Just for mild humour, here're some name origins!

Bad guys:

Ceebague – originally spawned from the initials C.B.G.  As in, "Cliché Bad Guy." *snerk*

Garu – deviated, again, from the initials G.A.  Meaning "Gratuitous Assistant."

And apparently I'm spelling people's names wrong!  According to my computer and its "you're stupid" spell check red lines…well…take a look:

Yami = Yam

Yuugi = Yogi (bear)

Ryou = You

Bakura = Baker

Anzu = Nazi

Seto = Seta

Mokuba = Mokena

Aibou = About

Hikari = Hiker

Kaiba = Kayla

Mutou = Mutton

 *snickers*  Anzu = Nazi.  So wrong, yet so right… *giggles some more*

More disclaimer?  Um.  I haven't captured the little green men yet, so it's safe to presume that YGO is still not mine. *rolls eyes*

Chappie Two!  Once more into the breach!

Lungs heaving for air, Joey, Honda, and Ryou tore through the interminable forest in the direction of Anzu's scream.  Unspoken thought directed itself towards the fact that, while Anzu was a girl, she didn't scream unless it was something really bad.  As in…well…really bad.  In the corner of his mind, Ryou could feel some of Bakura's unease slip through their bond.  Unknowingly misinterpreting it, he smiled.  His yami always pretended he didn't care but…

Joey frowned as he dashed through the night.  Man!  Wasn't this stupid, thrice-cursed forest ever going to end?  The adrenalin pumping through his veins made the seconds drag like minutes and the minutes drag like days.  Deepening his scowl, the thought flashed through his mind: If someone ELSE is afta' Yuug', I sweah that I'm NOT responsible for my actions…  Why everyone targeted the poor kid was beyond him, although pointed suspicions were gradually insinuating themselves in his mind.  Pointed.  Like his short friend's pointed puzzle around his neck…

In a detached viewpoint, Honda was pleased that he wasn't nearly out of breath as he used to get.  Sadly, there had been too many times where he'd needed to dash to his friends' rescue – usually in vain. He was sick and tired of bullies chasing after them.  He grimaced as he tried to lengthen his stride, unknowingly passing Joey.  The mantra repeated itself over and over in his brain: Please let everyone be okay.  Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease…

Amazingly, they burst through to the clearing relatively together – and then skidded to an admittedly undignified stop as they took in the horrific tableau in front of them.

Anzu knelt in the centre of the clearing, unknowingly lit in the eerie light of the newly risen full moon.  On her lap was a puppet of the courageous boy they had all come to known.  He stared at the night sky, seemingly ignoring Anzu's hovering, frightened face.  The steady trickle of tears fell from his unblinking eyes as occasional convulsions wracked his body. 

At the sound of the boys' gasps, Anzu's head whip lashed around.  "Joey!  Honda!  Ryou!  Oh thank heavens!  He won't answer me or anything!  He hasn't done anything!  He just – There were these creeps – Another kid got - I just can't –"

Joey stepped forward, hands up in a placating gesture.  "It's all ok, Anz'. We're all here now.  We'll solve this togetha', alright?"

Honda and Ryou crouched by Yuugi's comatose body.  "Yuugi.  Hey, Yuugi.  You in there?"  In a tone that was only half teasing, Honda reached out and gently tapped the teen's shoulder.

Ryou frowned.  Something seemed different about the tri-coloured dueller – despite the obvious.  He, too, reached over and gently wiped away some tears.  "Yuugi?"

Yuugi shuddered.  Then stopped breathing.

It took a second for his assemblage to realize this, but when they did, their reactions would have woken the dead.  Metaphorically speaking.

"YUUGI!"  Anzu shrieked, shaking him.

"Gracious!"

"Oh my—"

"Stop it, Anzu!  We'll just do CPR.  I've learned this."

Honda leaned over and began giving Yuugi the apt-termed "breath of life" as Joey had to restrain Anzu from getting in Honda's way.  In a minute, though, fears were lessened slightly as Ryou shouted excitedly, "He's breathing again!"

And indeed he was.  Eyelids fluttering slowly open, his glazed eyes roamed incuriously around the clearing as his lungs heaved for air.  He gazed without recognition at Honda, the grass, Anzu, Joey, the night sky…

His eyes reached Ryou, who was gazing at him with an understandably concerned look on his face.  A look that was even more understandable as Yuugi's eyes widened then shrank abruptly.  An expression close to a desperate smile insinuated itself as Yuugi sat up, ignoring the support he got from the other three.

Crawling towards the snowy-haired boy, Yuugi breathed, "You…You have…what I lost…Give…give...me...your-"

Ryou frowned, backing up, as he unconsciously gripped his Ring.  Bakura's residual unease was back in full force now and he desperately started fighting to possess his other half's body.

//Give me control, yadunoshi.  You don't know what you're dealing with!//

\Wha-?  It's just Yuugi… even if he is acting weird.\

Bakura shrieked red-hot through their mental bond.  //Give me control or pay attention to what's going ON!//

Ryou came back to himself with sudden alacrity as he felt a tug on the Ring.  Yuugi clutched it tightly, smiling dreamily as he tried to remove it from Ryou's neck.

"…Yami…"

Oblivious to the confused looks and calls of their friends, the two Millennium Item bearers began to fight a hesitant battle.  Bakura watched, on edge, in his soul room as he alternated between scorn for his light in not letting him grab control, and concern as the battle for determining the possessor of his very existence began to be fought in earnest.

Yuugi was twisting the Ring's rope now, trying to strangle Ryou who was pushing and kicking as he tried to escape.  A particularly nasty blow to the chest knocked Yuugi away and left Ryou gasping for breath.  He warily looked at the recently crazed boy, on the alert for any more attacks.  However, the kick seemed to have knocked the fight and spirit from Yuugi.  Once more a broken heap on the ground, he gasped for air with eyes wide and unseeing, occasionally muttering, "…not fair…"

Joey frowned in determination.  This bizarre scene had gone on long enough!  Usually, Yuug' was back on his feet by this time and looking to duel some bad guys!  He strode decisively over to the heaving boy and looked down.

"You min' tellin' us what's been goin' on, then?"

A sob.  "They took… empty…Yami!"  This last was wrenched out and became a keening wail.

Honda frowned.  "That didn't even make sense!" Turning to Anzu, he questioned her.  "You saw what happened, right?  Well?"

Anzu seemed to recollect herself with a shudder.  "Right.  Well.  Um.  We were waiting for you guys, and well, um.  These- these two guys.  Um. They wore black business suits and shades for some reason.  Well, they – they came through the bushes over there and one of them grabbed me.  The other suddenly started talking about 'Subject Mutou' and something about an experiment and then there was this weird ray gun thing.  It looked like something out of comic books or something.  Um.  Anyway, he, like, pointed it at Yuugi and there was this green light an' it… Well, it scanned Yuugi, really.  Anyway, then he started screaming and it was weird because this other boy suddenly appeared out of NOWHERE.  Seriously!  Then Yuugi just collapsed and those two creeps grabbed this other boy – who looked just like Yuugi! – and ran away!  Oh Honda, it was awful!"  With that, she sank, crying, into Honda's unexpecting arms.

The standing males shared a confused glance.  It was like something out of a weird science horror movie.  Ryou blinked and looked down at Yuugi.  He seemed to be recovering – just a bit.  But for Yuugi to snap like that…?  Against his better judgement – and screaming inner yami – he reached down and tapped Yuugi's shoulder gently.

"Yuugi?"

The noise seemed to jar Yuugi out of his trance.  Blinking rapidly in succession, Yuugi reached out and grabbed Ryou's shirt.  Avoiding seeing the wince this movement caused, Yuugi started to try to explain to the only person who could understand him. "Ryou?  Oh, Ryou!  I'm so sorry!  It's just – It's not fair!  You have…and I don't!  Ryou!  I can't- I can't feel him anymore!  They cut our link!  It's just...and I…"

Ryou tilted his head in puzzlement.  "What?"

Yuugi took a deep breath to collect himself.  Clutching Ryou's striped shirt a little tighter, he still practically screamed, "MY YAMI'S GONE! He's gone, Ryou!  It's empty!  He's gone gone gonegonegone…."  He trailed off and slumped to the ground again.  "…Yami…"

Ryou stumbled back in surprise.  Yuugi's yami was gone?  But… "How?"

Joey strode over and helped Ryou up.  "Weren't you listenin', man?  It was probably with that green ray-gun thingy that those jerks shot."  He stopped and blinked.  "Waittaminute… What or who is a 'yami'?"

A whisper drifted from Yuugi's crushed form on the ground.  "My darkness.  My everything. Yami…"

Joey blinked some more.  So, for that matter, did Honda and the gradually recovering Anzu.  Ryou could sense the inevitable questions threatening to overwhelm what common sense this night had left them.  Smiling brightly, he stood suddenly and clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention.

"Right!  How about we all go back to the lodgings?  I don't know about you but I'm getting rather…um…cold."

Honda nodded, realizing the value inherit in that suggestion.  "Good idea.  That way, we can at least be near some beds and a doctor."

Joey slapped his head.  "Dere's nevah a doctor around when you need one, right?"

Anzu took a few steps closer to the shuddering former light on the ground.  "That is a good idea, Ryou.  After all, our friendship will burn brighter once we're out of this darkness!"

Anzu realized her mistake even as Ryou winced and Yuugi began crying in earnest again.

"Yami!"

Honda shook his head as he lifted Yuugi's unresisting form onto his back.  "Man – you'd think someone had died.  What's it going to take to bring Yuugi back to us?"

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

Finally tucked into their respective cots three cups of cocoa later, Anzu, Joey and Honda nodded distantly as the facts came together.  Yuugi was safely in the hospital with a nurse and doctor on standby, so Ryou had reluctantly taken the task of explaining the hikari / yami situation to his friends as best he could.

Joey was the first to speak up.  "That would explain why he'd act so different during duels, that's fer sure."

Anzu smiled with a temporary relief.  "And here I was starting to think that he was schizophrenic!  At least we know that he's actually is two minds about everything!"

Honda drooped.  "He was.  I don't know about now."

Once again, the mood darkened.  The moon itself had been covered by storm clouds, as if it, too, recognized this as the solemn event that it was.

Honda frowned as something occurred to him.  "Ryou, you seem to know a lot about this, right?"

Ryou gulped and smiled nervously.  He supposed he HAD given a rather large number of clues over the past 12 hours.  No idiot alive would have been able to remain ignorant.  But still… The secret of a yami and hikari was something intensely personal and to just give it away…

Bakura snarled within his soul room.  //Landlord,// and the word was more of a sneer than ever, //You will let me take over.//

\I will?\

//Yes.  You will.  Now!//

Ryou's mental self "eeped!" at the metaphorical fire blazing around his yami's incorporeal self.

\…Alright…. But!\

Bakura curled his lip.  // You are imposing restrictions on me?//

Ryou quavered, but held firm.  He could do this.  His yami wasn't fully recovered yet, so he wasn't able to forcefully take command.  At times, Ryou appreciated the Shadow Realm for more than it was really worth.

\But!  You can't kill anyone.\

//I wasn't going to, yadunoshi.//  A smirk was inlaid in the very timbre of the phrase.

\Um… You can't hurt anyone either.  That includes me!\

//Silly weakling.  Would I do that?//  Tainted innocence radiated out of crazed eyes.

There was no hesitation in Ryou's reply.  \Yes.\

A sigh.  //Very well.  I will not maim people.//

As Ryou slowly walked into his soul room, he tried desperately to think of other binding agreements or loopholes. \um… No shadow games, either?\

A smirk, now.  //Go rest, 'little one.' You've had a busy night.//

That was true, at least.  A pang of sympathy flashed through Ryou's brain as he thought of what Yuugi was currently without.  Shutting the door, Ryou reached out again.  \Yami…?\

But Bakura had already taken over and was currently laughing at Anzu's freshly spilled hot cocoa and her subsequent shriek of pain.  His hand had slipped!  And it wasn't maiming, after all, if limbs were still intact, right?  The deranged smirk sauntered onto the face and settled in.  It looked as if it would be there for quite some time, to the horror of the other occupants in the room.

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

Black. 

Cold.

Pain.

It was all around him.  Not that he knew where 'him' was.

Absence.  Deficiency.  Empty.  Want.

Want of a light.  A focal point.  A source of hope.

A thousand chariots couldn't have kept the name from slipping through his mind.  "Yuugi…"

Wait.

No Yuugi.

"Ah.  Please note that two minutes after his rise to a state of consciousness, the subject feels the need to scream."

"Acknowledged, doctor. A remarkable recovery rate."

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

Yuugi lay, brow furrowed, on the hospital bed.  Several moniters nearby, to ensure the healers outside that all was preceeding as could be expected.  Occasionally, his head thrashed back and forth, as if trying to negate a particular nasty truth.

Yami was gone.

Without his yami, reality had changed.  The colours of the world became washed out with brightness, shades dimmed.      The shadows retreated.  Rationally, it made sense.  Without the presence of a shadow in his mind, the natural viewpoint of the "light" – the aibou, had reasserted itself.

It didn't help, though.  Shadows were necessary for depth, and without depth there was no understanding of the world. 

The bond between them had somehow been cut.  Eyebrows cut furrows into his skin and the head thrashed again.

His yami had been taken from him.  Teeth were bared as his head emphatically denied the fact.

It was true, though.

The realistic part of his brain was shouting at him as if from far away.  The general state of his mind – tootooempty – didn't want to listen.  Why listen to anything?  Nothing made sense.  There was no point.  No point until his guilt-stricken conscience threw up the shout that he had let his yami be taken away.

What?

Yes.  You sat there and did nothing.

…nothing…?  True.  I did nothing.  Abso-freaking-lutely nothing.

Did you think your bond was a one-sided thing?  That you'd always be protected?  That Yami would always be your saviour?

No!  After Arcana…I promised myself that I'd – I'd…

Maybe.  (Was his conscience developing a sneer?)  But you never put that into practice, did you?  Those were just empty words.  Empty empty empty words that you tried to believe.

…yes.

So?  What are you going to do about it?

Yuugi suppressed a sob,  then realized no-one could hear him.  He gave into the tears.  This time, there was no one to comfort him.  No one would ever comfort him again.  He would lose his friends.  He had already lost everything else…

Wait.  Never?  If he stayed this way, he'd never see Yami again.  Never feel the dry warmth that brushed his mind every time they talked.  Never 'hear' the slight accent that was his darkness' mental voice.  He'd never be able to figure Yami's past out with him – to share in all the joys and sadness. 

Never?

NO!  Every part of his body and soul screamed out at that thought.  They couldn't be separated!  Not forever!  As Yami had once said, they were part of the same soul.  They had become friends – true friends, those who can always always depend on each other.

On the bed, purple orbs snapped open in determination.

"…Screw this…" he muttered, swinging his legs over the end of the bed and climbing out.  "I'm getting my Yami back."

Shock and dismay had turned into righteous anger.  How dare those two black-suited weirdoes (Yami could have probably thought of a more biting term – probably Egyptian – but he was only Yuugi and so that was the characterization they were going to get…) take his Yami away from him?  How dare they break up what the two of them had?  How dare they? How dare they!

Yuugi made his way – slowly – over to the door of his hospital room.  Staggering slightly at the never-ending disorientation (Why wouldn't it go away?  Make it go away, Yami!) he braced himself against the doorway and stared defiantly at the startled overnight nurse.

"I feel much better.  Please let me go back to my room."

He'd get Yami back.  He would.  No matter what.

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

End of Part Two

Yami:  *rocks back and forth*  I miss my aibou…

Yuugi:  Am I really going to be able to kick butt?

Divey:  Yes!  Because Yami shouldn't always have to go save Yuugi!

Yuugi:  *boogies*  *hugs Yami*  It'll be ok.  Wanna hold hands?

Yami: *looks up* *blinks*  …k.

Bakura:  Mwahahahaa!  I'm evil!

Ryou:  Le sigh.  Le sigh grande.  Why did I have to get the maniacal one?

Divey:  B/c you both have silver hair?  I'm guessing…

Y+Y: *le holding of les hands*  =^__^= 

Next:  Operation:  Stop Bakura from maiming!  Track down annoyingly discreet science operatives!

Additional Note:  Time for review-encouragement!  *writes 12-page essay convincing you to send a review*  *nods vigorously in approval*  That should do it!