DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Yu-Gi-Oh!" or "Dragonball Z" (though I wish that I did). Kitt, Kat, Risika, Tengu, Tigra, and Koneko belong to AnimeKat 2002. Prue, Nikkia, Aerro, and Mackenzie belong to Prudence. However, I do own Ryoko, Hoofamon, Kenyamon, Shinmon, Plague, Zoe, Wolf, Merlin, Muff, and Sin.
The Book
"NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Ryoko giggled insanely. Everyone sweatdropped as she began drooling all over the floor. After her homework was finished, they had all sat down to watch "Yu-Gi-Oh!" It was the end of Battle City, episode 142---and Malik had taken his shirt off.
"Down, Ryoko! Down! Control those hormones!" Plague scolded as she repeatedly hit her over the head with a pillow. Ryoko squealed as she stared at his abs. The camera shifted to his back.
"I LOVE THAT VIEW!!!" She screamed. Hoofamon sighed. She was completely obsessed with Malik. The camera shifted to Isis. "Hey, wait, WAIT!!! GO BACK!!!" The camera went back to Malik, but only showed his face. "GO DOWN!!! GO DOWN!!!" She demanded, throwing a few packs of tartar sauce at the screen. A few more shots later, it showed more of Malik's chest. Ryoko fell onto her back, twitching with muscle spasms.
"Piss! I think she's having a damn stroke!" Plague swore.
"THIS IS THE HAPPIEST SEIZURE OF MY LIFE!!!" Ryoko cried. Hoofamon smiled slyly.
"It's showing his stomach again," he stated.
"WHAT?!" Ryoko sat up and slammed Hoofamon's face into the carpet as she sat on top of him and pressed her eyeballs against the TV. She growled.
"Dog gammit, Hoofamon, don't get my hopes up like that!" She whined as Seto Kaiba appeared on the screen.
"NEED AIR!!!" Shouted Hoofamon's muffled voice. Ryoko got off of him and Plague slapped him upside the head.
"Dumbass," she snorted.
"Forget Malik, where's Bakura-sama? Why don't they have HIM shirtless?" Kenyamon asked.
"Yami Bakura has been shirtless before," stated Shinmon.
"But I don't like his yami. I like sweet, little, Bakura Ryou," Kenyamon squeaked.
"Seto needs a girlfriend. That guy's depressed," Plague said during the commercial break.
"Are you volunteering?" Sin asked.
"Like hell I am! Screw Seto!" Plague replied.
"I'm sure you would," Sin said with a smirk. Plague snarled at him.
"Hey, the only man I'm for is Tom Cruise!" She said huffily.
"If you had to choose, who would you go out with?" Ryoko asked. Plague, although glaring, thought for a moment.
"Tristan's taken by Serenity, Mai likes Joey, Téa likes Yugi, Seto's too big of an asshole---" Plague was interrupted by Kenyamon.
"Ah, the irony," she mused. Plague glared and continued.
"Anyway, I like the Isis and Seto pairing myself, and Pegasus is gay---"
"He was married to Cecelia, how can he be gay?" Hoofamon asked.
"I'm doing the talking, shit head, so piss off!" Plague shouted. Hoofamon scooted away from her. "Yami Malik's as sexy as hell, so probably him."
"...Why?" Sin asked.
"It makes sense. Ryoko likes Malik, so it's only right if Ryoko's yami liked Malik's yami," stated Kenyamon.
"True," Shinmon agreed. They sat in silence for the rest of the episode. When the show was over, Ryoko stood up and turned off the TV and headed upstairs. The rest of the gang followed.
"Where's Zoe and Wolf?" Asked Hoofamon as he leaned on the doorframe of Ryoko's room. "They should have been here by now."
"You know Zoe and her shopping sprees," Ryoko sighed.
"All we needed was some damn milk! Doesn't she have enough clothes already?!" Plague fussed. "And why the hell did she go all the way to Bristol?! She could get milk at that discount grocery place!"
"JC Penny was having a sale, so she probably dragged Wolf to the mall," Kenyamon guessed. Muff, Ryoko's spirit beast, was curled up in his cage asleep. He resembled a sugar glider if not a bit bigger. Ryoko checked his food and water before going into her closet and rummaging around.
"Now what?" Asked Kenyamon as Ryoko grabbed her boom box and CDs.
"We've gotta clean the barn," she stated simply as she opened the door and walked out into the early summer afternoon sun. The others shrugged and followed her down the driveway.
Yugi made it to Burger World ten minutes early, but so did everyone else. Joey, Tristan, Téa, Mai, Duke, Serenity, Bakura, and Malik arrived soon after Yugi did. They all ordered their food and ate while goofing off, relaxing and enjoying the evening. They were all relieved that the school week was over. As they were eating, Tristan turned to Yugi.
"So, what's your plans for the weekend, Yugi?" He asked. Yugi stopped sipping his soda through his straw.
"Well, I haven't really thought about it," he said, setting down his cup. "What about you guys?" He asked. Everyone sat in silence.
"Wanna go to the dance club tomorrow night?" Asked Téa. Everyone looked at her.
"That's a great idea!" Serenity approved.
"Yeah, that's perfect," said Duke.
"What about durin' the day?" Asked Joey.
"We could hit the mall and hang out at someone's house," suggested Mai.
"Who's going to volunteer?" Asked Bakura. Everyone glanced at Malik. The Egyptian blinked several times.
"Who, me?" He asked.
"That fancy apartment of yours is pretty big," commented Joey.
"It's up to you, though. You need to ask your sister and see if it's okay if we hang out and play games and bring some snackage and stuff," added Tristan.
"What if she says no?" Malik asked.
"Then we'll find some place to hang out, don't worry," said Yugi. Malik smiled.
"I'll check. When I find out, I'll call you all," he said. Mai grinned.
"Alright then, sweetheart. You have my number, right?" She asked. Blushing, Malik nodded.
"Yes, I've got everyone's," he said. Téa checked her watch as the alarm went off.
"Oops!" She stood up. "Sorry, guys. I have to go. It's been fun!" Yugi's eyes saddened.
"Why do you have to leave?" He asked.
"Mom wants me to go grocery shopping for her and then stop by the book store," she explained. "You guys wanna come?" Everyone looked at each other. They were done eating and they had nothing else planned.
"Sure! We're right behind ya!" Joey exclaimed. He turned to Serenity. "Are ya comin', sis?" He asked. Serenity shook her head.
"I'd love to, Joey, but I'm going with Mai to look for some things for my school project," she said. Joey smiled. Serenity was supposed to do a model of a volcano for school. It was not due for two weeks, but she wanted to get it over with.
"Alright," Joey responded. He turned to Mai. "Take care of her, and don't drive like a maniac," he teased.
"Hey, your driving's worse than mine," Mai retorted playfully. "But I promise that I'll keep an eye on her." Everyone cleared their place and stood up. They said goodbye to Mai and Serenity before heading down the street in their little posse. Duke suggested that they go to the book store first since they had to buy some frozen food from the grocery store and did not want it to melt. As they walked into the bookstore, Malik glanced at Téa.
"What exactly are we looking for?" He asked.
"Something on the history of Ireland," she explained as she searched the shelves.
"Ireland?" Asked Bakura.
"Yeah, Mom wants to take a trip there in the fall and is interested in their history," Téa explained as she flipped through a book.
"We'll tell you if we find anything," said Tristan. He grabbed Joey's ear and dragged him along. "Come on, dog boy."
"Ow! Hey, leggo of me!" Joey protested. The gang browsed through the books for ten minutes. Bakura walked through an isle by himself, scanning over the titles on the spines of the books on the shelves on either side of him. The disheveled spine of a thick book caught his eye, causing him to stop. He carefully slid the heavy piece of literature out of its place and examined it. There was no title or author. It was a muddy green color and was covered in dust and had many scratches and tears on it. Opening the book, he blew on the pages. Countless years of dust floated through the air. Bakura could not hide the look of surprise on his face as he flipped through the pages. The book was blank! Not even a scribble could be seen! He turned as Malik walked towards him.
"What did you find?" He asked curiously. Bakura looked at the book.
"It's empty," he said quietly. Malik furrowed his brows and stared at the blank pages.
"That's strange," he observed. Bakura noticed a thick bookmark marking a page near the center of the book. He flipped it to the page and took in a sharp breath. Malik's lavender gaze widened.
"Malik, get everyone over here now," he said urgently. Malik nodded and left to find the others. Bakura stared in shock at the illustration on the page. Téa, Yugi, Joey, and Tristan arrived with Malik a few minutes later.
"Where's Duke?" Asked Yugi.
"Hey, Duke! Get over he---" Joey was put into a headlock by Tristan.
"Don't yell, you moron! This is practically a library!" He hissed.
"Hold your horses, I'm coming," said Duke's voice as it floated towards them. He appeared around the corner of the aisle. "What's up?" He asked as he stopped next to Bakura.
"Take a look at this," said Bakura. Everyone crowded around the white haired teen and stared at the page. Quiet gasps came from everyone and shocked expressions were exchanged. The black and white photograph depicted what appeared to be them on a small farm. Téa, Yugi, Bakura, and Joey were sitting on a fence while Duke leaned against it. Tristan was sitting on the ground and Malik was crouched nearby. Off to the side was Seto Kaiba and Mokuba. There were four other guys in the picture, an eagle, a sugar glider-looking creature, and four girls, two of which had fox ears and tails.
"Who are they?" Asked Duke.
"I dunno. I've never seen them before," Joey stated.
"This is weird, you guys," Téa said nervously. Yugi nodded.
"Yeah. Is there a title?" He asked. Bakura shook his head.
"No, and it's blank. See?" He flipped through the pages. "No words, not even a mark."
"Am I interrupting your story time?" Everyone looked up as Seto Kaiba approached them, Mokuba at his side.
"Story time? All I see is your ugly face!" Joey snarled. Kaiba smirked.
"You're one to talk, Wheeler. At least I didn't have to wear a mask on Halloween to keep from scaring off kids with my real face," he sneered. Joey clenched his fists.
"Watch it!" He warned.
"Knock it off! Both of you!" Téa interrupted. "For your information, Kaiba, Bakura found this really old book and the only thing in it is a picture of all of us," she explained heatedly.
"What do I care?" Asked Kaiba. Malik glared at him.
"Because you're in it, you fool!" He growled.
"Prove it," Kaiba challenged. Malik pointed to the picture as Bakura held it out for him to see. Kaiba's eyes widened in surprise. Malik smirked in satisfaction.
"You see?" He asked.
"That IS you, Kaiba," Yugi stated.
"That's absurd!" Kaiba denied.
"But that's impossible! That book has to be at least fifty years old," Mokuba observed.
"Maybe it's just people that look like us," Duke suggested.
"I dunno," Tristan mused doubtfully. "I highly doubt that we have clones."
"Get real," Kaiba snorted. Suddenly, the illustration began to glow. The book grew red hot and Bakura dropped it for fear of it bursting into flames.
"Uh, shouldn't we get somebody?" Joey asked. A yellow and orange cyclone suddenly erupted from the page with the illustration. Mokuba leapt back.
"Woah!" He cried, shielding his face. The swirling mass of light seemed to pull them in. They held onto each other and the shelves, bracing themselves against the force of the swirling mass of light. It did no good. Yugi, Bakura, Malik, Joey, Tristan, Téa, Duke, Mokuba, and Kaiba were sucked into the book. The fiery cyclone vanished and the book slammed shut.