HCG: ^_^ Hey all! I'm back and ready to write a brand new chapter for this story. Got a nice big writing mood and tons of free time, and adding those together equals one thing: Guardian writing!

Karma: Yay!

HCG: And furthermore, considering that Bakura popped in last chapter, he's here as a guest to see Chapter three!...and of course, considering that he's got the Millennium Ring with him, his Yami's here too.

Ryou: Hi!

Bakura: *evil grin*

HCG: Nice to have you guys here! Oh, 'n did I ever tell you guys your my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh characters?

Ryou: No...

HCG: Well, you are, you're tied with Kaiba as my favorite characters in the show. Although I think I like Yami Bakura more at this point...

Ryou: *frown*

Bakura: Heh, no wonder. I'm the best out of the both of us.

Karma: But she likes me the best, being her own character. ^_~

Slash: *behind Karma* *nods*

Ryou: *stares at Karma* Why is it I'm talking to a four foot tall lizard and an almost equally tall anteater?

Karma: *growl*

Bakura: *stares at Slash's looong metal claws* You like sharp, dangerously pointy objects?

Slash: Hell yes! I've got a ton of them, lemme show you.

Bakura: O_O ooooooooooh! Purdy! *wanders off with Slash towards a chest of sharp dangerous objects*

HCG: ¬_¬;; Okay, so the guests are getting out of hand. Let's get to the story, shall we?

Ryou: *nods* I'll take care of the disclaimer...Guardian doesn't own any of the Yu-Gi-Oh characters, although Slash and Karma belong to her.

HCG: Thanks, Ryou!

Notes:

I think we know by now...Yugi is Yugi, the spirit is Yami

For Bakura: Ryou is the lighter side, while Bakura is the yami

italics are thoughts or memories/dreams

Shadow Turned Light

Chapter 3: Explanations

"Ryou!" Yugi yelled in worried surprise, darting forward to the boy laying on the floor of the prison cell they shared. He knelt down beside his friend, not sure what to do, not even sure what was wrong, but wanting desperately to help.

Ryou lay on the floor in the center of the cell, oblivious to his friend's call. He was sweating heavily, droplets running down his face and mingling with long-dried tears. His breathing was labored, as if he had to force his lungs to unwillingly accept air, and when he exhaled it came out in short, pain-filled gasps. His eyes were clamped shut, fighting obvious pain, and his fists were clenching and unclenching slowly.

Nervous, Yugi placed a hand on his friend's forehead. The boy was burning hot, as if he had a fever too high for one to survive. What is wrong with him?

"Ryou?" The young Hikari whispered quietly. He hoped beyond all thinking that the boy could hear him. There was no answer; the boy only continued to breath in ragged gasps.

What happened to him? He's so ill...who could have done this? Was it those guards? He doubted it. The men out there had acted afraid of the person they had captured--"Traitor" they had called him; Yugi wondered momentarily why--and they probably thought that Ryou was still dangerous. No, there's only one person that could have done this. Bakura.

"Ryou! Come on, answer me!" Yugi pleaded, still kneeling beside his friend.

This time, Ryou did respond, although weakly. At Yugi's shout, his eyes snapped open and he grasped at one of the other boy's hands, shaking. He didn't seem to recognize that the other Hikari was there at all, despite the fact that he was clinging to Yugi's hands as if he would fall if he let go. His eyes were wide, yet unseeing, and somewhat dim, though they flickered constantly as if searching for something.

Slowly, Ryou spoke, his voice pitiful and small-sounding. "Please...help me...it hurts...so much, it hurts...the nightmares...the memories...they're real! Make them stop, please, make them go away, make them stop hurting me! They're killing me! Please!" Each word sounded as if it had to be fought to be said, as if he was killing himself just to speak.

Yugi was surprised at the force with which Ryou clung to his hand, at the words that escaped the boy's throat. What's wrong with him?! He's delirious, that much I know...could his Yami do this to him? I'm not so sure, now...he found his own voice and spoke, trying to comfort the sick, terrified hikari beside him.

"It's okay...I'll help you if I can. I'll try to figure out what's wrong, and--"

He stopped suddenly; Ryou had just turned his head towards the voice, towards Yugi. For a brief instant, there was a flicker of life in the tortured boy's deep brown eyes, of recognition. "Yu...gi?"

"Yeah, it's me, Ryou, I'll help you any way I can, I promise. I'll--"

Ryou was shaking harder now, closing his eyes for a brief few moments. He was even more terrified than before, recognizing the person sitting next to him. Again, he forced words past his dry throat, releasing them in raspy, pain-filled sounds.

"Nooo...not again...don't bring them back...please don't...I can't stand these memories anymore...these nightmares...darkness eternal...please, leave me alone...it hurts so much, don't cause more pain...please..."

Yugi was shocked. Ryou thought he was going to hurt him? He might have blamed it on the silver-haired boy's delirious state, but he had the feeling that the other hikari was being completely serious. What is going on? What happened to me when I went through that portal?

"I'm not going to hurt you, Ryou, and you know that." Gently, the young Hikari bent forward to help his friend, but it only sent the boy into more fright.

"No...please, go away! I can't take this anymore...it hurts so much...the pain...the memories...it's agony...please, go away!" The voice reached new heights, sounding almost desperate. "Yami, please, help me! He's here...he won't leave...I can't take this, it hurts!"

Yugi blinked in surprise. Ryou really was scared of him...and he was calling Yami?

The ring resting gently on Ryou's chest glowed brightly, and suddenly Yugi understood. Not my yami. His. He frowned at the Millennium Ring, which was becoming brighter. But Ryou's terrified of Bakura. Why would he call him for help?

The Hikari's thoughts were abruptly brought to an end as the Millennium Ring flashed once. Ryou went limp for a few seconds, than suddenly sat up straight, glaring at the other boy in the room with anger and hatred burning in his eyes.

But of course, it wasn't really Ryou. It was his yami, Bakura, in possession of Ryou's body, controlling it as easily as if it were his own.

He was no longer sweating, or breathing hard; apparently whatever was wrong with Ryou had no effect on his darker spirit. He stood up, still glaring daggers at Yugi as he loomed over him.

The young Hikari felt as if he had been struck by a thunderbolt, so quickly Bakura moved. The ancient tomb robber had grasped Yugi by his collar, slammed him up against the wall and pinned him there, and placed one hand around his neck so efficiently that the boy had to stop and replay what had just happened over in his head before he understood.

The darker spirit began closing his hand around Yugi's neck, cutting off the boy's air. He was speaking harshly as he did so, practically growling each word he spoke.

"You dare to come near my Hikari, do you?! I'll make you pay. You'll never cause him any more pain than what he has do deal with now; you won't be seeing this day end and another begin. I'll kill you!"

Yugi choked, struggling against Bakura's firm grip and succeeding in only tightening it. He was expecting the thief to begin to gloat at any minute now, trying to remove the Puzzle from around his neck. Yami, I really wish you were here.

Bakura had still been talking, voice fueled by anger, words emphasizing his hatred. Suddenly, however, he halted in mid-sentence and hissed, "Yugi?"

It came as a surprise to the Hikari when the pressure around his neck was suddenly removed, and he was able to drop to his knees to rest. Hacking and coughing, he looked upward at the darker spirit in shock. After several seconds, he spoke.

"You're...you're not going to try and steal my Puzzle?"

Bakura grimaced, but his anger still showed clearly through the expression. "Where'd you get such a fool idea? I'd never attempt to steal that filthy Millennium Puzzle for all the riches in Egypt."

Startled, Yugi whipped his eyes open, staring at the ancient spirit above him in obvious surprise. "You...what?!" He sputtered, confused.

"You heard me. I'd never steal that thing if you forced me to." The tomb robber narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You know that."

"I--I--" he stopped trying to find a reply; he was at loss as to what to say. He finally sighed, dropped his head, and slowly stood up.

Bakura continued, still watching Yugi with a watchful and suspicious eye. He looked calm, but it was only too obvious that he was ready to fight at a moment's notice. "Enough. I don't know what trick you're trying to pull, pharaoh, but don't expect me to fall into your trap. Even you ought to know that it is not honorable to imitate a dead spirit, even if it was the soul of your Hikari. It will bring you no victory, I can assure you."

Yugi blinked in surprise. "Pharaoh? I'm not a pharaoh; that's Yami, and I can't find him anywhere. I'm not an imitation or whatever it is you just said, I swear!"

The ancient thief only shook his head. "He does not deserve this," he said quietly. "You will fail for what you have attempted to do." His eyes became darker, his tone more murderous; it was plain he was about to attack what he took for a trick of Yami's. He took a step forward, watching the boy across from him silently, his look cold and calculating.

Yugi sighed. "You don't believe me. What did that portal do to me?"

To the boy's shock, the darker spirit across from him stopped pacing forward. He cocked his head to the side quizzically, murmuring, "Portal?"

The young Hikari blinked. "Yeah, a portal. A portal Yami thinks lead somewhere farther than the Shadow Realm. Maybe he was right...maybe this isn't all me."

Bakura was looking at Yugi thoughtfully now, as if he wasn't sure what to make of the boy. "A portal...to somewhere farther than the Shadow Realm?" The white-haired boy blinked, shook his head, and sat down on the cot. Very seriously, he stared straight at Yugi's violet eyes and said calmly, "I think you had better tell me everything concerning this."

"I...I'm not so sure that's a good idea," the Hikari said nervously. Can I trust him? He's tried to kill me before!

"Tell me everything," the tomb robber repeated, eyes staring unblinkingly at Yugi.

The boy sighed. Could he trust this spirit? He had been on the opposing side of many of his problems before, and had been known to be sly and never to be believed. However...he hadn't tried to harm Yugi this time, and he was even talking quietly and calmly to the boy. And hadn't he rushed to defend his aibou earlier?

There was no mistaking it, Yugi decided. He'd have to trust Bakura. Besides, the ancient spirits knew far more of the magic encased within the Millennium items; perhaps the thief in the Ring would have an answer for Yugi as to what was going on.

So, slowly and carefully so as to not leave anything out, Yugi related his tale to the listening dark spirit across from him. He started with the dream, moving on to Yami's discovery of the strange portal, on to his being pulled through and the results of the event. Bakura said nothing throughout the entire tale, but the young Hikari noticed that he flinched angrily every time Yami was mentioned.

Silence followed when Yugi finished speaking. The boy leaned against the wall and uncomfortably waited for the silence to be broken by the tomb robber sitting on the opposite side of the cell.

After several minutes of the silence, Bakura shifted and muttered a few words: "The theory of the other Realms."

"What?" Yugi asked, frowning.

"The theory of the other Realms," the Ring-spirit repeated. "I don't know much about it, but I do know enough to get by. I studied it at one point, but I passed it off as nothing more than a story; I didn't even consider that it could be real."

"Well, what is it?" the Hikari asked, becoming interested.

"An idea, really, nothing more than a theory. It stated that there is not one universe in the world, but many, and that each universe is a bit different from the next. One person exists in all of the Realms, but in each Realm the person would be slightly different. Decisions made by a person in one Realm may be made in the exact opposite way in another, or maybe just a bit differently, and so on. You must have been pulled through into this Realm, a reflection of your own Realm."

"But...if there are many universes, how did I get pulled into this one of all Realms?" Yugi asked, thinking.

"The theory claims that all universes are on a different level," Bakura said slowly. "Some are stronger than others, while some are faded and weak, as if they will soon cease to exist. This Realm must have been strong enough to summon you here when you broke the barrier of the universes."

"I wonder..." Yugi said softly, staring at the other boy in thought. The Bakura here seems almost opposite to the one I know...in my Realm, I guess I should say. Maybe that has something to do with it...

"What is it?" The thief asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Nothing," Yugi said slowly. "It's nothing."

Again, silence overpowered, and the two sat buried in their own thoughts. Bakura seemed to be arguing with himself, the Hikari noted; he wondered why, but he supposed he would get answers soon.

"Odd," the darker spirit suddenly murmured. "that you would be pulled through into our Realm at this time of all times..." he sighed and shook his head, making his long white hair ruffle about his shoulders slightly. "But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter...yet."

Yugi blinked, then asked tentatively, "Do you mind if I ask a few questions? About your Realm, I mean?"

"No. You need the answers." Bakura shook his head again, as if clearing it of his earlier thoughts. "I don't know what your Realm is like, but this one is too dangerous for you to survive in without answers." He sat back on the cot, muttering quietly. "But first..."

The Millennium Ring around his neck glowed brightly again; Bakura slumped, going limp, and laid on the cot. Instantly he began to sweat again, breathing hard, with eyes clamped shut.

Ryou's back, Yugi thought to himself.

The Ring glowed again, and slowly a shape began to take form next to the cot. At first it was transparent, but it grew steadily more solid until it was an exact physical replica of Ryou's appearance. No doubt it was Bakura, temporarily separated from his hikari.

Ryou had begun to moan again; he was plainly terrified, and Yugi's presence didn't seem to help matters much. His breathing became more ragged, his hands clenched so hard the prints of his nails were left in his palm.

Bakura moved towards his sick hikari. At first, Yugi thought he was going to hurt the feverish boy in another abusive act; he was prepared to run forward and try to stop it, if he had to. But the spirit only bent down gently beside his lighter side's head and whispered soothingly, as a parent would to a frightened child.

"It's okay...Yugi is on our side...he won't hurt you, I'd never let him. You know I'll always be here to protect you."

The boy was stunned as he watched the tomb robber continue his gentle talk for several minutes. Gradually, Ryou's terrified moans faded away, replaced with only his ragged breathing. He had fallen into a deep sleep; whether it was peaceful or not, the younger Hikari couldn't say, but he seemed more at rest than he had before.

Bakura stood up quietly, so as not to disturb his slumbering Light, and stood protectively by the boy's head. He watched Yugi warily, as if he still didn't trust the boy--which he probably didn't, Yugi decided.

He had also come to decide upon which question to ask first. "What...what happened to him?" He pointed at the feverish Ryou, worry on his face.

"What happened to him?" Bakura said slowly, almost thoughtfully--but the anger in his voice was only too easy to place. "You happened to him. Or, more precisely, your Yami did."

"What?!" The Hikari gasped. Yami would never hurt anybody, of that he was sure. "I...don't understand. I'm sorry..." He wasn't sure if he was apologizing for his misunderstanding, or Ryou's condition.

"It is of no matter. I suppose this gives me the idea of how to explain everything to you. I will start at the beginning." The spirit sighed, as if fatigued. "You may want to sit down. The story is a long one, and I'm afraid that most of it is rather unhappy."

Yugi nodded quietly, sitting down cross-legged with his back to the wall. Something in the back of his mind told him not to leave himself in such a vulnerable position to the ancient thief, but he shrugged it off. He had the feeling he could trust this Bakura, especially after seeing how he acted towards his hikari. Even so, the boy clutched his Millennium Puzzle reflexively as he stared up at the dark spirit across from him.

Bakura sat down on the edge of the cot carefully and began to speak, saying each word as if he had to drag the memories that went with them from too far back in his mind to reach. He stroked the Millennium Ring absent-mindedly while he talked, as if it helped him concentrate and recover the memories.

"I suppose it all started out fine enough, a good couple of years ago. You, or the you in this Realm at any rate, had discovered the magic deep within your Millennium Puzzle, and you had Yami to guide you. You and your friends were well known for your dueling skills, and were invited to several tournaments. Ryou and I would sometimes come along, but for the most part we were loners--I even more than he, for I would stay in the Ring for a vast majority of the time. Seto Kaiba's company was at it's prime, and was becoming more involved in the Duel Monsters game--I heard somewhere that he had been planning holographic generators to use, to spark more excitement in the game."

"He hasn't built them here?" Yugi interrupted, but he quickly fell back into silence at Bakura's frown.

"It started fine, but things were not to stay that way. We had problems with the Shadow Realm roughly three years ago; it was feeding off the power of the Millennium items and growing stronger. You attempted to stop it--you always were too noble for your own good--and your soul was captured. Yami was desperate to save you; he felt he had failed in his self-appointed task as your guardian. He requested the help of the other Millennium item users, myself included. Yami and I were...not on the best of terms, I guess one could say...but I was not so bad as to leave a helpless soul in the Shadow Realm. I volunteered my services to try and help find you. I was the only one, in fact.

"We journeyed to the Shadow Realm and spent quite a bit of time searching for your spirit. Too much time. Yami and I's minds were weakened from the stress of supporting our own lives within the Realm; mine was doublely so from having to protect Ryou as well. It seemed a hopeless search, but it proved quite the opposite. You were found, not by me, but by your Yami.

"You were in a terrible condition when he finally discovered you. You were weakened so much that your mind should have been broken in two. In such a state, only powerful magic could have saved you; Yami had no such magic, being weakened from his stay in the Shadow Realm. But he was determined not to loose you. Against all odds, he summoned an extraordinary amount of magic--some of it fueled by the very material of his soul--and fought off the bonds on your mind. He was able to free you and return you to the True Realm, where you recovered slowly.

"But the effects of his effort to save you were strong, too strong. When Yami rescued you, he weakened himself by using so much magic to save you. Weakening himself made him vulnerable to the Shadow Realm; With such a vulnerability open to it, the shadows closed in. They embedded themselves in the core of the Millennium Puzzle, tainting it with evil. They wrapped themselves around the magic encased in the Puzzle, and within that magic was something even stronger--the spirit of the pharaoh. Slowly, they began to absorb the magic of the Item, twisting it into something unpure, something foul. And with the magic's mutation came the Pharaoh's slow change as well.

"None of us noticed, at first. The darkness that enveloped the Puzzle and it's magic was unseen, even to those of us with Millennium items. We did notice that Yami started to act differently--the shadows forcing their way into his soul were the cause--but we didn't think much of it. During a duel, he may have sounded more angry, more sarcastic, but that was understandable, considering his years in the Puzzle.

"Eventually, though, the change came to an entirely new level. Yami became more violent, more cold-hearted. He never harmed you, or your friends for that matter, but it was noticeable just the same. Especially for me; the Pharaoh has never quite trusted me, nor I him.

"I began to notice the change first. I told the others; they laughed the idea off, but watched Yami closely after that. Soon enough, they were noticing the same things as I. Whenever we confronted Yami about them, he seemed angry that we would accuse him of such a thing. It seemed as if he never exactly knew what he was doing.

"We shrugged off the idea and left the Pharaoh to himself. We were all fools." Bakura shook his head, breaking in the story for the first time since Yugi's interruption. "All fools. If we had tried to do something, none of the later events would have happened."

"Everybody makes mistakes," Yugi said gently. "You couldn't have expected anything bad to happen." All the same, though, it's strange to think of Yami acting that way.

"Oh, but I did expect something bad to happen," the tomb robber said bitterly. "Perhaps not exactly what, but I knew something was wrong with him. But I am going off-track. I will continue the story.

"Yami continued acting strangely for nearly a year. It always got worse, the way he acted; in the later months he seemed to have times of madness, in which he unknowingly possessed you and unleashed huge quantities of his magic. There are sites where destruction is...quite obvious...and is evidence of such times. And still we did nothing.

"And then..." Bakura sighed, glancing uneasily at Yugi before continuing. "Nearly two years ago, the final stage of this...this Shadow Madness...came to pass. It was...not pleasant. That is the nicest way to describe it.

"You had been walking home late from school. It was nearly sunset; I still don't know why you stayed so late, but I wish you hadn't. It was the end...and the beginning." He shook his head. "Talking in riddles again. I should just tell the story. But I dread it, and fear it."

Yugi was starting to fear what was coming as well; there was a foreboding feeling growing in his heart that he couldn't shake off, no matter how hard he tried.

The tomb robber continued. "You were heading home, back to the Game Shop, when it happened. There was a thief, just a common street mugger with no sense whatsoever." There was a disdainful snort before he continued. "He had his eyes on the Millennium Puzzle. The size and golden color must have grabbed his attention. He followed you for a few streets before coming up to attack. You played it smart and ran into the nearest building you could get to." Seeing the question on Yugi's face, he said calmly, "You most of all knew of Yami's madness; you also knew it was pointless to call on him for help. You had to help yourself.

"The thief didn't leave you alone, however. He followed you, into what you soon discovered was an empty building. Still focused on your Puzzle, he moved forward to finish up his planned attack. You took quite a beating--you had no time to focus the power from the Millennium Puzzle--but that wasn't what ended it. Oh, no, far from it." Bakura closed his eyes and sighed deeply, as if already regretting what he was about to say.

"Your Yami sensed your pain and separated himself from you in an attempt to help. It is my belief that at that point he was still sane. But the Shadow energies lodged within his soul soon took over, and left him dangerous and wild. He gathered the energies of the Puzzle together--the dark Shadow energy among it--and released such an attack that the very building itself began to crumble. The walls buckled outward and collapsed, sending the debris flying through the air like rain. The ceiling cracked and dropped much of itself on top of you, your Yami, and the thief. When it all cleared, half the building had been destroyed, sagging on it's side as if some giant had tried to push it over and only half-succeeded. Luckily, it was a small building, or far more damage would have been done.

"As it was, there was still no way you or the thief could have escaped unharmed. Your Yami was a different story; he had created a shield for himself with the remaining magic that the Puzzle possessed, and had not been touched by even a speck of dust from the building's collapse.

"He saw you laying half-covered by the rubble. You had been injured from the debris falling on you so heavily, but you could have survived. But Yami's attack had done more harm than good, including what happened to you. His attack had nearly destroyed you. It was only because you had the Puzzle that you even survived such a mass discharge of magical energies. Adding the two problems together, things did not look good for you. But with help, you could have survived...

"Your Yami watched you struggling to even breathe, injured so badly that even the mute would scream. He watched you, but did nothing. Nothing, that is, except to steal your remaining energy, your remaining life, and use it to reinforce his solid, physical body. To make it permanent. Once he had finished the theft of your very spirit, he turned and left you there without a second glance. The Madness was complete."

Bakura was talking slower now, reluctant to say what had come so near. He forced himself on, voice sounding as if it was dry and gravely. "An ambulance arrived at the scene--someone had seen you and the thief go into the building--and you were dug out. The thief was brought to the hospital, but his injuries were so severe he died within a few days. Not before I got the answers out of him, though," he said cruelly. For a brief second, there was a flash of the Bakura that Yugi knew in his eyes, but it faded away almost instantly.

The Hikari swallowed nervously before asking the question he dreaded. "And....and what happened to me?"

The tomb robber stared at him silently, respectfully, before saying quietly, "You didn't even make it to the ambulance. You were dead before they dug you out of the rubble."

Yugi gasped in shock; the news was sudden, and the emotions received were almost incomprehensible. "What?!"

Bakura nodded. "Yes. It was tragic news for all of us."

"But Yami would never do that to me!" Yugi almost shrieked. He couldn't believe that the ancient pharaoh could be so cold-hearted, so...so evil.

"Recall that you are in a much different dimension than the one you are familiar with," the tomb robber said, somewhat harshly. "The rules of life are much different here."

"R-right..." the Hikari muttered slowly. His mind seemed to stand still. So I'm dead here, he thought to himself. The thought was strange, as if it didn't fit into place quite right.

"I will continue," Bakura said quietly, after several minutes had passed. However harshly he may have talked, he understood the shock of the situation. At least that was good.

"After your death, the way of life quickly changed. Your Yami gained more power, more unstoppable might. His Madness grew until the point where his few precious seconds of sanity were few and far between. He grew into a leader, ruling much of the land around here. Any who opposed him were crushed, either by his own magic or the forces and allies that quickly turned to him for protection and a portion of his power.

"It became clear to your friends and I that we had to stop the ancient pharaoh somehow. We were against forceful means of stopping you if we could; we weren't sure how much of Yami's soul was really him, and we were afraid we might hurt him. We decided to take turns, to see if we could somehow persuade him that what he was doing was wrong. Tea agreed to go first, to see if she could talk some sense into the spirit.

"Tea approached him cautiously, but defiantly at the same time. She met him in his office; I went with her, to provide magical protection if it was needed. She tried to talk to him, to make him see the light. It nearly worked, I could see that he wanted desperately to cling to her words of kindness and heart, of friendship. But the Shadows wrapping his soul burrowed deeper, snapping another string in his mind. He went berserk; I was only just able to get Tea out of there in time. Even so, she will never get rid of some of the scars she received." Bakura narrowed his eyes, re-living the memory as he spoke of it.

"It was then that I knew he could not be simply talked out of his position. Force would indeed be needed. Magic would have to be used to try and get rid of the threat that he was becoming; the only magic strong enough to counter a Millennium Item's magic is the energy of another Millennium Item. My Ring alone would not have been powerful enough to win against the Puzzle. Instead, I began to seek out the holders of other Millennium Items. I found one and asked for his help; he willingly agreed to assist me, and we began our preparation for the challenge ahead of us.

"Sneaking into the building that Yami used was not a problem. We easily made it to his main rooms, encountering him almost immediately. What happened there would be most simply described as a Shadow Duel, though it was far more complex than even those. Two Millennium Items against one--and surprisingly enough, we were loosing against Yami. The Shadow Madness had strengthened him greatly.

"Ryou had been watching the whole encounter, of course," Bakura said sadly. "He saw how Yami was acting and begged to be allowed to try and 'read his soul,' as he so eloquently put it. Of course, the Ring can read souls, but Ryou seems to understand how a person is by looking at them. I agreed to allow him to try; at the time I had thought it might have given us an advantage. Fool that I was," he spat, glancing down at his sleeping hikari.

"What happened?" Yugi asked quietly.

"Ryou took control of his body, but we had hardly switched when that accursed Yami of yours unleashed his magical attack--his final attack. It was more powerful than I would have thought possible...and more deadly. It was like the mind crushing technique he so often used, but at least ten times stronger, and unchecked in all it's power. It was aimed at Ryou and I, sharing one body, and at my companion Millennium owner.

"Ryou received nearly the full force of the blow. His mind was shattered by that attack, broken into a thousand fragile pieces that can never be recovered and put back together. And then, as if it couldn't be worse for him, his mind was plagued with memories--nightmares, really--of evil, and hate, and terror." He glanced once again at Ryou, sleeping on the cot. "That is what happened to him, why he is like this. He is an empty, lost shell now. I have tried hundreds of times to find his mind, to help it recover, but I cannot. I always fail. He lives in fear, never seeing the good in life, when his mind is whole enough to see and understand at all."

Yugi was shocked. "I--I'm sorry...I really am, that's...that's horrible..." he stammered. Worry creased on his face as he stared at Ryou with new understanding, new sorrow.

"I thank you," Bakura said sadly, before returning to his story.

"Ryou took most of the blast. I managed to force what was left of his mind out of the way to take the rest of the attack. I, too, was effected, though not in nearly the same way. I have some memories of this life, with Ryou, that are empty, and no longer there. But it is of no matter.

"The other Millennium user was injured as well, though not as bad as Ryou. We both knew fighting on was pointless; Yami was too strong. We managed to escape, though narrowly.

"Months later, the Opposition was formed. It is a resistance group, dedicated to ending Yami's reign of terror. They are strong and determined, fighting on even when the odds are against them. I have joined their ranks," he said calmly. "I am one of their top members, and the Millennium Ring gives them considerable advantages. I am often used to spy and steal, as my talents are best suited to it." The spirit grinned. "The idiot mortals out there call me Traitor...they think that owning a Millennium Item and going against Yami means I betrayed him."

Yugi nodded. "I knew that already...they mentioned you a few times out there. They seemed pretty excited that they caught you."

"There is a first time for everything," Bakura said dryly, "even being caught. And I won't be here for long, either."

Yugi blinked, but asked another question. "What happened to my friends? Joey, Tristen, Tea?"

Bakura shrugged. "Most have gone their separate ways," the spirit said slowly. "Joey and Tristen joined the Opposition on your behalf. Most people have a reason worth fighting, a person to fight for. Tristen died on one of the missions, at Yami's hands, but his death brought us quite a bit of valuable information that we needed. He did not sacrifice himself in vain."

The shock pounded on Yugi's head like a sledgehammer. So this was how this world was; he was dead, as was Tristen, and Ryou was lost in his own tortured mind. All at the hands of his Yami.

Bakura left him alone, understanding once again the shock of the situation. All Yugi could do was sit, grasping his Puzzle with hands so tight the corners dug into his flesh, staring at the floor in silence. It was too much shock for him to bear at once.

After nearly a half hour, the tomb robber spoke again. "I cannot be sure you are telling the truth," he said quietly. "About the portal."

"What?!" Yugi yelped. "I thought....I thought you did believe me!"

"Mostly," Bakura replied. "But there is only one way to be sure. Your Millennium Puzzle should hold pure magic, if it is from another Realm. It would not be tainted as it is here. If you will allow me to test it..."

Yugi stared at the thief across from himself and nodded slowly. He removed the Puzzle from around his neck and nervously held it out to the spirit. He didn't want to--his memories of the Bakura of his Realm were fresh in his mind--but he had to trust the spirit, or he'd never survive here.

Just as slowly, Bakura reached his hand out and touched his fingertips to the eye carved in the front of the Puzzle. There was a small flash, and the thief withdrew his hands in amazement. Yugi replaced the Puzzle around his neck.

"Pure," the tomb robber said disbelievingly. "Pure magic. You are telling the truth...I apologize, Yugi, for my lack of trust."

"It's okay," the Hikari murmured quietly, thinking to himself.

There was silence for several minutes before Bakura broke the silence again. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but I have told you of my world. What am I like in yours?"

Yugi sighed. "I don't think you really want to know."

"Of course I do," the ancient thief said, his tone nearly a growl.

"Well...you're not the exactly the nicest person in my Realm. Far from it. You're abusive to your aibou, as well as power-hungry. Dangerous, too." Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Like I said," Yugi finished hastily, "Not the nicest guy around."

"I see," the tomb robber muttered to himself. Again, quiet settled on the two's shoulders. It seemed to be forever before Bakura finished speaking. "If I ever cross into your Realm, Yugi, the other me had better watch out. I'll teach him a lesson about a yami/hikari relationship..." There was a threatening growl in the sentence, which caused Yugi to shiver.

The dark spirit sighed. "What time is it?"

The Hikari glanced at his watch, the numbers glowing in the dim light. "Quarter to nine. Why?"

"Good," the thief murmured. His shape began to fade as he returned to the Ring; within moments he had taken control of Ryou's body once again, moving it from the cot.

Turning to Yugi, he said quietly, "Rest. I will have means to escape here around midnight; I will see if I can help you escape as well. But you will need to rest in order to keep up."

Slowly, the boy nodded, walking to the cot and laying down on it. It was lumpy and uncomfortable, but it seemed beautifully soft after the day's ordeals. Within a matter of moments, he had drifted off to sleep.

His last memory of the night was the sound of Egyptian murmurs, almost a rhythm, which soothed him into a restful state even quicker than he could have thought.

* * * * *

HCG: o_O;; long...and it took three days to write too...

Karma: Well, at least it's interesting ^_^

HCG: You think?

Karma: Of course!

HCG: What about you, Ryou?

Ryou: *grumbles* Is it an unwritten law that I must ALWAYS be tormented by an evil Yami?!

HCG: Hmm...no.

Ryou: *sigh* Well, other than that it was a good chapter.

HCG: Speaking of yamis...where's Bakura?

Karma: *points* over there with Slash...they've got a chest of large dangerous sharp objects.

HCG: O_O;; uh oh...

Karma: Yeah. Want me to stop them?

HCG: You can try...

Karma: 'kay...*runs off to try and stop Slash and Bakura*

Ryou: *over suddenly loud fighting sounds* HCG would very much appreciate if you reviewed this chapter for her...she really really really needs the reviews!