A/N - Author casually slips in chapter and then runs away.

So sorry that this has taken so long, I honestly didn't think it would, but I really struggled to connect some of the scenes together. Finally, however, it all clicked into place today.

Thanks so much for sticking with me, and thanks especially to: Naniwanospeedman, Balrog Roike, kitty Tokyo uzumaki, and two guest reviewers.

I hope you enjoy this chapter - super long just for you. ;)

CHAPTER 20.

With only a short break for lunch, the duellists in the group started to prepare their cards for war; carefully choosing the decks that would be their only defence against the immortal Titans.

And so the last two days flew by, in a flurry of paper and cards.

Strategies, plans and deck formations, changed almost every minute.

Time, it seemed, was moving at such a rushed pace, that it was difficult to keep a track of which person was doing what. To Jou, faces began to blur, as the internalised panic and fear that had been bottled up inside of them, seeped into their every action.

Was it Honda or Otogi who was pulling open all the drawers of the Kame Game Shop to look for weapons and hidden Duel Monster cards?

Was it Bakura or Ryou, whose long hair swished as they systematically ripped open all the shops new card packets for more ammo?

In any case, both of these actions brought on the ire of Sugoroku. Yugi had mentioned that he had yet to tell his Grandpa about the whole 'Potential-End-of-the-World' thing, just in case he ended up back in hospital.

"After all," Yugi had muttered, "If we do win, it will have just made him ill for no reason," he then paused before grimly stating, "If we lose…..well,"

Jou didn't need him to finish that sentence. There was a lot more to be lost than one's health.

Needless to say, however, it left the rest of the gang struggling to explain their frantic and destructive motions. In the end, it was the promise that Kaiba would be footing the bill that had Sugoroku grumbling his way into the back office to review the books.

Strange, Jou would never have imagined there'd be a day in which he look forward to an angry Kaiba.

Then again, he never would have thought that he'd be anticipating action.

Sure, these free days gave the group so much more time to prepare, but there was so much more time to think. And by the afternoon of the second day, there seemed to be little left to do.

After so many adventures packed full of duelling and magic, each person already knew what deck setups they wanted. They already knew which cards were the most powerful and in which combinations; and even then, they could disregard most of the usual rules, as in a real magic battle (Bakura and Yami assured the rest) it was magical power and opportunity, rather than turns and game rules, that would be important in the up-coming battle.

This being the case, Anzu and Honda had each been given a deck pre-made by Yugi and Yami, to suit their personalities and to bolster the team's over-all firepower.

So after the distraction of lunch, courtesy of a delivery from Burger World, and with all this preparation completed, even Yugi looked despondent as he shuffled through his deck for the thousandth time.

With a hearty sigh, and a flop backwards onto the living room couch, Jou wondered what Kaiba had been up to these last few days….

Kaiba, was doing paperwork.

This may not seem to be an unusual state of things, but he was currently getting his affairs into order.

This way, if the Titans are defeated and the world continues as normal, he would not have to deal with a backlog of files and a drop in stocks. If he plays his cards right, he may even be able to wrangle a little profit from it as well. After-all, giant monsters attacking Domino City, is easily explained away as promotional propaganda for the new Kaiba Corp game system.

Kaiba lifted his eyes from paper to screen as he checked his email.

A game system which, from the latest email from R&D, should be ready for stores in the next four months.

If however, they save the world, but are all killed in the process? Kaiba had revalidated his will and set up funds to keep Mokuba in the green until his majority; whereupon he would be authorised to have full-access to the Kaiba fortune.

Speaking of Mokuba, Kaiba had also just finished booking a six week holiday in the Brazilian rainforest at one of those Digital Detox camps. Luckily, Mokuba's recent addiction to League of Legends had provided Kaiba with the perfect excuse to ship him to the other side of the world, away from all the danger.

The lack of news being fed to him via the internet, would also stop him doing something stupid, like trying to join in on a fight between mortal and immortal creatures.

The last eventuality Kaiba had planned for, that they lost the battle for earth and the world was destroyed, was particularly easy. He did nothing.

He mused about utilising the Kaiba Space Hotel, but pushed that idea aside, as that project was still in the early years of development. Additionally, it was never designed to take more than a few hundred guests aboard its cabins and Kaiba did not want to be the one to start deciding who had the privilege of living; nor did he want to be the one to cause mass hysteria and full-scale panic if he gave only a select few hope. People got desperate in those situations and it certainly brought out the worst of humanity.

Clearly, it was better for humanity to die together in ignorance.

Besides, neither the spaceship nor the hotel's technology was ready to support people off-planet for any substantial amount of time. Eventually, without an Earth to ship them food, any and all passengers aboard would starve to death.

In any case, there was no point dwelling on the worst case scenario, as having thought through all possibilities, Kaiba knew that there was nothing left to save us, but six teenagers, two ancient spirits, a god lacking all his powers and, from what the latest texts from Otogi said, Duel Monster cards.

What a joke.

By the late afternoon of the second day, the status of the Yugi-tachi had not changed significantly. Especially with the revelation that the barrier between the Titan's prison and the mortal realm was located at the Domino High School entrance gates.

"How does that even make any sense?!" yelled Otogi.

"Well," Jou began, "Thresholds hold enormous power as places of transition. A doorway can thus be formed between two dimensions using an established point in space. Plus, this type of threshold is particularly significant, as it also symbolically represents transitions into adulthood,"

"Dude, you really creep me out when you start talking like a know-it-all,"

A two-fingered salute was the only response to that.

"Besides, it was Yami, Bakura and Marik that created the precedent, so wherever they came out is the weakest point in the barriers between worlds, and thus where the Titans will emerge from,"

Bakura snorted, "Well done, Pharoah, I always knew it would be you that destroyed the world one day,"

"Me?!"

"Well, me and Marik already had a go, it was only a matter of time before you went mad with power. Besides, you were the one who was tricked into leaving the underworld, me and Marik just followed your royal lead,"

Yami's teeth were particularly loud as they ground against each other. Jou imagined that Yami was debating whether it was worth losing a magic caster before the battle started.

"Hey!" Anzu yelped, leaping from her seat as a lightbulb practically flashed above her head, "What about the Ishtars?"

"Called," grunted Honda, "They can't make it back on such short notice, so they're just securing all the potentially dangerous artefacts away from dangerous hands. Said they'd look into their archive for any useful spells,"

Anzu drifted back into her seat, her slumped posture once again mirroring those of her friends.

"So….what do we do now? I mean, we've gone through these cards so many times, I think I've memorised the entire effect section of the Nivarna High Paladin!"

Yugi was the first to burst into laughter at this, followed shortly by everyone else.

Bringing the tone back down, Yami addressed the rest of the room.

"An attack is only as good as its preparation, however that said, planning will only take us so far, as we can only anticipate so much from our enemies," He paused for effect, "We have done all we can for now, and all that we must ensure on the day, is that those with Millennium Items spread their magic across the area, so that it amplifies everyone's magic and allows us to summon,"

"Wait!" Ryou interjected, "If the Ishtars can't get here, then that means it's just me and Yugi who can do this!"

"And Kaiba,"

Bakura swung his head round to look at Yami incredulously.

"Seriously?"

"My cousin is not a fool. With all that has been going on, I believe he will not be so stubborn as to ignore reality when it has clearly presented itself to him,"

"Hah! I wouldn't bet on that Yam's, but if ya sure, we'll get Otogi to text him about it," Jou flicked his eyes over to Otogi, who had already dashed off a message to the CEO.

"In da mean time, I figure, that if today and tomorrow are potentially our last days alive, then I'm gonna' enjoy 'em!"

With that, he pulled himself into a standing position, stretched out his cramped muscles and tugged on Honda's hands.

"Come on! I'm going to da arcade, Honda you're coming with,"

"Wait, what?" Honda bemusedly staggered behind Jou, as he pulled him to the door.

"Yug', you up for defending your title on Street Fighter?"

"Jou!"

"What? It's not like we're getting anything done here! Besides, it'll take our minds off of all the bad stuff that happened lately. It'll - Whadyacallit? Boost morale!"

Yugi looked hesitantly around.

"Well, I guess….It's not like…." At a loss for words he turned to Yami, who shrugged, "I suppose the King of Games has to defend his title, right?"

With that the matter was settled. If Yugi was going, then Yami, of course, would follow. And if the Pharoah was going, then Bakura was going to make his life difficult. Needless to say, Ryou tagged along as a result of this, so as to make sure society was protected from such a force of nature. Otogi and Anzu felt that as the mature (and sane) friends that they best go as damage control.

Besides, Anzu had a DDR reputation to keep.

It was of no surprise to anybody, that Yugi retained his Street Fighter title.

He also soundly thrashed Bakura at air hockey.

Laughter and a full moon, escorted the group back to the Kame Game Shop, where they proceeded to collapse, in heaps of blankets and pillows in the living room, for the night.

Their sleep was not peaceful, but it was deep, and so the second day came to a close.

Many of the group awoke with a feeling of guilt on the morning of the third day.

Yugi shuffled down from his attic bedroom, unusually wide-awake, as thoughts about the next day kept swirling around his head.

Turning into the kitchen, he saw his Jii-chan already sipping tea and reading the paper at the table.

"Morning, Jii-chan,"

When no greeting came from the elderly man, Yugi knew he was still in his grandfather's black-book after ravaging the shop's stock.

With an embarrassed blush, Yugi decided to make himself busy with the toaster. However, it was with his back turned that Sugoroku made his first strike.

"So, it looked like you and your friends had fun yesterday. Emergency Duel Monster situation, eh?" Yugi stiffened as the accusation, "I sincerely hope that young master Kaiba will up hold that promise of his. As it stands now, I won't be able to open the store today, as I have next to nothing to sell,"

Yugi spun around.

"Jii-chan, I'm so sorry, I promise we'll make it up to you!"

Sugoroku sighed, placed his mug down and waved his grandson over. When Yugi reached him, he firmly grasped the young man's shoulders. He could only marvel over how much this boy had grown in such a few short years.

"I'm not really angry. I'm just worried, I know how you often take the weight of the world upon these shoulders of yours," he gave them a pat in emphasis, "but do not ever doubt that I am proud of you."

Yugi felt like he might cry and Sugoroku must have noticed, as he nudged Yugi's chin up so that they held eye contact.

"You would let me know if there was something wrong, wouldn't you? I am always here to help," at this point his face creased into a frown, an expression that deepened his wrinkles and made the usually youthful face show its true age, "You are not being bullied for money again, are you?"

Yugi smiled, between the over-protectiveness of Yami and the ever-looming presence of Kaiba, it would take a brave mortal to try extorting money from Yugi again.

"No, Jii-chan, nothing like that…yesterday was just us having fun, I promise." Saying that didn't even feel like a lie – it may have been war preparations, but surrounded by his friends and the cards he loved was never a chore.

"It's just…" He shuffled his feet as he tried to articulate the situation in a way would not worry the elderly man with a heart condition, "I guess I'm just worried about the future?"

Now it was Sugoroku's turn to smile.

"Ah, is that all? Just a small thing then" he said sarcastically.

"I-I mean," Yugi stuttered, "If you only had one more day left, what would you do?"

Sugoroku looked steadily at his grandson, he could tell that this conversation was far more serious than he could imagine.

"Yugi, when you get to my age, everyday could be the last."

Yugi went to protest – in his eighties his grandfather was a marvel – but a raised hand halted him in his tracks.

"I'm serious. There is no point wasting time on what ifs and preparing for an end which may be in the next five minutes or the next five years. You need to keep doing the things you love and for me, having my shop, my games, my friends and my trips to Egypt are what keep me happy. What keeps me content and makes my life fulfilling, however, is being around the most wonderful grandson a man could ask for"

Yugi blushed at the praise.

"Now enough of this – you are far too young to be thinking on such things!" he huffed, "Besides which, Yugi, you still need to clean the mess you and your friends made yesterday in the living room. In the meantime, I'm off to see Yoshimori at the museum, he's apparently just received a particularly rare example of a senet board."

With that, he picked up his mug and put it in the sink, leaving his newspaper on the table with the crossword half-done. He'd back to it after lunch, as there'd been a particularly difficult clue that needed more consideration. Twenty-one down, eight letters, beginning with 'R', A Great Heavenly Battle. Ah well, he'd get back to it later. Ruffling Yugi's hair, he left the kitchen via the back door and made his way towards Domino Museum.

Yugi on the other hand, sat at the table with the dawn shining softly through the kitchen windows and ruminated on his grandfather's words as he ate his toast.

So deep in thought was he, that it was not until his second slice that he noticed Yami had joined him at the table.

"Yami,"

"Yes, Aibou,"

"Let's go to Domino Park today,"

Secretly, Jou was a little shocked how easily the rest of the group agreed to Yugi's plan. Not that he was complaining, it wasn't like there was much they could do anyway, and he was the one who'd dragged them out last night, but it was surprising how quickly humans were able to ignore such large problems.

An early call out to all the gang had been met with unanimous approval and an agreement to meet outside the park's gates by 10am. Tickets bought and swimwear ready for the waterpark, the gang was quick to divide and conquer.

Jou had worried after Bakura had dragged Honda over to hustle the carnival stall holders, but he supposed that with the way they rigged those things, it was probably all fair. Probably.

In the end, all was well – even the sky showed no signs of bad weather throughout the whole day, despite earlier forecasts of rain and storms. It was nice to have the gods on their side for the possible last day of humankind.

And after such a long day of rides, junk food (at this point nobody could remember when the last healthy meal had been) and good-natured teasing, it was nice to just be with Yugi, Yami and Anzu, watching the sunset and the play of golden light over everything.

It was almost like it was at the beginning, before Duel Monsters, when it was just him, Anzu and Yugi, sticking it out as young pre-teens in a world that was out to get them. Putting it like that, not much had changed after all.

"Yugi, do you remember when we came here last? On our date?" Anzu teased.

Yugi's faced turned annoyingly red, which it had been doing a lot recently, because apparently the potential end of the world means that nothing is left sacred.

Yami froze for a moment before his head whipped around to stare at Yugi directly.

"Aibou?!"

Jou grinned.

"Oh boy, now ya in trouble! 'Sides, how come I never heard about this?!

Anzu giggled and placed her hand over her mouth as if to stem the flow.

"I'm sorry I just couldn't resist! Besides it wasn't really like that,"

Yami didn't quite know whether to believe her, as while her words were apologetic, the mischievous gleam in her eyes as well as her slow walk over, said something else entirely.

"You see, the one I was really after, was that strong confident dark Yugi who saved me from that lunatic in Burger World," at this point she really leaned in towards Yami.

Who in response, leant further away than he should have and toppled over the fence he had been leaning on, into the duck pond behind; landing in the water with a massive splash and a great cacophony of angry swans.

"I can't believe you actually fell for that!" Both Yugi, Jou and Anzu were almost bent double in laughter as Yami grouchily swam back to the water's edge.

After he had made it back onto dry land, and had begun wringing out his clothes, Jou quickly checked his watch and noticed that it was time to meet up with the others by the exit gate.

Once more altogether, the group walked out of Domino Park, hand in hand.

It was an almost unconscious gesture – grasping at each other before a potential final separation, but one by one, each person peeled off to their various homes, to spend the last night at home with their families.

Living on the outskirts of town, it was Jou who was the last to be walking alone to his apartment.

Under the hidden stars, their brilliance masked by the city's light pollution, Jou casually walked home, gently breathing in the night air.

The streets seemed different tonight, as Jou noticed things that he had never paid attention to before, such as the way in which steam, from the vents poking out from the flats surrounding him, spiralled into the sky and glowed under the orange halogens.

Not only that, but he'd never realised how dirty this area was, he had supposed that those windowsills had always been grey, and only now did he see that the white paint was simply coated in a thick layer of dust and grime.

Even the metal staircase in his building, which he walked up now to reach his floor, must have been shiny and new before it rusted into its now twisted form.

Opening the door, Jou was almost in a daze as he strode across the apartment to his room.

Jou was going to be fine. There was no doubt of that, as a god it would take something exceptional to be able to destroy him. But his friends.

Those bright, young, brilliant souls?

In both the worst and best eventualities, they may never get the opportunity to live a full life and grow as people. To explore and experience their full potential. Would they age like a fine wine, deepen and mature? Or would they warp and twist much like the iron railings he had grasped earlier?

Jou went to his bag and pulled out his lyre. His Item of Power.

He then pulled out his deck from the desk drawer he had stashed it in yesterday.

Both he placed on his bed.

He could stop this. Pick up his lyre and strum some magic into the world; defend against the Titans with his full strength. But then that would mean having to give his lyre over to Dionysus.

And that would mean…

He'd never dared to even think about the implications of losing the bet before, because it would mean no longer being the God of Music. To no longer have the tune of time, the song of the universe or words that stretched into the very core of life itself – these things would no longer be his. And he had lost and given up so much already.

Often for his brothers, which he would never regret, and often to unexplainable events, which he always regretted.

On the other hand.

He picked up the first card of his deck, which just so happened to be Flame Swordsman. How apt.

He didn't want to leave them, and if he revealed himself in such a way, he would have to. And how strange it was to even think in that way – placing mortals on the same level as himself. Consider them his equals.

He flopped between the objects onto his bed.

He had a decision to make.

But to be honest, he had probably already made it.

On the day the Titans would break free of their divine prison, the Yugi-tachi arrived one by one, as the dawn rose over the horizon.

"I don't think my Mom believed what she was seeing when I left the house this morning!" Honda exclaimed.

Yugi sniggered with him.

"Me neither! I think Jii-chan thought I was being called out by bullies again, until Yami came down to leave with me,"

"What about you Kaiba?" Anzu enquired, it seemed wrong to leave him out of the conversation, when it may be their last days on Earth.

"I don't know what you slobs are talking about. I always get in to school at this time if I am not at work,"

"Oh…."

"Figures ole' Moneybags has to be better than us even in this!" Jou cheekily elbowed Kaiba gently in the ribs and was rewarded with a glower that put to rest everybody else's attempts at conversation.

Slowly, they all convened by the big tree near the front steps. Side by side, they could all feel the tension in the air as time passed by.

"Are you sure you want to be here?" Jou looked over his shoulder at the his friends, though he paused longest on Anzu and Honda, "This isn't really your fight and ya don't really know what you're up against and-"

"Jou," Anzu soft voice matched her smile and the gentle hand she reached out and laid upon his cheek, "It's okay, we're ready. We wouldn't be here if we didn't fully understand what is going on,"

"Yeah," Yugi took Jou's hand gently, from where he stood on the right, "Why would we not stand by you, when you have stood by us all these years? We are a family,"

One by one, each of the group grasped each other's hands as they stared face-forward into the unknown. Even Kaiba had been forced into the act, as Jou had an exceptionally strong grip and was not taking no for an answer.

Silent and tense, they waited.

They did not have to wait for long.

With a calamitous roar, the gates broke and literal hell broke loose.

Abhorrent beings of sharp cruelty threw themselves out of the miasmic portal into the mortal world, and the very earth shuddered in revulsion.