Zutsokaki: Brood ran off to the kitchen to retrieve her Oreos, so she asked me to start this up for her. I don't want to, so I will just sit here for a moment. *sits down*

*you wait patiently for about five minutes before pegging a stone at him*

Zutsokaki: Hey! Why I oughta.....*Brood comes back in*

Brood: Did you hide my Oreos!?

Zutsokaki: No. Why would I want to hide your stinkin' Oreos?

Brood: I dunno. Hey, did you start up the chapter? ......hey....you didn't!

Zutsokaki: So? I have things to work on......

Brood: Whatever. Just go over there and make yourself useless like you are so good at. Let me start this chapter! *Zutsokaki wanders off into a corner and begins to mumble indistinguisable words* Alright! I hope that I didn't inconvenience any of you waiting for my last chapter, but I did have that seventy review rule up! I had decided that I had waited long enough for those slow reviews, so I decided to get it up around the time I had sixty-three.......I stayed up until around two in the morning getting that all nice and done.... Anyway, here is Chapter 12!

MY REVIEW CONTEST IS STILL GOING!!! Review this chapter or the previous one in the voice of your favorite character from my story, (ANY character of my story, my original characters are preferred) and if I like yours the best, you win a cameo appearance in my Cast Party fic!

P.S: I would like to express my deepest apologies to those of you who waited and waited for that previous chapter of my story, and I know that some of you might have thought that it had been discontinued. Keep this in mind. I would NEVER want to leave a story unfinished.....I wouldn't have the heart. I keep looking at all of those stories that I like, but haven't been updated in a month or so, and I wonder why they would want to leave a story uncompleted and its readers in suspense.....and I am sorry I did that to you all. Your opinion really does mean alot to me, and I take them all seriously. Just remember that I would NOT leave this story in particular unfinished....there are way to many plot twists, and even hidden ones you may not have spotted yet (hehehe.....hidden plot clues! Look for them!), and I would not like to leave a story this in depth unfinished. I would consider that pure injustice. My readers mean alot to me, and I hope you will continue to read this even though I disappointed you all.





CHAPTER 12



The rain around him was fierce and heavy as Seto huddled underneath of his poncho. He was sitting on a large boulder, and had spread the poncho out so he wouldn't be sitting on any water. He had some shade from the pelts of rain because of the leaves overhead, but most still got through and smacked him soundly on the head or arms. It was very dark and the only light came from the constant lightning, and the only sounds he could hear were the rolls of thunder coming from all directions.

His eyes were narrow as he tried to peer through the rain. But he could only see a few feet in front of him due to the rain falling in sheet and pelts over him.

All of this rain was really starting to frustrate him. It was hindering his journey to find the fortress and the girl. Seto touched his full dueling glove and frowned. He had had enough. Seto stood up and made sure that his poncho covered all of him. He then stepped down from the boulder and continued walking in the heavy storm. His boots squished in the soft mud and he moved along, but he just kept on going. He wasn't going to accomplish anything while sitting on that boulder, so he thought he would get a head up on the duelists who were most likely all hiding in caves or tents.

He could hear the wind howling through the trees and leaves, and the path ahead of him was constantly illuminated by the flashes of lightning. His eyes scanned the paths ahead of him as he checked for rocks or trees in his way, trying not to bump into them as he walked. Soon enough, he was standing at the edge of the very campsite he had passed through earlier.

/Damn....I must have accidentally gone backwards. It's not easy to tell the way I'm going in this atrocious weather...../

The campsite itself looked like a ghost camp. The tents shook violently in the wind, and he was sure that there were many duelists huddled together inside of them. The dueling stations were looming in the distance, the lighting illuminating them eerily. There were large puddles of mud and water everywhere, and he even saw one tent was nearly soaked on one side.

Then, Seto caught a small glimpse of somebody running through the rain to find his tent, or some form of shelter. On an impulse, Seto ran through the mud puddles and heavy rain to meet with this person. He did want to get through this place, but finding a place to dry off until the weather at least lightened seemed like a good idea.

Seto stopped behind the person and tapped their sholder. The person jumped in surprise and turned their raincoat-covered self to face Seto.

In the rain, he could hardly tell who it was. He raised his voice so they could hear him through the rain and thunder. "I hope you speak english!"

"I do! What is it!? I really don't think you're after a duel in this weather!" The person, a male, looked up at him, and a tuft of purple hair poked out from underneath of his hood.

"I'm not. I just wanted to know if I could possibly stay with you in your tent until the weather calms!" Seto tried to look imploring, but he was sure the vision problems caused by the weather was dampening the effect.

"Don't see why not! Got kicked out of a room myself at Duelist Kingdom. Don't like seeing duelists going without rooming now! Follow me! Having a hard time seeing, so it may take a minute!" The boy started to jog away, and Seto followed.

After a moment of scouting, the boy came up on a darker colored tent. A dark brownish to a purple color. He unzipped the opening and dove inside, and Seto ran in and zipped up the opening again. He sighed and took off his hood, shaking his head a little bit. The boy lit an electric lantern, lighting up the dark tent.

"I thank you. The weather is hell outside."

"Seto Kaiba, right?" The boy looked up at him, and Seto nodded.

"Do I know you, or just another person who has heard of me?"

"I think you may know me just a bit." The boy took off his hood, and revealed himself not to be a boy, just a short person, or with the Yugi Motou Syndrome, as Seto liked to call it.

"Dinosaur Ryuzaki. I was wondering if you were here or not. Heard a rumor from someone I defeated that Insector Haga was here as well. I figured most people from the old regionals were going to be here."

Ryuzaki grinned. "Haven't heard from the bug boy yet myself. They didn't get a chance to hold this year's regionals yet. They were going to hold them around two weeks or so from now, but this tournament came up.......hey.....it looks like you have a full glove already!"

"Yes. I have done a lot of dueling. Want to get that part over with so I can find the fortress."

"I see what you mean. I have thirteen chips so far. I would have more, but I got beaten really early this morning." Ryuzaki looked at his lap and frowned.

"Really? A defeat? I haven't had that happen yet." Seto was a little curious to say the least, but he really wasn't surprised. Ryuzaki was a regional finalist, and got kicked out of Duelist Kingdom by Joey when he was still very amature. A defeat was imminent for this guy somewhere along the line.

"Yeah. It was by a girl. She was Irish I suppose....."

"IRISH!?!?!?"

Dinosaur Ryuzaki jerked his head up at Seto's exclamation. "What is so important about that? What's the big deal?"

"Please tell me.....how old was this girl that beat you?" Seto's eyes were widened with the thought of this being WAY too easy. Only that morning he had set out to find the missing child.....and now here was a huge hint!

"Well, she was around fourteen or fifteen I suppose......"

Seto's heart sank just a little bit, but he thought about something else. "Did this girl have a younger girl with her?"

"Oh man! I just remembered something! What is the interest in a little Irish girl around here all of a sudden!? After that girl beat me, she asked if I had seen a little girl going around the island all by herself......she said it was her little sister named.....Lyra....Lita....Lisa....that was it. Lisa."

Seto's head perked up. "Well.....I suppose I can tell you this. I found the girl Lisa on our first or second night on the island. She was alone, so she stuck with me. Then sometime after that she.......disappeared. So now I want to find her and see if she is fine."

"Wow. Seto Kaiba gone soft! Never thought I'd see the day!" Ryuzaki grinned.

Seto growled a little. "I'll show you just how soft I am........"

"Hey, no need to get mad Kaiba. Anyway, the girl's name was.....ah...I can't remember. I think there is a way to check up on my duels so far....." Ryuzaki got his ID out of his pocket and pressed some buttons, his face lighting up after a moment.

"You have it?"

"Yeah. The girl's name was Faife O'Kelly. Wow, this girl is an Irish National Finalist. No wonder I lost to her."

"O'Kelly. That's definitly her all right. Well, then it's no wonder that Lisa herself is such a good duelist. Her sister is a champion."

"Did you see in which direction the little girl disappeared to?"

"Yes. I did, and I had been following that direction for awhile now. But I may be going in the wrong direction now....."

"Did you say that the girl was a good duelist? Did you ever see her duel?"

Seto sighed. Did nothing else matter to these people? Oh well. "Yes. I did see her duel a few times. Although I think the crowning acheivement for her in this tournament might be defeating Rebecca Hawkins." Seto waited for the affect.

"Your little friend defeated REBECCA HAWKINS!? That kid is supposed to be a prodigy!"

"Yes she is. But Lisa beat her. Maybe it was a bad draw on Rebecca's part. I don't really know. But it happens to all of us, right?"



Pegasus looked at the darkening skies outside of his window. There were reports of an especially violent storm in the area of his island, so those clouds must have been billowing in from that storm. This was Pegasus' favorite kind of weather. The dark grey covering the skies gave him a sort of calm.

He picked up his paintbrush and dipped it lightly into the grey. He brushed a few strokes on lightly, and then mixed in a lighter grey, and then brushed and blended that onto his canvas. He continued painting the sky outside for awhile, and then moved onto the sea. He reflected the murky calm of the skies in the water, brushing and mixing many blues, greys, purples, and greens until he had the desired affect.

Pegasus sat back and admired his seascape painting for a moment, the on an impulse, he took some darker greys and began to paint a sillhouette of a woman cleverly hidden in the swirling clouds by the water's horizon. It was, of course, Cecilia, but since they weren't supposed to see her very well, only he would know of her presence on the sea.

He once again admired his work. He smiled at it and then got up from his seat, opening an oak window to let in a fresh pre-rain breeze. It would help dry his lovely painting quicker. He stepped to the side of the window and spent a moment reveling in the sweet breeze, his platnium white hair quietly wisping and sliding around his face, and his eyes closed.

His moment of peace was suddenly interrupted by the blipping noise his emergency intercom made. Pegasus frowned and walked over to the intercom.

He pressed a button on the console. "What is it?"

"Pardon the interruption, Master Crawford, but we have just picked up that a dueling station's power has just been cut off by an unknown source."

"One of my dueling stations is down? How is that? The were all in perfect working order when I last had the known ones checked over......"

"That's just the problem. Nobody can guess why it is down. It was working just fine earlier. It is like someone pulled the plug on it or something."

"Maybe that is exactly what happened......" Pegasus frowned.

"Master Crawford? May I humbly ask what you mean?"

"I think somebody DID cut the power. By themselves. And it must have been someone on the island. Check all power terminals there, and see if they report any malfunctions. Is this station you refer to one that I have previously known of? Is there a camera set up by it?."

"Yes sir!"

"Then tap me into it. And transfer it to screen two here in my quarters. Immediatly."

"Yes Master Crawford, I will patch you in immediatly."

"Check on that station and get back to me with what information you can get. That will be all." The intercom was switched off, and Pegasus pressed a button on his desk that brought down his viewing screen. He poured himself a glass of red wine and stepped closer to the screen. It switched on.

The first thing Pegasus noticed was that it was almost entirely dark outside. He could only see a short distance through the heavy falling rains. The camera was directly on the dueling station, and it definitly showed no signs of life. Suddenly, he thought he saw something, or someone, dart by the station and stand by it for a second. The figure was under a poncho, and it had four legs....no, there were two people under there.

A figure darted by them, and he realized that the two under the poncho could not see that person due to the rain. There was a night vision feature on the camera, so it was easier for him to look through the rain. The figure was tall with light colored hair, and Pegasus's heart gave a sickening jump as he realized it was Bakura. Not the good little Ryou Bakura, but that horrible other half of his that the Ring had.

Pegasus's hand moved involuntarily to the white eyepatch over his left eye, and continued watching the camera.

Bakura moved stealthily past the two, and stopped for a moment and moved off to one side. Suddenly he spotted something, and he bolted off, as the two under the poncho ran in the opposite direction, and jerking in two directions as they seemed not to be agreeing in which direction to go in. They finally jerked off in one derection, and moved off screen.

Almost a split second later, a girl with wavy hair darted by, obviously confused and searching for the others. Pegasus knew that when Bakura had gone by that the whole thing was somehow linked back to him, and that Yugi and his little friends were somewhere nearby. He had no idea who this girl was though. Maybe it was the opponent of one of Yugi's friends, or maybe Yugi himself, and she had no idea what to do now that the station had shut down.

The girl ran off in the same direction Bakura had gone, and Pegasus was immediatly curious to what was going on. If he only had his Millennium Eye, he could see more. After the Eye was taken from him, he found that he could still see things not normal to be seen, but not near as vivid. It was like a small portion of his power had stuck with him.

Yugi Motou himself shot in front of the camera's view now, and he seemed very worried while wandering in the violent storm. It was obvious he couldn't see ten feet in front of him, and his hair was plastered against his face and the back of his head, creating an interesting effect. He was holding a bundle of tarp, and Pegasus thought he was trying to keep his things dry. Just as Yugi was running of again, the intercom beeped for attention once more.

Pegasus strode quickly over to it and pressed a button.

"What have you found?"

"Master Pegasus, I have found that a duel was indeed going on when the station was turned off."

"Who was involved in this duel? Tell me."

"A French duelist by the name of Amoura LeTazaut, and Malik Ishtar, one of your eliminators."

Pegasus paused at these words. Malik was going to do his job, but someone cut the power. So now everyone was wandering in darkness and trying to find eachother......but why was that girl with Yugi and the others? Surely Malik wasn't traipsing around with them, so the only explination was that Yugi had taken on a new passenger in his group. And with Bakura running around looking shifty, he really didn't think they were safe at all.

"Master Crawford sir?" The guard spoke over the intercom again. Pegasus was snapped out of his reverie, and responded.

"Yes? What is it now?"

"Well, sir, there seemed to be a sudden power cut. It didn't give off the signature of a power short, like we originally expected. The station's power was cut off by an outside souce, just as you suspected."

"Yes. Just as I suspected. I have all of the information I need for now. That will be all."

"Yes sir." The intercom turned off once again.

Pegasus frowned and turned his head back to the screen. There was nobody on it right now, but Pegasus knew that there was more going on than he could see. He had made sure that the camera was rigged so he could watch a duel, but now it couldn't move so he could see more. Then he realized why Bakura's evil side must be out right now.

/Cecilia....what could this mean for us? If Bakura goes after the items and attains them, how can I ever get you back? Even now, my people are preparing for the journey to the fortress, and I have personally taken apart the blessed machine that will restore you so it will be safe for travel. Soon, we will find what we need. Don't worry. We will be together. I just hope that Bakura doesn't get in the way or he could ruin everything..../

Pegasus then thought of something, and mentally kicked himself in the ass for not remembering this sooner. He turned around and walked to his desk where a phone was, and dialed a number, listening to it ring for a moment before it picked up. The sounds of heavy rain echoed through the phone's reciever as the person on the other end tried to speak over a heavy roll of thunder.

"What is it, Crawford? I'm busy!"



Bakura grinned madly as the knife reflected the lightning cast on it, the rain pouring down his head and body, creating a horror film type image before Amoura. She watched in terror as the knife was raised above the petrified Mai. Her face was frozen in disbelief and shock, and the knife was swung.

Before Bakura could know the simple pleasure of a knife slipping easily into the beating chest of a human being, he was on his back in the mud, the knife flung from his hands.

Amoura scrambled off of him quickly and ran after the knife. Her vision was still blurred by the rain, and Bakura jumped up and dashed after her, catching her around her ankles and causing them both to go face down in the mud. Amoura lifted her head and tried to yell to Mai to run away, but Mai ran over and stepped on Bakura's back.

Bakura howled in pain and shook underneath of her, trying to get her heeled boots out of his back. He wriggled out from under her, and Mai gave Amoura the time she needed to get up and go after the knife again. But Bakura got up and hit Mai hard across the face, and she went down, splatting in the mud. He then grabbed Amoura's hair and threw her down, Amoura yelling in pain.

The evil spirit picked up the knife and then walked over to Amoura, grinning down at her. Amoura was curled up on the ground, and the both of them were covered in dripping mud, being washed off in the rain.

"FOR ALL OF THE TROUBLE YOU'VE JUST CAUSED ME, YOU GET THE HONOR OF BEING FIRST!!!" Bakura yelled down at her, and Amoura knew that this wasn't the normal Bakura. Lightning flashed and lit the area around them, Bakura's face reflecting the pure evil and malice of his soon to be actions. He raised the knife and slashed downwards towards the young girl's throat.

*CLANG!!!*

The sound of metal on metal rang around them, Amoura holding her own hunting knife, and had used it to parry Bakura's slash. She rolled sideways unsteadily and got up, but a sudden slash from Bakura sent her flying backwards to save herself, and she was on her back in the mud again.

He swooped for her throat again, and she raised her own blade in time to save herself. His blade was just inches from her throat, and her own blade was staggering under his force. She couldn't hold out much longer against him, as he was much stronger than she was. She cried out, and Bakura cackled loudly. Rain pelted her face and body, and she could hardly keep her eyes open, much less concentrate on keeping knife from slicing her neck.

Amoura's arm was about to give away, when suddenly a light burst forth and in it's wake stood a young woman around Bakura's age. Amoura and Bakura both stopped dead in their positions and the girl stepped forward and grabbed Bakura's hand.

"YOU!? WHY ARE YOU HERE!!!!??? WHY CAN'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!? I CAN'T GIVE YOU ANYTHING!" Bakura was absolutely furious, and Amoura was in shock.

Bakura wrenched his hand free of the girl's grip, but the knife had somehow stayed in the girl's hands.

"Leave me alone! Let the past lie!" Bakura's face was most likely red from fury, and the girl glared at him.

"I can't, Tomb Robber. You have something I want, and I demand it back. You will not hurt this girl, or any other person."

"You can't control what I do! You will die NOW!" Bakura raised his hands to strangle her, but the girl quickly brought up the knife she had taken from the robber and put it to his neck, and hissed the next words to him with the knife still resting on his prone throat.

"I don't want to kill you. I honestly don't. Even though every fiber of my being is telling me that you aren't worth it, I don't want you dead. In fact, I need you alive if I am going to get back what you stole from me."

"I can't do it! I won't give it back! You will not prevail in this! If I am going to complete my plans, you are not to have back what I stole!"

"So you finally acknowledge that you have indeed taken something. Now maybe I should have it back, because I am sure that these plans are not for the good of mankind....."

Bakura narrowed his eyes at her and glared. "You will not get your way in this."

The girl glared back and hissed her words again angrily. "Then get out of my sight. Just go, or I will kill you. Leave NOW!"

Bakura really had no choice. If he was going to get away, he should do it now. If he tried to kill her again, his throat would be bled dry all to quickly. He KNEW her. He KNEW she would do it. But he didn't want her to know what she was capable of.

"I will give you this much. A promise. I will get my revenge for this, Ahmunet. I will." Bakura stepped back a few paces, then turned and dashed into the forest, cursing feverently in ancient Egyptian, the storm raging louder with his retreat. If he were to get his plans in motion, then he would have to go it alone for awhile, and leave those humans anyway.....

The girl watched him run, her eyes opened in shock. She dropped the the knife into the mud.

"Ahmunet......is that my name?"

She then turned to Amoura, and saw that Yugi was running closer to them both. She knew Yugi couldn't see them yet.

"I'll see you later....." And with that, the girl ran off until Amoura couldn't see her anymore. Amoura just sat on the moist ground in shock. Then she stood shakily up and got her bearings. Then she remembered. Mai.

Amoura looked around the area for Mai, to where she fell to Bakura's blow, but Mai wasn't anywhere at all. It was as if Mai had disappeared.

"AMOURA!!!" Yugi ran up to Amoura, followed by a clumsy bundle under a poncho, which she guessed was Joey and Honda.

"Yugi....." Amoura looked at him, and suddenly started crying. "Yugi....it vas awful......."

"Amoura....please calm down....what happened after the station shut off?"

Amoura sniffled and her shoulders shook. The realization of what just happened finally hit her. Yugi put his hands on her shaking shoulders, and looked her straight in the eye. It wasn't so hard, he was only about an inch shorter than her.

"Please. Let's find the others." Yugi led her away. Her hair and clothes were caked in mud, the heavy rain washing off little of it. Yugi and Amoura walked along, Joey and Honda close behind. Soon, they were joined by Anzu and Mokuba, who were under Mai's poncho.

"Amorua....Amoura....Amoura....please listen to me.....please respond Amoura......" Yugi was trying to get her attention, and he looked worried.

Amoura's head turned just a little bit in his direction.

"Amoura. Yunet has disappeared from the bag."

"VHAT!?!?!?!?!"Amoura's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "MY CAT IZ ZTILL OUT ZERE?!?!?!?!" She ran back to where they all were just a moment ago, her tears flowing more freely.

"YUNET!!! YUNET!!!! YUNET!!!!!!!" Amoura shouted at the top of her lungs, and was joined quickly by Mokuba and Yugi while the others scouted the ground for the kitten.

Amoura stopped yelling, and fell to her knees. "First I loze Mai....then Bakura....and now my little kitten....."

Yugi's eyes widened at this statement, and was going to comment on it, when Honda ran out from Joey's poncho and pounced on something on the ground. He got up, sneezing like crazy, and held out the soggy and muddy kitten at full arm's length. He ran over to Amoura then, and dumped her on Amoura's lap.

Amoura's darkened eyes lit up again, and she clutched the muddy cat hard. Yunet didn't look a bit pleased. Her eyes reflected the mood of pure malice. She did NOT like being wet and muddy. Honda grinned down at Amoura, then ran off again, sneezing wildly.

She stood up and looked at Yugi. " 'Ow long 'ad Yunet been mizzing?"

Yugi thought for a moment. "Around five to seven minutes, I suppose. Now, what did you mean by losing Mai and Bakura?"

Amoura began walking back to the dueling station. "Vhat 'appened to Malik?"

"He's gone. Ran off I suppose." Amoura climbed back onto the platform, and it still had it's plastic shielding up. Yugi got in as well, and the others, who had followed them tried to fit in as well. Soon the six people were standing together sort of bunched. But at least they weren't standing in that storm anymore.

"Amoura. Now. Tell us. What happened out there after you left the dueling platform?"

"Ah....Yugi. Vell....I zaw.....Bakura....he vas different. He 'ad a knife, and tried to kill Mai."

"WHAT!?!?!?!" That had come from a mixture of Mokuba, Yugi, and Joey. Honda and Anzu's mouths dropped open.

"BAKURA TRIED TO KILL MAI!!!???" Joey started wriggling between Anzu and Yugi, and they both protested loudly. "WHY THAT NO GOOD...."

"JOEY! Calm down and let her talk! Now Amoura, what happened after that?"

Joey stopped moving immediatly as Amoura spoke again. "Vell.....I ztopped 'im.....and ve fought....he nearly cut my throat out. But in the end,........something.......made 'im run avay." She hung her head as Yugi looked at her.

"Are you sure you don't know what it was?"

"Oui. I am zure."

Honda looked down at himself and noticed the mud coming onto him from Amoura. "That must have been some fight you and Bakura had. You are covered head to foot in mud!"

"It vas terrible." She looked at her kitten again, who had seemed to calm down a bit, and looked more sullen now than pissed off. "My poor kitten looks like me now....."

Joey piped up again. "What happened to Mai? Did he get her?"

Amoura looked Joey in the eyes. "I do not know vhat 'appened to Mai. Bakura punched 'er, and she vent down. But vhen I vent to find 'er after Bakura ran avay, she vas gone. I do not know vere she vent. She zeemed to 'ave ran avay. Or gotten lozt in ze rain. It iz a little 'ard to zee in zis rain anyvay......"

"So you think Mai's lost?" Anzu's brow furrowed with worry.

The others nodded.

Mokuba looked up at Amoura, whose eyes seemed blank a little bit, like she wasn't all there at the moment. Almost like a trance......he snapped his fingers in front of her face, and her head jolted up.

"Ah....Mokuba. I 'ope none of zis 'as vorried you any......"

"Actually Amoura, it hasn't. I am worried for Mai and Bakura, but I also know that we can't find them in this storm. We have to wait it out somewhere. I don't want to stand for hours waiting for the rain to die down, so we need to find something!"

Honda nodded in agreement with Mokuba. "I thought I saw a small cave on our way into this clearing. Why don't we go look for it now?"

Yugi looked out in the direction they had come from. "How far was it out?"

"Only about fifty feet or so...."

Joey cracked his knuckles. "I don't really see what we are waiting for.....let's go!" He jumped down out of the platform and back out into the heavy storm. Honda shouted and ran after him, and Anzu jumped down with Mai's poncho. Yugi and Mokuba helped the still wobbly Amoura down, and Yugi handed back Amoura's side bag. It still had the tarp wrapped over the top, so she didn't see how Yunet could have gotten out. Oh well.

She followed the group while Honda searched high and low for the cave, and it took another five minutes, but he finally found the small place. They were all soaked with the rainwater, and Amoura was still covered in mud.

They went inside the small entrance, and everyone but Amoura, Mokuba, and Yugi had to duck to get inside. Amoura quickly slumped down against the side of the tiny dark cave, and the mud in her hiking boots squelched uncomfortably.

As she took off her boots to get as much of the stuff out as she could, Anzu reached into her bag and pulled out a flashlight. She flicked it on. Joey's soft face was illuminated almost immediatly and he looked up.

"Hey, shine that somewhere else, Anzu...." He looked back down. Anzu propped the flashlight up against the cave wall so that it shone on the ceiling, and they could all see each other.

They all sat in the faint light for what seemed like hours, listening to the thunder boom and and the lightning flash, when in reality it was only about a half an hour before the rain started to calm just a little bit. The thunder began to occur less and less, and the rain started to come down a little lighter.

Yugi checked his watch and saw that it was around eight thirty at night. Amoura turned her head to look outside, but realized that her hair was stiff and locked in place by the drying mud that was caked into it. She sighed heavily and looked back down.

Mokuba had taken out his sleeping bag, and was curled up on the ground. Anzu looked at him and spoke the first words in about half an hour, piercing the thick silence.

"Why don't we stay here tonight? I think there is enough room for all of us to lay down...."

Honda agreed, and the others nodded. Amoura got up lightly with her kitten, and stuck her head outside of the entrance. She let the rain rinse her hair as well as she could, and then tried to wash off her protesting and wriggling kitten. Soon enough, most of the mud was gone, but the rest would only come out in a proper washing. She came back inside to air dry, and Yunet stood right next to Yugi and shook the water out of her fur.

Yugi flinched away, but also smiled to the smallest extent at the young cat. Yunet purred and settled on Mokuba's hair. Mokuba didn't move. He was asleep. He wasn't going to be happy when he woke up to find that a slightly muddy cat had taken a nap in his hair....

They unrolled their sleeping bags and settled down, all laying awake and wondering if Mai was safe and well, and if Bakura was....stable.

//Aibou. This is bad.//

/No kidding./

//Bakura's turn of events will shake many things.......//

/And since we know where the Ankh is....../

//We need to do something about that soon. I am not sure it is safe where it is. When we senced it.....//

/It was a definite shock.......I am dying to know how it got there in the first place..../

//As I am. But now is not the time.//

/I understand that. But with Bakura off and alone like that, bad things are going to happen./

//Oh really? I couldn't tell at all.....//

/...................................what about Mai?/

//She's alive. I know that.//

/That's a relief./

//I don't think there is anything else we can do now except rest. We need to be prepared for anything. With Bakura lose like he is, and Malik out and being an eliminator, we need to be on our toes.//

/I agree. Goodnight./

//Goodnight.//



Shadi felt it. He felt the energy signature a Millennium Item being activated. It was strong, and violence was flowing out of it. But as it had begun, it had ended. Very quickly. It confused him badly. He had managed to get an idea on which direction the item was in, and decided to go in that direction, once the rain died down enough to get out from under the overhanging rock........



His eyes opened lightly, and he looked up from where he was. Once the rain had started, he took refuge on the massive front steps of his blessed discovery. Now the rain was dying down just a bit, and he stood up to shake his limbs out.

Insector Haga then grinned widely, knowing that he'd be back here in about a week or so with his full glove of chips. He stared up at the huge weatherbeaten wooden doors to the fortress and sat back down, leaning against the doors. He pulled out his ID and marked the fortress on his map, putting it away with a huge grin on his face. This was a huge discovery. He felt compelled to kiss whoever put that arrow on the tree he smacked into.

Grinning, he fell asleep once again.



The church sanctuary was soaked. Lisa, who wasn't under any of the holes in the ceiling when the storm hit, cowered on the fluffy pad under Kebby-kun's jacket for many hours. Lisa HATED thunder and lightning.

She munched lightly on her trail mix now, temporarily fixing any hunger she had knawing at her stomach. She grabbed her canteen, which she had sitting under a thick leak in the roof, and sipped some of the water.

From her standpoint, she saw that there were many puddles, and even what she could call a small pond, across the floor of the sanctuary. Lisa took another sip, and noticed its bitter wooden flavor. Now was not the time to be picky. She would drink what she had, and be glad with it. The pressing matter was finding food.

Come to think of it actually, she thought she saw some berry bushes outside of the church coming in, but she really wasn't paying attention. The church was WAY more interesting. But now that she had her fun, she was getting lonely.

/Kebby-kun....Faife.....Jerry.....please.....someone find me soon......./





Brood: Woah. I think this chapter sucked much.

Zutsokaki: Why didn't Bakura kill anyone!?

Brood: Because I didn't want him to......

Zutsokaki: Hey, I've been working on a new spell!

Brood: .......are you going to make my pencil dance again? Will it salsa this time?

Zutsokaki: No. Nothing like that.

Brood: *looks at all of you* If you have read my online journal, you will know what I mean by the pencil animation by magic.....and the Cast Party gives you a better idea of Zutso-kun also....anyway, what is this spell? Do you need my pencil again?

Zutsokaki: *grins evilly* No. It's a sleeping spell. *raises his hands and says some words before Brood can react*

Brood: Ahh! *Falls down*

Zutsokaki: IT WORKED!!!! I wonder how long she'll be out....

Brood: Uuuhhggg......*writhes in pain*

Zutsokaki: Ok...it didn't work....

Brood: It hurts....my whole body.....hurts.....*writhes and wiggles more*

Zutsokaki: Uh oh....I think that it's only not working....but I messed up on one of the words.......oh crap? What did I really do to her? What will happen?

***Note***: REVIEW CONTEST STILL GOING!!! REVIEW LIKE YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER FROM MY STORY *ANY CHARACTER AT ALL!* AND IF I LIKE YOURS THE BEST THEN YOU WILL WIN A CAMEO APPEARANCE IN MY CAST PARTY FIC!!!! GOOD LUCK!