R Amythest: Ooooooooo. . . . Now Ryouji is out in the Shadow Realm! Let's continue, shall we?
Yami Amythest: Help me Hikari! *runs in room*
Sub-conscience: SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! *boing* *boing* *boing*
R Amythest: *sweatdrop* this is my sub-conscience; she's a pixie that's shaped somewhat like Kirby. . . something like Jigglypuff on wings, I suppose.
Yami Amythest: great, bring pokemon in a YuGiOh fic. . .
R Amythest: True. I brought her in to replace Yami Amythest after she dies in 'From a Hieroglyphic.' But the two don't get along well as long as she's alive. . .
S-C: SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! *boing* *boing* *boing*
R Amythest: er. . . I guess I'll go back to Ryouji.
Italics show read print, emphasis, flashback, voice in phone, voice in head, or dream Emphasis during dream, flashback, phone calls, a voice in head, or read print'thoughts'
*~*~* = lapse of time and/or change of scene
[Ryou to Bakura over soul link]
]Bakura to Ryou over soul link[
{Malik to Ishtar over soul link}
}Ishtar to Malik over soul link{
~Duel Monster speech through telepathy~
/Er. . . Sub-consience's translated speech?/
*~*~*
Ryouji carefully stepped into the hole. There was a flash, and then darkness surrounded him on all sides. Occasionally, there was a dark violet streak of lightning, but that was it. He could barely see his feet. 'I'd better be careful,' he thought. 'Who knows when a monster will attack me. . . I knew I should've gotten some cards. . .'
And it was cold. Ryouji wished he had brought a sweater instead of the tank top and shorts. Maybe it didn't look as hot as this, but at least he'd be warm. . . And the shadow realm was constantly draining his energy. It was so hard to keep standing. . . and walking. . .
There was a jingling sound. He stopped for a while and squatted down. He saw a bluntly golden object. He picked it up and recognized it as a part of the millennium puzzle. "Well, that wasn't so hard," he chuckled, and rose to leave.
"Oh, you seriously don't think it's over, Ryouji-boy, now do you?" a cold voice said behind him. Ryouji spun around to find himself face-to-face with a Summon Skull. A dark aurora surrounded it.
"Hey! Leave him alone!" a voice from the other side called. Ryouji turned around again to find a Mystical Elf. She had a very light golden vapor around her. "You know that it really belongs in his realm! And I think you deserve to stay in here!"
The Summon Skull scowled. "Who asked you?" He muttered a spell, and an electric charge shot out of his body. The Mystical Elf shrieked, and disappeared into a cloud of sparkles. Ryouji gulped. High stakes, high risks, all in one realm.
*~*~*
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID IT!" Bakura screamed. Malik and Ishtar both covered their ears from his scream. "AND WITH MY HIKARI AS BAIT!!!! ONLY I'M ALLOWED TO USE HIM!"
"Oh, soooo encouraging," Ryou muttered. Malik blushed and scuffled his foot on the pavement.
"Keep out of this," Bakura growled. "Anyway, if Ryouji dies in the realm, I'm not responsible!" Ryou sighed, and leafed through his deck. Bakura peered over his shoulder. "What now?"
Ryou took out a single card and held it above his head. His Millennium Ring glowed, and so did the card. "Change of Heart!"
*~*~*
Ryouji gulped again as the Summon Skull approached him. "Oo, little mousy. Doesn't matter. I could kill you here or just tie you up and let the realm do my work for me." It was true. Ryouji could feel his soul slowly being drained. He had to get out of here. . . fast.
A whizzing sound caught his ear. He turned his head in hope, and saw a Change of Heart approach him. 'I'd better hope it's not here to possess me. Better yet, I hope it's Bakura's. . .'
~Silly, of course I'm here to save you.~ The Change of Heart giggled, and her form hovered in the Summon Skull. Its eyes were blank for a while, before being replaced with blue eyes. ~Hurry up! Get out of here!~ Ryouji nodded before turning around and ran for the hole. He heard a mental scream behind him. He cast a glance behind him to see Exodia with a De-spell toss it on the Change of Heart. She vaporized into sparkles.
'Oh darn. . . I hope I can make it.' He ran faster.
"Ahhh, you don't really think you can get away, do you?" a deep, harsh voice said. It grabbed Ryouji around the waist and held him in the air. He yelped. "Hmm. . . I think I'll enjoy toying with you. Care to duel?"
Ryouji panicked. "I don't have a deck! Only my Dungeon Dice Monsters!"
"Fine then. I'll play with that, too. And then, I'll have fun sealing you away."
*~*~*
Ryou yelped, grabbed his chest, and fell to his knees. The Change of Heart glowed, and the Millennium ring did, too.
"Hey, Guardy[1], care to explain what's going on?" Bakura scowled, watching the glow fade. Ryou panted and muttered something that sounded like, "good job, Change of Heart."
"Yeah, since the Change of Heart was Ryou's favorite card, I think they had some sort of connection," Ishtar explained. Then he shot Bakura a death glare. "And I'm not Guardy! I did a bad job and I'm proud of it!"
"Only you, Ishtar, only you," Bakura muttered.
"You guys sure have a weird way of expressing love," Ryou sighed. Both Bakura and Ishtar shot him a glare.
"Shut it!" they both said at the same time.
"Back to the topic," Malik interrupted, "what are we going to do about Ryouji?" Everyone facefaulted. He sighed. "I guess that means nothing, right?"
*~*~*
"Dice roll," Ryouji panted, tossing the stone cubes. It seemed that this was the way they played DDM back then.[2] The first cube landed on a star with three sticks in the middle. The second was a picture of two swords that crossed. The third was another star with three sticks in the middle. The first and third dice glowed, and there was a hole above the arena. Thunderball fell down from the clouds and landed on a pattern of violet mats. They made up what appeared to be a taken-apart die.
"Oh, tsk," the Exodia mocked. He threw his cubes, the first one landed on a shield, the second one landed on a star with three sticks inside a triangle inside it, and the third was a star with three sticks (no triangle.) "Warp hole!" it growled. The one with the triangle inside a star released a strong navy blue light, and a dark hole appeared.
Ryouji panted and swayed on his feet. "Oh, too much?" Exodia taunted. Ryouji collapsed on his knees and weakly croaked, "dice roll." The first cube landed on what looked like a hexagram[3], the second was an arrow, and the third was a circle with a square in it. "I store my Magic, Movement, and Trap crest in my pool," he gasped. He quavered, and leaned on a hand for support.
"Hmm, I think I'll wait," Exodia mused as he stretched a bit. They had a miniature staring contest. . . until Ryouji collapsed in a heap. "Hmm. . . I think I'll have some fun." The Eye of Horus appeared on its forehead, and he glowed. When the light subsided, all was left was the lifeless form of Ryouji Otogi.
*~*~*
"Welp, Ryouji hasn't come out, Tea's going to be happy, and I'm going home!" Malik muttered.
"Tea's going to be happy?" Ryou asked, puzzled.
Bakura stared down at the Hikaris. "You don't know love." Ishtar nodded in agreement, and they looked at each other for a moment, before Ryou and his yami left. Ishtar held Malik back, saying that they had to stay and watch the Realm.
*~*~*
[1] well, if Yami has the right to call Bakura tomb robber and such, isn't it okay for Bakura to call Ishtar Guardy, since he was a Protector of the Tombs?
[2] I made this up, okay? Copyright R Amythest, 2003! If you want to use it, ask!
[3] otherwise known as The Star of David
R Amythest: *sighs, looking dreamy*
Yami Bakura: "You don't know love?!" what kind of a !#@$%@$#^%%# line is that?!
R Amythest: it's cuuuuute! Ishtar and you look so right together!
Yami Bakura: *rolls eyes*
Malik: then why won't you let him come? *whines*
R Amythest: 'cause he's MEAN and he's going to kill Ryou! *glomps Ryou and COH Ryou*
Ryou: *rolls eyes* thrilling.
R Amythest: oh, and Mr. Otogi's a muse now!
Ryouji: *rolls eyes* greeeeeeeeeat.
S-C: SQUEEEEEEE!!!!! /don't forget me!/
R Amythest: . . . how could I?
S-C: SQUEEEE-EEEE-EEE-EEEEEE /You could lock me up and make me die and banish me from existence!/
Yami Amythest: hey, ya want me to?
S-C: . . . squir? /no?/
R Amythest: . . . review, before Sub-conscience makes me deaf.