Elliot: Hey, guys! Don't worry, I'm still here. I'm so sorry I left you. But I'm back and GC is coming to a close! *cue cheers of people who want their lives back* Hope you enjoy!

Reviews:

Ern Estine 13624: Glad you're enjoying it!

SweetAnimeLover: I'm so sorry it took this long!

Unitato722: Sorry it took so long!

Zircon twisted in the chair, fingers drumming on the table. He was never a very patient person. This Pegasus J. Crawford had asked him for a meeting specifically three minutes ago, and he had to rearrange two appointments to fit it in.

Finally, the door opened.

"You're late," Zircon commented.

Pegasus J. Crawford smiled at him. "I'm a busy man, Zircon. Can you blame me?"

"Yes." Zircon glanced over him.

Immaculately dressed, well-groomed hair, one glass eye with a golden iris. He screamed 'Money, money, money, come and rob me, honey, I can make ten thousand yen in a second'. An air that Zircon respected.

He sat in the chair in front of Zircon's table. Although his own chair was higher, Pegasus seemed to be the taller one. Looming down. "I have an offer for you."

"I expected as much."

"It's a project I've been working on for years."

Zircon raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Crawford-"

"Pegasus," he corrected.

"Mr. Crawford," Zircon continued, "I'm a historian and a bodyguard. All projects for me last years."

"How about over forty years in the making?" Pegasus raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't just me. I took this from my mother, and she took it from hers."

Zircon hummed. "Continue."

"We've ruined the planet," Pegasus pointed out. "The time to act was twenty years ago, when we had a chance of saving the world from global warming. Now it's only a matter of time before we run it into the ground."

"A lot of people would disagree with you."

"You don't."

"I never said that I did." Zircon bridged his fingers.

Pegasus folded his arms. "We need to take the future of this world – the children – and bring them somewhere safe. Somewhere global warming won't affect them. Somewhere we can keep them in a safe and monitored environment until our technology is sufficient for us to leave this planet."

"It sounds like a child's fantasy novel."

"I don't think you believe that." Pegasus' eye glinted. "You trust me."

"We can't train children to be astronauts."

"We don't." Pegasus shook his head. "Not at first. We place them in a controlled environment. Make some underdogs so there's always someone trying to fight to be better. Stronger. Faster. Smarter. Rules increase, freedom decreases. 'The trip to Mars will be taxing on everyone so you need to be in top physical condition'. 'We need technical degrees so you can be the first to bring technology to mars'."

Zircon nodded slowly. "So you ease them into it. First it's like nothing happened. Then more rules come in, then essential physical and academic training."

Pegasus nodded. "By the end of the project, the world will be collapsing. Capitalism as a structure won't work when wars are being fought over water and food by the world's superpowers." He opened his briefcase and took out a manila envelope, sliding it over to Zircon. "Including you, fifty people have been approached about this project. We want you to be one of the fifty leaders. You understand this has to be treated as top-secret. Not even a need-to-know basis. No one outside of the project - parents, families, guards, press. No one but us and the governments will know."

Zircon picked up the envelope, testing the weight. "And if I refuse?"

Pegasus was smiling. "You won't."

"My sister will try to stop me." Zircon met his gaze. "Once she figures out that I'm involved, Horakhty will fight her way to the top to make sure she's on this case. All she will see is children disappearing. And she's not someone you want against you."

"You won't refuse," Pegasus repeated. "And we have ways of dealing with problems like her."

Zircon's eyes were brighter. "What do I need to do?"

"Inside that envelope are a list of names," Pegasus replied. "Twenty-five, to be exact. Find the children, and break them. I don't care how. To teach the child, we must first break the child. We can't have anyone reluctant to leave anything behind." He stood up, turning away. "I'm glad you saw things my way."

"I didn't agree to it yet."

"But you will." Pegasus gave him a smile. "Have a fabulous day."

When Pegasus was gone, Zircon opened the envelope and scanned the list. He would go in order. It was easiest that way.

He looked at the top. Mutou Yugi.

"Fuckin' – Let go of me!"

"Not a chance in fucking hell," Bakura snarled. The arm he held behind Sid's back tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip and pushed it further up.

He heard Sid hiss as he kicked the door in front of them three times. Mehi pulled open the door and Bakura shoved Sid inside. The Australian hit the ground hard and Bakura slammed the door closed. "I got him."

"Did any cameras or microphones catch you?" Yugi asked, arms folded.

Bakura shook his head. "No. He stayed quiet. He knew what would happen if Zorc found out what was going on."

"Good." Yugi stood and walked closer to Sid. The latter pushed himself up on his arms.

The room was a bit more cramped than usual, resulting in a few people standing rather than sitting. Mehi's sleeping bag was laid out on the floor – brought down by Marik.

A few cans and lunchboxes of food were brought down by a few others, and some water bottles. Bakura and Marik had also brought down a few books. No one had been able to bring much, so a lot of people had brought very few things to avoid the weight of items dragging them down and increasing chances of them being caught.

"I didn't do shit," Sid muttered, looking away from the sad pile.

"Bull fucking shit," Marik snarled. "You're the only one who had a problem with Mehi."

"Yeah, so what?" Sid glared at him. "I had a problem with it, but I didn't have a problem with the rest of you."

Ryou walked over and grabbed Sid by the hem of his shirt, dragging him up. "If you call her it again," he said, slowly, softly, "you won't have a problem with anything anymore aside from deciding how you're going to spend your afterlife."

Sid's glare wavered and he glanced away. "I didn't do shit," he repeated.

"Ryou, let him go," Yugi sighed.

Ryou shook him. "Tell the truth.

"Ryou!" Yugi snapped. Ryou glanced up at him. "Let him go. Now." Ryou scowled, but dropped him. Sid grunted as he hit the ground. "Good."

"Fucking bastard," Sid grumbled. Ryou took a step towards him again but the look Yugi sent him made him stop. After a minute, he walked back to his seat.

Sid looked up as Yugi approached. "I didn't tell him."

"I don't think you did," Yugi agreed, "but nearly everyone here does. So you'll need a good alibi."

"Nearly everyone?" Sid raised an eyebrow.

Yugi nodded, arms folding. "Yeah. If it wasn't for the girl you outed to the entire ICU, you wouldn't even have a trial."

"Oh, so this is a trial?" Sid scoffed. "With all of them as the jury, I'm obviously going to lose."

"Because you did it." Ryou glared at him.

Mehi nudged him. "Leave him alone. I don't think he did."

"I still think you're joking." Ryou glanced up at her. "He outed you to the entire area. He vandalised your locker-"

"I know. But I don't think he would have risked it." Mehi's eyes were narrow. "He wouldn't have risked Yugi telling everyone his secret."

Sid froze, eyes wide. His head snapped towards Yugi. "You told her?" Her.

Yugi didn't move. "I thought it was fair. She didn't tell anyone."

"Yeah, because she can't! I bet the entire fucking group knows now," Sid staggered to his feet. "You know what? I wish I fucking told him. You'd all fucking deserve it."

"I haven't told anyone, so sit your ass down." Mehi glared at him. Her hair wasn't gelled up anymore, but her fringe was still wild around her face, and her narrowed eyes and set jaw made Sid drop to the ground.

After a minute, he spoke again. "I didn't do shit."

"Let him go." Mehi shook her head. "Even if you didn't threaten him, I don't think he'd have told. He'd be too scared of not getting out himself."

Sid looked away. Yugi hummed. "I think you're right."

"But he-"

"Ryou." Yugi sent him a sharp look. "Mehi's the one who was hurt most by this, so she has the casting vote. I trust her judgement. If she says she doesn't think he did it, I believe her." His gaze flicked to Heru and Rally. "Keep an eye out in the ATRA. I trust that he didn't do it, but not enough to let it pass as a coincidence if you see him there." He looked down at Sid. "Go on. Get out. You can go back to your cube."

Sid scrambled to his feet and bolted out of the door. He was lucky.

Yugi walked back to his chair and sat down. "You can all go too. It's been a long day – get some sleep before work tomorrow."

Slowly, everyone filtered out until only Yami, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, Mehi, and himself remained.

"You really trust him?" Ryou asked once the door was closed.

Mehi nodded. "I do. He really doesn't want that secret told."

"What is the secret anyway?" Yami folded his arms.

"Not my place to say."

"He-"

"I know what he did, Marik." She shot him a look. "But I'm not going to do that."

"I wouldn't blame you if you did," Yugi commented, offhand. Mehi looked over at him. "I don't think even he would."

"I don't care. I'd blame me." Mehi folded her arms. "I'm not telling." She glanced over at her small mound. "Thanks for bringing these down."

"No problem," Ryou mumbled. "I wish we could've brought more."

Bakura pulled off his bag. "I've got some clothes, a small pillow, and an old DS if you want?" He offered, taking out the items. "The clothes are mine, but-"

"They're fine. Thanks." Mehi took them from him and placed them at the bottom of the sleeping bag. "I really appreciate it. I'm sorry I got us caught."

"You didn't," Marik insisted. "Whoever snitched got us caught. Right, Yug'?"

Yugi nodded. "Marik's right, Mehi. None of this was your fault. We'll find whoever did it." He didn't say what would happen to them when they were found, and no one wanted to ask.

Seto blew hair out of his eyes as he refreshed the page again. It took copious amounts of hairspray to keep it pristine all day every day, and it often began to wear out just as he went to bed. Which was normally around ten.

Now, it was nearing midnight.

"You know," Jounouchi commented, leaning over the back of the couch, "nothing new is going to come up tonight."

"You don't know that." Seto hit the refresh button again, but nothing happened. It was still the exact same as two minutes previously.

"It's New Year's Eve, S- Blue." Jounouchi raised his plastic cup, a bit of punch sloshing over the edge. From his rosy cheeks, Seto had a suspicion that he should stay away from that particular drink for the rest of the night. "2020 – we can finally say that we all have twenty-twenty vision! Get it?"

"Yes, you've been saying that since Christmas," Seto sighed, refreshing the page again. "Nothing," he grumbled.

"Told you," Jounouchi sang. "Nothing's gonna happen. Everyone's busy celebrating."

"I guess." Seto sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Jounouchi leaned closer. "I'll go get you some water. You pretend not to refresh once more, and then close the laptop. Okay?" Seto looked like he wanted to protest. "Come on; it's dangerous to check email in the rec. room anyway."

After a moment, Seto nodded. "Fine. Thanks, Retriever."

Jounouchi grinned. "Anytime." He sauntered towards the small table of drinks and stale cookies.

Seto glanced at his laptop again. Refresh. Nothing. His gaze flickered up to the refreshment table. Jounouchi was still pouring him water.

He quickly tapped the refresh button again. And once more. One – refresh – more – refresh – time – refresh.

Just – refresh – once – refresh – more – refresh.

He glanced at Jounouchi again. He was on his way back. He clicked the refresh button once more.

His eyes widened. No way. He quickly clicked into the new email and read through it.

Jounouchi clicked his tongue as he sat down. "Come on. You promised – laptop away."

"They replied."

Jounouchi blinked. "What?"

"They replied; look!" Seto was grinning as he moved the screen so Jounouchi could see it too.

It took Jounouchi a bit longer to read it, but once he was finished, he too was grinning. "You've gotta show Yu- Calico."

Seto nodded and stood up with the laptop. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"You'd better be." Jounouchi reclined in the chair. "I'm not kissing my hand at midnight."

Seto tried to ignore the itchy heat that rose to his cheeks as he glanced around the room. He still wasn't quite used to what Jounouchi called PDA.

He spotted Yugi in the far corner, flirting with Yami. Naturally. He made his way through the crowd, trying not to get anything on his laptop. "Calico!" The two looked up as he neared them. "I got a response."

Yugi nodded. "What does it say?" His voice was clipped, edgy. Scared to let his hopes rise.

Seto grinned and passed him the laptop. Yugi's eyes flickered over it. Finally, a smile crossed his lips. "Perfect." He passed the laptop back to Seto. "But it's not safe yet. We can't call another meeting so soon after the last one."

Seto nodded. He had expected as much. "What should I do until then?"

Yugi hummed. "Keep emailing them. Sort everything out. I trust your judgement. If you have anything you're unsure about, find me and I'll sort it out. And log off now – we can't afford them finding out when we're so close."

So close, so far.

Seto clicked out of the email and the servers went back to normal. "Thanks, Calico." His grin was gone, his expression back to its usual business-like neutral state.

"Thank you too." Yugi smiled. "Now go spend New Year's Eve with Retriever before he blows a fuse."

Seto chuckled and nodded. There was only a minute left, and Jounouchi would kill him if they didn't kiss at exactly midnight.

He closed his laptop and made his way back to Jounouchi.

"Ten!"

He shoved the laptop into his computer bag as Jounouchi handed him a cup of water. "Thanks."

"Nine!"

"No problem." Jounouchi smiled at him.

"Eight!"

Seto frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Seven!"

It wasn't the time, but Jounouchi didn't look okay.

"Six!"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jounouchi set his drink down and wrapped his arms around Seto's waist.

"Five!"

Seto held back a chuckle. It looked funny. He was a head taller than Jounouchi. He set down his drink.

"Four!"

"I love you, Katsuya."

"Three!"

Jounouchi's eyes widened. A smile stretched across his face.

"Two!"

"I love you too," he murmured.

"One!"

Seto cupped Jounouchi's face and leaned down, pressing their lips together as the room erupted into cheers.

"Happy New Year!"

"I've been thinking." Yami landed beside Yugi on the beanbag. Yugi barely saved his glass of water from sloshing all over them. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Yugi slurped up the small drips that had slipped out. "What were you saying?"

"If we're underground," Yami began again, "there has to be a way out, right?"

Yugi snorted. "That's entirely what we're banking on. If there isn't one, we're screwed."

"Well we haven't found one," Yami pointed out. "In eight years, no one has found any exit. What I mean is there has to be one. As in the singular form. Otherwise, someone would have come across it by now. It's already highly unlikely that no one has found it yet."

Yugi hummed and set his glass down. "I think it's a bit optimistic that there's only one," he commented. "And I think you're wrong."

"On what part?"

"Someone has to have found it by now," Yugi mumbled. "The exit. Someone who isn't here anymore."

Yami frowned. "The only one we're not even allowed mention anymore is-" He stopped.

"Tsekani," Yugi finished. White hot pain shot through his chest from the medallion and he winced. Hotter, more painful than any of their names.

"But he's gone because he took off his item," Yami mumbled. "It can't be him."

Yugi was silent for a moment. "I'm about to do something very stupid," he finally said, "and if it doesn't work out, you're in charge." Before Yami could protest, Yugi ripped off the puzzle. More pain shot through him, holding, staying, but nothing more happened. The pain just stayed as he held the puzzle. After a minute, he dropped it. The pain grew a little.

Yami's eyes were wide, face pale. "Put it back on."

Yugi was grinning. "It doesn't matter. It won't do anything."

"Yugi, put it back on."

Yugi picked it up again and pulled it over his head. The pain subsided. "It hurts, but not as bad as even saying Tsekani." White hot pain again. Yugi tried to ignore it. "And they said that's why he's not here. They told us that's why he died."

Yami still looked pale, but not quite as tense. "He found the exit. He tried to get out. And they killed him."

Yugi nodded. "He found it, and so can we."

Yami nodded. "It has to be nearby. It's not a very big area when you think about it. About the size of Domino. Maybe smaller."

Yugi tapped his lower lip. "And most people were under twelve when we were brought in. They had to store us near the gym for the Meet and Greet – we would have kicked up shit if we had to walk for more than five minutes."

"They could have carried us to the cubes."

"They wouldn't have carried us further than necessary," Yugi mumbled. "Two thousand kids in a short space of time."

"So it has to be somewhere near section one – that's where the gym is," Yami pointed out.

Again, Yugi was silent for a minute. As the curfew bell rang, he stood. "Get to your cube. It's curfew. Meet me outside in twenty minutes in your Draughtsmen gear."

Yami nodded without hesitation and left the cube.

Yugi flipped the switch and the walls of his cube went dark. He pulled on his black clothes. His head was covered by a balaclava – his hair was too recognisable, especially after the incident on the roof.

He waited.

The times were mapped out – cube checks, guard patrols, everything.

Exactly twenty minutes later, he slipped out of his cube. He looked across the path to see Yami closing the door to his cube.

It had taken a little longer to hack since the upgrade, but Mehi, Seto and Ryou had managed to get the system to do what they wanted.

The Artist beckoned for Griffin to follow him and they began running – silent, swift. They wore black sole-less slippers to reduce noise, always alert for the sound of footsteps.

However, they reached section one unhindered. Fifteen minutes. They only had twenty-five minutes left.

The cubes stayed dark for as long as they wanted, but it was dangerous to keep them dark for more than an hour – for the time being anyway. Another week and they'd be fine.

If Mehi even had a week left.

They ducked behind the gym where the Meet and Greet had taken place as guards approached. Good. They weren't seen.

The cubes they had been kept in for their first week could be seen just out of the corner of their eyes, but neither looked.

On a normal day, or even night, they would have. But not on a mission.

The two crept around the building. Suddenly, Griffin tapped the Artist's shoulder.

Wall, Griffin signed as the Artist looked back at him. Look.

The Artist glanced towards the area Griffin was pointing at. He frowned. There was nothing out of the- wait, what was that sound?

He yanked Griffin around the gym corner as the wall parted. Light shone from the new addition to the building and a man stepped out.

Immaculately dressed in red, silver-purple hair, one eye covered.

"Pegasus J. Crawford," the Artist whispered.

Pegasus J. Crawford looked around before walking towards the gym. The Artist pulled Griffin behind another wall as Pegasus reached the door and stepped inside. The door clicked shut behind him.

The Artist nodded and darted towards the elevator before it could close with Griffin just behind him.

"This is insane," Griffin whispered, looking around. Mirrors and a bar lined the walls, making it look like just any hotel. But only six buttons decorated the silver plate.

The alarm bell, and the fire button. Open doors and close doors.

ICU was spelled on one button, and on the last button was UP.

A door clicked open.

"Run!" The Artist hissed, but they had both already started. They made it behind a section one cube as Pegasus J. Crawford walked back towards the elevator.

The immaculately dressed man looked around once before the doors closed again.

The Artist frowned, but even though he knew where the elevator was, he could barely see it.

Wait here, he signed to Griffin before creeping back.

There was a thin line of separation where the elevator lay, all the way up to the roof of the building. People had probably thought it was a design or a manufacturing error.

He ghosted his hand over the wall. Nothing. He tried again, on the other side of the line.

A button. Small. He didn't put any pressure on it, scared of calling the elevator down again and alerting someone to them.

He crouched, staring at the button. So small, barely legible, two letters.

UP.

"Joey!"

Jounouchi grinned as he stopped tiptoeing. "How did you know it was me this time?"

Shizuka shook her head. "You need to stop wearing so much cologne. I could practically smell you coming down the hall."

Jounouchi chuckled and shook his head. "No you couldn't."

"I said practically," Shizuka protested. "I could smell you from the door."

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I know you love sneaking up on me!" She laughed, turning her head towards him. Bandages and gauze covered her eyes, and Jounouchi winced when he saw them.

He glanced towards her dresser and smiled when he saw lilies. "Meerkat was here?"

Shizuka nodded. "Yeah. She read to me for a bit and left some flowers before going to school."

"What book?" Jounouchi pulled over a chair.

"I think it was Lord of the Rings. The second one. We finished the first one yesterday."

"You're getting through it pretty fast."

Shizuka grinned. "I know. Meerkat's a fast reader. She's great – she did the voices and everything. Her impersonation of Gollum was hilarious."

"That's great." Jounouchi grinned. Slowly, his grin faded. "Did the doctors come in to talk to you?"

Shizuka nodded. "Yeah. They said my eyes are going to be fine and they can begin surgery in a few hours. I need to take some sort of medicine – they'll probably bring that in soon."

Jounouchi nodded. "Good. And you'll be able to come out after your surgery?"

"Not immediately," Shizuka murmured, "but after a few days, definitely. Don't worry. I won't delay the project."

They had come to call the escape 'the project'. There were always projects going on at school, so they could have easily been talking about that.

"You know Calico wouldn't mind putting that off for a few days."

"I know," she sighed, "but with the leak, we all want to get out as quickly as possible. Before anything happens."

Jounouchi bit his tongue. "Yeah. I know you do."

Shizuka smiled slightly. "You should go to school before you end up late. You don't want a restriction this close."

Jounouchi nodded. "I know." He leaned down and kissed Shizuka's forehead. "Thanks, Princess."

He left the room as she waved goodbye, and breathed out a soft sigh of relief. Zorc had done it. He had half expected to get there and have Shizuka tell him that they couldn't do the operation because of something technical, but it had been done and it was working.

He closed his eyes as he walked. He didn't need to snitch anymore. They could get out.

He staggered as he crashed into someone and his eyes flashed open. "Sorry, I wasn't-"

Ryou waved a hand. "No, it was my-" They both stopped, and looked at one another. Ryou lowered his hand. "What are you doing here?"

"I- well what are you doing here?"

"I had to come in for the results of a test." Ryou frowned, head to the side. "What about you?"

Jounouchi hesitated and glanced behind him. "I came to visit Princess. She got the eye operation."

Ryou's frown deepened. "I thought you didn't have enough money for that?"

"Well, I…" Jounouchi rubbed the back of his head. "I worked something out."

"What did you work out?" Jounouchi didn't reply. Realisation flashed in Ryou's eyes. "Oh."

"Ryou, don't-" Jounouchi began but he faltered.

"Don't what?" Ryou raised an eyebrow. "Tell Calico? That you could have ruined the project and nearly got one of my best friends killed?"

Jounouchi hesitated. "I… I had to, Ry…"

Ryou folded his arms. "You could have asked one of us for help."

"I didn't tell them h- she was doing it. I didn't know she was going to be up there," Jounouchi insisted.

"But you knew someone would be." Ryou's eyes were cold. "You didn't need to do this."

"Yes, I did!" Jounouchi insisted. "I needed to get Princess' sight back! She could have been left behind if I didn't!"

"Calico wouldn't-"

"You think that matters?" Jounouchi snarled. "People would object to her coming until it escalated so that it wouldn't make sense for her to come. She wouldn't get out, Ryou. I had to get her out."

"There were other ways."

"Like?" Jounouchi spread his arms. "I didn't see any. I went to Zorc for a loan, and he said he'd give it to me if I found out how to join the Draughtsmen and gave him information. I didn't tell him I was already in it. I didn't tell him any names – he thought we all wore masks and shit down there."

"Keep your voice down." Ryou's eyes narrowed. After a moment, he sighed. "You need to tell them, Retriever."

Jounouchi shook his head. "They'll leave me behind."

"They might," Ryou agreed, "but Princess would get out. And Blue, and Calico, and everyone else." Jounouchi chewed his lip. "If you don't tell them, I will."

Yugi raised an eyebrow when he saw Ryou walk into the room, practically dragging Jounouchi behind him. "Ryou?"

Ryou released Jounouchi once the door closed and gave him a pointed look.

Jounouchi looked away, but when Ryou opened his mouth, he spoke. "I was the one who told Zorc about the missions."

The room was quiet for a moment. Yugi's eyes were wide, his jaw not quite connected to the top of his mouth. "Come again?"

Jounouchi wouldn't meet his gaze. "I was- I'm the snitch."

"Why?" Yami shook his head.

Jounouchi swallowed. "Shizuka. She needed that eye operation, but I couldn't afford it. She needed it before we got out – I couldn't let her be left behind."

"We wouldn't have left her behind," Yugi protested.

"I know you wouldn't have," Jounouchi muttered, finally meeting his gaze, "but others would. They'd argue, and object, and shit until it didn't make sense to bring her."

"No, we wouldn't have." Zygor shook his head. "Right?"

But as Jounouchi looked around the room, a few people wouldn't meet his gaze.

Yugi shook his head. "No matter what anyone else said, I have final say, Jou. I wouldn't have left her behind." Jounouchi looked back at him. "Shizuka is as much a Draughtsman as anyone else in here, and her blindness didn't affect the fact that she's just as trapped here. We would have gotten her out – with or without that operation."

Jounouchi shifted from foot to foot. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "It just… didn't seem like you would."

Yugi sighed. He looked tired. So very tired. "I understand that. But we can't let this go unaddressed." Jounouchi looked away again. "I'm sorry, Jou. But we're going to need to ask you to leave the Draughtsmen."

Jounouchi squeezed his eyes closed. "Shizuka?"

"She won't be affected," Yugi assured him.

Jounouchi nodded. "Thanks," he mumbled as he turned towards the door.

"We could use this to our advantage," Seto spoke.

Jounouchi paused. "What do you mean?" Yugi asked, glancing over at him.

Seto folded his arms, focus on his laptop gone. "You told Zorc dates, times, and places of missions, right?"

After a second, Jounouchi nodded, turning to face him. "Yeah."

"Did you tell him names?"

Jounouchi shook his head. "No. No, of course not. I told him everyone wore masks and shit down here to protect identities in case of a snitch. He doesn't even know I was part of the Draughtsmen before I went to him."

Seto looked at Yugi. "Feed him fake names and missions."

The room exploded.

"What the fuck? No, we're not telling him others are part of this!"

"What if he finds out?"

"I think it's a good idea."

"That's because you've got shit for brains."

"Danger?"

"Yeah, it's really dangerous."

"Not if you think about it." Seto's eyebrows raised. "We tell him missions are in a different area, or a different time to the one we go on. The ATRA go after that one, and they realise it's a false alarm."

Yugi's hands were bridged under his chin, elbows on his knees. "And if he takes it out on Jounouchi?"

"He won't. You know Zorc. A snitch is too valuable to him." Jounouchi flinched at 'snitch' and Seto looked up at him. "Would you be up for it?"

Jounouchi nodded eagerly.

"How do we know we can trust him to give the fake information instead of the real bits?" Heru pressed.

"Well how did we know you weren't going to give us up to the ATRA when you joined?" Atem pressed. "Or that Rally was trustworthy?"

Heru looked away. "That was different. I never snitched."

"And Jounouchi normally wouldn't. He was trying to protect his sister," Seto soothed.

"That doesn't matter," Yugi sighed. "It's too risky an operation with so many people."

"I'd risk it." Yami folded his arms. Yugi shot him a look. "Jounouchi's always been a great friend – to everyone. He made a mistake. That's all."

"I think we should put it to a vote," Heba decided.

"I think we should let Mehi and Yugi decide," Rally mumbled. They never spoke too much, so everyone's eyes were on them. "Yugi's the original Artist, so he knows the most about this and how it could affect the mission, and Mehi's the one who was hurt by it. They should be the ones to decide."

Yugi chewed his lip and shook his head, looking over at Mehi. "Well?"

Mehi blinked slowly. She hadn't spoken since the meeting started. "He didn't mean to do it," she finally said. "Well, he did, but he didn't mean for anyone to be hurt. Can we really blame him for trying to help his sister?" She met his gaze. "I think we should try it."

Yugi sighed, long and slow. "Okay. Jounouchi, you can stay." He looked around. "Anyone not okay with the risk of being caught should leave. I trust Jounouchi not to give up real information but there's still a huge risk that Zorc will figure this out." No one moved. "Are you sure?" Slow nods ran around the room and Yugi sat down, gesturing to the empty seat for Jounouchi. "You can stay."

A shaky breath escaped Jounouchi as he sank into the seat beside Seto. The other took his hand, subtly.

Yugi looked over at Yami. "Now that that's sorted out, Yami and I have an announcement." Everyone sat upright. They didn't often have announcements – or at least, they didn't say that they did. Yugi looked out at everyone. "We have our way out."

"Are you certain?" Seto asked, instant.

Yugi nodded. "There's a large elevator behind the room that we had the Meet and Greet thing in when we got here. It's bigger than this entire room."

Seto chewed his lip. "And we'll be able to get in?"

"We'll need to wait for someone to come down," Yami explained. "There's no button on the wall. That's how it's hidden. Pegasus Crawford came down two nights ago, and the doors stayed open until he came back – they don't have an automatic close function. We'll need to track him so we know when he'll be down, and we'll all need to be ready to run once he's out of sight."

"There's a few buttons inside, but there's definitely one that makes it go up," Yugi continued. "We'll need to all be in at the same time."

"Why don't we just go now?" Mana asked.

"We don't know if Pegasus is down, and we haven't planned for it," Yami replied.

"And most of all, Seto's contacts don't know where we are." Yugi looked over at Seto. "Even if we got out through there tonight, no one would come to us, and we don't know where we are. We wouldn't know how to get away. To get home." He looked away from Seto. "No. We'll go when Seto's contacts confirm help and have our location. And no sooner."

Seto knocked on the door, and Banner looked up with a smile. "Ah, Blue. How can I help you?"

"I've been designing a new game for Blue Corp. and I was wondering if I could ask for some help," Seto explained, walking into the room.

One of the youngest children outside screamed as they were caught in a game of tag.

"Of course." Banner's smile grew. "What can I help you with?"

Seto stopped at his desk. "Well, I'm planning on doing a game set in how the world used to be – before Global Warming ruined it." Banner folded his arms but nodded. "But as you know, my geography grades could be better. Is there any way I could take a picture of some of your maps? You can't get them online."

Banner hummed. "There's a reason that they're not on the ICUnet anymore. We don't want to give anyone a false hope that there's something other than the ICU out there."

"I understand that." Seto nodded. "But I need the maps for my research."

Banner sighed. "You know where the maps are – go ahead." Seto turned towards the wall at the back where all of the maps were. "And Blue? Be careful. I'm sure you understand my caution. If it was anyone else, I wouldn't let them take the pictures."

Seto nodded. "I know." That's why it was him that was sent. Aside from the location finder he had installed on his phone with Mehi's help during the last meeting. "Thank you, sir."

He pulled out his phone and examined the maps. After a minute, he took a photo of the maps of Japan, Asia, Europe, America, and the world. He took two, checked them all, and took one more of Japan.

"Are you done?" Banner asked as Seto pocketed his phone.

"Yes. Thanks for your time." Seto walked towards the door.

"Not at all – I can't wait to see your game." Banner grinned. "But remember what I told you."

Seto paused. "I will. Thanks for your time." He left the classroom quickly – his strides long, but even along the hallway.

Jounouchi was waiting for him by the baseball pitch, where the younger classes were running around and playing tag. "Did you get it?"

Seto nodded and pulled out his phone. "Got it."

"So what now?"

Seto hummed and pulled the photos up. "The GPS will scan the map, search for our location, and place it on a rough area on the map."

He typed in a few numbers and a blue light flashed. A few seconds later, a red circle surrounded Japan and its islands. Seto flicked onto the map of Japan and its islands.

He scanned it with the GPS. It took longer. Then it appeared in the corner on the sea.

"Maybe we are underwater?" Jounouchi mumbled.

"No." Seto typed in the numbers again. "No, no we can't be. It came up wrong. I'll try again."

It took longer the second time. Eventually, an error message popped up.

"Maybe you need to test it some more."

"No." Seto gritted his teeth and typed in the numbers again. A few minutes later, a red dot came up on the edge of the Okinawa island.

Seto tried again. The dot moved a little, but stayed on the island. One more time and it moved back to the edge of the island.

"We have the coordinates." Seto checked it and scribbled the location onto the back of his hand.

"You sure?"

Seto nodded. "I'll check it a few more times before the meeting, but it sounds about right."

Jounouchi looked up as the bell rang, and Seto pocketed his phone. Free-study period. "I need to go to the office." He always did. "I'll message my contacts with the coordinates at the meeting."

"Okay." Jounouchi leaned up and kissed his cheek. "See you then."

"Griffin, I swear if you don't sit still-" Bakura growled.

"I am still!" Yami snapped.

"No, you're not, because if you were, your wings wouldn't be all over the place." Bakura scowled at him. "Or do you want to be one of the 'I literally rolled out of bed' Pharaohs?" Yami opened his mouth. "Oh, wait. That's right. There were none."

"Quit being an asshole," Yami muttered.

Bakura barked out a laugh. "Sit still and I'll think about it."

Yami rolled his eyes but did his best to sit still as Bakura traced over the eyeliner. Again.

"What's got you so worked up anyway?" Bakura asked. "You're never this nervous."

Yami sighed – long and low. "Calico's coming tonight," he mumbled.

Bakura shrugged. "So?"

"It's the first time he's come to one of the shows."

Bakura frowned, meeting his gaze. "I didn't think he was against you working here."

Yami shook his head. "He's not. I just didn't want him to come before now. Plus it's meant to be our date night but I was called in."

"Okay I get the last bit but still." Bakura shook his head and went back to touching up his eyeliner. "I don't get it. Dove's been here multiple times."

"That's different. You're a scrawny little shit who likes to pick fights even though you can't fight," Yami muttered.

"I'll have you know that this is all lean muscle," Bakura scoffed. "I'd like to see any of the guys I fight hang upside down from a pole by their thighs."

Yami rolled his eyes. "Still doesn't mean you can fight." Bakura swatted the back of his head. "Hey!"

"I told you to sit still." Bakura sighed and eased out a lipstick smudge with his finger. "Anyway, I don't see the problem. Calico sees you dance, thinks you're sexy, you go back to his cube, and-"

"We're not you and Dove."

Bakura snorted. "Believe me, if you were, this would've happened a long time ago."

"Gods, Necro, he's sixteen!"

Bakura looked up at him for a second. "I was talking about making out. What were you thinking?" Yami hesitated, and Bakura swatted him again. "Get your head out of the gutter; he's sixteen!"

"That was my point." Yami smacked his hand away. "And stop hitting me."

"I will when you stop being an idiot." Bakura finished his wings and capped the eyeliner. "There. You're beautiful. Go say hi to your boyfriend before the show."

Yami hopped off the table, dusting off his white booty shorts though nothing was on them. "Thanks."

"Whatever. Just go so I can do my own make-up," Bakura muttered, pulling his mirror around to face him.

Yami nodded and left the room. Just as he had promised – though he technically wasn't allowed – Yugi was waiting for him backstage.

His eyes lit up when he saw Yami. "You look…" His voice faltered. "Wow."

Yami swallowed, goosebumps running down his arms. "Good wow or-?"

"Definitely good," Yugi assured him, leaning up and kissing him. "Amazing."

Yami chuckled, the sensation easing though not disappearing. "Thanks, Cal."

"How long are you on the stage tonight?"

"Just the one dance," Yami sighed. "I need to do it with Necro again. I know it's meant to be our date night, but someone called in sick, and-"

"Hey, hey." Yugi caught Yami's face in his hands. "It's okay. It's not your fault." He pecked the other's lips. "And after you do your dance, we're going to go back to my cube, relax, and watch a movie. Okay?"

Yami hesitated. "Promise you're not mad?"

"Of course I'm not," Yugi murmured. "Things like this happen. You can't control it."

Yami let out a breath, smiling. "Thanks, aibou."

Yugi chuckled. "Don't worry about it."

Yami looked away. Around back-stage. "Is it bad that I almost don't want to leave?" He whispered. "I'm… sort of scared. What if we're wrong?"

Yugi squeezed Yami's hand. "It's not bad," he murmured. "I'm scared too." Yami looked back at him. "But we just have to believe that it's right. That we're doing the right thing. Otherwise, we'll always be too scared to do it. Y'know?"

As Yami nodded, Bakura clapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump. "Ready to go, Pharaoh?"

Yami groaned. "Already?"

"Yup." Bakura looked at Yugi and winked. "Make sure to watch Griffin tonight, shrimp. He'll be putting on a hell of a performance for you."

Yugi grinned, his eyes on Yami. "I'm counting on it."

The Artist looked out over the Draughtsmen in attendance. Griffin. Dove. Giraffe. Necro. Phoenix.

All of them had argued against Dove and Phoenix going, but Dove had insisted, and once she found out both Dove and Giraffe were going, no one was going to stop Phoenix.

Everyone ready? The Artist signed. They had all become a lot better at signing – well, the six present had anyway. Some of the others still only knew basic words.

The five nodded, and the Artist began walking. He didn't give a signal. He didn't need to. They had everything planned out – every word, every step, every breath.

Seven quotes. Seven more quotes, and then they were leaving.

Pegasus' schedule was mapped. So was the camera route. So was the night shift of everyone working every shift at every business that had a night shift.

Griffin, Giraffe, Necro, and Crystal were getting the night off. Everyone else was working – well, Phoenix excluded. There was no need to draw attention to their section.

They were planning on bringing Koala with them. It wasn't fair to leave him. Not like this. He would be the only one in section seventeen left behind. They would kill him.

Literally.

And Yugi didn't want any more blood on his hands.

The Artist led them out of section seventeen and up towards section one. Scooter met them along the way.

When they reached the small clearing, they began. Their cubes were all still dark, so they all still had time. Maybe even a bit of extra time.

They spread out and began. Every quote was going to be bigger and more noticeable than the last.

When they were done, they pulled back to view it. Oneker, and go first yourself, and firstolate were written in a clean circle all around the area.

Were they the best insults? No – although the Artist did like onekers. But they wanted to get the motion running. They wanted the other sections to feel how they felt.

In the middle of it sat a bold, black quote.

The minority is only powerless for as long as it conforms to the majority – Mehi Kosey, section seventeen.

"Who's not here?" Yugi called, seeing two empty chairs. "Please tell me no one's sick." They couldn't afford it. Not now. Not when they were so close.

"Ryou's getting Sid," Bakura called. "He needs to be here for the meeting if he's coming."

Yugi grimaced. Ryou wasn't the worst person to find out, but given that he was Mehi's best friend, he certainly wasn't the best. "Okay. Until they get here, any progress?"

Rally nodded. "In the ATRA meeting today, Heru called Vivian a oneker. I don't think I've seen anyone go that red before."

Yugi nodded. "Excellent. Except-" He shot Heru a look. "-we're meant to be using it passively."

Heru shrugged. "Well she is one."

"It literally means nothing," Yugi groaned.

"Exactly." Heru smirked. "She's nothing."

Ryou walked in a second later with Sid, and Yugi looked like he was about to fall at their feet and thank them.

But Sid's face was pale, and Ryou looked at Yugi for a second too long. They took the empty seats, Ryou making sure to take the one by Mehi.

Yami leaned out and pushed the door closed.

"Okay," Yugi began, standing up. He hesitated. "Okay…" He took a breath. "Okay. This is it. This is…" He shook his head. "We're getting out."

No one even mentioned his stammering. Although they'd been preparing for it for weeks – months – it still seemed so impossible.

But they were here.

Yugi took a deep breath. "We've made it." His voice, usually so strong in the room, sounded soft and uncertain. He didn't even seem sure what to say.

"Are we still doing the mission tonight?" Mai asked.

This seemed to get him back on track. "Yes. Yes, we're doing the mission. Rally, we're not going to be able to do it to your cube." Rally frowned. "It's too dangerous with the amount of people in section forty-nine. The flames might catch on."

"Hang on a second." Bakura frowned. "You set Miho's cube on fire without planning for it to spread. How's this any different?"

"The security in section seventeen was strong – I knew Zorc would notice it," Yugi protested.

Bakura looked over at Rally. "Rally, is the security in section forty-nine strong?"

Rally nodded. "We don't have cameras, but we have guards that switch shifts every hour," they replied. "They only take ten minutes to switch shifts, so they'll definitely notice."

"But they could notice us," Yugi finished.

"Not if there's only a few of us." Bakura shrugged. "I'll go with Rally and do their cube, and you guys can do mine."

"Bakura, it's too dangerous," Yugi snapped.

"It's the last night."

"That's exactly my point!" Yugi threw his hands into the air. "We've been working on this for months. I've been working on it for over a year. We can't let this opportunity slip because you two get caught trying to do this!"

"I won't get caught." Oddly, Bakura's voice was calmer than Yugi's. "Trust me."

Yugi groaned, hands darting into and gripping his hair. For a moment, he just stood there like that, eyes closed.

"Fine. Go on. Do it."

He lowered his hands, opening his eyes again. "Rally, you know the guard cycle, right?" Rally nodded. "Bakura, follow their lead. They know the cycle better than you."

Bakura nodded. He would usually argue, but not now.

Not tonight.

Not when they were finally this close.

Yugi started again. "We're here," he said, slowly. "It's taken months of work. It's taken blood, sweat, and tears, and you've all put yourselves in tremendous danger. Ushio and Zygor, unfortunately, didn't make it this far." There was a moment of silence, and Miho quickly touched her forehead, chest, and each shoulder in a cross-formation. "They died because of us. They died because we're doing what we're doing. Because we fought to get to where we are now." Yugi looked everyone in the eye, flicking from one to the other, to the other, to the other. "But we are here. And we're going to get out – for us, for them, and for everyone still trapped here. We're getting out, tonight. We're going to get help, and we're never coming back." He looked over at Seto. "Your contact has the time and location?"

Seto nodded. "We worked out the time difference. They're meeting us in an hour."

"Perfect." Yugi pulled a can out of his pocket. The first one – the first he had ever used. He had saved it. After his first mission, he had saved it so that he could use it when he reached his last mission.

Even he never really thought he'd make it.

"Tonight's the night," he murmured, turning it over in his hand. "We're getting out." He looked up again. "Is everyone ready?" He got nods and murmurs of confirmation.

"Let's go. We're going home."

Elliot: Okay, so as you can see, we're at the end. I'm predicting three more chapters - at most. The likelihood is it's gonna be two. Hope you guys have enjoyed this as much as I have! See you next time, Murdering Majestors!