Masaka: snuggling Jason without remorse We're making a good suspenseful story aren't we, puppy-pie?
Yami Masaka: Ugh! Just give me a break!
Nizuki: Aside from a little time-looping on Masaka's part, this whole chapter is new. It's the missing section of chapter 24! And it's part of the major overhaul this entire zoo excursion is getting. Masaka is really trying to make this story a more clear and focused arrangement.
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Yami was feeling beyond stupid at the moment. He was perched on a plastic mountain covered in bird refuse and who knows what else with his hikari hoping lions couldn't scale plaster walls and hoping he could stay this scrunched for however long it took to be rescued.
All in all he was feeling like the world's biggest failure.
"Well…at least we've gotten 'closer', because of this," Yugi suddenly spoke up.
Yami opened his mouth to question him when he noticed that Yugi wasn't commenting on emotional closer rather than physically closer. There was barely a duel-monster card's worth of space between the two of them right now.
"Not funny," Yami said with a contradictory smile on his lips. Yugi laughed cheerfully.
"Don't be so blue, Yami. You know that the two of us always manage to get into trouble like this and we always come out on top. And just because we're facing mortal peril when we were supposed to be hanging out doesn't mean this day was a waste."
"Oh really? You think being chased by lions is an okay substitute for heart-to-heart discussions?" Yami grinned teasingly.
"Well…it's not like you are too put off by it," Yugi said, suddenly quiet, "you never seem to flinch at jumping into danger…ever."
"Yugi," Yami sighed reaching out for his aibou. Even with so little space Yugi managed to squirm away from hi s touch.
"No, it's okay. I know this isn't intentional…I just worry so much about…. Never mind, it's not important," Yugi sighed heavily.
More than anything Yami which he could haul Yugi into his arms and relieve the boy's pain but for various reason –including the fact that Yugi was still a guy and probably wouldn't appreciate being coddled- he restrained himself.
"…I wouldn't put myself into more danger than I could handle," Yami said quietly.
"Yah," Yugi said. Whether that meant Yugi believed him or not Yami couldn't be sure, but it really didn't matter because before another word could be spoken two short vehicles charged into view.
"Hey there love-birds! The rescue has arrived!" Nizuki said waving wildly from the driver's seat of one of the two trolleys.
"Where did you get those from?" Yami blinked curiously as Yugi slide to the ground and ran over to hug Nero viciously.
"Our dear friend the alligator gave them to us," Nizuki grinned cheekily.
Of course Yami didn't understand what she was referring to but both Yugi and Ryou blushed vicious red. One for having so foolishly plowed the boy over and the other…the other for getting landed upon and not getting near as upset as he should have been.
"Well whatever, I'm just glad you came," Yami said as he slid down the mountain and landed gracefully on his feet.
He then strolled over to where Nero and Yugi were reuniting and with an annoyed cough broke them up.
"Okay chibi, I'm driving," Yami frowned.
"Hey! No fair!" Nero pouted as Yami pushed him aside before Nero could really respond.
"Dominate to the bone, aren't you," Nizuki giggled. Yami just glared at her and instructed Yugi to put on a seat-belt.
Yugi blew a raspberry at his too parental other and took Nero in his arms and strictly didn't buckle in.
Yami rolled his eyes and revved the engine and in a flash they were off.
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Away in a very spooky tree a very spooky creature was considering her next move. She had taken into consideration that her prey had great protectors and it was starting to seem as if this whole venture would go to waste.
"Stupido! Why did you bother to take over these creatures if you didn't plan to use them," she smacked herself in the forehead as an evil thought came to her mind. "I'll just have my pets cause a little traffic jam is all!"
With a harsh laugh the woman-creature pulled a very thorny looking bottle from her pocket. She tipped it over and three crimson drops fell to the earth. These drops then turned into three lion silhouettes.
"Shadows! Go to your masters and tell them to stop those jeeps, whatever the cost! Vaya!"
The three black shapes bowed reverently then darted off at inhuman speed.
"Ahhhh! It's good to be in control!"
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Yugi was still soothing Nero's hair and trying to make up for his other's crudeness when he noticed the cherub on his lap going unnaturally stiff.
"Nero? Nero? What's wrong?" Yugi asked.
"A darkness…she comes to claim the light which in all the worlds are unique…a brash youth unafraid of disturbing what has been so meticulously kept in balance for so long…a darkness…a deep, deep darkness…it will…it will…" Nero began to whisper in a tone very unnatural for the cherub.
"What is the brat saying?" Yami blinked over at the two, obviously surprised at the tone as well.
"I don't know what's wrong with-" Yugi began to say. He didn't manage to finish however, because suddenly an avalanche of rocks came rolling onto the path they were traveling.
"Shi-" Yami swore as he applied the brake.
Nizuki and Ryou behind him took another approach, trying too hard to overcorrect and skidding off the path and into the trees for their trouble.
Super-powered or not Yami had to obey the rules of physics just like everyone else and as the jeep slammed into rocks, he was slammed into the steering wheel, his head bouncing off the windshield with disturbing fluidity.
Yugi and Nero were not so lucky. The jeep had spun slightly before crashing into the rocks, whip-lashing the unbuckled pair to violently that they actually fell out of the car onto the ground.
Yugi managed to flip over in the last second to cushion Nero's fall. His back made an unhappy thud against the pavement and all air left Yugi's body.
Nero was similarly squished and so was in no position to defend himself when a lioness came trolling up to them and snagged the boy's shirt-collars in its mouth and dragged them away.
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With Jedi like reflexes Nizuki managed to evade most of the trees but it was because clear to her that she was going to have to slam into one of them just to stop. Not wanting to put her protectorate in danger because of her own inability to see the set up of some dark creature –she was convinced this was a demon attack now, albeit a rather unusual and lame one- Nizuki splashed some of her sunlight bottle contents over Ryou and whispered a quick spell to transport the boy over the gates.
Ryou jolted in protest before disappearing, giving Nizuki enough of a distraction that she finally hit one of those trees.
The jeep, of course, smashed quiet spectacularly but Nizuki just went intangible and avoided pain altogether.
She glimmered herself over five feet away and flopped on her butt to take a little breather. She HATED demon attacks with all her heart because demon magic had a terrible trace of shadows that either left her enraged or exhausted.
And right now it was the latter.
The strawberry blonde angel watched her vehicle burn for a few minutes then stumbled ungracefully to her feet and trudged back up the hill to the path.
She didn't reach her destination in time to stop the lioness but she did help Yami out by healing up his head, neck, and leg injuries.
The ex-pharaoh grumbled in agitation at the strange magic and a sharp smack of energy floated off him and gave Nizuki a stern shove.
"Ouch! Why you!" Nizuki growled. It was only then she noticed that her magic was reacting oddly with a shadowy haze already lingering over the teen's injuries. "Ohh…silver clouds! I forgot that you and Bakura have your own type of protective magic."
Again that hate of shadows sparkled over Nizuki and the angel quickly stepped away from the boy. She had wanted to wake the boy up but seeing as how that was not an option…
"Okay, darkness. Whatever you are, I hope you're ready for a nice butt-whoop," Nizuki growled, rolling up her shirt sleeves. She set her eyes on the skid-marks on the path and marched towards battle.
CHAPTER END!
