"And here we go." Ishizu smirked as her three mind slaves returned with their prizes. "I told you I had a plan, Marik."
"I…" Her youngest brother stared at the Duel Disk he was being presented. He had half hoped that either her plan would fail, or Ishizu would change her mind about attacking the Pharaoh. With the Tomb Keepers seeming to be comfortable staying away from them, he had not seen the urgency in pushing Yugi and the Pharaoh down a path they clearly did not want to take yet.
Not that he had time to worry about it too much. The Ishtars could only afford their stay in Domino because of Marik's job and the money they made from selling cards online. Their products were convincing fakes which had so far managed to pass every judge check that they had gone through, but they had not been certain they would work on Duel Disks. Now they had access to the systems, they could find out.
If they did work, there was one card in particular he wanted to duplicate, if he could 'borrow' it from his sister's deck. He just wished the chance could come without the threats to a girl that had been nothing but reasonable to him despite everything.
"Any problems?" Ishizu asked the servant that handed her a Duel Disk.
"Nothing that I couldn't get around, Mistress Ishtar." The girl shook her head. "There was some confusion when they could not find you in the system, but I turned on the waterworks and the administrator just waved my application through and once one was through, they did not fight us on the other two."
"Good. Thank you." The Bearer of the Millennium Rod let out a relieved sigh. The one thing she had not been certain of was this plan. She had half expected to have to mug three Battle City competitors for their Duel Disks. That they were properly registered competitors meant that they could not just be disqualified outright for cheating their way into the tournament.
After all, the error had been on the administration end, not theirs.
"Can I ask why we didn't just go ourselves?" Rishid asked as he took a Duel Disk from the servant opposite, "so you could brainwash the staff?"
"Because I would have had to maintain control of them in the middle of a public place, while trying to avoid any security, since Mutou's probably told them what I look like, and get all three of the applications done myself, which would have caused issues." Ishizu rolled her eyes. "This way we're in without anyone realising it and I could get on with more important things."
Marik winced, thinking about the Mementos that rested on the desk upstairs in Ishizu's room.
"Now, Marik, our Pharaoh is the one who said she needed to be stronger," The Item Holder scolded her brother. "I am just providing the means. The sooner she follows her destiny, the sooner you'll no longer be hunted across the world by the fools who think she'll actually give a damn about them."
"Ukhti…" Marik trailed off, knowing that it was pointless to try and defend the Pharaoh. He had gotten to spend time around her and gotten to know her and her vessel. He understood that her hesitation was not because she did not care about those who had served to protect her tomb for the last three thousand years, but the desire to understand the past so they could prevent a repeat in the present.
Not that he liked to refer to Yugi as just the Pharaoh's vessel, but until she completed the Ceremonial Duel and earned the right to be her own person by sending the Pharaoh on, that was what she was.
Ishizu did not want to listen though. She had heard the Pharaoh say that she would not kill a friend, and had heard her vessel protest that they were not ready because they needed to be stronger, and decided she was going to force their hand. She could MAKE them stronger, and she could teach them that sometimes you had no choice other than to do what needed to be done and remove an obstacle.
Ishizu half suspected that by the time this was over, her brothers would never talk to her again, but if it got them free from the Tomb Keeper tribe forever, it would break her heart, but she would live with it.
After all, everything she did was for them.
Everything.
From killing their father so he would stop hurting her brothers and they could escape from the catacombs to her plans for Battle City.
She could live with their hatred, if it meant they could live their lives, free of fear.
"Marik? You said that the American who's staying at the shop dislikes the Pharaoh?" she asked, thinking about her plan and the Mementos.
"Yes, but she's a child." Suddenly the boy regretted saying anything about the discussion he had heard between the girl and her grandfather. "So we probably shouldn't drag her into this."
"Hmm…" The noncommittal noise his sister made before she dismissed her mind slaves and headed back into her room worried Marik, and Ishizu could see it. She tried to push it to the back of her mind though as she crossed the room and beheld the array of objects spread across it.
While she had been living in the catacombs, she had been apprenticing under Azra. The older woman had been teaching her everything about the ancient knowledge stored in the sprawling darkness that had been their home. She had been studying the books and scrolls since a young age as part of her original future as support to the future Leader of the Tomb Keeper tribe.
It was a destiny she had been willing to accept, right up until she had realised that Rishid, who was willing, was never going to be made Head of the tribe because he wasn't of the blood, and Marik, who was not, was completely unsuited to life below ground. His urge for freedom would never allow him to accept a life in the darkness easily.
That was why, when she had found out that the Pharaoh had been a woman, she had demanded the right to carry the Pharaoh's Secret herself. When her father had demanded that he and she play a Shadow Game, with her victory proving that she had the strength to carry the burden, she had accepted the Challenge readily.
And she had won. It had taken everything she had but she had won.
Only for her father to betray her. She had woken to the muffled sounds of her brother's pained screaming as they carved the Pharaoh's Secret into the boy's back.
Her father had paid the ultimate price for his betrayal and she had seized the Millennium Rod for herself before seizing the souls of his accomplices and escaping with her brothers.
All the knowledge she had accumulated before her flight from the underground had come with her and she had sworn that she would do everything in her power to avoid having to return.
Including using the knowledge of how to infuse Shadows into objects.
She was half convinced that the Mementos were the pre-cursor to the Millennium Items, and that they were the connecting research that had taught the ancients that blood could be used to bind the dark magic to an object for later use. And that someone had taken that knowledge and improved on it, over and over again, until the Millennium Items had been born.
She had taken advantage of ancient spells to create her Mementos, named for the fact the old ones had believed that when you sealed the Shadows into an object, you sealed a memory with them, as tribute and fuel. The Shadows would feed on the emotions attached to the memory and that's why they would stay within the object.
And it was those Mementos that she was going to unleash on the Pharaoh.
Through her servants, of course.
She had spent the months since she had met with the Pharaoh creating each of the weapons her tools were going to use. Not that they looked threatening. She had learned early that you had to break the object the Shadows were sealed in to be able to use them and the value of the object did not matter to the Shadows, just the cost paid to seal them.
As such she had simply visited a bunch of gachapon machines and acquired toys that would suit her servants nicely. A Spiderman figurine, a coin and a pair of maze tilt games waited on the desk for the tools that would wield them.
The last though…
Her hand rested over a small pink compact with a huge plastic gem heart on it, surrounded by a fake gold. She had infused this last object just this morning. It was something she was certain that a young girl on the edge of her teens would like and would accept easily.
She just had to get it into the hands of the Duelist.
She felt a little guilty at dragging someone completely unrelated into her plans. At least with her other servants, they were all people who had suffered at the hands of Item holders. Two at the hands of the Pharaoh herself, the others at the hands of the Demon Thief.
The American girl had not yet been introduced to the Shadows, or the magic involved in the game. Bringing her in as a servant would mean introducing her to the unusual aspects of the cards.
'Of course, if she wants to really be a Champion, on the level of Kaiba and Yugi, then she should be able to use the power that they can use… you can give her that…'
She pursed her lips as she picked up the compact, which had come from a gachapon machine that dished out toys from a show called "Sailor Moon." This was not the first time she had heard the voice of her other. Her darkness, Hanaq, could be quite vocal when it came to protecting their brothers. It WAS the first time she agreed with Hanaq's statement, however.
It was not a bad idea to level out the playing field and allow other high-ranked Duelists to compete fairly with those at the top.
It would certainly push all involved to be stronger…
Perhaps a visit to the shop would help her make up her mind. It was not that far, after all, and her brothers would be busy adjusting their equipment to the new standards.
Her brothers did not notice her borrow Marik's motorcycle and head off on a ride.
As she was shooting off down the drive, she did not notice the figure hiding in the bushes spying on her and her brothers either…
"And that's game." Yugi's sheepish smile died when she saw the frustrated expression on Rebecca's face. "Sorry…"
"No. No, its fine," the American lied as she tried to hide how irritated she was at losing for the third time. The first time had been a tough match, but each consecutive time had been an easier and easier win for Yugi.
She had brought her spare cards with her, so Rebecca knew she could make some changes to her deck that would help, but it was infuriating to lose so easily. She knew Yugi was not cheating by stacking her deck. They had shuffled each other's decks before each match. And they were just as inexperienced with the Duel Disk as each other.
And it was not even like Rebecca was vulnerable to her flirting, unlike Jonouchi so it was not that either.
"I think I'm done for the night," the girl decided as she slipped her Duel Disk off of her arm. "It's heavy and I think I need to work on my deck."
"If you want, you can look through my spares," Yugi offered, trying to mitigate some of the younger girl's frustration. "They're on the table downstairs."
She did not respond as she headed inside.
Yugi winced as the back door slammed shut behind Rebecca. She had not been meaning to win like she had been, but during their second duel, when she had tried to hold back, the other girl had gotten offended so she had not tried it again, hoping that it would ease the irritation.
Instead it had just made things worse.
She did not entirely understand what she had been doing wrong, but she had a horrible feeling that part of it was the same irritation that she had come across before. Even Katsuya occasionally refused to compete against her because he 'wanted a chance at winning'.
It was not like she tried to win, she just had a knack for finding the weak point in her opponent's strategies and once she found them once, it was easy to take advantage of them again and again.
It was not like Rebecca's deck was bad, but it relied on sending things to the graveyard and that was an easily countered move.
Still Yugi was certain she was failing at making a new friend and that made her sad and frustrated. It did not seem to matter what she did, making new friends was hard.
"Hey." Katsuya's hand on her shoulder helped her relax a little and she rested her cheek upon it. "Those were good duels, if that helps?"
"I thought so, but…" Yugi gave a shrug she did not feel, going to slip her own Duel Disk off only to pause. "Hey, Katsu? Want a match before we head in? It'll give her some time to cool off."
"Sure! I've been watching you play so I think I've worked out the hole in your offence."
"Let's see."
The duel was a good distraction, both for Yugi's fraying emotions and for Rebecca, who slipped out of the house and out the gate, wanting to call her grandfather and hear a voice that would not annoy her, away from anyone who could overhear her. She was sure that the elderly Mutou would not say anything to her, but she did not want him to scold Yugi for her frustration over something that the Queen of Games could not control.
After all, she was fully aware that if she asked an opponent not to hold back, she could not get angry when she lost. She had brought it on herself.
She unzipped the back of her bear, revealing her deck, her wallet and her phone, and was just slipping the phone out of the almost perfect hiding place, when a voice called her.
"Hopkins?" The female tone made her jump and she wheeled around to find herself face to face with a non-local woman with a surprised and delighted expression. "You are the American Duel Monsters Champion right? One of the youngest ever."
"That's me." Pride swelled in Rebecca's chest at being recognised. "Nice to meet you…"
"Namu." The woman offered her hand to be shaken and the girl took the opportunity presented. "The gate was ajar, so I couldn't help but watch."
Rebecca flinched. "Oh…"
"I know you. You can be incredible when you're not up against a cheater." At the woman's words, her target's head snapped up to watch her carefully. "Mutou has a trick that she doesn't tell anyone about. Her Puzzle allows her to read her opponents like an open book and predict their moves."
"That's just good people skills." The girl rolled her eyes, only to freeze when the darkness around them deepened, blocking out the light from the lamps around them and what glare had been coming over the fence.
"Not when it's helped along by magic." Her companion's voice was soft and alluring. "Something that's unavailable to most Duelists."
"Magic isn't…"
Rebecca trailed off. The twelve-year-old knew she should not believe in magic. Her aunt and uncle had told her repeatedly that it was time to grow up and stop believing in fairy tales. Even the teachers who were helping her progress rapidly through her classes, so she could attend college in the fall, had insisted that continuing to listen to her grandfather's tales of magic would hurt her in the future.
But she had been raised on those stories. Raised on tales of ancient magic, gods and demons. And she had proved the adults in her life wrong often enough that she was willing to believe there were things that they did not know.
Especially given the light show going on around them, one that was causing figures to flicker in the weirdly lit darkness around them.
And what the woman was saying explained how Yugi had been able to predict her moves so easily and took the blame off of her for being predictable.
"I'm not here to hurt you. I've been watching Mutou misuse her powers for months and I'll be moving to stop her soon, but I wanted to give you something that might help." The woman held out and opened the hand that was not resting on a lump at her belt. In her palm was a pink compact, one that gave off flames of purple and black as Rebecca hesitantly reached for it.
Then she pulled back, remembering that in all the fairy tales, power came with a cost.
"What's the downside?" she asked, eyes narrowing as she stared the woman in the eyes.
"Smart child." The woman chuckled as her eyes shifted to a more amber hue. "Using the charm will test you as much as it tests her. If you're honourable, like I think you are, you will suffer no ill effect from it, except perhaps something minor if you still lose. Prove to be as big a cheat as she is, however, and there will be a nasty cost. You might even lose yourself. So how good a person are you?"
Rebecca's shoulders squared up, as offence at the insinuation that she might cheat surged through her.
"I DON'T cheat," the girl bit as she snatched the compact from the woman. "This will protect me from her weird powers?"
"Indeed." The grin the woman was giving her was toothy and for a moment Rebecca was certain that she could see vampiric fangs. "But I would wait to use it. She's expecting something from me right now, and she might take it from you."
The girl nodded, turning her gaze down to the object in her hands, giving Ishizu a chance to activate the Millennium Rod, whose eye glowed as she spoke.
"You will Challenge her during Battle City. You were quite vocal about that white dragon being yours, after all." Rebecca began to feel a little drowsy. "Using that Memento during your duel will prevent her using her powers during your duel and so you will give her a duel that will either prove her strength as honest, or destroy her reputation. Do you…?"
"Get away from her!" At Yugi's interrupting bellow, Rebecca's head snapped up and the drowsiness suddenly vanished, as if a spell had been broken. The Queen of Games shot through the gate and planted herself between Rebecca and the woman she had been talking to, her body language stating clearly that she was ready for a fight as the world around them grew brighter. "I won't let you hurt her, Ishizu."
"You've already worked out how to sense active Shadow magic?" Rebecca's brows furrowed at the different name and the surprise in the woman's voice. If 'Namu' knew Yugi was an expert in using her powers, why was she so surprised that she had been caught?
"I've been practicing." Yugi's voice was deeper and Rebecca could swear she was a couple of inches taller than before, as Katsuya came to stand in the gateway, glowering, "ever since you threatened me."
"You're making yourself stronger to deal with me." Ishizu's smug smile brought the American Champion the realisation that this woman was not as on the up and up as she had been pretending to be. "Which is exactly what I wanted you to do. After all, you won't step into your destiny because you're not strong enough to defeat the Demon Thief yet. If I can make you strong enough, I am fulfilling my duties to you."
"We don't have to do this, Ishizu. You don't have to play the bad guy…"
The bitter, slightly insane laugh that emerged from the woman's throat made the Queen stop and shift her balance back slightly, away from the other item holder.
Rebecca could not help but take a step back as suddenly it felt like ice consumed the area and darkness flooded out from the woman once again. Her host's pendant lit up like a beacon and the waves of purple and black fire crashed into a shield of gold that protected both the Queen and her guest.
"Oh, my Pharaoh." Amber tainted eyes narrowed at the Queen as the magic blazed around them. "I crossed that line years ago when I dared to stand up to my tribe for my brothers. There is no going back now. The only way forward is to follow the path I forged."
"That's not true." Rebecca straightened as suddenly Yugi lost an inch, her voice softened and her entire body language changed from tense, defensive fury, to gentle concern. "There's always time. I know you've been through a lot, but we can work together to fix everything."
"You know nothing, Yugi Mutou." Ishizu hissed out, her eyes shifting to pure amber and the flames around them growing fiercer. "You know nothing of struggle. Of having your life ruined by others…"
"I know nothing?!" Yugi cut in, the incredulousness causing her voice to rise in both pitch and volume. "I might not have the same problems as you, but you are NOT the only one who has suffered!"
It was the turn of the Bearer of the Millennium Rod to take a step back as light erupted from the Puzzle Bearer, snuffing out Ishizu's flames and returning illumination to the world around them. Rebecca could see Yugi trembling as her hands balled into fists.
"My parents are gone because someone drove a truck into their car when I was barely old enough to remember them. I have been battered by bullies since I was a kid. My grandfather's soul was ripped away by someone trying to get to me. I nearly DIED saving him and the souls of my friends."
Yugi's vision wavered and blurred as the sheer volume of emotions from Duelist Kingdom ripped through her again, brought to the surface by her words.
"I nearly died AGAIN because someone decided that it was okay to try and take out their frustrations on me. My soul is damaged badly because someone in Egypt thought it was a good idea to set Ba-Khu-Ra and me at each other's throats and set a DEMON loose, so I had to rip my soul apart to seal him and stop him nuking the world."
Ishizu's eyes widened as tears rushed down Yugi's cheeks, causing the Bearer of the Rod to realise that maybe, just maybe, she and her brothers weren't the only ones hurting.
"I've had said demon chasing me across multiple lifetimes to try and destroy what's left of my soul. A demon who's possessing one of my best friends, who could destroy them without a care and who STILL wants me dead so he can take over the world or destroy it. And you think you're the only one whose life is hard?!"
Rebecca shifted slightly, so she could see the expression on Yugi's face and she let out a soft gasp at the pain and anger that twisted the other girl's expression. It was hard to believe, upon seeing it, that anything Yugi was saying was an exaggeration.
"I understand you've been through hell. I'm not saying you haven't." The voice of the Queen of Games cracked. "But you're not the only one who's suffering because of someone else's actions. We don't have to stand against each other and compare pain. Making Battle City hell won't change what we've been through or how much we've suffered. We can end the pain here and now by working together and making our lives better."
Ishizu opened her mouth for a moment, then closed it again, her eyes scanning the Puzzle Bearer as if trying to read the honesty of her words.
"We don't need to be enemies." Yugi offered her hand. "Stand with me. We'll be safer together, covering each other's backs. And if we team up, maybe we can find out who really caused all this. That way we can end this for good, so there won't need to be any more Tomb Keepers and they won't have an excuse to drag you guys back."
'Don't listen to her,' her Other's voice hissed in the back of her mind. 'She's just trying to weaken us or worse, betray us to the Tomb Keepers.'
Ishizu's lips pursed as she considered both the girl talking and Hanaq's hiss.
As much as she hated to admit it, the Pharaoh's brat had a point. She and her brothers would be safer if they had allies than if they continued to work alone. Still…
"Why would you offer? I've done nothing but threaten you for months," she demanded, untrusting of Yugi's attempt to reconcile.
"Because I don't want to be your enemy. I never have." The hand dropped in time with Yugi's shoulders. "And I don't want you, or anyone else, to have to go through anything el…"
When her voice cracked again, Yugi trailed off and wiped her eyes with the back of her left hand, before looking at the floor. Katsuya darted across the alley to her side.
Ishizu let out a shaky breath. She had not known how much the Pharaoh and her vessel had been through and how much their history hurt them. She had not had any way to know. Yugi was right, it did not change how much Ishizu and her brothers had been through. However, it did make the Item holder believe that maybe, just maybe, the girl could be trusted, because maybe, just maybe, she could understand…
"What about Ba-Khu-Ra?" the Bearer of the Rod asked.
"I can't do anything about her right now." Meisa took over and her gaze snapped up to match Ishizu's, her tone making Katsuya pause before touching her. "I wish I could. I wish I could deal with Zorc and protect everyone I care about. I wish I didn't have to worry about people getting hurt because I failed in Egypt, but Kaiba won't just hand over Obelisk and I can't win without it. I can't even attempt to unlock my powers without it. But if you work with us, if you support us, I promise, I'll do everything I can to help you. And as soon as it's the right time, I'll complete my duty."
Meisa felt her twin mentally shudder and partly agreed with it, but if it would protect her friends and family, she was willing to offer to leave.
The tension dropped from Ishizu's frame. The Pharaoh was not wrong. Kaiba's possession of Obelisk was the hitch in her plans to force the Pharaoh to complete her destiny. Without that card, the Pharaoh could not access her memories and powers, and freedom was miles from the grasp of Ishizu and her family.
If she worked with the Pharaoh, rather than cause them both more suffering and risking losing her brothers afterwards, she could end the chain of pain.
Making the Pharaoh hurt was just passing their pain along, not actually dealing with the problem. If she helped the Pharaoh, this all could be over so much faster and she might get to keep the goodwill of her brothers afterwards.
"As long as my brothers remain safe, I'll consider an alliance," the Bearer of the Millennium Rod spoke finally, her tone more uncertain than Meisa had ever heard it before. "But if anything happens to them, anything at all…"
"I understand." Meisa did not need her to finish that sentence. She got the implications.
Ishizu nodded and turned away. Meisa felt her twin's desire to speak and stepped back, allowing Yugi control again.
"Ishizu? Are you still entering Battle City?"
"Yes." The young woman turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised. "You still need to win Ra from me. He won't answer you if you just take him."
Filing that away for later, Yugi nodded, hoping Mai would not be too mad at her for making this offer. "I'm not going to be here tomorrow, I'm meeting up with a couple of friends, but I can give you my phone number, and if you need anything and come here, I know Jii-san will hide you until I can get back."
"You are a really strange girl, Mutou Yugi." Ishizu snorted, turning away again. "Marik has your number, but I'll think about your offer."
"You're always welcome."
The other Item holder did not respond to Yugi's words. She simply headed for the borrowed motorcycle and left.
Rebecca bit her lip as she pocketed the compact Ishizu had given her, able to comprehend that there was much, much more going on than she understood. "What was that about?"
"Come on in…" Yugi sighed as she headed for the back door of the shop and Katsuya wrapped an arm around her shoulders, worry creasing his features. "I'll explain everything."
