So, this was going to be about 1-2,000 words, but that was before I was attacked by a rampaging horde of plot-bunnies. They stole my pen and paper, and handed me this. If my grammar or wording is a bit off, please blame them. Also, SoulTaker234, I hope you like this, and I'm sorry for the wait. Please read and enjoy! This is playing on the notion that the fight to escape from Pegasus went differently. So Tristan never got turned into a vampire. I would love some reviews as this is the first side story I have ever done!

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"Ah, great." I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair. I should have expected this.

"Yami? What's the matter?" I looked up as Yugi walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. It had only been about a day since we'd broken him, Joey, and Duke out of Pegasus' grasp, but he'd managed to recover from the separation a great deal in such a short time. We had all returned to our individual homes, safe now that Pegasus and his brawny werewolf guard were gone for good. I sighed. Nobody had actually meant for it to happen, we hadn't seen that the catwalk had come loose, but we couldn't exactly change what had happened. I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to get rid of the images, and then turned back to Yugi.

"While we were staying over at Tristan and Duke's place, all the food in the fridge spoiled. The only thing good in here is the cat food."

He walked over, yawning blearily, and hugged my arm, head resting on my bicep. "Not really . . . 'ngry . . ." I chuckled and rubbed his ears.

"Yugi," he had fallen asleep standing up, again. "Yugi, wake up." I wrapped my other arm around his back, disentangling the arm he was hugging like a teddy-bear, and pulled him into my chest. He was almost back to normal, but not completely recovered. I tucked his head under my chin, realizing not for the first time just how close I'd gotten to losing him forever.

Nekos needed to remain with their Master, their current one, and were unable to go back to previous ones. Pegasus hadn't understood that, so when he'd kidnapped him, he hadn't realized that Yugi had needed me.

I held him tighter at that thought. He needed me. Somebody needed me. The concept was so foreign that I almost laughed. Nobody had ever needed me before. Even at work I was easily replaceable.

"Mm? S*yawn*orry. Didn't mean to doze off again." Yugi woke up and I let go. "You were saying?"

I chuckled, rubbing his hair a bit. "Well, I was going to say that we should run to the store for some groceries, but maybe you should stay here. I'll only be an hour at most, alright?""

He nodded. "I'll clean out the fridge while you're gone."

I patted his head. "Okay. You call me if anything happens?"

He closed his eyes and leaned into my hand. "Yes."

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Yugi scrunched his eyes shut tighter, curling in on himself. In the twenty minutes since Yami had left, he'd managed to clear out all the old, rotting food from the fridge, but had started to feel . . . off. He was currently lying on the couch, arms wrapped around his head, shaking. Something was wrong with him. He just didn't know what. The latest wave of pain passed, and Yugi whimpered, wanting Yami to return. He should call him. There was a phone in the kitchen. One attached to the wall. Taking a breath and attempting to rub some of the lingering tendrils of pain from his head, he stood. The head rush nearly caused him to fall right back down. As soon as he could see clearly again, he made his way over, all focus on the phone. Something was defiantly wrong with him.

Suddenly, the instant his hand made contact with the phone, a blinding, ice-blue light erupted behind his eyes as he was simultaneously struck in the forehead by something sharp.

When he came to, there was a familiar tug in his chest. Master. His Master was nearby. He groaned and rolled over, searching for him through half-lidded eyes. His brain just felt so fogged over that he couldn't really focus on anything.

"You're awake? Good. Get up." He blinked, not remembering Yami ever having used that tone with him before. Maybe he'd done something wrong? "Did you not hear me? I want to be gone by the time he comes back." A tall, thin man with waist-length blue hair stepped into view.

Yugi rolled back over onto his stomach, forcing his limbs to lift him. He'd made it shakily to his knees when a thought occurred to him. He didn't remember Yami looking like that. The instant that entered his mind, though, a sharp pain from the center of his forehead nearly put him back on the ground.

"I am your Master. You are my neko. As such, you are bound to do anything I command of you. Now. Get. Up." The man was quickly losing his patience.

Yugi struggled to his feet, forcing himself to maintain balance as his Master led him out the back door. Only a tiny, niggling sense in the back of his mind tried to tell him something was off.

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"Yugi, I'm home." I called, opening the door. It took a second to maneuver all the grocery bags inside, but once I did, I realized that I hadn't heard a response. "Yugi?" I paused, and then sighed. He must have fallen asleep again. Oh, well. He needed his sleep anyway. I made it to the kitchen and put everything away quickly. Throwing out the last plastic bag, I was about to head upstairs to see Yugi when I noticed the phone. It had fallen out of its cradle and was lying on the floor.

'That's odd.' I thought, bending down and replacing it. Yugi had never been sloppy or messy. Maybe I'd knocked it over putting everything away? I shook my head and headed upstairs. Paranoia took a long time to wear off, but Pegasus was gone. My phone on the ground did not mean that some evil villain was rampaging.

I opened the door to my bedroom and stopped. Yugi hadn't been downstairs. He wasn't upstairs. "Yugi?" I called, getting worried. I checked everywhere upstairs before heading back down and checking all the downstairs rooms, just to make sure. "Yugi." I was panicking at this point. Had he gone outback? Into the woods? No. He wouldn't do that. Had something happened?

My eyes widened at that thought and I turned to look back at the phone. Something had happened. Without wasting another moment, I snatched my cellphone out of my pocket and dialed Joey's number. Each ring felt like an eternity, and I only realized I'd begun pacing when I heard the sleepy greeting from the other end of the line.

"Joey, please. You have to come over. I can't find Yugi."

"What do you mean?"

"I went to the store and left him home alone because he was still tired. I wasn't gone more than forty-five minutes, but now he's not here and I think something's happened to him."

"Yami, calm down. Take a deep breath." I did, running a hand through my hair. "Ok. Now, are you sure Yugi's not there? Maybe he's-"

"Joey, I checked the whole house. He's not here."

He was silent for a moment. "I'll call the others and we'll help you look."

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It didn't seem like all that long ago, to Joey, that he's been in almost this exact position; trekking through the woods behind Yami's house in search of Yugi. Only this time, there wasn't just him and Yami. This time, Tea, Tristan, and Duke were also out looking. The three of them had decided to see if he was in the city, while Joey and Yami took the woods. Not to mention, he had a way to shorten the search. Sure, he had never tried it before, but he was a werewolf now, right? Picking up a scent trail should be easy. Still a bit wary of his other form, he looked around the area before, satisfied that he was alone, he closed his eyes and shifted.

When he opened them, everything seemed to have shrunk slightly. Trying to focus on the task at hand, rather than having just successfully shifted, he lowered his head to the ground and began to sniff. Only . . . he hadn't exactly paid much attention to what Yugi smelled like.

He walked a ways in one direction, then in another, then turned again-

Something was suddenly on his back, trying to tear through his skin with razor-sharp claws. Reacting instinctively, Joey reared up on his hind legs, knocking it off, and whirled, swinging his massive paw at whatever it was. The creature was thrown back several feet before it hit a boulder. It slid to the ground and lay still. Joey took a step closer to investigate, but stopped dead in his tracks. The creature moved slightly, scrunching his eyebrows together, but that wasn't what had shocked him.

"Yugi?" he breathed. Why would Yugi attack him? That didn't make any sense. Unless . . . maybe he'd been frightened by the appearance of a werewolf.

Swiftly, Joey shifted back down and hurried over. "Yug? Talk to me. Are you alright?" the neko in his arms stirred, and he noticed a strange, shiny stone, smaller than a dime, directly in the middle of his forehead. Before he could think any more on it, though, Yugi's eyes opened, and Joey's heart skipped a beat. His eyes showed absolutely no trace of the sweet neko he usually was.

His pupils were ice-blue, and he looked about ready to attack. An instant later, that's just what he did. Joey jumped back, dodging a swinging, claw-filled paw.

"Yugi! What the hell? Stop man, it's me!" Yugi was relentless, though, and it soon became obvious that his goal was not to merely scare Joey off, but to seriously wound him. The blonde couldn't bring himself to harm the other, even in self-defense, though, so it was in desperation that he reached out and caught the neko's arm.

"Yugi, stop!" Something was wrong. This wasn't his friend. He yanked the arm he held, spinning the smaller around so that Yugi's back was pressed against his chest, and grabbed his other arm, locking him in place. "Please! I don't want to hurt you!" the neko was thrashing for all he was worth, hissing and spitting. Joey held him tighter, unsure of what else to do. Suddenly, the stone on Yugi's forehead flashed brightly and Yugi stilled. The light faded and he went limp. "Y-Yugi!" Joey lowered him to the ground and cradled him against his chest. "C'mon, wake up. What the hell is going on?"

After a moment, Yugi twitched. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter briefly, and then opened them partway. "Mn. J-Joey?" Joey breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes were back to their normal, purple color.

"Yug, what the hell just happened?"

Yugi looked at him in confusion for a moment, until everything that had just happened came back to him in a rush. His eyes shot open and he gasped, sitting up abruptly. Too abruptly, apparently. Joey reached out and caught him before he fell back over.

"Take it easy, pal. I gotcha." Joey murmured as Yugi clutched at his head.

"Th-the Leviathan." He whimpered. "H-he used to w-work for Peg-" he broke off, drawing a shuddering, unsteady breath, and burying his face in Joey's chest, "Pegasus."

Joey wrapped his arms around the tiny, shaking frame as the words registered. "Wait, the Leviathan? I thought he was just a myth. A-a legend! He's real?"

"To most people, I'm a myth. And so are you. His name is Dartz, and he's able to get into your mind and make you do whatever he wants. He had me attack you, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. Joey-AHHH!" Yugi lurched forward, gripping his head so tight his knuckles turned white. "He's taking control again. J-Joey, please, you have to get out of he-" he broke off and jerked out of Joey's grasp. Joey stood, shocked and worried, but before he could do anything to try to help his friend, the neko spun around, snarling. Ice-blue eyes flashing dangerously with no hint of recognition in them. He opened his mouth and, in a voice that was defiantly not Yugi's, began to speak.

"Your friend thought he was strong enough to fight me off, but as long as he wears the Stone of the Orichalcos, he belongs to me. Body, mind, and soul."

Joey snarled and shifted to werewolf form. "You give him back or I'll make you pay!"

Yugi chuckled. "Oh, really? And what are you going to do with that form? Attack your friend? You can't find me. You can't even protect yourself without hurting him."

Joey froze. He was right. There was no way he could prevent Yugi from hurting him for very long, not with the reckless abandon Dartz was forcing him to use. With a sinking feeling in his gut, Joey took one last look at his little buddy, then turned and ran. He needed help.

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"Yugi!" I called again, feeling more and more hopeless as time went by. I'd been out here for almost an hour and found nothing. Not one trace of him, paw print, footprint, anything. I paused. What could have happened while I was gone? Did he just go for a walk and I was overreacting? Had he been kidnapped? Lured away? Kil-No. Yugi was not, could not possibly, be dead. I raised my head, looked around again, and set out. I would find him.

It was only a few minutes later, though, that I did. But something was wrong. Yugi's eyes weren't normally blue.

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Joey paced back and forth, waiting for everyone else to show up. He had called everybody back to Yami's house, but that had brought to light a new problem; Yami wasn't answering his phone. Joey had called him, but his cell wouldn't even ring. He'd been sent straight to voicemail.

Finally, he looked out the window and saw Tristan, Duke, and Tea coming up across the front lawn.

"Joey, did you find him?" Tristan called as the werewolf teen came out to greet them.

"Yes and no. there's a problem. A few, actually."

"What kind of problems?" Tea asked, and then her eyes landed on his arm. "Oh, my gosh. Here, let me take a look at that." He looked down, only realizing then that he was bleeding. The cut wasn't too deep, but it was long. About three inches. "How did this happen?" She asked, opening her ever-present backpack and retrieving disinfectant and a small strip of bandages.

Joey just stared at his arm, bile rising in his throat. Yugi had never drawn blood before. He hated fighting. That man, Dartz, had forced him too . . .He shook his head. "Yugi." He said softly.

Tea looked up from finishing his arm, confused. "What do you mean? Yugi did this?"

He sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah. That's one of the problems." He looked up at Duke. "How much do you know about the Leviathan? Dartz?"

Duke froze and paled drastically. "W-what?"

Joey swallowed thickly and ran a thumb absently over Tea's finished work. "I met up with Yugi, but he attacked me. For the moment he was . . . coherent, he managed to tell me that the Leviathan was controlling him. Making him do things he didn't want to do. He said that he used to work for Pegasus."

Duke looked haunted. "Y-yeah. He did. He's got Yugi?"

Joey nodded.

Duke ran a hand through his hair and began pacing. "This is bad. This is really bad. We need to get him away- Where's Yami?" He stopped suddenly, realizing who wasn't there.

"That's the other problem. I can't get in contact with him. Just instant voicemail. Something must have happened."

"Everybody, gather anything you think we may need. Water bottles, medical supplies, try to find at least one weapon each. Dartz sounds dangerous. Duke," Tristan paused, catching the vampire by the arm, "we need to know anything you can tell us about him."

Duke took a deep breath to gather himself, then nodded and turned to Joey. "Did you happen to see some kind of stone anywhere? On-on Yugi, I mean. He can't control someone's mind if they aren't wearing it."

"Stone of the Orichalcos." Joey muttered, and then looked up. "That's what he called it. Dartz. He did this weird mind control thing where he wasn't there, but was, like, speaking to me through Yugi. He said that as long as Yugi wore that stone, he'd belong to him completely. It's on his forehead."

"Okay. We need to either take out Dartz or remove the stone. That's going to be hard to do without hurting him, though. Maybe if we distract Dartz, he won't be able to focus on controlling Yugi. That might work."

"Yeah, one problem with that." Joey broke in. "How do we find him?"

"He is unable to go very far from whoever he is possessing without losing the connection. He should be close be."

"Alright," Tristan took charge once again, "Sounds like we have a plan. Everybody get ready; we head out in five minutes. And let's just hope we can find Yami uninjured."

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That hope was dashed as soon as they got back to where Joey had seen Yugi. They hadn't been expecting to find the neko there, but maybe pick up a trail. What they found, though, ended up being the battered, still form of their missing teammate.

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"Yami?" I heard my name as if someone was calling from quite a ways off. I was aware of darkness and not much else. "Yami?" it sounded closer this time. Suddenly, I felt something behind my head, and then shoulders, lifting me. I groaned slightly. "C'mon, buddy. Wake up." I tried to open my eyes, but as soon as I did, I was made instantly aware of just how much pain I was in.

"Hold him still. Yami, please, I know it hurts, but you need to try not to move." Tea's voice made its way to me and I tried to comply, attempting to take stock of my injuries as a distraction. I seemed to be somewhat propped up; my head was on someone's lap, from what I could tell. My side burned, making it hurt to breathe. My ankle, when I'd shifted it, had sent spikes of pain shooting up my leg, and, as I'd just noticed, something warm was oozing down the side of my forehead. I took a breath, wincing slightly when my left side flared up again, and opened my eyes. Joey's worried face stared back down at me.

"Hey, pal. What happened?"

It came back to me all at once, and I struggled to sit up.

"Yami, stop. Joey, hold him down!" Tea commanded. Joey's arms wrapped around me and prevented me from moving.

"Y-Yugi. Where is he?" I rasped.

"I don't know, pal. But we'll find him, don't worry. Just stay still and let Tea patch you up, alright?"

I sighed and lay still. "There was something wrong with him. He just lunged at me. I . . . I don't know what happened. He just attacked. It was like . . . he was somebody else, I guess."

"He was, kind of."

I looked up in confusion. Yugi had been someone else? "What do you mean?"

He hesitated, glancing at something out of my line of sight briefly, and then answered. "He's being possessed by someone named Dartz. He's the leviathan from mythology. It's said that he was able to destroy all of his enemies without laying a hand on them. He'd have fun toying with anyone he wanted, and, if the legends are true, is the sole reason that the elf race has been nearly wiped out. He's got Yugi under his control now,"

I tried to take it all in. Yugi, my Yugi, my little friend, now had some powerful mythical playing puppet with him. I felt sick just thinking about it. "What are we going to do?"

"We have a plan, and just hope it's going to work. If we can somehow manage to remove the stone from Yugi's forehead, he may be freed. But it's not going to be easy.

Tea moved on to wrap whatever was bleeding on my head, and Joey fell silent. When she finished, she sat back and I sat up, closing my eyes and trying to stave off the wave of dizziness that threatened to knock me back down.

"Hey, easy Yami. You got quite a bump on your head." Joey wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Tristan, could you take Yami back-"

"No." I interrupted. There was no way I was going to sit at home while they rescued Yugi. "I'm coming with."

"Yami, you're hurt."

"I don't care. I'm Yugi's Master. He needs me."

"Yami-"

"I'm coming, one way or another." I glared at them defiantly.

Duke sighed. Fine. But we need to hurry. Yami?" I looked at him. "You need to stay out of whatever fight may break out. Deal?" I nodded. "Okay. Let's head out."

Joey helped me stand, and Tea handed me a thick stick so I could walk without putting any pressure on my bad ankle.

"Alright, let me try this again." Joey shifted and began smelling the ground, walking in zigzags and circles, trying to pick up a trail. After a minute, he stopped, sniffed again, and took off. We had our way.

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"Are you sure we're going the right way?" I asked about twenty minutes later. We had walked quite a ways so far and, as much as I tried to hide and deny it, everything was starting to take its toll. My ankle made itself painfully known every time it bumped the ground or brushed the surrounding shrubs. My head throbbed, and from time to time I'd had to pause momentarily to wait for my vision to clear. But the worst by far were my ribs. Tea hadn't been able to do anything for them, but I could tell from experience that they were at least cracked. Maybe even broken. Inhaling felt like jamming tacks into my lungs, while exhaling was more like ripping them back out again. Not to mention all of the bruises and cuts littering my body.

"I'm sure, Yami. Are you doing okay?" I nodded slightly, trying not to jostle my head too much. I had to get Yugi away from that creep. During our journey, Duke had brought to light some more of what he knew about our new enemy.

Apparently, one of the abilities of the stone of the Orichalcos was to allow Dartz to take the place of a neko's Master, as long as they were wearing it. He had done this for Pegasus whenever the man had had to go away on business trips. Yugi wouldn't be affected by the separation, but Dartz would use the possession for endless 'amusement'. According to Duke, some of his favorite pastimes were making Yugi wait on him hand and foot, and making him fight other mythicals.

I'd promised Yugi that I wouldn't let anything happen to him. I had to save him. I'd-

"Well, well, well. It sure took you long enough to find us."

"Dartz! I've been wanting to take you down for a long time now." Duke snarled at the man who had just appeared at the other end of the clearing. He had long, teal hair, elegant, loose clothing, and two different colored eyes.

"Oh, please. Mind your tongue, vampire. You'll get your punishment soon enough. I'm just pleased that everybody could manage to be here." He spoke as if greeting us to a fine dinner, rather than our current situation.

"Where's Yugi? And what punishment?" Duke demanded.

Dartz lost all false kindness. He frowned and his eyes flashed, pupils morphing into thin, reptile-like slits. "What punishment? You actually have the gall to ask? You murdered my employer. What punishment do you think? This is my revenge, and trust me, I'll make you wish you'd never killed Pegasus."

"We never killed him. It was an accident-"

"I told you to mind your tongue, vampire. I don't want your excuses. My employer left me very clear demands. If ever he were to parish, it would be my duty to destroy those responsible however I see fit. And what better way than with my favorite little toy?" he snickered sadistically, and I felt sick. "I've never liked fighting. And, fortunately, I don't have to. Neko!" He called, and we all gasped. Yugi, the blue-eyed one who'd attacked me, stepped, no, stumbled out of the woods. He looked horrible. All of his exposed skin was either black and blue, or bloody. He was gasping for breath, but didn't seem to be able to draw in a real lungful. His wrist was bent at an odd angle, while his left eye was black and swollen, but he showed no pain on his face at all.

Dartz took great pleasure in our reactions. "As you can see, I had to give him a few reminders of who was in charge. But don't worry; he'll be out of his misery soon enough."

Joey snarled, fur standing up along his back. "You sick-" before he could finish, Dartz lifted a hand, pointed at Joey, and Yugi took off. He began swinging wildly, looking every bit the part of a wild animal.

"Yami, Tea, get in the trees! Stay out of the way!" Duke yelled right before he bolted over and grabbed Yugi, pulling him off of Joey.

"Yami, come on!" Tea called, grabbing my hand and dragging me away. I ran after her, as fast as my ankle would allow. We entered the trees and found a place to watch.

I looked back at Dartz and gasped. The reptile-eyes weren't the only things he had changed, apparently. Where Dartz had once stood, lay a giant, blue snake. It was easily longer than a truck and its fangs were the size of pencils. Before either of us could do anything, it had lunged forward and knocked Tristan away from Yugi. He'd almost gotten the stone off with Duke and Joey holding him down.

"Yami, stay here." I looked up at Tea in confusion. "Tristan looks knocked out. I'm going to see if he's alright." She snuck off, circling around through the trees to where our friend had landed.

I glanced back over, worry filling my heart as I saw Duke trying to subdue Yugi as Joey kept Dartz away from them. Yugi . . . I had never seen him like this before. Yeah, I knew that he wasn't exactly in his right mind, but still. This was Yugi I was seeing. My Yugi. And right now, he was trying to kill one of his best friends.

"AAGH!" Dartz had whipped himself around and thrown Joey into a tree.

"Duke! Look out!" I tried to warn him, but it was too late. Teeth flashed and our vampire was on the ground clutching his side. Yugi stood partway, fell back to his knees for a moment, and lifted himself again. His body couldn't take much more. I knew that it was only a matter of time before it wouldn't matter if we got him freed from Dartz.

"Neko! Go find your old Master. And when you do," He was scanning the tree line slowly, searching for me. I ducked behind a tree. "kill him."

I peeked out. Yugi was robotically walking around the edge of the trees, trying to find me. Behind him, Joey had recovered and was now trying to take the leviathan out. Yugi was just limping past me when I looked back at him. I held my breath and didn't dare move. I had to get that stone off of him. As soon as his back was towards me, I stood, fighting down a wave of nausea as I put pressure on my injured ankle. I didn't stop, though. I had one shot at this. I lunged at him and grabbed him from behind, pinning his arms to his sides. He tried to spin to fight me, but I wouldn't let go.

"Please, Yugi. Don't do this. Fight him. Please. I know you don't want to fight us." I muttered, praying he'd hear me. I couldn't reach up to grab the stone, but I couldn't keep this up for much longer, either. My leg gave out, so I was supporting myself on him, but that just pressed my ribs harder into his back. I was gasping for air at this point, my grip weakening.

Suddenly, Yugi stilled. "Y-Yami?" He stumbled under our combined weight and fell to the ground. I crawled off of him.

"Neko!" Dartz snapped, eyes glowing ice-blue. Yugi screamed, fisting his hair and writhing on the ground. "I am your Master! I order you to kill him!"

"Yugi, don't listen to him! Fight it!" His eyes flashed blue for a moment, then purple.

"Y-Yami," he whimpered, "Go. Run. Pl-" he broke off with another scream. His back arched and his eyes squeezed shut.

"Yugi!" I pushed myself up on my hands and knees and crawled over to him. His body jerked and thrashed for all it was worth. "Yugi." He snarled, but before he could stand, I threw myself on him. The only thought in my mind was to keep him down. Keep him from causing any more harm to himself or the others. He snarled and thrashed again, seemingly even more violently this time, and I fought to maintain my hold.

"Yami!" I heard someone yell, but couldn't turn my attention to them. Yugi began to try to jerk and twist his arms out of my grasp.

Suddenly, one of his flailing arms slammed into my ribs. I felt a white-hot pain that blocked out my vision and left my ears ringing. When I was able to look up, I saw with a shock that Duke had caught Yugi. He held him by the head and swiftly yanked the stone off of his forehead.

Yugi, as soon as he was freed of it, stumbled. He tried to remain upright, but his body had taken so much damage that he collapsed. Gasping, he tried to rise, but ended up falling back down.

"Y-Yugi," I attempted to crawl over to him, but the world suddenly darkened and I knew no more.

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Duke held the gaze of his old tormentor. The snake stared at him in unconcealed anger, and, maybe, a little bit of fear. "This ends now." The vampiric teen growled, rising the stone above his head and slamming it down on the ground.

"Don't you dare!" Dartz, now not even trying to hide his fear, lunged forward as fast as he could, but Duke, unflinching, just brought his heel down on the tiny crystal. It shattered, blinding everyone with a flash of ice- blue light. The scream that was ripped from Dartz's throat was not even close to being human. The light faded and Tea, Duke, Tristan, and a slightly dizzy Joey were the only witnesses to the spectacle that had never before been seen, nor would it ever appear again. The giant snake had frozen, eyes fearful, teeth still exposed, mid-lunge. He was not moving not breathing. It was as if he himself had been turned to stone. The moment of stunned silence was shattered as a small crack appeared in the statue's side. It grew. And spread. More and more, faster and faster. Chucks and pieces and bits all rained down where the once deadly and terrifying creature had lain. Now all that was left of him was a pile of shards, just like the stone Duke had rid the world of under his shoe. He was gone.

"What the hell just happened?" Joey asked, rubbing his head where he'd hit it against a rock.

"I don't know, but all I care about right now is the fact that he won't be bothering anyone else ever again." Duke sighed. Then turned suddenly, remembering the two who had been affected the worst by the whole ordeal. "Yami?" He hurried over and knelt down between them. "Yugi?" Neither was conscious. "We need to get them back to the house."

"Agreed." Joey and Tea knelt by him, examining their friends.

"Be careful to not jostle them, alright? We don't know the extent of their injuries." The vampire and werewolf nodded, Joey easing one of his arms under the neko's head and shoulders, the other under his knees. Tristan helped get Yami onto Duke's back and they set out.

They had made it just about two miles when Yugi made a noise. Joey froze, staring down at him as he slowly came to. Everybody else, too, stopped. "Yugi?" he whispered. The neko turned his head slightly in the direction of the noise, and opened his eyes partway. "Yugi? Can you hear me?" Obviously still out of it, Yugi just blinked. "Hey, Yug. You're gonna be okay. Just lay still."

He let out a soft moan and turned his head into Joey's chest. "W-," he let out a harsh cough, "w-what happened?"

"Shh. Don't try to talk. Dartz got a hold of you."

Yugi's face was confused for a moment, then it was filled with several different expressions as he remembered. At once, he began struggling to raise himself and look around.

"Yug-Yugi, take it easy! You're hurt-,"

"Yami. Wh-where's Yami?" Joey turned so that Yugi could see him, still unconscious, resting on Duke's back. He gasped and stared for several seconds.

"He's gonna be alright, Yug." A single sound, halfway between a soft sob and a whimper, was his only reply.

Suddenly, in a burst of energy nobody thought he'd have, Yugi jerked out of Joey's arms and hit the ground hard. Before anyone could grab him, he stood, stumbled, and took off.

"Yugi!" Joey yelled, taking off after him. Due to many factors, one of the biggest being how hurt Yugi was, he managed to catch up with him after only about twenty yards. "Yugi," he grabbed the other's arm, stopping him in his tracks. He then had to reach out and catch him, as the energy burst ended up being just that. A short burst of energy. "Yug." He sat with his back to a large tree, pulling his gasping little buddy into his lap. "What the hell was that? You can't just go running off, especially in your condition." He broke off when he realized that Yugi was sobbing. His entire body was shaking and tears soaked the front of Joey's shirt.

"I-I hurt him." He managed.

Joey wrapped his arms around him, combing his fingers through his hair in an attempt to calm him down. "Shh, Yug. You didn't. Dartz was controlling you. You can't be blamed for that-"

"I hurt him. He didn't even raise a hand to defend himself. He didn't fight back. He just took it." He was clutching Joey like he was a lifeline. As if Joey could make this nightmare go away. There was a rustle in the bushes nearby, and when he looked up, he saw Tristan and Duke supporting a very pale, shaky, Yami between them. He locked eyes with Tristan and shook his head, rubbing Yugi's back comfortingly. This wasn't a good time. He just needed a minute.

Understanding, the three walked a little ways off to give them some privacy. Joey continued to reassure and comfort his friend until his sobs quieted. He looked down and saw that he was asleep. Exhaustion had taken its toll.

"Yugi," he mumbled, brushing away the still-wet tear tracks from the little neko's eyes, "you are not to blame. And nobody thinks that it's your fault. I just hope you can see that." He stood, being careful with his buddy, and walked over to where everybody else was. Yami was once again unconscious, laying on the ground by Duke and Tristan while Tea had taken advantage of the break to patch up what she could on him.

"We should get them home." Joey made his presence known and the other three looked up and nodded. It had been a long day for everyone.

Duke hoisted Yami and they set out again. This time with no complications. When they reached Yami's house, Tristan held the door open for everyone.

"Duke, take Yami upstairs. I'll work on him first. Tristan, could you help?" Tea directed. Both complied.

"What about Yugi?" Joey asked, shifting his weight slightly.

"I can only take care of one patient at a time, Joey, and since I've already started on Yami I should finish what I can. I'm going to have the boys clean him up in the bathroom so I can see what I'm doing. Can you do the same for Yugi? Just clean him of the dirt and blood, alright?"

Joey nodded and walked over to the rocking chair to wait. Tea went upstairs and he began rocking back and forth gently, shifting Yugi so that his head rested on Joey's shoulder.

"You know that none of this was your fault, right, pal?"

There was no response. Not that he'd been expecting one, as Yugi had not woken up since his breakdown in the woods.

"You couldn't have done anything to stop it." He hugged the small frame closer and fell into silence. There was no sound in the room; save for the slight creaking of the chair and the soft ticking of a clock that Joey had never been silent enough to realize Yami had on his wall. He sighed and closed his eyes. His brain was still reeling from everything that had happened. Not only with Dartz, but with Pegasus, and getting kidnapped, and getting turned into a werewolf, and trying to kill his friends . . .

Joey winced. That guilt he had felt. That suffocating, all consuming, painful guilt he had gone through . . . what must it be like for Yugi? He obviously had been aware of what he'd been doing. Been forced to do, Joey corrected himself. Not to mention that he'd seriously wounded his best friend in the process.

Joey broke out of his thoughts as Yugi made a small noise and shifted slightly. He didn't wake, but his tail moved so that it brushed against the blonde's hand. Joey held him tighter. They stayed like that for several minutes until Joey heard sounds from the upstairs that signaled the bathroom was free. Carefully, Joey shifted so that he was cradling the neko, and stood.

Upstairs, he drew a shallow bath and, after removing the scraps of cloth that had become his clothes, lowered him into it. He made sure that Yugi was propped up, grabbed a washcloth, wetted it, and proceeded to clean off all of the grime that he could. The more he uncovered, the sicker he felt. Any pity he had held for Dartz evaporated. Welts and bruises, cuts and scrapes, even a few broken bones, most prominent being his wrist, littered his body. Yugi had been beaten. Badly. He finished up and lifted him out of the now filthy water, wrapping a towel around his waist. As he was reaching over to drain the tub, Yugi balanced in his lap, Tea walked in with her supplies.

"Yami is all taken care of. He's in bed, resting. How is he?" she nodded at Yugi.

"He hasn't woken up yet. Not since the woods. He's in bad shape, though."

"I'll do what I can." She pulled out disinfectant and got to work, Joey helping where he could. By the end, the werewolf felt his heart nearly break at the sight of just how much of Tea's supplies were now on his little pal.

He shook his head, trying to clear it. Yugi didn't need him falling apart right now. He needed to be strong. Carefully, he slipped his arms under the neko's limp form and lifted him, walked across the hall into Yami's bedroom, and lay him down in bed right next to his Master.

The four of them, Duke, Tristan, Tea, and Joey, all exchanged looks. Recovery, both physical and mental, would take a while. But they would be there for each other. Always. They knew that their journey wasn't over, but as long as they stuck together, they'd never have to face anything alone.

Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Wow. That turned out darker than I expected. Well, please review and tell me how I did!