A/N: *grovels and throws herself at reader's feet* I'm so sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter to come out! Thank you very much for waiting, and please rest assured that I've started working on the next chapter.
Speaking of said chapters, I lied before. Nothing major, it just it looks as if this will be turning into 8 chappies instead of 7. Okies? …It's still under 10, though, so that's ok, right? Right?
Review Answers! (Join now! Time is running out – the story's almost over!)
Erinamation-limited2-nothing: Oh…Thank you muchlies for the clarification! *fidgets happily* I'm glad you like this story so very much! It's always nice to hear that people think I can write well – seeing's how I am trying very hard on this story. Thankies muchly for reviewing me! *bounces*
Cyberkat: Thank you very much for wonderful review on the story! Sorry if I seemed to be begging for compliments, though. I was trying to make the plot original, so thank you also for noticing! And yeah… I'm sorry also about the super-evil villain and the bizzar-o names. The names actually popped into my head as I was drifting to sleep and I couldn't think of anything better so… As for the villain, sorry again. I was just going to make them mildly bad, but then I got caught up and was carried way. After finding that over-the-top, extravagant evil is much easier to write, I got lazy and now it's a bit too late to retract it. I'll try to make Garu less "out there," though, ok? Thank you very much for your constructive criticism / comments! It's very nice knowing that people are reading this analytically as well. And I like trying to improve. ^_^
Mists: *giggles uncontrollably* The Spear-Fist of Justice! ^__^ That's unstoppably funny! And I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner, but this really was the earliest I could get the story out. *pouts* Mou… On the other hand! *sings* Happy birthday to you! Hope you a great fete, despite the fact you spent it on the road – which does kinda suck. Happier news! The websites you gave me were absolutely wonderful! I saved tons of screencaps (and probably overloaded my hard drive…^^;) Oops… And it does clarify a bunch of stuff. Even better – it led me to this really good site that gives long eppie summaries and everything! And while I don't want to babble (b/c I do) at you in these supposedly quick answers, if you gimme a way I can contact you I can start! *bounces around, getting waaaayyy too hyped up* Of course, thank you always, always for your wonderful compliments! They make me smile in fangirl happiness… Just between the two of us (and everyone else who's reading this rambling message too, I guess!) I think this chappie kinda sucks. *shrugs* I don't like it as much, but it was necessary to get onto the next one, which is currently at 15 pages and counting. Single spaced. Gaaaahhh.. *hands cramp from too much typing* Still, I hope you enjoy!
Laryna6: Hello! *waves vigorously* ^__^ Thank you very much for telling me you like my story! I'll do my very best to update soon, too! *proceeds to ignore studying in order to write story* BTW, I visited your page because you seemed very nice and I wanted to see if you had any stories for me to read, and while I was saddened that you didn't, I perked up when I realized I was marked as one of your "favourite stories"! Thank you so very much! I think you're the first person to ever do that! Thank you thank you thank you! At any rate, I suppose I should calm down now, but thank you again for your nice review! Hope you enjoy the chapters!
Disclaimer:
Divey: All right, me boyos, go on up there and start disclaiming!
Yuugi: *looks at you* We are not owned by Divey.
Yami: *shudders* Thank Ra. At least our rightful owners don't make us go through this sort of thing!
Divey: *nods knowledgeably* That's why fanfic writers were born. You need more angst. But, you know, only when we feel like it.
Ryou: *waves frantically* I'm a gratuitous appearance! Enjoy the story!
And Then There Were Two
Chapter Six: Scientists Found, but Yami lost.
Jounouchi grinned in relief and triumph. They had those creeps now! Thanks to Kaiba – and there's a phrase he'd never thought he'd say – they'd managed to track down those jerks on the computer. Of course, immediately afterwards, Kaiba had gone on some sort of rant, mumbling about fake meetings and pretend duellists. And… something about a Union of sorts? Jou didn't know, nor did he care. All he really needed to discover was that Kaiba was really mad at the two scientists. And Jou, along with most people in the room, knew just how determined Kaiba got when he was enraged. That was a good thing in Jou's book, because the angrier Kaiba was, the faster they'd find those freaks who'd taken Yuugi's yami away.
His thoughts immediately derailed to another, more well worn track. He was worried about the Puzzle's spirit, and he wasn't afraid to admit it. He was even more worried ever since he'd heard the details of Yuugi's game against Weevil. He'd shuddered at the time – the game sounded more like a slaughter. If it hadn't been already apparent, then it was now pretty obvious that Yuug' really needed his other half to function. Presumably it was the other way around, too. If that was the case – and Jou was now surer than he used to be – then Yami was in deep trouble. Whatever duel the spirit was in now, he'd really be falling behind.
A more detached part of Jou wondered why Yami had been singled out to duel this time. It probably had something to do with taking over the world, his cynical side mused. Or maybe someone wanted to take over Yami's body in order to escape a current situation. Or maybe they wanted to prove "once and for all" that they really were better than the aptly named "King of Games." Jou just hoped that it didn't have anything to do with Shadow Games. His newfound knowledge had made him fully realize just what that loon Marik had done to Mai. And if Yami lost this duel that he'd been kidnapped to play, then he'd be lost to the shadows forever! Jou really didn't want to see what would happen to Yuugi then…
Even as his thoughts turned increasingly morbid, his fists began twitching in impatience. They didn't care for mental contemplations at all. Rather, they were twitching with the urge to pound the bad guys into an apologetic state.
His eyebrows lowered in anxiety. 'Man!' he thought. 'Why's Kaiba takin' so long tah find those guys'?'
* * *
Yuugi shivered as the whiteness oozed over his essence. He was cold. The luminescence washed over him, stripping him of all his body heat. In that respect, it was much like a winter's day during a cold spell. The sun shone down without heat and was sharply reflected off of the scintillating snow. It beamed and it shone and it glittered and it sucked away every iota of warmth and he was cold and frozen and surrounded with the light that made him cold which reminded him of the light which was sucking away his heat…
And all the time, his heart still ached because Yami wasn't there, talking with him, thinking with him, existing with him.
Yuugi hugged his shoulders harder. Why wasn't Yami here? He couldn't keep this up much longer - this pretence of acting as if everything was all right.
It was all wrong.
His haunted eyes slowly raised themselves to stare at the people in the room. They seemed happy, for some reason.
He wondered why.
* * *
Seto's frown deepened as his fingers flew over the keys. He was getting increasingly frustrated. No matter how hard he searched, he just could not trace Marion's – or Carcedas' – location. He'd tried following their car as they'd left after the meeting, but they'd gone underground at one point. That rendered his hi-tech aerial sensors useless – for now. Then he'd tried tracing the helicopter that they'd used to take away Yuugi's other half, but that hadn't worked either. After touching down on their mainland-landing platform, they'd gotten into a car and had gone almost immediately underground again. He couldn't just compute their presumably subterranean location either: there was a vast gap between their two descent points.
So Seto decided to locate them through their profile in his database. Imagine his shock when a search for Mr. Marion or Mr. Carcedas hadn't yielded any results! Neither was there any record for the company they said they belonged to!
Unfortunately, just as he'd broadened his search to include the government files, Yuugi broke down. Seto was forced to call off his search for now.
Swivelling in his chair, Seto took one look at Yuugi and immediately reached for his cell phone. Yuugi needed a doctor. NOW.
* * *
Anzu diverted her attention from the action on the screen that Kaiba was causing. A small noise behind her had distracted her thought processes from the main monitor. Turning, she glanced over at Yuugi to check how he was doing. Her kind eyes widened as she took in his condition. Normally pale skin had whitened disturbingly, leading to a faint blue tracing over sluggishly moving veins. The lower lip was being steadily gnawed, to the point where a thin trickle of blood was slowly running down Yuugi's chin. His thin arms hugged themselves, and raw crescent moons had appeared where the nails had bit into the skin.
"Oh no! Yuugi!"
She rushed over to his side to try and comfort him. How could she have deserted him like that? Had she really gotten so caught up in watching Kaiba's progress that she had forgotten about Yuugi? What sort of a friend did that to someone?
Snapping her fingers in front of his face – "Come on, Yuugi! Break out of it!" – she continued her mental berating. She hadn't needed to look at the instructions on the monitor. After all, Jou, Honda, and Ryou – or was it Bakura? – were already over there. She should have stayed and watched over Yuugi! Still, the tug of interest was irresistible: to find Yami. Oh, Yami. She wondered how he was doing…
She shook her head, sinking back into reality.
"Yuugi, come on!"
Her voice wasn't tearing him out of his stupor. In the background, she could hear Kaiba calling for the island's doctor.
Sympathetically, she took her handkerchief and dabbed at the blood on his face.
"Come on! Yuugi, wake up!"
* * *
In his cell, Yami rocked back and forth. Back and forth as he listened to his aibou. His cheeks hurt from constantly grinning and he was choking on the blood from his torn lips, but he listened.
Back and forth. Back and forth.
His prettyprettynicemean aibou glared at him. "For the last time, where are you from?"
Back and forth.
"E-git."
Back and forth.
His aibou glared some more. "Why are you from…Egypt? Why aren't you from Japan? I'm from Japan! You should be where I'm from, or it's not logical!"
Demented eyes stared mindlessly at the projection.
Yami giggled. His throat didn't hurt so much now. The blood that trickled down had eased the screaming pain. And his aibou was here!
He was happy!
Back and forth.
* * *
The Darkness leered, as it gradually possessed every aspect of the "great" Pharaoh's physical self. It revelled in the glee the boy was feeling, tainted and cracked as it was.
It would have a body soon, and with it, the Darkness would be unstoppable.
Unknown to Yami, his next crazed giggle contained a touch more malevolence.
* * *
In his soul room, Bakura paced. He was currently resting up and gathering his strength around him, like a midnight cloak.
Ryou sensed his movement. \ Yami? Are you all right? \
A snarl. // Shut up, landlord! Continue observing! //
\ …Sorry. \ Their conversation was cut off as Ryou quickly retreated from his darker half's mental rage.
Truthfully, though, Bakura was becoming increasingly nervous. He'd never admit it, but the ripples in the vastness that was his ghostly abode were bothering him.
Concentrating, he closed his eyes and frowned. What was happening? The Darkness seemed to be … growing? No! That couldn't be! And yet, there was no doubt that there were disturbances in the Shadow Realm. The same Shadow Realm, which constantly sucked at his very existence. His current position was fine, the perfect mixture in darkness with the glimmer of light, but if the darkness grew too much…
He didn't want the Shadows to grow! If they grew, his current, meagre powers would be in no position to fight off the enveloping pitch.
He didn't want to lose his light – small and dim though it was. It was too soon! Tootootoo soon to be thrown back into the Madness, where he screamed and wailed and no one saved him and the voices laughed and mocked his feeble, puny efforts to break free: To utterly lose his current identity and become another faceless shade as a creature of darkness. He'd done it before, but he didn't evereverever want to do it if he didn't have to…
Violently, Bakura shook his head. He could figure this out. Why was it growing? If it was Malik or his crazed other side summoning a Darkness spell, then there was going to be trouble. Specifically, trouble that involved butcher knives and gutting in the dark, while they were asleep…
But no. The Ring faintly connected Bakura to the other holders of the Millennium Items. Still, Bakura could not sense any change in the personalities. Their wavering auras continued their constant fluctuation in the spectrum of evil.
So it wasn't them.
Was it that Yuugi brat? As holder of the Millennium Puzzle, he'd be able to tap into its control of the Shadow Realm – if he already knew how to do so. The small teen hadn't mentioned anything, but maybe he was somehow trying to save his precious Yami on his own. Yuugi was stupid like that sometimes.
Tentatively, Bakura reached out to touch Yuugi's aura…
And was slammed back with a scream as cutting brilliance
gouged into him and the wail of loneliness tore through his body. Bakura fell to the ground in shock. Shaking his head slowly, he propped himself
up and tried to reorient himself in the comfort of his shadowy soul room.
\ Yami! Yami, what's wrong? Are you ok? \ Ryou's worried presence was instantly by his side, unwittingly giving him the strength he desperately needed to collect himself.
// I – I'm fine, landlord. //
\ What was that? I caught a glimpse of something awful. Was it the scientists? Are they trying to separate us? \
Annoyed, Bakura waved a hand dismissively at Ryou.
// Quiet, yadunoshi. I am all right. //
\ But … the scientists? \
// It was not the scientists. //
Concern and exasperation tinged their link. \ What was it then? \
Bakura paused. In a fleeting moment of rare protectiveness, he debated telling his other half what it had actually been. Would Ryou want to know his puny friend's mind was almost lost to insanity?
\ Bakura! Please? What was it? \
Curse this host of his. The incessant pleading wore on his nerves, yet somehow managed to soften his cast-iron heart. It was an incredibly annoying mixture. Still, his musing brought him to a decision.
// It was nothing I can't handle, landlord. Now go. //
\ Really…? \ Suspicion filtered through.
The boy was getting smarter. Bakura idly wondered if he should just wipe his landlord's mind of this incident. It would be a slight expenditure of power, but it might be well worth it…
// Really. Nothing I can't handle. Now get lost unless you want me to banish one of your "friends" next time I take control. //
The mental equivalent of running footsteps suddenly dashed to the forefront of the mind. Bakura smirked. That had been fun. Even more so since he had not been joking in the slightest.
He suddenly sobered. After all, he still had not discovered the reason for the Darkness' growth. It certainly wasn't him: his situation had not changed. That left only…
The Pharaoh.
Blast.
Bakura's teeth worried at his lower lip. That Ra-cursed Pharaoh had considerably more power than he did, though he'd never actually admit that out loud. And if Yuugi's Yami were to once again return to the Shadow Realm, then Bakura might as well wave goodbye to his identity now. The spirit's essence – if taken again – would lend an immense amount of strength to the Dark Realm.
Bakura cursed some more. He had to prevent this from happening. If only he could find the Pharaoh! It was so much easier at close range, but the distance between them now was too great. Reaching out for the Pharaoh, all he could feel right now was an undefined, faint throbbing that seemed to circle him ceaselessly. The throbbing was twirling progressively faster, though. Soon, Bakura knew, it would be whipping around with the speed of a tornado and destroying every soul in its path.
'No…'* * *
The doctor had taken Yuugi away.
For some reason, Anzu could not get that fact out of her head.
She had come in, taken one look at him, and had rushed him into the emergency ward.
A doctor had declared that Yuugi was in critical condition. Yuugi!
Oh, Yuugi…
* * *
Seto tapped his fingers on the keyboard. He was currently trying to force himself to forget about Yuugi. The kid's deathly white complexion…his despairing attitude…his panic when the doctor had guided him to the medical centre – Yuugi had somehow thought they were taking him away from an invisible Yami and had begun screaming with such raw intensity that it had made Anzu begin to cry…
Seto shuddered.
Right. He was not remembering that. He was...he was looking for those two men. Nodding in firm decision, he returned to scanning the screen with renewed vigour. His biggest concern was to locate them. However, he couldn't even get names for them! It was blatantly obvious by now that they had given him false names for the meeting with him. Seto briefly jotted down a note on his pad for in increase in security.
Now, how to find two madmen?
Seto recalled the window where he had opened the government's files. Pulling a profile shot for each individual from his database, he ordered the computer to begin cross-referencing for an identity. The machine hummed busily for a few minutes, yet finally displayed its results with a proud "beep."
The annoying puppy, who had been looking over his shoulder for the past 45 minutes, let out a startled noise. To the boys' eager eyes, the information rolled onto the screen like so many molasses.
Name: Gary Ceebague
Profession: Professor of psychology
…Although having received many awards and notes of merit from the scientific community, Dr. Ceebague's methods have been recently raised in controversy due to rumours of his extreme procedures of testing his subjects…
Jou released a startled whimper. Had it been any other time, Seto would have immediately begun to mock the puppy, but for some reason the only sound he could manage was a painful hiss. He read the information again. "'His extreme procedures'?"
His eyes switched to the next screen, where he read the other's profile.
Name: Joseph Garu
Profession: Professor of psychology.
…Having recently obtained his degree, Dr. Garu is currently apprenticing under Dr. Ceebague (403) in order to acquire experience. Due to the controversial nature of the latter's work, it is highly recommended that an updated file is maintained on this individual…
Seto hissed again. Yami was in the hands of these lunatics? He began frantically hunting for an approximate position, almost desperate to find Yuugi's other half before the world decided to screw them over again.
* * *
From across the room, Anzu turned her attention from the pathetic attempt at a conversation she was having with Honda. Quickly getting up, she rapidly crossed the room.
"What's up? Did we find them already?" Her eyes took in Kaiba and Jou's stunned expressions. "What's wrong, you guys?"
Jou seemed to tear his expression away from the screen. "Um…Anz'? You might wanna sit down."
Blinking, she acquiesced. "Now I'm confused. What's going on, you guys?" She twisted, trying to look past Jou to Seto, who was still scanning some texts. "Jou?"
By this time, Honda had arrived at her side – she could feel his supporting presence by her. He inquired, "Seriously! Just tell us already!"
Jou gulped. "Um…we've found da guys who took Yami. But!" he quickly continued, not wanting to see that look of hope and relief on their faces. There was no cause for relief after the information they had just read. "But…um…it seems dey're under gover'ment watch due to dere, uh, dere 'methods of investigation,'" Jou made little air quotes.
Honda blinked, then drew back as his brain processed the words, "Methods of investigation? Government surveillance? Man, that's not good! Where are they already?"
Jou glared back, "We dunno! Dat's what we've bin tryin' to find out!"
Kaiba's voice interjected, "You mean, I've been trying to find out, you worthless mutt."
Anzu sat in shock. The banter of conversation that was rapidly turning hostile passed over her head like a flock of bats. Yami was really in danger? She supposed she'd always known that, but to actually hear it made it that much more real. Yami was in danger and Yuugi was in the emergency ward.
Oh, gosh. What were they going to do? She was just a single girl and she couldn't do anything on her own, not without her friends. But she had no friends now! Kaiba was starting to scare her with how loudly he was shouting at Jou. Besides, Jou, Honda, and Kaiba were all shouting now – they weren't getting along at all! As for Ryou, well, he had disappeared a while ago. Meanwhile, Yuugi was incapacitated in a hospital for crying out loud, and Yami was gone! They'd never get him back now! Anzu could feel the tears leaking out again.
She shouldn't cry.
But she couldn't stop herself.
Just like she couldn't stop those scientists.
Was all of this her fault?
* * *
Ryou shuffled back into the office, relieved from having finally found the restrooms. He'd also stopped by to see Yuugi, but had only managed to get a glimpse before the nurse had gently shooed him away. It was with a heavy heart, then, that he had dragged himself back to the office. He knew that once he was inside, the oppressive feeling of uselessness and gloom would permeate his senses once more. If only they could do something! Anything to be useful and to pass the time…! But right now they were almost completely reliant on Kaiba's advanced technology.
Ryou was also worried about his yami. Try and hide it though he might, Ryou knew something was bothering Bakura. Ryou was just hoping that it wasn't anything to do with the scientists. He acknowledged Bakura's lack of concern about the two men, but Bakura was a 5 000 year old spirit! Mortal men held almost no threat to him. Ryou, on the other hand, was a teenaged boy who happened to be very mortal indeed. Therefore, just as the bullies from before had disturbed Ryou, so did the thought of two men with the power to separate him from his yami. He supposed that he was being silly again, but nevertheless, he tapped into their link for reassurance.
\ Bakura? \
* * *
Bakura growled as his eyes shifted, assessing the fluctuating shadows. They were wavering more rapidly now and that was causing Bakura no small amount of concern. He tapped into the Ring and called up some more reserves of power. This little amount that he leached off it would not drastically reduce its source. After all, the Ring's strength lay in tapping into the ever convulsing shadows, then slowly and gradually – unbelievably so, Bakura griped upon occasion – converted them into a direct source of power for its spiritual inhabitant.
He fidgeted some more, irrationally wishing for some source of metaphysical light so that he could easily drive the shadows back.
\ Bakura? \
The soft caress of his other half's mental voice jarred him out of his watchful state. Annoyed, he bit out, // What?! I am busy, landlord! After all, I can't sit in one spot all day and simper mindlessly the way you do! //
He felt his other take a step back at his ruthlessness and rolled his eyes. His landlord was a complete weakling. Why, even the midget's aibou wouldn't have backed off at that reprimand!
\ Um...never mind. \
Bakura felt his other half reluctantly leave his soul room and smirked. Ignoring the faint twinge of guilt at the bottom of his mind, he returned to warily observing the change in the Shadow Realm.
Turning, he noticed the back of his soul room had darkened considerably. Bakura glared and started to growl again as the surrounding shadows pressed closer.
* * *
Honda sighed as he took over reading the information on the screen. Kaiba had gone off, promising to return shortly after getting some caffeine. Honda didn't blame him, either. In addition to the latest crisis, Kaiba was running a global tournament. He wasn't the only one who was tired either; everyone else was certainly feeling tired and on edge due to last night's minimum sleep. Anzu had started crying again, too, making everyone feel guilty and then over compensatory. Right now, Anzu had been coerced into sitting on the comfiest couch with the softest pillows. Jou had gone to fetch some tea for her, as well, in addition to some caffeine for the rest of them. Honda tilted his head. Perhaps sending Jou for coffee with Kaiba hadn't been the best idea…
He shook his head. Too late for that sort of thinking now. He turned and glanced at a sleepy-eyed Ryou, who was trying to read the information with him.
"Ryou? You okay there, buddy?"
Doe eyes glanced soulfully up at him. "Oh yes, Honda. I am just slightly worried about the scie- about Yuugi. I am very worried about Yami, as well. Both of them seem to be in such critical situations and we can't find Yami to make Yuugi feel better!"
Honda frowned. "Yeah. Hopefully the information we need will be on this web page. I can't believe Kaiba has access to this sort of stuff! Like, everyone's information and activities are on here! It's kinda freaky, don't you think?"
Ryou smiled as he nodded his agreement.
Checking Ryou's expression, Honda carried on, "I think it's kinda weird, though, about those two jerks that took Yami off. Like, seriously! What kind of duel would they be having with Yami? They didn't seem like the type to want to duel to the death, or whatever. What's the deal with that?"
Ryou shrugged his shoulders in confusion, "I do not know,
unfortunately. They certainly didn't
seem like serious duellists. But then
again, you can never tell these days.
And perhaps they are being controlled by an evil force far more powerful
than we can know…" Ryou looked introspectively into the distance, then abruptly
came back to the present and promptly blushed.
"I apologize. That's just a
possibility – from my perspective, anyway."
Honda recognized the symptoms for self-recrimination immediately. He had, after all, been witness to many examples of it before. "No, no! Ryou, that's a great idea! Well, actually, it's a bad one, because then we'd have to fight a horribly faceless evil, but that would certainly explain a lot! That's some great thinking there, buddy!"
Flattered, Ryou shyly grinned and returned his gaze to the screen in an effort to divert his flustered state. Scrolling down, his eyes suddenly latched on to a set of numbers. He immediately grabbed Honda's sleeve to get his attention.
"Ryou, wha-?"
"Honda, look! Doesn't this look like an address? It's recently added, too!"
Honda grinned in triumph as he noticed where Ryou was pointing. "Yeah, it does! Sweet!"
Just then, the familiar sounds of conflict reached their
ears as Kaiba and Jou returned with the coffee.
"Don' you tell me to shut up, Mistah Moneybags! No one asked for your opinion anyways!"
"Quit barking, mutt, and pay attention to where
you're walking. You almost hit that
vase."
"Well, maybe if it weren't in the middle of the freakin' hallway, I
wouldn't have to watch where I was going!"
"Ah, so you don't look to see where you walk. You should be more careful, puppy dog. After all, this island's filled with cliffs and crevasses."
"I'LL CREVASSE YOU, YAH BIG—!"Ryou hastily rose. "Oh, good! You have the coffee! Thank you very much, you two!" Rushing over, he gracefully took one of the cups and sipped it. The drug saturated his system with life-giving substance and he could feel his body forcefully respond, waking up and readying itself for any future challenges.
Honda sighed in relief at the averted crisis, then immediately remembered something. "Hey, everyone! Come over here! I think we may have gotten a location!"
Immediately, everyone had gathered around and was peering over his shoulder. Seto grunted in approval and Honda relaxed. There was something definitely intimidating about the towering CEO and it was nice to know that he hadn't screwed up.
Kaiba nodded as he stood back. "Yes. That would make sense. Those co-ordinates, after all, are in the direct area of their underground route. Although, that still leaves a rather large underground expanse for us to cover to find Yami."
Ryou piped up. "Umm…I don't know if this would help, but…well, Bakura could probably sense Yami and take us to him that way. We must be in the area for that to work, though."
In his soul room, Bakura was torn between holding off the shadows, gloating they had found the Pharaoh and could stop the shadows, or yelling at his landlord for offering his services like that. He decided to stay quiet, but do something really nasty in the future.
Seto glanced around the room. "Very well, then. I do not know how that works – and nor do I want to, so don't try to explain it – but if you've done it before…?" Kaiba trailed off, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at the snowy-haired teen. At his slight nod, Kaiba resumed his sentence, "In that case, we'll pick up Yuugi, get in my helicopter and leave."
Jou punched the air. "Yes! Finally! Some action!" He immediately began hopping around, shadow boxing, in preparation for the upcoming trip.
Rolling his eyes, Kaiba continued, "I wasn't done, mutt. The helicopter can only fit so many, especially if we will be returning with added weight. One of you will have to stay behind."
Eyes widened and nails were chewed as the group tried to reach a decision. Split up their group? Even more than it already was? Anzu didn't like the sound of that – it sent a shiver down her spine.
Finally, Honda spoke up, "Well…I guess I could stay behind. I mean, I could be useful on this end too, right?"
Kaiba smirked.
"Yes. You," he directed the boy
over to the computer chair "will sit here and handle incoming calls, press
harassments, and communication delays." He paused, and took in Honda's blank
expression. "While you're at it, you
might as well watch Mokuba and make sure he remains all right." Kaiba leaned in, blatantly ignoring personal
space to get into Honda's face. "Okay?"
Honda glared, then relented. "Yeah, sure. I'll watch your little brother and make sure nothing goes wrong on this end. Just get going, ok?"
Kaiba turned with dramatic flair, "Of course. I'll send Mokuba up immediately. Let's go."
Parting, Anzu, Jou, Kaiba, and Ryou left the room, saying their farewells. As Anzu left, she turned and quickly shouted, "Wish us luck and see you soon!"
Honda didn't want to think they needed luck.
* * *
Shadows sneered as they oozed their way up the comatose boy's body.
In his nightmare, Yami twitched.
* * *
Dr. Garu squirmed as he reviewed the collected information. He was happy that they had determined the extent to which the connection between the original schizophrenic individual and his creation was. Actually, that was the scary thing. It appeared to be bone-wrenchingly deep. It had been a mere 19 hours since the boy's capture, yet now he was not responding to any stimuli whatsoever. Even the hologram they had created 4 hours ago had stopped inciting any reaction.
Right now, the boy – and wasn't it odd that he didn't know his name? – was crumpled face down on the cage. A small pool of blood had formed underneath him, and a detached part of Dr. Garu's mind noted that the experiment t-shirt was thus completely ruined. His face was twisted in a rictus of extreme pain. His arms twisted oddly, lifelessly, yet his right foot twitched constantly. Every single emotion that ever inhabited Garu's body was screaming at him to go do something, and not only because this was the worse he had ever been. While before he had been a wreck, at least the teen had been a normal, sentient wreck. Now, sprawled as he was, there seemed to be a pervasive evil miasma that hovered around him.
Dr. Garu, of course, did not write that sentiment down. Feelings or intuition, after all, were not regarded as valuable in any scientific community of repute. Nonetheless, there was no other word to describe the situation as anything other than "creepy." There was nothing more that Garu wanted to do than to leave this place immediately and never come back. He knew for sure that this experiment would be haunting his memories for quite some time. It made the theft of all the technology seem so petty and trite.
He had to think of some way to get out of this situation!
* * *
If the Shadow Realm could frown slightly in peeved annoyance, it would. Continuing up Yami's body, the form was being slowly re-immersed into the Darkness. But there seemed to be a snag when it had hit the mind. Once a mind of easily absorbable raging despair, this modern life had changed the former Pharaoh. Now, probably due to that other half of his, Yami's mind contained hope, strength, and determination. Of course, most of these had been erased over the past hours to the point of surrender. They were, therefore, of little concern. What was most annoying was the last twinge of nobility left in Yami. Probably due again to that cursed aibou of his, the Pharaoh had been slowly searching for the truth behind his amnesia, which had caused a strengthened renewal of his former self. Pharaohs were believed to be descended from the gods, after all, and so part of Yami's mind was convinced that he was invincible.
The Shadows paused briefly, and then began anew their pervasive corruption. Success would be soon…
* * *
Yami descended even further into his hole of condemnation. The blackened room he had been in before had left, only to be replaced by an endless pit of despair. He sighed and felt himself fall deeper into the pitch-blackness that seemed to want to devour his very being.
There was something wrong about that, but Yami couldn't remember what it was. After all, he couldn't see his aibou anymore, so what was the point? He was a wisp of a shade that should have been destroyed countless ages ago. In the murkiness of Yami's mind, there was a small release of tension when Yami completely gave up.
Still, in the very corner of his subconscious mind, a small part of him continued to struggle, wailing against the inevitable. The royal determination kicked and bit, clawed and scratched, yelled and sobbed against the encroaching darkness.
'Homage to you, O ye gods ... Cast me not down to your knives of slaughter!' (1)To no avail. After all, the body had given up.
Finally, with an anguished gasp, that part of the mind had no choice but to give in. It, too, was banished once more to the shadows.
'No!'
It was no use.
Yami was gone, and a slavering evil had taken his place.
On the floor, the face suddenly twisted into a smile of sheer malice.
And it started to laugh…
* * *
(1): The Egyptian Book of the Dead, by E.A. Wallis Budge.
-- It's actually very repetitive and so therefore kinda boring. On the other hand, it not only has an "Englishized" translation, but also a direct translation right there from the HIEROGLYPHICS!! Now that's cool. *sighs* And no, I didn't get this book when YGO started. My aunt gave it to me 5 years ago for Xmas. Because, yes, I liked ancient civilizations back then, too. They're just more interesting now, what with the seck-say bishies and all. ^__^
* * *
A/N: Spot the line I wrote while tired! I'll give you a hint. It revolves around coffee and its life-giving drugness. ^^;;
Ri~ight… That was short. And crappy. And not well-written. And Honda had no personality. And this story is late. And Yami's not around anymore. And I have no idea how I'm ending this story. And the plot didn't really advance at all. And –
Yuugi: *cuts her off* *flat tone* I'm in an island's hospital and Yami's not even there anymore?? *big teary eyes*
Divey: *depressed* Yeah…but since your link is cut, there won't be too many repercussions!
Bakura: *glares* You're turning me into a scaredy cat.
Divey: You ARE! …on occasion. I know it's happened. Like when (way back during the Pegasus tournament) you got banished to the graveyard and you turned and there was the "reaper of cards" or whatever and you started screaming?
Bakura: O.o
Divey: *nods* Yeah. That part. *shrugs* Sorry. You're very hard to write IN-character, y'know? Especially since I don't do angsty, bloody fics.
Ryou: *goggles at her* What do you call this then? A bloody fairy tale?
Divey: *blinks* I…dunno. This is turning out waaayy angstier than I originally thought it would. And more goth. And supernatural. And- *gets cut off by various yamis pummelling her*
Malik: I have issues,
I'm abused,
But best of all
Is when I get reviews!!
Ryou: *shudders* Review please! Malik is not Divey (contrary to what he thinks) and it's starting to really scare us!