The reason this chapter took a bit longer than normal is the fact I started writing it on my phone on a trolley ride to the mall. From there I had to copy it to here. Then I had military classes that interfered but I managed to get this done. R&R!

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything within this story.

Chapter 6

Arguments and Fears

Clarissa sat in her room in disbelief. The hotel was vacant of her two friends and none of the hotel staff had seen them since the class left. On the verge of tears she covered her face with her pale hands. On top of all this, she had been informed that Tea had requested a room change with her.

A soft knock came as Clarissa let her tears flow. She didn't bother to let them stop as she stood. Opening the door with a sniff she was met with a warm hug from none other than Justin. Clarissa let him guide her to the bed and sit her down still keeping his hold on her.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. They're calling the authorities in the morning, or so I've been told. The manager said that due to the resort's location by the time they got here it would be nightfall and the search wouldn't be any use. I know the rules say that we can't stay overnight in the other's room but we can sit together in the lounge downstairs if you want."

Clarissa let this process through her mind. If the search wasn't to begin until tomorrow morning, then she begged whoever was looking over the two to at least allow them to find some place safe for the night.

"Thank you Justin. You're not as bad a guy as I first thought you jocks might be." Clarissa smiled a tear filled smile dabbing at her cheeks with her shirt.

"Hey we aren't all heartless." Justin chuckled his lean muscular shoulders shaking as he did so. Wiping a stray tear from Clarissa's face he stood. Clarissa followed him out putting her room key in her back pocket.

The other five friends were all sitting around in the hotel lounge concern etched on all of their faces. They had received the same news as Clarissa except their reactions were far worse. Joey had started yelling obscenities at the manager while Duke and Tristan threatened his job. A lot of angry words were exchanged between the three students and the teachers before Yugi and Tea dragged them away to cool down. If they hadn't taken action when they did Joey, Tristan and Duke would all be on a bus ride home and facing suspension.

"I can't believe them! Waiting until morning to do something about all this!" Joey raised his voice as he glared down at the floor as if it were to blame for what occurred. The green plush carpet didn't take any notice.

"Joey think about this rationally. The rangers are two hours away from here. It would be too dark for them to even start looking. The hotel manager is doing his best. Besides that they have to get statements from the entire group so they know where to begin the search." Tea's soothing voice came from across the coffee table they were sitting around.

The presence of two people walking in had them all looking up at the door. Justin held his hand up in a wave while Clarissa looked down at her now brown sneakers. Joey stood up anger evident on his face as he looked to his sister's roommate.

"This is all your fault!" Joey exclaimed pointing at the girl who looked up at him in shock and rage.

"Joey!" Tea shouted but made no motion to make him sit. In all honesty, the same thought had crossed her mind as well.

"My fault? Do tell me how our friends' disappearances could possibly be my fault!" Clarissa stormed towards the group hands balled into fists. Justin didn't stop her not wanting her rage to be directed at him as well.

"If you hadn't had such an influence on her she would've stayed by us and none of this would've happened!" Duke growled out standing next to his blonde friend.

"Influence? The only influence I had on her was being a friend and telling her she needs to stand up for herself. Excuse me for giving her the advice she asked for!" Clarissa's blunt nails dug into her palms close to the point fo drawing blood.

"That's why she has us!" Tristan shouted back taking a stand as well.

"You are not allowed to ever talk to my sister again when she returned." Joey barked out angrily.

"Your words don't frighten me. You don't rule me Wheeler." Clarissa spat back in his face as they had both moved across the gap to glare at one another. "If anything this is all of your faults. For not letting her grow up and being overprotective spoiled ass brats!"

"Wheeler this is ridiculous. You can't blame her for this. It's not right let alone fair." Justin came up behind Clarissa grabbing her wrists as her arms shook from fighting back the urge to punch the man in front of her.

"You stay out of this. It doesn't concern you." Duke snapped his dark eyes not releasing their sites on the girl in front of him.

"The hell it does." Justin equally spat out angrily. "You all walk around like you're something special just because two of you have been in big dueling tournaments. Hate to be the bearer of bad news but you're still part of the lesser people and don't own the fucking world. If Serenity wanted to break away from the group why shouldn't she? It's her life to rule not yours."

Tea and Yugi sat through all of this quietly. Yugi had agreed with the two in the beginning but thought better of saying anything. Yami had agreed as well advising his other half to keep this to himself until everyones' tempers had cooled down a bit.

"Clarissa, you have to see things our way. She wouldn't have done any of the things she did today if she had roomed with me. You destroyed her innocence." Tea's voice was small but carried a heavy weight with them. It took a lot of strength for Justin to keep Clarissa from lunging across the table at the brunette.

"You bitch!" Clarissa snarled eyes aflame with a renewed amount of rage. A slap had them all stunned as Tea's hand still hung in the air. Justin quickly dragged Clarissa out of the room before anymore damage could occur. Setting her down on a nearby bench he stepped back into the room.

"You lay another hand on her and I promise you will regret it. I'll repay you ten times worse than what you do to her. I won't give a damn if your a woman either. That was cruel, you all can go to hell right about now. Pull your heads out of your asses and realize that sometimes you can't have everything your own damn way."

Justin's warning hung in the air like a poisonous gas after he left. No one breathed a word as they all sat back was shaking and the men stared at the carpeted floor beneath them.

"I can't believe I did such a thing. I was just so angry." Tea stuttered tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm not apologizing." Duke muttered bitterly folding his hands in front of his face.

"Yug do you think we overreacted?" Joey sighed and turned to the only one who had been silent through the entire ordeal. "Come on be honest."

"They had a point Joey. You can't always be there to protect her. In Battle City you told me that you wouldn't be able to grow if I kept protecting you. That same reason should apply to Serenity as well. I don't know what type of influence Clarissa had on her but we won't know until we find Ryou and Serenity. This fight with the other two isn't going to help matters at all."

The others contemplated what their shorter friend had said. Joey's fists clenched and unclenched as he recalled that time in Battle City. He thought about the double standards he was playing with now with his own family. Tristan and Duke were still bitter with the fact that they didn't get to pair up with their friend's sister and had let it effect their judgement. They looked down in shame as if Yugi's had scolded them like a mother would a small child. Tea stared at her hands, which were still shaking, and tried to find the words to form an apology to the girl she had smacked.

"I'm going to head up to bed." Duke stood up deciding that maybe he'd be able to think properly after a good nights rest. "I'll leave one of the lights on for you Yugi if you're not coming up right away."

"I'll be up there shortly. Thanks." Yugi smiled staying seated comfortably in the arm chair. Duke walked out followed by Joey and Tristan who had muttered they were tired as well.

"Yugi, what should I do?" Tea looked over to the man of her affections.

"I suggest waiting until everything has calmed down. Clarissa is going to be too upset to listen to any apology right now and Justin probably won't let you near her anyways. Give it a few days or until after Serenity and Ryou return. Talk to Serenity and let her know what happened and see if she can help settle things. I'm just wondering, why did you smack her?"

"I don't really know. I was just so upset that I focused all of my emotions on blaming her that something inside me snapped. I wasn't aware I moved until after it happened." Tea turned her gaze away in sorrow.

"Get some rest Tea it'll help. We can talk more tomorrow." Yugi suggested as he placed a hand on the female's shoulder. Tea nodded and walked out of the room leaving the crazy colored haired teen to himself.

"What is troubling you Yugi?" Yami asked revealing himself next to his other half.

"All of this. Yami, do you think that the spirit of the millennium ring would show up to hurt Serenity? I know that the ring is in my duffle bag but it wouldn't be the first time that item has vanished on its own. I guess I'm just too worried to say anything towards the others without starting an uproar."

"I understand your concern Yugi but I don't think he would have any use to her except to get at Joey in order to get at us. If he wanted to he would've done something already. Let's get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

"Ya I guess you're right." Yugi agreed as he made his way back to the room he shared with Duke.

It had taken over an hour and a half for the two lost teens to clean out the entire cabin. They had found the kitchen cabinets full of non-perishable items, silverware, and cooking utensils. Both of their nerves were now on edge as the house gave off the feeling that they didn't belong there. Yami Bakura was the first to shake it off visibly but he kept his knife in between his belt and his jeans the entire time. Serenity took awhile to overcome the feeling and had made sure to never be in one room of the building alone, save the bathroom.

"This should keep the place a bit warmer." Yami Bakura stated as he threw a log onto the fire that was burning merrily in the fireplace in the living room.

The two had gone out shortly after cleaning to gather firewood while there was still some daylight left. Remembering that it was to rain the next day they filled up the log bin attached to the side of the house. Serenity nodded sitting on the couch her knees to her chest. At least the fire made the room a bit cheerier even if her traveling companion didn't.

"Alright speak. You've been quiet ever since we started cleaning. I know you have something to say so say it before I change my mind." Yami Bakura turned around to look at the girl who's gaze was locked onto the burning coals.

"What's there to say that you don't already know? That I miss my brother or that I'm scared of you or that this place gives me the creeps? What do you want to hear? It's not like you're willing to hold a conversation anyways. You made that quite clear earlier before we got lost. So tell me what should I say?" Serenity glared at him from over the tops of her knees. She watched him smirk before he walked over and sat on the other end of the couch.

"I suppose we can start off with why you're so scared of me. Exactly what happened during Battle City that caused me to terrify you so?" Yami Bakura sounded geniuosly curious as he stared into the flames. Serenity turned to him in shock for a brief moment before following his line of sight.

"It's not so much you that I fear. It's the power of you weild that scares me. I've seen too many shadow duels than I ever needed to. I saw my brother fall victim to one and the thought of losing him to one again scares me. I heard how terrifying that place is and to know that you could send someone there on a whim has me afraid of you. Then again, you aren't as cruel as Marik's evil side was." Serenity's grip on her legs tightened as images flashed through her mind.

Yami Bakura knew exactly what she meant, for the most part. Granted he wasn't there for the duels after he was sent to the shadow realm but he had heard all about them later. Yami Marik didn't care who he sent to the shadow realm as long as he got what he wanted. Yami Bakura was just out for one person and that was it. Those who dared to defy him were the only ones that were sent to the shadows. As he recalled, the last ones he sent were the three thugs that he dueled in the cemetary.

"When I watched Joey collapse due to Marik's torture I was devestated. I thought I would never see him return and I feared for Mai as well. I hoped that once the tournament was over I could leave it all behind me but that's when the nightmares began. Anything involving the shadow realm haunted me in my sleep so I decided to become stronger. With the new strength I hoped that the nightmares would slowly end and that I could keep it hidden from everyone. It worked until I found out you returned. If you can return from the shadow realm what's to stop him from returning as well? You're both set on world domination and I wouldn't put it past you to join with him." Serenity was on the verge of crying as she spilled out her soul to one of the demons she feared.

Said demon didn't turn his gaze away from the fireplace, instead he let her words sink in gnawing at something inside him. He hadn't thought about the little fact that Yami Marik could possibly return but the chances were highly unlikely. It looked like a friendly visit to the dark realm would be needed to verify that the psycho hadn't gotten free. Well summer break was coming up in a few months which would give him plenty of time.

"I'm not one that you should entirely fear. Yes, I can send those who anger me to the shadow realm but I don't make it a very strong habit. I am out for revenge for an event that happened in the past. Yami Marik, however, was out for world domination and completely pschotic. I on the other hand don't even fall close on that insanity level." Yami Bakura turned his brown eyes to the auburn haired girl. She looked up at him debating if she should believe him or not.

"What was the event that happened that you want revenge for?" Serenity asked softly fearing she may anger the spirit who was looking down at his clenched hands.

"That's not something you need to know right now. You're actually better off not knowing. The nightmares won't be pleasant if I told you." Yami Bakura's eyes darkened in rage as he recalled what happened to his village. Right now he wanted no one's pity for what occured. The shadows, cast from the flames, on his face made him look absolutely deadly. He looked up the shadows vanishing. "Why don't we get some sleep? It's already close to eight and I'm tired."

Serenity nodded and stood up wiping stray tears from her face. As she followed the white haired spirit into the bedroom she wondered what was so horrible that Yami Bakura wanted revenge on Yugi. The male teen clicked the switch to the living room light off before making his way to the bed. Removing his shoes he crawled under the covers fully clothed. Serenity followed suit staying on the other side of the bed. She prayed that the nightmares wouldn't return as she closed her eyes and drifted into slumber.

Yami Bakura stayed awake for a while longer. He thought over the feeling he had about the cabin. Someone used this cabin for something but the fact there was no phone and no resort maps raised flags in his mind. The food, the running appliances and electricity were just some of the few. When he investigated the bathroom cuboard he found several towels and soaps. Whoever lived in this cabin hadn't been there in a while but must have planned on returning. He didn't dare tell Serenity the shotgun he found hidden behind the fridge. Yami Bakura had made sure to hide it again from her view so she would never see it. That was last and largest flag. No one staying in the other cabins would have a hidden gun. Something was very wrong and he prayed they'd be found before they found out what was so wrong.