Last Time

"You haven't seen the last of me! I will get my revenge!!!" The evil Yuugi screamed before his vessel's body fell to the ground, limp and motionless.

Jonouchi stared at Yuugi with wide eyes as he collapsed to the ground, Jonouchi turned his head towards Anzu who also looked like she was struggling, he smiled, this was Yuugi's chance to try and take full and true control.

"Yuugi!!!" Anzu screamed as her mind was purified of the Oracle for the moment but as a safety measure she stored away their Oracle stones for when they had a chance to regain control.

Jonouchi smiled as Anzu seemed to be set free, Hikari smiled from the opposite side; Anzu and Yuugi had been hiding things all along so whether there was something else going to happen next was a mystery to them.

Yuugi awoke his pure side in control again. "What...happened?"

End Flashback

"Yuugi, you're alright" Jonouchi called happily, making his way briskly to Yuugi's side. "Don't you remember anything?" He asked hopefully.

"A little bit." Yuugi replied, rubbing his temples as the aftermath of overtaking his evil half had been quite strenuous on the teen's body.

"What do you remember?" Jonouchi asked. He knew the more Yuugi remembered, the closer the group was to permanently saving Yuugi and Anzu, and ending Yuugi's reign of terror that he'd unleashed with the Oracle's seemingly boundless power.

Hikari turned her attention to Yami, there had been no sign of him awakening yet, she looked back up at Yuugi, wondering why. She was sure that with the good Yuugi in control, Yami would've been freed from the binds that held him prisoner.

"Well I recall taking a few people's souls and something involving the Sennen Items. Everything else is a blur." Yuugi answered, sounding almost downcast at the lack of memories he had.

"So you don't remember what you did to us? What you did to Yami? Anything else?" Jonouchi asked, sounding almost disappointed at Yuugi's lack of memories.

"Nope, why?" Yuugi asked in reply almost innocently.

"Jou....Jonouchi?" Anzu asked as she awoke.

"Anzu!" Jonouchi sighed with relief that she too was now awake and free from the Oracle's grip, at least for the time being.

"What happened?" She asked, her head lightly throbbing.

"Long story short, the Oracle got to you two. You did some pretty insane things since then, just glad to have you guys back." Jonouchi replied.

"Yeah… I am too." Anzu replied happily.

Jonouchi smiled when he realized how sincere Anzu and Yuugi appeared, that they had truly been set free.

"Maybe you guys should release everyone, then we can get Yami back" he suggested with a smile.

'No...' A voice whispered in Yuugi's mind as he stayed silent in reality.

"Yuugi?" Jonouchi asked, noticing his friend's silence. "What's up? Come on, you'll want to get Yami back, he needs to get back into the Puzzle so we can figure out his past."

'I cannot allow that' The evil Yuugi whispered in his host's mind while the Yuugi in reality still kept silent.

Jonouchi stared at Yuugi, unsure why he hadn't said anything.

Kaiba who still stood close by also watched with a puzzled look as he stared at his now-silent dueling rival.

"He'll come back eventually Jou." Anzu replied, not wanting to divert any more attention to Yuugi than their already was.

"What's up with you? You're free from the Oracle, I thought you'd want to help Yami." Jonouchi asked, a bit confused by his friends' seemingly non-caring attitudes towards the situation.

"I will…" Yuugi answered solemnly, seeming to at the moment, say whatever it took to silence Jonouchi's protests over his attitude and somewhat still-dark mannerisms.

Jonouchi stared at Yuugi, perplexed by his still dark attitude; he looked up at Anzu, seeing Kaiba and Airtos in the corner of his eye.

Airtos suddenly screamed in pain.

Jonouchi gasped, Kaiba stepped away from Airtos, neither was sure what was happening, but both were pretty stunned by the sudden outburst.

Airtos continued to scream as her wings slowly turned black as she held her head, trying desperately to stop the now-searing pain she felt as the Oracle started to claim her…

"No" Kaiba gasped. "This happened before, last time, it can't be." He murmured, horror-struck.

"What?" Jonouchi asked, having been comatose when it first happened during Raphael's second duel with Yami.

"Airtos is turning evil." Kaiba claimed.

Airtos screamed one last time before her wings were totally black her eyes turning red as she fell under the Oracle's influence.

"Airtos no!" Jonouchi called. "What's going on Yuugi, what's happening? Are you alright, tell me Airtos going evil hasn't affected you guys!" Jou said, badly panicking now.

The fragment of the good Yuugi screamed as he was engulfed by the darkness allowing the Oracle to slowly regain control of Yuugi and Anzu.

"Yuugi!" Jonouchi screamed for his friend. "Fight it, I know you can, think of Yami, you have to help us, we have to get him back, to stop the Oracle, come on Yuge!" He pleaded desperately.

However his efforts proved futile as the Oracle shined on their foreheads brighter than ever.

"Yuugi, no!" Jonouchi cried out, stepping back from the pair.

Yuugi smiled wickedly as the Oracle's soul-tainting power began to once again blanket his soul in complete and total darkness…

Anzu smiled in the same fashion, her eyes fixed on Jonouchi as they began to glow again, red as the blood in her body, she grinned seeing Jonouchi despair over the Oracle's new victory over them. The real Anzu would've rushed to Jou's side and tried to console him.

But unfortunately for Jonouchi, that Anzu was no longer in control, the evil darkness-loving Anzu was…

And as quickly as they had been saved by Airtos, thanks to the Oracle claiming the gentle Guardian monster, they were now just as quickly fading away and being wrapped in a thick blanket of the Oracle's unstoppable evil…

Jonouchi and the others' time was running out…

To be continued…