Once again, thanks to all my readers! And another big thanks to anyone who has followed, favorited, and/or reviewed this story. You guys are honestly wonderful, and help so much with my inspiration! ^-^

Content warning(s): a bit of blood + references to past blood and gore

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Chapter start!

Submersion

By: The Half-Blood Guardian

Chapter 15: A Shift in Plans

It was Wednesday, and school was out again; on Monday, parents and guardians of students enrolled at Domino High had been informed that their charges weren't required to attend for the next few days.

One of the students, a rather strange boy a year older than Yuugi, had suddenly gone missing, and he had overheard chatter that there might have been a link between this teen's disappearance and Ushio's murder. Of course, there hadn't been any police statements released saying that this was plausible, but Yuugi suspected that the lack of response might have been to try to keep people calm. Everyone knew how bad Ushio's case had been, and any indication from official sources that the other student might have ended up like the older teen would cause a panic.

Yuugi sat cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom, too lost in his head to think of getting up and using either his bed or his desk chair to sit; even if the position had been uncomfortable, he wouldn't have noticed.

When he wasn't wondering about the rumors surrounding the missing student, he was thinking about what had happened just before he'd left the museum.

That man, Shadi. He had said something about discovering "the other" inside of Yuugi, and the "true power of the Millennium Puzzle." The teen absently stroked the golden pendant and closed his eyes.

I wonder what he meant…

Inside the Puzzle, the spirit was lost in his own musings.

He found himself smirking occasionally; the wide variety of theories that had come up in the gossip he'd overheard was somewhat amusing. He was also rather surprised that quite a few believed there to be a link between Ushio's punishment and the "disappearance" of the most recent student, Kokurano. Almost none of the other theories were correct, of course.

The Yakuza, for example, were in no way involved in either "case." Nor were extraterrestrials of any kind. The spirit snickered. A few of his Shadows, still lethargic from their latest feast, blinked lazily at the noise.

While the excess energy that naturally wafted off of Yuugi's brilliant soul was usually enough to sustain him and his Shadows, they had punished many people recently, and had fed on very few of them. His Shadows had been hungry, and he'd seen little reason to deny them a meal.

He had played a game, and won.

It had surprised his Shadows just as much as himself when they had managed to consume not just his opponent's soul, but the body as well. If anyone was able to find even a trace of that disgusting, lecherous student after such a feeding, the spirit would be supremely impressed.

He had quickly been able to dismiss this strange new facet to the Shadows' feeding; it had lent his Shadows even more strength than exclusively consuming souls, and so far seemed to have had no negative effects, so there was no need to dwell on it.

A thought that did still frequent his mind to a seemingly endless degree was his interaction with that white-robed man at the museum. Because the spirit had felt a twinge of weakness and hunger when the stranger, Shadi, had played his game, and yet he had refrained. Why had he done that? No matter how he pondered it, he couldn't understand what had caused his decision.

Why had he saved the man, when he could just as easily have allowed his Shadows a meal?

Yuugi eventually left his room for the kitchen. He may have been rather out of it, but hunger was always a good motivator, and had ultimately made the decision for him. He opened the refrigerator, his stomach remembering last night's leftovers even as his mind remained on other topics.

Sugoroku's voice coming from the living room was what finally broke him from his reverie.

"This… this is terrible…"

Alerted by his grandfather's words, Yuugi closed the fridge and looked over at him. The man's gaze was fixed on the TV, and Yuugi made his way over to the sofa to watch with him.

"-owner of Domino Museum, as well as another man, whose family has requested his name not be released, were found dead in Kanekura's office early this morning. The cause of death for the second man was apparently a heart attack, and he was otherwise unscathed. Kanekura, however, was beheaded. According to the coroner, this appears to have been done by some sort of animal, though the species has not yet been identified, and no other traces were found of someone or something else having recently entered the office. As of now, who or what was responsible remains a mystery. In other news, the search continues for missing high school student Kokurano-"

Sugoroku shut off the television, and both he and Yuugi sat in shock.

"Kanekura-san is… dead?" Yuugi murmured to himself. Sugoroku nodded silently. Then his eyes widened, and he quickly stood from the couch.

"Jii-chan?" Yuugi asked. "What are you doing? What's going on?"

The old man paused. "Yoshimori-kun worked with Kanekura. They were colleagues. I can only imagine what he's feeling right now. I'm going to go visit his office at the university." He gave Yuugi a strained smile. "See if I can't cheer him up a bit."

Yuugi had only just met Yoshimori the other day, but even so, he felt bad for his grandpa's friend. "Can I come too?" He asked.

"Oh! Of course you can," Sugoroku said, heading towards the genkan to slip on his shoes. "I'm sure he would appreciate that."

Such was his distraction that he didn't even think to scold Yuugi for not having put his own shoes away previously.

Shadi sat with his eyes closed, taking deep, slow breaths. The Egyptian would have gladly moved on to dealing punishment to the next trespasser already, but he knew that doing so now would not be the best approach. He had to be in a more level, balanced state of mind before going after the man, and right now, his mind still swirled with memories and conflicting emotions.

When he had left the child, his thoughts on the strange entity that resided within the boy's mind had been… not exactly friendly, and not wholly positive, but not really negative, either. The spirit had just saved his life, after all.

He had challenged Shadi (an understandable action, considering Shadi's entrance into his domain) and won. What he had done after that was what was now causing him concern. The spirit creature had left him dangling over an abyss that could swallow him whole, had toyed with him, and then, for no clear reason, had decided to release him.

Shadi had been relieved to begin with. Looking back on their encounter in its entirety, though, he could see the instability underlying the spirit's behavior. And he had done everything while wielding the unknown power of the Millennium Puzzle. That sort of power in the hands of a creature with an unstable mind was dangerous, both to the world at large and to the youth he had taken as some sort of host.

In his mind's eye, Shadi saw those large, violet eyes and the light and innocence all but radiating from them. Heard the soft, gentle voice that had carried such concern for a complete stranger.

The dark being had no place residing alongside such a pure soul, and Shadi had no doubt that the continued presence of the parasitic entity would eventually ruin the boy, would suck the light out of him and leave him as nothing but a husk.

Whatever the power of the Millennium Puzzle was, it did not belong in the hands of a dangerous lunatic, human or otherwise. And so Shadi would take it. He would defeat the spirit creature, and save the child and all the other innocents who would inevitability come to harm were the entity allowed to continue using the Millennium Puzzle's power.

Ideas and strategies ran through the man's mind. If he wished to take out the powerful spirit, he would have to be well prepared. He needed a plan before confronting him again; he wouldn't make the same mistake he'd made the first time by going in blind.

…Though he was not yet ready to cast judgement on the second trespasser, the man might still be of worth to Shadi. Perhaps he could use him to draw out the spirit creature. The Millennium Key thrummed softly, assuring him that it was ready to use its power. The servant of Anubis opened his eyes and stood fluidly. He had a certain professor to visit.

"Hey, Yuugi!"

Yuugi looked up from the sidewalk in surprise to see his friends heading toward him.

"Honda-kun! Jounouchi-kun!" He called, waving. They reached him quickly, and he didn't have time to ask anything before the two were talking.

"We just saw the news about Kanekura," said Jounouchi.

Honda nodded. "It's sad and… kinda creepy that someone we just met is dead."

"We wanted to come and check on you, and then maybe go see Yoshimori." Jounouchi concluded.

"I bet he knows more of the details on the case than we do." Honda said with a smile. Jounouchi raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him as Yuugi and Sugoroku frowned.

"Uh, plus we wanted to make sure the guy's doing okay." The brunet added sheepishly, coughing.

No on else said anything for a moment.

"Jii-chan and I were going to see him, too!" Yuugi blurted, hoping to break the awkward silence, and Sugoroku smiled lightly.

"Well then, we can all go together." The man said. Nods and noises of affirmation went around, and Yuugi sighed softly. Thankfully the short-lived tension that had sprung up between the group seemed to have been sorted out.

Now if only the sense of foreboding that had taken up residence in his gut would go away as well.

Yoshimori sat in his study at the university, head bowed as he rubbed his temples. He looked up slightly and caught sight of his exhausted appearance reflected in his office window. In the background, sound from a small television set played the same news report for the third time that day. He stood up and switched it off. The silence that followed was almost as bad. He sank back into his seat and placed his head in his hands.

Although they had worked together for years, he and Kanekura hadn't been close in any sense of the word. The museum director had always had a much looser sense of right and wrong, and Yoshimori found that he hadn't had the stomach for it. So he'd remained distant. While Yoshimori hadn't been able to actually tell anyone about his suspicions – both due to his own hesitancy and Kanekura's higher position – he was almost certain that the man was illegally selling some of the items that had been found on the digs he funded. There had been too many "misplaced" artifacts over the years to write it off as an accident.

So no, they hadn't been close. But to think that the man had been killed, and in such a violent manner…

He released a long, weary sigh, rubbing at his tired eyes. He lifted his head again, jerking and spinning around in his seat when the reflection he saw in the window was no longer just his own. A man, deeply tanned and wearing white clothing and a turban, was standing directly behind him.

"Wh-who are you?" He stammered, shrinking into his chair. "How did you get in here?" Yoshimori had locked his office door earlier, paranoia driving his actions, but now it seemed he had been right to feel such caution. The intruder didn't answer, just took a golden object from the folds of his clothing and touched it to Yoshimori's forehead. The archaeologist gasped, eyes rolling back, and the world abruptly faded into nothing.

"-gotta be a curse!" Jounouchi was saying. "I told you so, Honda!"

Honda just huffed and rolled his eyes. Yuugi blinked, trying to remember the last few minutes, but it was a blur, and all he could focus on was the feeling of foreboding that was growing inside him with each step he took.

"Um… Honda-kun? Jounouchi-kun?" He finally managed to choke out. Said teenagers looked at him curiously. "I just… I have this feeling. I think it would be better if you didn't go."

Everyone stopped. Honda's eyes widened in understanding.

"You're worried that Jounouchi's afraid of that 'curse,' aren't you?"

Jounouchi gave Yuugi a lopsided grin. "Hey, it's alright, man! I was just joking around. I'm not really scared. Yoshimori showed us around the museum, and he seems like a good guy. We're concerned about him, that's all. Just like you."

"O-oh, okay." Yuugi said, smiling weakly. They continued walking then, the taller boys apparently satisfied with their friend's response.

It wasn't much later that Domino University came into view, just as the sun was going down, and Yuugi couldn't help the shudder that rippled down his spine at the sight of the building.

They soon arrived outside the door to the archaeologist's office on the fourth floor of the university. Yuugi hung at the tail of the group, an uncomfortable tingle pricking the back of his neck.

"Yoshimori-kun?" Sugoroku called, knocking on the door. "It's Sugoroku. I brought my grandson and his friends, as well. May we come in?"

"Yes…" Came a quiet reply. "Come in, please…"

Sugoroku did so, opening the door to let them through. Yuugi peered around his friends and caught sight of the man they'd come to see. He was sitting at his desk, hunched over in his seat with his head bowed. In front of Yuugi, Jounouchi tensed. Something wasn't right. He could feel it. Honda, ever attuned to his long time friend's nonverbal cues, stiffened as well.

Yoshimori slowly stood from his chair and turned his body halfway towards the group, head rolling lazily around to look at them. Yuugi almost took a step back. Rather than the dark brown coloration he remembered, Yoshimori's eyes were a strangely familiar burnt orange that were concurrently glazed over and piercingly intense.

"Thank you for coming," the words left his lips in a murmur. "Come in, come in, come in…" The professor began to shuffle around the room, before stopping with his face to a corner. "I've been waiting for you."

"I-I uh," Jounouchi started awkwardly, then cleared his throat, "I brought something for you." He carefully reached for his pocket and took a cautious step forward. "Y'know, as thanks for showing us around the museum."

"Oi! Ixnay on the useum-may, man!" Honda growled under his breath, and Jounouchi slapped a hand over his mouth in mortification.

"Oh yes, the museum," Yoshimori muttered. He said nothing more for a moment. A muscle in his neck twitched. "Somebody killed him…" Thin shoulders shook minutely, and Yuugi thought for a second that he was crying. Then the man turned his head back towards them, and his (bizarre, unnatural) eyes were glittering with mirth instead of tears. "Somebody killed Kanekura-san…" He suddenly erupted into giggles, and Jounouchi reflexively stepped back into place in front of Yuugi.

"Yoshimori-kun, is something wrong?" Sugoroku asked, his brow furrowed.

"No… no… There is nothing wrong." A wide grin stretched the archaeologist's face. "I was just waiting… waiting for him…"

He giggled again, then lunged towards the group, hands grasping the first thing they met: Jounouchi's neck.

"Jounouchi-kun!" Yuugi screamed, feet frozen while Honda and Sugoroku rushed to stop the man.

"I want to see him!" Yoshimori hissed, slamming the blond up against a wall. "I want to see the other within Yuugi!"

Honda pulled with everything he had, but somehow the thin man was practically unaffected. Confusion and terror and a strange echo of outrage rattled around inside of Yuugi's mind. Why was Yoshimori attacking Jounouchi? This was nothing like the amicable man they'd met at the museum. It was like he was possessed!

Jounouchi choked, eyes bulging and mouth gaping as his fingers scrabbled against the ones wrapped around his throat like a vice. Yuugi looked around frantically for something to pry the man off of his friend, but Honda beat him to it, grabbing a heavy globe from the desk. He charged forward and smashed the globe into Yoshimori's face.

A tooth went flying from the force, and the man went down hard. Jounouchi fell as well, gasping and coughing. Yuugi and Sugoroku hurried to the blond's side. Yuugi laid a hand on his friend's back.

"Are you okay, Jounouchi-kun?"

"Y…yeah…" Jounouchi croaked, rubbing his throat and sucking in lungfuls of precious air. "Yeah, I think so…" He started pushing himself up with shaky arms, and both Yuugi and Sugoroku helped him to his feet. Jounouchi took a moment to steady himself, then glanced at Yoshimori. "Is he out?"

"Looks like it," said Honda, who had been watching the professor cautiously while the others were preoccupied. He breathed a deep sigh when the man remained still and finally allowed himself to focus fully on Jounouchi.

In the same moment, Yoshimori's eyes opened and he stumbled to his feet with a snarl.

"Yoshimori-kun!" Sugoroku shouted, raising his hands. "It's me, Sugoroku! Do you remember me? I'm your friend!"

Crazed eyes held no recognition, and Jounouchi tugged Sugoroku back when the professor swiped at the old man.

Yoshimori lunged again, this time for Yuugi, but Honda's fist shot out before he could touch the boy, landing a devastating punch right on his mouth. The man barely faltered, only howled angrily, baring a bloodied mouth now dominated by chipped and missing teeth.

"Split up!" Honda yelled, and no one felt much like disagreeing. The shout drew Yoshimori's attention. The man looked at Honda's bloody fist and howled once again. "Y-yeah, that's right!" Honda replied. "I'm the one that hit you! Come and get me!" He dashed out of the room and down the hall, the professor not far behind him.

Through it all, Shadi watched from the room's shadows, his presence cloaked in darkness.

It would seem that the professor was not enough. Yuugi, and therefore the spirit creature, did not truly know the archaeologist. Shadi would have to use one that they did know in order to draw his opponent out.

The spirit creature was partial towards the boy and the boy's loved ones. Shadi eyed the blond, who was still weak from being nearly strangled. And who was unknowingly coming closer to the man's hiding spot. Just as he had done not a half hour earlier with the professor, the servant of Anubis allowed himself to become visible to the teenager, who barely had time to jerk backwards before the Millennium Key forced down his consciousness and paved the way for Shadi to enter his Soul Room.

Yuugi panicked as Honda led Yoshimori away, Sugoroku chasing after them. He turned to look to Jounouchi for assistance in going to help, then gasped and stumbled back at the unexpected presence of the Egyptian whose words had haunted his thoughts for the past several days.

"Shadi-san?" Yuugi said haltingly. "What, what are you doing here?"

Shadi opted not to answer him, instead replying, "I must apologize for my puppet's rudeness."

"Puppet…?" Yuugi asked. A horrified understanding began to dawn on him. "You mean, the professor… you made him attack us?" He breathed.

"I did." Said Shadi.

"Why…?" The boy whispered. "Shadi-san, why are you doing this?"

The man's eyes softened slightly with sympathy. "I know that my actions may seem unfair, even cruel, but I assure you I am only doing what is best for all involved."

"How can any of this be what's best?" Yuugi asked, his eyes searching Shadi's and trying desperately to understand.

So the boy still did not know of the spirit creature. Shadi was not overly surprised. It wasn't uncommon for a Millennium Item to pick up on the intents of its wielder, and to act according to those intents.

While the spirit creature was not the Millennium Puzzle's chosen holder, he was somehow its wielder, and he obviously didn't want his host to interrupt him while he was busy using the body or to make things more difficult by trying to remove him, so the Puzzle kept the boy from worrying too much. From what Shadi had gathered in the little time he had spent in the entity's presence, the spirit also seemed to have a peculiar… fondness? obsession? where the boy was concerned, and that was reflected in the way the teenager handled the Puzzle with an amount of tenderness that bordered on obsessive.

Most wielders weren't aware of the effect they had on their Items – or of their Items' effects on themselves. That appeared to be the case here, both for the boy and for the spirit.

The wielder gave the Item a semblance of… not quite consciousness, at least not in the sense that the Item could think – it couldn't. But it could have vague desires and preferences, and in effect "lived" vicariously through the wielder's consciousness.

In a way, the spirit himself was a host, just like anyone else who possessed an Item.

Such musings were not relevant now, though.

"The other inside you." The man stated simply. "He is dangerous, and mad. I must remove him, for your safety and the safety of all others. To do that, he must show himself before me so that I may challenge him."

"What 'other?'" Yuugi cried, tears of stress and frustration threatening to fall. "I don't understand! All you're doing is hurting me and my friends! The professor… no… you could have k-killed Jounouchi-kun!" His vision, already blurred from his tears, fuzzed violently with static, and he grasped his head, wobbling dizzily. Shadi watched, sharp eyes zeroing in on the boy's actions. Was this a sign that the spirit was finally going to show himself?

The stumbling teen quieted, eyelids fluttering closed, and he stilled. Then a pair of familiar red eyes snapped open. They quickly found Shadi's own and narrowed into slits of burning vitriol.

"You."

"Indeed." Shadi said, looking into those fiery depths. "I see you have finally shown yourself, spirit creature."

The spirit snarled, Shadows writhing around his form. Shadi made no outward indication of unease, further infuriating him.

"I showed you mercy, and you spat on my clemency." He hissed.

"I believed myself to be in your debt. I have since realized that I owe you nothing." Said Shadi. "I did not acknowledge it at the time, but your sudden leniency bespoke of instability. You are a danger to all around you. The power of the Millennium Puzzle cannot be allowed to continue being used by one with an unstable mind. I challenge you to a Shadow Game."

"A game?" The spirit sneered. "No. We already played a game. You have tried my patience long enough. I will finish you now!" Shadi only sighed.

"I had suspected you might deny me a chance at counteraction. That is why I devised a means by which I could ensure your cooperation." He stepped to the side, revealing a cloudy-eyed Jounouchi standing silently, mouth slack and staring into the middle distance.

The Shadows shrieked furiously, and the spirit nearly reeled back. The teenager felt… empty. Like his body was there, but his mind was not.

"What have you done to him!" The spirit roared.

"I redesigned the room of his soul." Shadi replied calmly. "This boy is now a puppet who cannot speak or think. He cannot move without my first willing him to do so." He tilted his head to glance at the blond. "This is why you will not try to harm me without first defeating me. Because you obsess over your host, and I control this boy that your host so cares for. If I ordered him to die…" he looked directly at the entity and narrowed his eyes, "…he would die!"

The spirit growled, dark hatred and rage smoldering in his veins.

"What are your terms?" He spat out.

"I will reveal them after I have finished making preparations. Fortunately, I have already pondered extensively on how to go about setting up your trial, so it should not take me long."

The spirit's fists clenched so hard they shook, but knew he could do nothing to retaliate at the moment. "I accept your challenge!" He snapped bitterly.

"Very well." Shadi nodded, then gestured to a clock on the wall. "Come to me when the clock strikes eight. I will be waiting for you on the roof."

The spirit turned to look at the clock, which read 7:51. When he looked back, the man was gone. So was Jounouchi. He snarled again, pacing the empty study while his Shadows screeched and helpless anger seeped down into him until the very marrow of his bones demanded retribution.

To be continued…