Well, I felt like I owed this to you guys. I actually had it done a while ago (SOWWY SOWWY) but I never got around to updating. Blame the Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean, they distracted me.

*ahem* Well, anyway, things get a little intense in the first half of this chappie, and then... we get some comedic relief from Panya and Jen. Really, what WOULD we do with Panya's potty mouth? Lol! Arabic translations at the bottom.

Also... I recommend the website Cracked. If you know it, good for you. If not, check it out... but be warned, some of the articles make it so you NEVER WANT TO SLEEP AGAIN. :D

Hope you all likee!

A man was dragging a young child down a stone-cobbled hallway. The child had sandy hair, was dressed simply, and couldn't have been more than ten. The man was dressed the same way, and his face was not very visible.

"But I don't want it!" the boy was shouting. Tears were rolling from his blue-violet eyes down his cheeks to stain the ground. "I don't want to do this, Father! Please! Please don't make me!"

They went past a young man who was standing against the wall, with a rather shameful look on his face. His eyes were pointed down, avoiding both the man's and the boy's gaze as they passed.

The younger boy reached back to the older, as another man in the modest robes came to take his other arm. "Odion, please!" he cried, but the older boy was apparently under orders not to do anything. "Don't let them do it! Help me!"

There was no answer, and then the man dragged the boy into a room before placing him atop a stone slab. He was on his stomach, and the robe was yanked down so that he was bare from the waist up. And still screaming. "Father, please, stop it!" he begged, but to no avail.

The older man picked up a knife and ran it through the flame of a candle. "It is time for the Tomb Keepers' initiation, Marik." His voice was grave, serious... emotionless. "It shall be passed to you now." He brought the knife down.

Jennifer cried out herself, before anything else, leaping from her chair and running to the corner of the room. "No, no, oh God, no!"

"I got her, Miss Ishtar." Panya walked over and took her coworker by the arm. "I know it's awful, helwa. I know, I have seen it before. But it is almost over. Come on now, come back over here."

As if she had a choice. Panya began to drag Jennifer back over, but even as she did the teenager was fighting against the Egyptian's strength. "No, no, come on, I can't take it! I can't!" she was screaming, a few tears streaming down her face.

"Yes, you can, helwa." Panya gently pushed Jennifer down in her chair, carefully holding around her waist. "Stay still, watch, it'll be over very soon and then we just talk. Promise."

Jennifer stopped struggling and tried to pay attention, but it was too late to spare her fragile, delicate psyche. The knife had already pierced the young boy's skin in the flashback, and she found she couldn't tear her eyes away as intricate hieroglyphics were carved into the child's back. He was shrieking, wailing, and sobbing through the entire thing, and who wouldn't be?

As soon as it was over and the vision had been drawn back into Ishizu's necklace, Jennifer was trying not to break down crying as Panya let go of her waist. "God! What the hell was that for? Are you trying to traumatize me or something?"

"Of course not." Finally Ishizu stood up from her desk, and walked over to the teen, gesturing at Panya to sit down. Ishizu put a hand on Jennifer's shoulder and leaned down a bit. "Now, you see how my brother got the way he is. Those hieroglyphics are handed down to the eldest boy in each generation, crafted into his back by his father."

Jennifer's eye twitched as she glanced up. "Honestly, your family's got some pretty fucked-up traditions, Ishizu, if you don't mind my saying. No offense or anything, but seriously. He was only ten?"

"Yes. And soon after that, he left with our older brother Odion... taking the Millennium Rod with him." She slipped her hand off. "I have seen that now, he is in a place called Domino City."

"And that is... where?"

"Japan, helwa," Panya answered, crossing her legs. "It's where that bratty, egotistical ruler of KaibaCorp. reigns over the newest dueling technology. For Hathor's sake, the boy's eighteen and acts like he's thirty. At least."

Jennifer blinked, jutting forward in her chair. "You mean Seto Kaiba? I hear about him on the news all the time, but I'm usually too distracted to remember where the broadcast is coming from."

"Japan," Panya repeated, clicking her heels on the floor.

Jennifer looked back up at Ishizu. "So, like... what do you want me to do? If you're afraid to drag his butt back here and ground him, what are you hoping I can do? I'm pathetic."

"You are also his age." Ishizu sat down again. "I cannot think of anything else that might work to halt his plans. You are sixteen, Jennifer - perhaps you can get through to him. He does not like people who are significantly older than him, especially if they try to tell him what to do... the only person over eighteen he truly respects is Odion."

"In other words," Panya exclaimed, jumping up and taking Jennifer's hand in hers, "time to start packing! You're headed to the Battle City Finals!"

"The Battle City... wha?" Jennifer got the distinct impression she looked like a dying fish, with her mouth hanging open like that.

"King Kaiba's latest tournament," Panya replied cheerfully. "While you're there, be sure to get in several cutting remarks! Do some serious damage to his ego. Oh, and mentioning that Panya Gupta still thinks he is an arrogant kalet would be nice too. They always say, Jenny, hell doesn't have anything on a woman spurned. Or is it scorned? Ah, I forget."

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "What does kalet mean?"

"'Filthy street bastard'."

"... Panya..."

"What?! The last time I saw him, he was still busy and had no time for me right now. He deserves to be called a filthy street bastard. His brother's cute though."

Jennifer looked back up at Ishizu, pointing to Panya. "Are we sure it's safe to have a bipolar in the tombs off her meds?"

"I am not bipolar!"

"In any case," Ishizu spoke up, diffusing the nonsense, "I would like you to leave as soon as possible. When do you think you would be sufficiently prepared to travel?"

"Uh, well..." Jennifer shrugged. "I guess give me tonight to pack, and... I can be on a plane by tomorrow. But, Ishizu, I don't have money to-"

"I will take care of it." Ishizu reached into a drawer. "If it works, it will be worth it." At last, after a moment of riffling about, she procured a chain with an attached Wadjet's eye, far more elaborately detailed than the one on her own Necklace. "Take this with you, Jennifer," she added, reaching across the table and resting the pendant in the teen's palm. "Hopefully this will protect you somewhat against the Rod's powers. I give no guarantees, but the charm is said to ward off evil."

Jennifer looked at it for a minute, running her fingers over the dazzling blue and gold. "Now I know why Alim's always wearing one when Panya's around."

"Kaddaab!" Panya shouted.

Jennifer blinked at Panya. "Did you just call me a liar? Seriously?"

"And I don't regret it!"

"Panya, please," Ishizu sighed. "Was that really necessary? You do not have any need to say things like that."

"Wait, she did only just call me a liar, right?"

"Yeah," Panya huffed. "But in Arabic, that's one of the worst insults. If someone called me a liar, he'd be wondering whether to visit a podiatrist or a proctologist to get my foot removed from his ass!"

"Will you do this for me, Jennifer?" Ishizu interrupted, before Panya could work up the nerve to call the teen a crazy loon. "Can I trust you to help my brother see the light?"

Jennifer looked down at the necklace in her hand, then nodded. "Yes, Miss Ishtar. I'll do my best."

"I know you will make the right decisions, for those decisions may save our world." She stood up and bowed her head toward Jennifer. "You have my utmost gratitude. If there is anything you need while you are in Japan, all you must do is contact me."

"Okay." Jennifer stood up too, carefully clasping the chain around her neck and heading to the door. "I... I guess I'll go pack and call my parents."

Ishizu nodded. "Yes, that would be wise. Meet me here tomorrow morning at eight, and I will see you off."

"And you can also tell Seto moxxu gazma!" Panya yelled after her.

Jennifer looked back, confused. "And that means...?"

"It means his mind is as low and dirty as a shoe!"

"As a shoe?"

"And also maluuš zobr!"

"What's that mean?"

"It means he's a frigging woman, for Allah's sake! Study your Arabic for once!"

"Is that really what it means, Ishizu?"

"In far coarser language, yes."

Jennifer shook her head. "I'm gonna walk away now. See you tomorrow."

Once Jennifer had left, Panya snickered as Ishizu sat back down at her desk, prompting the older girl to silently ask what was so funny. "I can't believe it," Panya laughed. "You didn't tell her! You didn't tell her about - oh Allah, I can't believe you didn't tell her!"

"Well, you should believe it." Ishizu smiled slightly as she reached into a desk drawer. "I still haven't gotten around to telling you that you may get to say your insults to Seto Kaiba's face." She then blinked innocently. "Oh my... did I say that out loud?"

Panya stood there for a moment, face red and mouth open, then turned and stalked out of the office. Once the door was closed, Ishizu clearly heard the woman kick the wall several times while yelling "BeiDan, beiDan! Axra min kida mafiiš!"

Ahahaha, Panya. Clearly she's got some unfinished busy-ness with Kaiba, and I'm quickly growing very attached to her and her mouth. Uh, er, anyway, Arabic translations... (I got these from an Egyptian/Arabic insult and curse site, so forgive me if they're wrong. Also, keep in mind... do not EVER say these words in polite conversation in any Arabic country. XD lol)

kalet = lol, it does indeed mean filthy street bastard (I don't know WHY I find this phrase so funny, but I do)

kaddaab = liar (yep, one of the worst things you can call someone in Arabic, but thankfully not THE worst... the worst is super awful and I'd never use it in real life OR in a story)

moxxu gazma = your mind is as low and dirty as a shoe (but... but SHOES ARE FUN! I LOVE SHOES! Oh well, I can roll with the punches. I think if Panya ever sees Kaiba again, the first thing she'll do is take off her shoe and throw it at his head! Wouldn't that be fun? It's an insult, but it doubles as funny!)

maluuš zobr = this literally means He has no dick. (Oh Panya... clearly you would know, wouldn't you? *waggles eyebrows*)

beiDan = crude word for testicles, so probably equivalent to saying balls (fffff, just the image of Panya kicking the wall while shouting this over and over...)

Axra min kida mafiiš = There's nothing shittier than this (haha... just... just haha...)

Thanks for reading, kiddies! ^^