Not Against Horakhty (Part 1)

DIMENSION: MANGA (The One That Saves the Day)

*I am trying to pair the dimensions writing against each other's dilemmas/consequences instead of the flow of time, so if the flow of time doesn't feel like it makes sense between chapters, that is why. I will also write out a small summary eventually of the important events that have happened in each dimension, so they can stay straighter in the reader's mind too.*

Anzu Soul Room

Satiah twirled lightly in their soul room. The sands ran through her toes as well as the soft papers of Anzu's dreams. Years of wishes and hopes that she kept telling herself that had gathered on the floor. Satiah loved games, it was Egypt's funnest past time. If only she could play Sennet. Dancing, music and the arts. They were all wonderful in her time, but in Anzu's time? There was so much more to it all.

The soul room was changing again. Part of it still had relics of her first experiences in New York, but now the counter of the Game Shop was there too. Was Anzu's dreams changing, or were her current desires to be with her friends strong enough to invade her soul room?

Yuugi was still a viable husband, he clearly had more money than he was visually liking to display. However, he wasn't a fighter, and he brought Anzu back to Japan instead of staying in America and finding a way to help.

Now, Ryou Bakura, from the get-go she could see he was a man of means, yet so gentle too. If Anzu stayed friendly with him but dialed it up a few notches, perhaps she could attract his attention? Either way, she could feel the happiness radiating from Anzu. Perhaps she would even choose a different path, to restart again with the help of no man. No matter what she chose, as long as Anzu felt happy. She felt happy.

More wishes were starting to fall from the ceiling. If Anzu would express what she wanted again, maybe they wouldn't be falling. She looked at it and started to feel happiness turn into anxiety. What was wrong? "Anzu, are you okay?"

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Bakura's House

"Grab Anzu and head back home now," Jounouchi commanded. "Honda saw something around their place and Shizuka is shook, she won't say anything. You better keep yourselves tight behind your security. Keep my number handy. I'm going to go see my sister."

"Yeah, you can do that," Kaiba said to him. "She can't."

Jounouchi looked in deeper and noticed Kaiba. "You making a rude joke about my sister?"

"I was just there on business," Kaiba admitted. "She's blind as a bat, and Honda isn't spilling that over the phone. Also, there were people shooting up the place."

"What? No." Jounouchi touched his forehead, lost. "No, it can't be. I took care of her a long time ago, those eyes were great."

How in the world did Kaiba know about any of that, and what was he doing at Honda's place?

"Bakura, we have to go," Anzu interrupted. "I'm sorry this was in the middle of the meal, but we shouldn't involve you in this."

"I accepted the invitation, knowing people might be following you," Ryou Bakura answered. "I don't turn my back when things get tough. I can't."

"The Game Shop has the latest in security, guaranteed to be the best by Mokuba Kaiba himself," Yuugi said to Bakura. "It's best if we go. Jounouchi?"

"Soon, Yuugi. Trouble doesn't follow forever," he said. "I got to get to Shizuka. No, I gotta get to Mai. Damn it. Honda better stay put with her, I have to go to Mai."

"Mai Kujaku?" Seto Kaiba asked incredulously. "You're kidding. You're putting her over your sister going blind? What, is she pregnant?"

"Why does everyone have to give a damn guess all the time!" Jounouchi exploded at him. "It's none of your business."

"Yep, she's pregnant," Seto Kaiba said. "She was in her twenties when you were still in school. Good job, Jounouchi, just what I expect from a loser like you."

"To the car, Anzu, come on." Yuugi wasn't sticking around any longer. Jounouchi would be heading after Mai to make sure she was okay. "Thanks, Bakura, I'll call you back to reschedule something out." His first action was to get Anzu to safety.

As they moved toward his car though, Yuugi looked back. Seto Kaiba was following them? Maybe he parked over there too. Yuugi got into the car along with Anzu. He watched Seto Kaiba strut right over and get into the back seat. ///Yuugi: Are you kidding me?/// "Kaiba, what are you doing in here?"

"We still need to talk. This information I have is really out of date," Seto Kaiba said. "What the hell kind of trouble are you all in? It's not that simple if you've got the latest security that Mokuba guaranteed."

Yuugi started the car and drove off. He didn't have time to argue and he did want to know how Kaiba knew about Satiah. "Fine, come. We'll talk when we get there."

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Game Shop

Kaiba stepped into the Kame Game Shop. Same useless place. He watched Yuugi and Anzu head up the stairs into the living area. Latest security with a double set system. He followed them up the stairs as Yuugi unlocked the door.

A cat popped out. Anzu picked it up while Yuugi closed the door behind them, setting another security system to be activated. Whatever he was guarding, Yuugi must have felt it was worth his life. "You keep your rare cards up here, don't you?"

Yuugi didn't answer at first. "No, they aren't kept anywhere near here."

"Why 'cause your grandpa died because of them?" Kaiba poked. Heh. He saw a spark of anger in him. ///Seto: Alright, quit poking. You've got a job to do. If you don't do this, then you aren't ever getting Pharaoh to where he belongs. You'll never get him beat. You'll never be able to focus on the business and create your own future plans with Mokuba for Kaiba Corp./// He'd be cooperative. "Nice place."

"Shut it." Yeah, he probably pushed Yuugi a little too far. "What do you want, Kaiba?"

"Pictures. Information. It'd be nice to know why they were shooting up Shizuka's place." Kaiba looked around the place. He'd never been on the living level. Quaint. Why was Yuugi living back in that little place? He knew Yuugi moved to get bigger areas for his visual games he was working on. Kaiba Corp had those details. ///Seto: A high tech system that is overkill for this small area. Living in this tiny area instead of his home. Anzu Mazaki being in Japan again. The Game Shop open./// "Yeah, it's not rare cards your guarding."

It was Anzu Mazaki. Even Kaiba could see that dumb crush all those years ago. Kaiba looked at the hall he was in. Yep, Yuugi had current pictures of him and Anzu. Plus that cat. He picked up one of the frames and pocketed it. They weren't paying attention, more focused on their own little worlds. What else? Yep. A picture of Bakura and Yuugi, it looked fairly recent. "What's Bakura compensating for? He's way too strong for just playing games."

"Bakura learned to fight and get strong physically," Yuugi told him as his eyes were checking on his phone. "When he thought the spirit's reign was over, it still wasn't over, and he was tired of living in fear. If anyone dealt with him, he wanted to be able to stop them. Like Jounouchi and Honda took care of themselves."

///Seto: Well from seeing him cut up in Battle City while on his knees in front of a god card, I could see it. He wants to be stronger./// Kaiba took the smallest Bakura frame too. "Fantastic information. I guess that covers everything. Oh no, wait. How about? Why the extra security like this place is housing nothing but gold bars, Yuugi. Who's after Anzu? Mai Kujaku? Jounouchi's sister? Basically, any female Jounouchi likes, and why just them?"

Yuugi looked toward Anzu, almost like he wanted permission to talk about it. She didn't want to grant it though.

She shook her head and said it herself. "Jounouchi got involved in a fight with someone named Skeezy in a tournament."

Sounded typical of him.

"He did it to help someone else keep evidence of what Skeezy was involved in." Yeah, she was uncomfortable. "They had pictures and audio discussing human trafficking."

Oooohh . . . "Jounouchi is a fucking idiot. So let me guess? Jounouchi nailed him, but he's got allies."

"Partly," Anzu answered. "He's turning over on a lot of them."

"It's getting closer to being over," Yuugi said, taking over. "Until today, no one officially made a move."

"Well, that's because they're just watching. They don't want to be caught. They won't risk getting caught," Kaiba said. "They aimed because Jounouchi's sister was alone. The good news is, I had Mokuba hack into the security system to get an ID on the guy. Lowlives usually hang with the same kind of lowlives. This one wasn't one of those."

"So you think they weren't part of Skeezy's group?" Yuugi asked.

"Not unless Skeezy had those all too familiar Egyptian connections," he warned them. "This guy wasn't even professional. Sloppy."

" . . . Egyptian?" Yuugi asked. "That doesn't quite fit the bill of what to expect."

"There's a different connection I bet," Kaiba said. "Considering how Egyptian things tended to get in the way in the past, it's probably a whole different setup." He smirked. "Anzu should be fine to return home soon, once Jounouchi pieces up the truth." ///Seto: I doubt very much someone like that is connected to their current problem. This whole trafficking is a smoke screen to something greater.///

"Jounouchi will know when it's safe again," Yuugi answered. "Why are you stealing those pictures of me, Anzu and Bakura?"

"Don't forget the cat. What's its name?" Kaiba looked at it's collar. "Destiny."

"Why are you taking my pictures and putting them in your pocket?" Yuugi was outright facing him now. It was cute. Yuugi was putting on a brave face but Yuugi's heart was way too kind, especially for what was going on.

Yuugi would get in the way and do everything he could, but Yuugi would get killed or worse. If anything happened, he was going to get reamed. "I'm studying some people. Take more pictures. Buy more frames. I'm going now." He had the information Pharoah wanted. Probably not what he was going to like to hear, but? Maybe it would get his Pharaoh ass back to where it belongs.

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Afterlife

Atem watched as Seto Kaiba came back. He didn't bring out his duel disk this time. Darn.

"Down there? It's a regular soap opera of shit. I guess that never changes with them," Kaiba said. He moved to the floor and opened a briefcase he brought with him. He handed Atem two framed pictures and one bare picture.

Atem looked at the bare one and smiled. Jounouchi. Just as tall, almost the same. Happy with Honda. It didn't even look like time went by that much with them. He looked at one of the picture frames. Wow. "Yuugi?"

"Yep. It's downright creepy. He aged like you did. Although, the surprise should be opposite," Seto Kaiba said. "One expects the living to keep aging, not the dead." Atem didn't answer to that. "He's still far from the authority he needs to be."

And that was okay. Yuugi was Yuugi. "Bakura." Ryou Bakura looked almost exactly the same as the Bandit King in his memories. Except, friendly. "If I didn't know it was Yuugi and Ryou Bakura, I'd set it on fire." Bakura stayed a friend with Yuugi. "What does he do? He's quite fit for playing role player games."

"Yuugi said having some evil spirit possess him made him toughen up physically," Kaiba answered. "Traumatized to exercise."

///Atem: Yes. If that spirit comes back to him. He would suffer./// Bakura would practically be a victim of the decision more than anyone else. A big strike against doing it. A wonderful friend to Yuugi, who even put himself on the line when they first played Monster World. His life was almost extinguished.

All of that terror, it wouldn't be right to bring it back. Atem looked at the last frame. "Anzu is still taller, but not quite as much. There's a cat?"

"Destiny," Kaiba said. "Looks like Anzu brought it with her from America. She's in Japan now, working at the Game Shop with Yuugi."

Oh? Surprising. "Why?"

"Probably has something to do with the fact she's fucked if she doesn't."

Atem glared at him. There was no need for that language with his friends. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, is picture time over? Is it information time now?" Kaiba said. "Because the information is way more interesting than the pics." He bent down to his briefcase again and pulled out papers. "Have fun."

Atem took the paper and started to read. "Jounouchi is going to be fathering Mai Kujaku's child." Different. "Shizuka is going blind? Oh no. Jounouchi must be devastated. Honda wants to propose to her and Jounouchi is making him duel him for the honor?" What has been going on with them? Then. He read the last one.

Atem's eyes slowly rolled up to meet Kaiba's. "That is dangerous."

"Sure as hell is." So?

Atem shook his head. "I have trusted Yuugi with our very lives before, more than once, and Jounouchi is handling it too. The culprits are temporary. I trust Yuugi to handle it."

What? "Do you get the fact that if any of them get captured, they are as good as dead? The guys death'll be quick and the women would probably be looking forward to a life of sexual slavery before their untimely end. You're leaving them in trouble. You know? Your friends? Remember that whole 'I'll be there for my friends' crap you used to constantly spew?"

It was not a strong enough excuse to break everything. "This said there is an Egyptian connection. That means it might not be what it seems to be. Whether it is or isn't, I trust in Yuugi and Jounouchi. I trust in Honda. I trust in Anzu. They will be okay."

"So you are up and abandoning your friends? Nice job, Pharaoh."

"This isn't enough, Kaiba. Not against Horakhty. If Horakhty says it's not recommended, I can't just run into the problem."

" . . . ah, fuck." Seto wasn't pleased. "This isn't over." He took his briefcase back. "Not by a long shot. I know you belong down there. Yugi's grandpa knows that you belong down there. Everyone knows that you belong down there, and next time I come, I'll have enough to make your ass realize it too!"

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