Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

Instead of waking to his alarm, which is what he normally woke up to on school days, Jounouchi was rudely awoken by the loud ringing of his phone next to his bed. Surprised, he fell out of bed and slowly got himself back up. Grumpily, he reached to next of his bed and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he said in a low, drowsy voice. His eye lids were only half-way open.

"Jounouchi! I'm so glad you picked up!" it was Yugi's Grandpa.

"Hey, Mr. Mutuo. Uh, what are you callin' so early for?" he asked almost rudely, but maintained a polite tone.

"Well," he stuttered, "Yugi, did you see him last night?"

"No. I didn't even hear from him," Jounouchi said. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Oh. It's just, he didn't come home last night. I thought maybe he went to your house or somewhere for the night and just forgot to call me," he told him. "But if he's not at your house, then I don't know where he is."

Jounouchi was wide awake now. He regretted not disobeying his friend's wishes and not walking home with him. For a moment he panicked, but thought perhaps someone else might know something. Or maybe he would just show up at school, though that was not likely.

"I'm sorry that I can't help you, but maybe someone else knows something," Jounouchi suggested. "Or maybe we'll get lucky and he'll show up at school. I'll do what I can to help you find him. As soon as school's out, I'll call ya."

"Thank you, Jounouchi. I hope he's okay. I'm really worried about him right now," Sugoroku sighed. "I…don't want anything crazy to happen to him, or for him to do anything crazy."

"He'd never do anything crazy. He's Yugi. He's better than that," Jounouchi tried to assure him.

"Yes, you're right," Sugoroku agreed. "Okay well just talk to me when you can. Good-bye."

Jounouchi said his good-byes and hung up. He quickly got dressed and ready for school, and then ran out the door, hoping he could possibly arrive early to search for his friend.

When he woke up, he could not feel his feet touching the ground. Slowly, he opened his eyes, most of his body in pain. Looking around, he realized that indeed his feet were a few feet from the ground. His entire body was hanging on a wall, be dangled by the chains that held his arms above him. He was in a large, round, dark room, the lighting making it look orange. It was cool, scarily dark, and silent, but Yugi was not very frightened. He had been in creepier situations than this. But he did not understand who was doing this or why he was there.

Yami Yugi came out in spirit form, standing before him.

"Are you okay?" he asked him first and foremost.

"I think so," Yugi replied. "I think that I got mugged, but I don't know where I am or why."

A slam was heard.

"Go away! Quick!" Yugi demanded.

"Why?" Yami Yugi questioned.

"Because it's probably you they want."

"What makes you think that?"

"Since when has it been any other way?"

"Good point," he said as he disappeared back to the puzzle.

An echoing sound came through to the room. There were only two exits from the room, and one of them was sealed shut. The other exit had a door, but the noise came echoing from there. He could not see what was coming, for there was no window on the door. Slowly, the door creaked open, and someone entered.

"Dim the light, and then darkness shall move its way forth and consume the rest," it was a man with a pretty low voice, but hauntingly familiar to him.

"Who are you? What do you want?" he called to the figure. He could only see a shadowy figure across the dark room, but seeing it he immediately knew who he was up against.

"I am here…to bring upon your fate," he said.

He had asked several people at school, but no one knew anything. His search before school began resulted into no traces of his friend. The fact that he was not at school proved to Jounouchi that Yugi was indeed missing. Frantically, Jounouchi gathered Bakura, Anzu, Honda, and Otogi back to Yugi's Game Shop house to organize a search. Despite the fact that it was almost pouring outside, they insisted that they search for Yugi, unsure of what kind of trouble he could be in.

"I don't understand," Sugoroku sighed sadly. "It makes me wonder if he ran away."

"Don't say that!" Anzu replied quickly. "Yugi would never run away, not from you, not from us!"

"She's right," Honda agreed. "It's not Yugi's character to run away. Something had to have happened to him."

"Who or what are you suggesting?" Otogi asked. "Who here has a grudge against Yugi?"

"Maybe not against Yugi, but his other self," Jounouchi suggested.

The room fell silent, knowing that Jounouchi had a good point.

After about a half hour, Jounouchi had organized all the places Yugi is likely to run to, or perhaps had visited the night before. They would travel as singles, visiting and carefully examining each spot. Grandpa would stay at the shop just in case Yugi happened to return. Carrying large umbrellas, flashlights, and cell phones for communication, everyone went on the search for their fragile friend.