Alternate titles I considered for this story: "Ghost Town," and "Atychiphobia (fear of failure)." Originally, this was going to be a one-shot, but the story became too long.

This story is an alternate universe, in that I'm stretching the timeline of the Doma arc somewhat by moving Seto Kaiba's duel with Amelda backward to allow this story to continue. I noticed that not much was done with Doma becoming the controlling force behind the world's economy and governments. Along with that, not much was shown of Doma taking the souls of people on Earth as the Leviathan's hour draws near, rather only a mention of it is made on the news in the show. I wanted to take that concept, and run with it. Locke and the other named officers are my characters.

Police code that wasn't translated by Anzu: "What's your status?"

A low-pitched squawk pierced the air, causing Yami no Yugi to raise his head. Shielding his eyes against the blinding sunlight with his arm, he watched a massive bird with a wide wingspan, silhouetted against the sun, circle overhead.

"I wonder how active this train line is," Anzu commented from beside him, her shoes clacking over the metal tracks, "If a train comes by, we could try to signal for help."

Yami no Yugi shook his head. "It wouldn't be able to brake quickly enough for us."

"Speaking of which," she commented, "I've wondered about what happened to those other people on our train. I wonder if they were even real, as they had vanished so quickly. There weren't even bodies left behind."

"That I'm not sure on," he replied carefully, "But, after seeing Yugi again," he continued with an amount of pain in his voice, "I have a theory about it." Swiping a hand across her brow, Anzu listened attentively as he explained, "We know that the Seal of Orichalcos brings to life the monsters in a duel, similarly to a Shadow Game. I think that, in some way, the same was done with those people on the train."

"A projection?" Anzu asked, thinking this over. With a gasp, she exclaimed, "No, not projections! Souls!"

Yami no Yugi nodded gravely. "The souls captured by the Seal of Orichalcos. Correct."

Anzu shook her head. "That doesn't make sense, though. Why didn't one of them try to warn us? How could you not detect them? When you dueled Yugi, he thought for himself."

"That was with Ironheart's influence. He was probably blocking Dartz," he replied with the hint of sadness still in his voice, "I couldn't hear Yugi's voice in my mind throughout the duel proper, therefore I knew he was still sealed away. Outside of Ironheart's control, if I'm correct, it's likely that Dartz is able to puppeteer the souls he has captured at will."

Anzu covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, those poor people."

His fist clenched at his side, and he turned away, deciding against voicing the possibility of Yugi being controlled by Dartz in that manner, as well. "Most likely, Dartz was just toying with us again, and it proved a good trap."

Dropping her hand, Anzu shook her head. "And at that, we're already foreigners in this country. If we go missing, well…" Her voice trailed off, and she opted to change the subject by reaching to her side, and uncapping the canteen of water Ironheart had given her. "Thirsty?"

Yami no Yugi waved it away. "How long can a human go without water, again?"

"Three days," she replied, resealing it, "We'll need it purified, as well, otherwise it won't be safe. Chris left me some flint in my backpack, and I can use the scrub bush here as tinder. Problem is, I couldn't possibly fit a kettle in this bag, so I'm still not sure how I'd be able to boil it. " She shook her head. "If the four of us go days without reaching a town, we could be in serious trouble. Although," she smiled at him, "I don't think you'd intend for us to be wandering around here for that long."

Yami no Yugi returned it, and pointed off into the distance. "I don't think that's a mirage."

Shielding her eyes, Anzu followed his finger, and replied in relief, "No, I can see it, too. Looks like the tops of buildings." She lowered her hand. "If it's a train town, maybe we'll be able to get some information on when the next train is running. We can also ask around for Honda and Jonouchi."

He nodded, and they quickened their pace, Anzu becoming chattier with her excitement, tugging at her hair. 'I'm not sure who we should talk to first. The police, I guess, since they tend to handle missing persons cases? It's a good thing I didn't lose my passport. You still have Yugi's?" He nodded, patting the pocket of his jacket. Anzu sighed. "Okay, crisis averted. But what are we going to say, really? 'Hey, we were on this train that derailed, and everyone's gone missing except for a couple of guys?'" She grimaced. "Probably not believable. Or maybe we should ask at the train station, and see if anyone's heard anything about it?" She looked back over her shoulder. "Then again, I should've asked Ironheart about the town where he left Haga. On the other hand, we were more worried about other things at that point in time." She put her hand to her head. "You know, I think I just realized that none of us seem to think things through very well."

Yami no Yugi surprised her by laughing. "Well, we are all only teenagers, Anzu. I'd be surprised otherwise."

She paused for a moment before nudging him playfully and rushing forward. Turning her head back, she called over shoulder, "Come and catch me, old man!" Smirking, he darted after her. Anzu laughed, and hurried on, allowing herself to be caught up in the moment, and to just think that they were a couple of kids having fun on vacation. When he grabbed her arm, she stopped, and raised her hands in the air. "All right, all right, Pharaoh, I give." The two paused to catch their breath, sharing the canteen for a moment. Glancing up, Anzu noted, "I guess it was a train town, after all."

The set of buildings closest to them appeared to be rather old station platforms, albeit rather sparse ones. The train track split off to run through the station. Anzu glanced about. "Shouldn't there be a guard or maintenance worker here? If we climb on there without tickets, we may as well be getting a free ride," craning her neck to the side, she read the rusting sign hanging over the station, ''Welcome to Blackroot.'" The desert wind whistled, and a piece of metal whined as it swung back and forth.

Yami no Yugi glanced to the side, his gaze sharpening as the wind died down. "Do you hear that, Anzu?"

"What?" She asked, stepping closer to glance about for anyone on the platform. "Why isn't anyone here? Sunset is still a way off."

Something banged hollowly as he replied, "A low droning noise."

"Helicopter?" She offered.

He shook his head, glancing up at the speakers mounted on the station's slanting roof. "I think it's coming from them."

Cupping a hand to her ear, and narrowing her eyes, she concentrated until she could hear a low thrumming noise. "Sounds like audio feedback. Whatever is connected to the speakers must've been taken offline." Her voice dropped in discouragement, and she backed away from the platform. "We should look around first before we jump to any conclusions, though."

Nodding his head, he led the way around the side of the building. Yami no Yugi had no idea exactly what he was expecting to find when he turned the corner. Honda and Jonouchi waving at them? Otogi sticking his head out of the pick-up truck's driver side window, and calling for them to get in? Rafael coldly staring at him, with Guardian Eatos in his hand? …Yugi greeting him with a warm smile? Perhaps that was why it was a little jarring to see a deserted road leading into the station. There were buildings clustered along the road, which opened further into side streets that held houses and miscellaneous businesses and power plants. Telephone poles towered over the streets, the buildings distorted by heatwaves. Off in the distance, a highway shimmered.

"What's wrong?" Anzu asked, coming to stand next to him.

He shrugged. "If you want civilization, we've found it."

She grinned at the sight, and reached into her pocket. "Let's see, how much money do I have for food? I'm starving." She blanched, realizing how close to Honda and Jonouchi she sounded, and quickly amended, "Er, not that that's a priority or anything. We gotta find the others first." Glancing behind herself, she remarked, "Strange, if no one's at the station, why's the gate down?" Following her pointer finger, Yami no Yugi stared at the peculiar sight for a moment.

The next, however, his eyes widened, and his breath caught. "That's why," he responded quietly, indicating a limp arm hanging out from a doorway beside the gate.

Anzu gasped, and stepped one foot forward before stopping herself, and glancing at him. "Another illusion?"

He shook his head. "Not sure."

"We can't leave someone to lie there like that. They could be hurt," she decided, starting forward carefully. When he attempted to stride ahead of her, she turned her head and reminded him, "If Dartz has a target, it's more likely you than me."

He shook his head. "I'm not hiding behind a decoy."

"Then we go together," she replied firmly.

Their footsteps clacked unevenly over the cracked brick, the window to the ticket booth covered in dust from the wind. The limp arm was connected to a man in a station uniform, his hat askew. The swivel chair he had likely fallen out of was pushed backward. The desk phone hung off the hook. Papers lay everywhere. Anzu knelt down before the man, and shook him. "Hey, hey, can you hear me?" The man didn't respond. Glancing back over her shoulder, she asked, "Turn him over for me? I'm going to call the paramedics."

Yami no Yugi nodded, and Anzu rose, walking fully into the ticket booth. Shoving aside a set of papers on the table, she found a list labeled "Emergency Contacts." Tracing her finger, she scrolled quickly down it with one hand while picking up and the setting phone back in its cradle with the other. Carefully, Yami no Yugi rolled the man over. The man appeared middle-aged and very pale, his skin covered in a cold sweat. Placing his ear beside the man's mouth, he reported, "He's breathing, but it's very faint."

"What on earth—" Anzu muttered, placing the phone back in its cradle more firmly before picking it up again. She placed it to her ear again, her eyes meeting his. "There's no dial tone on this line." Craning her neck, she glanced past the table's legs. "The line's still intact, so I don't know what the problem is." She placed the phone back down once more. "Third time's the charm, I guess." A moment later, she dropped the phone back down in frustration. "Nothing." Bracing her hands on the desk, she gnashed her teeth, glancing about. "Where is everybody at a time like this?! He needs help! Unless…" Her fingers drummed on the desk. "The speakers were still giving out feedback. We could try to use them, and call for help."

A harsh clang from the direction of the tracks sounded, causing the two to jerk their heads around. Crunching sounded from below. "Someone's walking near the tracks," she muttered, "Are they crazy? They could get electrocuted. This doesn't make sense." A grunt sounded, along with a scrabbling noise. Something slapped against the side of the platform before slipping off.

Yami no Yugi slowly turned the man back over, gesturing for Anzu to get down. She knelt, and crawled underneath the table. The scrabbling came again, followed by a heavy grunt and thud. Static burst, and garbled voices sounded. Yami no Yugi crept forward, taking care not to get his foot stuck on the man. Anzu inched over, and he slid underneath the table beside her.

Heavy breathing from outside broke the silence. "One more sweep," a man's gruff voice sounded at an inquiry from the garbled voice. Plastic clunked, and Yami no Yugi realized that he had probably was using a walkie-talkie."Station's clear. I saw a couple of kids matching the description of who we're looking for, but I can't be sure."

The man paused, his breath labored to the point of wheezing. Anzu held her breath. "I can't be sure because those two are supposed to be dead. Who the hell survives a train derailment? The Pharaoh, I can understand, but the girl?"

Yami no Yugi and Anzu exchanged an alarmed look. The static burst again, and the man hissed, "Whaddaya mean, 'we're getting help?!' Blackroot's finished, and Cross will wire those photos of the kids when he gets the green light."

The garbled voice made another inquiry, and the man laughed. "Hell if I know. Armed robbery, I think, is what the charge is. They could even be put down for a train-jacking, since that's more logical, especially since they're foreigners. At the very least, the state troopers will pick them up."

Yami no Yugi's fist clenched at that. Anzu placed her hand on it, and shook her head warningly as the distorted voice hesitated before asking something else.

The man sighed, dropping his catty demeanor for a moment. "Look, Whitman, take the rest of the day off, if this bothers you that much. I'm sorry about your mother, but this had to be done." He sighed, his shadow slanting, indicating that he was leaning against the side wall. "What was it you told me that night on patrol, how she came to live to with you after she was mugged? Kid, I'm not trying to sound harsh, but think about it. This is the world that your mother lives in. The next world will be a better one. One where guys like us don't have to carry guns and handcuffs just because some sick bastard thinks he can take advantage of the weak and defenseless." A long silence followed, at last broken by the garbled voice. The man sighed. "No Whitman," he caught himself, "Look, Derek, just go to the station and lay down. We still have that cot in the back. I'll help the soldiers wrap up their patrol, and I'll come brew some coffee. It'll be like the old days again."

When the garbled voice responded, he replied, "I consider yesterday the 'old days,' yes. Griggs and the others can take care of meeting one of the bigwigs. I can't deal with much more of this shit than you." After one last response, he replied, "Just take it easy, Derek." Pushing himself off the wall, he passed by the ticket booth's open doorway. Knocking upon the door once, he leaned in and yelled, "Anyone in here? This is the police!"

Yami no Yugi's hand shot out, and grasped the policeman by the ankle. With a gasp, the policeman lost his balance and fell, grasping the door frame. Anzu shot out from under the table, and swung about to hit him in the face with her elbow. His grip slackened from the stun, and he fell backward, bashing his head on the brick with a groan. Sliding out from underneath the table, Yami no Yugi fell upon the man, seizing him by the collar of his shirt. The policeman's cap fell back, and the pharaoh gasped at the Seal of Orichalcos on his forehead.

The policeman wheezed before barking out a short laugh. "Just the man I was looking for."

"Who are you?" Yami no Yugi hissed.

"And what have you done to this town?" Anzu added from over his shoulder.

"Well, well, well, princess, looks like you are alive. Must be made of iron," the policeman noted with a sideways smile. Anzu regarded him coldly. "Anyway, to answer your first question, I'm Patrolman Irving Locke, and to answer your second question, I'm protecting this town."

"I don't call assisting in mass murder protection," Yami no Yugi hissed, his grip tightening on his collar, "My patience is thin enough as it is. I don't have time for jokes."

"Pharaoh," Anzu cautioned, "We need to get information out of him."

"I ain't an information booth," Locke reprimanded, "Don't call it 'mass murder,' by the by. The guy that you're standing over is still breathing, ain't he? We're saving this town by making a better one, one where everyone is safe, and happy."

"And by framing and attacking innocent people," Anzu hissed, "What kind of protector does that?"

"No one's innocent, especially not this guy who's holding me up off the ground," Locke retorted. Yami no Yugi let his grip slip at that, and Locke caught himself on his elbows. "The end isn't far now. Tomorrow will be a brutal day for Earth, as the world as you know it will crumble away. We're doing these people a favor by not placing them in the middle of it."

"Taking their souls isn't doing them a favor!" Yami no Yugi reprimanded sharply.

"Oh, you're one to talk, Pharaoh," Locke replied with a snort, "You don't even have an identification of your own, do you? No, you just pretend you're some kid. Now, guess what? The kid's gone."

Yami no Yugi's hand wobbled at his side. If he wanted any evidence about Rafael's claim of Doma being observers of human history, there it certainly was. Anzu cut back into the conversation before he could react. "In case you haven't realized, Locke, tomorrow hasn't come yet. You have no authority to legally arrest either of us."

Locke smirked at her, and Yami no Yugi's fist clenched. "Actually, I very well do, on multiple charges, at that. For starters, how about the fact that you just assaulted a police officer?"

"After you assaulted a civilian!" She retorted, "Where's this Cross guy you were talking about?"

Locke shook his head. "No more questions." The seal on his forehead glowed, and Yami no Yugi protectively held out an arm before Anzu. "You ain't gonna do anything. Your Puzzle doesn't work against this." Anzu slid sideways along the wall, and Yami no Yugi slowly drew his deck from his holster. If the seal on the policeman's forehead was continuing to react as it was, it was possible that it could be employed as a proxy for him to summon a monster or use a magic card.

Locke's eyes narrowed, and his hand shot down for his gun. Anzu, seizing his moment of divided attention, fell upon him, and secured his arms behind his back. Yami no Yugi stood at that, his hand falling to his side. He fixed Locke with a fierce glare, the Eye of Wdjat appearing to glow on his forehead. Anzu groaned with the effort as she tried to keep Locke's arms in place behind him. Her eyes widened at Yami no Yugi's altered state, and she bit her lip, shaking her head once.

Yami no Yugi let out a breath, remembering himself, and the Eye disappeared. Quickly, he traced his hand through his cards before at last drawing the Spellbinding Circle. Raising it in the air before Locke, whose eyes widened at the gesture, he warned Anzu to back up. Locke, his arms free, reached for his gun. Bright light burst before him, and he cried out in pain as the Circle constricted him, binding his bent elbows into place, his hands upraised. "Where's Cross?" Yami no Yugi demanded, his tone indicating that he was at the end of his patience.

"Find him yourself," Locke replied flippantly. At their annoyed expressions, he gave a pained grin, "What's the matter, gonna torture it out of me?" Yami no Yugi's eyes narrowed at that.

Anzu, however, broke in, "He's a policeman, yes? He's at the police station?"

"Hell if I know," Locke hissed from the pain, "We're all on patrol."

Anzu shook her head, her eyes meeting Yami no Yugi's with a beseeching look. "No, the man on the telegraph wouldn't be," she rose quickly, and hurried back into the booth, "He'd be at the station." Papers whispered as she dug through them in a flurry.

Yami no Yugi held out the card threateningly, his gaze hardening at Locke, whose face was still contorted from the pain. "I can make that circle even tighter, Irving." Locke gasped sharply, taking a wheezing breath as if Yami no Yugi's words had, in fact, caused it to tighten. The pharaoh smirked, knowing that it hadn't yet. "What's the matter, is it getting a little hard to breathe?"

The policeman spat out a curse at him. Tilting his head at a burst of static, the pharaoh noticed that the walkie-talkie was still live. Anzu's sneakers pounded back over the threshold. "Found it! Here's a map of Blackroot!"

"Gimme that! That's the property of the municipality!" Locke snapped as Yami no Yugi lowered the card to put away. He held up his hand to Anzu for a moment before diving down, and snatching the walkie-talkie from Locke's belt, with one arm upheld to fend off Locke's foot.

While Locke continued to curse at him, Anzu asked, "Do you think we should leave the gun with him? He might hurt someone, if he hasn't already."

"If this circle is still holding, he won't be able to get to it. Besides, it's an empty threat," Yami no Yugi replied, stepping past Locke, who had devolved to rolling on the ground and screaming at them as they gained distance, "He needed our souls. Killing us would be useless."

Anzu cast a final glance over her shoulder, and shuddered. "I don't want to think what the seal could bring out in me." The map crinkled as her grip on it tightened. He turned to her in concern, and she elaborated, "I've gotten frustrated before, and I'll admit I can be hot-blooded at times." Opting to let go of the thread of conversation, she brought the map back up quickly. "From here, it shows the police station lies more within the hub of the town, as opposed to the residential area. Head on's the quickest way, but I can't say it's the safest."

Looking down contemplatively at the walkie-talkie in his hand, he replied, "We at least know that there are two policemen at the station, Whitman and Cross. There might be more. Whitman didn't sound like he is in good shape, mentally, anyway. It seems like the rest were out on patrol."

"And taking souls," Anzu muttered, her voice quiet. She coughed as dust blew into her mouth.

Yami no Yugi lowered the walkie-talkie, his grip clenching around it.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Can you hear it?" He muttered, his voice tight, and his teeth clenching.

Anzu blinked, having heard only the wind and the walkie-talkie's static. However, she shut her eyes, and listened more carefully, the wind stirring her hair sideways, and bringing over the sounds from where the homes stood. Sounds that made her cry out. Yami no Yugi dashed forward, and she yelled, "Stop!"

He halted, his back to her, and his frame stiff. "Let me go, Anzu," he demanded, terrified screams piercing the air, "They're dying. You wanted my answer, and you have it."

"You're going to just charge into this?" She asked pointedly, crinkling the map in her hand, "We just got here. I understand why you want to help, but that's a good way to get yourself killed." She shook the map for emphasis. "We need to help Jonouchi and Honda."

"And let them suffer?" He challenged, pointing out at the houses.

Anzu didn't yield. "Where were you when Prisoner-777 took Burger World hostage? It wasn't until his hand cracked across my face that you even appeared." Yami no Yugi's eyes widened at that. Anzu folded her arms. "Make no mistake, I'm grateful that you saved me that day, but unless It was something that directly concerned Yugi or one of his friends, you weren't there."

His fist clenched. "I've changed."

Anzu nodded. "And I'm glad that you have. You're extending your sympathy far beyond each of us. But now isn't the right time."

"I can't blind myself to this," he hissed.

Anzu, a frustrated expression on her face, crumpled the map between her hands to deposit on the ground before bringing her foot down on it. "If you go there, then you may as well have sentenced us to death!" She reached into her pocket, and, much to his surprise, brought out a deck of cards. "We have two decks to work with, yours, and mine from Duelist Kingdom, and we're going against I don't know how many Orichalcos soldiers and corrupted lawmen. Not to mention how much time this would take. If we go that route, Cross will have more than enough time to wire the photos." She lowered her head. "And at this point, I'm not even sure if we'll be able to save anyone. The soldiers have been here too long."

Yami no Yugi shook his head. "So what then, run like a dog with my tail between my legs?"

"What did Yugi tell you during your duel with him?" Anzu asked, her voice becoming hard, "Just because you feel something is right doesn't mean you should do it. Let me explain you something that hasn't quite sunk in yet, Pharaoh. Whatever you were in the past, you are a fifteen-year-old kid, far from home, with no modern education, no identification, no living family to speak of, no knowledge of how to drive, and no idea how to even use that walkie-talkie you're holding. I promised to stand by your side, and with Yugi gone, I'm going to protect you, one way or another. It's not out of pity, or because you were once some powerful ruler, but because you are my friend. Even if that means I have to grab you by your jacket collar, and drag you away from a fight. And, so help me, I'll hammer that into your skull as many times as I have to until I get through to you!"

Silence passed between them, the map rustling under Anzu's foot as she took deep breaths to compose herself. Yami no Yugi glared at her, but otherwise said nothing, casting his gaze between her and the homes, his nostrils flaring. Anzu braced herself, as he looked half-ready to strike her. However, his expression slowly relaxed, and he sighed heavily, relenting, with one last regretful gaze toward the homes as the screams began to die down. "To the station, then," he responded, his tone indicating that he was less than sure of his decision.

Anzu knelt to pick up the map. Unfurling it, and brushing the dust from it, she come to stand beside him. "We'll take a side route past a few of the stores. We'll keep to the alleys, and stay out of the parking lots. The cell phone tower's shadow should hide us, and we can step through the supports of the water tower." Her stomach growled, and she put a hand to it. "I've wasted enough time."

"We did," he corrected her, and Anzu smiled at him before they set off, taking care to step off the main road. The structures creaked, and stones whispered as they fell from the cracking concrete of the sidewalk. Anzu's and Yami no Yugi's reflections were distorted in the side mirrors of the cars they passed. They gave the vehicles a berth, as the sun's reflection made it difficult to see inside.

The porch of the general store was announced by a creak, one of the rocking chairs on it falling slightly forward from the wind. The door to the store was open, and a body, its hand still braced upon the handle, lay splayed out. The effect was disturbing, with the door swinging slightly as the body's weight sagged. Antiquities on the windowsill were smashed, with an arm hanging on top of them. A dark form lay across the cash register at the counter, while white noise emitted from possibly a radio within, as a television couldn't be seen. Turning her head from the scene, Anzu pointed down the side alley, her companion nodding as they quickly moved on.

Passing by a few garbage cans, the heat of the sun already causing them to stink, Anzu held out a hand for the walkie-talkie. "I wonder if they've noticed what's happened to Locke?" Yami no Yugi handed it over, and she leaned against a side wall to tinker with it, all the while keeping her fingers far away from the speaker button. Phonetic code and police jargon spilled out, and she muttered, "This might take a few moments."

He nodded, starting forward. "I'll look ahead."

A collection of chairs and tables stood against one side of the alley, indicating that he was next to a restaurant, a further indicator being the orange lettering higher up on the side wall. Slowly, he poked his head out, only to retract it just as quick with a hand covering his mouth, muffling his gasp of shock at the scene before him.

Bodies lay everywhere. Some lay face down in their food at outdoor tables, with overturned drinks already attracting wasps. Others, with purses, shopping bags, and backpacks dumped out all over the concrete, lay splayed, with cuts and abrasions on their skin from the fall. A leash, clearly broken off, lay underneath one man's hand. Doors stood open, one with a few bodies piled before it. A man was collapsed over a mailbox, his one hand stuck in the open lid, and his limp arm flapping in the wind. A woman was collapsed against a dumpster, her eyes still open, and ants marching up her face. A jump rope, twisted about a little girl's hand, swung back and forth, similarly to a pendulum. A stray cat sniffed at a teenage girl's pony tail, only to glance up at Yami no Yugi, and dash off, its black fur raised.

Anzu slowly walked up behind him, her voice low. "Yeah, they've noticed," she muttered, "We would've been sitting ducks if we hadn't taken a side route."

Yami no Yugi slowly turned toward her, dropping his hand. Anzu, her heart sinking, peeked out her head, only to retract it, and fall backward against the restaurant's wall, sliding down to sit on the sidewalk in shock. The walkie talkie hummed in her hand. "Ten-one-oh-one, Patrolman Locke, repeat, Ten-one-oh-one Patrolman Locke!" Anzu's thumb twisted the walkie-talkie to a separate channel. "All units, ten-forty until later advised, repeat, all units, ten-forty until later advised!"

Anzu winced. "Damn it!" Yami no Yugi raised an eyebrow, and she stood to explain herself, "Ten-forty means a silent run. They'll still talk on the radio, but we won't hear any cruiser sirens if they're on patrol. As soon as we leave the station, we have to get out of here."

He turned to look once again at the horrific scene. "Have you heard anything about this area on the radio?"

Anzu shook her head. "If I can guess, this is probably where they started, since it was closer to the station. They might consider this to be a safe area for the time being."

Yami no Yugi nodded at that. "Then we'll have to move quickly. Stay close."

Anzu looked away. "Easier said than done." She still, however, put one foot forward, and, taking a breath to gather her courage, continued, her face pale at the sight of the bodies before her. They each grasped onto the other's free arm for support, guiding each other over the bodies in something that looked like an odd rendition of a high-step dance. Anzu even mumbled, "One, two, three," under her breath to keep herself on point, despite feeling the sun on her body like an eye on her back, until at last they crept back into the shelter of another alley, letting go of each other to lean against the walls. Glass broke in the distance, shattering the tentative calm of the moment. They hastened away.

Anzu set the map on the ground as they knelt behind a chain link fence. Crates filled with oranges, the citrus stinging their eyes. Yami no Yugi pulled two of the oranges from the crates, and checked them for signs of rot before handing one over to Anzu. It disquieted him to realize that the fruit, while hot from the sun, had yet to begin to really corrode, indicating the attack was recent. He was about to peel it by hand when Anzu put hers in her mouth, bit down, and tore off part of the peel, taking a moment to suck on it before spitting it out. Swiping her mouth with her wrist, she chuckled. "Sorry you had to see that. It's just how I get the most juice out of it." Yami no Yugi smiled, and copied her motion, spitting it out further. Anzu bit again, and spat hers, the two of them making a game out of it until the oranges were completely unpeeled. Holding his in his one hand, Yami no Yugi loaded two more into Anzu's backpack with his other hand while she continued to study the map, the walkie-talkie set on the ground beside it.

Turning away from her, he walked toward the delivery truck, its doors open, a ramp dropped to the sidewalk, and a few crates still sitting inside. The truck's engine continued to run, the four-way flashers blinking. A few were stacked on a roll-away dolly, the operator lying face-down before it. Yami no Yugi's reflection walked towards him from the driver's side mirror, the door open. A clipboard lay on the ground, the pen rolling back and forth over its pages as the wind stirred it. The driver's limp arm hung out. The truck's radio sung quietly to itself. Biting into his orange, and sending more juice flying, Yami no Yugi leaned slightly over the unconscious driver to glance at the passenger's seat. Finding it empty, he retracted himself in relief, and turned to walk away.

Anzu glanced up as he returned, wiping his fingers against his pant leg, "Do you smell something?" She asked, wrinkling her nose. Sniffing at the air, he nodded his head with a grimace, turning his head to look at the back door to the restaurant they were hiding behind. Pushing her hair back behind one ear, she noted, "When I worked at Burger World, I remember the sign for the walk-in fridge saying that the food could last in there for six hours with no power. But this is still going on. It hasn't been long enough for that. Must be the food that was being prepared on the cutting boards. Come to think of it, it's probably not a good idea to walk by the water tower now. If no one is conscious to operate the power plants, I'm not sure what will happen."

"That doesn't make any sense," he pointed out, "The electricity is still working, otherwise the police wouldn't be able to wire the photos. If the power plants were kept running, no newcomer would be the wiser."

"So they'll go for the power plants last?" She asked, lowering her head back toward the map and pointing at the cell phone tower, "Except for the interior phone lines. Outside lines probably haven't been touched yet." She pulled out her cell phone, the Kuriboh key chain bouncing, and tapped experimentally on it. "Just as I thought, no reception." She pocketed it again, and rubbed at her chin in thought. "We'll still have to skip the water tower anyway, then, since there are still people working there." She glanced back over the restaurant's back door. "Whoever took those people away must have had the foresight to turn off the gas, otherwise we'd be looking at a gaping hole in the ground. It was probably one of the policemen."

"Could I have a look at that, Anzu?" He asked, kneeling beside her. She edged over, and polished off the last of her orange. Tracing his finger over the water droplet, lightning bolt, flame, corded phone, and upward squiggly arrows that indicated the water, electricity, natural gas, communications, and geothermal plants, respectively, he commented, "It's probably better that we avoid these locations altogether. It would make more sense to me that the workers are also being controlled." As Anzu wiped off her hand on the ground, he explained, "If you cripple a town's economy as well as its law enforcement, it will fold in on itself much quicker."

Anzu shuddered at that. "So the cell phone tower is also out?"

He nodded. "It's probably not in use right now, but the workers would still need to be there to keep it stable."

Anzu suppressed a growl of frustration. "That just leaves one last route. We'll have to cross through town hall. The station will be dead ahead. The problem is," she placed her pointer finger on the large gray square, "there's a parking lot, a large one, and it faces the police station. They'll see us coming right away."

The walkie-talkie hummed back to life. "All units, ten-twelve, repeat, ten-twelve."

Her face turned grim at that. "'Stand by,'" she translated. No further context was needed. Yami no Yugi's fingers curled in anger and frustration in the chain link fence.

Letting go, he replied quietly, "We have no choice."

Anzu slowly nodded, and rose, gathering the walkie-talkie and map to herself. "We'll just have to try, then." She thought of the flint in her backpack. "I could try to make a distraction by setting a hedge on fire."

Reaching into his deck, he drew the Eye of Timaeus to hold out between them, staring at it contemplatively. Anzu said nothing, instead allowing him to think. Yami no Yugi felt a shade of his shock at Timaeus not listening to him in his past duel on the train return, but slowly allowed for it to fall away. Running his head once over the card, he silently beseeched him to lend him his strength once more. Staring up at Anzu, who looked off down the opposite alley, contemplating the dangerous nature of their endeavor, he slackened his grip upon his pride. While he did lack in understanding the suffering of others to a point due to myriad factors, he did understand what it was to feel lost, or afraid, though he did cloak it with his self-confidence. At the very least, he could try. There were things he still didn't understand about modern humans, though it could be argued that part of it was because he hadn't considered himself human for so long. He had, as time had gone on, opened himself more to another, and released his grip more and more upon his past identity as a shadowed being within the Puzzle.

He'd clung tightly to his newfound sense of identity upon first emerging from the Puzzle, thinking himself to, in fact, think he was Yugi Muto, though a different side of him. Finding that truth was far more complicated was something both of elation and fear. In some respects, Yami no Yugi thought that Yugi did have a right to shatter the Puzzle upon finding that he had been a different being sharing his vessel, but the boy's hand had stayed. Perhaps it was more a testament to Yugi's kindness than much else, but it had given Yami no Yugi some peace in knowing that someone had wanted him to remain there. He wasn't just an object to be thrown in the drawer, sold, or tossed in the trash, but he had been someone of value.

Reaching back into Yugi's memories, he'd seen a much younger version of Anzu, her hair tied up in a ponytail, swinging a bruised fist at a boy who'd hit Yugi, her friend rubbing at his cheek behind her, tears in his eyes. Though the school teacher later punished Anzu by calling her parents, Anzu hadn't laid any blame on Yugi, instead sporting the bandaged gash from a rock the bully had thrown at her face, and smiling. "See, we're twins!"

Yami no Yugi knew, especially now, knew that he wasn't perfect, but it didn't matter to him now. He wanted his friend back, as did Anzu. Slowly placing the card back, he appealed to Timaeus with his sense of loss, rather than his sense of heroism. He stood. "I don't think it'll have to come to that. Come on." Anzu beside him, they crept away.

Town hall loomed above them, its bronze bell silent. A chair, turned sideways on the floor, was visible to them from one window. Another was open, with a woman's arms and long hair trailing out of it. Much to Anzu's relief, there were hedges aligning the structure's curiously green lawn, the sprinklers spraying their legs. She decided against holding her breath, however, her heart thumping as they flattened themselves along the wall. The hum of an engine sounded from around the building's front. Yami no Yugi's hand went to his deck as he pictured a police cruiser idling in the middle of the parking lot.

The sun's dying rays burst into his vision as he swung about, his arm upheld.

Squinting, he registered the silhouette before him. It was too small and angular to be a car, though many sat on either side, their drivers half spilled out of them, and their engines still running. In the center, however, he realized it was a motorcycle that he was looking at, the driver dismounting to remove its helmet. The rider unfastened the clasps, and out spilled long, blonde hair. Setting her helmet down upon the seat, Mai Kujaku greeted solemnly, "Hello again, Yami no Yugi."