[Edit 9/21/15: grammar]
Hey guys! Happy 4th for you fellow Americans out there :) Sorry I'm a bit late by the way XD Had to help set up for a friend's party. And HOLY FRIGGIN CRAP. How did I get so many reviews?! Seriously, people! It's ridiculous XD So...I'm go ahead and answer those now.
winged sapphire wolf: True, but I have him a different role in this story :) But I think you'll really like him here, he's still a total badass. And he still has some powers... ;)
snow-kim: Actually, Yami is going to pretend to be Yuugi to keep him and the group safe. You'll see in this chapter. So he actually is still in danger.
Wereteen25: Sorry you had to wait! Here it is :)
Animesaki: XD I don't think she could have waited a week. And yeah! :D More of them here!
Guest: XD Um...er...good luck with finding it! And Ikr XD Happy 4th! People are shooting them off in my neighborhood right now - . -
Ryou Bakura13: XD XD Yeah. And they're Ryou and Marik...um...whichever is the Hikari! And yay! ^_^ Glad you like it!
iREQUiREM0REYA0i: I know...it's quite disappointing...XD And yeah! Gosh, I'm just making Anzu seem TERRIBLE XD And no, I kind of imply here that the Yamis are the dads, like Yami is Yuugi's dad. Yes, the song "Witch Hunt" is sad, but I only got the beginning concept from it. However, that doesn't guarantee a happy ending...
Silverflower: XD Sadly, he's not a main character, but glad you liked his appearance, and this story! :)
SweeterThanChocolate: ...I don't have the slightest clue. XD No one will get that reference...And yep. Me neither.
INSANEWORLD21: Welcome! And here's another :D No, not the exact same thing, but that doesn't mean I'll guarantee a happy ending... You'll have to get in line, sorry. I have quite a few people ahead of you XD
Doragon-chan: XD But Yami can do something Pegasus can't...!
Yugi's sister death: Eventually, I think. And yes, actually :)
PHEW. Well, that happened. Seriously though, I honestly expected this to get a total of about 40-50 reviews. I just really want to thank you all, everyone here, all you reading this. So THANK YOU!
I don't own Yugioh, but I did come up with the shadow game in the second half of the chapter! :3
Atem passed out the bags to everyone. He was scared, but he didn't let anybody see. He turned to Yuugi's mother. "Elenora, you're going to have to lead the way to Yami's house."
Atem, who'd expected her to object and wait for Yami, was surprised when she nodded. She quickly took control of the situation. "Okay, I'll take the lead. Ryou and Marik, behind me. Yuugi, stay right in front of Atem. He'll take the rear." Everyone nodded and took up their positions. They headed out a back door into the open. Ellen had a destination in mind.
Yuugi moved up a bit to talk to the two strangers. "Hello," he greeted. "You guys are Ryou and Marik?"
They nodded. "I'm Ryou," the pale one said. "That's Marik," he gestured to the blonde. Marik nodded. "Nice to meet you, Yuugi."
"How do you two know Yami?" he asked. Atem had come up from behind them and listened in on the conversation.
"He knew mine and Marik's dads," Ryou answered. "My dad and Marik's both were friends with him. Mine died recently, Marik's quite some time ago. My mom didn't want to keep a witch in the house without another to train or keep me under control. Luckily, Yami took me in."
"Pretty much the same here," Marik added. "He had to play the father figure for me. He's a good dad. And a great teacher; you don't find many nice, male, dark witches anymore."
"Dark?" Yuugi asked. "So you're both..."
Marik nodded. "Dark witches, yes. That's how our fathers all knew each other. Mine was a jerk most of the time, honestly. I don't know how Yami put up with him."
"Mine was pretty bad too," Ryou added. "I take after him in terms of looks. It's funny, though; people say I look like I should be a light witch." He scowled. "I mean, it's not like I can choose my dad or my appearance."
They had been walking steadily into a forest. It kept out a surprising amount of sunlight. Yuugi opened his mouth to continue the conversation when he heard something from behind them.
"There! Hurry, get him!"
He turned and saw the mob, gaining steadily. Atem cursed. "Hurry, you three, run! Elenora, faster!"
Yuugi turned made ran after his mom, but he kept having one morbid thought. If the mob was here, it meant that they had gotten by Yami, and found out he wasn't Yuugi. And he doubted they would let an imposter be kept alive.
Yami stood confidently in the middle of the road. The crowd was slowly approaching, but when they saw him, their pace picked up noticeably. Anzu stood at the front. Yami crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. The crowd arrived and stopped a few meters away from him.
"Witch!" Anzu screamed.
Yami clapped sarcastically. "Oh, she can be taught!"
Anzu looked confused, and so did quite a few others. This Yuugi's voice was much different. His eyes and hair looked a bit different, too...
Yami saw their looks. He scoffed. "I don't need a glamour if you already know what I am, do I? I can drop the innocent charade."
Anzu scowled. "Where's Atem? What have you done with him?"
Yami smiled. "Oh, I've told him to go somewhere safe." His eyes flickered involuntarily in the direction he knew they'd gone.
Anzu noticed and pointed. "Half of you, that way!" A little less than half the crowd went in the direction she showed. "Bring him back!"
Yami cursed quietly. But he didn't let nerves show. He faced Anzu. "So, you know I'm a witch. Let me tell you something else; we love games." He stood there nonchalantly as he said, "Would you like to play one?"
Anzu was enraged. "What? No!"
Yami shrugged. "Well, if you win, I'll go without a fight. And I'll tell you where Atem is."
Anzu shook her head. "You're lying."
"No, I'm not." Yami held up both his hands. "I swear. And I won't cheat. I keep my word. Besides, what have you got to lose?"
Anzu frowned. She finally wavered and said, "Okay." There was some muttering from behind her. "But you swear to come without any trouble?"
Yami grinned. "Why, of course. Just so you know, though, this is a game of darkness." He held up a hand, which was covered in a dark purplish mist, and snapped his fingers. He and Anzu suddenly stood in the road alone.
Anzu turned around, looking all over. "What did you do to them?!"
Yami sighed. "Nothing. I just transported us away so we could have some more privacy. I thought you would prefer a familiar setting."
Anzu scowled. "What's the game, already?"
Two dolls suddenly appeared in between them, floating at eye level. Anzu stumbled back a bit, surprised. They were identical in all aspects. They both had creepy black button eyes and a sewn-on smile. They wore simple green dresses and had no feet or hands. Their hair was long and made of regular brown yarn.
"The game," Yami said. He voice held a menacing edge. "You seem to claim you can tell what is pure, or human, from what has magic. So, I will infuse one of the dolls with shadows. You have to tell me which one is the dark one.
"There will be three rounds," Yami continued. "The number of dolls will double each round, but only one will ever be tainted. If you ever pick the wrong doll, you will be given a penalty game. However, the shadows whisper. So you're going to have to wear earplugs. I can't change the doll I chose after you pick. That would be cheating. And you can't take out your earplugs, or the consequences will be the same for if you had lost. But if you really can pinpoint magic, then this should be easy for you and you won't need to cheat. Understand the rules?"
Anzu nodded nervously.
"Good," Yami said. "Game start."
Anzu suddenly felt thick pieces of cotton in both her ears. She could only hear her abnormally fast heartbeat.
Yami focused his gaze directly between the dolls and closed his eyes. But a third eye seemed to open on his forehead. Anzu shrieked, but she couldn't even hear that. Yami, though he gave no sign of it, infused quite a large amount of dark magic into the doll on his right, which was Anzu's left. His eyes flew open, straight at Anzu. He didn't let his stare waver at all.
He grinned. He opened his arms and shrugged, telling her to pick. Anzu's gaze flew back and forth between the two dolls. She bit her lip nervously. Yami watched her, amused. Her face was pale and sweat was starting to form above her eyebrows. After a good two minutes, she abruptly pointed to the doll on her left. Yami raised an eyebrow in a gesture that said, Are you sure? Anzu started to shake her head, but then nodded slowly.
Yami smirked. He checked Anzu's earplugs and saw they were still firmly in place. He walked slowly to the doll on his right, the one Anzu had picked. He held it and examined it all around. He held it at arm's length and activated the magic inside it. A murky cloud of smoke flew out, showing that it was indeed the dark doll. Both then disappeared.
Anzu sighed in relief. Then she grinned cockily like she'd known it all along. Yami bowed slightly in acknowledgment of her achievement. He walked back to his previous position and summoned four dolls. Anzu gulped.
Yami again infused a doll, this time the one on the middle right, the third from his left. He again gestured for Anzu to pick. Anzu was breathing heavily. She closed her eyes like she was feeling for which one was dark. Her chances of a blind guess were halved from the last round. Yami watched her with a smile playing on the edges of his lips. She bit her lip and opened her eyes. She swallowed audibly. She hesitantly chose the correct doll.
Yami checked her earplugs again and pointed at the doll for conformation. She nodded, going with her first guess. She took a deep breath.
Yami walked up to one of the incorrect dolls. Anzu seemed like she was about to try to change her mind, but Yami dissolved it, leaving nothing behind. It was clean. Anzu exhaled loudly. He walked over to another incorrect doll and did the same.
Yami grinned and walked over to the doll she'd picked, the tainted one. Anzu's eyes widened. She shook her head slightly. Yami laughed as a dark cloud of smoke clouded his face. Right once more.
Anzu was shaky. She laughed, but they came out more like hiccups.
Yami was having a great time. He hadn't had a fun shadow game in who knew how long. He felt her fear and apprehension at the unknown penalty game that would come if she lost. Her desperate need to win increased every second.
He summoned up eight identical dolls. He arranged them in two rows, with four in each. He chose his doll.
Anzu's hands shook. She knew she couldn't get through this last round on luck. Could there be a way to get out the earplugs? Besides, unless she directly reached up and pulled them out, how would Yuugi ever know she had cheated? Testing it, she covered her mouth, as if in despair, which she wasn't totally faked. She opened her mouth widely and quickly closed it. She did it again, and felt the plugs loosen.
Suddenly hopeful, but trying not to show it, Anzu moved her mouth around and bit the inside of her lips. The right bud loosened even more. She could hear indistinct whispers, but couldn't tell which on it was coming from. She moved her chin around like she was thinking. The right one almost popped out. Luckily, it stayed in, barely setting inside her ear. She could easily tell which doll the whispers came from; the one on her bottom left.
Yami smirked. He had known almost immediately what she was trying to do. Just as Anzu was about to pick, he said, "Cheating is against the rules." Even if Yami hadn't already known, Anzu would have given herself away right then. She looked toward him like a frightened rabbit and gulped. "You know what happens if you cheat," he continued, deadly serious.
"Penalty game!" he suddenly shouted. "Illusion of jealousy!" The golden eye flashed on his forehead again. They were abruptly jerked back to the real world. To everyone else, it had appeared as if the pair had just flashed in and out of existence. They all gasped and backed away when they saw Anzu. She was on her knees, clutching her head.
Anzu looked at the people around her and screamed. They were all Atem. She had a dozen Atems just staring at her. She looked back across the road at Yuugi, to find that he had transformed into an Atem too.
"No, no, no..." She started backing away slowly, then ran back into town.
Yami grinned at the people who write staring at him in shock. "She cheated," he informed them. They stared at him for a good the seconds before they broke and ran away too. Yami chuckled and headed quickly after his group.
I seriously wrote the shadow game part at 3 a.m. last night. We'll get back to the gang next chapter. Again, thank you all for the reviews, favorites, and follows. Have a good one, guys. Bye.
