Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Lethally Hot ❯ Unlock the Second Memory ( Chapter 7 )

//…// is Yami to Yugi (if he can do it); /…/ is Yugi to Yami; <<…>> is Bakura to Ryou; and <…> is Ryou to Bakura. Quotes will be italicized.

Disclaimer: Toboe LoneWolf doesn't own YGO, Ebola (although one can wish) or the works cited:
Peters, C.J. and Mark Olshaker. Virus Hunter: thirty years of battling hot viruses around the world. New York: Doublesday, 1997.
Preston, Richard. The Hot Zone. New York: Anchor Books, 1994.
Woods, Michael and Mary B. Woods. Ancient Medicine: From Sorcery to Surgery. Ancient Technology. Menneapolia, MN: Runestone Press, 2000.
…or any other snippit of stuff I quote from.

Chapter Seven: Unlock the Second Memory

Back in the depths of Yami’s soul room, Yugi gasped out in pain and clasped his arm.

Tea saw Yugi wince. "Yugi! Are you okay!"

Yugi opened his eye and looked underneath his hand to see just his regular black shirt. No darkened red splotch underneath, no rips, nothing. "It’s okay, I’m fine. It’s over now. I just felt this sharp pain in my arm."

He rolled up his sleeve to make sure. Nope -- nothing. Wait a sec, there’s a tiny red dot on his arm that wasn’t there before…eh, he was getting paranoid. Yugi pulled down his sleeve again.

"Yeah, it was nothing." Yugi’s eyes widened. "But something must have happened to Yami."

"What happened?" Joey inquired.

Yugi shook his head. "I don’t know. I’ll ask him." His eyes went blank for a second.

/Yami?/

A vague feeling of bonding and assent.

/Are you okay?/

Again, not exactly words, but a feeling of pain that was quickly shunted aside.

Yugi shook his head again. "I can’t get in touch with him. He’s kinda out of it." Yugi shrugged. "Must be all of the pain-killers or something."

"Yeah, well, we’d better start looking for those other memory-doors before he really is outta it." Joey jabbed a thumb at a nearby door.

And so the search began.

The group wandered around, peeking around double hallways, corners, and other odd passageways. Some craned their necks upward to look at the doorways that were in the ceiling and others looked at doors in the brick floor. As they moved deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, the surroundings became increasingly morbid and dark, with strange etchings and more bricks strewn across their path. And yet, however deeper they strove into the pits of Yami’s soul, they could not find another door that would show them the way.

"ARRRGG!!! Why can’t we find the dang door?!?" Joey yelled into the darkness.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Oh, is the little kiddie tired? Maybe he should take a nap."

Joey glared. "I wasn’t talking to you."

"And so who were you talking to? Your imaginary friend?"

"Stop it, Kaiba." Joey warned.

"Why should I?" Kaiba grinned. "It’s quite fun to make you act like a mad dog."

"THAT’S IT!" Joey stalked over at Kaiba. The rubble beneath his feet shook.

"ENOUGH!"

Every head turned towards Shadi, who had yelled. His arms were spread out wide and the Ankh in the center of his chest was glowing. Everyone’s eyes widened as they saw angry justice in Shadi’s blue-green eyes.

"I have had enough of your squabbling. We cannot go on with you two arguing and bickering like little monkeys over the Nile River. This will end once and for all, and you two will learn to at least accept each other, or else you will fall together."

Shadi brought his hands together. Blue swirls of magic surrounded them all, and the roar of the crashing sea echoed in their ears. Then he uttered those famous four words.

"Let’s play a game."

* * * * *

They were no longer in the labyrinth of Yami’s soul room. Instead, they were in a half-world, swirling with light and darkness. Joey and Kaiba were stuck on a tiny little island surrounded by clear water. On the other side, about fifteen meters away, the rest of the gang stood in relative safety. Joey and Kaiba were trying hard not to fall into the depths.

"What the heck, Shadi? What are you doing?" Joey waved his arms as he tilted precariously close to the edge. One arm almost swiped Kaiba’s face.

Kaiba ducked. "Watch it, Wheeler."

"Watch it yourself! I’m gonna fall!"

"Good riddance."

Shadi called out to them. "You two must forget your differences for the time being, and if you two will not cooperate, I shall have to…coerce you." Shadi folded his hands. "The game is simple. Both of you must cross together to the other side."

"That’s it?" Joey asked incredulously.

"That is all."

Joey looked dubiously at the water. He could clearly the ground underneath the running water. It seemed just too easy. In his experience with games dealing with Millenium Items, things were never easy.

Kaiba snorted. "This is pathetic." He put one foot into the water. It barely came halfway up his boot. Kaiba looked back at Joey, who was still staring at the water. "Seems like I’ll be leaving you behind." He then took another step.

Kaiba was now two steps from the rock island. Kaiba thought that this was just a joke. How hard could it be to walk about thirty measly steps across some dinky water? With Joey still staring at Kaiba’s feet, Kaiba took another step.

It was the third step that did him in.

The ground seemed to collapse beneath his feet. Kaiba slipped and fell into abruptly deep water, rising up to meet with his chin. Kaiba sank beneath the waves that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The water became dark and murky, and Kaiba flailed around, trying to catch his footing that was no longer there.

Joey never thought about his actions. (Except when he was dueling. Then he thought a little bit more.) In a split second, Joey dove into the ice-cold water. "Hold on, Kaiba!" He grabbed one of Kaiba’s arms and hauled him up towards the surface. Joey turned around to drag them both back towards the island, but now for some reason it was a mere pinprick in the distance.

They were in deep water now.

"What the—" Joey asked in disbelief.

"You will find the distance as long or as short as your trust for each other, and the water will be as deep or as shallow as your faith is." Shadi called over the increasing distance.

Yugi looked up fearfully into Shadi’s eyes. "Shadi, is this a shadow game?"

Shadi smiled wryly. "No, Chosen One, this is not the dark Shadow Realm. This is simply a half-realm, neither light nor darkness. Daring peasants in Egypt often played games here; it was more entertaining than playing in our realm but slightly safer than the Shadow Realm."

Yugi muttered underneath his breath, "It’s the ‘slightly’ that worries me…"

Kaiba shoved Joey’s hands away. "I don’t need your help, Wheeler. I can do just fine on my own."

Joey gladly let go. "All right then. I was just making sure you weren’t going to drown or something, but if you’re going to be Kaiba, then fine by me."

Unfortunately, the waters around them had other ideas. The waters rose and turned dark and threatening, becoming violent and angry. It frothed and bubbled, tugging at their clothes and making Joey and Kaiba struggle to keep afloat. Thunder rumbled in the strange sky.

"Will you join together?" Shadi called out over the distance.

Then the sea around them began to swirl and circle, slowly becoming a dangerous whirlpool. It took Kaiba and Joey, trapping them in its vortex. Around and around the two stubborn guys went, both resolutely silent. Kaiba tried to pull himself out of the spiral of water, but to no avail. Joey also tried to tug himself free, but he didn’t do any better. Their limbs became heavy, numb and unresponsive to the frigid water rushing around them.

Kaiba, being Kaiba, was wearing his typical business outfit of heavy purple trench coat and leather boots. This is not conductive to swimming.

Joey, being Joey, was wearing his typical blue-white shirt, jeans, and gym shoes. This is a little bit better if one has fallen into deep water, but still not entirely a good choice of clothing for swimming in. (Not that either of them had woken up in the morning thinking of clothes to wear if one was drowning.)

This being the case, both of them were beginning to sink.

"Or will I have to leave you here, trapped within?" Shadi said again.

The waters were increasingly more violent and turbulent, and they had to struggle to simply keep their heads above the water.

"That’s it." Joey stated flatly. It was strange that they could even talk through water, but such is the nature of magic. "We’re never going to make it like this." He treaded water and spoke flatly at Kaiba. "Just for this one time, can’t we just work together?"

Kaiba stopped in mid-paddle. "Like I said before—"

But before Kaiba could finish his sentence, a colossal wave swept past them and bowled Joey over. Off balance, Joey was knocked underneath the water and began to sink. But before Joey lost all sense of what was up and what was down beneath the murky waters, Kaiba grabbed Joey’s arm and dragged him back up to the surface.

With Joey’s face barely above the water and Kaiba’s dangerously close to it, Kaiba spoke the words of a temporary cease-fire to Joey -- enough to make that crazy Shadi-person happy, and nothing more.

"I am sick and tired of you and your immaturity. However, I am also sick and tired of this water fiasco. So just for the duration of this crazy mind-trip, I propose that you shut up and therefore I will not comment about whatever thick remark you said. Deal?"

"A truce, huh? As long as you don’t call me a dog, I’ll deal with that."

Kaiba grimaced. Those dog jokes were kinda amusing, but…"For the remainder of this little save-Yugi thing, I will not say that you are a worthless dog."

And strangely enough, the two guys believed each other. Oh, they were still rivals, but they also knew that the other would uphold his side of the treaty, but only that -- nothing beyond the line they had drawn. It was a strange kind of respect they now had for each other -- a hate-love kind of respect -- a kind of bond and trust that most common duelists had between each other.

As best as they could in a body of water, they shook hands on it. As soon as they clasped hands, the waters receded and the whirlpool collapsed, plopping Kaiba and Joey down unceremoniously onto the ground; their clothes somehow dry. They were now no more than a single step away from the shore.

Joey looked down. "Man, we were this close to the shore?"

At this, Shadi nodded. "I will hold you to your agreement." The Ankh shined again, and the strange half-world they were in disappeared.

* * * * *

They suddenly returned into Yami’s soulroom, with Kaiba and Joey both standing back to back and determinedly not looking at each other.

"What just happened?" Tristan burst out. First they were here, and then they were there, with some funky water show, and then Joey and Kaiba did something weird that they couldn’t hear except for Shadi, and then they were back here again…

Shadi shrugged. "Nothing of great importance. We will not be bothered with their quarreling now. They agreed to it."

Everyone looked at the two unbelievingly. Those two, agreeing to something? That was new.

"So now we may continue with our search."

Tea sighed. "Yeah, but how? We’re getting nowhere just by wandering around. If we could just have something to lead us somewhere…"

"That’s it!" Yugi exclaimed.

Everyone looked at Yugi. "We do have something! Ryou’s Millenium Ring! It can find Millenium Items, why not doors linked with the Millenium Items?"

Ryou looked dubiously down at his Ring. "My Ring?"

"Hey, that’s right! Come on, Ryou. Give it a go." Joey urged, getting up from his feet.

"All right…"

Ryou held out his ring. The little pointers hung limply. Softly, he whispered, "Um, Ring? Can you please point to the door that we need?"

Nothing happened.

<<Oh, please, vessel. You have to put some force into it.>>

"Please?" The little pointers fluttered and pointed to Yugi’s Puzzle and at Shadi’s Anhk, but not towards a door or a path to take.

The spirit of the Ring sighed. <<Let me show you how it’s done.>>

The Ring flared, infused with a sudden burst of Shadow Magic that came from Bakura. The pointers went nuts, clinking and waving in every which direction. Taking slight control of Ryou, Bakura growled, "Show me the way." Then Bakura shoved Ryou back in control of his body.

Disoriented, Ryou shook his head. Looking down again, he found all of the pointers now aimed at a little corridor on the left. Ryou gasped. "It worked…"

"Come on!" Yugi urged. Ryou began in run in the direction where the little pointers directed. The rest of the gang followed.

With Ryou in the lead, everyone ran to keep Ryou in their sights. Ryou jogged along, staring down at the mysterious Ring that was somehow obeying him.

<<Obeying you? As if. I’m controlling the magic of the Ring.>>

<But why are you helping at all?> Ryou asked. The spirit of the Ring usually never helped him at all. What was with this sudden generosity?

<<Because the sooner you find this door, the sooner you’ll leave me alone. So shut it.>>

In actuality, Bakura really didn’t know why he was helping. He kind of wanted to make Ryou shut up so he could muse about revenge, ways on how to steal the Puzzle, and what secrets the Pharaoh was hiding in here. But he also, ever so slightly, wanted to see whatever memory the door would lead to this time. It was kind of interesting, seeing those old "friends" again…those stupid priests, that sickeningly loyal servant Simon, and that Ra-be-forsaken Pharaoh. Old memories came flooding back to the ancient spirit, and he cursed the day when he lost everything. That Pharaoh would pay, and Bakura would be there to strip him of his power. But first, he had to make sure his suspicious vessel was looking the other way, so to speak, by being enveloped by the Pharaoh’s memory. Then he himself could begin his own search…

Ryou was still running, being tugged by the Ring’s urgent pulling. Hallway after hallway, left, right, up and down stairs the Ring led him. The rest of the gang was panting behind him.

"Hey Ryou! Slow down!" Joey yelled as he almost missed a turn made by Ryou.

"It’s still pulling me this way!"

"Well, make it pull slower!" Tristan gasped.

Then the pointers suddenly died and fell back limply down. Startled, Ryou skidded, tripped over a wayward brick, lost his balance and tumbled smack on his back.

Yugi winced as he caught up to Ryou. "Ouch. That had to hurt. Are you okay?"

Joey stared around. "Where’s the door? They don’t look special to me." The first memory-door they had opened had the Millenium Puzzle stamped on it. But all of the doors around them were just the ordinary kind of solid iron and dull metallic sheen. Nothing overly extraordinary here.

On his back, Ryou opened his eyes. And looked up.

"Hey guys. Look up there."

Ryou sat up and pointed to the ceiling. On the ceiling was the second door. On the top of the door, a faint etching of the Millenium Puzzle could be seen. But in the center, the Millenium Ring was imprinted and painted gold. The same strange markings that were on the first door were still gouged into the second door.

"The second memory." Shadi whispered.

"That’s wonderful. I’m so thrilled. Can we just open it, see the little story, and move on?" Kaiba crossed his arms.

Ryou stood up and touched the handle. Gripping it, Ryou pulled down, ducking as the door fell open to reveal the second memory. He did not realize that there were seven people around him, and not just six. A rush of cool wind swirled around them, bringing the past and present together. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I quickly called the Council, gathering all of the nobles and lower priests to the throne chamber. As soon as I explained the urgent matter that had suddenly come upon us, the entire underworld itself broke loose. Some of nobles wanted to run; others wanted to leave it be, and a few were worrying about how much money this would cost them. Half of the priests were calling this the revenge of the gods, and the other half was already praying to the gods for help. People leaped to their feet, each of them demanding the right to be heard immediately. Initially, as with every Council, there was a great deal of shouting and carrying on, mostly on the part of those who usually had very little to say in the first place.

I stood up to quiet them down. "That is enough. I understand your alarm. However, what should concern us all is what we will do about this."

"The peasants will panic! They will rise up and rebel, destroying the fields and temples! Oh Pharaoh." Jarim cried out. He was a young noble, quick to say whatever was on his mind.

I looked down at him, and he lowered his head from his previous defiant position. "And what will you do about that, Jarim?" He said nothing as I sat back down on my throne.

Priest Shadi spoke up. "I propose that we send delegates to each sepat to distribute order and gain information about this new disaster. Tell them to keep everyone indoors, so that the spread of disease will halt at the source. Meanwhile, we can find a way to stop this threat before it becomes a flood."

I nodded. "Good, Shadi. And with each delegate, I will send one of the royal physicians to go with him. The swnw will study this sickness and bring the information back to us."

"Pharaoh, I recommend that we also send magicians out to investigate this new threat." Priest Mahado said. "This sickness may be more than it appears."

"Appears, Mahado! Of course this is more than it appears! The gods are angry, Pharaoh!" A wizened old man leapt to his feet. "They have turned their face away from us because you have turned from the old ways! Taking on a foreign name of darkness and sealing the monsters from us! You are cursed, Pharaoh!"

The young man sitting next to him pulled him down. "Quiet, elder! Do not speak of Pharaoh Yami that way!"

I almost smiled at that. Old priest Loisha was always against anything new. He got in as much trouble speaking his opinion as young Jarim did with his mouth. Unfortunately, although perhaps fortunately for Loisha, age is respected in our culture. It was only his nephew Desha that kept him still in good stead with most of the Council.

I nodded towards Mahado. "Yes, the sickness must be examined from all sides. You shall lead the investigation by magicians." I turned to someone different. "What say you, Jaru, Head of Astronomers? Have the stars revealed something about our current predicament?"

Jaru stood up. "For centuries we have watched the skies for the great tides of evil or change, hoping to divine the truth. In the past decade, the Indestructibles have been warning us of a great danger to come. Seb, bringer of sorrow, is shining brightly above us, suggesting that the threat will reveal itself soon and wreck havoc. Whether or not this sickness is the one forewarned is unknown to me."

Jaru sat down quietly, and I spoke before Loisha could burst. "We cannot resolve this right now. Let us dismiss, and think this over. Let the delegates, physicians, and magicians be sent out. In one week’s time we will reconvene, to review the information that the physicians and magicians have found in that time. Then we may attempt to solve this riddle the gods have put before us."

I stood up. "This Council is over."

It was up to the physicians and Mahado’s group of magicians now.

+ + + + +

Seto and I were playing a quick game of senet before the Council would be called. Seto was ahead by a pawn.

"What do you think of this disease, Yami?" A pawn moved two squares.

"We’ve been over this before, Seto. Another joke of the gods. Why do I have to get all the trouble?" I moved three squares.

Seto chuckled. "I don’t know, Yami. We caused a lot of trouble when we were younger." He reached the House of Happiness.

I smiled as well. "Yes, we did. Remember that chariot race?"

Seto glared as he moved a different pawn four squares. "Of course I do. You got me in big trouble for that one, Yami."

"Come on, Seto. It wasn’t too bad." I switched one of his pawns with one of mine.

"Easy for you to say. You were the prince. I was just the son of a priest."

"And a high ranking priest at that." One of my pawns reached the House of Three Truths.

He cursed as one of his pawns got sent back to the House of Rebirth. "But really, Yami. What are you going to do at the Council? The information the physicians have given us is practically negligible. That won’t make the Council very happy."

I moved one pawn off the board. "I’ll just cut them off and say go home to their doting mothers."

We both laughed at that. "Well really Seto, I’ll just give them a load of flowery and long speeches that say that we don’t know anything for sure, but I have control over the matter, because I am pharaoh, and that everything will be fine. Then I’ll get rid of them and we can deal with the real problem without Loisha jumping up saying ‘No!’ "

Seto nodded his head as he moved a pawn to the House of Water. "And then we can go finish that chariot race we didn’t quite conclude, due to your childish tricks."

I moved a pawn to the House of Re-Toum. "That wasn’t a trick. It was simply a very basic maneuver. Besides Seto, those days are gone. I have a new name now."

"Ah yes, Pharaoh Yami, so-called King of Games. You must forget your younger past and move into a bright future."

I moved another pawn off the board. "I’m already forgetting."

Seto stared at me, and then at the board. I had cleared all of my pawns. "What? How could you—"

I stood up, grinned ironically, and beckoned towards the throne doorway. "For I am Pharaoh."

+ + + + +

Well, after I had given my rather elaborate and florid speech to the Council, I cleared the throne room for only the high priests, the physicians, and the magicians. Now we could really work – like what exactly was the beast we were up against?

I nodded to the Karal. "Swnw Karal, Head Supervisor of Physicians of Upper and Lower Egypt, what say you?"

Karal bowed his head. "Like we have said at the Council, we do not have much information about the Ravager. The people die so quickly that we cannot study their sickness. All that we have concluded is that it spreads by blood and the Ravager eats away at the entire body. Blood, heart, flesh – all are destroyed by the Ravager. The people cannot even be properly paid their last rites and buried, because there is nothing left."

Priestess Isis shuddered. Fresh blood, spreading the Ravager, was an abomination. I sent a quick prayer for the lost souls that would never finish their journey. The physicians’ name for this sickness was a fitting one – the Ravager, the Destroyer, the Despoiler, the Eater.

Karal continued his demoralizing report. "We know nothing of its origin. It sprouted in many villages, spreading from one to another, causing panic that even I will not speak of. The buildings of health your father built became buildings of death for the Ravager. The peasants I passed by were whimpering, pitiful creatures, brought to the ground by this beast.

Panic spread throughout the surrounding villages. Something at the Yambuku mission hospital was making people there die a horrible death. When Zairian health authorities visited the place, they saw men, women and children die before their eyes.

"We cannot study the Ravager, oh Pharaoh, to discover where it lurks and attacks." Karal bowed his head, unable to give more information.

So where was it from, and where was it hiding?

"We must turn towards magic for the source of this," Karal nodded at Mahado, "Or to the gods, for we mortal doctors can do nothing against this."

Mahado stepped forth, bringing down his staff at his feet. "Pharaoh, my magicians have toiled long and hard in the work against the Ravager. We have found that it is very powerful, fighting against the bonds we put upon it and destroying any that are not wary of its lethal bite. When we tried to penetrate its secrets, the shields around it rebounded our magic."

Seto leaned forward at this. "The Ravager has a magical shield around it?"

Mahado nodded. "A magical barrier protects it. A stronger magic than what we have must attempt to pierce it. Pharaoh, we must use the Millenium Items to stop the Ravager. They are the only things we have that can study and bring this Ravager to an end."

I placed a hand upon the eye of the Millenium Puzzle. So I must call upon its powers once again. "Is there anything else that you know about the Ravager, Mahado?"

"It was created, oh Pharaoh. Created with the power of hate and anger, fed on blood, bred for war, and trained for vengeance…" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the microorganism level, a little molecule popped into being. It was tiny and thin, somehow having the sense of fragility and strength at the same time. It wiggled, testing its new body, making sure that everything was in order. A little symbol of the Millenium Ring shined brightly on the center. Then it went out into the wide world, carrying out its mission -- BB gunning. That is, taking pit shots against the invader.

It searched for a target and attached itself to a nearby parasite, hindering its movement. The little molecule pushed and squeezed itself against the assassin, doing what it did best -- immobilizing the predator. The molecule sent out signals, saying, "I caught one!"

But no one came to help. The little one was alone.

That was of trivial matter to the small attacker. It bit and clawed at the assassin-to-be until slowly but surely, the evil salesman went pop!

The single defender swam away from the broken shell, and latched itself to a new target. The predator had become the prey. But there were so many predators and only a single, tiny, guard…

~ * * * * * ~

Ryou fell back down onto the brick floor. Everyone was stunned by the powerful memory that had taken them. Looking back up, the door was closed again, although Ryou had not closed it. Ryou shook his head – Ebola, created? That was odd…

Ebola thus may not be the new, or emerging, disease that scientists first thought.

Shadi lowered his head. His old past was being replayed. The tale revealed, the bits and pieces reconstructed, and the predator reborn…

Some of the predators that feed on humans have lived on earth for a long time, far longer than the human race, and their origins go back, it seems, almost to the formation of the planet.

"That was interesting." Kaiba commented. "I never, ever, want to see that pharaoh and his oh-so-very-friendly priest again."

Joey rubbed his head. "Sorry Kaiba, we’ve still got five more doors to go."

And Kaiba groaned.

Yugi yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Well guys, we have to go look for the third memory now." He turned towards Ryou. "Ready to—"

He reeled and fell back, doubled over in sudden pain. It was as if his entire body was being licked with fire from the inside out. He cried out in pain, sliding down the brick wall and then onto the floor. A single, overwhelming, wave of pain swept little Yugi, and he curled up on the cold brick floor, seized by agony.

//Iie! No please, Ra! Nonononooooo--// Yami’s cry of distress was cut off.

/Yami!/

"Yuge! What happened!"

Yugi looked back up into Joey’s concerned face, his big purple eyes glazed over. He managed to gasp out, "It’s Yami…he can’t take…the bleeding…it hurts…"

And then and there, Yugi passed out.

* * * * *

The Ravager is hungry.

The core of life is being withered away.

Tick. Tock. Tick.

Footnotes:

[1] = sepat – ancient Egyptian for district. It’s an administrative unit, ruled by regional princes.

[2] = swnw – ancient Egyptian for physician. I’ll be using it in the general context.

[3] = Indestructibles – a set of 36 stars that don’t move in the sky. They’re used for astrology.

[4] = Seb – aka the planet Saturn. Also an Egyptian god.

[5] = ^^ A very old Egyptian game. Archeologists today still don’t know how to play this very popular game. They think it’s played like backgammon – get your pieces off the board, or in this case, seven pawns. ^^ Number seven, the perfect number… Anyway, there are two versions of how researchers think senet is played; I’m using the simplified Kendall’s version. The point of the game is to move your set of seven pawns in a backward S-shape of thirty squares. To move, you flip four sticks with marks on one side, if you get no mark it’s one square; two with no mark, move two squares, etc.; except if you get four marks, you can move five squares. If two opposing pawns meet on the same square, switch them. There are also specials squares to avoid / land on: House of Rebirth – square 15, the "move back here" square; House of Happiness – square 26, mandatory square for all pawns; House of Water, square 27, the "go back" square; House of the Three Truths – square 28, pawn can’t leave unless three is thrown; and House of the Re-Toum – square 29, pawn can’t leave unless two is thrown. Winner is first to remove all of their pawns.

Author's Notes:

Toboe LoneWolf: MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I AM SO EVIL!!!

Djanil: -_-;;;; Where the heck did that come from? That wasn’t in the outline.

Toboe LoneWolf: I have no clue. It just came to me as I was typing this. Even though it’s a mean, devious, horrible, evil idea, but I like it. *laughs* Beware Yugi, I’m out to get you now…

Yugi: O.O

Toboe LoneWolf: ^^ Oh, what plot lines are open to me now…^^ So anyway, that’s my little theory on Ebola. A combination of all three. ^^ I feel so smart…

Mental anguish will come in next chapter for sure, then some Bakura musing, wrap up some things here and there. There wasn't much biology in this chapter (just that one section that isn't really), but next chapter's going to delve into that again. And of course, the next chapter will reveal the condition of Yugi and Yami. *grins* I hold in my hands the two characters over the fire, and it is only by my mere arbitrary will that they do not fall and fry…

Djanil: *whaps Toboe LoneWolf soundly with keyboard*

Toboe LoneWolf: Ow! *rubs head* Okay, so I’m getting a bit not-sane there…*waves* So see you around! Please leave me nice reviews or whoppin’ flamers, I enjoy both! The Ravager will hunt again!