The 13th Gate
Ch.7
Yugi sank into a nearby chair and gave a sigh, "Jou, how do you even know Kiaba's even going to invite us? I'm betting he pretty tired of seeing us at every one of his tournaments, ya know?" Jou looked down at his small friend in surprise, "But Kiaba invites us to all his tournaments and stuff, why not now?" Anzu gave a heavy exasperated sigh, "Jou, listen, Kiaba is tired of Yugi beating him...Therefore he probably won't want to lose again, especially to Yugi! I mean c'mon, would you want to have an ego that big bruised for that long?" That ushered in a silence among them, except for the rain outside, no noise could be heard. They all jumped as the phone gave a loud startling ring, "Geeze...I almost peed on myself!" Jou said as he fell back on to the chair, where Yugi had been sitting just a minute before he went to get the phone. "Hello? Kiaba!? Hey Kiaba, how're you? What...Really, we're invited, all of us? But...no I know, yeah I saw on TV, at Kiaba Paradise right? Yeah, but still...no...what happened to Mokuba? What!? But how? Ok, we'll be at the airport in an hour...Kiaba....uh, I'm sorry, yeah, bye." The other four in the room stared at Yugi, waiting for an explanation, he gave a sigh before clearing his throat, "We're going to America...something's happened to Mokuba..." They stared for a moment more before Anzu spoke up, "What, what's happened to Mokuba Yugi?" She ran her fingers through her hair, even though she wouldn't admit it, she felt a certain affection for the young child, as if she where his older sister. "I'm not sure, Kiaba just said Mokuba's in the hospital and that he'd explain it all when we got there, so we have an hour to get ready and get to the airport, so you all go get your things if your coming, you are coming right?" They all nodded and got up, they where his friends, best friends to be exact, they weren't about to leave him now, more so since they had no reason to. Bakura stood up and headed for the door, "Ok then, I'll see you all there...Yugi, I think I'm going to enter this one if that's all right with you..." he gave them a happy smile before going out the back door, letting it close gently behind him, his figure could be seen running down the street, hurrying to get out of the heavy rain. "Ok Yugi, we'll be off to then, we'll see you at the airport, they all said there hurried goodbyes before running out into the rain, all heading in different directions to get home. Yugi went back over to the couch and sat down, he could hear his grandfather in the front room, the store part of the house, busying around, rearranging things for the next day, he gave a sigh, and a shadowy figure appeared beside him, identical in almost everyway, "Aibou? What's the matter?" Yugi looked over at his Yami, "Nothing...it just seems if it's not one things it's another...I guess we should go get ready then huh? Gotta tell grandpa we're leaving also..." He gave another sigh as he got up, his shadow faded away, he padded with bare feet into the front room to tell his grandfather of the news.
Jou had almost reached home when the rain really started to come down, it felt as if somebody where throwing weighted water balloons at him, he held his blue jacket over his head in hopes of not getting as wet, but it didn't really help at all, he came to a stop outside of a tall brick apartment and sighed, this is the time of the day he hated most, coming home. His father was a drunkard and constantly boozed, if he was lucky his dad would be passed out on the couch and he could just sneak into his room and lock the door, if he wasn't lucky, well then, he'd get beaten, often times until he bled, it was a rough life but he'd grown accustom to it. He trotted up the slippery stone steps up to the barred front door and unlocked it, making sure it closed behind him, he squeaked though the trashed front lobby, no one was behind the desk, and the dying fluorescent lights flickered, giving it an eerie quality, he walked past the elevator and considered using it, but it never worked to well, so he decided on the stairs, much better for his health anyway, he quietly made his way up the steps, watching his feet the whole time, hoping his father was asleep, or better yet, not even there, he reached his floor, Floor Number 13, he pushed the heavy door open and made his way down the dirty hallway, hearing the sound of TVs and people through the differently decorated doorways. He came to a stop in front of his own matted puke green door and gave a sigh before pulling out a key and sticking it into the keyhole, he grabbed the knob with both hands and as quietly as he could pushed the door open. He entered the dark cramped living room and looked around, no one was there, thank god, he let the door shut a bit more loudly behind him, he flipped a switch and the dark brown room lit up, the broken TV in the corner of the room told him that his father had indeed been home, but had obviously left, nothing else seemed out of place though, so that was good. He walked into his room, past various pictures of their family when they where all together, Jou and his father had no pictures of just themselves, it really didn't bother him though, he didn't like his dad, and his dad didn't like him, things where just fine that way. Who was he kidding, he loved his dad, but with things the way they where, there was no way his dad could even possibly love him back, he sighed as he entered his room, just the way he'd left it, great, he shuffled across the musty coffee carpet over to his wood dresser and pulled open the top drawer, rummaging through socks and underwear, he grabbed a couple pairs of each before heading to the next drawer and doing the same with shirts, then with pants until he had a decent enough amount of clothes, he picked them all up and went to his small closet, he pushed the door open and pulled a duffle bag out with his feet, he dropped his clothes beside it and begin to fit them all in there neatly, contrary to most peoples beliefs, he was a usually very organized person . He finished up by grabbing his toothbrush, he turned out the lights and was about to leave the godforsaken house when something caught his attention, the bathroom light was on, odd, he thought he turned all the lights off, oh well. He sat the duffle bag down and jogged down the hall, he had to meet back up with Yugi, he leaned into the small bathroom and flipped the light off, jogging back down the hall a noise caught his ear, running water, now that's really weird, he thought, he hadn't even turned on any faucets, it was coming from the kitchen, he quietly leaned into the kitchen and looked around before flipping the light on, no one, not a soul, but the water was running full blast into the shallow sink, splattering up onto the stained countertops, steam rose up from the sink, he clenched his jaw, reaching over the scalding steam he turned the water off, giving a sigh, he returned to the front door and picked up his bag. His dad must of left it on, as soon as his hand touched the knob a cackling sound met his ears, it registered as the sound of a TV, he glanced over his shoulder, his jaw dropped, the broken TV had come on, static filled the broken screen, what sounded like a broken voice issued from it. He shuddered and walked over to it, standing several feet away he stared into the gaping black hole in the middle of the screen, but how, how in the world was it on, it wasn't even plugged in! He bent down to turn it off but it went black and silent, a ringing began to come from it as he stood back up, "What...w-what in the world is going on?" He quickly backed away from it, lightning flashed outside, pulling his eyes from the TV to the large glass window, at that moment a grotesque hand shot put of the TV, reaching several feet from the black hole gripping Jou's ankle, he spun around, but the hand wrapped around his leg made him fall right on his rear, he stared at the hand in horror, mouth opening and closing like a fishes, a scream couldn't even make it's way out of his throat, his eyes widened as another hand crawled out of the dark hole, it suddenly lunged forward and grabbed a hold of his other ankle, gripping it tightly, it began to tingle as all feeling left it and the other foot as well, he pushed himself back as best he good, but the TV followed him, both hands never relinquishing their massive grip on him, he tried kicking now, but it didn't work, he looked over his shoulder, eyes widened in hope as he noticed a piece of broken glass lying beside the dirty brown couch, he reached out, fingers just inches away from it, but to no avail, it was to far away, and the TV was too heavy, he panted with exhaustion, there was nothing he could do, the hands would have there way with him, all he could do now was yell for help, "Please...please let go..." he stretched out again, reaching for the shard of glass, "H-help...p- please....unnhh..." So close, so so close, but still out of reach, another sound reached his ears, a car outside, doors opening and closing, then familiar voices, his friends calling up to him, they where here! The hands flipped him over onto his stomach as there long rotten nails dug into his skin, he pushed himself up and took a deep breath, "Help! Please, Yugi, Honda, Anzu! Up here! Help! Please guys, I'm up here!" Muttering floated up to him, the rain had begun to die down, now only a few drops fell down from the dark gray sky, he tried again, "Help! Help me!" This time, concerned voices met his ears then, "Jou! Is that you!? What's going on!?" His eyes widened again, they heard him, "HELP! I'm in my home! Help me!" More muttering, and then a crash as the door to the lobby was broken in, probably by Honda, squeaking shoes faded as the step door slammed shut, yes they're coming, thank god. All of a sudden, they hands released him and swooshed back into the TV, the static disappeared it was quite again, a bead of sweat rolled down Jou's cheek, a humming sound came from the TV, then a deep rumbling voice, "Jyounuchi Katsyua...the 13 Gates...They are opening...you will all die..." The humming and voice faded away as Jou jumped to his feet, he stumbled backward and fell onto the musty couch, an image flickered onto the screen, a face, a rotting, decayed face, it smiled as everything around him went black. The front door burst open, Honda, Yugi and Anzu stood there, all three panting, "J-Jou...what's the matter!? What 's goin on!?" Nothing came from the frightened boys lips, his eyes where shut tight as beads of sweat fell down his face, the dead TV in the corner reflected the scene upon it's broken screen.
Ch.7
Yugi sank into a nearby chair and gave a sigh, "Jou, how do you even know Kiaba's even going to invite us? I'm betting he pretty tired of seeing us at every one of his tournaments, ya know?" Jou looked down at his small friend in surprise, "But Kiaba invites us to all his tournaments and stuff, why not now?" Anzu gave a heavy exasperated sigh, "Jou, listen, Kiaba is tired of Yugi beating him...Therefore he probably won't want to lose again, especially to Yugi! I mean c'mon, would you want to have an ego that big bruised for that long?" That ushered in a silence among them, except for the rain outside, no noise could be heard. They all jumped as the phone gave a loud startling ring, "Geeze...I almost peed on myself!" Jou said as he fell back on to the chair, where Yugi had been sitting just a minute before he went to get the phone. "Hello? Kiaba!? Hey Kiaba, how're you? What...Really, we're invited, all of us? But...no I know, yeah I saw on TV, at Kiaba Paradise right? Yeah, but still...no...what happened to Mokuba? What!? But how? Ok, we'll be at the airport in an hour...Kiaba....uh, I'm sorry, yeah, bye." The other four in the room stared at Yugi, waiting for an explanation, he gave a sigh before clearing his throat, "We're going to America...something's happened to Mokuba..." They stared for a moment more before Anzu spoke up, "What, what's happened to Mokuba Yugi?" She ran her fingers through her hair, even though she wouldn't admit it, she felt a certain affection for the young child, as if she where his older sister. "I'm not sure, Kiaba just said Mokuba's in the hospital and that he'd explain it all when we got there, so we have an hour to get ready and get to the airport, so you all go get your things if your coming, you are coming right?" They all nodded and got up, they where his friends, best friends to be exact, they weren't about to leave him now, more so since they had no reason to. Bakura stood up and headed for the door, "Ok then, I'll see you all there...Yugi, I think I'm going to enter this one if that's all right with you..." he gave them a happy smile before going out the back door, letting it close gently behind him, his figure could be seen running down the street, hurrying to get out of the heavy rain. "Ok Yugi, we'll be off to then, we'll see you at the airport, they all said there hurried goodbyes before running out into the rain, all heading in different directions to get home. Yugi went back over to the couch and sat down, he could hear his grandfather in the front room, the store part of the house, busying around, rearranging things for the next day, he gave a sigh, and a shadowy figure appeared beside him, identical in almost everyway, "Aibou? What's the matter?" Yugi looked over at his Yami, "Nothing...it just seems if it's not one things it's another...I guess we should go get ready then huh? Gotta tell grandpa we're leaving also..." He gave another sigh as he got up, his shadow faded away, he padded with bare feet into the front room to tell his grandfather of the news.
Jou had almost reached home when the rain really started to come down, it felt as if somebody where throwing weighted water balloons at him, he held his blue jacket over his head in hopes of not getting as wet, but it didn't really help at all, he came to a stop outside of a tall brick apartment and sighed, this is the time of the day he hated most, coming home. His father was a drunkard and constantly boozed, if he was lucky his dad would be passed out on the couch and he could just sneak into his room and lock the door, if he wasn't lucky, well then, he'd get beaten, often times until he bled, it was a rough life but he'd grown accustom to it. He trotted up the slippery stone steps up to the barred front door and unlocked it, making sure it closed behind him, he squeaked though the trashed front lobby, no one was behind the desk, and the dying fluorescent lights flickered, giving it an eerie quality, he walked past the elevator and considered using it, but it never worked to well, so he decided on the stairs, much better for his health anyway, he quietly made his way up the steps, watching his feet the whole time, hoping his father was asleep, or better yet, not even there, he reached his floor, Floor Number 13, he pushed the heavy door open and made his way down the dirty hallway, hearing the sound of TVs and people through the differently decorated doorways. He came to a stop in front of his own matted puke green door and gave a sigh before pulling out a key and sticking it into the keyhole, he grabbed the knob with both hands and as quietly as he could pushed the door open. He entered the dark cramped living room and looked around, no one was there, thank god, he let the door shut a bit more loudly behind him, he flipped a switch and the dark brown room lit up, the broken TV in the corner of the room told him that his father had indeed been home, but had obviously left, nothing else seemed out of place though, so that was good. He walked into his room, past various pictures of their family when they where all together, Jou and his father had no pictures of just themselves, it really didn't bother him though, he didn't like his dad, and his dad didn't like him, things where just fine that way. Who was he kidding, he loved his dad, but with things the way they where, there was no way his dad could even possibly love him back, he sighed as he entered his room, just the way he'd left it, great, he shuffled across the musty coffee carpet over to his wood dresser and pulled open the top drawer, rummaging through socks and underwear, he grabbed a couple pairs of each before heading to the next drawer and doing the same with shirts, then with pants until he had a decent enough amount of clothes, he picked them all up and went to his small closet, he pushed the door open and pulled a duffle bag out with his feet, he dropped his clothes beside it and begin to fit them all in there neatly, contrary to most peoples beliefs, he was a usually very organized person . He finished up by grabbing his toothbrush, he turned out the lights and was about to leave the godforsaken house when something caught his attention, the bathroom light was on, odd, he thought he turned all the lights off, oh well. He sat the duffle bag down and jogged down the hall, he had to meet back up with Yugi, he leaned into the small bathroom and flipped the light off, jogging back down the hall a noise caught his ear, running water, now that's really weird, he thought, he hadn't even turned on any faucets, it was coming from the kitchen, he quietly leaned into the kitchen and looked around before flipping the light on, no one, not a soul, but the water was running full blast into the shallow sink, splattering up onto the stained countertops, steam rose up from the sink, he clenched his jaw, reaching over the scalding steam he turned the water off, giving a sigh, he returned to the front door and picked up his bag. His dad must of left it on, as soon as his hand touched the knob a cackling sound met his ears, it registered as the sound of a TV, he glanced over his shoulder, his jaw dropped, the broken TV had come on, static filled the broken screen, what sounded like a broken voice issued from it. He shuddered and walked over to it, standing several feet away he stared into the gaping black hole in the middle of the screen, but how, how in the world was it on, it wasn't even plugged in! He bent down to turn it off but it went black and silent, a ringing began to come from it as he stood back up, "What...w-what in the world is going on?" He quickly backed away from it, lightning flashed outside, pulling his eyes from the TV to the large glass window, at that moment a grotesque hand shot put of the TV, reaching several feet from the black hole gripping Jou's ankle, he spun around, but the hand wrapped around his leg made him fall right on his rear, he stared at the hand in horror, mouth opening and closing like a fishes, a scream couldn't even make it's way out of his throat, his eyes widened as another hand crawled out of the dark hole, it suddenly lunged forward and grabbed a hold of his other ankle, gripping it tightly, it began to tingle as all feeling left it and the other foot as well, he pushed himself back as best he good, but the TV followed him, both hands never relinquishing their massive grip on him, he tried kicking now, but it didn't work, he looked over his shoulder, eyes widened in hope as he noticed a piece of broken glass lying beside the dirty brown couch, he reached out, fingers just inches away from it, but to no avail, it was to far away, and the TV was too heavy, he panted with exhaustion, there was nothing he could do, the hands would have there way with him, all he could do now was yell for help, "Please...please let go..." he stretched out again, reaching for the shard of glass, "H-help...p- please....unnhh..." So close, so so close, but still out of reach, another sound reached his ears, a car outside, doors opening and closing, then familiar voices, his friends calling up to him, they where here! The hands flipped him over onto his stomach as there long rotten nails dug into his skin, he pushed himself up and took a deep breath, "Help! Please, Yugi, Honda, Anzu! Up here! Help! Please guys, I'm up here!" Muttering floated up to him, the rain had begun to die down, now only a few drops fell down from the dark gray sky, he tried again, "Help! Help me!" This time, concerned voices met his ears then, "Jou! Is that you!? What's going on!?" His eyes widened again, they heard him, "HELP! I'm in my home! Help me!" More muttering, and then a crash as the door to the lobby was broken in, probably by Honda, squeaking shoes faded as the step door slammed shut, yes they're coming, thank god. All of a sudden, they hands released him and swooshed back into the TV, the static disappeared it was quite again, a bead of sweat rolled down Jou's cheek, a humming sound came from the TV, then a deep rumbling voice, "Jyounuchi Katsyua...the 13 Gates...They are opening...you will all die..." The humming and voice faded away as Jou jumped to his feet, he stumbled backward and fell onto the musty couch, an image flickered onto the screen, a face, a rotting, decayed face, it smiled as everything around him went black. The front door burst open, Honda, Yugi and Anzu stood there, all three panting, "J-Jou...what's the matter!? What 's goin on!?" Nothing came from the frightened boys lips, his eyes where shut tight as beads of sweat fell down his face, the dead TV in the corner reflected the scene upon it's broken screen.