Chapter 4-Old Faces, New Places

It was about 10:00 when Yami drove up in front of Joey's house. Joey, dressed still in Yugi's dark blue and black clothes, jumped out of the car, and ran into the backyard of his house--just as Yami's plan had called for. Ever so quietly, he climbed up the back rain gutter to the second floor--and to an un-locked window. The window was to the hallway, and Joey knew from all his years living at the house that this window was impossible to open without making a big squeak, but it was also the only window that wouldn't lock no matter how hard you tried. The blond would have to open it slowly, and just big enough for him to squeeze through. He didn't want to take any extra risks.

While Joey was hard at work with the upstairs window, Yami waited back in the get-away car. Five minutes had passed when someone walked by. Ducking down to avoid being seen was a challenge for tall Yami. He attempted to quickly go down, but it didn't make it in time for a brown-haired girl to walk by and see him.

"Yugi?" she asked, walking up to the car. "Yugi? Get up; I can see you down there. You're not fooling me!"

Frustrated, Yami got up and opened the door for Téa to get inside. "Hi Téa." He said.

"Hello, yourself. What are you doing at Joey's so late at night? And come to think of it, what are you doing behind the wheel of a car? You can't drive!"

"Well, you're not the only person who has reason to wonder." Yami spat back at her. "What are you doing out here all alone so late at night?"

Téa just sat there with a stunned look on her face. "Well…I just wanted some fresh air."

"Right." Yami said back to her, a sarcastic look on his face. However, before either person could say another word, they heard screams coming from Joey's backyard. Then they saw Joey, running for his life with a big duffel bag over his shoulder. Then they heard a gun shot.

"DRIVE!" he yelled to Yami, jumping into the car. He didn't even notice Téa until they were a block away.

"So," she began, "rough day? And why are you wearing Yugi's clothes? Come to think of it Yugi, WHY ARE YOU DRIVING?"

"Téa!" Yami yelled at her. "If you'll be quiet, maybe Joey will explain it all to you." Téa was obviously upset at this last remark, which would explain for the grumpy look on her face and her arms folded across her chest.

"Fine." She said quietly.

"Téa, the person you are talking to is not Yugi." Joey told her.

"What?" she asked survived. "Well, if he's not Yugi, then who is it?"

"That's not important right now—what's important is that we get back to the game shop so we can fill you in on what's going on." Yami said.

"But, why won't you tell me anything?"

"Téa, he already said we would explain what's going on later." Joey added.

"So then you know too?" Téa asked. Then there was a short pause in the car, until Téa eventually broke it. "Why am I always the last person to find out about these things?" That was the last sound heard in the car before the threesome got back to the shop, (with the exception of a few grunts from Yami and Joey, and some small sighs from Téa.) But then the sound started again, once they got out of the car.

"Come inside, quickly now!" Yami said as they went into the loving quarters of the game shop. Téa sat down on the plush green couch as Joey sat down next to her. Yami sat down on the floor across from them.

"So, will somebody tell me what's going on now?" Téa insisted.

"Fine. Yugi's gone and we need to get him back. The rest is kind of complicated." Joey informed.

Téa, with a confused look on her face only looked over at Yami, who was still deep in thought. "What do you mean 'Yugi's gone'?" she began, "Isn't he sitting right there across from us? Didn't he just drive us here?"

"That's not Yugi, Téa."

"It's not?" She inquired, sounding quite surprised. "Then who is he?"

Only now did Yami look up at the two of them. "Téa," he began, "I am named Yami. I am another part of Yugi. I know it sounds complicated, but I thought you would understand. You started to notice in Duelist Kingdom. Is there any way I can make it clearer?"

"No, I think I get it now. Is that why Yugi's height keeps changing all the time?"

'Okay, so not all humans are stupid.' Yami thought to himself. "Yep. You're the first one to catch on, actually. Okay, now I've spilled my story. It's your turn. Why were you out so late?"

Téa sighed and just looked at the floor.

"Come on Téa, fill us in." Joey said, looking at her.

Téa ruffled her black shirt, and looked up. "Okay." (Another sight.) "My mom and I had just gotten into another fight. I had to go, I couldn't stand her anymore."

Joey looked over at her, and rubbed her shoulder. "I know what you're going through. That's how I would up here, too."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, I'm here because my dad and I got into a fight. Yami came to me for help, and it would out that I needed some help from him too." Téa looked deep into Joey's eyes and then smiled. "What?" Joey asked?

"I didn't know. I guess it's just nice to know that somebody else out there is going through what I'm going through." There was a brief silence when Téa went on to say, "So long as we're telling our secrets, why not tell us why you needed Yami to drive so quickly?"

"Yes, Joey." Yami said looking over at Joey now. "Why were you in such a rush?"

Joey laughed, softly and easily. "I saw my dad. I guess I couldn't stand seeing him anymore than you could. No, actually, my dad heard someone walking around upstairs so he got his shotgun. I got the window just before he fired. When I hit the ground, I heard him pull the trigger, but he forgot to put bullets in again. I wanted to get away before he found them."

"You're just lucky when you dad fired he didn't hit you!" Téa added sounding concerned.

"Oh." Téa said, looking down.

"Come on, don't be all gloomy. The three of us have each other now, we should be happy!"

"Joey's right." Yami said, standing up. "We should be happy. Besides, we've got more important things to be thinking about now--like getting Yugi back!"

::Yugi::

Poor Yugi had finally begun to get some of his strength back. He decided that if he was going to get back to his own life, and his own friends, he was going to have to do it himself.

'The first thing I have to do is to figure out where I am.' He stood up and looked around. His stone prison was still very dark, so it was hard for Yugi to even see two feet if front of him. He walked slowly around the room, feeling in front of him for a wall, or anything really. He finally found a smooth part of the wall--too smooth to be natural. Yugi went with his gut and pushed with all the strength he could.

'Yes!' he thought to himself as the 'door' swung open. He now found himself in a narrow hallway, lit with some torches. He took one off of the rack and started to continue down the corridor. Yugi passed a puddle of water, and that puddle eventually turned into a rather large collection of water further up the passage.

"What the heck?" he asked himself, bending down in order to get a drink. When he looked at the surface of the water, he saw his reflection, and saw how beat-up he was. He bad hair was the least of his problems at the moment. His face was cut in many places, and he was bruised above his left eye. His shirt was ripped, and his deck-belt was barely hanging on. Then he heard footsteps. They grew louder and louder until Yugi was face to face with the one person he never expected to see.

"Malik?" Yugi asked.

A/N:In the next few chapters, I hope to put a duel in, but I'm not sure if it will come out well. I'm currently seeking help on the matter, and will be back with the outcome shortly. Next: An Old Face Plays a Trick.