DISLAIMER: I don't own anything.

Zie Ayton: You're probably right. I'll try to tone down the minor details. Thanks for the honest review. I'm glad you're interested in the story. Hope I don't disappoint. :D

Lovenyami: Always. It is, isn't it? Glad you liked the chapter. Hope you enjoy this one. (:

Consumedbylove: He is! Hahaha, yay. Thanks for the review!

Shantih: I'm glad you enjoyed it. He is boring here, hope this chapter will make up for it! It's got both of your requests in. C: Mai just seemed like the right person there.

NulTide: Glad you're enjoying it! :D I'm trying out the time-skip method. Or, something like that in this chapter.

Word count: 3,725. (If you care.)

I spaced out the paragraphs, so it should be easier for you to read!

-

Hell's Hotel

Here Goes Something

There he stood, unannounced to the rest of the world, gazing down at the people that dotted the amusement park grounds. How did these fools find anything about these large steel machines and extremely sugary foods amusing?! A horrifying growl escaped his barely parted lips. Two pale hands shot up to the window frame, pushing it closed. Why on earth would they build an employee lounge so close to all the noise of the park? Wasn't a lounge a place where one could relax in silence? No, maybe that's just how he relaxed. He was never a big fan of noise anyways. 'None of that matters right now.' His thoughts echoing around his own head while he shifted amongst random items that littered the floors and two couches set up in the confined space.

Nothing. Not a Ra-danged thing to be found worth of value.

Of course, how could he have known this? It wasn't as if the figure caked in shadows worked here. He knew only that people left there most important things laying around for people like him to find. Money, jewels, gold, you name it; he's probably had it in his possession at least once in his life.

Money, that's what he needed in this town. That's what he needed to live. Of course, one must work to earn money. Working wasn't really his thing. Why not do what he was good at, and just take that of which belongs to others? Not a lot of work, and no other people physically involved, other than himself, that is. That's how he got started. Thievery snuck its way into his life, the need for things and the unwillingness to acquire them honestly. Still feeling around, nothing of interest was caught in his grasp. "Oh well, I'll just look elsewhere, deeper in the park." A deep voice growled and merged into the darkness. Unheard by everyone but himself.

‹——›

"Guys!" Anzu called to the bewildered boys. They had just entered into the large main lobby of the fabulous hotel. There they stood in awe, gazing at the glass chandeliers that swayed stories above their heads, to the contemporary art adorning the glass walls. Ryou vaguely wondered how they managed to get such large pieces of artwork mounted to the glass. Genuine leather sofas and recliners were arranged fashionably around medium sized dark oak wood tables dotting the lobby floor. People wandered around looking for lost papers, or struggling to keep up with their children. Just a few yards short of Ryou's current position sat the back of the enormous hotel and a brilliant view of the hotel's land that sprawled across acres of rolling green grass. (I know, I know. It's Japan, but let's just say that they traveled to a more rural area of Japan.) To the far left of the back window of the hotel sat a fat black box of a building. A sign stood just to the right of it, the words 'IMAX' printed in bold red lettering, with an arrow pointing towards the squat building. Ryou turned his head in the opposite direction on the IMAX Theater and caught a glimpse of what seemed to be the mid-section of a very tall roller coaster, before a rather large gentleman stepped in his way, temporarily hindering his view.

"GUYS!" Anzu's voice chimed, more persistent this time, and she was starting to become rather irksome. Ryou spun around on a heel and exhaled sharply, shutting his eyes and rubbing his temples. It wasn't a very smart idea, he figured, to simply tell her to her face that he had heard her the first time, but had better things to do than listen.

The other boys had all wandered off, and Anzu was steadily rounding them up. Walking towards the boy with the snow-kissed hair, annoyance was plain on her face. "C'mon!" she huffed and sashayed off, the boys staring after her in bewilderment. They quickly found it smart to follow the brunette.

It wasn't too hard to find the dancing queen, slipping in and out of crowds of people, occasionally looking back and flashing a smile. In her mind, she dared the boys to keep such a quick pace, and look so good doing it. Anzu swayed to a stop in front of a door in a long hall, empty except for herself and her friends, all of whom were finally showing up. She turned around and smiled, pointing to a golden plaque on the door, 'Manager' spilled across in fancy lettering.

"Anzu?"—Ryou looked troubled—"Why did you lead us all the way to the end of the hotel, opposite of the rides, and the fun, and..." he was cut off when Anzu turned around, and burst through the door.

"Aunt Masaki! Uncle Tsukune!" the girl cried, throwing herself into the burgundy colored office.

Sitting behind a desk in the middle of the room was a middle-aged man in an office chair. A woman, around the same age, stood beside the chair; bending over a portfolio that sat in the center of the desk. Their heads snapped up in unison, faces lighting into a smile. "Anzu-chan!" the male stood up, and rushed over to embrace the young girl. She gracefully returned the show of affection. The woman came from behind the desk and collected Anzu into her arms; again, Anzu returned the gesture. After breaking free of her Aunt and Uncle's grasps, she started a light conversation, chattering on about mindless things. Yuugi cleared his throat quietly, and Ryou coughed into his fist. Honda was pulling on Jonouchi's hair, and Jonouchi was turning to slap him when Anzu's voice turned towards them.

"Hey, listen!" she insisted, "As I was trying to say earlier. I have a surprise for the four of you." The female took a deep breath. "My aunt and uncle, who own the hotel, have graciously decided to let us, and we alone, have a lock-in in the park! Free rides and all!" she threw her hands into the air.

"No way!" Jonouchi squealed. (Though he'd never admit it.)

"That's awesome!" Honda hollered, eyes doubling in size. Wonderful images of cotton candy clouded his mind, causing him to drool.

"Anzu, that rocks!" Yuugi chirped excitedly, rushing to hug Anzu like the affectionate little creature he was.

"Thank you, Anzu-san!" Ryou chimed, his usually quiet voice was louder, and his eyes sparkled in excitement.

"Well, we wont be the only people there tomorrow until around seven when the park closes to everyone else, but after that, we have an all access pass to everything, and we can crash in the employee lounge if we get tired." The group burst into more chatter and cheers. Mostly cheers of gratitude, directed towards Anzu and her relatives. The older couple looked at the group and smiled. They didn't have a child of their own, so it was nice to spoil Anzu whenever they could.

"Well, let's go and get you all into your rooms, later you can explore the hotel, and catch the movie at the IMAX. I've heard it's a scary movie, so I'll be avoiding it." Mr. Tsukune called. "Masaki, the J&J rooms right on the edge of the hotel."

Masaki nodded, and pushed them from the office. "Have fun!" they could hear the male call, before the large door shut.

"He's a very busy man. Small attention span, we'd best not bother him." Masaki chimed, her black hair falling around her face. She had blue eyes equivalent to Anzu's, and her cheeks were just a tad bit sharper than her nieces. The woman gestured towards the children, making sure they followed her as they exited the dimly lit hallway and broke into the expanses of the main lobby. The noise washed over them, but they remained together, dodging people, stepping in a quick rhythm. They came to an elevator, and Masaki pressed a button with a three, hands quickly returning to her sides.

"Your rooms are located on the edge of the hotel, only a few yards away from the park." Another delicate hand rose, and pointed down a hallway. At the end was a door with "Exit." written in green above the frame.

The elevator doors opened, and the group piled in.

Just go out of that door, and follow the path, it'll take you straight to the amusement park entrance. So all you'll have to do…" She was interrupted by the elevator doors opening. She stepped out, the teens following her every move. They continued on down the hall, Masaki talking as they went. "Is take the elevator down to the bottom floor, turn left and exit the door." They came to a stop. The hallway was bare, but warm. Their attention was directed to three doors.

"Yuugi and Ryou, you two can share room 22. Honda and Jonouchi, 23. Anzu, 21." She handed Anzu, Honda and Ryou room keys. "They're Jack and Jill rooms, so you all don't have to worry about sharing anything but a bathroom. Except Anzu. Sorry hun, you're all alone." Her aunt turned to face Anzu, who rolled her eyes.

"I'm hurt." She sighed sarcastically. Her aunt laughed in return.

"Well, I'll need to get back to the office. You know where to find us. Either your uncle or I will wander down here once or twice a day to make sure you're okay. Call us too, if you need anything. Meet us tomorrow night at 8pm sharp at the office and I'll get you the keys." Masaki grinned, and walked back to the elevator with a wave. The group waved back and yelled a loud 'thank-you'. The woman laughed, and entered the elevator, slipping out of sight.

Jonouchi spoke, "What the heck are Jack and Jill rooms?"

Honda shrugged in response.

Ryou sighed, and started to explain. "A Jack and Jill room is two rooms that are adjacent to each other, connected by a bathroom. Just go inside your room and you'll see." His tone sounded exasperated. Of course, he knew not to expect much from his friends when it came to hotels and room design. He didn't even know that much, but he'd been in a Jack and Jill room before. Inserting the key into the lock on door 22, Ryou jostled the knob, and it sprung to life under his hand. The door flew open, allowing a view of the first room. Inside was a large four-poster bed, with a matching dresser with a rectangular mirror at the top, backed up against the wall furthest from the door. The walls were a cream color, and the comforter and pillows were black, and from what Ryou could tell, were make of a very nice material. 'Velvet,' he thought. To the right of the bed, the wall held a small collection of pictures. Landscapes and Sakuras hung in wood frames. On the side they were standing on, a TV was mounted parallel to the door and light-switch, a small desk, just big enough for a laptop; sat in the corner. To the left of the bed, a door that led into the bathroom was open, connecting his and Yuugi's room.

"Oh wow…" Ryou mumbled breathlessly. Never had he seen such a nice hotel. The rest of them nodded mutely in agreement.

Yuugi crept forward and entered the room. He walked through the bathroom, and into his room. He appeared a few seconds later, "It looks just like Ryou's room!" he confirmed with a smile.

"Well, why don't you all go get unpacked, and Yuugi and I will meet you in front of our rooms."

Anzu, Jonouchi and Honda all headed to their respected room, all of which held an exact resemblance to Ryou's. Yuugi looked at his snowy-haired friend. "Okay, well, I guess we'll meet them outside our room?" he questioned. His amethyst eyed friend slipped back into his side beyond the bathroom door.

Ryou nodded, and hollered a quick "Yup." and he begun to unpack his stuff. That basically consisted of throwing his bag into the drawer of the dresser. Yuugi hadn't appeared on the other side of the door, so Ryou threw himself on the bed and closed his doe-brown eyes for a few seconds…

‹——›

A pair of crimson drenched in chocolate eyes lurked around, switching direction every so often; to make sure he wasn't being followed. Those same orbs continued to navigate the dark employee locker room skillfully. 'Thought there was nothing in the lounge, maybe there was something of value here.' He thought to himself. Successfully avoiding tripping over the benches that sat in front of the lockers, quietly hopping over them. He pressed a pale hand up to the metal of a lock.

It was a combination lock.

He scoffed. What on earth did those ignorant fools hope to protect with such small, weak little pieces of metal? Why did they trust their most valuable items to such insolent thing? No small chunk of brass was going to stop him from getting what he wanted. In his eyes, laws and locks were one in the same, meant to be broken, and that is exactly what the thief did…

He thought to himself. It was around two in the afternoon. He hadn't really remembered how often employees came back here, but judging by how dark it was, he didn't suspect anyone would be there for awhile.

The figure silently set to work. Every now and then, a barely audible click could be heard, and things would be shuffled. If you listened just hard enough, you could hear the quickening in pulse, the energized inhale of another success.

‹——›

Yuugi stepped into Ryou's room only a few minutes later. The tri-colored, spiky haired teen peered at his friend, unaware if he was asleep or dozing. He decided to try his luck.

"Wow, these rooms sure are nice." The shorter of the two called.

Ryou shot up, "Hm?!" he blinked a few times and turned to Yuugi. His hands felt something soft underneath them, and the brown-eyed youth looked down. Velvet material was clutched between his pale ivory fingers. Releasing the material quickly, the boy stood up and ran his fingers through the back of his hair. "Sorry, Yuugi-kun!"—his voice remorseful, "I must've dozed off." His face was red with embarrassment.

Yuugi shook his head. "No bother, I shouldn't have taken so long. It was my fault, really." The amethyst eyed boy whispered; his tone sorrowful. "Don't feel bad, Ryou-kun. You take credit for bad things that you don't do, we really wish you wouldn't…" his eyes were downcast, suddenly very interested in the floor.

Ryou tilted his head, confused. Did he? Never one to realize his own actions, Ryou never took into account how his mild-mannered self affected other people. That was something else for him to ponder on…

Yuugi was the first to perk up. "Well, wasn't it so nice of Anzu's family to let us do this?" his usually happy voice returning.

Ryou looked up and nodded serenely. Yuugi had a true talent for cheering people up. The boy did a once-over of his room, and nodded to himself. "Okay, well we shouldn't keep them waiting any longer, huh?" Ryou walked over to his door and opened it, Yuugi close behind.

"Geez! We thought you might've gotten lost…" Jonouchi cried in exasperation. He looked like he was ready to rip a hand through his golden locks, his amber eyes on high alert. "I mean seriously." — Jonouchi stomped around, huffing like a giant— "How long does it take you to throw a bag into a drawer!? The rooms are nice, but don't you think that exploring the hotel and watching scary movies is a lot more fun? The roller coaster lines-" the ranting was interrupted by his slim, pale companion.

"Sorry Jou, We just didn't feel like living out of a suitcase, we need to get comfortable." Ryou turned around and quirked a brow, "Now if you're done whining…" he walked towards the elevator, and pressed the floor one button, "We can go."

"R-Ryou!" Jonouchi cried, following his pearl-haired friend. Yuugi, Anzu and Honda were hot on his heels, dashing towards the elevator they knew Ryou wouldn't let go down without them.

‹——›

Through a dark hallway, just past the employee locker room was a door. Not an unusual door, nothing special about it. It was an exit door to the outside grounds. Not hard to miss, but nothing strange or important about this door. If you were to open the door, you would find yourself staring at the back of a head of fluffy white hair, similar to that of the younger hotel guest. If you looked closer, you could tell that his hair was spikier, more evil. Hostile, to go right along with his current expression, he bore one fang over the side of his lip, chewing it in anticipation. No, he hadn't been seen, but he was waiting for someone particular to find him. There he sat in a very dimly lighted hallway, waiting. This hallway connected the amusement park to the parking lot, made entirely of concrete, no one ever used this way, most other people preferred to go out of the front and marvel at the beautiful landscape, or the beautiful sky. For whatever reason, this hallway was always empty. Which made it the perfect place for him to wait in solitude until, "What have you achieved?" a harsh voice spoke from the shadows. "I'll need a little longer for the bigger stuff, but here…"- The white haired thief pulled a small bag from who knows where and threw it across the hallway. It skidded until it came to a perfect stop, in front of the voice from nowhere. The man appeared, his mocha-skinned hand reached down to collect the bag, "You have two days, Bakura." The voice hissed with authority. The one dubbed Bakura glared daggers into the deep lilac eyes that were set on the face of the man with chocolaty skin. His blonde hair spiked up in many different directions, and he showed gold jewelry around his neck, on his ears, and on the wrist up to before his elbow. The man's muscles rippled when he flexed his arm out, pointing two fingers at Bakura, in the shape of a gun.

"Chill, Mariku. I'll get your stuff. No need for death threats." A smirk covered Bakura's features.

If looks could kill…

"If you don't, you'll regret crossing Me." the latter of the two, Mariku; spoke once more, and melted into the shadows. Not another word was spoken.

Bakura closed his eyes and growled, turning back to the door that should have been locked during business hours to prevent carjackings in the lot. Being the brilliant thief he was, Bakura had found a simple way around that. It was amazing what a simple wad of gum in the insert of the door could do. He jostled the door handle lightly, and the hinges squeaked to life, intruding on the silence of the hallway. Doors, those things really bugged him. No, it was squeaky doors, like this one, that bugged him. He was a master of being seen only when he wanted to be seen, and now was not the time. An extremely loud creaking noise would alert anyone of his presence. Alert, he preferred, was solely for him. He entered the building once more, door snapping shut behind him.

The man became enclosed in shadows once again, and darted around the wall, awaiting his newest idea for his next victim. He had always been known as the King of Shadows, it was a nickname he rightfully deserved. Pale lids slipped over his evil eyes, and he remembered a memory, one he was particularly fond of…

Flashback-

"Bakura, no fair!" A little boy, around the age of eleven cried, feeling around blindly. The two, one could only assume the one called Bakura was there, were trapped inside a dim area. Shadows bent and swirled around corners, hiding who knew what in their depths of darkness. The first boy seemed to be searching for something, or someone.

Another young boy with a head of hair so snowy white it seemed impossible for the darkness to fully shroud it appeared from far edge of the room. Gloom was written across the young one's faces. "You told me that you would play fair…" The other boy cried, his emerald eyes spilling over with tears.

"No, I said I wouldn't scare you. I never said anything about playing fair…" Bakura's own brown eyes remained on the ground, bored, if anything.

The boys were both dressed in cloaks. Bakura's was red, almost spotless. While the other boy's was brown and tattered, messy with dirt from feeling around on the sand covered ground.

"Ranga…" Bakura hissed, raising a balled fist to his teary eyed companion. "Shut up, stop your crying." The arm fell right back to his side. "I won because I found the ring first, but if it bothers you so much…" the boy tossed the piece of wood on the ground. The small object was nothing like a ring, but it indeed could fit around one's finger, had your fingers been small enough. Ranga, the other boy, tripped, but scuttled over and snatched the 'ring' from in front of Bakura's bare feet.

"Thank you." The final two words were spoken. That would be the last time Ranga would ever play with this child of the darkness, and he could feel this as he watched his 'friend' walk away for the last time.

Bakura snickered; a devilish smirk dominated his mouth. In the pocket of his cloak was something much more important than some stupid wood ring. Ranga wouldn't notice it missing until it was far too late. Stuffing his hand into the fabric, the young thief pulled something shiny out. He held it out in front of his face as he walked, and let the cold material unfold until he had just one end clasped between his fingers. The slim, silver bracelet that was once belonged to Ranga was now his; glinting in the light that shone from the moon.

End Flashback.

Super Special Awesome plot twist, ne? Jkjk, anyone know where that's from? xD I had something diffrent planned, but it didn't work out that way, so...

That was a super long chapter. (:

Hope you enjoyed it.

If towards the end, things started to get confusing to you, I apologize. It doesn't make much sense to me either, but I was typing late at night and I was running out of words and stuff. :/

Cliffhangers, cause I'm gonna need a few more chapters, don't you think? Can't write the whole story all in this chapter, now can I?

Anywho, hope you enjoyed it, and hope the length didn't scare you off.

R&R, please? It keeps me inspired.