Chapter Thirteen - Blink of an Eye.

"Thirty minutes the blink of an eye
Thirty minutes to alter our lives
Thirty minutes to make up my mind
Thirty minutes to finally decide."

- tATu, Thirty Minutes.

Chapter Fourteen.

Vienna. 03:00 am

'You pulled a real stunt back there, Wheeler,' Kaiba said.

Only now did Joey realise the two of them had fallen back. Bakura, Yugi, and Yami were basically leading the party now, guiding them through streets they'd never seen, following the darkness towards the river. Téa and Mai were right behind them, sticking close together. Then there was Tristan, then Kaiba. Who was walking alongside Joey and, unusually, showing no obvious sign of wanting to walk faster to get away from Joey.

This was, in itself, pretty damn weird. 'Say what?'

'You refused to let us split up, and look what almost happened.' Kaiba said.

'Oh like you'd have listened to me?'

'If Yugi hadn't pulled that sudden burst of inexplicable power –which I still want an explanation for, by the way – out of god only knows where, we'd all be dead now. You realise that, don't you?'

'Sure I realise that. Little hard not to when you've gotta giant mutant circus entertainer breathing down ya neck, Kaiba.'

'Then what was all that garbage about "Not splitting the party?" because "that's not the way it works in movies?" Kaiba snapped. 'For god's sakes, what do you think this is?'

'Uhh... Kaiba? Look around. We've got monsters crawling outta the waterworks, giant mutant pachyderms in the streets, darkness, demons, the freakin' Shadow Realm on our doorsteps. This is about as close to a movie as it gets.'

Kaiba grunted, but didn't debate this point. 'It's still a ridiculous comparison.'

'That's pretty rich coming from you. Our lives are ridiculous. Would'a figured you'd have a little faith in that by now, man.' Yeah, he thought. Because Seto Kaiba and Faith were totally words that belonged together in the same sentence. Can't believe I'm even suggesting it...

'Believe it or not, Wheeler, I am capable of having faith in things I can't see. I just don't tend to place that faith in the same clichés you find in children's television.'

'Oh, yeah? So says the guy who plays duel monsters for a living?'

Kaiba glared. 'I run a company for a living. Duel monsters is a business.'

'Oh, right. That makes all the difference.'

Kaiba didn't have an answer for that –another surprise. Guess he's just not full of 'em today. There was silence for a few moments, except for the sound of their footsteps crunching against a gravel path. Joey looked around, and it slowly dawned on him that there had to be people living here, in the seemingly empty backstreets of Vienna. He couldn't believe they'd come so far without seeing anymore of those monsterspeoplefreaks; maybe Jumbo has already scared them all off?

'...For example, I knew you'd come after me.' Kaiba said.

Joey blinks at him. 'Say what?'

'Back at the airport when Mokuba's plane was coming down.' Kaiba said calmly, kicking fallen debris out of his way. 'I knew. That's why I went out into the darkness. Not that I wouldn't have gone anyway. With Mokuba out there,.' His fists clenched tightly, and Joey, thinking of Serenity, actually believed him. 'But I still know that if you hadn't followed me, those monsters would've killed me seconds after I turned on the light. But you did come, and you gave me the few extra seconds I needed to guide the plane in. I knew that you would.' He scowled slightly beneath the shadows. 'That enough "faith" for you?'

'…The hell, Kaiba?'

And all of a sudden it began to make sense.

Kaiba knew that Yugi wouldn't want him dead. Hell, Yugi wouldn't want anyone dead. And they all knew that Yugi wouldn't want it, too. Including Bakura…

Joey shook his head to clear his head a bit. 'You mean you knew we'd come to help ya? On the middle of a runway filled with a bunch of crazy not-human freaks prepared to rip us to pieces? Seriously? Because you knew we'd do what Yugi wanted? Man, that's not what the whole bond-that-can-defy-time-and-death-thing is supposed to be about.'

'I never said it was. Look, I said it once, I'll say it again,' Kaiba said dryly. 'It might be a placebo effect, Joey, but your faith in one another... Yugi's need to protect people... It rubbed off on you and it works for you. I'm still alive, aren't I?'

Joey paused, scratching his head as his brain worked its way from one end of this conversation to the other, slowly fitting the pieces into place, like a really strange millennium puzzle. 'Wait, wait, waaaait. So, are you tryin' to tell us that you... wanted our help? You? The high an' mighty Seto Kaiba, actually wanted us to help ya?'

'Well I knew damn well that I couldn't fight off fifty of those things at once if that's what you mean,' Kaiba snorted. 'Don 't read anything into it, Mutt.'

Ah. Mutt. There was the Kaiba they all knew and didn't-really-love-but-would-put-up-with-because-he-kept-on-lending-them-jets-and-stuff-and... and why the heck did he keep on lending them jets, anyway? Joey whistled through his teeth. 'Not even a thank you, for saving your life, eh? Kaiba you are one strange guy.'

'I refer you to your own "That's rich coming from you", Joey.'

We're having a conversation, Joey thought. He was walking through the backstreets of Vienna with the CEO of Kaiba Corporation (who, up until that moment, has refused to address him as anything other than "Mutt", "Wheeler", "idiot", or something else equally insulting), and they were having a conversation. Or as close to one as they'd ever gotten without flinging insults, anyway.

Joey wasn't sure which of them has changed enough in the last five years to allow such a conversation to take place... Maybe both of them?

They'd grown up, he realised. And maybe, just maybe, they were both slowly growing beyond the need to throw insults at one another.

'Uh... boys?'Mai snaps. 'As much as I hate to interrupt your little male bonding session, would you mind doing it a little more quietly? We're trying not to attract the servants of doom and apocalypse here.'

'As much as I hate to agree,' Kaiba mutters. 'You heard her, mutt – shut up and stop bugging me already.'

'Ahh, chill out already, Kaiba! Joey grinned. You already know there ain't anything that can stop us when we're on a roll! Hilfe kommt!'

'Wheeler, you don't know what that means. And even if you did your accent is terrible.'

Location: Domino City Airport,

Time: 10:23 pm

Her pumps had metal toecaps, and they were clattering against the marble floor of the airport lobby. Serenity tried not to think too much by focussing upon the sound they made. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Just... keep it together until your brother gets back.

Oh. That rhymed.

Now Serenity knew she was losing it. Either that or she'd had too much coffee and damn, she never could handle that stuff. She sat there in a plastic chair, feeling angry and afraid and totally, totally useless. Here she was, little Serenity all grown up, and still running around after her stupid older brother.

It was kind of pathetic, really.

'Yes it is, isn't it But then, what else are little sisters for if not to annoy the oblivion out of you?' Bakura smirked, and Serenity jumped, her spine prickling.

'W-what?'

'You heard me. Here you are, sitting in some airport in the middle of nowhere, able to do absolutely nothing to help him, and yet you still insist on following him around,' Bakura smirks. 'Quite frankly, you're right – it is pathetic.'

Serenity swallows, eyes passing over the ring around his neck. Had he read her mind? 'Can you... I-I thought the millennium eye was the one which—'

'Oh it is. But it doesn't take a millennium item to read the expression on your face, little mouse.'

'Don't call me that.'

'What, Mouse? I think it rather suits you.' He was mocking her, leering in a way that would make Joey want to punch him if Joey were here...

But Joey wasn't here right now, Serenity swallowed hard. He wasn't here. She'd have to be okay on her own for a while.

Not that Duke wasn't prepared to play Joey's substitute. 'Yami Bakura, leave it out already, he said. 'Serenity, just ignore him. He's playing games with you. He plays games with everyone. He's frustrated too, because he has somebody he wants to reach as well,' his eyes narrow

Yami Bakura grunted, leaning back in his plastic chair and continuing to glare at random passersby. 'You can't blame me, given that his continued existence is tnhe only thing ensuring my own. He'd be a lot safer if he just stuck around in the first place instead of running off to that precious little university of his.'

'I wish I could be sure of that.' Duke said, dryly. 'But I don't really trust you within a mile of Ryou anyway. I guess there's nothing we can do about it; you are the other half of his soul. We've known that ever since the battle in the ceremonial tomb.'

Bakura let out a sigh. 'Ah yes. The one the Little Yugi somehow managed to win, as I recall. But that wasn't enough for him, was it? Oh no, then the new King of Games chose to bend fate to his own liking as well, didn't he?' Duke said nothing. Serenity looked back and forth between them in confusion. 'You're aware, of course, that this -all of this- is completely the fault of the pharaoh's little partner in destruction? Or... wait, I forget... we're blaming Kaiba for that now, aren't we?'

Duke's fists clenched. 'I swear, Bakura-'

Oh, please.' Yami Bakura says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 'Like you can change the truth by threatening me. And we all know what that truth is, don't we, Duke Devlin? You, me... the pharaoh... and especially that uppity teenage brat of a tyrant. Funny, really,' Yami Bakura shrugged. 'Al those millennia... All those centuries in darkness because of a few fools who thought they knew better than anyone what the world needed... and now it's all coming back, because a couple of uppity mortals just couldn't let go of their past lives.'

'That's rich coming from you, don't you think?' Duke snapped. 'How's stalking Ryou across the country working out for ya?'

'You forget, Devlin. I wasn't given a choice on whether I wanted to be here,' Yami Bakura was glaring at him, all signs of joking gone.

Serenity shuffled, feeling like she'd tuned into the middle of an episode of some long running television show and didn't know the whole story. 'Duke? What are you talking about?'

' I imagine this doesn't make much sense to you, does it, Mouse?' Yami Bakura grinned. 'You weren't there, after all. It was quite the interesting duel, that one. The King of Games usurped by his own soul partner, in his own game.' He chuckled quietly. 'Or so I heard.'

Tap tap tap tap. Don't lose your cool Serenity, he's just some freaky other worldly spirit. You've dealt with those before, right? 'I know about the Ceremonial Duel... My brother told me when he got home from Egypt.'

'Oh I'm sure he did. But that's not the battle I'm talking about.'

Serenity blinked.

''It doesn't matter,' Duke says, coldly. 'Yugi won. Both times. He won the ceremonial duel, and he won... the one that came after. And now we're here and everyone's alive. Including, unfortunately, you. What more is there to say?'

'How about how much those wins changed the balance of magic as we know it?' Yami Bakura snapped. Serenity could feel the air growing colder all around them, a passenger nearby wrapped his coat more tightly around himself and shivered. 'Unlike some people, I was quite happy when the first duel ended. You think I wanted to be here, in this world of simpering fools and idiots? Bound to the soul of that useless whelp for all eternity? Even the Shadow Realm could hold no worse a punishment...' he snorted. 'But of course, that fool Seto Kaiba decided he had to have his rematch...'

Serenity had no idea what was going on. She knew about the Ceremonial Duel, of course. Joey had explained it to her in great detail, his voice a mixture of pride and pain as he did so. She knew there had been two Yugi's, that one of those two was actually Yami, and that he had lost. Had gone to the afterlife denied him so long ago...

And she also knew what Yami had come back to them... and that this had something to do with the work of Seto Kaiba. Joey had told her that Yami and Yugi duelled again, "kind of... in a way... I mean, it was sort of like a duel but not really? I dunno, sis, this ancient magic stuff still confuses the heck out of me."

Her brother hadn't been quiet so clear on the facts that time. And now Yami Bakura was looking at her, dangling the truth in front of her like some kind of carrot on a stick.

'A shame, truly,' Yami Bakura smirked. 'I'd much prefer the Shadow Realm to the horrors of this very airport right now.'

'Oh, yeah. I believe you,' Duke snorted 'You'd have that place taken over within a week.'

'Ha. We may never know, Mortal. For so long as Yami is bound to the spirit of little Yugi Mutou, so too am I bound to the soul of Bakura Ryou. But no matter: Kaiba broke the rules, and you know it. He messed with the Shadow Realm for his own selfish purposes, and your precious little King of Games allowed it. This world has been paying for it ever since.'

'What do you mean?' Serenity asked, not certain she really wanted to know.

Yami Bakura looked at her; a sober, dangerous look. 'Because the dead should stay dead, little mouse,' he said. 'When he won that first duel, little Yugi held the power of the universe in his hands for a few brief moments, and he used it to put an end to all this - the Shadow Games, the monsters, a curse three thousand years in the making. He brought the tale to an end in light... all satisfactory enough. But Kaiba...' Yami Bakura's eyes flashed. 'Well, he was never going to be satisfied with that, now, was he? He found a way into the light of thereafter... and then he dragged us, kicking and screaming back.'

Serenity shuddered, suddenly very aware of the warmth of Duke's hand against her shoulder. She found herself hoping and hoping that he didn't take his hand away again, because it felt like the only thing left the world with any warmth.

'Yami Bakura—!'

'Oh, shut up, Devlin, your constant whimpering is giving me a headache.' Yami Bakura growled. 'You see, my dear Mouse, the reality is that Kaiba has no power that the Millennium items didn't grant him... and Yugi was the true holder of that power. The power of the YuGiOh,' Bakura snorted. 'The King of Games. Isn't that a funny coincidence? Except we're not talking games with cards and silly little plastic monsters, Mouse. Oh no.'

'I... don't understand what you mean.'

'You don't need to. All you need to know is this,' Yami Bakura leaned forward, like he was imparting a secret. 'The Pharaoh's form returned to this world because of Kaiba's foolishness. But the rules were being broken right in front of him and Yugi could've refused the Pharaoh's return. He didn't. He could've shut Kaiba's little experiment down. But he didn't. All he had to do was say it, to grasp the power rightly handed to him as the King of Games, and he didn't.'

'And now...' Serenity breathed. Duke was suddenly and disturbingly quiet. 'Now, Yami...'

'Is back in the world of the living, oh joy of joys... but regardless of Kaiba's delusions, he's only here by Yugi's hand,' Yami Bakura said. 'And because Yugi allowed for the Pharaoh's return, they left a gap wide open in the realm of darkness. A bleeding maw which the shadow creatures and monsters beyond are all too happy to rise up and fill. Haven't you noticed the number of missions your dear brother has been going on? The number of worldwide crises? The many phone calls at strange hours of the night? It's because little Yugi and his Pharaoh keep needing them to save their worthless lives.'

He looked at Serenity, as if judging her reaction. Her foot kept tap-tap-tapping against the floor. 'You know what all this means, don't you, little Mouse? The walls between our world and the spirit world are weaker than they have ever since that day thousands of years ago when the Millennium Items were first created. You can expect many more catastrophes of this sort in the coming years as the magical realms struggle to keep up with the problem. And all because one little boy couldn't bear to let a loved one go a second time.' He grunted, seeming unaware of the look on Serenity and Duke's faces.

Serenity took a moment, processing what Yami Bakura was saying. He stood up, brandishing his hands to the crowded, nervous, chaotic mess of the airport all around them, one plane after another vanishing from the scheduled arrivals and departures board as they were either cancelled, or lost somewhere in the mists surrounding Europe. 'I do hope Yugi and Kaiba appreciates the chaos they brought upon the world for the sake of one long dead Pharaoh's life. Because the whole world may be suffering for it.'

Serenity turned to look at Duke, but he didn't say anything. There was a vaguely disturbed confusion settling across his features, and Serenity shivered as she settled back in her chair and tried to tell herself that Yami Bakura was wrong.

Vienna. 04:00 am

'So, that's it, huh?'

It wasn't the most dramatic of introductions. Yami didn't know whether to smile or scowl as he stared at the endless body of black water stretched out before them.

'Yes,' he said, evenly. 'The waters of the Undernile.'

'Undernile?' Yugi whispered.

'Well, more specifically it's the Under Danube,' Yami explained. 'But it's all a part of the same system so the difference is irrelevant.'

'So... there's like, a Nile underground or something?' Joey frowned. This had never come up in any of the books he'd read (okay, glimpsed through) on their original trip to Egypt.

'Not precisely... There are two worlds echoing one another; the Shadow Realm and this one... that is what the rivers -all rivers- look like on the other side.' He let go of Yugi's arm and stepped closer to the river, leaning against the metal bar protecting pedestrians from falling into its murky depths. There was nothing but purple and grey water, flickering even in the absence of light. Now that they were here looking down into its depths, it was impossible to imagine that this destruction could've begun anywhere else. The answers clicked into place inside of Yami's mind, like the pieces of a familiar puzzle.

'Creepy, isn't it?' Téa swallowed.

'Yeah, I'm pretty sure that isn't the same water they sell in fancy bottles at the convenience store back home,' Tristan whistled.

'Not anymore it's not.' Bakura muttered, lifting one hand, as if he might be able to touch the void of the river with his fingertips. He glimpsed at Yugi and the message passed soundlessly between them. 'Here then?'

'Seems as good a place to start as any,' Yugi shrugged, seeming slightly embarrassed. 'Are you... um. Feeling anything yet?'

Bakura swallowed, drawing back his hand as if somebody had burned it. 'That depends on what you mean. I do feel extremely sick to my stomach.'

'Heh. Yeah, me too. But I'm not sure that has anything to do with what we're looking for. Try...' Yugi paused, creasing his forehead, and Bakura couldn't tell if it was because of pain, or confusion. Or both. 'Try focussing through the water. Looking for where the shadows are coming from. We've done it before... sort of.'

'You make it sound easy,.' Bakura frowned. 'But I'm not sure how to do that.'

'No, neither am I.' Yugi bit his lip, and Yami followed suit because this was yet another unanticipated dilemma. He hadn't been sure at the beginning whether or not Bakura and Yugi would really be able to trace the path of the darkness. He'd just been hoping, because that was how it had always worked when they encountered something dark and dangerous in the past. Now, however... he wasn't so sure.

And this was not a good time for doubts.

'This is crazy,' Kaiba snaps. 'We made it all the way here and now what? You two are going to rely on your gut instincts to find the source of all this?'

'If you have any better ideas, Kaiba, we'd love to hear them,' Yami says dryly.

'How about this: we follow the same suggestion I made earlier. We split up. Divide into two parties and send Bakura with one group and Yugi with the other. One goes up, the other goes down.'

'You can't seriously mean we have to search the whole damned river,' Tristan mutters. 'Man, that's miles of ground to cover, and we don't have any idea how many of those monsters could be out there. Come on, we'll never make it. Aren't we on a time limit?'

'Well, a time limit which only applies provided that we can't reverse the changing process of the infected population, really.' Yugi said.

'Which we don't know,' Tristan answered. 'For all we know all of Europe could be a lost cause. Which means the faster we work the fewer people are gonna die.'

'Uh, guys?'

Téa's nervous voice pulled them out of their debate, and they turned to see her standing at the edge of the river, looking cautiously over the railing.

Joey whimpered. 'Oh, man, Téa tell me there are not mutant alligators in that water?'

'N-no,' Téa stammers. 'Not alligators. More like snakes, really.'

Yami reacted, reaching out to drag Téa back from the water's edge. That was when he saw it – the white shapes curdling in the water. As he looked, the thrashing grew until the river seemed as if it were boiling; twisted, broken limbs climbing over one another to reach the bank.

Shadow Creatures. Real ones, this time, not just people who had been polluted by the water. They were crawling about in the deep black waters, writhing in the shadows leaking up from deep within the Underdanube. He could imagine what must have happened when the shadow infection first began: animals would have been affected first, their instincts dragged upon by the darkness deep within every living soul. He could imagine pets breaking out of captivity, animal upon animal racing for the water, drawn by some new, dark instinct inside of them.

'Well the good news is, I guess now we know a little more about what happened to Atlantis,' Yugi swallowed, not seeming to find this good news at all. 'I'm willing to bet this is just the same kind of magical incident.'

'I repeat my earlier plan to split up,' Kaiba interrupted. 'Now that they all know we're here anyway, it hardly makes a difference.'

'Right...' Yami murmured, reaching back to clutch Yugi's arm. 'Yugi's with me.'

Kaiba smirked. 'Of course.'

'Téa and Tristan too.' Yami went on, ignoring the smirk. 'Bakura, you take Mai and Joey. Kaiba...' he pauses. 'Go with whoever you prefer.'

Kaiba waits a moment before stepping slowly in Yami's direction. 'Done.'

'Very well.' Yami looked around at their confused and anxious faces. He looked at Yugi, with his eyes still bright and hopeful, in spite of everything... 'Then let's begin.'

'I repeat my earlier warning,' Tristan muttered. 'This is crazy.'

'But it's still the only plan we have,' Mai answered. 'and so far as plans go... I think it's as good as we're going to get. Now, Bakura, see if you can get those little magical, good-and-evil-sensing gifts of yours working properly, will you? And try not to blow us all to kingdom come while you're at it.'

Vienna International Airport 12.

Time: 04:06 am

It had been pretty quiet at the Vienna International Airport since his brother left.

Quiet. Not silent. Because the creatures hadn't gone away. They'd just been... skulking. For this long, Mokuba and Marcus had kept their distance, sticking to the middle of the airport and avoiding the windows. They had gotten the lights working in one of the ground floor stores and had holed up in there, hoping for the light to be some protection against the creatures.

This strategy had worked for a while... now, however, Mokuba could hear the scratching of inhuman fingers against nearby walls, and there was no question about it: the monsters were drawing near.

Yeah. Mokuba was pretty sure his older brother hadn't thought of this.

'Mister Kaiba!' Mokuba's head snapped up from the airport map he'd been studying, to see Marcus returning from his latest scouting trip. 'I don't think it'll be long before those... things start drawing in, sir. They're moving across the runway. I think some of them are entering the building.'

'Yeah. I guess we've only got as long as it takes them to work out that Yugi isn't here anymore,' Mokuba swallowed. 'They don't have to worry about us burning them to a crisp. I think we have a little more time though. Keep watching.'

Marcus didn't seem all that reassured by this information. Mokuba didn't blame him; after all Marcus had basically put his life in the hands of a fifteen year old, and Mokuba knew fine well what happened to the last employees who did that... 'No. Don't think about them. Don't think about Daisuke, or Ai or Motoko. Don't think about the people you've already gotten killed.' Thinking about them wouldn't help a bit, so Mokuba focussed on the map, making a mental note to increase Marcus (did he even know his surname?)'s salary as soon as they got back to Japan.

'I'm not sure we have long, sir. I... I'm pretty sure I was spotted coming back. They know we're no threat to them, and... well, I think we look like their next meal.'

'Thanks, Marcus, I'd realised,' Mokuba muttered. There were more of them in the building than Marcus realised. Mokuba could hear them rasping through the ceiling and scratching around the walls. They were getting closer. 'Stay here where it's safe huh? Some logic you had there, big bro. Totally gonna bring this up when we get home.'

If we get home.

'It's been over an hour since they left, Marcus. Think my brother's gotten to the bottom of this yet?'

'No offence to Mister Kaiba, but somehow I doubt it, sir.'

'Yeah, right.' Mokuba couldn't help but agree. Seto was unbeatable in most things, but understanding the complexities of Shadow Magic... well, that wasn't one of them. It was difficult to understand something you spent half your life denying even existed.

Mokuba sighed, a frightened sensation chilling his bones. He squashed it as quickly as he could. 'And even if they have worked it out by now, I'm not sure it'll help us. If we wanna get out of this, Marcus, we're gonna have to make ourselves a miracle. Come on!'

Then he turned and raced towards what he was pretty sure used to be an arcade with the sound and shape of monsters looming in behind them, and the reflection of their bright eyes shining everywhere he looked. Mokuba couldn't quite convince himself that this was just paranoia.

Location: The Danube

Time: 04:18 am

What they needed, Yami thought, as they followed the sound of the river, was a miracle.

And normally that wouldn't be such a problem. He was the other half of the King of Games, for goodness sake. Yugi hung around with ancient spirits and handled world destroying artefacts on a semi-regular basis. He'd beaten Yami in a duel. They both knew many wonderful, incredible, perfectly ordinary people who had broken into the Shadow Realm to rescue others from oblivion. Yami was three thousand years old and counting.

Impossible was their usual degree of difficulty. Miracles were their department.

But these were not their usual odds, and Yami had no idea what would happen if they won. Their choices here could be the difference between the whole continent being destroyed, or the entire world. The difference between all of their friends dying and all of Europe living.

Don't worry. The voice echoed up inside of his mind like a warm blanket, and Yami didn't have to turn and see Yugi to know what his expression would be.

There was much that Yami didn't understand about his Other Self. Yugi was currently walking on a sprained ankle; had been thrown from two cars, and had the pressure of the Shadow Realm eating at him for three days now.

And yet he was the one telling Yami not to be afraid.

'I'm not worried. I'm with you.' Yami thoguht back. It wasa lie and Yugi knew it, but he seemed grateful for Yami's faith, nonetheless. 'How're you doing?'

'Ok. Head hurts. And all this... focussing on the Shadows isn't really helping.' He squints. 'Is it just me, or are there two of Tristan?'

Yugi's using close enough to a jocular tone for Yami not to panic. 'Ah, no, last I checked there was definitely only one of him. I think you're looking at Téa's back.'

'Oh. Oops. It's kinda hard to tell in this dark... And I think Tristan changed his hair.'

'No, he always looks like that, partner. He's looked like that for the last eight years, and short of one of us dragging him to a hair salon and strapping him into a chair by force, I don't think it's going to change.'

'Ah... You realise we're not exactly in a position to be making comments about anybody's hair, right, Yami?'

'Ah. Well played. You don't have a concussion, then. If you did I'm sure you couldn't come up with something so witty.'

Yugi winced. 'I think I'd prefer a concussion.'

'There, you see? I knew I'd get a confession of pain out of you eventually.' Actually, he'd prefer it if Yugi just had a concussion as well. Concussion was so much easier to deal with than the overwhelming pressure of the Shadow Realm. But saying this wouldn't help matters, so he cast around for something more encouraging to say instead. 'Your tolerance is improving.'

'Mm… what?'

'There was a time you wouldn't have survived ten minutes in these conditions, Yugi. Remember duelling Pegasus?'

'Yes, though I'd rather not... I guess you're right. We've all gotten used to it.' A smile tweaked his lips, and Yami became aware of Yugi leaning on him, just a little more than he'd gladly admit to as they walked. 'I was doing really well until we crashed the second car.'

'You guys need to stop doing that.' Téa said, and Yugi started so suddenly that he almost fell over.

'Doing?' he asked. 'Uh... Doing what?'

'Oh, come on, guys, we've known you two for years,' Tristan smiled. 'You don't think we know when you're gossiping with each other inside of your heads? There are signs, man.'

Yugi blinked. 'Hey... We do not gossip.'

'Nope. You just complain about us, don't you?' Téa whispered, with a mock drama she had probably picked up in New York. 'It's my outfit, isn't it? You don't think it's appropriate for a good Japanese girl to walk around in knee high books and stylishly worn-out jeans! I knew I sensed disapproval.'

Yugi giggled, and Yami found himself smirking at Téa's eyes, glistening blue in the darkness. 'Oh no, Téa, I'm sure it's quite an appropriate fashion statement for the leader of a New York dance troupe. Which reminds me, did I mention that you're developing a rudimentary New York accent?'

Téa smiled. 'Is that a compliment, or...?'

'I really wouldn't know, is it?' Yami said, innocently.

'Sheesh,' Tristan mutters. 'Yami's joking, now I know it's the end of the world.'

The jokes were weak and inappropriate, and this was completely the wrong time for humour, but they all knew that already so Yami didn't mention it. Besides, they were at least keeping their voices as low as they could to avoid attracting the attention of any shadow creatures (not that any of them seemed to be gathered near the river, which was... odd.

At any rate, Yami thought, he was starting to get the feeling that joking around was the only thing keeping any of them sane. Well, except for Yami himself. The only think keeping Yami sane was—

' Yugi?'

And just like that, Yugi wasn't supporting his own weight anymore. It happened so quickly that Yami didn't have time to notice the switch flicking inside of his brain, turning Yugi's signal from on to off. Yugi slumped forwards onto his knees while Yami tried to support him. Yami reconsidered his thoughts about concussions, before realising that this reaction was probably more to do with the explosions of energy Yugi had been throwing about lately than it was to do with his head having collided with anything particularly hard.

'Yugi, are you alright?!' Téa was asking.

'I knew it; he's down,' Tristan muttered. 'You can't go throwing that much magical energy around in the middle of a Shadow Game and not expect to pay it back. Yugi, talk to us. How many fingers am I holding up?'

Yugi held up a shaking hand, and Yami relaxed a bit as the signal returned, and strengthened as quickly as it had vanished. 'T-that's a thumb, Tristan.'

'Right, aaaand the number of thumbs is?'

'Two. Just wait...' Yugi took a deep breath, gripping the cobbled stone beneath his fingers, listening with something that was very definitely not his ears. So technically, it wasn't really listening at all, but-

Yugi's eyes opened, shining with an all too familiar brightness. 'I think I hear it.'

'What? You think you're onto it?' Tristan looked around urgently.

'I'm not sure, but there's definitely something over there. Just around the bend.' Yugi half crawled several feet to the edge of the river, and looked down through the bars. The whiteness of the shadow creatures blurred thick and fast against the surface. There were more there than there had ever been elsewhere. 'Look at that... they're everywhere.'

'Yeah, I think he's right,' Téa whispered, and now she was shivering as if she too could feel the blackness pressing down upon her soul as easily as Yami and Yugi. They were close to the source. Close enough to touch it.

'Yugi, listen.' Yami said, slowly, gathering his nerves. 'Just point it out for us. We'll call our friends and get Bakura to do this part.'

'No. Don't even think about it, Yami,' Yugi said. 'This one is ours.' He gestures with an arm, indicating that he wanted to be lifted. 'Help me find my footing. And... and then you and Téa need to stay back, Tristan, I don't know if you could handle getting much closer to it.'

'Iiii'm not sure about this, Yugi,' Tristan mutters, biting his lip.

'Well I don't think Bakura would be in much better state. What he gains in immediate health he loses due to a lack of direct contact.' Yugi said, and Yami knew he was right, he knew he was, but the tug between their souls felt stronger here than it had been since that day in the ceremonial chamber.

'Yugi—' he started to say, and then...

Then Yugi just looked at him, and that look said everything that'd ever been said before, and didn't need to be said again. It told Yami to trust him, and so he did. 'I... I started this, Yami,' Yugi says. 'So I'll finish it, too. Come on, let's go. We've got a continent to save.'