A/N: This chapter was very hard to write, probably because of the lack of action in Domino City in comparison to the sorts of hijinks the main crew gets up to at Hogwarts. Thankfully, the next updates should not take as long moving forward. Apologies for the delay, and enjoy the great many mini-sections in this update!

(For a currency comparison later in the chapter, 100 Yen is roughly $0.88)

/Text/ Spirit to Host

/Text/ Host to Spirit

Chapter 32: Morsmordre

"All right," said Téa cheerily, "The sun is shining, it's not freezing out here, and we have the whole day ahead of us to explore Domino. Are you ready?"

"Absolutely!" Hermione waited on the sidewalk for Téa to lock their front door before allowing her guide to lead the way. "Are we going to meet up with the others?" asked Hermione. She tightened the scarf around her neck as Téa started down the street.

"Sure," Téa smiled. "But I'm sure Joey and Tristan are taking their newfound gamer friends to the arcade first. And you didn't seem like the type to enjoy spending half the day watching them try to beat a computer."

Hermione shook her head. "No, not really. So where are we going first?"

"Well, I thought we'd start downtown and branch out," said Téa, "There's a cute little café in the Arts District I thought we could visit. Duel Monsters has brought a lot of different people here recently, so there's a bit of a cultural melting pot in the center of town. It's pretty neat."

"You and Yugi are so close to a lot of things," said Hermione, as they rounded a corner, "You really walk everywhere?"

"Most of the time," Téa nodded. She pointed up the road. "Our school is there, though I gotta admit, it's crazy how much we've missed with all of Yugi's adventures and haven't gotten in serious trouble over it. I think Joey's been spreading his luck around or something."

They stopped in front of the gates. "So do you learn regular subjects at Hogwarts?" asked Téa, "Or is it all magic?"

"Regular subjects like math or science? No," said Hermione, "Spells and potions mostly. Although you could say Arithmancy is like math, or compare Potions to a chemistry class. I can't imagine what it would be like to take regular subjects again."

They started walking again. "Do you have a favorite?" Téa asked.

"It's a close tie between Arithmancy and Ancient Runes."

"Ancient Runes?" said Téa, "That sounds like Archaeology. What's Arithmancy?"

Hermione seemed giddy as they crossed the street. "It's about numerology, and the magical properties of numbers. It's such a fascinating subject!"

She turned to Téa. "What about you? What are your interests?"

"You mean besides supporting and keeping Yugi and Joey out of trouble?" Téa grinned. "I like the arts. It's my dream to become a professional dancer! If I can save up enough money, I might be able to go study in New York City!"

Hermione gasped. "I imagine schooling there is very competitive. You must be really good!"

Téa shrugged. "I'm not the best by any means, but I'm still going to send in the audition tape, just in case. It's not like I have anything to lose, right?"

"That's true," Hermione nodded. "Best of luck with the audition!"

Téa beamed. "Thanks!"

Hermione paused at the window of the third card shop they passed on their way to the main downtown. "These games are really popular here, aren't they?"

"Yeah," said Téa, "Yugi compared it to a sport he learned over there called Quidditch."

"I can see the resemblance in the hype," said Hermione, "Harry and Ron both play. I'm fine with watching. I was never well off on a broomstick."

"Hey, there's no shame with not being a gamer," said Téa, "That way they have someone to cheer them on from the sidelines!"

Hermione peered at the display again before they continued towards the square. "Do you duel?"

"I have a deck, sort of," said Téa, "It's really old, back from when Yugi first started to play. I've only used it once, and by now it's probably no good. There was another set that I used in a virtual environment that was much more put together, but it wasn't real, so I don't have a physical copy of it." She shrugged. "I've only dueled because I had to, but I'm hardly a duelist. I leave all that to Yugi and Joey."

Téa gestured around them. "Well, here we are. This is the Domino City Square!"

"It's a lot more open than I thought," said Hermione, "I sort of expected, I don't know…more buildings or something."

"Nope," said Téa, "It was revitalized…four years ago, I think? Maybe a year or so before Duel Monsters really took off. The city spruced up a lot of the downtown to make it more inviting. They made this whole block a pedestrian space, and the only vehicles allowed here now are food trucks." She glanced about. "Though I'm surprised there aren't any here today. There's a really good ramen truck I wanted to introduce you to."

"Maybe we'll find it somewhere else? Or do they all park here?"

Téa shook her head. "They vary, but there's usually at least one here. But that's okay. I'm sure Joey and Tristan are going to tour your friends across all of the food hangouts. Someone is bound to find it."

A shout, followed by a shimmer of light from across the square stole both of their attentions.

"Oh!" Hermione pointed towards the clock tower. "Those kids are dueling!"

"It's a popular place to meet up," said Téa. "Kaiba announced and started the Battle City Tournament from this spot. He pretty much turned the entire downtown into a dueling ground."

Hermione's eyes widened. "The whole downtown?"

Téa nodded. "Yeah. Even now, that tournament was one of the biggest events to ever happen here. It brought the best duelists from all over. You had to be a certain rank to enter, and at the time it was the only way to secure one of Kaiba's new duel disks."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "The only way to get one was to qualify for the tournament? That seems like it would keep a lot of people from getting one."

"You would think so…" Téa said, "But since they were an integral part of the tournament, I guess Kaiba didn't want just anyone roaming the city with one. But afterwards, they were officially released to the public. I don't think there's any card or game shop here in town that doesn't have them somewhere. Even Duke's store – which is mostly tabletop-based games – sells them."

"We saw a duel at Hogwarts, between Seto and Yugi," said Hermione. "I mean, I saw Ryou teach Harry and Ron not long after they arrived at Ron's house over the summer, but that was just the cards on the table." She watched one of the kids summon an armor-clad elf to his side. "It was something else to see the game played out with those holograms."

"Mhm," Téa agreed. "Yugi first started playing between classes in school. His initial match against Kaiba was the first time they ever played with the holographic technology."

"It must have been exciting to see. After all, it was that game that jump started everything that's happened between them, right?"

Téa's smiled faltered. "It was…but I wasn't there to see it…A lot happened that day."

There was something she clearly didn't want to say, so Hermione let the subject drop. Yugi's friends didn't have to blurt out that they weren't friends with the elder Kaiba. The small bouts of unease that they let out by being with him during the Christmas party, whether it was intentional or not, was telling enough. As was the short yet noisy fight he and Joey had gotten into while Harry and Ron were trying to race against each other.

They passed through the square, leaving the kids to their duel. "I'm surprised Yugi didn't want to join us – or is he helping with Joey's dueling tour?" asked Hermione.

Téa shrugged. "I asked Yugi if he wanted to, but he said he had something to take care of today. He'll meet up with us at dinner though. And Bakura wanted to build his new diorama. I'm not sure if we'll see him later, but definitely at Kaiba Land!"

Téa stopped suddenly, eyes drawn up at the sign to one of the shops on the street. "Oh – I think I found the perfect place for you to check out. It's just a quick detour before we hit the Arts District."

"Oh? What's that?"

Téa grinned and pointed up. "Vintage bookstore!"

Hermione was through the door before the words finished leaving Téa's mouth.

"It's so weird," said Joey to Tristan, looking around Ryou's apartment, as if he had stepped foot in it for the first time, "Look Trist', signs of life!"

Ryou rolled his eyes from his spot on the couch with a large sheet of graphing paper and number of pencils splayed out on the lap desk before him.

Harry stole a peek at what he was sketching. "What's that?"

Ryou looked up. "I'm trying to sketch out the new diorama I want to make, for my next Monster World campaign.…" He crumpled up the piece of paper he had been using and tossed it behind him, where it landed alongside four other balled up wads of paper that had missed the trashcan. "...But I can't seem to get an idea that will stick."

Ron wandered into the room, a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth as he slipped into his jacket and shoes. "Why not take a break and come with us? You've been on that couch all morning."

Ryou shook his head. "No, that's okay. Yugi going to join you guys?"

Tristan shrugged. "I don't know. Is he?"

Joey snorted. "Nah. He's ditched us."

Tristan's eyes widened. "You're kidding."

"Pssh, I wish," Joey huffed. "I thought he was comin' with us, but Gramps said he went out early this morning, and hadn't come back yet. So I guess we'll just have to show off all the great duelin' sights ourselves."

"Maybe he's with Hermione and…Téa, was it?" said Harry.

"Tried that," said Joey, "Téa hasn't seen Yug' today. She and Hermione are goin' to explore the Arts district or whatever. Boring, normal touristy stuff. Our day will be way more exciting."

"Why?" Ron asked, swallowing the last of his toast. "Where are we going?"

"You're gonna get the grand tour o' Domino in the only way that matters – Duelist style! This place was a battleground about a year ago! There are so many good memories here to share!"

Ron stopped at the door next to Harry and turned back. "You sure you don't want to come? You were in the tournament too, right?"

Ryou sighed. "My spirit entered the tournament, not me. I'm afraid I don't have anything of value to share. I was unconscious for almost the entire thing."

"Well, suit yourself," said Ron. "I'll see you later."

Ryou smiled and waved them off. "Bye!"

Once the group left, he glanced down at his recent sketch and scowled. That looks hideous.

Yami Bakura phased out of the Millennium Ring as another paper ball sailed past his head. "At this rate, you're not going to get anywhere."

Ryou pouted. "I don't know why this is so difficult. I remember creating the first campaign with ease!"

Bakura snorted. "Well. I remember it taking quite a time to build. Do you honestly think you're going to get all of this done before you go back to Hogwarts?"

Ryou shrugged. "I really didn't expect to finish it…but I'd like to get at least the ideas down. I can create the figures and the map itself once we're out of school. If I can just get the sketch down…some sort of theme, it'll be a lot easier."

He turned quizzically to the spirit. "What about you?"

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

Ryou gestured to his sketchbook. "Do you have any thoughts?"

"It is your project."

Ryou slowly turned back to the discarded sketch pile. "I could use some help…."

The spirit followed his gaze. "Well…I may have some ideas…."

Ryou's face lit up. "Really?"

Bakura tilted his head. "Maybe one or two."

Ryou grabbed a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. "Well, I could use anything. I'm all ears."

With his focus on the paper, he didn't see the twisted grin form on the spirit's face.

.

.

"…And this is where I fought Espa Roba, the ESP duelist!" said Joey, "I won Jinzo from him in my first match in Battle City!"

"Is that your favorite monster?" asked Ron, "Like Yugi has his Dark Magician?"

"Nah, I mean, Jinzo's part of my main lineup, but my card? That's my Red Eyes Black Dragon!" Joey reached into his pocket for his cards and shuffled through them to find his dragon card. "See? Pretty awesome, huh?"

"Looks angry," said Harry.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't wanna be on the receiving end of his 'Inferno Fire Blast' either," said Joey. "But I didn't have faithful Red Eyes during Battle City. I lost it in a duel against some Rare Hunters, but Yug' won it back. He held onto it until after the tournament had ended."

Ron looked around the town. "You dueled in the middle of the street?"

"Yep," said Joey proudly, "Kaiba had half the city shut down for his tournament. We could've been challenged anywhere at any time!"

Tristan nodded, a sly grin on his face. "Like that time you looked so relieved that Kaiba ditched your challenge to go off and find an Egyptian God card!"

Joey glared at him. "Well, I would've won!"

"Uh huh. Sure."

"You beat him later on though, didn't you?" asked Ron.

"Who, Kaiba?" said Joey, "I wish. We had to duke it out for the third place spot. I thought I had it in the bag, 'cuz he had just come out o' his loss against Yugi and was stupid bitter, but he beat me. Again."

They started walking again, back towards the square. "Did you duel Yugi in the tournament?" asked Harry.

"No," said Joey, "But I did afterwards, to get my Red Eyes back. I told Yug' I didn't want him to win my battles for me. When I got Red Eyes back, it was because I earned it."

"JOEY WHEELER!" a voice called from across the square. "What a surprise to catch you here this fine day!"

Joey turned. "Hey it's Mako Tsunami!" He jogged across the way to greet him. "How's it hangin', Mako?"

"I am well – and you?" said Mako, "I see you have some new friends."

"Yeah, these are Yug's new pals that he met abroad," said Joey, "We're showing them around town. Mako, this is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Group, Mako Tsunami the Ocean Duelist! We met him back in Duelist Kingdom, and the two of us battled it out right here at the Aquarium for my entry key to the Battle City finals!"

"And a fine match it was indeed," said Mako, "I hope you're taking good care of my Legendary Fisherman!"

"The best," said Joey, "That card has gotten me out of a number of jams."

Harry blinked. "You two dueled in an aquarium?"

"Amidst some of the most beautiful creatures of the sea - there was no better place!"

"Say, speaking o' the sea, Mako," said Joey, "I thought that you were gonna get yourself a fishing boat and go sailing the last I saw you."

"I still plan to," said Mako, "But boats are quite expensive. By this time next year, my work at the Aquarium should grant me enough for a small vessel!"

"That's great, Mako," said Tristan.

"It is indeed, my friend," said Mako, and then he turned to Harry and Ron. "So, how do you like Domino City?"

"It's pretty big," said Harry, "I love it."

"You should come by the Aquarium sometime," said Mako, "My aquatic friends are a sight to behold! And speaking of – my break is over. I will catch you all again soon!"

Joey waved. "See ya around, Mako!"

"You said you got a card from Mako? Is that a thing when you win in tournaments?" asked Ron.

"It was during Kaiba's tournament," said Tristan, "The loser of each duel had to give us his rarest card."

"That could ruin you early on though," said Harry. "Was that why you lost your Red Eyes?"

"Yeah," said Joey. "Thankfully, that was sort of before the tournament began, so I didn't lose my locator cards too."

"So how far did you place in the tournament?" asked Ron, as he and Harry were led down a side road, towards the water front.

"Fourth," said Joey, with a slight trace of bitterness to his voice. "If Marik hadn't sabotaged the duel with his freaky Shadow Game, I would've won – and made second place behind Yug'."

"So he cheated?" said Harry, "And got away with it?"

"Them Millennium Items do freaky things," said Joey, "That duel wore me out, and if I had the strength to call my last attack, I wouldn't have had to wage war on Kaiba for third place."

"Yeah, well, you still have a ways to go before you can take on Kaiba," Tristan smirked.

Joey rounded on his best friend. "Way to be my support, pal."

Tristan clapped him on the shoulder. "Anytime!"

"Where are we now?" asked Harry, looking around, "Docks?"

Tristan tilted his head. "Why'd you bring us all the way out here?"

Joey paused. "I…I dunno. I guess we just sort of wandered this way." He looked grimly up at a broken section of the pier. "Yug' and I dueled here once, during the tournament."

Harry's eyes widened. "Really? Who won?"

Ron snorted. "Yugi, obviously, since he's never been defeated."

Joey and Tristan exchanged awkward looks. "Hey, don't be too sure about that," said Tristan. "Yugi is good – really good – but he's not perfect by any means."

"Wait – he lost?" asked Ron, and his eyes bugged out as wide as Harry's.

Joey shook his head. "Not something I wanna get into here…but yeah. This duel? Marik had me brainwashed with the Millennium Rod to try and take out Yug' to steal his Millennium Puzzle and God Card. Technically, I won, but it was practically through cheating, so Yug' and I pretty much call that duel an unfair draw."

Harry's brow furrowed. "You said the Millennium Rod? Like…the one…"

"Yeah," said Joey darkly, "The same one Yug' for some reason gave to Kaiba." He scowled. "But I don't really wanna get into that either. I'm sure you heard the beginnin' of that fight on Christmas."

Ron pulled a face. "Mate, I think the whole house heard that."

Joey crossed his arms, turned away from the pier, and stalked back towards the alley between the warehouses. "Well, me and my pal Yugi still ought to have a few words about that. The last thing we need is Kaiba to have somethin' to hold over Yugi's head."

"You really think he would do something like that?" asked Harry.

Joey eyed him suspiciously. "Uh. Yeah. Don't you? You just spent the last few months stuck with the jerk!"

Harry exchanged a weird look with Ron and shrugged. "I…don't know. He kept to himself mostly."

Ron muttered something under his breath that Harry barely caught bits and pieces of, and he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Not that again….

"Huh. Wonder what that school did to him," said Tristan.

"Yeah…I dunno. But if he wasn't houndin' Yugi for a duel left and right for his God Cards or Yug's dueling title, then clearly we're thinking of two different people."

.

Yugi nearly ran face-first into the front doors of the café in his haste to get inside. He could tell the employee by the door had seen the entire spectacle and was trying very hard not to laugh as he swung the door open and shuffled inside, this time at a much slower pace.

"Having a little trouble?"

"Sorry," Yugi rushed out, his face red from hurrying cross town, and from his own embarrassment. "I was running late."

The employee nodded his head towards the back. "Yeah. Looks like you're the only one left. Your grandpa ordered for you, too."

"Oh, thanks."

"Yug'!" Joey waved energetically as Yugi turned the corner into the back room of the café. Several small tables were pushed together in the middle of the room for their group, and Yugi took the empty seat between Joey and Téa, glad to see that however late he was, at least their food hadn't arrived to the tablet yet. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Sorry, I got caught up with something," said Yugi. He looked up and down the table. Someone was missing. "Bakura didn't come?"

Téa shook her head. "We phoned his apartment, but he said he got an idea for his new campaign and didn't want to lose focus."

"Oh…alright then." He turned to Harry. "How was your tour across Domino today?"

"Fun," said Harry, "Joey and Tristan showed us all the arcades and dueling spots around town."

"Not only that, we ate our way around too," said Joey, and he clapped Ron on the shoulder. "I can't believe you've never had ramen before."

Ron shrugged. "I hadn't! But it was good!"

"Was that from Yoko's Ramen Truck?" asked Téa, "We were looking for it by the square but didn't see it."

"Yeah," Tristan nodded. "It was down by the waterfront."

"Did you duel all across the city too?" Harry asked Yugi, "Joey showed us where he earned his spot into the finals. Was there any place crazy you found yourself?"

Yugi thought back. "Well…I specifically dueled Marik's Rare Hunters," said Yugi, "And they usually tried to get me cornered somewhere. The first one was in the middle of the street, but that was just about once the tournament began. I also had a match by the waterfront, in the basement of some weird building…" He glanced at Joey and Téa briefly. "…And another on the roof of a skyscraper."

"Win any good cards?" asked Ron.

Yugi shook his head. "Aside from Slifer the Sky Dragon – one of the three God Cards – I didn't take anything but my opponents' locator cards."

"Come to think of it," said Tristan. "I don't think you took any cards except the three Egyptian God Cards."

Yugi nodded. "I think you're right. The only other duelist would have been Bakura, but he was hurt, and I wasn't about to take anything from him. It was clear he didn't enter the tournament under his own will."

Téa leaned forward. "Well, while you guys gave the dueling tour, we had a nice walk around downtown, and I had to practically drag Hermione out of the antique bookstore we found."

Hermione turned red. "Well, you were the one who pointed it out in the first place, so it's your fault, not mine."

Téa laughed. "Yeah, I know. I just feel sorry for the guy who's going to have to lug those books all the way home."

"I suppose I can send them through the regular post," Hermione mused, "I mean, it's not like I'll be going through them right away, and I won't need them at school. My parents can keep hold of them for now."

"How many books did you buy?" asked Harry.

Hermione bit her lip. "A fair few…."

"That might be a bit pricey to send," said Grandpa, "I remember mailing books and artifacts around during my archaeologist days. Shipping costs have only gone up."

"Maybe Tonks or Professor Lupin can take them back with them or something," said Hermione, "It'll be too heavy to send by owl." She shook her head. "It's no big deal. I'll worry about it later."

"Sounds like you all had fun," said Yugi.

"Yeah, well, would've been better if you were there," said Joey, "I know Gramps said you went to see Ishizu, but all day?"

Yugi leaned back in his seat as their dinner arrived. "It's…kind of a long story."

"We got time."

Yugi sighed. "I did see Ishizu this morning, but I spent the rest of the day at Kaiba Corp."

Joey's face scrunched up as if he had swallowed something incredibly inedible. "You're tellin' us…that you gave up a day of hangin' out with your best friends…for Kaiba."

"This got anything to do with the Millennium Rod?" asked Tristan.

Yugi nodded. "…Sort of?"

"That's not a real answer Yug'."

Yugi cringed. "I did say it's a long story."

Joey gestured around at the table. "Not like we're in a hurry. So start from the beginning, pal, and don't leave anything out."

From the other end of the table, Harry butted in during the middle of Yugi's tale. "Wait – you're saying that Shadow person, the one that's been going after Seto Kaiba in the night at school, attacked someone here?"

"Ishizu and her family held a lot of information about the Pharaoh and Millennium Items for generations," said Yugi. "Thankfully she recovered alright. But there's a lot information we don't know. Why it's targeting certain people, what it's looking for…they're all mysteries. So…we tried to trap it."

"Trap it?" said Grandpa. "How do you trap a shadow?"

"Ishizu proposed that if we were able to catch it in the act, we might be able to find out exactly what it wanted," said Yugi. "It was the only thing we could think of."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "So you used her to draw it out?"

Yugi shook his head, and pulled a face. "Not quite. We used Kaiba." Upon seeing his friends' baffled faces, and the look of horror on Hermione's, he clarified. "The Shadow only seems to attack Kaiba while he's asleep, so after seeing Ishizu at the museum, we went back to Kaiba Corp. He drank a sleeping potion, and the Pharaoh used the Puzzle to visit Kaiba's mind before the Shadow would get there, so we could stop it before the attack started."

Yugi paused. "That's why I was late getting in. I had to wait for him to wake back up."

"Yugi that sounded very dangerous," said Hermione worriedly, "You know how hurt he was the last time the Shadow attacked him."

"I know," Yugi sighed heavily, "But it was the only plan we had."

"So?" said Joey. "What happened?"

"Yeah," said Téa, "Is Kaiba alright?"

"Oh, he's fine." Yugi shrugged. "The Shadow? It didn't show up."

"You're kidding," said Harry, shoulders slumping, "After all that, nothing happened?"

"Nope. I mean, I guess there was always the chance the Shadow wouldn't come; it's not like it arrived each and every night up to now, but I really just spent the day hanging around in Kaiba's office while he slept."

"How long has it been since the last attack?" asked Grandpa.

"It's been a while, at least a month, I think," said Yugi. "It's odd how quiet things have been since then. In the beginning of the year, there were times that Kaiba was hit a few times a week."

"Maybe the Shadow got what it needed?" Téa suggested, "And it doesn't need to come back?"

Yugi poked at his food. "I don't know. We can only hope. But at the same time, we don't know what that thing would be. So it's still a guessing game."

"There's another possibility…" Ron said grimly, "Maybe the Shadow is just biding its time."

.

Several days later…

"Why did we have to meet here?" asked Ryou. He stood off to the side of the walkway in front of the Kaiba Corp building.

"Mokuba told us to," said Yugi. "We're just waiting on the girls now."

Joey looked up. "They gonna let me in? We all know I'm probably number 1 on Kaiba's 'Don't let inside' list."

Tristan raised his eyebrows. "You? Geez, Joey, I can't imagine what you did to get on Kaiba's bad side."

"Very funny, Tristan."

Yugi shook his head. "Seriously though, guys, I'm sure it'll be fine. I mean, right after I gave Kaiba the Millennium Rod, I thought he was going to drop kick me off the roof or something. That didn't happen, so I think you'll be okay."

"Besides," said Harry, "Aren't we here on his brother's invitation anyway?"

"True that, buddy," Joey clapped Harry's shoulder. "Mokuba will stick up for us!"

As if on cue, the younger Kaiba stepped out of the main entrance and skipped over to them. "Hey guys! You're a bit early…"

"We're still waiting on Hermione and Téa," said Yugi.

"Say, kid, couldn't we have met you at the park or something?" asked Joey, "Why'd you have us gather here?"

"Kaiba Land isn't open yet," Mokuba explained, "Today and tomorrow are friends and family days for the staff before the grand opening coming up, but we're going to take the employee entrance in, not the regular one."

"So friends and family – what's that mean, discounted stuff?" asked Joey.

"For most everyone, yes. For you guys? Free."

Joey's eyes bugged out of his head. "How'd you swing that one?"

"I mean technically, you guys get a traditional friends discount too," Mokuba explained, "It's just that your passes are linked to my company account. So long as you don't buy everything…" he looked plainly at Joey, "Or eat everything in sight, your bills are covered."

"Hey guys!" Téa called, as she and Hermione hurried up the plaza steps to the front of the Kaiba Corp building. "Sorry we're late."

"No problem, we haven't left yet," said Yugi.

Hermione looked around at the group. "Is Seto joining us?"

Mokuba shook his head. "No. He has meetings almost all day, but he booked dinner for everyone at the hotel restaurant, so I assume he's gonna meet up with us later. But he made the reservation sort of late in the day, so I imagine it's to gauge the firework show afterwards and give feedback before park opening."

"This is going to be so much fun," said Téa, "And it'll be a nice sendoff since you have to travel back to the UK tomorrow."

Yugi nodded as they followed Mokuba back into the lobby and was surprised that the younger Kaiba led them past the elevators and down a hall he had never been through before. "Where are we going, Mokuba?"

"The car is out this way," he said. "Fuguta was supposed to grab the passes on the way down."

To his surprise, however, it wasn't Fuguta waiting by the limousine, but Roland.

"I thought you were upstairs with Seto," said Mokuba. "You're not going to be at the board meeting this afternoon?"

"I was asked to trade duties with Fuguta today. It appears he has a prior engagement early this afternoon." Roland opened the back seat doors and gestured them inside. "An odd and very last-minute request."

"Huh. I guess you got off lucky," Mokuba snickered and turned to his friends. "Board meetings suck."

"They sound dull," said Joey. "I almost feel bad for your brother."

At Tristan and Téa's funny looks sent in his direction, he said, "Almost, I said! Geezus."

"Are we all going to fit in there?" asked Ron, "I mean, your friend Duke picked us up from that airport, but there were less of us then."

"Miss Tonks was by and enlarged the seating in the car," Roland explained. "Everyone should fit comfortably."

"Say, I was wondering," said Yugi, "If the park wasn't open yet, what sort of events were going on over the last couple of days?"

"Oh," said Mokuba, "We open up the park for free for kids in orphanages during Christmastime. There aren't as many children's homes here in Japan as the States, so we sort of scheduled a bunch of days for the kids once the park was just about done. In America, we did a lottery system for the states around where we built Kaiba Land."

"That's really sweet of you guys," said Téa, "You probably made those kids' day."

Mokuba nodded. "It was a dream we had before Seto and I were adopted. I'm really glad it became something we were finally able to do."

It turned out that the Japanese Kaiba Land was built similar to the one they had visited in the United States.

"These are your passes," said Roland, passing what appeared to be plastic cards to the group. "They are used like credit cards for any food or product you wish to buy."

Ryou turned his over in his hands. It really did look like a regular payment card, but instead of a name, it simply said "VIP guest" on the front. "How much is loaded onto the cards?"

Roland raised an eyebrow. "More than any of you will likely spend in one day."

"You sure?" Téa elbowed Joey teasingly in the arm. "Because we all know how this one eats."

Joey scowled.

"So…" said Mokuba, to Harry, Ron and Hermione, "These guys have already been to the one in America. But this is your first visit! What would you like to do first?"

Ron looked about. Nothing from the rides to games or anywhere else looked to be crowded at all. A few families were wandering about, but everything looked completely open. "I don't know. What is there to do?"

Tristan snickered. "What isn't there?"

"You like Quidditch right?" said Mokuba, "That's a fast game?"

"Yeah."

"Afraid of heights?"

Ron shook his head.

"Cool." Mokuba grabbed his arm and led him down one of the paths. "We're gonna hop on a coaster. Anyone coming?"

"Roller coaster?" Hermione cringed. Memories of riding on Buckbeak came to mind. "No thanks."

Téa swung an arm around her shoulder. "We'll explore. Anyone else not want to need a barf bag before noon?"

"Me," said Ryou, and he moved to stand beside Téa. "I'm afraid speed and heights are not my thing."

/Wimp./

"How about we meet in front of the castle in two hours?" Tristan suggested. "That way we get all the fast and crazy stuff out of the way and then we can all move on together."

"I like that plan," said Harry.

"Awesome!" Mokuba made a sweeping bow. "This way, the Sky Dragon Coaster awaits!"

Joey perked up. "Wait, it's not a Blue Eyes?"

Mokuba shook his head. "Nope. The Blue Eyes White Dragon is somewhere else in the park. It's one of the differences between here and America."

"Where is it?" asked Harry.

Mokuba grinned slyly. "You'll have to find it!"

"You're telling me that your brother only stuck one of his dragons here in the park?" Joey said skeptically, "That doesn't sound like him at all."

"Well no, there are technically three," said Mokuba, "Two are names of attractions of some kind, and the third is somewhere else. It's just that the coaster isn't one of them."

Unlike the Blue Eyes Coaster in the American version of Kaiba Land, this ride was clearly designed after Slifer the Sky Dragon. The seating car was long, and shaped after its namesake. Yugi and Mokuba took seats up front, with Harry and Ron in the middle, and Joey and Tristan right behind them. A few other visitors took up some of the empty seating towards the back of the car as the ride attendant moved down the line and lowered the safety bars.

"What's this for?" asked Ron, "And why won't it lift back up?"

Mokuba twisted around. "Believe me; you'll be happy it's there in about ten seconds."

Ron craned his neck to look back at Joey. "What's he talking about?"

Tristan snickered. "You'll see – face front, dude."

The car started forward, leaving the boarding terminal and starting up on a rather large incline.

"You can see the whole park from up here!" said Harry.

Ron looked down as the car continued to climb. "How high up are we?"

"High," said Harry.

Ron rolled his eyes as they started to descend again. "I figured that, but I – AHHHHH!"

Down the hill. Through a loop, into a tunnel. The car sped around the track, following the curves, tilting its occupants to the side and upside down. It rounded three more turns, and one more upside down twist before returning to the platform.

"That was a lot faster than I thought it was going to be," said Ron, "I feel like we just got on!"

"Hey man, you okay?" said Joey, as soon as they were off the ride. "You're lookin' a little green."

"I'm fine," said Tristan, though he didn't quite look it. "I wasn't expecting it to go that fast."

"It is zippier than the one in America," Mokuba admitted, "But it's also a little smaller too. How'd you two fare?"

In complete contrast, Harry and Ron were wide-eyed and beaming from ear to ear. "That. Was. Amazing!" said Ron. "I felt like I was zooming around on a broom…only I wasn't."

"Yeah," Harry nodded, "I remember doing some of those moves while trying to dodge a bludger during my second year."

Mokuba blinked. "What's a bludger?"

"It's a ball that flies around trying to knock people off their broomsticks," Yugi explained. "During the next term, we'll have to record a match for you to see."

"So…" said Ron, "Anyone want to hop on that again?"

"Not me," said Tristan. "I think I'm going to stay on the ground for this go."

"Heck yeah!" Joey gave Ron a high five. "Let's do it, buddy!"

.

"Is everything here related to Duel Monsters?" asked Hermione as they passed by a gift shop.

"Pretty sure it is," said Téa, "Though Mokuba's also into that Capsule Monster game, so I imagine there might be some things for that around here too."

The path they were traveling around the park passed by a few carnival-style stand games. "Oh, this looks fun," said Ryou, wandering over to one of the stalls.

The employee behind the counter gestured behind him. "Hello! Care to try your luck? Pop as many Kuriboh balloons as you can and win a prize!"

"Oh sure, why not," said Téa, and she held up her pass. "How much to play?"

"Well, normally, this is based on game tokens you'd buy at the beginning of the park," said the attendant. "But since you guys have VIP passes, I can just swipe those. If I remember, it comes out roughly to be 100 Yen for a play of four darts."

"Okay," said Téa, handing over her pass. "What do I get if I win?"

"Depends on how many balloons you hit," said the attendant. "You get four tries. One hit gets you these small plush critters. Going four for four lets you pick between a level four prize, or you can move on to double or nothing. You'd get four more darts, but you have to hit all four again to win the large monsters. Otherwise you walk empty handed."

"I think I'll be lucky to get one," Téa laughed. "Let's do it!"

"Alrighty," said the attendant, and he moved out of the way. "Give it your best shot!"

"They're just balloons," said Téa, "This shouldn't be too hard."

Her first shot bounced right off and onto the floor of the game stand.

"You were saying?" said Hermione.

Téa sighed.

"Here," said the attendant, and he passed her an extra dart. "Call that one a practice toss."

"Oh, thanks!" Téa angled her arm back, and tried again. Of the next four shots, she managed to pop two.

"Not bad!" the attendant smiled. "You've earned a level two prize! Anything on this wall here."

"Okay…." Téa mulled the choices over. Most of the Duel Monsters in that bracket were ones she had never seen before, but there was one that stuck out. It was a smaller prize in comparison to the others, but she knew that was the one. "I'll take the Shining Friendship keyring."

"Alrighty," said the attendant, and he took it off the wall and handed it over. "Anyone else want to go?"

"I'll try," said Ryou. He had barely taken a step forward when he felt the familiar sensation of being pushed back to his soul room. /Spirit, what are you doing?/

/Look here, if you're not going to do something exhilarating today, at least let me have some fun with this./

/At least let me have a turn before you shove me out!/

Bakura paused. /Fine. Make your turn, and then let me show you how we played these petty dart games back in Egypt./

Ryou ended up doing about as well as he expected to – none popped.

"Bummer," said the attendant. "Better luck next time."

Téa barely caught the quickest glint of gold from under Ryou's jacket as he stepped back up to the booth. "Let me try again." She couldn't tell if his hair had fluffed out like when the evil spirit was in control, but his voice sounded a bit off, as if the Dark Bakura was trying to pretend to be Ryou.

The attendant nodded and swiped the card again. "Alrighty. Four more shots."

Bakura centered himself and launched the first dart, popping a balloon in the middle of the row.

"Hey, there you go!" the attendant clapped. "But can you get the other three?"

The corner of Bakura's lip curled upwards, and three more balloons perished.

"Very good, that earlier set must have been just warm up," said the attendant, "And now the question remains, do you want to keep your current prize tier, or try for double or nothing?" He gestured to the large plush prizes along the side wall. "If you manage to get four more pops, you get one of those."

Bakura eyed the prizes, unimpressed. Nothing really appealed to him, but this wasn't about getting some knickknack that will end up on a shelf for the next six months.

"You can just settle for what you've already won," said Hermione. "You don't have to play again."

Bakura shook his head and held his hand out. "Oh no – I plan on popping all of them."

And he did.

Ryou blinked as Bakura retreated back into his soul room moments after landing the last throw.

"Alright, young man, job well done! You can pick any of these prizes!"

Apparently grand prizes at this booth were giant plush Duel Monsters.

"Oh, I'm not sure…," said Ryou, "I'm not into plush all that much." He looked around at his options. "I'll take the Magician Owl."

The owl, its wings spread wide, and with a gold and purple wizard hat flopped on its head, was actually much larger in his arms than it looked hanging on the wall of the booth.

Téa snickered. "They weren't kidding about huge prizes for getting a perfect run. That thing is enormous! What are you going to do with that?"

Ryou's face turned pink and he held it out to Hermione. "For you!"

Hermione's eyes widened. "Me? But you won it!"

Ryou smiled. "Consider it your first Duel Monster. And it looks all wizardly with its hat and little cloak!"

"It's adorable," said Hermione. She took it from its outstretched arms. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome!"

Téa reached over and gave one of the wings a little squeeze. "It's super soft too. You could practically use that as a pillow."

Hermione looked at it thoughtfully. "I think I might."

"You know," said Téa, as they started walking again, "I'm surprised there isn't more Blue Eyes merch around. This is Kaiba's park after all."

"He's been away though," said Ryou, "Maybe someone else was put in charge of picking the things to sell."

Téa shrugged. "Probably. I'm more surprised that we found some of Joey's monsters hiding around here."

"Well, despite his feelings towards him, Joey's become a fine duelist. After placing second in Duelist Kingdom and fourth at Battle City, I wouldn't be surprised if he starts getting a following too," said Ryou.

Téa laughed. "Can you imagine him in the spotlight like that? Now that's something I have to see!"

Hermione peered around. "Hey, duck around this corner for a second."

Téa frowned. "Why?"

"Is something wrong?" asked Ryou.

"No," Hermione turned pink. "It's…I want to be able pocket the owl, and I don't want to risk anyone seeing me do magic."

"Are you allowed to? We're not at Hogwarts," said Ryou worriedly, "Won't you get into trouble?"

Hermione shook her head and pulled her wand from her jacket pocket. "No. I turned seventeen in September, so I can't be traced for underage magic."

She tapped her wand against the plush owl and whispered, "Diminuendo."

With the owl shrunken down to a much more portable size, she pocketed both it and her wand, and looked eagerly to her two friends. "So, where to next?"

.

.

"So what kind of food does this place have?" said Joey, taking a seat in the private dining area of the hotel restaurant.

"I can't believe you are hungry again," said Harry, "I mean – I know you're the resident food freak, but you just stopped at three snack bars not two hours ago."

"Didn't say I was hungry," said Joey defensively, "But I really was wondering."

"What he means is that he's not visibly starving," Tristan clarified, a sneaky grin on his face, "But he's always hungry."

"Despite its namesake, The Mystik Wok has a mix of everything to offer," said Mokuba. "There's some international flair too, if you're feeling a bit daring for something new."

"Can't wait," said Tristan. He turned to Téa, Hermione, and Ryou, "You'll never guess what happened while we were split up."

"What?" asked Téa, "Someone get sick on a roller coaster?"

"Nah," said Ron, grinning, "Harry got dunked."

"What do you mean, he got dunked?" said Hermione.

Harry laughed and scratched at the back of his head. "You know…a dunk tank. We sort of drew straws for the guinea pig, and I was it."

"It was set up like roulette," said Tristan. "Harry here sat on the chair above the water tank, and there were four Magical Hats underneath the chair. Only one of them triggered the drop though, and there was only one shot to get it."

"Well, technically there were three shots, but we took turns at it," said Yugi.

"So who dropped you into the water?" asked Téa.

Yugi laughed. "I did!"

"I'm glad they gave me clothes to change into, else I'd have been wandering the park soggy for the rest of the day," said Harry, though he didn't sound too upset had that been the case.

A quiet buzz sounded at the table, and Yugi reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Oh," he said, smiling, "Grandpa is wondering if we're having fun."

"The best of fun!" said Harry excitedly, "I can't remember the last time I was out of the house – any house – for recreation like this!"

Ron frowned. "There was the Quidditch World Cup…."

Harry shook his head, "Yeah…but then the Death Eaters terrorized the place right after. I mean stress-free from start to finish!"

"Well," Yugi said, "Gramps can't wait to hear about it when we get back to the Game Shop."

Tristan nudged Ryou's arm. "Aren't you glad you left your artistic hermit cave to hang out with us today?"

Ryou nodded. "Oh yes. I didn't get a whole lot done on my next campaign, but at least I have an idea and a few sketches to start working off when I'm home next."

"Oh, what theme is it?" asked Yugi. "Can you share?"

"It's a secret." The grin on Ryou's was one he would have expected to see on the Spirit's face, and for a brief second, Yugi wasn't sure which Bakura had answered him.

Hermione's eyes caught the clock hanging on the wall over the doorway. "Say…that time is accurate, isn't it?"

Mokuba looked over. "Uh huh…." He reached into his pocket and checked the time against his phone. "It is."

Hermione pointed to the empty seat between her and Harry. "Shouldn't Seto be joining us?"

"Soon," said Mokuba, "We're here early, so he has a little bit of time still. I'll bet anything he got super-engrossed in whatever he's working on. I'll send a text to remind him." He tapped away at his screen, and then frowned. "…That…that's not right."

Joey leaned around Ron. "What's up, Mokuba?"

"…My phone…it's telling me our network is down." Mokuba turned to Yugi, puzzled. "Did your texts go through to your grandfather?"

Yugi blinked. "I'm pretty sure they did." He reached for his phone. "Mine did. But now it's showing that the connection is down."

"Maybe an issue with the cell carrier," suggested Tristan. "My parents are always losing their data connections."

"But this doesn't run through a cell tower," said Mokuba, "The signal comes via our satellites. That's how, aside from the magic and everything at school, you got a consistent signal over the summer."

"Maybe calls still work?" said Téa. "It's worth a shot, right?"

"Doesn't hurt, I guess." Mokuba tapped away at the phone again, placed the call on speaker, and listened for the dial tone that never came.

"Weird."

"Is there an archaic landline phone you can use?" said Joey, "You know, the old corded stuff that Gramps probably has in his shop."

"If we do, it's probably somewhere in the back." Mokuba got up, "I don't know if it's set up for calls outside the park, but we might be able to get a hold of Roland in the security office."

"Alrighty," Joey got up and stretched. "I guess we're taking a field trip before dinner! Anyone else want to follow?"

"We all might as well go," said Yugi. "Kaiba was supposed to join us for dinner anyway, so we'd have to wait anyhow."

They had barely made it three steps out of the private dining room before the lights in the restaurant cut out.

"Okay, this is getting freaky."

Ryou looked around nervously as dim emergency lights kicked in. "I have a bad feeling…."

"Maybe it's a reasonable explanation," said Téa, "Like…I don't know, a fuse blew, or a squirrel chewed on a power line."

"Yeah, well, even if that were the case, there's no explanation for our communications network to go down," said Mokuba. "Let's try to find out what's going on."

It seemed the entire hotel, not just the restaurant was in the middle of a blackout. Thankfully, the restaurant was only on the second floor and only one flight of steps needed to be traveled to get outside.

Hermione gasped. "It's not just the hotel – the entire park is out!"

"No…" Mokuba shook his head and pointed off in the distance. "We're on the eastern edge of the park. If we looked straight north from here, we would be able to see the edge of Domino City."

"Let me guess," said Tristan, "And by extension, Kaiba Corp."

"Uh huh…."

"I don't see anything," said Harry.

"That's what I'm worried about," said Yugi, "What would cause the power in an entire city to go down?"

"Bloody hell…I can think of something, or someone," said Ron, pointing towards the castle.

The tall structure looked completely eerie in the dark without the usual lights to illuminate it after sunset, and the statue of the third Blue Eyes that sat perched like a guardian along one of the upper towers was outlined in green, the light coming from the glowing skull hovering directly above it.

.

A/N: 'Magician Owl' is not a real card. I was googling for images of YuGiOh cards that would look cute as plush monsters, and it appeared in the search, probably as someone's custom design. Still, it was super adorable!