so after much debate and deliberation (my muse is now laughing at me), i have decided to update.

Cettie - blushes Oh gee . . . i'm not worthy of all the praise . . . . . though it is still very much appreciated..
Sumiko - as always, thanks for everything.
Sakura - whee! hope this helps...

but anyway, on with the long-overdue adventure...thing...

Part 3 (Chapter 7) - Enter the Shadows

"Ryou-kun!"

Slowly Bakura glanced over his shoulder, and immediately wished he hadn't. He turned his back to the approaching girls and tried to duck away into the trees, but he didn't move fast enough because the brown-haired one managed to grab hold of his arm. "Ryou…" she breathed heavily. "Is it really you?"

With very little patience left, Bakura shoved her away to the side. "Leave me alone."

She looked a little stunned, and Bakura groaned inwardly. He didn't have time for this. The blond girl following from behind came up and placed a hand on Tea's shoulder. Mai's gaze rested on Bakura evenly. "Something's different here."

Bakura looked away, not bothering to answer, and turned his attention back to the source of his curiosity. The both of them followed his gaze and fell silent.

"W-what's that?" Tea stared up at the inky black sphere that stood between the trees a little ways away. Hints of purple, maroon, and blue swirled around the edges, throwing out dull silver sparks where they clashed. The otherwise dark cloud acted like a void, sucking in any light that came near. The whole thing practically radiated darkness, and just looking at it left both Mai and Tea worried and breathless.

"Something that's very out of place," Bakura replied shortly. "I want to know why." He stalked off towards it. "Destiny!" he shouted, throwing both hands against the shadows. "You and I need to talk!" Tapping into the full extent of his recently-acquired powers, Bakura threw everything he had against the barricade pressing against him, and in a blink found himself back in the Shadow Realms and completely alone.

"Kiryu." Kira's voice was soft and held no emotion of any kind, but to Yugi, it seemed as though she was whispering right next to his ear – the shadow realms carried the sound crystal-clear and just as cold as her eyes looked from across the distance.

"What?" Yugi's face held a startled expression.

Yami's eyes narrowed to slits. "Hikari, watch out!" He ducked low and Yugi covered his head as something sped past just above them. An almost-deafening roar echoed through the empty space around them. "How…" Yami looked up as much as he dared – enough to see a gigantic red dragon fly past Kira and in one swoop turn to face them from behind the other girl.

"But…" Yugi stammered, looking up as well. "Kira…she shouldn't be able to control any shadow monsters…and that dragon…"

"Well, Pharaoh," Unmei was still grinning. "Looks like it's time to play."

"Ryou…" Tea started forward when the white-haired boy disappeared into the shadows, but Mai just tightened her grip on Tea's shoulder.

"Let him go," Mai said softly.

"But…" Tea started to object.

Mai shook her head. "There's enough to worry about otherwise. I don't think it's safe to stay…" She paused as Tea's muscles went limp under her grasp. "Tea?"

"Yugi…" Tea whispered. "Yugi's in there."

"Tea?" Mai pulled Tea around to face her. Tea's eyes were wide with an innate sort of fear. "What are you talking about?" Mai scanned Tea's face, but couldn't find anything actually unnatural about it. "I thought you left Yugi at his house."

Tea moved her head slightly from side to side and bit her lip. "I thought so too, but…" She looked back at the ball of shadow energy.

"But what?" Mai demanded.

"He's inside that," Tea stepped back out of Mai's grasp and clutched a hand to her chest. "I can feel it somehow."

Mai sighed, not sure whether to be indulgent, exasperated, or a little frightened herself. "Tea, you can't know that..."

But Tea continued to step backwards until she was only a couple feet from the shadow portal. She turned and reached out to it, only to have her hands press against it as though it was solid. "Yugi!" she shouted.

"Tea, come on…" Mai looked around the park, but there wasn't another person in sight. "You're freaking me out."

"Yugi!" Tea started to pound on the dark surface, ignoring the sparks she produced that leapt out at her, stinging her arms as they faded. "Yugi! Can you hear me! Yugi!"

"Wait!" Yami fumbled in his pockets. "Where are my cards?" He glanced cautiously between Kira's summoned monster and his own empty hands and back again. "What are my life points?" he demanded. "What are the rules?"

"There's only one rule here, Pharaoh," Unmei appeared in a faded, shadowy form behind him, "Do whatever it takes to stay alive." She glanced to where Yugi had backed away fearfully. "Both of you." And with that she vanished.

"Stay alive? What…" But before Yami could finish, Kira's dragon roared and threw forth a fiery bolt of energy from its mouth. Yami lunged forward, throwing one arm across Yugi's torso, and pulled the two of them down just below where the sizzling attack flew past.

"Destiny!" Bakura shouted again, and another burst of energy shot out through the shadow realms like a wave in every direction, but he ignored it.

No one's answering, Ryou spoke up. My guess is she's not the sort to be ordered around.

"Quiet," Bakura hissed to the voice in his head. He frowned and looked around. "Where are we, anyway? There should have been a shadow game here."

You were assuming that, Ryou suggested, despite Bakura's warning to be quiet.

Bakura muttered something under his breath and started walking forward.

"Kira!" Yugi called out to her when the smoke around them faded into the surrounding shadows. "Can you hear me?"

"Yugi…" Yami tightened his grip on his hikari's shoulder. "That's just an empty shell now…" His voice turned bitter. "Controlled by Unmei."

"I can hear you."

Yugi and Yami both looked up in surprise.

"Kira?" Yugi tried hopefully.

"…but I can't see you," she finished.

"Oh…" Yugi swallowed, not sure how to respond. He licked his lips, then tried again nervously. "Why…why are you fighting us?"

"Why?" Kira seemed to consider the question for a moment, then her mouth moved to form the slightest bit of a frown. "I don't know how to do anything else."

Yugi stood up, not taking his gaze off her. Slowly, Kira stepped towards him. Yugi tried to smile – half worried, half hopeful.

Yami watched them both with a growing sense of dread. There was something so empty - so completely foreign - in her hollow gaze that he couldn't just relax. His light had often told him how his own eyes shifted. Even Yugi had never been able to see past their surface. They shared the same body, but the secrets, memories, and feelings from Yami's previous life were locked up behind his own dark gaze. Of course, Yami attributed some of that to the fact that he wasn't technically alive any more – a lingering spirit caught forever in the last moment of a youthful life. But while Yami was not quite alive, everything about Kira was truly dead.

"Hikari…I don't think…" Yami started but froze when Kira extended her own hand toward Yugi's. He blinked once as something that looked a little like heat waves shimmered up and down her arm. Yami hadn't seen magic manifest in that way before…though he wasn't very sure it was even magic. The power of those truly dead was such that it needed an entirely different dimension to contain it. But here…

Not even wasting time with words, Yami sprang into action just before Kira's fingers could brush into Yugi's palm. The dark spirit practically fell against Yugi, catching the younger boy with surprise and pulling out of Kira's way. Something just barely touched his arm, and a wave of power flew out in all directions, pushing the two boys and Kira in opposite directions. Yugi gasped in surprise, probably confused by the sudden change in scenario, and Yami clenched his teeth, waiting to crash into the ground. But not even shadows rose up to catch them. Instead, Yami and Yugi fell, tumbling down into unexplored shadows and complete and utter darkness.

thanks again...
i am almost done with the next chapter actually, so that shouldn't take too long. by next week maybe? i know i'm not very good at sticking to my goals, but i actually have a reason for this one...