YUGIOH

Eternal Darkness 2

Chapter 7.

Ishizu, Marik, and Odion watched as their Pharaoh headed towards the private plane they had set up for him.

Yami turned, waving to them, presently dressed in similar Egyptian apparel. "Thank you, for everything you have done to help me." Yami smiled.

"Do not lose that passport, Pharaoh." Ishizu said. "That ID will be necessary for you, when you reach Domino in Japan. Identification is very important in the world, nowadays."

"I will hold onto it." Yami nodded.

Marik then spoke, saying. "I hope that vial works on your high priest, Pharaoh...Yami." They were used to calling him Pharaoh, and Yami had to constantly remind them to call him Yami, now. It was the name he had accepted for his future self...a name Yugi gave him.

"As do I." He said, pulling out the vial and looking at it. 'Kaiba...this vial is a symbol of hope for you. The liquid that is held within may save you and bring you back to the person you once were. Now...if only you'll accept my offering.'

"Do not forget the rarity of it's ingredients, Yami!" Ishizu called out. "If something happens to it, you may never be able to make another!"

"I understand. Farewell." Yami then boarded the plane, ready to head back to Japan.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It was second period at school, as Yugi, Tea, and Tristan walked in surprised to see Joey there. After all, he didn't walk to school with them this morning, and they assumed the wound must have been too bad for him to show up.

"When did he get here?" Tristan muttered.

Yugi blinked. "I don't know. He didn't come out when we did. Maybe he showed up late."

"At least he looks all right." Tea said.

Tristan walked over where Joey was fumbling to find his homework, which he couldn't find, and smacked him in the head.

"Hey!" Joey snapped. "What the hell was that for?"

"You had us worried, ya jerk!" Tristan snapped. "Why didn't you show up with us this morning?"

"Sorry about that." Joey said. "I...just couldn't sleep."

None of them seemed to understand. "What do you mean, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"Well...it was kinda weird." Joey said. "I woke up at like 5am and felt so awake, I just couldn't go back to sleep. So, I got ready and showed up early."

"You? Showed up early?" Tristan asked, and this time checked his head for a fever.

Joey pushed his hand away, snapping. "Will you cut it out!"

Yugi then asked. "So, how's the wound, Joey?"

"Oh, the shoulder thing…" Joey said, itching at it. "I had to change the bandage, but it fixed up real good. Hell, I could barely see the mark, anymore."

"Really? That's great!" Tea said.

Joey itched at his shoulder some more, muttering. "Yeah...the only problem is this thing's been itching like crazy. It's been driving me nuts!"

Tea nodded. "That's what happens when wounds heal. Try not to itch it, you can make it worst."

"Well...you're probably tired now, after being up all morning." Yugi smiled.

"No...actually, I still feel wide awake." Joey said. He stretched his arms out, saying. "It's actually kinda weird. I feel great. I mean, like...greater than great. I dunno...I don't remember feeling this good, ever."

"That's strange." Tea said.

"Yeah...you sure you don't have rabies? Maybe they should give you a rabies shot." Tristan said.

Joey growled. "I aint taking no shots! I've heard what they do for rabies...no way!"

The teacher Mr. Gabriel had already come in right after Yugi and his friends did, but said nothing against the group talking, simply glanced over with occasional interest...mostly focused on Joey.

Yugi added. "Maybe Tristan's right, Joey. If something's wrong with you..."

"...didn't ya hear what I said?" Joey asked. "I said I never felt better. If I had something, I'm pretty sure I'd feel like shit. But, I'm serious...I feel great! In fact, I feel so pumped I could even go sky diving or something." He laughed. "I feel kinda...invincible. Ya know?"

"Well, then...you shouldn't have any problems daring to go to the hospital and having a few shots, Mr. Invincible." Tea mused.

"I aint taking no damn shots!" Joey snapped again, just as the bell rang.

"Okay, folks...settle down and take your seats." Gabriel said.

Everyone took their seats and sat quietly, waiting for the teacher to speak further.

Gabriel then stood, announcing. "I will be giving everyone their ditto's back by the end of class today. But today, I thought we can do something fun. I thought we'd do a little learning today on the myths and theories of the past."

He turned and started to scribble on the board. "As you know, we've been having a real problem with some killings at the Domino Park. The most recent report of these killings had caused the police to believe it's not a person, but an animal…a wolf to be exact."

He continued to write, as he continued. "If I recall, I believe not too long ago Domino had some trouble with another ration of killings. This was caused by the serial killer that was named The Vampire. Because of these killings that had taken place, I had decided that vampires and werewolves would be an interesting subject to bring up today."

Yugi's group paled, as the rest of the kids seemed to laugh it off.

'Werewolf?' Yugi thought, and glanced over at Joey, remembering what he was saying. 'Naw…can't be.' He shook the thought away, not letting the teacher's subject get to him.

Joey nervously laughed from the teacher's project, saying to Gabriel. "Yeah, but it was just a name. I mean there aint really any such thing...right?"

"So, they say. And yet...you'd be amazed at the amount of past articles there are in America that speaks of sightings from both vampires and werewolves. So, can anyone tell me which of these two are believed to be the stronger monster?" Gabriel asked.

"The vampire!" One of the kids shouted from the back.

Tristan grinned, saying. "Yeah, I gotta agree...hands down, vampires kick ass!" He should know. Kaiba was one of them.

Gabriel then created a triangle, stating. "Think of this as a natural order, according to the food chain. Everyone knows that something can always kill something else. The bug is killed by the spider, killed by the praying mantis, killed by the bird, killed by the hawk, and so on...and so forth. Eventually it comes full circle back to the measly bug. Well, this also has its own order. A vampire feasts on humans. It's very cunning, and very orderly. A human is like the vampire's cattle, which can only stop the vampire through holy or spiritual means. But the lycanthrope is the unpredictable element. It's natural hated enemy is in fact the vampire."

'What?' Yugi thought, as the others looked at the teacher as if he was mad.

"You don't believe me...but it is a hobby of mine to research old scriptures, and this is in fact written. The vampire has ways to either escape, hide, or become stronger against humans. It can become like the air. But for a werewolf, it doesn't need sight...simply relying on scent to track its prey. Vampires can change form, yet the form doesn't change the nature of the vampire making it not very useful against a werewolf. Vampires also have a hypnotic glare that can affect a human's mind, but since werewolves lack the intelligence of humans and rely on all instinct, this has no affect towards them. And sucking a lycanthropes blood can't do real harm either, since they regenerate. But humans have the weapons against werewolves. And just like they have tamed the dog, they also have the means to tame a wolf...for it is still nothing more than a stupid beast. So, you have another circle: vampire kills human, werewolf kills vampire, human tames werewolf. Any questions?" Cavnar asked, scribbling this all down.

Joey raised his hand, saying. "Yeah...where's the mummy take place in this?"

Yugi rolled his eyes, but it managed to get a good laugh from the other kids in the class.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Later in the day, Gabriel passed the ditto's back to the students. He stopped at Joey's table, saying. "Joey Wheeler...I'm afraid you got the lowest grade among everyone here. In fact, your teacher has also told me you're suffering in your grade point average."

"Yeah, yeah..." Joey muttered, snatching the ditto. Yet, he couldn't help but glance back at the teacher. There was a different smell on him, this time...something good.

"I don't want to lecture you, Joseph...I want to help you. If I gave you my address, would you come over to my house after school? I'd like to help tutor you." Gabriel explained.

Joey's friends looked behind at Joey in surprise, as Joey looked up equally shocked. "Really? Hey, thanks a lot, teach...but really, I don't need it. Thanks, anyway."

"Very well." He said, and turned back towards his desk.

But, before he made it back to the desk, Joey spoke up, saying. "Say, uh...I noticed you changed cologne. Finally got rid of that nasty stuff, huh?"

"Changed?" Gabriel asked. "Actually, I got rid of it entirely. I'm not wearing any cologne."

"You sure about that?" Joey asked. Something smelled really good on him.

Gabriel smiled, saying. "It's probably the food you're smelling on me. I've started to get a big dinner set up for tonight and was preparing everything this morning."

"Big...dinner?" Joey asked.

Gabriel nodded. "Yes. Spaghetti, Roast Beef, a few other courses. I try to prep them all on one day a week and then refrigerate most of it. That way, I simply have to warm what I need up during the rest of the week."

"A...f-few...?" Joey asked, trying not to drool.

The others rolled their eyes, as Tristan muttered. "Here we go..."

"Yes." Gabriel said. "Of course, if you came over...you would be able to sample whatever you wanted, before I put it away. But, I understand if you can't come over..."

"W-wait a minute!" Joey practically blurted, as he leaped from his seat. "You know, teach...you really got a point. I think I do need tutoring! I'm a lost cause!"

Joey's friend's all had sweat drops, as Tristan muttered. "He's lost, all right."

Tea agreed. "Oh, brother..."

"I need help!" Joey continued. "You go ahead and give me that address, and I'll see if I can make it over there tonight, okay?" Joey grinned.

Gabriel nodded. "Very well." 'Yes...perfect.'

As Joey sat back down, Yugi said. "Joey...you do realize that the new Night Tournament is happening tonight, right?"

"Oh, yeah...that's right." Joey said, then quickly turned to Yugi. "Wait a minute...how we gonna stop Kaiba?"

"Well, hopefully Yami's going to show up today, as well." Yugi said. "But, if you go with the teacher, you wont be with us to try and stop him."

"Yeah...and you wont be able to join the tournament, either." Tristan said.

"Hey, I'm joining that tournament!" Joey replied. "Don't you worry, guys…I'll make it. I'm going over there, right after school. I got plenty of time! I'll just have lunch and a little tutoring, that's all. All this stuff takes place at night, so I'll be back by then, easy!"

"I hope so." Yugi said. "I don't really want to take away from your work, but...we'll kind of miss you."

"Hey, no sweat. School sucks, anyway." Joey grinned.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Narr: Yeah…my work schedule's still pretty bad. But I'm still trying to keep a relatively weekly posting on this.

I had someone mention about last chapter or the chapter before a mistake I'd made. I mentioned Ishizu and the other were speaking Egyptian. Someone told me basically everyone in that region speaks Arabic, which I was not actually aware. So, sorry about that. Clearly, I'm not what you consider worldly. So…just substitute Egyptian for Arabic.

I'd like to thank everyone that reviewed, and appreciate all the responses I get. I always reply to those that review to me, who are subscribers. If for some reason I missed someone though (due to work issues), please let me know. I normally reply before the next chapter comes out.

Next Episode: Yami and the other reunite! The group once again attempt to speak to Kaiba regarding the tournament. Also…the beginning of the tournament begins! Don't miss the next exciting chapter!