Ba-Ku-Ra!

By: Miss-DNL & RenagadeRexRider

Chap 25: Rising Flames

Ryou chuckled lightheartedly seeing the confused expression on his Yami's face, "It's a giant library on a computer or laptop that people can access so long as they have a connection." He explained patting his laptop before he accessed the internet, immediately pulling up a card website, "There's places like this that have information you need on cards. If there are even rumors of another Diabound card they'll have it."

Akefia moved behind his host, genuinely intrigued as his host explained, "Ah? That sounds interesting… all on that?" he questioned as the boy altered the screen with several swift taps of his fingers. From what the boy was saying, it sounded fantastic, even with what he'd seen of this new world.

Sensing his Yami's curiosity Ryou responded, "This site yes, but there are thousands of others that people make. Just about on anything you can think of really."

Entering Diabound's name into the search engine he was met with a wall of information. For a brief moment Akefia found himself vexed at the sheer amount there appeared to be. He had assumed the boy was simply akinning the contraption with a library. But it appeared that it came complete with the useless sprawl of junk they'd have to shift through. But the boy didn't seem at all daunted, and as he watched the boy did something that seemed to completely eradicate the issue in yet another swift motion of his hand.

Ryou continued his work in only a few short minutes and at last was met with two results, to which he brightened, "Ah! There are two!" he relayed as he scrolled over the second image immediately reading the name aloud, "Diabound: The God Monster. Is that it?" he questioned looking up at the spirit.

Immediately Akefia moved to have a closer look at the image Ryou had retrieved, and with only a glance began to grin widely at what he saw, "Ah yes~! That's him. Just like I remember him!" he commented looking the image over with a gleeful nostalgia. But after a moment he realized he was merely looking at an image, "Does it say where he is?"

Ryou hummed a moment before scrolling down the page, carefully reading the information at hand, all the while his smile tapering away before at last he shook his head, "No, there was only one ever made like Malik said..." He responded, almost immediately met with a distinct sense of pride from the Ring,

"Well he IS one of a kind~." Akefia replied proudly, feeling a distinct relief that his Ka was as he should be. One alone.

Ryou hummed before sighing, knowing Akefia would not be happy with what he was about to say, "It disappeared on the date it was first made. Not much is known other than the art, name and that it was a max ranked monster. It was going to be a prize at a world tournament. One thing I known though," He responded looking to the cross armed spirit, "A player would need a Diabound: Kernal card to summon the final form." As expected, Akefia's eyes and face hardened in light of the info.

"Disappeared?" Akefia echoed, irritation more than apparent in his voice as he looked off, "So locating him will be slim to nothing then, huh?" He growled shallowly, his anger barely withheld. Great. One step forward and twenty steps back it would appear. The fact that time was of the essence was something that irked the Thief further. The world had seemed to open up far more than he remembered, and from the sounds of it the card could quite literally be anywhere in the world. As eager as he was and if able he'd look, but there was simply no time.

Ryou frowned as he watched his Yami mull over the information. Despite the long shot that it had been, he'd hoped that he'd get some form of closure for his Yami. But it seemed it had only somewhat worsened the issue. Scratching his head out of habit, Ryou paused and hummed as he turned back to the screen as a thought occurred to him. Scrolling through the information once more he came down to the tournament info and with a brisk glance of his eye found himself staring; that was…. Interesting.

Turning to Akefia he cleared his throat, bringing the spirit's attention to him. Unconsciously he clasped his hands and began fidgeting with his fingers as he spoke, "The tournament was going to be held in Egypt… and there were plenty of sightings of Rare Hunters…" he gulped as he braced himself, "I'm getting a feeling I know who has it…"

Ryou felt himself pale as he watched Akefia's look of irritation swiftly break the surface and become one of pure rage, the sensation radiating from the Ring so oppressive he felt himself instinctively cringe as the Ring began to shake against his chest, "Are… you…. Kidding me?! He…. He…."

As he watched Akefia's hair stood on end, teeth bared in a manner he was sure would intimidate an angry lion, and he almost cried out in surprise as Akefia suddenly let out a furious snarl, "THAT SEWER DWELLING PIECE OF PLAGUE RIDDEN JACKAL SHIT! How… HOW DARE HE PLACE HIS FILTHY PAWS ON MY KA!? TREACHEROUS LITTLE FUCK! HOW DARE HE?!" he screamed in fury, swinging his arm to send the contents of a shelf onto the floor in his rage. Immediately his arm passed harmlessly through books and various Knick knacks. His eyes only grew wilder at this and snarling in fury was met with the same results several times before he was at last left simply standing in place, feeling his binds holding him prisoner almost mockingly, frustration leaving him wanting to vomit, wishing he could kill something to alleviate his rage.

Watching his Yami resolve to simply stand shaking in rage, Ryou swallowed the dry lump in his throat as he glanced around, still feeling the radiating heat of the Thief's wrath. The sight was actually disheartening in light of the fact that it was over something that was important to him… Ryou glanced about the room trying to think of some way to calm him. After a painful stretch that turned out to have been a mere minute he felt himself perk inwardly and looked back to the Thief, his voice somewhat shaky as he addressed the still raging spirit, "Uh, well… Malik's here right…?" he began, tensing a bit as Akefia shifted in place, "That means… there's a chance we can get him back…eheh…"

Ryou gulped again as he let his nervous laugh die off, watching and waiting to see if his words had even reached Akefia. He really hoped that it would be enough to settle him down…For a moment Akefia didn't seem to really react… but at length Ryou felt himself shift slightly as he saw Akefia's shoulders relax. Very slightly it seemed, but that was a good sign.

Akefia looked up slightly, the boy's words, which he had scarcely heard at all, slowly sinking in. After only a moment more he finally registered what the boy had said and slowly managed to speak through his tense rage, "Ah… That's right… he is isn't he~?"

Ryou perked as the Spirit seemed to limber up to his normal stance but just as immediately felt himself go rigid as a dark chuckle rumbled out of Akefia's throat, more so when he turned to look at him with a malicious grin to match, "Very nice~. And when we find that little fuck, I expect to have him CRUSHED." He said smoothly as he tightened his fist for emphasis.

Ryou simply nodded agreeingly to the comment and gesture, trying to stay calm under Akefia's intensity, "I wouldn't hold back with him anyway." He offered honestly not just to calm his Yami, but given he'd likely have no room to hold back given what would be going on; and he was rewarded with an approving smirk. Ryou then glanced to the Ring around his neck, blinking as an idea hit him, "There's only one so couldn't we use the Ring to locate it?" he watched as Akefia paused and seemed to ponder this thought and continued, "We don't know if Malik has it in his deck for sure. We know he has the Gods but one of his hunters might have it."

Akefia blinked at the boy's observation, his momentary grin vanishing once more, "Ah… Good point." He then scowled at Ryou's latter comment, "I doubt he himself will be dueling at all… he seems to love hiding behind his puppets… Coward. Regardless," he smirked once more and nodded, "Yes. The Ring SHOULD be able to locate it rather easily if it comes within range... But that might be at any given place in the area mind you… And I doubt the duel area will be small."

"True, it IS called battle City. It'll be covering all of Domino City. I know the area pretty well, not perfectly, but well." Ryou replied with a nod before thinking the situation over and hummed confidently, "It's a missing rare card; if it's played there should be talk of it. That or it'll come to us… Malik… enjoys taunting." He said slowly, earning a faintly visible twitch from the spirit's eye. Despite that he could see that Akefia's rage was subsiding, but his voice still carried a rigid tone,

"Very Good… Not much we can do about it then. Starting prematurely might not work out for either of us… especially since I'm so pissed off." He growled through grit teeth, causing Ryou to sweatdrop, but quickly decided to shove it to the side as he looked to his host, "Let him… gives us all the more pleasure when we humiliate the boastful rat." As his anger became manageable a thought occurred to him, "Also… he can't summon him without the current Diabound we possess correct?"

Ryou hummed and turned back to his computer and began looking up the Kernel card, "Depends on how many were made. There were five made originally. The first was won by Keith in a tournament, two others went missing, and the locations of the last two are unknown. They were probably put in card packs or bought by collectors." He looked back to the waiting spirit and exhaled, "Keith had one and he worked for the Rare Hunters…. They're known for making counterfeit cards…" Rubbing his temples at the information's implication himself, he knew the news would not break well with the still seething spirit before him, "and it says here the Rare Hunters stole two so it looks like Malik or his ghouls could summon it given the chance…"

Akefia's loathing frown intensified complete with a growl, "Messing with one's Ka is messing with one's very SOUL. If I still had a body I would have them all dead at my feet by now for such an insult…"

The comment caused Ryou to gulp nervously, everything about Akefia's posture to the simple radiating sensation from the Ring told him that Akefia very much meant it, 'He does have every right to be furious though…' he thought as he glanced to the floor. Diabound was very much a part of Akefia in literal and figurative sense. He was the only thing that he had left of his days in life thousands of years ago. To see him anywhere but with himself, an even copies of something so personal for a game was likely eating at him a lot more than he could actually imagine. It was at that thought that Ryou felt himself perk significantly and he once more looked to Akefia, "We'll find him. And we'll destroy the copies we find, okay?"

Akefia felt himself pause when he felt an odd sensation off the Boy and then stilled altogether in surprise at what he'd said, "Ah…? You'd do that?" in all honesty he'd been caught off guard. He hadn't even made mention of such a thing, although the thought had played in his mind… Ryou simply smiled and nodded surely,

"Diabound means a lot to you, so of course. Also they'll be fakes anyhow. Nothing to worry about." He informed, spirits lifting significantly as the angry sensation receded almost immediately and Akefia visibly calmed.

"Hmmm… Very good." Akefia managed. Glancing to the side he found himself rather stumped at the idea that the boy had managed to actually calm him down, but more so at the offer. It would make more sense if the boy made the offer out of fear of his anger, but given the sensation he'd felt in the Ring it was not the case, "Thanks…" he muttered, not knowing exactly how else to respond to the gesture.

Ryou paused, the last bit had been just beneath a whisper but in the otherwise silence of the room he'd caught it. At first it caught him by surprise, but after a few seconds he smiled brightly, "Don't mention it."

Before anything else could be said, Akefia huffed just as the sound of Ryou's cell phone broke the silence prompting both silverettes to look to the sound in curiosity, "Who could that be?" Ryou wondered aloud as he looked at the caller ID. He blinked curiously as he answered, "Hello, Anzu?"

"Bakura, something bad has happened!" Anzu began, her voice sounding rushed prompting Ryou's curiosity to shift to apprehension, immediately sitting upright in his chair, Akefia going on alert at the boy's sudden swing of emotion through the Ring.

"What happened?!"

"I was hanging out with Yugi when we ran into this cloaked man and he took Yugi's Puzzle! Yugi chased after him, I don't know where he went! I'm calling everyone for help!" Anzu declared stiffly.

Ryou was on his feet by this time, "Where are you?" he nodded accordingly when she relayed her location, "I'll be over as soon as I can." Quickly he ended the call and grabbed his shoes, 'Doesn't take much to figure Malik's already making a move.' He thought to himself angrily and worriedly… whatever he was doing, Yami and Yugi were in serious danger.

Akefia watched the boy quickly get into his shoes and glimpsed Ryou's less than guarded thought. Immediately he felt a devious grin split his face at the possible opportunity, the remnants of his earlier rage prompting him to the thrill of the chase, "Then what are we standing around for~?" he declared, disregarding the fact that he'd mildly intruded on the boys' thoughts, "Let's move!"

Ryou payed no mind to the intrusion and was immediately out of the door as Akefia's spectral form vanished, "I'm going to go meet my friends somewhere, be back later!" he called over his shoulder to his father as he headed out the front door, far to in a rush to give him the explanation, leaving the older man blinking confusedly and more or less forced to accept what he'd said.

In his rush to get to his friend Ryou found he'd managed to arrive before Jonouchi and Honda and stopped to catch his breath as he made it to Anzu.

Akefia, although impressed with the boy's speed, was not impressed over the fact that the others had yet to arrive. Given the boy was not exactly the most athletic especially by comparison, it was even more to his nerves, "All of them in one place." He muttered sarcastically, "It's a wonder ANYTHING gets done!"

Ryou gave a mental sigh to the Spirit's tone, 'The other's don't really live near here Akefia…' Akefia merely huffed in acceptance to this as Ryou straightened and looked to Anzu who finished her call, "Which way did they go?"

Anzu immediately pointed down an alleyway, "They went that way. I tried looking but I couldn't find them." She said despondently at the fact.

Ryou looked in the gestured direction and hummed. Somewhere down there, there was to be trouble… and likely his friend had already met it. The thought made his eyes harden in determination as he nodded, "Okay, I'll go on ahead. The Ring will find Yugi's Puzzle. He'll probably be nearby."

"Be careful!" Anzu called as he headed down the alley, looking around hoping to see Honda or Jonouchi not liking the idea that Ryou was heading in alone. To her growing anxiousness she saw neither.

As Ryou headed down the alley, Akefia focused his mind on the Puzzle urging the Ring into responding. It responded even further as Ryou's own want to find Yugi took hold and immediately one of the prongs pointed in the direction they needed to go. The further they went the more alert Akefia became, keeping a trained eye on every corner and possible nook, very well expecting a trap.

Ryou was likewise on alert, his hair prickling the back of his neck as he followed the ancient Item's lead. The walk seemed longer than it possibly was, but after a time he was finally confronted with a small time worn warehouse. Inhaling and glancing around he approached the doors, and as he had expected, he found it locked from the inside. Ryou hummed, he was now certain that Yugi was in there.

Akefia gave a chuckle and took spirit form as the Boy stepped back and began looking for another way in, "Locked? Oh no…such a shame…" he commented sarcastically before he too began looking around, "I doubt there will be any unlocked entrance here… heh…" he began, drawing Ryou's attention, "This will be simpler than robbing a peasant's grave." Humming he glanced the structure's form over and grinned as he spotted an easy entrance, "Ah~ Over there Ryou."

Ryou felt himself momentarily pale as he followed his Yami's gesture and was met with the sight of a rickety staircase that looked ready to snap in half. Before he could say anything though Akefia continued, "Go up that… But watch your step. It's a bit unstable, but you're not bulky. It'll hold."

Ryou blinked at the Thief's assessment and warning and, although still slightly unsure about the idea, headed over and carefully began to climb, taking careful steps as the staircase creaked and groaned under the pressure. He held fast all the while as the old metal occasionally wavered, a few times he was urged to skip a step that he didn't really trust or gave would otherwise give him distinct threats. But at length, much to his relief he made it to the top and gave a relived and rather proud sigh at the accomplishment.

This earned a chuckle from the phantasmal form beside him, "Well done." Akefia praised before turning his attention back to the task at hand, immediately catching sight of a broken window near the door, "First check the obvious. See if the door is unlocked. He might not have thought to lock this one… Failing that, there's a window~." he stated, the situation bringing back old memories.

Ryou nodded and headed for the door, hoping for the former, but found it too was locked, "of course…" he muttered a bit bitterly before looking up at the ledge above him. He gulped a bit not liking the idea of jumping even once on the unstable staircase, so he carefully gauged the distance and with a smooth thrust managed to catch the ledge, struggling only momentarily before he managed to pull his upper body up. To his relief the window lacked a pane and he was able to pull the rest of himself into the opening with little issue. Once in a sitting position he dropped into the building with a bit of a thud from the drop but easily righted himself, 'Made it!'

Akefia smirked as he watched the boy's endeavor; it reminded of his earlier attempts as a boy and grinned as the boy finally touched down inside, "Not Bad." He commented before looking around.

Ryou rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before he looked more closely to where he was and found he was on a scaffolding, and much to his dismay, the stairway down was long gone and the window was now out of reach. He barely had time to dwell on this issue when he heard voices. Immediately he headed to the rail and peered down to the sight of a dueling stage. He gripped the railing when he saw the trademark tricolored hair of Yugi dueling a man in a cloak.

Akefia likewise took in the sight with only mild surprise. He doubted that "pharaoh" would be immediately harmed… not before humiliation in some right. As he looked closely, however, he realized he was not looking at "pharaoh" but his vessel. Furrowing his brow he hummed curiously, "Well now… that's interesting." He paused his thoughts as one of the monsters attacked, drawing his eye. Immediately he scowled at the form, "Machines? Care to place a bet?" he commented to Ryou who bristled in realization.

'Keith. Seems he's one of Malik's favorites.' Shifting he carefully circled around to the opposite side of the scaffold and his eyes widened as he spotted the golden gleam of the Puzzle which was now chain spiked into the side of the stage. 'That explains why he didn't just try and take it back…' Ryou thought, although he knew it had to have been a good reason.

Akefia huffed at Ryou's assessment of Keith, "Seems so. Must be a weak enough mind." He commented wryly, the idea of servitude of any form rather pathetic. His thoughts on the matter were shelved however as his eye was immediately drawn away by the object dangling from the wall which dangled tauntingly at him, "Ah…. Right there…. Unguarded." He muttered stiffly.

The Thief's intense desire did not go unnoticed by Ryou, but his attention was diverted entirely as he took notice that Yugi was losing the duel. Ryou had not seen Yugi duel aside from friendly games with friends, but he knew that Yugi was a great duelist. So why was he doing so bad with what was at stake? Pausing at his own thoughts and seeing Yugi's expression he knew why immediately, 'He's distracted… I need to help him!' he thought, frantically looking around for some way to get down. He paused when his eyes fell on the only thing that could offer the task…

Akefia's intense gaze was broken when he glimpsed movement from his host and he blinked in confusion as the boy took hold of a chain that was dangling from the ceiling, "What are you doing?"

Pulling the chain to himself and keeping a firm gaze on the scene below he responded firmly, 'I'm going to help Yugi.'

Akefia blinked in brief shock at the declaration, even more so as the boy gripped the chain and began readying himself, a clear indication he meant to use the chain to get down. He blinked as he thought to himself, 'He's getting bolder… humph.' For a moment he watched the boy ready himself, a look of uncertainty beginning to show in the boy's eyes, and sighed in amusement, "Bit theatrical no?" he commented before laughing at the boy's conviction despite himself, "Very well…. Keep a firm grip here and here," Akefia instructed pointing to different points of the chain as Ryou adjusted himself, he smirked, "That fall isn't enough to kill you… but it sure as hell will break something if you slip."

With that, the Thief returned to the Ring, leaving Ryou gulping back the lump of apprehension that was fighting to urge him to stop this foolishness. But thinking of the dangers at hand he shook himself, did as his Yami instructed and took a deep slow breath to steady himself as he looked down, 'It's the only option I have…' he thought to himself before he heaved back and pushed off from the rail.

Immediately his heart began to race as he fell forward and instinctively he gripped the chain tighter as he rushed forward. Gritting his teeth and biting back the urge to yell he instead focused on his destination… and in mere seconds he nailed Keith in the back of the head effectively knocking him forward and causing him to black out.

The act earned a roaring laugh from Akefia, "HAHAHA! Make due with what you have and you've got it all~. Nice shot~!" he laughed. He had expected the boy to swing down, but honestly had not expected him to pull that stunt. He was fullheartedly amused.

Lying flat on his back now, heart still hammering away, Ryou felt himself sweatdrop as Akefia's voice echoed through the Ring and in extension his head, "Eheh, thanks. I'm surprised I pulled it off in one piece, but it worked that's all that matters.' He replied pulling himself to his feet.

"Exactly." Akefia replied, still chuckling.

Ryou looked to the control panel and quickly pressed a button, urging the platform to go down. Once it was close enough to the ground he jumped out and rushed over to his visibly stunned friend, "Yugi!"

"Bakura?!" Yugi stammered, genuinely stunned at what he had just witnessed.

"Are you alright?" he asked prompting Yugi to lower his own platform.

"I'm fine. What are you doing here?!" Yugi inquired, still trying to comprehend the shy silverette's action, which he seemed to be playing off as he responded rather seriously,

"Anzu called me. She told me what happened and I rushed over." Ryou stated truthfully.

As his host made small chat, Akefia turned his thoughts to the platform Keith was on and hummed, inwardly irked that he could not just project himself for threat of being exposed to his enemy, but that still left him blind to another currently. Keith was unconscious no doubt, but given the Millennium Scepter's abilities he knew that would be short lived, and even with two against one a fight would not be well balanced. In the end it was best to move things along quickly, "We need to get the Puzzle down and get out of here… Not like we can do much else."

Ryou inwardly nodded as he looked to the Puzzle, 'Right… easier said than done though.' He thought as he eyed the nail holding it firmly against the wall, 'We need something to help pry it out…'

'Plenty of irons.' Akefia commented as he glanced around before instructing the boy, 'Take one and use it for leverage.'

"Eh?! The button is stuck!" Yugi cried out suddenly, drawing Ryou's attention back to his friend. He shifted as he noted that the platform had stalled and was still a ways off the ground.

Akefia stalled at the vessel's comment, 'What?' he then growled irately and rolled his eyes at the sight and knew he could not likely get down on his own, nor would Ryou just leave it be, 'Best help him down then…'

Rather than let Akefia's tone upset him, Ryou simply ignored his Yami's stiff tone and moved to help Yugi, "Come on, I'll help you down."

As the young silverette was helping his friend find a way down, Keith let out a low groan as he came to only to be met with a stinging throb on the back of his head. Dazed and still groaning as he moved to rub the spot tenderly his own inner voice caused his head to pound, 'What the fuck hit me…?'

An increasing hazy pressure began to press into Keith's mind and before he could question the sensation he would otherwise recognize, the smooth and rather irate tone of Malik Ishtar sent another dull throb through his skull, {I believe it was the 'runt'…} Malik said in mock sarcasm before raising his voice in anger, the Scepter glowing as if to mirror his irritation, {NOW GET UP!}

Keith's head, much to his own surprise, jerked up suddenly against his will sending a pang of pain through his skull. Immediately he knew Malik had opted to take to puppeteering him in rather sudden franticness to salvage whatever he could of the situation, {Get up and break the Puzzle! Smash it! Set this place on fire! We can retrieve the Puzzle Pieces later… they'll survive.} He ordered venomously as Keith sat up, the throb in his head making him wish to tell Malik to fuck off despite the consequences, to which of course he resisted.

As he shifted to get up, Keith blinked as he felt the pain suddenly disperse, his mind no longer muddled. He was caught momentarily off guard by this when Malik urged him to move, {I've numbed the pain and steadied your mind, so get to it!}

Rubbing the area that no longer seemed to be tender, he smirked viciously at the order. An open opportunity to get back at the little white runt and possibly end him was right in his face, and he was going to take it while the getting was good, 'Sure thing Boss~.' He replied as he quietly got up and looked towards the two runts who were currently too preoccupied to notice him, 'Alright, the runt is distracted helping the other runt…' he thought to himself as he looked around, spotting the chain Ryou had swung down on, 'Escape route located~.' He thought with a broad grin.

Looking back to the two still trying to get down, Keith carefully and quietly took up a pipe that was on his platform. Carefully as not to be seen just yet, he pried his station's panel open revealing the tech within and unceremoniously stabbed the rod into the power panel, sparks immediately dancing wildly at the invasive object. Keith grinned as he watched the sparks intensify and smoke began to become prominent quickly followed by a small flame, to which he chuckled and turned his attention to his second objective that was currently hanging on the wall.

Carefully gouging his distance between himself and the Puzzle he smirked as Ryou was having slow progress aiding his runtier friend down, 'This is going to be easy~.' He thought as he flexed himself. Without any further stalling he jumped down and rushed towards the Puzzle.

Ryou had finally gotten Yugi down when the sudden sound of running drew his attention behind him. Seeing Keith rushing them immediately making him lock up, stunned at how quickly Keith had managed to recover. Quickly his mind raced to brace himself for the oncoming male, but blinked confusedly as he noted he wasn't heading for them… he froze as he stopped a few paces away and blinked when he noticed he had taken hold of something. Immediately he noted he was now holding the Puzzle firmly in his hand, "What are you-"

"Leave the Puzzle alone!" Yugi cried out suddenly in alarm, eyes wide in what looked to be panic. It was at this that Ryou tensed realizing what was about to happen and he stiffened.

Keith's mocking chuckle prompted both boys to vainly brace for what was about to happen, "Oh I'm just gonna show you why it's the Puzzle~." He stated as he drew his arm and the Puzzle back. The two boys could only watch in stunned horror as the Puzzle exploded into its individual components in one swift and powerful blow. Keith laughed at the distressed cry of Yugi and, to Ryou's confusion, turned and rushed away, "I'm not your real problem right now though~." He called back mockingly as he made his escape up the chain. Keith paused to sneer down at the two boys, "So long runts! Haw-ha!"

Ryou could only watch as Keith destroyed the only manner of escape and disappeared out the window with surprising ease, his words having sounded a lot more menacing than they should have... His thoughts stalled as an odd smell caught his attention, 'What's that smell?' he thought rather tensely. He would have ignored it, but something about it and it's increasing strength told him it should not be ignored. It took him only a moment longer before instinct informed him of the danger, 'Fire.' He thought rigidly, hair standing on end. They were trapped in a burning building!

He was about to voice this when a clinking sound caught his ear, making him turn to see Yugi gathering the Puzzle and almost hypnotically putting it back together in what appeared to be a self-induced trance. Immediately he attempted to get his friend's attention, but his efforts seemed to fall on deaf ears. Swallowing thickly he looked around the building that held them prisoner unsure of what to do when he realized that in his rush to find his friend he'd forgotten his cell phone on his desk. Eyes flicking from the growing fire to his friend he attempted to keep himself calm to figure out what to do… but as the fire grew and his friend refused to leave his Puzzle, panic slowly began to take hold.

Apologies for taking so long guys! Renagade Rex Sphinx unfortunately had computer issues, and other issues to deal with. If you go to my profile page I have updates on how stories are going, if something like this happens I will have the statues up!

That out of the way I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Now I know I said we wouldn't do "anime only" arcs, but the who Keith in the warehouse scene isn't an arc, and there is a similar scene in the manga, although its kind of jarring so I actually enjoy the anime's version of Otogi showing up better actually lol. Also it was a good scene to help show Ryo's development more.

Renagade-Thief Bakura & Ryo's father.

Me-Yugi, Keith, Anzu and Ryo

Chapter written by Renagade Rex Sphinx, edited by me.

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