Melhana took the scroll and unravelled it. Her eyes scanned over the ancient writing, written in the royal heiroglyphics. Her eyes widened as she took in the information. "The Shards of Truth...." She said quietly. "According to this, they're born into vessals as their heart...." She looked up. "You're trying to say that Ashleigh is one of the vessals for a Shard?"

"I'm afraid so. Usually, you can't find the shard since it's show as a normal human heart. Atem's going to talk to Yugi about it. And it's not just Ashleigh that is a vessal. Jun Manjoume, Mokuba, Edo Pheniox and Sho Marufuji, and Mai are vessals too" Yukai replied.

Melhana's blood ran cold. Hearing names of people she considered friends being vessals chilled her to the core. Especially hearing Mai's and Mokuba's names on the list. She handed back the scroll. "This isn't going to go over well with the rest of the gang." She said.

"We all have to meet on this subject. But it's not only power that the vessels guard without knowing but I don't know what yet" Yuaki sighed, taking the scroll back.

Melhana nodded. A nurse came through the double-doors with a clipboard. "Miss Ankh?" She asked. "It says here that you're Mr. Bakura's emergency contact."

Melhana nodded. "Yeah. How's he doing?" She asked.

"Whatever happened in that duel he was in made his heart condition worse than it was before, which was bad enough as it was." The nurse said.

"Wait, a heart condition?!" Melhana asked in shock. "He never told me about a heart condition!"

---

Jonouchi drew. "This brings back memories," He said, a smile forming on his own face.

Yugi nodded. "Yeah, I know." he replied. "The first time we faced off was in Duelist Kingdom, remember?"

"How could I forget? You're the one who gave me the prize money for Shizuka's operation after all." Jonouchi said. "And don't expect me to go any easier on ya! I summon Swordsman of Landstar and activate the spell Graceful Dice! I don't think I need to explain the effect."

"Your monster's attack is increased according to the number that comes up on the die." Yugi said. Jonouchi nodded as the little chibi-thing tossed the giant die. It came up as a 5.

"Yeah! That means my Swordsman's attack goes up to 3000!" Jonouchi said. "And to take care of that face-down of yours, I activate Giant Trunade, sending it and all other spells and traps to our hands!" Yugi's card was sent back to his hand, leaving him now way to counter should Jonouchi attack. Which was exactly what he was going to do.

"Swordsman of Landstar, attack Yugi's Silent Sorcerer!" Jonouchi ordered his monster. The attack was successful, destroying Yugi's sorcerer. (Yugi LP: 3800) "I'll follow-up with a direct attack with my Rocket Warrior!"

Yugi smirked. "I was waiting for that." He said. "The card you sent back to my hand was Remote Trigger. When this card is sent from the field to my hand by a card effect, all direct damage is negated!" A barrier stopped Rocket Warrior in its tracks, blocking the attack.

"I play a face-down and end my turn," Jonouchi said.

"Heart condition? Is it like Sora Yuki's condition?" Yukai asked, concerned for her friend.

The nurse nodded. "Yes, but it's far more advanced. Without any stimuli, he wouldn't get to the stage he's at now for another six months to two years, but now..." She said.

Melhana was chewing her lower lip. "Is he all right enough for visitors?" She asked.

Yukai held her breath.
I hope she can before we can get out of here. I heard my neice is preforming tonight she thought.

The nurse looked hesitant. After a minute of thinking, she nodded. "He's unconcious though, and his condition is still serious even though we've managed to get him stabilized." She replied. "I'll take you to his room, but I can't let you stay for long due to his condition."

"I just want to see him," Melhana said, standing up. The concern in her wine-colored eyes was evident.

"I'll go with you too. If you wait for me a while after, I'm getting my cast off my arm and leg today and being released today so we can go together" Yukai said.

Melhana nodded and followed the nurse to Bakura's room. When the nurse let the two girls in, Melhana had to bit back a gasp when she saw her fiancee's condition. She barely registered the nurse saying that she'd be back in ten minutes to see how they were doing.

Not only was Bakura unconcious, he had an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, helping him to breathe. There was an IV stuck into his arm, and his pulse, breating, blood pressure, and other vitals were displayed on the computer screen next to his bed. Melhana didn't need any explanation to see how erratic and weak his heartbeat and breathing were. Carefully, she approached Bakura's sleeping form.

"Ryo, why didn't you tell me about this condition of yours?" She asked as she placed her hand on his. Just feeling the slight chill in his hand alarmed her; he was so weak right now. Her tanned hand tightened around his pale one. "You idiot...."

"We all didn't know that he had a heart condition. I can't believe that he didn't tell us" Yukai said.

"Neither can I," Melhana said. She gently cradled Bakura's hand in hers. I can't believe you didn't tell anyone about this. I know that none of us would've held it against you; I know I wouldn't. Though I am a little pissed that I to find out about it the hard way. Moron.

The nurse wheeled Yukai away to have her casts removed.
"I'll meet you outside" she said.

Melhana nodded, still worried about Bakura. As promised, the nurse returned ten minutes later to see who Melhana was doing.

in about 20 minutes, Yukai was waiting for Melhana to show up.
I hope she will be ok she thought.

Melhana showed up, still a bit shaken at what had happened to Bakura. "So, ready to head to the Dome?" She asked, handing Yukai an extra motorcycle helmet. She'd mostly recovered from the initial shock, but in her heart she was still worried sick.

---

Meanwhile, the duel had remained evenly-matched. By this time Yugi had managed to get Jonouchi's Life Points down to 2800, while Jonouchi had gotten his own Life Points to 3000. Jonouchi still had Rocket Warrior on the field in defense mode, and another face-down. At present, it was Yugi's turn, and he had his Queen's Knight on the field, along with the same face-down defense-position monster as before. Yugi drew.

"I summon King's Knight in attack mode!" Yugi said. "And thanks to his effect, I can summon Jack's Knight." The second and third suit-themed warriors appeared on the field. "And now I'll fuse the three of them together with Polymerization to form Arcana Knight Joker!" The three monsters were replaced by a more powerful, more majestic and impressive warrior, this one weilding a claymore sword in one hand and a bladed shield on the other. Jonouchi was prepared for this.

"I activate one of my face-downs!" He said. "Fusion Block! As long as I discard a card from my hand, this card negates the summon of a Fusion monster. Say adios to your knight!"

"I activate Arcana Knight Joker's effect. By discarding a card from my hand, I can negate the effect of a card of the same type on the field." Yugi replied. "I discard a trap to negate the effect of your Fusion Block." Jonouchi's trap was destroyed, thwarting his plan. "Since Fusion Monsters can't attack on the turn they're summoned, I end."

"Thanks, but is there any room for the crutches that I was given for the time being?" Yukai asked as she took the helmet.

---

"This is really tight down there" Atem said, "And this is the first duel I seen both of them duelling without myself being there."
"That is what I don't understand" Yana sighed.

"That is going to be a somewhat minor problem," Melhana said. "I can strap them to the side of my bike; it shouldn't cause too much of a problem."

"That's cool" Yukai said as Melhana strapped the crutches onto the bike and help her on it, "Any news about the concerts tonight? I would love to see one of them."

"Kasanagi's already performed, but Yana and Aka have yet to." Melhana replied as she took off, once she'd made sure that Yukai was securely on the motorcycle. "Right now Yugi and Jonouchi are dueling."

"Oooh, lets head to the venue. I was so looking forward to this tournament until that accident" Yukai said.

"Where do you THINK I'm going?" Melhana asked as she pulled up at a stoplight.

"Oh, sorry" Yukai said, "Arrg! The light!" Yukai was suppose to joke about that.

Melhana chuckled. "Don't worry; at least we're not here when the stadium is emptying." She said.

---

Jonouchi drew. I gotta figure out a way to get rid of Yugi's Arcana Knight Joker, he thought. That's gonna be easier said than done though. "I summon Flame Swordsman in Attack Mode!" He announced, his signature monster appearing on the field. "I end."