Her Sweetness: Wow, you guys! I got a lot of reviews for that last chapter, they were great! And as such, you have put me in a rather good mood. Good enough to do my chapter for today anyway.

I've put a deadline on this fic up on my chalkboard! If I work for three hours everyday leading up to it, it'll be done within a decent time period. And then…!

Another one will follow. The cycle will forever continue.

Motel 37

Chapter 15:

"Do you even know where we're going?"

"… Ah… Sure, I do."

The two boys had been walking for about ten minutes in silence. Marik didn't really have the energy to ridicule Yami like he usually did and so he decided if he couldn't say anything mean, he wouldn't say anything at all. Yami, on the other hand, was waiting for that voice to say something, to give him a clue about exactly what to do when they had gone through the door. He had no idea where to go or if there was something he hadn't figured out yet.

Marik blinked, his hands resting on his head as they continued to walk forward. Yami had been strangely quiet and that wasn't like him at all. He wondered if maybe the Pharaoh was concentrating on something, "… Can you smell Bakura right now?"

"Guh…!" Yami slowly looked back to Marik. "I… Well… Yes. Yes, I can smell him…"

"So, just curious, but when did you get a chance to actually smell Bakura?"

"Eh, what? I-I don't know… I…"

"Oh, whoa!" Suddenly Marik stopped walking behind Yami and went over to the side of the hallway. Yami noticed and went over to what he was looking at. It seemed to be a door. Which, in this dirt hallway, looked completely out of place. Yami blinked. Was this where they were supposed to go? He frowned slightly. This didn't feel to good all of a sudden.

Marik touched the door handle, about to open it, but Yami stopped him. "W-Wait…! I don't think we should go in there, Marik."

"Ugh…" He groaned, "Just what is it now? Do you have bad feelings about this? It's just a door!"

"W-Well, yes! As a matter of fact I do have a bad feeling about this, Marik, and if you only knew who told me-"

"YAWN!" Marik scratched the back of head while yawning, "That's great, Pharaoh. But Bakura might be in here. You know him, he can't resist opening doors. That's why he's always thrown out of public restaurants." Without further debate over the subject, the door was opened, courtesy of Marik.

"Ah… Wow."

Both boys' mouths hung open as they entered the room together. Unlike the tunnels they had just traveled through and most of the motel, this room was very modern looking. Although it lacked in the computer department, it had a chrome table with braces on the top and bottom corners. The rest of the room contained two doors, one by the first and the other on the other side of the room, along with a desk with assorted buttons and knobs on it. A phone was on the hook in one of the corners along with an odd looking machine by the table; wires hung from it.

"What the hell is this?" Yami asked, absentmindedly.

Marik walked over to the table and sat on it, "This is awesome. It looks like some modern-day torture chamber. But where're the maces? And the whips? And the creamed corn?"

"Maces? I don't… Ah! Marik, get off of that!"

"Weeee!" The blonde shouted in glee as he began to spin around on the table. He went round and round as Yami tried to get him off the thing.

"Marik! Marik, Bakura's not here so we have to leave!" He turned around and looked off into the air, "Is this what you were talking about? I don't like it!"

Relax, Yami… This is good, this is really good… I was needing him so bad, Yami…

"What? Needing him? Well, you're not going to get him, we're leaving!" Yami turned around and tried to pull Marik off the table, but he ignored the Pharaoh and continued his games.

But Yami… You said you wanted him to be nice to you… That's what's going to happen…

"I-I changed my mind! Grr… Marik, come ON!"

"Who the hell are you talking to?" He asked, still not budging. The only thing he saw was Yami talking to thin air. And he wondered if Yami wasn't an idiot, just clinically retarded. If that was the case, Marik figured he should feel bad for him. But he didn't. And that was just the way it was.

"We're leaving right now, Marik, let's go!"

It's too late, Yami…

"It's too late, Yami."

"… What?" Both Yami and Marik heard a voice coming from somewhere. Yami looked up and around the room. His eyes settled on the second door that was now open and the two figures that stood in front of it. Shivers stood, leaning on the side of the door, a black key twirling through his fingers. Shakes was next to him, arms crossed and looking as petrifying as ever.

"Hey." Marik blinked at them, frowning, "What're you two doing in here?"

Shivers only smiled, a very odd expression on his usually stony face, "I see Mr. Motou has completed his task. Very good. And Marik, you're already prepped? This will be easier than I previously planned."

"What are you talking about? Prepped for what?"

Realization flashed in Yami's usually vacant eyes. He looked up at Shivers and pointed accusingly, "Shivers! You were the one telling me all those things, weren't you? You were that voice I heard!"

"Mmm. No. Not me." He pointed upwards, towards the ceilings.

Yami and Marik's gazes followed his finger. Marik blinked, "… So, Yami's been hearing the voice of the lighting fixtures in the building?"

"What? No." Shivers was rubbing his temples, thinking that perhaps he'd better just spit it out. "The Motel was talking to you, Mr. Motou. The Motel's… spirit."

Marik winced, "You mean there really was a voice?"

"In your face, you big bully!" Yami grinned, folding his arms, "I knew I wasn't crazy… Oh, but wait! What the hell does the 'Motel' want with Marik?"

"His power… His darkness." Shiver said, walking over to the small desk, decorated with colorful buttons. He punched two in a row and suddenly the braces on the table clamped down on Marik's wrists and ankles.

"EEK!" The blonde squealed, struggling to get away, "What the hell! This is a torture chamber!"

Yami was helping him to try and get loose but they were made of metal and wouldn't move for anything. Yami turned on Shivers, glaring, "Just what do you mean by his darkness?"

Shivers nonchalantly turned a dial on the dashboard slightly to the right, causing the table to rise, slowly. While doing so he barley looked over to Yami, "It surrounds you, you know. The fact that you, Marik and Bakura are creatures of darkness. When you enter the room… it becomes gloomy almost."

"Oh, why thank you." Marik interrupted.

"Ahem." Shivers resumed, "This motel… The spirit thrives on darkness… evil. That is why so many of our guests go missing. The building feeds on the darkness in their souls."

"To survive?"

"To have fun. And when it doesn't get the necessary darkness it needs, there are repercussions. Such as murders, disasters… And us. Shakes and I have been trapped here for thirty-seven years! All because the Motel has not had the necessary darkness that it craves, it has trapped us here. We have not left this building in thirty-seven years."

"Damn. No wonder you're both so pasty and… ugly." Marik said, bluntly.

Shivers growled and tightened the braces.

"Ouch!"

"Marik, this is no time to bring up their shortcomings!" Yami yelled at the Egyptian. He turned back to Shivers as he did something else concerning and pained yelp from Marik, "W-Well, that's very sad, but what does that have to do with Marik? He's done nothing to you! … Uh, you haven't, have you?"

Marik thought for a moment then shook his head. "Not in this lifetime."

"It's not what he's done. It's what he has. When you're around him, it can almost make you want to cry. That's what this building needs. He's such an extreme darkness… I've never seen a person like him before."

Marik was beginning to blush, "Gosh… T-This is so sweet of you…! I don't know what to say!"

Shivers grinned, "Say goodbye."

Meanwhile, on the road to save their somewhat distressed yamis, the hikaris were having a rather rough time getting there. The storm seemed to be worsening as they kept going. The wind blew harder, the rain was coming down like stones and people were being blown into trees. And with all of this bad luck, the worse thing was that they had little to no idea of where they were going.

"… Um, Malik did you say turn right or left?" Ryou asked, a worried look on his face and his hands griping the starring wheel.

Malik twisted his mouth and looked down at the map. He flipped it over and said, "Ah… Right. I said take a right turn."

Ryou blinked, "… Oops."

"Oops? Oops! What 'oops'? Why is there an oops!"

"Ah ha ha ha… Yup, I think I went left! I, um, never was very good in that department… Heh. Right from left. Never could tell." He tried to make light of it, hoping Malik wouldn't be to upset. When he opened his eyes, Malik had an expression on his face that said, 'I feel the need to kill you.'

"Gah…" Malik took a deep breath and blinked, "That's okay. We can take a left up here and that'll probably fix our mistake. I'll tell you which way to turn."

"O-Okay!"

Malik sighed and leaned back in his seat. They had turned the radio off, shortly after "I'm Too Sexy" had played and they all had a good cry over it. They were afraid another song would play and it would make Ryou cry so hard he couldn't see two feet in front of him. And then where would they be? Well, chances are they'd probably be dead. Ryou cried even harder when Malik said that.

"Oh, yes, you are so cute…! Yes, you are! Woogie, woogie…! Meow meow!"

Malik blinked and looked in the back seat. It seemed that Yugi and the little kitten had bonded. Presently, the kitten was on Yugi's head and Yugi was wagging his index finger in his face, making the cat swipe a paw at it. He moved his head from side to side, "Weedle weedle…!"

"… Um. Yugi?"

"Weegie wee- Hmm? Yeah, Malik, what is it?"

"Ah… You do like that cat, don't you?"

"Of course!" Yugi took the cat off his head and snuggled it, "How could I not? He's the cutest thing in the world, yes, he is!"

Ryou shot the boy an annoyed look through the rearview mirror, "He's my kitten, Yugi. I found him. You were the one to ask me if I was serious about saving him."

Yugi closed his eyes, rubbing his cheek against the kitten's. "I-I know… But you've been driving and… Well, me and Little Fruitcake have bonded, here in the backseat."

"… Little Fruitcake!" Both Malik and Ryou looked surprised.

"He just reminds me of Yami so much…"

"I thought you were mad at Yami! For getting your Grandfather killed!" Ryou shouted, he was awfully mad that Yugi had taken it upon himself to name the kitten that he had saved, all by himself.

"Oh… That. Well, I was mad at Yami. But the thing I realized is why I got over it, last time… Grandpa is old. And when your time has come, your time has come. There's no escaping death. And if you try, you'd end up dying anyway. So there." He smiled after his small speech and continued to cuddle Little Fruitcake.

Malik shrugged and turned back to his map.

Ryou winced and mumbled, "Damn… Kitten stealing… Little Fruitcake my (bleep)…"

Out in the rain and cold, Bakura and the old man with him were trudging through the wet grass as they made their way over to what they supposed was a gardening shed. On the way, Bakura told Grandpa what had happened since he fell asleep.

"Oh my good-golly-gosh!" The older man exclaimed, "Murders? This is awful! Have you boys been okay? Nothing bad has happened to you, has it?"

Bakura answered with a shrug, "Nah, I'm cool. Yami was being stupid like always. And Marik was okay last time I saw him, but he might not be so great when he finds out he's hikariless."

Before Grandpa could question him on that, they reached the door to the small building. Hoping it wasn't locked, Bakura tried the door handle and, to his surprise, it opened without any resistance. When they opened it fully, they were surprised beyond belief to find Marik on a metal examining table, bound by the wrists and ankles. Yami was beside him, pulling on one of the shackles and saying something. Shivers and Shakes had stopped whatever they were doing and they were all now starring at the open door with Bakura and Grandpa standing in front of it, both dripping wet.

Marik grinned, "There you are, Bakura. And you found the old man!"

"Ah… Hey, Marik, s'up?"

"Not much. But Shivers has gone nuts and is trying to de-dark me."

Bakura looked around the room and blinked, "… I don't get it."