SW: Ok, this is the third or fourth to last chapter.
Yugi: I can't believe this went by so quickly.
SW: Yeah, I'm definitely going to have a lot to fix when I get around to editing this.
Thank you to Siena (Thank you! I love it when people like my stories! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy! And don't worry there will be more shipping coming up), yamikage (Sorry, but Tea isn't out of the story for good yet. Almost, but not entirely. And now our heroes need to find a way to get home!), Alex Cadwell (That's basically what my epilogue is going to be. Fluff), GMW (I know! Hope you like this chapter!), Tiryn (Yeah!...It's way too easy to portray Tea as jealous. Thank you!) for reviewing!
Enjoy!
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Yami expertly guided the ship towards the shoreline, yelling for Bakura and Marik to drop the anchor before they got too close and would be unable to pull the ship away. They had thrown all the dead pirates overboard, and all the live ones, unconscious or not, down into the brig, so they were the only ones on the deck.
There was a small lurch as the ship came to a halt and Yami moved away from the wheel to meet where everyone was gathered in the middle of the ship. "Alright. This is it." He looked to the horizon where light was steadily growing. Had it really only been a single night?
Marik grinned and nodded, jumping from foot to foot eagerly. "Marik wants to kill someone."
"You look like you're about to piss yourself." Malik rolled his eyes at Marik, ignoring the man's over-exaggerated cry of despair at how Malik didn't love him, and focused on Yami. "So how are we going to do this? Dartz is going to learn a tough lesson today for even thinking he could mess with the Mutous." Seto nodded in agreement to the statement, glaring at where there was still smoke billowing on the horizon.
"We're leaving Ryou and Yugi here, for starters." The man looked over at the two, then glanced over at the barricaded door that led to the brig. "Malik, I think you should stay here too."
Malik gave a cry of protest. "What? No, I'm just as good a fighter as-"
"Which is why I need you to stay here in case something happens." Yami smirked when Malik couldn't come up with an argument to that. "Bakura, Marik, do you know if your dust has run out yet?"
There was a small bark of laughter and Bakura crossed his arms. "You're kidding, right? We could barely fly when Tea was with us constantly, and you expect us to still have that faith and trust B.S.?"
"Marik agrees with Bakura-thief. We can't fly." Marik seemed to have gotten over the fact that Malik was practically ignoring him, and was once again energetically bouncing, now holding a dagger and dragging it across the skin of his thumb.
"Which leaves Joey and I as the only one who can." Yami sighed and shook his head. "Guess we'll have to take two and then come back for the third after dropping the others at the shore."
Bakura scoffed. "There's no way I'm hitching a ride with either of you two idiots. I'll take a life boat."
"Marik'll go with Bakura-thief."
"Not if you don't stop talking like that." Bakura turned and started walking to the edge of the ship where there were two lifeboats hanging over the water.
Seto eyed the two maniacs and then grunted, begrudgingly crossing his arms. "I don't want to be stuck alone with those two for any extended amount of time."
"So dat means ya comin' wit' me, right?"
"Unfortunately." Seto grumbled under his breath as he grabbed at Joey's arm, the two of them lifting off the deck of the ship and starting towards ground.
Yami spared one last glance and Bakura and Marik as their boat touched water. "You sure you don't want a lift?"
"I swear that if you so much as try to pick me up, I will cut off your arm."
Yami rolled his eyes and looked back at the three remaining brothers, his feet already lifting off the ground. "Stay safe, got it?"
Yugi nodded, answering for them all, nervously wringing his hands together. "You too."
"We won't be gone long, don't worry." Yami rose up further and launched himself after Joey, making sure that Bakura and Marik were moving at a decent speed through the water.
Even with Yami's statement, Malik ran to the side of the boat and leaned over the edge to stare at Marik. "You better come back, Marik, you hear? Or else I'll beat you so hard you won't even be able to walk."
"I love you, Malik-pretty!" Malik rolled his eyes, not hearing the words but the tone of the teasing remark Bakura made, and turned back to his brothers.
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Yami was staring at the boat while he, Joey, and Seto waited for Bakura and Marik and shook his head to try and remove the image of violet eyes that appeared whenever he closed his own. He heard the lifeboat hit the shore and looked over to see Marik and Bakura watching the ship as they pulled the boat up into the sand.
He smirked and let his eyes wander back to where Malik, Ryou, and Yugi were waiting. If Yami knew Bakura and Marik like he thought he did, then they were in the same situation as he was, and not minding a moment of it. They were screwed.
Turning around to try and get his mind off of a shorter, happier, cuter version of himself, and failing miserably at it, Yami faced the jungle they would have to trek through to get to the Treehouse.
"'Ey, Yams…" The man looked over at Joey, who was also staring into the foliage. "It's been a few 'ours since, ya know, da explosion, so what if Dartz 'n Pegasus aren't dere when we get dere? Dey coulda left by now."
Marik cracked his knuckles and joined the group staring down the jungle. "Then we'll just have to track them down until we find them. They don't know the island like we do. We'll be able to maneuver better and faster."
"Yes." Yami pushed through about three feet of bushes, until he came to a grass-covered path. One that would lead them straight to the Treehouse, without them having to go through the hassle of trekking through new high plants and batting aside vines and branches. He turned around to smirk at the group who had followed him. "Don't worry. We'll catch them in no time."
The group of five quickly started to move, Joey and Yami flying forward, leaving Bakura, Marik, and Seto to catch up. Each one of them wanted to be the one to catch Dartz and make him pay for everything he had put them through.
They reached the clearing that held the Treehouse quickly enough, and slowed down to check their surroundings for any sign of Dartz or Pegasus.
"Hello, Yami-boy."
Yami turned with a loud cry, his sword pointed to a figure sitting in the tree. But he didn't have time to say anything to the man because as soon as saw Pegasus, the ground shook and everything went black.
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Yugi jumped as another explosion rang through the air. He turned to look the cloud of grayish dust that was rising next to the black cloud that was the Treehouse. Swallowing roughly at the damage his nerves were taking, Yugi immediately assumed the worst and turned his worried gaze to his brothers.
Ryou was biting a nail nervously, staring at the cloud of dust like Yugi had been not a minute ago, so his twin was no help in calming his mind. Malik, on the other hand, had just stood up from their position of leaning against the main mast and was scrambling over to where a sword was lying on the ground. He watched as his younger brother took a protective stance in front of them, glaring at something in the water.
Leaning around to see what could've caught Malik's eyes, Yugi gasped at the sight of Bakura and Marik's lifeboat making its way towards the ship, but there was only one form in it. And he had teal-colored hair.
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SW: I'm sorry for updating this so late! Good news though is that my schedule is starting to clear up, so I'll be able to start writing chapters earlier!
Malik: Yeah…scrambling to write an entire chapter in one and a half hours the night you're supposed to post it isn't as fun as it sounds.
SW: It's not even possible. Which is why this chapter is way shorter than normal! I'll make it up to you all! Promise!
Please review?