Yugi wasn't sure how much time had passes since his conversation with Tea, but when he opened his eyes, Joey was awake and rummaging his book bag for food again. It seemed light again but the storm never passed. Yugi didn't say anything at first, mostly because he was trying to deal with all the pain that was now shooting through his body. They were mostly coming from the wounds that were on his arm and chest. He wasn't sure why he couldn't feel it before but now he was sure he could feel it all, and it wasn't a nice feeling.
Looking to his right, he saw that Yami was getting up himself, but he hadn't sat up yet. Remembering his conversation with Tea earlier, Yugi looked around for her, and saw her sitting on the stump that Joey previously occupied. She looked sad as she watched Joey eat his food, and Yugi could tell that she was yearning to go back into her own body.
What happened earlier also came back to him and he tried to sit up, but was met with dizziness and pain in his head and chest. Trying to ignore it, Yugi closed his eyes and sat up all the way which made it worse for a few seconds but soon, it dulled down to a tolerable level. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Tea kneeling next to him with a worried look on her face.
"Ack! Tea…" Yugi said quietly. "Warn me the next time you're going to do that…"
"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to scare you. Sometimes it's hard to forget that no one can really see me like this."
"Yugi, is everything alright?" Yami said behind him. Yugi looked at him in surprise, not realizing that he was fully awake. "How are you feeling?"
"As good as I can be despite the situation." Behind him Yugi heard Tea mumble, "Well that's incredibly vague."
Yugi ignored the comment, mostly because Yami had that look on his face saying that he was thinking the same thing. He stared at Yugi for a couple more seconds before standing up and walking over to Joey, who was still rummaging through their bag. He mumbled something to Joey about painkillers. While Yami and Joey were distracted, Yugi turned to Tea.
"How long were we asleep?" he asked her.
Tea sighed . "Well when I got here it was getting close to nighttime. So seeing as how it's morning now, I would say all night."
"Wait, it's morning?" Yugi looked up at the sky, but to him it looked the same as it did before: grey and full of lightning, although it did seem darker than before.
"Nah, I'm just kidding." she said with a smirk. "It's only been a few hours. I think the sun's going to set soon."
"Ugh, don't do that. You scared me for a second…again." Yugi ran a hand through his hair, almost forgetting about the bandage that was wrapped from his forehead and around the back. He flinched as it ignited the pain in his head again. He wasn't sure how hard he hit it but he was just glad he didn't have amnesia or something. That would really brighten up his day.
"I'm just trying to bring up the mood…" Tea said quietly. Yugi looked at her and noticed how glum she looked. Everything must have seemed pretty grim for her at the moment, so he could see why she would need some fun.
Before he could say anything to her however, Yami and Joey walked over and sat by him, Joey tossing him a granola bar.
"So we've misplaced the painkillers that we had," Yami said pointing a glare in Joey's direction before looking at Yugi with an apologetic expression. "So I'm sorry Yugi but you're going to have to deal with the pain only a little bit longer."
"Jeez, I said I was sorry," Joey said rolling his eyes, but still looked even more apologetic than Yami. "I must have dropped them after the whole Shade incident."
"Guys, don't worry about it," Yugi said trying to sound upbeat. "Honestly, it doesn't really hurt that much anymore."
Both of them looked as though they really didn't believe him so Yugi decided to change the subject.
"Anyway so what's the plan for taking on the Shadow this time?"
Joey and Yami looked at each other uncertainly.
"I'm not sure," Yami said. "This Shadow is much more powerful than the Shade and seemed more resistant to the Puzzle. If it has a weakness, we first need to figure out what that is before approaching it again. Otherwise, the next defeat may be our last."
"Well we've got time to think about it. I mean, it's not like we know where it is or anything." Joey said shoving the rest of his granola bar into his mouth.
"Actually, it's back at the house," Yugi said without thinking. He immediately got two strange looks from his friends. In the corner of his eye, he saw Tea giving him a surprised look. "I-I mean…uh…"
"Wait, how do you know?" Joey said.
Yugi didn't mean to blurt the answer out like that, and he wished he hadn't. He had full intentions on telling them about Tea and Tristan's predicament, but wanted ample time to try to think of a way to properly explain it to them, seeing as how they might not take the information well. However, since he messed that up, Yugi tried to think up of a good way to explain it without messing up the plan that they just thought up.
"Well…Tea told me." Yugi said thinking that if he were in their shoes, he would have thought himself crazy. Tea gave him the surprised, "You're lying to them?!" look.
Yami was looking at him with an alarmed expression.
"Wait, was she here?" Joey said.
"She is here…"
It was time for Joey's expression to become alarmed. Yugi suddenly realized what they might be thinking so he immediately cut to the chase.
"Tea is a spirit right now, but she's not dead."
"What do you mean Yugi?" Yami looked very alarmed now. His eyes darted from Yugi to where Tea was sitting, as if unsure what to think. "If she's a spirit, how is she not dead?"
Yugi hesitated in telling them about his out of body experiences, mostly because he didn't want them freaking out about it. He only ever mentioned it briefly to Yami when it first started happening, but never said anything about it again.
"You can be out of your body and not dead," he said. He looked directly at Yami. "We used to do it all of the time."
Yami seemed to struggle to find what he wanted to say, whilst looking back and forth still from him to where Tea was. It seemed that he was finally paying attention to his surroundings and was able to sense that Tea was there.
"But Yugi, the circumstances on how it happens…"
"I know," Yugi said. "But Tea said it herself, she doesn't think she's dead."
Yami became silent at that, but the silence didn't last long for Yugi since Tea started talking.
"Hey Yugi, can he see me?" Tea asked looking at Yami.
"Yeah…it's a little different but yeah." Yugi said ignoring the strange look he was receiving from Joey.
"Can he hear me?"
Yugi raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was thinking but nodded.
"Cool." Tea said. She then promptly walked up to Yami, sat next to him and yelled at the top of her lungs. "HEY! I'M NOT DEAD!"
Yami must have jumped about a foot in the air. He immediately stood up, and looked down at Tea indignantly rubbing his ear. "Tea, I can hear you, alright? You don't need to shout…"
"Just had to make sure," Tea said laughing. Yugi couldn't help but smile at Tea's upbeat attitude. He wouldn't know what to do if their positions were switched and was glad that she was taking it so well.
"You mean she really is here?" Joey said looking at Yami in surprise. Yugi felt a twinge of annoyance that he didn't believe him, but ignored it.
"Yes." Yami said sitting back down. "She's here alright. But is Tristan here?"
"No," Yugi shook his head sadly. "Their bodies are with the Shadow, back at the house."
"Wait, how do you know?" Joey said looking skeptical again. Yugi answered without hesitation this time.
"Because Tea told me. But she also warns us it could be a trap, so I don't know how you guys want to approach it…"
"Don't fall into a trap guys," Tea said. "Don't make me feel even more guilty than I already do…"
Yami sighed. "Well since we know where it's at now we can plan a little more at how we're going to defeat it."
"Maybe you need to weaken it first before trying to send it to the shadow realm." Joey suggested.
"But I already tried that the last time, and that didn't go so well."
Everyone lapsed into silence as they contemplated their next move. After a minute, Yami spoke up.
"Yugi, you said that the Shadow was at the house. Why is it there?"
"…I don't know. Tea said that it was just standing there…waiting."
"It's probably is a trap then." Joey said. "Are these thing supposed to be smart? Maybe we can trick it."
"I don't feel comfortable with making a plan without scoping the area first. If it is a trap, then finding out what's there before moving in is the best idea." Yami said. "Why don't we just go there and examine it from a distance before making a plan."
"Sounds good to me." Joey said standing up.
"Yugi, will you be able to walk?" Yami said.
"Yeah," Yugi then attempted to stand as well. He almost stood up all the way when he got a big dizzy spell and fell back down. Luckily Yami had walked up to him during his attempt and caught him before he fell.
"Yugi!"
"S-sorry," Yugi said shaking his head. "I just…stood up too fast."
"Don't rush yourself Yugi," Yami said beginning to lowering him down the ground. Yugi however had different plans.
"Wait, I can stand. Just…help me up."
Yami hesitated, then helped Yugi to stand. At first Yugi still felt dizzy in the head but within a few seconds the world stopped spinning. His whole body felt like it was on fire though, and it felt like everything that happened to him during that week was finally taking its toll on him. His body started to shake a little and Yugi wondered how much longer he would last before he couldn't take anymore.
"Are you sure about this Yugi?" Yami said looking worried. "Maybe you should sit back down."
"No, it's fine…" Yugi said. He took a deep breath to try and get used to how he was feeling. It was hard though when his head was still pounding along with the rest of him. He could feel his body rocking slightly as if he was on the deck of a ship.
"Dude, you've got to stop," Joey said walking up to him quickly. He looked frightened, as if he saw a ghost for the first time. "This is insane, you've got to slow down, alright? Rest for a bit longer. Yami and I will go on ahead and check the place out."
"What? But-"
"No, just stay here," Joey cut him off. "You're not okay Yugi and if you keep going like this, it's going to kill you. If you only had a chance to look at yourself, you'd understand why I'm saying this."
"Joey, I'm not going to let us be separated. Don't you remember the last time we all separated is what got Tea and Tristan in this predicament in the first place?" Yugi said desperately. He was afraid that if they separated that something bad would happen. "I can walk guys, seriously."
Joey sighed looking frustrated and looked at Yami for his advice.
"Yugi," Yami said. "Joey's right. I think you should stay here."
"But Yami-"
"We'll be right back, alright? We're only scouting the area." Yami looked apologetic. "Besides, if this thing is attracted to you, it's best if you don't go near it anyway. The house isn't too far away; we should only be gone for an hour or so."
Yugi sighed in defeat. He knew that if they both were adamant on him staying, there was no way that he was going to convince them otherwise. He sat back down, ignoring the new pains shooting through his body.
"Alright, but just be careful guys." he said. "Don't go past the tree line."
"Don't worry about us," Joey said. "You just rest up. We'll be back soon."
"Tea?" Yami said looking at her. "Stay with him alright?"
"Yeah, okay." she said. She sat next to Yugi as Yami and Joey went walking off into the woods in the direction of the house. There was silence for a couple of minutes, and the only sounds were that of Yami and Joey's fading footsteps, and that of the rumbling thunder overhead.
"Do I really look that bad?" Yugi said sighing.
"Yugi if I was in their position, I would have told you the same thing." Tea said. She floated closer and looked at him with the same look that Yami and Joey were giving him earlier. "You look pretty bad. Honestly, I'm surprised you can stand."
Yugi said nothing and instead chose to look at a particular blade of grass in the hopes to avoid her transparent gaze. She was silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Yugi, what happened to you anyway? Besides…the whole Shadow thing? When Tristan and I left, you were sick then too…I thought."
"I…was," Yugi said. He didn't know why she wanted to talk about that now. Looking back, Yugi wished that the problems they had back then were the only things he had to worry about…Like the demon that was in Joey's room. At least then, there were only one of them. Now, who knows? Yugi had no desire to talk about any of that to anyone at the moment but he still hoped Tea would understand that.
"So…what? You're not going to tell me?" Tea said her voice getting low, which Yugi knew that meant she was getting angry. "You're not going to tell me at all? Just like you won't tell Yami and Joey about you wandering around as a spirit at night?"
Yugi quickly looked at her, and she was giving him an accusing stare. "I was going to tell them…eventually. I just wasn't sure how to do it."
"Just tell them. Wouldn't that be easier than avoiding questions or…or lying to them all the time?"
"…No."
Tea's stare went from accusing to confused. "Why?"
Yugi sighed and paused to think before answering. "I don't know if you've noticed the way they look at me now…especially Joey. They're freaked out by it all, and I'd rather not add another reason to the list."
"You're afraid of what everyone will think?" Tea said incredulously. "Yugi out all the years we've known each other, when has that ever mattered to any of us?"
When Yugi didn't say anything, Tea calmed herself down and continued.
"Besides, I think you're interpreting them wrong. I don't think Yami and Joey are thinking you as a freak or anything. I think they're just worried about you." She moved closer to Yugi and put a hand on his shoulder. "I am too. You look like you've been through hell this week."
"Well you're not exactly wrong…" Yugi mumbled.
"I'm serious. Maybe we can help you if you tell us what's going on."
Yugi sighed again and looked at Tea. "Look Tea, I appreciate it, but I don't really want to talk about it. Maybe when we get out of this mess…but not now."
Yugi thought that Tea was going to get angry, but she just looked at him sadly and nodded.
"Okay…" she said. Things got quiet between the two of them, and Yugi had to break the silence to take away from the awkwardness, and not only that but to keep his mind off of his aching body.
"So when they get back, what do you think we should do?" he said.
"…I don't know…I guess we'll figure that out when the time comes."
More silence. Not exactly what Yugi had in mind, but it seemed that Tea was no longer in the mood to talk. However, in a couple of minutes, he started to get very dizzy…so much so that he had to lay back down on the ground to try to make it go away.
"Yugi? What's wrong?"
"I'm okay," Yugi said quietly, with his eyes shut. "Just…got dizzy, that's all."
"It's alright," Tea said. Yugi could hear her worry, which made him feel guilty. "Just rest for a bit until they get back. I'll be right here."
Yugi couldn't argue since there was nothing else going on. He closed his eyes and time seemed to fly by. It only seemed like a few seconds later Tea was calling his name again.
"Yugi, wake up!"
His eyes flew open, not even realizing that he had fallen asleep. Tea was kneeling over him trying to get him up.
"Tea? What is it?"
"It's been over two hours since they left. I'm getting really worried that something might have gone wrong."
"It's been over two hours?!" Yugi sat up a little to wake himself up. "How do you know?"
Tea looked up at the stormy sky. The sun had set and the lightning was more prominent now than it was during the day. "Even though there's that weird storm, I can kinda still tell how much time has passed based on how much light there is. But I've been kind of …. counting too. I stopped counting at the hour mark but at least double has passed since then. What if something bad happened to them?"
"Hopefully not. But I guess we should go find them to be sure." Yugi sat up straighter, now fully awake.
"What?" Tea looked at him as if he was crazy. "But Yami said that that thing…it's attracted to you. So what if…?"
"Well what are we supposed to do? Wait here for another couple of hours? They could be in trouble now."
Yugi then attempted to stand up, which wasn't one of his brightest ideas of the day. He tried to get up normally, but his body seemed to rebel sending jolts of pain throughout his entire being, which made him fall back down to his hands and knees with a grunt. Painting, he tried to do it again, but was even less successful than before. His body just didn't have enough energy and strangely, the sleep he had for the past couple of hours didn't seem to help any.
"Yugi stop!" Tea kneeled down next to him looking freaked out. "Please, don't try to get up right now. You're only making it worse!"
"But Tea-"
"No." Tea cut him off sternly. "Look. How about if I go and check on them? I'll be really quick like this so it won't take me long and I'll be back before you know it."
"Tea, you shouldn't go alone, we should stick together."
"And you can't go anywhere like this! You need to get to a hospital. There's no way you're going to make it back to the house in the condition you're in."
Yugi contemplated his options. Yami and Joey could be in danger and Tea and Tristan's bodies were definitely in peril. Yugi knew now that he won't be able to walk there, but a better idea came to him.
"Well, if I can't travel like this…" Yugi laid back down on the ground and concentrated. Since the incident with the demon in Joey's room, he always felt like he could leave his body at any time, not just when he was asleep. So why not try it out now?"
"What are you doing?" Tea said.
Yugi didn't answer her and continued to concentrate. In a couple of seconds, he got that dizzying feeling like he was in a tornado, then he was floating above his body with Tea giving him a surprised look.
"Y-Yugi, what?!"
"Now we can both go." he said.
"B-but this is crazy!" Tea looked freaked out again. "What about your body? We can't just leave you…it…here."
"It'll be fine. Right now, we need to check on Yami and Joey. Let's go."
Yugi never thought he traveled faster in his life than when he did then. One second he was with Tea, and they both set off towards the house, then the next, he was flying through the woods faster than he meant to. He stopped abruptly, and looked behind him, wondering where Tea went. She caught up a few seconds later with an annoyed expression on her face.
"At least wait for me, sheesh."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to go that fast."
"Well, at least we're here"
Yugi looked and sure enough, they were standing, no…. floating next to the tree line that marked the edge of the property for the mansion. In the middle of the field, stood the Shadow, menacing and dark without even trying. As it was before, Tristan and Tea's bodies were lain before its feet, like a prize kept close. What was different from before was alarming.
A large circle was seemingly drawn around the shadow on the ground, around fifty feet in diameter. Around the circle was an aura of clear but strong energy that extended up off the ground and into the sky, out of sight. It continuously shimmered, from the ground up, as if it was continuously being fed energy to keep it aloft. What took Yugi by surprise the most, was that there was a man standing outside the circle, staring at the waves of energy. At first he thought it was Yami or Joey, but on closer inspection, it most definitely was not. The man was shorter than either of them, and much older as well. Suddenly, it clicked.
"Tea," Yugi said not taking his eyes off the man, remembering him from a few days ago. "It's the Ranger…remember?"
"W-what's he doing here? The last we saw him was when we first got here, and he lent us the horses…"
Tea trailed off as the Ranger slowly turned his head in their direction. His eyes gave off an air of creepy madness that they did not show before.
"I see the two of you floating over there. Don't think that you kids can hide from me."
Yugi and Tea froze, suddenly on higher alert than they were before.
"H-how…?" was all Tea could say at first. The Ranger chuckled.
"What, you didn't think that he," the Ranger nudged his head towards Yugi. "was the first one who developed the gift to see spirits did'ja? Nope. Not the first and if I have it my way, won't be the last neither."
"H-how did you know about that?" Yugi said fearfully. He didn't like how things were sounding already.
"Son, I know more than ya think," The Ranger said and left it at that. Yugi tried a different approach.
"What are you doing? What's happening?" Yugi asked looking from him to the Shadow that stood on the other side of the energy barrier.
The Ranger laughed. "Well what does it look like?"
He looked towards the Shadow again, and Yugi and Tea followed his gaze and gasped. Yugi didn't even notice before, but upon closer inspection, saw that Yami and Joey were inside the barrier. They looked unhurt, but frightened of the Shadow, which was still doing nothing. The two of them were as far away from the Shadow as they could get, yet the clear and shimmering walls of the barrier seemed to stop them from getting out of its range.
"They're trapped…" Yugi said and then looked angrily at the Ranger. "What is this?"
The Ranger turned around fully to face them and laughed again, as if he was waiting for their conversation to get to this point for a while. "What do you know of…the veil?"
"Th-the what?" Tea said with a raised eyebrow, as he changed his tone. She obviously thought that this man was crazy and Yugi would agree with her. The Ranger smiled showing his toothless grin, now talking without his fake hillbilly accent.
"The Veil!" the Ranger continued. "Some call it the bridge between worlds. It was constructed by ancient spirits back when the earth was still young. Normally it acts as a barrier, keeping bad spirits out and it filters out large amounts of energy from reaching the earth. That's why people built ways to use everyday objects to allow them to channel and use energy. Like your Millennium Puzzle."
"H-how do you know about-" Yugi started but the Ranger cut him off.
"Unimportant! Just know that this barrier," he motioned where the Shadow was inside. "Is where I've created a gash in the veil allowing anything, like spirits, inside of it to become visible."
"What?!" Tea looked frightened. "You mean if the Veil disappears, anybody could see spirits and stuff?"
"Oh, you can do more than just see spirits without a Veil around." The Ranger grinned even more manically than before. "How about I show you two, first hand?"
Without waiting for a response, the Ranger brought up his hand and snapped his fingers. Immediately there was a change in the barrier. It shuddered, and the Shadow inside groaned. Suddenly, the circumference of the tear in the Veil started to expand. It started out slowly, then rushed outwards engulfing Yugi, Tea and the Ranger. The air seemed to tremble and the sky shuddered. When it stopped expanding, the circle the barrier encompassed was about a half mile in diameter, and now had everybody inside.
Now Yugi knew what the Ranger had meant when he talked about the limitless energy that came forth when the Veil was absent. The amount of energy that flowed through him now seemed fathomless, raw and almost uncontrollable. It was almost a shock to have it suddenly flow through, and looking at Tea, he knew she was thinking the same thing. The Ranger however, started to laugh.
"Can ya feel it?" he said taking in a deep breath as if he was enjoying a relaxing summer morning. "Almost makes ya feel like anything's possible, doesn't it?"
Yugi didn't say anything. He looked at Tea, and realized that she seemed even more solid than she did before. Almost as if she wasn't just a spirit at the moment. Yugi knew that he must have looked the same way.
Behind her, Yugi saw Yami and Joey looking at them with shocked expressions on their faces. Yugi wanted to yell some sort of recognition to them but before he could do so, the Shadow shuddered. It's form, now more tangible than before, started to quake and suddenly it seemed to be more alive than it was before.
"Oh, and I forgot to mention," the Ranger said looking at Yugi. "In order to have enough energy to expand the tear in the veil, the Shadow needs to absorb you and your Pharaoh friend…. seeing as how the Shade was banished to the Shadow Realm."
"W-what?!" Yugi said looking from the Ranger to the Shadow. "Why are you doing this?"
The Shadow seemed aware of their presence finally. If it had eyes, they would be staring right into their very souls. The Ranger chuckled at his question.
"For the greater good," he said. He looked at the Shadow and nodded. "Feast."
A low grumble came from the Shadow, and suddenly everything became darker than normal, almost like something blocked out what could be seen from the setting sun. However, everything was still visible, as if cloaked in shadow. The Shadow itself started to walk and yet, it seemed to be absorbed by its surroundings at the same time. In the confusion, Yami's voice rang out loud and clear.
"Yugi, look out!"
Suddenly, a sharp pain came over his entire astral body. His energy started to leave him and his knees buckled. He heard Tea yell and a screech. When Yugi's vision came back into focus and the pain subsided he saw what surprised him. Yami was once again engaging the Shadow in combat. However, with a tear in the Veil, what Yami had done with the Puzzle before almost seemed like child's play compared to now. Large energy balls erupted from his palms faster than Yugi could count and they exploded on the Shadow's form. The Shadow continued to screech and stumble as Yami continued his onslaught. However, the attacks seemed to hold it off, but not hurt it any farther than that.
"Well that's annoying," the Ranger said. He started to advance towards Yami apparently to try and fix the problem.
"Joey!" Yugi yelled, with strength he didn't have a second ago. Seeing everyone in danger brought on the adrenaline he needed, which was good because he was running on empty at this point. Luckily Joey heard him though and realized what was going on. He stepped in between Yami and the Ranger.
"If you wanna get to him, you're gonna gave to get through me."
"That can be arranged." the Ranger said. He brought up both hands, and like Yami, focused his energy into them creating two large energy spheres. Joey gulped. "Let's see how long this lasts."
He lobbed the energy ball towards Joey and it hit him in the leg, as he tried to dodge it, He fell to the ground but then immediately stood back up again wincing.
"That's a dirty trick!" he yelled over the screeching of the Shadow. The Ranger laughed.
"You call it a trick but I call it natural. Did you know that in the beginning of this planet, there wasn't a Veil at all? All over the world it was like this! It is unnatural now that we even have a Veil. So go ahead and call it a 'trick.' I will still defeat you all and bring the Earth back to its prior state."
As the Ranger geared for another attack, Yugi stood up and looked at Tea.
"Tea, go and see if you can wake Tristan up."
Tea didn't seem to hear him at first. She continued to look back and forth between Joey and Yami, as if unsure who needed more help. Then, after a few more seconds, she looked at him with a frightened expression.
"And then what?" she said.
"We're going to need distractions. After you wake up Tristan, get back in your body. You'll be safer that way. Then help Yami. He needs someone to distract the Shadow. He can't send it to the Shadow Realm with it attacking him. I'm going to help Joey."
She just stared at him as if he was crazy. Yugi started to get impatient.
"Tea, you need to do this! I can't help Yami, that Shadow will just absorb me and get stronger. It's also less likely to hurt someone badly who's in their body-"
"Alright, alright," she said cutting him off. "I'm just worried…never mind."
With that, she ran off towards her and Tristan's bodies. Yugi felt confused as to what she was trying to say but then got over it. Joey needed help. He looked over at Joey and during his and Tea's brief talk, the Ranger had gotten Joey on the ground and was about to attack him again.
Without thinking as to whether or not it would work, Yugi willed himself to fly over to the Ranger as fast as he could. Thankfully he didn't faze right through the Ranger but collided with him, knocking him to the ground. Joey looked surprised as he got up.
"Woah," he said looking at Yugi. "Nice hit."
Before Yugi could say anything, the Ranger stood up again, looking angry.
"Well that won't happen again," he said with more energy in his palms. He shot towards them.
Yugi didn't know what being hit with energy felt like as a spirit, but now he did. It hurt and his entire being hummed with pain. Joey seemed to recover quickly. He ran over to the Ranger and took a few well aimed punches.
However, with the Veil down in this area, the energy seemed to give the Ranger unfathomable speed. He was able to dodge each of Joey's punches and throw in one for good measure. Joey took a few steps backwards to catch his breath. The guy seemed to be toying with him.
"Man this old guy can hit…"
Yugi looked on helplessly. He was weak and wasn't any help to Joey. Beyond them, he saw Tea trying to wake Tristan up with no results. Yugi wasn't sure what was wrong with him but he hoped that he was okay. To his right, Yami was still battling the Shadow, and losing by the looks of it. Yami seemed to be losing energy while every time Yami took a second to regain his strength, it regained its bearings and seemed fine.
They were losing this battle, and needed help. Who could they count on? There were no more humans for miles and the last of the spirits were destroyed and moved on.
"Wait…the spirits…" Yugi thought. The idea came to him suddenly and as easily as a gust of wind. What if he was able to use his ability further? What if he could talk to… no, summon all of the ghosts that were around to this spot? There had to be more around…
It seemed absolutely crazy and outlandish, but he figured there wasn't much to lose. Yugi closed his eyes and focused on the area around them, calling out to any spirits that were nearby. He was only vaguely aware of Joey running up to the Ranger again to hit him, and the sounds of the Shadow's screeches seemed like dull moans. He sat there what seemed to be minutes, and then he could feel a stir in the earth. Then out of nowhere, he could see hundreds of human spirits swirling around in the beneath the crust. Yugi wasn't sure what they were all doing there, but he used his willpower to bring them to him. Then, there was a roar in his ears that had nothing to do with the Shadow screeching from Yami's latest attack.
Yugi opened his eyes to see the hundreds of spirits he summoned flying around inside the Veil barrier they were in like a horde of hornets. They seemed angry and agitated as if someone had woken them up from a long sleep…which Yugi thought he had. He willed them all to calm down so that he could speak to them, and miraculously, they seemed to slow down their pace.
"Listen!" he yelled up to them. "We need your help!"
None of them seemed to be listening however. Most of them were flying around in a frenzy, others were floating still, staring off into space.
There were a lot of assortment of people: most of them were old looking but others were middle aged men and women. There were also some children in the mix but they were some of the ones who were flying around like maniacs, so Yugi tried to ignore them.
"Look, this world is going to be destroyed unless you help!" he yelled. However, he may have yelled at the sky for the response he got. He willed himself up higher to grab their attention, but most ignored him.
The Shadow then let out it's loudest shriek yet. Some of the spirits had started to attack the Shadow by ramming themselves into its form. The Shadow, growing annoyed was starting to swipe at the air and throwing shadow energy in all different directions. This got all the rest of the spirits in a frenzy once more, and realizing what was happening, started to all attack the Shadow in retaliation.
Yugi watched in awe as the massive amounts of ghosts overtook the Shadow and forced it to the ground. It screeched in protest.
"No!" the Ranger yelled throwing Joey off of him. He ran closer to the Shadow throwing energy at passerby spirits in the hopes to get rid of them. However, there were just too many.
"Yami, banish it now!" Yugi yelled. Yami didn't need telling twice. With a spark from the Millennium Puzzle, the purple void started to open up above the Shadow, and within a few minutes, the Shadow Realm was present in all of its dark glory.
However, Yami seemed to underestimate how much energy he used under the absence of the Veil and the entrance to the Shadow Realm seemed to grow much larger than what Yami wanted. The opening didn't just seem to suck just the Shadow in, but everything else around it including some spirits. He ran from it, helping Tea and Tristan to stay clear as much as possible. Yugi rushed down to Joey and watched as the Shadow was slowly sucked in.
In the last second before the Shadow was completely absorbed, it made a wild grab for something to hang onto. The first thing it grabbed onto was the Ranger, who yelled and protested as they both were sucked into the void. Once they both disappeared, the entrance to the Shadow Realm shrunk and vanished, leaving the area with a lot of angry spirits. With nothing to attack, the spirits swarmed off and vanished from sight.
Like clockwork, the barrier that kept them inside the area with the tear in the Veil started to shrink. Yugi stood next to Joey as they watched it get smaller and smaller, as if it was healing itself. In a minute, the tear in the Veil was gone, and the barrier had vanished, leaving the area normal. The darkness left the area, and all of the storm clouds that were in the sky vacated leaving the setting sunlight to permeate the treetops.
"That was close…" Yugi said, but then realized that Joey couldn't hear him. He was still a spirit himself and with the Veil back as it should, no one could see or hear him like that. Joey seemed to realize that too, as he started looking around in confusion as if wondering where he went.
"Joey!" Yami yelled. Yugi and Joey looked to see Yami kneeling next to Tristan and Tea.
"What's wrong?" Joey said as he went over and kneeled next to him. Yugi looked and saw how tired Yami was, and how pale Tea and Tristan looked. He hoped everyone was going to be alright…
Just then, Tea started to stir. In a moment, she opened her eyes, sat up and was looking around in confusion.
"Hey, you alright Tea?" Joey asked. She shook her head as if to clear it and looked up at him and Yami, frightened.
"That was the worst nightmare I've ever had," she said. She then saw Tristan who was still unconscious and her eyes widened. "That's…because it was real…wasn't it?"
"'Fraid so Tea," Joey said as Yami started to shake Tristan to wake him up. After a minute of doing that, Yami looked at Tea tiredly.
"Tea, do you remember what they did to you two? Did they do anything different to Tristan?"
She blinked as if going through the events in order in her head, trying to remember.
"I don't know…I was the first one they knocked out."
As she said this, Yugi suddenly felt as if all of his adrenaline had left him. His vision started to go in and out of focus and he barely had any willpower left to move himself around. As if he knew, Joey looked around in confusion again.
"So, where did Yugi go?"
Yugi kneeled on the ground, his vision going in and out of focus. He heard Tea gasp.
"That's right, he was out of his body…I wonder if he went back in it?"
Joey blinked.
"He did what now?"
"He did mention doing that once…" Yami said looking up. Tea looked like she was going to say something but stopped herself from doing so.
"Where is he now?" Joey asked looking at Tea.
"He left his body back where you made camp earlier."
Yugi vaguely saw Joey stand up, his stance strained as if he had trouble standing up straight.
"I'll go and get him. You guys stay here and get Tristan up."
"Wait, you want to go alone?" Tea said, her eyes wide. Yami sighed.
"Most of the spirits left the area. Joey should be fine." he said wearily. "Just hurry back, alright?"
Joey nodded, and turned around to go back to their makeshift campsite. Through his haze, Yugi panicked. If he didn't follow Joey, he wouldn't know how to get back to his body. He didn't exactly remember how they got in. However, he could barely move let alone keep up with Joey. He could wait for Joey to bring his body back and then go back inside, but he didn't want to worry everyone more by having them think that he was dead or something.
A thought occurred to him much like his idea to summon spirits did before. What if he just willed himself straight back into his body without the travel? It would be different from before and maybe take less energy than actual moving...like teleporting. Yugi then focused on his body and put his will to get back inside it. Suddenly, he felt dizzy, like he was in a tornado. When he opened his eyes, he was back at the campsite, back in his own body.
"Wow…that worked." he groaned. His voice sounded tired and his vision still was going in and out of focus, which didn't help his vertigo. He attempted to sit up, but was only greeted with pain erupting from his entire being. For some reason it was worse than before. He wasn't sure if it was from his body or his astral body. Everything had caught up with him all at once, all at the same time. With great effort he managed to sit up against the nearest tree, however that only seemed to make everything worse. He couldn't get his breathing under control and he felt that if he moved any more than he did, he would pass out.
So Yugi sat there for a while…he really couldn't tell how much time passed because he didn't pay attention. Then suddenly, Joey was next to him, trying to shake him awake. When Yugi opened his eyes, he only could see a fuzzy outline of what almost looked like Joey. He tried to say something, but he could only groan.
"Oh man…Yugi?" Joey said. Yugi thought it was miraculous that could hear him. "Hold on bud. We're getting outta here."
Yugi felt himself get lifted off the ground and carried off into the darkness. The next thing he knew, when he opened his eyes, he thought he had gone blind. Darkness was all that he could see. However, when his eyes got a little more adjusted to his surroundings, through the fuzziness of his vision, he could see trees through the darkness. He hadn't gone blind… it was just nighttime.
"How long should we give him?" said a voice near him. Right away Yugi recognized it as Tea. She sounded close but on the other side of his vision.
"A few hours at least. I would give him all night if we could…" said another voice. That was Joey. "Yami used up a lot of energy."
"I know, but Yugi and Tristan…the faster they get to a hospital the better though…" Tea said.
"I think Yami used up a little too much energy. He needs rest too ya know." Joey said. Tea didn't say anything.
Yugi tried to get himself up more, but his body was like a lead brick and he couldn't move it, even the slightest bit. Nobody was in his direct line of vision (or lack thereof) so he couldn't really tell what was going on exactly. With the way the lighting was, it seemed like his head was facing away from a campfire.
"Tristan still hasn't moved?" Joey said.
"No…I don't know what's wrong…" Tea said with a worried sigh. "How are we going to get back home? We don't have the horses anymore…"
"We'll just have to carry those two. We've put off leaving for a week. We can't keep doing it. To be honest, I don't know why we kept putting it off before…"
There was silence where all that could be heard was the crackling of the fire and the crickets chirping in the distance. Yugi shut his eyes in an attempt to will his pain and weariness away. He wanted to be of some use and to help them get out of the forest. Except now, he was doing the opposite and being a hindrance. None of the bad feelings went away however, and he could do nothing but lay there in a foggy haze.
"What about Yugi?" Tea said suddenly. "Does he look any better?"
There was silence for another minute before Joey spoke up.
"No." he said. Joey hesitated before speaking again. "Yugi's not gonna be able to walk outta here Tea. He's pretty messed up. When I went to get him after Yami got rid of the Shadow, I walked up to him and thought…I thought he was dead. I still wonder every time I look at him…"
"Joey…" Tea said in a frightened voice. She sounded like she was trying not to cry.
"Sorry Tea." Joey said hastily. "I shouldn't have said that. He's going be fine. Everyone is going to be fine. In a few hours, we're gonna get Yami up and we're all getting out of this place and somehow hitch a ride to a hospital."
There was a moment of silence before Tea spoke up again.
"So we're only giving him a few hours before we wake him up?" she said faintly.
"…Yeah."
Silence reigned until Yugi found himself once again in the realm of unconsciousness. The next thing he knew, he wasn't where he expected himself to be. He found himself standing in the middle of what looked like a storm cloud. Dark wispy clouds whirled around him in a frenzy as the wind blew them in all different directions. Flashes and arcs of lightening were seen in the deepest confines of the clouds, but none of them came near him. Rumbles of thunder could be heard occasionally but other than that, it was mostly quiet. Like how it was when the Shadow was still roaming the woods, rain did not fall by any stretch of the imagination. Yugi looked around in confusion.
"Wait…am I dreaming?" he wondered out loud.
"I wouldn't call it dreaming, but you're not exactly awake, either." a voice said from behind.
Yugi spun around to see a bunch of people standing behind him. There must have been at least one hundred of them. The one that spoke to him was an old man that stood out in front of the rest. Yugi recognized him immediately, and then realized who all those people were.
"You're all the spirits that were at the house!" he said wide eyed. The old man in front was the same old man who he had talked to before. Yugi looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean this isn't a dream?"
The old man looked a little uncomfortable. "Well son, you're asleep and this is in your head, but we are very much real."
Yugi understood what he meant. "But if you're all here, what happened to you back there? I thought you were all sent…on."
"Yes," the old man nodded. "That is what happened. However, we were granted special permission to be able to talk to you once more before our spirits fully passed on."
The old man looked back behind him at all the other spirits, as if communicating silently. Thunder rumbled through the silence. Among the people scattered about, Yugi saw the little girl that had vouched for him before when the old man had attacked him. Before, the gash on her head left blood stains on her dress. Now, she could be a different person. The little girl looked normal, happy and unhurt. She saw him looking and waved cheerfully.
"We, as a whole," the old man said turning his back to the spirits behind him again and looking Yugi straight in the eyes. "We all wanted to thank you. You and your friends not only helped us out, but you saved the world as well. We are truly in your debt."
The old man bowed, and in unison, all of the other spirits did as well. Lightning struck the air around them but it was ignored… Yugi could feel himself getting red in the face from embarrassment.
"N-no really, it's alright. You don't need to bow or anything…please…"
All of the spirits stood up straight, the old man looking somber.
"But it is not alright," he said. "The world may be saved, but your life now hangs in the balance…and I am afraid that is partially my fault."
Lightning crackled again as silence reigned between them. Yugi couldn't really argue with the old man because it was partially true. That pain spell that he put on him nearly got him killed. However, he didn't want him passing on thinking that he had almost ruined Yugi's life.
"It's not all your fault-"
Yugi was cut off by a small thin boy walking out from the crowd. He looked nervous as everyone started to stare at him. Yugi immediately recognized him as the boy who poisoned his drink the first night at the house. After then, he couldn't eat anything and feared starving to death, until the curse was lifted. However, Yugi felt no anger towards the boy, just apprehension.
"Hi mister…" the boy said. He looked down at his feet as he spoke. "Sorry for…what I did…they made me do it…"
Before Yugi could respond, the little girl he was looking at earlier came up next to the little boy.
"I'm sorry too!" she said looking determined to say her peace. "I scared you and made you sad!"
Then suddenly, mumbling rippled throughout the crowd, and at first Yugi couldn't tell what they were all saying. But then they got louder in unison and Yugi realized that they were all saying the same thing:
"Sorry…"
"I'm so sorry!"
"Dear lad! I'm sorry!"
"I beg your pardon good sir!"
"Sorry Mister!"
It was heartwarming to say the least, but it was getting overwhelming. Yugi put his hands up in order for them to stop apologizing.
"I get it! It's alright. I understand."
They all became quiet immediately, and stared at him. Yugi sighed.
"Look, I know people can do bad things if they're angry or scared…but that doesn't make you bad people. You all helped us defeat the Shade and the Shadow, so that's got to count for something, right?"
The old man smiled and nodded.
"You flatter us with kind words," the old man became serious all of a sudden as more thunder rumbled overhead…closer this time. "But this is not the main reason we came to seek you out."
Yugi looked confused but let the old man continue.
"We came to warn you…about your Grandfather…Solomon"
"W-what? Why? What's wrong with him?"
"I heard you and your friends speaking a few days ago. It is because of your Grandfather that you came to seek out that house in the first place, yes? Would he really have sent you to your doom?"
Yugi thought about it. All week he had been wondering why his Grandfather had sent them to his old, decrepit house. It's not like these spirits were new. Some of these ghost had been inside that house for decades. So what was the real reason Solomon had sent them there? When Yugi didn't answer him, the old man continued.
"Solomon was once a good friend of mine." he said. Yugi looked at him in shock.
"He was?!"
"Yes. I knew him well enough to know that he would never have sent his grandchild and his friends back to this house for any reason. He didn't even want people to know that the house existed."
"What happened?"
Lightening streaked closer this time and a few of the spirits jumped. They were all getting restless.
"I cannot explain now. We are running out of time." the old man said now looking worried. "I cannot say for sure, but something may not be right with your Grandfather. Be wary in his presence if you choose to live through your injuries."
The horde of spirits began to fade, including the old man. Storm clouds billowed around them until only their shadows remained.
"W-wait!" Yugi yelled. "What do you mean?"
"Good luck," said the old man with his fading voice. Soon Yugi was left alone and the stormy atmosphere around him began to fade as well.