SJ: HI!!!!

Kageka: You're spending too much time with this fic and not enough with In Medias Res.

SJ: Who cares! I have writer's block for that fic and not for this.

Dragon Child: I sympathize with you.

Kageka: I'm glad I don't get writer's block for my RPs.

Dragon Child: rolls eyes you get your ideas from the other members, not solely from yourself. It's different.

Kageka: Oh well!

SJ: we don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Right now I wish I own more then Yu-Gi-Oh. They're driving me crazy with all this symbol weirdness!

Kageka: driving you crazier than you already were, you mean.

Dragon Child: Of course she means that.

SJ: tilts head to the side and gives them the chibi look

Kageka: slaps forehead oh great.

Dragon Child: we knew it was coming. Just be steady. Don't stop the taunting. Don't give in to her evil chibi look!

Kageka: Just get on with the fic before I do give in!

"Mokuba's not there." Naid said, eyes narrowed. Seto's eyes widened and he ran into the tent, flat out pushing Naid out of his way.

"I've never seen him like this." Yami muttered, slightly surprised at Seto's reaction.

"I think it was because I snapped at him for leaving Mokuba here, and he might think it was his fault." Naid muttered. Yami and Ryou started to move off in separate directions when Naid snapped at them. "Stop!" they froze and Seto came out of the tent, a very pissed look on his face.

"What?" Yami asked.

"Look. Tire tracks on the ground, from a motorcycle. It's a different tread than mine and there are no footprints over it, so it's recent, from after you left to follow me." Naid said, bending down to stare at the tracks. "They're also deep."

"So whoever was riding that motorcycle is heavyset?" Ryou asked.

"Or they were of average weight with a passenger." Seto said.

"Exactly." Naid nodded and ran to her tent, coming out with her jacket and helmet on, pulling on leather gloves. "Do you think you three can try and figure out what the deal with the monsters in the cave is while I follow this dude? I think they're connected… somehow."

"I want to come with you." Seto said,

"No. I don't have a spare helmet." Naid shook her head, getting on her motorcycle and getting ready to start it up. "Can you three handle this without killing each other?"

"Yes." the three of them said monotonously.

"Good. I shouldn't take too long. If they left evidence that obvious, then they're pretty dense and I should be able to handle them on my own pretty quickly." Naid said, starting up the bike.

"And if you can't handle it on your own?" Yami asked, crossing his arms.

"Sola can make as temporary physical body. She'll help." Naid shrugged and drove off.

"Sola can do what now?" Ryou asked, but Naid was already gone.

"I think she said that Sola can make a temporary physical body. Is that even possible?" Yami wondered aloud.

Naid followed the tracks for several hours without any kind of hindrance. After a while, she saw a fallen log lying across the road. It wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. She managed to jump the log without too much of a change in pace and kept going. After about another hour or so, she saw the trees start to thin. When the trees turned to grass, she lost the tracks. Getting off the bike, she bent down and examined the ground carefully. After examining the ground as best she could, she saw only one marking that could have been a bike and followed that.

/You know, you could just use…/ Sola began, but Naid interrupted her.

It's a lot more fun this way.

/You're hopeless./

No. Just a teenager. Naid smiled and stopped the bike to study the ground again. She saw a definite track and smiled wider. This would be easier than she thought.

After three more hours of driving, she spotted a small campfire in the distance, several trees around it. The terrain had been steadily and usually gently, though sometimes steeply, going uphill and now she could see what looked like a cliff edge near the fire. That would be something to watch out for.

When she arrived at the fire, she saw no one, though a bike with the same tread as the one she'd been following stood there. She got off her bike, took off her gloves, leather jacket, and helmet and looked around, going into the trees. There was a pond in the thick of them, but that was all she found. She then stepped over near the cliff edge and looked over it. There was nothing but a small outcropping off to her right. She was about to turn when she heard a small snap from right behind her. She spun around, ducking at the same time, and a thick muscular arm swung right over her head. In front of her was a large man who could have easily weighed two hundred and fifty pounds, most of it muscle. He had dark hair and eyes, though his skin looked tan. If Naid had to guess, she'd say he was Native American. His clothes also pointed towards that possibility as he was wearing a deerskin (or something like that) jacket and jeans with a colorful leather and cloth bandana with a feather in it tying back his long hair. She darted past him on one side and faced him, standing to her full height, about a foot shorter than the man. His dark eyes narrowed and he reached into his jacket, pulling out a long hunting knife.

"Sir, I'm sorry to intrude upon you but I'm searching for someone…" she said, keeping her eyes on his face.

"Yes, but you are also on Petra's hit list. You must be eliminated." He said, his voice hard and cold.

"Very well." Naid said with a sigh. She reached into her jacket and pulled out a dagger that no one but Sola knew she owned.

/Need help?/ Sola asked.

I think I can handle it. Naid responded as the Native American lunged at her with his knife. She blocked with her dagger, but wasn't expecting the kick that he aimed at her stomach. She moved to the side and the kick grazed her, but hurt like none other.

/He's using some kind of magic to increase the power of his kicks./ Sola said in response to Naid's confused thoughts.

I may need help after all. Naid muttered and Sola appeared next to her, at first transparent and then she solidified. Naid almost winced as Sola appeared, feeling the Armlet's power drain significantly. Sola didn't know it, but her physical form took energy from the Armlet to create and sustain. If Naid wanted Sola to be able to really help, she wouldn't be able to use too much other magic from the Armlet. Luckily it also copied whatever Naid had on or was holding, so Sola also had a dagger. The man scowled and reached back into his coat, pulling out a long blade that seemed more like a sword than a knife or dagger. He kicked at Sola, who backed up, but apparently he had taken that into account and his foot hit the hand she had her dagger in, knocking it over the cliff. Before his foot was back on the ground, he slashed at Naid with his knife. She blocked and he swung his sword at her. She dodged and he kicked at her. She didn't have time to react and the kick connected with the left side of her head, knocking her several feet to the right. Sola's eyes narrowed as the man turned to her. She dodged his first attack with his knife, but he managed to stab her in her stomach with his sword. Sola winced and disappeared into the Armlet before the man could do anything else. Unfazed he turned to Naid, who was standing back up. She held one hand to her head, yanking it away again in surprise when she felt a warm liquid on her head. She glanced at her hand to see blood and then shook her head, getting into a fighting stance.

"You seem to be tiring. Care to give up?" the man asked, a superior smirk on his face.

"Never." Naid spat.

"Very well then." He shrugged and faced off with her again. She darted in for a lunge with her dagger and he blocked with his sword, using his other hand to grab her arm. Unfortunately his dagger was still in that hand and it raked deeply along her hand, wrist, and arm, causing her to give a stifled yell and a grimace. He slashed at her with his sword and she sidestepped. But he still held on to her with his other hand and she didn't go far. He lunged and she stepped as far back and to the other side as she could, which wasn't very far. The sword dug into her side deeply. He grinned and pulled her closer while pulling his sword out, then kneeing her in the wound. She screamed and dropped her dagger.

"You should be sorry you didn't surrender." He said and picked her up, throwing her off the cliff.

"Why are we here?" Seto asked, his tone dry and annoyed.

"To look to see if there's anything unusual around." Ryou said with a sigh.

"You could help us, you know." Yami snapped at Seto.

"I'd rather not." Seto shook his head and looked the other direction, out the cave. His thoughts wandered to Mokuba and he hoped to whoever was listening that his little brother was okay.

"Ryou, I found something!" Yami said and motioned Ryou closer. Seto, despite himself, looked in their direction. Yami pointed and for a second neither Ryou or Seto could see what he was talking about, then Seto noticed.

"There's a hole there."

"Yes, but not just a hole. It leads to the shadow realm." Yami said, turning to his two companions. "I think Naid or Sola had a hunch we'd find something like this here." As he finished, the hole slowly grew larger. Yami and Ryou backed away from it and Seto stood. They stared warily at the hole until it stopped growing, becoming taller and wider than Seto was tall.

"Should we go in?" Yami asked, but his question was not answered due to a creature climbing out of the portal. After a second, recognition flashed on the ex-pharaoh's face. "Man-eater bug!" he half-shouted, backing up even more.

"Great. How do we get rid of it?" Seto asked.

"It seems that whoever is behind all of this wants to use real duel monsters. Which means that we will have to as well." Yami said.

"You can't summon a real monster. It is flat out physically impossible." Seto snapped.

"It may be in this realm, but not in the shadow realm."

"I don't want to go there." Ryou said as soon as Yami finished speaking. Yami nodded knowingly.

"Then we'll have to try and fight it here." He said. "Any ideas?"

"That thing has to be a hologram." Seto said, gesturing to the bug.

"Don't you remember the other dimension?" Yami demanded.

"Yes."

"Well what do you think all that was? A figment of your imagination? A group hallucination?" Yami sighed. "Now, can you help us fight this thing?"

"Yes, actually, I can fight." Seto narrowed his eyes.

"Good, just watch out for its teeth." Yami said brightly. Seto rolled his eyes and stepped forward, squaring his shoulders preparing to try to do unarmed combat against a vicious bug that would willingly tear him to pieces. The bug went for his foot, which Seto brought up over the bug's head and hit the back of the bug's head with his heel. The bug grabbed Seto's foot with its pincers and pulled, knocking him over. It dragged him through the portal to the shadow realm, Yami and Ryou following quickly. When they caught up, Seto was sitting up, the man-eater bug nowhere to be seen.

"Where did the bug go?" Yami asked, helping Seto to stand. Seto, upon realizing who helped him stand, glared at Yami before answering.

"It dissolved. I have no idea what happened." the three of them glanced at each other before Ryou spoke up.

"I say we leave before that portal starts to close."

"Good idea." Yami said and led them out. Right before they went out of the portal, Ryou staggered as if he'd been hit. He shook it off, thinking it was nothing.

Sola was worried. She had tried to get into Naid's soul room to check on her, only to find it locked. It was never locked, not to her at least. One of Naid's best mental defenses was a locked soul room door. It only ever locked when she needed to mentally escape and even then it would open if Sola wanted in. now it seemed locked as if to keep Naid in and everyone else out. She had also tried their mind link a good twenty times, just to find it blocked. It was blocked from the middle, as if someone had come in and cut it in half without the consent of either of them. She also couldn't seem to be able to take over Naid's body. So far she hadn't tried making a temporary body because she didn't want to abandon her young yami, but she decided that she'd be able to help Naid by separating from her.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, and when she opened her eyes she was standing on a small overhang, somewhat down from the edge of a cliff. She looked around and gasped, falling to her knees. At her feet was Naid, perfectly still except for the shallow rise and fall of her chest. Her right leg was twisted underneath her at an unnatural angle and she had a long gash in her left arm. Naid had been stabbed in her right side, and it looked as if it had just stopped bleeding. There was blood near Naid's head and she was pale. Paler than Sola had ever seen her. Sola reached out and gently brushed the hair out of Naid's face, flinching at Naid's high fever. She looked up at the cliff and sighed. Sola wouldn't be able to carry Naid up that. There was no way. Looking back at Naid she decided that the best thing she could do would be to leave Naid and try and find someone to help, preferably Yami, Yugi, Seto, and Ryou.

It took an hour, but Sola had climbed up the cliff. She was now resting at the top, trying to understand why she felt so worn out. Then she saw the faint glow of the Armlet on Naid's arm. It took energy for her to use that form and apparently Naid was using some as well, wherever she was. Sola would have to hurry if she wanted to be useful. She stood, dusted herself off, and ran towards the camp.

"I'm worried." Yugi announced the next day at near one o'clock. Seto turned and looked at Yugi, an eyebrow arched.

"About what?" he asked, knowing he would regret it. He figured that he was friends with Naid, so he ought to at least be courteous to her brother.

"Naid and Ryou."

"Why Ryou?"

"Yesterday after we got back he went into his tent and hasn't come out since then." Yugi said and paused, obviously conversing with Yami because they switched places.

"I'm going to check on him." Yami said and walked to the tent. He knocked on the tent post. "Ryou, are you alright? I'm coming in to talk to you." After a pause, he pulled the tent flap back and then dropped it as if he had been burned. "TOMB ROBBER?!"

"What?" Seto stood and ran over, pulling back the tent flap. Sitting in the tent was Ryou and next to him was a transparent Bakura.

"Hello." Bakura said calmly.

"Why are you here?" Yami demanded.

"If you must know, I'm here to help. Ryou told me about what happened and I think I know why… or at least more than you do." Bakura replied, trying to keep his tone civil.

"You've changed." Yami said, blinking.

"Yes, I have."

"And are you comfortable with him being back?" Yami looked at Ryou, who nodded.

"Alright, so you said you might know why this is happening. Speak." Seto snapped.

"Obviously I have been in the shadow realm since our last encounter in that other dimension. One learns things there. For instance, I learned that there is someone out to get your friend Naid. Someone by the name of Petra. I didn't hear much more than that, but I know that she's behind a lot of what's going on. I also heard plans of a kidnapping to draw her to one of Petra's operatives, a man by the name of Falcon. I had to make a hasty exit after that." Bakura explained.

"Exit from what?" Yami asked, confused.

"There are castles in the shadow realm. Each is owned by someone from our realm and it protects all inside. I had snuck into that particular one for fun." Bakura grinned and he looked like he had before.

"Interesting." Yami muttered.

"You know, you own one. It looks like a pyramid." Bakura's comment sounded off hand, but Yami knew he was getting at something.

"Sola has an interesting trick she can do. She knows how to create a physical body away form Naid. Why don't we try that and talk." Yami suggested.

"Good idea. There is a lot for us to talk about." Bakura nodded. Before they could attempt to create separate bodies, they heard a horse yell.

"Yami! Kaiba! Ryou! Yugi! Anyone!"

"That's Sola!" Yami said and ran out of the tent. Sola was emerging from the path that Naid had used to track the kidnapper. She was drenched in sweat and looked as if she had run miles. "What happened?" Yami asked, running over to Sola and taking her hand. Seto and Ryou were close behind him.

"It was a trap. Naid's hurt. She needs to see a healer." Sola gasped, her energy running low. It had taken her a good twenty hours to get there and the energy she was using from the Armlet was starting to wear on her. "This body takes energy from the Armlet… we need to go back now to get close enough that you won't need me to guide you before I go back to the Armlet."

"Should all of us come?" Seto asked.

"Yes. Let's go." Sola said and ran off the way she had come. The others followed solemnly.

The trip was quiet until it started to get dark, when Seto dropped back to talk to Yami and Ryou. "Should we tell Sola that Bakura is back?"

"Yes, but not until after Naid is safe. Sola has enough things to worry about now." Yami said.

"Um, Yami?" Ryou asked.

"Yes."

"Bakura wants to talk to you still. He told me to tell you that."

"Tell him that we will, after we tell Sola about him."

Later that night, the trees thinned and the terrain turned to grass. Sola was gasping with the effort of staying that far away from the Armlet. She stopped the group and pointed. "Go that way. You'll find a group of trees with a pool of water in them and a cliff. There is an over hang about twenty feet down. That's where Naid is. I need to go back." The others nodded and Sola disappeared. When Sola was gone, Bakura took over Ryou's body, but Yami could tell that it was more of sharing it than one completely taken over, like he and Yugi were at that moment. At Yami's confused look, Bakura explained.

"Ryou was tired. He knew he couldn't keep this up for much longer, so I took over. I can ignore the tiredness so we can get there faster." Bakura shrugged. Yami and Seto exchanged a glance. Bakura had done a complete one-eighty. Just what had happened to him in the shadow realm this time around to cause that?

They ran more, in the direction Sola had pointed out to them. After a while they spotted the cluster of trees and the cliff… and Naid's motorcycle. When they arrived, Bakura let Ryou have complete control again and Ryou dropped to his knees out of weariness.

"Sola mentioned a pool of water in those trees. Go and rest there." Yami said, helping his friend up. Ryou nodded and walked to the trees slowly. Seto and Yami moved over to the edge of the cliff and looked over, for a second seeing nothing.

"You know, this reminds me of Duelist Kingdom." Seto muttered, glancing at Yami and in the process seeing the outcropping with Naid on it. "Look!" he exclaimed, pointing.

"I see. Kaiba, you're going to have to climb down, get Naid, and climb back up." Yami said, inspecting the cliff side as best he could. Seto nodded and headed over, taking off his jacket and pulling his cell phone out of it.

"You know how to use this, right?" he asked Yami.

"Yugi taught me how to use a telephone."

"Good. Call the hospital to get an emergency helicopter flown here." Seto walked over to the cliff above Naid and climbed down slowly. When he got to the outcropping, he bit his lip and wondered just how he'd accomplish it without injuring Naid further. Finally deciding that there was no way he'd be able to do it perfectly safely, he put her on his back and started climbing. The climb took a very long time because he had to constantly stop and make sure Naid wasn't going to fall.

Meanwhile, Yami was trying to get the phone to work. He had dialed and didn't know what to do next. It took him a good ten minutes to decide that since in traffic green meant go he'd press the green button. Fortunately it was the correct one. After a few rings the operator picked up and asked for his emergency. He told her and she asked for his location. After a good ten minutes of conversation the operator decided to just track the cell phone to get their location. It took a while, but eventually the operator had it and a little more information, like Naid's condition, was exchanged before Yami hung up, something he was not supposed to do.

"Yami, if you're done on the phone, get over here and help." Seto growled. Yami went over to where Seto had descended down the cliff to see him nearly back, Naid balanced precariously on his back. Yami reached down and pulled Naid up, laying her down before going back and extending a hand to Seto, who took it and pulled himself up and over the cliff edge.

"We're gonna need to give them information on what happened." Seto said.

"We can always tell them that we aren't sure, but we think that she was attacked by a hunter." Yami shrugged.

"That sounds good." Seto nodded and sat down next to Naid.

"She's in bad shape." Yami muttered, brushing some of Naid's hair out of her face.

"The guy who did this must have been that Falcon person Bakura was talking about." Seto muttered, mostly to himself. At that moment, they heard Ryou scream. Yami leaped up and ran towards the scream, Seto following a second later.

When they arrived they saw Ryou near the edge of the pool of water, desperately trying to scramble away from a monster that was coming out of the water and grasping his leg.

"That looks like a squid." Seto muttered, grabbing one of Ryou's arms and trying to pull him away from the beast.

"It's a Fiend Kraken, to be exact." Yami said in an informative way, grabbing Ryou's other arm and pulling.

"This isn't working!" Seto said what felt like twenty minutes later, but was more like less than two minutes.

"Let me help." They heard Sola say calmly and she darted in, using some kind of weapon to cut off the Fiend Kraken's tentacle. The beast cried out in pain and dissipated.

"What is that?" Yami asked, pointing at the weapon that Sola was currently putting back in her jacket.

"It's Naid's. It's some kind of dagger. We have a weapon permit, I assure you." Sola shrugged.

"That's not safe!" Yami insisted.

"It's the only reason she's still alive. The guy we fought had a knife, and some kind of dagger/sword mix. If she hadn't had this to defend with she'd be dead." Sola stared at Yami, adding. "She knows how to use it, and she needs it. I can tell, good things are not in store for this world."

"What do you mean?" Seto asked.

"I'm not sure, I just know that nothing good can come out of this situation. I need to go back, I'm, draining too much of the Armlet's power." With that, Sola disappeared.

"Shouldn't the Armlet be okay if she just rested a bit?" Seto asked.

"It should." Yami muttered, biting his lower lip.

"That doesn't mean it will." They heard Bakura say.

"What's your theory?" Yami asked, turning to look at the tomb robber.

"The guardian is using some of the Armlet's power, wherever her mind is."

"The guardian?" Seto asked.

"The pharaoh's sister's yami. Her name is Naid, I think."

"Yes, that's her name. Now we need to get back to her before the paramedics do." Seto said and they walked back to Naid, Bakura giving control back to Ryou somewhere along the way.

A little while later, an emergency helicopter arrived, their landing very loud and dusty. They put Naid on a stretcher and allowed one person to go back to the hospital in the helicopter. Yugi, who had switched back with Yami some time prior, got in and the paramedics told Ryou and Seto the hospital's name and where to find it before lifting off.

Some time later, Seto and Ryou were riding to the city in the back of the limo, which Seto had called out, all of their camping stuff in the trunk and Naid's motorcycle tied to the top with rope and duct tape. Both Seto and Ryou had wanted to leave without their stuff, but Rob had insisted, saying that they probably wouldn't have time to come back and get it.

"Finally." Seto muttered as Rob parked the limo in the hospital's parking lot. Seto, who normally would have waited for Rob to open the door for him, opened the door and walked as fast as he could towards the hospital. Ryou followed, shutting the door behind him and jogging to keep up with Seto.

When they got in the hospital, Yugi was waiting for them. He looked up when they came in and gestured that they should follow. Seto and Ryou exchanged a glance. Yugi hadn't said anything, and that meant things were bad.

"What's going on?" Seto asked in the elevator up to the room.

"She's in a coma." Yugi muttered, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and looking at the wall. "Otherwise, she's fine. But they don't know when she'll wake up."

Saiyan Jedi: evilness abounds. Cliffies are much fun.

Kageka: you're weird.

Saiyan Jedi: 'course I am.

Kageka: just get on to your review reply.

Phoenixfire – snickers yes, it does seem like Seto is a whipping boy, but it'll only get worse before it gets better I can't figure out if I want to kill Mokuba or not … how's that for Seto torture. Thank you for reviewing. Showers you with Blue Eyes White Dragon cards, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon cards, candy, Seto plushies, pocky, and pretty much anything you want. Yeah, the Guardian series is my fan fiction brainchild, and no one seems to care! Author congregation! YEAH! And in my home state! Interesting note, I'm growing up in the same house my father grew up in. doubt you wanted to know that, but seeing as you're my only reviewer, I decided to tell you anyways. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!
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Saiyan Jedi: ON OCTOBER NINTH I WILL BE CELEBRATING MY ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Virtual gifts are welcome and if you know me in real life, real gifts are good too. If you read my stuff but don't review, please review anyways. It's always nice to get a review and I'm rather desperate for them. Thank you!!!!!!!

Carpe diem!