Adult-FanFiction.org : Yu-Gi-OH

Cursed	By : AtomBunny Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Crossovers Views: 3721 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! or Ranma 1/2. Those belong to Kazuki Takahashi and Rumiko Takahashi respectively. this is just for FUN and I'm not making any money from this story

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! or Ranma 1/2. Those belong to Kazuki Takahashi and Rumiko Takahashi respectively. This is a product of my warped mind wanting to cross EVERYTHING over with Ranma 1/2 and actually writing it down this time. Of course, this is just for FUN and I'm not making any money out of this, so please do not sue me.

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Once Honda, Otogi and Shizuka reached Nerima they drove around for a while, having some trouble locating the Tendo Dojo. Soon they saw a yellow and black clad man standing at an intersection, so Otogi pulled the car over and Honda stuck his head out of the window.

"Excuse me," he said to the man, "Could you direct us to the Tendo Dojo please?"

"I wish I could help you," the man replied, "I'm actually looking for it myself."

"Oh, sorry to bother you," Honda said as he made to roll up the window, only to be stopped as Shizuka spoke.

"Why don't you travel with us?" she offered. "We can all look together."

"If you are sure," the man said looking at Honda and Otogi for their reaction to the invitation.

"Sure, why not," Otogi said, gesturing the man towards the back seat of the car.

"Thank you" the man said pleasantly as he got in and closed the door.

"I'm Shizuka Kawai and these two are Ryuji Otogi and Hiroto Honda," she said as the man made himself comfortable and buckled himself in.

"Ryoga Hibiki," he replied. "If you don't mind me asking, what is your business at the Tendo Dojo?"

"Oh, my brother and his friends are visiting there today," Shizuka said, "and we are heading to join them. You?" she asked.

"I'm trying to get back to Akane," he said with a blush, "but I have a terrible sense of direction and I can never find my way."

"Oh, that's sad, Mr. Hibiki," Shizuka said in sympathy. "Does it take you a long time to get to different places?" she asked innocently.

"Ah, yeah," Ryoga said reluctantly, "I always get to where I want to go eventually though." He was saved from any more conversation as Honda pointed out that they had finally arrived. It was a good thing too, in his opinion. This Ryoga guy was being awful friendly with Shizuka.

They got out of the car and Otogi rang the doorbell. The door was answered by a woman with brown hair who appeared to be in her mid to late twenties.

"Oh my, you must be Otogi, Honda and Miss Kawai," she said pleasantly, "And I see that you found Ryoga too. Please, do come in."

"Is my brother here, err…" Shizuka floundered as the woman had not yet given her name.

"Oh my, where are my manners. I'm Kasumi Tofu," the woman smiled, "and your brother is at my husband's clinic at the moment. He'll be back soon though, I'm sure." She escorted them into the house. "Yugi, Anzu and Mokuba are sitting outside with Ranma. Please make yourselves at home."

"Thank you Mrs. Tofu," the three guests bowed."

"Oh, please call me Kasumi," she said with a smile. The three bowed again and headed outside to meet their friends.

"Kasumi, is Akane here?" Ryoga asked once the trio had left.

"Sorry Ryoga, you just missed her. Ranma said something to Akane that upset her again." Kasumi sighed and shook her head, showing a rare touch of exasperation at how easy it was to upset the girl. "She went out for a run to help her to calm down a bit. I don't suppose she'll be all that long."

"God damn it, Ranma!" Ryoga growled as his temper rose.

"Ryoga, please don't start a fight with Ranma today…" she tailed off as he stormed out without listening. Sighing, she shrugged and went into the kitchen to put the kettle on. It was inevitable that someone would need some hot water before very long.

Yugi, Anzu and Mokuba had just greeted the new arrivals and introduced them to Ranma. They all showed him their appreciation for saving Jonouchi's and Kaiba's life, but all conversation stopped as Ryoga stormed into the yard, his aura visible even to the non-sensitives. Yami instantly took over from Yugi as he felt the potential threat.

"Ranma, prepare to die!" Ryoga exclaimed as he punted the black haired man into the koi pond. Most of the people present gasped in surprise as a red haired woman climbed out.

"Ranma has a Jusenkyo curse!" Anzu was heard to exclaim in surprise.

"God damn it Ryoga," Ranma snarled as she dripped all over the grass, "what the hell am I supposed to have done now?"

"You upset Akane again," Ryoga began before Ranma cut him off.

"Oh come off it," Ranma said, exasperation evident in his voice, "you know as well as I do that I only have to breathe sometimes to annoy Akane. It's not like I go out of my way to upset her..."

"Shut up and fight me," Ryoga shouted as he launched himself at Ranma again.

"Holy shit!" Honda exclaimed as he watched the two martial artists began to exchange blows across the yard. "They are moving so fast that I can hardly see them!"

"Indeed, I've not seen anything like this before," Yami said from where he was stood in front of Anzu. "Even my most skilled guards back in the day were not a patch on what I am seeing now."

"Yami?" Shizuka said in confusion. "I thought you had… gone."

"I did leave, but I came back," Yami explained simply. "I don't like to show myself much, but I thought that Yugi and Anzu may have been in danger."

"And why is it that you don't like to show yourself, sonny?" A wizened old woman, balancing on a staff that was at least twice her height, appeared in front of Yami. "Are you worried that someone may find out about your shadow magic?" She cackled as a look of shock came over the spirit's face.

"Cologne, leave him alone," Ranma said sharply, stomping wetly towards the house, now holding an equally wet and irate pig wearing a familiar black and yellow bandanna.

"Oh, no, I think he will make an excellent addition to the tribe," Cologne said as she gave Yami an appraising look. "We haven't had a practitioner of shadow magic in the tribe in three thousand years.

"And for good reason, Amazon," a new voice came across the yard. Everyone turned to see Seto Kaiba stood in the yard, wearing Jonouchi's clothes. Anzu gave a little snicker despite herself, earning a brief glare from the CEO. Kaiba turned his attention back to the Amazon matriarch. "You should know that Amazons are prohibited from wielding shadow magic by ancient treaty."

"And you are?" The woman raised an eyebrow pointedly as she coldly regarded the arrogant young man before her.

"I am Seto Kaiba of Kaiba Corporation," he informed her, "and reincarnation of High priest Seth, who was also Pharaoh of all Egypt."

/Seto? You actually acknowledged your past?/ Jou was amazed.

/I can't just let this Amazon bitch come in and cause trouble,/ Seto replied, /and this is the only way that has any chance of her leaving Yugi, and us, alone./

/But I thought you hated even thinking about your past./ Jou prodded again.

/I… have a very good reason for that,/ Seto said a little hesitantly. /I'll talk with you about it later. You deserve to know./

"Can you prove this claim?" Cologne asked, thinking that Seto was bluffing.

"I don't need to," Seto said with a confident smirk. "Besides, I know how obsessive Amazons are about their history. You know as well as I do that you will find this treaty recorded in your ancient lore books."

"What do you mean, cousin?" Yami asked, "I don't recall any treaty with any warrior women tribes."

Seto gave Yami a sharp look, but let the cousin comment pass for now. "I'm sure that you recall that some of our most promising young warriors were taken away by a warrior woman tribe? That was even happening in your time." Yami nodded and Seto continued, "The treaty came about after… the event that split your soul. The Amazons decided that they wanted to gain our secrets of shadow magic." Seto threw Cologne a contemptuous look, "At this they failed miserably. The few people that they had with the capability to use Shadow Magic either had to stay in Egypt, or have their powers sealed. After that, Amazons were no longer permitted to touch Shadow power."

"I see," Yami said.

"Humph," Cologne mock sulked. "You boys sure know how to spoil an old woman's fun."

"Kaiba," Shizuka approached the tall boy hesitantly, making her presence known before he could say anything else to the Amazon Matriarch, "can I see my brother please?"

/Shizuka! What is she doing here?/ Jou exclaimed, his excitement at finally seeing his sister bleeding through.

/I don't know,/ Seto replied,/but if I had to hazard a guess I'd say that it has something to do with Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber over there./

/What?/ Jou was incensed. /Why is she here with those two? Let me outta here, I'm gonna kill them!/ Jou continued to rant and rail even as Honda stomped up to Kaiba.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't punch your lights out right now," Honda spat.

Kaiba looked at Honda coolly. "I'll give you a couple of good ones," he said. "First, if by some miracle you could actually manage to hit me, you'll also hurt Jonouchi. Second, I'm the only thing standing between you and what sounds like a homicidal maniac right now. He's threatening to do all kinds of things to you and Dice Boy over there and I'm not even sure that some of them are physically possible." Seto winced as Jou continued the tirade inside his head."

Honda blanched. With Jou being... indisposed, he'd forgotten how protective he was of his sister. He shrank back slightly, but no one was prepared for Shizuka's reaction.

"NO!" Shizuka exclaimed, shocking everyone in the vicinity into silence. "Katsuya Jonouchi, you listen to me!" She paused. "Um, is he listening?" she asked sheepishly.

"He's listening," Kaiba confirmed.

"Right," she said, then a look of determination came across her face. "You won't do a thing to Otogi or Honda or I shall leave right now. Do I make myself clear?"

"I think he's got it," Seto said with a wry smile as Kasumi dutifully approached with a glass of hot water. He turned to Cologne before he made use of it. "I'll be watching," he said simply as he placed his fingers inside the glass.

"Katsuya!" Shizuka exclaimed as she launched herself at her brother.

"Hey Sis," Jonouchi said. "I missed you." He enveloped her into a hug as tears pricked at his eyes. "It's so good to see you."

"Well, this is very interesting," Cologne said with a shocked look. "I know that young Tofu said something about this, but to see it actually happen..." She shook her head. "I've never seen a Jusenkyo curse quite like this one before. How on earth did you come by it?"

Yami decided to speak up as Jou was currently placing all his concentration on his sister, "We are not one hundred percent sure of what happened ourselves." He said. "Kaiba fell into a spring and drowned, then Jonouchi fell in a few hours later, but it was a one time only deal and he spring returned to its original curse after Jou had fallen in. The Guide said that he had never seen its like before."

"Hmm... I wonder if shadow magic could have had some kind of influence. Your group reeks of it, especially you and the cursed one over there," She mused. "I'll look into it. Maybe I can find a solution." She gave Yami one last look. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to join the tribe? We would treat you very well – for a male." She had mischief shining in her eyes.

"He's not going anywhere," Anzu said defensively as she pulled Yami close to her.

"Ah, I see how it is." Cologne smiled. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you." The 'yet', although silent, hung in the air. She took another look to where Jonouchi was still holding his sister close, crying into her hair as she attempted to comfort him. "I'm sure there is more to the story behind all this, but I won't pry – for now. I think I've overstayed my welcome anyway," she cackled. "I'll be in touch, Pharaoh," she said as she left. Yami frowned at the term of address.

"What a strange old woman," Mokuba remarked.

"Yeah, I wonder how old she is." Otogi said.

"She's about three hundred years old, no joke," Ranma said as he re entered the room, now dry and male. He was followed by a shame faced Ryoga.

"What was all that about anyway, Hibiki?" Honda asked.

"And were you really that pig that we saw Ranma carrying earlier?" Otogi wondered.

"Oh, he just likes to beat up on me," Ranma shrugged, "He normally loses too." The question about the pig was carefully avoided.

"Hey!" Ryoga protested.

"Speaking of beating up on," Jou let his sister go and cracked his knuckles, "You two had better start running, cos I'm gonna beat you to within an inch of your miserable lives for taking advantage of my absence like that!" He made to go after the pair, only to be stopped by Shizuka who stood in his way.

"Katsuya," She said sternly, "leave them alone."

"But Shizu..." Jou started.

"You promised, Katsuya," She cut him off. "Besides, it's not up to you to decide who I can and cannot see."

"What? You are seeing… both of them?" Jou said in a scandalised voice.

"Yes, I am," she said with conviction, "and if you value my happiness, you will stay out of it."

Jou deflated. "Alright," he said with some resignation, not wanting to upset her after they had only just been reunited, "but if they hurt you…" He fixed his two friends with a steely gaze that left no doubt in their minds as to the veracity of his reaction if they were ever to hurt the auburn haired girl.

"We won't hurt her," Honda said in a shaky voice. He knew what Jonouchi was capable of when he was angry and he didn't want to be on the wrong end of that ire.

"Yeah, she means way too much to both of us for that to happen." Otogi added.

"I take it that Doctor Tofu is happy enough with you for the moment?" Yugi asked in an attempt to change the subject, Yami having retreated again for now.

"Yeah, he gave us both a good telling off though," Jou said, "Seto wasn't very pleased about that, let me tell you," he smiled.

"I can imagine," Yugi said with a smile of his own.

Honda walked up to Jou and gave him a thump on the back. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're alright now. We've missed having our buddy around."

"Yeah, I can tell," Jou growled bitterly, causing Honda to retreat again.

/Katsuya, let it go for now,/ Seto said calmly.

/But…/

/Come on, trust your sister. She's looking quite annoyed with you by the way./ Seto pointed out.

/Alright, alright, I'll just remember this when Mokuba starts dating,/ Jou said darkly. Seto only chuckled in response.

"Katsuya, are you alright," Shizuka asked with concern. "You zoned out for a moment there."

"Yeah, I'm fine sis," Jou replied, "I was just talking to Seto."

"What's it like having someone else in your head?" She asked with curiosity.

"To be honest? I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a bit odd," he replied thoughtfully. "But it's still way better than how things were before."

"Well, as long as you are OK," Shizuka said, then she sighed "I'm going to have to try and talk mother around so I can come and see you again. That's not going to be easy."

"I know, sis," Jou said, hugging her close. He zoned again for a moment before saying, "Seto says that you are welcome at his home or at Kaiba Corp anytime." He pulled away from her slightly, "And don't let those two take advantage of you, OK?" He glared across the room at Otogi and Honda who were both doing their best to look innocent.

Shizuka smiled. "Don't worry, I won't."

"That was quite an interesting show, Jonouchi." Jou was shocked to see a woman with a pageboy haircut standing next to him.

"Miss Tendo!" Jou exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?" Even as he spoke, he could feel Seto facepalm.

"Can't a woman come and visit her family on a Sunday?" She drawled in amusement, then she became serious. "So, was all that true?"

"Was what true?" Jou replied, wanting to be sure to exactly what she was referring.

"All that about my boss being the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian priest," she said simply.

/Seto, what do you want me to tell her?/ Jou asked, not wanting to overstep any bounds that Seto might have and knowing that, despite what he had said to the Amazon Matriarch, Seto still didn't like to even acknowledge that part of his life.

/Just confirm the story, but don't elaborate for now. I'll decide what I need to share with her later, if anything./ Seto replied.

"I can tell you that it is true," Jou said carefully.

"Interesting," Nabiki mused. She knew better than to try and pump for information at this point. She had only been employed the night before after all, and if Kaiba wanted to tell her anything he would tell her in due time - and in person. "It might be a good idea for us to try and find a record of that treaty – either on the Amazon or Egyptian side," She said. "Amazons may be obsessive about their history and lore, but they aren't averse to being a little forgetful over it if they think it is for the good of the tribe."

"Seto says that's a good idea," Jonouchi said with a nod. "But is there anything we can do to avoid any trouble with them in the meantime?"

"Well, the main thing is," Nabiki said as she looked into his eyes to convey the importance of what she was to say, "Whatever you do, do NOT get into a fight with any strange women. If you defeat them they will give you the kiss of marriage and will consider you to be their husband under Amazon law. It can be extremely difficult, if not downright impossible, to get rid of them."

"I don't fight girls anyway," Jou said offhandedly.

"You still need to be careful," Nabiki informed the blond. "They consider even an accidental defeat as just cause if the male is desirable enough." Nabiki paused to make sure that Jou was actually listening to her. "Ranma wouldn't fight girls either, but he still ended up with an Amazon claiming him as her husband after he accidentally knocked her out." She smirked, "Actually there was a little more to the story than that, but my warning still stands. You'd better warn your friend over there too. Cologne seemed unusually interested in him and that is never a good sign."

"But he already has a girlfriend," Jou said weakly.

"That doesn't matter to an Amazon," Nabiki explained. "Ranma was already engaged and they didn't care about that. As they say 'obstacles is for killing' and I wouldn't fancy her chances against an Amazon warrior. Never mind that if she actually lucked out and defeated one they would give her the kiss of death then hunt her to the ends of the earth to destroy her."

"She's right you know," Ranma said as he came up behind them. "Amazons are devious and tricky and I'll bet that Cologne is going to be on to the other elders back in China to decide what they should do about this."

"So how did you get out of their clutches, Ranma," Jou asked.

"I didn't really," he admitted, "but I made it clear that I was not going to be dragged back to China. I told them that if they tried it, I would destroy their village and they know I have the power to back that threat up so we came to an uneasy truce." He grinned, "Cologne still hangs around to try and get me to join the tribe anyway, or at least to father a couple of kids for them, but that's a lost cause and I'm pretty sure she knows it."

"Hmm… it really would be best if we could find a record of that treaty, but I'm not sure where we should start to look," Nabiki admitted.

/Seto?/ Jou asked, /any ideas?/

/I'll get on to Isis later. She may know if any records still exist from that time./ Seto said, his distaste showing through,

"Seto knows someone who may be able to help," Jou said. "He's going to contact them as soon as possible."

/I didn't say that!/ Seto said in surprise.

/I know, but you are going to call her soon aren't you?/ Jou replied, a small note of pleading in his voice. /I get the feeling that it could be bad to delay on this and I really don't want anything to happen to Yugi and Anzu./

/Alright,/ Seto conceded, /I was going to call her tomorrow, but if it will make you feel better I'll call her as soon as we get home tonight, OK?/

/Yes, that's much better, thank you Seto,/ Jou replied with a mental smile.

"Well, that's something," Ranma said, but he was stopped from continuing when a blue-black haired woman stomped into the room.

"Wow, moron," she said in a mean tone of voice, clearly addressing Ranma, "you attract ever more freaky friends. I wonder why that could be, you perverted freak of nature?"

"Now, now Akane," Doctor Tofu said as he came up behind his sister-in-law, "That is not a nice way to speak about our guests."

"Your guests not mine. I refuse to have anything to do with that freak's so-called friends." She said the last word with utter disdain.

"Alright, Akane," Doctor Tofu said gently. "Now just come through here…" he carefully guided her away from the group and into another room, Ryoga hovering close behind.

"Wow, what's her problem?" Jonouchi asked in a shocked tone of voice.

"That," Ranma said, "was Akane." He looked towards the heavens, "and to think I was almost married to that."

"I can only apologise for my sister," Nabiki said as she looked towards Jonouchi. "She has… issues… that she has never managed to get over."

"She has always had problems," Ranma said, "especially with controlling her temper and she thinks that everything that goes wrong in her life is my fault." He shook his head, "I've always suspected that the Amazons did something to her with that freaky Xing Fao Gatsu that they use, but they have never admitted it. The Doc has done his best to help her, but unless Cologne comes clean, he's never going to get very far."

"Xing Fao Gatsu?" Shizuka wondered out loud. "What is that?"

"It's a technique that alters memories and emotions using different herbal shampoos and head massage," Ranma explained. "I know it sounds totally crazy, but it is surprisingly effective." The little group were quiet as they wondered just what else the Amazons were capable of.

Nabiki broke the silence. "Well, if Ranma had ended up marrying Akane, I think we can safely say that one of them would have ended up dead and it would most likely have been Ranma seeing as he could never raise a finger to her," she said. "When it became clear that Akane was a completely unsuitable fiancée for Ranma, daddy was terribly disappointed and tried to move the engagement onto either Kasumi or myself. That was the point when Ranma decided that enough was enough and the only thing to do was to call off ALL the engagements, before someone else ended up in the same state as Akane."

"Ryoga still likes her though," Ranma said, "Poor deluded fool. It's a shame that she's so emotionally stunted that she'll never be able to see him as anything more than a friend."

"Katsuya," Shizuka called her brother's attention as she looked at her watch. "I'm going to have to have Honda and Otogi take me home now," she said. "Mother will go spare if I'm home late." She embraced him, "I'll see you soon OK?"

"Alright, Shizuka," Jou said. "I'm going to take that as our cue to leave too, considering the situation," Jou addressed Ranma, "Seto needs to get in touch with Isis and the sooner the better. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Ranma said in an understanding tone. "Just remember that you can call on me if you need any help."

"Thanks, Ranma, we both appreciate that," Jou said with a smile.

Ranma looked over to where a newly returned Doctor Tofu had started trying to pump information out of an uncomfortable looking Yugi, Anzu hovering anxiously close by. "Hey Yugi," he called over. "Everything alright?" Yugi looked relieved to be able to get away and he walked over to Ranma, Anzu following close behind.

"I'm fine Ranma," he said, "thanks for asking."

"Don't worry about the Doc," Ranma said. "He can sometimes get a bit caught up when he sees something new, and you certainly showed him that today."

"He was asking some quite uncomfortable questions," Yugi said, "This is one of the reasons that Yami doesn't like to show himself in public. There are too many people out there that would view us as some kind of experiment or worse." He relaxed slightly as Anzu put her arm around him in support.

"I'll have a word with him once you've gone," Ranma assured Yugi. "I'm sure he didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

Jou looked over to where Mokuba was deep in conversation with Kasumi. She was smiling as Mokuba gesticulated wildly, showing his enthusiasm for whatever they were talking about. "Hey squirt" he called over. "We're heading back now."

Mokuba bowed to Kasumi, who smiled in return. "Coming Jou!" he said.

"So, is it always so chaotic around here?" Anzu asked as they walked towards the entrance,

"Oh, this is nothing," Nabiki said, waving her hand dismissively. "You are lucky that Daddy and Mr. Saotome were dragged off on a training trip by Happosai, never mind all the other people that normally manage to blow through here on any given day." She smirked, "Why do you think I moved to Domino?"

"I… see," Anzu said. "Who is Happosai?" She asked.

"Oh, just a pathetic troll who has an obsession with collecting women's underwear," Ranma said. "You should thank your lucky stars that you've never met him."

"Sounds like he'd get on great with your grandpa, Yugi." Jonouchi quipped, elbowing his friend lightly.

"Don't even think about that," Yugi said. "He doesn't need any more encouragement, thank you very much."

They said their goodbyes and walked out to where the cars were parked. Jou hugged Shizuka one last time and watched pensively as Honda and Otogi drove away with her sat in the back of Otogi's car. "She'll be fine Jou," Yugi said. "You just have to trust them."

"Yeah, I know Yug," he replied a little sadly. "It's just hard, you know?"

"I know," Yugi said sympathetically. "Come on now, we need to get going."

"Ah, yeah. You need to get home to see your grandpa don't you?" Jou said.

Yugi winced. "Yeah," he said without much enthusiasm. Luckily Jou missed the tone of Yugi's voice as they got into the back of the limo. Once they were all sat comfortably and were on the move, Jou decided that it was time to warn Yugi about the potential danger from the Amazons.

"Yug', I gotta tell you that Nabiki gave us a warning about those Amazons earlier," he said seriously. "First is that we can't be sure that they have given up on recruiting a couple of Shadow Magic users into the tribe, even after what Seto told them about that treaty."

"Really?" Yugi said. "Did she give any other advice on how to deal with them?"

"Yeah, and this is important," Jou said. "Is Yami listening because this will be very important for him."

"I'm listening Jonouchi," Yami said as Yugi relinquished control to him.

"If a strange woman tries to fight you, don't, whatever you do, defeat her," Jou warned.

"Why is that, Jou?" Anzu asked.

"If a guy defeats an Amazon warrior," Jou informed them, "she considers that he is then her husband. Even if the defeat is accidental."

Anzu looked at Jou in horror at the implications. "But… Yami and Yugi already have me," she said.

"Won't matter to an Amazon," Jou said grimly. "How did Nabiki put it? Oh yeah, 'obstacles is for killing'. Apparently, it's even worse if a girl defeats an Amazon." He looked intently at Anzu, "If you were to somehow manage to defeat an Amazon warrior, she would give you the kiss of death and chase you to the ends of the earth in order to kill you."

"But that doesn't even make any sense," Anzu pointed out, "Surely if someone has defeated an Amazon, they could defeat them again, so how would they force someone into marriage or kill them in that case?"

"Dunno," Jou shrugged, "but they seem pretty tenacious and if you're the kind of person that won't want to hurt them in the first place, like Yugi, you're probably gonna hold back some and they can take advantage of that. Then they might stage a defeat to have an excuse to go after someone or to kill them." He sighed, "I wouldn't put anything past them, especially after what Ranma told us about them, but of course this is all speculation..."

/Seems like fairly sound reasoning to me, from what I remember of them anyway,/ Seto said to reassure.

/Thanks Seto,/ Jou replied. /Good to know that I'm not talking completely out of my arse./ He mentally grinned.

"Bloodthirsty lot these Amazons," Mokuba said with a shudder, "but I've had a thought. Would these women resort to playing duel monsters to secure a technical defeat? There is more than one kind of strength and Duel monsters is big on strategy. They might like that kind of thing." The occupants of the car went silent as they processed that possibility.

/I'll have to run that one past Nabiki in the morning,/ Seto said. /If that is the case then I shall have to remain out of any tournaments until this is resolved./

"I guess that we will have to go into semi retirement until this matter is settled," Yami sighed.

"You know what, Yami?" Jou smiled, "You and Seto really do think alike. He just said pretty much exactly the same as you did."

"It suppose it does make some sense to assume they could act that way based on what we know of them," Anzu said to head off any potential argument between the spirit and the CEO, "but we shouldn't take anything for granted. In any case, I hope that we can get this cleared up before too long." She gave Yugi a worried look and he squeezed her hand in response.

Soon they dropped Anzu off at her house, Jonouchi and Mokuba giving cat calls as first Yami and then Yugi kissed her deeply. Then, too soon for Yugi's liking, they arrived at the Kame Game shop. Yugi waved to his friends as the limo pulled away, then took a deep breath and opened the front door. "Grandpa, I'm home!" he called out.

"Yugi, my boy!" the elder Mutou exclaimed as he bounced up to the teen in a way that belied his age. He slapped his grandson on the back. "I'm so proud of you! I knew you had it in you!"

"What are you talking about Grandpa?" Yugi said, confusion evident on his face.

"Oh, playing coy are we?" the old man said. "You left the wrappers on your bedroom floor you know?" He had a smirk on his face as Yugi first went pale, then flushed scarlet. "I see that there were two wrappers. Does that mean that Yami got to have a go at her too?"

"Grandpa!" Yugi exclaimed in acute embarrassment even as Yami laughed in his head.

"I do take it that it was that nice Anzu girl," the old man carried on regardless. "So, what was it like? Was she good?" Unable to take any more, Yugi raced to his room and slammed the door behind him.

Sugoruko Mutou stood in the hallway and chuckled to himself. Really, it was so easy to rile Yugi up. Humming a little tune, he walked into the kitchen to continue preparing dinner. Maybe he could tease Yugi a little more then.

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A/N - I really struggled with this chapter - I kind of got into the mindset that it was terrible and couldn't even bring myself to look at it for a while, but I eventually managed to suck it up, convince myself that it was just my own insecurities taking over and get on with editing it. ^_^'

I'm still not totally happy with it, (especially the first bit), but if I don't get it out I'll just keep nitpicking at it forever!

Also, Good news (ish). The Yahoo Group A_Dragons_Lair_Archive is now up. It's a shame that all the conversations and messages were lost, but the stories and pictures are still there, so that's something anyway.
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