Yami
by TAFKAE
Chapter 4: Things Are Not Always As They Seem
~*~*~
It was several hours later. Tristan had phoned Yugi's house (apartment?) and gotten his grandfather to come and pick everyone up from school, and now Yugi was lying on the sofa in the living room while Téa rested peacefully on a sleeping mat nearby. Tristan and Joey were passing the time by reading comic books. "After all," Joey would defend, "Yugi's grandpa *did* say he probably needed a little rest."
"Pshaw," Tristan retorted. "I say we wake him up. Or sock him in the nose."
"Don't say stuff like that, man," Joey replied seriously. "It's still Yugi, after all."
"Yeah, it's still Yugi," Tristan grumbled sarcastically. "Sure, Yugi can and would do something like that to Téa…"
Just then, Yugi stirred. Joey and Tristan looked over the tops of Avengers #98 and Bionicle #2 just in time to see him sit up and rub his head. "Unh…" He looked at them and managed a half-smile. "Hi, guys…"
"Good to see you back in the action, Yugi," Joey said. "Unless, of course, you're Yami tryin' to trick me again, in which case you're gonna have a bloody nose in about ten seconds."
"I thought you said we weren't gonna sock him in the nose," Tristan pointed out.
Joey paused. "I never said that."
"So what the heck is going on inside your little head, Yugi?" Tristan continued almost before Joey had finished.
Yugi sighed. "I'm really sorry, guys…" He hung his head, and looked distractedly at Téa's motionless form. "I'm sorry I did all that…"
"Hey, it wasn't your fault," Joey reassured him.
Yugi looked up. "But I did find out one thing. It wasn't Yami's fault, either."
"WHAT?!" his friends shouted in unison.
"Actually, it does kinda make sense," Joey pondered aloud. "Never in my wildest dreams have I had a hope of beating Yugi at Duel Monsters…" He looked up. "So who was it?"
"I'm not sure," Yugi replied, closing his eyes gently. "I could try and check, but it's getting awfully crowded…"
~*~*~
Crowded though it was, it was quiet in the soul room. There were two forms that he could see lying in midair in the darkness. One was Téa, and the other…
"Yami!" Yugi shouted, floating to his alter ego's side. He laid his hands on him and shook vigorously. "Yami, are you all right?"
There was no reply. Yugi darted to Téa and took her by the shoulders. "Téa! Wake up! Somebody…!" A chill of fear ran down his spine. Was Téa dead? Was Yami dead? Was he… alone…?
His question was answered by a quiet moan from Téa. "Wh…" She sat up and rubbed her head. "Yugi?"
Yugi smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "It's all right, Téa."
His friend looked around in utter confusion. "Where are we? What happened?"
"I'm not exactly sure," Yugi replied, glancing across to Yami, who still hadn't moved. "Stay here. I think Yami knows."
Téa gave him an odd look. "Why are both of you in the same place at the same time?"
"Technically, we always are," Yugi replied, having flown to Yami and brought him to a closer proximity to Téa. "But I do know it's not his fault that this happened."
"His fault that what happened?" Téa demanded. "There's a lot you're not telling me, Yugi."
"It's quite simple," said a voice that sounded like sugar but flowed like hot fudge. A shadow became outlined against the shadows, with bright, green, glowing eyes and not much else. "I've given your soul a new home…"
"So it was you this whole time," Yugi snapped. "You enjoy making people suffer, don't you?!"
"It's my favorite thing to do," the shadow responded. "Thank you for making yourself so readily available. I could do anything I wanted and blame it on your little alter ego while he slept." A tentacle-like shadow eased outward and stroked Yami's face. "So convenient…"
"Leave me alone. Leave us all alone," Yugi corrected himself, almost pleadingly. "And leave my friends out of it. I don't even know who you are!"
The shadow chuckled. "I was called Niikaso a long time ago… now I'm just a demon without a name… and you've let down your guard, Yugi Moto!"
Yugi's eyes widened, but he didn't have a second to think before the shadow raced past him, heading out, to control his body again. "NO!" he shouted.
"Stop!" Téa yelled.
Just then, the shadow did. It whirled around, looking for a reason. "What?!"
Yugi looked around, too, and everyone noticed at the same time - Yami had one hand wrapped around a corner of the shadow, his eyes still closed, but he had that cocky smirk on his face. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you very well," he taunted. "Was it Yugi who let down his guard, or you…?"
The shadow growled. "Of all the times for you to decide to wake up!"
"I've been awake," Yami explained. His eyes flew open. "You're going down all the way."
With that, Yami and the shadow formerly known as Niikaso (sorry, couldn't resist writing that!) took up positions on either side of an invisible field. It was obvious they were going to fight.
"Your move," Yami stated.
The shadow yelled and charged. Yami's hands glowed, and he caught it effortlessly. You could almost smell it burning as it screamed and backed away. "What the hell was that?!"
"A little trick I learned a long time ago," he replied confidently. "Come and get me, if you can."
The shadow growled, then charged again…
~*~*~
"Hey Tristan?"
Tristan looked up from the comic book he'd started on again. "Yeah?"
Joey pointed at Yugi's body. "Uh, it's not good when they start going into convulsions, is it?"
~*~*~
Yami and the shadow were going at it full-force, Yami shooting things out of his hands and the shadow simply recoiling and coming back. Téa was watching anxiously until she heard a small moan from beside her. Yugi was kneeling down, with both hands on his head, apparently in some sort of pain. Téa kneeled down beside him and put one hand on his shoulder. "Yugi, what's wrong? Are you all right?"
Yugi's eyes, shut tight, twitched. "I feel like… like I'm being … ripped apart…!" he muttered.
Téa's eyes widened. She looked up at the combatants. Every time one of them hurt the other, she could feel Yugi shudder under her hand. It didn't take long for her to make the connection. She rapidly stood. "Stop it!" she shouted as loud as she could. "You're killing him!"
Yami looked over in mixed shock and concern, leaving him wide open for a hit from the shadow. It passed right through him. He screamed in unison with Yugi.
~*~*~
"Damnit," Joey moaned. "I don't know what's going on in there, but something has got to be done about it!" His eyes landed on the Millenium Puzzle, and after a brief second of thought, his hand advanced toward it as well. He pulled back as it started glowing. "Damn!"
Tristan frowned. "Chill out, Joey. There's really nothing we can do right now."
"Nothing we can do my ass!" Joey shouted, and he took hold of the puzzle around Yugi's neck, and tore it off, snapping the cord that held it in place.
~*~*~
Yami's eyes went wide. "No…"
Without leaving any time for anyone to figure out what was going on, Yami and the shadow disappeared. Yugi looked up in shock. "Yami!"
Téa took a nervous step back. "What the hell just happened?"
Yugi looked back and forth in total disbelief. "They… they're gone… Yami's gone…"
~*~*~
"This thing's a lot more trouble than it's worth," Joey muttered, eyeing the puzzle on the table. His eyes turned to Yugi, who seemed to have quieted down considerably. "Well, least it worked."
"I don't know if that was the right thing to do, Joey," Tristan said cautiously.
Joey's eyes flashed to the side. "Eh… well, if it wasn't, it's a little late now…"
Just then Yugi sat bolt upright, breathing heavily. "Wha- ?"
"Hey, welcome back to the land of the living, Yug," Joey hailed.
Yugi didn't seem to hear him. He looked frantically to one side, then the other, before noticing the Puzzle resting safely on the table. He jumped up and ran to get it. "The Puzzle -!"
Joey grabbed him by the wrist as he passed. "I had to do somethin'," he explained.
"Let me go! I have to get it!" Yugi shouted, struggling to get free.
This only caused Joey to hold tighter. "You don't get it, Yugi! Whatever just happened would've killed you!"
Yugi felt Téa's silent assent in the back of his mind. He looked at Tristan, who nodded sternly. After a brief pause, he sighed and sat down on the floor. "Then what are we going to do?" His eyes landed on Téa's body, which was still stretched out across the floor. "I really don't know what I can do…"
"Uh…" Joey put one hand behind his head. "We can pray."
Tristan bonked him. "That's not gonna help!"
Yugi sat quietly, deep in thought. Does this mean I have to be alone now? he wondered. I don't know if I could deal with being alone!
Don't worry, Téa's voice reassured him. We'll figure this out and get it under control, and we'll do it together. After all, what're friends for?
He smiled slightly. You're right. I'm not sure how, but we'll do it.
*CHAPTER END*
Damn, I'm good! Read, review, and stay tuned! In the immortal words of Paul Revere, "The climax is coming! The climax is coming!"
by TAFKAE
Chapter 4: Things Are Not Always As They Seem
~*~*~
It was several hours later. Tristan had phoned Yugi's house (apartment?) and gotten his grandfather to come and pick everyone up from school, and now Yugi was lying on the sofa in the living room while Téa rested peacefully on a sleeping mat nearby. Tristan and Joey were passing the time by reading comic books. "After all," Joey would defend, "Yugi's grandpa *did* say he probably needed a little rest."
"Pshaw," Tristan retorted. "I say we wake him up. Or sock him in the nose."
"Don't say stuff like that, man," Joey replied seriously. "It's still Yugi, after all."
"Yeah, it's still Yugi," Tristan grumbled sarcastically. "Sure, Yugi can and would do something like that to Téa…"
Just then, Yugi stirred. Joey and Tristan looked over the tops of Avengers #98 and Bionicle #2 just in time to see him sit up and rub his head. "Unh…" He looked at them and managed a half-smile. "Hi, guys…"
"Good to see you back in the action, Yugi," Joey said. "Unless, of course, you're Yami tryin' to trick me again, in which case you're gonna have a bloody nose in about ten seconds."
"I thought you said we weren't gonna sock him in the nose," Tristan pointed out.
Joey paused. "I never said that."
"So what the heck is going on inside your little head, Yugi?" Tristan continued almost before Joey had finished.
Yugi sighed. "I'm really sorry, guys…" He hung his head, and looked distractedly at Téa's motionless form. "I'm sorry I did all that…"
"Hey, it wasn't your fault," Joey reassured him.
Yugi looked up. "But I did find out one thing. It wasn't Yami's fault, either."
"WHAT?!" his friends shouted in unison.
"Actually, it does kinda make sense," Joey pondered aloud. "Never in my wildest dreams have I had a hope of beating Yugi at Duel Monsters…" He looked up. "So who was it?"
"I'm not sure," Yugi replied, closing his eyes gently. "I could try and check, but it's getting awfully crowded…"
~*~*~
Crowded though it was, it was quiet in the soul room. There were two forms that he could see lying in midair in the darkness. One was Téa, and the other…
"Yami!" Yugi shouted, floating to his alter ego's side. He laid his hands on him and shook vigorously. "Yami, are you all right?"
There was no reply. Yugi darted to Téa and took her by the shoulders. "Téa! Wake up! Somebody…!" A chill of fear ran down his spine. Was Téa dead? Was Yami dead? Was he… alone…?
His question was answered by a quiet moan from Téa. "Wh…" She sat up and rubbed her head. "Yugi?"
Yugi smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "It's all right, Téa."
His friend looked around in utter confusion. "Where are we? What happened?"
"I'm not exactly sure," Yugi replied, glancing across to Yami, who still hadn't moved. "Stay here. I think Yami knows."
Téa gave him an odd look. "Why are both of you in the same place at the same time?"
"Technically, we always are," Yugi replied, having flown to Yami and brought him to a closer proximity to Téa. "But I do know it's not his fault that this happened."
"His fault that what happened?" Téa demanded. "There's a lot you're not telling me, Yugi."
"It's quite simple," said a voice that sounded like sugar but flowed like hot fudge. A shadow became outlined against the shadows, with bright, green, glowing eyes and not much else. "I've given your soul a new home…"
"So it was you this whole time," Yugi snapped. "You enjoy making people suffer, don't you?!"
"It's my favorite thing to do," the shadow responded. "Thank you for making yourself so readily available. I could do anything I wanted and blame it on your little alter ego while he slept." A tentacle-like shadow eased outward and stroked Yami's face. "So convenient…"
"Leave me alone. Leave us all alone," Yugi corrected himself, almost pleadingly. "And leave my friends out of it. I don't even know who you are!"
The shadow chuckled. "I was called Niikaso a long time ago… now I'm just a demon without a name… and you've let down your guard, Yugi Moto!"
Yugi's eyes widened, but he didn't have a second to think before the shadow raced past him, heading out, to control his body again. "NO!" he shouted.
"Stop!" Téa yelled.
Just then, the shadow did. It whirled around, looking for a reason. "What?!"
Yugi looked around, too, and everyone noticed at the same time - Yami had one hand wrapped around a corner of the shadow, his eyes still closed, but he had that cocky smirk on his face. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you very well," he taunted. "Was it Yugi who let down his guard, or you…?"
The shadow growled. "Of all the times for you to decide to wake up!"
"I've been awake," Yami explained. His eyes flew open. "You're going down all the way."
With that, Yami and the shadow formerly known as Niikaso (sorry, couldn't resist writing that!) took up positions on either side of an invisible field. It was obvious they were going to fight.
"Your move," Yami stated.
The shadow yelled and charged. Yami's hands glowed, and he caught it effortlessly. You could almost smell it burning as it screamed and backed away. "What the hell was that?!"
"A little trick I learned a long time ago," he replied confidently. "Come and get me, if you can."
The shadow growled, then charged again…
~*~*~
"Hey Tristan?"
Tristan looked up from the comic book he'd started on again. "Yeah?"
Joey pointed at Yugi's body. "Uh, it's not good when they start going into convulsions, is it?"
~*~*~
Yami and the shadow were going at it full-force, Yami shooting things out of his hands and the shadow simply recoiling and coming back. Téa was watching anxiously until she heard a small moan from beside her. Yugi was kneeling down, with both hands on his head, apparently in some sort of pain. Téa kneeled down beside him and put one hand on his shoulder. "Yugi, what's wrong? Are you all right?"
Yugi's eyes, shut tight, twitched. "I feel like… like I'm being … ripped apart…!" he muttered.
Téa's eyes widened. She looked up at the combatants. Every time one of them hurt the other, she could feel Yugi shudder under her hand. It didn't take long for her to make the connection. She rapidly stood. "Stop it!" she shouted as loud as she could. "You're killing him!"
Yami looked over in mixed shock and concern, leaving him wide open for a hit from the shadow. It passed right through him. He screamed in unison with Yugi.
~*~*~
"Damnit," Joey moaned. "I don't know what's going on in there, but something has got to be done about it!" His eyes landed on the Millenium Puzzle, and after a brief second of thought, his hand advanced toward it as well. He pulled back as it started glowing. "Damn!"
Tristan frowned. "Chill out, Joey. There's really nothing we can do right now."
"Nothing we can do my ass!" Joey shouted, and he took hold of the puzzle around Yugi's neck, and tore it off, snapping the cord that held it in place.
~*~*~
Yami's eyes went wide. "No…"
Without leaving any time for anyone to figure out what was going on, Yami and the shadow disappeared. Yugi looked up in shock. "Yami!"
Téa took a nervous step back. "What the hell just happened?"
Yugi looked back and forth in total disbelief. "They… they're gone… Yami's gone…"
~*~*~
"This thing's a lot more trouble than it's worth," Joey muttered, eyeing the puzzle on the table. His eyes turned to Yugi, who seemed to have quieted down considerably. "Well, least it worked."
"I don't know if that was the right thing to do, Joey," Tristan said cautiously.
Joey's eyes flashed to the side. "Eh… well, if it wasn't, it's a little late now…"
Just then Yugi sat bolt upright, breathing heavily. "Wha- ?"
"Hey, welcome back to the land of the living, Yug," Joey hailed.
Yugi didn't seem to hear him. He looked frantically to one side, then the other, before noticing the Puzzle resting safely on the table. He jumped up and ran to get it. "The Puzzle -!"
Joey grabbed him by the wrist as he passed. "I had to do somethin'," he explained.
"Let me go! I have to get it!" Yugi shouted, struggling to get free.
This only caused Joey to hold tighter. "You don't get it, Yugi! Whatever just happened would've killed you!"
Yugi felt Téa's silent assent in the back of his mind. He looked at Tristan, who nodded sternly. After a brief pause, he sighed and sat down on the floor. "Then what are we going to do?" His eyes landed on Téa's body, which was still stretched out across the floor. "I really don't know what I can do…"
"Uh…" Joey put one hand behind his head. "We can pray."
Tristan bonked him. "That's not gonna help!"
Yugi sat quietly, deep in thought. Does this mean I have to be alone now? he wondered. I don't know if I could deal with being alone!
Don't worry, Téa's voice reassured him. We'll figure this out and get it under control, and we'll do it together. After all, what're friends for?
He smiled slightly. You're right. I'm not sure how, but we'll do it.
*CHAPTER END*
Damn, I'm good! Read, review, and stay tuned! In the immortal words of Paul Revere, "The climax is coming! The climax is coming!"