BookDragon: "Sorry for the look wait guys… I had to take a break because my writing was fading and I had to try and finish another story I was writing.

Bill: "It has only one chapter left so she thinks she can start this one safely."

BookDragon: "Enjoy it guys! YOU ROCK!!!

Reality Check

Chapter 1: Thick as Thieves

            Black scuffed up sneakers hit the cement sidewalk loudly; brown puffy hair flew in many directions, loud breathing echoed throughout the morning air. She ran at full speed, not caring that it was too early for school, she was sick of sitting around at home. She got to the nearest bench in the front of the building with the ending words 'school', she collapsed into it. It took her an hour of jogging and running to get there but it was worth it in her mind. She put her book bag on her lap and closed her brown eyes and forced herself to daydream. She took this time out everyday to sit and think, to take her mind away, just to feel… normal again. Ever since her return she didn't feel like her old self, she felt different from every one else. Except her that had been there with her, in Egypt, a year ago. They had changed much like her, her sister hadn't changed that much, probably because she didn't know Bill has much as they did, but small things showed it. The rest of them just missed Bill. It was thinking of this when she felt a tap on her shoulder and her eyes opened to two boys with brown hair and brown eyes smiled at her. She flinched in surprise at seeing them but returned their grin, they laughed at one another. They sat down on the bench with her and she asked them the question that came to mind at there presence.

"Brian? Kyle? What are you doing here?" Brian, slightly taller that Kyle with a shade of darker brown looked at her jokingly and some how happy to see her.

"We came early, so you wouldn't get yelled at by the principal by yourself today…"

"Every funny…" This was true, the school's principal always had a problem with students arriving before he did, which always amused her because of the look on his face every morning. She mimicked the huge purple bags and horse voice.

"What are YOU doing here so early…?" They immediately busted out laughing, including Ann who could never really keep a straight face at her jokes. They laughed on and off that morning, their conversation eventually lead to some of the stuff Bill had said and pulled off when he was here. It was good fun until the principal showed up with his huge dark purple bags under his old eyes, he glared at them for being so early, they glared back because it was the kid thing to do. His clammy hands unlocked the door and let them in, they walked in with out a word and decided to get to their class rooms to wait out side the door for their teachers. Ann waved at them and went to her class room and at leaning on the wall with her bag on the floor waiting for her teacher to arrive. A round little woman came hurrying down the hall shortly after her and opened the door after fumbling with the key for a few minutes, they smiled at one another as Ann took her seat and waited for the rest of the student body to show up. Her classmates filled their seats in the ten minutes she was tapping her pen in total boredom, when everyone was settled but still talking the announcements came on.

"Students, I have an announcement, would students PLEASE come at decent hours of the morning, we know your eager to learn but please come a decent hours." Ann glared at the speaker, very annoyed. She decided them to come an hour early instead of the usual 30 minutes just to get back at him. The announcements were brief and class started. The rest of the day flashed by and then she found herself, her head on the window, watching trees and cars go by and a yellow school bus. That was how every day was, and she guessed would be. She got lost in her own thoughts looking out the vibrating window, making her vision blurry. A body sat next to her and tapped her on the shoulder; she ignored it and took it as a kid trying to annoy her.  The tapping came again, and she continued to ignore it, when finally she was hit on the shoulder. She swung and looked at the kid very annoyed but became surprised at what she saw. A brown haired kid with matted hair and brown oak tree eyes stared back at her with and grin on his face. He wore a blue trench coat with one hole in the sleeve, very small but looked like it was growing, and blue jeans with white Nike sneakers.

"Hi Ann…"

"BILL?!?! What? How did you get here?" She finally croaked out of her lodged throat, in deep surprise and happiness. She immediately hugged him.

"ANN… Too hard… can't breathe…" She let go off him quickly and Bill swallowed a huge breath.

"Sorry… I just haven't seen you in what feels like forever… what are you doing here?" Bill's face became twisted with different expressions that Ann couldn't recognize.

"Er… well… umm…"  A voice from the next seat came into her ears loudly.

"Bill, Kaiba says he's ready… hi Ann." Ann looked up at a kid not much older that her, pale brown eyes and a small smile with small pale checks covered in some black soot and white hair spanning out in all directions uncontrollability. Ann's eyes widened in amazement and partly because she had been fond of the anime characters, even though something didn't exactly work that well.

"Bakura? Bill what going on here…" Bill looked at her calmly and spoke like nothing new was happening.

"Kaiba said he needed a power supply for his new computer program and it makes things easier to come here with it…" Ann looked at him confused.

"Power supply?" Kaiba came down the small line in the middle of the bus, his hair smoking a little and his face completely black, Bill and Bakura tried to swallow their laughter at the sight him, Ann gulped down her laughter with much difficultly at the small ember trying hard to go alight in his hair. Kaiba looked at them with a twisted look of anger on his face and he yelled at Bill.

"BILL! DO I LOOK LIKE A MACANIC??!?!?!?!? YOU TAKE OUT THE ENGINE!" Ann looked around quickly at the sudden dismay at the words that just came out of his mouth, and looked around franticly at every other student that was now probably looking in wonderment, no one did. Everyone just sat and talked about stupid things, boys, school papers, jokes, and people they hated, and drove on like this wasn't happening. Then the words sunk into her mind.

"Engine? What engine?" Bakura looked at her sheepishly and disappeared out of her sight behind the bus seat for cover as she turned to Bill confused. Bill looked at her normally and whispered to her like an everyday thing.

"We need a bus engine for the computer to work…" Ann looked at him aghast.

"WHAT?!?!? YOU CAN'T TAKE THE BUS ENGINE! IT'S BUS COMPAINES PROBERTY!" Everyone looked at her a moment, surprised at the out burst, but with in seconds they were mumbling about how strange she was and taking about life again. Bill looked at her through haft closed eyes and stood up and started toward the front of the bus while talking to Kaiba.

"You're going to have to guide me you know, I have no clue how this thing works…"

"How the hell should I know? I'm NO MACANIC!" Kaiba yelled, his face turning a dark red. Bill rolled his eye and trudged toward the front of the bus he snapped his fingers and walked through the window like it was completely normal. Ann's mouth hung open. Bill casually walked on the top of the yellow hood and placed both of his feet on the bumper of the bus. His hair ruffled in the wind has he dug his fingers and tried with all his might to lift the hood. Bakura and Kaiba sweetdropped at Bill's face, red and sweating, trying to pry the yellow metal upward. Ann's face was chalk white, eyes switching her red faced friend and to the white haired woman humming carelessly and driving easily that didn't even see him.

"Make a crowbar you idiot!" Kaiba showed up to him. Bill immediately stopped and removed his fingers to snap them while saying.

"I knew that."  With a snap of his fingers a large crowbar landed in his palm lightly and he immediately dug it into the black crack were his fingers had been before, and was about to pushed on it when Ann whispered to Bakura still sitting behind her.

"Shouldn't he STOP the bus first? So we don't have to crash?" Kaiba over heard her comment.

"HEY BILL you're forgetting something!"

"What?" Kaiba pointed to the bus driver.

"Oh." Bill sighed and immediately climbed up and the golden hood, leaving the crowbar stuck in the bus hood, and walked right up to the side of the window she was and knelled until eye-to-eye with her.

"You better hold on to something…" Bakura said behind the bus seat to Ann in a very serious tone. Ann couldn't believe what he did next. Bill snapped his fingers and then grabbed the sides of his mouth, sticks out his tongue, and made the strangest sound Ann ever heard to go with his messed up face.  A high pitch scream came from the surprised bus driver and she slammed the brakes. Everyone flew forward, people screamed and shouted as they hit the green seat in front of them or the floor as the bus came to a squealing halt. Ann found herself on the black floor and breathing quickly as she looked up at Bakura looking down at her.

"I told you to hang on to something…" She gave him a look and slowly sat up. Rubbing her head from a dull pain she heard a frail old voice.

"Everyone off the bus NOW!" Startled and wide-eyed everyone scrabbled off the bus quickly, some kids loudly asking, "Can we do it again?" Ann was one of the last people off the bus, Bakura and Kaiba in front of her so everyone saw a large gap instead of the two boys. Confused a little she noted to ask questions later. Off the bus and onto coal black pavement with the thick oak trees all around and only the winding road ahead the kids waited as the bus driver called another bus, not at all calm, but trembling all over, and taking about a kid making faces. They had to ask her three times what she was saying because of how fast she was speaking in her shrilled voice. During those ten minutes Ann watched Bill struggle to open the hood that is until Kaiba groaned and climbed back into the bus and press a red button on the dashboard. The moment it was touched Bill was sent fumbling up with the hood and landed onto the roof, denting it with an outline of a body. Ann flinched at the collision, and tried to image how much pain he was in. Dazed, he climbed back down off the bus, wobbled back to the hood and duck his head in. She wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, probably studying the parts of the machine, something Bill had been famous for in the group before their trip.

"Which wire do I cut?"

"All of them…" Kaiba replied, twiddling a pen that had fallen from one of the many different color back packs that had fallen on the floor while leaning on the bright yellow side facing everyone. Ann heard a faint snap echo and a couple seconds after a sharp cutting sound. Suddenly a loud boom sounded, smoke poured over the side of the open hood as Bill raised his face, totally black.

"Except the red one." Kaiba ended a small smile on his face. Bill rolled his eyes and his face disappeared again under the hood. After a few more minutes of clinking sound Bill emerged, wiping his hands with a new cloth.

"Well, I've done enough tinkering… are you guys ready?" Bakura and Kaiba looked at each other.

"Don't look at me; it's your job…" Bakura sighed at him.

Ann stopped look at the three of them.

"Ready for what?" Instead of answering they started to huddle around the hood. Ann followed with a look of terror at what was being plotted. Bill took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his thumb and middle finger touching ready to snap. Humming echoed from deep in his throat. Everyone paused.

"What's going on?" His fingers snapped and a huge crane appeared out of air again, like the crowbar, except a _lot_ bigger. Bill still had his eyes tightly shut as his hand straight out in front of him move down. The crane mimicked his movement into the hood, at the very same moment his peachy hand moved. He then made a movement like tying an invisible bow around a present; a chain wrapped itself around the disconnected engine like a row. Then Bill raised his hand and brought it down, and so the engine sat on the ground right at his feet. Ann was blinking and rubbing at her eyes, and glancing at Kaiba's face of impatience. Bill's peachy hands moved in a fast motion and the crane disappeared in a blip and a cart appeared right in its place. Then very slowly he lifted his hands, sweating starting to pour from his red face, and moved the engine onto the cart. After that he opened his eyes and fell down onto the road sitting.

"That was very good." Bakura said warmly and took a hold of the handle of the cart.

"Thanks." Bill puffed, exhausted and a deep pink color. Kaiba took the huge handle too and looked at Bakura.

"Now it's your turn…" Bakura looked at him sadly, then to Bill in pleading manner, but to find he was shaking his head, clearly tired out. Bakura frowned.

 "Alright, Alright." And with that, he took a hold of the ring that Ann knew was under his sweater and moved his hands into a circular motion in front of them. Ann immediately knew he was calling on an entry into the Shadow Realm by the way his arm moved and the soft glowing of the ring under his clothes. A huge vertical hole slowly appeared in front of them as his arm moments increased until it was clear to the small group. Bakura stopped moving his arm and dropped his hand from the ring, looking deeply disturbed and the look in his eyes like he never wanted to do that again. Bill patted him on the back.

"That was very good." Bill said smiling at him. Bakura laughed.

"Yes, yes, now let's GO!" Kaiba complained walking into the hole with the cart rolling slowly. Ann looked at them leaving, thinking they were leaving her behind again, that is until Bill turned around at her.

"Hey come on! Don't slow us down!" Ann looked at the hole uncertainly. Bill sighed knowing what she was thinking.

"I'll have you back at your house by dinner time, it'll be fine." Ann smiled.

"Well… alright, as long as my parents don't freak…much." She walked into the hole slowly and watched the hole shut behind her. With that step she knew things were changing again… hopefully for the better.

Book Dragon: "Well, tell me how you liked it!!!

Bill: "In other words review it!"