others too busy storming toward the now visible exit to pay attention to his words. "She wouldn't do that... No matter what, she wouldn't! Kaiba is the kind of person who believes in moving forward," he continued, skipping the last number of steps to jump to the main floor. "She believes in making her own future from whatever comes in her way... Something like this won't stop her. No... She'll live," he insisted.

Somehow.

Ten minutes until lift off he told himself, briefly stopping his charge from the exit to look back at the tower. Ten minutes left and he had a nagging sensation of dread, with a cold and chilling breeze blowing against him despite there not being a breeze at all. 'Jonouchi-kun,' he thought he heard someone shout, the blond merely staring at the tower with wide eyes. Something was going to happen... Something was already happening and he didn't like it at all... "JONOUCHI!"

"Nyh-" He quickly found himself pulled over by the arm, Honda's eyes wide and almost shocked in appearance. "Honda-"

"Damn it Jonouchi there's five minutes left, let's go!"

Go? "But I-"

"She's probably on the chopper with Mokuba already," he snarled, dragging his friend off to the island 'shore', "Come on!" Mokuba- Right, he thought to himself, pulling his arm from Honda's grip as he ran forward with the teen. There was no way she'd sacrifice her brother for all of this... Of course they'd be waiting! What did he have to worry about..!

And yet even with that, as he entered the large double bladed chopper for now evacuated staff to shut the door behind him...

"...Where's S... Where's Kaiba," he asked flatly, looking about the crowded room in shock. The helicopter was long and almost tube-like in form; most of those on board had already taken seats but as he looked around the number of people there and not there were made more than obvious. And even with two doors on opposite sides closed over, there was no answer. Not even to say 'in another room'. "Where's K-"

"Two minutes until detonation," someone from the front shouted, Katsuya hurriedly turning back to the door. No...

NO! "Seto-sama and Mokuba-sama aren't on board," he could hear one of the staff say in a panic, the others more or less trading looks of fear and indifferent worry. Some weren't affected, being too busy with others that were on board; doctors were busy with a still comatose Ryuzaki in the back room, and Kuzushi and Kyouko were both attempting to console a shell-shocked Mai as they took her in the same direction. Bakura was holding his head on the side, as though getting over an intense headache...

And Isono had just found himself pulled over by the jacket and into Katsuya's grip, the roar of rotating helicopter blades pounding his ears while he slammed the man against the door. "Stop th' detonation," he growled desperately, time ticking down in his mind as all others in the room stared in shock. "Th's thing can be stopped wirelessly can't it? Y' gotta stop it..!"

The man shook his head, one hand gripping the wrist of his captor in an unknown reaction that completely betrayed his panic. "We CAN'T," Isono insisted, the grip holding him considerably loose despite Katsuya's rage. "Only Seto-sama knows how-"

"THEN LET ME FIND I-"

"ONE MINUTE!" ONE!

"Damn it all..!" Before he could even move from throwing Isono to the side he had a number of people holding his arms back, incoherent snarls meeting the air. "LET ME GO," he screamed, reaching for the door that stood before him. "She's gonna die damn it, she's gonna-"

"There's THIRTY SECONDS LEFT," Otogi protested in response, the roar of rotating helicopter blades already joined by the humming engine as the vehicle prepared to take off, "You can't go out there!"

"I CAN DO IT!"

"No you CAN'T," Honda snarled, "If we don't leave now we're all going to DIE!" But he could find a way, he could manage..!

"Twenty seconds!" The helicopter had already risen from the ground, the ticking of a clock sounding through the air.

"Let me go," he wept, one arm pulled free from Otogi's grip as he reached for the door, "LET ME GO!"

"DAMN IT JONOUCHI!"

"You have to give it up," they cried, "They're gone!"

"TEN SECONDS!"

"LET ME GO!" His struggling was weaker and his face felt wet. They couldn't die, they couldn't, they...

"Five..."

"Nghh..." They let go, Katsuya collapsing against the door to look out the window as shudders wracked his body. "Damn it... This..."

"Four..." Why... Why was she doing this, why...

Tears were streaming down his face now and he could barely hear the words of those behind him. "Seto-chan..." Why..?

"THREE..." She couldn't die... "TWO..." She couldn't die, he screamed in his mind, fingers gripping the edge of the window as the tower below slowly grew smaller. "ONE..."

Zero.

-BROOUMMMM-

A cloud of fire and smoke rose up into the air, the top of the tower the first to go as Katsuya tore his eyes away from the sight. A chorus of shocked gasps came from behind him from the most part. A few quiet cries of surprise as well, along with mutterings of the tower sinking to the sea in pieces... Of how horrific it looked, of how there could be nothing left beneath them... Of how everything was simply...

Gone.

The tower was gone he thought to himself as he sank to the floor, platinum dog-tags dangling around his neck as a painful reminder of who had given them to him. She was gone, Mokuba was gone, they were both...

"Wait..." Huh? Yugi's voice slowly pulled him from his stupor, eyes widening as his friend continued from his side. "In the smoke... Is that..."

"RAAAAAOOOOOOOOOO!" A dragon..?

The blond stood up in a mere instant as the roar screeched through the air, all others deaf to its cry. White scales seemed to be circling the flames that sat on the seas, diving through the wreckage to vanish from sight... "Tha' sound..."

In the smoking ruins of Alcatraz, they could see a shape. A thing with huge and wide-spread wings, a long and 'thin' neck, with white armor...

"L... LOOK," Malik shouted, the Egyptian pointing toward the window. "IT-" A... It really was a dra-

"HAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Hang on, was that laughter..?

One of the crew on the side jumped as the radio in their hands sprung to life, voices crackling through it as those on board looked from the device to the oddly shaped jet that was rising from the ashes on the side. "That... That's a jet," someone hissed incredulously from behind, the 'someone' soon revealing itself as one of the more loud-mouthed members of Seto's staff. "That..." The woman quickly snatched the radio from the crewman's hand, clicking it on with a red-faced scowl. "KAIBA-SAMA," she snarled, a majority of the others looking back to the window as a jet shaped nearly exactly like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon came into view. "Pardon my language when I ask you what the HELL you think you're doing!" There was a short bit of laughter following this, the guard continuing to seethe in response. Oooooh... Well...

Katsuya coughed somewhat nervously, turning back to the radio as a grinning Mokuba came to mind. "Ehh..? You guys thought we were dead," he asked incredulously, expression briefly that of blank shock. "I thought someone would have... Oh never mind," he snorted, "We were focusing on getting out not getting caught in the explosion while we told you where we were..!" Ahahahahaha...

That was all great but damn it if they did that again... "Gh... Mokuba," he hissed, gripping the window as he shook. "You..."

"Hahhhh... At least they're okay," Anzu grumbled, looking out the window incredulously. "...Some... How..."

Another round of sighs, the incredulous stare joined by most of the others as they gathered at the window. "This is just like hi... Her... It's just like her, seriously..."

"Stop correcting yourself Otogi, we have to act normal in Japan anyways." Hahaha...

Hah... DAMN IT ALL..! What the hell was she playing at..! "Kaiba-sama," the guard at the side was hissing, face more or less hidden by her hair as she trembled. "When you get back here..."

"Oh, yea, about that," Mokuba continued with a grin, Katsuya shaking his head and looking back out the window as the jet soared up to level with the helicopter at a safe distance. "You guys might be heading back, but we're not coming along just yet, okay?" EH!

"W-WHAT," he choked out, quite easily throwing in the response that 'Hime' had been about to give. "Whaddya mean 'NOT COMIN'..!" There was a bit of laughter from behind the layers of glass and air, his face growing fairly red. "Damn it... STOP LAUGHIN', I THOUGHT Y' BOTH DIED IN THERE!"

There was an awkward silence for a few moments until the boy shrugged, briefly turning as his sister said something before shaking his head. "Hah... Well, like I said," he began with a cough, "That wasn't our plan... And anyways, it's exactly what I said Katsuya-nii! We're going to the USA! There's lots of things for us to work on," he shouted cheerfully, sister oddly silent for the moment, "And after this next meeting we have there, we're gonna work on the next KaibaLand..!" Ah...

"K-KaibaLan-" Oh yea, they'd mentioned that... ...Ah! "Wai'... Jus' how long are you guys gonna be there," he shouted, receiving no response.

"Jonouchi," Honda asked dryly, "Shouldn't you use the radio instead of shouting at the window?"

"ANSWER ME DAMN IT!"

Mokuba again turned to his sister, a rather wry smile coming over his face again. It looked as though Seto had just told him something- but whatever it was, he didn't appear to completely agree, and the fact was he was wondering why she didn't take the radio herself. "Hnnn... Who knows how long we're staying," he finally decided, leaning back on his seat in false indifference. "But Katsuya-nii," he continued, a grin coming over his face, "Don't think you've completely escaped..!"

"Eh- Escaped?"

"What the hell is he talking about," Otogi muttered.

"Escaped..?" Yea what was he- The blond stiffened as Seto turned his way from the jet, a somewhat narrowed stare meeting with his own. It wasn't necessarily cold- if anything it seemed almost warm coming from her for once but...

"GH-" SHIT-

SHIT, this was about the kiss..! "Heheheh! Got it now," Mokuba shouted with a laugh, apparently able to see the dread that had come over Katsuya's face. "As long as you understand I don't have to say anything! So until we get back you're on house arrest, got it?"

...Eh. "H-HOUSE ARR-"

"Nihan," Shizuka asked blankly, "Did Kaiba-han just 'ground' you?" AH! NO! ...

…

...Yes. "GH- How come S- Kaiba can't tell me this on 'is own," he growled in protest, hurriedly correcting himself lest the helicopter's doctors catch on. "I..." Haaaahhhg... "Damn it, give 'm the radio!"

"Give it to nii-sama..?" The boy turned back to his sister, the woman appearing to say something before he shrugged. "Uhhh... No can do," he answered somewhat confusedly, "He's not talking to you at all!" She wasn'- WHAT? "Hehehe... You'll have to wait to talk it looks like..!" C-Come on that wasn't- "OH! But Yugi," Mokuba added with a grin, still holding the radio headset to his ear as he pointed toward the second person visible in the window. "Before we leave, I'm going to say one more thing... You keep that new crown of yours nice and shiny got it? Because someday when we're back, nii-sama's gonna win it from you understand," he called out with a wink. "And no one else, okay?" Ah...

Yugi blinked, staring at the radio a moment before turning back to the window with a somewhat amused nod. "Hnhnhn... Right," he said clearly, the words not making it through the radio but nonetheless taking effect. Their battle wasn't over just yet... But they'd at least put rivalries aside for now. And speaking of 'now'...

"We gotta turn around now, alright," Mokuba told them, his grin becoming a more softened smile. "I'll give you guys a call sometime soon, okay?" The pair both nodded, and in response to the radio's shutdown they received a large grin from the younger of the siblings. Good-bye, Katsuya thought with a somewhat wry smile, giving a small salute as the jet prepared to turn around. Good-

At that moment, Seto turned back to the window again, an odd look in her eyes as she stared toward the window. It wasn't 'cold' as it usually was he noticed. If anything, it was...

"A-Ah..."

A smirk came over the woman's face, but it was not the typical expression she'd been known to take. And as she herself brought two fingers from her head in a short salute, it looked more like a smile than a look of superiority. In fact, the blond thought in mild shock, if anything he'd say that what she was saying now, which would ordinarily be lost completely to the glass and wind around them...

'See you later... 'Mutt'' Gh... That-

He wasn't a mutt damn it!

Yet somehow he never scowled as the woman turned back and shot forward in that jet. He merely smiled and nodded, watching the white craft tear ahead before doubling back with a loud sonic blast. Heh...

"It looks like Kaiba-san's started the journey to her new dream now," Yugi said from beside him, the blond looking back as the 'lighter' of two ghosts misted to his and the other Yugi's side.

There was a short nod from the ghost's partner, Katsuya doing the same. "...Yea," he eventually said. "Looks like."

"'KaibaLand USA' huh..."

"Heh... Can' wait t' see it..!"

"I'd think you were more looking forward to her return," the other 'Yugi' responded, his friend's grin fading somewhat. Ah...

"...Yea..."

"I'm sure they'll be back soon enough though," Yugi continued, giving his friend a supporting nod. "After all... She might not say anything, but she does care about you." Did they really think so? ...Well...

He supposed that even if just a little... "Heh..." Maybe they were right. "There's still a lot for us t' do ourselves though neh," he said with a smirk, a number of the others nodding as he moved to take a seat on one of the benches. "Like headin' back home..! We've still got our own 'battle city' t' finish, right Yugi?"

His friend merely smirked at that, a quick nod coming before the two switched out with each other. "Hn... Of course!"

"But for now, let's just rest," the real Yugi finished, collapsing somewhat on a bench as he sighed. "Hahhh..." Yea...

Rest...

Closing his eyes over for a bit, he intended to do just that.

---

It wasn't until the paramedics had come over from Ryuzaki's still slumbering body in a panic that he'd realized the black bag he'd been leaning against was a corpse, and that he probably had some of the best luck and the shittiest luck all at once. Because while he'd certainly gotten enough shut eye to calm down before the rest of what would be about five hours of flight time, the heart attack that came from sleeping on the corpse of Seto's doctor would probably destroy that anyway.

Though at this point, he was suddenly feeling much better about Seto not being with them on the copter; he had a feeling Malik would have been dead otherwise. Of course... When the paramedics decided to ask just why they had a mutilated corpse...

"It was a stowaway," Anzu had said quickly, Malik freezing from where he'd been about to guiltily step forward. The others briefly stared as the woman held her arm, expression set in stone as she went on. "While on the ship," she 'explained', Malik still looking back in shock, "A stowaway resembling Malik took his place- he was completely insane... He's the reason Ryuzaki is in the condition he's in now." Ah...

Well, speaking in non-magical terms he supposed that was accurate enough but... "A stowaway," one of the doctors asked again, Kuzushi frowning from the side but nonetheless remaining silent when she caught the obvious honesty in Malik's own guilty expression.

Well... If there was any way to describe 'that' Malik... "Tha's righ'," Katsuya responded, nodding his head. "Stow-away."

"And where would-"

"He stayed on the island," Malik rasped, throat notably taking his voice for a hoarser tone with the anxiety he had at the moment. "And got caught in the explosion..." And 'he' was 'dead' long before as well.

The paramedics stared for a moment, as though waiting for the truth to come out on its own. Waiting for Malik to simply breakdown and confess, or possibly even pull out a weapon to deal with them all. Instead however...

"That's right," Honda said from the side, also stepping forward to nod. "At the last minute," he continued, the Egyptian still staring in wide-eyed shock, "The real Malik here managed to come-to and beat him to submission."

"We forgot about him in the chaos to leave," Otogi added helpfully, not bothering to address the mouthed 'beat him to submission' that Malik had rather incredulously given as Anzu stared with a similar look and shrugged. "Though it's probably for the best..."

"That's right," Shizuka decided with a cough. "After all, a madman like that... As... Cruel as it is," she managed to get out, "It's better that he's gone now right..?"

The girl seemed to look back to Malik at that, as though waiting for a response while the Egyptian slowly nodded. "That... That's right," he said with a quick cough, the nod gradually picking up its pace in self-reassurance. "...You'll... You'll have to forgive me," he added, "I'm still in a little bit of shock, I..."

"Would you like one of us to check you over," the paramedic closest offered, receiving a polite and hurried 'I'm fine' in response. "The shock is understandable given this rather intense turn of events..." Hahaha! Yea... Yea it was. And-

"Ah-!" Yugi jumped at the mention of 'shock', as though only just then remembering who else was on board. "That's right... What about the others," he said quickly, the doctor turning back toward him. "One of you mentioned taking Mai to a room in the back..."

A nod. "That's right," the first paramedic, a name-tag identifying him as 'Iriyou', began. "She woke up shortly after transporting Ryuzaki-san, our current priority, to the helicopter's medical room. We had her in here to start," he added, coughing somewhat nervously, "But my partner was worried that the excitement would put her through more shock."

"Ah- More shock," Shizuka asked with a swallow.

There was another nod in response, before Honda and Otogi both looked down toward the hall and continued with the conversation. "Is that where Bakura is as well," the first of the two asked, receiving another nod.

"Ah... Yes actually," Iriyou responded. "We found him wandering around the island. It was... Very interesting," he muttered, Yugi and Katsuya both trading odd looks at the word choice. "Any ways, he was a little malnourished despite claiming to have eaten the evening before, so he was taken to the back to be looked over... We have curtains separating patients," he went on, "So Kujaku-san should be relatively alright..."

The two again blinked, before Otogi opted to push the question on most of their minds. "Can we see her?"

The paramedic blinked, looking up from where he'd been staring at the ground in thought. "Ah- See her? I don't think-..."

"We've been waitin' f'r her t' wake up since she passed out," he pressed, the smile from earlier completely vanished as he went on. "An' it's been hell durin' tha' time so... Please?"

Iriyou seemed to stare for a few moments, before sighing in 'defeat'. "I'll check with Hajosha," he finally decided, moving toward the back. "But whatever happened on that airship has left her in a bad way- she's extremely jumpy right now, regardless of what she herself insists." Ah...

Was that..? Was he serious..? The boys again traded looks, Malik in particular growing rather pale before getting a hand from Ishizu and Anzu both on his shoulder. "...Alrigh' then," Katsuya eventually said, biting his lip. He already had a feeling that they'd have to wait for a bit so... "Ah... What abou' Bakura..?"

"Oh- Bakura-san," the paramedic repeated, before gesturing to the back room. "He's right over here... Actually, before we brought him on board he was rather insistent on grabbing something from the airship..." Something..? "He mentioned something about a deck... I believe this is yours," he continued, pulling something out of his pocket and handing it forward. Ah...

"M-My deck," Katsuya choked, taking the cards in his hand. That's right, that would have been taken out of his duel disk...! "But how-"

"Your duel disk is also on board," Kyouko added from the side, having walked back from the other end of the chopper. "Everyone on the ship decided to make sure none of the luggage was left behind- and a good thing too," she continued almost nervously, shaking her head. "It would have gone up in flames..."

Got that right... "Obochama needs to learn to communicate," Hime muttered from the side, the woman summarily ignored. Hahaha... Yeaaaaaaa...

No shit. "Well... We mind as well go see how Bakura's doin' right," he decided, looking to Yugi as the boy nodded.

"Yea! Ah... Iriyou-san," asked Yugi, the paramedic in question somewhat caught off guard by the use of his name. "We're allowed to see Bakura-kun at least, right..?"

"Bakura-san?" He nodded. "Of course- just over here," he continued, leading them back. "Just remember to keep quiet, we don't-"

"-Want t' bug Mai," Katsuya finished, somewhat glad the line was obvious enough not to garner an odd look for finishing it. "Yea... We guessed..."

---

The back room of the helicopter was likely about half the size of the copter itself, or at least half the size of the passenger space. The other half was divided into two other sections; the cockpit, where the two pilots were currently discussing things with the 'crew chief' as he was called, and then their own passenger room. Despite this size however, the back of the copter was a fairly cramped location; a large portion of it was reserved for Mai and Ryuzaki at the moment, one taking up the room by means of bed-space and machines while the other was being given space so that she could properly recover from a shock she refused to acknowledge. For this reason, she'd offered to remain behind for the first bit of the flight while a number of the boys took to speaking with Bakura or sleeping on the side.

She needed to talk to Malik anyways. "...So," Rishid, who had been staring somewhat oddly at the woman for the past twenty or so minutes of panic finally began. "You are... Mazaki Anzu correct?" Ah? He knew her na-

Of course he knew her name she told herself, he'd been one of the people in charge of her capture. The woman shook it from her thoughts, merely nodding an affirmative as Malik spoke. "That's right... Anzu is the one my soul hid in while the... 'Other me'," he began slowly, careful to make sure no staff or doctors heard him, "Took control. She's been extremely forgiving," he added, swallowing somewhat nervously as his friend blinked. "And actually..." Ehhhh...

God bless Ishizu she found herself thinking as the conversation sunk further into an 'awkward' zone- if not for her who knew how they would have explained this. "Rishid," the Egyptian woman began, pulling the conversation into Arabic. "During your coma, a number of things occurred that did not directly concern our brother's darker half. It is difficult to explain," she continued somewhat hesitantly, "But..."

As Rishid stared, the expression clearly showing he was ready to take 'anything', Malik sighed. "Hnnn... ... Rishid," he said after a few moments of 'hmm's and 'haah's. "In the middle of the night, the airship was pulled down into an undersea-hangar off the shore of Alcatraz; you saw how the balloon on the airship was missing right?"

The man nodded. "I did- however," he continued somewhat confusedly, "The most that the staff have mentioned so far is that there was a fire..."

"There was," Anzu said flatly, Rishid jumping with the sudden addition of another Arabic speaker. "When the airship left the hangar, a missile had been fired upon it by the computer located inside; but that isn't the point right now," she continued.

Another short span of silence came as Rishid stared, the man nonetheless nodding whilst he waited for them to continue. "Inside the hangar," Malik began somewhat quietly, "There was some sort of computer... Myself, in Anzu's body obviously, along with a number of the others, were forced inside a separate room of this hangar at gun point. While there, we were knocked out by gas and placed in 'VR-pods'. We aren't too sure of the details," he added, wincing somewhat. "But..."

"For some reason," Ishizu explained, "Due to the events that occurred inside the virtual realm, both Mazaki-san and our brother became aware of the other. Moreover," she continued, gaze growing dark and distant as her elder brother frowned, "They became trapped within the other's memories..."

"Trapped-" Rishid stiffened, looking to Malik with wide eyes only to receive a nod. Anzu was now gripping her shoulder again, adjusting the jacket over it. As to the rest of what they were explaining... It almost went unsaid. "Then... Among these memories..."

Almost. "I'm not asking for pity," Anzu quickly told them, a somewhat 'Malik-like' look coming into her eyes as the others stared. "I just wanted to say that before you finished... However," she continued almost depressingly, "I didn't want to cause any trouble because of what Malik might have remembered from my own memories..."

"Hn! I'm more worried about you," the Egyptian responded dryly, arms crossed in apparent annoyance. "Your head might not be completely sunny, but it was certainly brighter than mine..."

"Well... That's true," she said with a quiet laugh, "But it's still-"

"Awkward and 'traumatizing' are two very different things." Eh? Traumatized!

"I'm not-"

"Yes you are," he finished for her, shaking his head. "Whether you admit it or not, you are- that isn't the point though." The Egyptian turned back to his siblings, eyes somewhat hard. "Anzu and I shared a lot of memories, and not by choice... The fact is," he explained, "This includes all of our memories; including the secrets of our clan."

"And thanks to how ingrained the memories became, it makes her the first woman with the 'mark'," Ishizu added, Rishid's 'eyebrows' rising in still more shock as he looked to her.

"The 'mark'? But how-"

"It's a hypertopic scar," she muttered dully, again pulling Rishids eyes toward her. "I think the computer... Triggered something when I..." The woman sighed, moving on and biting her lip. "I haven't said anything to the Pr- ...To the other Yugi yet," she corrected, shaking her head as she tried to deal with the awkwardness of the situation. Ack... And here she thought she'd sorted all of this out... The woman pushed it from mind, instead calming herself with a semi-audible sigh and speaking again. "Again though- that isn't the point. I... Because of what I saw, I know there isn't much time left... And I can accept that. It hurts," Anzu rambled on, "I mean... The other Yugi is my friend... But I can't just sit at the sides and watch with what I know now," she continued. "I..." What she was trying to say...

"You have memories of two families," Ishizu finished for her, Anzu merely flushing and averting her eyes as the stares of the others burned against her. "You're saying as much as you can to avoid it... But you just don't want us to leave... Do you?" There was no answer, and the woman looked to her younger brother. "...Malik... You as well..."

"I'll be the first to say that suddenly having memories of a mother is uncomfortable," he admitted, cutting his sister off somewhat. "But not unwanted."

"I've never had siblings," Anzu continued, grip on her shoulder tightening. "Despite all the pain in these other memories..." Well... As horrific as they were, Malik had still had at least a few happy ones despite living in a hole most of his childhood. So... She trailed off, gaze dimming. "I'm not asking to come with," she eventually said. "Not only would I just be a burden, but I myself wouldn't be able to bear even that- I have too much here, I have my mother, my friends... And Malik," she continued, looking to him for a moment. "Well... He has you," Anzu said with a smile. "He has his 'light'..."

"But... At this point," her friend added with a cough, both turning back to face the others, "Due to the nature of the memories we've split, I don't think cutting ties would be safe, so..." So with that in mind...

With what was still yet unsaid... "Whoever Malik considers his family," Rishid cut in, quickly catching the subject that they were trying to both share and avoid, "Is considered mine," he said honestly. The man bowed his head, silence settling for a brief moment before he went on. "Be it as a sister, or as a friend, who am I to judge your place? Our hardships may be different," the man continued wisely, Anzu and Malik both staring in slight shock, "But they are not that different... Sister." Eh- Sist-!

The two teens both stared in silence, shock appearing almost identical on both faces. "Ah... That..." They both cut themselves short, bowing their heads in slight embarrassment. D-Damn it... They were still speaking at once..!

"Hnhnhnh... Like husband and wife," Ishizu said with a chuckle, the silence quickly broken as a result.

"AH- Husband and-"

"ECK... That would be way too awkward okht..."

"Like marrying myself..."

"Like doing myse-" The Egyptian quickly caught himself, suddenly giving himself a look similar to the one Anzu was giving him now. "...Shit," he muttered, "Do I really sound like that..."

"Yes..."

They both looked back to the others, both of the older siblings staring somewhat owlishly. "Hnnn... I think it's more like twins than a married couple," Rishid eventually decided, Ishizu merely nodding in response. "...Much more like twins." Ah...

She supposed, but-

"You guys can stop speaking in Arabic now."

Eh-? The four turned, blinking as Otogi scowled from his position on the nearby bench. That was right, Anzu thought to herself, laughing somewhat nervously. He knew enough Arabic to 'pass as a tourist' right? So while he probably didn't understand most of what they said... Just... Enough to feel out of the loop, ehe...

"Hahahaha... We can keep talking later, right," Malik asked, looking to the others. There were a few nods, Anzu merely shaking her head in agreement and leaning back against the bench.

"...Right," she answered, before nodding again to reassure herself. Right... Well.

She felt a little better at least- and the fact was, she thought Malik felt a bit better as well.

---

"Damn Bakura. You're... Really mowing through that food."

What Honda said was probably the only thing they could really say for the situation- and the fact was, it was probably for the best, because the most Bakura could really do was nod and continue powering through the emergency rations that had formerly been packed aboard the helicopter. He'd already devoured what little they'd carried off the airship with ease... And if it came to it, the pilot had even given up his lunch (though Bakura hoped that he wasn't that hungry when it came down to it.). The fact was, they had an idea of why he was so hungry- he would be too after completely vanishing off the face of the earth he figured but...

Still. Watching him eat... All that food...

Was actually making him nauseous. "Er... Tha' stuff even taste good," he found himself asking about half-way through the rations, Bakura looking up with an almost naïve stare before glancing at the rations in question.

Chew... Chew... Swallow...

If there was one thing good about him being polite about this, it was not getting a face full of rations. "It's actually not that bad," Bakura admitted, before taking another bite and wolfing it down. "I'm not even sure why I'm so hungry- I just woke up with an empty stomach on the shore of this island actually." Yeaaaa... That was... Well, they weren't going there for now. "Oh- that reminds me," he continued, coughing somewhat awkwardly. "Yugi-kun... Would you happen to have seen my ring at all?" AH-

Th-The ring..! The others quickly turned back to the boy, his second half having appeared behind him to hurriedly shout off about how they couldn't let it back into his hands. "Ahhh... You mean you lost it then," he ended up saying, going somewhat red. Not to say they didn't know why but...

Did they really have to give it back! The albino nodded, biting his lip. "Yes... I somewhat remember having it before I ran into Malik... But I can't really tell, since I wasn't all awake..." He'd say, Bakura was asleep at that time... He shouldn't have been awake to start with! With that in mind however there was a loud sigh, Bakura tossing back the last of the rations with a frown while the wrappers found their way into the trash. "There's something I wanted to find out about that device... That spirit," he continued, Honda biting his lip at the side while the others held their tongues. "The one you mentioned... Given that I somehow wound up in this tournament I suppose it's safe to say it took control again..." A short round of nods, the looks on their faces telling Bakura all too much what they knew of the meaning behind that. He'd put the ring on- and he'd screwed himself over.

Of course, that didn't stop him from trying to redeem himself anyway- that would be ridiculous. Besides, 'don't ask don't tell' right? There was probably some kind of reason. (Though what the hell would justify this..?) "Y' know... Bakura," Katsuya offered, coughing somewhat nervously as his friend stared. "It might be best jus' t' let things lie f'r now..."

"Seeing how this thing got you hospitalized and nearly killed," Honda continued, Bakura wincing in response as he rubbed his arm.

"Hnnn... I know," the albino muttered, still not meeting their eyes. "But before I passed out, when we were on that airship... I think I might have seen him," he said almost confusedly. Er... See-

Katsuya blinked a few times, thinking back until the memory hit him full force. Oh shit, that was right..! When they were on the field his last moment was spent staring at his own body, of course he saw 'him'! And that meant...

...Actually, he had no clue what that meant. Their friend shook his head again, brows furrowed in thought. "It's strange... I don't know what to make of this spirit actually," he admitted. "First he tries to destroy everyone I know, and suddenly he's saving my life..." Not to mention Yugi. Heh!

What a confusing 'ghost'... "Honestly, th' less we know abou' this guy th' better," Katsuya muttered, rumbling coming from the bag the ring was in. At least for now. (Shit that thing was stubborn though...) He paused a moment, staring at it long enough to make sure that it wouldn't somehow 'magic' itself out of the sack before continuing. "Anyways... Glad yer back though Bakura- we were really worried about y' for a bit there!"

"Ah... You were?"

The others nodded, Honda crossing his arms as he leaned back against the door. "Yea- We're not sure when or how, but the spirit in the ring forced you into a fight against the same guy Yugi just finished dealing with," he explained. "Again... Not sure what happened," he said with a shrug, their friend staring somewhat slack-jawed, "But whatever it was, he lost... After that, you literally vanished from the face of the earth."

Bakura seemed to pale at that, coughing slightly. "Hg... 'Vanished'? I just... Vanished?" Errr... Yep!

"Y' weren't on th' ship," Katsuya told him, nodding in response. "An' we hadn' landed once. Not many other options really." And it wasn't like you could argue that...

"H... Hahh..." Bakura bowed his head, eyes widening further as he ran those words through his head. Finding out that you'd been possessed was one thing after all, even when you knew the risks and tried to hide it.

Completely vanishing from the face of the earth was another. "Well... The past is the past right," Honda finally said, giving Bakura a short but obviously friendly nod.

"Ah... Right..."

"For now," he continued with a smirk, "We can probably just relax for the rest of the trip..."

"Right. Actually, I think I hear Otogi out there," the other Yugi muttered. "I wonder what's going on..." What was going on?

'STOP TALKING IN ARABIC.' ...He was trying to sleep that's what. A smirk came over the blond's face, followed be a rather conspiring grin.

"Alright," Honda muttered, "What's with the look..."

"Hehehe... Nothin'..."

"Is this one of your 'vision things'..?"

"Ah- Jonouchi-kun," Yugi asked, "You're not going to start something right..?"

"Maaaaaybe..."

"Eh?" Oh, that one was Bakura. "Jonouchi-kun, what are they talking about?" Ohh...

They'd find out. For now though, time to bug Otogi. Hehehehe...

---

The difference in noise levels from front to back in the helicopter was almost jarring if one thought about it. For the most part, she hadn't been paying much attention though. The first thing that had been on her mind after all was panic- fear for herself and the others trying to escape the island, fear for Kaiba and Mokuba, who were both still on the island...

And then they'd escaped.

Panic soon became curiosity. For a short while on the helicopter, she'd allowed her eyes to wander. To flit around the machines and equipment the copter was equipped with, to see the things that a paramedic would likely need to become familiar with. This could be her job one day after all. Her job. Flying over the seas to help someone in need. Someone like...

Like...

Keiichi. Shizuka stood at the side of the bed, Kuzushi having been given the right to keep watch over the 'sleeping' boy while the paramedic 'Hajosha' sat with Mai. By all appearances, Mai looked fine from what she saw now. She was pale yes; but otherwise she seemed almost insistent to leave the back of the room, having barely convinced the doctor to move the curtain separating her section from Keiichi's. Evidently, given Shizuka's currently subdued nature and Keiichi's own obvious silence, Hajosha had decided it wouldn't hurt to give Mai at least that much air. It would help after all. To calm down, to steady the racing heart she'd had since the start.

It just made things worse. For the last number of moments Mai had wound up staring at Keiichi's motionless form with quivering eyes, as though unable to connect the annoying 'manservant' from Duelist Kingdom with the nearly mummified form on the bed. Eventually she'd asked what happened, with a deceivingly strong tone while Kuzushi went over her patient's condition with the paramedic. For a moment she'd remained silent... But in the end, nothing made sense with that.

So she'd explained. She'd explained everything- About Malik's dark half, the one that had overpowered the real one. About Noa's world, where the real Malik had manifested and eventually fought at their side. About how it had gone beyond a ruse into friendship, with Malik risking his neck selflessly by the end of it all...

While his dark half half-slaughtered the only thing standing between 'it' and their lives. "He's stronger than he looks," the doctors had said before, standing behind her with a comforting tone. "Any normal person would likely have bled out before they made it here, going into shock. But somehow he managed to get enough strength to get all the way to the ship first. It saved his life..." Barely...

But it saved him. Shizuka wasn't sure how Kuzushi had been convinced to hold her tongue in all of this really. In Kuzushi's eyes, Kyouko's eyes, all the staff's eyes, Malik had been a demon and nothing else. He'd killed one man, tried to kill countless others...

Perhaps it was something in the way he had prepared to confess to those crimes though she realized, silence having filled the room again as she and Mai held their silent vigil. Perhaps it was that willing drive to atone for what he did that changed their mind.

Along with everyone else's desire to cover for it.

Mai didn't understand. But Mai was still silent by the end of it, and though confused she nonetheless kept this to herself. From what she could tell, Mai was used to hiding... Behind this curtain though, there wasn't much reason to hide what she felt concerning the body before them. "Idiot," she finally whispered after what seemed to be hours, the younger of the two half wondering if maybe that wasn't an illusion after all. "He's an idiot... He should never have even been here," she continued, unknowingly repeating the very words Shizuka had screamed hours before.

She decided not to tell her that, instead nodding in agreement. "He shouldn't have," she instead answered. "...But he did..." As Mai turned, apparently about to speak, Shizuka continued with her eyes glued to the bed. "He never listens, Keichi... That's what makes him 'him', you know..?" Without that trait, it just wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't... The girl shook, fingers digging into her knees as she went on. "Keichi... Even though this happened, he 'won' in the end. I wonder what he'll say," she continued, tears falling from her eyes despite vain attempts to wipe them away, "When he wakes up to find out he's got 'dueling scars' from a battle he won..! Gh..."

"Shizuka-chan," Mai whispered, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "...I..."

"You know," she found herself saying, "I didn't know what to expect from you... Keichi never said anything good... But Katsuya, he had nothing but good to say. Things like how you helped him in the Duelist Kingdom tournament and the 'Duel Monster's VR game... How you visited them on Valentines and gave him and his friends chocolate... ...Mai-han," she said quietly, turning back up to the woman and wiping her eyes. "...I know you don't live very close... To either of us," she added, shaking her head. "But even so... Even if it's just a phone call, or an e-mail... Don't just vanish, alright?"

"Ah- Vanish," Mai asked almost incredulously, before forcing a small smirk on her face. "Really... What kind of person do you think I am," she laughed, "That I would just-"

"Just don't," Shizuka pressed, cutting the woman off. "You... To me, you make me think of an older sister... Someone I can talk to when I can't go to my mother, or to one of the 'boys', like my brother. I don't want you to just disappear, for me to find out that something terrible has happened... So please..!"

"You..."

"Please..."

More tears were falling from her eyes and as she moved to wipe them again Shizuka found herself turning to Mai, the blond having placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "...Shizuka-chan... I will... Try to keep contact with you and the others if it means that much... But I have other things to do," she continued, a long sigh passing her lips. In summary...

She needed time alone. "I understand," she whispered. "...Where will you go..?"

"Oh... Somewhere," she decided with a half-hearted shrug. "I'm an impatient person you know- I can't just stay here after all. I'll probably call someone in to look after my house and take a trip to the USA... I have a step-father there," the woman went on, "So if it comes down to it I can always ask him for help. I'm sure it won't come to that though..." Or at least, Mai hoped it didn't come to that, Shizuka translated out into her head. The less people she knew that came in her way the better after all. That was how she was thinking right now.

Even so. "You know that Katsuya and I... We'll always be willing to help you if you need it right?"

The woman snorted, crossing her arms. "Hn! Your brother could use more help from me! ...But... I'll keep that in mind. The doctors will probably want me to come with them to the hospital in any case," she continued, giving a slight yawn. "If you want to come with your friend here, you should probably ask now- Hajosha-san mentioned something about dropping everyone else off near the pier after all."

"...Right." Mai wanted to kill the subject, and fast. Alright then. She'd do that, she supposed. "...Mai-han," she said after another few moments, the woman turning back from where she'd been looking for a watch.

"Hn?"

"...Thank you. ...And..."

---

"Good luck."

That was what everyone had said a short while after Mai had finally been spotted outside the curtained room, having been given enough permission to step out and sit with the others. Whatever they spoke about was mostly small talk to start with. There wasn't much time until landing any ways though, so while it seemed everyone could guess that Mai was avoiding subjects such as Malik, or the tournament, no one could say much of anything.

It wasn't until the helicopter landed that they could. Shizuka wasn't allowed to come with the helicopter in the end it seemed. But as Mai had predicted, she was being pulled away for 'just in case' reasons, with everyone else checking out perfectly fine. It seemed that the woman's still beating heart had 'betrayed' her as she jokingly put it. What could just be a little stress was enough to set alarms for the paramedics though, and so as the door opened there was only one thing to say after their farewells. After promises to keep contact, promises to follow their 'road'.

"Good luck Mai," Katsuya said honestly, a warm smile on his face. "An'... ...We'll see y' some other time, alrigh'," he added, giving the woman a slight salute.

"Of course," she answered somewhat quietly, tone only slightly 'calmer' than it normally would. "...Good-bye Jonouchi, Yugi... Everyone," she added, bowing her head as the door shut. "Later then..."

Yea. Later. Malik and his family had been the first to leave, having called for a taxi from the copter as they came near- it had been waiting for them in the pier parking lot, and after offering Anzu a ride back to the woman's slight surprise, the family had found themselves leaving without her. It wasn't as though they wouldn't see each other again. After all...

They'd be staying until the end of summer while they smoothed things over with pretty much everything in existence. Whatever 'everything' might be.

Otogi left shortly after that- he tried to leave a number with Shizuka before that... But evidently, Shizuka had caught on all too easy to what he was trying to do. "I'll just ask Honda-han for your apartment phone," she told him, laughing lightly as the teen attempted to hide his disappointment. "That way, I can talk to both of you." And not get in dates, he realized shortly after growling at Honda's sudden grin in response.

And if Shizuka wasn't in danger of being pulled around by these two nuts, then he was happy as... Well, anything he supposed, dropping into a short laughing fit with Honda shortly after realizing this half-way through an 'attack'.

Damn good thing he'd caught that though, or Honda would have a broken nose. …Like he probably did, right now. Given that he got punched in the face. Three times.

Oh well. "Looks like everyone's leaving," Yugi had said after a few moments, himself, Anzu, Shizuka and Honda merely standing there with Katsuya in silence.

"They all have their own 'roads' to take," Anzu said with a small smile, Shizuka nodding in agreement.

"Journeys and dreams... Like Kaiba-han is doing right now," she added with a small nod.

"Paths and goals," Honda finished, staring out at what was now a setting sun. "...Makes me almost wonder what we're going to end up doing in the end," he continued with a sad laugh. "After all of this... After school is over..." Hnn...

"Whatever it is, there's still time right," Shizuka told him, the others turning as the girl smiled. "In the end, no matter what might come... The 'path' we take has a way of showing up for us, doesn't it?"

The others stared for a little while more, before nodding. "Right," Honda said calmly. "...Whatever happens..." The teen let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "...It's been a crazy few days, hasn't it," he laughed.

"Hah! Crazy doesn't even cover it," Anzu answered with a smirk. "As it is," she added somewhat nervously, "I have a bit of explaining to do with my mom..."

"Ahhh... I should probably get a place to sleep as well," Shizuka added, Katsuya preparing to say something before Anzu cut him off.

"You know," she said with a smile, "I don't know if Jonouchi has much for you at Kaiba's house... If you like, you could stay at my house for the night." Eh! But he was about to offer-

...Right. Pajamas. And stuff. "Ah- Really..? I..." The girl turned, her brother nodding and grinning in response.

"Heh... Ev'n 'f I said no, y'd still go anyways!" His head told him as much... Damn visions.

Nonetheless he found himself wrapped in a hug, his sister's grin widening as she pulled back. "Alright then, nihan... I'll stop by tomorrow though so we can have a proper visit alright?"

"Right! Ah-" And after that...

"I'll be heading out myself," Honda said with a curt nod, a slight smirk on his face. "It might not be that late, but after all that happened... Hhhaaaaaahhh... I could use some sleep," he forced out with a yawn, stretching somewhat. Tired? After all that?

He was just on edge..! "H-Hah... We'll see you later then," Yugi responded, their friends each waving as they turned to leave.

"Of course," Anzu told them. "Maybe even tomorrow," she added with a wink.

"Make sure you get some sleep," Honda added from what was already a fair distance away, giving another wave as the others laughed.

"Hah!" Too many nerves... "We'll try, how's tha'," Katsuya shouted.

The teen shrugged, shaking his head somewhat. "Guess it's better than nothing..."

There was no answer to that, Yugi merely shaking his head and watching as Anzu led a somewhat excited Shizuka down and away from the pier. The sun had now set in the distance... All that was left in the sky was a brilliant afterglow of reds and violets, staining the sky in a multitude of pastel colours. A 'half-rainbow', streaking across the clouds...

Everyone was gone, Katsuya found himself thinking as he stared out at the sea, his expression dimming somewhat in the silence. Everyone was... Gone. "Heh... ...Damn," he finally whispered after a few moments, Yugi turning from where he'd stood beside him in silence.

"...Long day, wasn't it," the spirit eventually said, his partner giving him a bit of a look as Katsuya snickered.

"Hah! Puttin' it lightly!" Way lightly! Not that they hadn't said it enough... "I think abou' everyone we know jus' got hell tossed at 'm," he continued quietly, shaking his head.

"Some more than others," Yugi added somewhat wisely, before turning up to his friend. "...Jonouchi-kun..."

Hn? The blond turned, before following his friend's gaze. His chest... His... "Ah... ...Yea..." The scar. Maybe not too extreme in how it came, but certainly a lasting reminder of what occurred afterward. About all the injuries, about all the secrets. "Hey... Yug'," he managed to say, swallowing nervously. "About not tellin' you..."

A sudden rush of wind hit his back, low chuckling meeting his ears while the 'real' Yugi's spirit moved to float above the water they stood by. "It's over isn't it," he said with a shrug, wide eyes closed to match his grin. "After all that happened, you can't expect me to get upset about it..!"

"...Er." Seriously? "Yes I ca-"

"No you can't," the other Yugi muttered dryly, cutting the blond off. "We won't let you." He paused, before frowning somewhat. "Or at least, he won't let me," he added with a smirk, "Which will have us doing the same thing."

"It does say something though, when we can take this as 'normal'..."

Katsuya snorted, shaking his head. "HAH! Like hell this 's normal!" Hahaha, this would be normal when Heaven and Hell switched places damn it. "Any ways..." The gaze moved back down to his arm, where he'd put his duel disk for the moment. His deck of cards had been placed back inside, shuffled and ready to go... And now...

The blond put his hands in his pockets, staring at the sky a little longer. Right now... Somewhere over the seas, Seto would be about two thirds out to her destination. Mokuba would be asleep...

And his big sister wouldn't be frowning for once. If anything, he wondered if the expression that he could dimly see in the back of his mind was closer to maybe... A smile. "...Heh..." Almost made him laugh, that. But the fact was... Until she got back...

She probably still hated him for what he did at that tower. Or maybe she didn't. That would be interesting if it were true in fact! Until then though...

"Hey... Yugi," he said with a smirk, the boy having just finished slipping a deck into his dueldisk with a nod. "Y' ready?"

"Of course," he responded, looking toward Yugi. "And we have our 'witness'..."

"Psh! Like you need a witness," the boy laughed, shaking his head as he took a 'seat' in the air. "Fight with all you have, both of you!"

"Y' need t' tell us that," Katsuya responded with a grin, nonetheless moving as he and his friend made enough distance for a field. "This is our final 'Battle City' match! We can't half ass this..!"

"You shouldn't he 'half-assing' anything," his opponent added wryly.

The only response was a shrug, disks clacking together as the game prepared for a start. Eh... He knew that. What he didn't know thankfully was how this duel would end. That would be all left to 'chance' this time. "All set," he called down, his opponent nodding.

"Same!" Hahaha!

"Alrigh'! In that case," he continued, holding a hand out as a film seemed to coat the air. "How abou' I open yer eyes..?"

"DUEL!"

---

AN: And that's a WRAP! Battle City is over... And after 'X' number of breather chapters, the next arc will begin! (Which is actually rather quick when you think about it.)

I tell you, of everything here, the ending is the most difficult part. Jou doesn't know when Kaiba's coming back true, but that handy sixth sense of his isn't letting him worry too much about it... But then there's getting it to that duel, the one we never see...

THAT scene is the only way you can end Battle City. It is the ONLY way! And besides all of that, this super chapter was so so SO plot heavy... You might catch foreshadowing, you might catch plot twists, you should catch everything else...

There was a lot to cover here, and I can only hope that I was able to do it right; you guys all have so much faith in the writing thus far, if I killed all that with one chapter... Nnnnnnnnggggghhh... I don't know what I'd do you know? It didn't end up quite as 'super' in terms of word counts though; I'm trying to cut down, as while re-reading I noticed that I had a tendency of repeating myself.

Any ways, portfolio is slowly coming along- 12 pictures done, 2 WIP, and one more to start and finish following that... And I have to do this by the time the next chapter comes out.

SPEAKING of the next chapter!

CONTEST UPDATE: As said, I'll be taking entries until the first of July. We have 5 entries, from three people; when I post the next update, I'll post all the summaries and begin voting.

This is kinda because by the time I update the NEXT chapter, it'll have been Canada Day (July 1st) already, hahahaha.

OTHER NEWS... No pictures obviously (no time!), but lots of music for you! So have fun with that!

Until next time, enjoy the chapter!

Anonymous Review Responses

Sorry if the switching confused you Imadork- And... Sorry again, seeing how this chapter had a number of those as well...

Sometimes, I can get away with keeping the POV's in separate chapters, but when the loose ends are being tied you really can't.

And I DO love when I get all the obscure references. I DO. (Hehehehe.)

Annoying doesn't quite cut it here though I think; though at least poor Jou was able to somewhat hold his tongue enough to keep it to a whisper.

And yep! He finally got what was his Iona!

Suffering is all good, but the fact is, our dear friend 'Melvin' would probably have just enjoyed that; masochist remember? (Best part is, the simpering was cannon, hohoho~)

Fluffy does indeed get a mention! And don't worry about the food, Bakura's got it covered. ...Ewww rations...

Denial denial denial! She'll have a good few weeks to sort THAT out! Anzu's problems have both just begun and ended though; while the one with the mind-confusion has actually settled down for the most part, we'll be seeing a few other issues soon enough...

For the most part though, she's fine now that she knows the rest of the Ishtar's are cool with things. Everything else is just a matter of 'oh, I think I just called you Pharaoh again.' 'Yea, you did.' 'Sorry about that.' 'It's cool.'

If you think THAT was drama... ...

Look, more drama. (Hohohoho~) Hopefully not the overplayed kind, I always wonder about that... Any ways, enjoy!

Spicy chicken and sausage gumbo huh? Sounds good Maggiemay. (I'd have to decline though; I have a sensitive tongue when it comes to spices.)

PB&J eh? ...I will have to agree, hehehe.

Oh! Another entry! Okay Maggie, I'll keep it logged away then!

...

Interesting announcer though, hoh...

Well, in any case, enjoy the chapter everyone!

---

Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner

The section that's raring to start up the next arc! Huzzah!

---

'Dusk and Dawn' refers to both the end of this arc and the 'start' of the next one. Or rather, the start of a 'journey', which the others refer to. It also ties into the time they get back, but that's beside the point.

---

Things have been moved around here a little, but that's mostly for the sake of keeping it smooth. Rather than Kaiba interrupt what is meant to be a rather powerful scene, I had her come in at the tail end of it...

And the fact is, she has a lot on her mind right now, so she can spare a few silent moments.

---

Poor Anzu- she's in the most awkward place possible right now thanks to that mind-merge; she sees the others as her family, but that's only because of Malik's memories. And because she knows they're Malik's memories, she knows she isn't supposed to feel that close to those three. At the same time though, she can't help it-

Malik's got a similar thing going on in terms of friendship with the others actually; most of Yugi's friends trust Malik as far as they can spit (And while that's a fair distance in some cases, that's still not much), so in the end he feels like they should be trusting him, and he feels almost betrayed that they don't... But he also knows that those are Anzu's memories, not his, which means that they have every right.

And yes, Anzu stole Mokuba and Ishizu's line; again, for the sake of fluidity. Also, Anzu's got a clear idea of what's supposed to happen due to the obvious.

---

Fun fact; the name of the 'Winged Dragon of Ra' is 'Raa no Yokushinryuu'. Raa being 'Ra' of course, the 'no' links it to 'Yokushinryuu'... 'Sun God Dragon'. While this CAN translate to 'Sun God Dragon of Ra'... It more likely means 'The Sun God Dragon, Ra'...

For simplicitie's sake, I put 'The Dragon of the Sun'.

---

Now hang on, Anzu's 'there's not much time left' monologue is gone. Well...

That's because there's at least one more year for them! There's a lot to get through... 'R', 'Doma', 'KC'... But in Canon, these were smushed into a much smaller scale of time!

---

Lots of lines were cut... But why? I'm sure that the biggest question is Seto simply vanishing. Well, the fact is, she couldn't very well do this any more; if she had her lines (which would have no doubt been just as hammy as in Canon, albeit coated wit obvious distaste as opposed to rage... What with fanfic Seto already proving herself as someone who has toned down a little more than the canon form at this point.)... Well, the fact is, she'd likely be cornered by the others.

Because while a majority of them still don't like her, Katsuya has at least proven himself as someone who kinda needs her alive. And while the others don't really get this, they'll respect that...

Therefore, they will become even bigger thorns in her side if need be. Most of the reason she left though was simply because she didn't want to even speak to Jou at the moment. She's still confused and such... It's understandable. The fact is, leaving the tower is Kaiba's way of not dealing with the possibility of snapping... Again. Except in a more embarrassing manner.

Because while decking Jou in the face is great in some ways, it kinda attracts unwanted attention. So yea... Lots of cut lines but in the end it was just her saying 'alright Yugi you're king now, by the way the tower blows up in an hour. Have fun everyone.'

Now it's more like she's saying 'I really don't want to talk to you guys, but I'll at least tell you the tower's blowing up in an hour so you don't get in its way.'

She's consciously trying to reign in her anger guys; Mokuba's words dug deep after all.

---

Originally, they had an hour. However, to make it a more obvious press for time (Also to prevent a certain someone from killing himself when trying to find Seto), I shortened it.

---

Seto's scene was... Really hard, to say the least. Then again, hardly anything involving her isn't hard but regardless of the fact. Other than romantic interests, these lines either come from or are extended from the actual manga. It's actually part of what made it MORE difficult... After all.

Kaiba, in the manga, was never directly part of the arc following this. He very briefly appears on the last page, but that's it. He abandons his grudge completely in Battle City and moves on, while nonetheless silently saying that he would fight Yugi some other day.

In the anime though, there's still a lot more. Not to mention that R, which is considered a canon part of the manga series as it is, includes him rather bluntly telling Yugi that he's the only one who can defeat him.

'So hang on Usagi, how do you abandon a grudge like that but still end up obsessed with beating the guy?' Well... You don't. Not really. But that's why it's called character development. Because while Seto really WOULD like to say she's dropped it all, she really hasn't...

But she's taken a big step forward nonetheless, and you can bet that she'll be less angry from now on. But then again... So was anime Kaiba, at least in Japanese. (No really; from Doma onward, Kaiba was considerably more civil.)

As for her feelings on Jonouchi... She'll address them. Someday. Eventually. It's all rather confusing for her, and the fact is, she literally cannot think of all of it right now.

(So she does the next best thing and runs away? What, that's not- Actually... It kinda is a Kaiba reaction... After all, when was the last time you saw Kaiba not just walk away from something before anyone could say much to him? At least before they did, and it ended with him leaving in a bitter huff?)

---

San Fran? Fun fact, but in the Doma arc of the anime, that's around where I2's building is. Given that it's an American Company, it would make sense... And given how involved I2 is with the next arc, this still makes sense; we just aren't entering Doma this time around.

Besides, you'll find out what they did in San Fransisco later. (Most of the fun was Mokuba's fun and not Seto's, sadly.)

---

The helicopter being used here is based on the 'Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight', which is... Or at least was (I'm not sure if the USA is the only one who stopped using them) used in Canada, the US, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and Japan.

It's a tandem rotor transport helicopter, and was used to transport troops, supplies, and equipment. The crew consists of two pilots, a crew chief, and in terms of millitary, two gunners... For the sake of the fanfic, we're going to say those gunners have been replaced with paramedics though. In addition, it has a capacity of 25 troops...

So taking in about three airship pilots, two guards, Isono, Kuzushi, one corpse, one comatose patient, one /formerly/ comatose patient (Mai), along with ten extra people is quite fine. (As that, counting the crew, totals to 25, if you count the corpse as a living person.)

Thankfully, since one of the 25 is a corpse, it makes up for the extra space Ryuzaki's bed takes. Mai, thankfully, woke up just before they went to load her up. (Though she's still pretty much been seated in a corner to calm down. For... Obvious reasons.)

---

And if you think THIS was choppy and fast, take a look at the original. It was WORSE... Ish. In the end, there's a lot of emotion here that wasn't obviously there, if you catch my meaning.

---

Whaaaat, you thought I'd send Malik to jail or something! No way! Actually, the funny thing is, the idea of pressing charges against him won't likely come to Seto's mind... There's too much of her subconscious that's accepting the fact that there were 'two Malik's, and the one responsible is gone for good.

'Iriyouhajoshya' is the Japanese word for 'Paramedic'. Hence the two taking half of each name; 'Iriyou' and 'Hajosha'. (Interestingly enough, the 'Iriyou' part effectively means doctor, being made up of the kanji 'doctor' and 'cure'. The 'Hajosha' part is made up of the kanji for 'assistant', 'rescue', and 'person'... Though that last one is more the 'someone' kanji, it isn't the 'hito' kanji.)

---

Mai's shock isn't just me pushing her scene to the end; it's accuracy. Mai's just escaped a severely crippling trauma that was all in her head. Shock is putting her current condition lightly, and the doctors were doing what's best when they took her to the back room and away from everyone else. Swarming Mai, particularly in that state, would make things worse. There's a time for the 'power of friendship'...

Shock, however, sure as hell isn't it.

---

Anzu's scene is another difficult one; both on par, moreso, and less-so than Kaiba's earlier one. Really, there are moments where it seems like each scene is trying to out-do the other. The fact is, Anzu's scene is one which had to be done... Either now, or very soon. You don't just share memories like that and sever all ties- it's destructive, and moreover, thanks to the delicate nature of it all, actually out of character- Anzu wouldn't want to drop it, and now that each one has the equivalent of a mini version of the other for a conscience (Think of it as when you ask yourself what 'so and so' would do- except without asking. It's a second set of instinct essentially.), Malik would be hesitant to do so himself.

At the same time, the entire nature of the scene is very awkward... Therefore, it's awkward to type, therefore, it sounds awkward. (In the end, that's probably what gives the scene its heart though.)

---

Bakura's reappearance varies depending on the medium; in the manga, he just... Woke up on the shore of alcatraz. He ended up putting together that rather cruel joke with Mai, where the latter pretended to be... Dead. (AHHH WHY.)

In the anime, he woke up in his bed, feeling hungry. This both does and doesn't make sense; on the one hand, why is he hungry when Yami Bakura freaking ate the evening before? On the other, I think that one of the beliefs concerning those possessed is that they'll be hungry afterward. Since Bakura is never willingly letting his darker half in... Welll...

Any ways, they find him in the kitchen, sitting on the floor, mowing down on EVERYTHING. So here's me referencing that and being silly about it.

Rather silly how no one addressed this issue, though it seems that in the world of anime and manga it's always 'don't ask don't tell'.

---

Originally in the manga, Bakura got his ring back around now. This probably happened in the anime, but I'm not particularly sure. Actually, I think the anime had that weird church scene before his next 'major' appearance and that was it. (Weird.)

Bakura WILL get his ring back... But not in the canon way. And the fact is, Bakura isn't due to show for a while so I can postpone it for a short while.

Which is good; I actually have plans for that.

---

If the ending seems somewhat rushed, it really isn't. It's just... Well, there's not much to say about the Ishtar's 'leave'. Because the fact is... They'd have said it all on the chopper, and I skipped Mai's 'small talk' to place more emphasis on how quickly that time went.

To tell the truth, everyone left rather quick, and almost sporadically even in the anime. The manga simply skipped from watching Kaiba leave to the start of Yugi and Jonouchi's unseen duel for Red-Eyes.

---

Musical Notes

I just realized how damn bizarre my musical tastes during this chapter were, or at least 'compared' to this chapter.

Those songs? Largely covers again, but if you want the originals, I can give you that.

BitCrushe by Kasane Teto and Hatsune Miku, along with Mukuro Attack, Code:Variant, and a song called 'Astronote' (Or is it Astronaut? There's no translation, and katakana can be read differently...)

In any case, I've finally got my portfolio done! So, until next time!