Absolute Betrayal (Part 2)

DIMENSION: MANGA (The One That Saves the Day)

"There must be a way to stop this magic. Stop these bubbles. Without bubbles, it would be over." That sure would be nice.

"These bubbles of magic. I don't think they are tests, or barriers to hold weaker magic. I think they are being used for organization," Kaiba explained. "If you want to take over the world, yet still have people exist in a comfortable manner, you can't just nuke it. They also keep saying only humanity. They aren't aiming for the wildlife, or any other creatures. Hmmm."

Shizuka felt the car turn. "How far will it be to get to a place that has the answers?"

"Far. Don't even think about it tonight," Kaiba answered as the car slowed down and came to a stop. "Out. All we got for clothes is what they gave us when we came through."

Shopping for clothes. This wasn't a moment she would treasure. Clothes were mixed up in sizes, and sorted by style. She needed the opposite of that. She picked up one and placed it against her, feeling out measurements. Too big. She tried another one. Not big enough. She kept feeling around until she found one that seemed like it might fit. The colors were . . . white and blue.

"Would you like to try that on?"

Shizuka heard a voice behind her. She had assumed someone else was shopping. "Direction of changing room?"

"I'm here to help. Come this way."

Shizuka followed her to the changing room. She told Shizuka she would be there when she got out. Shizuka put on the clothes. They felt like they fit. She placed her regular clothes back on and went back out. "Thank you. Could you please take me back to where I had been?"

"No need. We are done." Kaiba's voice as he snapped.

"Right away, Sir!" More than one woman in the department.

"You can figure out what you want later. For now, I've just bought everything in the woman's section that's within two sizes of the size you are holding now. You'll have it by morning. Go ahead and put that back on, so we can get going."

Uh. "Thank you." Did he really just do that? She got dressed and then followed his lead out the doors. Once they got into the parking lot, he grabbed her hand. He was getting very good at knowing when she wanted someone to help her, and not to help her. "You didn't have to do that."

"You didn't have to give up your chance to see again to get Mai Kujaku back only a few months early," he muttered.

///Shizuka: You didn't have to give up your winnings either./// Kaiba had wanted his prize too surely. He said it was for the Dark Magician Girl, who would help. But. Dark Magician Girl would be a baby girl. She would need to be much older. Was he looking toward the future and not just past the moment? "What do you think about the gods? Do you think they'll actually have them?" She felt the door handle. As soon as she did, he left and she got in.

"Don't know. If Yuugi squanders the chance to have a pair of gods that would have humans actually in their sights to help? It would be Yuugi." He started the car. "He'll give up the gods and the box because he's a chump. I already know it."

"It would be nice to have a real power help humanity get back on track from what's going on," Shizuka said. "He would want to be loyal to Anzu if she were his girlfriend though, and he wouldn't want to be with another woman. Only three hours."

"Even on the verge of extinction. Yuugi will be Yuugi. That's what this is too, unless I can figure out how we are supposed to win this," Kaiba said as he drove off.

---

In Front of The Game Shop

Jounouchi stayed behind the gold box that was between Yuugi and Atem. Anzu was on Yuugi's side, while Masika took a stand near Atem. The goddesses were nowhere in sight again.

"I don't know, Yuugi," Anzu warned him. "The winnings and the losings. I don't think there's a way out of this."

"Don't worry. We are getting it taken care of now," Yuugi assured her with a small hug.

"Anzu is right," Satiah said toward Atem. "I don't see this as being the way out."

"Sometimes the gods just need to test us, to see when no action is needed," Atem told her. "This must be the way out. It may result in nothing, but it gets you and Anzu out from under this deal you never asked for."

Set didn't show, and the three hours were almost up. Yuugi opened the box. In it was just a small area, barely big enough to hold a card. Which is all it held, a blank card, and a fancy pen. He picked it up and with the pen put the name 'No one' on it. He placed everything back in the box and closed it.

Mokuba and Bakura were clear on the other side. Seto Kaiba and Shizuka were nowhere in sight.

The box began to glow as Horakhty appeared again. "Is that your answer?"

"Yes," Yuugi spoke to her. "The answer is no one. Even though a god would be useful, my friends should never be hurt in the process. Friendship is the only thing helping to get through all these changes and losses. Anzu and I have a relationship, but even that doesn't mean I have a right to make her choose me. Besides, this would only hurt us, bringing another into our lives that shouldn't be there. I'm sorry. We can't accept this gift."

"Atem? You believe the same?" Horakhty said.

"Yes, I do," Atem confirmed. "Human's form attachments, and while some are not strong, others are strong as steel. Making another form an attachment by force is never the answer. To curb on another's right to be free, to not allow them to choose their own attachments, curbs on their humanity. The very thing we need to save."

"Then it is over. The future that would have been is no longer decided thanks to . . . rebellious goddess' plans. Let it come to pass, I grant Sekhmet and Bastet's wish for humanity's sake for the win. I hope you never come to regret your choice, Atem."

"Humanity is worth it all," Atem answered.

"I was speaking to both of you." Then, Horakhty disappeared.

"Gods with gods!" Sekhmet's voice filled the air along with the sounds of her running. "Spirits with spirits. Mortals with mortals. To create a god from a spirit and a man, it took so long. Something only millennium power and the afterlife mixing with the living world could conjure with your help Bastet. I say congrats were in order!" Sekhmet appeared in front of them, in her full form, bowing towards the front doors of the Game Shop. "It's the finest work I've ever seen you produce and I've seen some of your doozies."

"Thank you, Sekhmet." Bastet appeared in her full form in front of the doors, playing her sistrum. "What a glorious day has finally come!" She looked toward Yugi and Atem. "We are almost freed."

"Freed?" Yuugi asked. "The game hasn't started yet."

"No, we've been playing our own game for some time." She smiled at Anzu and Satiah. "They've had it all, encircling inside them like power, but until Horakhty approved, nothing would be created! Only Horakhty can create gods now! It feels like that fresh first bit of catnip, I can't believe we really did it. Our labor after thousands of years will now bear fruit. All that's left to do is to win."