The sun had not yet risen on the morning of Battle City, but the Queen of Games and her sister were already awake. Sleep had refused to happen and so, instead, they had spread their deck out over the table to do a final check.

"I don't know, Anesan." Yugi grimaced as the pair of them stared at the one card that had been the subject of debate for months. "We're going to need it for Kaiba or Ishizu but…"

She hesitated to touch the card in question. She was shaky enough as it was and the Sky Dragon of Osiris had made it clear more than once that it did not like her. The static charge she got from it every time she touched it informed her of that much.

Not that her sister had any problems with it. The card practically leapt to Meisa's hand when she tried to draw it and she never had the same shock Yugi had.

It made sense in an odd kind of way. For all that they'd come from the same soul and were two halves of the same person, Yugi's half of the soul did not have such strong connections to their ancient self. The self that had gotten the Divine Beasts sealed within her. Instead, Yugi's soul was more tied to the modern era and her current life, right down to her having her own Ren, her own True Name.

It meant their soul was equally balanced between past and present, which helped keep them grounded when others would have lost their heads about being royalty in the past or tried to focus purely on the here and now.

But it also meant that the Spirit of the Puzzle was able to hold the card while Yugi could not.

'We may need it if cheating comes into play.' The Pharaoh pointed out as she 'sat' on the table, with Yugi trying to ignore that she was floating several centimeters above it.

"I'm not saying to leave it behind." Yugi tucked a strand of her fringe behind her ear and picked up the card in question, wincing against the static shocks travelling up her arm, "I'm just wondering if it might be more useful in our side deck. At least to start with."

'You're scared of it.' Yugi winced but could not deny her sister's claim. 'Osiris is our ally.'

"He's also insanely powerful." The Queen of Games sighed as she had to let the card go. It fluttered to the table and rested, face up in attack position opposite her. She rubbed her fingers as she stared at it, trying not to feel like it wanted to attack her and wondering how she could earn its trust in the next few hours.

'You're frightened we're going to hurt someone.'

"Aren't you?"

At her twin's question, Meisa pursed her lips and tilted her head thoughtfully. She had not really considered it. Those who were going up against them would have been handpicked by Ishizu to cause chaos. She wasn't inclined to consider their safety over that of her sister.

But then again, Yugi had always been more merciful than she and with the venom coursing through her twin's soul, Meisa was not sure if that mercy was a blessing or a curse.

'I suppose if we both can't use it, it's no use in the deck anyway.' The Pharaoh grimaced, picking up the card with her own spectral fingers to examine it.

Yugi could not help the smile that formed when she saw her do it. Her sister had worked hard to be able to manipulate physical matter the way that poltergeists could, and this was just more evidence that it was becoming easier with practice.

Then what her twin had said hit her.

"Wait, you'll let me duel? I figured you'd want to take the lead, what with..."

'If you can beat Kaiba, you can beat any normal Duelist, but I want to take on the magical duels.' Meisa nodded, glancing up from Osiris, 'I know you've been practising and you can even run your own Shadow Games now, but I'd rather not risk straining your soul while it's sick like this. I can't go through what happened at Duelist Kingdom again. I just can't.'

Yugi bit her lower lip. The duel with Pegasus and Akhenaden had nearly destroyed her soul. Her Anesan STILL occasionally had nightmares about losing her because of it.

Her half of the soul carried the Ba, the Life Energy. It was her that fueled their vessel. If her soul died, the body would go with it.

Not that it would matter for too long, because if she died…

Both she and Meisa shivered in unison.

"Anesan?" Yugi asked, putting her hand on her twin's arm.

When the Pharaoh looked at her, she gave her a small, reassuring smile, "I trust you. If you really want Osiris in our deck, put it in. I only ask that we use it only if we really need it."

'I promise, Imoto. If there's another way, I'll use it, but I can't lose you again.'

Yugi did not hesitate. She wrapped her arms around the spirit, thankful she could touch her twin, and hugged her tightly before switching to the soul bond to talk, in case someone came downstairs. She was fully aware that her sister would not admit anything if anyone but her could hear it.

'The wait has been as hard on you as it's been on me, hasn't it?'

'I'm sorry…' The Pharaoh tried to pull back as shame flooded the bond but Yugi did not let her. 'All I've been able to focus on since that night at the bonfire and the meeting with the Tomb Keepers in Tokyo is this coming tournament and that I could lose you and Katsuya. After what Ba-Khu-Ra told us, I'm not going to turn away from it. We NEED those God cards and we can't anyway because of last night but…'

'You have nothing to be sorry about. I get it.' Yugi shuddered, 'We can't do anything about anything until it's over and we have what we need, but you've seen my nightmares. I'm not in a much better position than you are. The sooner this is over, the sooner we might be able to get some rest and plan properly.'

Meisa hugged her back and rested her head on her Imoto's shoulder, needing comfort and knowing Yugi did too. 'It'll be okay. We know we can get through this. It might be hard but there's light at the end of the tunnel.'

'You're right.' Yugi's mood lifted a little at the reminder. 'We just have to deal with whatever Ishizu throws at us for the next couple of days. We can do that, right?'

'Right.' Meisa agreed, pausing and glancing up when she caught the sound of footsteps moving around in the shop and the low hum of a radio being tuned to a station that her grandfather favoured. 'Hey, one good thing about this whole mess?'

'Hmm?'

'Jii-san will be pleased to have another trophy to display when we win.'

Yugi stared at her for a moment, then giggled as she shuffled the cards into her deck. Then put it and her side deck into their respective holsters for later.

'Come on, let's try to sleep one last time.' Yugi called her twin as she stumbled slightly on her way back to the guest bed, 'We'll be useless in the morning if we don't.'

Meisa sensed the weight of pain and exhaustion laying heavily on her twin's mind, making her movements sluggish. She supported her sister until she had laid down, then retreated to the Puzzle to get some rest of her own.

As the quiet music from upstairs flowed from one song to the next, Yugi finally managed to drift into slumber.


"Here you go." Ishizu raised an eyebrow as Hirutani threw a fabric wrapped bundle at her feet. One that let out a pained and frightened noise as it collided with the floor. "One brat. Sealed and delivered. Where's my magic?"

"Patience." Ishizu held up a hand as she knelt down next to the bundle, "Once I have confirmed the receipt and you've helped me with one last thing, you'll have your Memento."

"What thing?"

She ignored his demand as she patted down the bundle, trying to work out what end was which. Once she had found the head of the person within, she untied enough of it to allow her to get a good look at the captive within.

Before she had even finished unwrapping the fabric, the shock of auburn hair revealed that he had grabbed the right person. Guilt pulsed through the Bearer of the Millennium Rod as further unravelling revealed a girl who was younger than Marik. Ishizu pursed her lips as terrified brown eyes stared at her over a cloth gag.

"Yes, this is the one." Ishizu nodded to herself as she drew her Item from her belt and showed it to the girl, "I will keep you safe but you will not run. You will not fight me. You will follow my directions, or you will not be allowed to keep your soul, do you understand me?"

The rapid nodding that followed reassured Ishizu that, for now at least, the girl would not do something stupid.

"What. Thing?" The brute demanded again, causing the Rod Bearer to roll her eyes.

"I simply require a photo of you two together to send out." She explained as she put the Rod away, finished untying the girl, removed the gag and helped the twelve-year-old to her feet. "So her brother knows to listen to me."

"I won't…" A sharp look from Ishizu was enough to cut off the child's attempt at defiance.

"Fine." The amused smirk that drew from the thug made the Item Holder want to send him back to the darkness, but she held back and took her phone from her pocket before shoving the girl towards him.

"What, not joining in?" Hirutani taunted as he pulled Shizuka close and wrapped a huge arm around her. "You that scared to get near me?"

"I'm not stupid." Ishizu's tone was droll as she snapped the photo she required. "The moment I get in range, you'll attempt to hurt me and I'll be forced to waste all the time I put into repairing your soul. Now, let her go and you can have your toy."

Hirtuani huffed but released his captive, who started for the door, only for Shadows to emerge from the floor and wrap themselves around her ankles, holding her still.

"Last chance, girl." Ishizu warned as she tossed a plastic, gold painted coin to the brute. "Break that and you'll have the power to break the witch, like she broke you."

The former gang leader flicked it between his fingers, able to feel the increased weight of the coin easily. The Shadows trapped within it reached for those holding him together as he tried to decide exactly what he was going to do with it.

A year ago, he had tried to force Jonouchi back into his gang by threatening his friends and the fallout had cost him everything. His gang, his territory and eventually his own life. It was Jonouchi and Yugi's faults. They had taken everything from him.

But he had one coin. So, he needed to pick one target.

Jonouchi was tempting. He had betrayed the gang in the first place.

However…

Back when Hirutani had tortured the witch in his headquarters for daring to stand up to him, Jonouchi had thrown himself into harm's way to rescue her. When Hirutani had then taunted him about ownership of her, Jonouchi had claimed the cow as his, even before the witch herself had decided she would bind herself to the former gang member.

The violence Jonouchi had been willing to unleash when Hirutani had forced a kiss on "his" girl was enough to tell the former gang leader one thing…

Breaking, or better yet, killing the witch would bring Jonouchi to his knees.

And that was what Hirutani wanted more than anything. He wanted to destroy the girl who had destroyed him and ruin the life of the boy who ruined him.

Which meant using this gift against Yugi.

"How does it work?"

"Snap the Memento and you'll have the power to Challenge her to one game." Ishizu watched him carefully, wary he would turn the power against her. "A game where you pick the consequences."

"And it'll negate her magic?"

"Activate it before she can weave her spells and it will be your game, your rules. Be warned though." Ishizu's words made him pause, midway to putting the coin in his pocket, "The game has to be fair. The magic will not abide by a cheat and you'll destroy yourself."

"Thanks for the warning." Hirutani snorted, certain he did not need to cheat to crush someone as weak as the witch, as long as she didn't have access to her magic.

"You're welcome." The Bearer of the Rod was certain he would cheat and had already written him off, "Hang around the Marine Museum and I'll send her your way so you're not fighting with tournament security."

He scowled, having planned to hunt her on his terms, but unable to deny he wasn't in the best fighting form.

"Fine. It'll give me time to plan." With that, he slammed the door on his way out.

The moment he was gone, Ishizu moved so she could stare Shizuka in the eyes. "You are only valuable to me as bait for your brother. Do not make me destroy you."

"I won't let you use me to hurt my brother." Shizuka tried to pull free, frightened and angry, only for the Shadows to swirl up around her legs and pin her further in place. When her legs would not move, fury pulsed through the twelve-year-old and she lashed out at her captor with a slap that would have caused Ishizu to stagger if she hadn't caught Shizuka's arm.

"Brave, child, but foolish." The Bearer of the Rod was impressed with Shizuka's audacity despite herself. She could not help but feel that, if she had been in the girl's position, she would have been just as irritated. That and she could not help but sympathise.

After all, everything she was doing was for her brothers.

"I'll tell you what." She decided with a smile, backing off. "I'll give you one chance. Play a game with me."

"Why?" Suspicion narrowed the girl's eyes.

"Because if you win, I'll leave your brother alone."

Surprised, Shizuka tilted her head, "And if I lose?"

"Your soul is mine."

Shizuka's breath hitched as fear hit hard. Then she swallowed and nodded, fully aware that there was nothing her brother would not do for her and that she should be willing to take the same risk for him.

"Bring it on."

As the room flooded with dark, swirling mist, Shizuka was uncertain she'd made the right choice.


It was another few hours before Yugi finally made it up to the flat. As she entered the kitchen, she found that Katsuya was attempting to make breakfast for all of them.

"Can you grab Rebecca? Food's nearly done."

"Sure." Yugi headed up to the room that was normally hers and paused outside the door when she could hear nothing within the room.

Knocking on the door caused a startled yelp, then a muffled, "Who is it?"

"Yugi. You okay?"

"Come in."

Yugi opened the door to find Rebecca was fishing under the bed for something that she had dropped. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Katsuya made us all breakfast."

"Th… Thank you." Rebecca stammered as she stretched to grasp what she had lost. "Ah ha!"

She pulled out her hand and Yugi got a glimpse of a pink compact before it was swiftly shoved into the girl's pocket. "I'll be down in a sec."

Yugi nodded and was about to shut the door, but paused when Rebecca sighed in relief, "Are you alright?"

"I'm… I'm fine." The girl did not look entirely fine. Her tone wavered as she picked up her Duel Disk, her shoulders slumped. "I'm just… I guess I'm nervous. This is the biggest tournament I've been in and knowing about the whole thing with Ishizu..."

"She's only after me. She'll avoid you, I'm sure of it." The Queen of Games offered with a reassuring smile, "And between you, me and Mai, we can totally make it an almost all female Semi-Final."

The amused smile that drew out of the near-teen helped Yugi relax.

"That would show everyone who says girls don't belong in competitive Duel Monsters."

A chuckle bounced down the bond from Yugi's darker self at Rebecca's statement. Meisa had heard someone grumbling about that at the school tournament, when another school had seen how many female Duelists were in the Domino Senshi. It was not an uncommon sentiment either.

It would be rather satisfying to have multiple female Duelists in the quarter-finals, if only to show some of those doubting a girl could get that far without cheating that they were wrong.

'So which guy would we allow to join us?' Meisa joked over the telepathic bond as they headed for the kitchen. 'Katsuya or Kaiba?'

'Hard choice.' Yugi let out a giggle as she took the stairs two at a time, 'We could always win Obelisk from Kaiba in the regular stages, take out Ishizu in the quarter finals and then actually get to enjoy the semis and finals.'

'I like that plan.'

The Queen of Games paused in the doorway as the smell of the food changed and she rushed into the kitchen to find the food burning and a very pale looking Katsuya who was talking on the phone.

"N…no. I haven't seen her." At his words, Yugi's stomach churned.

'Anesan? I think…'

"I thought you and Shizuka were coming in today." Katsuya's voice shook, "If you'd told me, I could have been there to pick her up."

At a gesture from Yugi, Katsuya put the phone on speaker, allowing her to hear Kawai's trembling half-sob, "I thought she had when she got on the train, but I haven't heard anything since."

At his words, Yugi fired off a text message to Honda, hoping that he had been in on the surprise. When his message came back negative, she took a deep breath, trying not to spiral into what ifs.

"We'll find her." Katsuya promised his mother, his expression darkening as all the worst-case scenarios flickered through his mind. "I promise."

"Please let me know if you do. I'll keep ringing her phone."

With that the call dropped and Katsuya turned to Yugi, too upset by the news to catch the slight tremble of her hands as she turned off the stove.

"Can you call Bakura?" He asked her without a preamble as Rebecca reached the kitchen, "Her Ring can track anything, right?"

Yugi nodded and pulled out her own device but paused when she saw she had several messages from Ishizu's phone number. Messages that had come in after she had gone back to bed. She would have ignored it in favour of calling Bakura, but since the alert for the first message revealed it to be "You'll want to see this", she did not dare.

She quickly tapped the notification, opening her text messages and froze, her skin turning as white as chalk and her soul trembling as she dropped the phone on the table. The ice-cold terror that flooded the bond caused Meisa to seize control, wanting to protect her sister where she had failed the night before, only to freeze in place at the sight she beheld.

A photo of a frightened Shizuka and the one man they had hoped never to see again. The one who had blackmailed Katsuya into re-joining his gang and tortured the Mutou twins for daring to try and protect a friend…

Hirutani.

'I…it's… He shouldn't be…' Yugi's voice trembled across the soul bond, 'He's supposed to be gone! You broke his mind! Bakura fed him to the Shadows!'

'I… I know…' Meisa's level tone was betrayed by the fear and anger burning away beneath the surface as her left hand rubbed her right wrist.

The skin beneath her hand was callous and marred with rope burn scars from their time as his 'guest'. The movement of her hand caused the fabric of her sleeve to shift so it was no longer hiding the other wrist that had marks to match. Meisa swallowed hard as the sight of the scarring caused what little vivid memories of their captivity they had to flash through their minds.

'A…Anesan… H…he has Shizuka… Wh…what do we…?'

Yugi did not get to finish her thought as a hand slammed down on the table next to her, startling both twins. Meisa's gaze snapped up from the phone to reveal Katsuya had seen what was on screen.

"Katsu?"

The look Katsuya shot Meisa was almost as venomous as Ishizu's snake and the Pharaoh recoiled as he snatched up the phone. He stared at it hard for a moment, like he was trying to memorise the image. Then scrolled through the messages. Before she could ask what he was doing, he copied a number into his own phone, threw hers back onto the table, where it bounced off onto the floor as he snatched up his Duel Disk and left without another word.

Meisa scooped it up, moved off the contact screen, which revealed that Katsuya had stolen Bakura's number from her phone, and scrolled back up to the first message under the photo. Reading it showed that Ishizu was making it quite clear who she would consider at fault if something happened.

'She is with me now, and he is off his leash. Follow my clues and leave your dog to wander and she will be safe. Do not make me tear those you care about apart.'

The Pharaoh glowered at the picture. The photo had been taken in a location she did not recognise. She suspected that Katsuya had not recognised it either, since he had taken Bakura's number from her phone.

She wanted to back him up but she was not at liberty to follow, not when the threat was this clear.

Dodge Ishizu's lessons or bring in help and Shizuka would get hurt.

If she let that happen, not only would she never forgive herself, but she would have Katsuya to worry about. He, understandably, would do anything for his little sister. If they did not do what she could to protect Shizuka, he would not forgive her.

Since Yugi's soul was only at risk if they failed to get to Hekigan, they had been thinking about trying to get some mundane duels in between 'lessons' to boost their Map Card supplies.

But now…

'So, we're agreed?' Yugi asked quietly as she retook control, her body trembling in time with her soul, 'While Katsuya's out looking for Shizuka, we'll run Ishizu's gauntlet without stopping?'

'We don't really have a choice.'

The next message revealed the first clue, which came in the form of a riddle, opened by a spider emoji.

'Location of Lesson One:' Meisa read, her voice echoing through Yugi's worried mind, 'There is a place we can go for a walk. The children play and we can talk. Find this place if you want a lark. The lesson you seek is in the…blank.'

Yugi fired off a text message to let Amane know she NEEDED to talk to her and quickly scraped the burned food into the bin. Her mental voice shook as she replied, 'There is a place we can go for a walk' could be anywhere. But the children playing part narrows it down. It's not going to be on the normally busy streets.'

'It clearly rhymes with lark, since the two sentences above rhyme with each other.' Meisa took spirit form and wrapped her arms around her twin in a hug, 'Don't let her get to you. That's what she wants.'

Yugi leaned back into the hug, unaware of Rebecca's slightly disconcerted look as she leaned on what looked like air. 'The lesson you seek is in the… mark, dark… park! She means the park.'

'So that's where we'll head once the tournament starts.' Meisa leaned her head on Yugi's shoulder. 'And we'll get through this together.'

'Right…' Yugi paused as the shuffling put a card that lightly jolted her at the top and she flipped it to reveal the Sky Dragon of Osiris. She closed her eyes and held it close to her chest, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

'Osiris, please hear me. I know you don't like me. I'm probably not worthy of you. I know I may not ever be.' She felt Meisa startle at her mental prayer. 'But right now, I'm asking you to please work with my twin. You were partners with her in the past and she can be an amazing partner again. We need your help to protect our friends and family. Please, I ask you to help her.'

A sharp gasp escaped at the gentle pulse of power that flooded through her, pushing away the last of the tiredness that had been haunting her from the night's disturbed sleep and easing the pain from the venom, allowing her to focus easier.

A sign that the Divine Beast had heard her.

'Thank you.' She gently tucked the still tingling card back into the deck, slipped the back into its holster and looked to Rebecca who looked confused by Katsuya's sudden departure.

"Please be careful? There's…" Yugi hesitated, not wanting to scare the child.

"Don't worry about me." The girl responded with a grin, "I'll just stick to the really busy areas."

"I'm sorry…"

"You didn't ask for this and Grandpa would be disappointed if I let all this stop me from being awesome." Rebecca shrugged, scooping up her teddy bear backpack. "But I'm going to head out before any more crazy happens. No offence, but I actually want to eat today."

That was fair and Yugi waved the other Duelist off before turning back to her phone, which vibrated, letting her know Amane already knew she was talking to Katsuya and would meet up with her when she could.

'We're not letting Shizuka get hurt.' Yugi decided as she pulled on one of the bracelets she used to cover the scarring around her wrists, then scooped the handset up and pulled on her satchel. Her mental strength partly returned as her determination to protect a friend mixed with her sister's and pushed back the emotional tide that threatened to swamp her. 'And I'm not going to die.'

'Right.' Meisa took control and pulled on the jacket, laying it over her shoulders and fastening it around her neck like a cape. Then she settled the Duel Disk in place on her left arm and headed for the door. 'Let's go.'


"So… yeah." Ba-Khu-Ra had never heard Jonouchi sound so frustrated, "I need your help and I'm willing to pay the price for it."

"It would be safer to ask Yugi." The Thief Queen reminded him as she examined the nails on the hand that was not holding the phone. She could not help but wonder what would have happened if the Tomb Keepers had not attacked the Ishtars while the girls had been at the nail parlour.

"I can't. If I'm seen with Yuge, Ishizu will hurt my Imoto."

Ba-Khu-Ra pursed her lips. Once again, the Pharaoh was getting someone else's family in trouble in exchange for power.

"You realise the price is going to be steep, due to the value of the item you want me to find?" She warned.

"Imoto is worth it. Where do you want to meet?"

"I'll join you in a minute. We're just grabbing what we need. Get somewhere with good shade."

The call cut off, leaving Ba-Khu-Ra feeling a little guilty.

'I hope you know what you're doing, Kura.' Amane's mental voice wavered.

'So do I, Sen.' She sighed as she activated the Ring, trying to locate Shizuka, only to get two directions. 'So do I.'