3 years later…
"Yugi-Tachi," Anzu called out to an average height tri-colored teenager as they were walking back from a bus station.
"Anzu-chan," Yugi turned and smiled as he saw his long time friend depart off her bus, and run to catch up with him.
"I haven't seen you for a month now, how have you been?" Anzu laughed. Yugi had grown a few inches, making him just about Yami's height if not a bit taller with muscle toning the pale flesh. His hair was still the same tri-colored spike with the softer golden bangs, lacking the stiff authority of Yami's lighting streaked trio. His eyes were what changed the most. They lost their childish length and width to become sharper, and more age appropriate. Needless to say, he had the pharaoh's eyes; they were just a softer amethyst instead of the hardened crimson. He still wore leather and the dog collar along with the Millennium Puzzle, glinting in the sunlight beneath his black blazer.
"I've been out camping in the mountains," Yugi smiled as he gestured towards his duffle bag. "It was nice weather so I decided to take a vacation.
"In the middle of the school year," Anzu laughed, peeling her eyes off of the boy's eyes and focusing on the conversation.
"The teacher gave me leave." Yugi smiled again. "She said I had the grades that could afford to relax a bit. Besides…"
"Besides…?" Anzu's eyes glinted with worry when she saw her friend's knuckles tighten as they resisted reaching for the puzzle around his neck.
"I told her I had some personal business to take care of." Yugi sighed.
"Yami huh," Anzu stated, eyes saddening when she saw the flinch that coursed through the boy.
"He's out there I know it," Yugi snarled this time causing Anzu to flinch.
"I know," Anzu sighed.
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Pain, all that he could grasp was pain. Behind him, he could hear the echoes of the sadistic disciplinarians plotting on what to do with him. Chains had long since rubbed his wrists raw as he waited, waited to have his fate ended but only to feel more pain instead. Half lidded eyes stared glumly at the floor, waiting then smirking when he heard the snaps of leather.
"Darkness, so much darkness," a deranged chuckle echoed about black hole, "So much darkness." This was followed up by the cracking of a whip.
"You filthy piece of shit," a gruff voice snarled as he brought down the cruel nine tails again. All that followed after the crack was a deranged chuckle mixed in with a scream.
"Sadly, that's my name," a raspy voice wheezed out.
"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!!" the torturer snarled as he brought down the whip repeatedly, dark droplets splattering around the figure. Chains rattled in discomfort as the chuckles turned into whimpers. Soon, whimpers turned into moans and shortly, they once more howled as screams.
"Pathetic whore," the torturer chuckled now as he brought the whip down in one final stroke, across the blank face of the victim, marring the pale skin horribly. He then spat and left the cell as two rough guards entered and hauled the limp body off the dangling chains, bodily throwing it, backside up, against a wooden table. All that was heard was grunting and mixed insults while rough laughter echoed through the cell.
The guards once more had the body chained and collared against a moldy wall. Shoving a gag into the resisting mouth they chuckled and left, slamming the heavy iron bars shut, leaving the room in darkness once more.
"YOU HAVE A FIGHT TOMORROW AND YOU'D BETTER NOT DISSAPOINT, or else, the boss will have his fun again." This was the departing laugh when another heavy gate slammed shut.
Dull crimson eyes stared emptily at the floor while shiny, wet, streaks rolled along the cheeks, mixing in with the blood dripping down the new wounds.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Kaiba Corporations, Kaiba speaking," Kaiba snapped into the phone. He was very busy designing a new virtual reality game and hated to be interrupted.
"We are sorry sir but we just called to say we might have a lead on the case." A husky, quivering voice responded from the blue receiver. This immediately shot Kaiba out of his laptop and began to grip the receiver with both slender hands.
"Where and how," he whispered.
"We have had a lead for about a month but couldn't confirm it until one of our agents went undercover and saw the missing for himself."
"Where and how," Kaiba once again snapped annoyingly.
"They are an underground gladiator competition on the outskirts of New York City." came the hasty reply. "I'm sending you the location, the phone number, and the man in charge, along with a pair of front row tickets for the show via email right now."
"Show, what show?" Kaiba now replied with a small hint of dread in his voice when he received the answer.
"It's a gladiator ring Mr. Kaiba. What do gladiators do?" with that the man hung up. Kaiba then sat, unmoving then almost as if electrified, shot from his seat, wrenched his signature white trench coat from the hanger and brushed past the gaping secretary, stating that he would be out for about a month.
"Calling puppy," Kaiba hummed into the phone being held at arms length when his lover gave him the usual "You are such an ass of a dragon and I'm not a dog speech."
"You're off work early…" came the statement after the speech had finally calmed down.
"Start packing puppy," Kaiba coolly slurred. "We're going to where you got that annoying accent of yours."
"We're going to New York," Joey gaped through the receiver before he finally caught the insult. "HEY!! My accent is not annoying moneybags." But his brunet had already hung up, shouting at Isono to get to the mansion in 10 minutes tops or be fired.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Get up you whore and hurry up, we got payin' customers and they want to be entertained." A burly foot kicked the man hard in his too exposed ribs, causing the prior to double over and hack a fit of blood before slowly crawling back onto his hands and knees. Another harsh tug at the chain attached to the tight leather collar left the man winded and desperately clawing at the ground, pushing his abused body up so that his lungs could once more breathe in the heavenly oxygen.
"I said be a bit gentler with him," came a slick voice as the clacking of boots echoed down the stone corridor. Now both men had frozen; the first from fear, the other from mental horror.
"Boss," the burly one breathed. The voice's owner merely gestured towards the guard to hand over the leash and leave. The guard immediately complied, throwing the chain and the prisoner at the boss and scurried like a rodent away from the cat.
Waiting and watching until the prey was out of earshot, the slick voice cooed again, stroking the cheek of the now in his arms captive.
"I'm sorry your majesty, you deserved better treatment." Stroking through the matted golden bangs, he pressed the lithe form against his own so that he could look down into the captive's face. He could hear the other's faint whimpers as blank crimson bore into the eerie green. "Then again, you were on your hands and knees, begging." Giving a harsh tug at the chain, he watched the collar dig into the pale flesh, eliciting a moan from the prisoner. "You fell so hard now what's the matter. Can't stand back up?"
"Please don't," a soft murmur came from the slightly parted lips as small tears began to glaze over the dull blood.
"Fight like it's your last and we'll see," the slithery voice cackled as he once more hauled the prisoner behind him and out, into the ring of cheering spectators.
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"Moneybags, why are we in New York," groaned an irritated mop top blonde as he hauled with difficulty a rather hastily packed suitcase.
"We're here to see a show." The CEO replied as he threw on a pair of sunglasses and a black wig, dressing himself in a plain business suit and carrying his metal briefcase through the doors of the airport. They had flown on Kaiba's private turbojet which meant they made it to the city within the hour. Jonouchi will be having nightmares for months to come.
"Show, what—ah," Jonouchi was shut up by a bruising kiss that seared into his veins. This kiss was not filled with passion but regret and desperation making the puppy whimper.
"Stay close to me and whatever you do; don't give away our real names." Kaiba panted as he broke away from his flushed lover. "Please pup."
"Seto," Jonouchi breathed before hastily nodding and holding his lover's gaze as they stepped into a sleek black Jaguar.
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"Yugi what are you doing?" Jii-chan shouted up at the closed door of his grandson's room. Sighing when he got no response, he made a beeline for the living room when he heard the phone ringing.
"Kame Game shop this is Mouto speaking." Another second later, he was once again hollering at the closed door.
"YUGI PICK UP THE PHONE!! IT'S FROM KAIBA CORP AND THEY WISH TO SPEAK TO YOU!!"
This got Yugi to bolt out of the room and swiped the receiver from the hands of the old man nearly giving him a heart attack.
"This is Yugi Mouto," Yugi breathed into the phone, slightly panting from his race down the stairs.
"Hi Yugi, this is Kaiba's personal secretary. I'm calling to tell you that Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jonouchi have taken a personal vacation for a month in New York City." The secretary spoke nonchalantly.
"Thank you ma'am," Yugi forced a cheerful tone into his voice as he hung up and slunk back into his room.
'How can they be vacationing when we still haven't found Yami,' Yugi mentally screamed as he threw a book into the full body mirror across his room. It shattered and bits of glass flew down to his carpet. He curled up on his bed, ignoring the small cuts on his hands from where the glass powder had stuck to, tightly hugging the puzzle as he sobbed into the pillows.
"Mou Hitori no Boku," Yugi choked, "You promised me."