Warning: Same warning as before... this has yaoi (though not specifically in this chapter). The plot thickens. ^_^ OH! And it might get a little... creepy. Very descriptive! Just a warning for the faint of heart! XD;

Also, we went back and edited the previous chapters slightly:

Joey is now known as his Japanese name, Jonouchi.

Tristan is now known as his Japanese name, Honda.

We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters! We're not making money off of this, either.

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Yu-Gi-Oh!: Fallen Star

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Neon Tiger (Mouko) and Yuki Ryu

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Chapter Nine

Ryou glanced around nervously as he walked closely behind Yugi. They were walking through what appeared to be a bedroom, though oddly enough they had entered through the bathroom room. "Um... um..." Ryou squeaked as he accidentally bumped in to Yugi due to how close he was to the other boy and flushed. "S-s-so sorry..."

"It's okay, Bakura," Yugi sighed. It was the tenth time that the white haired boy had run into him. "Just keep calm. I mean... the Reaper ran away from us, so I'll bet that it's afraid of us."

"Heh," Bakura thought with a wicked smirk. "Afraid of me you mean."

"I... I know," Ryou whispered. "But... but... what if he comes back?"

"Well, then we'll just scare him off again," Yugi said, although he was really just as uncertain.

"I'll take care of him if he does," Yami said to Yugi. "I think he was afraid of our power."

"O-okay," Ryou nodded slowly, then fidgeted. "I'm... sorry I'm not much help."

"What do you mean, Bakura?" Yugi blinked, surprised.

Ryou shifted and looked at the ground.

"Bakura... I wouldn't have been able to face the Reaper on my own," Yugi said as he turned to fully face his friend. "Without you here... I bet he might've killed me!"

"... All I did was throw pillows at him," Ryou muttered quietly. "All I accomplished was making him mad."

"Yeah, but he was about to attack me," Yugi pointed out. "And he got scared when we were together. I think that if you weren't around he would've attacked me and maybe even killed me!"

"... Maybe," Ryou looked up, smiling weakly.

"No maybe about it," Yugi said firmly. "You saw the Reaper as well as I did. If you hadn't thrown that pillow he would've attacked me and I probably wouldn't be here now."

Ryou shifted and nodded.

Yugi reached out and pat Ryou's shoulder. "I'm glad you're here with me, Bakura," Yugi smiled.

"... T-thank you," Ryou smiled weakly at Yugi.

"It's the truth," Yugi smiled. "Come on, let's keep going."

"A-all right," Ryou nodded, smiling a little stronger.

The two continued to explore the darkened mansion, keeping an eye out for their friends as they went.

"... Yugi?" Ryou looked up, suddenly.

"Yes?" Yugi blinked at Ryou.

"... Will the others... be okay?" Ryou sounded very weak as he spoke, as if such a thought frightened him just as much as the Reaper.

Yugi looked away, trying to hide his worried expression. He couldn't forget the sight of Anzu being pulled into the shadow. "... I hope so..."

While Yugi was worried about all of his friends, he couldn't help but worry the most about Anzu. Ever since he could remember he had intensely strong feelings for her. However, he never really acted on those feelings as part of him felt as if he wouldn't be good enough for her. He was much shorter than she was and he felt as if anyone who saw them together would think that he was her kid brother.

Yugi blinked then sighed and shook his head, knowing that now was not the time to think about that. They had a lot more important things to worry about.

Such as if the Reaper had killed her or any of his other friends...

Yugi shivered. He didn't want to think about that possibility.

Ryou didn't notice Yugi's plight as he continued walking, then gasped sharply as his foot hit something. The silver haired boy fumbled a bit but managed to catch himself before he fell over. He let out a sigh of relief. "Oh my... that was close..."

The other boy's gasp was enough to startle Yugi from his thoughts. "Are you okay Baku-" he began to ask but then froze, his eyes widening in horror.

"I think so," Ryou blinked at Yugi's face before he turned to see what Yugi was staring at. "What are you looking a-AAAAIIYAAAAAAAH-!"

Ryou screamed before he covered his mouth with both hands, his eyes widening drastically.

Lying on the floor before them was someone's hand. While a hand wasn't normally frightening in and of itself, the fact that this hand had no body attached to it made it downright horrifying. If that weren't scary enough, it was mutilated, practically warped beyond recognition, with the flesh rotting away, making it a sickly gray and purple color.

"Y-Yugiiii..." Ryou whined, shaking visibly as he stepped back.

Yugi trembled, and swallowed thickly as he tried not to let the fear welling up inside him overwhelm him. "I-it's..." he stammered, but was unable to finish his sentence.

At that moment, the fingers on the hand wiggled.

"KYAAAAAAAH-!" Ryou squealed, his voice rising up several pitches, before he lunged to cling to Yugi. "YUGIIII-!"

Yugi screamed in horror at the writhing hand, which got cut off into a yelp as the white haired boy grabbed onto him. "RUN-!" he cried as he whirled to do just that.

Ryou turned with the tri-colored boy, then stopped short and screamed as a rotting foot seemed to materialize out of the darkness, sticking straight upwards and cutting off to disappear in to the floor at the calf.

"G-GAH!" Yugi yelped as he scrambled back slightly, nearly knocking his friend over. "W-WHAT-!?"

"I don't know-!" Ryou broke off with a scream as he snapped about. Attached to his ankle, gripping him tightly, was another hand. It held his ankle firmly, the skin wiggling as if it were infested with maggots. When a small white larvae fell forth from a piece of skin, it was then confirmed; the hand actually was covered with maggots. Such a revelation caused Ryou to screech and try to yank his leg away in a blind panic.

"BAKURA-!" Yugi called in fear and concern at the other boy's scream, turning to see what was wrong. Before he could, however, he let out a scream of his own as a corpse suddenly dropped down from the ceiling in front of him. The body was in a horrible shape of decay, with bones and tissue exposed in various places, as an unnaturally colored puss oozed from virtually every orifice, including from an open eye socket that a blackened eye dangled from.

"YUGIIIIII-!" Ryou practically sobbed as he managed to yank his leg free, then cringed and covered his head in a defensive gesture. "What's going ON-!?"

"I don't know! I DON'T KNOW!" Yugi thinly cried, bordering on hysterics. "We have to get out of here!" Quickly he snatched his friend's hand and tried to run the opposite way from the dangling corpse before any more appeared.

Ryou yelped before he clung to Yugi's hand, running along side him. He barely contained a scream as a hand popped out near his head, attempting to grab his shirt and missing.

Yugi cringed as corpses and body parts literally crawled out of the woodwork, each seemingly trying to reach out for them. He couldn't help an occasional scream of horror between heavy gasps as he and Ryou ran through the darkened hallway.

Ryou panted before he let out a strangled scream as a hand suddenly grabbed his hair and yanked him back, causing the silver haired boy to lose his grip on Yugi's hand and fall to the ground with a scream.

"BAKURA!" Yugi cried, horrified. He tried to pull his friend away from the animated corpses, but ended up crying out as he was grabbed from behind by a zombie partially sticking out of the wall.

"YUGI-!" Ryou yelped, then shrieked as more hands appeared to grab his arms and legs. "HELP-! HELP MEEEEEE!"

"BAKURA!" Yugi screamed. Suddenly, the puzzle started to glow as an almost unperceivable resonating sound occurred. Instantly Yami took Yugi's place, as his light and friend were in danger too big for them to escape from on their own.

Yami's appearance seemed to have an almost immediate reaction as the body parts started to disappear in to the darkness, as if they were escaping from him.

"What?" Yami gasped as he looked around, surprised by the retreat. Within a matter of moments the hall was left empty once again save for him and Ryou.

"Y-Yugi...," Ryou panted, then fumbled up and wiped at himself in a frenzied manner, his skin crawling. "Eeee-eyaaaah..."

"Are you alright, Bakura?" Yami asked, concerned.

"Y-yes, j-just... just shaken...." Ryou nodded weakly, then wiped at his arms. As the silver haired boy tried desperately to wipe away the feeling of contamination and filth that the rotting flesh had left behind, his shadow started to grow dramatically along the wall.

Yami's eyes widened as he noticed the shadow. "Bakura! Look out!" he cried as he lunged to grab his friend quickly.

"Eh?" Ryou whipped about just in time for a pair of claws to lunge out of the shadow and grab him roughly. The silver haired boy let out a shriek as he was yanked in to the shadow, flailing desperately.

"BAKURA!" Yami yelled as he tried to grab any part of Ryou that he could. Unfortunately it came too late as his friend disappeared completely into the shadow before it too vanished.

Ryou screamed, then gasped as he found himself within a vast floating nothingness. He blinked, his body floating as his hair puffed up, weightless. Ryou peered around, momentarily forgetting his fear to stare curiously about him. It wasn't dark so much as there didn't seem to be anything there to see in the first place.

However, at that moment, a pair of bright red eyes appeared seconds their owner: the Reaper of the Cards.

Ryou gasped and jerked back, his eyes widening drastically. "E-eeek..."

The Reaper smirked cruelly and leaned forward, flashing his dangerous claws at the poor silver haired boy.

However, suddenly the frightened boy's demeanor seemed to change, as well as his appearance in subtle ways, making him look harsher, more dangerous. Shockingly he stood up straight, unafraid, and smirked cruelly at the Reaper.

The Reaper paused and blinked, obviously surprised at the sudden change of demeanor.

"Thank you for getting me away from Yugi," Bakura practically purred, a wicked grin on his face. "It'd be hard to kill you with the Pharaoh watching."

The Reaper stared at Bakura, then backed up slowly to hover defensively in the shadows. He was obviously unnerved by the change over the silver haired boy. "You... what is this?"

"I can't let you kill my host, Yugi, or their little friends," Bakura said as the Millennium Ring appeared around his neck, glowing faintly. "I have plans for them."

"The Millennium-!?" the Reaper backed away even more, recoiling. "You must be...!"

"YOUR reaper!" Bakura laughed as the Millennium Ring started to glow blindingly.

"... You're not welcome here!" the Reaper grunted as he backed away, disappearing slightly in to the darkness.

"That may be, but neither are you," Bakura said casually as he drew a card from the deck contained in his pocket. He held the card up high above his head between two of his fingers and it started to glow almost blindingly.

The Reaper yelped in surprise before he gasped as he suddenly found himself strapped in to a bizarre looking wheel attached to what looked suspiciously like a gaping skeletal demon maw with feet. His claws were fastened at the top just under the maw's upper jaw, tightly secured in to the machine. The Reaper blinked repeatedly, his emotions more felt than seen due to his hood.

"Before you die why don't you tell me who has the power to summon a monster into the real world," Bakura 'suggested' as he casually strode over to the bound monster trapped by the Torture Wheel. "Is he an owner of one of the Millennium Items?"

The Reaper squirmed in the wheel, not looking nearly so intimidating as he once had. It seemed the shadows themselves had abandoned him, taking to hiding in the nothingness away from Bakura. "... You wouldn't be able to comprehend him if you think that only the Millennium Items give power!"

"Oh?" Bakura quirked an eyebrow. "Just who is he and where does he get his power from?"

The Reaper kept silent, gazing at Bakura.

"Oh well," Bakura shrugged before grinning in a very evil manner. "I guess I'll just have to lure him here with your death."

The Reaper twitched slightly, then fixed Bakura a dark look. "My master would not need to bother with such things."

Bakura smirked quite disturbingly. "Do you think I care?"

With a snap of his fingers the wheel started to turn.

The Reaper gasped, then flinched as he felt his body start to tighten on the wheel, slowly moving up towards the spiked portion of the wheel. Suddenly, rays of brilliant light pierced the nothingness like a knife through paper, causing it to shatter and ripple in places.

Bakura grimaced at the intrusion of light, his eyes narrowing as he turned towards it. An irritated hiss of air passed through his teeth as the darkness and the Torture Wheel he summoned started to melt away.

The Reaper wasted no time. With a small cry of relief, he whirled and leapt in to the shadows, like a fish in to water, and disappeared completely from sight before Bakura could do anything to stop him.

"Bakura!" came the sound of Yami's voice from the piercing of light moments before the former Pharaoh could be seen. In the middle of his forehead was a glowing golden outline of the symbol of the Millennium Items, making it appear as if he had three eyes. Around his neck the Millennium Puzzle glowed almost as brightly as the symbol as it moved slightly of its own accord.

"Yugi!" Ryou cried out, instinctively moving towards the light. He flailed helplessly before reaching outwards towards the tri-colored Pharaoh. "Help me!"

"Hold on, Bakura!" Yami called as he reached out into the darkness for his friend, straining to fight back the intense darkness that surrounded them.

"I'm trying!" Ryou cried, grunting, before he managed to grab Yami's hand firmly with both of his. He clung to the Pharaoh tightly, kicking his legs futilely. "I can't... move!"

"Hang on!" Yami grunted as he took a firm grip of the silver haired boy with both hands. "I'll pull you out!" With a grunt he dug his feet into the ground and yanked backwards as hard as he could, trying to free his friend from the dark.

Ryou squeaked as he was yanked, then yowled as he went flying out of the darkness, like a cannonball, and landed roughly in the Pharaoh's arms.

Yami cried out as his friend crashed into him and sent both of them flying backwards out of the dark space and back into the hallway of the mansion.

When the two finally stopped moving, Ryou found himself upside down in Yami's lap, legs sprawled upwards with one draped over the tricolored boy's shoulder.

"Urgh..." Yami groaned as he shifted to try and sit up, but found himself unable to due to the other boy lying on top of him. "Are you alright, Bakura?"

"I'm alright...," Ryou groaned, moving to roll off his friend. He flinched as he hit the floor, then sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," Yami grunted as he sat up, feeling slightly banged up but otherwise okay. He stood up then reached out to help the white haired boy stand. "Did the Reaper of the Cards hurt you?"

Ryou accepted Yami's help and fumbled to his feet. "N-no..."

Yami gave his friend a quick glance to make sure there was nothing wrong that he could see just in case. "What did he do to you?"

"He kept making faces at me," Ryou replied, then paused and pursed his lips. "He wasn't very intimidating then, though. Seemed kind of pathetic."

Yami blinked, surprised at that, obviously not expecting that response. "I... see," he said after a moment of silence, his tone disbelieving.

"He was trying too hard," Ryou mused, his expression thoughtful. "Maybe he's a Reaper-in-Training? Or a Reject Reaper? I mean, outside of wiggling his claws and saying scary things... he never really came at me."

Yami blinked again before shaking his head, as if trying to rid the image he had in his mind of the Duel Monster making faces. "Well at least that most likely means that the others are alright too."

"Yeah," Ryou nodded, slowly. "I wonder if the corpses would've really hurt us, then... but I don't want to find out... either way, I guess he's not that scary anymore."

Yami nodded, wondering the same thing himself. "Come on, we've got to keep looking."

Ryou nodded in agreement, then glanced around. "W-which way do we go now, though?"

"It doesn't really matter," Yami sighed as he shook his head. "The Reaper controls the space the house is contained in, and it was hard enough to pierce it as long as I did in order to rescue you."

"Oh... well, then I guess we just pick a direction and walk, huh?" Ryou mused, then shrugged and proceeded to trot down the hallway. After a few steps, he stopped short and turned to look at the Pharaoh. "... Yugi?"

"Yes?" Yami blinked at the white haired boy.

"You... don't think he'll put us somewhere even worse to get back at me for calling him a Reject Reaper, do you?"