Meanwhile, Kaiba, Malik, and the pharaoh were forcing themselves through Ryou's small intestine, looking for a way out that didn't involve the traditional exit.

"This had better be worth it, Yugi." Kaiba muttered, swinging his sword as more spores flew from the black walls around them. "I'm finding it hard to think of things more disgusting than what I'm about to do."

Yami Yugi, however, wasn't listening to Kaiba's rant. Instead, he was examining the intestinal wall. The lining resembled a field of soft pinecones, with thousands of fingerlike projectiles. Despite the influx of spores, the large projectiles were still very much alive, and desperately searching for some form of nutrients to take into his blood.

"Wait." He finally spoke.

Malik turned around, still striking spores.

"What?"

"I think I've found a better way." He replied sternly, watching blood flow from behind the wall. The wall was so thin in some areas that they could probably pass right through it. "The bloodstream."

"Is that wise?" Malik asked.

"Blood runs to every part of the body. If the source of his infection is somewhere, this would be the fastest way to find it." Kaiba growled. The pharaoh only nodded.

"Then this is our best bet."

Yami Yugi then tested his theory, stepping into the translucent wall. It was tight around his body, but he squeezed through. Kaiba followed immediately, and so did Malik. They kept their swords drawn, and held over their heads.

They passed through the wall and into the slowly rushing river of Ryou Bakura's bloodstream. The liquid around them was tainted with a black mist. Although they didn't see any actual spores, they had a grave suspicion that the black mist could turn into spores at any given moment.

As small as the three were, they could see the blood cells floating by in the plasma. The red ones were oddly shaped, crooked and flaccid. The few white cells they found were equally deteriorated, beaten and broken by the spores. A couple sunk into the mist, messily dissolving.

It was a devastating sight, and probably one that was happening all throughout Ryou's body.

"No wonder he's so ill." Malik sighed, simply floating along. Yami Yugi nodded.

"His body cannot fight off such an infection on its own. And that is why we're here."

Kaiba simply ignored the friendship speech, keeping his eyes on the rest of the body's tissues as they passed. Behind the wall of the vein, everything looked black. And the further they traveled, the blacker it became.

"Don't get comfortable in here." Kaiba finally spoke. "I think we're about to be in for some trouble."

He pointed up ahead, another organ coming into view. It was so covered with spores, that it had become entirely blackened. And as the blood drew closer, spores filtered into the vein from all directions.

Yami Yugi quickly readied his sword.

"Everyone together!" he shouted, pointing it towards the intruding spores. Malik and Kaiba followed suit, placing their blades over his. The resulting blast of light struck down thousands of spores, but to the knights' surprise, there were at least a thousand more to take their place. And this time, they appeared angry.

"This is bad…" Malik quivered.

How true he was.

Before they knew it, the spores had forced them out of the blood stream, and onto semi-solid ground. The discarded shells of dead white blood cells stuck to their boots as they attempted to fight. Sticking squarely together, they combined their weapons with every attack. But it was having little effect.

"There's just too many of them!" Malik finally screamed, tripping over a diseased outgrowth. He stumbled, scattering another hundred thousand spores as he fell.

"I think you're right." Kaiba admitted, sweat falling from his brow as he tried to protect Malik from the next assault.

Yami Yugi didn't want to say anything, but deep down, he felt as though it was already too late. Every part of Ryou's body was littered with spores. This, his liver, an organ devoted to cleaning toxins from the blood, was almost completely useless.

And the spores kept coming, regardless of how many they struck down.

"What do we do?"

"I… I don't know…" Yami Yugi shouted, ducking under a wave of attacking spores.

His uncertainty did not bode well for their mission, or for their lives.

Suddenly, something in the distance caught Malik's attention.

"Over there!" he shouted, pointing at an incoming artery. Something was moving towards them at an unnerving pace.

"What?" Kaiba glanced up, still hacking and slashing, trying not to be overcome.

Another body ran through the small tunnel, cloaked completely in white armor. It's sword of light raised and swinging, hundreds of spores vanished on contact.

Unlike the three of them, this knight's helmet was without a facemask. When he got closer, the identity of their rescuer came into view.

"Ryou?" Kaiba gasped, his stare agape towards the approaching white knight. His sword alone was obviously more powerful than theirs. His slashing had actually freed a small path.

"Try again, moneybags." The knight replied, attacking the spores that were hovering over the fallen Malik.

"Tomb robber…" Yami Yugi gasped. He could hardly believe his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, pharaoh. I'm saving your asses." He shouted, swinging again. The other three remained frozen, completely stunned. "What are you sitting there staring for? This is my body too! And I'm not about to just sit around and watch it die, all right?"

They nodded, still hardly moving.

"Now. I'd suggest we start moving. We're going to be overrun by those black things in a few minutes if we stay here." He gestured back to the vein they had been forced out of. "I cleared you a path. Now get your bottoms in gear!"

"I know a good idea when I hear one." Kaiba replied, standing up. He brushed off his armor, and started towards the vein. Malik also stood up, and followed suit.

Yami Yugi moved towards Yami Bakura for a minute.

"Thank you."

The thief king just rolled his eyes.

"You think that was hard. You have no idea." He finally replied, before climbing back into the vein with everyone else. "I know this body like the back of my hand. It only gets worse."

Yami Yugi sighed, as he followed the tomb robber. Somehow, he knew that had to be the case.