yay! i'm back! and it didn't take too long... right? right?

oh well, here's to Sumiko - you're very very welcome. i should be saying thank you for getting me to work on it finally. really, everybody should be thanking you... but oh well. hope you enjoy this - maybe it'll make your day just a little better. love ya lots!
X-dArkAngEL - yay! i'm glad to see you're still around! makes me smile! you've been an awesome reviewer and great encouragement to boot!
Sakura 30 - yes, i suppose it is sad. and you know me - it'll most likely get worse before it gets better. but hopefully it'll still be interesting and different. and yes, you do rock... even more b/c you're still here!
Cettie-girl - amazing. you've been ever faithful which is more than i could ask for! i can't express how grateful i am for all the comments here and on other pieces of mine. i was wondering - are you still interested in the "Clips from a Year at Hogwarts"? i haven't worked on that one in a long while either, but i know i have several chapters i didn't send you. lemme know if you want more and i'll email it again (i think i still have your address....)

anyway - thanks everybody. hope you enjoy this chapter.
lemme know what you think, and lemme know too if any of it gets too ooc compared to my earlier stuff. it's been so long since i worked on this that i lost some of the mood i built up. i still know what i want to happen, i just hope it doesn't come out like a completely different story - character personality wise, overall tone, and all such things considered...

anyway... i have no idea what's up with this chapter title, i swear. well, okay, it makes kinda sense, but it's still a little on the bizarre side.

but hopefully there's a bit more excitement than last chapter. it's going to be slowly building up from here on out. enjoy!

Part 3 (Chapter 2) – Body Snatching

"Seto?"

"Hmm?" Seto looked over a bit distractedly and followed Tea's gaze over to the little stall of sweets set up on the park corner. "I'm sorry. Did you want me to get you something?"

Tea pulled her eyes away from the enticing colors. "No, it's all right."

"Are you sure?" Seto turned to face her more fully. "What's wrong?"

Tea sighed and looked up into his eyes. "I was just thinking back on everything. Do you think it's true what Yugi said? That Bakura really killed..." she choked on her words.

Seto released a long breath of air and set his arm across her shoulders, drawing her in against his side. "I admit it's hard to believe," he said hesitantly. "I don't know who to listen to right now."

"I'm scared," Tea whispered. She was trembling just a little. "If they really are..." she choked a little, "...dead; I don't want Yugi to end up like that. I want..." she trailed off. "I don't know."

"Well," Seto pulled back slightly so that he could catch her eye again. "Maybe it's time to figure that out."

Hey, Bakura?

The dark spirit grimaced but didn't make any other movements.

Bakura?

Bakura rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes, tucking one hand behind his head. "Can't a spirit get any sleep around here?"

You weren't trying to sleep, the voice pointed out with slight disappointment.

"What is it to you?" Bakura snapped. "I never asked you into my head! Keep your thoughts to yourself!"

I'm sorry, the voice murmured, sounding a little more like the old Ryou. It just gets a bit lonely sometimes.

"Hmpf."

Doesn't the quiet ever bother you?

"Don't you ever shut up?!" Bakura growled.

The voice changed again, slightly, Don't you ever apologize?

"A dark spirit apologizes to no one," Bakura replied hotly. "And I happen to like the quiet, thank you very much."

Ryou liked the quiet too. The voice seemed amused now. The few rare moments he had that weren't overshadowed by your presence.

"Oh." Bakura glared at the air in spite of the absurdity of it. "Is that why you're doing this?"

Doing what?

"This! Talking my ears off! Reminding me of Ry... of what I did to you! It's your own idiotic way of getting revenge!"

The voice laughed. If that's what you want to believe.

"Oh, hey Kaiba."

"........."

"Seto? Hey Seto!"

Kaiba winced and froze mid-step.

"Seto Kaiba!!!"

Setting his face in its best glare, Kaiba whirled around. "What is it, Valentine?"

"Nothing," Mai was unfazed, as usual. "Just, no one ignores me when I say hello."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes, but said nothing and turned back around to go. "Wha—?"

Mai had grabbed his sleeve and was meeting his gaze chill for chill. "The least you could do is to say hello back."

"Hmph. I'm not in the mood, Valentine."

"Why?" Mai let go of his coat, her voice a little too sweet. "Have another tiff with Tea?"

Kaiba stiffened. "No."

"Oh, I can see right through that one," Mai yawned. "That's what they all say."

"Why you—!"

"Please." Mai held up a hand and blinked once, her expression melding into one of slight challenge. "I call 'em as I see 'em. Besides," she straightened back up. "She's really not your type, you know?"

"And I suppose you're an expert on 'my type'?" Kaiba's patience was wearing thin.

"Maybe," Mai shrugged, and this time it was her turn to walk away from the conversation. "Well, goodnight."

Kaiba clenched a fist. "Valentine..."

So what do you do anyway?

"Beg pardon?"

Do. You're a dark spirit. There has to be something more in your job description than "sits around brooding all day".

"You'd be surprised."

What was that?

"Feh. Nothing."

The two of them were quiet for a moment as Bakura continued walking, shadows shifting under his feet.

So what are we doing now?

"If I had known you would talk this much," Bakura mumbled under his breath, "I would have thought twice about taking your heart. You did more for me as a mindless corpse..." He stopped a moment and looked around. "Speaking of which—this looks like as good a spot as any."

Speaking of what?

"Shut up a moment, will you?!"

Okay.

Bakura muttered a couple ancient curses, then slowly closed his eyes and drew in two deep breaths. In one long, deliberate movement, he raised his arm from his side, stretching it straight out in front of him and straining his fingers as he reached forward. The blue magic came almost at once, though its color was more of an aqua, ocean blue rather than the frightening, electric blue he was used to. Nevertheless, Bakura was surprised at the ease with which he was able to control it, and he felt some of his frustrations flow away into the growing ring before him.

Small, the size of a marble at first, the blue light spread out, dimming in the center where a new picture began to form. Bakura saw shelves of what looked like food and a couple unsuspecting mortals from a rather odd angle. He grinned and glanced at his hand again, "Now to test it out..."

Bakura...what?!

But the dark spirit had already jumped both feet first through the portal.

"That'll be 230 yen."

Mai sighed and dug in her purse for some change. Finding a couple coins, she placed them on the counter, trading them for the bottled drink she had picked out. Prying off the cap as she walked out, Mai lifted the bottle to take a sip when a scream sounded from the far corner of the store. Fizzy liquid missed her lips and left Mai sputtering in indignation.

"Oops." There was a boy about her same age sitting on the counter where Mai had left change only moments earlier. The clerk had backed up against the wall and was pointing a shaking finger. The boy didn't seem to notice, but was glancing curiously from hand to hand and then at the counter beneath him.

When he finally looked up to the commotion he had created, the boy didn't look a bit sorry. "My apologies," he smirked at the clerk as he slid off the counter. Snagging a candy bar from one of the shelves, he sauntered out under the disbelieving eyes of the few customers there.

Mai stared – not so much because of the absurdity of the situation, but because there was only one person in all of Japan with naturally white hair like that...

"Ha ha!" the boy crowed, after a couple quick glances back to make sure no one dared to follow. "It worked! Did you see their faces?" Bakura asked, forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to despise the voice in his head.

I did, Ryou answered somewhat reluctantly. So you were planning to surprise them, then?

"Not that," Bakura's grin turned to a scowl, and he began walking briskly down the street. "The surprise was just an added bonus."

Then what?

"You are an idiot, aren't you?"

Takes one to know one.

Bakura frowned, not quite sure if he dared to send a burst of shadow magic through his own mind. Finally he sighed and turned his attention back to the street. "I was testing to see if I still had your corporeal body at my disposal. Apparently I do," Bakura added a bit smugly.

Oh. The voice seemed somewhat surprised. I could have told you that much. When you stole Ryou's soul, you were already in possession of his body. The shadow magic didn't change that.

"Hmm," Bakura let himself ponder over that a moment before ducking down a side street. Making sure nobody was around; he waved one hand, setting a blue ring in the air. "So then what happened to that girl – both parts of her spirit were destroyed. Who gets her body?"

Well... The voice hesitated, Not you, certainly.

Bakura sighed and stepped back into the Shadow Realms.

"What is it now?" Saishu didn't even have to look back to know that Unmei was hovering over him.

"You're pretty good at that, you know," Unmei floated to the front with a twinkle in her otherwise solid black eyes.

Saishu's voice was a mixture of boredom and exasperation tinged with a slight bit of amusement. "You think I can't sense your presence by now?"

Unmei shrugged. "I'd be worried if you couldn't. But anyway, I have a favor to ask of you."

"I figured as much," Saishu replied evenly. "You seem to enjoy asking favors."

"Well," Unmei didn't seem bothered. "Life's no fun if you try to go it alone. And I know of quite a few souls who could stand a lesson in asking for help."

"That is true," Saishu admitted. "But come out and tell me what you want."

"I need your orb."

"Saishu frowned and hefted his staff slightly. "What happened to yours?"

"I lent it out. All for good cause of course..." Unmei's voice held a darker smile now. "But I think it's time I took it back."

whew. glad that's over. well, sorta. i got a few more ideas while working on this chapter which is a good thing. hopefully they'll keep coming for a while.

bakura came out of that a little odd i think... but maybe it's just me. oh, bonus points to anybody who knows what unmei's talking about in the last part there. if you figure it out, yo might have an idea of what's to come. maybe. or maybe i buried it too well and i only know because it's my story... --

anyway, my family's visiting this weekend and i have a paper due on monday that i really ought to start sometime soon.... (gag) ....so this is all you get for now. hope you enjoyed it. R&R and cya soon!

joey