"Where's Tanith?" Yami demanded as Tristan raced out of the hospital with the Millennium Ring in his hands.
"She couldn't make it and keep the Rare Hunters down." He said and just then they heard a scream. Everyone looked up and saw a familiar petite form flying down toward them.
"Oh my God it's Tanith!" Tea screamed, "Someone threw her out the window!"
Just then the Ring began to glow, shadows began to erupt from it and faintly something began to form. First to become visible was large hawk like wings attached to a large muscular body. Then came bat wing like ears on a small head with glowing white eyes and three spikes on the middle of its forehead. A sharp chin extended from his head like a beard would on an Egyptian bust of a pharaoh. It was ugly, lipless and very familiar to Yami.
"In the name of Ra, it's Diabound! Bakura's Kaa!" he breathed as the monster flew up to Tanith and caught her in its clawed hands. Then it floated down with her and gently laid her unconscious body on the ground before vanishing from sight.
"Tanith!" Everyone cried running to her side. Tristan knelt down beside the others and felt for her pulse.
"She's still alive, bloody but still kicking." He said lifting her into his arms.
"Where'd all that blood on her face come from?" Tea wondered. "She doesn't look cut."
"Let's worry about that later." Yami told her. "We need to get to the shop and get Tanith and Ryou tended to."
Everyone nodded.
Meanwhile inside the psyche of Tanith sat a room draped in burgundy silk and shadows. Inside the room a table was set for two lit only by two candles sitting in between the only two occupants.
"I felt you just now." She told him. "Outside. It was as if you were holding me, saving me from the fall."
Bakura smirked, "Who knows, maybe I did."
Tanith giggled, "Maybe." Then she yawned and massaged her temples. "I got a headache."
"After what you pulled I'm not surprised." He replied and reached out across the table and took her hands. "You didn't need to exert yourself to such a degree."
She squinted up at him, "Malik was drugging Ryou, Bakura. I had to stop him, get him away so he would be strong enough…"
Bakura released her hands and nodded with a closed expression on his face. "So he can take over being my lil host."
She looked up at him and cocked her head to one side, "Wasn't that our deal?"
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
It was some time before Tanith awoke. Enough time for dusk to fall sending the city of Domino into shadows. The stars came out and danced their ethereal dance in the velvet blue sky.
Pain greeted Tanith as she slipped back into consciousness. She moaned and tried sitting up but the weight of the comforter draped over her was too much for her.
Yugi rushed to her side immediately. "Tanith! You're awake!"
She tried opening her eyes but every time she did, sharp darts would strike out at her. So she settled on keeping her eyes shut while she spoke.
"Gee and I thought I took a trip to hell." She muttered. Bakura faintly laughed.
"No, you're in my living room on the couch." Yugi told her.
Tanith chanced a brief look around and noticed she and Yugi were alone before quickly shutting her eyes once more.
"Where's the others? Where's Ryou? What happened?" she demanded wincing in pain.
"Well you got thrown out the window in Ryou room.."
"I know this already, I can still feel the ground rushing up to meet me." Tanith snapped then she sighed, "Can you spare an aspirin for a girl?"
"Sure." Yugi replied rushing off into the kitchen and retrieve two pills and a glass of water. When he got back, Tanith was sitting up a little and squeezing her eyes shut. He handed her the pills and the glass then watched as she guzzled the water and aspirin down.
"Ok, let's try this again." She said. "Where are the others?"
"Grandpa is in my room with Ryou and Tea. Joey went over to his house to get Ryou and Tristan some clean clothes and Tristan is in the shower." Yugi said and added with a concerned note in his voice. "He got a lot of blood on him when he carried you here."
"Don't worry about it." She told him. "When I strain myself like that I tend to get bad nose bleeds, nothing real bad it just looks that way."
"Tanith your eyes and nose were bleeding."
She snorted just as Joey came in with clothes.
"Okay where do ya want'em." He said to Yugi.
"Put Tristan's things outside the bathroom and hand Ryou's to Tea or Grandpa in my room."
As Joey left Yugi turned his attention to Tanith once more.
"You need to bathe and change clothes too." He told her. "Tea went out earlier and got some of her clothes for you to wear."
Tanith chuckled, "You guys think of everything."
Yugi smiled and scratched the back of his head, "Oh not everything. We didn't think to put something around Ryou until after a few blocks of showing his backside to everyone around."
Tanith and Bakura both busted up laughing.
As time went by the pain went away and Tanith felt well enough to clean herself up. Tea popped up long enough to hand her a bundle of clothes then return to her vigil at Ryou's side. Then Tanith walked into the bathroom took down her hair, sending it cascading just above her shoulders, locked the door and disrobed.
The first rush of water hit her skin in an icy mass and made Tanith make a tiny squeak of protest but soon it warmed up for her to begin bathing. She began with her hair washing out the temporary black hair dye and the dirt from her red hair. Next she washed her body revealing pale ivory skin not all that much different than Ryou's.
The dirt from six months on the run from life and law turned the water a murky brown. She watched it go down the drain in a detached manner and turned to the problems at hand. Malik was sure to retaliate for freeing of Ryou and he no doubt spotted Yugi and the others. He would soon learn where they were and attempt to recapture Ryou or her.
That must not happen, she thought firmly to herself as she turned off the tap and stepped out of the shower.
She went through the clothes Tea brought for her and chose first a form fitting sleeveless top of dark gray with a lavender heart even at the base of her collar bone. Over it she chose another form fitting black top with spaghetti straps, both revealing her midriff. Out of the stack she slipped on a pair of short that hit her about her knees then slipped on her duster.
It was then she noticed one of her sleeves was completely gone. With a shrug she ripped off the other making it into a duster vest. After slipping on her boots, she left the bathroom.
She went past Tea as she walked into Yugi's room and sat beside Ryou who lay peacefully in bed wearing a pair of loose blue sweats.
Looks like the old man or one of the boys changed Ryou. Bakura said appearing beside Tanith. She nodded and noticed a leather collar sitting amongst others on Yugi's dresser. She walked over and took it, placing on around her neck. It was a perfect fit. She looked around the other leather items on the dresser and found a pair of finger less gloves then placing them on she noticed that there were holes all along the outer part of her arm and that they went up to her elbows.
"So how do I look, Bakura?" Tanith asked quietly.
"You look like a female version of the pharaoh's hikari" he replied.
"Do I look like I'm about to kick some butt?" she asked as she walked around the room. "Because I feel like kicking a certain guy's butt."
Bakura grinned maliciously as she discovered the Millennium Ring on the table by Ryou's bed. "Put it on and let's go."
She gently caressed the golden item and sighed, "Alright." She reached out and slipped the necklace on. For a brief moment it flashed and all was normal again.
"It began with just you, me and Malik and that's how it's gonna end." She said firmly before leaving the room.
Her anger carried her past her new friends and down the steps into the game shop. It led her down into the streets and into the night.
Malik awaited her in what once was Ryou's room. He sat again in the chair in front of the ruined game and the upturned chair that awaited Tanith to set to rights.
She noticed the room was empty of all else. The room was neatly cleaned. The bed was made. The hospital staff knew Ryou Bakura was gone.
"Hello Tanith, I'm glad you returned." Malik said to her. "I was greatly surprised to learn of your powers. To be able to flatten an entire force of my Rare Hunters and still be standing is a great achievement to be had."
"Can it. I'm here to stop you for good not chit chat." She snapped as the chair kicked up and righted its self. She walked over and sat in it.
"So it is time." He murmured almost to himself. "Time for the games to end and the real fight to begin."
He looked up at her, "Tanith do you know who I really am?"
She frowned, "Whadda ya mean who you really are? Who are you?"
Malik smiled as his hair got even spikier, his eyes colder and the mark of the Millennium items appeared on his forehead.
Tanith's eyes got wide as an entirely different person but yet the same appeared before her.
"I am called Marik." He told her. "I'm Malik's yami."
"Wow, you could have fooled me." She replied and laughed, "Soooo, I've been playing chess with you, not Malik."
He nodded, "A few times you have met Malik. He was the one that sent our Rare Hunters after you, not me. He was the one who threw you out the window. I couldn't those things to you, I…like you."
"You like me." She said flat with a frown. He nodded and smirked.
Tanith laughed a little, Bakura? You hear this? I got Malik's yami, Marik, liking me. This is stupid.
I'd be careful Tanith, he's killed people.
So have you but I'm not afraid of you, She replied and before he could retort she cut off their link.
"You know, you really know how to express yourself." Tanith said to Marik. "Just come right out and say Hey chick I like you." She laughed and Marik scowled.
Tanith leaned over the table and looked straight into his eyes, "So tell me Marik, who's idea was it to dope up Ryou? Curious minds wanna know."
Marik leaned over the table where their faces almost touched and whispered "Me."
Tanith slowly smiled and suddenly Marik was flung straight across the room, crashing into the wall behind him.
"Thanks pal, just what I wanted to know!" she shouted and threw him against the opposite wall with her mind.
Suddenly a black wave of power slammed into Tanith sending her back into the wall opposite of Marik. When she crawled to her feet she looked across from her to see Marik rising with the Millennium Rod in his hands.
"So you want to play rough do you," Marik growled. "Let's see how rough you play without your little yami."
The room melted into shadows and Tanith felt like an icy wave passed through her. She looked up and saw Bakura floating up being sucked toward the darker shadows of the shadow realm.
"NOO!" Tanith screamed reaching out toward her friend but found herself stuck to the reddish black floor. She began reaching out with her mind locking onto the spirit of the Ring. She began yanking them back toward her but with equal power the Shadow Realm was yanking him back.
"You can't succeed, Tanith." Marik told her. "Bakura was sent to the Shadow Realm and returned from it at my command. Now I command for him to return."
She slowly began loosing her grip on her yami and watched as he slowly began slipping away from her.
Tanith shut her eyes and began to concentrate hard as she could. She reached out grasping at the spirit. Pulling and relaxing her mind. Inside her mind things began to click together.
I can move things. Move object, move bodies, move organs, move cells. Bakura's not made of cells, her mind shrieked. Cells are for living beings.
But he's made of something, hope cried. Molecules?
She began approaching her power in a new way. Instead of reaching out for Bakura as a whole she reached for what made Bakura. Tanith pictured Bakura cell by cell, molecule by molecule move toward her.
She opened her eyes as tears of blood flowed down them. Bakura was almost within reach. She reached out and grasped his hand, and pulled with both mind and body. A shock wave of power exploded around her.
The Shadow Realm melted away. The smell of sterile alcohol permeated the air. Outside the wind rattled the window. Marik sat across from her unconscious from the wave of power.
Tanith looked down in her lap and spied her best friend slumbering. She ran her hands through his soft white hair. She rolled him onto his back and quietly called his name.
"Bakura."
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Now I want lots of reviews. J