Chapter Eleven:

Yugi clung to Joey's wolf body as the two wolves jumped into the street and raced after the car up ahead. But before they even got near it, it suddenly veered off the street, went a few feet up the grass embankment, and stopped, two feet from a split-rail wooden fence. Joey and Seto slowed to a walk, approaching cautiously. Yugi stared at the car, then glanced at Yami, who looked equally surprised.

Yugi turned back to the car as he heard the doors open. Ryou and Serenity scrambled out of the car, slamming their doors shut. Bakura got out much more slowly, staggering away from the others, looking at if he were clutching at his head. He fell to his knees as Ryou ran around the car over towards him. Bakura looked up at him, thrusting an arm out to ward him off.

Yugi's keen eyes could see them all perfectly. Ryou looked like he was going to cry as Serenity hung back by the car, looking horrified. Bakura's head was turned away from Yugi, but the spiky-haired teen caught a whiff of the air coming from the three of them and he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

The smell of zombie came from Bakura.

The two wolves stopped. Yugi and Yami dismounted and the wolves changed back. Yugi absently noted that their clothes changed with them. That was interesting, but the situation up ahead was more so. The four of them stood and watched as Ryou tried to get to his dark and Bakura kept pushing him away, struggling to his feet and lurching away. Serenity stayed near the car, looking frightened and sympathetic.

Yugi turned to Yami with a wicked grin. Yami smiled back at him. Joey laughed softly, putting his arm around Seto's shoulders.

"Well, well. It looks like Bakura's going to do our work for us. Thank you, Duke."

Seto smirked, kissing the side of Joey's head as the four of them just watched. Bakura fell back down onto his knees, then bent forward until his forehead was almost against the ground. Ryou dropped to his knees beside him, putting his hands on him, trying to pull him up. Bakura shook his head rapidly as if to a question, trying to push Ryou away again. Ryou raised his staff, the gem in it glowing, but nothing seemed to happen. Ryou finally threw the staff away.

Yugi raised an eyebrow. He smirked, then darted forward, rushing towards them with all his vampiric speed. His ears picked up the sounds of the other three following. They would protect him if he wasn't fast enough.

He was. Yugi snatched up the staff from the grass as Ryou was still looking up. Serenity screamed from over by the car, but Yugi ignored her. Holding the staff triumphantly, Yugi danced back as Ryou jumped to his feet, reaching for it.

"Oh, no, it's mine now, Ryou," Yugi purred.

"What's wrong, Bakura?" Yami asked as Bakura tried to get to his feet.

Yugi glanced at him. His eyes were turning milky and his skin was even paler than usual. He tried to say something and only useless grunts emerged. Ryou turned to him, trying to embrace him and he shoved him away.

"Bakura, please. I can help you, I know it! Please!"

"Help him?" Joey asked. "Who's going to help you?"

"Joey!"

The blond jerked, looking at Serenity. Yugi turned towards her as she came away from the car and towards Joey, holding out her hands.

"Joey, don't do this! This isn't you!"

"Yes, it is," Yami said lazily. "This is us now."

"Don't worry, Serenity," Joey said, stepping closer to her. "I'll change you--"

"No!" Serenity turned to run.

Joey lunged at her, making her scream as she hit the ground face-down under him. She struggled, but was no where near powerful enough to move the werewolf. Joey opened his mouth, revealing his fangs as he bent his head to bite.

He suddenly shrieked, back bending as if someone were folding him backwards. Yugi looked around wildly, his eyes immediately going to Ryou. Sure enough, the white-haired boy had his right hand up, one of his multiple rings glowing brightly. Seto lunged at him, snarling with bared fangs and claws. He didn't make it to Ryou before Bakura hit him, wrapping his arms around his waist, just strong enough to slow Seto down.

Bakura bared his teeth, his milky eyes staring. Seto yelled as Bakura sank them deep into his shoulder. Yami ran to help, but Ryou lifted Joey into the air with his magick and threw him at Yami, sending them both crashing to the ground.

Hissing in rage, Yugi swung the staff like a bat. Ryou's hand came up, stopping it in mid-swing. Yugi tried to pull it back, but Ryou, panting as if he were running a relay race, slowly got to his feet, the ring still glowing. He closed his hand over the top of the staff and Yugi felt as if a bolt of lightning ran through the staff back at him. He screamed in pain, dropping it.

Seto was trying to pry Bakura off his shoulder. The zombie was tearing at him and the scent of wolf blood filled the air. Joey and Yami had gotten up, and now Joey seized Bakura's long hair and hauled backwards while his other hand grabbed one of the zombie's arms and tried to pull him off. Yami raised his fist to punch Bakura, but Ryou had twisted his staff around and now Yami flew into the air, hissing and growling as he tried to break free.

Yugi leapt at Ryou, seizing the wooden staff in his hands, baring his fangs at Ryou, who stared back wide-eyed, but determined. That terrible electric feeling surged through Yugi again and he was forced to let go, staggering back and falling to his knees.

Ryou tossed Yami through the air. He hit the fence hard enough to make the dry timbers crack. He fell to the ground with a grunt, as Yugi struggled to his feet again. Seto, Joey, and Bakura remained entangled a few feet away, Bakura refusing to let go of Seto even as the two wolves tried to pry him off. As he hadn't suffered any terrible wounds before turning, Bakura looked pretty much the same as always, but those eyes of his were terribly blind and cloudy. He dug his teeth deeper into Seto's shoulder, making the werewolf cry out.

Joey punched Bakura hard in the side of the head, making the zombie jerk from the blow, but he didn't seem to notice. Joey managed to wrap his arms around Bakura's waist and he hauled backward, forcibly pulling Bakura off of Seto, who cried out again as Bakura's determinedly clamped teeth were torn out of his shoulder. He fell to his knees, clutching his bleeding shoulder, as Joey flung Bakura away.

The two of them became wolves immediately, both turning on Bakura, who was getting to his feet. Ryou turned to them, but Yugi lunged at him. He managed to sink his fangs into Ryou's neck. The smaller white-haired screamed, but he wasn't lost. One of his rings lit up and Yugi jerked back, shrieking as it felt like fire were racing through his body. He fell to the ground and it stopped, leaving him dazed.

Yami had gotten up and went for Ryou again, only to be thrown back into the fence. He screamed.

Yugi stared, horrified at the piece of wood sticking out of Yami's chest. His lover had been impaled on one of the broken timbers. Yugi leapt up and hurried over to him, shaking off the last of the pain of Ryou's strike. Yami looked up at him, his red eyes clouded with pain, but even as Yugi stared down at him, he managed a smile.

"Missed my heart, Aibou."

Relieved, Yugi helped Yami pull himself off the fence, his face twisted in pain as the wood was forced back out. As Yami straightened, he began to heal, the gaping hole in his chest slowly closing.

Snarls, growls, and yelps drew their attention. Bakura had been seized by both wolves and they were tearing him apart, but Ryou had run to his lover's aid. He lifted Joey and flung him at Seto, knocking both wolves away. Then he turned to Bakura.

But Bakura was not Bakura any longer. Straining against the wounds the wolves had inflicted, he lurched to his feet, then started at Ryou, bearing his blood-stained teeth. Face pale and eyes filling with tears, Ryou stumbled backwards, his neck still bleeding, but he didn't seem to notice.

"No! No, Bakura, stay with me! You're not a zombie, you're not!"

Bakura didn't heed him. He came after Ryou and the smaller was forced to use magick against him. Bakura hit the fence in a similar way Yami had, hitting the ground. He started to get up, slowed by the wounds and his zombie condition.

Ryou turned and raced back to the car. Serenity had been watching the whole thing in a paralysis, and now she turned to the car with him. Yugi and Yami went after them, but Ryou swung his staff. Instead of being lifted into the air, a sudden wall of fire erupted along the grass in front of them, making them halt and recoil, hissing. Yami seized Yugi and pulled him back, wrapping his arms around him protectively as they retreated.

The fire suddenly disappeared, leaving a great scorch in the grass. But it was too late. The car raced down the street, heading for the woods. Yugi wanted to go after it, but Ryou's magick was proving too strong. He turned back to the others. Bakura was lurching towards them.

Together Yami and Yugi attacked him. They each seized an arm, Yugi using his other hand to grab Bakura's chin and keep him from biting while Yami lifted one of his legs. They dragged Bakura back through the grass towards the broken place in the fence. They speared him on the broken piece Yami had landed on, then Yugi took another broken piece and jammed it through Bakura's foot into the ground. Yami did the same with his other foot, and the zombie was pinned, unable to bend his body to pull the stakes out of his feet, and unable to push with his feet to lift his body. He flailed on the fence, still undead and not hurting, but helpless.

Yugi turned to Joey and Seto. Seto was lying in the grass, his head on his front paws while Joey lay at his side, licking the wound in Seto's shoulder. Yami and Yugi walked over, Yugi kneeling down and stroking Seto's head.

"Is he all right?"

Joey lifted his head and whined. Seto lifted his and nodded, somehow looking stubborn and tough despite his wolfish face. Trust Seto to be against showing weakness even as a werewolf. Joey looked at him, then nodded his own muzzle up and down, pulling one of Seto's ears between his teeth and tugging lightly before letting go and getting to his paws. Seto stood as well, tongue licking Joey's cheek in a brief display of affection before turning to look at Bakura.

"Don't worry about him," Yami said, folding his arms. "He's helpless. But Ryou and Serenity headed into the forest. I sense that whatever did this to us in the first place is in there. If they find it before we do, we're back to being human."

"So let's go," Yugi added, turning towards the forest.

They started running. Though the wolves, with four legs, were faster than the vampires, all could run with preternatural speed. They were at the edge of the forest in seconds and plunging in. The road wound through the trees, but Yami told them he sensed the source in the trees itself.

They went off the road and through the trees. The car was there, sitting still and silent by the side of the road. There was no sign of Ryou and Serenity, but Yugi could smell their scent leading away.

"There they are!" Yami yelled, pointing ahead.

Sure enough, there were Ryou and Serenity, running through the forest ahead of them. They turned to look at the sound of Yami's voice just before the four lunged at them. Four at once was too much for Ryou. He yelled as Yami and Yugi grabbed his arms, while Joey changed to human form and seized his legs, yanking them out from under them.

Seto grabbed Serenity as she tried to help Ryou, holding her easily as she screamed and struggled.

"It's over, Ryou," Yugi said, brushing Ryou's hair out of the way with his free hand, exposing his neck. The wounds he'd left when he'd bitten Ryou had disappeared, healed by his magick. "Give in. It's much easier that way."

"No, no! Get off, let go! You're not like this, Yugi! Please--"

"Not like this?" Yugi asked. "I'm very much like this anymore, Ryou. I'm not the weak little--"

"You were never weak," Yami said firmly over the top of Ryou's head. "Just gentle."

Yugi pulled a face. "Well, no longer."

"No." The look Yami sent Yugi made a shiver run up the smaller's spine.

"Save it for later," Seto said impatiently, pulling the struggling Serenity over to them. "Here, Joey. Bite her."

"No! No, Joey, please!"

Serenity began to cry. Seto grabbed one of her wrists and extended her arm, pushing her towards Joey as the blond lifted his head, still holding onto both of Ryou's legs no matter how much he struggled. Joey opened his mouth, revealing his fangs. Serenity screamed, then suddenly stopped struggling, bowing her head.

"Joey...please."

"NO!"

A huge wave of energy hit them all, sending them all to the ground. Ryou stood on the ground, his hair and clothes waving from the wind generated by his power. He glowed brightly, his expression unusually angry. All of his rings glowed and the staff in his hand was too bright to look at.

"What do you think you're going to do?" Yami asked from where he lay. He was grinning. "You can't do anything to us, Ryou. You're too weak, because you're human."

Ryou's glow diminished a bit, his expression looked pained. Yugi chipped in.

"What about Bakura? You can't do anything for your lover, you know. He's back there at the fence, a mindless, flesh-eating zombie because you were too weak to begin with. He might never have been bitten by Duke if you'd just not fought us."

Ryou looked even more hurt, he was trembling. Serenity sat up, looking at him. "Don't listen to them--"

"Shut up," Seto snarled, clapping his hand over her mouth. "Bite her, already."

Joey seized her arm with one hand. He pulled her towards him as Serenity's eyes widened, struggling uselessly in Seto's grip. Yami and Yugi remained focused on Ryou.

"Just give in, already. How do you know we can turn this around anyway?" Yugi asked as he and Yami stood up cautiously.

"He may not, but I do," a new voice said.