Meisa's mind raced as she considered the situation.
Hanaq had control of the theme park.
She'd stolen the souls of almost everyone on the island and could control the vessels left behind. There was no possible way for the Pharaoh to protect those she cared about from twenty thousand soulless zombies.
Or herself.
And she couldn't run. There was nowhere to run to. She had no way off of the island. No way to get her friends to safety…
She was trapped.
As she came to realise how hopeless the situation seemed and fear consumed her, Meisa's breath came in short, sharp pants, her heart pounded, her whole body shook and her eyes scrunched closed as she tried to think of something, anything, she could do to save herself and her friends.
But she couldn't think of anything.
She didn't have a choice. She had to surrender.
But if she did, and she let Hanaq kill her, the world would end.
There was no way to stop it though. She couldn't win.
She… she couldn't win…
It was over…
Pain exploded in her cheek as Mai's palm impacted with it, forcing the Pharaoh's head back and shocking her into opening her eyes.
"Mutou. Snap out of it." Mai snarled. "We have time to think, but if you let yourself panic, you're dead."
"But…"
"Yuge, come to the infirmary." Katsuya's voice on the other end of the phone, was firm and blazed with determination. "We can work it out. You're not going down here. No way, no how."
The confidence of her friends helped ease the Pharaoh's fear as they headed for the hospital, allowing her calm enough to sense the concern and care bubbling away in her twin's mind and the frustrated, bitter anger emanating from Ba-Khu-Ra.
'I can get you out of here, the same way I took us from the docks to the shop.' Ba-Khu-Ra's voice was quiet, 'But I'm not going without Sen. I won't leave her here.'
'We're not going without our friends, including Amane.' Imoto's words were firm, 'Also please text Mokuba. If the Kaibas are alive, they need help.'
Meisa didn't hesitate to follow the demand, her breathing evening out as she walked, relief trickling in when she had proof not everyone's souls were gone in the in the form of a brown haired, brown eyed young girl and her androgynous Duel Spirit, who she sent up to V.I.P. box one, to both keep an eye on the Domino Senshi, Yugi's Duel Team, and keep her away from the fighting.
That relief allowed her to think clearly.
There were options. Almost all her friends were safe. She wasn't alone to face this.
And there was an emergency retreat available.
But, as she stepped into the infirmary, she didn't want to take it.
'Anesan?'
"She's demanding I face her, which I'd have to have done eventually anyway." Meisa answered her twin's question out loud, for the benefit of her friends as they gathered around her. "I need Ra and the items she carries. And if I let her take her army to the mainland to hunt for me, the situation could only get worse."
"You can't be serious." Katsuya grabbed her shoulders and gave her a shake. "You're talking about walking to your death."
"I'm not planning to let her kill me, but…" She paused, counting heads, then darted for Marik's hospital room, where Rishid was unconscious, sprawled across Marik's bed, as if he'd tried to protect his brother from the Shadows.
'She even took their souls…' Ba-Khu-Ra's words made Meisa grit her teeth. 'Looks like she just doesn't care anymore. All that matters is getting at you.'
'It does seem that way.'
It didn't make sense though. Everything Hanaq had put them through, everything they had suffered, had been because of Hanaq's insane need to 'protect' her brothers. There was absolutely no reason for her to suddenly turn on them like this.
Stealing their souls? It wasn't giving them the freedom that they had fought for all this time. It wasn't letting them live their lives…
'Could Zorc have taken control of her, like he does Ba-Khu-Ra?' Yugi's question made Meisa rock back on her heels, 'Maybe she didn't have a choice.'
'If he's got that firm a hold on her, he'll use her to end you both. And she won't be able to stop him. You know that, right?'
Ba-Khu-Ra's hiss made the Pharaoh grimace, her hand going to her throat. She remembered all too well how easily the demon had overpowered her in the fire and how close she'd come to death.
The situation now wasn't that different.
She was fitter, uninjured, and had access to the greater majority of her magic, but she was trapped, her friends were in danger and running away would only enrage the creature and turn it loose on the mainland.
She had to face it here and now, but she knew she wouldn't be allowed a chance to defend herself, and she wasn't powerful enough to undo everything that'd been done without help, or without getting Hanaq to undo it.
If it was just Hanaq, she could probably bluff her into a duel, but with the demon riding her, she didn't know if it would work.
If she'd just kept the snake ring…
Both fortunately and unfortunately, her train of thoughts got derailed. The sounds of footsteps running towards them, and the rattle of a stretcher made her dash for the corridor. Once there she found a tear stained Mokuba leading a group of four in hurrying a stretcher with…
"Kaiba!" Meisa shot over to his side, her heart breaking when she struggled to recognise him for the burns. A mere glance told her he wasn't breathing, and a quick check revealed no soul and no pulse.
"Yugi!" Mokuba's eyes were wide, his gaze wild. "Please. Please!"
He didn't have to ask.
Yugi seized control, the Puzzle glowing brightly as she called up every drop of available magic and poured it into Kaiba's still, unmoving form, trying desperately to heal him, to bring him back.
Only to find that her resources were only a drop in the ocean. Even restored as she was, she only had enough to skim the surface of the grievous harm that Kaiba had taken.
Still, she tried, her friends joining her and Mokuba without hesitation, offering their life, their power, without want of reward or repayment. Meisa helped focus their energies, twisting them together like strands on a spindle to form one pulse of powerful magic that she could utilise to fuel something far beyond her strength and experience.
Slowly, far too slowly, the burns faded, the ashen, burned hair returned to normal, and the features became more human, more solid, until he looked like himself once more.
"Come back, Niisama…" Mokuba sobbed, "Please… please, you can't… can't leave me. You promised."
Mokuba's begging tore at Yugi's heart as she glanced at Isono, who nodded and started CPR on his boss, his charge, his child, without a second thought.
Yugi's entire frame shook, and her head pounded as if a God was using it as a drum as she reached, trying with everything she had to force Kaiba's vessel to sustain life without the Ba of a living soul to sustain it. Her twin's support was the only thing that kept her going, kept her from passing out as she battled with life and death.
As her grasp started to slip, her twin surged forward and swept into control, letting out a furious snarl as she continued to push, continued to fight.
Then it hit her. Continuing to try to brute force it wasn't going to work, but there was a spell in Duel Monsters for reviving the fallen. One she had in her deck.
Monster Reborn.
Game magic had worked before.
The White Mage's Revival spell that'd brought a deceased Amane back, during the Monster World Shadow Game over a year ago, was proof of that.
But Amane had only been able to come back from final death because part of her soul had remained on this side to call her back.
And Yugi's return from drowning at the docks had only come about because of the rules of the Shadow Game.
Kaiba didn't have either of those things, leaving the Pharaoh to pray the spell would work without them.
With her free hand, she fumbled through her cards and pulled the one she needed, spilling the rest over the floor as she channelled her power through it.
"Get back here, Kaiba. I order you to come back. This isn't where your journey ends. You don't get to leave before we duel again. This isn't where the Road of Battle ends. I refuse to accept it."
As she unleashed the spell, her ears rang with a chorus of roars. Ones launched from dragonic throats.
And beneath her palm, the Pharaoh felt a thump.
Then another.
Then another that evened out to a shaky pulse as Kaiba's heart started beating once more.
She'd reawakened his body. The next step was his soul.
But for that she still needed…
"Please, Niisama… please." Mokuba's tears tumbled down his face and onto Seto's cheeks, where they ran down and fell to lie on the stretcher, "Don't leave me. Please. I don't know what I'd do without you."
A flare of light within the form beneath her palm made her eyes widen as Kaiba took a breath.
A stuttering broken breath causing Isono to back off.
Then another.
Then another.
"N… Niisama?"
Storm blue eyes half opened, hazy, unfocused, and they caught Mokuba's. The CEO reached for his brother's hand, his movement sluggish and uncoordinated.
That didn't stop Mokuba from grasping it, "Niisama!"
"M…Mokie…"
"Niisama!" Mokuba latched onto his brother, his tears of despair turning to ones of relief as Seto weakly wrapped his arms around him. "Y… you're back."
"I promised I wouldn't… wouldn't leave…"
Understanding flooded through Meisa.
Mokuba was part of Kaiba's heart. He was a piece of the puzzle of Kaiba's soul. A part of Seto would always rest with Mokuba.
And Kaiba would always come when Mokuba called.
Seto's words to his brother were reassuring, but the look he gave the Pharaoh was a mix of grateful and irritated, and she nodded in return.
"Rest, Kaiba, you're far from fully healed. I have much work to do."
Unable to resist the pull of sleep, Seto's eyes closed again.
While he rested, the Pharaoh poured as much as she could into healing, into restoring her rival's mortal shell to a stable, usable state, working until she felt the borrowed energies stutter and, unwilling to endanger the lives of her friends, was forced to stop.
The moment the magic cut off, her legs gave out and her world greyed out.
As she fell, ice trickled down her spine, her breath caught in her throat reminding her horribly of the moments before she'd managed to get Yugi's own vessel breathing again, and a figure, garbed in the robes of a Priest of Anubis reached for her.
Then Amane caught her.
At the shock of her friend's touch, she managed to force a breath past her own lips and muted colour returned to the world. The figure faded away, it's gaze sharp and warning, as Amane helped her to a chair and her other friends took seats on the floor, ranged around her, needing to rest but unwilling to leave her side.
"You're an idiot." The former Ring Bearer scolded, watching the Pharaoh only remain upright because of the chair's back. "You can't even stay awake now! Yet alone defend yourself from Hanaq!"
"Had… had to…" The Pharaoh couldn't think straight, couldn't focus.
Logically, she knew Amane was right and what she had done was stupid and dangerous, but she hadn't stopped Imoto, because she hadn't been able to face Kaiba's demise any more than Yugi had.
"Thank you."
Mokuba's trembling voice drew her attention, and the eyes of her friends back to where Mokuba was clinging to his brother's living vessel.
"Thank you. Thank you. He would have won, but he… he gave his life to protect me and I... I couldn't lose him."
"How much damage did he take? How much did we all just fix?" Amane demanded, aware that Meisa was in no condition to fight now and that Mokuba's plea had possibly cost the world its survival.
"About ten thousand lifepoints." Mokuba looked confused, "Why?"
'Shit.'
Ba-Khu-Ra's thought matched Meisa's. An average person's life energy could be stretched to more, but by current parlance equalled about 4000 lifepoints. For her to recover not only almost three times that, but then heal the damage from the burns and everything else, including the damage caused by Kaiba's death…
No wonder they, their friends and Mokuba were utterly exhausted. Especially after how much life energy they'd all spent over the last forty-eight hours.
And still it wouldn't have worked, if Kaiba hadn't been fighting to come back.
That his first words, his first thought had been focused on Mokuba, told them that the fight had entirely been fought for Seto's little brother.
It'd been worth the energy loss, but was it worth the fact that there was now no possible way they could defend themselves against Hanaq?
Had saving Kaiba just cost them their own lives?
"Mei?" Jou's tired call drew her attention. "Can you draw enough from us for the game with Hanaq?"
"You lot can't stand," Amane huffed, her hands trembling badly as she tried to suppress her terror, unable to be calm in the face of being thrown back to into the flames. "I can barely stand, we don't have…"
'If we had Ra, there's a way we could get enough power.' Ba-Khu-Ra's voice echoed in Meisa's hazy mind, which was too tired to process her and Amane's nervous ranting.
The Pharaoh knew what she meant, but there was no way to obtain it. Nor any way to get back to Domino while this low on power.
Overwhelmed by the stress, Mokuba crumpled, his knees giving out as he sobbed out his emotions. Isono shot Meisa a grateful look and shot around the stretcher to the boy's side, pulling him in close as Mokuba clung to his side and bawled.
As he bent down to ensure he had the best grip on the child, a Duel Monsters card slipped from his pocket, falling to the floor, only for Mai, who was collecting Meisa's other, fallen cards, to pick it up too.
Her eyes widened as she revealed the Winged Dragon of Ra.
"How…?"
Realisation hit both her and Meisa at the same time. The only way Isono could have gotten the Winged Dragon, was if Hanaq had given it to him.
'But why?'
'I… I think I know.' Yugi breathed, 'She wants us to beat her. She wants to be stopped. To save her brothers.'
'Then why not just give up now?'
'She probably can't. If Zorc's twisted her as far as I think it has, she won't be able to stop it any more than Ba-Khu-Ra could stop him at a low moment. We're going to have to do it for her.'
The Pharaoh gazed at Kaiba. Before they had helped him, they could have, but now…
"As promised." Mai offered it and the rest of the cards, to Meisa, "Your winnings from our duel."
'My Pharaoh…' Ba-Khu-Ra's voice trembled.
The sheer respect in Ba-Khu-Ra's voice as Meisa took the offered treasures, made her listen.
'Pharaoh. If you can pull a couple of hundred points of energy from somewhere, I can get you and possibly one other to the museum and back through the Shadows. I have a Waypoint set there, there's enough time, and there's no way I can miss on the return journey with the darkness this potent. Especially if your friends are here to be your anchor.'
'Are you suggesting…?' The Pharaoh hesitated as flames surged through her form, suggesting Ra was just as infuriated about the current chain of events as she was.
'The power you have normally? It's nothing compared to your full strength, and with your full power, you'll be able to stop Hanaq. The game I was preparing to kick your ass with when you tried to get it isn't ready. So, I haven't booby-trapped the tablet yet. It's your best chance for survival.'
'But we'd have to…'
'Leave your friends here, yes, but you'd be coming back. I have to bring you back. I need you to recover the Ring so I can get the hell out of your head.'
Meisa was about as happy with that idea as her sister was and glanced around at those who'd given her so much over the course of this tournament. If they left to get their name, their friends would be in danger and she didn't want to lose them.
'Wouldn't this be rushing? Anubis told me that if we rush, we'll die.' Yugi asked, nervously trying to find a way not to abandon her friends.
'If you don't do it now, you die anyway. You can't protect them the way you are now.'
Ba-Khu-Ra's words made up Meisa's mind for her.
'He did also say at our own pace,' the Pharaoh reminded Yugi. 'This is our own pace. We're choosing this.'
Yugi wasn't happy about it, but couldn't see another way, so she stayed quiet.
'But.' Meisa turned her attention back to the Thief Queen, 'Ba-Khu-Ra, I need an oath from you. If you come with us, our name won't get back to Zorc through you and you won't attack us before we've dealt with Hanaq.'
'Right now, I'm a fragment of myself. Just getting us back and forth is going to knock me for six, but fine. I swear on my soul and on the Shadows that I will not willingly reveal your name, or its spelling, to the demon. In fact, I'll only interact with you during this journey and until I get returned to the Ring, in order to get you to and from the tablets, in an emergency, or to ask or answer questions. I do request the right to see your memories later though. Or at least get the truth from you.'
'I promise, once this is over, I will share everything I've learned with you, except what I need to keep the seal intact.'
'Fine. Can we go?'
"There's a chance I can still win this," Meisa breathed, causing her friends to turn their stares onto her. "But I need a little more from you all."
"Take it." Anzu staggered to her feet first, followed by Honda and Jou. "Whatever you need. If it'll help you survive this."
"I just need a little."
The Pharaoh felt guilty as they put their hands on hers and she drew equal amounts of power from each of them, until Ba-Khu-Ra was convinced it was just enough to get them to Domino. Hanaq's accusations of her being a leech felt accurate, and she hated it as she pulled away and they sank back to the floor.
"Try and refuel. Energy drinks, snacks, anything that can help you recover a little before I get back," she ordered, hoping that this last chance would work. "Katsuya, do you have the strength to come with me?"
As he started to force himself to his feet, Amane, understanding what she was going to try and not wanting Hanaq to use Katsuya to stop her, shook her head and pushed him back down.
Honda, understanding if not the whole plan, than at least what Amane was doing, latched onto him, holding him in place and preventing him from struggling.
"Guys?" The Pharaoh pressed, unsure what was going on.
"He's in no condition. Not after last night." Amane grimaced, thankful Katsuya seemed to have worked out what they were doing and wasn't fighting them on it. "Anzu or I would be better."
"I can't stand, it's got to be you." Anzu grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."
"Just stay safe." Meisa worried, not really wanting to go but needing this if she wanted to survive the next couple of hours and, more importantly, keep them safe.
"Don't worry about us. We'll be fine."
At Katsuya's words, Amane rose to her feet, understanding Meisa needed support for what she was about to try.
"You sure?" Meisa worried at her friends.
"There's no time to fight over this. Go."
The Pharaoh nodded. "Katsuya, Honda, Anzu…"
"We'll stay with Kaiba and Mokuba."
Amane knew that this was nothing less than a Hail Mary pass, and silently offered up a prayer to both the Christian God and her patron, Izanami, that it would work.
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
"What are you…?"
Ba-Khu-Ra reached for the darkness and Meisa grasped Amane's hand, so she was pulled along with them as Ba-Khu-Ra whisked them away, to one of the many art rooms of Domino Museum, where a Shadow-infused painting of one of the shrines in town hung.
"Are you sure about…?"
Meisa didn't wait for Amane's question to finish. Instead, she stumbled toward the one room she'd been actively ignoring, hoping that the festival going on in the city would have the room empty.
She wasn't entirely lucky on that front, but with the exhibit containing the Tablet of the Pharaoh's Memories now months old, it wasn't the biggest draw for the museum goers, giving them a chance to shut the doors behind them and turn to the tablets.
"Meisa? Are you sure about this?" Amane worried, catching up as Meisa fished out the God cards from her deck holster.
"No more than I am about anything else," the Pharaoh admitted as she stood before the tablet. "But I'm out of options, out of energy, and out of time."
"Then good luck?"
As Meisa raised the cards to the tablet, she felt like she was going to need it.
For a moment, nothing happened, making her wonder if the words upon Marik's back had been wrong, and her name and her powers were completely lost.
Then light erupted from the stone, turning it into a glowing beacon. Each of the Divine Beasts lit up in turn, in a gold, blue and red shimmer that swirled down and around the Pharaoh, who cried out in shock as it seemed like the floor fell out from under her and she fell down, down, down.
Yugi dove into her soul room and dove past an exhausted Ba-Khu-Ra, for the door to the Puzzle, able to sense her twin's panic and the power building on the other side, only to get caught in the burst of light and magic that exploded out of the door the moment she opened it, sending her flying back into her soul room and crashing to the floor.
As the light consumed the interior of the Puzzle, the corridor, and Yugi's soul room, Ba-Khu-Ra let out an absolutely delighted, if slightly demented, cackle.
And in the real world, Amane barely managed to catch Yugi before she could hit the floor.
In the back of Hanaq's mind, Zorc let out a furious snarl as even from the great distance between Domino and Hekigan, the vibrations that shook the seal and vibrated the connections between Millennium Items was great enough to let him know what the Pharaoh had done.
"She… she went and got her name…"
Shock, delight, relief and sheer joy flooded the soul bond from his host and echoed from behind the sealed door.
"W… we're free… we're finally free!"
'Shut! Up!'
The half roar, half shriek silenced Hanaq's words, but couldn't silence the emotions that still poured from her as he used her form to pace back and forth.
It wasn't possible. His host carried Ra, the Pharaoh needed that card to…
He seized control and ripped the cards from their deck pouch and skimmed through the deck, knowing what was missing before he could even confirm it with his own eyes.
Ra. Somehow, someway, the Pharaoh had snatched Ra from the deck upon his own belt and taking it all the way to Domino.
Some… how…
He swirled into the corridor between Ishizu's sealed soul room and the room of the one who had welcomed him into her soul. Within moments, he had her pinned to the wall, Shadows so tightly wrapped around her that any attempt to move was rewarded with a vicious shake that soon had broken the fight in her.
"You." He slid forward, his form made of darkness that swirled like flames and burned not with heat but with ice, leaving crystals in his wake. "You gave it to her. You betrayed me. After I saved your life. After I gave you everything!"
"And I'd do it again." The woman gloated, pleased that her gift had gotten to her Pharaoh and proud that the demon hadn't realised what she had done until it was too late to stop it. "You betrayed me. You betrayed my family."
"Their souls are free to wander the Shadows, just like all the others." He snapped, his darkness twisting and squeezing, causing the woman born of wrath to shriek. "Your family is free, like I promised."
"That… that isn't freedom." Hanaq panted out, trembling in agony and refusing to whimper for him, "That isn't what I've been fighting for. And I won't… won't let you keep their souls. Even if…"
"Even if it kills you?" The creature snarled, brushing its hand over Hanaq's throat, its cold leaving trails of scalded skin until Hanaq couldn't breathe without pain. "Even if I kill you?"
"You need me," Hanaq gasped as the ice seeped into her, reminding her of the ice created by the venom that'd so nearly ended her life. "Without me, you don't have a vessel anymore."
"What if I do to you, what you did to your sister?" He snarled, driving his icy tendrils into her soul, causing her to scream, "What if I take the fragments your ripped from your sister, for myself? Make your vessel, my vessel?"
"It wouldn't… wouldn't change anything… the Pharaoh's… going to kill me… for what I did… to her, to her consort, to her lover, her friend… to return the souls we stole… and for… revenge for those we killed… by taking… taking my place… you die instead."
Her form flickered and fuzzed as his ice spread through her, tearing her apart from within, but her eyes, her amber eyes sparkled with agony and vengeance.
"What happens to me… to the bitch next door? Doesn't matter… You've extinguished our reasons for living… and they can't come back… while you have us. So, we need… need to die… you, me and her… because we have no reason to live. With the power she'll get from her name? You're… you're done."
The creature froze at her words, then withdrew his Shadows, allowing her to slump to the floor.
"You betrayed me because I made you tear out the souls of your brothers and now you long for their freedom, even at the cost of your own life." The creature snorted, "You humans are so predictable. No matter what name I go by or how developed you lot claim to be, you're all essentially the same beasts."
Hanaq didn't reply, trying to pull herself together enough to focus and think of something, anything to weaken the beast further.
"You realise I know what you're thinking. You all think it when you get wise to the fact I just don't care about you. 'How can I screw him over?'. You can't. For the record, I've seen it all. I've been demons and gods across your world, Zorc, Apophis, Abaddon, Cronus, different cultures, different names, all the same thing, preying on the same weaknesses, the same emotions."
"Bastard…" She managed to force out, spitting at his feet.
"I suppose. I never did find out what I sprang from," he chuckled. "But it doesn't matter to me. I'm a being of discord and strife. Of darkness and disorder. I feed on the anger, the fear, the sorrow and pain of the human race. I can never truly be destroyed, any more than one can end those emotions. So, your little trick? Sending the Daughter of Ra to regain her power? It may slow me, it may even defeat me, but it won't bring an end to me. It can't. Not while the human race lives."
"You're a creature of darkness… A fragment of a Dark God that was ripped apart and sealed away. Darkness can be burned away. She'll do it, she'll come back, to her friends. To her court. And her light, her life, will end yours… and free my brothers."
"She does have friends, doesn't she?" His head tilted as he considered that. "Friends she must have left behind to make this mad rush through the Shadows."
Realising she'd made a mistake, Hanaq started to rise to her feet, only for the Shadows to seize her and fling her across the room before solidifying around her wrists into thick chains that shackled her to the wall.
"You're right. I do need you, for now." Zorc chuckled as Hanaq fought her chains, "So you get to live, despite your disrespect. Despite your treachery. For now. Until I have all seven items and can be whole once more. And when the Pharaoh returns? If I deign to duel her? You'll be the one to face her. After all, why risk myself when I have a willing sacrifice?"
With that, he swirled around and stalked out, slamming the soul room door shut behind him, before sweeping back out into the body.
The Pharaoh's return to Hekigan wouldn't be in triumph, if he could help it. She would return to her friends, expecting to be welcomed, to be celebrated.
He would not allow it.
He remembered Pharaoh Atem. He remembered her constant repelling of his Priestess. He remembered her unleashing the Divine Beasts of her Gods upon him again and again.
And he remembered the sheer agony of his Priestess's death and his soul being ripped apart and sealed within the Millennium Items, including the Millennium Pendant, which had shattered with the sheer weight of holding not only a fragment of his soul, but the half-soul of a Demi-Goddess who'd given everything to end his reign of terror and the power they both carried.
Becoming the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.
The same Puzzle that the Other Half of the Pharaoh's Soul had solved over a year and a half ago.
He wished that the part of him within the Ring had killed the Pharaoh Incarnate back then, so he wouldn't have to deal with this now, but they hadn't. Ba-Khu-Ra had failed him, and now he had to take matters into his own hands.
And he knew exactly where to start.
Vasillikos' head came up with a snarl as he felt the waves of magic unleashed by the Pharaoh's actions.
"Lord Dartz?" Vivian dared to ask, the stone in the ring on her finger glowing, protecting her from the Shadows that'd yanked out the souls of almost everyone else in the room, as were the stones of those who'd accompanied her.
"The Pharaoh just did something early," he admitted, his eyes glowing as he waved a hand and opened a scrying window, which revealed the unconscious Pharaoh, in the arms of the Thief's vessel, in front of the tablets of the Pharaoh's Lost Memories. "I thought I had another couple of weeks before she'd get the chance to do it."
"Did someone finally get the drop on you, boss?" Valon snickered as he stepped into the room, spinning the Millennium Necklace on his finger.
"You doubt me?" Dartz demanded, raising an eyebrow at his Reaper, who shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "Why do you think I had you seize one of the Items?"
When he held his hand out, Valon didn't hesitate to drop the Millennium Necklace and the card connected to Azra's soul, into his palm.
Relief hit Dartz when he curled his fingers around them.
Even if the Pharaoh had startled him with her choice to go for her name NOW, while Hekigan was overrun with Shadows and her enemy had complete control over so many souls, having a Millennium Item would prevent the Pharaoh from leaving.
He could still get her soul later. In fact, with her full powers unlocked, she would be an even better tribute for the Leviathan.
After all, it'd been thousands of years since it'd been fed its last divine meal.
"Master?" Rapheal asked, "Shouldn't we deal with Ishtar now? Before she can kill the Pharaoh?"
The temptation was there. Ishtar's soul was worth a combined total of twenty-something thousand souls right now. Mortal, mostly non-magical, souls, so each was barely a blip on the radar, but when combined with the tribute of the soul of an Item Holder, they could speed things up substantially.
But taking her out of action tipped their hand, took away their cover for the loss of the Necklace Bearer's soul and taught the Pharaoh and the Thief Queen there was someone stronger they needed to be wary of, besides…
"The demon's too fragmented to stand a chance against the Pharaoh once she has her name back." Dartz was unconcerned, "And our power overwhelms hers easily. Worst case scenario, we swoop in, negate Ishtar's magic, and steal both their souls at once, once they've weakened each other. In the mean time…"
Dartz closed his scrying window and opened a portal to the temple to the great serpent, allowing him to step through for a moment and place the Millennium Necklace on the alter, ready to deal with later.
"So, we're staying to watch then? Won't that get us questioned later?" Amelda asked him the moment he returned, surprised.
"The little Kaiba will be too distracted by the fact Critias died and came back to provide any information and Hermos proved he's no threat. Even with her powers unlocked, the Pharaoh's power is too young to stand against mine. There's nothing she can do against us, even she confronts us. However, if you want to leave, I won't stop you."
His Reapers hesitated for only a moment, before settling back down. Even Wong, his newest puppet, trusted him to keep her safe.
And he couldn't help but smirk at the clear sign of his control over them.
"Master?" Raphael asked before sitting, "Wouldn't it be better to deal with the Pharaoh now? Before she gets her full power returned?"
"Our power overwhelms hers. We can negate her precious items in an instant." Dartz reassured his most loyal minion, "She's no threat to us, even with her name returned."
Raphael wasn't so sure, but he'd followed Dartz this long and trusted the man who'd saved his life.
So he sat and, with the others, waited to see how the show would unfold.
Sinking back into his own seat, Dartz took a moment to slip the Necklace Bearer's soul card into an envelope upon which he wrote 'Pharaoh', fully planning to have it delivered by someone later, when he was ready to start that fight.
And he fully planned on starting that fight sooner rather than later.
Because, if the Pharaoh wanted to play at being a God once more, he would happily step up as her opponent.
Maybe then she would understand that even with her true strength restored, even after all this time, she didn't stand a chance.
And never had.
"She's taking too long."
Mai heard Katsuya's grumble, but didn't reply. Instead she took another bite out of the snack bar she'd pulled from her bag and glanced over at where Mokuba had fallen asleep, curled into his brother and Isono stood guard.
Honda, on the other hand, checked his watch and cuffed his friend upside the head.
"She only just left. There's still fourteen minutes on the clock." Honda reminded Jonouchi, worried himself but knowing that, at this point, there was nothing they could do but wait.
None of them wanted to think about what would happen if she was late. None of the were in any fit state to fight Hanaq or her men, if she came here when the deadline hit.
Anzu noticed Isono's hand tighten around the hilt of his gun and his unwavering gaze was locked on the entrance. In that moment, she realised that should the worst happen, Isono was willing to fight to protect them, possibly at the cost of his life.
Or rather, he was willing to fight to protect the Kaibas.
"We just have to wait," she spoke softly. "There's nothing more we can do now. We're lucky to even be awake after how much we gave Yugi."
"Can't you fight her? You've all been throwing magic around." Isono demanded of the group, who grimaced, but didn't have a chance to answer before the infirmary was flooded with guards, led by the one who'd taken so much from everyone.
"They can't do anything, because even if they stood a chance against me, which I've already proved she doesn't, I have the ability to take control of their minds before they could cast a spell. They'd work for me instead."
The creature's gloating made everyone turn and glare at them.
"Fuck off." Honda's snarl made the demon chuckle as he and Jou staggered to their feet and moved between Hanaq and everyone else, Mai reached for her deck, unsure what, exactly she could do here, Anzu moved between the Kaibas and Hanaq, and Isono drew his gun.
"Oh, that's rude." Hanaq chuckled, gesturing to her men who raised their guns as Mokuba, unfortunately, raised his head and peered around like a ruffled owl, awoken by the noise.
Anzu saw the glances Isono and Jou gave each other, the slight shifting of their stances as they realised they were not only outnumbered, but outgunned.
And that if they fought back, they were dead and so was everyone else in the room.
"If you want a hostage, I'll go." Anzu offered to the demon-possessed woman.
"Smart girl, but you're not enough. Not alone. Not for what I have planned."
"Then take me too," Jou tried.
"I'll have all of you. Or none of you." Was the answer, "I know what the Pharaoh's done, I know what I now face and I will not allow her your alliance."
"Then you'll have to kill us."
"No, killing you before I kill her is stupid. She was a war Goddess, a creature of Divine Light, but also a Creature of Divine Destruction. If I kill you all now, she will make her way here and burn me to ashes, but if I have you all, she will bow to me and I will break her before I end her life."
"I'm not leaving my brother." Mokuba shook his head, jumped down from the bed and raised his fists.
"You don't have a choice."
Hanaq pointed and her men started forward, guns raised and primed.
"Seize them, but don't harm the dancer, I have a deal with her mother."
Anzu's eyes widened momentarily, then she planted herself in front of Mokuba more firmly, determined to use herself as a shield to protect them as their foes approached.
It didn't entirely help…
Author Note:
The Pharaoh's Memories will be revealed in: Truth which will update once a week during May 2024. During that time, Battle of the Gods will go on pause, until June 1st after Truth is finished.
There is also more to this chapter, following Seto, and it can be found here: Side B - The Bishop
