" I'm not fallin' for that," Joey said crossing his arms. " Just look what you did to Tristan." He nodded toward Tristan.
" He's not dead," Kaiba pointed out annoyed.
" Hey, he attacked Seto and he didn't even have reason to. He needed to be restrained," Mokuba said in his brother's defense.
" Stop being such a baby. If I wanted to kill any one of you I would have done it by now."
" What's going on?" Tristan's voice diverted everyone's attention. " Why am I tied up and where did all of you come from?" Tea went to untie him but Mokuba pulled her back.
" What are you doing? He's dangerous," he said. Yami walked over to them as well and knelt beside Tristan to help him into a sitting position. Joey eyed Kaiba and tensed as he moved to where Yami had been.
" He's our friend, he's not going to hurt anyone. Right Tristan?" Tea asked. Before he could answer Mokuba spoke up again.
" He'll just lie so you'll let him go."
" Not this again. Yami, come on. Help me out. Reason with him." Yami didn't untie Tristan or attempt to, waiting until they all had come to the same decision…if that was at all possible. The three of them started a battle over who to believe and who not to with Yami trying to remain biased but still managing to defend his friends while Tristan just sat helplessly, still unable to figure out exactly what was going on. Kaiba took that moment to confront Joey again.
" Where should I start?" he asked quietly so he wouldn't take the other's attention from their argument. He didn't take his eyes from his brother just in case somehow it got out of control. Joey glanced over, the tension growing a little.
" What do you mean?" he asked afraid of what he was going to do. Kaiba looked at him sideways, sensing the fear and then turned.
" I don't know what kind of mind trick Marik did on you but I can assure you that I was not a part of it."
" But it was so real… How can I be sure it wasn't you?"
" What did he do to you?" Kaiba asked not really sure if he wanted to know. Joey met his eyes and smiled a little.
" You were a jerk, just like you always are," he said. Then his smiled faded as he became serious again. " The way you were acting though…it was you but at the same time it wasn't. It didn't feel like it was you." Without realizing it, Joey moved closer to the other boy, no longer worried about whether or not he was possessed but wanting to know if he really was a different person then the one he'd been with before. If he was the REAL person he'd wanted to be there.
" And what about now?" Kaiba asked steadily. He was trying to keep himself from scaring Joey, or embarrassing himself by grabbing him and kissing him right then and there in front of Joey's friends and his little brother but Joey being so close now…
" I want to believe you," Joey said.
" Don't you think that if I wanted to hurt you that I would be?" Kaiba's voice came out as a whisper. Joey brushed his hair back nervously.
" Well I guess…" Kaiba glanced over at his brother and the others to see if they still were absorbed in their fight (they were) then took a step forward to shorten the, already small, gap between him and Joey. Joey's breath shortened and he tensed up again, readying himself for an attack of any kind.
" How can I make you believe?" Kaiba whispered, right next to his ear. He met Joey's eyes again.
" I think…" Joey started but lost his train of thought when Kaiba's hands brushed his sides. The touch was familiar, not like it had been with the other Kaiba…but some part of Joey's mind didn't want him to believe. Something was still telling him that it wasn't right. That voice…disappeared when Kaiba pulled him into a kiss that nobody else could have matched. " Seto…" He whispered when Kaiba released him.
" Seto, tell them…" Mokuba turned around then. He stopped short at the sight and Tea and Yami turned to see what was wrong. Tea covered Mokuba's eyes as Kaiba kissed Joey again more passionately, and looked away embarrassed. Tristan made a face and Yami cleared his throat to get their attention. " What's going on? What happened?" Mokuba asked pulling at Tea's hand. Joey felt eyes on him and pulled away, then hid behind a tree when he saw Yami staring. Kaiba turned his back to them uncomfortably and took a minute to recompose himself. " Come on Tea, let me go!" Mokuba whined. Joey started laughing and slid to the ground.
" I can't believe…" He shook his head and covered his face. Kaiba watched him curiously then turned back to face the others. Mokuba finally pried Tea's hand off his face and looked at everyone confused but no one seemed to be talking.
" So…" Tristan said to break the awkward silence. Tea and Yami turned back to him.
" Oh right," Tea said. She reached to untie him again.
" Don't," Kaiba warned. " He can walk. He'll be fine the way he is." He walked over to where they were and pulled Mokuba to his feet, moving him away from Tristan. Joey moved out from behind the tree but kept his eyes on the ground.
" But if some more of those things come back he'll be helpless," Tea continued to protest.
" Yeah!" Tristan agreed whole-heartedly.
" He has all of us to protect him," Joey said, coming to Kaiba's aide. Everyone looked at him except for Kaiba. He smiled, trying to soften the mood. Yami helped Tristan to stand but remained quiet. He sighed and closed his eyes, thinking.
' What would Yugi do?' he asked himself.
" Yami Bakura, where have you taken us and where are the others?" Yugi exploded when he opened his eyes in a room rather then back in the woods with Joey and Yami. His connection with Yami was completely gone and his emotions were all over the place trying to cope with it. Ryou watched him curiously as he seemed to be fighting with something internally.
" Yugi…" he started only to be interrupted by Bakura.
" Well I don't think this is where I wanted to end up," he said ignoring the questions. Yugi set an angry look on his face and started another outburst but Ryou broke into a coughing fit and immediately Yugi looked sympathetic.
" Are you okay?" Yugi walked toward him but he smiled weakly and put a hand up to stop him.
" I've been better but I'll live," he said. He looked to Bakura angrily. " You take us back right now," he said not faltering when Bakura met his gaze skeptically.
" Not a chance in hell. Which is where you'd be if I hadn't…"
" But…" Yugi interrupted. He let it hang, fear standing alone in his voice. His mood shifted again and he looked back at Bakura icily. " Take us back now or I'll…" Bakura raised an eyebrow in interest but Yugi stopped and shrank to the floor, the tears finally breaking through. Ryou watched helplessly while Bakura just rolled his eyes.
" He's still alive," he said boredly, which made Yugi look up, the tears temporarily halted.
" How do you…"
" Because that stupid Pharaoh doesn't seem to want to die. I've been trying for 3000 years. If I can't do it then sure as hell Marik can't. And there's no way he'd let anything happen to your retarded friend either."
" Bakura… That almost sounded…" Bakura glared at Ryou and he stopped.
" So how do we get them out?" Yugi asked, standing back up.
" They're in the shadow realm. Without a millennium item they have to win the game."
" How do they win?" Yugi and Ryou asked in unison. They looked at each other and then back at Bakura hopefully.
" They have to find Marik. It's his game, so naturally you'd have to beat him to get out."
" You stupid jerk!" Yugi exploded making Ryou look at him in shock. " You knew all this and you didn't tell us. And then you just left them to…" Yugi looked away, fighting off tears again.
" If they're smart they'll figure it out on their own. I don't see why I have to be the brains all the time," Bakura growled.
" You aren't. If you were smart you'd…" Yugi cut himself off again, realizing how unlike himself he was being. " I just want things to go back to normal. Marik should have stayed gone. I don't understand how he…" he trailed off.
" Yugi…" Ryou didn't know what to say. He couldn't even imagine what he must be going through. Yugi looked down at his millennium puzzle and traced the outline of the pieces with his fingers. Ryou sat down and sighed, wanting to start crying himself.
" Wait!" Yugi brightened up. Ryou looked up confused. " The puzzle…" he looked up. " You needed me to get out but I don't need you to go back," he explained. Ryou's eyes widened as the realization hit him.
" Yugi no!" he cried as Yugi closed his eyes and concentrated on the puzzle.
" Take me back to Yami." Ryou jumped and grabbed onto Yugi's legs to keep him from going but both of them were sucked into the shadow realm. Ryou snapped his eyes shut as the room darkened all too fast and he was split from his yami as the realms separated their spirits. Fear gripped him immediately and he hugged Yugi's legs tighter, the feeling of aloneness almost being too much. Then it went deathly quiet.
" Where are we?" Yugi's voice came out hollow and distant sounding. Ryou opened his eyes and let go of him, looking around and seeing nothing but shadow and darkness.
" I suppose we're in the shadow realm," Ryou answered, standing up.
" There doesn't seem to be anything here. I thought the shadow realm was supposed to be…" Yugi trailed off.
" This could be frightening for some," Ryou said shivering with the feeling that something terrible would happen at any moment.
" But where are…" Yugi didn't have to elaborate for Ryou to understand. He looked around in search of anything that could answer his question.
" There!" he pointed to something in the distance. Yugi looked to where he was pointing. Barely visible from where they were, was the bodies of his friends, lying unconscious on the ground. Yugi jumped up excitedly.
" It did work!" he cried and started toward them only to run into an invisible wall. Ryou looked around confused as Yugi ran his hand down the wall.
" Are we…" Ryou swallowed, not finishing for fear that saying it would make it true and he so didn't want it to be true. He didn't want any of it to be true but Yugi spoke his fears out loud for him.
" We're trapped," he said.