I wrote this chapter while procrastinating on an essay. Not one of my smartest ideas. I barely managed to get the essay done in time. ^^"

Anyway, the beginning of this chapter is kind of corny and probably kind of cliched or something, I think, so sorry in advance.

And, to the reviewer who was concerned about Terra being a little shallow: I'm glad you pointed that out. Yes, she is a little shallow. I did that on purpose. You'll understand why she's like that better later on. And just to be clear, I'm not against adding Abridged references, I just don't want that to be the only reason people are reading my story. This is my own story, with my own ideas, and it's based on the canon Yu-Gi-Oh! as closely as I can get it. If I were doing an abridged fanfic, then I would of course use Abridged references, but it's good to also add your own jokes and ideas to make a story uniquely yours. It's really just personal preference; I don't really like using other people's jokes unless I have a way to twist them and make them more my own idea. If that makes any sense at all. ^^" I'm bad at explaining things sometimes, lol.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! (Also, I probably should have mentioned it before, but you guys have no idea how relieved I was to hear that Terra wasn't a Mary Sue. I was worried about that and worked really hard to make sure she wasn't. I even took a bazillion Mary Sue Litmus tests, just to make sure. ^^" )

Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter! Feel free to give me ideas and tips on how to make the story better; input is always appreciated!


Chapter Three

Terra was scared of lots of things. Spiders and most other bugs were at the top of the list. Talking to other people and going places on her own? Those were pretty scary too, but she could do those things if she had to. But the place Terra now found herself in was beyond scary. It was terrifying. It had been so easy to make fun of when it was just on the TV screen! Purple smoke everywhere? Pshaw! That's not scary at all!

But actually being in the Shadow Realm, not knowing what was up and what was down? And being carried by a Feral Imp to what was most likely your doom? It took all Terra had just to keep from wetting her pants.

She desperately twisted around, trying to loosen the Imp's hold on her, but its claws didn't even budge and the effort drained her far more than she expected. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed and was beating much too fast for her taste. Terra let out a sound that was a cross between a groan and a whimper as she tried to clutch at her chest and failed.

The Feral Imp growled, annoyed that its prize kept squirming so much. Terra couldn't help but flinch at the noise; it seemed unbearably loud to her in the unnatural silence, and it echoed eerily, giving her the shivers. She gripped the Blue-Eyes doll tighter as her head began pounding painfully in time with the beating of her heart.

'I'm going to die here,' she realized hysterically. She didn't want to die! She had barely gotten to live! 'I've got to get out of here. . . .'

But it was getting harder for her to think as her limbs grew heavy and prickled unpleasantly. Soon it began to feel like her body was being torn apart, molecule by molecule. When this thought flitted across her mind, the image of Danny Phantom was pulled up and the pain in her body seemed to dull as she found something to focus on. She managed to call forth images of hero after hero, all the men, women, girls, and boys whose stories had helped give her strength over the years. Terra took a deep breath, drawing comfort from the familiar faces as she had done so many times before. If all of them could be brave when faced with danger, then she could too. . . right?

Focusing on the images of her favorite characters to distract herself from the nightmarish landscape, Terra created a new image of herself in her mind's eye: a brave girl who was strong and smart enough to get out of this. She let the picture wash over herself and took strength from it, putting herself in this new character's shoes the same way she did when writing a story. Now. . . what would this different version of herself do? 'First things first: get Feral Imp to let go of me.' In a sudden burst of inspiration, she leaned down and bit Feral Imp's paw as hard as she could.

The Feral Imp yelped in pain and loosened its grip on Terra, who took the opportunity to quickly squirm out of its grasp. It took a few seconds for Feral Imp to realize its prize was no longer in its claws, and by that time Terra was already running laboriously in the direction she hoped was they way they had come. She feverishly hoped that there would be some kind of portal that she could go through to get back. If there wasn't, she was trapped and would die there. She shivered involuntarily and kept moving.

Howling in rage, the Feral Imp gave chase, furious that its prize was trying to escape. Hearing the angry howl, Terra tried to run faster and ignored the stitch in her side.

"Come on, come on," she gasped, trying to urge herself to go faster despite struggling to breathe. The ground, if it could be called that, felt extremely odd against her feet as she ran. It was a little slippery and very smooth, but for some reason she kept tripping on things when there was nothing there to trip on. She imagined that it was a little like trying to run over a partially frozen tar-pit. It was a bizarre feeling and slowed her down greatly, allowing Feral Imp to gain on her.

The Fiend lunged toward her, claws extended to grab her, just as she turned back to look. Screaming at the sight, Terra desperately threw herself to the side. She wasn't quite quick enough, as Feral Imp's claws grazed her left shoulder. She gasped in pain as she hit the ground clutching her shoulder with her free hand. The Feral Imp growled dangerously as it turned to face her. It didn't like the way its prize had been behaving.

Terra held the Blue-Eyes doll close to her chest as she shut her eyes tightly, in too much pain to run anymore. Everything hurt, and she felt like she was floating even as her body turned to lead. The weightless feeling suddenly intensified, startling her. She opened her eyes to see the Shadows reaching out and swallowing her in their embrace once more. The Feral Imp watched, confused and upset, as it prey sank screaming into the Shadows and disappeared without a trace.

Seto Kaiba was a very busy man. He did not appreciate being distracted from his work, and while most people knew this and avoided interrupting him at all costs, some tried his patience by wasting his time. However, sometimes, if their interruption seemed worthwhile, he would let it slide and listen to their drivel. When that Ishtar woman had called him and promised him cards more powerful than Exodia, he had decided it might be worth his time to check it out. When she had started going on about ancient Egyptians and that destiny mumbo-jumbo, he had started to regret this decision. But then she had given him Obelisk the Tormentor, and he had to admit (to himself, not out loud) that it had not been a complete waste of his time after all. No, the waste of time had come after he left the museum.

He had been sitting in his limo, examining Obelisk with a slightly maniacal grin and planning his new tournament as the buildings of Domino passed by. 'With Obelisk's power, not even Yuugi will be able to defeat me now!' he thought, a wicked smirk working its way onto his face. Then without warning, the limo swerved violently, causing Seto to smack his face on the window before he could catch himself. Angrily rubbing his now-sore cheek, Seto angrily pushed the intercom button.
"Driver! What the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled.

"Ah! S-Sorry, Kaiba-sama, but a girl just ran in front of us!" the driver stuttered in shock. "I had to swerve to avoid her!"

Seto narrowed his eyes and growled in frustration. What kind of idiot runs out in the middle of the road at night? Deciding to give this girl a piece of his mind, he opened his window and looked out. The girl was sitting in the road, staring at the limo in shock like an idiot.

"Oi! Girl! What the hell is your problem?"


Terra screamed as she fell, certain she was about to die any second as the Shadows rushed past her. She closed her eyes as tightly as she could, not wanting to see the end. As a result, she did not see when her fall was abruptly cut short, and the Shadows suddenly parted, dumping her out onto solid ground painfully and with as much grace as Zorc trying to do ballet.

"Owww. . . ." Terra whined pitifully, laying on the ground for several minutes. She was so burnt out, she felt like she could sleep for three thousand years. She knew she couldn't just lie there who-knows-where though, and eventually, she gathered enough energy to push herself to her feet. She did so shakily, wincing as the pain in her shoulder flared up and looking around, trying to figure out where she was. She thought it was some sort of alleyway, but it was so dark that she couldn't really see anything in detail and could only assume. She also thought it looked somewhat familiar, but none of the alleys at home looked like that, and she couldn't place it.

Shaking her head to clear it of useless thoughts, Terra nearly fell over as her knees buckled and sent a fresh wave of pain radiating through her body. Putting a hand on the wall to steady herself, Terra began limping to. . . well, she didn't know where she was going. She just hoped she would find somebody who could tell her where she was and how she could get home. She was fairly certain she was not in her hometown anymore, but she would need more than just strange alleyways to be sure. The uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach was telling her she was right, however, and she dearly hoped she wasn't too far from her home.

Terra grunted in pain as she slowly limped along. She wished her body didn't ache so badly. She idly wondered if this was what being electrocuted felt like. Every nerve felt like it was on fire, causing Terra to be bombarded with unpleasant sensations every time she moved. After spending a long time wandering along, the alleyway she was in intersected with another, making Terra groan as she tried to figure out which way to go.

"Hehehehe. . . ." A sudden, sinister-sounding chuckle coming from her right made her freeze in her tracks and look around wildly, wide-eyed with fear. Spinning around, Terra saw two men emerging from the shadows of the adjacent alley. They looked like thugs, Terra noticed with a sinking feeling. They were muscular and scruffy-looking, and Terra couldn't help but take in a sharp breath when she saw that one of them had a knife. They advanced toward her threateningly, and that was all the cue Terra needed to run. Her body was still weak and didn't want to obey her commands, but she ran as fast as she possibly could, praying it would be enough.

Her feet pounded on the concrete heavily as her footsteps echoed loudly off of the buildings. She heard the thugs yell something at her as they gave chase, but she was too focused on the pounding of her heart to listen to anything other than the blood rushing to her ears. The thugs followed closely behind her as she ran. Too close. The one with the knife suddenly lunged forward and tried to catch her with the sharpened blade. Thankfully he missed by a couple of inches and made himself stumble. Even with that small miracle, she was quickly losing speed and would be caught soon if she didn't do something.

Suddenly the alleyway came to an abrupt end and opened up to a city street. Terra's brain barely registered this before she was out in the middle of it. The screeching of tires reached her ears, and time seemed to go in slow-motion as she turned to see a black limo swerving to avoid her. She froze in shock, unable to react as the vehicle barreled towards her. The limo barely missed her in time, screeching to an angry halt just a few feet away from her and sitting sideways on the road, the driver probably in as much shock as she was. Terra's legs finally gave out, and she fell down, still staring dumbly at the limo as her body protested all the abuse it had been put through that night. She could have died. She could have died.

"Holy shit," she breathed, trying to not fall into hysterics as her brain finally began to catch up with the situation and tried to process it all. Fortunately for Terra's sanity, she was interrupted by a voice yelling from inside the limo.

"Oi! Girl! What the hell is your problem?" Startled, Terra realized the limo's back window had been rolled down and she was now being glared at by an angry-looking guy.

"Uhh. . . ?" she said intelligently, trying to figure out what he had just yelled. It had sounded almost. . . Japanese? That couldn't be right. . . could it?

"Are you some kind of idiot or something? Answer my question!" Seto growled at her, quickly growing impatient. He had a tournament to plan and a company to run, and this weird kid was wasting his valuable time! Terra was taken aback. He was speaking Japanese! She clearly heard him say the word "baka", and felt her temper flare. This jerk had called her stupid!

"I am not stupid!" Terra protested, hoping he could understand her. "I'm lost, and cold, and hurt, and being chased by men with knives, and I don't speak Japanese!" She didn't care that she was probably overreacting, she just wanted the craziness to end.

". . . If you don't speak Japanese, then why the hell are you in Japan by yourself?" the guy asked in lightly accented English.

"Y-You speak English!" she blurted out in relief, caught off-guard by his sudden shift in languages. Then she realized what he had said. "I'm in JAPAN?!" she asked in shock.

"Where did you think you were? Disney World?" he snorted sarcastically. She flushed in embarrassment and anger.

"I thought I was at least in my own state!" she snapped, not liking this guy's attitude. "I live in America! I'm not supposed to be here!" Terra was struggling not to panic. What was she going to do? She had no money, no change of clothes, no home. Where was she going to stay? How was she going to get home?

Seto watched with narrowed eyes as the girl attempted to not burst into tears. She seemed to be genuinely lost and confused, but was wearing such outlandish clothing, he couldn't take anything she said seriously. 'American fashions must be bizarre,' he concluded just as he spotted the Blue-Eyes White Dragon doll in her hands. She was clutching it so tightly, you'd think her life depended on it, but she didn't seem to be aware that she was even holding it. Seto narrowed his eyes further and shook his head, deciding it wasn't worth his time and probably some kind of trick. He was about to roll up the window and tell his driver to move on when the intercom flared to life.

"Uh. . . Kaiba-sama?" the driver asked uncertainly. Seto growled in annoyance and jabbed at the intercom button.

"What," Seto said shortly, switching back into Japanese.

"Sh-She's bleeding, sir." Seto reluctantly glanced back over at the girl and saw that she was indeed bleeding. Seto groaned in frustration.

"We didn't hit her, did we?" he asked impatiently. He did not want to deal with this right now. More distractions. He loathed distractions.

"I-I don't think so, sir!" the driver stuttered. "B-But it was awfully close. . ." Seto exhaled sharply, thoroughly annoyed with the situation. This incident had cost him too much time already, and now he would have to deal with it even longer. Great. Ignoring his driver's confused protests, Seto stepped out of the limo and walked over to the girl.

Sensing movement in front of her, Terra jerked her head up, only to freeze in shock. 'T-That's! There's no way that's a cosplay!?' she thought in a panic, examining the man in front of her frantically and searching for signs of deception. There were none. 'It's impossible to get the billowiness of Kaiba's coats right, and this guy got it perfect! So either he's a god among cosplayers, or. . .' Looking at the man in front of her, Terra came to the sickening realization. '. . . it's real. . .' Before she could question her sanity however, Kaiba had grabbed her, brought her to her feet, and began to steer her toward the limo.

"W-What are you-?!" she squeaked in surprise.

"Taking you to the hospital," Kaiba stated coldly. "I have other things I'd much rather be doing right now, so unless you would rather I left you on the street, I suggest you shut up and get in the limo." Confused and startled by his odd display of behavior, Terra reluctantly complied. "And don't get any blood on the seats. I doubt you can afford it," he seemed to add as an afterthought as he got in and closed the door. Terr furrowed her brow in confusion.

'Blood?' she wondered, before remembering how Feral Imp had clawed at her shoulder. She craned her head to look, and sure enough, there were three gashes in her shoulder leaking blood and staining her Marik hoodie. Terra frowned and made a disappointed noise in the back of her throat. 'Just my luck,' she mentally grumbled to herself. 'My shirt's ruined, and I'm stuck in a limo with "Mr. Sociable".'

". . . Are you wearing a wig?" Terra jumped and turned to see Kaiba looking at her with an eyebrow raised and an expression on his face that screamed "what kind of nut-job did I just let in my limo?". Terra realized she was indeed still wearing her wig and reached up to take it off before belatedly realizing she was still holding the Blue-Eyes. Sheepishly, she set the Blue-Eyes on her lap and pulled off the wig, wincing as the bobby-pins ripped out some of her hair.

Seto watched, eyebrow raised, as the girl fumbled around to get the horrendous blonde wig off, revealing long and frizzy brown hair. "And. . . why were you wearing that?" he asked suspiciously. She frowned, annoyed.

"Before I mysteriously wound of here -of all places!-" he heard her mutter before continuing. "-I had been at a costume party." She seemed to fall in on herself and held the Blue-Eyes doll closer, as though trying to draw comfort from the dragon, something that Kaiba did not fail to notice. She was oblivious to this however, and let her mind continue to wander. 'I wonder how long it'll take for people to notice I'm missing. . . Will they even care?' Terra closed her eyes as the thought wrenched her heart. Someone would care. And she'd find a way back home. She had to keep believing that. But a cold, empty feeling worked its way into her heart as they spent the rest of the ride to the hospital in silence.


Terra's finally in Domino City! Yay! She kind of freaked out there though; can you really blame her? First the Shadow Realm, then two huge guys appearing out of nowhere and attacking you, then Kaiba's limo almost running you over? Even if you went out of your house regularly, you'd probably be freaking out. She'll calm down soon enough though, no worries. And Kaiba probably seems kind of out of character there, but I have a (hopefully) good reason for it!

I have no idea how long it will be until I get the next chapter up; hopefully not more than a month. I haven't even started it yet because school is stressful right now, but winter break is coming soon, so hopefully I'll get it done fairly quickly. And hopefully I won't get too distracted by that Harry Potter/YGO crossover or that Danny Phantom/YGO crossover my brain compelled me to start when I'm not even done with this story yet. ^^" I'll probably be posting the first chapters of those stories soon too, so if you guys are interested. . . *shameless advertising*

Anyway, see you guys next time! And feel free to give me feedback! :)