IMPORTANT A/N: Ok, so I thought this was blatantly said in the Author's Note for the first chapter but apparently it wasn't blatant or clear enough for some people to understand. Thus, I will say this one more time in all caps, bold, italicized, and underlined to be sure y'all get it:

THERE IS PUZZLESHIPPING IN THIS!

I'm honestly surprised someone could read through this fic all the way up to chapter 15, which is after the YamixYuugi lime, and still be surprised by this.

Also, there will be no card duels like in the anime in this fic except as a side thing. The duels in here revolve around actual combat and thus won't be like the Duel Monsters game. There will be Duel Monsters, particularly Blue Eyes White Dragon, Dark Magician, and maybe Kuriboh, but no card duels like in the anime. Canonically, Pegasus created the card game by modeling it after the actual duels fought in Ancient Egypt but formatted it into a strategy game that everyone can enjoy. The duels in this fic are more reminiscent of those fought in Ancient Egypt and the Memory World MORPG, so the consequences are just as dark.

Lastly, in this fic Yuugi is the other half of Yami's soul. Together, they are the unified soul is the Pharaoh Atem. This is in the same universe as my two-shot "My Aibou." "My Aibou" takes place before this fic and isn't important to the continuity, but it could give you a deeper understanding of Yami and Yuugi's relationship after the Memory World and Ceremonial Duel arcs. It is a Puzzleshipping lemon though, even if the actual fun doesn't happen until the second chapter. You have been warned.

That said, here's chapter 16.

Suspicion in the Ranks

"Kaiba?!" Flash cried, sitting bolt upright in shock. "As in rich-asshole-sleeping-in-the-bedroom-back-there Kaiba? That Kaiba?"

Instead of being offended, Yuugi actually laughed, quickly covering his mouth in a pathetic attempt to smother his laughter. Yami cackled loud and proud. "Yes, that Kaiba," Yami gasped between cackles.

"The one and only, as he'd say," Yuugi said, gaining some semblance of control back. He had to smack Yami's back playfully in order to help his twin recover. "He's been our Regent for the past several years now. His past experience with ruling and running a multimillion dollar company from the age of sixteen makes him the perfect choice. Besides, the Shadows had already claimed him for the job before we were even aware of it."

"Ruling?" Shayera murmured.

"You make it sound like this wasn't a choice," Arrow said cautiously, fingering his cell phone again.

"It wasn't," Yuugi said, confirming the vigilante's supicions. Violet eyes noticed the phone and smiled. "Go ahead. Kaiba will be sleeping for at least several more hours and Jounouchi probably won't be back with food until around 5. So I suggest everyone settles in, I know jet lag is still eating me."

Taking his own advice to heart, Yuugi promptly pulled his legs up to his chest and curled in a ball in the chair to nap. Yami grinned, mussing his twin's hair fondly, before settling on the arm of Yuugi's chair allowing the shorter twin to use him as a substitute backrest. Arrow took advantage of the break to walk over to the corner of the room and dial his friends. Shayera remained on her bench when Flash scooted his chair over to her to talk. J'onn stood and pulled out his communicator. He held it out, silently asking Yami for permission to use it. The Pharaoh nodded and the Martian stepped away to contact the Watchtower.

Arrow was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet when the ring tone finally stopped beeping. Unfortunately, he barely had the chance to form a greeting before Diggle's voice rang through the speaker by his ear with deafening intensity. So he had been missed. He wisely waited until his friend took a breath before speaking.

"I'm fine, Diggle," he began. "We had a run-in with someone who seems to know what's going on around here and things got a bit out of hand."

"Are you alright?" the deep voice asked in concern.

"I'm fine. But I've got a lot to tell you. To start with, I was right. Whoever's behind this crime spree is a lunatic. What I didn't count on was that apparently he's a lunatic with magic."

"Magic," Diggle parroted in disbelief. "Just when I start to think I've seen it all," he muttered. "Can it be dealt with?" he asked louder.

"I think so," Arrow confirmed. "I've got a few," he hesitated, wondering what adjective would best fit Yuugi, Yami, or even Kaiba, "potential allies here who are familiar with this type of magic and willing to help. Which brings to mind, remember Seto Kaiba?"

"The guy you brought to the bar last night before you ran off without even a 'good night'? Yeah, I remember."

"Long story, but turns out he's one of us."

"How so?" the former Army Ranger asked, suspicion clear in his voice.

"Like I said, long story. I'll give you the details in person; but basically, I saw him stop whatever was going on last night. He saved three lives, John." He winced at the memory of the insane blonde woman. "Well, he saved two lives, at least. I'm not sure about the third yet."

"So he's some rich magician?"

Arrow huffed a laugh. "Yeah, that's about the gist of it. There are three other people here who're with Kaiba and I think there's someone else on the way."

"Big party, huh? And you didn't invite me?" Diggle snarked, a relieved smile audible in his voice.

"No ladies, birds aside."

"Ah, I see." The friends shared a smile neither could see but both could hear. "Walter called," John said, turning to other topics in need of discussion. "He was looking for you. You do remember your appointment with the mayor for that ribbon cutting ceremony at 4 o'clock, right?"

Arrow sighed. "Yeah. I don't exactly have a change of clothes with me though."

"Don't worry. I gotcha covered."

Arrow smiled. "Did I ever tell you what a great buddy you are, John?"

"In between slipping from my watch which is meant to protect you, yes, on occasion. One last thing. You had better bring a fresh batch of coffee for Felicity."

"She slept there again last night, didn't she?" Arrow groaned.

John glanced at the lightly snoring blonde girl collapsed at the computer desk. "If you call the drooling on the keyboard sleeping, then yeah." He shook his head. "The Justice League taking this seriously now?"

"Oh hell yeah," Arrow said, eyes burning. "Even Superman wants to come down here."

"Oh god," Diggle muttered, rubbing his forehead. "That'll be a media nightmare."

"He's not coming."

"He's not?"

Arrow snorted. "Kaiba told him off."

Diggle could not help but be impressed. "To his face?"

"Yep. He staying up in the Watchtower. Only J'onn, Flash, and Hawkgirl are here right now. The others are on standby. Listen, John," Arrow glanced at the others in the room before turning so his back was to them and said quieter, "sorry 'bout worrying you."

"Hey, you're helping stop this. That's good enough for me. Just get your skinny green ass back over here and get something decent on for me, alright?"

"I will. Coffee, right?"

"Right."

"See ya there."

He hung up and turned, halting when he saw a pair of burning red eyes staring at him. He returned the gaze as evenly as he could. There was just something unreal about those eyes besides the color that disturbed him.

"You're leaving." It was not a question but Arrow nodded anyway.

"I have to be somewhere," he said.

Yami nodded. "I would like your permission to track you until Kaiba wakes up."

"Track me?" Arrow asked warily.

"Not follow you, but keep watch on you through your Shadows. This is your city and the native Shadows here have claimed you as theirs. The only reason they obey me and my friends is because we are their rulers." Yami tilted his head with a impressed smile. "I want to watch you to see how the Shadows react to you."

"And you're asking my permission?"

"It's considered rude to watch someone else's Shadows in such a way without the user's knowledge or permission. It's equivalent to a Peeping Tom watching someone undress in their private bathroom."

"Ah." Arrow went over the possible consequences of allowing this to happen before remembering Kaiba calling him by his first name several times. If Kaiba knew his civilian identity, and Yuugi already said he knew his and his companions' civilian identities, then chances were high Yami did as well. With that knowledge in mind, the vigilante nodded. "Alright. Just one question."

"Ask."

"This thing, whatever's causing all this mess," Arrow waved an arm indicating the occurrences in Starling City, "do we know what it wants?"

Yami frowned. "Not at the moment, although I think Kaiba suspects something."

"What does he think?"

Yami eyed him thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging. "I do not know for certain, but he seems to think all of this was a trap to lure someone from the Shadow monarchy here."

"Why here?"

"I don't know. There could be any number of reasons, but none of them make sense."

Arrow nodded, considering the new information. "Marik mentioned a shadow thief that wasn't one of yours and you said you'd been feeling something similar here."

"Yes," the Pharaoh said carefully. "Do you know something about this?"

"Not me personally, but Green Lantern and Hawkgirl have had an encounter with something like that before." Arrow looked at Shayera currently involved in a conversation with Flash. "He calls himself the Shadow Thief and robbed an Egyptian tomb not too long ago."

Yami's eyes narrowed. "Yes, of this I am aware. That's when Marik first contacted me about the disturbances in Egypt. It's why we did not sense the first Shadow Game take place here in Starling City and why we did not act on it faster. And for that, I am truly sorry."

Yami bowed at the waist in traditional Japanese fashion. Arrow awkwardly waved his hands in front of Yami, indicating he did not have to do that. Yami straightened and continued speaking. "When the second Game was played, we took notice. However, we did not act immediately because individual Games are not all that entirely uncommon. Although normally if the Game is enacted by someone who is not trained in Shadow magic, they usually end up paying the ultimate price as do their victims. By the time we would have arrived here, it would have been too late to do anything to stop it."

"So you waited," Arrow said, struggling to hold his temper. The Pharaoh's reasoning made sense, except there had been a survivor of the second Game; a young boy who was still in a medically induced coma to prevent his insanity from hurting him.

"No," Yami countered. "We did not wait. While true, it was too late to stop the Game that was played, we always come to investigate just in case. Kaiba offered to go in our place because he already had plans to come here anyway for business. It would have given him a perfect excuse to explain his sudden departure for America."

"But flights take time," Arrow said. "Why didn't he just do whatever it was he did to get us here earlier?"

"Because Shadow Travel is not made for long distances. Only one member of our Court has the ability to travel vast distances quickly and he suffers a debilitating price for the extended use of this. Not only that, but he was not in Japan when we felt the second Game being played. And while he can easily start and dispel Shadow Games, he cannot enact a Judgement Game as that right falls to the Inner Court only."

Arrow nodded reluctantly. "And the third Game?"

Yami's eyes darkened. "Kaiba was delayed by outside circumstances." At Arrow's raised eyebrow, Yami reluctantly admitted, "Mokuba got sick. It's why he didn't come with Kaiba originally."

That...explained a lot actually. Arrow could not bring himself to completely forgive the Court's delayed reaction to all of this, but he could understand the reasoning. If Thea ever got sick, he would probably drop everything to be sure she would recover, even if it was as simple as a cold.

"If you want," Yami said, cutting into the vigilante's thoughts, "I could send you somewhere where you can slip away more easily."

"How?"

Yami merely grinned. "You have a particular place in mind?"

Arrow thought for a moment. "Yes, actually."

"Then visualize it clearly, I'll do the rest."

Nodding, Arrow pictured the Verdant's rafters clearly in his head. The club would be closed right now and would not open for another couple hours. He was beginning to feel the distinct burning in his cheeks from the most likely very strange appearance this whole thing must have looked to his comrades when he felt a rushing sensation. His eyes flew open in time for him to see the metal beam traversing the ceiling in front of him. Grabbing it, he swung down to the beam below, balancing carefully before actually taking in his surroundings.

It was the Verdant. It was still dark and abandoned at the moment. The stage and dance floor were silent and the only light came through the windows. Well, now there was a nifty talent. He briefly wondered if he would ever be able to do that with his Shadows before remembering his purpose. He mentally braced himself for the scolding he would likely get from his best friends as he made his way down to his hideout in the basement. This was going to be a long day.

Diana landed gently on Themyscira and made her way to the temple of Artemis situated on the plateau overlooking her home. When she arrived, she knelt before the carved statue of her goddess and prayed.

"Artemis, protector of women, lover of the hunt, I beseech thee. Grant me but a moment of your time to bestow upon me your great wisdom."

At first, nothing happened. Then ripples of cloth appeared in Diana's vision. She dared not raise her eyes to the heavenly woman standing before her without permission.

"You called, my faithful servant?" said a voice that was both young and old.

Diana kept her eyes trained on the ground. "I would ask you a question, my goddess."

"Ask."

"In the Man's World, I met a male who dared insult you."

"Not uncommon with men," Artemis said, traces of mild annoyance in her voice.

Diana hesitated before continuing. "He called you and the other gods copycats, Protector of Women."

"Copycats?" The derision was definitely more pronounced now. "Did he say why?"

"He did not, my Goddess." Diana collected her thoughts before speaking again. "He used a power that is new to us. It repelled the Thanagarian's mace, made specifically to disrupt magic, and stopped Green Lantern's attack without explanation. Now, he may have claimed one of the Justice League, my comrades-at-arms, as a recruit. Please, my Goddess," Diana pressed her head to the stone floor, "I ask your advice."

Artemis did not speak right away. "This man," she said softly, "if he claimed us to be copycats, then he must follow another panteon. To what pantheon does he claim to adhere to?"

"He," Diana paused, realizing she did not think to ask Kaiba that very question. "He did not say explicitly, but he spoke of a Pharaoh so I would assume the Egyptian pantheon."

There was no response for several minutes before Diana dared raise her gaze to find herself alone in the temple. Uncertain, she looked around cautiously, confirming she was indeed alone. Hesitating a moment longer, she activated her winged shoes gifted to her by Hermes and returned to Man's World with more questions and fewer answers.

Superman stood in the Lounge facing the Earth hanging in the void below the satellite. He could almost feel Batman's gaze burning into his back.

"You wanted to talk," he said, turning to his comrade-at-arms. "So talk."

Batman narrowed his eyes and deliberately remained silent for several seconds before speaking. "You need to learn when to stand down, Clark."

"I won't abandon my friends to an unknown party," Superman countered, crossing his arms defiantly.

"I didn't say that." Batman strode further into the room until he stood head-to-head with the Kryptonian. "There's a difference between standing down and surrendering."

"I hardly see the difference."

"And there," Batman said, placing a finger against Superman's chest, "is your problem. You assume that pausing during a battle is equivalent to surrender. You're wrong. You do not antagonize the enemy unless you're absolutely sure doing so won't harm or endanger an ally. We don't know hardly anything about this Seto Kaiba except that he uses a power that has been unknown by all of us, even by our resident Greek god worshipper Amazon princess. That tells us something important."

"And what would that be?" Clark Kent said, glaring at his darker counterpart.

"That whatever pantheon Kaiba adheres to or draws his powers from has been able to conceal its existence from the general populace and our observations for who knows how long." Batman stepped back and strode past the red caped man to stare out the window at Earth below. "Who knows what he's done with this power of his without us noticing. That makes him powerful and dangerous. Friend or not, we still don't know enough to decide yet. You do not antagonize someone like that."

"J'onn seems to think he's a friend," Superman countered, playing devil's advocate.

"And I trust J'onn's instincts," Batman agreed, "but we still need more information and solid proof before making a definitive decision that could affect others outside the Justice League as well as ourselves."

"Agreed," Superman admitted reluctantly. "So, why did you send Diana back to Themyscira?"

"I figured who would know of a previously unknown pantheon of gods than other gods." Batman faced his counterpart once more. "I'm not about to let a friend get caught up in something potentially dangerous knowing I could have done something to stop it."

"You're talking about Arrow," Superman said. "You think he could be in trouble."

"I think Kaiba is dangerous and watching him be involved with the murders already happening in in Starling City, no matter what he was doing, does not help his case."

"You suspect Arrow's hiding something?"

Batman shook his head. "Maybe, though if he is, I doubt he's doing it consciously. He's protective of his city and the people in it and would do anything to keep them safe. But it's precisely because of that, that I suspect Arrow may be compromised."

Superman's eyes darkened. "You won't hurt him," he warned.

"I don't want to. For now, I just want him kept under watch."

"And you want me to do it."

Batman nodded. "Kaiba isn't afraid of me, but he obviously dislikes you. So does his Egyptian friend, and you and I both saw what he was capable of." they both grimaced remembering Green Lantern's brief loss of mental control. "Don't interfere if you can avoid it, but keep an eye out."

"What exactly do you want me to look out for?"

"Anything unusual."

"Like domes of darkness?" Superman said, raising an eyebrow ironically.

Batman grinned. "Exactly like that."

"This is a lot more difficult than it looks," John groaned, surrendering for the fifth time in the past two hours. "The art's nice though."

Noa laughed. "Yeah, it is. You're catching on well for a beginner, though." the smile became a light frown. "The artist was an asshole though. I'm glad he's gone. Care for another round?"

"Gone? Oh, uh, sure."

Noa shuffled the computerized Duel Monsters cards and dealt them out again across the screen. "Maximillion Pegasus, the former CEO of Industrial Illusions, created the game. He hand painted the original designs for the Duel Monsters cards."

"Hand painted?" John looked at his hand with newfound respect. "He's good. He has a good eye for detail."

"Well, I'd say he had a good eye for detail," Noa said, placing a card face down in defense mode and ending his turn, "Not so much anymore."

"Why not?" John asked, hesitantly placing a fairy type monster face up in defense mode.

"Because he's dead." Noah placed a monster face up in attack mode and attacked John's fairy monster causing the hero to groan in frustration. "Good riddance to him."

"You really don't like him, do you?" John noted, placing another card down, this time face down in a Magic or Trap Card slot.

"He tried to kill my brothers and almost did kill Yuugi." Computerized eyes hardened viciously. "You bet I hate him."

"That reminds me, why do you refer to Kaiba as your little brother?"

Noa grinned. "'Cause I'm his older brother."

"But you're an A.I., a computerized intelligence. How can Kaiba be your brother?"

"By not being an A.I. I was human at one point."

"J'onn to Watchtower," the Martian's voice echoed through the speakers, interrupting the game. John did not notice it at first, too busy staring at Noa in shock.

"Hold on a second," John said, trying to come to terms with what he had just heard. "You were human?"

"You should answer your friend," Noa said, ignoring the question.

Green Lantern sat back and reached over to turn on the communicator. "We're not done talking about this," he warned. Noa just shrugged and waited patiently for the hero to finish talking to his friend. "J'onn, this is Lantern."

"Lantern, I have news."

"I'm all ears." Lantern leaned back in his chair comfortably.

"I do not understand," came the somewhat confused reply.

"It's a phrase," Lantern clarified, ignoring Noa's childish giggles. "It means 'I'm listening.'"

"I see. We have arrived in Starling City and met up with friends of Kaiba."

Green Lantern sat up in interest. "What do you think of them?"

"I...believe them to not be a danger to us at the moment."

"But?" Lantern pressed.

"But," J'onn said reluctantly, "they...unnerve me. One in particular more so than the other. But I have learned appearances can be deceiving."

"That's never good," John muttered, rubbing his close cut beard thoughtfully. "This person got a name?"

"He calls himself Yami, although I doubt that is his real name."

"Oh, you met the Pharaoh!" Noa said, chiming in cheerfully. "Don't worry about him. He won't hurt you unless you hurt someone he cares about. Particularly Yuugi. He's obsessively protective of Yuugi, understandable given his situation. I heard Weevil tricked Yami into thinking he'd killed Yuugi in front of him and Yami tortured him long after their Game ended before finally letting his soul get taken by the Seal or Orichalcos. Jounouchi said he only stopped because Anzu, that's the Emissary, forced him to."

Well then. Neither one of the Justice League heroes within earshot had an appropriate response for that.