His feet hit the pavement in a rhythmic pattern as he ran down the street. His breathing came out in little pants; he turned the corner down the familiar way to the Turtle Game Shop. His little rendezvous in the park was fun and all, but he totally lost track of the time.

Checking his watch, Bakura groaned. 'I'm so late!' he thought.

/It's not like it's the end of the world, Bakura/ Yugi commented.

'But they must be wondering where I am. I don't want them to worry.'

You should have listened to me, Yami Bakura chastised. I told you to leave and get over to the game shop.

/You didn't say anything. And if I remember right, you didn't care, either./

Shut up, Brat.

Bakura let out a slightly agitated sigh, trying to ignore them and concentrate on getting to the game shop. 'I can't believe I lost track of time so much. And Yami Yugi told me not to be late.'

Bakura picked the receiver of the telephone up off its cradle. "Hello?" he asked.

"Bakura? This is Yami."

"Oh, hi."

"Are you busy right now?"

"Busy?" The teen scratched the back of his head. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

"I need to talk to you."

"What about?"

"I really prefer to talk to you in person," the spirit of the puzzle replied, his voice seemingly low and hushed. "Can you come over to the game shop later?"

"I suppose so."

"Good. Come by at three o'clock. And what I have to say is very important, so please, don't be late."

Looking at his watch again, he chastised himself, 'Yami Yugi is going to kill me that I'm coming in half an hour later.'

That's when he noticed how unnatural his environment around him was. 'Why does it seem so empty?' he wondered. 'Where are all the people?'

He suddenly felt a wave of panic overcome Yugi, as he stopped halfway through a response to Yami Bakura. /Empty/ he asked.

'Yeah. There are no people out here. There aren't even any cars.'

The feeling of panic surged throughout Yugi. 'Something wrong?'

/I-I. . . .I'm s-sure it's n-nothing/ he stuttered. /Probably just some weird coincidence. But. . . . . . there was one time that I remember that was kind of like this. . . . . . Except it was dark./

He was about to ask, when he suddenly turned the corner and bumped into someone. The impact of the collision knocked both of them down, but Bakura was quick to get back on his feet.

"I'm sorry!" he said, helping the man up. "I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to run into you."

He suddenly noticed that the man seemed slightly familiar. But he couldn't quite place it. 'Wait. . . . . . . the cloak. I've seen it somewhere before. . . . . except this one is white.'

The man got to his feet, dusting himself off. "That's quite alright. . . . . . Bakura Ryou."

Bakura stiffened. "How do you know my name?"

"I know many things about you." The man suddenly turned around, his pale blue eyes staring hard at the teen.

Yugi gasped. /No. . . . . It can't. . . . . . It can't be. . . . . It's him. . . . . ./

Frantically searching through Yugi's mind, Bakura came across the answer he was afraid to find. 'He's the one who placed the spell on you? He's the one who separated your soul from your body?'

He could feel Yugi nod within him.

"I don't want to hurt you, Bakura," the strange man said. "All I am after is Yugi."

The teen's eyes widened. "How do you know?"

"Being the one who placed the spell on him, I am able to detect wherever he is hiding, since I am the only one who can place him back in his real body. Until he returns to his right vessel, I can sense his soul."

So much for that plan, Yami Bakura retorted sarcastically. That worked like a REAL charm.

'I somehow don't think this is the time to dwell on that,' Bakura said, trying his best to inch away from the man.

However, his attempt was futile, as the man suddenly raised his hand, and a scepter emerged from nowhere.

"We can make this easy," the man said, "or we can make this hard. I don't want to hurt you, Bakura, but if you resist, it will make my job of obtaining Yugi's soul that much harder."

"Then I wish you the best of luck," Bakura said defiantly, "because I'm not giving up without a fight."

Everyone seemed surprised by Bakura's sudden burst of courage, especially Bakura himself. When being harassed by the regular thugs, the quiet and reserved teen usually never tried to stop them from beating him or taking his money.

For some reason, this exact situation reminded Yugi of himself, that one time the bully Ushio beat up Jounouchi and Honda. Jounouchi had told him that he was surprised that Yugi would never say anything when he and Honda would pick on him, but when it concerned others, he was quick to stop it.

But there was no time to dwell on that now. Yugi snapped out of his train of thought as he realized that the man in front of them started chanting in the familiar foreign language. The crystal ball began to glow a vibrant blue hue, and Yugi half expected that Bakura would glow the same shade. Everyone was surprised, however, when icy blue, stone daggers suspended in the air.

"Don't be shocked, Yugi," the man said, a sly smile creeping over his lips, as if reading the younger boy's mind within Bakura. "I know you were expecting the Soul Separation spell, but I do have other ways to make people cooperate."

The daggers seemed to fly towards Bakura, and he snapped to his senses in time to jump out of the way. As he hit the ground, he saw that more of the daggers were coming towards him. Unable to do anything else, the teen rolled on the ground to avoid them, as they connected with the street.

He stopped when he saw an icy blue object hovering over him, and jumped to his feet to elude it from puncturing his head.

Yami Bakura was surprised that his young charge could actually move the way he was. He had never imagined his light to be that strong, fast, or agile, and he never imagined Bakura to be the kind of person to defend themselves, much less someone 'living' inside them. A strange, new feeling of respect arose from within the soul of the dark spirit.

Bakura wiped the sweat forming on his brow, staring at the strange wizard in front of him. His legs threatened to collapse underneath him, but he willed himself to go on. He could feel Yugi, tugging at him, urging him not to push himself, but the teen knew that he had to press on. He could never forgive himself if anything happened to his friend.

The being, sensing the boy's fatigue, smirked again, creating another dagger, hurling it at the young boy. Bakura, in his tired state, barely dodged it.

He cried out suddenly, feeling a searing sting on his lower left side. He fell to his knees, unable to withstand the pain that began to spread through his entire body.

/Bakura.../

The boy's pale hand swiftly flew to his side, and he felt the warm, crimson liquid that began to spill from the tear in his side and sweater. He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily; it hurt so much.

His eyes shot open when he heard the man chuckle. Leaning against the wall behind him, he slowly rose to his feet. His breathing came out in labored pants, as he and the wizard stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity.

"You should realize by now how easy it would be for me to obtain Yugi's soul," the strange man said. "If I were to kill you, your soul would pass into the next realm. But Yugi, since his soul is not in the proper vessel, would come out of your body, and I would be able to take him."

Bakura said nothing.

Creating another, larger, dagger, the wizard hurled it over at Bakura. He closed his eyes; there was nothing he could do now.

He suddenly felt himself knocked over by something, and he landed on his back against the concrete road. There was an enormous crash, as pieces of debris landed around him. Opening his eyes, he saw the dagger had collided with the brick wall that used to be behind him.

Yami Bakura was lying halfway on him, protecting him from any rubble that might have hit him.

The dark spirit got to his feet, and Bakura didn't resist as he felt himself hoisted up. "Stupid boy," Yami Bakura said gruffly. "If you're going to do this, you have to be quicker on your feet, with or without an injury."

The teen looked up at his Yami, noting the sense of gentleness buried under the sternness. He couldn't tell if his spirit held some concern beneath the hard chocolate of his eyes.

"If you're going to be so damn stubborn," Yami Bakura continued, "then hurry and get to the game shop. I'll buy you some time."

"Yami. . . . . . . ."

After making sure his light could stand, Yami Bakura turned around, his back facing Bakura. "Hurry and get going."

"B-but what. . . . about you?"

"I'm going to stall, so you can get there safely."

"But I can't just leave you. . ."

Yami Bakura swiftly turned around, his eyes locking with his young light's. "You being here will only distract me!" he shot out. "So stop being such a nuisance and get going already!"

Bakura reeled back, slightly surprised. But understanding, he nodded, and, ignoring the intense pain he felt in his side, ran as fast as he could to the game shop.

Once his light was out of sight, Yami Bakura turned to look at the wizard. "It's just you and me now," he sneered. "And stand assured, I'm not that easy to get rid of."

A sudden flash, as Yami Bakura called the ring. It seemed to appear from within him, and darkness spilled forth from the ring, engulfing both of them.

"Welcome to the Shadow Realm."

The wizard stared at him. "Yes, I'm very familiar with the Shadow Realm. . . . Nahkti."

A gasp escaped the spirit's lips as he stiffened slightly. "How do you know that?" he demanded.

"I know many things," the wizard replied, stroking the crystal ball on his staff. "You know, you and the Pharaoh aren't the only ones who come from Egypt long ago."

Yami Bakura's eyes widened. "You. . . You mean. . . .!"

The man smirked. "My name is Ishinku (ee-SHIN-koo), a sorcerer who lived during the Amenhotep dynasty. You do remember the Amenhotep dynasty, don't you, Nahkti?"

The spirit growled. 'How can I forget?' he asked himself. 'That was during the rule of Pharaoh Yugioh, while I was alive. Nahkti was the name I had while living there way back then. But how? How can he be here, in this time, if he is who he says he is?'

"It's quite simple, really," Ishinku replied, as if reading the spirit's mind. "The Pharaoh banished me here, in the Shadow Realm, after placing my soul in here." He held out his staff, the crystal ball glowing brightly. "He left me for dead, but my soul was able to partly escape from its imprisonment and return to my limp body, which was also banished in the Shadow Realm.

"However, half of my soul still remains in the crystal ball, while the other half controls my body. Because of that, I have lived for 5 millennia, waiting for fate to help me.

"That chance came, when the barrier between our world and the Shadow Realm opened, in the duel with the Pharaoh and a man name Pegasus. I was able to escape, and have spent this time learning everything I could about this world, and where the Pharaoh ended up. I followed them to a place called the Duelist Kingdom, and learned everything I could until I was ready to finally take my revenge."

"Well, get in line," Yami Bakura retorted. His ring began to glow a light blue hue, and a beam of light shot forth towards Ishinku. His crystal ball began to glow the same shade, and counter the beam from the ring.

"Having lived in the Shadow Realm for so long," Ishinku said, his staff glowing a bright red, "I have been accustomed to everything here. So you see, Nahkti, I will be very difficult to beat."

'Maybe so,' Yami Bakura thought silently to himself. 'But as long as I can give my light enough time to get to the Pharaoh's place safely, then that's all that matters.'

Anzu, Honda, and Jounouchi sat in Yugi's room, watching as Yami was pacing the floor, as he waited for Bakura to arrive.

Honda leaned over to Anzu, whispering, "It's like watching a ping-pong match. He keeps going back and forth and back and forth."

"I know," she whispered back. "If he keeps it up, he's gonna drive a hole through the floor."

If Yami had heard them at all, he didn't show it. He kept pacing, pausing to glance at the clock, then began to pace again.

Jounouchi, sitting at the end of Yugi's bed, watched as Yami walked, his brown eyes never leaving the form of the figure. "Yami," he finally said, "relax, would ya?"

Yami stopped, raising his violet eyes off the floor and locking with Jounouchi's.

"You're stressing out over nothing. I'm sure Bakura and Yugi are fine."

Yami relaxed slightly, but looked at the floor again. "I'm actually more worried about Bakura than I am about Yugi," he replied.

"That's strange," Honda said. "I would have thought you would have been more worried about Yugi."

Yami shook his head. "Yugi, I know, will be fine. I am worried about him, but not as much as I'm worried about Bakura."

"Why?" Anzu asked.

"I fear something will happen to Bakura. I can't say exactly what's going to happen, but I know it's something to be concerned about. I've asked him over to talk to him, see if anything has happened to him lately. I'm hoping to get a better idea of a way to protect him.

"But I asked him to be here at three, and it's already quarter after four. I'm beginning to wonder if something already happened to him."

"First of all," Jounouchi said, "you don't know for sure that something will happen to Bakura, do you?"

"Not exactly. . . . ."

"And second of all, just because Bakura's late, doesn't mean that something happened to him. I'm sure he just lost track of the time."

"You may be right, Jounouchi," Yami said thoughtfully. "But still. . . . . . I can't help but feel that something is wrong."

They all heard the door of the store open, as the bell rang throughout the whole place. As it closed, the bell rang again.

"See," Jounouchi said, hopping off the bed, "that must be Bakura now."

Yami nodded, leading the others out of Yugi's bedroom and down the stairs. As he entered the main part of the store, however, he froze, a gasp freed from his lips.

Bakura was leaning against the door, his hand and white sweater tainted with blood as he held his lower left side. His breathing came in labored pants as he kept his eyes on the ground.

"Bakura!" Yami cried in alarm, jumping over the counter as he rushed to the injured teen. "Bakura. . . . ." He gently placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "What happened?"

Bakura looked up, his chocolate eyes filled with pain. "Yami. . . Yugi. . .," he said weakly, before collapsing in the spirit's arms.

"Bakura!"

TBC