A/N: Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi; this story is my own... / = yami/hikari communication or communication through the Shadow Realm (like when Yami sent a message to Pegasus in "Give Up The Ghost.")

Breaking Glass
Evil Overlady

~ Chapter 3 ~

/Yugi! Joey!/

/Mai!/ Yugi realized and jerked out of a deep sleep. Moonlight streamed through his window to cast ominous shadows. He thought he saw Mai get pulled into them. /Pharaoh!/

Yami was leaning against his desk, dressed. /I heard it too, Yugi./

/Mai's in trouble./ Yugi grabbed for his clothes and started to change. /We have to help her./

/Let's not be too hasty, Yugi. It could be a trap./

Yugi had his pants on and was about to change shirts. /Hery-Sesheta again?/

/Or worse./

The door slammed open and Joey rushed into his room. "Where is she? Where's Mai?"

"You heard her too?" Yugi asked, surprised.

Yami watched with interest. /Intriguing.../

"Don't play games, Yug." Joey had Yugi by the scruff of his partially-removed pajamas. "I heard her in here as plain as day."

/Yugi. Joey's connection with Mai is strong. We should bring him with us./

Yugi groaned. /If you say so.../ Yugi disentangled himself from Joey's grip. "She's not here, Joey."

Joey looked hurt and promptly let Yugi go. "I couldn't have imagined it."

Yugi stripped off the remainder of his pajamas and pulled on a fresh shirt. "You heard her spirit."

"Her spirit?" Joey blanched.

Yugi tried to explain as he pulled on his boots. "She's not dead, Joey." He tightened the buckles. "Look. When people are under a great deal of stress, sometimes their soul cries out to the ones they love."

"Stress? What're you saying, Yug?"

Yugi strapped on his dueling deck and disk. "I'm saying Mai's in trouble, and we have to help her."

Joey pointed mutely to his dueling disk. "With a dueling disk?"

Yugi set his jaw. "You know as well as I do that Duel Monsters is not just a game. If we're going to save Mai, we're going to have to fight our way out; and these are the best weapons we've got."

Joey looked like he was still trying to wake up. "Have you thought about calling the authorities?"

"There's no time, Joey." Yugi grabbed his arm. "Now, grab your duel disk, and let's go."

"Just one problem." Joey stopped in the doorway. "I forgot all that at my place."

Yugi growled in frustration. "You better stay close to me, then." He pushed Joey back into motion again.

"Ow! Hey! Quit shoving!"

"Let's go, Joey."

"Alright, alright."

"And quietly. We don't want grampa to wake up."

"Right."

They'd been walking for what seemed like hours. Yugi wished he had a car, but then again, driving while being distracted by magic probably wasn't the best idea.

"Say, Yugi." Joey decided to break the silence. "You know where we're going, pal?"

Yugi turned off the main sidewalk and down a dark alley. "Not yet."

"Then, how come you seem to know when to turn off?"

Yugi made another turn. "I'm not sure exactly. When we walked out of grampa's shop, I noticed this glowing gold line, and it just felt like it was connected to Mai somehow."

"A glowing line?" Joey jerked his head back and forth. "How come I can't see it?"

"Because the other end is connected to the Puzzle."

Joey lifted a blond eyebrow. "Really? I didn't know you could do that."

"I didn't either, but I think this time someone wants us to find Mai."

Joey grew serious. "Someone? Who, Yug?"

"I don't know." Yugi rounded the last corner and came face-to-face with a familiar warehouse. "But I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever it is has a connection to the same guy who kidnapped Téa from the hospital."

Joey's fist balled at his side. "If they hurt her..."

Yugi put a hand on his arm. "Easy, Joey. I have a feeling they're expecting us, so don't rush into anything. The place is probably laced with traps."

"Don't you worry 'bout me, Yug. I've faced my fair share of traps before."

Not like these, you haven't. Joey experienced a Shadow Game but being able to summon cards for real was something different entirely. "All the same, Joey, you better let me go first."

"If you say so, Yugi, but don't think for a second I'm going to let anything happen to you either."

"I know you won't, Joey." They proceeded towards the warehouse.

Yugi tried to peak through a broken pane in one of the windows, but it was simply too dark to see anything, except the silhouettes of stacks of crates highlighted by moonlight. Yugi turned to the door and tested the handle. It appeared to be unlocked. "Okay. Now, stay close. It's dark in there, and I don't want to lose you."

"I'm right behind you, Yugi."

Yugi nodded, opened the door, and stepped through.

"Sheesh," Joey whispered behind him. "I thought outside was dark."

"Grab my shoulder, Joey."

He did so. "Can you still see that glowing line?"

"Yeah."

"Hope it goes around crates. I wouldn't want to bump into any-" Thwang! Something collided with something metal above Yugi's head.

"You okay, Joey?"

"Ow. What was that?"

Yugi felt the long piece of metal above him. "Uh, fork lift."

"Ow... Oh..."

"Maybe you should keep your head down too."

"Guess I can't tease you about your height anymore." Joey put his hand back on Yugi's shoulder.

Yugi smiled, though he knew Joey couldn't see it.

They continued to the center of the warehouse without incident, which only made Yugi even more suspicious. He thought about letting Yami take over, but that hadn't worked out so well for Bakura the last time they were here. Yugi needed to see what they were up against first.

Yugi and Joey rounded another stack of crates and entered a clearing basked in moonlight. In its center, a dark cloaked figure stood. "Welcome, Pharaoh."

Yugi recognized that voice. "Hery-Sesheta."

"You remember. Good."

/Yugi, let me take over./

/Wait./ Yugi physically blocked his path with an outstretched arm. /That could be what he's expecting./ "How did you escape the Shadow Realm, Hery-Sesheta?"

"I was never trapped there. You forget I'm no longer alive."

"You're a spirit? But you grabbed Téa."

"That's the power of the Shadow Realm. Even spirits can be given substance from time to time."

Joey lunged forward, stopped by another outstretched arm. "Err. What have you done to Mai?"

The cloaked figure seemed to turn to Joey. "Patience, Wheeler. You'll join her soon enough." He drew something from inside his cloak.

/Yami, take over!/

But, Yugi was too late. "Ghost of Fled Dreams! Come forth and claim your first victim!"

"Joey!" Yami cried out, but the ghost easily maneuvered around him and wrapped himself around Joey.

The two disappeared.

Yami faced Hery-Sesheta. "What have you done?"

Hery-Sesheta just laughed. "That was but a taste of my power, Pharaoh." A shadow of a horse with glowing red eyes appeared over his shoulder. "I'm coming for your hikari next."

Yami glared at him, hand poised over his deck. "You will not touch him!"

Hery-Sesheta's smile was unyielding. "You speak as if you have a choice."