End of the World (Some Might Say)

By vikki

This story doesn't entirely take itself seriously. You shouldn't take it too seriously either.

YGO/DMC3 loose crossover. I may have gotten some names wrong, sorry.

Aiboupartner

Yadounishilandlord/host

Anikiolder brother

Let the games begin.

&

It's amazing what a human being can get used to.

Yuugi Mutou was used to getting beat up. He'd spent all of his life getting hit and punched; he was small and admittedly a wimp, so it seemed inevitable. Yuugi's spirit was such that he never took these things to heart, and through it all he remained steadfastly forgiving and kind.

After he solved the Puzzle, Yuugi got used to something few people in the world could claim to have experienced: housing another soul. He never suspected insanity, but rather accepted wholeheartedly that a three-thousand-year-old spirit trapped in the Millennium Puzzle had made residence inside his head. He grew used to speaking with his 'other self' and to his regular presence in the back of his mind.

So it was that when he woke up one morning and discovered that he was, after two years, alone in his head, he was actually lonely.

And worried.

&

It happened while Yuugi was asleep. Yami Yuugi did very little sleeping; he rested, it was true, but he never truly slept. His soul room was bare stone, engraved with ancient Egyptian lettering and endless with rooms.

While Yuugi slept, Yami usually wandered his room as he had a hundred thousand times before. Now, the journey was almost safe. Before the Puzzle had been reconstructed, Yami's soul room had been cast into the Shadow Realm. Even Yami, whose entire being was now composed of darkness, had been driven to near insanity.

It was while he was doing this that Yami felt a tug. He looked up and he was at the door to his room again. "Aibou?" he asked.

The tugging sensation increased, but there was no response. Yami realized that Yuugi was still fast asleep; it was something else, materializing, tapping at the door. It was inside Yuugi's mind – too late for Yami to assume control of their body and confront it in the physical realm.

Yami shoved his hands into his pockets and lowered his chin, leveling a cold smile at the doorway. The smile was not entirely bravado. Yami's soul room was not the Shadow Realm any longer, but Yami was darkness. To encounter Yami was not to encounter your favorite uncle.

The tapping became banging, and the sensation became a grabbing, and Yami staggered a little at nothing. He grit his teeth, getting his balance. The Shadow Realm would not help until he had an opponent. There were rules to this – to everything. And then, quiet but growing louder, he could hear words: From the darkness we call thee. Darkness, we call thee. The three sacrifices call thee. Come forth, Darkness--!

The door to Yami's soul room slammed open. Yami braced himself, gritting his teeth, spreading the Shadows around him in immediate reaction—

And they swallowed him whole.

&

There was a moment which Yami may or may not have remembered, between darkness and light. When it was over, he was standing someplace else.

He was at the center of a circle, inscribed with symbols that meant nothing to the former Pharaoh. It took him a moment to realize the foul stench that assaulted him was blood and burning flesh. He took a step back in revulsion – and backed himself right into another person.

"Fuck!" that person snarled. Yami's eyes widened slightly, and he glanced back to see a flash of white hair.

The tomb thief!? Yami grit his teeth, but the chanting that had grabbed him and filled his ears had finally stopped and there was no time to talk to the Spirit of the Ring. As Yami's eyes adjusted to the candlelight in the room, the figure of a man in black robes stood from amongst others in similar outfits.

"Darkness," the figure said, its voice odd and distorted. "You have come."

"You gave me little choice," Yami Yuugi started, his voice flat, but Bakura spoke over him. "Who the hell are you to summon me?"

Summon!? Of course, that was what had happened. Yami's teeth clicked together, feeling twin rages: one wild and uncontrolled, the other more familiar, a dangerous flickering flame.

"I am Temen-Ni-Gru," the man introduced himself, and there was a flash of teeth under his hood. "And you will be the ones that help me overthrow the lord of Hell itself."

Well. That was only slightly ambitious. It left both yamis speechless for a long moment.

Bakura was the first one to break the silence. "Well, it's not that I don't think I can do it," he drawled, "But rather – I won't do it for anyone but myself!" He flung out the Shadows around him, and Yami was startled as he felt his own Shadows extend, drawing energy. Feeling he ought to take control of the situation, he flung out a hand. "Penalty Game!"

"Hey!" Bakura snapped, but just like that, he lost control. Yami felt him lose it, and he smirked as the shadows wreathed around Temen-Ni-Gru, trapping him in their home realm. "You have trespassed on our souls," Yami hissed, the Wedjet Eye on his forehead opening. "For that, Obliterate! Your soul will be separated from your body for eternity!"

But Temen-Ni-Gru just smiled. Yami faltered, his hand withdrawing slightly. "Your power is great," he said in a low, rasping voice. "It will serve me well." And again, control was wrested away from Yami. Yami grabbed at it, snarling, and the Shadow Realm was trapped halfway under Temen-Ni-Gru's control and halfway under Yami's. "Very well, I'll play your game," Temen-Ni-Gru said. "The game is this: whomever loses control over the darkness shall submit."

"Oh no you don't!" Bakura hissed, and there was a brief flare of alliance. Yami felt Bakura's strength join his own again, and they pulled and struggled, yet impossibly, Temen-Ni-Gru was winning.

"How is this possible?" Yami whispered, sweat breaking out on his brow.

"Shut up, Pharaoh, and work like you want it!" Bakura snarled in his ear.

"Darkness, submit!" Temen-Ni-Gru commanded in the voice of a legion.

It was as much a shock to Yami Yuugi as it was to Yami Bakura when their grip on the Shadow Realm was torn away. Yami choked, coughing up a trickle of blood. Bakura's nose was bleeding.

Both felt their bodies buckle under some outside force, forcing them to their knees with their heads bent towards the ground. The Shadow Realm faded away and both remained bent in the circle, breathing ragged. "And so I command even the Darkness," the robed man said, turning away from the spirits. "Nothing will be able to withstand us!"

The robed masses chanted again. Yami recognized it dimly. "The language of Rome," he mumbled, unable to lift his head.

He felt Bakura vibrating with effort, clearly fighting the force holding them down. "This is your fault, Pharaoh," he growled. "I would have stolen his soul if it weren't for you!"

"If my power holds no sway over him, yours would have been no different, thief," Yami shot back. "There is something wrong here!"

"The fact we're both bowing to a guy who's crazy enough to think he's going to overthrow the Gods of the Afterlife?" Bakura snapped. "Maybe?"

"No need for sarcasm," the former Pharaoh replied, deceptively mild as he looked up through his bangs. "He is human. He will exhaust eventually."

"You hope," Bakura said sourly.

&

"He's just … gone," Yuugi told his friends. He clutched the Puzzle in his fingers, white-knuckled. "It's like the Puzzle is just empty."

"My other self, too."

Yuugi and the others looked up to see Bakura walking into the classroom. He looked pale, tired, and a little confused. "I overheard you," he said, putting down his bag on his desk. "The other Yuugi is gone, right? So is my other self. The Ring is here—" he patted his chest where the Ring was under his uniform—"but Yami is simply missing."

Yuugi's brows pinched together. "I thought that, for them to leave the Items, we had to use the God Cards and the Items to open the door to the Afterlife. But if your yami is missing too …"

"The other Yuugi wouldn't just up and leave like that," Jonouchi reassured Yuugi. "If he was moving on, I'm sure he'd find a way to tell ya."

"That's not very reassuring," Yuugi answered, smiling wanly. "If he didn't … move on, then something else moved him. He can't leave the Puzzle – or rather, he can't just disappear from my head – all on his own."

"How do you know?" Anzu wanted to know.

"Landlord," Bakura muttered. He looked up at everyone else. "My yami calls me his landlord," he explained. "They're spirits. They possess us. And they're tied to the Items, so they can't really depart from them all by themselves."

Yuugi nodded, although Bakura's impersonal description of his relationship with the other Yuugi made him shudder internally. He couldn't imagine what it was like for Bakura, with the abusive spirit of the tomb robber living with him, but for Yuugi, his other self was a devoted, loving support. "He's basically right," he said slowly. "The point is, there's no way they could have gone unless—"

"Someone took them," Anzu concluded.

"Or something!" Honda added, smirking a little when Jonouchi shivered at the thought.

"We've got to find them," Yuugi declared. "But where do we start?"

&

"So," Yami Bakura started, "We get summoned by a guy with a serious mental problem—"

"—Who managed to control the Shadow Realm—" Yami Yuugi put in.

"And like an idiot, he didn't wait to do the summon until the critical moment," Bakura grumbled, "But instead—"

"Locks us in a room." Yami lifted his hand, which was chained to Bakura's. "Chained together."

"……. You know, you're supposed to be a god, Son of Ra," Bakura accused. "Daddy must not like you much."

"Ever since I became a being of darkness, we haven't gotten along terribly well, no," Yami spat, sarcastic. "You're a thief! Don't tell me you cannot—"

"I cannot," Bakura snapped. He yanked on the chain, pulling Yami's arm rudely. "Haven't you figured it out yet?" Yami gave Bakura a blank look, and the spirit of the Ring crossed his arms, ignoring how this forced Yami to scoot a little closer across the stone floor. "We've been summoned like Duel Monsters," he explained, not looking at Yami. "Right through the thrice-damned Shadow Realm. And Temen-Ni-Gru's the bastard that did it. Can you put two and two together now?" He finished bitingly. "He ordered us not to break free, and I'd like to see you try it."

Yami saw his point; like a Duel Monster, whether he loved his master or not, he could not harm the master directly. He could refuse to lend his strength, but never did a monster turn on its Master. He jerked the chain back, however, forcing Bakura to uncross his arms so they could share the slack. "I noticed something else," he said. "Our powers are bound together. Did you notice how, never once, has he addressed us as two different beings? We were summoned as one."

"As one with you? I think I'm going to be sick," Bakura complained.

Yami scowled at him. "No one is jumping with enthusiasm at this arrangement. However, unless I am mistaken and you can still talk to your aibou …"

"Yadounishi," Bakura corrected flatly.

Yami ignored him. "—then as long as we are summoned, we only have each other to work with." He paused. "… You know, it wouldn't bother me to aid Temen-Ni-Gru and get this out of the way if it wasn't for—"

"His fucking inflated ego and pathetic arrogance?" Bakura sneered. He smirked at the Pharaoh's face. "Yeah, I feel the same way. Just not the same any more, is it, Pharaoh? Getting a little itch to do some Mind Crushing?"

Yami was stiff. "No."

"Liar, liar," Bakura snickered. "Getting called evil by Pegasus really messed you up. Embrace it, Pharaoh. We are the darkness. And you know, your aibou isn't here to see or know." He leaned forward and whispered in Yami's ear. "Embrace your anger. Embrace your hate. You want out? Well, so do I. And since we're not allowed to use our skills against that bastard, how about a good old dose of pure rage?"

Yami pushed him off. "Don't talk to me unless you have something constructive to say."

"I happened to think that was constructive," Bakura snorted, falling back into a sitting position.

&

"For what it's worth," Bakura said, "The occult is stirring."

Yuugi was attempting to eat his lunch, but it wasn't sitting well with him. He was too worried about his other self. "I know you do tarot readings and stuff, but what do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean that there are evil forces gathering on the East Coast of America," Bakura answered. He was looking increasingly haunted; Yuugi wondered if he looked the same. "It's almost as if they're being drawn there helplessly. Whatever it is might have drawn in our yamis as well."

"But the other me isn't—"

"Evil? No?" Bakura was solemn. "They're of darkness. Under a broad definition, they are automatically evil."

"I wouldn't argue with that when it comes to your yami," Yuugi admitted.

Bakura blushed slightly. "It's true, but still …" he trailed off. "The thing is, how could they have left without the Items? I would think they would keep both our yamis within a certain range."

"I didn't think that Yami's spirit form could even leave my sight," Yuugi pointed out. "Almost like he's not really there, you know? Just something the Puzzle makes me think I'm seeing."

"Yami can …" Bakura hesitated. "He's been places that I wasn't at. But never solid. I don't know …"

"Dude!" The door to the school's roof suddenly banged open to admit one Honda and a rather pale Jonouchi. "There's this guy on the news saying that some kinda huge tower appeared outta nowhere in New York City! I'll bet it's demons!"

"Shut up!" Jonouchi moaned. "There's no such thing!"

Yuugi and Bakura exchanged glances. "You don't think …"

"… actually, yeah. I do."

&

When Temen-Ni-Gru appeared again, Yami Yuugi and Yami Bakura both shot to their feet, bracing themselves. But Temen-Ni-Gru spoke three words, all of them in Latin, and then simply stepped forward and slapped Yami Yuugi across the face.

Yami Bakura's eyes widened, brightening slightly as Yami Yuugi gripped his cheek in surprise. Temen-Ni-Gru looked dispassionately upon Bakura. "Did you feel that? Answer me, spirit."

Bakura grit his teeth, but found himself answering, "I felt strength."

Temen-Ni-Gru nodded. "There is a man coming here who would interfere with me," he said. "Deal with him. Now if one of you is hit, the other will be strengthened; it will be impossible for you to be defeated."

"I was undefeatable before this magick," Yami said indignantly, lowering his hand and scowling. Temen-Ni-Gru ignored him.

"You know, if you bite the darkness, the darkness bites back," Bakura snapped.

Temen-Ni-Gru smiled at that. "So be it, spirits." He left the room.

Both yamis looked at one another.

"So if you're hit, I get more powerful," Bakura surmised.

"The same goes for me, thief," Yami pointed out.

"…."

They fell on each other in a blind scuffle, kicking, punching, and hitting indiscriminately.

Ten minutes later the spirits fell off one another, panting. Neither looked particularly powerful at the moment, thin chests heaving for air and bruises on their jawlines.

"Perhaps this is only the case if someone else inflicts damage," Yami gasped, nursing his neck with his hand where Bakura had tried to strangle him with the chain.

"Faugh! If this was three thousand years ago, you would be dead," Bakura snarled. "This pathetic form borrowed from my yadounishi … it's as weak as yours!"

"Neither of us were designed for physical fights," Yami groaned. He coughed weakly. "Who is this man who is coming to stop Temen-Ni-Gru?"

"You're asking me?"

Yami shrugged. "Will we fight him?"

"Physically, I think not," Bakura growled. He tried to roll onto his side, but was stopped short by the chain. "Get up. I want my knife back." It had skittered across the room, thrust away by Yami during their scuffle.

"In a minute." Yami pressed a hand to his eyes.

"Pathetic."

"Say that again in the Shadow Realm."

Both were silent for a while. Finally, Yami asked, "So what are we going to do about this intruder?"

"You could always let me steal his soul," Bakura suggested.

"I think we might want to help him, not hinder," Yami bit out. "We share a common enemy, after all."

"Good luck with that. We were ordered to deal with him." Bakura scowled at the ceiling. "No one tells me what to do …"

But Yami was smiling, a long, thin smile. "Deal with him," he smirked. "The ambiguity is more than enough, I think."

Bakura gave him a look, but Yami was sitting up. "Truce with me," he ordered, holding out a hand.

Bakura slapped it away. "Fuck you."

Yami grit his teeth. "Truce with me," he hissed. "I will … 'deal' with this intruder, and you may do as you like with Temen-Ni-Gru. I will lend you my strength."

"Like I need it."

"Since our magicks have been entwined by this summoning, I think you do," Yami said lightly. "… As I need yours," he added with a bit of effort.

Bakura glared at him, but gradually a toothy grin emerged on his face. "Fine," he sighed. "Thief's honor."

"Oh, that goes a long way," Yami sighed.

"Shut it, Pharaoh. When we get back I'm going to make your life miserable."

"Good luck with that," Yami smirked, shaking Bakura's hand.

&

"Okay, problem," Honda pointed out as they walked home. "None of us have the money to go to New York City."

"And it's not as if flights are going to be going in and out while there's some kind of huge occult building in the middle of town," Anzu added.

"Not like we can explain this to our parents, either," Jonouchi snorted. "'Hey, Dad, I need to fly to New York City to save Yuugi's other self,'" he mimicked. "Not gonna make much sense."

"There has to be some way to get there," Yuugi insisted. "The Shadow Realm …?"

"Without our yamis, we'll die," Bakura sighed.

"You wanna fly to New York City?"

"Ah!" Yuugi and all his companions jumped when Mokuba appeared out of nowhere. "What the hell, are you spying on us?" Jonouchi demanded.

Mokuba smirked in a decent imitation of his older brother. "Look, Aniki doesn't believe in this magic stuff, but I do," he pointed out. "'Cause the person who made me think I was a capsule monster sure wasn't you." He leveled a finger at Yuugi, who blushed.

"Kaiba-kun …"

"Anyway, I can ask my brother if you can take his plane," he pointed out.

Yuugi blinked. "He'd never agree."

"He will if you say you'll never duel him again if he doesn't loan it to you," Mokuba replied cheekily. "And you won't, will ya? Cause the other you won't be around any more."

"… you know, that just might work," Anzu mused.

"That's blackmail," Yuugi found himself protesting almost in unison with Bakura.

"So? Kaiba deserves it once in a while," Jonouchi smirked. "Come on, let's do it."

Which was how they found themselves on a private plane three hours later. Hasty calls had been made by the friends to their folks, all explaining that they were spending the night at one another's houses. "This is a house of cards," Yuugi moaned.

"What, you gonna try to explain to Gramps that you're flying to New York City in the middle of a crisis?" Jonouchi demanded.

"Well, no …"

"All right, then."

On the other side of aisle, Seto Kaiba glared at the whole slew of them, and then at his younger brother. "You suggested this, didn't you?" he accused.

Mokuba was completely shameless. "Yep!"

&

Yami Yuugi and Yami Bakura were both looking much less worse for the wear when the double doors on the far end of their prison cell slammed open. The man who strode in towered over the physical forms of both spirits; he was broad-shouldered, white-haired, and dressed in red and black, a gargantuan sword strapped to his back and revolvers in his hands. "All right, let's hear the dramatic speech and get on with the action," the man smirked, twin guns pointed at Yami and Bakura. "Let's see the true forms. I've got shit to do."

Yami and Bakura glanced at each other, then looked back at the man. "And you are?" Yami asked mildly.

"Dante." The man looked to be itching for a fight.

"Well, then, Dante, let's play a game."

The dungeon room seemed to darken, fade, becoming more sinister. Dante had the brief sensation that he had accidentally walked into Silent Hill accidentally. "A game, huh …?"

"I promise it's simple," said the dark-haired spirit. He was smirking confidently, as was his white-haired twin.

"What are the stakes?" Dante asked, expecting that at any minute there would gunblazing and sword-throwing and all the shit he liked best.

"If you win, you will immediately be sent to Temen-Ni-Gru," Yami answered, "The opponent you are chasing, and we will not oppose you. Lose, and we will be freed from our chains. Cheat, and there will be a Penalty Game."

"All right, I can take anything you throw at me," Dante laughed. "Bring it on!"

Yami noted that Dante was not as affected by the Shadows as most of his opponents had been, but there was no time to worry about it. Now, for the Game … "Dark Magician!" Yami called, and the spirit appeared from the darkness. "Every strike you deal the Magician, I will feel as my own," he admitted to Dante. "However, be warned that every strike you deal me will make my partner stronger." He gestured to Bakura. "I may not call on another Monster to aid me, and I cannot heal myself. You may do as you please, but you cannot strike my person. The game is won when the Dark Magician is defeated." He thrust out a hand. "Dark Magician, attack!"

"Now this is more like it!" Dante crowed, throwing himself into the fray.

This allowed Bakura the somewhat entertaining prospect of watching Yami flinch, wince, and eventually fall over unconscious. However, even Bakura was a little surprised when Yami's passing out didn't send the Magician off into the darkness again. "Well, whaddaya know," he muttered, smirking. "The Pharaoh was right … our magicks are crossed."

Dante paused in battle, standing back. "I thought that was his monster," he pointed out. "Didn't I win?"

Bakura snorted. "Not until the Dark Magician falls," he smirked. "Dark Magician, attack!"

To his delight, the monster obeyed – with renewed vigor, fueled as much by Bakura's strength as it had been by Yami's. Dante finally realized this when the black-haired spirit began to stir from where he had fallen.

"Those shits, they're connected!" He groaned. "Isn't that cheating!?"

"I told you the rules," the spirit said faintly.

Dante ran through them in his mind. The white-haired one was grinning, obviously strong from the blows the other had felt. But Dante wasn't allowed to hit – the black-haired guy. "I've got it," he smirked, dancing past the magician creature and slamming his blade at the white-haired one with full force. He ducked just in time – enough so that instead of being beheaded, he got walloped by the flat of the blade.

The white-haired spirit fell to the ground, unconscious, and the Dark Magician flickered. Dante smirked. Two more hits, and the spirit faded away.

The dark-haired spirit was back on his feet, but worse for the wear. "You have won," he conceded, "without cheating. It's been a long time," he added in a low voice, "but I stacked the deck in your favor."

"Oh, did you?" Dante snorted. "Not so sure about that, short stuff."

"I played to your strengths," the spirit replied. "But enough. That door will take you to your destination." He pointed, and indeed, there was a door there.

Dante saluted with his sword. "Don't be a sore loser, now."

The spirit smirked. "Actually," he replied, "I never lose."

The door shut behind Dante.

&

At about the same time as this Game was occurring, Yuugi and the others were approaching New York. "What the hell is that …?" Honda muttered, face plastered to the window as they saw the distorted skyline created by the huge, sudden tower.

"I don't really wanna know," Jonouchi grumbled, trying to look brave.

"More importantly, how are we going to get into it? Or on it?" Yuugi wondered. "Our yamis must be in that thing … don't you think, Bakura?"

"They are." Bakura was holding up the ring, and all of its pointers were aimed at the tower. "… I don't know how we're going to get in there, though, either."

I didn't just see that ring glowing and pointing, Seto was thinking.

"Maybe we're close enough that we can get away with using the Shadow Realm," Yuugi suggested.

"How about I drop you all on top of it," Seto suggested.

"Kaiba-kun!" Anzu protested. "That isn't very nice."

&

"So we're still chained together," Bakura grumbled.

"Yes."

"So you lost."

"I did so on purpose. I think that defeating Temen-Ni-Gru might be a bit of a higher priority," Yami snapped.

"… then our truce terms …?" Bakura growled.

"… Did I say that I would get you an opportunity to deal with Temen-Ni-Gru? No, I simply said I would let you deal with him and lend you my strength, if it should come to that."

"You ass!" Bakura was about to jump on Yami out of sheer principle when they both felt the foundations of the building tremble … and a lock pick fell out of Yami Bakura's hair.

"… Think that's a sign?" Yami asked.

Bakura didn't answer, snarling as he snatched up the lock pick and shoved it viciously into the lock. The lock gave, and there was no sudden pressure, no force keeping it viciously shut.

Bakura gave a crow of triumph and sprang to his feet. "I'm gonna kick that bastard's sorry ass!"

"Unlock me first!" Yami demanded, but Bakura was already off into the Shadow Realm. Yami grumbled and gathered up the chain slack, making chase.

&

Temen-Ni-Gru was distracted.

There were two things distracting him. The first was Dante, who had apparently successfully made it through all his traps and summoned beings to fight him.

The second was the huge fucking dragon flying over his head. Which had floodlights on it.

This was preventing him from keeping his hold on the Darkness. He hadn't yet lost control, as they were bound by the summon to not harm him, but without absolute control they could freely defy him.

This was a problem.

"There is totally a battle going on down there," Honda observed in the Blue Eyes White Dragon-shaped plane.

"If we go down now, we might end up getting caught in the crossfire," Yuugi grimaced. "But my other self …" He felt cowardly, not going after Yami through thick and thin, but what good would he do if he were dead?

Suddenly, his Puzzle glowed.

&

Yami was stalking after Bakura through the darkness, hissing curses. Yami Bakura was doing much the same. Both could sense the hold on them decreasing.

"I doubt we can harm him still," Yami snapped.

"Won't stop me from trying," Bakura shot back. "And you promised to help."

"I will, but racing into this won't—"

They stepped out of the Shadow Realm together and into chaos. Temen-Ni-Gru and Dante were both shielding their eyes and cursing at the floodlights over them. The floodlights were coming from a familiar aircraft. "Kaiba?" Yami muttered, frowning.

At the same time, Temen-Ni-Gru cursed aloud.

Yami felt it too, and apparently, so did Bakura. Both looked at each other as they both glowed bright with energy, and then, quite suddenly, Yami was standing in his soul room.

Other me!

Aibou! Yami sent his relief in a torrent to his other self. I'm back.

Where were you?

Long story. Let me out, please; I have to see to the conclusion of this. I made a promise.

All right … Confused, Yuugi let Yami take control.

Yami felt relieved to be back in his aibou's body. He looked back to Bakura to see tomb robber looking back, his teeth bared. "Well, whaddaya know," he smirked.

"Apparently, our partners—"

"Landlords," Bakura corrected.

"—Have a prior claim," Yami finished.

"Goodie. All right, Pharaoh, let's fry this sucker."

The Shadow Realm shadowed the entire tower.

"Penalty Game!" "Soul Ripper!"

This time, they both got the satisfying sounds of Temen-Ni-Gru's tortured screams.

&

One week later

&

Seto was still denying anything at all had occurred.

Yuugi was wondering how long Seto could stay in denial. Yami didn't much care; he spent a lot of time resting and basking in the warm presence of his aibou. It was amazing, he mused, how much he had missed his other self.

Yami Bakura and Yami Yuugi hadn't gotten into a single fight all week, not even on the plane. Both were content to leave one another alone. Bakura was sure this was the calm before the storm, but he looked much happier anyway. Yuugi didn't question it.

Jonouchi was relieved to hear that after another climactic clash on the roof – this one apparently filmed – between two white-haired men wearing red and blue, the tower had collapsed and somehow left New York exactly the same as how it had started.

Anzu was disappointed they didn't get to stay so she could check out what she hoped to be her future home.

And in general, all was well …

As much as they could be.

Fin.