-1Thanks to my reviewers!

Serzie, TintAngel, yamisgirl13, seto'swifey, Rogue1979, bakura240, The Yaoi Pimpette, Shadows Casting Flames, FanFicFanGurl101, sympa, reedtard, kit

Chapter 10

"I don't like this."

After waiting a good thirty minutes in the dining hall, Mokuba had finally turned up, and was now leading Malik, Ryou, and Yugi to the laboratory. However in those thirty minutes, Malik was able to explain his plan to Yugi and Ryou. His two best friends didn't see the plan going as well as Malik did though.

"We're going to get caught." Yugi whispered again, being careful to keep his voice low, as to not let Mokuba hear. Mokuba, who was in front of the three, didn't seem to notice.

"You worry too much." Malik whispered back, dismissing his friends complaints, and being very calm while doing so. "All you and Ryou have to do is keep the kid distracted, while I get anything that might come in handy for us later."

"We don't know anything about Earth medicine, we would be telling him a bunch of made up lies. It's wrong, I won't do it." Ryou added firmly.

"Then don't tell him lies, tell him about the medicine in Heaven." Malik whispered back with a shrug.

Ryou and Yugi looked at him as though he was mad.

"Are you crazy? The Elders would be furious, we-"

"Look, don't tell him any big medical secrets, just tell him the simple things, stuff that won't drastically change his knowledge in medicine, but little things that could help him along the way so it won't look suspicious." Malik said quietly with a roll of his eyes.

Ryou could see that him and Yugi were fighting a losing battle, and sighed in defeat. Yugi gave him a desperate, almost pleading look to help change Mali's mind, but Ryou only shrugged, and shook his head with a sympathetic look on his face. "Are you sure he won't be able to tell the difference between ours, and Earths medicine Malik?"

"Hope not."

Yugi nearly tripped over his own feet. "Are you trying to say you don't know?! M-"

"We're here."

The angels quit their squabbling just in time to stop themselves from crashing into Mokuba's back. The four of them were standing in front of a large metal door with no handle, or obvious lock. To the side of it was a small key pad, where Mokuba typed in the code quickly to make the door slide open.

The room was spotless, with white tiled floors, and clean white walls. Along those walls were shelves full of potions, chemicals, and herbs. Stainless steel counters were everywhere, along with top of the range scientific equipment. A massive computer screen covered one wall, with the controls in the centre of the room.

"Wow…" Ryou gasped as he stepped into the lab.

"Pretty impressive huh?" Mokuba said proudly.

Yugi nodded in awe. "Very."

"Yeah it's nice." Malik said, giving the room a brief look, but wanting to move things along. "Shall we get started then?"

"Of course!" Mokuba chirped, and led the three over to a metal table, crowed with more bottles containing herbs and mixed chemicals. The angels looked over the bottles in wonder. Though they did recognise some of the herbs, there were many that they'd never seen before. The chemicals were a complete mystery to Yugi and Ryou, since angels rarely felt it necessary to use them in healing, preferring to use different methods instead.

Malik however knew them quite well.

Malik wasn't just known for his sneaky nature, and annual fights, but also for his successful pranks. Yes, Heaven had taken many beatings due to Malik's fun. Explosions in the training hall, floods, stink bombs, the list could go on and on. Many of these pranks however, wouldn't have been possible if not for Malik's careful preparation with chemicals. Many angels had considered it a shame really. If Malik wasn't so mischievous, he could have been a great scientist, and a helpful addition to Heavens research.

But of course Malik didn't care about that.

"Wow Mokuba, you have quite a collection." Ryou said impressed.

"Yep! Well you see my brother doesn't like us to be low on anything, so he always makes sure we have enough of everything. He sometimes even goes to Earth personally to collect the herbs we can't get in Hell. I mean, since there isn't a lot that grows down here…"

Mokuba's talking carried on, as Malik stealthily moved away from the table. Ok so Mokuba must have something worth taking to help them escape, right? The angel quietly started to search the room, and moved behind a long metal shelf unit. It was stacked with potions, but one in particular caught Malik's eye.

It was a thin rectangular bottle, very small, with a deep red liquid inside. Reaching out, he carefully picked the potion up, screwed off the tiny round lid, and brought it to his nose. As soon as he sniffed that unmistakable aroma, Malik instantly grinned. He'd used this potion before. It was like a smoke bomb, it could fill the room with a dark maroon mist, as soon as a drop hit the floor.

Deciding that it was worth taking, Malik quickly screwed the lid back on, and slipped the bottle into his large furry pink boot, since there was nowhere else he could hide it at the moment. He then took a glance back at Mokuba, Yugi, and Ryou, to see them still busily talking away, while pouring chemicals into a container.

Smirking, the tanned teen then made his way over to the other side of the room. Out on one of the counters was a glass cylinder containing an orange liquid, with crushed herbs laying next to it. Malik raised a brow, he wasn't too sure what this one was…. Malik looked at it dully, but picked it up anyway, and brought the cylinder closer. It looked harmless… Handling it a little more carelessly, Malik accidentally tilted it to the side, causing a small drop to fall onto his hand. Malik blinked in surprise as he watched his fingers quickly fade into nothing, then his palm, until it stopped at his wrist.

…. Where did his hand go?!

The blonde angel panicked, and shook his now invisible hand in the air franticly. He wanted his hand back! Damn it, he needed it back! Stupid creepy potion! But then, after some more complaining and swearing in his mind, his hand suddenly faded back into place.

Malik blinked again and shrugged, then poured the liquid into a bottle. The potion could be useful later, if they needed to hide.

"But Mokuba if you use this together with that herb, it can relax the body, and calm the mind down…" Ryou's voice said.

Ok, so Malik could take one more potion, seeing as he still had some time. His eyes landed on a light blue bottle. Malik picked it up gingerly, and screwed off the top. The smell faintly reminded him of gunpowder. Moving back behind one of the shelving units again so he was out of sight, Malik looked at the potion more carefully, on the side was a small label reading 'danger, highly explosive'….The angel happily put the bottle into his other boot. He DEFFINATLY had to take that one.

"Hey Mokuba what's that?" Yugi said curiously as he stirred something together in a flask, while pointing to a large glass bowl, with a golden looking liquid inside, surrounded by a protective glass case.

Mokuba looked up and smiled. "Oh, that's the new potion Seto's been working on. It's not finished yet, but it should be soon."

Malik walked over to it, and peered through the glass. "Really? What's it do?"

Mokuba shifted awkwardly on the spot. "Well… actually I don't think I should be telling you guys…Seto wouldn't be happy if I did, in case you're…"

"We're what? Come on Mokuba, you can tell us. What's your brother making?" Malik said encouragingly, the potion sparking his interest. Maybe it was worth coming back and taking later?

"It's.. em… well…" Mokuba sighed, what was the harm in telling them? The odds of his three new friends being a threat were very slim. "It's… It's a potion to uncover an angels wings."

Malik suddenly made a choking noise, and pushed himself away from the glass, looking as though he just got a sharp slap across the face, where as Ryou's face just looked purely horrified.

He forgot. He forgot to tell Yugi and Malik what he heard the three brothers talking about while he was cleaning. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts of Bakura, that he forgot to warn his friends about them suspecting an angel in Hell, and now he felt incredibly guilty, and incredibly doomed. If only he told them earlier, maybe they could have done something sooner. Now however, it looked to be too late… the rulers were already planning on ways to find them.

Mokuba looked at them all worriedly. The three really didn't seem all that happy with what he just said. They even looked scared by it. "W-well you see, Yami, Bakura, and Marik think there might be an angel in Hell. They're just trying to get rid of the intruder, before they cause any trouble, so in about two days time, the rulers are planning to take every slave to the castle, and give each one of them the potion in a secure room." Of course this information didn't calm the angels nerves. "B-but listen! You don't guys don't need to be scared! It doesn't hurt! And anyway, you three probably won't even have to be put through it! I mean, didn't Bakura and Marik take you all from Earth themselves? That proves that you're humans." Mokuba smiled. "After all what would three angels be doing running around in the human world?"

The three slaves merely stared at him with dread, they didn't even blink. "M-Malik? Ryou?…Y-yugi?" Mokuba asked unsurely.

Yugi's yaw was open in terrified shock, since his mind went into a blank panic mode as soon as Mokuba said, 'a potion to uncover an angels wings.' "W-what?"

BOOM!!!

Yugi was so distracted from what he just heard, that he completely forgot about the potion in front of him, and suddenly it exploded into a mass of cloudy green smoke. Mokuba and Ryou managed to jump out of the way in time, but Yugi got the blast full in the face.

"Oh my gosh! Yugi are you ok?!" Ryou asked in panic, as he and Malik rushed to his side.

The small angel coughed and sputtered as the strange green fumes entered his nose and mouth, almost to the point of suffocation, as Yugi desperately gasped for much needed air. His head felt fuzzy, and he squeezed his eyes shut. A slow, quiet, pounding noise was echoing in his mind, almost like another heart beat. With each beat the noise got louder, and faster, until it got to the point where he felt as though his head would explode, just as the potion did.

But then, just when he thought he couldn't take any more, the noise stopped.

"Yugi!"

His body jolted, like experiencing an electric shock, and his eyes snapped open, pupils dilated, as he bent over and clutched his head. He knew that voice… didn't he?

--------Flashback-------

"Yugi!" A short old man with spiky grey hair, and a neat grey beard shouted to the boy who was now running away from him, and into a tiny hospital room.

"Mum! Mum!" Yugi called his mother desperately, as she laid there motionlessly on the bed, an oxygen mask strapped to her face, and the sound of the monitor beeping steadily with the dieing woman's heart beat.

The boy grabbed her hand, and cried out loud. "Don't go… please don't leave me… I love you, please…"

-------Flashback-------

"Yugi please! You know you can talk to me about anything! If you have a problem-"

"Grandpa I'm fine!" The small teen with large lilac eyes assured the older man, with a weak smile.

"Yugi, don't you lie to me. I know when you're lying, so please, just tell me what's wrong-"

"I SAID I'M FINE!!" Yugi suddenly screamed unexpectedly, and completely out of character.

------Flashback-----

"Hey."

Yugi was sitting at the back of the classroom, a pen in his hand as he doodled on a piece of paper, waiting for the teacher to arrive and take the register, when a tall girl with long red hair walked over to his seat shyly.

"Hello." Yugi replied back with a shy, but warm, smile on his face. A rush of happiness surging through him, at the thought of finally making a friend.

The girl smiled back. "My name's Layla, you're Yugi right? Are you ok?… I mean you never say much, but I was wondering-

"Hey Layla don't talk to that looser!" A boy shouted from across the room where he stood with his friends. "He's a pathetic, lonely little shrimp with no friends, come and talk to us instead!"

The boy felt as though someone just twisted a knife into his heart as he watched the girl walk away.

-------End flashbacks-------

The angel clutched his head tighter, and shook it violently. It was too much. Images where flashing before his eyes. Memories he's rather forget, filling his heart with sorrow and pain.

"You alright Yugi?" An arm was placed around his shoulders.

"I-I'm fine… I just got a headache." The spiky haired boy coughed out.

"I'll go get you some water." Mokuba said worriedly, and rushed from the room.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Malik asked again, his voice riddled with concern.

"Yeah Yugi, it doesn't look as though you're fine to me." Ryou said from Yugi's side.

"Really, I'm ok." Yugi said again, not wanting to worry his friends, especially when there were more important matters to deal with. "What are we going to do about the potion Seto is making?"

The other two angels frowned.

"We escape before they find out about us. Those three knuckle heads will be busy with the humans for hours, and I bet the guards will be with them, if us angels are that much of a threat. So while the rulers are out testing humans, we'll be making our escape."

"But what about all the demons outside?" Yugi asked again, his head still aching, but not allowing it to show.

"Don't worry, I picked up everything we'll need when you two had Mokuba distracted, but what I do want to know is how they figured out angels were in Hell. We didn't even do anything to tip them off about it!"

"I'm sorry." Yugi and Malik whipped their heads round to look at Ryou in confusion, as the pale angel continued. "I heard Bakura, Marik, and Yami talking about this yesterday when I was cleaning. They were talking about these people called Honda and Anzu. They tried to kill them with some sort of weapon made of pure light, but then Yami sounded troubled, saying that something wasn't right… said that Honda and Anzu prayed. Then he came up with the conclusion of an angel being behind it all…So you see it doesn't have anything to do with us, but if they find out who we really are…" Ryou looked away in shame, not able to finish the sentence, but the point was clear. "I-I should have told you both sooner, but the rulers were always there, and then-"

"Ryou it's ok." Yugi interrupted. "It's not your fault… but Honda and Anzu… I think Yami was talking about them yesterday with Seto. He said he had them executed," Yugi looked down to the floor sadly, the thought that Yami killed people hurt him more than it should "and that the council weren't happy about it."

"But is there another angel in Hell?" Malik asked his friends, feeling very confused.

"I-I don't know…" Ryou confessed truthfully. "But apparently Anzu and Honda weren't smart enough to know how to use white magic, and I know very few demons are able to handle it. So if another demon didn't help them, then that only leaves an angel…"

Malik shook his head. "It doesn't matter. None of this concerns us, if there is another angel here, then we'll tell the Elders when we get back home, and come up with a plan to rescue them."

As soon as the sentence was said, speech seemed to fly out the window, and an unwelcome silence broke out. Were they really going to get home?

"What if… what if the rulers take us with the rest of the humans for testing?.. If that happens…"

Another pause.

"They won't." Was all Malik said, and before anything could be added, Mokuba made his presence known once more.

"I'm back!" Mokuba said, running into the room, with a cup of water in his hands, then skidding to a halt in front of Yugi. "Hear Yugi, you're sure you feel ok?" Mokuba offered the cup with a smile.

"Thank you Mokuba, and yes I'm fine now." Yugi replied with his own grateful smile, while he took the cup handed out to him. Though in reality he was lying through his teeth.

"Anyway, we should really be getting back to our chores now Mokuba. We'll see you later ok?"

"Sure, and thanks for the help by the way, I really did learn a lot." The young demon said with a grateful grin. "See you guys later!"

The angels calmly left the laboratory, and sighed in relief when the large metal door slid shut behind them.

"Two days, and then we're out of here?" Ryou whispered.

Malik nodded. "Two days."

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"Ugh, ya better be right about this Otogi." Both guard and guardian angel had been flying for hours none stop. Heaven was a big place, and it was taking them a while to reach the Elder's. "I bet Ryou, Yugi, and Malik are already back home by now!"

Otogi rolled his eyes from where he flew by Jou's side. "Stop complaining, we're nearly there."

"Ya said that half an hour ago! My wings hurt!- OW! DAMN IT, STOP PUNCHING MY ARM!!" The blonde yelled furiously, glaring at the raven haired angel murderously, while putting a hand over his, one again, aching arm.

"Well listen to me and stop complaining, then maybe I'll stop punching your arm!" Otogi shouted back, with his own glare. "Look." Otogi directed the blondes vision to the scene in front of them. Sure enough, there in the distance, was a staircase, leading up to a building made of white stone. The windows and doors were trimmed with gold, and pillars stood tall and glorious beside the grand archway that waited to greet them.

"It looks… big." Jou said a little nervously.

Otogi rolled his eyes again, but smiled.

Soon the two angels reached the wondrous building formed of pure white, and made their way inside. This was the place where the Elders lived, and their doors were always open to their fellow angels. They were kind, and forgiving people, and would never push an angel in need away. However, that did not mean they would put up with disseat, and lies. They may have kind hearts, but that didn't mean they wouldn't give fitting punishments, for unspeakable crimes

"So where's this Pegasus guy then?" Jou asked, wanting to get this over and done with. He really didn't think they needed to inform the Elders about this. Yugi, Ryou, and Malik probably just went to explore for a while. Hell, if he wasn't a guard, then he would have gone and done the same thing. After all, only the guardian angels were lucky enough to make trips down to Earth. He wouldn't even be surprised if his three lost friends preferred staying on Earth then Heaven. He at least knew that Malik would agree to staying on Earth and never coming back. That idiot was always bored here… Poor humans won't know what hit them.

Otogi was about to reply, when a young woman with short blonde hair, and kind green eyes entered the room. "May I be of assistance gentleman?"

"Um, yes. We were wondering if it was possible to speak with Elder Pegasus?" Otogi replied politely.

The woman smiled. "Certainly. Please follow me."

Otogi and Jou were led down one of the many corridors, Otogi admiring the sculptures and art work as they past, while Jou was looking down, and nervously twiddling his thumbs together. This entire place intimidated him. He knew it shouldn't, but he was just so worried about doing something stupid by mistake.

"Jou! Watch were you're-"

SMASH

"Uh…oops?" Without taking notice of where he was going, Jou had walked right into a tall vase that was against the wall. See, this was how easy it was for Jou to make a fool of himself, and he'd barely been a minute!…It's not fair…. "I'm really sorry miss! I'll-"

"Please don't worry about it, I'll get someone to clean it up in a moment. Excuse me for a minute."

The woman then entered one of the rooms, closing the door behind her, while Jou and Otogi waited in the hallway. Mumbling was heard from the other side of the door, and then the woman came out into the hallway again, this time opening the door for Jou and Otogi, and gesturing them to go inside. "Elder Pegasus will see you now."

"Thanks." Both visitors said in unison, and they stepped into the room, the door closing behind them.

The room was lightly furnished, with cream coloured walls, and dark oak flooring. One wall was covered completely with shelving, it being filled with books and scrolls. Standing beside the overly large bookcase, was a man holding a scroll. He had long, straight, silver hair that managed to cover is left eye, and wore simple white robes.

"Welcome gentleman, I'm Pegasus. May I ask for your names?" The Elder said cheerfully.

Jou blinked. This guy was an Elder?

"I'm Otogi Ryuji, and this is Jounouchi Katsuya." Otogi answered "We're here because three of our friends have gone missing."

"I see." Pegasus replied more seriously.

"We think they might have gone down to Earth. We thought they'd come back after an hour or so, but it's been days, and they still haven't returned. We're worried that they might have gotten hurt or lost." The guardian angel said in concern.

"You both realise that leaving Heaven without permission is against the rulers, correct? What happened to the guard?"

"The dummy didn't do his job properly, and ended up knocking himself unconscious."

"HEY!" Jou cried insulted.

"So you're the guard that left his post unattended?" Pegasus asked accusingly.

"What? No!- I mean yes- I mean… sorry sir…" The guard looked to the floor in embarrassment. What was he suppose to say? They were both ganging up on him!

The Elder sighed and shook his head. "No, accidents will happen after all. I will send a search out for your friends right away, there should be some angels off duty that I can send, to locate their auras and bring them back."

"Thank you so much Elder! We're very grateful." The ebony haired guardian said thankfully. Jou nodded his thanks, still a little red in the face.

"Think nothing of it boys. Is there anything else?"

"There not gonna be in trouble when ya find them are they…?" Jou asked suspiciously.

Pegasus sighed again. "What they did was wrong, and against the rules. They will need to be punished," Jou glared at Otogi angrily "but it will be something minor. You both did the right thing in telling me." The Elder assured.

"Thank you sir." Otogi replied proudly, ignoring the glare he was getting from Jou. "If you will excuse us now though, I'm needed back on Earth soon to check on one of my charges, and Jou needs to return to guard duty, now that he's out of the hospital."

"Of course. Take care boys!"

The Elder watched the two angels leave the room, his smile still in place, until they went through the door. He listened to the footsteps gradually get fainter…

And then he slammed the door close.

A frustrated snarl crossed the man's face, and he threw the scroll he was holing across the room. The two wooden poles that were wrapped in the scrolls paper snapped as they hit the wall, then laid broken on the floor.

He didn't have time for lost angels. It would be easier to just say they were dead, instead of bothering to waste time finding them.

The silver haired angel fell back into a chair, and glared at the door with hatred, his thoughts considering different ways to let off some steam. Maybe that blonde idiot would fall through the door… that Jounouchi boy didn't look too smart…

Swirling black shadows suddenly rushed to the middle of the room, creating a black smoky spear. Pegasus stared at it wearily, as it grew in size, and stretched itself to look like a mirror. An image was seen in the centre, showing six, very old looking, demons.

"What?!" Pegasus asked snappily.

Each demon winced at the Elder's tone, but a lanky looking demon with grey hair, forced himself to speak up. "Master Pegasus, I'm afraid we have some rather bad news…"

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Oh my god, I HATE school! I failed my math exam, and so next week I have to take a re sit, and-…. Never mind… at least it's my last year… Anyway back to the story, anyone see that coming? I bet most of you did. Sorry for the wait, and I hope this chapter was more interesting than the last one! Also, I know some of you are wanting Yami and Yugi's relationship to move a little faster, so next chapter will have some YamixYugi.

Please REVIEW and let me know what you think!