Malik and Yami Yugi froze. The spores suddenly stopped.

"Did we just…?" Malik began, but was quickly cut off.

"Nothing is ever that easy." Kaiba interrupted.

"You call what we've done easy?"

"He's right." Yami Bakura came to the defense of the CEO. "It's not finished with us. I can feel it."

The shadow creature could easily sense the approaching knights. It may not have known exactly what they were, but it knew they were a threat. It also knew that the spores had, so far, been ineffective at stopping the invading attackers. But the parasitic beast was just as determined not to give up it's new home.

As they all feared, the source was also capable of defending itself in other means.

Before they knew what to expect, a series of tentacles jutted out of the smaller bronchial tubes.

"Look out!" Yami Bakura shouted, diving and rolling to the side, his white armor clattering against itself.

By the time he came to his feet, a black tentacle had almost surrounded the blue knight.

"Kaiba!" Yami Yugi shouted, as the creature grabbed him. As soon as the tentacle hit his armor, waves of pain rolled through his flesh and bones. His body convulsed, his sword falling to the ground. The light went dark as soon as it left his hand.

His agonizing scream echoed through the entire lung.

"Kaiba!" Malik gasped, frozen in shock at the sound of his pain.

Yami Bakura too stared in disbelief. This creature could very well kill Kaiba within a matter of seconds. And it could do the same to any of them. He couldn't focus on Kaiba's predicament for long, however. Another tentacle was already lashing out at him.

The thief king dodged it, parrying it with his sword. To his surprise, the light didn't cause the creature to disintegrate. Instead, the source struck back, using the tentacle like a blade.

"I can't get to him!" Yami Bakura shouted, now louder than Kaiba's hoarse voice. He knew if he took his eyes off the black appendage for even an instant, he would be in the same position as the CEO.

Before the spirit of the ring could even finish that thought, Yami Yugi already leapt forward, slicing the tentacle with Kaiba still attached to it.

He fell to the ground, his body still quivering and shaking. Other than that, he made no movement.

The creature, wounded for a moment, pulled its severed tentacle back. The broken piece burst into a black mist.

"Kaiba!" Yami Yugi shouted, lifting the blue knight from the ground. "Kaiba! Are you all right! Speak to me!"

While Yami Yugi tended to the injured knight, Malik covered him. The creature didn't waste a moment before launching another couple of tentacles towards them, and he did his best to keep them away from the pharaoh.

"Kaiba, wake up, please!" Yami Yugi shook his body again. The blue knight wearily opened his eyes, gasping as he drew a staggered breath.

Seto Kaiba froze. His entire body vibrated with a dull ache. He could still feel the creature's tentacle stinging his midsection, even though it was no longer there.

"Are you all right?"

"What… happened…" his gruff voice squeaked as he tried to talk.

"I'd imagine you just felt what Ryou's been feeling inside of him since Battle City." Yami Yugi answered.

Kaiba thought about that for a moment before suddenly remembering where he was. The sight of Malik in yellow armor, getting pushed back by the invading tentacles, was enough to jog his memory.

"… Malik…" he stood up, and reached for his sword. It was on the ground, guarded by several tentacles.

Yami Yugi spotted it, and tried to reach for it. He slashed at the creature, but it wouldn't back away. And new tentacles wriggled their way up into the tunnel.

"A little help here!" Yami Bakura screeched, now having taken out his dagger to fend off a second tentacle.

"I'm tied up over here too!" Malik added. He glanced at Yami Bakura for a moment, and almost paid the price for the distraction. "I can't get away!"

Yami Yugi watched as the injured tentacle flopped weakly on the ground.

"When I cut Kaiba free, one of them was severed!" he shouted. Also with dagger in hand, he slowly crept forward. He kicked Kaiba's sword towards Malik, who was still protecting the injured fighter. The tentacles struck the swords, almost knocking them out of Yami Yugi's hand.

"What'd you do differently?" Malik shouted.

"Yeah! Spill it, pharaoh!" Yami Bakura screamed. A third tentacle had made its way straight for him, and he was starting to lose his footing.

"I didn't do anything differently!" he shouted back, slashing in front of him. "The only thing that was different was…"

He paused for a moment.

"Tomb robber! Let it catch you!"

Yami Bakura nearly tripped over his own thoughts.

"Why the hell would I do something that stupid!" he screamed.

Yami Yugi fought his way over to the thief king.

"Just do it. Watch!"

The white knight rolled his eyes. He could scarcely believe anyone would take such an idea seriously. He hated to trust the pharaoh, even in a situation like this.

He didn't have to take it seriously, though. The tentacle Yami Bakura had been dodging whipped around faster than he had anticipated. It wrapped itself around his leg, pulling him off his feet instantly.

He screamed in torment as it made contact with the armor. The pain was intense. The only experience he could even relate it to was being burned by the fires of Obelisk during his original lifetime.

Yami Yugi quickly cut him free.

As he predicted, his sword severed the tentacle. The creature inched back a few inches, squirming in obvious pain.

The tomb robber sat up, blindly swinging his blade at the other two tentacles he was fighting. Fortunately, with the strike, they too had retreated a bit.

"… What the hell?" he gasped, dropping the dagger and grabbing his leg. He could feel it burning through the armor.

"It's just as I thought!" Yami Yugi shouted. "It's not actually part of this realm. If it touches one of us directly, it makes itself vulnerable."

In the spare moment, Malik turned to Kaiba. The CEO was standing, but still stunned from the attack.

"You okay?"

He nodded, still feeling the burning sensations through his skin. He shuddered. Through it all, he could almost feel as though his body were being pulled out of existence. Either the force of Obelisk was trying to protect him, or the shadow creature almost succeeded in killing him.

"I'm not infected, am I?" he turned to Yami Yugi, finally speaking.

"Doubtful." He replied. "It didn't get inside of you. It only touched your armor."

"Good."

Yami Bakura slowly made his way to his feet, leaning on his sword. A little blood trickled around his feet.

"So one of us needs to be bait." He growled, watching as the creature started to prepare for another attack of its own. "I volunteer…"

Yami Bakura paused. He wanted to volunteer Kaiba. It seemed logical. Not only did the creature already injure him, but the tomb robber also didn't particularly like him very much either. Kaiba reminded him too much of a high priest that was close to the pharaoh. Had the pharaoh been the one injured, he probably would have volunteered them both, killing two birds with one rock, so to speak.

But the fact that time was of the essence stopped him. Kaiba would have argued, and even more time would be wasted in something so petty. And his host body could likely die at any moment.

"I volunteer… myself…"