Author's Note: Hi, everybody, and happy February!

Wonderful news before I start the chapter: On Monday, Necrology Shorts, an online horror magazine, published my short story! ^^ I am so very happy!

Okay, now onto the chapter!

Live long. Live well. Write.

Light Summons

XI

To say that the room was in disarray would be a horrible understatement. The furniture had been shredded, the piles of rubble left over smoking, some with flames yet licking at them. The floor had a great black ring that surrounded the mess, dark inward, destruction outward.

"Is anyone else worried about how this looks like a bomb?"

"It was a bomb," Ryou said, stepping forward, staring at the smoking rubble. "I don't understand why I couldn't see it when it was so close." He sounded worried, and that caused the others more distress than was warranted. "She is blocking my sight," Ryou explained, turning to them. "I am swiftly becoming as useless to you as I was before I accepted my gifts for what they are."

"Ya ain't useless, Ryou," Joey said, his lips pulled back in a feral smile that showed his certainty. "Don' go sayin' shit like dat."

"He's right," Tea said, her ears twitching as her tail curled elegantly around her paws. "Psychic powers or not, Ryou, you're a great help, and a great friend."

Seto rolled his eyes heavily. "Enough with the cheesy friendship speeches!" He ignored Tea's potent glare. "Who the hell is after you and why are they planting bombs in my house?"

"It's Sagira. She's the one that's been turning us into animals to make us weak…"

Yami stopped listening. In truth, he hadn't been paying a whole lot of attention to begin with, but it didn't seem important anymore. Who cared what was happening? Who cared that he was a lion? Yugi didn't remember him, and if things went like he had hoped, Yugi would hate him, as well.

That way, he would never be able to hurt the boy again.

Someone hurt him before you.

Of course, he couldn't forget that. All things pointed to Yugi's father having been the man who nearly killed him, twice, before Yugi tried to kill himself. Sitting with his tail curled around massive paws, Yami sighed. Why did all of the horrible things happen to such wonderful people? Or was it that, somehow, despite the horrible things, these people turned out all right?

Yami's ears twitched and he tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. That was a way to look at it. Yugi had scars all over his body from being practically tortured by his own father. His mother had been murdered in front of his eyes, and he had been forced to live with his grandfather who, while loved dearly, was separated from him by two generation gaps.

But Yugi had turned out okay.

Better than okay; he had the purest heart that Yami had ever known.

Yami had thought that was a bad thing at times. Yugi tried to see the good in everyone and, because of it, he often got hurt. But he never loathed that he got hurt, because sometimes, he came through and made the other person see that they were good, or that they could be friends, or that life wasn't so horrible, after all. Yugi strived to be friends with everyone, but maybe it was to have so many friends.

I wish for friends who would never betray me.

That's what he had wished on the Puzzle. They were the first words that Yami had heard in over three thousand years. How could he have forgotten them?

If, despite everything that Yugi had been through, he had turned out to be such a kind-hearted, loving boy… if he worked so hard to make friends with people of all sorts, to bring them together, to have a family of people who had no relation to him, how… how could Yami dare to turn his back on Yugi? How could he try to convince the boy that they hated each other? – it wasn't right.

So Yugi had lost his memory – Yami had been without his for years. Yugi never left his side and never stopped trying to help him remember, even knowing the cost…

And then Yami had stayed, for Yugi, though he hadn't admitted how deep his feelings went at the time. They didn't come to that realization until the events involving the rejoining of Ryou's soul.

Still, he had stay for Yugi. Why was he leaving him now?

Yami stood up suddenly and, without only a moment's hesitation to think, turned and ran from the room. The butler, walking through the threshold, screamed and fainted at the sight of the lion running toward him. Yami didn't stop, but raced from the room, his heavy muscles making his stride long and swift.

Behind him, Joey barked suddenly and moved to follow, but Ryou placed a hand on his back. "Leave him go, Joey. This is something he must do on his own." He stood as Joey looked back at him worriedly. "He'll be back," Ryou assured him, smiling softly. Yami would be back, and he would, Ryou had hopes, be better.

"Friend, wake up. Wake up, little light."

Yugi recognized the voice speaking to him, as he came back into consciousness. He opened his eyes slowly, to be greeted by the familiar, welcome darkness, and two glowing green eyes.

"Mahaad," Yugi whispered, and pulled himself into as much of a standing position as one can make while hovering. He looked around – nothing but shadows. "Am I dead?"

"… no."

The hesitation caused Yugi to turn his gaze back to the Dark Magician, and he saw the uncomfortable look on the wizard's face. "Mahaad?"

"What do you remember, Yugi?" Yugi blinked. "Do you remember having no memory?"

"No… memory?" Yugi concentrated, thinking, and then blinked in surprise. He had forgotten… everything. "How is that possible?"

"Sagira took your memory from you, little light, in hopes that forgetting your past would give you the strength that you hid from yourself because of all that occurred. She made a mistake, however, in thinking that should could play an omniscient role, when she has, in fact, been missing the strength that you already exhibit."

"What do you mean?"

"You are far from weak, little light; you have a strength that burns brightly in you. Your light, which allows you to care so deeply for others, which leaves you to suffer physically for those you love, but to thrive spiritually. Your power is your light, Yugi. Sagira, much like you, I believe, thought that your power lay in the darkness that you used, but that is my power, Yugi. If you open yourself to you own true power, your strength will far surpass mine."

Mahaad put a hand on his shoulder. "If you open yourself up to this power, Yugi, there is no doubt that you can beat this danger. But you have to go swiftly – there is too much at stake for you remain any longer. You cannot go back as you were, however, but I will help you with that. It is all that I will be able to do." He turned Yugi to look into his eyes. "Your friends are in great danger, Yugi – you must help them. My Pharaoh is waiting for you. Now go!"

Tristan had taken a few steps away from the group, closer to the rubble, and was trying to see where the smoke was coming from. He couldn't tell if there was a fire beneath the pile, but it seemed likely.

He turned his head around to look at the butler on the stairs, who was recovering from his second faint of the evening. "Hey, buddy, can we get a fire extinguisher over here?"

There was a moment of peace, during which the butler straightened and coughed, regaining composure, before placing a hand on his chest as though to perform a bow of servitude.

He made it so far as to close his eyes, before the pile of smoking rubble exploded outward.

Like a massive anthill, the opening that had formed at the top of the rubble hill let spill a barrage of creatures. They were made of shadows – pure darkness turned solid, each with at least one pair of glowing crimson eyes, and a few with more. They flew, crawled, ran, slithered, and oozed out of the opening until the room was full of them. Before anyone could react, they had the group of them surrounded and were quickly moving toward the walls, to block the door.

A choking sound, like a hysterical sob, erupted from the butler as he walked backward up the stairs. He looked at the group of children and animals, shaking his head back and forth, his face pale. He looked about a second away from fainting for the third time.

"I can't take it anymore," he whispered, panicked. "I quit!" He gave a hysterical laugh as he turned and raced up the stairs. "I quit! I quit!" His voice continued as a mantra, until the sound had faded from their hearing.

Swallowing, the ground backed inward on instinct, forming a tight group.

"Ryou, any ideas?" Tea asked, her tail fluffed out and her fur standing on end as she stared around like the others.

Ryou glanced around, as well, looking worried. "I… I think…"

"We need ta know for sure, pal," Joey said, glancing back at the albino. "I know ya can do it, Ryou."

Ryou swallowed thickly. "Bakura…"

"I am here, Ryou, and the mutt's right – this is your power, and you're strong enough."

Ryou drew a deep breath and gave a sharp nod. "Remember a few weeks ago?" he asked, though the question was more rhetoric than anything. How could any of them have forgotten? – only Mokuba and Kaiba were at a loss as to what he was talking about, while the others offered nods complete with clenched teeth and disturbed glances. "Our cards should work here, as well."

The stares he got in response made him smirk, but it was Joey who spoke. "How da hell's dat s'posed to help d'ose of us wit'out our decks!?"

"You got fangs, don'cha?" Mokuba asked, hunkering down and snarling. "Let's show these jerks who's top dog around here!" Kaiba yelled or his brother to stop, but Mokuba dashed forward without listening. He leapt at the shadow nearest him, mouth wide, snarling as viciously as any true dog could ever have managed.

He sailed right through the shadow and with a yelp, skidded with he hit the floor beyond it.

The shadows all uttered a sound like a chittering laugh, the room echoing with the eerie call. One of the shadows seemed to move apart from the others, and soon a hissing, whispery voice sounded in the large room, echoing darkly.

"Foolish little human, you cannot touch us. We are shadows, and shadows can only be touched by light. You cannot touch us." It hissed sharply, causing Mokuba to flinch away in fear and the other shadows to laugh again. "But we shadows crawl all over you."

It seemed that was something akin to a battle cry, or a call to arms, for the moment after the words were spoken, the shadows attacked.

Funny, how something that would seem to have no connection to you can make you feel such dread in your heart as you become aware of something that has gone horribly wrong.

For Yami, it was the siren of a fire truck, wailing in its high-pitched glory as it flew down the street. Traveling through dark alleys to avoid being spotted – a massive lion in the street – he stopped to watch it pass, and it sent such a chill through his heart that he instantly knew, without a doubt, that something wasn't right.

And then he reached the Game Shop.

Fire trucks surrounded it, men holding hoses that sprayed copious amounts of water trying to put out the flames. An ambulance sat on the side, the rear doors open. Two paramedics were rushing from the rubble, a stretcher between them, carrying a small body. The spiky, tri-colored hair was unmistakable.

"Yugi…" he whispered, his ears flattening on his skull. It couldn't be… He was supposed to be all right! He was supposed to be safe!

"-all right?"

Yami's ears twitched and he dared to edge closer, trying to hear, his eyes never leaving the sight of his aibou as they pushed the stretcher into the back of the ambulance.

"-miracle he somehow missed being struck by debris, much less taking the blast from the explosion. He must have been somewhere with enough structural shielding to keep him from being hurt to badly."

An explosion. It was just like there had been at Kaiba's. What was going on?

"Hit his head, though. Looks like he's out."

"I'd say he's in a coma, but let's get him to the hospital. Have the docs look at him."

Yami sank down in the alley, lying on his stomach. He watched as the ambulance drove off, sirens flashing, and then the police that had arrived, and then the firemen, the sun sinking down into the horizon all the while. He lay staring into the darkness, somehow seeing just as well as if it were day, the smoke still trailing out of the crumbled mass that was once the Game Shop.

What was he going to do? He couldn't go to the hospital as a lion. He couldn't go be with Yugi. He'd have to go back to Kaiba's and tell Ryou – he or Tristan could go to the hospital and stay with Yugi, and protect him from whatever was after them this time.

Yami stood reluctantly. He didn't want to admit it, but he had stayed out of some form of denial, hoping that if he waited long enough, Yugi would appear, perfectly well.

But he knew better.

I should have been here.

Yami stared from the shadows of the alley, waiting for something that wouldn't… couldn't come.

With a sigh, he turned away from the crumbled house. And that's when he heard the footsteps.

He never would have caught the sound of them as a human – his ears were far too dull. As a lion, however, his senses were keen, and the trickling of dirt over wood caught his ears. He stopped, one foreleg raised in the air, turning his head back to glance behind him.

Pale yellow fur and a golden mane, the creature's eyes were as purple as anything he had ever seen, but only one pair of eyes had ever held that color before.

He turned swiftly, facing back toward the house, as he regarded the lithe lion with wondering eyes. "Yugi?"

The light-colored lion sniffed at the air, his tail twitching back and forth, ears flicking. He cocked his head to the side and scanned the area with his eyes. This was all so strange…

"Yugi?"

The lion froze, and then his head turned to the alley. He blinked.

"Yami?"

Yami went rigid with surprise at Yugi's voice, speaking into his mind.

"Dark Magician Girl!"

Tea watched in horror as three of the shadows leapt upon the witch and dragged her to the ground. She exploded when the one opened its mouth and sank great black fangs into her flesh.

Tea, who knew that when bad things happened in Domino, it usually involved her and her friends, had borrowed her cat's collar and stuffed her duel deck between it and her fur. Now, she slapped another card down on the floor with her paws.

Dark Witch came flying forward to attack the shadows, but she was quickly taken down, as well.

All around them, shadows leapt, snarling silently, their mouths wide open and emitting darkness, as they tore down their defending duel monsters, one by one.

In truth, the only one of them who could on occasion match Yami and Yugi at Duel Monsters was Kaiba, and he couldn't call his monsters out.

"This is insane!" Kaiba yelled. He kept trying to tell himself that there had to be holographic projectors somewhere, but there was no way that they could have placed them in his house without his knowing. But this couldn't possibly be real…

"Seto, why can't you call out Blue Eyes White Dragon?" Mokuba was staring at him with worry in his eyes at what was happening. He, of course, had no doubts.

"Because this is a trick!" he snarled.

"He doesn't believe," Ryou corrected, pulling out another card. "You don't believe in them, so they don't believe in you."

Kaiba looked at him with a glare. "I don't need to hear any of your heart of the cards crap. I've had enough of your cheesy kids show lines."

Ryou turned away, snorting softly with a muttered, "You have no idea."

"Kaiba, how can ya think dis is fake? De're at ya freakin' house!"

"Shut up, mutt!" Kaiba snarled harshly at Joey. The golden retriever was standing near Mokuba and Kaiba didn't like being so close to him. It bothered him that the boy – dog – was right… somehow. This… but it couldn't be real.

Ryou pulled another card out of his deck; Change of Heart. "This could certainly help," he mumbled.

"Now, we can't have that, can we?"

Ryou let out a yell as a shadow appeared beside him and grabbed his wrist. The touch of her hand burned his scream and smoke coiled from around their mingled appendages. He dropped the card and jerked away from her, stumbling back and collapsing to the floor.

She stepped forward, the shadows whisking off of her and taking form as two small dragons that floated around her head, the size of dogs, guarding her and waiting patiently for her to command them.

The woman was young – perhaps in her late twenties – with flawless pale flesh and green eyes that fairly seemed to glow with power and a mad, hysterical rage. She was dressed in a white gown that curled and coiled around her body, clasped together with a large emerald at her breast. Her long hair hung in crimson waves down her shoulders and back and she blinked slowly, smiling provocatively, as she regarded them all, the shadows still and waiting behind her.

"I see that the little bitch has done well to shield you from me," she said, and though her voice was as melodious as her form was beautiful, it had a harsh quality to it that told of a secret buried with her. "Still, she was not entirely successful." She looked at Tristan, then Kaiba, and then Ryou. She let out a harsh bark of laughter. "She left you with control?! The foolish cur, she has done nothing that will stop me, but I imagine you haven't an inclination as to what I mean." She raised her hand, power forming in it and erupting in a crimson ball of light. "Those of you who have been turned I cannot harm, and Sagira knows that. However," she said, raising her other hand and calling for a second ball of scarlet light, "there are still two whom I can take."

She threw her hands forward, the light erupting from her fingertips and shooting at the last two humans in the room.

"Seto!" Mokuba cried in terror.

Joey leapt at the CEO, his full weight sending Kaiba crashing to the ground, Joey getting struck with the crimson ball and sliding into the wall with a yelp.

The second ball crashed on target, sending Tristan flying backward onto the stairs without a cry.

The witch pouted slightly and sighed. "Well, I do suppose one is better than nothing." The shadows began to erupt into smoke behind her. She turned and smiled at Ryou. "Do tell Sagira hello for me, won't you? I admire her determination, but we both know who will be successful in the end." Her form turned into smoke like her shadows, the last of her to fade her deep, cruel chuckle.

Ryou turned to see Tea sitting beside Tristan, looking at him with worried eyes, and an unconscious Joey in the corner.

Author's Note: I'm fairly sure I broke the fourth wall a bit in this one. That was kind of fun. People more attuned to theatre are more likely to know what that means, but you can always google it. ;)

Look! Some of the mystery has been revealed (and I'm sure you have more questions; like who's the pretty lady with the bad attitude). I'm going to let you wonder for a bit. ^^

I was watching Epica for the last part of this chapter. Very good band, some of the music's a little weird, though, and I still prefer Nightwish.

Anyway, you don't care about that.

Review responses!

Yugiyamifangirl: Tadaaaaa! ^^

Leo112: I would have, too. Perhaps at another time. I'm glad you know that I wouldn't actually kill Yugi. I lost half my readers in Dark Summons when people thought I had. It was a bad time. I almost cried.

WhiteAsukalove: I'm glad this is a good insane. :D I hope this one was, too!

Author's Note: Thanks for reading, everyone, and I hope to hear from you again soon! In other words, please review, and…

Live long. Live well. Write. Read. Dream.