The shrine beneath the palace.

Judai gritted his teeth when he realized just how unhelpful those directions were. After several long, grueling hours, he finally made it to the palace. If it wasn't for his spirit sense, he would have long since been lost in the dunes as the wind slashed away any traces of their tracks. Luckily, he had managed to find a horse or his trek could have taken days. Days that Yusei couldn't afford to wait. Sneaking past the armed contingent of guards had been the easy part, once he had cloaked himself in shadows.

But now that he was actually here, feeling his way around for secret passages that he had come to a standstill. Frustratingly, he had no idea where this shrine was actually hidden! He could still feel Yusei's presence but the signal was muddled. No doubt whatever protections that were in place were also interfering with his abilities. And every precious second that ticked by was a second closer to Yusei possibly getting hurt!

A muffled thump suddenly sounded from somewhere behind him and he jumped. Warily scanning the cellar he had been searching, Judai began to back up toward the exit but collided with a barrel. It wobbled unsteadily before tilting precariously on its side and crashing to the ground with a dull thud. Judai froze, hoping fervently that the noise had gone unnoticed.

"Oof," said the barrel.

Judai froze.

With another clatter, the lid was knocked askew and then a small figure, only about as tall as waist-level, struggled out of it and peered at him disapprovingly with familiar scarlet eyes. He was small and tanned and was decked out in an obscene amount of gold. Not to mention that hair! Eyes nearly popping from his head, Judai sank to his knees, unintentionally putting him at eye level with the apparition. "Yu… Yugi- san ?!"

The boy, who looked exactly like a tiny tanned replica of the future king of duellists cocked his head to the side, transfixing him in place with a glare. "Who are you? What are you doing in the palace?" he demanded sternly, placing his hands on his hips. The gesture looked slightly ill-fitting on him as if he were mimicking another.

Judai gulped and held up his hands in a hopefully universal gesture of surrender. "I was just… looking for something?" The tiny Yugi kept up his stare which suddenly made Judai feel horribly guilty for every possible misdeed he may have committed in his life.

"What are you looking for?" the boy pressed.

Judai immediately sobered up. There wasn't time to be distracted! "A friend," he replied. "I've lost a friend."

The boy abruptly dropped his glare, interest peaked. "How did you lose them? Are they hiding?"

"No…" Judai replied and could not prevent his eyes from darkening in front of the child. "Some bad guys took him away to some kind of hidden shrine. But I'm going to get him back!"

At the admission, the boy's red eyes slowly filled with concern. Then he beamed as a thought occurred to him. "There's a shrine here underneath the palace!" he exclaimed. "I don't know about any bad guys but that's where Father said for me to go to look for a high priest if I ever get into trouble when he's not around. Maybe they can help you find your friend?"

"Really?!" Judai couldn't believe his luck. His heart began to beat faster. "Can you show me where it is?"

The boy nodded with enthusiasm, appearing delighted to finally have a playmate. "Sure!" He grabbed Judai's hand with both of his much smaller ones and began to drag him down the hallway.

They hadn't gone more than twenty paces before they heard a series of thundering footsteps race down the hall accompanied by the shouts of the palace guards. Both boys blanched, but likely for different reasons. "This way," hissed the child, shoving them both into a darkened alcove and buried his distinctive looking hair into the older boy's jacket. Moments later, a battalion of men rounded the corner and raced down the emptied hall without sparing a glance in their direction. After waiting to ensure that there were no other stragglers, the two slowly edged out from their hiding place.

As the much smaller boy visibly sighed in relief, Judai glanced at him quizzically. "Are you running away from something too?"

The boy then made a face; the childish expression was surprisingly out of place compared to his earlier maturity. "Mahaado is looking for me," he said distractedly by way of explanation. Judai couldn't help but stifle a laugh to see the tiny Yugi actually act his age. He couldn't have been more than a toddler.

As soon as the coast was clear, the little boy snatched him up by the sleeve of his jacket and began to guide them through a series of twisted tunnels that had Judai doubting that he could have ever found his way out of by himself. Finally, they stopped at what looked to be a stretch of blank wall.

"Alright, it's through here," little Yugi decreed, absently smoothing back his tousled blonde bangs.

Judai blinked in confusion and nearly entertained the thought that he might have been pranked, but such thoughts were quickly stripped away when the tiny Yugi stuck his hand right through the wall.

"It's an illusion," the boy confided and retracted his hand, a rather familiar ring glittering on his finger. "It's secret, so don't tell anyone."

"I promise," said Judai. "I can't thank you enough, Yugi-…! Uh, I mean..."

The tiny Yugi stared up at him questioningly. "Who is Yugi?" he asked, sounding just the tiniest bit put out.

"Ah… it's just… someone I really respect and admire," Judai said quickly, cheeks flaming crimson.

"If you say so," the boy said doubtfully, tilting his head. "Good luck finding your friend. In any case, I have to get back to my hiding."

"Of course," said Judai. "Sorry to keep you."

Flashing him a beaming grin, the tanned boy scampered off. When he was halfway down the deserted corridor, he turned back. "I forgot to introduce myself," he called. "My name is Atem!" With that, he spun around, his tiny cloak swishing around his shoulders as he disappeared into the dark.

Judai stared after him for a moment, marveling at the strangeness of time travel. He almost called out to him again but caught himself at the last moment. Temporal paradoxes aside, the other Yugi had his own story to live. It wasn't up to Judai to interfere. He quickly shook off his thoughts and faced the barrier, taking a steadying breath as he slipped Khaldun's ring onto his finger.

"Just a little bit longer, Yusei!"

Or so he hoped.

I told you we should have gone left.

"Not now, Yubel." Judai gritted his teeth as he ducked down beneath another volley of arrows and dived across the floor. He had made it just in time as the wall slammed into the ground behind him, kicking up a cloud of dust and sand that made him cough.

Khaldun's ring had gotten him past the barrier but it did nothing for the countless traps and obstacles beyond it. Of course, nothing could ever be easy for him. Pitfalls with wicked looking spikes, invisible wires, mechanisms that activated all sorts of other death traps including this one with automatic crossbows.

The high priests must have had some other method into reaching the shrine, something that Khaldun had neglected to mention. Judai could still sense the faint undulations coming from Yusei's mark, but no matter how far he ventured into this labyrinth the signal was no clearer. Not even Yubel could tell him if he was getting closer or if he was only going around in circles.

Judai pulled himself up, glaring down at another corridor that was just as identical as the last, only the floor was covered in a set of large tiles arranged in a deliberate pattern. He groaned. No doubt the placement of the images must have some sort of hidden meaning that someone like Yugi or Yusei would no doubt decipher with one look.

"I don't suppose you have the answer?" he muttered, half-expecting a snide answer.

Please. Like I would be an expert in Ancient Egyptian pictionary.

"How do you even know what pictionary is?"

Cautiously, he edged himself across the tiles, toeing each one carefully. He made it halfway until he heard an ominous click. He flinched, throwing himself off the tile and bracing himself for more poison-tipped arrows or swinging axes. But nothing happened at first and Judai thought he was safe until a tremor rippled across the ground. Judai had one second to swear loudly before the entire floor fell away.

"I don't have time for this!" he yelled, reaching for his cards as more spikes glinted beneath him. "Come out, Neos!"

The hero dove down, snatching Judai into the safety of his arms before he could be impaled. He had been expecting curses or monster ambushes and these stupid mechanical traps were giving him far more trouble than they were worth. He was being led around in circles, never getting close enough to the steady pulse he could feel on the edge of his senses.

But he couldn't afford to waste any more time. Every misstep was another step closer to something awful happening to Yusei; something that he would rather die than allow.

If only these stupid walls weren't in the way.

Judai narrowed his eyes, this time drawing on Yubel's power and wreathing it around him like a cloak. "I summon Neo Spacian, Gran Mole! Gran Mole, make a path!"

Are you sure, Judai? You could bring these catacombs down on our heads.

Judai hesitated. Until the choice was taken out of his hands.

Yusei's signal was flickering.

Yusei awakened with a shiver to the sound of ominous chanting and found himself lying on a cold stone floor. He pushed himself into a sitting position, wincing when the movement jarred his still tender wounds. Yusei then allowed himself to sigh. He really was beginning to get sick of waking up in cells. He peeled open his tired lids but his eyesight was slow to catch up, only registering vague shapes and blurred lights for the first several moments.

Then a shriek cut through the fog in his head and he was suddenly wide awake.

His vision snapped into focus. A glance at his surroundings revealed that he had been dragged into a cage that was just tall enough for him to sit up in. His captors had divested him of his jacket and shoes, to his relief, neglected to take his deck, unaware of its significance. From his vantage point, he could see that he was not alone. All around him were cages of similar sizes, packed to the brim with filthy looking men, women, and children. Some were sobbing audibly but most were sitting slack against the bars, gazing at nothing. Yusei realized with some alarm that he recognized the figures as inhabitants of the bandit's village. He sucked in a death breath and only let it out when he did not see a familiar red jacket among them.

There was a large raised dais in the center of the room, surrounded by a circle of men in hooded robes. The hair on the back of Yusei's neck stood on end as the men continued to chant. They had been brought into something that reminded him unpleasantly of the ruins of the ancient temple where they conducted their battle with Godwin. But this place was like no other place of worship he had seen before. His stomach turned unpleasantly when he saw the figure suspended at the altar.

It was a man. His bloodless limbs were strung apart, bound with thick iron manacles and stretched to the limits. At first, Yusei thought he might have been dead until his mouth opened and an ear piercing scream broke out through the hall. Yusei flinched like he had been struck as he watched the man twist and wail like he was being wrung like a sponge, buckling uselessly against the chains. There was a shadowy substance dripping from the pores of his skin and pooling at his feet.

The cloaked men surrounded him with their arms raised in a mockery of a prayer. One of them stepped forward, throwing off his hood, revealing a sharp-featured face that would have been unremarkable if it were not for the gold eye glistening in his left socket.

"Now, let us behold the true form of your soul!" he thundered. His false eye glowed with unnatural light and the mist shuddered before a small white gelatinous blob with huge black eyes emerged from it, squirming and struggling as it was dragged into existence. The robed man struck the floor with the end of his staff and behind him, a large stone slab rose from the floor. Waves of energy rippled out from where the staff had struck. The creature shrieked and attempted to flee but, caught in the light's hold, it was sucked into the awaiting tablet. What was once blank canvas was now etched with a crude approximation of the creature's image.

The man lets out a final rasping breath before he slumps in his chains, his body eerily still. Aghast, Yusei strained to check for signs of life. He found none. His fellow prisoners watched the proceedings dispassionately, gazing out with glassy eyes.

"Hmph," said the man, eyeing the tablet as if it had done something to offend him. "Another small fry. But you. You are different from him, aren't you?"

With a start, Yusei realized the man was now addressing him.

"Ah, our guest is finally awake," the robed man, Akhenaden said.

Yusei shook with fury, digging little crescents into his palms. "So you're the mastermind behind all this."

"That is correct. But it will do you no good to know this now, outsider." With a pointed look from his leader, Heishin spun around to address the guards, gesturing to the corpse hanging from the rack.

"Get rid of this trash and start preparing for the ritual!" he bellowed.

"Yes, my lord!" chanted the men. One of them roughly cut the dead man loose and tossed his body onto an awaiting trolley, ready to be carted off.

They unlatched the cell and dragged Yusei out toward the now vacant altar. One of them gave his dark hair a vicious tug when he refused to cooperate but cringed back with a curse when Yusei rammed an elbow in his face. Eventually, they overpowered the wounded duelist, clapping cold iron manacles around his wrists and ankles and strung his limbs into place. Refusing to give his captors the satisfaction of seeing him beaten, Yusei continued to glare defiantly.

"Now, let us begin," said Akhenaden, pulling his hood back over his face and stepping back into the circle to resume the chanting. For the first several seconds, nothing happened. Then, Yusei took a sharp intake of air as something seized his insides with in a vice grip and twisted. With a clank of the chains, Yusei threw his head back and clenched his teeth as the spell took hold.

"You're sick," Yusei forced out amid pained gasps. "Are you planning to sacrifice all these people for your twisted ambitions?!"

Gazing at him coolly, Akhenaden spoke up. "Don't misunderstand me," he said. "I derive no pleasure from these rituals. The man you saw before was a vile criminal who lied and murdered and cheated. And you are no exception, to be found in that pit of human filth. Everything I do is to serve the pharaoh. I will dye myself in blood and darkness so he may continue to the guiding light that Egypt needs him to be. And if that means disposing of few pieces of trash, then so be it!"

Yusei snarled, pulling against the rattling chains. "Who are you to decide what these people are worth?! There is no one that is unnecessary! You've orphaned children and tore apart families. And for what? What gave you the right? "

"I am the High Priest, brother to the Pharaoh!" Akhenaden thundered, ramming his staff against the stone and unleashing another ripple of magic that slammed into Yusei with crushing force. "Everything we do, we do for Him and the good of Egypt! Judging sinners is my duty."

"This isn't justice... This is just murder! You think you can build a utopia on top of sacrifices? You're not the first tyrant to try. But I know how it ends. Your kingdom will crumble."

Finally losing patience, the high priest snarled. "That's enough out of you, scum! Now, let us see what is hiding in your soul!" Like the slam of a gavel, Akhenaden brought down his staff once again. Rising from the ground was another stone tablet, blank and pale like an unmarked grave.

The chanting crescendoed and all of Yusei's senses were replaced with pain. His insides burned as if the blood in his veins were boiling him from inside out as something inside him was slowly being torn from him. Yusei's body began to glow and white threads of light poured out from his eyes and mouth and were slowly being drawn into the tablet by the ancient ritual.

Then, an entirely different pulse of pain shot down his right arm as his Signer mark began to burn. The priests watched in shock when the light suddenly flashed crimson and the connection snapped, creating a massive shockwave which sent the men flying from the platform.

The glowing residue from the ritual faded and in its place emerged a great dragon, shining with the light of a thousand stars. It let out a piercing cry that made the shrine walls tremble and the men's knees lock in fright.

"A white dragon god…" Akhenaden mumbled from where he had fallen, slack-jawed with disbelief. Without him noticing, his staff had slid from his trembling fingers hit the stone floor with a loud clatter. He cringed back involuntarily when the dragon growled and lifted its massive claws, but it brought them down towards the chained Yusei with a surprising tenderness and shattered the stone pillars anchoring his bindings. Yusei fell to the ground, wincing as the manacles bit into his skin, and looked up at his saviour with stunned eyes.

"Stardust... Dragon."