Yami and Yugi stood in the doorway watching Seto's headlights pull out of the driveway. "Do you think it was them?" Yami asked quietly.

Yugi closed the door and walked back towards the living room. "No. I know it was them. He handed Yami the note he'd taken off of the brick.

"I'm going to go call the police." Yami said after reading it. He pulled his phone back out.

"Don't." Yugi snatched it out of his hand. "If they catch any hint of police involvement, we'll never see Yusei again."

"Then what are we going to do?"

Yugi remained silent. Then he sighed. "The police won't be any help. We can't do anything." He grabbed his jacket and swung it on. "Let's just hope that Joey was right."

"Yugi? What are you thinking?"

"I'm going home. I need something." He didn't look back as he walked out the door, not even to see if Tami was following him or not. He was, of course.

Yyyyy

Yusei awoke with a pounding headache. He lay still, hoping it would go away, until he realized how hard his bed was. Groggily, he opened his eyes, jerking completely awake when he failed to recognize any of his surroundings. He was lying on the cement floor of what appeared to be a storage room of some sort.

He sat up slowly, trying not to jostle himself too much. All of the sudden, the memories came back to him. He remembered Jack telling him that something was wrong, and that Yami had told them immediately. They had just left Kalin's house when Yusei realized that they were being followed. He remembered Jack yelling at him to fight back, and he had, until one of them managed to get in a cheap shot and knock the older teen out. After that, all the fight that Yusei had flew out the window. He couldn't remember anything else.

"Jack?" He whispered, not wanting to alert his captors. He looked around, squinting in the darkness. Standing up and shuffling forward slowly, he held out his hands to prevent himself from bumping into anything. He made his way over to the shelves, wanting to see if there was anything there to help him escape. Before he reached them, though, he felt his foot make contact with something.

Yusei knelt down; hand cautiously feeling around for what he hoped was his friend. Unfortunately, what met his hand was neither Jack, nor even alive. It was he backpack Jack had lent him for carrying tools.

He unzipped the smallest pocket and withdrew a penlight that he then shined around, finding with a sinking heart that he was alone. Panic clutched his chest and squeezed his lungs.

'Where am I? Why am I here? I don't want to be alone.' Yusei hadn't even noticed the increased speed of his breaths. Barely registered the growing franticness with which he swung the light around. He just had to find a way out. 'Come on, Yusei. Think. What would Kalin do?'

That thought snapped him back to his senses. Kalin. He would know what to do. Kalin always knew what to do. If only he were here. Yusei closed his eyes, trying as hard as he could to imagine what Kalin would do.

"Don't focus on what you don't have, Yusei. It won't magically appear. Take what you do have and make it work for you." Growing up, Kalin would constantly repeat those words to him as the elder taught him to be a mechanic in their less-than-adequate environments.

'Take a deep breath, Yusei.' He told himself. 'You have a problem, now how are you going to solve it?' Taking a breath to calm himself, Yusei opened the bag and took out what he needed. Then he searched the shelves. 'Perfect.' He thought.

Yyyyy

"Yugi, please. Talk to me." Yami pleaded. They were currently driving towards the stereotypical 'bad' side of Domino, Yugi behind the wheel. He had dressed for a fight, but refused to say a word since they'd left Seto's house. That scared Yami almost more than seeing his brother back in his old outfit. Almost.

His bangs were held out of his eyes with a bandanna, his hands were covered by his fingerless gloves, one of which being the very same one Joey had found, and he had made sure that everything he wore was dark enough to blend into the shadows.

"Yugi, you can't do this. You're just going to be walking into a trap." Yami tried again.

"I'm aware." Yugi replied softly. "But I'm also aware that we have no other option. The longer they wait, the more restless they'll get. They took him to get to me, so I'll distract them while you find Yusei and get him to safety. I don't want Yusei . . . or you . . . involved in my past any more than you have to be." Yugi fell silent. "I know you're worried, and I'm sorry that this is the only way I can think of to save him, but I need you to know that I can do this."

Yami closed his eyes and sighed resolutely. "I know you can, Yugi. I just don't want you to have to."

"Thank you." Yugi muttered. They spent the rest of the ride in silence.

Yyyyy

Seto growled and slammed his hand into the wall. This had been a very trying day, and it didn't look like it would be getting better anytime soon. He was back home, Jack was in his room (awake, thankfully) being tended to by a Kaiba family doctor, and Joey was ignoring his calls.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. If Joey wouldn't respond to a call, maybe he'd read a text. Seto took a moment to collect his thoughts and then began typing.

I'm not trying to contact you because of what happened with Yugi. There's been an emergency.

He hit send and waited. Sure enough, a few minutes later his phone began to ring, Joey's name on the display screen. "It's about time." He snapped before the first ring was even completely finished.

"What happened?"

"Jack and Yusei were jumped on their way back from Kalin's house."

"Are they alright?" Seto could hear the worry in Joey's voice clearly.

"Jack was knocked out. The doctor's with him now." He broke off, not really wanting to continue.

"And Yusei?" Joey prompted, sensing something was wrong.

"He's missing."

There was silence on the other end of the line as the two words sunk in. "Have you called the police?"

"No. Yami called me while I was picking up Jack. He told me to hold off on contacting them. Apparently they know who took him and are on their way to get him back."

"They what? Why wouldn't they want the police to know? Who took him?"

Seto hesitated, not sure how Joey would react but knowing he wouldn't like it. "Yugi's old gang. It sounds like they started last night's fire as well."

He heard Joey gasp. "They did what? And you let Yami and Yugi go after them alone? What the hell is wrong with you?" His voice gradually rose in anger.

"I didn't exactly have a choice. Yami called me after they'd already left! And anyway, who are you to talk? If I remember correctly, you're the one who walked out on your best friend!" Seto shot back.

"I . . . I just needed some time to think." Joey sounded almost like he was trying to convince himself. "Where are they?" He asked after a moment, determination in his voice.

"I don't know, Joey. They didn't-,"

"Them call them!" He interrupted. "If I know where they are, I can help them. You can't just walk away from a gang. If he goes in alone, they'll kill him."

"Joey, I already tried calling them. They turned their phones off. I know you want to help. I do too."

"Then what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and wait for the news that we'll never see them again?"

"No." Seto said, a bit more forcibly than he meant to. "We do the only thing we can do. Pray."

Yyyyy

Yami peeked in the window before he reached for the doorknob. When they'd reached their 'headquarters', Yugi had told him to sneak in through the back. His job was to find Yusei and get him to safety. The door was unlocked. He swung it open as quietly as he could, wincing at every little squeak. He entered and paused, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom.

"Oi!" Yami whirled around, tasting terror as he took in the sight of the giant, muscle-bound man before him. "Who the hell are you?" He demanded. Yami took a step back, hands up in defense. The man pulled a knife. "I asked who the hell you are." He growled menacingly.

Sounding a lot braver than he felt, Yami locked eyes with the man. "I'm the father of the boy you kidnapped."

The man paused, and then laughed. "He actually brought you along? The Demon's backup is a scrawny desk-job type?"

Yami curled his lip in a snarl. "Why are you doing this? Why go after Yugi?"

The man stopped laughing, settling on a wicked grin. "Simple. Morale."

"What do you mean?" Yami asked darkly.

"What I mean is, we're expanding he turf. Taking over a couple other territories. What better way to prime the troops, so to speak, than to watch Ushio take out the undefeated Domino Demon?"

"What?"

"Yeah. That's right. And now you're coming with me." He brandished his knife, making sure it reflected in the small amount of light, and moved forward. Yami took a step back and felt the wall prevent him from going any farther.

Suddenly, just as the man was almost close enough to grab him, Yami saw him freeze, straighten up and begin twitching. He remained that way for several seconds, and then fell forwards. Yami barely had enough time to move out of the way before he hit the ground, right where he'd been standing.

Yusei stood right behind the man holding some sort of small contraption. Two lightly smoking wires protruded from the front.

"Yusei!" Yami exclaimed. The boy eyed the man on the floor and cautiously prodded him with his foot. Satisfied that he was out, Yami walked over and examined his son.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Yusei nodded, not looking at him. "What the heck is that?" Yami gestured to the device.

"A homemade Taser. Remind me to apologize to Kalin."

"What? Why?"

"He taught me to build it last year and I may have told him I'd never need to use one, so learning to make it was a waste of time." He smiled ruefully.

Yami let out an amused laugh. "You really are full of surprises." He grew serious again. "We should go." Yusei quickly agreed and moved towards the door. "If we're lucky, Yugi hasn't found a way in yet. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to find an unlocked door."

That hope, however small it had been to start with, was crushed when a tall teenager almost immediately confronted them. He barreled around the corner and latched onto Yami's shoulders, blubbering and pleading for help. Instantly, Yusei yanked him off and had him pinned to the ground.

"Yusei, easy. I don't think he's much of a threat. What's wrong?" Yami's tone was not kind, though. This boy was one of those who had endangered his family. Who were now going to attempt to seriously wound, maybe even kill, his brother.

"Th-the Demon. It's the Demon. He took us out like we were nothing. I-I never thought the rumors were true."

"Where is he?" Yami demanded.

"I-inside. I think he's going after Ushio."

Yami's eyes hardened and he shrunk back as far as he could with Yusei still on top of him. "What's your name?"

The boy looked slightly confused. "A-Alex. Alex Myers. Why?"

"Because I want you to remember this. I know the Demon personally. This boy you kidnapped to lure him here? Him too. We're both very close to him. I have your face memorized and a name like yours, Alex, kinda stands out in Japan. If I ever catch you anywhere near my family again, I will make you pray for death. And you had better hope that he comes out of this unharmed. Because I just may hold you responsible."

And with that, both Sennens ran off towards the fight, leaving Alex Myers alone on the ground, sobbing and swearing to go straight and never break the law again.

Yyyyy

Things are heating up now. What will happen next? Don't forget to review, follow, and favorite before you leave! :3