Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Fourth God ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )

The Fourth "God"

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"Digital Pets have the ability to mate, too! …You can share your pets' personality data with each other!..."

"Awright, Yugi! Let's you and me mate right away!"

"Okay!"

~ Yugi and Jonouchi, Duel 21: Digital Pet Duel

Chapter Eleven

The first thing to hit him was the noise: the sheer volume of other voices drowning out his very essence. Whispers and screams raining down on him with no end. Talk of rape mixing with worries over grocery lists and whether now was a good time to invest in a certain stock swirled around him, through him, in a whirlwind of sound that made his mind throb with pain. It hurt so much that he added his own voice to it, begging for a release from it all. A pleading scream that ripped from his throat. A supplication spoken in the voice of one used to being obeyed. A whimper from a dog kicked too many times. All this and more was held within two small words:

SHUT UP!

Everything stopped; he found Heaven in the silence. Bliss he had never known was possible in being alone. When trapped in the puzzle, the lack of everything had been torture. Now it was a welcome friend.

Moments passed, perhaps an eternity, before he opened his eyes.

He was in the wrong room. Clothes were everywhere: long-sleeved shirts and jeans lay in piles. He sat in one. All dark colors that absorbed the light. And so many gloves. The only true color in the room was the gloves. Bright reds and neon greens mingled with the shirts and pants; elbow length and driver's style. There was no door to leave by and the walls were of his own making. He was half tempted to get rid of them again, but the threat of the voices made him weary of such action. The voices had hurt and he knew somehow, that he would need all his strength to leave this place.

:::::

Ororo stopped the simulation as soon as Rogue screamed. Kurt was barely able to catch the girls' body as she slumped to the floor next to a fallen Yugi.

Storm picked herself up and ran over to the three, "What happened?"

Kurt shook his head, "I do not know. One minute she's fine and the next, she's screaming. Did you see what happened to Yugi?"

"No, I was busy being pummeled with rubber balls. Yami, do you know what happened?" Ororo asked as she glanced around, looking for the twin. "Yami? Now is not the time to stay hidden. Come out this instant."

Kurt looked around the room, wondering if the boy had been knocked out as well. But neither of the two could see him. The fuzzy one shifted his sister to get a better grip, "Yami? Your brother is hurt… Yami?"

Ororo glanced down at her charge and noticed something she hadn't before. Rogue was missing a glove.

She focused her mind, Charles? I think something very bad has happened.

:::::

Katherine Pryde sat at her desk, watched closely by the students around her. Perky, peppy Kitty sat rigid, unmoving, concentrating very hard on the challenge given to her. She would not let the pencil fall. She would keep it balanced perfectly on the bridge of her nose until the teacher returned to end lunch.

Why had she accepted the challenge? Because there was nothing better to do. Jonouchi had returned to school the day before and for a while had been crowing about getting to see the groups' mutual friend: Yugi Motou. Hiroto, Anzu and Ryu paid close attention the first couple times Jou told them about the visit. By the third time, the news had gotten old.

But that was yesterday. Today, both Ryu and Anzu had called in sick. Anzu had called Kitty that morning to apologize for not walking to school with her. Ryu had called Hiroto and told him not to worry about picking him up for a few days because he had come down with a fever.

Honda had been more worried about Bakura's evil twin and Ryu reminded his friend that his body was the spirit's body as well. They would both be better off if Ryu got over his cold quickly.

So, with the two rational members of the group gone for the day, the classroom was now being led by the clowns. Jonouchi and Hiroto were all right by themselves, but together they could come up with some very weird ideas. Kitty was a mutant. She was used to weird. These things were outrageous even to her.

But since she had nothing better to do, she agreed to balance a pencil on the bridge her nose for the entire lunch period. If she succeeded, Katsuya, Honda and Bakura would be her slaves for a week. If she failed, she had to do the three boys' homework for a week. Jou had thrown Ryu into the mix because he knew the boy would go along with it. Bakura was spineless like that.

Kitty was not about to fail.

The rules stated that she had to keep it there for the entire lunch hour and no one was allowed to interfere. If someone bumped her, the deal was void. It had been forty-five minutes already. Kitty was starting to sweat. She only had five minutes left to go.

The entire class was now sitting around her, watching her. Most of them glanced at the clock every minute or two. They had stopped talking to each other almost ten minutes ago. Ten minutes was a very long time.

She couldn't move for another four minutes.

Three minutes…

Two.

One.

Fifty seconds.

"Hey Jou, I think she's going to make it."

Forty.

"She could still lose it, Honda. So shut up, will ya?"

Thirty

"Jou…"

Twenty.

"Shut up!"

Ten

"I don't want to be a slave."

Five.

"Shut-"

Three.

"-up."

One.

"I WIN!" Kitty jumped from her seat in victory, the other students clapping and cheering. Honda was glaring at Jou, who had his head in his hands.

The dark haired boy shoved his friend, "Thanks a lot!"

Katsuya bristled and got to his feet, "What's that supposed ta mean?"

"Just what it sounds like, idiot! Now we have to do whatever she says! For a week!"

"That part was your idea!"

"So? You're the one who came up with the entire thing to begin with!"

"Ya didn't have ta go through wit it! Ya gonna do something about it?"

Hiroto smirked and crossed his arms, "I don't have to. Bakura will take care of you when he finds out you included him in this thing."

That stopped Jou. He froze in mid-comeback as he realized his friend was right. If Bakura got upset over it, there was a high chance that his evil half might get even more upset and that would just be bad. The evil Bakura wasn't nice to begin with.

Kitty ignored their plight and pulled her hairbrush out of her bag, "First thing you have to do is brush my hair. And gently, too. I prefer long, even strokes done with just enough pressure to touch the scalp, but not enough to cause pain." She handed the brush to Katsuya, "You will start and after a little while, I'll have you switch with Honda. I think that's fair, don't you?"

:::::

"You made them shut up," she accused, a little sad that she had chosen to break the silence. "Only the Professor has ever made them shut up before. But I didn't touch him. No one I touch can stop their own voice. They don't even notice the others. Or me, for that matter. But you noticed them."

He turned around, startled at the other presence. It took some searching, but he was able to locate the owner of the voice. She was huddled up next to a pile of clothes not that far from him. What he had mistaken for a large concentration of discarded gloves, was actually her clothes. Hand coverings of various sizes were sewn together to hide her body from view.

Her head had been down before, so he had missed the distinctive white streak that was her bangs. But now her green eyes held him and there was no mistaking that face.

"Rogue?"

"How'd you get here anyway? And what's with that get-up?" her voice was still accusing, but curious.

He titled his head in thought, "I… do not know. Yugi passed out and I went to help him. Then somehow I was here. And the voices…" He cringed at the thought of those voices.

"So you're Yami? Not Yugi? I touched him. But I can't hear him in here." She looked at him, more curious than cautious now. "You get used ta the voices, after a while," She replied, eyes never leaving him. "I didn't touch you. I touched Yugi to try and use his shields until he woke up. But I didn't touch you." She sat up a little more, loosening the knot she had made herself into. "So how did ya'll get here?"

"Where is here?"

"Mah mind."

He went rigid with sudden understanding. No wonder the voices had invaded him so thoroughly. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't come intentionally…"

Rogue gave him a mirthless smile, "Most don't… But that doesn't explain why you're here. I touch someone and a part of them comes here. Their most recent memories, their personalities, their powers… They all come here when I touch them. I didn't touch you. I know 'cause I'm not reliving your memories. I'm not hearing your thoughts. I know the Professor said you were something of a psychic, but from my understanding, that only extends to talking with your brother." The girl leaned back and looked at the wall behind her, noting the hieroglyphics marking its surface, "I think maybe you are a psychic. Only really strong ones can make walls in other peoples minds. I know 'cause that's what Xavier always says and my memories from Jean tell me its true."

Yami came near her, but stopped when she started to back away, hitting his wall. The symbols etched on it started to glow a low gold color; not really adding light to the room, just letting themselves be known.

He sat down instead of approaching further, "I have some psychic abilities, yes. But I did not bring myself to this place. You brought me here."

"How?"

"When you touched Yugi." The spirit looked away from her, not wanting to meet her eyes. He didn't want to elaborate, but if she pried he was honor bound to tell her. It was her mind, after all.

"Oh… Do you know what 'heba.w-kekui' mean?"

"Shadow Games," Yami replied without thinking. A heartbeat later it dawned on him that she had spoken Egyptian. "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged and made herself more comfortable against the wall, "It's something that just started floating about in here. There are more joining it that sound really similar. But I don't know the language. Can't you hear them?"

He shook his head, "No, I cannot. Will you tell me what they say? Maybe I can translate them for you."

"Sounds good ta me, " Rogue stretched her legs, "The next loudest one is 'baui-fi'"

"His double soul."

" 'Shadow Games' and 'Double Soul'… Wonder what that means? Next is…"

"Who is saying these things? Sorry to interrupt, but whose voice is saying this?"

Rogue concentrated for a moment, "A lot of people. It's like I'm hearing a lot of people chanting and these are the only things I can understand… and there are these pictures starting to come, too. A bunch of guys dressed in robes you'd see watching The Mummy or some History Channel documentary on Egypt."

"What's the next thing they say?"

"It's 'auset f em khennu kekiu… au-f netri emma aqeru'"

"'His seat is within the darkness. He is divine among the perfect ones'… A prayer perhaps?"

"Is it Egyptian? Like the pictures suggest?"

"Yes. But I don't understand why this would be chanted by a group. It sounds more like a poem, a song, than a morning prayer…"

"How do you know so much about it?"

It was Yami's turn to shrug, "Yugi and I study ancient histories at school. We're going to be archeologists like Grandpa. He once worked in Egypt, uncovering the secrets of the pyramid. We've learned a lot from him…" He didn't lie, all of that was true. He had a feeling she would know if he lied. He simply refrained from telling Rogue the exact reason.

"I guess that explains your get up."

"What do you mean?"

Rogue snorted and pointed at Yami, "The clothes you're wearing. They're the same as the kind the people wore back then."

Yami looked down at himself for the first time and realized Rogue was right. He was wearing Egyptian finery. Confused he looked back at the X-Man, "Why am I wearing this?"

"Beats me. Most people appear wearing the clothes that are the most familiar to them. I don't think I've ever seen you wear that, though."

"I cannot remember ever wearing this," he replied, sadness permeating his voice. He knew from others that he had once been a Pharaoh. But he could not find the memories within himself to confirm or deny the fact. All his memories were locked away. Not wanting to think about it, he changed the subject back to the voices Rogue had heard, "Is there any more to that? The voices?"

"Quite a bit before it starts repeating. Want to hear it?"

"Please. This is very interesting."

Rogue shifted against the wall and crossed her arms, "All right. The last part is longer. A lot longer. 'sethes-thu aha… uab-k… uab ka-k uab ba-k uab sekhem-k… i-nek mut-k i-nek Nut senem urt s-uab-s thu, senem-s thu khu as ku-k… ha uab-t uab ka-k uab sekhem-k am khu uab ba-k am neteru… set uta set khui maki er saa heh… aha aha-nef her-a… Atemu Suten-nu-heba'" Rouge took a deep breath, "I hope you can remember all that, it's quite a mouthful. Know what they're saying?"

Yami nodded his head, "I can remember it. That last bit translates to: Rise up thou, stand up. Pure art thou, pure is thy double, pure is thy soul, pure is thy power. Cometh to thee thy mother, Nut, the fashioner great, she purifieth thee, she fashioneth thee, protecting when thou movest. Pure art thou, pure is thy double, pure is thy power among the spirits, pure is thy soul among the gods. They are safe, they are protected, guarded until eternity. He hath fought for it. Atemu, King of Games…"

The visions struck him as the last of the words rolled from his mouth. Memories long forgotten, locked away in the labyrinth of the puzzle flooded his mind. The words he had spoken breaking the last barriers to them. Images of servants scurrying off to do his bidding, pictures of stone tablets carved in the images of monsters and spells uttered without effort submerged him, breaking his focus. The onslaught caused Yami to scream once more. The walls created to stop the ocean of voices collapsed in that instant, letting the waves of memories cascade upon the two souls.

Rogue curled herself up again, hating the return of the noise that Yami could no longer hear. His own past was roaring in his ears and muting the sound of Rogue's mind, washing away all that was her to make room for all that he had been.

The Pharaoh had remembered his name.

:::::

For the rest of the day, Katherine enjoyed having her two slaves pamper her. After they brushed her hair to her satisfaction, she had one give her a shoulder rub while the other fanned her with a makeshift fan. This lasted until the main class broke up for specialization courses. Right before she left for Programming, she told her two slaves to have the limo ready to take them all over to Ryu's place so the boys could explain the situation personally. When the final bell rang, Katsuya was waiting outside, limo ready to ferry the American anywhere she wanted. Apparently she wouldn't have to worry about the boys going back on their word.

Kitty only planned on making them keep their word until the end of the next day. She wasn't cruel enough to make them serve her for an entire week, just a couple days. But she wasn't planning on making Ryu endure the torture of it, either. Jou and Honda were the ones to make the bet, so they would be the ones to suffer. She just wanted them to tell Ryu about it and watch them get chewed out by the sick boy. It was sure to be a great show.

Katsuya opened the door for her so she could climb in. Hiroto was already inside. The second boy climbed in after her and told his driver to head for Ryu's.

"So how long are you gonna make us do this?" Jou asked, grabbing a soda from the cooler hidden in the armrest.

Kitty titled her head to one side, acting like she was thinking really hard, "Oh… I don't know… Maybe the week we agreed on? I know you'd make me keep my word about doing homework for that long if I had lost…" She cut herself off with a laugh at the stricken look on Jou's face. Hiroto just shook his head and muttered something that sounded like: 'I told you so.'

It didn't take long for them to get to Ryu's. The walk from the school was relatively short and the drive even shorter. The three piled out and Jou told the driver to drive around the block for about a half hour and then come back to pick them up. Honda approached the door first and gave it a quick knock, then waited. A few seconds later he gave another double knock right before he pulled out his keys and went to unlock the door.

"Ryu gave me an extra key just for days like today. I do the knock first so he'll know who it is if he's not able to come to the door right away. With him being sick, I expect he'll be in bed," Hiroto explained as they walked in. Kitty had never been inside Ryu's house before and was amazed at how clean it was. Not at all like it had been lived in. The floor was polished hardwood leading to walls painted a creamy off-white. What she could see of the living room made her think of the houses that had been turned into museums. Everything was shined and dusted and in it's place.

At least the first couple rooms looked that way. The back hall was another matter all together. Pieces of porcelain from former vases littered the floor near one wall. Paintings hung precariously on hooks, wanting to fall at any moment. The rug was bunched near one end, as if someone had slid on it.

Honda was the first to react, calling his friends' name and running up the stairs. A clear path of destruction led the way to a room at the far end of the walkway. Said room looked as though it had been gone through by a pack of looters. The bed was off its frame: the mattress near the door and the box spring leaning against a drawer-less dresser. Clothes were thrown everywhere but where they belonged. Books once housed on oak shelves, now lounged on the floor around the bed frame. A curio cabinet on the right wall stood where it was supposed to, but it's doors now hung half destroyed; glass shards littered the floor at its base. The three ignored the dangers, searching in vain for their friend, hoping that he was still there somewhere.

When it was obvious, painfully so, that Ryu wasn't in the room, they split up to search the house. Honda took the remaining two rooms upstairs while Kitty took the main floor and Jou took the basement. Not long after, Kitty's panicked cries filtered through the house and brought the two boys running to the downstairs bathroom.

The door had been locked when Kitty first tried to open it. After jiggling the handle and pushing on the door had gotten her nowhere, she just walked through the door. It didn't particularly matter if whoever was on the other side saw her. When she cleared the barricade that held the door shut she called for Hiroto and Jonouchi.

Huddled in the tub, eyes swollen from tears previously shed, sat a white-haired boy who looked like Bakura. His hair was ragged and un-brushed and there was a wild look to his eyes.

Honda knew at once that it wasn't his friend: Ryu would have called out to him earlier, "Watch out. That's not Bakura…"

Kitty touched his arm, trying to get his attention, "Are… Are you okay?"

The tomb-robber's eyes slowly focused on the girl.

Kitty tried again, "Khaibit, right? Are you okay? Can you tell us what happened?"

The spirits eyes lowered and focused on his right hand, which was clenched around something. His mouth worked and an inaudible whisper came out.

"What? What did you say?" Kitty leaned in closer, "I couldn't hear you. Could you repeat it?"

Khaibit looked at her again, despair radiating from him, "You were right. He does hate me."

:::::

The priest rose from his kneeling position and approached his Pharaoh, fully intent on giving the child a good ear chewing. Atemu stopped him in his tracks by taking off his crown and holding it out to the man.

"If you think you can make better decisions when it comes to situations such as these, Seto… Then by all means, take my crown. Rule. I'd rather lead the simple life."

:::::

One phone call and a Limo ride later found Khaibit huddled up on a couch in Malik's apartment with the blond boy acting very out of character by trying to comfort his friend. The Egyptian had the spirit pulled against him in a hug as he ran his hand through the distinctive white hair, "He doesn't hate you, Khaibit. He can't hate you."

The voice that answered was almost as dead as the spirit, "The why can't I get in? How else could he block me so? And why else would he attack me like that?"

"I don't know, but I know he doesn't hate you," Malik sighed. The blond turned his attention back to Kitty, Hiroto and Jou. "How long has he been like this?"

Kitty looked at her feet, "Since we found him. He hasn't told us anymore than what you just heard."

Hiroto twiddled his thumbs, obviously nervous. In all the time he had known of the spirit, he had never seen the tomb raider act like this and it was scaring him. Khaibit had always been cocky and sadistic. Right now he just looked pathetic. Clearing his throat, Honda voiced a question, "You said Bakura attacked you? When was that?"

The spirit winced and hid his head against Malik. Hearing the others speak the name of his host hurt. Everything hurt. He had always been secure in the knowledge that no matter what he did, Ryu would not hate him. Ryu could not hate. He had been secure in the knowledge that Ryu would always give him another chance no matter how many he blew. Ryu would always forgive him and let him back in.

And then Bakura turned on him: threw the lamp, upturned the bed and finally pushed him down the stairs. And when the spirit had barricaded himself in the bathroom, actually afraid for the first time in what seemed an eternity, Bakura left.

Khaibit used all his willpower to keep the tears from coming again, "Yesterday. Just after he got home from school."

:::::

The Prince was playing a challenging game of stones against one of the guards, and beating the older man quite soundly, when the messenger barreled into the room and came to a sudden halt ten paces from his superior.

Atemu didn't look at the man until he finished the set, proud that it had only taken twenty minutes to beat the guard this time. When he was done thanking the man for a game well played, he turned his attention to the messenger, "What news do you bring that is so urgent as to interrupt my game hour?"

The messenger, still somewhat out of breath, looked up at the fourteen-year-old boy whose very whim could decide his life or death. Tears filled his eyes as he lowered his head in grief, "My Pharaoh. Your father has fallen on the battlefield. His elite guards have fallen as well. You now rule the kingdom of the Nile. Forgive me for bringing such news. I beg of you, My Pharaoh."

:::::

Honda looked at Khaibit as if he were crazy, "Yesterday? But I talked to him this morning. He said he had a flu or something. Why would he call and tell me that? Why wouldn't he tell me what had happened with you? He always tells me what happens with you."

The spirit regained some of his fire for a moment, glaring at Hiroto, "What are you talking about?"

"When we talk at school or when we're studying, he'll tell me about what happens between you two."

Khaibit's eyes grew wide with anger but then he lost the emotion, falling back into despair, "How could I not see it? He's been hiding things from me for so long… He would only hide if he hated me…"

Malik glared at the brunette and patted his friend on the shoulder some more, "He did not hide anything from you. You knew about this. Remember? You told me about how he was getting too friendly with the buzz cut idiot. You must have just forgotten about it or something…"

Honda was ready to start arguing with the blond when Kitty stood up, "Well, maybe he's just getting some time to himself. If none of you have any ideas about where he might have gone, then why don't we call Anzu and see if she might?"

No one objected to the suggestion so Kitty walked the few steps to the telephone and dialed the number as Hiroto called it out for her.

"Hello? Is Anzu there? …She's not? Really? Oh, well… No! No… I just forgot to ask her something, is all. About a project. I'll try back later… Oh? All right, I'll try there. Thank you, you too… Goodbye."

She set down the phone and then walked stiffly back to the couch, where she sat down with very precise motions.

A moment of silence passed and Jou finally filled the gap, "So? What's up?"

"Anzu's not home from school yet."

"But she didn't go to school today…"

"I know."

Honda and Jou went quiet and then Honda asked, "So maybe she skipped?"

Jou rolled his eyes, "Anzu? Skip? Are you nuts?"

"She walked to school with Ryu this morning," Kitty filled in.

More silence followed.

:::::

The tomb robber stood before him, the mummified body of his father strung across the thief's back, "So tell me, oh great Pharaoh… Will you be like this stiff and get yourself killed at the hands of the living, unbound Shadow Monster? Will you live on forever, remembered as the second ruler to fall dead at his feet?"

The white haired freak sneered, "Should we ask your dear, departed daddy for help? I'm sure he'd love to give it… if he could find it in himself to be torn away from the pleasures of the afterlife. Or maybe not. I heard he was much the same in his living years. Always thinking of what could bring him the most pleasure and ignoring the rest of the world… Including his precious heir…"

Atemu growled in anger at the man who dared defile his father's grave, "You will pay for your words and your actions. Anubis will weigh your heart before the great Osiris and the tiny piece of it that you have will plummet through the plate and make a hole in the floor of the throne room. You will be punished with the most horrible rebirth possible. I hope it's as a cockroach so I step on you and feel your body crush beneath my foot."

The thief laughed and dropped the body, taking pleasure in the hate that poured from the Pharaoh's eyes as he watched his father's mummy be treated so poorly. What made it better was that the boy could do nothing to stop the tomb robber.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced, oh great Pharaoh," he said, sarcasm think like venom in the mouth of a viper. "I know who you are, but you don't know my name." The thief bowed mockingly, "I am the longest shadow that stretches across the Nile, the only one that command the shadows of my heart." He straightened and looked down the chasm that separated himself from Atemu and then looked back at the Pharaoh, "I am Thief King Ba-khu-Ra"

He turned to go, but stopped for a moment as if thinking something over. Looking over his shoulder, the scar that graced his features from mouth to ear twisted with his grin, and then he kicked the body over the edge.

His laughter echoed with Atemu's scream of horror.

:::::

They screamed in unison, their bodies convulsing on the beds.

Moments before, Ororo had carried Yugi to the infirmary while Kurt bamfed Rogue there. They could find no trace of Yami and Xavier told them to meet him there. Dr. McCoy was fast to check their vitals, assuring the onlookers that the two were fine. Physically, at least. By then, the rest of the X-Men had arrived. Not content with what they were told, they wanted to see with their own eyes that the two were okay.

Then the patients screamed.

All hands covered adjoining ears, but this could not stop the sound. Neither voice was being used in this scream. It was purely on the mental level. And it hurt.

Upon realizing this, Xavier built a wall around the minds of each of his students. It muted the sound, but for some reason could not stop them from hearing it. Almost as if it reached to their very souls.

The puzzle around Yugi's neck started to glow and an eye appeared on his forehead. A matching eye appeared on Rogue. Unnatural wind swirled inside the room, carrying a strange chant and pushing the onlookers away from the two. The chant grew louder and the sound of the scream with it. Rogue's body convulsed again and a beam of golden light shot from the eye on her forehead.

The light twisted in the air and streamed into the puzzle, causing Yugi's body to convulse in turn. The chanting grew louder and even though Xavier's shields were holding, the scream came through as loud as before. It pierced the minds of the X-Men. It was a scream of pain. A scream of joy. A scream of despair. A scream of hope. It echoed through their bodies as the wind echoed through the room.

And when they thought they could take no more of this, when many started to wish for the pleasant oblivion of unconsciousness, the wind stopped.

The scream stopped.

The light disappeared.

The eyes vanished.

All was quiet.

:::::

End Chapter Eleven

The Egyptian spoken and translated in this chapter comes from Egyptian Language: easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics, by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. I take no credit for any of them. None are an original translation, merely bits and pieces I put together to make something somewhat coherent. Well, actually, Bakura's name is an exception to that. With how I split it up for what it was in Egypt (Ba-khu-Ra), it is loosely (very, very loosely) translated to: 'Soul and Spirit of Ra' (Ba = soul, Khu = spirits, Ra = Ra)

Wow… A whole ten pages this time. And chocked full of plot points. I am rather proud of this one. I re-wrote and re-arranged this chapter about seven times, trying to find the perfect flow between scenes. Should I alternate every scene or do two in row and then switch? Obviously, I chose to alternate every other scene. And I guess I'm keeping the quotes since so many people said they read them… And yes I changed my mind on the whole Bakura not being from the same time period thing. I do have an explanation for what has been said so I won't have to re-write the chapter that first mentioned it. It'll get taken care of in an upcoming chapter.

This Author's Note is rather long as it is, and I don't normally do a response to those who review at the end of my chapters, but I have to make an exception this time. I had a lot of input from one reader that helped me get this chapter out so quickly. I would like to thank FireSenshi for the help with Yami's real name and everything else we've talked about. Not to say I don't appreciate everyone who has taken the time to review. I do. It helps give me the motivation to keep this thing going at a faster pace. So thank you. All of you. Next Chapter in about a month, maybe.