Hello again!

+Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh+

Rose D.: Here's the 2nd chapter! Things get deeper from here.
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D. Crisis Chapter 2:

Reconditioning the Chosen

Yami and Yugi were walking around Kaiba's "throne" room at the top of Kaiba Tower. It was big, and dark. Yami expected he'd soon be feeling at home in places like this, but so far he felt just as "creeped out" as Yugi did.

"I wish we weren't here!" spat Yugi, as they were in the room alone, "And how come you agreed to be Seto Kaiba's blood-let!"

"Ah Yugi, my way of apologizing to you I suppose,"

Yugi stood flabbergasted. "You could've just told me 'I'm sorry for saying that Yugi', instead of agreeing to let Vampire Kaiba take your blood whenever he wants!"

"Yugi please!" sounded Yami, staggering as though he had a splitting headache; he sat down on the floor. "I'm so confused, I–I feel so strange!"

Yugi knew he shouldn't be angry at Yami; he came forward and kneeled at his older counterpart's back. "I'm sorry," he said.

"I'm sorry too." stated Yami, "But listen," he turned, "I won't have to be Kaiba's blood-let much longer. I figure I'll be a Vampyr myself soon, and he won't be able to take any blood from me, because I won't have any."

Yugi grimaced at how Yami seemed to be speaking so light of something so terrible.

"I'll be an Undead soon, I suppose,"

The doors to the room swung open and Kaiba entered; he was carrying something black in his hand. He stopped for a moment, scrutinizing the jagged-haired pair; he sniffed the air slightly.

"Here Yugi," he began, stepping up to them. Yami and Yugi stood; Kaiba held out a big KC logo made of ebony attached to a cord. "Wear this at all times, and all who live on this side of Domino Empire will know you're under my personal protection. They won't touch you, especially your neck."

Yugi took it slowly, and eyed it a moment before pulling the cord over his head. He looked down at it, remembering how the Millennium Puzzle used to hang just the same way; but that golden Item was gone now. 'Drat!' he thought, 'I have to find it!' He looked up. "Thank you Kaiba, I guess."

Seto Kaiba walked around Yugi and Yami. "Oh, don't thank me," said he, "Thank your other-half. He secured the deal."

Yami and Yugi looked at the floor. Kaiba eyed Yami again; he needed to test the Pharaoh. He slipped a see-through ketchup packet from his pocket.

"Look appetizing?" he asked, holding it up under Yami's nose.

Yami blinked and reeled backward, thinking it to be packaged blood. "NO!" he said, trying to get away from the sight.

Seto grimaced. "It's ketchup you idiot!" he threw it on the ground. "The gene re-encoding should've started by now! It hasn't! That means something's wrong! You didn't even pause when you saw it! Oh, come 'ere!"

Kaiba grabbed Yami roughly and pulled the Pharaoh to him.

"Kaiba!" Yami and Yugi yelled in unison. Yami tried to pull away, knowing full well that it'd do little good; as everyone knows, a Vampyr's strength is far beyond that of an ordinary man's.

Seto Kaiba, quite an instinctive creature by now, began sniffing Yami. Yami's eyes went skyward, looking quite pained; he felt very uncomfortable, as did Yugi.

Yugi Mutoh balled his fists. "Kaiba! Quit it! You're makin' him freak out!"

Kaiba did so. "It didn't work." he said with finality, "I don't understand . . . Hmm, this is strange," The exec. seemed genuinely puzzled.

Yami moved back and stood beside Yugi; he was rubbing his neck.

Kaiba ran his fingers through his brown hair and sighed; his voice was low. "I'll have to try again."

Yugi looked up at the corporate exec. with a stark expression; Yami did likewise. Kaiba turned, walked to his Big Chair which looked something like a black-rock throne, and sat down.

"Come here," he said to Yami. Yami remained still; he felt Yugi's hand take hold of his arm. Kaiba looked up, realizing Yugi's older half hadn't obeyed; he lost his temper.

"Pharaoh! You made a deal with me! You agreed to be my blood-let in exchange for Yugi's safety, so for now that is what you must be! Now COME!"

Yami took his soul-brother's wrist in his free hand, prompting the boy the release his grip. "Yami don't . . !" Yugi cried in a hushed tone. The two looked at each other; Yami shook his head — and moved toward Kaiba.

Tears came from Yugi's wide eyes. "Yami I'm not worth it!"

Kaiba looked menacingly at the boy. "Be quiet Yugi!" he snapped, leaning casually in his Chair. Yami came and stood in front of him. Kaiba looked at the Pharaoh, and the Pharaoh looked at Kaiba; his expression was bleak.

"Kneel." Kaiba said, staring into the blacks of Yami's eyes.

Anger flooded Yugi's heart. "That's going too far Kaiba!"

Yami agreed wholeheartedly but — found his knees were bending!

'Ahg! Idiot!' Yami chided himself, his gaze locked with Kaiba's, 'You're looking at him! You know a Vampyr's gaze has the power to hypnotize! And now you're . . .' Yami was on his knees before Kaiba; he lowered his head, disgusted with himself.

Kaiba glanced up at the starkly dismayed Yugi. "I don't imagine you want to watch this, but then, it's up to you. Remember," he said, "You can go anywhere and as long as you wear the KC, no Vampire will touch you." Seto Kaiba then nodded and shrugged, signaling the end of the conversation.

Kaiba looked down at his chosen 2nd. Normally he knew he would feel weird touching Yami in any way other than a handshake, and even that was pushing it. They weren't close after all; but now, as he was mostly Vampyr, those cold instincts made the Code of Conduct seem less important — they wanted to take over.

Yugi began backing up; he didn't want to watch, but he knew if didn't leave the room now he wouldn't be able to look away. As Kaiba was sliding Yami's jacket backward off his shoulders, Yugi turned away; a sobbing squeak escaped him, and he ran from the room . . .

Yami never felt so alone in his life. Had he been a child in the same position, he would have been bawling madly.

Kaiba leaned forward; he was all instinct now, and was barely even aware that it was Yami who was before him. Yami gave a sharp gasp at the entrance of the fangs, and a shudder began in his body that nearly caused him to sink to the floor.

Kaiba kept him from doing so.

ooooo

Wandering around Kaiba Tower proved hazardous; Yugi ran into more Tainted people than he cared to meet. One group, sensing he was still a human Untainted, decided to give him trouble.

'Wretched Kaiba!' thought Yugi, as the Vampyrs backed him into a corner alcove, 'He's a fat liar!'

Yet, to Yugi's surprise, they halted and began backing off; they'd noticed the KC emblem . One stepped forward, smiling, and patted Yugi on the head.

"You should've told us you were one of the Protected." he smiled.

As they walked away from him, Yugi looked down at the heavy emblem. 'Man,' he thought, 'Well, that's great for me, but I feel really bad for those people that don't have this. I can imagine what happens to them.'

Yugi cringed, and quickly darted from the little blackened alcove.

Soon he came upon a wide corridor; it slowly rose upward as it went along, curving off to the side so that Yugi couldn't see where it lead.

'I wonder where that goes.' He pondered over what could possibly exist in Vampire Kaiba's place; he couldn't imagine anything really terrible.

Yugi then raised his head, and turned suddenly. "Yami?" he asked, for it had sounded as though the Pharaoh had been standing near at hand and spoken his name. But the hallway was empty.

Yugi heard his heart thumping in his ears. 'I'd better go to Yami, it's been a while! At least it feels like it's been a while. I need to hurry, he might need me!'

ooooo

When Yugi pushed the doors of the throne room open, he found the shadowy chamber empty; a cold fear seized his heart. 'Oh no! Where's Yami!'

Yet then he looked again, just to make sure. And blinking, his eyes fell upon a figure bundled in a blanket upon the Big Chair, their legs draped over one of the Chair's arms.

A kind of relief filled Yugi's heart, and he breathed, for it was indeed Yami. Yugi entered the room, and as he neared his friend he was careful to watch all the dark corners the chamber contained, for one never knew what might lurk there.

"Yami?" Yugi asked quietly. The Pharaoh didn'tmove; his eyes were closed. Yugi felt his heart beat faster. 'He is breathing isn't he?'

Yugi nearly dove forward; he put his ear up near Yami's face but instantly decided it would take too long to hear his breath. He placed the flat of his hand against Yami's nose and mouth so he could feel the slightest rush of air.

It came; Yami was breathing. Yugi exhaled; now that he was assured his heart-brother was alive, he tried once more to awaken him.

"Yami . . !" he whispered urgently, shaking the Pharaoh yet trying not to be too rough, "Wake up! Please!"

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Yami began to stir; his eyes opened listlessly, and roamed about until they focused on Yugi Mutoh.

"Yugi?" Yami rasped, his throat dry, "What's happening? Where — where are we?"

Yugi froze. 'He doesn't remember? No! What'll it do to him if I remind him of all that's happened!' Yugi began to sweat.

However, he didn't have to fret about this for long; Yami saw the agitation in Yugi's face, and his eyes filled with a sudden cognizance. "Oh yes," said the Pharaoh, slumping in place, a grave expression on his face. This almost caused Yugi's heart to break.

"Yami, listen," he began; Yami looked up wearily, "I'll gladly toss this KC aside! You and I can leave, you won't be obligated to Kaiba anymore, and we can just go back to what we were doing before!"

Yami looked painfully at Yugi; the offer was so tempting, he should consent, it was reasonable after all! Yami's mind was in a fog, but somehow he knew better than Yugi the eventual consequences of leaving; his love for his soul-brother was too great.

The mere thought of some Vampyr laying hold of Yugi, stripping the clothing from his neck, and latching on to him with their twisted fangs, was horrible; it made Yami sick!

'No! No!' he thought, 'I can never let that happen! No! NO!' "NO!" Yami bellowed aloud, startling Yugi, "Listen to me, Yugi! Even if we did leave, go back to our running and hiding — that couldn't last forever! More Vampyrs are appearing each day — we couldn't remain safe, we wouldn't!" tears were starting in the Pharaoh's eyes, "We would be found. Our safety wouldn't last! And in the end . . ." he trailed off.

"No," he said finally, shaking his head, "No . . ."

All of Yugi's hopes shattered then, like a Duel Monster lost in battle. He found his fist clenching; something started building up inside him, some emotion or mixture thereof, and it wanted to get out.

"But I can't stand seeing you like this! I can't! I mean— What did Kaiba do to you anyway? Why are you in a blanket?"

Yami looked down, just seeming to notice that he was wrapped up in one. "I," he began, "It was cold I think, but, at the time I thought it was just me. Apparently not," Yami blinked, remembering what he had seen of Kaiba, "Oh," he sighed, "When Kaiba pulled away — I remember seeing his breath come out as white steam. I thought I was hallucinating, but . . ." Yami closed his eyes. He turned his face toward the back of the Chair, as though he were going back to sleep.

Yugi looked around. "Well, it is a little chilly"

Yami looked back to his young friend. "I feel so tired." he said carelessly, "And my neck is throbbing."

Suddenly there came a sound at the door; two sets of eyes looked toward it. It was Kaiba; he entered, closing the doors behind him.

As Seto neared, he felt the aura around Yami and Yugi become cold toward him; he expected no less.

"Hey Yugi," he said, in some form of greeting, "Yami?" he nodded.

The Pharaoh looked at him disdainfully. "What Kaiba?"

Kaiba lifted his nose ever so slightly and sniffed the air; for Yami and Yugi this was getting annoying. Kaiba shook his head and sighed. "It didn't work."

'Didn't work? Oh no!' thought Yugi, 'He's not gonna want to try again, is he?'

"So, I'm not turning into a Vampyr?" asked Yami.

Kaiba shook his head. "No. Only I can't see how you being a reincarnate would matter. You revived your original body back in Egypt after all. I imagine you were human before you died!" Kaiba spat.

Yami's brow furrowed and he began pulling himself from the blanket.

"Stop making it sound like it's my fault! I don't want to be one of the Tainted! To me this is a good thing!"

"NO," Kaiba said flatly, "It's not a good thing. Because now you're useless to me! You will be reduced to nothing more than a blood-let, and I didn't want you for that!"

The "twins" stiffened; what was that Kaiba just said?

"I, I–" Yami looked at Yugi and they both looked at Seto. "I don't think I'm understanding you Kaiba. But then," Yami muttered, "That's nothing new." he looked on the exec. questioningly, "You mean, you never intended me to be merely a source for blood?"

Kaiba folded his arms. "Duh." And turned away.