Ryou closed his eyes and tried to bring back his dream. His only desire was to be home in his bed with Bakura making fun of his pajamas. Ryou lay down so he was flat on the floor. ' I can't even sense his heartbeat. What is it that he doesn't want me to know? Why did he shut me out?' He sighed. "If he were dead I would feel it...wouldn't I?" he spoke out loud. Only silence answered. ' I should... I should think about something else...' He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. ' Maybe I should try to figure out where I am...and maybe how to get out...' He turned his head to look around but the room still looked that same. No windows, no doors...just plain white walls boxing him in. He took in a deep breath. "Mind over body. Spirit over mind. Keep a hopeful spirit and a strong mind and my body... Who am I kidding, I'm going to die here." He sighed again and covered his face with his hands.

"Do you like relying on everyone else to save you?" a voice spoke to him inside his mind. He slowly uncovered his face and looked around for any sign that someone else was there.

"Who...who are y...you?" Ryou stuttered. He was confused by the fact that the voice was speaking directly to his mind, like the way Bakura did...only it was different, and it wasn't Bakura.

"You know they aren't going to help you this time, don't you?" Ryou pushed himself up.

"Why did you bring me here?" he asked. The voice seemed to be ignoring him.

"Friends are only friends when it's convenient for them. You are still alone...always. Do you forget that?" it continued.

"I don't..." It interrupted him.

"People come and go. No connection is forever." He closed his eyes and pretended that it wasn't there.

"He is coming for me, I know he is," he whispered.

"Get up you stupid child." Ryou tried harder to block the voice out but there was some kind of power behind it that he couldn't fight in his weakened condition. ' Ba...kur...a... Why did you...abandon...me? You...promised you'd...always...be there...'

' I am,' Bakura's voice broke through frantically. He could sense that he was losing Ryou and tried to help him fight it. Ryou remained quiet, a blank stare fixated on his face.

"It's too late," the other voice answered. "He's mine now."

' Ryou, you damn baby, fight him!'

"Get up," the voice ordered again. Ryou obliged, his movements no longer his own. A door appeared in front of him and he started walking toward it.

' I knew you were too weak for your own good. If only you'd...' Bakura stopped and looked around. "Damn, I lost him," he cursed, realizing that Yugi had disappeared. "Yugi Motou...I curse the day I met you," he mumbled angrily.

"Bakura? What'd you do to Yugi?" Bakura turned around.

"Oh great, another loser," he rolled his eyes. "I didn't do anything to him. Go back to where you came from." Tristan frowned.

"I can't leave Yugi out there alone. We're all after the same thing you know." Bakura shook his head and turned back to the last place he'd seen Yugi. "You'd have a better chance at finding him if you had help."

"Just leave me alone." Bakura picked a direction and started walking.

"I wish I could but he's my friend."

"Ryou doesn't need friends."

"I was talking about Yugi," Tristan failed at making a joke. Bakura just glared at him displeased. He turned and started going in a different direction.

"Stop following me. Your friend is probably walking right into another one of Marik's traps. He was stupid to think he could fight him on his own. He's as good as..." Bakura stopped, realizing that Tristan had already taken off in a different direction. He shook his head. "Good riddance, the only good thing about this is that Marik plans on killing all of them too." He continued on in the direction he'd been heading.

"We're never going to find them this way," Yami stopped to think about things. ' Yugi?' he tried the link.

' Don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing. Concentrate on finding Ryou. I don't think we have much time,' came the distant reply.

"But how?" Yami was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize that he'd spoken it out loud. Joey looked over.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Yami looked at him as if to say, 'should I be?'

"Sometimes I wonder about you," he replied calmly. Joey looked at him confused. Yami sighed and looked at Marik, who had found a spot to sit down on someone's steps. He was looking up at the sky with a deep expression on his face as if he were thinking about something really hard. Yami looked down at the ground. ' We don't even have anything to go on. If I were Marik where would...wait!' Yami looked over at Marik again who blushed when he noticed him staring. "You know where he is," Yami said plainly. Joey looked at him in shock but before either him or Marik could say anything, Yami continued. "Even if YOU don't personally, a part of you does. You know your dark half better then we do. Where would he take someone he'd abducted?" Marik looked at him as if he didn't understand.

"Who?"

"Ryou... You do know. I'm sure of it now." Yami took a few steps toward him and fear entered his eyes.

"I don't." He shook his head and winced thinking that Yami was going to strike him. Instead, Yami backed off, sinking into his own thought again. Marik stood up and moved over toward Joey, as if for protection.

"Yami? What are you..." Yami turned just in time to see Marik raise a rock and hit Joey across the head, knocking him out. The rock fell to the ground as well and an evil smile spread across Marik's face.

"Don't even try to fight me. You can't win. Not this time," he said. Hands shot out and grabbed Yami from behind, holding him down and binding him with ropes. "You had this coming. You thought you could defeat us, well..." he laughed. "This time, we won't be beaten." Yami's eyesight left him as he was blindfolded. Soon after he was being pushed into moving forward.

"Hey what's going on?" He heard Joey's voice. There was a struggle and then it went quiet again.

"You're all stupid for thinking you can escape," Marik laughed again.

A chill seemed to pass through the room and Seto shivered. He stared at the work before him but for some reason, none of it seemed to make sense any more. He knew he knew how to do it but when he did, everything came out wrong. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to relieve the pressure. ' Why can't I concentrate?' he scolded himself. He reached for the pill bottle in his top desk drawer. Counting out two he swallowed them and turned back to the computer. ' I knew I shouldn't have gotten involved. Now it's as if I actually care what happens to the stupid mutt. Like I want him to be...' Seto turned as the sound of his door opening. Mokuba lingered in the doorway a moment and then slowly stepped into the room.

"Do you..." he started but looked down as if embarrassed, rather then finishing. Seto reached out a hand to him and ushered him over.

"Come here," he said. "What is it?"

"Do you... Are you going to leave...him...out there alone?" Mokuba asked stressing the word him as if to give it more meaning. He drifted into his brother's arms and Seto hugged him, looking down at him confused and a little shocked.

"Why are you so worried about that?" Mokuba wouldn't meet his eyes, only burying his face deeper into Seto's chest.

"Because you are," he mumbled shyly. Seto blinked and looked at the door. ' He wasn't really worried about Joey...was he?'