I return! Yes, a new story for you all, and yet not so new. What could I possibly do to add to A Touch of Darkness? Nothing better I think, but that's a matter of opinion. I suppose you could say this fic is to let you all see just what Touzoku's done to the world and to…have a little fun.

No more poems. Unless you guys want them. Tell me!!

Disclaimer: I'll only say this once. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh

Chapter 1

The Hawk

Joey wasted no time. Once he had seen that Touzoku, Marik, and Atem were gone he ran to Yugi. He bit his lip at the sight of his friend. He was too late. He lifted the boy and ran Off in the distance he saw something happening and figured it was Touzoku and Atem. Joey only hoped that Atem would win the fight. In the mean time he had to hide Yugi's body before they returned.

He didn't know where he was running. All he knew was that he had to get away from the palace and safety seemed to be away from the city rather than towards it. As he ran something was happening. He didn't notice it at first until he realized he felt warmer. Yugi's body was no longer cold.

For a moment he stopped and saw that through the torn clothes Yugi was healing. Joey felt his friends wrist for a pulse but felt nothing. He rested his hand over Yugi's heart but still there seemed to be nothing. So where was the warmth coming from? His fingers felt for the pulse at his neck and then he felt it. It was faint but still detectable. His own heart skipped a beat and he took off running again.

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Yugi was anxious and Isis tried to calm him down but the boy wouldn't listen. "I have to go back but if my body doesn't heal soon I won't be able to!" Yugi yelled. He was acting childish but he didn't care. He was scared. After dying he realized that he wasn't really gone. The connection between him and his Yami was still there so he still had a chance to live. He learned though, that as a hikari it took more time for the body to prepare itself to receive its soul since darkness was not as used to creating as light is known to be.

Isis held him close and they watched Akhifa Touzoku and Atem fight. In her mind she felt torn. Osiris was fighting Akhifa but Akhifa had restored Egypt to its former glory. Her heart was torn between the two. If Osiris won then she would still have her husband but Egypt would fall again. If Akhifa won, then she would lose her husband but Egypt would flourish forever under the rule of the new god.

Isis flinched when the two opponents released the dark energy. Isis and Yugi waited impatiently to see what the result was and nearly jumped for joy when they saw that Osiris had won. But it didn't take long for them to realize that something was terribly wrong. They saw Ryou running toward Touzoku and suddenly they knew that Atem was done for. They watched as Ryou advanced toward Atem and he began an attack of his own.

Yugi jumped when he felt a jolt from the world of the living. Isis turned to her son and then looked back at the scene below. Yugi could return, but by the looks of things he had only a split second, and he knew this. The blast came though and Yugi nearly cried out with pain and frustration. He saw the spirit of his soul father for just a moment but he knew that moment was all he needed. In vain he reached out to Osiris but nothing came of the attempt.

He didn't have time so before the last shadow of Osiris disappeared he still had a chance to do one more thing. With a burst of energy he became a Hawk and dove out of the world of the dead to the world of the living. His body was alive but it had no soul. If he couldn't get to his body in time then his soul would have to exist separate from his body. The advantage to that was that his body was immortal. The disadvantage was that it was only immortal as long as the hawk lived. With his spirit as a hawk he could live forever but the body of a hawk was far weaker than the body of a human and despite its ability to live forever it wasn't immune to physical damage like his human body would be. It would be a dangerous game but one worth the risk.

It takes a body ten minutes to completely lose the spark of life so he had ten minutes to find his body before his connection to his Yami was useless. It took him eight minutes to find the palace but to his horror he saw that his body wasn't there. He flew high in the air and saw a small dot that he knew was Joey. He dove for his friend and his heart skipped a beat when he saw that Joey had his body.

Then he panicked when he felt his time running out. He prepared his energy to be transferred to his corpse but when he landed on his body he only had a few seconds left. He managed to connect his soul enough to transfer life but he couldn't join his soul properly. He would have to settle with his soul being separate from himself. His consciousness flooded into his body and his eyes snapped open.

When the Hawk landed on Yugi the force knocked Joey back. He had dropped Yugi but when he stood he nearly fell back again at the sight of Yugi's eyes opening. Quickly he stumbled to his friend's side and shook him.

"Yugi? Can ya hear me?" Joey asked impatiently hoping to get a response. He wasn't sure what to expect.

Yugi panted for a while to get oxygen back into his blood stream then turned to Joey. "Atem lost" he gasped.

Joey stared at Yugi for a moment then sat back with a heavy thud and his head down. "Damn it." he breathed.

Yugi sat up and waited a few moments. "It's not over yet," he said. Joey looked up at him with only a hint of curiosity. He had no hope in his eyes. "I can bring Atem back."

Joey snorted. "What good'll that do? I don't mind having him back but if he lost then what makes you think he'll win the second time around?"

Yugi leaned over and placed his hand on Joey's shoulder. "Touzoku only won because Ryou used his light. Light defeats darkness so a Hikari can defeat a Yami if the Yami has been weakened enough and is without his light. We just need to get rid of Ryou and then I can fight Touzoku alongside my Yami."

Joey mulled it over for a moment before snickering. His snicker turned into a giggle and his giggle evolved into a laugh. Yugi smiled a little not sure if his friend was happy or if he had snapped. "That traitor's gonna get what's comin' to him!" Yugi nodded knowing that Joey was talking about Ryou.

Joey calmed himself a little. "So what's the hawk supposed to do huh?"

"That hawk is my soul. If it dies, I die," he explained simply. Joey went quiet again.

"Oh shit."

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Author's note: Uh oh….another fight? Yeah, trust me. This'll be interesting for you all. I think it will be anyway.