Good Day Readers and welcome to the sequel to The Coming of Shadows! Thanks to all of you for the support so. Obviously I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh only Kylie and Katherine Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also italics symbolise a mind conversation.

I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy

Chapter 1: - Challenge From The Past!

Myself and Katherine were walking through Domino City with both of us cooling down after a rather intense business meeting, it was the only reason Kathie had been excused from her morning classes, since both of us had twenty percent of our family business in our possession it was necessary for both of us to attend meetings.

Unfortunately those damned meetings required me to be stuffed in a rather uncomfortable three piece suit with equally uncomfortable high heels strapped to my feet, Katherine's height prevented her from wearing any high heel shoes whilst I suffered this pain alone, sometimes I envied my sister's short stature.

Since it had been a meeting the both of us had left our decks at home – safely under tight lock and key with magic seals as well – so both of us were eager to get back and reattach the cards to our hips, neither of us had been settled without the decks at hand, perhaps from our experiences from numerous Shadow Games or our Spirit Partners' warning of destiny, the unease was always present.

"Oh, Katherine-chan, Kylie-san!" A voice called. It was a sweet voice whose owner I'd grown to care for nearly as much as my own sister, I looked up to see Yugi along with the annoying Anzu walking towards us, both were dressed in their school clothing although I noticed that Yugi's Millennium Puzzle was hanging from a chain instead of a chord. "Why are you two dressed like that?" Yugi asked.

"Business meeting, we've just finished up and are cooling off but I'll be in school soon," Katherine answered. My sister was actually staring right at the boy as she spoke and not hiding herself, this caused me to smile since Kathie was managing to open up to other people although I'm sure their soul bond helped with that aspect, I then turned my attention back to the chain.

"A chain? That's actually a good move, after all if a certain someone is correct, it's much safe than the chord you had before," I commented. Yugi's lips thinned as he gently cupped a hand around his Puzzle, my words were a reference to the warning that Shadi had given us little over a month ago, it had me on edge waiting for this thief to show his or her damned face so I could pay them back for hurting my uncle.

However Yugi attention was pulled away causing his head to turn allowing us to see a figure dressed in a black robe that obscured any features sat behind a table with a crystal ball on it, two golden chains – one at the top of the head and one underneath the chin – were attached to the material of the robe but above the top chain was a purple version of the eye symbol that appeared on the Millennium Items.

Anzu asked what Yugi was doing as me and Katherine exchanged worried looks, if that eye appeared it normally meant danger for us because that meant they most likely knew of the Items; they may even be in possess one of them so naturally I was wary of that symbol ever since the events of Duelist Kingdom.

"You have something quite magnificent there," The figure spoke. It's voice was masculine and showed somewhat familiar to me but I couldn't quite peg where I'd heard it before, the individual then held out his hand towards Yugi. "May I see it?" The man asked. A churning feeling in the pit of my stomach appeared as something about the request make me feel rather uneasy.

"Not this! It's very important!" Yugi protested. His hands once more came to wrap around the ancient item in an attempt to protect it from the man who began to push, claiming he had experience with ancient artefacts before and could determine what it was he was looking at. "As long as it's really just for a moment," Yugi relented.

There was only one problem with sweet souls like Katherine and Yugi, they submitted to other people far too easily in order to keep them happy; Yugi removed the Puzzle and handed it to the man who spoke for a bit before smashing his foot into the table sending it towards us as he ran off down the alleyway right behind him.

Not wasting a second, I immediately kicked off both of my uncomfortable heels and began to chase after the thief with two pairs of footsteps quickly following after me, a quick pulse of magic confirmed that it was Yugi and Katherine which didn't surprise me in the least since it was Yugi's Puzzle and Katherine wouldn't abandon us just in case we got into trouble.

"Anzu's gone to get the others and hopefully the police," Katherine admitted. We kept running coming to a turn only to discover an arrow on the wall pointing us further inwards right beside us with more of these arrows deeper in the alleyway. "Oh yes, like this doesn't scream trap," Katherine sarcastically quipped. I did not blame her for thinking that way but despite the obvious sign of danger all three of us pushed further into the alleyway.

We followed those arrows until we were led to a seemingly abandoned building causing my lips to thin but we still approached the building and entered through the door that was indicate by an arrow stuck to the door opposite it, inside the building was dark and I could vaguely make out the shapes of machines.

Yugi began calling out into the building demanding that the Puzzle be returned to him, a light came on revealing the Millennium Puzzle pinned into the side of something by a thick metal spike with the spike stabbing through one of the links of the chain, a voice called out that for Yugi to get his Puzzle back then he had to defeat the speaker in a duel.

At that word more lights came on briefly blinding us before it slowly faded away revealing that a Duel Arena had been set up within the building and across from us stood the thief that had run off with Puzzle, a scowl twisted across my lips as I stepped forward slightly so that the theif would actually focus on me instead of poor Yugi.

"Yugi doesn't have to duel you, give the Puzzle back to him!" I snapped. However it was as if the man hadn't even heard me as he walked over to the red podium causing me to scowl deeper before I turned back to Yugi. "Can the Other You hear you?" I asked. Yugi looked at the Puzzle not saying a word but I guessed he was communicating with his other side.

"He says I have to fight alone as someone is trying to draw him out," Yugi whispered. Naturally me and my sister were rather worried about those words, not only was someone attempting to draw out the ancient spirit but it clearly wasn't the thief from how Yugi had worded the response, a chilling feeling settled into my bones at that thought.

"Well we're right here to help," Katherine reassured. Yugi nodded so he approached the blue podium whilst me and my sister moved to the side of the arena so that we could watch the duel, I knew Yugi was good but I was rather worried about who could be behind the current events as the Duel Arena started up.

Thief – LP: 2000

Yugi – LP: 2000

Yugi was allowed to take the first turn and our young friend started the duel off by bringing out Elf Swordsman in attack mode, there was something very unsettling about the opponent that Yugi was facing, I swear that I knew him somehow but I couldn't put my finger on why this person was familiar to me, maybe I'd learn this person's identity during the duel.

Elf Swordsman – Attribute: Earth, Type: Warrior, Level: 4, ATK/1400, DEF/1200

The only move that the thief made was to play a monster in face down defence mode probably trying to lure Yugi into a trap of some variety, Yugi was contemplative for a moment before the thief reminded our friend it was his turn so Yugi ordered his elven warrior to attack the face down monster however it was revealed to be Cyber Pod.

If the others had been present at the duel I'd probably be explaining what the effect of Cyber Pod was to them; when this particular monster was destroyed it sucked in all monsters on the field, allowed both players to draw the top five cards and summon out any Level Four or lower monsters that they had drawn within those five cards.

Elf Swordsman was shattered shortly followed by Cyber Pod so the two duelists reached over to their decks and drew out the five cards, Yugi played a single card face down whilst his opponent proceeded to summon out two monster with one being Mecha Hunter whilst the other was Ground Attacker Bugroth.

Mecha Hunter – Attribute: Dark, Type: Machine, Level: 4, ATK/1850, DEF/800

Ground Attacker Bugroth – Attribute: Earth, Type: Machine, Level: 4, ATK/1500, DEF/1000

"Machines… those are all Machine-types," Katherine noted. That was an interesting point as all the monsters that this thief had played so far had been of the Machine variety however my eyes widened as the pieces fell into place within my mind, there was indeed someone I'd met recently that used a Machine-type loaded deck.

"Could it be? Are you Bandit Keith?" Yugi called out. It seemed he had caught onto the same fact as I had so the man reached up and pulled his hood down revealing the disgraced American duelist lacking the sunglasses that had covered his eyes which had an uncharacteristically blank look about them. "Why're you here?" Yugi asked.

"It is true that this man is known as Bandit Keith," Keith spoke. His voice was calm and lacking its' previous arrogance however the three of us exchanged looks at the words 'this man'… Keith unusually blank eyes were strange along with his voice because it was unlike him but to speak such strange words was definitely a give away about something being wrong. "After the fact, Keith was thrown into the sea," Keith spoke.

Now I knew something was wrong, speaking in the third person was unusual, Keith continued speaking claiming 'this man' had a grudge against Yugi simply because he – along with the rest of us – got in the way of the American getting his revenge against Pegasus along with the cash prize that was on offer during Duelist Kingdom, at that moment Keith's eyes changed and he cursed Yugi before the eyes became hollow again.

"He's possessed!" I exclaimed. Yugi snapped his head down towards me probably wondering what I could possibly be getting at by saying those words although Katherine's eyes widened in shock. "Yugi, someone is manipulating Keith's mind, using the grudge he has to his or hers' advantage by targeting you," I explained. Yugi's eyes widened as he understood before turning back to his opponent.

Whoever was possessing Keith continued the duel by bringing out Machine King which caused both me and Katherine to frown as Machine King gained one hundred attack points for every Machine-type monster that was out on the controller's field including itself which meant that the newest monster immediately got a power boost fair power boost.

Machine King – Attribute: Earth, Type: Machine, Level: 6, ATK/2200, DEF/2000

Machine King – ATK/2200 – ATK/2500

'Keith' immediately had his giant holographic toy attack Yugi's face down monster thus destroying it but our friend simply replaced the monster with another face down in defence, 'Keith' proceeded to taunt Yugi over him being afraid of the monster army but promised to play an Ultra Rare card later on in the duel, he then brought out Megasonic Eye.

Megasonic Eye – Attribute: Dark, Type: Machine, Level: 5, ATK/1500, DEF/1800

Machine King – ATK/2500 – ATK/2600

The giant toy attacked Yugi's face down monster thus destroying it as well, Yugi seriously needed to get out a monster that was powerful enough to destroy the Machine King, preferably before 'Keith' brought out Defence Sealing or some other card that blocked defence or a card that dealt piercing damage.

"Yugi your monsters are being annihilated one by one," 'Keith' taunted. Yugi looked annoyed and I couldn't blame him since he couldn't lose the Millennium Puzzle to whoever was controlling Keith. "What's the matter? Why don't you call out the other you like you did back in the Kingdom?" 'Keith' asked. Those words confirmed that whoever was speaking couldn't be Keith because he shouldn't know about the Other Yugi.

"I won't let things go your way!" Yugi declared. Clearly Yugi wasn't going to be so easily baited into giving up the spirit, he then proceeded to make his move by summoning Curse of Dragon out onto the field and that monster was swiftly followed by its' fusion partner Gaia the Dark Knight, the route this was going to take was clear to me after seeing Other Yugi duel and dueling against the man.

Curse of Dragon – Attribute: Dark, Type: Dragon, Level: 5, ATK/2000, DEF/1500

Gaia the Dark Knight – Attribute: Earth, Type: Warrior, Level: 7, ATK/2300, DEF/2100

"I fuse Curse of Dragon with Gaia the Dark Knight!" Yugi continued. He activated the Fusion card allowing his two monsters to be fused together in order to summon out Gaia the Dragon Knight and thankfully this monster was strong enough to destroy all of the thief's monsters although it would be destroyed as well if it engaged Machine King.

Gaia the Dragon Knight – Attribute: Wind, Type: Dragon/Fusion, Level: 7, ATK/2600, DEF/2100

Yugi commanded his dragon to attack the Mecha Hunter destroying it in the ensuing battle, as such not only was Machine King's attack points lowered but 'Keith' also took a hit to his Life Points causing me to let out a breath of air as Katherine clasped her hands together grateful that Yugi had managed to do this manoeuvre.

'Keith' – LP: 2000 – LP: 1250

Machine King – ATK/2600 – ATK/2500

'Keith' stared his move by switching Megasonic Eye and Ground Attacker Bugroth to defence mode then he proceeded to activate Machine Conversion Factory which could increase the attack and defence of all monsters that 'Keith' had out on the field thus making Machine King stronger than Gaia for now.

Ground Attacker Bugroth – ATK/1500 – ATK/1800, DEF/1000 – DEF/1300

Machine King – ATK/2500 – ATK/2800, DEF/2000 – DEF/2300

Megasonic Eye – ATK/1500 – ATK/1800, DEF/1800 – DEF/2100

Yugi realised the danger he was in instantly as 'Keith' ordered Machine King to attack Gaia which was swiftly destroyed and Yugi's Life Points were lowered as a result caused Katherine to bite down on her bottom lip whilst mine thinned in worry for Yugi; the young boy had to keep a level head whilst facing this man otherwise he might lose which equalled the loss of the Puzzle to the stranger controlling Keith.

Yugi – LP: 2000 – LP: 1800

Whoever was manipulating Keith's mind used the American to begin taunting Yugi claiming that the boy had to be serious like he usually was, clearly another fool attempt at getting Yugi to swap with the ancient spirit, I was curious as to why this person was so determined to draw out the spirit and I couldn't help but think this person may have been the thief Shadi warned us of.

Yugi was quiet for a few moments after 'Keith' finally shut up, the young boy was examining his card clearly trying to come up with a strategy using the cards he had before proceeding to declare that even Machines have a weakness and he proceeded to prove this fact by summoning out Demon's Summon.

Demon's Summon – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 6, ATK/2500, DEF/1200

However Yugi didn't stop there as he proceeded to activate Magical Mist, Makiu thus allowing the mystical rain to pour down on the Duel Arena and rusting the Machines which stripped them of any power up they possessed whilst also managing to allow Demon's Summon to have its' own power to be increased making it strong enough to destroy the machines.

Demon's Summon – ATK/2500 – ATK/3250

Ground Attacker Bugroth – ATK/1800 – ATK/1500, DEF/1300 – DEF/1000

Machine King – ATK/2800 – ATK/2500, DEF/2300 – DEF/2000

Megasonic Eye – ATK/1800 – ATK/1500, DEF/2100 – DEF/1800

Yugi immediately had his demonic creature unleash its' lightning attack straight at Machine King, thanks to its' power increase Demon's Summon was able to destroy Machine King thereby reduce the thief's Life Points even more; hopefully bringing this duel to the ending point so that we could take the Millennium Puzzle and leave.

'Keith' – LP: 1250 – LP: 500

Demon's Summon – ATK/3250 – ATK/2500

'Keith' proceeded to make a move by activating the Spell Angel's Charity allowing him to draw three cards in exchange for discarding two, he proceeded to draw those cards and immediately activated a Ritual Spell known as Zera Ritual which was a card that brought out the Ultra Rare card known as Zera by sacrificing the two monsters that remained on his field.

However there was a major problem with that, Zera was a rare card even amongst Ultra rare cards, in fact there were only three original cards of Zera with Yugi having never even seen one and I only knew the location of one because it sat in my mother's deck, it was quite shocking to hear that this thief had Zera placed in his hostage's deck.

Zera – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon/Ritual, Level: 8, ATK/2800, DEF/2300

'Keith' ordered Zera to attack Demon's Summon tearing the demon's arms off as Demon's Summon was destroyed by the attack, with a powerful card at the ready to fight I was worried about how this was going to turn out for Yugi because none of us were willing to surrender the Millennium Puzzle nor did we want to endanger the spirit by revealing him to an unknown enemy.

Yugi – LP: 1800 – LP: 1500

"Such an Ultra Rare card… I… I can't beat it!" Yugi panicked. The thief proceeded to taunt Yugi once more attempting to coax the poor boy into shifting to the spirit claiming he wanted to know the man's true form with Keith's mind making a brief breakthrough to curse our friend, however this whole exchange was angering me a fair bit.

"Alright I've had enough of this! Spit out what you want with Other Yugi already!" I snapped. The individual that was controlling Keith had him turn to look at me however the blank eyes that the American possessed ended up widened as if in response to something that shocked them when they looked at me.

"It can't be… you… you are… then that man must be him!" 'Keith' exclaimed. Naturally all of us were confused by what the puppet master could possibly be talking about and exactly who this 'him' was that he though the spirit had to be simply because of me being here, I could already feel a headache forming between my eyes.

'It's official, my life just got seriously screwed up.' I thought. No matter how badly my life had been messed up before, this new wrinkle definitely topped everything else I had come into contact with so far.