Domino Arcade was busy when the girls arrived. This was not entirely surprising with the summer holidays in full swing and the air conditioning on full blast. The noise of the game cabinets and the children playing them made Ishizu hesitate at the door, disconcerted and unused to such volume in such a small space.

Anzu and Mai, however, were not even slightly disturbed and headed straight for the Dance Dance Revolution machine that took up most of the back wall. As Rebecca followed them, Yugi paused by Ishizu's side, noting that Amane stopped as well as she asked, "You okay? It's…"

"I'm fine." Ishizu cut her off, feeling embarrassed and not wanting Yugi's sympathy. She took her phone out of her pocket, checked that it was up at max volume so she could hear it over the cacophony and then headed in, following the other young women since she had no idea what any of the games were.

Yugi smiled ruefully at Amane and got a shrug back in return before both girls swapped with their other selves, having already agreed that the pair should get to have some fun, as long as it did not end in a Shadow Game. It was a 'Girls' Day Out' after all, and the two spirits were just as female as their hosts.

"You, me, and that new light gun game." Ba-Khu-Ra smirked at the Pharaoh. "Lowest score owes the winner at the hibachi place later."

Meisa paused for a moment, tempted to tell the Thief Queen to go boil her head, since she had never actually played one of the light gun games in the arcade. As Ba-Khu-Ra got a smirk on her features, however, the Pharaoh's proud streak kicked in. It would not be the first time she had been challenged to a new game and it certainly would not be the last.

That and she was NOT going to give the other spirit something to gloat about for the next few weeks.

"You're on," Meisa agreed, shaking the Thief's hand. "But I probably should sort the money first."

Ba-Khu-Ra nodded her agreement and headed in. While the others scanned the available machines, she was checking for potential threats and deciding which of the distracted teens looked like easy marks. Not that she planned on any theft today, but it never hurt to have access to more cash, should she need it.

Noting which of the teens around them paid attention to the pile of cash the Pharaoh swapped for coins, in case one of them made a move, the Thief waited until they had caught up with the others, only to grimace when she saw the queue for the dance machine was six deep.

"Oi, your highness." She nudged Meisa, who was distributing the coins to the others, having offered to pay since Rebecca did not have much cash on her and it had been her idea to come to the arcade in the first place. When the Pharaoh looked at her, she nodded towards the light gun cabinets. "You, me, rail shooter."

"Fine, fine." Meisa grinned. "Anzu, Mai, please excuse me."

When the other two waved them off, the two spirits headed for the only available 'Vampire Night' cabinet. Each picked up one of the toy weapons attached to the machine, Meisa the blue, Ba-Khu-Ra the red, before the Pharaoh paused and looked at her opponent.

"Three lives each?" she asked, picking the coins out of her pocket.

"Sounds good. Last one standing, or highest score wins?" When Meisa nodded her agreement, the Thief Queen slipped her first coin into the machine. As Meisa followed suit, Ba-Khu-Ra was pleased to find that one life gained her nine strikes against her in game character.

Firing their weapons at the screen started the game and while the voice acting was awful, the light guns were well calibrated and fired exactly where they aimed. The Thief Queen was the better shot initially, but by the time villagers staggered out from behind the stones that were half buried in the snow, Meisa was able to quickly pop off two shots that knocked the vampiric leech-like cores off two of the NPCs and freed them from the control of the creatures.

Ba-Khu-Ra let out a hiss as her shots were wide and the next pair transformed into lycanthropic creatures and launched themselves at the pair, costing them both a hit before they could blast them away.

"Before you even say it," the thief hissed at her former ally, "I know. I won't miss next time."

"Wasn't going to say a word." Meisa shook her head, enjoying the game and the chance to actually do something with her old friend that was not attempting to murder each other or yelling, to risk antagonising her partner.

Sending Meisa a disbelieving look cost Ba-Khu-Ra another hit, but the Pharaoh chuckling at that allowed the enemies to strike her twice.

"We may need to take a second run at this if we want to finish the game." The Pharaoh ran a hand through her hair with a sheepish grin as the end card for the chapter came up.

"What's the matter? Scared you'll lose?"

Meisa did not have to retort. The chapter score did that for her by revealing she was a thousand points higher than her adversary.

Chapter two had them working their way through a medieval village, while escorting a young girl. Not that either of them were too worried about it to start with, until she was grabbed and they were not fast enough to prevent her being dragged off a bridge, forcing their characters to jump off after her. With this knowledge, fast shooting and covering each other and the girl suddenly became more important than their rivalry, in case the route they were now on was worth less points.

It was not until the chapter end card came up and the thief glanced over at the Pharaoh, who was flushed with the excitement of the game and gave her an open and honest smile, of the kind that she had not seen in over three thousand years, that she realised that it felt great to be fighting side by side with her Pharaoh once again.

Just like they had back in ancient times, when she had been Meisa's Shadow and much, much more.

'Don't let yourself get attached again,' Zorc hissed in the back of her mind, flooding her mind with all the memories and emotions of the day she had nearly been killed by the Pharaoh's men, causing her to tighten her grip around her weapon. 'She betrayed you and you can't get what you want without going through her. It's only with her full, divine strength that you stand a CHANCE of freeing your people. Don't let yourself weaken now.'

'I remember Egypt. You don't have to keep reminding me,' Ba-Khu-Ra mentally hissed back as the next chapter started and she turned back to focus on the screen, not wanting to lose. Not that she could focus properly. With the reminder of how close she had been to getting her people the afterlife they deserved, and of how happy she had dared to allow herself to become, came the gut-wrenching and highly distracting pain of having it all ripped away.

The vampires on screen gave her something rather satisfying to take her anger out on, even if it meant that her accuracy took a hit and she needed to reload more often, and the squeaky-voiced scientist stood little chance against her and her wrath.

Meisa's groan helped ease Ba-Khu-Ra's anger when the point boost from getting the final shot in allowed her to overtake the Pharaoh, even with the accuracy penalty, though she did not allow herself to be distracted and rapid fired her way through to the next chapter so there was no time to talk.

She almost wished she had paused when the main adversary of the next chapter turned out to be a grieving teenager. Still, she fought alongside the Pharaoh, not wanting to lose the bet, or seem weak in front of the Queen, working her way through the level with ease, right up until the final battle for the chapter started…

"You humans, make me remember, I couldn't save her." As the teen monologued at the two vampire hunters, Meisa braced herself, ready for the incoming attack when the cutscene ended. "This pain… to heal my pain… I shall sacrifice my soul and be a vampire!"

Any other time, the parallels with her own demonic contract would not have impacted the Thief Queen as hard, but with her mind still stinging from the reminder of how much she had lost and what she had been forced to do to ensure the future of her people, this last reference was too much for her and her hands shook as she watched the humanoid figure on screen warp into a cruelly twisted demonic form.

"Humans!" the creature called through the screen. "Heal my soul!"

The Pharaoh did not have time to do more than snap out the thief's name before the vampire was on her and she was having to focus on the fight, which she was only semi-successful at as the huge fists of the twisted creature slammed into the floor of the arena and knocked hit point after hit point off them.

Both players were down to just one last hit when Ba-Khu-Ra seemed to unpause and fired off four shots that slammed into the slightly spectral humanoid form that had circled the vampiric monstrosity, knocking the last few hit points off of the boss.

Only for the hunters on screen to spare the vampire.

Meisa turned to Ba-Khu-Ra and reached out a hand as the vampire asked, "What do I do now?"

"Live as a human. Fight your soul. Once again." At the hunter's words, the thief recoiled so fast that Meisa pulled back herself, wary of an attack like the one that had knocked her senseless in the fire.

"This game is stupid. It wasn't responding to my gun," Bakura lied with a snarl, trying to cover her shakiness as she slammed the red gun into its holder and snatched up the other two coins she had laid out. "I'm not playing a broken pile of crap."

"Ba…"

"Don't. Pharaoh." The warning in Ba-Khu-Ra's tone cut off any words that Meisa could offer. Instead, she let the other spirit stalk off in the direction of the crane games, unsure whether she should follow the other spirit or not.

Enjoyment destroyed by the bad reaction of her friend and worried enough to want to chase her, Meisa turned to look for someone else to give her gun to, only to find that a kid was there, waiting for his turn and was more than happy to have a free attempt at the game before he had to pay his own money.

With the gun handed off and another kid already snatching up the second gun, Meisa headed in the direction Ba-Khu-Ra had gone.


The altercation at the light gun cabinet had not gone unnoticed, and Ishizu raised an eyebrow as she watched Thief and Pharaoh disappear out of sight. "Should someone go after them?"

Anzu considered their surroundings carefully. Bakura could be dangerous when she lost control of herself, but she was not normally inclined to lash out in public. It attracted too much attention and brought too many questions.

If they reached a spot that was shielded from the eyes of others, however…

"Probably a good idea." She bit her lower lip. "Bakura put Yugi in hospital a few months ago and I don't really want that to happen a…oi!"

She trailed off as she was nudged by a rather rude young man, who jumped the queue to challenge the winner of the last round on the Dance Dance Revolution machine.

Mai's glower at the teen, whose hair lay in dreadlocks and whose eyebrows were pierced, did little as he declared himself to be 'Steps Johnny' and the best dancer in all of Domino.

Anzu trembled slightly with the desire to challenge him and prove him wrong, but she resisted. He was not worth her time and she did not want to risk failing her friend a second time by ignoring a warning sign of something about to kick off.

"He'll be gone by the time we get back." She shrugged and started to move out of the queue, only to pause when Ishizu did not move. "You're not coming?"

"I'll hold your place in the line. It would be a shame to lose it now." That was the excuse she used, but the offer was not truly altruistic. Ishizu did not really want to get anywhere near the Thief Queen if she was likely to kick off unless she really had to. Bakura needed Yugi alive for now; Ishizu had no such protection.

"I'll stay with her," Mai offered, watching the other adult in the group with narrowed eyes, able to see right through her. "But be quick."

"Will do." Anzu nodded and slipped into the crowd. Rebecca, on the other hand, hesitated, then decided to stay with the group at the DDR machine.

"So." Mai turned to Ishizu once it was just the three of them. "While no one can hear anyone else think over the noise in here, what's your thing?"

Ishizu raised an eyebrow, surprised at the blonde's audacity and amused that she would want to take advantage of the noise surrounding them to have a private conversation. "Excuse me?"

"I've met three others with magic: Yugi, who's a sweetheart but whose other self is a little nuts; Bakura, who may be your best friend but might also stab you and she could do both on the same day; and Crawford, who apparently was a soul-stealing, child-abducting lunatic. So, what's your thing?"

Ishizu could not help the amused chuckle as she considered her answer. Deciding to be as flippant as Mai had been, she smiled as she asked, "Honest answer or child friendly?"

Mai opened her mouth, about to say honest, then closed it again, remembering that Rebecca was only twelve. "Honest but not traumatising?"

Ishizu paused, tilted her head slightly then replied, "Can we swap to English?"

"You know it better?" Rebecca asked, welcoming a chance to use her own language.

"That and there's less people around here that will be fluent, so it'll be safer to discuss private information." The Egyptian woman nodded, glad she had a chance to slip into a language she had more practice with. She had gotten semi-fluent in many languages during the six years that she had been forced to move around, but English and French were two of the languages she was most comfortable in, besides Arabic and Ancient Egyptian, which she had grown up speaking but knew neither of her companions would speak.

"I can do English." Mai switched as well. "So?"

"Was born into an insane agoraphobic cult to the Nameless Pharaoh, ran away with my brothers, been hunted across the world so they can drag us back," Ishizu offered, avoiding any mention of the necessary murder that had earned their current freedom, "and can't be safe until a certain someone does her duty."

"Ah, so that's why you've been harassing Yugi for months." The Harpie Duelist nodded, understanding. "You want the cult to go away."

"Pretty much." Ishizu was surprised at how easily her companions were accepting that. "Yugi and I had a talk last night and we realised that perhaps fighting each other isn't the fastest way to get what we want. So we've agreed to a truce, for now."

"What do the cultists want?" Rebecca questioned as they shuffled up the queue, slowly getting closer to the game they wanted. "The ones chasing you? Like, what's their end game?"

"They're supposed to pass on information to the Pharaoh that will allow her to do what she needs to do and support her through the task, but they betrayed their own and refused to accept that not everyone could cope with living underground." Ishizu's eyes briefly flashed amber as anger flooded through her. "There's no way they could complete their task the way they are, not when they were still teaching the majority of the Clan that the Pharaoh was male, which was a lie, and I refuse to allow them to drag my family back into the darkness."

Which was fair.

"Once the Pharaoh does her duty, then the Clan's task is done and there's no reason to keep hunting my brothers and me. She just needs to use her powers and crush the thief."

"You realise that they don't really know anything about their past right now?" Rebecca asked. "They told me last night that they only know what others have told them, so if they've got some sort of superpower, they have no idea how to use it."

"Oh, that will come when they unlock the Pharaoh's memories. She'll know everything she needs." Ishizu shrugged. "Honestly? I'm looking forward to seeing if some of the rumours are true when she gets her memories back."

"Oh?"

"A lot of the records that cover the Nameless Pharaoh's time on the throne have been destroyed over the millennia, but there's still some interesting papyrus scrolls in the library in the catacomb." Ishizu shrugged again. "Including some information on her interactions with both the Thief Queen and her right-hand man back in Egypt and a chance… well… It's been so long now, it probably doesn't matter."

"What doesn't matter?"

"Well… put it this way, there could be a direct descendant out there somewhere…"

"What?!"

"It would be interesting to know if that's true. Wouldn't it?"


"Bakura!"

The Thief Queen paused at the call of her name, her hands balling into fists, but did not turn to face the one calling her.

"Bakura, wait, please."

"Why? What will change? There's no point talking about any of this. Not…"

"I'm sorry." At Meisa's apology Ba-Khu-Ra stopped and turned to stare at her.

"W…what?"

"I'm sorry," Meisa breathed, closing the gap between them. "I know there's nothing I can do to fix everything, but I want to try."

"I lost everything, Pharaoh." The Thief Queen spat out the title like it was a swear word, "Even if you didn't betray me, even if Mahad wasn't lying and the Necklace proves you right, I still lost everything. My home, my chance at freeing my people, my life…you…"

"Ba-Khu-Ra…" The Pharaoh's voice trembled at the reminder that, if Ba-Khu-Ra had been telling the truth a few months back, they had shared bed chambers back in Egypt.

"I thought… I thought…" The Thief Queen let out an infuriated snarl and Meisa let out a yelp as suddenly she was slammed back against the nearest wall, Bakura's hands on either side of her head, the Thief Queen's face just inches from hers. "We were days away from you keeping your promise to me. Days. We could have freed the souls of Kul Elna. We could have gotten them the justice they deserved."

"I can still…"

"You think I remember all their names now? That there's any chance of rescuing the souls YOUR family trapped in the darkness in exchange for power this long after they were sealed?" The low hiss Ba-Khu-Ra loosed made Meisa freeze, suddenly aware that this could end badly. "It would take a miracle now. You would have to bargain with the Gods for every last soul. If you even survived using your magic to separate them from the Shadows."

"I…"

"And you know what's worse?" Ba-Khu-Ra let out a bitter laugh as she backed up. "You want to know what's worse? I made a deal with a demon so I could free them and in doing so, I doomed them. It's been this long because I attacked Egypt. Because I believed the bastards when they said my death was on your orders. And it might not even be true. I might have doomed my people for nothing."

Meisa paused, able to sense the sadness from her twin as she reached out and put her hand on her ex's shoulder. "We've both lost a lot, but we can make it right. Together…"

"We lost? We?" The Pharoah was shoved back. "You sacrificed everything. You didn't lose it. You didn't have it ripped away from you. You chose to give it up. You let go of your palace, your position, your SON. My people didn't choose this. I didn't choose this. I did what I had to to survive and you got to live an opulent life, paid for by the souls of my people."

"I… had a son?" Meisa tried not to flinch at the accusation and tried to redirect the conversation, wanting to get Ba-Khu-Ra talking more calmly before there was a knife in the Pharaoh's gut or worse. That and unable to process the full implications of Ba-Khu-Ra's words.

"You did. With that rat bastard, Mahad. You even had the audacity to name him after my father, Akefia. You honestly thought it would 'calm me down' after you tried to have me killed." The twisted smile on her face was offset by the way Meisa could see Ba-Khu-Ra trembling. "I killed your child's father before you even knew you were carrying, and still you named him after mine."

"I… I didn't try to kill you, we… we were friends…" Meisa swallowed hard, fully aware that the wrong words could get her hurt or worse, with her former friend this close to losing it. "And…"

"And more. And either you made it quite clear that we were over by sending those guards after me, or I ended it when I brought your country down around your ears. And I don't know which is worse."

"Ba-Khu-Ra…"

"This was a stupid idea." The Thief Queen cut her off as she saw Anzu approaching. "I should never have thought I could spend time around you without wanting to scream… Enjoy your day out. I'll tear you apart after Battle City, once you have all the power I need to create a damn miracle."

With that, she retreated to the Millennium Ring, leaving Amane in control.

"I…" Amane swallowed hard, trying not to drown in the grief and pain flooding the bond. "I'm sorry… This was… I'll leave."

"No! No." Meisa caught her gaze for just a moment then looked at the floor, Ba-Khu-Ra's words burning in her mind. "You stay. I'll… I'll just…"

She fled to the Puzzle, dropping her twin in control and leaving her reeling from the guilt and upset that had driven Meisa away.

"Are you two alright?" Anzu pressed as she reached their sides, glaring at anyone who looked curious about what had happened until everyone had stopped being nosey.

"We'll… we'll be fine." Yugi gave her friend a watery smile. "Aren't you missing your turn on the dance game?"

"You two were more important." The dancer shrugged, more concerned with how down Yugi and Amane looked.

"I'm… I've had worse." Amane shrugged, plastering on a fake smile and noting that only Yugi could see through it, when Anzu relaxed. "Come on, you don't want to miss your chance to beat Mai."

"If you're sure…"

"We'll talk about it later." Yugi shook her head, needing to let the emotional wave calm down before she even slightly knew how to approach what had just happened.

"Okay…"


"…learned French specifically to avoid that too," Mai was chuckling to Ishizu, "Or any time I duel in France, I'd be paying the English tax."

"Wait, that's not just a joke?" Rebecca's eyes widened, "I'd heard about it online, but…"

"Can confirm." Ishizu smiled, amused that even with her limited knowledge of the surface world, she could share knowledge with others. "French cafes and restaurants will charge extra for people ordering off the English-printed menus. It's better to have enough French to at least order a snack or two if you're visiting."

Rebecca nodded, thinking. There were plenty of classes she could take to help her learn a new language. Taking an online course would probably be the easiest, and it would be something she could start while she was still in Japan, staying with the Mutous.

"Gotta be said, it's nice to talk to someone who gets it." Mai grinned. "So few people do as much travelling as I do, so most people don't believe me when I share these stories."

"I mean, it's not like the travelling was by choice, but I've been to enough places and seen enough things that I can vouch for some and have a few of my own." Ishizu smiled back, enjoying the company of another woman who was completely unrelated to everything that had been going on for pretty much her entire life and who could at least understand the pains of having to move around a lot. "Have you ever been to Italy?"

"Venice yes, Rome no." Mai nodded. "For the record, gondolas are not good for duelling in and the canal water stinks if you let it dry on you."

"Why would you even be dueling on a gondola?" Rebecca asked, tilting her head in her confusion.

"Because…" Her reply was cut short by Steps crowing over his latest victory and opponent number three skulking away, allowing them to move up the queue, ending up next in line.

"I could push him off," Ishizu offered when Steps refused to leave the machine so someone else could take a turn. "He's taking up time that isn't his."

"If Anzu's back by the time he's done with this one, sure," Mai shrugged in reply. "I'm not losing my chance to play."

"You just don't want to pay for lunch." Rebecca grinned.

"Have you seen how much Yugi eats?"

"Speaking of." Ishizu nodded towards the doors, where Anzu, Amane, and Yugi were heading back. "Looks like something happened."

Rebecca used the nearest ledge to lift herself up, allowing her to see those incoming and winced when she noted the sunken shoulders and downcast expressions. "I hope they're okay."

They did not get the chance to ask. Steps outmatched his opponent so badly that the poor guy fell over just as Anzu got to them.

"He's still going?" the dancer groaned, having hoped he would have gone by the time she got back.

"That's right, ladies." Steps smirked down at them, adjusting the sunglasses on the top of his head. "Which one of you is my next victim?"

"Get off the game, jerk." Mai climbed up, Anzu following. "You've had your turn."

"What's the matter? Scared?"

"Hey, Mai, you mind me taking him on first?" Anzu asked, her eyes narrowing at Steps as she spoke. "This is my territory and he's stepping in it."

"You sure?" The Harpie Duelist blinked at her, surprised considering Anzu had always seemed a little less rash than her friends.

"One round and then we can deal with our wager." Anzu nodded. "Sounds good?"

"You'll be gone in one round." The dancer already on stage snorted as Mai stood down, recognising the determination in Anzu as the same feeling she got when stepping up to duel. "Ready when you are."

As Anzu took her place and slipped the money in the machine, her focus was already on which songs were available and the pacing of the beat. "We'll see about that."