Text in bold denotes allusions to the musical Hamilton.

By the end of July, Mr. Bakura completed his doctoral thesis and, after presenting it before the board for cross-examination, earned his PhD, officially becoming Dr. Bakura. Within a matter of weeks, he was taking off for Egypt again on a new expedition. There must have been something important about this one that earned him sufficient funding so quickly.

Less than a week after the good doctor had left, a national holiday came around that let Seto and Mrs. Bakura both off of work for the day, so Mrs. Bakura took Amane and Mokuba to the museum. Ryou, who missed his father and had taken Marik to the same museum previously, stayed home with the Egyptian orphan, just wanting a quiet day of relative solitude. When Seto invited him to join him and Joey at the Game Shop, he thanked him, but turned him down. He just wanted to stay home.

Joey, Seto, and Yugi were hanging out at the Kame Game Shop, the national news playing on the TV as Mr. Moto explained to the three duelists about soul cards.

"For example, Yugi is the Dark Magician," Grandpa said as Yugi held up his favorite favorite card with a grin. "The Dark Magician is allied with several other duel monsters who can boost his power in battle. This is especially helpful when you're in a tight spot. He draws strength from his friends, not because he isn't strong on his own, but because it makes him unstoppable. He is most vulnerable when separated from his allies and forced into isolation, but he is not helpless, because, like any good magician, he always has some tricks up his sleeve. Respect the Dark Magician, and he will never fail you, for his loyalty is unwavering."

"Whoah, look at that!" Joey exclaimed, calling the group's attention to the TV. Seto scowled at the image of Noah Kaiba and Maximilian Pegasus shaking hands in front of the Duel Arena prototype. It was finally finished and ready for production, now that all of the kinks had been worked out. After hours and hours of cycling through every Duel Monsters card in existence—which was an incredibly valuable database to have at his disposal—they were satisfied that there were no glitches or errors in the system.

"World Chess Champion, International Duel Monsters Champion, and recently appointed CEO and president of KaibaCorp, Noah Kaiba announced at a press conference earlier today the release of the Duel Arena, which will soon be appearing in a new attraction at KaibaLand. His incredible invention will allow duels to take place with realistic monster holograms doing battle before your very eyes! These machines will bring a whole new meaning to the phrase, 'It's time to duel!' Furthermore, Mr. Pegasus of Industrial Illusions has confirmed that these will be used in official Duel Monsters tournaments this point forward. On that note, be sure to tune in tonight on the Dueling Network to watch the opening rounds of the Regional Duel Monsters Tournament hosted by Industrial Illusions."

Mr. Moto finally snapped out of the TV's hypnotic mental grip and snapped at Joey, "Pay attention, because I'm only going to say this once!" Joey nodded sheepishly, looking embarrassed. He opened his mouth to ask something, but was cut off by the ringing of the bell on the shop's door.

"This store sells Duel Monsters cards, yes?" The teens turned toward the voice, Seto a moment after the others. He already knew who it was without looking. That wretched voice that sounded nothing like him, yet its own was far too identical.

"Noah Kaiba?!" Joey gasped in awe. "You play Duel Monsters too, right? Maybe we could play a duel right now?"

Seto had to give Joey credit for trying. In the past five or six months, Joey had changed completely. He was now friendly, kind, and happy where before he'd been aggressive, rude, and angry. But sometimes it almost seemed as if he'd forgotten that everybody in the world had not changed with him.

"Me duel you? I'd have more of a challenge playing solitaire," Noah scoffed, striding forward, his eyes cold and appraising. When he stopped in front of the counter, Seto straightened up, and the brief moment where the two faced each other was enough to charge the air with static. Everyone—even the imperceptive Joey—could feel a vague tension between them. Their matching blue eyes met for a moment before Seto looked away, not wanting to start something that he couldn't finish. He didn't want to fight him here, not in front of Yugi and his grandfather. Seto took a moment to indulge in a vision of him and Joey ganging up on the spoiled brat.

Steady, Seth cautioned softly, numbing his reincarnation's violent urges. Don't tempt yourself.

"I've heard rumors that you own one of the four Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards. Is that true? Because if so, I'm willing to pay any price for it."

Yugi noticed Seto tense as Noah mentioned the dragon-type monster that he knew Seto sought.

You should take your own advice, Seto said to Seth as he felt the spirit bristle at Noah's words.

He is not worthy of commanding the Blue-Eyes, Seth growled, restraining himself from action.

"Oh ho ho ho," Solomon laughed heartily, for no reason that the teenagers could see. "You have been unfortunately misinformed. I am not so fortunate as to own a Blue-Eyes, but my good friend in America, Professor Arthur Hawkins, owns one. We met at an archaeological site in Egypt years ago. Let me get you his contact information." He disappeared into the back of the store to get his address book, leaving the four teenagers in a tense silence. Ever since Noah's rebuff, Joey had crossed his arms and stood glaring by Seto's side. Yugi was the only who seemed determined to uphold friendly, polite conversation.

"We just saw you on the TV. Those Duel Arenas look really neat!"

"I know." Noah smirked, a devious glint in his eye that sent an involuntary shiver run down his spine. "If you like, you three can test them out for yourselves at the new KaibaLand attraction before it opens."

"Really? That would be so cool!" Yugi enthused, even as Yami warned him to be wary of things that seemed too good to be true, because they usually weren't true at all.

"It was just completed and it needs to be tested. Come by Saturday morning and I'll let the guards know to be expecting you.

"Wow, thank you so much!"

"Here you go," Solomon said as he returned and handed Noah a slip of paper. Kaiba left as soon as he pocketed the paper, without even a thank you.

"Grandpa, why did you tell him that you don't have the card?" Yugi asked once Noah was speeding away in his limo.

"Because someone like him does not understand that he must trust in the heart of the cards," he answered his grandson seriously. "I can see his greed in his eyes. Besides, it was meant for someone else." He pulled a small box out from under the counter, looking at Seto. "I was going to save this one for last, but since you brought it up, here it is, Seto's soul card." He pushed the box across the counter to Seto who reached for it hesitantly. He opened the box and gasped softly, just staring.

"It requires great sacrifice to play the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but with the right cards and the right circumstances, it can become unstoppable. In its purity and perfection, it cannot be made to turn against its master. Like the Dark Magician, it is fiercely loyal to its one true master."

"You're… giving this to me?" Seto asked, stunned.

"Yes. It's your destiny." Solomon gave the brunette a knowing smile.

"I don't believe in destiny," Seto answered automatically, and as Seth protested that he was being rude, he quickly added, "Thank you you for your generosity."

"Do me, do me!" Joey cried excitedly, and Grandpa Moto started to laugh. Seto and Yugi followed suit, amused by Joey's impatient eagerness.

"Hello?"

"Joey, it's Ryou."

"Oh, hey man, how are you? We missed you at the Game Shop yesterday, you should have come. You'll never guess who—"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Joey, but I'm calling about something really important."

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," Joey said, starting to get worried. He tucked his phone between his head and his shoulder as he worked on restringing his guitar. He still couldn't believe that he'd broken the D-string. Was he really that clumsy, or was it really that worn out?

"Look, last week, someone… I mean, Seto…" Ryou stammered, struggling with the words.

"When Seto came to pick up his little brother, he was late, even though he'd been running for a while." That was Marik's voice, speaking calmly in his heavily accented Japanese. "We think that someone tried to rape him, and that it wasn't the first time."

"Wow." Joey's fingers fumbled with the string as he heard the news, undoing all that he'd just done on his guitar. Now he had to start over. "That's a heavy accusation, but why are you calling me? Shouldn't you be calling the police or somethin'?"

"Seto said that he couldn't remember anything of the attack, so he didn't want to call the police," Ryou answered with a sigh. "The memory is probably blocked from trauma. I'm calling you because when I asked him if someone had hurt him, he answered, 'No, not this time.' A little later, when I tried to ask him what he meant by that, he asked me if I had been talking to you recently, so I thought you might know something."

"We just want to help him as best we can," Marik added.

Joey was silent for too long, and he knew it. He just didn't know how to answer. He was a terrible liar, and Ryou was like a human lie detector. The only one who could hope to pass a lie by him was Seto. At last, he sighed heavily into the phone.

"I promised I wouldn't say anything," he began, hoping that they didn't try to wheedle any information out of him. He still wasn't sure how much they knew or had caught onto. "Do you remember that day that Seto was absent from school because he was sick, and we went to your house and played that crazy Shadow Game and all that?"

"Of course." Ryou would never forget it. "I knew that he wasn't sick, but I didn't know…"

"Yeah, he was hurt pretty badly the night before, worse than I've ever seen anyone before in person. That… that was what he was referring to." It wasn't exactly a lie: Seto had briefly described his last encounter with Gozaburo to Joey, actually using the word rape to explain what had happened.

"Oh god, I knew it, I knew this had happened," Ryou said, growing audibly distressed. "That's why he hates being touched now. That's why he always keeps his distance and…" Joey could hear him start to sob, and Marik start to comfort him. A twinge of guilt made him wince.

"Please don't tell him that I told you," Joey pleaded. "He'd never trust me again if he knew."

"He all-but told me himself," Ryou pointed out, sniffling. "You just confirmed it for me. No, I won't tell him that you said anything, Joey." He could imagine all too clearly Seto fighting back against his attacker with all his might, but being overpowered, he was rendered helpless and left at the other's mercy.

"Thanks, man." Joey sighed in relief, the pressure of the secret easing. Hopefully, Ryou could help. After all, he'd been Seto's friend longer than anybody else. Who was better suited than Ryou to confront him about his most painful secret? No, it wasn't the full truth, but this was the second-best scenario, maybe even the best possible outcome, because he could get the emotional support he needed without admitting to the full shame of his former situation. "Are you gonna… confront him about it?" Joey asked after a moment.

"I-I don't know yet. I still need to think it all through. I'll let you know when I plan on doing so, though."

"Okay, thanks. And pal, cheer up a little. Seto's a fighter, he'll turn out alright in the end. Just you wait."

"I don't trust that Noah creep," Joey muttered as they approached the new attraction at KaibaLand.

"Hey, I'm with you on that," Seto replied, making Yugi roll his eyes.

"Can you two please stop that? Noah was very generous to allow us to come in and try it out." Yugi seemed to believe that Noah had been genuinely kind, yet Yami was on his guard, aware that his hikari was still incredibly naive. "I just wish that Anzu and Ryou and Marik could have come with us."

"Why couldn't Anzu come again?"

"Today's the first day of her new job," Yugi explained.

"I thought she worked at Burger World."

"She got fired because they found out she was underage," Yugi admitted. "You said that Ryou and Marik wanted to stay home again?"

"Yeah, you know them," Seto said unconcernedly. "Ryou hates big crowds like these, and Marik goes anywhere Ryou goes."

"Well, that's their loss," Joey said, recovering his usual upbeat tone. "Noah may be a creep, but we can still have fun!"

"Death-T?" Yugi read aloud, shivering a little. "Seto, you're sure you don't know anything about this place?"

"Quite sure," Seto answered, tense with suspicion as he looked around. "KaibaCorp is extremely compartmentalized, and some projects are kept top secret, for whatever reason." He knew why: because Noah Kaiba was a thieving bastard who claimed ownership of what others had worked hard to create. They passed through the doors and were surprised almost immediately.

"Anzu? What are you doing here?" Yugi exclaimed, looking flustered. Anzu looked equally flustered.

"I work here," she answered with a huff. "What are you three doing here?"

"Noah Kaiba stopped by the Game Shop on Monday and invited us to come test it," Yugi explained. "That's why I called and asked you if you had plans for Saturday: I—we—wanted you to come with us."

"I'm here to explain the rules to you all, so listen up!" she snapped, remembering that she was at work and had duties to complete. She tried to put aside the fact that she'd hoped Yugi had called her to ask her out on a date. She proceeded to explain the game, which seemed like a twist on laser tag, but with a more condensed playing field that was more maze-like. The only rule that truly surprised them was that if they lost, they couldn't continue, but had to leave.

"Death-T has five levels: Death T-1, Death T-2, Death T-3, Death T-4, and Death T-5. Completing all five is supposed to be impossible, so you probably won't make it past Death T-3."

"Nyeh, that's what you think!" Joey boasted, puffing out his chest a little as he crossed his arms. "I bet we'll make it all the way to the top!"

Anzu rolled her eyes and wished them luck—because they would need it, she said.

Joey, of course, was still as impatient and impulsive as ever, and nearly lost them Death T-1, despite Seto's warning for him to let their opponents come to them.

Noah watched them from his headquarters within Death-T, where all the security camera video feeds were before him, letting him watching their progress. He sat back in his chair with a disgruntled smirk as they cleared the first level.

"Well, they won't make it much further," he said as Miho stood behind him with her hand on his shoulder. "Although I would enjoy crushing one of them in Death T-5." Specifically, he would enjoy crushing Seto. That was the whole reason he'd invited those dorks to Death-T: he knew Seto was good, and he wanted to enjoy destroying him in this new battlefield.

Adina Kaiba sat quietly in a chair far behind him, wearing a pretty black dress that matched her braided hair perfectly. She was still in mourning for their mother, who'd died a month after Gozaburo. The coroner had declared the cause of death to be a broken heart, which was something that had stuck with the little girl ever since it had happened. She was having a hard time coping without their parents, especially now that Noah had seized power and let it go to his head.

Adina was still trying to distance herself from him, but she couldn't help that she loved her big brother, no matter how nuts he seemed. Yet, if you could die of a broken heart, then she didn't want to love anybody too much. She didn't want to lose someone close to her and be dropped into a pit of grief ever again.

Author Notes: Well, I finally made it to Death-T! Now, I haven't decided who he'll end up with yet, or if he'll have a fling or two along the way, so I want to get a feel for what you all would want to see in this story (though I make no promises).

Who would you like to see Seto with: Mai, Ishizu, Duke, or Joey?
Those are the only options, sorry. Everybody else is unavailable. Please post your answer in a review, or, if you want to discuss it in more detail, you can shoot me a PM.

As usual, please review, because more reviews = more chapters!