We focus on Guardian and her two character muses. All the guests from the previous chapter have left, except for Kaiba, who is clinging to HCG and trying to get her to tell him what happened to him in the fiction. HCG looks annoyed, and Karma and Slash are trying hard not to laugh.
Kaiba: WHAT HAPPENS TO ME?!?!
HCG: For the last time, you have to WAIT to see! *shakes Kaiba off and tries to run for it*
Kaiba: *falling to the ground from being shaken off, and clinging to HCG's foot* NO! ANSWER MEEEEEEE!
HCG: o_O;; Karma? Help?!
Karma: *laughing too hard to talk*
HCG: *growling at Karma* Darn you! *turns to Kaiba* If you don't get off right now I'll NEVER answer you!
*Kaiba immediately lets go and stands up, waiting eagerly for HCG to answer him* Well?
HCG: Still not telling.
Kaiba: _;; I don't want to die...
Karma: Come on, Kaiba, it's not like she'd kill off one of her favorite characters.
Slash: Well, she did kill Yugi, and she's ranked him fourth on the "cool characters" list. And she got rid of Mokuba too, and she thinks he's a cool character. And she got rid of Tristen also, and she respects him. And as for Ryou--
Karma: ¬_¬;; I get the point.
HCG: Are you guys going to talk all day?
Slash: Until you start the fic.
Kaiba: And start it soon!
HCG: *to Kaiba* I can't start until my writing mood comes back. So...make yourself useful.
Kaiba: How?
HCG: My CD player's batteries are dead, and until I find new ones I have no music to help me write. So...*tosses him a guitar* Play some music to get my spirits up.
Kaiba: *catching guitar* What makes you think I can play?
HCG: I just wrote it into your profile, that's why.
Kaiba: *shrugs* Alright. *tinkers with guitar a few seconds, then starts playing and singing Hero (from Spider-man) perfectly*
Slash: Isn't it a muse's job to inspire the author?
HCG: You're right, Slash! *shoves him over next to Kaiba* You've got a great voice. Help him out.
Slash: *looks surprised, then sinks into the music and sings along nicely*
Karma: So I suppose Kaiba's acting as a temporary muse?
HCG: Why not? And as for my other muse...*stares at Karma*
Karma: *sighs, then goes over to the other two and helps out by playing the drums*
HCG: Aaah, music! ^_^ You guys are great.
*the three finish up Hero and take a quick break*
Kaiba: No wonder. I'm the main singer ^_~ *breaks into playing Running Away by Hoobastank*
HCG: Whatever you say. Now, to the fic! I shall do the disclaimer...I don't own Yu-gi-Oh, or Kaiba, or Hero, or Running Away, or...well, I just don't own a hell of a lot of stuff o_O;;
But Karma and Slash are MINE!
Now, Notes!
um...italics are thoughts or dreams/memories...and that's about it...
Shadow Turned Light
Chapter 8: Encounter the Shadow
Yugi stood in the dead-end hallway for several moments, not moving from pure shock. He could not believe what he had just heard...or he wanted desperately not to believe it.
Gun shots. Three gun shots. That meant for almost certain that Kaiba had been hit, and from the way the guards had cheered, he was probably dead as well.
Kaiba had a gun, too, he reminded himself. Perhaps he was taking his worry just a bit too far...
Bakura jerked him out of his thoughts by tugging on his wrist, pulling him around the corner and out of the blocked hallway. "Come on," he hissed. "We have to get out of here quickly, before they think to come back here and check for others."
Yugi nodded silently, not daring to speak. The tomb robber probably assumed he was just trying to be quiet, but in reality the Hikari felt like he was going to be sick. A good friend of his may have just died only a few yards from him, and it was a thought that made his stomach churn.
The Ring spirit kept his hand clamped around Yugi's wrist, half dragging him through the hallways to the next set of stairs. He was talking as they moved, though very quietly. "We're on level thirty right now; we have to make it up twenty more flights unnoticed. No matter what, we can't give ourselves away, or we're not going to make it out of here alive."
And then Kaiba's sacrifice would be in vain, the Hikari found himself thinking. He wouldn't stand for that. He silently resolved that he would do his very best to help achieve their goals, no matter how many risks it took.
The two of them reached the stairwell and quietly made their way up the steps, all the while listening carefully for sounds that would show there were guards around. They reached the top of the stairs without any trouble and darted out into the hallways.
There were no men in the corridor as they ran down it, though Yugi could see why easily. They were probably gloating over Kaiba's defeat, and were abandoning their caution because of it. He doubted that they thought there could still be a few more threatening people in the building. He didn't enjoy their reason for being absent, but if it gave them an advantage...he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity and complain.
There was one magical trap, and a strong one at that. After Bakura revealed it in another stunning display of light, it resembled a what looked like a wall of magic. A shield, the tomb robber explained, as he broke through the energy stretched out before them, that would not allow an intruder to walk farther.
They passed through the rest of the hall easily and entered the doorway leading to the next flight of steps, taking them up four more stories before they came to an end. Again, they passed through a corridor that was absent of men, although there were two more magic traps for Bakura to disable.
It went on in a similar way for six more levels, with traps that were relatively easy to break through, and almost no men. However, once they reached the fortieth floor, things began to get more difficult.
It started when Yugi and his Ring spirit comrade reached the end of the hallway and found themselves facing a large access panel, the only way to open the steel door that lead to the stairwells. The tomb robber cursed and moved forward carefully, examining the panel with an expression of annoyance. Finally, with a groan, he peeled off the metal plating of the panel and stared at the wires nestled behind it.
"Do you know how to get us through that?" Yugi asked, pointing towards the large metal door he stood in front of.
"Not really," Bakura muttered in reply, still glaring at the different colored wires half-buried in the wall. "Kaiba was going to show me a few tricks, but I'm afraid my knack for technology isn't as great as it should be."
"So how do we get through?"
"Well..." the tomb robber turned to give the Hikari behind him a quick glance. "I do have a way that'll be messy, but effective. Unfortunately, it'll give Yami and his guards warning of us again. Are you willing to try it?"
Yugi sighed, thinking carefully. "We are only ten floors from Yami. It should be easier to get to him, as we aren't so far away."
"Keep in mind that his traps only get stronger and more confusing, the closer you get to him."
"Still...we have to get to him quickly, or we'll loose our only advantage."
The ancient thief sighed and turned once more to face the exposed wires in front of him. "So we're going the messy way. Very well. Get ready to run again, Yugi." With that said, he reached forward, grasped a handful of wires, and with a growl tore them right out of the wall.
The reaction was instant. The door swung open with an angry groan, and the two intruders darted through and up three more flights of steps. They burst out into the next hallway as quick as they could, not sure how much time they had before there were more guards down on them.
But their worries of guards were quickly erased from their minds as they saw the obstacle that faced them in the forty-third hall.
The level wasn't a simple, straight hall leading from one set of steps to the other, as most of the previous levels had been. It looked more like a maze of twisting, dark halls, with countless passages leading off into the labyrinth from where they stood. Yugi could sense magical traps, too, spaced all throughout the maze, most hidden in the dead ends that they could not see.
Bakura cursed loudly several times in Egyptian, the words flying so fast it was like one vulgar string escaping his mouth. When he finally tired of swearing, he hissed, "Damn that stupid Pharaoh. He's gone and put an Illusion in his defenses!"
"What?" the Hikari next to him asked, confused.
"Yami used magic to create this. It's an Illusion." He said the word with an important tone, turning it into something much more dangerous sounding than it's more common pronunciation. "It's a trick of the Shadow Realm that can be used by other Millennium Item users, although it is very difficult magic to control. It's not exactly real...none of this is truly here...but at the same time, it's just as dangerous as if it really did exist. We may be in quite a bit more trouble than we bargained for."
"Ah," Yugi mumbled, sighing. Another powerful trap, and all made out of dark magic. Yami really has been forced into Madness.
The Ring spirit beside him sighed as well, staring at the four halls leading away from them in confusion. "And the trouble starts here," he said, peering down each hall, though not seeing anything. "Only one of these is the true route, which we have to take. All the others are sure to have deadly magic waiting at the ends of them. If we go down one of the False Illusion halls, we may never come back--or if we do, it'll take too much time to get out, and we'll be caught." He frowned momentarily, then abruptly broke into a grin. "But Yami doesn't seem to realize that he's dealing with a tomb robber, and me of all thieves at that."
Yugi was about to ask what the ancient spirit was talking about, but a glow from the Millennium Ring changed his mind completely as he realized what was happening. He smiled with hope as he saw the golden Ring raise slowly from it's position around Bakura's neck, jerking towards the second hall from the right and reaching with all it's pointers towards the shadowy corridor.
The Ring spirit chuckled. "Why, Yami, I do believe I just found the way through your little maze," he said to himself, as he calmly walked towards the indicated hallway, allowing the Ring to drop back onto his chest.
They darted through the corridor quickly and without hesitation, but if they had thought that Yami's Illusion would be simple enough to get through, they were wrong. After only a few minutes of running through the twisting passageway, the pair of them found themselves facing another group of three corridors, each leading off in it's own direction. Bakura growled in annoyance as he discovered the true hallway, this time on the far left.
The endless darting through corridors and choosing of the correct hallways went on for ages, and Yugi found himself thinking more than once that they would never get out of the twisted labyrinth. The Ring spirit beside him, however, seemed pleased, and the young Hikari assumed hopefully that they were making their way out of the maze, though slowly.
His thoughts proved themselves true, as the two comrades soon burst out of the last dark passageway and into the stairwells. As they pounded up the steps, the boy checked his watch--amazingly, they had only been in the maze for twenty minutes. It had seemed like hours of darting around corridors and stumbling through the dark.
Panting, Bakura and Yugi reached the top of the stairs, running through the doorway into the halls of level forty-six...and stopping dead still at the sight of the twenty-four guards, dressed entirely in black, facing them, only ten feet away.
The Ring spirit narrowed his eyes in anger, studying the men in front of them. He muttered something under his breath; Yugi thought he could make out the words, "No Special Guards." Somehow, the words sent a chill up his spine.
The thief was speaking louder now, his voice determined, but at the same time...regretful? His words echoed the tone of his voice, with a mix of anger and sorrow. "May the gods forgive me for what I am about to do," he said, loud and strong, as he reached for something in his back pocket--a Duel Monsters card.
Yugi had about two seconds to take a quick look at the card before the ancient tomb robber began to move forward slowly, towards the guards. Nevertheless, a sudden, foreboding feeling fell over the boy, making his stomach churn as he recognized the card.
A Morphing Jar.
Bakura was moving quicker now, striding towards the guards as if he meant business. The men ahead of him were beginning to head towards him as well, thinking the spirit weak and unable to defend himself. They were laughing as they walked, mocking the 'fool Traitor.'
Their laughs quickly turned to screams, however, as the Ring spirit stopped and calmly raised the Duel Monsters card into the air. It glowed brightly, as did his Millennium Ring. Then the bright, shimmering light was swallowed up by suddenly appearing shadows--shadows that poured from a dark hole, hovering just behind the ancient thief.
There was a hideous cackle from within the hole, before a long, thin shape began to emerge from it. It had large, crazed eyes that glared at the guards before it, but it's mouth was far more noticeable--huge, with large teeth and an insane grin plastered eternally over it.
It raised it's thin bulk as high as it possibly could, scraping the ceiling with it's head, still laughing in a high-pitched tone. Abruptly, it's body began to stretch and bubble, becoming at least ten times it's usual size, filling the entire top portion of the hallway. With a horrendous shriek, it dived down on the black-clothed men before it, sweeping over them and hiding them completely with it's own, nightmare-black body. It didn't stop moving, but continued roaring down the hall, cackling insanely, it's long body still pouring out of the shadowy hole behind Bakura. Then, slowly, it began to fade away, disappearing into the air in smoky wisps, until all that was left was it's crazed laugh--and even the sound soon faded away into nothingness.
There was no trace of the guards at all, either.
The Ring spirit sighed, shook his head, and tucked the card gently back into his pocket. Slowly, he turned to Yugi, muttering, "Come on."
The young Hikari stood still, paralyzed by shock. He could not believe what he had just seen--twenty-four men, all alive and well, suddenly sent to the Graveyard. There was no doubt what would happen to them there...if they even lived an hour, they would be lucky.
"Come on," Bakura repeated, running back a few paces and grasping Yugi's wrist, tugging him along down the hall. He broke into a run, forcing the young Hikari to speed up, as well. The rest of the journey down the hall was completed in silence.
"I don't like it any more than you do," the tomb robber continued, once they had reached the stairwell and began climbing up it's four flights. "I feel horrible after I send people to the Graveyard like that. But it had to be done; there was no other way. I have to get you to Yami at all costs, remember what Kaiba said."
Yugi nodded sadly. "I know. And I understand."
They darted up the final flight of steps quietly, turning towards the doorway and stepping through--onto the fiftieth floor, the level that Yami resided on.
They were faced with one endlessly long hall, stretching on down to a pair of golden double doors at the end. The carpet was soft and expensive-looking, and the color of blood. The dark-colored walls were absent of other doors where offices had most likely once been; instead they were covered with glass cases, holding sections of rocky walls, covered in hieroglyphics that looked as though they had Egyptian origin. The entire hallway looked as though it belonged to some museum, although the dark colors of the walls and the carpet's particular blood-red shade made it look crueler than it should have appeared.
Bakura's face was set with determination, though his anger was easily seen in his eyes as well. He stared at the golden doors at the far end of the halls. "There," he said, surprisingly calm, "is where Yami lies."
Yugi nodded and began to walk forward, towards the double doors, his own determination showing in his steps. He would see what exactly had happened to his darker side...and he would see if he could stop it. I won't give up. No matter what, I will never give up.
The two of them walked in silence, striding towards the ominous double doors with countless emotions swirling through their minds. The hallway seemed to go on forever; Yugi guessed it had been built this way to intimidate intruders. He guessed that the glassed-in hieroglyphics were meant to serve the same purpose as he glanced at them, for the vast majority of them showed the ancient Pharaoh, standing above his defeated, dead enemies in victory, Millennium Puzzle glowing dangerously.
At last, after what seemed like an age, the young Hikari and his Ring spirit comrade were standing outside the gigantic golden double doors. Yugi stared up at them in surprise; they would have looked almost beautiful, but for the foreboding sense they cast over the viewer. Carved into the doors was a large triangle, facing point down, with an Egyptian eye in the center--the entire carving formed the front of the Millennium Puzzle.
Yugi sighed one last time and reached for the door, but Bakura stopped him quickly.
"Hold on," the tomb robber hissed. "Before you go in, there is something I must say first." the young Hikari nodded and turned to face the Ring spirit, who continued. "Yugi, I have sworn to help you all I can, and to protect you while you are in this Realm. I don't plan to break an oath I made on the Ring. But now that Ryou is safe once more...I cannot take risks that may cost his safety. I will help you against Yami all I can, but if it comes to the point when it becomes too dangerous, I will have to step aside. You understand, don't you?" His question seemed nervous, with a worried tone ringing clearly through it.
Yugi nodded, quickly speaking to put his friend at ease. "Of course I understand. Don't worry about it, Bakura."
The spirit nodded gratefully before his expression became serious once more. "I thank you. And I wish you good luck in there as well," he said, jerking his head towards the golden doors in front of them. "I don't know how this encounter will go, but I hope I'll have the chance to talk to you again, if Yami does not..." he let it hang, but the Hikari understood all too well. Seeing this, the spirit continued. "Be warned, however--Yami is powerful, dangerously powerful. He will do anything it takes to win, so watch your back at all times."
Yugi nodded one last time before turning and pressing his hand against the cold metal of the doors. He sighed, closing his eyes briefly, gathering his courage together. Then, raising his head, he said calmly, "Let's go."
He pushed open the heavy golden door carefully, slipping into the room with ease. He felt Bakura sliding through the opening in the door as well, but his mind was wiped of the thought as he gazed around the room in surprise.
The first thing he saw was a decently large TV, hanging from the ceiling by a few strong, metallic cables. The picture on the screen was in rather fuzzy color, and from the quality of it, the shots were evidently that of a security camera. But Yugi didn't care about that so much as what was being viewed by the camera. It was a shot of the gate circling the building, as well as a few of the smaller structures surrounding the skyscraper. There were men darting out of the smaller buildings, drawing guns and other dangerous-looking weapons. The Hikari soon spotted the reason--there were two figures running full-out towards the gate, obviously escaping. Upon taking a closer look, Yugi recognized the first figure as Joey, running frantically with a rather angry Seto Kaiba leaning on his shoulder. One of Kaiba's legs wasn't moving at all, and was bleeding rapidly--the gunshots! He got hit in the leg!--and so it seemed that Joey was doing most of the escaping work. Yugi watched with growing hope as his friends succeeded in reaching the gate, ripping it open and escaping the camera's line of sight.
They're alive! They got away! he thought, his heart practically bursting with relief.
The next thing to meet his eyes, however, completely destroyed what little happiness he had gained from the camera's shots.
As his eyes continued to roam around the room, he spotted one section of the wall directly across from him that was different from everything else. There were six Duel Monsters cards pinned to the wall by all four corners, each picture on the cards startlingly clear and recognizable. A Dark Magician on the far left, followed by a Flame Swordsman, Cyber Commander, Magician of Faith, Blue Eyes White Dragon, and finally on the far right a Change of Heart. Yugi choked as he recognized each card as the favorite of one of his close friends. He stared in horror at the way each card had been treated, as well. The Change of Heart was ripped in half down the line that separated it's dark half from it's light, probably representing Ryou and Bakura; the lighter half of the card had a sharp, silvery knife stabbed through it's snowy wing. The Dark Magician and Cyber Commander were much the same, with small, silver blades thrust through the centers of the cards. The Blue Eyes White Dragon had suffered as well; though it had no knife piercing it, it's edges were ragged and torn, and a large tear ripped halfway through the card.
Oh, god, Yugi thought to himself, feeling sick. They represent all of us, all of our souls...Tristen and I have died here, and Ryou was as good as dead--and their are knives through all of our cards. And the Blue Eyes...Kaiba's not dead, but his heart and soul have been tortured...so it's been ripped. God, this is wrong. Wrong.
Tearing his eyes from the cruel display, Yugi forced himself to look around the rest of the room. For the most part, the furnishings were rich and almost beautiful, but their were sinister edges to the room, making it look cold and dangerous. The Hikari glanced around the room once before his eyes were drawn to one particular desk in the center of the room, just below the card display.
The desk was smooth and polished, the sun shining through the windows glinting off of it in small pools and reflecting back onto the walls and ceiling. There was a small stack of papers sitting on the edge of the desk, along with a few writing utensils and other odds and ends. It wasn't the desk that drew Yugi's eyes, however, but the figure behind it.
Yami.
The ancient Pharaoh was resting calmly in a large, expensive-looking wooden chair. His arms were crossed over his chest, only a few inches above the pyramid-shaped item hanging from around his neck. His tri-colored hair was an almost exact replica of Yugi's, with the same long, golden bangs hanging down just on the sides of his eyes. But his eyes weren't the reflections of his Hikari's at all; they were narrowed, cold and cruel, the violet color looking so dark it was nearly black.
The Puzzle spirit stood with easy grace as his eyes met Yugi's. He glanced over Bakura carelessly before returning to his once-Hikari, studying the boy with an angry frown. After several minutes of silence, in which nobody moved, the Pharaoh spoke.
"So. Yugi. But not really, am I correct? The famous imposter that my Special Guard has been talking about for the past day." He laughed, a cruel, harsh sound that was shocking to hear. "Of course you couldn't really be Yugi. He has long since been dead."
The Hikari took a step forward, towards the dark spirit in front of him, and spoke, peering into the Pharaoh's dark, shadowed eyes. "I am Yugi. You know it well, I can see that. Don't deny it."
Yami laughed again, narrowing his eyes as he glared at what was once his Hikari. "Don't be a fool. I have seen death quite a bit in my long lifetime, I can tell when somebody I know has died. Especially what used to be my Light. I--"
He stopped suddenly, his eyes focusing on the Millennium Puzzle around Yugi's neck. Confused, the spirit narrowed his eyes at the Item, probing it's magic carefully with his own Puzzle. Suddenly he froze, staring at the Pure Millennium Puzzle with utmost shock.
"But...but this is impossible...no, it's not you....no, you're dead...I saw you die...watched you die...let you die..." the Pharaoh's voice took a whispering tone, a hiss that was chilling and terrifying. The dark spirit himself was shivering slightly, still staring at the Hikari across from him unblinkingly.
After several more minutes of nothingness, Yami finally drew himself up fully and said calmly, "Death does not reverse itself, not without the help of powerful magic. Not even with the strength of all the Millennium Items is it completed. Yet you are not an imposter, for you hold the Puzzle, as clearly as I hold it as well. So. Who are you?"
"Just as I have said, Yami," the Hikari said calmly, "I am Yugi Moto, your partner. Your Aibou. And no matter if you have killed me or not, that one fact will never change."
The Pharaoh glared at him in anger, dark violet eyes burning in pure hate. "Very well," he hissed, turning and striding towards the gruesome card display behind him. He reached for the Dark Magician's card, jerking the knife out the figure's drawn midsection and tossing the blade carelessly onto the polished desk. "I will savor replacing that when my work here is done once more."
Yugi shivered at the threat, finding it hard to grasp that his darker half was acting so evil. Trying to take a calmer approach, he said slowly, "I won't fight you, Yami. I refuse to. You should as well."
The ancient ruler chuckled harshly. "You refuse to fight because you can't. The dark magic was too strong for you, wasn't it? I survived it. I was the only one strong enough to survive it. You were weak, and foolish. And you still are. You will fall again, and for the same reason." He paced calmly around the desk, coming within only a few feet of his lighter half.
Yugi could sense that he was in danger, but he wouldn't give up. "You would attack your Aibou? Yami, we're partners! Friends! Don't you remember?"
"I trust no one but myself!" Yami spat, taking a step forward in his anger. "There are no such things as partners, you fool, only those that will betray you unless you turn on them first. There can be no friends, only enemies!"
With this final explosion of words, the ancient Pharaoh leaped forward, arms outstretched to grasp at the Hikari across from him, the Puzzle glowing with a sickly, dark light. With a frightened yell, Yugi took a step backwards and fell onto his back, staring upward in shock as his Yami came closer, death glowing in his Puzzle and reflecting in his dark, crazed eyes.
Yugi closed his eyes, as if preparing for the pain that he knew was coming--but nothing happened. Instead, he heard a muffled shout, the words slurred together and unrecognizable, and then a softer sound, the flurry of wings as they flapped over him in a whirlwind.
Snapping his eyes open, he gazed in wondered surprise as he saw a figure swooping towards his Yami on miss-matched wings. It was a girl with long, shining brown hair, wearing flowing robes, a heart easily seen over her chest. There was almost a line running down from her forehead to the ends of her robes, splitting her appearance neatly in two. One half was light colored, with white robes and one snowy angel wing, while the other half was darker, with it's powerful, jet-black demon wing pumping through the air. She flew towards the Pharaoh defiantly, wings pushing her to greater speeds; suddenly and without warning, she rammed into the spirit in the shoulder, a painful tackle that stopped him in his tracks.
With an angry roar, Yami's darkened Puzzle glowed, it's energy enveloping the Change of Heart and shattering it into millions of pieces with one last scream from the monster. Drawing himself into a taller stance, the Pharaoh stared over Yugi's shoulder and said coldly, "A pathetic effort."
Startled, Yugi stood up slowly and turned to look over his shoulder. Bakura stood behind him, still holding a Duel Monsters card high in the air and glaring at Yami with burning anger.
"And yet," the ancient ruler continued with mocking calm, "I thought you swore never to use Ryou's favorite card without the boy being present. I knew you could never keep an oath. Thieves are never to be trusted."
"I always keep my oath, even now," Bakura spat, tucking the Change of Heart back into his pocket. "And I had Ryou's consent. In fact, he told me to use it."
Yami paled. "He's...back? But my magic...it can only be un-done by me!"
"Not quite, Pharaoh!" the tomb robber shot back mockingly.
The Puzzle spirit was becoming lost in shock, staring from Yugi, to the Puzzle around his neck, and back again, murmuring. "Perhaps it is simply the Item that controls the fate of the victims..."
The tomb robber took advantage of the other dark spirit's confusion, diving forward and summoning all the energy his Millennium Ring possessed. With an angry roar, he gathered the magic and fired it, the pointers raising upwards to aim it in a shining blue aura.
Yami whipped towards the Ring spirit in surprise that quickly changed into anger. Growling, he countered the magical blast with one of his own, allowing a light green stream of energy to surge from the eye symbol on the front of his Puzzle. The two magical attacks met in mid-air, colliding with a burst of sparks and beginning to push at each other, as if trying to shove one's attack back at another.
Bakura soon seemed to be winning, as his own blue energy was forcing the green back on itself, towards it's creator. He concentrated and shoved harder mentally, urging his magic onward, despite the sweat that was now pouring into his eyes from the strain. Yami was sweating hard, as well, but for some reason he was smiling. Yugi felt another chill travel down his spine as he watched, helpless to do anything.
Without warning, Yami gave a shout, drawing on more power from a dark source. The light-green color of his magic suddenly wavered, and from the Puzzle a black aura swirled up and around his battling energy, darkening it to a nightmarish tint. The new, shadowy magic suddenly forced itself forward, cleaving the blue aura it fought against cleanly in two and slamming into Bakura's chest. The tomb robber cried out in pain, jerking back against one of the golden doors behind him and sinking down it to the floor.
"I win," Yami said calmly, a sickening grin on his face.
"Bakura!" Yugi yelled in dismay, using a small amount of his own Puzzle's power to check over the thief's condition. He was worried about the dark powers in Yami's Puzzle spreading to the Millennium Ring more than anything else, but thankfully the ancient tomb robber's Ring stayed full of pure magic only.
He heard the Pharaoh behind him start in surprise, and he whirled around quickly to see what had happened. He found himself staring at a rapidly growing hole in the air, with small shadows pouring out of it like smoke and rolling along the ground quietly.
A portal...a Realm gate, leading back to my world! Yugi thought with surprise. But...how?
Bakura's words back in the Opposition base suddenly found their way into the Hikari's thoughts. Just as long as the magic within the both of you is close enough to combine, the Puzzle can open the gate one last time. He realized with a start that both he and his Yami had used the Puzzle's magic, and it had succeeded in opening the Negative Realm's gate.
He wanted desperately to run to the gate, to throw himself through it, to return to his Realm, his kind Yami, everything that he knew. But he realized that he couldn't, as he gazed around the room, glanced over the uncontious Bakura a few feet away. He had promised that he would help those in this Realm, and if he went through the portal now, they would think him nothing but a treacherous liar. No, he had promised his help, and he would give it. Even if the portal disappeared and left him there, he would still try his hardest to make all his friends' sacrifices worth something.
Yugi turned to his darker half, staring at the spirit coldly. He found himself getting angry, as he stepped forward slowly. "You really have gone mad. Yami, I know something's wrong with you. I don't know if this is really you, or something controlling you. But whatever it may be, I'm going to help you overcome it."
Yami laughed cruelly. "Help me? What kind of a fool are you? I need no help, and especially not from a weak, kind-hearted idiot like you."
Yugi shook his head, his anger being overcome with sorrow. "I know that's not true. You're suffering, Yami. We both know it."
"I have become powerful! How can you accuse me of suffering?!"
"Because I know it's true." The Hikari was pacing forward slowly, coming within only a few inches of his darker side.
His Yami stared down at him, a dark smile on his face. "You're braver than you were before, I'll give you that much. But you still deserve to die!"
His lighter side said sadly, "No, Yami. I don't deserve that. I'm going to help you. Right now."
The Pharaoh growled and made as if he was going to lunge forward to finish his young Light, but before he could do so, Yugi reached out and grasped the darkened Millennium Puzzle in both hands.
As soon as he touched the smooth, golden surface, the entire world seemed to diminish and become unimportant. The only things he was aware of were himself, his Yami, and the dark and pure Millennium Puzzles. His vision also seemed to be enhanced, for when he looked up at his other half, he could see dark, twisting shadows wrapping around the Pharaoh, around his head, his heart, his very soul. They were burrowed into the very materials building the spirit's life, like parasites, feeding off of the ancient being's soul and mind. And the shadows, while wrapped around him and consuming the Pharaoh's very sense of existence, were also exchanging it with something much like poison, infecting his mind, damaging his mentality, turning him cold and harsh...turning him evil.
Yugi could literally see that the ancient ruler could no longer think straight; that what had used to be Yami had been long since buried under an avalanche of darkness. He simply was a tool for the shadows, now, his soul slowly being consumed and replaced with a deadly evil.
The shadows seemed alive, as well, and they stirred considerably upon sensing a second Millennium Puzzle. They tightened their grip around the Pharaoh's mind before beginning to spread out...Yugi realized with terrified shock that they were trying to seize control of his Millennium Puzzle as well.
In a wave of fright, the Hikari summoned a mass of his Pure magical energies and forced the shadows back, making a wall that they could not pass. The darkness advancing on him abruptly wheeled back, withdrawing from the Pure magic as though it was deadly.
But...but to the shadows, it is deadly! Yugi thought suddenly, as the darkness returned to it's haven, wrapped around Yami and his Millennium Puzzle. Which means...maybe...maybe I could force the shadows away from Yami!
Trying to test his theory, Yugi carefully summoned more of his Pure magic, forcing it forward and into the ancient spirit the shadows sheltered in. The dark matter wrapped around the Pharaoh squirmed slightly, budging just a tiny bit before settling back into place.
More...I need to use more energy...the Hikari pulled at the magic curled into his Millennium Puzzle, drawing on more and more to try and force the darkness out of his friend.
This time, on sending the Pure magic towards the shadows, the darkness shuddered and backed away a bit more than before, not returning to it's original spot. Vaguely, Yugi thought he could hear his Yami groan in pain, but he ignored it. Drawing on even more intense, Pure power, he shoved it towards the dark matter enveloping the ancient Pharaoh.
With a shrieking noise, the shadows pulled back a bit more, loosening their hold slightly. This time, however, there was a definite scream of pain from the ancient ruler. Suddenly understanding, Yugi summarized what was happening to his friend in his thoughts.
He's had these shadows burrowing into his very soul too long...it's hurting him to remove it. But I have to, or it'll really kill him...I'll drive this darkness out of him, no matter how much it hurts him...or me.
With his decision firmly planted into his mind, he drew on the height of his Puzzle's magic, unaware that he was now glowing with a golden aura as he worked. With a yell, he forced the magic deep within the shadows, satisfied at hearing them shriek and try to back away. Some withered and faded away into nothingness upon being touched by the Pure magic flooding towards them. And yet, despite it all, the darkness was stubbornly refusing to give up it's hold over Yami.
And as for Yami, the spirit was undergoing intense pain. Screams ripped their way out of his throat, tearing at Yugi's ears. The Pharaoh was jerking uncontrollably, unable to even hold himself up--he was leaning backwards slightly, the chain holding his Millennium Puzzle the only thing keeping him standing, straining as Yugi held the Item.
Yugi realized with a start that there were tears running down his face as he forced the Pure magic upon the shadows holding his friend. The screams were breaking his mind and heart to pieces, and he didn't want to hear his friend--even one that had tried to attack him--in such pain.
Then, suddenly, the shadows retreated, releasing their hold on the ancient Pharaoh completely and disappearing into the Shadow Realm. Yugi had enough time to notice that the Millennium Puzzle was suddenly flooded with Pure magic, identical to his own, before he released the Item and was brought back into awareness, once again noticing his surroundings.
Yami still stood in front of him, but not for long; his knees buckled abruptly and he fell to the floor, gasping. Yugi stood quietly, watching the Pharaoh in exhaustion. Using so much power had tired him out completely. Nevertheless, he gazed down at his darker half with worry, asking quietly, "Yami?"
There was a long, shaky intake of breath from the ancient Pharaoh, on his hands and knees, before he spoke. "I...I'm sorry...." his voice sounded weak, as if he hadn't used it in ages. He raised his head to stare at Yugi, and the Hikari could see tears slipping down from the corners of his eyes. "I...knew what I was doing...I knew that it was wrong, it was causing pain...but it was all I knew how to do...it was my mind, my heart, my soul!" the spirit snapped his mouth shut as new tears coursed down his face. After several minutes, he finally spoke again. "I'm....so...so sorry..." he said slowly, shuddering. "I'm sorry for what I did to...to you....and to your friends..."
"It's okay," Yugi said helplessly, wanting to comfort a friend in trouble. "You and I both know it wasn't your fault."
"But it was..." the darker spirit said slowly, a catch in his voice. "It was..."
Yugi sighed and looked around the room. There hadn't been as much damage as he thought there would have been, although the papers that had earlier been on the desk had scattered all over the room. He glanced over his shoulder at Bakura, still slumped against the golden doors, uncontious, and sighed again. He started to walk towards the tomb robber, but something caught his eye.
The Realm portal was flickering warningly, and it looked far smaller than it had been earlier. The dark shadows that had been rolling around lazily below the opening were now slowly withdrawing into the hole, and Yugi could tell that it was closing.
"No!" he yelled helplessly, his mind divided. He wanted to help his friends, but if he didn't get through the portal now, he would be trapped in the Negative Realm for good.
"Go on," Yami said slowly, standing and facing him with sorrow-filled eyes. They had returned to their natural, light-violet color, and were once again friendly, much to Yugi's satisfaction. The Pharaoh continued speaking, though his tone was sad. "I don't know why you need to pass through that...thing...but I can tell that you need to get moving right now. I'll make sure he leaves in one piece, don't worry," he said, indicating Bakura. "And I'm sick of this need to conquer...I'm done with it."
Yugi nodded gratefully, hurrying towards the portal. Before stepping through, however, he said calmly, "Good-bye, Yami. I am glad I was able to help you."
The Pharaoh said nothing, and so Yugi turned and stepped into the hole in the air quietly. The darkness of the portal covered him, enveloping him entirely as it took him to his destination.
The Hikari felt suddenly tired, and without realizing it he quietly closed his eyes and fell into a relaxed sleep. Just before he did so, however, he thought he heard the deep voice that called him in his Shadowdreams speak.
"Very good, Yugi Moto. You were not tempted. You are worthy of the great things to come. I praise you."
* * * * *
HCG: Wow, that took a long time to write. *sighs, then relaxes as Kaiba, Slash, and Karma finish singing another song, this time One Last Breath by Creed*
Kaiba: *as soon as he can talk again* I'M ALIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!! HAHAHAHAHA!
HCG: o_O;; Um...yeah...
Kaiba: ^_____^
HCG: Ooo-kay, this is getting weird now.
Kaiba: HAH, they can shoot at me all they want and they'll NEVER defeat Seto Kaiba!
HCG: ¬_¬;; Okay, now it's getting annoying. Kaiba, play another song or shut up!
Kaiba: *grins, then starts to sing "I'm Back" from the Yu-Gi-Oh! soundtrack*
Karma: You should've known that one was coming.
HCG: It doesn't matter. He's got a nice voice; it sounds great. In fact...Kaiba, you're no longer a temporary muse, or a guest--you're a permanent Muse ^_~
Kaiba: *halting halfway through the song* Wha?!
HCG: You heard me ^_^
Kaiba: O_O;; *passes out*
HCG: Aww, look, he's so happy to hear the news that he fainted!
Slash: I don't think that's quite the reason.
HCG: o_O;; Are you sure?
Slash: Positive.
HCG: *sighs* Well, okay...but he's still my new Muse. Now, let's see, story...okay, people, don't go away just yet, I still have one more chapter to write--the epilogue. So hang in there, and I'll get the last chapter out to you great readers soon. Thanks to all the reviewers out there, again ^_^ You guys are great.
Karma: And Happy Holidays...um, I said that a bit late, didn't I?
Slash: Just a little.
HCG: Okay, people, review for this chapter, PLEEEEAAAASE! PLEASE, I need'em!
Karma: ¬_¬;; Yeah, or you'll end up torturing us again...so really, please review!