Hey, I'm back! I'm so sorry this is incredibly late (hides behind shield); don't hurt me! I have a good reason for being so late…okay several reasons. One, my school is back in session (year round) so I'm working two jobs again. Two, I've had a bunch of interviews for regular teaching positions (crossing fingers in hope). And then there's the third, and final, reason. P3P (Persona III for the PSP). Seriously, if you have a PSP and you don't have this game, GET IT NOW! (If you only have a PS2, then get the PS2 version; same plot and awesomeness, but you can only be a guy in the original). It is full of awesome and has sucked all my spare time into its abyss. However, I'm into the last month of the game, and there's a whole lot of power leveling staring me in the face now. So, yeah. I'm taking a break from that to get back to the fic. Just a heads up, expect me to disappear again for a few weeks when the new Golden Sun comes out (provided they ever manage to stop pushing back the release date that is). My apologies in advance.
In other news, we have new people adding the fic to their fav/story alert list (happy dancing). Welcome: DarknessPwnsLight, WildCards.x, Sylanc, SangNoire, Kitsune Barra Hime, DreamerNumber3, Spirit01, Miss-Berry, ShadowFireFox13, earthluva, and Yami No Musume! If I missed anyone's name, let me know and I'll fix the list.
To the reviewers…
YAMI'S BIGGEST FANGIRL: Not the puppy eyes! Such a powerful evil force to unleash. As such, BEHOLD more fic for you (though it took me a month…). As for your question from your review of chappie one, I have no plans to add additional OC's at this time. I'm considering a sequel after this is finished, so I might then (will post a notice if such occurs).
BeccaTheElf: I am glad that you still approve of the fic. Sadly, this chapter has a lot of exposition. I had to get it out of the way sooner or later; there will be lots of funny when Auri gets to meet Ryou in a couple chapters though (evil grin). I am looking forward to writing that part sooooooooo much.
TalTal19: Hooray, more happy reviews (renewed dancing). And yes, Auri gets to ogle Bakura's hotness in this chapter. She is most pleased.
Charley Reede: Thankies! Inner fangirl is fun to write. Let us all be true to our inner fangirls (or fanboys if there are any males reading this).
Spirit01: More new people (getting tired from all the dancing now)! Fic for you now.
Miss-Berry: I will do my best.
Earthluva: I think I may have already replied to your comment, but, again, DON'T HURT ME (hides). I didn't write the YugixYamixBakura fic (I did read it out of sheer curiousity though…and then needed some mind bleach. I like shonen-ai as much as the next rabid fangirl, but that was too much for me. Can't recall where I found it though; twas years ago.).
Lastly, does anyone else listen to music while writing? If you do, give "Persona REINCARNATION" or the standard Persona 3 and 4 soundtracks a try. They're what I've been writing all of these to thus far.
Chapter 4: Into the Darkness
As Auri led the pair and their Kuriboh around a corner, she stopped abruptly and held up a hand motioning for the other two to stop. Then she cautiously peeked around the corner to double-check that there were indeed no fangirls nearby. Upon seeing that the coast was clear, she gave the pair behind her a thumbs-up before walking out onto the well-lit sidewalk of Racine St. Racine, being part of the downtown Raleigh area, was still remarkably busy at this time of night. Namely, it was busy in that it had any foot traffic at all. Cars? Sure. There were some clubs a few blocks away, so there were always those. However, foot traffic typically was non-existent by then; of course, there was a large convention nearby, so con-goers roamed the streets now as the events they came for ended for the evening. How would she be so well acquainted with the downtown traffic in the middle of the night? Let's just say that her older sister was always a bad influence.
Turning back to face the others, Auri quickly realized they might have a problem. Then she grinned. 'That's easy enough to fix.' "Kuriboh, you mind being carried?" she asked.
Kuriboh made a happy face. "Kuri!"
Her grin widened. "I'll take that as a 'no,' then," she replied while holding her arms out. Kuriboh happily jumped in and she petted him with one spare hand.
"I guess it would look kind of weird to other people if they saw him floating," Yugi said.
Auri nodded. "Such was my thought." She looked down at the Kuriboh. "You have to be still when we're inside a place or people go by, okay? Pretend to be stuffed animal."
"Kuri."
Satisfied with the response, Auri nodded and shifted Kuriboh to her left arm to point down the street a ways. "We need to go two blocks up this way and then turn right. The store is another block down on the corner, so… follow me, I guess." With that, Auri led the way down the block pausing at the first light to press the crossing light button. While they waited for it to change, she asked, "So how did you get here exactly?"
"We had only just returned from Duelist Kingdom this evening," Yugi began. "We got back and went to see Grandpa in the hospital to make sure his soul was put back okay." Yugi paused awkwardly before then asking, "You said you read through the end of Duelist Kingdom so you would know about his soul being put in a card, right?"
She nodded, her eyes not meeting his. Instead she focused her gaze on the blinking light across the street as it slowly counted down to when they could cross. "I've read through the end of the battle with Pegasus where Kaiba and Mokuba are also shown has having recovered, and then everyone hitched a ride on his helicopter to get home. I haven't seen anything after that though," she answered, fighting to keep her voice and facial expression as even as possible. 'Truth be told, I've read through the entire series via online scanlations. They've just been really slow on releasing the manga here in the US though, so Duelist Kingdom is as far as I've gotten in owning the series. I don't know how much I could risk telling them without screwing up the timeline though; the last thing I want to do is get them killed," the last part she added with a wince. 'Never mind that I've also seen most of the anime though similar means.'
"We checked on him, and he was doing well," Yugi continued, this time with Auri facing him. "The hospital wanted to keep him for one more night for observation just in case though. After that, I went home and passed out on the couch."
Auri noticed that Yami seemed to wince slightly at that. 'Huh?' "Exhausted from everything with the duels I take it?"
"Yeah," Yugi agreed with a weary nod. "And it was such relief that everyone was okay in the end," he added with a soft smile. Meanwhile, Yami seemed to have suddenly found the ground to be quite interesting.
'What's wrong with…oh.' The scene from the battle where Yugi's soul appeared to have died sprang to her mind. 'I suppose he would guilt himself over that given his self appointed role as Yugi's protector since volume one. Maybe I can talk to him about it later; I mean, Yugi's okay and it wasn't his fault.' She glanced back at the intersection and the now lit walk light. "It's clear, let's go."
"Yeah," Yugi said as he and Yami began to follow her again. "Anyway, the next thing I knew I was separated from Yami in some kind of maze in the shadow realm," Yugi finished before looking to Yami to fill in the gap.
"Bakura, or the spirit of the ring as it were, appeared at the game shop shortly after Yugi fell asleep and challenged me to a shadow game." His jaw tightened slightly, and he looked over at Yugi, "I didn't want you dragged in to another battle so soon while you were still resting, so I took over without waking you. I apologize."
His shorter host shook his head. "It's okay; you were only trying to help, and we're both okay. That's all that matters."
Yami's frame slackened slightly in relief. "Thank you. After that, he dragged us both into the shadow realm where a maze created by his magic waited, and I found myself dropped into one corner of it seemingly at random. That was when I realized that he'd somehow managed to separate the two of us, and Yugi was nowhere in sight. Bakura failed to explain the rules prior, but it became rather obvious what the goal was then."
"To find Yugi, right?" she asked while moving to the left to avoid a couple coming their way.
Yami nodded. "Yes, but was not simply that. Bakura was playing as well; I had to beat him to Yugi."
'Not to mention the unfortunate side effect the shadow realm has on people in that it slowly drains them before shattering their souls,' Auri thought. 'Poor Yami; he must have been worried sick about having a repeat of the previous episode….Wait!' "But can't Bakura track the millennium items with his ring?" Auri interrupted.
Both boys shot her a surprised look. "They even show that in the manga of yours?" Yugi asked.
"Yeah, so wouldn't he have an unfair advantage?"
"Correct." Yami said. "It was not long in to the game that I came to the same conclusion, and cheating voids any dark game challenge as, I am sure, you are well aware."
'Yeah, considering that's all the villains from part one seemed to do,' she internally growled as the trio came upon the second intersection. This time the street was completely clear on the right hand turn they needed, so she didn't bother to stop and wait for the walking light. 'Jay walking for the win.' "I take it you didn't get to hit him with a punishment game like the others though."
The puzzle spirit frowned. "No. He refused to call it off, so I tried using the puzzle's magic to rip holes in the maze to find Yugi before Bakura or the shadow realm could harm him. However, something went wrong." He paused, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. Auri and Yugi halted after a moment, turning to look back at him.
"What's wrong?" Yugi asked him.
Yami looked up at them. "I can not remember."
"Huh?"
"How hole in the dimensions was opened," he clarified. "I remember trying to break through the labyrinth, but nothing after that before awakening in the building from earlier."
Auri hmmed distractedly in response before perking up at the sight of the lit convenience storefront up ahead. "Maybe it was just shock of being ripped into another world," she suggested, and then Auri pointed to the store coming up on the right. "Anyway, that's the place I told you about."
It was an older building like most of this sector of town with a faded, stone façade and a mesh net fitting over the windows. The inside bore similar signs of age: battle scarred black and white tiles, thick trails of dust in the window's cracks and corners, and the wooden counter was stained a dark brown from countless spills. Nevertheless, Auri waved a nonchalant hello to the sleepy clerk and quickly led Yugi and Yami around to the back in search of caffeine. Without pausing, she opened one frosty glass door and pulled out a Cheerwine.
"Grab whatever you'd like; this one's on me," she said.
Yugi offered her a thankful grin. "Thanks." He eyed the refrigerator. "Where's the Coke at?" he wondered aloud.
"Over here," she replied pointing to the door next to him.
"I see it now," he said while pulling the glass door to and grabbing two of the sodas.
Meanwhile, Auri had already moved on to the chip section and snagged a Pringle snack pack. "You guys want any munchies?" she asked, leaning over to poke around the corner of the aisle to look at the pair.
Yugi looked to Yami who simply shook his head. "No thanks," he replied.
She shrugged. "If you're sure."
After paying, the trio returned to the outside, Auri making a face at the thick blanket of heat that hit her after so enjoying the air-conditioned store. Settling down on the bench next to the door, she moved Kuriboh to sit on her lap and opened her soda. "Caffeine is the true nectar of the gods," she declared happily. 'That, and bishonen. Near twins at that. Yeas!'
"That it is," agreed Yugi as he sat beside her and handed Yami, who remained standing next to them though leaning against the wall, his soda.
She simply grinned, happy to at last have her fix, and popped open the Pringles. She plucked a few out for herself and then offered the can to Yugi who declined with a wave. She shrugged and then looked down at the Kuriboh. "Can duel monsters eat?"
Yugi just blinked.
"I…do not see why not," Yami answered. "However, I do not think Kuriboh has a mouth." All three looked at Kuriboh.
"Kuri?" it offered.
"I don't see one," Yugi said.
"Neither do I," Auri agreed. "Sorry, Kuriboh, no chips for you."
"Kuri…" The fluff ball made a sad face. She petted him in consolation with the hand not devoted to the yummy Pringle goodness.
After finishing his soda, Yugi asked, "Do you come here a lot?"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "That was random."
He flushed slightly. "It was just that you seemed really familiar with the store and the whole area."
"Ah." Auri's expression fell. "Well, I live in the next town over, but I've been coming to the con here for the past several years with my friends. We got tired of the overpriced con fare and went wandering the first year, and we continued to do so when nothing good was going on for every year after that. It's kind of a tradition now." A soft smile made it back to her face before vanishing as she continued. "They couldn't come this year though, so it's my first time by myself." She shook her head. "Okay, not completely alone; my little sister tagged along for a little while. This was her first year, but she hooked up with her buddies from school a good bit of time ago."
"So that's why you were alone up on the third floor then, huh?" Yugi replied, though it was more of a comment than a question.
She grimaced. 'Guilt…' "Yeah. Sorry if I kind of forced you into letting me tag along initially; I was kind of lonely."
"It's okay; you were a big help. It probably would have taken much longer to find Yami without a guide, and then there were those crazy girls."
The spirit in question shuddered in remembrance of their madness.
"Aw come on, they worst they could really do is hug you to death," she told him with a laugh while fishing her phone out of the bag at her side. The time read, "2:47." 'Crud, the dance ends at three and I need to get Grace then, but how am I going to explain these two to her? I can't just leave them here, and Mom would flip if I randomly brought two guys she's never met home with me in the middle of the night.' She frowned at her phone. 'Burn that bridge as I come to it, I suppose.' Stuffing the phone back into place and hoisting the bag over her shoulder, she said, "You want to head back towards the con now? I need to grab my little sister, and maybe the fangirls have retired for the night or something."
"Sure," said Yugi.
Yami agreed with a curt nod and pushed himself off of the wall. "Hopefully we can locate Bakura as well; we cannot simply leave him in this world. Who knows what kind of havoc he would wreak," Yami said.
'Aside from thievery, probably not that much,' she thought. 'He's only after the millennium items and a misguided revenge quest against you, so I can't imagine he'd be interested in too much here. Wait, do they know how to get back?'
"You can get us back home?" Yugi asked, unintentionally voicing Auri's thought.
The spirit hesitated initially before answering. "Perhaps. I can sense the shadow realm here too, and, theoretically, it should be possible to get back through the same dimensional rip we came through. It ought not to heal that quickly."
Yugi let out a huge sigh and his face lit up with a smile. "Thank goodness! I was starting to wonder how we'd get home."
Auri brushed off her skirt and stood up. "Anywho, shall we head back?"
Seeing as the trio no longer needed to worry about dodging the girls from earlier, Auri lead the two boys down a more direct return route aiming for the main entrance of the Raleigh Convention Center. They went back the one block the convenience store was on, and turned right. Auri led the pair three blocks that way before stopping in the middle of the block and scanning back and forth for cars.
"Why did we stop?" Yami asked.
She pointed across the street at a small pathway created by a mini plaza…tree thingy… in a gap between two stores. Okay, Auri didn't really know what the heck it was there for; it really seemed like a waste of space to her, but, hey, shortcut back to the con, right? She turned back to Yami. "The main entrance is right through there."
"Oh." Abruptly, his eyes widened slightly, and Yugi who stood beside him gasped slightly.
"What?" she asked with head tilt before turning to see what the big deal was.
Across the street, at the maw of the darkened shortcut now stood Bakura, his millennium ring's glow fading. He glared darkly at them from across the intersection; his pulled into a taut frown. "It's about time," he called from across the street as a few cars lazily cruised by. "What do you say we finish the little game from before, hm?" As he said this, a few passing cosplayers stopped to watch curiously.
Yami moved to stand protectively in front of Yugi. "You must be out of your mind to think I would accept a game with such stacked odds knowingly," he shot back.
Amidst this, Auri's brain momentarily shut down. Unconsciously, her arms tightened around the poor Kuriboh.
'Oh my god, it's Kura! Frigging Bakura!' her inner fangirl squealed before running around in happy circles inside Auri's head.
'No!' interrupted logic from one itty-bitty corner of her brain. 'We need to focus right now! That's real Bakura and…'
'I know! Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!'
'…And he could totally kill you! He would probably enjoy it actually.'
'Shush. Let me enjoy my moment before someone expects us to pay attention again.'
'But…
'Look at is hair! Look at is bishonen self!'
Against her own will, Logic looked. 'Hmm…. He is rather yummy.'
'Hehe.'
Auri was brought back to reality as Bakura humphed disconcertedly before a wicked smirk played across lips. "Your hikari can last for a time in the dark, but what about your new friend?"
The pair in front of her said nothing.
'I don't like the sound of this.'
"The shadow realm quickly devours those within its grasp who lack the means to defend themselves, the power of the millennium items!" The eye of his ring began to glow again, and Auri suddenly found that the ground beneath her seemed to envelop her as she began to fall down a seemingly endless dark hole.
Yami spun around, his eyes wide with horror, and tried to reach her. However, she was already falling too fast. As she looked up at him, her vision blurring, she thought she heard him yell something back to Bakura but couldn't.
She was already too far gone.
For my faithful readers, you are awesome! I love reviews and they compel me to write more. As such, I have a little bitty spoiler for you all, the titles of the next two chapters.
Chapter 5: Welcome to the Shadow Realm
Chapter 6: HOLY SHIT, IT'S RYOU!