R Amythest: *cleaning up after the party with Sailor Millennium* I knew I shouldn't have let Chibi Yami Bakura in. . .

Sailor Millennium: *stretches* I know it's work, but Chibi Yabaku was cute!

R Amythest: O.o Chibi what?

Yami Bakura: *rolls eyes and grumbles* pet name. . .

Sailor Millennium: *hugs Yami Bakura* clean, pleeeeease? I'll give you a kiss and get you out of here for bashing purposes!

Yami Bakura: *GRIN!* okay. . .

R Amythest: T_T HOW COMES RYOU NEVER DOES THAT?!

Ryou: *looks cute* I'd cooperate if you didn't torture me in fics or glomp me so tightly. . .

COH Ryou: same here. . .

CYB: Aw I want is a wemm'n wiyth Yawni Maywik! (all I want is a lemon with Yami Malik!)

All except CYB: NO!

CYB: *pouts cutely* dawnit! (damn it!)

R Amythest: who taught you that word?

CYB: *points to Yami Bakura* HIWM!

Yami Bakura: *grins* he learns quickly. . .

R Amythest: *stares as Sailor Millennium scolds Yami Bakura*

*CRASH!*

CYB: HE DID IT! *points to Yami Bakura*

Yami Bakura: *grumbles* and sometimes I wish he didn't. . .

R Amythest: eh. . . on with the fic. . .

Warning= (I thought it'd only be fair!) murder, suicidal thoughts, violence, blood + gore, and Malik's potty mouth ^^;; oh! And one more thing! Very screwy word problem in Seto's POV O.o. . .

(Malik's POV)

I stumbled clumsily into the clearing with my house, the arrow in my leg boring a hole into the muscle. It felt like it was on fire, and that I'd collapse right there and now. But I daren't, for the boy in my arms was worth more to me than anything. I took a breath and thought a bit. I couldn't protect him here. . . not while my father dominated this house. But what if. . . he wasn't here?

A very evil thought entered my mind. But it was the only way to protect the one I loved. What? Did I just think that?! I looked down at the resting boy in my arms. It was all too true. I pushed away a few bushes and set him down, making sure he was out of sight. I touched the arrow and winced. Searing pain shot through my whole leg and hip. . . it'd be hard to remove this. I decided I'd do it later. Now. . . it was time for revenge.

I slipped the Millennium Rod out. I unsheathed it into its dagger form, and I was ready.

I hesitantly opened the door, making sure I didn't put weight on my torn leg. I was immediately met by a rough voice with a hint of alcohol in the breath. "What made you so late?! You better've came up with some money, boy!" I froze for an instant, and all my plans and strategies seemed to flee. But I regained my composure and held my dagger in front of me.

"I'm through with this. I'm not listening anymore. . ." I responded hoarsely. I was through with this god-be-damned life. It wasn't worth living. I'd take the backwards way out. . . if someone I cared for didn't come along. It's true; Rayo has saved me from insanity. Or is this insanity now?

My guardian (I couldn't bring myself to believe he was my father) pulled out the knife at his waist. "Bring it on, and I'm not showing any mercy!"

I took the first-move advantage and dove in at his leg. He retaliated by moving aside and pinning me to the ground while I skidded. His weight crushed my already malnourished chest, and I felt the tip of his knife against my neck while he casually reached for the dagger. Then I remembered the move Seto used to startle Yami. I let him take hold of the blade, then I twisted it sharply.

He roared, and quickly retracted his hand. I took his chance to heave him off, holding the dagger tightly in my clenched fist and taking a stab at him while he was still down. But there was a reason he could hurt me so efficiently. He quickly rolled aside, did a flip-type move, and was up on his feet. He glared at me menacingly and struck at me with the blade. I cried out as the point teared through my arm, nearly splitting it like an ax in a log. This caused me to drop my weapon, too. He seemed to notice my pain and casually dragged the blade closer to my hand. I screamed as my whole body stung with pain; my leg was throbbing from the pressure of the heavy man leaning on me, and my hand seemed to have the feeling of falling off. I nearly fell, and gripped for the nearest object- my enemy's arm.

He was leaning on me, and fell with a cry along with me. Summoning all my strength and praying to Ra for this one chance, I pulled him over my head. I fell harshly on my back – making my spine cry out and my already aching head sear with pain – and yelled again. There was a crash, and I painfully leaned on my good arm and turned around to see what had happened.

The room was covered with a red liquid, and shattered porcelain was scattered all across the sticky floor. My dictator was in middle, his arm twisted at an odd angle from the final blow. Underneath him a table was split in half, and on one half of it, the rugged edge was stuck in the middle of his form. I had won the goriest and bloodiest battle of my life.

(Seto's POV)

Yami returned, a definite scowl on his face. Rayo wasn't there. 'Malik, you do this?'

'. . .' he didn't reply.

'MALIK!'

Ah, never mind him. "You lose your pet?" I asked tauntingly.

"You're fired!" he yelled at me, stomping up the stairs and slamming the door with such force that the door splintered. I guess that was a yes. But I was FIRED?! I stopped to think about this. No entrance to the palace, no time to search for the shadow games. . . sh*t! Ah well. I sighed and went to my room so I could at least pack up my stuff and have some final touches to my little plan of world domination. I gathered up my stuff, but paused at a piece of paper. This wasn't mine. It was a blueprint of some sort. It had a picture of a teen with navy hair in violet armor and a pointy helmet. I recognized it as the pharaoh's magic pet, the Dark Magician. 'This may prove interesting. . .' I ran my eyes over it, until I spotted tiny print in the corner. I squinted, and I made out:

Oblivion in the meadow of Gaia's steed- the underworld where the greatest evils roam. It is in the encrusted jewels with no sparkle where the wrath of countless pharaohs reside, where magic made its beginning in chants and prayers. Hail to the Wicked.

Below it was:

dear L. Carnette,

it comes to our attention that your vault, Number 1, contains the Rare Magic, label 258,947,326. the Rare Magic is valued at market Number 2 at the price of $984,769,214. the Third item in your vault is Elemental Magic which can be sold at approximately $198,587,234. please enter the employee room the Stone Chamber to receive your bill and estimation.

Reddingly blushing with nervous Eyes,

seer cathelina

***

The first paragraph, I was certain, is a word problem. The second. . . either Yami failed to learn grammar, or it was a VERY complicated word problem. It's a word problem. . . Now I set to find out the hidden message. The pharaoh has met his match with word problems. I started with the first one.

Gaia's steed. . . horses! The meadow? Yami's term for the stables- it was the horse stables they were talking about. The underworld? I thought a bit. Probably below. . . I'd search for a trap door. Encrusted jewels with no sparkle? I took gemology- that was stone. Wraths of countless pharaohs? As high priest, I know as a common fact that the anger of the pharaohs started the furious duels of the monsters. Where magic made its beginning in chants and prayers. . . the spell- The Wicked spell, most likely – would have to be chanted. Seems easy enough. I would go to the horse stable, go through a trap door on the bottom, and chant a Wicked Spell in front of a stone tablet.

I moved on to the second. The grammar definitely had to do with it. Some were capitalized, and some were not- the first letters of sentences weren't even emphasized! I paused, yes, they were emphasized! And with all the numbers, it had to be a key of some sort. My mind churned. The highlighted ones were L. Carnette, Number 1, Rare Magic, 258947326, Rare Magic, Number 2, 984769214, Third, Elemental Magic, 198587234, Stone Chamber, Reddingly, and Eyes. At a glance, I could tell that the stone chamber was the place where the duel magic was held. Why this if the first one told where it was already?

Wait a minute! It tells where it is. . . but what if there were obstacles? I looked at the emphasized words. . . Rare Magic, Rare Magic, and Elemental Magic. . . there must be traps! Number 1, Number 2, Third. . . there must be three rooms where the magics in order were! My brain aches. . . but this is one step closer to world domination! Now, I notice that 'seer cathelina' is not capitalized, but L. Carnette is. Both are proper nouns. . . L and C must stand for something. . . and it must do with magic and numbers. . . Lake Code? Love Cove? Lock Code? I stopped. Duh, Lock Combinations! The rooms must have some sort of padlock! But what in the world is Reddingly and Eyes? I thought for a moment. It has to be some type of thing to get through something. . . well, whatever it is, I better prepare for a Red Eyes.

I went over this in my head. So I went to the horse's stables, find a trap door and slide in, turn the code and fight Rare Magic, go to the next, turn the code again and fight another Rare Magic, and finally, turn the last code, fight Elemental Magic, then. . . I stopped. What is on the way to the Stone Chamber, which I am sure is the Shadow Games? Hmm. . . maybe the Red Eyes isn't an actual monster. . . I'll see when I get there. I scribbled down notes and the combinations, then set off for the horse stables.

*********************

R Amythest: about the word problem. . . I actually came up with the second one. It started out when the guy next to me was tell a friend his combination, and I wrote it down. . . except ours are double-digit, so it was, say, 29-09-43. It was written in a similar form, expect no one in our school was as smart as Seto, so they thought it was really a letter from a bank about the destruction of the world. . . as an essay or something. . . I capitalized their initials so I remember who owns the locker. . . like for R Amythest it'd be Rare Amulet or something. Now, could you crack that?

Yami Amythest: I don't think I want to. . . now quit blabbing and help clean!

R Amythest: *pouts, but cleans anyway* I'm an authoress, not a janitor. . .

CYB: *glomps Sailor Millennium around the. . . neck, duh!* WYEEVOO! (REVIEW!)

Yami Amythest: . . . or flame. It's all the same to us- flames are reviews!